James Maliszewski's Blog, page 17

So It Begins

While I am fortunate in having plenty of ideas for posts to write, I nevertheless do appreciate it when readers make suggestions to me of topics they'd like to see discussed. Last week, in a comment to a previous post, I was asked the following: 

James, have you ever written about how you start your campaigns? What do you expect your players to know about the setting, going in? And what does the first session look like?  

I am thinking in particular about the House of Worms, but also your campaigns in the Third Imperium. During character creation was there discussion about what they were going to pursue or did you provide a lot more direction at first? And given that the PCs were citizens of those empires, did you feed the players a lot of background knowledge during the initial sessions or have them do a little reading beforehand?

That's a very good question and one I can't recall specifically addressing in a previous post. The closest I've come to doing so, at least in recent years, was this post from earlier this year about my Barrett's Raiders Twilight: 2000 campaign. What I note in that post is that I generally have what's come to be known as "Session Zero," which is to say, an introductory session where the players and referee all get together and talk about the nature and scope of the campaign, the kinds of characters the players wish to create, etc. etc. 

There are lots of reasons why this is the case – perhaps fodder for another post – but my usual approach to starting a new campaign is fairly laissez-faire. I prefer to lay out a very broad concept for a campaign with a few ground rules and then let all the players go off and make their characters independently of one another. There might be some discussion between the players beforehand or between the players and myself, but not a lot. I'm a firm believer that the best campaigns are not planned but simply occur organically through the unexpected creativity of everyone involved.

To demonstrate a bit what I mean by this, allow me to use my ongoing House of Worms Empire of the Petal Throne campaign to illustrate my manner of starting a campaign. Initially, my only idea for the campaign, if you can call it that, was to run a Tékumel campaign. I'd previously refereed two campaigns in the setting, neither of which lasted more than a few months. I wanted to give it another go, this time in the hope that it might endure for at least a year or more. With very few exceptions, I always go into a new campaign in the hope of its being a long one. I'm not a fan of "mini-campaigns," let alone "one-shots," so, after a couple of failed attempts to create a stable Tékumel campaign, I wanted to give it another go.

Once I'd committed to a new Tékumel campaign (using EPT, because it's a fairly simple game and rather similar to Dungeons & Dragons, thereby eliminating one possible barrier to new players), I decided on two other details beforehand. The first was that the game would begin not in the city of Jakálla, as so many Tékumel games do, but in a different city. I chose Sokátis specifically because there wasn't a lot of information about it and because its location on the far eastern border of Tsolyánu made it a great "home base" for adventures outside the titular Empire of the Petal Throne. The second detail I decided was that all the characters would belong to the same clan in Sokátis, thus giving them a ready-made reason for why they all adventured together. This approach deviates from the "classical" one in which all new EPT characters are barbarians newly arrived in Tsolyánu looking to make a name for themselves and acquire imperial citizenship.

I then set about finding players through the late, lamented Google Plus. To my surprise, I found eight players interested in joining the campaign. I made it clear that the campaign was open to players of any level of familiarity with Tékumel. The result was a handful of complete neophytes, a couple of veterans, and the rest in between. I am well aware of Tékumel reputation – undeserved in my opinion – as an "impenetrable" setting. To dispel that notion, I assured neophytes that they'd need know nothing about the setting in advance; all they needed to know would be "taught" through play. 
That said, at the start, before characters were made, I explained to all the players the differences between the pantheons of Stability and Change and their places within Tsolyáni society. This was important, because the first question I put to the players was about the nature of the clan to which their characters would belong. Did they want to belong to a Stability-aligned clan, a Change-aligned clan, or an ecumenical one whose members worshiped a wider range of deities? I offered several examples of each clan, complete with their names and business. Eventually, the Change-aligned, Sárku-worshiping House of Worms clan was selected, which caused one of the players to drop out, as he couldn't countenance the idea of playing a character whose clan was devoted to Change god of death. (Another of the original eight players dropped out before we played due to scheduling conflicts.)
Having settled on the House of Worms clan, I then asked the players to create their own characters and to send them to me before the start of the first session a couple of weeks hence. If a player had any questions about the rules or the setting, I happily obliged them, but I did not direct their decisions nor did I encourage them to check with the other players. Instead, I asked them to make whatever character most appealed to them within the context of being a member of the House of Worms clan in the city of Sokátis. The results were an eclectic bunch but, over the years, they've managed to become an effective group, bound by both common ancestry and interests. 
I had absolutely no "grand plan" for the campaign whatsoever. I had elements of Tékumel that interested me, but I had learned long ago that the best campaigns were those whose development was shaped more by player interest than by that of the referee. Certainly, I dangled NPCs, locales, rumors, and mysteries in front of the characters in the hope that they might take them up and, in some cases, they did. In others, though, they went their own way and I contented myself with the fact that their strong drive to do this or that probably provided more sustainable forward momentum than anything I could impart. Still, I often held on to certain ideas and would repurpose or recontexualize them later so that I might get the chance to use things that interested me. After all, the referee is a player too and should get to a little bit of fun.
I kicked the campaign off with an open-ended mystery that gave the characters the opportunity to explore Sokátis, meet some significant NPCs, and learn a little more about Tsolyánu and the larger setting of Tékumel. I didn't specifically intend it to be didactic, since that's rarely fun, but I had hoped that, by showing the setting in action, the players would pick up on its details and come to understand them more. This worked beautifully, though it took time and patience, as most good things do. And the rest, as they say, is history. 
Please let me know in the comments if you'd like me to expand upon anything I've written here or if you'd like me to devote a similar post to one of my other campaigns to show you how I try to do things. I could probably do a more generic post in which I lay out broad principles for setting up a new campaign, but I think showing what I specifically did in the case of a single campaign might be more helpful, hence this post. 

My Traveller: 2300 (Part II)

The last Interstellar War between the Vilani Ziru Sirka and the Terran Confederation – dubbed by historians the Nth Interstellar War, because, after 200 years of sporadic, on-and-off hostilities, it was no longer clear when one war ended and another began – concluded in 2302, with a Terran victory. Though the Terrans never actually reached the Vilani capital of Vland, which was still several sectors away from the front lines, two centuries of defeats had finally toppled the already-tottering empire. Admiral Hiroshi Estigarribia, commander of the Terran forces, accepted the surrender of the Vilani ishimkarun ("shadow emperor"), thus beginning the occupation of the imperium. 

I had mistakenly assumed that this was the time period during which Traveller: 2300 would be set – the early years of the Terran occupation of the Vilani empire. In Traveller's future history, there's a 15-year period between the defeat of the Vilani and the establishment of a successor state, the Rule of Man (known to later history as the Second Imperium or "Ramshackle Empire"). During this time, more than 100,000 Terran naval officers were dispatched to worlds across Vilani space to take over the reins of government, to direct the local bureaucracies, and to maintain peace and order. In some cases, Terran ensigns were faced with governing entire worlds, while commanders of light cruisers were now administering entire subsectors. 

Terran forces were stretched seriously thin and faced with the nigh-impossible task of propping up what remained of the Vilani government, because, if it had fully collapsed and interstellar trade had ceased, billions across hundreds of worlds might have died. This is the scenario I imagined Traveller: 2300 was setting up as the backdrop for the game. I had visions in my head of player characters being assigned to a single world to govern it in the aftermath of the Vilani defeat, dealing with all that that entailed, including the culture shock of the ossified, stratified Vilani culture that had rigidly governed thousands of worlds for close to two millennia prior to this point. In short, it'd be an interstellar "domain game" in a situation reminiscent of Alexander's defeat of the Persian Empire in the 4th century BC.

But that's not all. In Traveller's history, the end of the Vilani empire precipitates changes in Terran society too. In 2317, the Terran Confederation announced plans to directly annex the entire imperium to itself, administering it and its resources as spoils of war. Doing so would have made many people on Terra very wealthy but at the cost of the Vilani people, whom the Terran Navy had spent more than a decade working with in order to stave off the worst. Many senior naval officers, including Admiral Estigarribia, were incensed by this and refused their orders. Indeed, Estigarribia and his allies launched a coup that overthrew the Confederation and installed him as "Protector of Terra and Regent of the Vilani Imperium." The Rule of Man was born.

What I was hoping was that Traveller: 2300 would have been a political game, in which the characters, whether or not they work with the Terran Navy, would have to navigate the shifting currents of the early Second Imperium, as its leaders struggled to maintain order, establish legitimacy, and manage the vast inheritance of a fallen interstellar hegemon. Such a setting would be rich with opportunities for intrigue, factional politics, and moral quandaries. Would the characters remain loyal to Estigarribia’s “emergency rule,” or seek to restore some semblance of the old Confederation? Would they champion native Vilani rights and customs or impose Terran reforms? What compromises would they make when ruling over entire worlds with little more than a couple of small starships and a handful of junior officers for support?

Imagine a campaign where the party’s ship is not just a vehicle for exploration or combat, but a traveling court or a flying colonial office. Each jump brings the characters to a different world, each with its own challenges: Vilani aristocrats playing at collaboration while secretly plotting revolt; ancient bureaucracies gumming up every effort at reform; smugglers, pirates, or rival Terran factions taking advantage of the power vacuum. Do the player characters use brute force to impose stability? Try to build consensus among local rulers? Or exploit the chaos for personal gain?

It’s the kind of campaign backdrop that combines space opera with elements of historical drama, diplomacy, and empire-building – think Birthright but in space. The chaos of the postwar period isn’t just background color – it’s the whole point. Players must grapple with what kind of future they want to build amid the ruins of the past. Of course, this is not the game that Traveller: 2300 is or was ever intended to be, but this is what I had hoped it would be and that I'd still like to run some day, because I think it's got a lot of potential.
Indeed, I almost ran a campaign along these lines maybe 15 or 20 years ago. The characters were all senior officers on the staff of an ambitious Terran admiral. As Hiroshi Estigarribia lay dying, he saw an opportunity to seize control, becoming his successor. Unfortunately, he is beaten to the punch by Estigarribia's chief of staff, who presents himself as Emperor Hiroshi II, establishing a new regime. The admiral, who is the characters' patron, now plots to find a way to achieve his original goal from behind the scenes, with the characters engaging in all sorts of political and military skullduggery. 
I never got very far into planning the campaign, in part because I soon realized that doing the concept justice would take a lot of work. I'd probably need some "domain" mechanics and larger scale starship combat rules, not to mention some system for handling influence and favors. I'd probably handwave a lot of that now, but, back then, before I'd fully immersed myself in old school play, that wasn't something I seriously considered. I also wasn't confident enough as a referee to pull it off. So, the idea still percolates in the back of my brain, waiting for an opportunity when I might make use of it.
Anyway, this is my vision for a "proper" Traveller: 2300.  Symbol of the Rule of Man

My Traveller: 2300 (Part I)

In my discussions of GDW’s other science fiction roleplaying game, 2300AD, I’ve often mentioned that, when it was initially released under the title Traveller: 2300 , I mistakenly believed the game to be a prequel to Traveller – a look into the prehistory of the Third Imperium setting. I assumed that the game presented events set in the year 2300 of Traveller’s own timeline, laying the groundwork for what would eventually become the interstellar empire familiar to long-time fans. I was wrong, of course. Traveller: 2300 was its own thing entirely, unconnected to the Traveller universe despite the branding.

That said, once I got past my initial confusion, I found Traveller: 2300 to be genuinely interesting in its own right. Over the years, I’ve had a great deal of fun playing it (and hope to do so again someday). Clearly, though, I wasn’t the only person to make this mistaken connection between the two games. That’s likely why GDW eventually changed the title to 2300AD, first truncating it simply to 2300 and then settling on the now-familiar title. As far as I can recall, only one or two products were ever released with the original Traveller: 2300 logo before the title change clarified matters.

I bring this up because, toward the end of last month, a reader left a comment on a post I’d written about Traveller: 2300, suggesting that I write a piece about what I’d do if I were to design a genuine Traveller prequel. As others were quick to point out, such a prequel already exists: Marc Miller’s Traveller, released in 1996 and now commonly referred to by fans as T4. This edition is set at the dawn of the Third Imperium – Year 0 – when Cleon Zhunastu, an industrialist turned statesman, oversees the transformation of the Sylean Federation into the Third Imperium, the third great human empire to dominate Charted Space.

The concept behind T4 is a strong one. The early days of the Third Imperium are fertile ground for adventure and intrigue. There’s plenty to do, as Cleon and his allies attempt to reestablish interstellar governance after nearly 1800 years of disunity and fragmentation following the Long Night. Unfortunately, the execution left much to be desired. T4 was plagued by a host of problems – poor editing, confusing mechanics, and books riddled with errata. Even many long-time Traveller enthusiasts found it frustrating and it never quite caught on. I was initially quite enthusiastic myself, but my excitement faded rapidly with the publication of the first few disorganized and unevenly written supplements.

Returning to my earlier confusion about Traveller: 2300, what I had expected – incorrectly – was a game set during the early centuries of Traveller’s own timeline, specifically after the invention of the jump drive by humans on Earth (later known as the Solomani) in the early 22nd century. According to the game’s canonical history, these early Terrans launched exploratory missions to nearby stars, only to discover that many had already been claimed by a powerful and ancient interstellar polity: the Ziru Sirka, or Grand Empire of Stars, ruled by the Vilani, humans of an entirely separate origin.

Inevitably, relations between the upstart Terran Confederation and the ossified Vilani empire soured, culminating in a series of protracted conflicts collectively known as the Interstellar Wars. Over the course of two centuries, the Terrans slowly but inexorably dismantled the Vilani imperium, a period detailed in GDW’s Imperium board wargame. This era of history is ripe with potential, filled with exploration, diplomacy, war, and cultural clashes – a veritable golden age for adventure.

If the name "Interstellar Wars" sounds familiar, that’s likely because Steve Jackson Games released a book by that title in 2006 as part of its GURPS Traveller line. GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars is a commendable book, well-researched and engaging in many respects. However, I’ve always felt it was held back somewhat by being tied to the GURPS system. While I have great respect for GURPS as a universal roleplaying system (and even contributed to several of its Traveller-related products), I don’t believe it’s a particularly natural fit for the kind of game Traveller is at heart. Regardless, Interstellar Wars focuses specifically on the period from 2113, when the first war between Terrans and Vilani began, to 2302, when the final conflict ended in the Vilani surrender. That puts only the very tail end of that timeline within the range I had mistakenly imagined Traveller: 2300 would cover. So, while GURPS Interstellar Wars is admirable in many respects, it doesn’t quite align with the vision I had in mind.

And what was that vision? What sort of Traveller prequel would I create if given the chance? That is the subject for Part II, which will appear tomorrow.

Retrospective: Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook

As a big fan of Twilight: 2000, one of the most intriguing aspects of its sequel game, 2300AD (né Traveller: 2300), was discovering what had become of Earth's many nations by the dawn of the 24th century. While the game's boxed sets and numerous supplements offered occasional hints, much remained unknown. GDW hadn't yet published a map of the world, leaving me to wonder not only how borders had shifted after the Twilight War but also which new nations had risen in its aftermath. In hindsight, this omission made a certain amount of sense: 2300AD focused primarily on Earth's interstellar colonies, relegating the homeworld to a supporting role. Still, I was eager to learn more, but it wasn't until the release of the Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook in 1989 that I finally got the map I’d long wanted, along with a wealth of additional detail about the planet.

By the time this supplement (penned by Lester Smith) appeared, science fiction and, by extension, science fiction gaming, was undergoing a thematic and aesthetic shift. The broad, idealistic strokes of earlier speculative futurism were giving way to bleaker visions of tomorrow, marked by corporate dystopias, body augmentation, and a cynical erosion of privacy and individuality. R. Talsorian’s Cyberpunk, released the year before, had embraced this new direction wholeheartedly, quickly establishing itself as the definitive expression of the genre within the hobby. In contrast, the Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook struck me as more ambivalent about the second part of its title. Its treatment of cybernetics felt less like a serious commitment to the cyberpunk mode and more like a cursory nod to a rising trend – an instance of bandwagon-jumping rather than wholehearted adoption.

I was much more interested in its depiction of 24th century Earth than in its presentation of cybertechnology anyway. I hoped that, by turning its attention away from the stars and toward the cradle of mankind, this supplement might help to expand the scope of the game and enrich the backdrop against which its action unfolded. In some respects, it’s reasonably successful. The book spends most of its 96 pages offering a portrait of the planet three hundred years after World War III, presenting a patchwork of familiar and unfamiliar nations and evolving political dynamics. Looking back on it now, what’s most notable about the Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook is how thoroughly it reflects the broader ambitions – and limitations – of 2300AD as a whole.

To explain what I mean, please allow me to briefly discuss 2300AD and its premise within the larger context of GDW’s roleplaying game lines in the late '80s. 2300AD was an attempt to create a hard science fiction RPG distinct from its more space opera-tinged predecessor, Traveller. The game imagined a world rebuilt from the ashes of the Twilight War under the leadership of the French Empire and its European allies, with interstellar colonization achieved through faster-than-light “stutterwarp” drives. The game’s tone was thus one of plausible extrapolation: technology had indeed advanced, but not in ways that made the world unrecognizable. It was a future you could almost believe in – grounded, methodical, and informed by history, geopolitics, and military realism.

The Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook tries to remain true to that tone, but it haphazardly incorporates the trappings of cyberpunk in a way that, unfortunately, undermines the attempt. Cybernetic implants, shadowy megacorporations, and “deck jockeys” are all present, but they’re awkwardly grafted onto a setting that was never designed to accommodate them. Rather than enriching the game’s vision of the future, these elements often feel like genre paint hastily slathered over a very different kind of foundation. The result is a setting that feels inconsistent, even incoherent at times, a supplement trying to gesture toward contemporary trends in science fiction without fully integrating them into 2300AD’s established ethos.

This tension between competing visions of the future is, I think, emblematic of the struggles GDW often faced when expanding its game lines. The company’s writers were admirably ambitious and often ahead of the curve in terms of scope and complexity, but they sometimes failed to reconcile newer creative impulses with the foundations they had already laid. We see this in the tonal shifts and mechanical overhauls of MegaTraveller and especially in the jarring transition to Traveller: The New Era. However, it occurred even earlier in the Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook. Here, though, the misstep feels especially unfortunate, because the supplement had the potential to deepen and expand the game’s portrayal of Earth and bring a neglected part of its setting into sharper focus. Instead, it mostly muddies the waters by attempting to be something 2300AD was never intended to be.

That’s not to say the supplement is without value. For those interested in 2300AD’s geopolitical vision, it remains a useful (if flawed) resource. The world map, national summaries, and discussions of post-Twilight War culture and politics help fill in gaps left by the core game and earlier publications. There are even moments of genuine insight and creativity, especially when the book focuses on the quieter, more grounded elements of life on Earth. But these moments are often overshadowed by the half-hearted dive into cyberpunk tropes, which feel tacked on rather than organically developed.

In the end, the Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook tries to have its cake and eat it too, marrying GDW’s traditionally serious approach to history, politics, and military matters to the more outlandish claims of the then-nascent cyberpunk genre. The final result is neither fish nor fowl. It gestures toward the grit and style of Cyberpunk without committing to its worldview, while simultaneously diluting the strengths of 2300AD’s grounded speculative realism. It is, I think, a rare and notable misstep in a game line that is otherwise quite measured and “realistic.” Even today, I remain disappointed by the book, not because it lacked potential, but because it failed to realize the one thing it could have done best: shine a clear and coherent light on Earth’s future without losing sight of what made 2300AD compelling in the first place.

The Articles of Dragon: "Taking the Sting Out of Poison"

One of the characteristics of the Silver Age of Dungeons & Dragons (1983–1989) is its concern with "realism," both in its worldbuilding and in the game rules intended to facilitate them. You can clearly see this in the kinds of articles Dragon magazine published during the mid to late 1980s, a great many of which I still remember to this day. "Living in a Material World," about which I posted last week, is a good example of what I'm talking about, but it's far from the only one.

Another excellent example is Chris Landsea's "Taking the Sting Out of Poison," which appeared in issue #81 (January 1984). At the start of his article, Landsea notes that his piece is, after a fashion, a response to two previous articles on poison that appeared in earlier issues of Dragon. The first is Charles Sagui's "Poison: From AA to XX" from issue #32 (December 1979) and the second is Larry DiTillio's "Poison: The Toxins of Cerilon" from issue #50 (March 1982). Landsea praises both articles for certain aspects of their treatment of poisons but he also has criticisms that he hopes to address in his own discussion of the topic.

The article is a long one – about ten pages, though not all the pages are full ones. Even so, it's an extensive examination of many aspects of poisons and poison use in AD&D, intended to be the definitive guide. In that respect, there's little question that the article does its job, albeit with a great deal more detail than I would care about today. There's nevertheless something strangely admirable about Landsea's thoroughness. He covers all the bases, from the different types of poisons (ingestive, insinuative, contact, poison gas, monster venom) to their relative strengths, how easy they are to detect, how long before they take effect, not to mention much more obvious matters like damage dealt on a successful or failed save. Landsea has probably thought more about poisons in AD&D than anyone else ever has and it shows.

Whether this is good or bad is, of course, a matter of personal preference. At the time "Taking the Sting Out of Poison" was released in early 1984, I was keen on it, if not necessarily enthusiastic. Like a lot of things, such as material components, I was very much in favor of these kinds of hyper-specific, hype-detailed rules additions – in principle. They appealed to my youthful sense of order and the desire to have an answer to any rules question that might come up in play. But did I ever use them in play? I don't think so. If I did, I can't recall it, which tells you everything you need to know about the utility of this kind of article.

Now, it's quite possible that I'm the odd one out here and that thousands of AD&D players were clamoring for an article like this in order to improve their adventures and campaigns. If so, I suspect they would be very happy with "Taking the Sting Out of Poison." It's an exhaustive and very well done examination of its chosen topic. I mean that without a hint of sarcasm. It's really good and, as I said, my youthful self respected all the hard work Chris Landsea clearly had done in writing it, even as I never made use of it. There's a whole genre of Dragon articles like this, consisting of well-written and researched treatments of narrow topics that probably never saw much use at anyone's table, but, to quote Grandpa Simpson, it was the style at the time.
Speaking of the style of the time, another thing the article does is mention again and again AD&D's official stance on the use of poison by player characters who are not members of the assassin class. Even though Dragon depended on a huge number of rules variants for its monthly content, the editorial policy at the time was to remind readers that nothing within its pages was official unless it came from the pen of Gary Gygax or someone to whom he had given his imprimatur. Landsea clearly knew this, which might explain why he seems at pains to emphasize his fidelity to AD&D whenever possible. This has no impact on the quality of the article itself; it's simply a peculiar artifact from another era.

Reading Material

One of the many joys of this hobby is the sheer volume of imaginative material it has generated over the last five decades. Even now, I can happily spend an afternoon thumbing through a well-worn module or sourcebook and suddenly find I've lost an hour or more in its descriptions, maps, and background information. Roleplaying games, at their best, can stimulate the imagination in ways few other media can. They seem designed to invite speculation, which makes them a pleasure simply to read.

But they’re also games.

This shouldn't be a controversial statement, but sometimes I wonder. RPGs are designed to be played, yet so much of the hobby nowadays seems oriented around simply reading them instead. You can see this in how games are written, how they're marketed, and how they're consumed. I know more than a few gamers with dozens – sometimes hundreds – of books on their shelves, the majority of which have never seen use in any fashion, except as reading material. I know this because I myself am too often guilty of the same.

Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with reading RPGs for enjoyment. I do it all the time and some games practically demand it. However, I do worry about the habits this encourages. For many gamers, especially since the appearance of PDFs and other digital media, the hobby can become more about collecting and commenting than it is about playing. “Backlog” becomes a point of pride. The latest boxed set or 300-page full-color hardback might get read, maybe even admired, but rarely, if ever, brought to the table.

There is, increasingly, a bifurcation in the hobby between those who play RPGs and those who consume them, often as passive entertainment. It’s now quite common to encounter people who own dozens of games they’ve never refereed or played, who follow RPGs the way one might follow a television show or a comic book line. They discuss scenarios, debate rules, rank publishers, and chase new releases, not unlike fans of any other media franchise. As I said, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that either, but I question whether that mode of engagement still resembles gaming in any meaningful sense.

To be fair, the sheer volume of RPG material produced each year probably makes it impossible for even a fraction of it to be meaningfully used. Nevertheless, I think this overproduction has consequences. Most importantly, I worry that it's fostering a passive approach to gaming, one where we're more accustomed to absorbing information than in making decisions, more practiced in critique than in improvisation. Worse, it creates an expectation that play requires exhaustive preparation and a towering stack of sourcebooks before anyone dares to roll dice. The result is paralysis: we read, we plan, we dream, but we don’t actually play.

The modern glut of RPG material encourages a passive engagement with the hobby, one where reading supplants playing. It fosters the illusion that the essence of the game lies within the glossy pages of a new release rather than in the messy, unpredictable energy of the table itself. Increasingly, we see products crafted less as tools for play and more as artifacts for consumption – lavishly produced, densely written, and satisfying to browse but difficult to use in actual sessions. These works often prioritize information over usability and polish over spontaneity. In doing so, they quietly undermine the fast-and-loose, make-it-up-as-you-go spirit that once defined roleplaying.

It wasn’t always like this. The earliest RPG books were lean, sometimes opaque, and unapologetically practical. They assumed the reader was already gathering friends and dice, ready to dive in. These texts weren’t written to be admired; they were written to be used, bent, scribbled in, and carried to game night. If you weren’t playing, they didn’t offer much. They threw you straight into the action with minimal handholding, trusting that you’d figure it out (or make it up) as you went. That trust in the referee’s imagination and willingness to improvise was not a flaw but a feature, a recognition that the real magic happened not on the page, but in the shared chaos of play.

There’s a lesson in that, I think. Games need to be played to come alive. The rules, the settings, the monsters, the magic, all of it is inert until you put it into action. Reading an RPG can be a fine experience, but it’s not the same as the laughter, confusion, and surprise of a good session. The books may be the door, but the game – the actual game – is what lies beyond it.

So, by all means, read. Marvel at the creativity our hobby continues to produce. Just don’t forget to play. Otherwise, all we’re doing is collecting books and calling it participation.

Campaign Updates: Closing In

This past week, all three campaigns made significant progress toward resolving – or at least advancing – the current plans of the player characters. In the cases of both Barrett's Raiders and the Dolmenwood campaign (which, I have just noticed, does not have a distinct name), it's likely that their focus will soon shift to other matters. That's true in House of Worms, too, though the shift is not so much in focus as it is in intensity. Things heated up in a very significant way this way week, as you'll soon read.
Barrett's Raiders
Major Hunter sequestered herself in the officer's tent, scouring through the requisition and inventory forms that Lt. Cody had recently acquired, hoping to find evidence of anything obviously suspicious. In the end, it became clearly that the records were so poorly maintained that almost everything within them could, in the right light, appear suspicious. Even so, Hunter eventually concluded that there had been a deliberate effort to conceal some kind of malfeasance by the base's logistics personnel. In fact, the most suspicious forms were all personally endorsed by Captain Tolen, whereas the majority of the others were signed by his assistant, Lt. Bennett.
Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Orlowski set out for the DCAZ with Sgt. McLeod in order to meet with Sarah McBride, a former Richmond city councilor, who was identified to them as a leader amongst Fort Lee's civilian refugees. McBride was an older woman and, initially, she was none too pleased to see Orlowski. She explained that lots of military officers had been to see her to "assess the situation" and "seek solutions" and nothing had come of it. Orlowski made no promises that he could effect any improvements, but he did sincerely wish to know what was happening in the DCAZ.
McBride then explained that the biggest problems were ones of benign neglect rather than malice. General Summers and his officers weren't lording it over the civilians, let alone abusing them. Sure, there were incidents from time to time, but, with the exception of the recent death of Corporal Ramos, they rarely got out of hand. Mostly, Summers was too hands-off and allowed problems to fester instead of dealing with them directly. She suspected it's because he'd rather do nothing than risk creating a PR disaster through error. 
Orlowski then questioned her about whether there was any black market operating in the DCAZ and whether they might be trading in anything dangerous, like weapons and ammo. McBride said that, of course, there were illicit goods being traded, but she added that none of them were dangerous. Further, she had the impression that at least some of these goods were being passed to the refugees by Army personnel, either out of genuine concern or just a desire to make a profit somehow. Orlowski took note of all this and returned inside the fence of Fort Lee.
Having completed her examination of the logistics records, Major Hunter then began the process of interrogating any even remotely involved with the missing supplies, starting with Specialist Darrell Huxley. Huxley, Lt. Cody had learned earlier, was a local. Hunter used this to grill him about the times the supply truck he drove got flat tires. Eventually, she made him admit that Captain Tolen had provided him with extra supplies "off the records" to be picked up by a high school friend of his, Denny Lagrange, who'd then pass them on to others in the area who needed them. He didn't want anyone to get into trouble, least of all Tolen, whom he said is "a good guy." Hunter then suggested to Orlowski and others that they might now need to approach Tolen and others in logistics to get to the real bottom of this.
Dolmenwood
Having rescued the scholar Farnham Ribblemead from the catacombs beneath Shadholme Lodge, the characters regrouped in Sir Clement's pavilion on the nearby Festival Field. Sir Clement had come to the conclusion that, in order to prevent Lord Malbleat from succeeding at the necromantic ritual he was planning on the next evening, he had no choice but to attempt a rescue of the young woman held at Redwraith Manor. The woman, Emelda Wishorn by name, was essential to Malbleat's plans. By spiriting her away from the manor, he could foil those plans. This was an eminently suitable task for a noble knight such as himself and he urged his companions to join him in it.
Everyone but Marid agreed to assist him. Marid claimed it would be better if he stayed on the Festival Field and keep watch over Ribblemead. The others thought this was a very good idea, since they did not want the old man to fall back into the hands of Malbleat or his servants. The rest then headed north along the Manor Road in order to reach their destination. They had previously passed Redwraith Manor on their way to Shadholme Lodge and found it an ominous and uninviting place, with a black, wrought-iron fence and a forbidding gate. The place looked even more uninviting in the small hours of the night. Of course, the cover of darkness this time afforded made it much more likely that they could approach without being spotted by Malbleat's guards.
Sneaking onto the manor's grounds was not easy. There were several patrols, as well as an expanse of open ground between the fence and the closest part of the building. Alvie is a thief who possesses a sprite-wing cloak, which gives the wearer near-invisibility and Waldra, as a hunter, is good at hiding herself. That left just Falin and Sir Clement, both of whom wore plate armor and were both louder and slower. So, Alvie lent Falin his cloak, while Sir Clement made use of a philtre of invisibility he found in the alchemy lab beneath Shadholme Lodge. After some near misses with guards, all four made their way to the manor.
The most obvious way in was through an enclosed garden. However, the garden was occupied by an elderly breggle who seemed to be engaged in some kind of experimentation with the plants and flowers within. Fearing something sinister, they avoided the garden. Instead, Alvie climbed in through an open window and unlocked another door. The characters then spent some time, avoiding guards and other inhabitants of the place while they looked for stairs going down (on the assumption that there must be a dungeon beneath the manor). Eventually, they found the stairs and, after a stealthy fight against several guards, made their way into the basement.
Their assumption was indeed correct. There was a secret prison beneath the manor. All of its cells were empty but one, containing a young woman, who identified herself as Emelda Wishorn. Using keys obtained from one the guards, they freed her and explained they were here to rescue her. Emelda was confused by this; she also showed signs of being drugged. So, Falin helped her out of her cell and told her they would take care of her. She agreed to come with them.
House of Worms
Rumors were spreading throughout Béy Sü in the aftermath of Prince Eselné's speech. The Temples of Karakán and Vimúhla were solidly – and publicly – behind him, as were the Temples of Avánthe and Dlamélish (due, no doubt, to Princess Ma'ín's support of Eselné). Meanwhile, the Temples of Belkhánu and Sárku opposed him. The other temples and the great clans of the city sat on the sidelines, many of them hoping that the prince's rhetoric was just that and he did not truly intend to break the millennia-old Concordat and wage war on the Temple of Belkhánu. 
Unfortunately for them, Eselné was not bluffing. He sent for Grujúng to lead the cohort (400 men) of the First Legion to attack the temple just before dawn the next day. Joining Grujúng were his clan mates and comrades of many years, all of whom wish to be present during this historic event. Kirktá worried that Grujúng had been chosen to lead the attack so that, should thing go badly, he could be used as a scapegoat. After all, he was a member of a small, unimportant clan from the eastern empire, with no noble lineage or history. For his part, Grujúng's attitude was "In for a qirgál, in for a káitar." He was already too deep into what was happening to worry about the consequences. He'd either be a hero or take the high ride on an impaler's spike. 
Grujúng was given strict instructions: kill them all. No one could be allowed to escape, since there was no way to know which priests were secretly part of the cult of the One Other. Everyone within the temple, no matter their station, must die. Grujúng had no problem with this and planned accordingly, splitting his men into two main groups – one attacking the front and one attacking the rear of the temple. Others were arrayed outside its walls to deal with any priests who attempted to scale them to safety. (There was also a second cohort, not commanded by Grujúng, whose job it was to deal with anyone attempting to flee into the underworld.)
The frontal assault met with strong resistance, while the rear assault met barely any at all. The rear group also contained a small group of skirmishers, led by Nebússa but also containing Kirktá, Chiyé, and Keléno. They were tasked with plundering as much as possible from the temple's library and treasury before anyone else sacked the place. Kirktá was worried that, when the temple was finally razed by Prince Eselné, he would not care whether he destroyed priceless artifacts or not. Plus, he was still unsure whether or not what he had been told about his role in the succession was true. If it were, he might need these items.
Inside the temple, what soon became clear was that it was largely empty but for a few fleeing priests and those who were at the front of the temple defending it. They suspected that they'd been given advance warning about the attack and fled earlier. Their suspicions were confirmed in the library, when they encountered Míru, the priest of the One Other they'd met previously. He was alone in the library and told them, "They're all gone – many of them to Dhich'uné, who offered them sanctuary. He claims he's 'upholding the Concordat as tradition dictates,' but it's just another ploy to advance his own cause." He then added, "I knew you'd come, Kirktá. I've set aside a few things for you here," pointing to a collection of artifacts. Then Chiyé shot him with the excellent ruby eye and tossed him into Kirktá's chest of the topaz god (an extradimensional container) for safekeeping. They grabbed the artifacts and prepared to leave the temple.

Craving Vanilla

With the end of my House of Worms Empire of the Petal Throne campaign looming on the horizon, I’ve found myself increasingly entertaining thoughts about what I might referee next. This is, I suspect, a familiar experience for any long-term referee. When one campaign winds down, the imagination inevitably drifts toward the next one. What's perhaps less familiar – or at least less commonly admitted – is what my imagination is drifting toward right now. After nearly a decade refereeing a campaign set in one of the most distinctive and idiosyncratic settings in all of fantasy gaming, my thoughts are now turning toward something simpler and more familiar. 

A few years ago, I wrote a post in defense of “vanilla fantasy,” that oft-maligned category of fantasy assembled from a plethora of well-worn elements ripped bleeding from a wide variety of pop cultural sources. It's the sort of fantasy that offers elves and dwarves, orcs and dragons, populating a comfortable backdrop of castles, taverns, and ruined keeps to explore. In my original post, I argued that familiarity is not, in itself, a vice and that, much like vanilla ice cream, this style of fantasy can be delightful, provided it's well made.

I’ve been thinking about that post again recently, not in the abstract but in a more immediate sense. Refereeing Tékumel has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my gaming life. The world is rich and strange, filled with a secret history, believable cultures, and cosmic mysteries that continue to engage my players and me even after more than a decade of continuous play. But Tékumel is, undeniably, a demanding setting. Refereeing it requires a certain level of commitment, not just from me, but also from the players. There are fewer familiar touchstones. Every temple, every clan, every creature has to be introduced carefully (and often repeatedly) until everyone involved can differentiate the Golden Bough clan from the Golden Dawn clan and distinguish a Mrúr from a Shédra. Doing so has been a joyful labor, yes, but a labor nonetheless.

After so many years of that, I find myself looking at my large library of RPGs and thinking fondly of simpler pleasures. I don’t mean simple in the sense of dull or uninspired; I mean something that requires less instruction, less orientation – a world where the players already know what an elf is, what orcs are, and where a sword +1 is a treasured find. Something like The World of Greyhawk might fit the bill or even an original setting that proudly embraces the classical tropes of the genre. I'm thinking of a setting where there's no need to consult pronunciation guides or encyclopedic sourcebooks, because everyone already knows and understands it.

I suppose what I might be seeking is a kind of fantasy palate cleanser. After a long and satisfying feast of intricate, exotic fare, my appetite turns to something more basic – not because it’s better, but because it’s different, maybe even a little more easily digestible. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Just as you can grow weary of overly dense worldbuilding or settings so unique that they require a glossary, you can also find yourself longing for something familiar, something one can settle into without having to decode it first. There’s a reason so many of us fondly remember playing The Keep on the Borderlands or The Village of Hommlet: those were places you could walk into and start playing immediately, no lore dump required. There’s real value to that kind of immediacy.

The funny thing is that, after spending so long championing the offbeat and the obscure, I find myself needing to re-learn how to embrace the obvious. It’s actually surprisingly hard. I must admit to feeling a certain guilt about even pondering this, as if, by considering a campaign filled with orcs and magic swords, I might somehow regressed in my tastes or skills as a referee. That's nonsense, of course, but I feel it nonetheless. Vanilla isn’t bad; vanilla is foundational. It's the baseline against which everything else is judged. Like any flavor, it can be bland or brilliant depending on who’s mixing the ingredients.

To reiterate a point I've made before, I remind you of something a friend of mine said to me at Gamehole Con a few years ago. He and I were enjoying some locally made ice cream – Wisconsin takes these things seriously – and he remarked, “People think vanilla is plain, but that’s only because they’ve never had good vanilla.” I’ve never forgotten that. Sometimes, after wandering far and wide in the world of fantasy, what you really want is something straightforward, something honest, something that reminds you of why you fell in love with the genre in the first place.

I can't yet be certain what game I'll referee after the conclusion of House of Worms. The group has bandied around some ideas, but we haven't settled on anything just yet. Up until this week, I was pretty sure that, whatever it was, it'd something quirky, idiosyncratic, or otherwise off the beaten path. Now, I'm not so sure. Maybe instead it’ll be something with goblins in caves, mysterious towers in the swamp, and a one-eyed bandit lord menacing the kingdom from his hilltop fastness – because maybe, after all these years of luxuriating in the baroque splendors of ancient empires and alien, unknowable gods, I just want to spend a little time in a world where swords are swords, wizards wear pointy hats, and the map has a corner labeled “Here Be Dragons.”
I guess we'll see.

Campaign Updates: Reckonings

Apologies for not having kept up with updates from the three RPG campaigns I'm currently refereeing. I have been distracted by the triple threat of real life, working on the Secrets of sha-Arthan 'zine, and simply finding other topics worthy of extended interest. Consequently, I haven't written one of these posts in a couple of weeks. I will nevertheless attempt to keep the information below brief, which necessarily means leaving out (or not dwelling upon) some of the details.

Barrett's Raiders
The investigations at Fort Lee continue, starting with Lt. Cody, who decided to follow-up his previous digging by paying a visit to the base's Logistics Office. There, he attempted to make an appointment to see the officer in charge, Captain Reginald Tolen. Tolen was unavailable. Cody approached his assistant, Lt. Nolan Bennett, who set up an appointment for later that day. Bennett seemed concerned that Cody was part of "that liaison group that's been sniffing around" and that he might be looking for someone to blame for the loss of supplies. Bennett assured Cody that Tolen was "straight – probably too straight" and he was doing the best he could in a bad situation. Cody assured he wasn't here to railroad anyone; he just wanted some answers.
Later, Lt. Col. Orlowski and Sgt. McLeod were keeping an eye on their unit's vehicles, to be sure no one came by to look too closely at them. Throughout their time, they noticed that several MPs passed by and took a look in their direction, but were otherwise disinterested. On the other hand, they did notice that a younger officer (a lieutenant) wearing a Logistics insignia passed by several times in the course of a couple of hours. He was clearly watching them, but was doing a poor attempt to hide it. Later, conferring with Cody, they concluded the officer in question was Nolan Bennett.
While at the medical tent in the DCAZ with Vadim, Michael observed Elijah poking his head inside. He caught Michael's eye and asked, "Is Dutch here?" Michael told him no, but said he'd let him know that Elijah was looking for him. Eventually, Dutch goes to see him and Michael follows at a distance to determine if anything else is going on. Elijah worries that Dutch might think he's with New America; he assures him he's not. "You don't build the New Jerusalem out of bones and lies," he adds. He encourages Dutch to keep digging and says if he hears anything he'll pass it along. He also spots Michael, despite his efforts to hide. He approaches him, extends his hand, and introduces himself as Calvin Traynor "but folks round here started calling me Elijah and I didn't have the heart to disagree."
Cody's appointment with Captain Tolen revealed several avenues for investigation. Both water and gasoline are tight. Other supplies are better. The problem, he claims is twofold. One, security at the supply depot is lax. Tolen blamed the MPs and insinuated that Col. Kearns was hoping to manufacture problems as justification for a crackdown. Two, the convoys in and out of Fort Lee are chronically short – missing crate here, missing drum there. He wonders whether the problem originates in the base or outside it. Tolen then supplies Cody with records to help his investigation but admits that many are in poor order, since people had been used to doing a lot with computers before the war and they're struggling to go back to the old ways. Cody thanks him and heads out.
Dolmenwood
The characters continue to explore the chambers beneath the Shadholme Lodge. It soon becomes clear that Lord Gryphius Malbleat is planning to do something related to his long-dead ancestor, Wrygott Gnarlgruff, in whose honor the annual Hlerribuck festival is held. Previously, they had assumed that Gnarlgruff was somehow still alive, as their investigations in Faerie revealed what appeared to be correspondence between Gnarlgruff and Prince Mallowheart, a powerful fairy lord. Now, they're starting to think that the "Gnarlgruff" of that corrrespondence was Malbleat acting under a pseudonym – though there were other possibilities, as they soon learned.
During their explorations, they freed an old human man by the name of Farnham Ribblemead. Ribblemead explained that he had been kidnapped by Malbleat's servants to translate an ancient ritual from The Book of Foul Wonders. The ritual was a form of necromancy intended to raise Gnarlgruff from the dead under the command of Malbleat, who hoped to use his ancestor's sorcery for his own evil ends. However, to accomplish this, the ritual demanded, among other things, that it be accompanied by a song "sung by the most beautiful voice in the High Wold." That voice belonged to a young woman, also kidnapped by Malbleat, but whose current whereabouts Ribblemead did not know. "Most likely," he explained, "she's held somewhere at Redwraith Manor," but he couldn't be sure.
Since Ribblemead desperately wanted to leave the chambers where he was imprisoned, the characters did not linger much longer. However, they did spend some time poking around other rooms beneath the Lodge, as well as those above. With the exception of one room (the wine cellar) inhabited by a frightful spider-woman with human hands at the ends of its eight legs, they found little of immediate interest. The spider-woman caused them such fright and disgust that they fled the scene almost immediately and decided that discretion was indeed the better part of valor. They returned to Sir Clement's pavilion and prepared their next actions. 
There is one more day until the one when they believe Lord Malbleat will attempt the ritual Ribblemead described and there remains much to do in order to prevent him from succeeding.
House of Worms
After Eselné's speech in the Hall Unfurled Banners and Dhich'uné's response, all of Béy Sü is in turmoil. The great clans, the temples, and anyone else of any power or influence is hastily attempting to determine whom to support and how best to do so. While there are a few zealots among the various contending factions, most simply want to escape the unfolding chaos with their heads intact. It is now obvious that, one way or another, a reckoning is about to come upon Tsolyánu's capital city – and quite likely the Empire itself. 
As the characters pondered their own place within these events, Nebússa was met by Múresh hiQolyélmu, a member of his own Golden Bough clan, as well as the local chief of the Omnipotent Azure Legion. Nebússa, of course, already knew him, but his desire to talk was nevertheless notable. Múresh explained that Eselné's actions had disrupted their own plans for the upcoming Kólumejàlim. "Balances were already in place," he said, "The path was already clearing." Nebússa took this to mean that the OAL intended to fix the Choosing so that the "right" candidate – probably Táksuru – emerged victorious, though Múresh did not say this directly. Múresh also told Nebússa to be alert. If necessary, he should be prepared to make "a single cut, quiet and clean, before the whole loom comes down around us."
Grujúng received his orders from General Kéttukal, giving him command of the cohort of the First Legion that will attack the Temple of Belkhánu just before the next dawn. Kéttukal asked that Grujúng and anyone else who planned to join him make their way to the Palace of War as soon as possible so that they could be briefed on the ins and outs of the attack. Kirktá intended to join the attack, disguised as an ordinary soldier. His intention is to use the chaos of battle as an opportunity to loot the temple of anything he deems potentially valuable to current events. For that reason, he chose not to accompany Grujúng, lest his presence be detected too soon. After all, Kéttukal already made it clear that Kirktá would not be permitted anywhere near the temple.
Kirktá had other matters to attend to. He was informed that a delegation from the Temple of Dlamélish had come to see him. Initially, this made no sense, as he had no dealings with that temple whatsoever. However, others more versed in the intrigues of Tsolyáni politics understood that the delegation was, in fact, a cover for a visit from Princess Ma'ín, who'd recently thrown in her lot with Eselné. Ma'ín was her usual playful self, employing subtlety and innuendo rather than coming right to the point. In short order, though, it became clear what she really wanted to know was if Kirktá and his comrades were "plotting something clever – something dangerous." When Kirktá assured her he was not and that he was wholly behind Eselné's cause. "How disappointing," she declared. "You really are what you appear to be: a boring scholar."
She then left. Nebússa was very pleased. Kirktá had played his part well. 

REPOST: The Articles of Dragon: "Living in a Material World"

Issue #81 (January 1984) of Dragon included an article by Michael Dobson (whom I presume is the same Michael Dobson employed by TSR as an editor and writer between 1984 and 1987) entitled "Living in a Material World." As its subtitle makes clear, this article is intended to provide a system for dealing with the various material components spellcasters were expected to carry in order to work their magic. Likewise, Dobson notes that "material spell components add to the romance and realism of magic use, and somewhat restrict the power of spell casters." By my lights, this makes "Living in a Material World" about as paradigmatic an example of a Silver Age Dragon article as almost any I can imagine.

As to the content of the article itself, I can't deny that it's rather well done. Dobson is to be admired for his intestinal fortitude in providing a comprehensive accounting of all of AD&D's material spell components, including their costs, where they might be obtained, and their rarity. He then uses this information to provide the referee with the likelihood that various locales might have the components for which one is searching. There's a base chance, modified by rarity, the size of the locale in which one is searching, and other factors. It's actually a fairly easy system to use if you have the article handy, but one wonders why anyone would bother – at least I do (and did).

I want to be clear here: I don't begrudge anyone who finds dealing with such minutiae to be fun in their campaigns. Everyone has a slightly different notion of how much detail is "too much" and how much is "not enough." There's no single path to Verisimilitude. And I think, ultimately, that's my biggest beef with articles like this. They're part of a trend that D&D – and RPGs generally – adopted in the mid-80s that equated more detail with "better gaming." I don't deny that I've often indulged in more detail when I happened to like the topic in question, but material components have never been one of those topics.

They still aren't.