Review: Table Titans S.2, Great Comic, Not so Great Game

Warning, this post contains a minor spoiler for anyone who hasn't read ANY of the Table Titans comics, but who intends to start with season two... for some inexplicable reason.

16 pages in, a player character appears.

I started reading Scott Kurtz's D&D comic Table Titans when it was a little ways into its first season, so I was understandably excited when he began season two, "Winter of the Iron Dwarf" late last year. If you're not familiar, Table Titans follows the in- and out-of-game adventures of a runner-up group of D&D players who frequently haunt an actual Seattle gaming parlor in an effort to build their nerd cred and win the coveted "Winotaur". The comics are beautifully drawn by Kurtz, the characters have depth, and the portrayal of gamers feels real... as it should, since Scott himself is an avid player.

As Season Two began, however, something didn't feel right. "Winter of The Iron Dwarf" starts with an expository focus on a caravan of dwarves traveling from a besieged fortress in search of reinforcements. I thought... interesting, I bet the PCs are going to be escorts! Nope. These NPC dwarves were on their own... then they get to their destination just fine and ask the king about soliciting the aid of a great warrior (also not a PC). Through all of this exposition, the comic treats us to an uneventful journey, some decent travel talk, lush visuals and a rich feeling world. Only in the 10th page of in-game time in the comic... 16th page overall are we set up for a reveal that the warrior the NPC dwarves get is not the one they seek, but his daughter... one of the PCs.

Don't get me wrong, the art is still gorgeous. The story is definitely intriguing from a comic standpoint... But as it drew on without the input of the story's heroes, I grew antsy. See, while this technique of establishing the story's focus through supporting characters is great for comics. It's horrible for RPGs. Kurtz's DM character spends way too much time in exposition that is entirely devoid of input from his players.

Because this is a comic about a fantasy game, not just a fantasy world, the player in me began to get anxious until my inner voice was screaming, "WHY HASN'T ONE OF THE PLAYERS TOLD THIS JACKASS DM TO GET TO THE GOOD PART!?"

I was honestly torn, because as a story alone, it's really cool. I think, however, that it serves as an excellent example of the potential pitfalls of media crossovers and a DM who is too deep into his world. Expository introductions that focus on minor or supporting characters are common and work great in film, literature and even comics. The opening focus on C3P0 and R2 in Star Wars is a great example of this, as is the beginning of the LOTR films with Elrond and Isildur battling Sauron, or most of R.A. Salvatore's books, it seems. It works great in those media, because they are unidirectional. There is a storyteller, and a reader/watcher/listener who is taking it in. The exposition establishes the mood and draws the player in.

This can certainly also work in a game, but it's limited by the players' attention and desire to get in on the action. It's a perilous trap for DM's who have spent so much time lovingly crafting a world. They want to roll around in it, to share it with others... "see! look at this gorgeous thing I made!" But players, unlike readers aren't as interested in what YOU made. They want to get in on the creation process to add to or tear down your beautifully crafted world and make it their own.

Perhaps things would have been better of beginning with a focus on the dwarven messengers arriving to summon the wrong Bronzebottom. Is her dad unavailable? missing? Is the messenger just incompetent and doesn't realize he's called on the wrong person, or is the younger Bronzebottom so eager to prove herself that she dissembles or doesn't mention she's not the one they seek. Perhaps with such an adjustment to the opening, "Winter of the Iron Dwarf" would feel like both a great comic and an interesting game.

Encounter Design: Party Planning

Two weeks ago, I ran the first real session of my second campaign. Because the session picked up just a few months after the climax of the first campaign, my players decided that the wanted to kick things off with a celebratory feast. Makes sense, given that they saved the world, and all.

Celebrations aren't new to this particular group of players. Their characters have thrown several shindigs over the course of their careers. In the past, however, its usually been just a matter of blowing some well-earned loot, bolstering their reputation, and the in-session commitment has involved a bit of flowery description and maybe ten minutes of our time.

This time was different. This time, they wanted something... several somethings, actually.

During a couple pre-campaign get togethers while the players were leveling, upgrading their base of operations and blowing their well earned loots on new shiny things, they hatched a plan for this party. They wanted to use it to advance a couple plot threads left over after the last campaign, and to hopefully kick off a couple more.

Specifically, they hoped to accomplish the following:

1. Reveal the secret royal identity of the party's rogue
2. Legitimize their ownership of their base of operations (gained while the land was in conflict)
3. See if they could find some insight into an ongoing demon-possession problem the party monk is dealing with
4. Look into purchasing an airship from the gnomes so they could go recover the remains of a dragon hoard they were forced to leave in a far off ruin during an earlier adventure
5. Look into opening a trade route via an abandoned pass in their territory to a neighboring country
6. Oh, and of course, endear themselves to the people

That's it, no bigs, right?

Well, of course there was no way I would let them reap the potential rewards to be gained from these various desires with just a bit of description and a few minutes time. There are big ticket items in there, and they would need to work for them! So, I decided to turn the celebration into a session-long encounter, complete with the very real possibility of horrible, embarrassing failure.

Here's how I did it:

Make-it Monday: Bachelor Party, the RPG

Well, wedding week is here, and things are about to get cray-cray (to use the technical term). For this week's Make-it Monday, I am going to break with my standard format of posting about something that I made in order to post about something amazing that my best man made.

Are you not entertained!?
The BacheLOR at the Rat City bout

This past weekend was my bachelor party, and my best man concocted a scheme to turn the whole day into a giant RPG of sorts. I was issued a plastic breastplate and a novelty giant D20 and told that my character class was the BacheLOR. My class granted me certain powers, like the ability to summon fried snacks or tasty beverages. I could also bestow temporary tattoos on others. In order to do these things, I had to roll the D20. If I rolled poorly, there were consequences.

My friends at the party also had classes, and some even had costumes. There were rogues who could help me cheat at the rules, or issue "disguises", tanks who I could enlist to take on excess drinks or to smack poorly rolled dice, wizards equipped with potions, and paladins who helped ensure that everyone stayed safe and happy.

The day started with six hours of gaming, drinking and snacks at Café Mox. It then proceeded to "sexy lady time" which really meant watching a Rat City Rollergirls bout from the VIP section, because, let's be honest, Rollergirls are far superior to the more tawdry forms of "sexy lady" entertainment. The Rat City All-stars kicked the crap out of Baltimore, and our group garnered a bit of attention from the emcee. After the roller derby, we closed out the night with more drinking at a pub near my house. I ended up stumbling up the front walk of my house around midnight, covered in temp tattoos, wearing a plastic breastplate and monster hat with a pair of balloons tied around one wrist (mostly the result of poor rolls). I can't imagine what my neighbor who was out for a smoke thought of the sight.

My best man has agreed to let me post the rules for the bachelor party RPG here, but he wants to  do a couple things to secure his rights as the creator first. I'll update this post with the details as soon as he sends them. UPDATED BELOW!

In other news, if you are in the Seattle area, I will be giving a talk tonight at Lucid Lounge as part of Nerd Nite Seattle. The talk is about space, not gaming, but it should be cool. Come check it out!

UPDATE:

You can check out the full rules for the Bachelor Party RPG here. All rules documents are the original creation of Douglas Willott. If anyone else is interested in having a custom-built party adventure made for them, Doug is eager to help. You can email him at doug@douglaswillott.com. He can do any kind of event that begs for adventure, not just bachelor parties.

Get Rolling: Starting with RPGs pt. 1 (The Nerd Thing)

They see me rollin'...

Big thank you to everyone who popped by on Wednesday during the Level Up Blogfest. There was a pretty good conversation going in the comments and I wanted to follow up on a sentiment I heard several times: 

"I am interested in  D&D or tabletop roleplaying games, but I have [problem] that keeps me from getting started."

Hearing about all this thwarted interest got me thinking, and today I have decided to begin a blog series called Get Rolling. This series will cover how I got started in tabletop gaming, and will present a number of suggestions for ways to overcome some of the most common challenges a prospective gamer faces when trying to get in the game.

So, that being said...

You got problems? I feel bad for you son. I got d% problems but the game ain't one.

A Bit of Back Story 

As I mentioned in my Level Up post, I have been running a game for a group of my friends for the past four years. Before that, I had played off and on in campaigns that always seemed to fizzle out for one reason or another. I had been out of the game for a while and I was getting the itch to play.

Step 1 to getting started: Decide you want to play! 

I eventually decided to take my lack of a gaming fix into my own hands and get a group going with me as the Dungeon Master. My fiancee, who also played, was immediately on board and she and I broached the subject to a few of our closest friends, none of whom had played before. 

They were all hesitant at first, but a little persuasion convinced them to roll characters and play a few sessions, and they quickly got hooked. This same group has now been playing for the past four years. A couple of folks have had to go on hiatus at various times due to scheduling challenges, but when their time freed up, their fingers started to itch and I got an email saying, "soo… you got room?"

During our four years, we faced many common challenges that people mentioned in the Level Up comments. These can stifle a game before it even gets going. Nevertheless, we overcame these challenges and have built game night into a highlight of our weeks. Now, let's look at the first challenge to getting started and ways to overcome it.

April A to Z with Character

My strategy for tackling this year's A to Z blogfest is coming together nicely. I am going to focus on character development and roleplay issues. To help me organize my thoughts, I put together a list of my anticipated topics and began to notice three intertwining sub-themes to my character posts. I have labelled these themes 1) Building a Better Villain 2) Building a Better Hero and 3) Interactions (the last category might need a snappier title)

The posts will focus on moving beyond stat sheets and dice-roll mechanics to develop characters an interactions that are deeper, more memorable for your players and which will hopefully result in a more exciting story and/or experience at the game table.

The first week's topics are pretty solid at this point and will hit the following subjects:

• Arch-enemies
• Back stories
• Companions (alternates still under consideration are "Code of Honor" or "Causes")
• Diplomancy (one of the stickier points on the dice vs. roleplay continuum) - This post may also need to do double-duty for the monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group
• Evil
• Flaws
• Get-aways

The Clothes Make the Man

Beware the orc wearing panties on his face

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the relationship between clothing and roleplaying games. Not in the sense that I have two t-shirts that say, "My other shirt is chainmail"* (true story) but in the sense that the characters in my game seem to spend an awful lot of time running around in full-armor, and armed to the teeth, no less. This is certainly not an uncommon occurrence in tabletop gaming. My characters have been the sort to eat, sleep, shop and woo the ladies in their robes and wizard hats... in-game, of course. However, I feel that, while there are several possible reasons for what I suspect is a common and imaginatively odoriferous trend in character behavior, the choice to “change 'yo dang pants!” can potentially add some richness and/or challenge to a game.

First, the reasons that I suspect lead to 1-outfit characters:

1. “Math is hard, let’s go shopping.” There is something to be said for having one set of stats when playing a tabletop RPG. Changing a character’s clothes, especially in a game like D&D, can alter a number of stats. Most prominently, it changes a character’s armor class, but might also affect how well they run, jump, climb, swim or sneak. Players have a lot of stats to track with just one outfit. Adding additional load-outs is just asking for a headache.

2. Video games. Having not achieved sentience before the existence of rudimentary videogames, I may be talking out of my ass on this one, but I suspect that the merging and interplay between the digital and pen-and-paper RPG worlds has contributed to a sense that it is okay to have tea with the queen while wearing full plate. After all, characters in games like Skyrim, WoW, etc. go everywhere in their battlefield best, waving glowy implements of death and dismemberment, no less.

3. CONSTANT VIGILANCE! Players think/know their GM is out to get them, and as such, feel it is perfectly appropriate to lug 200 lbs of adventuring gear on every jaunt to the corner store to buy more troll jerky. They sleep in their armor and likely would even wear it in the bath if they could. In essence, they are playing the stats, not the character. Never mind how uncomfortable and stinky perpetual existence in armor would be, taking it off would lower my AC by 4!

Now, some would argue that worrying about what a character is wearing/carrying is a level of nit-pickiness that detracts from the ultimate purpose of a roleplaying game, which is to have fun. Well, what about the expanded purpose? to have fun while roleplaying? Something as simple as a change of clothes opens up a lot of potential for new and unique encounters and roles played. A barbarian from the steppes just saved the kingdom and is to be honored at a high-court banquet... huh? big earthy guy in cummerbund and fur briefs? The situation practically writes itself!

I believe that a story and a heroic protagonist is much more interesting if they are not always fully prepared when a sticky situation arises. Getting caught unprepared gives them an opportunity to show their versatility and emphasizes that this person is a badass even without their gear. The Indiana Jones movies have several great examples of this sort of situation. During the opening scene from Temple of Doom, Indie gets poisoned in a swanky nightclub. He doesn’t have his hat, whip or even a gun. This doesn’t necessarily mean he’s unprepared, just that he has to approach the situation in a different way than if he was fully kitted out. The scene in the Venice library from Last Crusade is similar in a lot of ways. The situation and resources at hand become part of the challenge and add to the excitement.

So, how do you implement this in a tabletop RPG without bogging down the game and becoming the enemy of fun?

1. Take the number-crunching burden off of your players. I recommend having your players come up with just three alternate outfits. Each requires only a brief list of stats, mostly modified AC and movement stats. They should also make a list of weapons/gear they keep with them, but a single listing of bandolier, baldric, backpack or utility belt should imply that they have everything they usually carry therein without need to list it separately. The alternate outfits I suggest are as follows:

Around Town: This is the shopping, drinking and general personal-time outfit. It may involve armor or weapons, but probably would not include full 50 lb backpacks and the like.

Schmancy Occasions: Meeting the king? Gathering info in the noble district? Your PCs will probably need to look respectable to avoid sideways looks and questions from the guards. Most armor and things like blood-crusted greataxes are likely out, but rings of protection, other magical aids or a dagger in the boot would be perfectly acceptable.

Sleepy Time: This is probably fairly straightforward. Though PCs on the road might stay at least partially armored, if they’re crashed out at an inn in the middle of a friendly city, chances are they’ll want to be comfy, though propping the trusty broadsword by the bed isn’t beyond reason.

Once you establish these baselines, it should be quick and easy to reference or modify the list without having to grill your characters everytime they walk out the door. Are you really bringing your 10-foot pole to visit Madame Ruby’s brothel?

2. Make your characters’ appearance matter. If they go out in full kit, have NPCs react to what they see! Poor villagers might run up to them 7 Samurai-style and beg for assistance with the bandits raiding their village. Bouncers and thugs might think twice before messing with them, but guards might ask a few extra questions and wealthy shop-owners might balk at letting armed strangers into their fine boutiques.

I haven’t yet attempted to implement such a systematic approach to these matters in my campaign, and really my players have been pretty good about policing themselves, but I think I might run the idea past them and see how it works.

Any thoughts or stories from my fellow players or GMs about 1-kit wonders?

*After writing this I realized the bizarre feedback loop established by such a situation. "My other shirt says "My other shirt is chainmail"... add "other shirts" until space-time tears itself asunder.