Play-test Recap 4/13/2019

Famous (and Not So Famous) GMs and How You Can Be Like Them

All creators of any type, be they artists, or songwriters, or storytellers like us GMs, take inspiration from others. "There is nothing new under the sun," says the bible, and I suppose on some level that's true, to a point. Just because I take an idea from a book I read once, or a song I heard, or an RPG stream I saw on Twitch, I always do something new with it. Many GMs, especially some new to GMing, have watched other GMs at conventions or on streaming sites, some quite famous, and try to emulate them exactly. Not only shouldn't this be done, it's really impossible.

There is a lot of angst among the newer GMs I meet on occasion that they can't seem to make their games go the way they've seen other games go. The players keep doing random stuff and won't cooperate with the story the GM is trying to craft and they can't seem to make their campaign go like Matt Mercer's campaigns!

The simple answer is: because that is impossible.

An RPG session is a collaborative story, with emphasis on collaborative, between the GM and the players. That bears repeating, so go back and reread it, I'm too lazy to write it again. The point is, if you want the campaign to go exactly as you want it to go, don't introduce the external element of players, just lay down and daydream, or write a story. Each player has their own goals and objectives and vision of how they want the game to go. Bringing in players to your world, your story, your campaign is to introduce those goals and motives which may not (most likely won't) meet your own. The collaborative story that emerges from the push-and-pull of GM and players - and frankly between the players as well - is what builds the epic tale. Those of us who love RPGs and consistently have fun playing them get a total kick out of seeing what evolves from that interplay. It may not turn out to be epic, it may not be Tolkien- or Rowling- or Martin-worthy, but it'll be original, and unique, and something no one has ever seen before.

Personally, I cant wait to see what that turns out to be.

Play-test Recap 4/6/2019

Why Does the GM Say "No?"

I keep trying to do stuff in the game, and my GM keeps shutting me down. Why does my GM keep saying "No?"

Contrary to how it seems sometimes, GMs don't, as a rule, say NO arbitrarily. There can be several reasons why your GM says no to something you want to try, and we may not always be as clear as you need in explaining it. Here are some of the reasons I've said NO to players in the past that may help clarify for you why your GM has said NO to you on occasion.

• General vs. Specific Attempt - A player states, "I'm going to pick that lock." He rolls the die and fails. Then he says, "Okay, I'm going to use my dagger to try to pick it." The GM says NO. Why? Because you already tried a general attempt to pick the lock and failed. Deciding to use a specific tool to pick the lock is not a substantial change in circumstances to justify re-rolling the dice. You failed a general attempt to pick the lock, and in that general attempt it is imagined you exhausted all tools at your disposal in doing so, including borrowing your companion's lock-pick set. To find reasons to keep rolling the attempt until you succeed it is disingenuous and a clear attempt to game the system.
• Can I Have Advantage? - Players ask for advantage in a task roll for all kinds of things, and the GM must decide in a split second whether an advantage can be allowed under the circumstances or not. "I've climbed a tree, can I have higher ground advantage in combat? NO, sitting in a tree is a precarious position, any advantage you may get from higher ground is negated by the need to keep yourself from falling out of the tree while you swing your ax at the enemy. "I have night vision, can I have advantage to surprise on any guards we encounter?" NO, because the dwarf guards have dark-vision, which is similar to night-vision. "I have enhanced hearing, if I put my ear to the floor, can I have advantage in determining the direction the monster is coming from, in spite of the confusing echoes you described?" NO, that would take a sensitivity to vibration, not hearing.
• Too Complex an Action - Sometimes a player wants to do too much in a single action: "As I climb the ladder, I'm going to hold the little princess's hand and keep my sword out in case there are guards waiting for us at the top of the wall." You only have two hands, if you hold on to the princess with one and your sword with the other, how are you going to hold onto the ladder?
• Acting on Knowledge Not Evident - It is unavoidable sometimes that the players will overhear things during the game that their character couldn't possibly have learned themselves. For example, while Jerold's dwarf is guarding prisoners at one location, clear across the compound an NPC reveals to Mick's character that the guards have placed a spy among the prisoners. Now Jerold suddenly wants he dwarf to search the prisoners to determine which is the spy. Of course NO!
• Acting Against Character - A cleric who, in all previous adventures, has shown nothing but deference for nature and compassion for all the gods' creatures, suddenly wants to order his pet ferret to deliberately get caught up in the giant spider's web to lure it out so the party can attack it. In D&D they call it Alignment, in other games it may be nothing more than the characters past action that define her, but in any case, your GM is often going to tell you NO in such cases.

As I've noted before, it's easy to get frustrated and look at your GM as your enemy, but he/she isn't. On the other hand, keeping a fun, challenging, and consistent world flowing beneath your feet, as players, can be a challenge. If we say NO it's almost always for a very good reason.

New Monster: Sorid Anule

Here's a free monster for your fantasy role-playing campaign:

Sorid Anule

A sorid anule is an amphibious humanoid. He has a frog-like muzzle but with serrated teeth like a shark. Otherwise the features are human, but for the scales. He is covered in hard, coral-like scales on the top of his head, along his back, and on his legs and arms, but softer scales like a fish along his face, neck, and belly. He has webbed toes and fingers and webbing between arms and torso, and he swims with great speed and agility. He has opposable thumbs on his feet as well as his hands, and fingers that end in sharp points. There is an uneven, jagged, and sharp ridge of spines down his back, and a prehensile tail along which the spines get smaller toward the sharp, pointed, stingray-like tail.

The female sorid anule is venomous, secreting poison from a small gland under the tip of her tail that paralyzes her victim (normal Saving Throws apply.) But even on males the tail-tip alone is a formidable piercing weapon.

The sorid anule are sentient and their fighters wear plate armor made of metal scales that slide and pivot to permit freedom of movement, and from which their spines are exposed. They wield barbed weapons (tridents, spears, harpoons, and blowguns).

As a society, sorid anule live in tight-knit tribes, each ruled by chieftains and a ruling class. They are very xenophobic and are more likely to attack first than ask any questions when their territory is intruded. Out in the wild, away from territorial waters, they are a little less violent when encountered, but only marginally so.

They speak their own dialect of mer-speak (the language of the mermen.) They don't count many magic-users among their population, but clerics and the like are more common. Individual motives are as varied as among humans or other races, but overall each tribe seeks to expand territory and influence as their populations grow. Yes, the often fight amongst themselves as well.

When on land the sorid anule must soak in seawater once a day (usually when he sleeps) or begin to take damage as his skin dries and his scales begin to flake off. They are omnivorous and eat with their heads tilted back, sort of moving their necks like lizards to aid in swallowing, a sight many other races find nauseating.

The average sorid anule stands 5' to 5'6", with a tail at least as long as they are tall. They have poor eyesight on land, as their eyes film-over with a third eyelid. When they speak, they prolong their S's: "Ssso, whatsss for sssupper?"

I leave it to you to flesh out their attributes based on the game system you are playing.

KILL THE GAME MASTER!

It's easy to understand - he makes the world in which your characters live and work, he embodies not just the enemies armed with sharp things to poke you with, but also the greedy merchants, the bossy town guards, and the sticky-fingered tavern wench who left you one pouch of gold lighter. He's every frustrating obstacle coming between you and fortune and glory!

So eventually some players, even seasoned players, start to think of the GM as their enemy. You can see this happening as their laughter fades, they begin to grumble about circumstances, and even start to outright argue with the GM about every little detail of the world. They've stopped having fun and they don't even realize it.

They also don't realize how unwelcome they are making themselves to the GM and the other players.

What they forget is that without those obstacles, the story told by the role-playing session would be little more than a boring stroll through a gray world filled with free gold, which has no value because everything else the players want is theirs with just a few strokes of of a dull blade. What would The Odyssey be without Polyphemus the cyclops, the sirens, the six-headed monster Scylla, etc? Who would Hercules be without the twelve labors? Who would Bilbo be without Gollum?

After surviving an epic battle against 24 orcs, is the pile of gold you find really better than the satisfaction of a fight well won? If so, perhaps you should be playing Monopoly instead of RPGs.

Try to catch yourself if you find yourself becoming the whiner of a group. Take a deep breath, slow down, sit back, and enjoy the story that is unfolding. Even if the story is going against you at the moment, understand that tides turn, and your GM is no more interested in seeing you fail than you are. He only wants to make the win worth your while getting there.