Leon Atkinson's Blog, page 5

Setting Expectations at the D&D Table

I’ve been a professional programmer for more than 25 years. Most of those years my job titles have included words such as president or chief or officer. Long before that, I was one of the employees trusted with opening and closing the local Software, Etc. I’m also a father of two boys, now teenagers. I have significant years of experience managing people and systems.

I did not have the specific experience of managing a table full of pre-teens playing D&D for the first time when we started playing in May 2017. Sometimes the chaos churned out a half an hour of fart jokes. At its worst, it led to players leaving with hurt feelings. The typical struggle has been about focus. Dragging attention back to the game, away from phones or silly side conversations, produces annoying gripes from the adults.

It was a classic case of unspoken expectations. I addressed this with a short list of expectations that I now review at the beginning of every session as part of a session format that I’ll discuss later. I present the expectations that follow as commandments for maximum evocativeness.

Focus on the Game

We get to play once a week if we’re lucky. We all have other commitments. Many other pastimes of various worth (reading Reddit, eating candy, teasing each other) can be done almost any time. We only get to play D&D for this particular three hours.

Know Your Character

Certain aspects of the player character are clearly written on the character sheet or in the rules. It wastes time to mindlessly roll a 20-sided and then ask the table whether you hit. You should know your Attack Bonus. The DM has already told you the Armor Class. Likewise, if you wonder how many hit points are restored by the Cure Light Wounds spell, look it up well before you cast it.

Decide Without Delay

The flow of the game cannot halt for a player to slowly cogitate over the best next action. There is plenty of time when focus of the game is on other players. When your turn arrives, you should be ready to make your move or we will move on.

Communicate Clearly

Precision matters when describing character action. Leaving out details requires the DM to make assumptions. At its worst, lack of clarity is a tool used by players to test actions and yank them back as the consequences play out. You may not revise the marching order after the DM asks the lead character to make a saving throw avoid falling in a pit.

Accept Rulings

While there is a some room to question results, generally the rulings of the DM should be accepted without argument. Fine points of spell effects might be missed, but forward progress of the game is more important than be technically correct with every encounter.

Entertain In-Game

We gather to have fun in the context of the game. Jokes made in-character increase immersion in the game world and provide opportunities for the emergent story to advance. Conversation unrelated to the game represents an interruption of play.

Remind, Ignore, Expel

When expectations are violated, we first remind the player of the expectation, perhaps a second or third time. After it’s clear the player is failing to honor expectations, we ignore the player. Ridiculous suggestions may meet silence. Turns may be skipped. This lack of attention from the rest of the players can turn the play back to the game. In the most extreme cases, a player will be asked to leave. Rarely, a player asked if he’d like to go home will accept and the game moves on.

My Return to Weekly D&D

In May 2017, I began running a D&D campaign for my two sons and our friends. I use D&D here generically. The rulebook we use is Basic Fantasy, which is D20 refactored to behave similarly to Basic D&D. This successful campaign came after a few false starts with Microlite20, Pathfinder and Dungeon World. These initial failures were some combination of the kids being too young and the rules being too complicated. In retrospect, we probably would have been fine with Microlite if we’d waited a couple of years, but I took a left turn into trying popular games before sorting out what I really wanted out of the game.

My initial aim was to provide for my sons the experience of gaming I had as a child and a young adult. Remembering my own playing fondly, lead me to reading retrospectives which would turn my thinking towards a return to playing. My group of friends had stopped playing after giving D&D 3E a good shot and after we all had babies to take care of. Boardgames were an easier format for constantly shifting players. General dissatisfaction with the 3E game also meant any talk of returning to D&D triggered hard lobbying for 2E from our most fervent RPD advocate, Jeff.

The conversation about the 1E DMG’s Appendix N I’d stumbled into enabled my successful run by focussing attention on the inspiration behind the original role-playing games. I began identifying why the older games were more fun than the newer games we’d tried. And given my primary goal of exposing my two sons to the tabletop RPG experience, I discovered the lever I could use to pry Jeff away from 2E. The pitch: a game for the kids with rules simple enough for 8 year olds and with dads at the table for coaching.

The regular game has evolved over the past two years to bring the adults in as equal players. We continue to learn and adapt to best serve each player’s needs, which makes the games better over time. I can now consider D&D a primary hobby rather than something I had fun with as a kid. And when I observe my sons engaging with the game away from the table, planning their own adventures, I feel deep satisfaction.

London Town Movie Review

The whole family caught this fine film via Netflix last night, finding it quite entertaining. Just like the year 1979 in which it takes place, the story is more earnest, innocent and romantic than most fiction you’ll encounter these days. Esthetically, the film produces warm feelings with it’s remembrances of vivid color and Clash songs you can sing along to. The plot moves along without lingering on useless atmosphere. The protagonist is a likeable kid who faces challenges, conquers them and grows as a result.

You’ll find nonsense criticism of this movie that complains about it being unrealistic, which misses the point as much as complaining that Van Gogh’s paintings are blurry. It’s romantic. It features Joe Strummer the mythical hero. It presents a vision of things how they ought to be. It has something profound to say about being 15, about transforming into an adult.

The Martini Available in Hardcover

I published a hardcover book containing the play I wrote this year, The Martini. The blurb on the back is as follows.

Martinez Cocktail — Martinez Special — Martini: the libation universally celebrated as the quintessential cocktail enjoys no documented nativity. Despite aspirations of adoptive metropolises, the sensible historian recognizes a likely heritage that begins in Martinez, California. Yet, like the last swallow of gin, vermouth and olive brine swirling at the bottom of a glass, the veil of time obscures important details of this sought-after story. Now, inside this book, you will find clarity in a delightful martini tale, told twice. Illustrated prose encourages gathering close and reading aloud, while a second form provides a play in one act to be performed and enjoyed by a gathering of friends.

You will find The Martini for sale on Lulu.com for $19.79. On Amazon.com, The Martini sells for $21.99, with free shipping if you already subscribe to Prime.

You might purchase this book because your gift-giving skills rival those of the jolly old elf himself.

Captain Walker, Unsung Hero of Martinez

This man has abandoned civilization, married a squaw or squaws, and prefers to pass his life wandering in these deserts; carrying on, perhaps, an almost nominal business of hunting, trapping and trading but quite sufficient to the wants of a chief of savages. He is a man of much natural ability, and apparently of prowess and ready resource. –Captain Philip St. George Cooke

I think the kids today would call Captain Walker based, very based in fact. This quote from Cooke describing Walker is more a confession of confusion than criticism. In modern vernacular, I imagine him saying, “I don’t get how this guy refuses to follow the rules yet constantly kicks ass.”

If you visit our Pioneer Cemetery, you will find the grave of Captain Joseph R. Walker. This hero of Martinez hardly gets the attention he deserves. Here’s some inspiration to take away.

He founded and named Independence, Missouri when he was only 21.
In his 60s, he was still exploring and performing secret missions for the U.S. Army.
In 1833, his group were the first white people to visit Yosemite.
He warned the Donner Party not to cross so late in the year and they called him an ignorant pike.
His policy with hostile Indians: negotiate or be punished. It must have worked well. In all of his adventures, he only lost one man.
He never let Fremont forget his cowardice at Hawkes Peak: “Frémont, morally and physically, was the most complete coward I ever knew. I would call him a woman, if it were not casting an unmerited reproach on the sex.”
After the dishonorable execution of Apache chief Mangas, Walker ceased helping the U.S. Army work with Indians, despite a track record of peaceful negotiations and trade.

You might enjoy my upcoming play, The Martini, because Captain Walker appears in the first scene.

The Martini — A One-Act Play About the Origins of the Famous Cocktail

You’ve probably heard about how the martini was first mixed in Martinez, but perhaps you’ve experienced doubt because of fake news coming out of San Francisco or New York. If you value the truth, you can experience the real story soon by attending a performance of The Martini presented by Onstage Theatre at the Martinez Campbell Theater in June.

The play outlines key moments in the history of the martini, from its discovery in 1849 to how Professor Jerry Thomas came to document it in his book to how the legend grew to include Richelieu’s Saloon. Along the way, the performance treats the viewer to the rich personalities of Martinez history. You will meet Colonel Smith and Captain Walker, both brave California warriors. You will witness famed mixologist Professor Thomas learn the recipe of the martini on Lincoln’s Day of Thanksgiving. You will wonder at the suave stylings of Monsieur Richelieu as the events described on the famous plaque are replayed for your enjoyment.

Regarding the veracity of the work, playwright Leon Atkinson poses a philosophical question about the nature of truth that descends into incomprehensibility, using words like epistemology. While definitive documentation of the martini history may be beyond reach, there is little doubt that in these situations people turn to inspiration. Both the martini and Martinez enjoy significant reverence from their devotees.

Anyone who imbibing the famed cocktail likely acknowledges the unwritten ingredient called The Spirit of Martinez, a force propelling Martinez residents towards fraternity, benevolence and good cheer. Local personality Joseph Tully has been known to reply “no effect” when asked about the strength of a prepared martini. The consensus opinion concludes that the strength of The Spirit of Martinez overwhelms the relatively weak effects of alcohol.

Are the people of Martinez mistaken, or are they tapped into a source of knowledge others cannot perceive? It’s a topic that deserves further research. Your two best opportunities for learning more are enjoying a martini in a fine Martinez establishment (such as The Lane) and attending a performance of The Martini. This second, limited opportunity can be exploited only from June 2nd through June 10th.

Performances of The Martini are part of a three-part festival of one-act plays. All performances are at 636 Ward Street in Martinez. Specific times are as follows.

Friday, June 2 at 8PM
Saturday, June 3 at 8PM
Sunday, June 4 at 2:30PM
Thursday, June 8 at 8PM
Friday, June 9 at 8PM
Saturday, June 10 at 8PM

Playwright Leon Atkinson is expected to attend opening night June 2nd as well as the final performance June 10th.

You are encouraged to phone 925-518-3277 to make a reservation. Payment for tickets is made at the door.

Ode to a Sump Pump

The sump pumps in my french drain

Of my existence are the bane,

The cause of too much pain,

But only when it rains.

 

 

 

 

 

Szeder XMAS 2016

It’s time for John Szeder‘s year-in-review Christmas poem!

 

‘Twas the night before christmas, and before it all ended,

Half of the internet found itself unfriended.

We are still waiting for the year of VR.

It’s stuck in traffic, in a self-driving car.

Blogging is out–all that writing is tedium,

Unless, of course, it was posted on medium.

Or else it was twittered, or if you like, tweeted:

140 characters, invariably deleted.

The buyers keep buying; the sellers keep selling.

Amazon has less of us leaving our dwelling.

People are talking about new services and toys.

The signal is indistinguishable from all of the noise.

So what could all of this possibly mean?

What is the statement for 2016?

What is this “The Year Of”, What is new? What is trending?

What thing do we humblebrag in tones condescending?

Is IoT enabling your elf on the shelf?

Did you run all the numbers on your quantifiable self?

Can you control your video games with a gesture or thought?

Are your interactions meaningful with your conversational bot?

I watch it all crawling forward, I sigh and I shrug.

2016 is The Year Of We All Need A Hug.

So go wrap some arms around whoever is near,

And have a merry Christmas and happy New Year!

— John Szeder 2016

Sales Totals for Core PHP and Core MySQL

Long, long ago, I wrote a book about PHP. Actually, it was the first book about PHP. And it was a success. It lead to two more editions and another book about MySQL. Zeev, Andi and Monte each graciously helped with reviews, writing and endorsements. Being a best-selling author of the first PHP book has been great for landing gigs. Facing a range of criticism, especially in Amazon reviews, was a valuable learning experience.

Having last published a book in 2003, you might guess that sales have dropped off. The royalty checks are small. Even though the effort to write the books was immense, the rewards more than made up for it, especially for the first edition Core PHP. Despite diminishing returns, I might have continued the pattern of writing a new edition for each major version of PHP, but better books came out and PHP 6 never did.

As a perspective-setter, I offer all-time sales totals for the four books I wrote.

Core PHP 1/e (1999): 19,448
Core PHP 2/e (2000): 16,714
Core MySQL (2002): 5,773
Core PHP 3/e (2003): 11,456

 

Factors Affecting Code Quality and Estimation

Last September, ZeroTurnaround released analysis of a survey focussed on tools and practices of developers. They reported on how these affected the quality of code and how predictable delivery dates were. The Developer Productivity Report 2013 is a long read with lots of details. In the end, the data support what most developers already know. If you’re a programmer like me, does any of this surprise you?

Pair up with another coder sometimes
Automate unit tests and keep on top of failing tests
Minimize meetings
Use source code control
Use an issue tracker
Use an IDE and a debugger
Do code reviews of new code
Estimate as a group, but exclude the managers

I accept all of this with the except that I have not found IDEs to be a significant improvement to my productivity. Sometimes I wonder if exposing all the prototypes through popups doesn’t prevent developers from mastering a system and internalizing it. On the other hand, having memorized all the random parameters to PHP’s function might have been a waste of brain space. I’ll probably be fine for now with Geany and grep.

There’s a remarkable nugget about testing (slide 7):

Automated tests showed the largest overall improvements both in the predictability and quality of software deliveries. Quality goes up most when Developers are testing the code (also discussed in Sven Peter’s talk “How to do Kickass Software Development” at GeekOut 2013), which means that you shouldn’t just leave testing to QA team, but bake it into the development process as well. The rest of the measurements were more or less insignificant, although we don’t recommend letting yourcustomers/users test your software for you.

If you can convince your developers to do testing, there’s a big advantage for quality.