"Old School" games suck, and are a blight upon our hobby. They are outdated, wrong-headed, and unfun. And I will prove it.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Shared Fantasy - Women in Gaming
I expect this topic to be a bit controversial, and possibly to involve some serious discussion.
I have been reading Shared Fantasy by Gary Fine. You can check out my previous posts here and here. In the latter half of Chapter 2, he devotes quite a bit of space to the curious lack of women gamers. He offers three explanations as to why that is: characteristics of women; the process of recruitment into the gaming world; and reactions of men to the presence of women players and female characters.
I have been reading Shared Fantasy by Gary Fine. You can check out my previous posts here and here. In the latter half of Chapter 2, he devotes quite a bit of space to the curious lack of women gamers. He offers three explanations as to why that is: characteristics of women; the process of recruitment into the gaming world; and reactions of men to the presence of women players and female characters.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Shared Fantasy, Chapter 2
On Friday, I started a discussion about the book Shared Fantasy. Today, I'm going to talk about Chapter 2, which discusses what gamers are like and where they come from. The final part of Chapter 2 is about women in gaming, which I'm actually going to split off into its own post.
In summary, the average gamer (as of 1979) is a young white male, unmarried, but well educated. He likely has related fandom interests. He probably either has a good job, or is working on building towards a career. He has strong feelings about war, though they may be either pro or con. Finally, he is likely to be non-conformist and possibly judged as deviant.
In summary, the average gamer (as of 1979) is a young white male, unmarried, but well educated. He likely has related fandom interests. He probably either has a good job, or is working on building towards a career. He has strong feelings about war, though they may be either pro or con. Finally, he is likely to be non-conformist and possibly judged as deviant.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Shared Fantasy, Chapter 1
So, I have started reading Shared Fantasy by Gary Alan Fine. This is a sociological paper on the culture of gamers. That, in itself, is not really all that interesting. So far, his conclusions and insights have largely matched up to my own experiences in the hobby.
What is fascinating is that this book was published in 1983, and most of the research was done in 1977-1979. As such, it provides a window into the early days of the hobby. If you are a grognard, or just an OSR enthusiast, I strongly recommend giving it a look.
What is fascinating is that this book was published in 1983, and most of the research was done in 1977-1979. As such, it provides a window into the early days of the hobby. If you are a grognard, or just an OSR enthusiast, I strongly recommend giving it a look.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
7K - Class Debate
So, classes are once again proving to be a stumbling block for me. I think that's a very good indication that I still don't have a firm handle on how I want this system to work.
In game mechanics terms, a class is intended to be a collection of related system elements that enable rapid character creation and reinforce genre through strong archetypes. In Seven Kingdoms in particular, I want classes to bring the swashbuckling elements while origins bring the superhero elements.
However, given the radical changes I've made to the combat system, I'm not entirely sure what the class does any more. By making combat based on a skill, I've removed two key system elements that distinguish one class from another. First, there's no Base Attack Bonus. Second, every class now needs to have the same number of skill points, though with a different list of class skills. In addition, I'm not sure that I'm going to be keeping the vitality and stress mechanics, so there's another point of differentiation gone.
What we are left with are bonuses to saves, the list of class skills, and the class abilities. It wouldn't be hard to turn the class abilities into feat trees, and turn the saves into skill or ability checks. And, voila, the class is dismissed.
Good question. Do I need classes? Am I just holding onto an artifact of outmoded play?
Well, with no classes, no saving throws, and such a radically different combat system, I can pretty definitively say that I am no longer using the d20 system. On the one hand, I lose the framework of rules I'd been counting on for both ease of design and familiarity. On the other, I am freed up to use whatever mechanics suit my whims.
We also come back to one of the purposes of classes. Without a class, players lose that easy template to both build and define their characters. Of course, they also lose the straitjacket that a class can be. They become free to build their characters to suit whatever concept is in their heads.
That, though, sums up the reason I want to keep classes. Without them, the character is mostly defined by her origin. There's a big difference in connotation between "I'm a Blaster with a lot of Knowledge skills and related feats" and "I'm a Blaster Scholar". The former starts with what kind of superhero you are and builds from there. I would have to trust to the feat selection and player intent to bring the swashbuckling. The latter statement, though, gives equal weight to both genres. In a mash-up, I think that's pretty important.
If I want to keep the class system, I need to give it some significant weight. First of all, let's definitely keep save bonuses and class abilities intact. We also will be adding a gear mechanic, so let's give class-based bonuses to that.
One significant way to restore some differentiation to the classes is to set the combat to use BAB again. As I was looking at "skill as attack bonus" I noticed that it wasn't really adding much. A Soldier is likely to max it out, and a Courtier is likely to ignore it. The one real advantage it had was supporting fencing schools and techniques as skill focuses. I think that will be pretty easy to replicate with class abilities and feats.
Of course, having BAB in the system calls out combat as being more important than other sorts of conflict. I really don't want that. To counter-balance it, and call out repartee as being important, I think I should add a class-based bonus for social combat. It would work the same way as BAB, but would also remove the awkward question of the differences between some of the social skills.
Yeah, I think I like that. It makes the classes unique, but doesn't overburden the system. It brings us back closer to the d20 paradigm, which I like. And, it should be relatively easy to give each class the right feel.
What Does the Class Do?
In game mechanics terms, a class is intended to be a collection of related system elements that enable rapid character creation and reinforce genre through strong archetypes. In Seven Kingdoms in particular, I want classes to bring the swashbuckling elements while origins bring the superhero elements.
However, given the radical changes I've made to the combat system, I'm not entirely sure what the class does any more. By making combat based on a skill, I've removed two key system elements that distinguish one class from another. First, there's no Base Attack Bonus. Second, every class now needs to have the same number of skill points, though with a different list of class skills. In addition, I'm not sure that I'm going to be keeping the vitality and stress mechanics, so there's another point of differentiation gone.
What we are left with are bonuses to saves, the list of class skills, and the class abilities. It wouldn't be hard to turn the class abilities into feat trees, and turn the saves into skill or ability checks. And, voila, the class is dismissed.
So What If I Have No Class?
Good question. Do I need classes? Am I just holding onto an artifact of outmoded play?
Well, with no classes, no saving throws, and such a radically different combat system, I can pretty definitively say that I am no longer using the d20 system. On the one hand, I lose the framework of rules I'd been counting on for both ease of design and familiarity. On the other, I am freed up to use whatever mechanics suit my whims.
We also come back to one of the purposes of classes. Without a class, players lose that easy template to both build and define their characters. Of course, they also lose the straitjacket that a class can be. They become free to build their characters to suit whatever concept is in their heads.
That, though, sums up the reason I want to keep classes. Without them, the character is mostly defined by her origin. There's a big difference in connotation between "I'm a Blaster with a lot of Knowledge skills and related feats" and "I'm a Blaster Scholar". The former starts with what kind of superhero you are and builds from there. I would have to trust to the feat selection and player intent to bring the swashbuckling. The latter statement, though, gives equal weight to both genres. In a mash-up, I think that's pretty important.
How Do I Make the Class Stick?
If I want to keep the class system, I need to give it some significant weight. First of all, let's definitely keep save bonuses and class abilities intact. We also will be adding a gear mechanic, so let's give class-based bonuses to that.
One significant way to restore some differentiation to the classes is to set the combat to use BAB again. As I was looking at "skill as attack bonus" I noticed that it wasn't really adding much. A Soldier is likely to max it out, and a Courtier is likely to ignore it. The one real advantage it had was supporting fencing schools and techniques as skill focuses. I think that will be pretty easy to replicate with class abilities and feats.
Of course, having BAB in the system calls out combat as being more important than other sorts of conflict. I really don't want that. To counter-balance it, and call out repartee as being important, I think I should add a class-based bonus for social combat. It would work the same way as BAB, but would also remove the awkward question of the differences between some of the social skills.
Conclusion
Yeah, I think I like that. It makes the classes unique, but doesn't overburden the system. It brings us back closer to the d20 paradigm, which I like. And, it should be relatively easy to give each class the right feel.
Always with the delays
This is something of the typical "sorry I'm not posting more" post. I've been busy. I've been producing output that isn't blog material. And, you know, I'm a slacker.
There are a couple other reasons, too. Mark Meredith, better known as the Dice Monkey, threw out a challenge on Twitter a while back to comment on at least three blog posts a day. It is an excellent suggestion. I've been trying hard to keep up with that. Of course, that means that I need to keep up with a lot of blog posts. The new RPG Blog Alliance has been helping considerably with that. It especially helps me target blog posts that don't get a lot of traffic. I mean, I love Rob Donoghue's stuff, but he really doesn't need my comment just to let him know he's not howling into the wilderness.
And, I have to say, it's really important for me to get that kind of feedback. I know that I often have lulls in my posting precisely because I don't feel like anyone is reading them anyway. A comment, any comment, helps to alleviate that, and spur me to more posting. The ever-amazing Will Hindmarch made the same point on Twitter just yesterday. So, as the saying sort of goes, be the change you want to see. If I want traffic coming in here, I ought to give other blogs the love.
On another note, I've also been profligately wasting my word count. The aforementioned Mark is currently on something of a hiatus due to a beautiful new baby girl. I penned a couple of blog posts for him, one on An Unusual Source of GM Tips and one on Reward Types. So, go check those out.
And, remember people. Comments are love. (/pity party)
There are a couple other reasons, too. Mark Meredith, better known as the Dice Monkey, threw out a challenge on Twitter a while back to comment on at least three blog posts a day. It is an excellent suggestion. I've been trying hard to keep up with that. Of course, that means that I need to keep up with a lot of blog posts. The new RPG Blog Alliance has been helping considerably with that. It especially helps me target blog posts that don't get a lot of traffic. I mean, I love Rob Donoghue's stuff, but he really doesn't need my comment just to let him know he's not howling into the wilderness.
And, I have to say, it's really important for me to get that kind of feedback. I know that I often have lulls in my posting precisely because I don't feel like anyone is reading them anyway. A comment, any comment, helps to alleviate that, and spur me to more posting. The ever-amazing Will Hindmarch made the same point on Twitter just yesterday. So, as the saying sort of goes, be the change you want to see. If I want traffic coming in here, I ought to give other blogs the love.
On another note, I've also been profligately wasting my word count. The aforementioned Mark is currently on something of a hiatus due to a beautiful new baby girl. I penned a couple of blog posts for him, one on An Unusual Source of GM Tips and one on Reward Types. So, go check those out.
And, remember people. Comments are love. (/pity party)
Monday, June 6, 2011
My worst GMing mistakes
In the way of these things, the topic of fudging die rolls has come up on a number of the podcasts and blogs I follow lately. I'm not going to expound on my personal opinion here. Instead, I want to tell about two of my greatest GM failures. It's relevant because both of them came about specifically because I refused to fudge the dice.
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