Overview of Pathfinder's Skills: Climb to Diplomacy

Climb (Full Description on PFSRD)(-C’s Post): This is a bad skill, and should be removed from the game. Or, at the very least, merged into some kind of “Athletics” skill, along with Swim and Fly. But even that combined skill would be worthless.

Climbing is a binary proposition. Either you CAN, or you CANNOT. Perhaps some characters can climb things which would otherwise be unclimbable, or can climb things faster than other characters, but that sounds like something which would be better handled by a class ability or a feat. The few times I’ve attempted to use it have never been fun for anyone involved, and I’ve always used a single roll to represent an entire climb. Can you imagine if I called for a roll every few feet the way Pathfinder’s rules dictate?

Judgement: House rule this skill out of the game. Allow characters with STR 16 or higher to climb walls at half of their speed, and characters with STR 15 or lower to climb walls at one quarter of their speed. If the surface is particularly difficult to climb, only characters with climbing equipment can climb it. If you like, you can even allow characters with a high dexterity (16+?) to climb such walls without climbing equipment. Characters cannot climb with heavy armor. Characters lose their dexterity bonus to AC while climbing. If a character takes damage while climbing they must make a STR check to avoid falling. The DC can be 10, or equal to the damage taken, or equal to half the damage taken, or whatever you prefer.

Coming up with a better mechanic for this isn’t really difficult. (Though most of that was pulled from -C, I admit.)

Craft (Full Description on PFSRD)(-C’s Post):

I do not like the craft skill, because I love crafting.

When -C covered this skill, his primary complaint was about the stupidity of crafting having random results. Which, I agree, is a problem. But that’s not my only problem. The entire implementation just seems strange to me. In order to craft any magical items (i.e. anything worth taking the time to craft) characters need to take a feat like “Craft Magical Arms and Armor,” which means that the craft skill is only valuable to those who are willing to sacrifice a feat. And if the character isn’t a spellcaster, they need to take two feats. One to be able to craft magical versions of whatever they’re able to make, and another (“Master Craftsman”) to be able to use scrolls to imbue items with magic.

So remind me: what are the Craft and Use Magic Item skills for? How can a character have max ranks in both of these things, yet still be unable to craft a magic item because they lack two feats? It’s frustrating how often I find myself linking to my post on the problem with feats, but the damned thing never stops being relevant.

I know this is never a popular thing to say within the tabletop gaming community, but I think World of Warcraft got it right. (I’m sure other games got it right as well, WoW is just a game which I’m very familiar with). For those who don’t play, I’ll break it down: every character in WoW is able to learn two of the ten available professions, which include things like “alchemy,” “blacksmithing,” “leatherworking,” and “tailoring.” These professions are developed independently from the character’s other abilities. Players are never forced to choose between “learn a new combat ability” and “learn to craft better,” which is precisely the choice being forced by Pathfinders feat requirements.

The progress of these crafting abilities is throttled in two ways: first, players must raise their crafting skill in order to craft better items. This seems logical to me, unlike Pathfinder’s “one out of twenty times, a novice painter will create a masterpiece” nonsense. The second throttle is patterns/schematics/blueprints. or what have you. Essentially, none of the best items in the game can be crafted until first finding instructions on how to craft them, which are often guarded the game’s most ferocious monsters.

I doubt restricting players to patterns would work very well in a game like Pathfinder, and I don’t think it would be good to try. Players who become invested in their crafting should feel as though they can create anything, so long as they can figure out a good way to do it. However, finding patterns to create powerful items could certainly be used to get players more interested in crafting. If a wizard finds a book detailing the method for crafting a powerful staff, they’re going to want to figure out how to make it.

Judgement: Crafting functions adequately in its current state, but adequately isn’t good enough. Sometime soon I plan to write a more detailed house-rule to replace the current Crafting mechanic entirely.

Diplomacy (Full Description on PFSRD)(-C’s Post): The way diplomacy works is a problem. A huge problem. The fact that diplomacy is so broken as to be absolutely game-breaking is pretty well known at this point, so I won’t delve further into that. Though, if you never have, you really ought to read up on that link. It’s a pretty amazing and irrefutable critique of the system.

Diplomacy suffers from all the problems of bluff, and then some. On the one hand, it is valuable–I would go so far as to say necessary–to have a mechanic to handle NPC interaction in a game like Pathfinder. However, handling diplomacy as a single roll with a success/fail result is ludicrously random. Players quickly begin to wonder what the point of all their well-rehearsed arguments are if all it nets them is a circumstance bonus. And since attempting to make a point honestly is both less fun than lying, and comes up more often within a game context, diplomacy isn’t able to hide its flaws as well as bluff does.

As I mentioned in the bluff entry, I really think there needs to be a united social mechanic for players to rely on. Something completely different from Pathfinder’s skills system. However, lacking that, it may be a good idea to require multiple checks for each interaction, with circumstance modifiers playing an important roll. And, most importantly, don’t be afraid of judiciously applied GM fiat. Before you call for a roll, take a moment to think: if your players succeed in convincing their target, would you be able to justify that target being convinced? It works the other way around as well. If the PC’s present an overwhelmingly powerful argument, could you justify the target continuing to be unconvinced? If the answer to either question is no, then don’t call for a roll. Simply make a decision.

Judgement: Completely broken, without question. Can be made semi-workable with some fiddling. Ought to be expanded and revised. Future games would benefit from a complete overhaul.

Overview of Pathfinder's Skills: Acrobatics to Bluff

Acrobatics (Full Description on PFSRD)(-C’s Post): This may be the single least broken skill in the game, so it’s somewhat unfortunate that I have to start the list with it, after that big angry buildup I wrote in the overview. The skill is intended for use when a character is on a narrow or uneven surface; when a character needs to pass through an enemy’s space during combat; or when a character is jumping or falling. I’ve personally found that this skill to be extremely handy when my players tell me they want to run up a wall, then back flip over their pursuer to deliver an attack from behind. Players often want to attempt the kinds of things they’ve seen in action movies, and the simplest way to accommodate that is to utilize a skill check.

My experience with Acrobatics has always been good, but it does have some serious flaws. It suffers more than most skills do from the linear probability of a 1d20 roll. Doesn’t it seem a little bizarre that someone with no ranks in this skill can jump anywhere from 1ft, to 20ft, with no result being more likely than any other? Additionally, if a GM calls for an Acrobatics check every time the game would technically require it, then rolling would get extremely tedious. Balancing and jumping are often simple tasks. Much of the time, a roll shouldn’t be required. When a roll is called for, there ought to be serious consequences for failure. Don’t simply call for a balance check every 15ft that a character moves along a narrow ledge. Call for a balance check only if the character’s footing is somehow compromised due to being attacked. And if they fail, the character falls, perhaps being granted a reflex save to grab the ledge before they do, but otherwise plummeting toward the ground below, and some scary amount of d6s.

In a recent game of mine, the party encountered a relatively small pit trap. The rogue was able to find it, but even after disarming it, there was still a 5ft by 5ft hole in the floor. Since it’s such a ridiculously small amount of space, I allowed the party’s Rogue, Ranger, and Sorceress to jump across without any problem. However, the party’s cleric was in full plate armor, had no ranks in the Acrobatics skill, and a -1 dexterity modifier. All things taken into account, she would need to roll a 12 or better to jump across the gap. (DC of 5, her roll would be -1 for dexterity, and -6 armor check penalty). The situation became particularly interesting when the cleric suggested they just go without her, since there were only two rooms to explore in that area. Of course, the Party didn’t know that a boss creature, as well as 4 giant spiders, were waiting for them. In the end, the Cleric decided to simply go for it, and successfully rolled high enough to leap across the gap. But as I’m sure you could imagine, things could have gotten very interesting if the party had encountered foes, called for the cleric, only to have the cleric fall into the pit and leave them without healing for the fight.

Judgement: This skill is acceptable as-is, but should be applied judiciously. It would benefit from from some polish and revision.

Appraise (Full Description on PFSRD)(-C’s Post): This is the skill I wish I could have started the list with. Appraise perfectly exemplifies my frustration with Pathfinder’s skills. I really hope Paizo only included Appraise in the game because they felt it was important to remain backwards-compatible with D&D 3.5 modules and supplements. This skill, as written in the Core Rulebook, has no value except to slow down play and to frustrate players. You roll the skill, and if you roll well, you can determine the monetary value of an item.

Why is it desirable to force the players through this step? What value does it serve? I honestly do not know. I certainly cannot imagine that any theoretical value it has could be worth the investment of a skill point. Even in games, such as my own, where players often find themselves in possession of non-monetary treasure, I don’t see that this skill has a purpose. When my players go to fence a piece of artwork or some other oddity, the person they attempt to sell it to offers them a price which is a reflection of how much they value the piece. If the players want to haggle, I let them, and they might get a little more money. I also allow the players various means (such as Knowledge checks) to determine if there is anyone who might be particularly interested in a piece. Gnomish artwork might be worth 50 gold to a fence, but worth 100 gold to a gnomish collector.

And in the very rare cases where your game might be served by having a buyer attempt to cheat your players, wouldn’t a Sense Motive check work just fine? (Though, we’ll get to the problems with Sense Motive later)

Judgement: House rule this skill out of the game.

Bluff (Full Description on PFSRD)(-C’s Post): The purpose of the bluff skill is to handle NPC Interaction, and I’ve written before about how I think NPC Interaction should be improved. However, the kind of improvement I’d like to see would probably require an entirely new sub-system, separate from the current skills system. Developing that idea further is outside the scope of this post. Here, I’d like to focus on working within the Pathfinder rules to improve them.

My experience with bluff has never been what I would call “bad.” Players understand its purpose, and they enjoy using it. In that regard, the skill fulfills its role adequately. I’ve even had one character who came to rely on bluff as his signature tactic, which created a lot of fun situations for everyone in the party, which is good.

My major problem with bluff, and with all social interaction skills, is that they reduce a potentially involved and interesting process (in this case, deceiving someone) into a single, mechanical, fun-neutral roll. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I feel social interaction should be determined entirely by role playing. In fact, I would be vehemently opposed to that. Social Interaction can be as complex and entertaining as combat, and deserves to have some mechanics associated with it. The problem is that resolving social interaction encounters with a skill check is a lot like resolving combat by rolling initiative. A single roll doesn’t do it justice.

Without entirely overhauling the system, I think the best solution is to require multiple checks for each interaction, each heavily reliant on circumstance bonuses. For example, if the party is attempting to bluff their way past a goblin patrol, the first bluff check is to keep the goblins from attacking on sight. Then, when the players attempt to convince the goblins that they’ve been sent by “the master” on an important mission, their success or failure will be heavily influenced by what details they’re able to include in their lie. Further checks might be called for when the goblins ask what their mission is, or why they’ve never seen the player characters before. Each check would be modified significantly by the player’s ability to lie convincingly. And failure might not mean the goblins immediately attack, it might simply mean they ask more questions, or send another goblin to go speak with “the master” to verify the PC’s story.

Bluff has two other uses as well. It can be used to send secret messages, which seems a little odd but I have no real problem with it. It can also be used to feint, which I do have a problem with. I spent many of my early years studying fencing, and the feint is one of the most basic maneuvers a swordsman learns. Yet fighters don’t have Bluff as a class skill. I call bullshit. Feint is a combat maneuver, just like any other. It functions the same way described in the skill description, with “bluff” replaced by “CMB” and “sense motive” replaced by “CMD.”

Judgement: Not terrible, but its use ought to be expanded and revised. In future games it would benefit from a complete overhaul.

Overview of Pathfinder's Skills: Introduction

Funny story. I’ve got a whiteboard next to my computer with a list full of topics I’d like to cover on P&P. Some topics spend a week or a month on the whiteboard before I write about them. Other topics never get on the whiteboard in the first place, they go straight from my brain to the site. A few topics have been on the whiteboard for a long, long, long time. The follow up to my Scholomance post, for example, has been on the whiteboard for almost six months! Another topic which has been up there for-fucking-ever is “A Critical Analysis of Pathfinder’s Skills.” But unlike the Scholomance posts, this one isn’t because I’m lazy. In fact, in early December I sat down to write it. I had an introductory paragraph finished, and I was procrastinating by checking blogs. That’s when I found this.

-C, of Hack & Slash, had beaten me to the punch by mere hours. He had already been doing his series on skills for a few weeks, but I had not realized he was actually planning to go into that level of detail with regards to Pathfinder’s skills specifically. I could have gone ahead with my plans and written my post anyway, but I’m a prideful man, and I didn’t want to seem derivative. Plus, I figured that reading -C’s posts (which I knew would be much more critical than mine) would give me a better grasp of each skill’s individual flaws. That would give me a leg-up when I began my own analysis. I shelved the idea, and -C assured me that his posts would be coming out pretty fast, so I wouldn’t need to keep my own post on hold for too long. Four months later when -C finally put up his conclusions, I was so overwhelmed by the breadth of his series that there hardly seemed to be anything more to say on the subject. The thought of writing the single post I had planned on just seemed silly.

But after my recent learning experience, I’m fired up and ready to criticize. I believe a good mechanic for skills can exist, but the system that Pathfinder inherited from D&D third edition is not it. Not even close. It is rife with bizarrely wide margins of error due to the problems inherent with linear probability. It confuses new players by forcing them to make choices they can’t possibly understand without first gaining some actual play experience. It reduces the impact of a player’s choices by forcing an unreasonable chance of failure even after careful planning. It tricks new GMs into thinking that coming up with a Dice Check number is an acceptable substitute for understanding the elements of a problem. And it forces more veteran GMs to make a choice: do you allow your players utilize their character’s skills, and fill your game with excessive dice rolls, or do you ignore those skills which are pointless, and frustrate the players who wasted points on skills they’ll never get to use in your game?

This is a bigger problem than I’ve attempted to tackle in my writing before, and getting through everything there is to discuss will require a number of posts. To keep things from becoming too disjointed, I’ll be skipping the regularly scheduled Friday posts in favor of putting up these skills posts in a continuous stream. Following this introduction, the next week or two will focus on reviewing each of Pathfinder’s skills in turn. I won’t be writing a single post for each skill, as -C did. Based on what I already have written, it seems as though I’ll be able to get through about three-to-four skills in each post. My focus will be on analyzing each skill’s current playability and usefulness based on my experience. I’ll also attempt to offer simple suggestions for improving each skill, with a mind toward house-rules, rather than complete system overhauls. My goal is that once I’m finished with this series of posts, it can be used by other Pathfinder game masters as a “patch.” The idea is to streamline the system without altering it so fundamentally that other parts of the game become too broken to use. Once this series is done, there are a number of skills which will require more thorough attention. Skills which I believe are valuable, but need to be re-built from the ground up to function as they should. In conclusion, I’ll outline the more fundamental problem with Pathfinder’s skills system, and what I’d like to see in a future game which is not bound to be compatible with the blunders committed by the D&D 3rd edition developers.

There are numerous indicators which can be used to determine if a skill is good or bad, but these are the touchstones I’ll be using to keep my analysis somewhat focused:

What is my Experience? I’ve played enough D&D 3.5 / Pathfinder to have a pretty good functional knowledge of how these skills are applied in the game. Or, at least, how they’ve been applied in the games I’ve GMed and played in. If a skill works well in actual play, it’s probably a good skill. If it works poorly in play, it may be a bad skill, even if the reason why is not immediately apparent.
What is the skill’s frequency of use? If a player puts skill points into a skill, they should have a reasonable expectation that they will be rewarded for doing so. If a skill is only helpful in very rare situations, then the skill ought to be dropped and replaced with some other resolution mechanic, or merged with another skill.
Is it necessary that the action’s success is uncertain? We don’t roll skill checks for walking or running, even though it is possible to trip and fall. Just because we can conceive of a way in which an action can fail doesn’t mean that every time that action is performed, we should check to see if it’s successful. A roll should only be called for if the character’s ability to perform an action can be reasonably called into question. A rogue should easily be able to walk along a 1ft wide ledge without anybody wasting time on a skill check. But a check might be appropriate when a cleric in full plate is attempting to cross a 1ft wide ice bridge between two windy mountain peaks whilst orcs fire arrows at her from above.
Does using a skill check circumvent potential fun? What exactly “fun” means is going to be different for everyone. I work from the assumption that rolling dice is a sort of fun-neutral activity. So it is only more fun than something which is un-fun.When a skill check is the most entertaining way to solve a problem, it is good. When there is a more interesting way to resolve a problem, but the game demands a skill check anyway, that is very bad.
Misc I reserve the right to make up new criteria as they occur to me, because I’m the GM, and I said so.

Before ending this introduction, I’d like to remind my readership of the Rule 0 Fallacy. Rule 0 (which is gamer jargon for “I’m the GM, so the rule is what I say it is!”) is one of the wonderful things about role playing games. We are not only able, but encouraged, to alter the rules of the games we run. Sometimes we do this simply so the rules better fit our specific needs, and that’s all well and good. Other times, however, we must change the rules because the game’s design is flawed. These skills posts are an example of the latter case: Pathfinder has a terrible skills system. I blame this more on Wizards of the Coast than I do on Paizo, since Paizo was only following D&D 3.5’s blueprint. But Paizo isn’t blameless: they could have done a better job of streamlining the system than they did. In at least one case that I can think of, Paizo actually made the skills system worse.

In the coming posts, I will attempt to fix the problems with this skills system. If I’m successful in making the game better, then that’s great–but it doesn’t excuse the fact that the skills system was bad in the first place. We should expect, and demand, higher quality than this from the role playing products we purchase.

I hope you enjoy these posts. I look forward to hearing feedback from the numerous perspectives represented among my readership.

A Twist on Race as Class

As you may or may not be aware, some games use a system of race selection commonly called “race as class.” It’s primarily found in older games, or “retro clones,” which attempt to capture the spirit of older games. The basic concept is that some or all races (normally excluding humans) are both a race and a class combined. A player might select a human fighter, or a human wizard, but if they choose an elf, then they’re just an elf. Elves grow in power as they gain experience points and levels, just as a normal class would, but they can’t be elven fighters/clerics/rogues. It’s an idea which has fallen out of style in recent decades, and I think the hobby is better for it. There are those who disagree, and they have some very compelling arguments. It’s just not for me.

As glad as I am that race and class are now thoroughly divided concepts within gaming, it has come at a cost: racial distinction. When a human and an elf have completely different leveling progressions, it’s hard from them to be more distinct from one another. They are completely different. But when humans and elves are racial choices in a game where most of a character’s abilities and flavor will be defined by their class, racial distinction can be lost. Or, to put it another way, the elves can become “humans in funny hats.” This problem has only become more pronounced since the elimination of a “maximum level” for certain race/class combinations. I’m not saying I want those to come back either, I’m just saying we need to recognize the problems which these changes have created.

Throughout the third edition of Dungeons and Dragons, the choice of which race to play was almost irrelevant. A fighter was a fighter, regardless of whether it was an elf, a dwarf, or even a halfling. There’s no doubt that each race came with some sweet benefits. Getting 2 feats at first level when you played a human was amazing, but after first level the choice of being a human lost any kind of relevance. Rather than being a defining feature, a character’s race essentially became a very powerful feat which can only be taken at 1st level. Paizo attempted to address this problem in Pathfinder, and they succeeded somewhat. Essentially they made race into a much more powerful feat. One which has a more dramatic effect on a character than before. This isn’t terrible, but it’s certainly inelegant.

And when designing a set of rules which, ideally, people will largely be able to memorize; elegance is key.

I’ve felt this way about races for some time, but I’ve never applied much thought to it. My thought has always been that race works better as a role playing element than as a mechanical element. But that does no justice to the concept of having races with different anatomies and abilities than humans have. The whole idea is for each race to be fantastical and unique; to be so different from humans that it can be difficult to find common ground. Dwarfs are more than Scottish accents and beer, and elves are more than nature loving know-it-alls. Choosing your race should have a powerful impact on your character’s abilities, flavor and progression!

Which brings me, finally, to my idea: what if the racial entries were simplified to the bare minimum, and each class progressed differently based on the character’s race?

Talking specifically about Pathfinder here, what if the 7 core races were boiled down to elements which would be universal to members of that race? For example, all humans are medium creatures, have a base land speed of 30ft, and that’s it. Everything else in the race entry is just fluff: descriptions of human appearance, what their society is like, etc. Other races might have an extra doo-dad or two, such as darkvision. But the racial entries themselves wouldn’t have bonuses or penalties to base ability scores, or other miscellaneous talents. Instead, all of that stuff would be moved to the class entries.

Each of the 9 class entries would have 7 small tables which detailed how the core races progressed through those classes. There would be, perhaps 5-10 levels where the character would gain racial abilities in addition to their class abilities, and those racial abilities would be unique to each class. An elven ranger, for example, could gain the ability to see great distances, whilst elven wizards and sorcerers would gain a +2 on their ability to overcome spell resistance. (“Logolys, what do your elf eyes see?” “I don’t know, I’m a Wizard!”) In essence, race and class are re-combined. But instead of the races being classes unto themselves, they modify whichever class they’re connected to. A player with an elven druid might be playing a very different class from a player with a dwarven druid.

This sounds complicated, I know. But consider this: in Pathfinder’s current form, racial entries contain a great deal of relevant information. Dwarfs get a +4 dodge bonus to AC against giants, Half Orcs can fight for one more round after they hit 0 HP, and gnomes get frickin’ spells if their charisma is high enough. These are the kinds of things which will almost never be written down on a player’s character sheet unless they anticipate needing to know it. That means that if they ever do need it, they’ll need to look it up in the book. This system condenses both racial and class abilities into a single, easily book-markable entry.

Still not convinced? What if I point out that Pathfinder is already doing something essentially like this? If you’ve ever picked up the Pathfinder Advanced Player’s Guide, you’ve probably seen the Class Archetypes. They’re on page 72 if you haven’t. Instead of having eleventy-billion poorly balanced prestige & base classes like 3.5 did, Pathfinder offers “alternate versions” of the 9 core classes, which replace certain abilities with others. In this way you can take a Rogue (as an example) and turn them into a Scout, or a Swashbuckler, or a Spy. My twist on “Race as Class” wouldn’t be any more complicated than this. The only difference is that instead of substitute abilities, racial selection would grant additional abilities.

Is there any game out there doing something like this? I know many of my readers are familiar with RPGs I’ve never even heard of, so let me know if I’m just re-wording a system which is already present in “Lords of the Twisty Tunnels,” or “Chop & Kick Kings.”

Twittertop RPG

I’m pretty active on Twitter. For the longest time I thought a 140 character blog was the dumbest idea ever. After some odd circumstances led me to join it, though, I discovered that it’s less of a blogging service, and more of a giant instant messenger conversation. And while I’m not a huge fan of the kind of self-centric social media which prompts people to write about every mundane event occurring in their lives, I am quite fond of finding new ways to connect with people. I’ve made a number of friends on twitter. Several of whom I would even call very close friends!

One of my Twitter friends is a Scottish kid named @Mocharaid. He’s been a supporter of my writing ever since I first started Comma, Blank_, and often served as a source of encouragement for me in those first few months when my readership was much smaller. He’s never played a tabletop RPG himself, and often pesters me to run one for him. Its become something of a joke between us, but I know he’s really quite anxious to give this type of gaming a try. So the other night, when he was taunting me about how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are going to be aliens in the next film, I asked him if he wanted me to GM for him. My intent was to crush him with falling rocks the moment he accepted, but then I got to thinking: just how hard wo0uld it be to run a tabletop role playing game on Twitter?

Two or three hours of typing later, I had produced this. It’s completely unrefined, and hasn’t been through a single playtest yet, but I think it could prove fun.

TWITTERTOP RPG

By @LS_GM

Twittertop RPG is a simple adventure role playing game–like Dungeons & Dragons, or Pathfinder, designed to be played on Twitter. Given the extreme limitations of tweets (140 characters) the game is minimalistic in the extreme. But don’t let that fool you into thinking the game lacks options. With a good Game Master, and spirited players, endless amounts of fun is possible.

The Primary Rule of Twittertop RPG is that all game-related actions must fit within a single 140 character tweet, and must begin by being directed at the GM. In my case, that would mean that all tweets relevant to a game session (excepting my own) must begin with “@LS_GM” which is 6 characters long, leaving 134 characters for any actions to be described.

CHARACTERS

Like everything in the game, the character sheet must fit within 140 characters, minus the GM’s name. They should be formatted thusly:

@GM’s_Name [Character Name],Class[Level]([Current Experience Points]);HP[# of max HP],AC[Current AC];ATK+[Attack Roll Modifer]/[# of Damage Points];[Profession];GP[# of gold](SP[Spells[# of times spell may be cast]])[Inventory]

Here is an example:

@LS_GM Magar,Mage0(4);HP2,AC6;ATK+0/1;Carpenter;GP100(SP:Fball3)ProtRing1

This is Magar, a level 0 Mage with 4 experience points. He can take 2 points of damage before death, and an enemy must roll a 6 or above to hurt him. When attacking physically, he does not get to add anything to his roll, and deals one point of damage. He was a carpenter, and has skills related to that field. He currently carries 100 gold pieces. He can cast the spell of Fireball 5 times, and wears a ring of protection +1 which increases his armor class–which is 6, but would normally be 5.

CLASSES

When beginning play, a player must select a class for their character. At level 0, the character gains all of the abilities listed under “First Level,” and “Each level.” At subsequent levels, characters gain only the abilities listed under “Each level.”

Warrior
First Level: +1 AC, +1 attack, can wear armor, attack roll of 10 is a crit.
Each Level: +8 HP, +2 dmg

Rogue
First Level: Can pick locks, can hide in shadows, can attack a distracted or unaware foe with +1 atk, and double damage, attack roll of 10 is a crit.
Each level: +4HP, +1 dmg

Mage
Each Level: +2 HP, can select one spell

Cleric
First Level: Can wear armor
Each Level: +6 HP, can select one spell

LEVELS

All characters start at level 0. The maximum level in Twittertop RPG is 9.

EXPERIENCE POINTS

Each time a character starts a new level, they begin with 0 experience points. As they overcome challenges, the Game Master will grant them experience points. When they recieve their 10th experience point, their level goes up, and their XP returns to 0. This means that experience points should always be represented by only a single digit.

HP

A character sheet always reflects that character’s current max amount of hit points, and their hit points return to max at the start of each new play session. Any time a character takes damage, their hit points will be reduced. If their hit points reach 0, the character is dead.

AC

AC stands for Armor Class. When a character is being attacked, their attacker must roll one 10 sided die, and add their ATK number. If the result equals or exceeds the target’s AC, then the attack is successful and damage is dealt. If the result is lower than the target’s AC, then the attack fails.

Base armor class is 5, and that number can be raised by class abilities, armor, or magic items.

ATTACK

The first number is your attack bonus. When you attempt to physically attack a creature, the GM will roll one 10 sided die, and add this number to see if your attack overcome’s the target’s Armor Class. The second number is the amount of damage the target takes if your attack is successful.

Characters begin play with +0/1, and these numbers are modified by the player’s class, and by any items they hold. A roll of 10 is always successful. For Warriors and Rogues, a roll of 10 also doubles their damage.

PROFESSION

Each character may have one simple profession. When the character attempts a to perform an action which has a chance of failure, and is not related to the character’s class, the GM should judge the effectiveness of the action based on the character’s profession. For example, if a character’s profession is Sailor, then they will be more successful in tying knots, navigating by the stars, or swimming. If a player so pleases, a non-human racial selection can be substituted for their profession, such as Dwarf, Elf, or Kobold. The selection of a profession or race has no effect on mechanics defined elsewhere in this document.

Some possible professions include: Carpenter, Bricklayer, Miner, Sailor, Scribe, Tailor, Blacksmith, Steward, Architect

GP

This is the character’s current gold. All characters start with 0 gold pieces, and may carry may carry up to 999 gold pieces, and use these gold pieces to purchase items.

SPELLS

Only Wizards and Clerics may learn spells. Since spells take up space on their character sheet, this reduces the amount of space which these classes have available for equipment in their inventory.

Both classes learn only one spell per level. The spell must be written on their character sheet the same way it is written here, followed by a number. The number indicates the number of times per day a spell may be cast. A spell may be selected multiple times to increase the number of times per day it can be cast. The first time a spell is selected it may be cast 3 times, the second time it is selected it may be cast 6 times, and the thired time it is selected it may be cast 9 times.

WIZARD SPELLS
Fball – A ball of fire envelops a 10ft radius, dealing 10 damage to all within its area. Caster is immune.
Necro – Raise a dead body as a skeleton under your command.
Tport – Teleport you and any of your allies up to 100ft to a location you can see, or have been to.
Mbolt – Magical bolts of energy fly from your fingertips, dealing 15 damage to a single target. Can be cast from 30ft away.
Ice – Freeze enemies in place for 3 rounds. Target cannot move, but can otherwise act normally.
Haste – Your allies may act twice in this round. You do not gain a second action.
Illus – Create silent illusions.
XRay – See through one wall or door to what is on the other side.

CLERIC SPELLS
Cure – Restore a number of hit points equal to your level.
Heal – Remove diseases, poisons, and other harmful effects.
Turn – Cause undead to cower for 3 rounds.
Smite – Call down the wrath of your god, dealing 15 damage. Must touch foe to accomplish this.
Fear – Foes flee in terror for 1 round.

INVENTORY

Characters begin play with nothing but the clothes on their back. They have no weapons, and no armor. They attack with their fists, and defend by dodging. When a character finds an item, they may add it to their inventory. At the end of each ession of play, the GM should ask for everyone’s character sheets. At this time the player must drop any items which cannot fit into the tweet.

All items must be written into the inventory in the same way they are written when the GM gives them to the player. Some example items include:

ProtRing+1 – A ring which adds 1 to the Armor Class of any who wear it.
Sword+1 – A sword which adds 1 to both attack, and to damage.
Armor+1 – Armor which adds 1 to the Armor Class of any who wear it.
Wand+1 – May cast 1 spell which has already been expended for the day.

GAME MASTER SECTION

Twittertop RPG is a game which relies heavily on the game master. Lacking mechancis for many situations, a Twittertop GM must be able to arbitrate situations liberally. Simple actions should be able to be performed by anyone, while more complex actions should be judged based on the character’s class, profession, or race.

COMBAT

At the start of combat, roll 1d10. If the die is 6 or above, then the players go first. If the die is 5 or below, the player’s foes act first. Allow all members of a given “side” to act before switching to the other group. Each individual within a group is allowed three actions on each turn:

Move: The character can move throughout the battlefield.
Fight: The player may attack or cast spells.
Prepare: The player may prepare a simple non-Fight action, which they will perform on the enemy’s turn IF the enemy meets certain conditions. For example, a Warrior’s prepared action might be “If the zombie tries to move to the Mage, I block him.” while a Mage’s prepared action might be “If the zombie tris to move to me, I run!”

Lacking a visual grid on which to do battle, Twittertop GMs must rely on description to communicate positioning to their players. This means that the tactical combat style found in games like Pathfinder won’t be found here. Instead, allow players to describe how they would like to position themselves relative to an enemy. Warriors will want to stand close, while Mages will want to stand far away. Rogues will want to get behind a foe, and clerics will likely want to move close to whoever needs to be healed. Allow players to move anywhere in the current arena of battle as a “Move” action.

Given how simple it is to create Twittertop RPG characters, combat can be very deadly. If a player reaches 0 hit points, the player is dead, and should create another character to join the party after the combat has ended. Any players who survive combat should be given either 1 or 2 experience points, depending on how difficult the combat was.

Easter Greetings

Just a little bit of seasonal fantasy role playing humor which came to me via @EmpyClaw and @Jezi_Belle on twitter. I hope my Christian readers can enjoy it in the spirit of a lighthearted jest, and have a pleasant holiday tomorrow.

Merciless Monsters 4: Telecanter's Three Spider Terrors

As the title notes, full credit for the creative parts of this post has to go to Telecanter, of Telecanter’s Receding Rules. To be frank, I’ve contributed nothing of value. I’m just taking care of the legwork that any halfway competent Pathfinder GM could handle on their own. If you don’t read TRR, then you’ve made some fundamental mistakes in your choice of which blogs deserve your attention. But hey, I won’t complain about the traffic.

Recently, Telecanter put up a post entitled “Three Spider Terrors,” where he created three types of deadly spiders which were meant to evoke the kind of terror giant spiders once instilled in us, before we became completely desensitized to fantasy creatures. All three connected with me, and I decided I would really like to use them in Pathfinder. And that’s exactly what I’ve done below: taken Telecanter’s spiders, and given them Pathfinder stats. Telecanter’s original descriptions of the spiders are also reproduced below as blockquotes, and all of this is done under Telecanter’s Creative Common’s License. The Pathfinder stats are based off of the Giant Spider and Spider Swarm stats on page 258 of the Pathfinder Bestiary.

Pale Spider

A skittering noise hovers around the edge of the torch’s flickering light.

Pale Spiders live in the dark, and they feed on those who don’t belong there. They are attracted to sources of light as a means of procuring food, but prefer to bide their time, waiting just outside the outside edge of the light source’s radius. A quick party might see, at most, a white leg just as it disappears back into the darkness. Pale spiders like to wait until one of their intended victims is rendered incapacitated before they venture into the light to feed on the creature’s soul using their Soul Drain attack.

Pale Spider; CR 1; [Vermin] [Underground / Dungeon] [Damp & Dark Climate] [Any Activity Cycle]

XP: 400
N Tiny Vermin (Cat sized)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60ft, tremorsense 60 ft.,Perception +4

DEFENSE

AC 15, touch 14, flat-footed 12 [10 + Dex(3) + Size(2)]
HP 5 (1d8 + 0)
Fort +2 Ref +4 Will +1;
Immunities mind-affecting effects

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft., Climb 30ft.
Melee bite +5 (1d6 – 2 plus Soul Drain)

STATISTICS

Str 6 Dex 17 Con 12 Int — Wis 10 Cha 2
Base Attack +2; CMB -2; CMD 11 (15 vs. trip)
Skills Climb (+16), Perception +4 (+8 in webs), Stealth +11 (+27 in webs)
Feats Weapon Finesse (Bite Attack)

ECOLOGY

Environment Any
Organization Hunting Party (6-12), or Swarm (13-24)
Activity Cycle Any
Treasure Incidental

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Soul Drain(Ex) Bite–Injury; save Fort DC 14; frequency 1; effect 1d6 Charisma damage; Cha damage is maximized (6) on a character who is at -1 HP or lower. Any creature whose Charisma is reduced to 0 by this ability cannot be healed or resurrected.

TELECANTER’S ORIGINAL TEXT

These cat-sized spiders follow just at the edge of light, wait for a death, then swarm in. Never fewer than six, they prod and clamber over a body in order to steal a soul. They prove to be vicious fighters if an attempt is made to keep them from a body. Corpses pale spiders have fed on can not be revived.

Grey Mugger

A brief glimpse of fleeing grey legs moves quickly out of sight.

A young Grey Mugger is most often just looking for a safe place to rest. Most end up under a rock, or in a fallen log. However, when travelers are not careful with their discarded boots or open bags, these can seem like a perfect place to rest for a Grey Mugger. And when the creature’s rest is interrupted, they strike with surprising lethality, and use their remarkable speed to escape.

Grey Mugger; CR 1; [Vermin] [Dry, Warm Places] [Temperate Climate] [Any Activity Cycle]

XP: 400
N Diminutive Vermin
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60ft, tremorsense 60 ft.,Perception +4

DEFENSE

AC 17, touch 17, flat-footed 14 [10 + Dex(3) + Size(4)]
HP 2 (1d8 + 0)
Fort +2 Ref +4 Will +1;
Immunities mind-affecting effects

OFFENSE

Speed 50 ft., Climb 50ft.
Melee Touch Attack bite +2 (1 damage, plus Life Link)

STATISTICS

Str 6 Dex 17 Con 12 Int — Wis 10 Cha 2
Base Attack +2; CMB -4; CMD 9 (11 vs. trip)
Skills Climb (+16), Perception +4 (+8 in webs), Stealth +11 (+27 in webs)
Feats Weapon Finesse (Bite Attack)

ECOLOGY

Environment Any
Organization Solitary, pair, or colony (3-8)
Activity Cycle Any
Treasure Incidental

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Life Link(Su) Bite–Injury; save Fort DC 22; effect the target of the life link receives no benefit from any form of healing, regardless of its source. Instead, all magical, divine, natural, and mundane healing goes to the Grey Mugger. Every 8 hit points gives the spider an additional HD, increasing its maximum HP. Every 3 HD gained, the Grey Mugger grows one size category, and with each size category the damage dealt by the creature’s bite attack increases (1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10, 2d6, and so on). In order for the Life Link to be broken, the Grey Mugger must be hunted down and killed. Until then, the victim can receive no healing whatsoever. A single Grey Mugger may establish a Life Link with any number of victims. In some rare cases, Grey Muggers have been known to absorb enough energy to gain Intelligence, sending out “drone” Grey Muggers, and devouring them to gain their Life Links.

TELECANTER’S ORIGINAL TEXT

A tiny reclusive spider that often catches explorers unaware as they probe old bags and chests. The bite of the grey mugger is but a sting (1 hit point) but thereafter the healing of the victim with serve to feed the spider (each hit point the victim heals, whether by magic, divine aid, or naturally, will go to the spider– every 8 hit points will grow the spider and give it an additional hit die making it more fierce). The spider must be found and slain to sever the link.

Jerky Man

What appears to be a human man moves with jerky, sudden movements, as though he is controlled by an inexperienced puppeteer.

They were once human, or at least, their bodies once contained a human. Their internal organs have been replaced by a swarm of deadly spiders, and their nervous system and musculature has been replaced with an elaborate tangle of webs. The once-human creatures stagger about in a poor imitation of a human walk. They attempt to mime the desire for physical contact–and embrace or a kiss…

Jerky Man; CR 5; [Vermin] [Caves] [Temperate Climate] [Any Activity Cycle]

XP: 2,400
N Medium Vermin
Init -1; Senses darkvision 60ft.,Perception +0

DEFENSE

AC 11, touch 10, flat-footed 11 [10 + Natural(1)]
HP 14 (3d8 + 0)
Fort +0 Ref +0 Will +3;
Immunities mind-affecting effects

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft.
Melee slam + 2 (1d6 plus infect)

STATISTICS

Str 12 Dex 10 Con 10 Int — Wis 10 Cha 2
Base Attack +1; CMB +2; CMD 12

ECOLOGY

Environment Near Caves
Organization Solitary
Activity Cycle Any
Treasure Incidental

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Infect(Ex) Any touch from a Jerky Man requires a DC: 14 fortitude save. Failure indicates that the target has become infected by the spiders which control the Jerky man from within. The spiders immediately begin laying eggs and spreading themselves throughout the body of the host, dealing Con damage each day equal to the number of days which the host has been infected. (On the first day 1 Con damage is dealt, on the second day 2 Con damage is dealt, and so on) This ability damage cannot be healed unless the infection is cured. If the host reaches 0 Constitution, then the host dies, and their body becomes a new Jerky Man.

Cure It is exceedingly difficult to cure the Jerky Man Infection. Most who know its effects resort to self-amputation of the affected limb without hesitation. The clerical spell “Heal” can be used to cure the infection as well, if a cleric of sufficient level can be found.

Last Ditch Leap(Ex) Upon its destruction, the skin of a Jerky Man will rip open to reveal cobwebs roiling with spiders. The round following the creature’s destruction, the spiders will leap free from the ruined corpse in every direction, and quickly skitter towards the nearest viable host. Anyone standing within 5ft of the creature’s body must make a fortitude save as though they have been touched. Those with the evasion ability are entitled to a reflex save (DC: 16) to avoid the spiders altogether. The spiders will move about the battlefield as a Spider Swarm (Pathfinder Bestiary Pg. 258) for 3 rounds or until destroyed. After three rounds, spiders without a host die. Any who come in contact with the swarm during this juncture must make a fortitude save against infection.

TELECANTER’S ORIGINAL TEXT

They are said to come staggering out of caves or old mines and motion for passersby to come close. An embrace and a kiss is all they wish. But they are not men. A kiss from a jerky man, or just a touch, will infect the victim and the flesh near the bite will begin turning to tiny spiders (an inch per day) unless something is done.
If a jerky man is killed in combat its thin skin will rip open to reveal cobwebs roiling with spiders. The round after one dies, the person that killed them will be covered with spiders and begin taking one point of damage per round. Upon death the victim will become a jerky man themselves. (DMs can adjudicate how successful various means of removing the spiders are).

Poker Comics: The Natural Order of Things

Today I learned that the newest player at my game table, Poker the Rogue, is an artist. Now I’ve got two of them! The comic above depicts a scene which took place early in his first adventure, when I rolled “Worg” on my random encounter table, and “Wounded” on Trollsmyth’s “Monster Motivation” table. I think the party’s reaction is documented rather well.

Two of the members of my group (both of the artists, actually) have a large interest in ecology. So when one of them mentioned that it might be an invasive species, I confirmed that Worgs (along with any “Magical Beast”) could be considered an unnatural, and thus invasive, species. It was funny to see sympathy for the creature completely dry up once the players realized it was harming the game world’s ecosystem.

The whole exchange took perhaps ten to fifteen minutes of game time, and the fact that it was memorable enough to make a comic about just goes to prove what I’ve always said: the best kind of fun is the kind which players create for themselves. The game included several well crafted NPCs, a dungeon filled with rich lore, and a few very impressive landmarks. But the #1 thing this player latched on to, and wanted to share, was a moment when a randomly-rolled encounter gave birth to some quirky party interaction.

This comic tickles me absolutely pink. I hope there are more of them forthcoming!

A Learning Experience

This past Saturday was a day of firsts for me. It had been awhile since I’d been able to get a group together for a gaming session, so many of the things I’ve been thinking about and writing about got a test-run during this weekend’s game. I edited everyone’s character sheets before the game to make note of their current encumbrance, and I made sure all of my treasure had encumbrance noted. I prepared a few hex-crawl sections for the game, complete with detailed encounter tables. I also made an attempt to include time tracking in my campaign, which I really had no idea how to do, but I tried to work off of some supposition. I also tried a few things which I haven’t written about; including weather in my games, using poker chips to track the party’s resources, and writing down treasure on index cards. I believe those last two were originally proposed by Telecanter.

Like I said, it was an entire day of firsts. Some things worked well, some things didn’t, and most others fell somewhere in between. So now that the game is over, it’s time to review, and revise. Experience is our greatest teacher so long as we take the time to listen to it!

Encumbrance

(Using my Encumbrance system). As I mentioned, I went through everyone’s character sheet and put a red underline under everything which would add to their encumbrance, then put their totals, as well as their light/medium/heavy load ranges on their character sheets. When everyone arrived, I explained the new system to them briefly. I asked them to keep track of their encumbrance during play and let me know if they started carrying a medium or heavy load. I was somewhat surprised that this did not really impact the speed of play even slightly. There were a few conversations about who should carry what, but they were brief, and entirely appropriate. Looking over their character sheets now (this group always leaves their sheets with me, for some reason. It’s not something I normally require), it seems like everybody did a good job. I can tell that the number was erased and increased whenever appropriate.

I don’t feel as though the system has been sufficiently stress-tested, though. Nobody is yet carrying anything other than a light load, so penalties have not come into play. However, for now, I’m completely satisfied with my encumbrance system, and look forward to seeing it in action more often.

Resource Tracking with Poker Chips

I actually did talk about this once before, way back in November when I said I didn’t like it. But the more I’ve thought about it, the more it seems completely reasonable, and the less my objections seemed to be relevant. That’s what I get for doubting Telecanter’s genius. I used white poker chips to represent arrows (and gave the ranger 24, which I only just now remember should have been included in his encumbrance. Whoops!), red poker chips to represent torches/lantern oil, and blue poker chips to represent rations. I had a large bowl on the table where everyone could toss their chips when they consumed a resource, and pull them out when they renewed that resource.

It worked fantastically. Better than fantastically; it worked perfectly! Everyone quickly got into the habit of tossing their rations into the bowl at the end of the day. They even did it when I forgot to tell them to. The ranger and I both forgot to toss his arrows in the bowl, but that’s only because it took a few hours for the party to engage anything in combat. Tracking torches has been a little bit trickier, but only because of my difficulties relating to…

Time Tracking

(Using my suppositions on the subject) Time tracking didn’t work as well as it could have, but it didn’t not work. During the first few hours of the game, while the party was hex crawling, I kept track of the when the day began and ended, which I think is plenty. I didn’t really take into account any time spent in combat, in town, or otherwise interacting with NPCs, but maybe that’s unnecessary. Later in the game, once the party entered the dungeon, my original plan was to keep track of time in 10 minute turns. I was only somewhat successful in this. I took a page from Magic: The Gathering and used a 12 sided die to keep track of time. After the first 10 minutes, I set it in front of me with the 1 facing up. After another 10 minutes passed, I turned it to 2, and so on. Once it hit 12 I would note that two hours had passed, and start the count over. When I decided to turn it was this issue. I typically assumed that each combat required enough rest afterwards to count as 10 minutes, and that if the players spent more than a few moments in a room it should count for 10 minutes. I also moved the counter up twice when the rogue took 20 on a perception check to find traps.

The whole thing felt messy, but I’m not entirely certain how I could do it better. This will require further in-game experience to fully evaluate.

Weather

I totally spaced on this. Didn’t even mention it during the game, let alone have it affect combat in any way. GM fail.

Treasure on Index Cards

I believe this is something I first red on Telecanter’s blog. Before the game I spent $1.18 on a pack of 300 index cards. Anytime I added a pile of treasure or a chest into my notes, I would write everything down on an Index card. A typical card would be headed with something like “Crypt of Bonegut the Stone Fisted; Chest in room 8” and would include the number of gold pieces, gems, and other oddities the characters found. I also wrote a number in red next to any item which would increase a player’s encumbrance.

I really think these cards improved play by a great deal. Anytime they made a discovery, I’d toss a card over the GM screen, and one of them would read off the items to the others. It was really fun to hear them wonder “what are these bottles of blue liquid?” (Healing Potions), and “A stick with a tiny ruby at the tip!?” (Wand of Fireball with 3 charges left). Fortunately the party’s sorceress, Phoenix Dark, was more than capable of identifying all of these objects. Having something visual seemed to help the players in dividing up the loot amongst themselves, and I really don’t think my encumbrance system would have worked anywhere near as well without these cards.

Obviously it would be more difficult to use these in randomly generated dungeons, but they were so useful in this game that they will certainly have a place in any future games I run.

Hex Crawling

(Using my thoughts on how to make travel more engaging, as well as my thoughts on creating an encounter table.) This did not go so well. At least I don’t think so. The players understood the concept well enough, and I won’t say that anyone appeared to be excessively bored. But with all the rolling, marking down of terrain type, and slowly moving the piece one hex at a time, I think everyone was getting a little impatient. More than once the player who was controlling the party’s marker would absentmindedly move it several spaces at once, which says to me that they were more eager to reach their destination than they were to know what they encountered while getting there.

I believe that part of the issue may have been the way I was marking down the terrain type. A friend of mine got me a nice table-sized, wet-erase hex map for Christmas, so I gave the party a little red bead to represent themselves with, and had them move one hex at a time. Once they entered a hex, I would quickly use one of my markers to identify what the terrain type of the hex was. It was a clumsy method of doing things. One of my players suggested that I let her mark the map, which now seems like a much better idea. It would both involve the players more in the process, and would force me to verbally identify each terrain type (which I was failing to do after awhile.)

If anybody has advice on this, or perhaps an audio recording of a successful hex crawl, I would be very appreciative.

Skills

This isn’t exactly new, but it is something I learned. The more I play with skills, the more I agree with my friends in the OSR movement: the elaborate skills system used in Pathfinder is bad. It’s better than D&D 3.5’s, but it’s still in severe need of being redesigned. Not only does it serve as a source of confusion for new players, but it can be a pain-in-the-ass during play. Having the rogue roll to search for traps at every door quickly became a source of exasperation. And often when I knew I “should” be asking for skill checks, I instead simply allowed players to perform tasks. The sorceress was able to identify magic items, the Ranger with Knowledge(Dungeoneering) was able to identify statues of gnomes as being real gnomes under a petrification spell, etc. I’m not ready to completely abandon a skill system, but I’ll certainly be devoting some attention to it in the coming months.

Funny Story…

That’s everything I’d like to share about what I learned from this most recent game. However, before ending this post, I would like to share one funny story / word of warning for other GMs.

The first boss in my dungeon was a skeletal orc with some fancy fighter abilities. When the players entered the room, it would be lying dead on a slab the way a good corpse should. On the floor around it was scattered a great deal of treasure. The idea was that the players would recognize that as soon as they touched the treasure, the orc would come alive and attack them. So they’d prepare themselves for battle, and carefully grab some of the treasure. When the orc never stirred, they’d figure they were wrong, and go on their way. 20 minutes AFTER they took the treasure, the Orc skeleton would come alive, and start hunting for them in the dungeon. It would be particularly good if he found them whilst they were engaged with some other creature.

When my players finally enter this room, they suspect a trap. So my party’s rogue, Poker, inspects the stone slab the orc is lying on. This I had not expected. Given that rogues receive the “trapfinding” ability at level one, which allows them to detect and disable magical traps, I figured the rogue might have a chance to notice something was amiss here. I told him that he detected a very faint, dormant necromatic aura. Upon hearing this, my players did the logical thing:

The Ranger, whose favored enemy was undead, smashed the skeleton’s head with his sword.

All I could do was bury my face in my hands and give the ranger 3 XP for killing the boss.

Behind the GM's Screen: ToKiTiMo 3

First thing is first: If you are one of the four people playing in my ToKiTiMo campaign, you should not read this post. It contains information from this past Saturday’s game, as well as information which may be used in future sessions. I believe at least two of the players in that game do check this blog occasionally, and reading this post will ruin some of the game’s upcoming surprises. Fortunately for me, I don’t play with any child-minded buffoons who would actually cheat at a tabletop RPG, so I can rely on the honor system for this kinda thing.

Moving on; I recently got around to doing what most other GMs did back in the 90s: I started preparing my game notes on a computer rather than by hand. It was a difficult decision. I’ve always loved the tactile feeling of a pencil scratching across paper. Plus, since I don’t own a printer, it saved me a trip to Office Max and a few dollars on prints. The downside, though, is that it can be difficult to make changes. Sometimes mistakes can force you to scrap an entire page and need to re-write it. And with the way I grip pencils, my hand tends to cramp up after a few minutes, which limited the progress I could make in a given evening.

Plus I type about four times as fast as I can write on paper, so there’s that.

Anyway, now that my games are neither trapped on sheets of paper, nor written in indecipherable chicken-scratch, it occurs to me that I can easily share them. The question is: should I share them? Is this something people would be interested in reading? I certainly have fun writing it, but whether anyone else is interested in them is something of a mystery to me. I think I would like to read other GM’s game notes. I could certainly learn a thing or two from GMs who are better than I. And, hell, if somebody wants, there’s no reason they couldn’t just run my adventure for their own group. That last part might just be my ego talking, but I like to pretend that people find my small contributions to gaming helpful.

So here’s the deal: below is act 1 of the third adventure in my ToKiTiMo campaign. Or, if you’d rather, you can download all three acts of the adventure as a PDF file. If you read it, leave a comment. Let me know if you enjoyed it, and if you’d like me to continue posting my adventures. And if you’d rather I not do this again, speak up! I can take criticism, and if nobody tells me they hate this, I’m going to keep doing it.

ACT 1: Journey to Overton

Part 1: Mahudar Kosopske’s Tower

When the previous adventure ended, the players had just returned from the goblin village with the special tree branch the gnomish wizard would need in order to ward the town of Honon against fire. He allowed them to stay the night, and to drink from his curative fountain to restore their health. The game will begin the following morning.

In the morning, Mahudar is eager to begin his journey to Honon. He ushers the players out of his tower. As he locks the tower, he asks the players if they have any pressing engagements. Assuming they say no, he asks them if they would like to do some work for him. If they agree, read the following text.

“There is an artifact–a small golden orb–which I would like you to retrieve. It’s an item of great importance to the gnomish peoples, but is hidden deep within an underground keep which is warded against our entry. Despite my best efforts, I was never able to dispel them. You lot seem to be trustworthy folk, and as humans the wards would have no effect on you. If you would retrieve this artifact for me, I would reward you handsomely.”

He intends to pay each party member 200 gold for their trouble, and will allow them to keep or sell anything they find. If the players Haggle, Mahudar offers only moderate resistance. We still want to encourage haggling. He will go no higher than 400 gold pieces.
If the players do not mention it themselves, Mahudar offers them 4 days rations, which he pulls from his bag of holding. In the future, rations should be up to the players, but I haven’t been strict about ration tracking in the past, so they should not be punished for not thinking of it this time.
Since Mahudar used “teleport” in the last game, they may ask for one. He has not prepared it that day, and he must begin his travels to Honon immediately, so unless they wish to accompany him that far, he cannot help them. If they press, he will require payment for the spell (8,000 gold).

When the players ask how to get there, read the following text.

“You will first need to travel to Overton. Two miles south of my tower is the river Bynt. Follow its northern bank through the forest. Overton is built where the Bynt meets the mighty River Yosregal. Your journey should take no more than four days time if you don’t stray. In Overton you can rest and resupply. Once you are ready, seek out the man known as Geary Therman, and ask him to direct you to Ursnol, a gnomish settlement a few days travel from Overton. In Ursnol, you will have no trouble finding a guide to lead you the rest of the way to the dungeon entrance. After that, you will be on your own.”

Part 2: Hex Crawl

The area between Mahudar Kosopske’s Tower and Overton has long been the domain of a tribe of Gnolls, known as The Spotted Bull tribe, which is led by a minotaur named Korakus. Recently, an evil Wizard named Dheef Gason moved into a nearby dungeon. He has been using unholy magics to merge captured Gnolls with his Ogre servants. He sets the twisted abominations free in the forest, and they have gathered into a loose society, directing their rage at anyone they find.

While winding through the hilly hexes, the river is at the bottom of steep hills on both sides. This makes it a great place for an ambush if combat is rolled. This first leg of the journey will work off one encounter table for the hills, forest, and plains hexes.

Remember to track the character’s food closely. Also track their movement (they should have 24 movement points if they do not attempt to acquire a mount.) Lastly, make sure Rosco (the ranger) rolls survival to avoid getting lost, in accordance with this table:

Terrain	Examples	Movement Cost	Becoming Lost
Easy	road	4	No Check
Average	clear, city, grasslands, trail*	6	Survival DC: 10
Moderate	forest, hills, desert, badlands	8	Survival DC: 15
Difficult	mountains, jungle, swamp	12	Survival DC: 20

Weather: Day 1 is Cloudy and Windy, Day 2 is Rainy and Windy, Day 3 is Rainy, Day 4 is Sunny, Day 5 is Sunny, Day 6 is Cloudy, Day 7 is Sunny

Time Tracking: This is the first game in which we will be tracking time. For simplicity’s sake, the adventure will start on the first day, of the first month, of the 3999th year of the common era. Day, Week, and Month names can be determined at a later date, but start keeping track now of how many days have passed.

Kobold Adventuring Party: In the first adventure, the players attacked a Kobold encampment. Despite being given an opportunity to negotiate, they attacked. 6 survivors, separated from their clan, have vowed vengeance on the party. They are stalking them. They will not attack the players outright, as they have not yet become powerful enough. However, they do attempt to lay deadly traps along the party’s suspected paths.

Undead: A lich named Erstic Von Kolt lives not to terribly far from here, though he is not along the projected hex path. Years ago, while he was still alive, he passed through this area and created a number of undead goblins. He’s long since forgotten about them, and they roam aimlessly now. If the players investigate the undead, they might discover a distinctive mark on all of their chests. Showing that mark to anyone in a leadership role will get the players some basic information on the lich.

Part 2 Subsection A: Random Encounters

Each day, roll twice. Once for the morning, once for the evening. Roll a third time for the evening, but only accept results which have mobility (such as monsters). All other results for the nighttime roll should be considered “Nothing of particular interest occurs.”

Monsters: When rolling a monster, use Trollsmyth’s purpose chart. 2d4 for bestial monsters, 1d10 for intelligent monsters:

1. Diplomacy
2. Patrolling Territory
3. Hurt
4. Horny
5. Hungry
6. Napping
7. Fighting (Roll again to see which creatures it is fighting.)
8. Home
9. Raiding
10. Art

Kobold Traps

1. 10ft deep pits. Perception DC: 16
2. Trip wires onto leaf-covered sharp sticks. Perception DC: 17, Attack +8, 1d6 damage.
3. Snare. Perception DC: 18. Failure causes characters to be pulled up 10ft off the ground.
4. Falling tree. Reflex save DC: 14 or be hit for 4d6 bludgeoning damage, and be trapped under the tree until you can be rescued.

Part 2 Subsection B: Fixed Locations

Garok Torar

This dungeon is represented by a dungeon icon in the center of the forest, one hex north of the river, and two hexes east of the large mountain. Parties entering this hex have a 10% chance to encounter this location.

Garok Torar is a collection of ruins in a large clearing. Made of blue-white stone, the ruins are heavily overgrown now, and no structure save one rises above the first floor–or even has a roof. In the center of the ruins, however, is a larger building. A stairway leads up to the large double-doored entrance–though the doors are long gone. Within appears to be some manner of courthouse, or other official building. In the large central room, an ornate staircase winds downwards.

The staircase leads to the first sub level of a 3-level dungeon. This is where the wizard Dheef Gason has taken up residence. His ogre minions can be commonly encountered throughout all of Garok Torar.

Mount Suvisar

The tallest mountain in the region is located near the western edge of the forest, next to the clearing where Overton can be found. The mountain is heavily forested. It is a little known fact that this is where the roost of Kolgoth’Ronnomaktar The Red can be found.

Castle Nalew

This mega dungeon extends 6 levels above ground level, and 15 levels underground, ending in entrances tot he underdark. However, it is currently sealed up tight, and none know how to enter it. It can be found on the southern edge of the Overton fields. Locals know of it, but none have ever been within its walls.

Part 3: Overton

CN Large Town (Population: 3k; 98% Human, 2% Half Elf, 1 Gnoll) Government: Mayor

Basic Info
Overton is built at the joining of two rivers. The town subsists primarily as a fishing village, but also serves as the central hub for the many frontiersmen who live and work in the nearby forest. It also trades with the gnoll and elvish tribes which live there. The people are generally friendly and honest, but hard from a life in the wilderness. The town’s official patron deity is Obad-Hai, but the town’s population is not particularly devout.

Services Available
Carpenter, Butcher, Blacksmith, Small temple (Obad-Hai), Brothel (“The Comely Castle”), Alchemist’s Shop (“The Crimson Elixer”), Stable (6 horses for sale, left by previous adventuring party who didn’t come back), General Store, river transport, tavern/Inn, leatherworker, tanner.
Town’s Total Purchasing: 4k gold

Notable NPCs
Geary Therman – The town’s mayor. A broad-shouldered huntsman with graying temples. Highly respected, always willing to do manual labor, and to help those in need, even outsiders. Tends to be anywhere he’s needed within the town. When the players ask for him, he’s on the docks talking to Ester Thomas about fur prices.
Hyerman Devon – Manager of the general store. One of the scrawniest men in Overton, but polite and willing to haggle. Sticker price is a few gold more than normal costs.
Old Berman – The high priest at the temple of Obad-Hai. Able to cast 4th level spells. Is not very friendly to those who do not follow his god. Will help for a hefty price, unless anyone offends him or his nature deity.
Melina Ayvon – Wizard in charge of the alchemist’s shop. Sells a variety of concoctions, and able to sell 2nd level spells for a fee. Acts more like a wheedling salesperson than a scholarly wizard. If the players seem capable, she might ask them if they want to find a rare herb for her
Anita Whyk – Half-elven Madam at the Comely Castle. Works as an information broker on the side. Advanced in age now, she still cuts a dashing figure, but does not work herself. She’s protective of the sex workers she employs. She’s a little distracted because one of her girls is missing. (Detective sidequest. she was taken by Gnolls. will be dead by day 7)
Ester Thomas – Ferry captain. A six-and-a-half foot tall woman with beefy arms and a bellowing laugh. She can be brutish and rude, but she’s much smarter than she lets on. She and her sailors are spending a week at rest in Overton whilst they wait for a delivery of animal furs to take south.
Bittereye – Geary Therman’s old hunting companion, a gnoll whose tribe is no more. He helps barter with the nearby gnoll tribes, and serves as an enforcer for the town guard when they need some extra muscle. Doesn’t want players help locating missing brothel girl.

When the players eventually seek out Geary Therman, he’s only too happy to direct them where they need to go. Read the following text:

“Well, easy way is ta cross th’ river here, and hoof it due west until you reach The Forest Queen–that’s a big hulkin’ statue of an elf lady. Can’t miss it. From her, ye can go north until ye reach th’ grasslands. Follow them nor-east. Iffun ye reach the forest’s edge, ye’ve gone too far.”

And that’s Act 1. If you’re interested enough that you’d like to read more, you can download the entire adventure. It’s 22 pages long if you include the three maps. And don’t forget to let me know if you would like for me to continue doing this!