What Happens Over A Time Skip?

In the next few weeks my L5R game is coming off of hiatus and back into being regularly run. While the game has been on hiatus, the game itself has had a time skip. It's a fairly short time skip, just a few months, but it's a time skip where the PCs have been up to stuff. I mean, they're PCs, they're always up to stuff. Coming back to the game means we need to define what happens. Today, I want to talk about that.

7th Sea - First Impressions

On Friday we had our first session of 7th Sea. It was an interesting session with two new members to the group, and a game that no one in our group had any ground in. Over all the session was a great first session, and everyone brought interesting characters to the table. Today I want to talk about how the session went, and what I learned from it.

[Discussion] How Do You Handle Double Damage?

Critical hits in a lot of RPGs basically boil down to doing double damage. So what is your preferred way of doing double damage? Do you:

• Double the amount of dice the player rolls to see what they get?
• Roll damage normally, then double the amount?
• Roll damage normally, then add that to a maximum damage result?
• Something else entirely

The first two are the most common ones I've seen. You either double the amount of dice rolled for damage, or double the result of a damae roll. However, I'm kind of fond of the third option. I picked it up from a GM at GenCon and have used it in games I run where that kind of mechanic exists. It gives the players a lot more bang out of their criticals, ensuring they get to do at least one instance of their attack's maximum damage. It also makes enemy crits hit harder by doing the same in return. In general, it just makes crits work a lot better and feel more worthy of the celebration you get from it.

No one likes the anti-climax of rolling a crit only to get snake eyes on the dice and doing 4 damage with a critical hit from a two handed sword. So, I figure, why not let the crit hurt? It just hurts both ways.

How about you?

7th Sea: A Different Kind of Character Progression

The 7th Sea Second Edition PDF is on sale now at Drive Thru RPG. One of the fun things - for me at least - about the system is how much the system does different from other games I've been exposed to. I'm not saying it's the most unique game out on the market, but it's the only game I've seen that does a lot of the things. One of the things that has had me confused as a prospective GM until recently, and that I now really like, is how character progression happens. Today, I want to talk about that.

Questions To Ask If You're A GM

On Friday we talked about questions for the players when looking at their characters. Today I want to talk about two questions that I recently came across to ask your players about your game if you're a GM. Without further ado, let's begin.

An Outside Perspective

One of the things I really like about both L5R and 7th Sea is the 20 Questions they have in the Character Creation section of the book. The questions in both games are similar, but also different - geared towards the world that you'll be playing in. You don't have to answer the questions either, but if you do you'll get a more well rounded view of your character.

The GM Can Always Make You Fail

One of the debates I've seen around several systems - particularly ones that are geared for cooperative play between GM and PCs - is that certain mechanics make it so the GM can just make you fail at whim. The complaint, effectively, is that the rules are set up to make you dance to the GM's tune if that is what the GM wants, and there is nothing you can do about that. This is said to be a bad thing, and presented as if other systems prevent it from happening. The thing is, if the GM wants you to fail, you're going to fail. Systems that can 'force' that easily just make it more obvious. Today I want to talk about the GM forcing failure, and what you can do about it.

Quick Fix: Whoops & Some General News

First off, I'm sorry for the lack of post yesterday. I ended up getting progressively more sick from Saturday through Sunday night (Monday morning?) and while my being sick gave me a zen like focus on some things, it never even occurred to me that this blog existed or that it needed posts. I'm trying to get back in a place where posts are done sufficiently ahead of time that that isn't a problem, but not quite there yet. Sorry!

Second, if you backed the 7th Sea Second Edition kickstarter, you should really check your mail if you haven't. John Wick Presents has released 2 versions of the final PDF for backer review. These are more or less the final rules and it presents a very interesting game to play.  The game has already sparked several fun debates on rules on the 7th Sea sub-reddit, and presumably other places.

Third, I received my books from the recent FATE More kickstarter. This isn't really news, except one o the books combines GUMSHOE with FATE. I'm pretty excited to look into how those systems combine, and you can probably expect something on that in the near future.

Fourth, how are you doing? Keeping healthy I hope!

Mini-Campaign Idea: Shipwreck Island

I've had this idea in my head for a while. It's not particularly special or unique, but I figured it'd be worth sharing - and the map was worth spending some practice time on it. This would work for any western fantasy game. I suppose you could use other settings, but it was meant for that kind of game. In specific it was meant for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, though I imagine it'd work fine with Pathfinder, FATE, or about anything else.

Discussion: The Rule of Cool

The Rule of Cool. Do you use it? Do you like it? Has it gotten out of hand in your groups?

For those that don't know what it is, here is Matt Mercer, voice actor and DM for Critical Role, talking about it.

And we'll be back Friday with another map and a proposal for a mini-campaign.

Let The Session Happen

A lot of GMing advice focuses on how to make the session happen. How do you get the players involved? How do you keep the players involved? How do you direct the story in this direction or that direction? It's good advice. I mean, if you can't get a session going, what kind of game do you have anyhow? Today though, I want to talk about something else. Today I want to talk about what you do when the session takes on a life of it's own.

Shadows of Esteren - Is It Worth Playing?

On Monday I started talking about Shadows of Esteren. On Wednesday I talked about what I thought was the strongest build. To wrap things up, I want to talk about whether or not Esteren is worth playing.

I'm not going to talk about whether or not you can have fun with it, because that should be a no brainer. If you have a good GM almost any system can be fun - and that almost is only there because I hate absolutes. No, the question for is Esteren worth playing basically boils down to is it worth it to you as an experience. Does it add anything that's worth seeing how it plays out?

Shadows of Esteren - An Extended Discussion Part 2

On Monday I started talking about the Shadows of Esteren system. We talked about what Shadows of Esteren was, and a little bit on how it worked. Today I want to talk about what I feel is the optimal build in the system - or at least the optimal Way to make high - and what that means for both the game and the character. So, let's get into it.