Leveling is a Lie

 

Others have noted it, leveling doesn't necessarily make your character better. They just face tougher monsters and the fights take longer. I won't cover that already well-tread ground.

I want to take on the assumption that without leveling, without significant character bonuses earned over time, that a game is only good for a one-shot. Unfortunately, leveling is the default for "character growth" in RPGs because it is simpler than developing a character narratively. Characters growing in a narrative way are much more complex as there are no handy yardsticks to measure it.

To those who think leveling is necessary to hold a player's interest over long games, let me ask you a few questions.

A) Did you ever watch Scooby Doo when you were a kid?

B) Did you keep coming back to see the next week's episode? (okay maybe just the older folks need to answer this).

C) From the first episode to the last episode, how many levels did Shaggy gain? Did he improve in any way or change at all? Nope. 

Most sitcoms, cartoons, and weekly TV shows featured no character growth beyond "who's hooking up with who". Yet fans came back for more. They wanted to see the problem of the week unfold, hear the funny quips, and try to guess how it all ends. 

Without the goal of levels, perhaps the players will become more invested in the tale. Less "what will my character become" and more "what will my character do". If you can accept and enjoy that playstyle, you don't need leveling to enjoy a game for a long, long time.

A Word About Acting

 Acting for the stage is very different than acting for a movie. 

It's all to do with where your audience is.

On the stage, the closest audience member is 5-10 feet away. So your acting needs to be big! Your voice, even in whisper, needs to project so that even those seated in the cheap-seats can hear. Your body should animate with huge gestures to show who is taking.

Acting for the camera means going small. The camera (thus audience) is right there, looking at the pores in your nose, the twitch of your eye. Your speech needn't be loud or bellowing, but soft and subtle. A great actor can convey so much emotion through such subtle acting.

So please, consider how far away your audience is at the game table, and try to act accordingly. Especially if there are other people around you.

This has been a message from Thoggius "Uses-Squirrel-As-Club" Ponderbrain III. Have a functional day.

How I Handle Money Without Counting Pennies

 

I'm tired of counting coins and cracking silvers into coppers and NONE OF IT IS FUN!

It's an almost proven fact - As math increases, entertainment decreases.

So here's how we simplify things:

The Basic Unit - A Handful of Coin. What kind of coins? Who cares. How many coins? Who cares. A Weapon costs a Handful of Coin. A toolkit costs a Handful of Coin or two. A days food and lodgings costs a Handful of Coin. If the cost of an item is significant enough to note, it probably costs a Handful of Coin. When you search a goblin for loot, it might have a Handful of Coin.

The Sack of Coins. More expensive items cost 1 or more Sacks of Coin. Horses, Wagons, Sailboats, passage for a long voyage, their costs would be in Sacks of Coin. If the heroes are being hired for a "simple" job, they're going to be paid in Sacks of Coin. 1 Sack of Coin equals 10 Handfuls of Coin. The hero can carry 2 Sacks of Coin before becoming encumbered.

Chest of Coin. For the big payments. Magic items, castles, warships, blackmail, it costs Chests of Coins. A Chest of Coin equals 5 Sacks of Coin. Heroes are encumbered if they are carrying a Chest of Coins, so better get a wagon.  

Thus we keep wealth descriptive, math is at a minimum, and you can easily gauge whether a hero should be encumbered by their loot or not. And it should be easy to guess-timate the price of anything.

I got the idea from movies, tv shows, Vikings, etc. They never talk about amounts. When someone buys something, they toss a handful coins down and get what they want. The villain always pays a sack of coins to his nefarious henchmen for a dirty night's work. Kingdoms pay ransom to their attackers in chests of coins. The vikings never sat and counted each coin when they were paid off. They just threw open the lid, looked at the loot, and the deal was done. 

Edit>> I thought about just using individual coins to represent the wealth, but then heroes would only find single coins. Getting a Handful of Coins sounds better.

Mentats and Dreamers

 Today's post will talk about two different types of playstyles and analysis using my thoroughly uneducated pop psychology. These are personal opinions based on my experiences and should not be taken as gospel. Also, individual players can fall anywhere on the spectrum between these two extremes.

First up, Mentats. Others call them Munchkins, but I don't like that term. It's meant to be derogatory and imply that these players are having BadWrongFun. I think Mentat is a better description, and not insulting.

A Mentat gamer is one that derives joy from navigating the mathematics of a game, find the loopholes, and seeing just how strong they can make a character. This is fun to them. These players tend toward complex and crunchy RPGs as they gave a solid framework for the calculations. These players want to know the odds of success before they roll so they can make the most potent choice available. If you understand that, then you as a gm should focus your energies on making interesting and challenging encounters for these players to test their engines of destruction. I have noticed that Mentats are also more likely to be a part of the miniature wargaming hobby as well.

Mentats prefer games like Hero System, Pathfinder, etc. They might play a rules-lite game as a one-shot, but it likely won't hold their interest for a long campaign.

A Dreamer gamer is one that derives no joy from the complex maths and find them a distraction to the narrative. These players are just as happy playing Theater of the Mind as they are using a battlemat and minis. They carry their character in their head more than on their character sheet. They wonder why they can't have a Spear with all the same properties as a Rapier instead if they are proficient with both. Can't it just look like a spear? Would that break the game?

These players want the freedom to be imaginative without being penalized by the rules. They tend more toward Rules Lite systems like Tiny D6, ICRPG, Fiasco, Fate, or Quest. If your player is a Dreamer, then you need compelling adventures, dire stakes, fantastic locations. Also, these are the players that want you to mine their backstory for adventures. 

Where do I fall? I'm leaving mid-Mentat and leaping into Dreamer. I just find more creative freedom with these games, and I can take it with me to introduce new people to the hobby. I love helping players make the character they want instead of the one that gives them the best options. And lastly, I just need to know what your hero is supposed to be good at, okay at, and suck at. All the degrees in between just don't interest me anymore.

Disclaimer: I have not been paid or endorsed by any of the game companies linked in this post.

Quick Thought - Faster Initiative

Why do we roll for initiative they way we do? It's needlessly slow and dull, even requiring table gimmicks to keep track. But here's a few facts:

 If a player rolls a d20 and the GM rolls a d20, then the player has a 50% chance of beating the GM and gaining initiative. 

After Initiative order is set, who goes first is no longer important after the first round since everyone is taking turns.

How do you speed it up? First, use team initiative. The players will have more flexibility that way and beyond the first round, it's just alternating turns.

The GM is the only one who rolls an Initiative die (d6). If he roll 3 or lower, the enemy goes first. If he rolls 4 or higher, the players go first. Want to spice it up? If the GM rolls a 1, then not only are the monsters aware of the heroes, they've set up an ambush. Their are more monstrous reinforcements waiting to spring on the heroes. If the GM rolls a 6 then the heroes have taken the enemy completely by surprise. Hey, sometimes you don't have to be stealthy to scare the hell out of someone rounding a corner.

Magic and Technology in the Same Setting...Why?

I'm not saying it can't be done. The premise of Shadowrun is sound, the world embraced technology because magic didn't exist. Magic awoke onto the scene so it makes sense that they would be in conflict.

But let's take your typical D&D Fantasy-Land. Magic is all around. Despite the claimed "rarity" of magic items, the heroes will come across a lot of it, usually in the hands of the villain. Magic has been tamed, identified, and spells can be repeated and taught. Magic is the technology. Given how powerful the idea of magic is (getting something for basically nothing), why would anyone pursue mundane technology? Technology would only advance in areas that magic can't. This is why it's important to know the limits of magic in your setting.

So would there be guns in Fantasy-Land? Traditional guns? Not likely, unless they were developed in a place of no magic and brought into Fantasy-Land. Why invent a gun when Flame Bolt and Eldritch Blast wands are options. A "Gun" developed in Fantasy-Land would likely be magic based, a wand shaped like a modern firearm. In which case, does it matter if you reskin wands as pistols?

Here's another instance of unlikely technology in Fantasy-Land, medical kits. Medical kits take time to use and they suck. However, the dearth of healing potions and low level healing spells are far more efficient and effective and would drive out the medical kit market. Heck, the presence of resurrection magic (if you are rich), throws a huge wrench into the circle of life (see Altered Carbon).

I'm not saying you shouldn't use magic and technology in the same setting, I'm suggesting that you think of them as one and the same. Whatever tech you want in a Fantasy setting, consider a magic-themed item that would do that. The gunfighter in a fantasy setting has been done before. Try adding some new spice to the old trope. If you absolutely want them in the same setting for contrast, make sure they each have limits that only the other can fill. Otherwise the inclusion of both may just feel like cheap fan-service.

Also, consider that if technology is there to make ordinary people as powerful as mages, magic will feel far less amazing in your setting.

How to Run a Heist in Any System

This blog is in response to Zee Bashew and Matt Coleville's youtube channels, regarding running a heist. 

You want to run a heist, or your players are about to storm a heavily defended outpost. Preplanning is key, but how do your players know what to plan. I doubt any of them has real-life experience in these areas, but the characters probably do. So how do you cover for your player's lack of foresight?

The following method is a combination of the Leverage RPG system for heists and some suggestions made for Savage Worlds, but they will work for any system. You may have to add the meta-currency (bennies, tokens, fate points, hero points, most games already have one).

Start with some skill rolls. Every player needs to decide what their contribution will be to the plan: The hacker my crack the security systems, the Mastermind might get the layout, the hitter may keep tabs on the security guards, etc. Then everyone gets a skill roll. If the roll succeeds, add a Meta-Token into a pot. If it's a critical success, add two or three.

During the actual heist, any player may take a Meta-Token from the pot and spend it to reroll a failed roll or to conveniently have a tool for a job that wasn't listed on their character sheet. The Meta-Token might also follow the rules of whatever game system you are using. The player should explain how their fore-planning allowed them the advantage on the roll. Keep in mind also, the pot doesn't refill. Once it is empty, the heroes have reached the limit of what their pre-planning can do to help.

That's it. It should be easy to bolt into your game system.

Effort and Why I Dig It (ICRPG)

ICRPG uses a system called Effort, as in "this task requires more than the flip of the switch so let's see how far you get this round". Damage is effort, each round you see how much closer you've pushed the enemy toward Deadsville. Well Runehammer thought that such an interesting system should get used more often. Now, all complicated tasks have "Hit Points", and you must defeat them using the relevant skill and Effort. Now, the lock on the doorknob isn't going to be attacking you back so "where is the drama" you ask? It's in the form of a TIMER. 

A Timer is usually a d4, but it could be a d6. The GM rolls it and the players then have that many rounds to do the task before SOMETHING HAPPENS. What is it? Only the GM knows for sure and it's enough to make you pee your britches.

You don't have to use a Timer all of the... er... time, either. Suspense has to be a roller-coaster, with ups and downs for contrast. If every moment has suspense, players will become numb to it. Just pull it out every time you want the players to get worried.

Now Effort is rated by a specific die type: d4 for Basic Effort, d6 for Weapons or Tool Effort, d8 for Magic or Super-Tech Effort, d10s are skipped as they are used solely for Loot Tables, and d12s as ULTIMATE EFFORT!

Wait, all weapons deal d6 damage?

Yup.

But That's NOT REALISTIC?

What is? Take D&D for example and the humble spear. In reality, the spear was one of the most common weapons on the battlefield. It was easy to make, cheap, keeps your opponents out of reach, and could be mastered by an unskilled user. But in D&D, those extra attributes aren't calculated. As a result, every player (that I have witnessed) picks a Longsword, a Rapier, or a Two-Handed weapon because they deal the most damage for the character type. Using a spear is a detriment to the character.

Well ICRPG says "It doesn't matter anymore, use what you like". I LOVE this. My players can now use whatever type of weapon that makes them look cool (Rule of Cool) and all I have to do is add a few tags. They can even make up weapons. Putting them in ICRPG is a snap. What's that? You want fold-away short-swords that can unfold into climbing picks like Rayla's in The Dragon Prince?

Okay so that's Shadow Elf Butterfly Swords: d6 Effort; Tags: Alien, Climbing, Concealed, Fast, Light, and Sturdy.

That took me about 30 seconds and I don't have to worry about weapon balance.

So Effort shouldn't be looked at as Damage. It's a measure of progression to a specific goal this round. Hit points are the length of the track and Effort is the speed at which you run it. And the Hit Points say a weapon should complete it's task against an single-heart opponent in two rounds with two solid hits, maybe a little longer. Picking the lock on a one-heart chest is going to take 3 rounds minimum unless you score a crit.

Also, in the Movie-verse, is there a visible difference in damage between Subotai's sword and Conan's? How about the German Machine Guns, versus the American Machine Guns? When there was a difference, it was specifically called out. Guns deal the same damage but when Arnold grabs the Bazooka... The Movie-verse doesn't care that a .45 caliber bullet does more damage than a 9mm. You go bang, they fall down. While debating the merits of weapon details can be fun, it really has no place in fiction. The objects aren't the point of the tale, the characters are. 

Note: Hankerin hates the idea of balance. But there is such a thing as good game balance: The balance of player's options so they don't feel that their decisions in character creation led them to make a boring, useless, or inept character, unless that's what they intended. No one should be penalized for wanting to look cool. 

So in short, if I want to play a wandering Spear Master, in ICRPG I have the same shot in the spotlight as Grunter the Unwashed and his Clobberrock mk Many. In D&D, not so much.

Worldbuilding 101: The Three Zones

So you feel ready to build your world but you don't know where to start. Suddenly the enormity of your task dawns on you and you panic! Do I have to script out every town and city, their populace, points of interest, and ruling bodies? Do I need to know how the toilets flush? And so you searched online for assistance. So did I.

Sadly I gleaned very little about a process for actually building a world. It all felt like that old cartoon joke:

I've made a few observations on the subject that might assist you in this endeavor. First, we will zoom out to view your entire blank world. What is your world? It's the playground for your players. But we need to know how they want to play. How do we find out? Well, there are typically three playground zones in any setting. They are:

1. Civilization: This zone is all about the inner cities, the core worlds, mega-city 1. If your players want adventures in the city, they are telling you they want a game about intrigue. The villain's are primarily other people. The heroes must navigate their way through political pressure, corruption, all while making the right allies to help keep them alive. Cyberpunk is exclusively a civilization game. 
2. The Fringe: The fringe is where civilization has a tentative hold over the wilderness. It's a popular starting location as it offers both intrigue and exploration storylines. It's also a quick hop back into a city if the heroes want, or into the wilderness. Fringe stories involve societal breakdowns like raiders, rising warlords, and corruption but also include stories about natural disasters, plagues, pestilence, rampaging creatures, and forbidden things lurking in the shadows. Players will often be hired to deal with local problems since on the fringe, there aren't a lot of peace-keepers. Almost the entirety of the original Star Wars trilogy occurred in the fringe of the Empire. We only ever saw one civilized world... briefly, Alderaan.
3. The Wild: If your players choose to play in the wild, they are telling you they want survival to be important. In the wild, there is no resupply or comfy taverns. In the wild, anything strange can and should happen. The players are out here to explore. The locations should be awe inspiring. The threats should be unique and terrifying. This is the home of lost civilizations, ruined tombs, and undiscovered countries. Give it to them.

D&D tends to place its lost tombs conveniently in the fringe so that adventurers can investigate a sunken temple at noon and be back at the pub by nightfall for fried chicken. Well the fringe is a good place for it but might I suggest treating the search for the sunken temple as a transition between the fringe and the wild? You'll get more adventures out of it and survival without support will ratchet up the suspense.

So now that you know the three zones, what do you do with them?

If the players choose to play in civilization, then you know you need to pour your efforts into a city. That's just ONE city. Where do I put it on the map? It doesn't matter. There ought to be plenty of adventure there and it doesn't sound like your players are in the mood for cross-country travel.

If the player's choose the fringe, then you know you need a town. Your players may not like the town you have made but they won't know that until after the first adventure. Once you have an idea for a town, come up with three things that are troubling the town: Frequent orc raids, a mysterious blight on the crops, and a band of thieves are harassing the townsfolk. Your players will choose to tackle one of these issues, and if they hate the town by the end of the adventure they can go to a different town. In which case make a town more to their liking and come up with three things that are troubling the new town: Well those orc raiders are striking here as well, children are suffering from a strange "sleeping sickness", and there's rumor of a sunken temple in the nearby swamp. Build the towns as they are needed.

What if the heroes choose the wild? Then build an amazing location that holds a terrible secret, don't forget the keeper(s) of that secret. Also focus on how the heroes are able to survive the wilderness trek. What problems might they face? What random creatures might they encounter? Each adventure the heroes should: experience an amazing locale, fight something they've never encountered before, and learn a secret that the forgotten place holds. Here's an example: My heroes are trekking in the wilderness, survivors of a shipwreck, cast away on an unexplored shore. They strive to survive the wilderness when they come across an inland grotto decorated with the remains of torn-apart ships. What are they doing this far inland? The water in the grotto links to the ocean and the grotto is the lair of a kraken! The same kraken that destroyed the heroes' ship! That's not all. A local tribe of beast-men worship the kraken and view the pillaged vessels as gifts. As far as they are concerned, the heroes have violated their holy ground.

Index Card RPG Master Edition!

 In recent months I have been gravitating toward more rules lite RPGs. Partially because of how hard it is to get new players to understand the complexities of RPGs, and partly because I have found them too limiting. Then I discovered RUNEHAMMER. I suggest you go check him out.

Hankerin has stepped away from the crunch talk of D&D to talk about the philosophy behind it all. It was all stuff I understood in the early days of the hobby but lost as new RPG systems wrote rules for everything under the sun.

The truth is, you don't need that many rules. Here's what you need - 

• Who is the Character?
• What is the Character good at?
• How do we resolves tasks?
• What happens when the heroes do something that makes the task harder or easier?
• How long should the encounter last? (See my post about Hit Points are Timers)

RPG's are actually about time: Can you do X before Y? Can you defeat the Dragon before it defeats you?  Suspense is also about time as well, and ICRPG introduces the idea of TIMERS to put the pressure on. Now it's "Can you pick the lock before the Boulder smashes into the party". And fact that the timer is visible to all players? No, it isn't realistic but it does generate suspense! In the Story-verse, suspense is worth more than realism. In fact, anything cool is worth more than realism, right CSI? Zoom and enhance!

This blog is now going to extol ICRPG. It's a fantastic rules-lite system that has enough depth to play a campaign and enough freedom to do anything you want. ICRPG is a system of simple suggestions. Yes, you may have to do a little work to get ICRPG to do what you want but believe me when I say it will only be a little.

Stay tuned as I gush over ICRPG the way Kami-Kun gushes over her Senpai. I don't know what that means. My daughter said it would help me connect with a broader audience.

Hit Points are Timers

I've played a variety of RPGs over my lifetime. Many of them have substituted Wound levels for Hit Points, such as Savage Worlds and WEG's Stars Wars. As a system, I don't mind them and they seem more realistic than Hit Points. There is already a huge RPG philosophical debate over what Hit Points actually are. Are they a measure of health and blood loss? Are they a measure of luck and combat prowess?

My friends... they are TIMERS. That is all they have ever truly been. If a 4 heroes do X damage per round, my creature needs Y Hit points to survive long enough to do its cool abilities. If you want an encounter to last longer, give the villain more Hit Points. If the players change the timer speed by doing more damage in a round, BRAVO!

Well that's definitely an argument against Hit Points, right? If we know it's a meta-measurement, we should stick with the realistic Wound systems?

Not exactly. One of the things I've found with Wound systems is a lack of suspense. Often times a hero or villain can be taken down in one hit (realistic), but that eases tension imho. The player accepts the possibilities of their character being in one of three states: Fine, Wounded, or KO'd. If fine, keep attacking. If wounded, keep attacking. If KO'd, kick back and wait until you revive.

But with Hit Points, the results are more nuanced and random. You might be hit for a point of damage or you might be slammed leaving only one hit point. As a result, there is greater range of dread. Hit Points build suspense because it is a timer that can move a little or a lot, but still leave you alive long enough to worry how you'll be next round. You hope you might only take 1 Hit Point of Damage while you scurry for safety.

You know, the older I get, the more I realize that a game will always be abstract, never realistic. And that my players want "Movie-verse" reality, and that we are so well versed in that reality they we don't necessarily need complicated rules to emulate that. We can just use the Rule of Cool (That's cool so yeah, you can try it), and all be accepting of the ruling, and we remember that in an RPG, everyone is supposed to win.

Coronavirus Craft Week 01a - Gamer Box Done!

And here it is!

Coronavirus Craft Week 01 - Gamer Box

So I've been watching a lot of Adam Savage's One Day Builds, feeling the week long cabin fever setting in. So I decided to treat myself to a gamer box. My stepdaughter donated the box. It was one of these.

This is what I wanted it to hold:

Full set of Jumbo Koplow Dice

Dice rolling tray

Clay poker chip bennies

Generic villain tokens of medium, large, and huge sized.

Savage Worlds and D&D GM screens

A blank Paizo Flipmat

Pencils and wet erase pens

5 minis

2 decks of playing cards

Water spray bottle

So firstly, the box was well used and beat up, and all the dividers for the top tray were missing. So after I disassembled the box, I sanded it down to strip the previous stain and get rid of the dings. Then I chopped the bottom tray's dividers down to 1 1/2 inches high. I also cut and glued in some more dividers. I did the same with the top tray. The top tray should hold cards, bennies, dice, and the big section is the dice tray. So I can pull out just the top tray to use for most games. I made sure there was a long section in the bottom tray that would hold some pluck foam and have spaces for five of my character minis.

Next I added so,e rails into the lid as spacers, cut a board with a thumb hole to fit in the lid, and I will put magnets into the rails and board to create a pocket in the lid for the GMs screens (once Ace opens so I can get the right sized drill bit). Then I stained the wood with Kona, and lined it with green felt.

The white ribbon in the left tray is to help get the poker chips out.

And finally, I created a stencil with my  Cricut Maker and painted my name in gold letters.

Stay safe out there!

An Issue of Tone...

I've been silent for a while. Part of it is chaotic home life. Part of it is I am still developing Starpunk, now for SWADE. I'm having difficulty gauging how silly I want to make it (leading me to create the meme above.

I'm leaning somewhere between Star Wars Holiday Special and Lilo and Stitch. Honestly, the games usually end up like Stitch, but I have had a few players that want something more "serious". When I do, they still end up playing Stitch.

I'm mulling over publishing Starpunk. I'll need to scrub it. I began this setting using Daring Tales of the Space Lanes. I'll need to scrub out anything that plagiarizes his work.

Modeling the light side and dark side of the force in Savage Worlds

Yup, I'm back. I finally found something to say.

I was listening to the Savage GMs Hangout Podcast episode "Everything I need to know about GMing I learned from Star Wars". It's crude, but cool and worth checking out. They were talking about how to model the Light and Dark side of the Force and the legacy of "Dark Side Points" from West End Games. Jarrod begins describing a very complicated system he had designed for his Star Wars Companion that ultimately drove down the path of Dark Side Points and complicated mechanics and yadda yadda yadda...before he trailed off.

Then it hit me, the best way to model the Dark and Light side. It comes from the Revenge of the Sith and all it takes is two new Hindrances.

Palpatine: "The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power."

Anakin: "The Sith rely on their passion for their strength. They think inwards, only about themselves."

Palpatine: "And the Jedi don't?"

Anakin: "The Jedi are selfless, they only care about others."

New Hindrance: Selfless

The hero thinks about the welfare of others before his own. Even when he is starving, he'll split his last loaf of bread and given another the larger share.

New Hindrance: Selfish

The hero(?) acts in his own best interests, and has no qualms about abandoning others when it suits him.

So if you chose to make a Jedi character, you would have to take the Selfless hindrance. However, if your actions warrant it, the gm can switch that Hindrance to Selfish and your path down the Dark Side begins.

What's the mechanical benefit? Well they are Hindrances. The more they affect you in game, the more Bennies...ahem... Force Points you will receive. Bennies are a manifestation of the Living Force, and you don't have to be a Jedi or Sith to benefit from a bit of luck. 

Wait, what if I'm a Selfish character without AB (The Force)? Are you saying that I'm still using the Force even though I can't shoot lightning out of my hands?

Yup. And if you want to see a character that was consumed by the Dark Side but wasn't a Force Wielder, just look up Bib Fortuna.

Plus, there is this quote:

Luke: "Is the Dark Side stronger?"

Yoda: "No. Quicker, easier, more seductive."

Believe me, it is so much easier to play a selfish character than a selfless one. And that is the draw of the Dark Side.

As for how that affects Force Powers, it doesn't. If you are strong in the Force, you can use it to manifest abilities (AB (The Force)). All that separates a Jedi from a Sith is where they can draw that extra bit of luck from.

Sci Fi Companion Ship/ Vehicle Sheets

There was a request on the Pinnacle Boards for one. Truth to tell, I haven't had much to show off or talk about recently so this makes for a good post. Here they are.

My Travel Kit

I've been redsigning what I travel with in anticipation of PaizoCon 2017. Yes, it's 6 months away but I like to be prepared and last year I packed way too much and hurt my back.

I'd love to be this excited about a Pinnacle Con but they don't come up here. And with my home life being what it is, a 4 day break is a rare god-send.

So here is my PazioCon kit. Items not pictured that are going in the bag are my iPad with pdfs of books and Herolab installed, iPad backup charger, 5x9 notebook, 5x9 graph notebook, sketchbook, pill box, and hand sanitizer.

So from upper left to right: Player Character Folio which grants me 1 re-roll per game in Pathfinder Society, dice box with jumbo dice (my Fave), Plano box with items I will describe later, Summoned Creature cards so I won't have to flip through the Bestiary, and along the bottom are are affect cards for spells and what-not.

The Plano Box

This holds a couple of mechanical pencils, a laminated initiative card which can also be used for tracking rounds, Pathfinder Condition Cards and Buff Deck, 3x5 pad of index cards vertical ruled for notes, wet erase pens, minis of my characters, and a stand from a delivery pizza box that serves as a stand for flying characters (like my Faerie Dragon side-kick, "Riddywipple").

I have another Plano box for Savage Worlds stuff.

So far it has 2 decks of cards, my modifiers tokens, and some card stands for figure flats. 

My dice box

Geez these are expensive! And most are made of wood. I don't want to lug a wood box around a con. It's expensive, bulky, and can get damaged. So instead I took a relatively cheap Vaultz box that I got from Fred Meyer and glued some craft foam in the bottom as well as some blue felt. Now I have a place to keep my dice and a tray to roll them in, quietly, without damaging the table.

 And finally my messenger bag. I picked it up at Best Buy for about $50. The dice box and the Plano fit into the outer pockets nicely, freeing up the internal room for other things I will be carrying or buying.

It also has straps in the back if I need to carry my maps in a tube.

Well, that's my Con Kit. Actually that's about my everywhere kit since I never game at my house so I often have to travel light. If I am GMing I would also carry the Basic Paizo flip map and any adventure materials or extra Savage Worlds books I might need.

The Danger of Stuff Pt. 2 - Losing My Way

Yeah...so...

I have become too wrapped up in stuff. I've been making maps, tiles, and painting figures. I've been collecting, even after I swore I wouldn't fall into that trap. Worst of all, I had brainwashed myself into thinking that maps and minis were just the way you played RPGs.

What I haven't been doing is gaming. I'm so caught up in prepping for eventualities when I start running games that I haven't been running games. Honestly I was so glad to have my artistic drive back that I was willing to drown myself in it.

And I was deluding myself into thinking that I could make a supplemental income with my maps on DrivethruRPG. I'm not knocking DrivethruRPG, I love their services, but when my Forest Tiles were going for $.50 they received maybe a purchase a month. Since they went "pay what you want" they have been downloaded over 50 times this month with only a couple of people tossing me some coin. I'm flattered that people like my stuff, but it is obvious that this is not a source of revenue I should depend on.

So I had to do some soul searching this weekend.

I remembered playing WEG's D6 Star Wars back in college. I had no minis, no maps, and there were epic adventures to be had. My players weren't thinking tactically about body positions, they were think tactically about supporting each other and completing the mission.

That said, I still get players that prefer minis and maps. And if I can't get them to switch over, I will have to adapt. But what I need to stop doing is making maps in a vacuum, and painting minis that I may never use.

What I should focus on is creating some One Sheet adventures, and any extras that I make (such as NPC cards, map designs, figure flats) should go towards that specifically.

So...time to prep things I will actually use, and get back to sharing stuff for free because I can.

RPG Loot Crates - A Cool Idea I Will Never Buy

Who loves presents? Who doesn't?

That is essentially what a loot crate, dungeon crate, rpg crate, any of the new crates or blocks that are rocking the current geek fad are. It's a monthly subscription to a monthly Christmas, and like all Christmases, the gifts may not be quite what you desired.

I admit, I want in. I want to get some blind rpg stuff delivered to me so I can geek out with my new toys. However I just can't bring myself to make the investment. And Here's Why:

• It's all D&D. Well that's a blanket statement, but more or less true. And if I were running a company that targeted RPG players, I would also set my sights on the 300lb Gorilla that is D&D as well. The problem is that I game everywhere on the mythical timeline, and fantasy isn't my favorite. Some crate makers have admitted they do other settings, but very rarely. Therefore I have no reason to buy a year subscription.
• Wrong game systems. As mentioned above, they target D&D heavily, but I use Savage Worlds as my go to. And there are hundreds of other systems that people enjoy that are being ignored. Even the modules and magazines that accompany these crates are for specific systems (such as some edition of D&D).
• Vynil figures. Some people love them, I don't. I am very picky about why I collect, mainly because my ex-wife was a hoarder. If it's on my shelf, it better do more than look pretty. 
• How many dice do you need? This gets included a lot because every gamer needs at least one set of dice, right? But I am afraid that this cheap, useful go to item is going to be in every crate and I purged myself of the great die bucket long ago. 

That said, I believe there are some good ideas that can be made better here.

• Truly personalized crates. Have you ever thought of making one yourself to give to a special gamer in your life? Suddenly this can be an awesome birthday/Christmas/ anniversary gift and you can tailor it to the person's preferred gaming. What is more, you know you are getting what the crate is worth and - no buttons, no ads, and no stupid frakking inflatable crowns!
• I am considering a digital loot idea. Imagine a bundled download for purchase from Drivethrurpg that includes a map, paper figures, a one sheet adventure, and a map. I have no idea how I would pull that all off monthly but it would be catered to Savage Worlds, no subscription, and significantly cheaper since I am just creating virtual assets.

Anyway that's my brain hemmorage for today. I am currently awaiting approval for my Cavern Tiles to go live on Drivethrurpg. They can connect to the "Pay what you want" Sewer Tiles I have already uploaded and will cost $1.99. That's a 50 tile set, btw.

New Map - Canyon Maze

I have a new map for sale on Drivethrurpg.com: The Canyon Maze.

It's a 24x30 inch standard size map you put together from 9 8x10 tiles. It comes in grid and non-grid.

I'm not a big fan of site advertising so this blog doesn't generate any income for me except in advertising my own work. Every little bit helps and I will keep up with new freebies sooner or later.

Thanks for visiting my site,

Chad B Jones