RPG Cards

Today I want to share with you another awesome resource for your roleplaying games. A person who identifies him or herself only as crobi created a great online program called RPG Cards that allows you to create and print small cards to use as handy references for spells, monsters, magic items, and the like. It uses some fairly simple formatting code, which you can view on this page, and allows you to customize with a variety of rich text, images, and colors. There is also a sample file you can view that shows you a variety of different cards whose code you can then use as a starting point for your own cards.

Once you created your cards, you can print them out on A4 size page, which fits 9 cards altogether on the default settings. But of course, the size of each card, and the size of the paper you want to print them, it just one of several different options you have at your disposal. You can also save the file locally and then load it back up next time you come to the website, although the page itself records its last state so everything is just as you left it next time you come to the site (assuming you're accessing it from the same computer and same browser as before).

I primarily have been using this as magic item cards to hand out to my players as they acquire custom magic items. Here are a few examples:

They are surprisingly fun to make and play with. Why not give it a try?

Mythos of the Maori

First off, I'm just going to concede that at least for the rest of the holiday season (including next week), my blog posts are going to be somewhat sporadic. I will do my best to post twice a week, but my schedule is all out of sorts, and my time in front of computer is somewhat limited. Enough said.

Currently, I am in the midst of writing a homebrew adventure for the Dungeons & Dragons campaign I am running. For this adventure, the players will be journeying to an isolated tropical island where they must unravel a mysterious threat against an ancient power that protects and rules over the islanders. I have been researching precolonial Hawaii specifically and Polynesian culture in general as inspiration for this adventure.

In the process of searching online for resources, I came across a very cool 'rules-light' roleplaying game system called Mythos of the Maori that is currently available for free from Mythopoetic Games. It started out as a non-fiction text on the mythology and folklore of the Polynesian people prior to their contact with Europe based on the author's childhood and early adulthood spent in New Zealand. Eventually though he deemed it unpublishable, but returned to it later and used it for the basis of a unique roleplaying game. The rules document itself is quite interesting, as most chapters the author intentionally blurs the distinctions between the rules and the setting, making it necessary for the reader to work through the entire book before having a good understanding of the system and how it all connects together. While he admits that this is both ludicrous and unfair to his readers, it is by design to deeply engage a potential GM in the setting.

For my adventure, I will certainly be referencing the third chapter extensively as a helpful resource for the language, cultural beliefs, folklore, and religious practices of the islands' inhabitants. As the characters will also need to eventually gain status among the islanders, the rules in the fourth and fifth chapters will also be quite helpful.

Anyway, this is a great resource if you're at all interested in ancient Polynesian culture. Hope you enjoy it.

Playing RPGs with Cards Instead of Dice

This week I came across a fascinating new twist to bring to your roleplaying game - use playing cards instead of dice. While I encourage you to check out the original article linked above, the basic idea is that you deal out a card array of 12 cards to be shared among the players as well as a hand of 5 cards that the GM keeps concealed in his hand. Then, any time that a roll is required from the players, they instead pick a card from the array in front of them and use that result instead. That player then draws a new card and adds it to the array.

However, the card that was just played isn't discarded. Instead, that player hands it to the GM, who adds it to his own hand of cards. Whenever the GM would normally roll a dice, he or she also picks a card in hand, plays it, and then discards it into the discard pile, where it will eventually be shuffled back in once the entire draw pile has been used up. The GM is also limited to only twelve cards in hand.

This obviously creates some interesting tension for the players. While they are free to use their highest cards to guarantee success, they are also giving the GM that same ability.

Now obviously you have to do some adjustments depending on the game system you're using, especially if you also include the face cards in the mix. For D&D or other games that resolve around a d20, the simplest solution (and the one advocated in the original post) is to use red cards for their face value (with aces counting as a one) and black cards as being worth ten plus their face value. The author also has the following rules for face cards:

• King:  Succeed at cost.  You automatically succeed, but some complication, error, or unintended consequence is introduced by the GM.  After playing a King, do not give it to the GM.  Place it in the players' discard pile directly to be shuffled back in if .
• Queen:  Failure, gain 1 treasure, placing the Queen in the score pile for the rest of the session.
• Jack:  Failure, gain 1 experience, placing the Jack in the score pile for the rest of the session.
• Joker:  Critical failure, gain 1 experience and 1 treasure.  The GM describes how your action went horribly wrong or caused additional foul consequences.  Place the Joker in the score pile for the rest of the session.

These treasures or experience are then tallied up at the end of the gaming session, giving the players some additional rewards for having played these cards. Alternatively, you could just use all face cards the same way as a King, or simply don't include the face cards at all.

I love the tactical strategies and considerations that this opens up for players and can't wait to try this out with my own gaming group. Thanks to Run A Game for such a great idea!

Collaborative Story-First Character Creation Results

A couple weeks back, I wrote about a character creation process for D&D 5th edition that I adapted from the Fate Core System. Essentially, this was a "story-first" approach where each character creates their own background and first adventure, and then each other character assigns themselves a role in two of the other character's adventurers, immediately creating a sense of connection and camaraderie among the party.

So I went through this process with a group of my college buddies, none of whom have ever played Dungeons and Dragons before (although they are all very familiar with the fantasy genre in general). Between the creative free-writing assignments for their backstory, first adventure, and secondary role in two other adventurers, as well as the actual process of rolling up the stats for the characters, it took us almost four hours, which is a long time for a session dedicated to character creation. But as my design document states, this is a highly collaborative form of group storytelling, and it should come as no surprise that it took us a whole play session to complete.

We ended up with four separate backgrounds (one for each character), plus three tales that were the result of their collaborative storytelling. If you're interested in seeing the results, feel free to check them out here. But overall I was very happy with the process. I've got several great threads that tie the characters together, the potential for some very interesting interactions between the players, and several hooks that will tie into the story that my players are already telling. While it's a lengthy process, it's one that I highly recommend you try. If you're interested, you can download my detailed description of the process here.

This group will be meeting next Friday night, so in a few weeks I'll be sure and recount the highlights of this experience. I'm certainly looking forward to it!

Fate Core Character Creation

I am in the process of preparing a new Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition campaign for some of my college buddies, and wanted to do something special when it came to character creation. So I spent some time with my friend Google looking for some group character creation guidelines. In the process, I came across a Character Creation ruleset that is part of the Fate Core System, a  ruleset perhaps best known for being the engine that drives the Dresden Files RPG. After perusing the rules, I was quite impressed with how they helped players not only create interesting and unique characters, but also guided them through the process of linking those characters' stories to one another. Here's a quick summary of how that works:

1. Each player comes up with a high concept and a trouble. The high concept is essentially a short phrase that stands in for the typical race and class in fantasy RPGs, while the trouble is something in that character's background or personality that consistently keeps him or her from living out this calling.
2. Each player then comes up with a character background. This background includes their upbringing, an event that forced the character into his or her high concept, and that character's first adventure. Each of these steps turns into a short paragraph, and the first adventure is recorded on a separate index card.
3. Each player then comes up with a secondary role in another character's background. The players pass around the index card with their first adventure summary to another player, and that player then connects their own character to that adventure in some sort of supporting or secondary role.
4. Each player then passes the index card again, repeating the previous step. Afterwards, each character is organically connected to two other members of the group.
5. Each player finalizes the rest of the details about their character. Only once these elements are complete does the player pick out the relevant stats and abilities of their character, based on the stories that have already been crafted.

I love the way that this makes characters that are primarily story-driven, rather than rules-driven. It also instantly creates camaraderie and connections among the group. So, with the above summary in hand, I incorporated those concepts into the standard character creation process for D&D 5th edition, and came up with an awesome first session to play out with my friends. If you're interested in my final document, let me know and I'd be happy to share it with you.

So what do you think?

Critical Role

If you're a regular reader of my blog, it should come as no surprise to you that I am a major fan of all things fantasy, and that includes fantasy roleplaying games as well. I have participated in all sorts of tabletop RPGs off and on since high school, and in particular have enjoyed Dungeons and Dragons in most of its iterations (including its red-headed stepchild Pathfinder).

One of the players in my current game recommended a recent webcast series put on by Geek and Sundry called Critical Role. In the past I've tried to watch various recordings people have made of their roleplaying sessions, and by and large I have found them tedious watching at best. So, it wasn't until recently that I finally decided to go check out the show.

If you've ever wondered just how good a roleplaying gaming session could be, you need not look any further than Critical Role. Of course, it helps that the entire cast is made up of professional voice actors who had already played together for quite some time before making the show. It also doesn't hurt that the show has quite high production values, with an animated intro and backstory for all the characters, an overlay that integrates three cameras as well as Twitch chat, and excellent audio not only for each actor but also for background music and sound effects.

But it is really the chemistry among the DM and the characters that makes this so compelling. With just their voices and some minis moving around on hand-drawn maps, the cast brings their sessions to life. The DM draws upon his rich repertoire of voices to bring various NPCs to life, and has an excellent command of the game mechanics as well as the world the characters are playing in. The rest of the cast are genuinely focused on playing their role, and at times you can see the tension and joys on their faces as they experience the highs and lows of their adventures.

All of the past episodes are available on the main page; sadly, they can only be accessed via this page, as they are not reposted to YouTube or even available on their Twitch page. Each episode generally runs between three and four hours, so you've got an incredible amount of content to view if you're just now starting to watch. You can also watch each week's episode live on Thursday nights at 10pm EDT on their Twitch channel.

And now, I really must get back to watching. See you next time!

Roll20

Earlier this week, I wrote about one of my favorite tools for roleplaying games called 3D Virtual Tabletop. It's a great app to have when you're sitting around a table with friends. But what if you don't have a local gaming group? That's where my second favorite tool comes in: Roll20.

Roll20 is another virtual tabletop - but this time, it's designed not just to represent a battle board, but give you the tools to run or play in an entirely online campaign. It's an entire platform of tools designed to simple, elegant, and user-friendly, runs entirely in a web browser (or app on your favorite mobile device), and is compatible with just about any RPG system. It supports online character sheets, dice rollers that truly simulate actual randomness, video and voice chat, journals that represent information shared across multiple users, map features like dynamic lighting and fog of war, a virtual jukebox for music and sound effects, and an online marketplace chock full of art, maps, icons, music, and anything else you might need to run an online campaign.

Roll20 also has a huge community of people playing just about any RPG system you can imagine, with opportunities every day for new players to jump into one-shots or long-term campaigns. As a new player, it took me very little time to figure out how everything worked, and my experiences have been very positive. You can check out their "Looking for Group" forum for yourself and see all the possibilities that await you.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the most impressive part: it's free!

And while I haven't delved into this aspect of the program yet, the developers obviously worked hard to make everything as easy for the GMs as possible. If you want to know more about how you can use Roll20 as a GM, check out this video below.

I hope this opens up a whole new world of online gaming for you. I know it did for me. See you next time!

3D Virtual Tabletop

I realized today that somehow I forgot to post to the blog last Saturday. Sorry about that. So to make up for it, there will be four blog posts this week, starting today (Monday).

Today I want to share with you one of my favorite roleplaying game aids. I don't know about you, but I love the look and feel of using tabletop maps while I'm gaming. While these aren't strictly necessary, most systems assume you'll be using them for combat, and it also goes a long way towards helping immerse you into the world the GM is describing. And that's why I love 3D Virtual Tabletop.

3D Virtual Tabletop is a free app for most tablets and phones that acts just like a real tabletop board or map. You can zoom in and out, rotate it in all three dimensions, hide or reveal parts of the map, slide all of the different virtual minis around anywhere on the map, and import any graphics you want from all of the standard formats, both for the map itself and for the miniatures. You can have all the wonder of details minis and dungeon tiles without ever having to lift a brush or leave your home.

This application uses a simple and clear interface, and comes preloaded with dozens of monsters, heroes, and maps. There is also an extensive library of YouTube videos that will show you exactly how things work. Even on my somewhat dated Ipad2, it runs smoothly and quickly without any graphical glitches or crashes.

While the app itself is free, if you want the ability to stream your map to other devices (and thus allow your players to see something different than what you're viewing), there is a modest fee of $10 a year or $1 a month to enable those features. But honestly, at least around our table, I've never had the need to stream it to other devices.

I highly recommend you give this a try the next time you and your friends are gathered together for a night of roleplaying. And since it's free, what do you have to lose?