If you are roped into refereeing D&D 4e.

Combat takes longer. I can't stress this enough. Once you initiate combat you are committed for the next 1/2 hour or hour resolving it if fought to the finish. In a four hour session the most I seen somebody do was resolve three combat encounter between the same number of roleplaying encounters. This can be a big shock for somebody used to 1st edition AD&D or OD&D. I was used to it because of GURPS so it wasn't a big deal for me.

Wizards had opted for a specific style of presentation for 4e adventures. One that most of the 4e community has come to expect. If you use pre-made adventures they will seem constrained and linear compared other RPGs.

The good news is that the individual encounters are often well written, challenging and fun. Another benefit of 4e is that it lays out the math for you. So you can quickly come up with encounters of different power levels.

Remember you don't have to run 4e the way the Wizards presents it. If you have any experience with other RPGs with tactically detailed combat systems, whatever technique you had developed will work well with D&D 4e. How I managed GURPS worked fine with D&D 4e.

I typically run a sandbox campaign. And whether it is GURPS, Fantasy Hero, Swords & Wizardry or my original AD&D 1st, the setting is what it is and players encounter whatever was in the locale. What this means in practice is that around 5th to 6th level (or double GURPS starting points) most of the encounters are underscaled. Only when they go to truly dangerous areas or encounter experienced enemies will they find anything comparable to their current skill level. The effect the few D&D 4e game I ran is that most combat encounters are quickly resolved when the players reach mid heroic levels (5th to 6th).

Hopefully this illustrate that there is more than one way of running 4e than what is typically talked about. The only part of D&D 4e that is hard to work around is the how the power system makes everything seem like heroic high fantasy. But that is a minor issue. Again pretty any type of style or plot that you ran in AD&D 1st you should be able to do in D&D 4e.

Gold Star Manor Part I

Two weekend ago I had another session of Swords & Wizardry at the Gold Star Anime. I didn't post about the previous sessions. To recap, the party killed the Minotaur in the Maze. Janus the Elven Cleric died when Hazar foolishly shoved the lid off of a tomb and poison gas flooded the room. The party decided to take Janus to the wading pool in the level above and after Hazar promised to pay the "price" Silvanus resurrected her. The party cleared out the rest of the temple. Discovered a passage to a section that was ruled by a demon. Killed the demon.

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Cast of Characters
Bob – Leon Shadowwalker - 4th level Human Claw of Kalis
Tate - Typhon - 5th level Gnome Magic User
Jay - Heimdell - 4th level Dwarven Runecaster
Josh - Hazar - 6th level Human Thug
John (“the other John”)– Alaghazar, 4th level Human Thothian Mage
Jerry (“big Jerry”) – Janus, 5th level Elven Cleric (female)
Jerry (“little Jerry”) – Hunter, 6th Level Halfling Fighter

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This session begins with the party above ground and flushed with treasure. They decided to head back to Oakwatch Keep to cash in and reequip. There was talk of reclaiming the temple as a base for the party.

On the way they encountered Leon and Typhon running for their lives from a horde of Orcs. Whatever tension existed from before were put aside as the entire party was engulfed by a horde of on rushing orcs. In two successive waves nearly 50 orcs were brought down through blade, and spells.

Unfortunately Typhon's Orc henchmen was killed by Hunter the Halfling. Fortunately for the Hunter Typhon was unconscious due to a tremendous hit by an orc shaman's magic missile. When he was revived his grief knew no bounds. While the party mouthed platitudes how it was an accidental hit. Typhon noticed that his beloved orc head was taken cleanly off the shoulder (Hunter rolled a nat 20). He secretly vowed vengeance against the unknown perpetrator.

Rob Note: Back in the day I would have rather uptight about the "unrealistic" result of a party taking out 50 orcs. This time around I just go with the flow. I have come to even appreciate how even mid level characters can feel like heroes overcoming great odds. The key elements are the powerful low levels spells like sleep and fireball. And the fighter ability to get 1/attack per level against 1 HD creatures or lower.

They came back to Oakwatch Keep and quickly refitted. Typhon and Leon had other business so made other arrangements (the players had to leave early). They spent a week training and refitting (Hazar was learning to be proficient with a long sword from Hunter, Heimdell was recharging some runes to replace the ones he expended, and the rest buying charms from the Temple of Thor).

Near the end of the week, while eating in the Tavern, the party talked with a certain Sir Runic Rump who mentioned that he had a manor to sell as he was down on his luck. (At this point I show a fancy deed I created and had printed). The party was impressed and Hazar decided that the Manor needed to bought. They negotiated a price of 20 crowns (6400 silver pieces). Heimdell was suspicious so he asked around and found out that four other parties had bought the same deed but only to return and demand a refund which Sir Runic Rump gave them. One party only had half of it's members. Even after being informed Hazar was determined to close to deal.

The next morning they left Oak Watch Keep and headed down to the Estuary of the Roglaroon. After crossing it they handed to Tegal Manor (I shifted it location for this campaign).


To say the place was huge is an understatement.

So they poked around the outside noting the strange statues that seem to be common. They investigated a gazebo on the northeast corner of the house.

However they got the first inkling that something was seriously wrong with the manor when they peeked into a window and saw a lounge room and sleeping on the couch was a MINIATURE RED DRAGON.

Taken aback Hazar decided to see what this was about and went around to the main entrance where the Master Foyer awaited them. When they opened the door they saw several pillars and the walls adorned with paintings of the Rump family. Hazar went in followed by Alaghazar. Hazar started to go the pictures on the west. When the two saw a two headed demon walking towards them. Alaghazar immediately left and shut the foyer doors leaving Hazar inside!

The demon won initiative and went up to Hazar and demanded his cloak. Dumbfounded, Hazar fumbled and handed it over only to have it fall to floor as it passed through the unsubstantial form. The demon was really only a ghost. The ghostly demon wailed and cried and stomped off in a huff disappearing into a wall.

After this Alaghazar and the rest of the party came back into the foyer. After a few sharp words with the Alaghazar, Hazar went to investigate the painting at 49. It was a pictures of a Rump in farmer's clothing wielding a scythe. As he approached the man in the painting turned and planted the scythe in the middle of Hazar's chest! Cursing his luck he backed away and proceeded to throw daggers at it until it was destroyed.

Laughing Alaghazar went to look at the picture in 40. Labeled Rushrat the Rainmaker the party saw a miniature rain cloud form over Alaghazar and started raining on him. It followed him wherever he went. Janus decided it was a good time to cast Detect Evil. From the spell she learned that beyond the east door there was a great evil. Janus also found by focusing on the painting she could sense which ones were baneful.

After hearing about the great evil Alaghazar decided to cast invisibility on himself. Almost immediately the rest of the party burst out laughing as they could clearly see the rain outlining his body. Irked he slugged Hazar, and stomped off becoming visible again.



The party decided to see what behind the east door. Opening they saw a dark corridor stretching 50' to the east ending in another door. When Hunter stepped into the hall the entire party almost ran in terror as a blood curdling scream was heard.

Rob Note: They moved their miniatures into the hallway and when they did so I let out a scream as loud as I could. I think I almost give Big Jerry a heart attack and the rest of the players looked ready to bolt.

Investigating these room revealed chambers of horror. To the south was the horrific Room of Fear. Painted in black and lined with horrible paintings it caused nearly everybody who looked in to be overcome with nausea and vomit. After discussion it was decided to lob a fireball into the room destroying the paintings. Investigating the Cells to the north found little of value except a door to the north. To the south the bedroom held a strange darkness in SW corner. When shot with an arrow it withdrew into itself and revealed another two headed demon! Janus stepped forward and called on Silvanus. The god's holy light leaped from the holy symbol and revealed the demons for an illusion.

The party then decided to look beyond the eastern door and the worst room yet was revealed. The torture chamber of Tegal Manor! Over the center pit were barbed iron chains that writhed of their own accord. Hazar went to investigate and barely escaped when they attacked him. Janus had a Protection from Evil 10' radius and stepped to the chains which were repelled by the aura of magic.
There was a hole in the SW corner that was three foot in diameter. It looked to be dug out and a strong animal smell was detected. On the North Central wall a trapdoor with a ladder going down was found. While the party was deciding what to do Hazar climbed down. When he reached near the bottom he was grabbed by the ankle and thrown about the room. (B in the map below). The party quickly scrambled down to help him dispatch an Ogre who leaving down there amid the bones of the Torture room victim which were thrown down there.


The party then decided to investigate the dungeon they found. Wandering around they found nothing at A. However at I they found six crypts. With Janus Detecting Evil the party positioned themselves as the lids were shoved off. Wights and Skeletons emerged but the party quickly dispatched them.

Tomorrow Part II

Creating Cultures for your campaign.

The first thing to remember that culture develop through Larmarkism not Darwinism. That through processes like syncretism cultures develop over time. Consider each cultures we know about as a descriptive list. From time to time not only culture add and subtract from their own list they grab stuff from neighboring culture list. Mind how this happens varies and it is not always voluntary (i.e. conquest).

The approach I found to be the most gamable is to go through what I know about real world cultures and make up descriptive lists of the one I am interested in. This includes customs, rituals, beliefs, religion, government, and so on. Whatever you think is you can portray in a roleplaying session.

Then for your setting you take these lists and make unique combination that represent your in-game cultures. For example my Ghinorians in the Majestic Wilderlands are a hybrid of Hebrews, Western Medieval, and Roman culture. Basically the hebrews found my setting's equivalent of the Roman Empire and later fragmented into medieval states. But they are not entirely hebrew as I borrowed elements from India, China, and Japan. The first two for the Imperial phase of their history and the latter for one of the successor kingdoms.

Remember to look at non-western cultures from India, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and so on.

I strongly suggest you do not deal with skin color in your setting. I also refer to things like "You see a Ghinorian, a Tharian, and an Elessarin talking together). Rather than a black skinned individual, a fair hair white skinned individual, and a freckled red haired individual talking together.

First whether we like or not race is a charged issue in western society. If you don't have to get into it don't.

Second physical descriptions are a burden on your players. Not only they have to remember what a Ghinorian is but also that they are dark-skinned. I cut them some slack and just jump to the label and go from there. In the end what important that they react to what the culture is not play a guessing game. So when I say they they see a group of Thules walking down the street they suspect they may be dealing with Setites as their culture is noted for the worship of the Lawful evil god Set.

Remember that people are people. Human being have common considerations that cut across all cultures. For example the rules of hospitality are fairly standard. The few tribes/culture we know of that don't practice these rules are considered assholes by their neighbors and even by the anthropologists that study them.

Non-humans in contrast may have different consideration. The trick here to make up the list what all members of that race are concerned about. Then the various cultures of that race have a baseline from which they add to or vary from. For example my Dwarves have a low fertility rate with makes their culture very clannish and obsessed with protecting the females and young compared to the human norm.

Whatever you come up with remember to keep it playable and understandable. It is not always the same as realistic and accurate.

Those old time GMs and their PCs

In this post James of Grognardia talks about GMs running a PC in their campaign. In it he makes a statement.

When I read about the Lake Geneva Greyhawk campaign, I always thought it odd that Gary Gygax was both a player and a referee in it. Somehow that seemed to be "cheating."

I eluded in various posts that I was heavily involved in NERO Live Action Roleplaying for over a decade. I was also one of the organizers and General Manager of a NERO chapter, NERO ARGO, for several years as well. Along the way I ran over two dozen events that for the most part have been well-liked.

How this ties into James' statement is that when I read the Gary's, Rob Kuntz's, David Arenson's and Major Welsey's accounts of those early sessions was how much they seemed like LARPS as well as tabletop games.

Where they intersect was managing game sessions that could easily have 15+ players and campaigns with even a larger group of player. This exactly the type of issue that LARP chapters have to deal with. The anecdotes and what they did to handled things sounds eerily familiar to what I had to deal with as a event director and general manager for NERO. As D&D and RPGs developed most of the LARP elements went away in favor of a referee with a dozen or less players. Typically between 4 to 8 players.

In LARPS is very common for a person to be a event director one month and a player the next. The key element that makes this work is the fact there are multiple event directors running different plots. For the most part each event director is doing their own thing in the context of whatever background the LARP setup for the setting.

While I ran many events but I still didn't know what Josh, or Chris were doing for their events. So I could come and be a PC without any undue advantage over other players. In NERO events what usually happened that a chapter had two or more plot teams that alternated events for a year. That way both group could play during the others event.

Reading Gary and Rob Kuntz accounts of Greyhawk, accounts of Blackmoor that seemed to be what happening for the most part. Multiple GMs using the same setting but each with their own plot.

Finally, yes it is prone to abuse for many obvious reason. In NERO and I assume for the early campaigns as well, it is mostly checked by peer pressure. It is embarrassing to be caught friendship gaming (i.e. running a event giving stuff away to your friends), and doubly so if you were caught using inside knowledge which was considered cheating. Most LARP groups and certainly the early campaign groups were small enough and the activity popular enough to make this effective in stopping people.

The biggest problems would come when both sides believe they are right. This often caused groups to split. With Tabletop RPGs is is very easy for new group to meet on a new night and run a new campaign so it doesn't surprise me that multiple GM, shared settings disappeared quickly.

However it made a comeback in the past decade with Living Campaigns where the figured out how to get around the issues of the past.

My Fifteen

Looks I am joining in the fun.

1) Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition
The single greatest influence in my gaming history.

2) Traveller
THE sci-fi roleplaying game. Loved it from the get go and never looked by. Although I never refereed this as often as I would have liked.

3) Champions
First opened my eyes to possibility of skill based systems. Champion extended that to everything with Advantages, Limitations, and Powers

4) Harnmaster/Harn
Brutally realistic fantasy both in the game and the setting. The only game where player get pissed off at the NPCs for hitting them due to the graphic detail of the injury system. And they managed to make playable.

5) GURPS
Currently my favorite RPGs. Although I question how they present the system at times this RPG is in my opinion the best written and best design out there.

6) Ars Magica
I mined this extensively for ideas and plots. Although never played it in of itself.

7) Vampire the Masquerade
One of the best monster manual ever, especially the GURPS version Probably not what the designer intended it to be used for.

8) Tactics II
The original hex and counter wargame and one of the first I learned to play

9) Swords & Wizardry
Such a great version to build and publish stuff off of. Thanks Matt!

10) Civilization
One of the greatest boardgames ever made. TRADE EMBARGO!

11) Diplomacy
No chance involve just your wits and ability to manipulate your friends

12) Star Fleet Battles
Loved the hell out launching a full spread and watch my opponent mark those boxes off his SSD.

13) D20 System
Without this I would not be blogging, publishing or writing professionally today

14) Battletech
My bread and butter wargame of the late 80s. Piloting giant robots and blowing the hell of your opponent what is not to love.

15) 2300AD
Loved it almost as much as Traveller. Very different feel. Liked the use of realistic star maps.

RPGNow and Doctors without Borders

RPG Now is running another charity sale. This time to help Doctors without Borders. They are working in Pakistan to help survivors of the floods.

The Haiti Relief bundle was chocked full of goodness and this is no different.

The items that caught my eye are

Harnmaster 3rd Edition. You can see why Harnmaster is one of the most realistic, and playable combat systems out there. Used to be top dog in brutality until I played 2nd edition Runequest and it's flying limbs.

Icons - a rules light superhero game that everybody talked about. Now I will see what the fuss is about.

Starblazer Adventures - another game people talked about favorable. A general purpose science fiction RPG using the Fate rule system.

If you like my map from yesterday you will like The Cursed Chateau. It has several maps by me detailing the Chateau and the dungeon underneath. Oh it has an adventure by James Maliszewski in it too. ;-). It is a pretty neat cursed manor adventure.

Oakwatch Keep Map

An unkeyed Motte and Bailey Castle Village I completed for last Saturday's session at the Gold Star Anime. I tried using a roof tile pattern on the building but it didn't come out as well as I expected. I had it for a long time without the buildings inside the walls. So I spent an hour to finish it and print it out to use for the game. There a ruin in the southwest corner to use as an entrance into your dungeon.

The walls are wooden as well as the Keep on the Motte. The village portion is the bailey.

Note: The dark gray stuff along the stream is mud, the trees are individually marked, the bushy fill are bushes and hedges. The textured gray along the eastern edge are crop land. The texture meant to evoke plow farrows. The line of dashes are 5' contours.