Runebearer Going Forward

My last post, nearly a year ago was about shutting the Runebearer website down and putting the game on ice. It has been a while, but I am back into a regular gaming swing and have a bit of renewed energy. With that renewed energy comes quite a few ideas for Runebearer, and I figured I would share them with you.

The gist of the plan is to run through all the current rules -- not a full rewrite, but add some of the stuff that I have been toying with in my recent campaign, cut some stuff that hasn't been used, and generally clean things up a bit. Once that is done, I plan to compile everything into a single document and post it to a print-on-demand shop, and get a set of books made for everyone in my current gaming circle.

I figure that it would be nice to have an honest-to-goodness book at the table with me when I am gaming. Plus, it would be a nice thank you to all of my gamer friends.

Someone suggested putting the pdf up for free on Drive Thru Gaming.. and I am all for making the new version of RB available for free, but I am not sure how easy it is to get something on their site. We'll have to see. I am not too keen on putting a Runebearer website back up because frankly, I don't find maintaining the web stuff fun at all.

In any case, what is new in Version 3 of Runebearer?

• Alchemy is gone for now -- The skill remains as a way to identify potions, but the rules for creating potions are out for now. They were hard for PC alchemists to use and so, at least in our games, very few people made alchemists. For the number of pages those rules took, we got very little out of them. I am going to rethink alchemy and put it back in as a supplement.
• Herbalism gets expanded -- Herbalists now have the ability to use their finds in their raw form, or they can process them to make them more potent, or to create entirely different effects. Herbalists have tons more to do now, which makes up a little, for the removal of alchemy.
• Talents -- Talents have been in the game for a while, but they weren't in the last version that was "published" as far as I can remember. Talents are a different way to level up your skills. Instead of spending your checks to increase your skill level, you can use them to buy talents that enhance your skills and give them new and interesting uses.
• Limitations are gone for now -- I have removed limitations from character creation for the time being. I have soured on the idea of taking a character limitation in exchange for buy points because I have seen too often players trying to take limitations they will try to avoid in play... not really a good role-playing tool. Limitations may return, but hopefully in such a way that they will lead to more role-playing opportunities instead of min-maxing ones.
• Weapons now have traits -- Weapons have traits to differentiate types of weapons. Knives and daggers have the Fast trait that allows you to occasionally get an extra attack. Axes get Limb Breaker, allowing them to do more damage if they hit an arm or a leg. Spears get the Thust maneuver, possibly piercing armor if a small penalty to-hit is taken.
• The Repair skill has a point now -- Gear now degrades in combat and the repair skill is used to fix it. In addition, if your repair gets high enough, you can hone a piece of equipment, giving it a temporary bonus.
• Tough or Willful characters can "shake-off" some damage -- After combat, you can shake off some non-wound damage if your toughness or willpower is high enough.
• Priest powers have been expanded -- Priests now have the ability to call upon the Bostonian saints for assistance.
• More spells -- Because I like spells... and I am putting the spells in a more succinct and easier to use format.
• A lot of tweaking the various skills and talents in the game -- There are a lot of small changes to cut things that were underutilized, or clunky in practice.

A lot of these changes are in the current version of the rules in the Dropbox folder. I am working on the rest of them over the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, that means I will be able to go to print sometime in the summer.

Oh... and I could use a sucker... I mean an editor :)

Anthis Notes

In an attempt to get back into tabletop RPGs, I am working on a new fantasy world that will (hopefully) be very different from Bostonia. Bostonia is cool, but I have been running games based on that setting for over a decade now and I think it has run its course.

Anthis is a world that I have dabbled in since college, but never quite got around to working it. I have started to put together some notes. See what you think.

Anthis World Notes

History

Honestly, I don’t have a ton of the world history fleshed out. That will come as the campaign continues and will depend a lot on what, if anything, people are interested in knowing.

What I do know is that some time ago, the known world was ruled by a great elven empire called the Kelanve (kel-EN-veh) Council.  The Council ruled over all the races of Anthis and its cities were centers of art, science and sorcery. What was not known by most was that the Chief Councilor was also the Steward of Anthis who guarded the world from the predations of the Shadow that lurked just out of sight of common men. This battle raged constantly with shadows periodically escaping and killing or possessing mortals before being brought down by agents of the Council.

The leader of what is now known as the Final Council, Iane (EE-ain), believed he had a way to seal the gates to Shadow forever. He planned to use powerful sorcery to draw the gates into him and then exile himself inside an impenetrable prison of light called the Infinity Mirror. This plan would have worked if not for the fact that Iane’s most trusted assistant on the Council, Eaday (EE-uh-day), had been possessed and was lying in wait for the perfect moment to betray her master. When Iane drew the Shadow Gates into him, Eaday ran him through with the Black Key (an ebony sword partially made from the stuff of Shadow). His murder caused the gates to open allowing Shadow to spill into the world unchecked.

Shadow filled the world with beasts, tore open the land and stirred the seas. In a single moment, the greatest empire ever seen was swept from the earth along with a thousand years of its works. Cities were buried, sunken or transformed into dark and twisted images of themselves. Millions perished and for hundreds of years, Anthis was without light.

Ultimately, the Twelve Lanterns were born (how?) and defeated Shadow, partly by casting it back through the Shadow Gate and partly by consuming it.

The current campaign is only a 20-25 generations after the defeat of Shadow and the world is still recovering.

Shadow

Shadow is an incarnation of the forces that seek to corrupt and destroy man and his civilization.

The first of these forces come from beyond – inscrutable, alien creatures that lurk in the darkness waiting for the right moment to snatch us and carry us away to infinite torment. These are the demons of Anthis who were bound behind the Shadow Gate, but let loose upon the world through Eaday’s treachery. These malevolent creatures watch Anthis, probing the barriers between their world and our own. When they find or create a breach, they spill into the world, killing or corrupting everything in their path.

These creatures can only manifest in true darkness. Fortunately, the gods protect the world: the Twins guard the daytime sky, Cancri lights the nighttime, Ulder guards the sea and Mondain holds vigil underground.

The second of these forces come from within – the voices that whisper to us and play on our darkest urges. Antheans believe that everyone who survived Iane’s death and all of their descendants are touched by Shadow. The darkness that drives men to insanity and evil lurks in everyone and that only the light of the soul keeps it in check.

How Antheans Treat the Dead

When someone dies, the soul leaves the body, but the Shadow remains. For that reason, proper treatment of the dead is very important to all the races of Anthis. Almost all cultures of the world burn, bury, or sink their dead, thus consigning them to the sky, earth or sea and their respective gods. When corpses cannot be properly disposed of, special rituals exist to ensure that the Shadow is purged or at least contained. For instance, Priests of Brul have a responsibility to consecrate the sites of large battles and followers of Tathae will often do the same for cities suffering a plague.

The Elves and Immortality

In exchange for their stewardship of the world, the Old Gods granted their favorite children immortality. This is one of the factors that led to the dominance of elven science and culture – elven scholars and artists had hundreds of years to learn their craft.

Even though elves did not suffer the physical ravages of age, they did tire as they got older. Often, elves that had seen several hundred years, especially those with children, would voluntarily die, going into a repose from which they never woke.

However, elves found that they were uniquely affected by the taint Shadow placed on the world. Every year after Shadow had been contained, the elves have suffered ever-decreasing birth rates. Nowadays, elf births are so rare that they are almost unheard of, and the rare birth is a cause for celebration across the elven world.

Because of this crisis, elves have stopped voluntarily ending their lives. Most elves alive now have been alive for many centuries. The problem is that they are still fatiguing and are doing so at an accelerated rate. Most elves tire of life after a mere 100 years now and many of those that go much longer than that go mad.

Fortunately, an elven scholar named Bezier developed a technique by which an elf can wipe a portion of his memories, allowing him to live an extended life while maintaining his sanity. Nearly all of the elf’s skills are lost, as are some of his memories, but his basic identity is left intact.

There are rumors that Bezier’s process could be used to totally wipe a mind clean, leaving the subject with no memory at all, but this has never been done.

The Dwarven Tragedy

Before the coming of Shadow, the dwarves ruled over a huge, underground empire that consisted of six holds (three in Anta and three in Enva), each ruled by a descendent of the ancient Dwarven Kings. The holds stretched for hundreds of miles in every direction and in them the dwarves mined and built stone cities to rival those of the overworld races.

When Shadow came to Anthis, the expanses of dark tunnels provided a gateway to a seething mass of ravenous creatures. For many years, the dwarves mounted a spirited defense of their homes, but the forces of darkness were relentless. Over three-fourths of the dwarven population was killed and four of the six holds were overrun. The other two holds survived, but only by collapsing most of their tunnels and sealing their people into vaults, or sending them as refugees to the overworld.

Today, the Two Holds are rebuilding and reclaiming as many of their lost tunnels as possible. The boldest of the dwarves are planning to re-enter the Lost Holds and acquire the treasures of the lost dwarven civilizations. Of course, it is very likely that some very old and hungry demons dwell in those tunnels that have been dark and undisturbed for so many years.

The End of Runebearer (or at least the website)

Over the weekend, I let the Runebearer site expire. At this stage, no one is interested in Runebearer, but for the people who are already playing Runebearer... and I know almost all of those folks. So, instead of leaving the site open and thinking about how I really ought to be updating it on a regular basis, I decided to drop it. All of the files I am editing are in a Dropbox folder, and most everyone who needs the files can get to them.

I might work on getting the files (or links to them) up on this blog, but then I would have to kick myself monthly about not updating this (largely unread) blog... and I would be back to square one. For now, I think I will just lay the game to rest until a better idea comes to me.

I Hate My Gaming Group

A buddy of mine sent this to me... it is a repost of a blog entry I wrote a few years ago. Still makes me chuckle:

I am fortunate in that I have a regular stable of people with which I play online games. It isn't really a large enough crowd to be a guild or clan, but anywhere between 3-6 guys/women get on Teamspeak several nights a week and we get together and share our latest game... which is great. The only problem is that in the past several months, I have come to realize that I hate my gaming group.

See, recently things have not been so smooth for my gaming crowd. There have been moves, new jobs, family engagements -- the normal comings and goings of 30-40 somethings that interfere with gaming. No big deal there... we are all pretty busy, everyone has a reasonably demanding job, two of the guys are family men and those that aren't have active social schedules. I get it: real life >> gaming life.

What bugs me is this: Every so often the stars align and everyone puts the kids to bed/ditches the wife/takes the evening off or otherwise clears their schedule, grabs a drink, dons the headphones and fires up their computer. This might happen once a week or so and when it does...

We don't play together.

Have you ever "gone to lunch" with a group of friends only to find that it is 1:30pm and the only conclusion you have reached is that there are 13 restaurants within driving distance and someone in the car can find a reason to dislike every single one of them? Our Teamspeak sessions are THAT car.

L: "Let's play CoH. We all still have CoH accounts and I have another Fire/Kin I am dying to level."

C: "Umm... I let my CoH account expire."

L: "Aw.. why'd you do that?"

C: "Well, we have played CoH for years now. It's boring. And anyways, you guys have essentially
beaten the game right. I don't really want to tag along while you four-box your team of plant/storm controllers. It's not fun anymore."

L: "I only three-box."

C: "Nonetheless... let's do something else. What about WoW? I would love to dust off my WoW account and actually level my warlock."

L: "I could do that."

J: "Ugh... I HATE WoW!! The graphics suck!! Literally, they make me nauseous."

C: "Dude, who cares about the graphics? The gameplay is what counts."

J: "The art style is so cartoony... I can't stand it."

C: "That art style is deliberately designed to look like a Warcraft game. Haven't you ever played Warcraft?"

J: "And those hideous Popeye forearms... ugh... I just threw up a little in my mouth."

C: "Ok, ok... no WoW. What then?"

S: "LORTO just came out with a new expansion... I could show you guys around."

B: "How can you like that game? It feels nothing like Middle Earth."

S: "Yeah, but it's a good PvE game. Don't think of it as Middle Earth. Think of it as an MMO without shoes."

J: "I suppose the graphics are ok on that one."

B: "If you'd have read the copy of the Silmarillion I lent you..."

C: "Ok... no LORTO!!!"

S: "Huh, why not?"

C: "I have a rule: once someone mentions the Silmarillion, the argument is over... It's a lot like Hitler that way."

D: "How about EQ2? I used to have an account there."

C: "Oh I don't know. I played EQ2 at launch and frankly it was a little dull. The crafting was a pain and you had to grind 10 levels before you could even play an interesting class."

D: "Yeah, but I've played more recently than that. A lot of that crap has changed. They have really improved the game these past years."

L: "Please,  'Come back and play... the devs have really improooved the game with patch 80398-B'... If I had a quarter for every time I'd heard that..."

C: "You still wouldn't have enough to pay the monthly fee for all of your CoX accounts."

L: "Good point."

S: "Isn't EQ2 a Sony game?"

D: "How about Vanguard then?"

S: "Sony game."

B: "Are you still on about Sony and SWG?"

S: "I WILL NEVER FORGIVE THEM FOR WHAT THEY DID TO MY BEAST TAMER!!!"

(uncomfortable silence)

C: "Well... how about we try some free to plays? No risk there... just download and play."

L: "Yuck... You have fun with your Korean grind-fests. I am going to run through some player-created content on CoX."

C: "Would that be RitkiFarm#341 or CouncilSlaughter#418?"

L: "No way, my new farm is called StatesmanIsMyBitchNow. The XP flows like..."

C: "Lube?"

L: "I was going to say 'butter', but whatever."

D: "I don't even think Statesman is with CoX anymore. Isn't that guy off making Champions Online?"
(All in unision.. and with awe): "Oooooh, Champions Online."

S: "I'm really excited for Champions Online."

C: "Me too."

D: "Comes out soon, I think."

J: "I am looking at the website now. Look at those awesome graphics -- just like it was straight out of a cartoon!"

C: "Umm... what is the difference between 'cartoony' and 'straight out of a cartoon?'"

J: "Huh?"

C: "Forget it."

B: "I hope it comes out on XBox."

C: "What? Why?"

B: "My computer won't run Champs Online... no way. So they better release this thing on XBox or else Statesman will have nerfed me again."

C: "Dude..."

B: "What?"

C: "I don't think they are guaranteeing cross-platform gaming. So, even if Champs Online is the only game we can all agree on, and we all go buy it together... you STILL might not be able to play with us. You should go out and buy a new computer."

B: "No way I am buying a machine just to run a stupid game!"

C: "You just bought an XBox."

J: (obviously changing the subject) "Why don't we all try the trial for DDO?"

(laughter ensues and we all log off for the night)

Combat in Runebearer

I wrote Runebearer over 13 years ago, and though it was never particularly successful in terms of the number of people reading/playing it (and frankly nowadays, it is almost unknown), from a personal standpoint, I think it turned out pretty well. I like the game. A handful of other folks like the game, and over the course of the past decade or so, the amount of enjoyment the game has brought me and my friends has been considerable.

And hopefully a few people outside of my various gaming circles have found it to be to their liking as well.

Looking at the rules as they stand today, one of the things I am pleased with is Runebearer's combat system. Runebearer started as an attempt to take the simplicity of an AD&D style hit point system, but still capture many of the interesting effects of games like HERO, Rolemaster and Aftermath. Ultimately, through many reviews, play sessions, arguments and revisions, I think I got it about 90% right.

The big thing I enjoy about Runebearer's combat is the fact that it is a positional combat system, meaning that one of the main determinants of a party's success in a fight is how the PCs position themselves on the battlefield in relation to their allies, enemies and terrain features. The fact that defenses degrade against multiple attackers, the engagement rules, and the rules for obstructions all ensure that groups who position their characters to support one another and use the battlefield will fare better than those that charge in carelessly.

Another thing that I think works well in Runebearer is its pace of decision is good. Combats are often decided in about 6-8 rounds. Combats aren't often decided on the first salvo, and they usually don't drag on beyond the point where everyone has lost interest. Because of the positional nature of the game, one side's position will crumble before all of their combatants are defeated, leading them to run, surrender, or fall back. This keeps combats fast-paced and exciting.

Finally, I like the mix of control and randomness that the game has. Combat is deadly -- every wound can drop you. However, most blows won't incapacitate you, and with talents, equipment, maneuvers and tactical skill, you can minimize your chances of injury. Still, that chance for an incredible shot (both for and against the PCs) is there and I think that adds a bit of spice to battles.

Are You Having Fun Yet? Part 2 -- Hook Your Character

Last post I claimed that the best RPGs came about when the players were taking responsibility for their fun. By that I mean players need to take responsibility for the quality of the game in general, thus ensuring that they and their fellow players have fun.

You can start taking responsibility right at character creation by making sure that you hook your character to the game world. This means that you take some time to understand the campaign setting and then you build your character so that he has some ties to that setting -- some purpose to his adventuring; something that he cares about; a reason to be. Understand what the GM is going for and make sure that your new character can be a part of that. When the GM is setting his game in a fantasy Age of Sail, complete with galleons, cannons, pirate queens, swashbucklers and pistoleers, maybe the dark, foreign, loner mage who uses magic no one has ever heard of and is deathly afraid of water of isn't a good fit.

In addition to making sure your character fits in the game setting, make sure you also hook your character to the rest of the group. Talk to your fellow players and make sure you fit into the party. Does that group already have a rogue? Then please don't make another rogue with all your skills one better. Is everyone else playing a member of an extremely strict temple? Your dual-classed hedonist-thief might not be the best fit. You want to play the dark, mysterious loner in a group of 8 PCs? Errr... maybe you should talk to the group and see what they think...

Oh, and the character who took the limitation pathological liar? Never OK. No matter how many build points you got. Never. O. K.

Ask the rest of the players about their characters and use that to help you get ideas for your character. Maybe you can even take it a step further and see if another player would like to hook your two characters together in some way -- perhaps you are siblings, classmates, or rivals.

The main point is to make it easy for the GM to give you cool stuff to do. You might think being a grumpy loner with no reason to live is awesome, but to everyone else at the table, that is a dull character. You have no ties to the world, so the GM has nothing with which to motivate you -- no Auntie May to kidnap, no liege lords to send you on a quest, no religions to fight for. Hell, you don't even like kittens!! At this point, don't be surprised when you find yourself complaining that the GM isn't making the game compelling enough for you. You have made a character who refuses to be compelled.

My regular game setting is a fairly small, religious, human-centric land and I have one player who plays a non-human, pagan, foreigner from a clan-based society. So he is an outsider in the normal campaign world. However, in his homeland he... well, he took the limitation "Clanless" which makes him something of a persona non grata in his home territory as well. He is an outsider everywhere and that means I have to work extra hard to get him screen time. Without some character modifications, or some serious suspension of disbelief, he is where plotlines go to die.

This isn't to say you shouldn't play what you want, or that campaigns shouldn't include offbeat characters, or that GMs shouldn't work at integrating all types of PCs into their games. But, it is a reminder that the player bears some portion of the responsibility for how his character fits into a given game. If you are wondering why your character isn't getting any interesting plots, ask yourself if you have given the GM any hooks. If none of the other players seem interested in your character, ask yourself if your character is interesting.

Take responsibility for tying yourself to the campaign world and your group, and you should find yourself having more fun.

Are You Having Fun Yet?

I do most of my gaming at my local game store and while there are several good games down there, there are also a bunch of failing games, filled with misery, griping and drama. These games start, play out and fizzle all in the span of a couple months. The entire time the players are griping about how crappy the GM is. The GM is moaning about how the players don't get his intricate plots. The players are sniping at the other players -- about how such-and-such is a spotlight whore, or a power gamer.

There are any number of reasons why these games fail... a downright dizzying amount. There are so many ways a game can go wrong that sometimes I am amazed that so many games actually work since statistically, it would seem that the odds are stacked against sitting down to a good, fun game.

I have played in and run both good and bad games and though there are many tips and tricks that I could talk about to push a game into the "good" zone, I would like to focus on one specific idea that I often see overlooked in gaming advice articles. Namely, the fact that in every good game in which I have ever taken part, all of the players were there to have fun.


Ok, I can hear it now, "Well of course we're there to have fun! We are gaming after all. That doesn't change the fact that the GM is a boring blowhard trying to railroad us into following his uninspired J.R.R. Salvatore Martin rip-off plot."

You may have a point, the GM has a big part to play in making a game fun or not, but I do think that the role of the players is overlooked. Too often, we talk about how it is the GM's responsibility to make sure everyone is having fun. But, looking back on the best games, I would say the players have as much, if not more, impact than the GM on whether a game is fun or not. Which brings me to the point of the post:

The best games are ones in which the players take responsibility for their own fun.


What does it mean for a player to "take responsibility for his own fun?" It means actively participating at the table, working with the GM and getting into his story, being funny when it is appropriate, being quiet when it is appropriate, letting everyone participate in decisions, understanding the pacing of the game and moving things along when they slow down...

It means a heck of a lot of things... Let's get into more detail in the coming posts.