Test post.
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My friend, talented journalist and gaming ally Tyler Dukes, wrote this fantastic article about the development of the ACKS gaming system for the Raleigh News & Observer. Definitely an informative and fun read!
Tyler also writes the weekly "Stump the Geek" column.
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Tyler also writes the weekly "Stump the Geek" column.
When writing my post about how the dice can change your character in ways you would never expect, it made me think of this episode of Doraleous and Associates, where a little old man rattles on about the universe before displaying inhuman strength.
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I had to post this as it pretty much defined our first session. Everyone kept quoting it until we paused the session, pulled out my laptop and played it for the group. Enjoy!
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Everyone has their fantasy, whether it
is to play a hardened warrior or a charismatic thief, and
roleplaying games are the perfect platform. But often the best and
most interesting characters are made by the random dice throw.
For instance a beautiful, wise cleric ends up with a below-average intelligence, or
an intelligent, agile wizard is plagued by an unattractive face. I've
played both of those characters and the random attributes came to
define how I developed the character—which is reflective of life, because
often how we deal with and overcome our flaws is what defines us.
Sometimes
though, a player will plan for their character's weakness, only to be
betrayed by the dice in an unexpected way. In the Ignacium campaign this
happened with Laura's character Caranauba.
Laura wanted Caranuba to be
an elderly, frail Mage that needed to be escorted around by the younger,
more virile members of the party. But despite planning on rolling strength last, she rolled a 13 for
strength and Caranauba's entire persona shifted.
Rather than being a weak, elderly magic user, Caranauba is a strong, capable mage draped in secrecy. She still appears weak and is drawn around in a wagon by Willamina, but it's all a rouse. In the past three fights, Caranauba has dealt the killing blow with her magestaff.
Caranauba's
unusual strength is rationalized by the party as, "Well, she IS
magic," which I think helps cover up her true purpose in the story.
I've come to think of Caranauba as an extremely wise mentor whose purpose is to help the adventurers prepare mentally and emotionally for the great tasks they will ultimately encounter. Her taking soothsaying as a proficiency only enhances this image. It helps helps explain why an old lady would leave her home to go adventuring: to help a band of strangers uncover their strength so they can battle the darkness that is befalling the land. She is following the will of the universe.
In
comparison, if she had rolled low for strength than her personality
would not be nearly as unusual and compelling. The wise old wizard is a
common character, but the wise old wizard draped in secrets is much more
interesting and lends to a deeper experience.
I'm
very much looking forward to the evolution of Caranauba throughout the
campaign and the ways her phenomenal strength will influence the story.
The adventurers quested to the cave of the lost Miners and found an ancient dwarven temple overrun with undead. They battled swarm after swarm of skeletons and wraiths, and until they found a lycanthrope zombie through a trapped door.
The shocked party attacked with valor. Doran, Victor and Rigel cut through the zombie's skeletal bodygaurds as Steve Stevenson landed blows on the terrible, rotting lycanthrope. But the warriors could not seem to kill the foul creature until Caranuvba sauntered up and wacked the zombie on the head, causing it to roll off its body.
While the adventurers rejoiced that no brain-eating had occured, Rigel's keen Elven eyes caught site of a hidden box in the wall containing much treasure and a map of area covered in ancient Dwarven markings and the recent scrawling of beastmen.
With their pockets full of sweet loots, the party continued to search the temple, determined to discover the cause of the blight that was creating the evil dead. But as they rounded a stone corner, a wight surprised the party and Steve Stevenson's gallant attempt to protect the party was rewarded with his life's blood draining from him.
Luckily the beautiful and resourceful Williamina threw herself into a song praising the heavens, and Ophelite restored life to Steve's body as Rigel swiftly slid past the wight and smashed Steve's torch into it's cold dead body, sending it back to hell.
With Steve Stevenson in such a fragile state, the party returned to the Sapphire Empress Shrine to heal and gain XP. On the way back the party was attached by a wild band of wolves, but Victor and Doran dispatched the problem before any of the other party members could even react.
Rigel and Caranuvba attempted to learn "protection from evil," but couldn't seem to grasp the intricate and complex nature of the spell.
After a few days rest in the city, the party trudged back up the mountain to continue to explore the Dwarven temple.
They found themselves in an ornate room with floors swirled with blue and a statue of the Ancient Dwarven God of the Sea that Williamina identified as Neptune.
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The shocked party attacked with valor. Doran, Victor and Rigel cut through the zombie's skeletal bodygaurds as Steve Stevenson landed blows on the terrible, rotting lycanthrope. But the warriors could not seem to kill the foul creature until Caranuvba sauntered up and wacked the zombie on the head, causing it to roll off its body.
While the adventurers rejoiced that no brain-eating had occured, Rigel's keen Elven eyes caught site of a hidden box in the wall containing much treasure and a map of area covered in ancient Dwarven markings and the recent scrawling of beastmen.
With their pockets full of sweet loots, the party continued to search the temple, determined to discover the cause of the blight that was creating the evil dead. But as they rounded a stone corner, a wight surprised the party and Steve Stevenson's gallant attempt to protect the party was rewarded with his life's blood draining from him.
Luckily the beautiful and resourceful Williamina threw herself into a song praising the heavens, and Ophelite restored life to Steve's body as Rigel swiftly slid past the wight and smashed Steve's torch into it's cold dead body, sending it back to hell.
With Steve Stevenson in such a fragile state, the party returned to the Sapphire Empress Shrine to heal and gain XP. On the way back the party was attached by a wild band of wolves, but Victor and Doran dispatched the problem before any of the other party members could even react.
Rigel and Caranuvba attempted to learn "protection from evil," but couldn't seem to grasp the intricate and complex nature of the spell.
After a few days rest in the city, the party trudged back up the mountain to continue to explore the Dwarven temple.
They found themselves in an ornate room with floors swirled with blue and a statue of the Ancient Dwarven God of the Sea that Williamina identified as Neptune.
A sandbox world in gaming provides an interactive choose-your-own-adventure where gameplay writes the story, and Ignacium is my attempt to create a fantastical world where the players' story can thrive. A large reason why I'm committed to keeping this blog is to record an account of the story as it happens.
The alternative gameplay to sandbox is to develop the story and guide the gameplay to fit within that story. This can be especially hard to resist when the GM has created a world where events are happening outside of the adventurers control and their actions will ripple through the society...or not, based upon what they accomplish.
For example, say there is an ancient map hidden in a dungeon that provides important information for the group to continue on a quest line. If they don't think to search for a secret door or one of the elves fails to see it in passing, then the entire module's affects on the game may be lost. Luckily for me, the elves in my party easily spotted the hidden doors, so I didn't have to resist the temptation to fudge the dice.
The main problem with developing the story first and having the gameplay come second, is that there is no true risk in playing. For the game to be a dynamic, fun experience, there must be responsibility in the party's actions and how they treat each other, along with the very real risk of injury and death.
A sandbox world allows the players to make mistakes and learn from them and grants them more responsibility for gameplay, while influencing the major events of the world and writing their own story within it.
I've found though, even after only two sessions, that keeping to a sandbox world is incredibly difficult. There have been more than a few times already that I've wanted to throw my hands in the air and yell, "Noooo! What are you doing!" But so far, I've been able to resist temptation by knowing how fantastic a true sandbox experience can be.
Ignacium uses the Adventurer Conqueror King system, and is very much inspired by their default, sandbox setting: the Auran Empire. I was fortunate to have Alex, one of the ACKS creators, as Game Master of the Auran Empire campaign I played in for over a year, which ended with my character Zeodari as queen of the moon.
Generally, after a session I would return home and immediately launch into detailed descriptions of the amazing encounters, feats and shopping trips that occurred during the night's session. My goal for Ignacium is to provide a gameplay experience that will also inspire players to share their adventures.
It will get easier for me to resist temptation, but for the time being I hope that the players continue to roll high when searching for traps and hidden doors...
Read More …
The alternative gameplay to sandbox is to develop the story and guide the gameplay to fit within that story. This can be especially hard to resist when the GM has created a world where events are happening outside of the adventurers control and their actions will ripple through the society...or not, based upon what they accomplish.
For example, say there is an ancient map hidden in a dungeon that provides important information for the group to continue on a quest line. If they don't think to search for a secret door or one of the elves fails to see it in passing, then the entire module's affects on the game may be lost. Luckily for me, the elves in my party easily spotted the hidden doors, so I didn't have to resist the temptation to fudge the dice.
The main problem with developing the story first and having the gameplay come second, is that there is no true risk in playing. For the game to be a dynamic, fun experience, there must be responsibility in the party's actions and how they treat each other, along with the very real risk of injury and death.
A sandbox world allows the players to make mistakes and learn from them and grants them more responsibility for gameplay, while influencing the major events of the world and writing their own story within it.
I've found though, even after only two sessions, that keeping to a sandbox world is incredibly difficult. There have been more than a few times already that I've wanted to throw my hands in the air and yell, "Noooo! What are you doing!" But so far, I've been able to resist temptation by knowing how fantastic a true sandbox experience can be.
Ignacium uses the Adventurer Conqueror King system, and is very much inspired by their default, sandbox setting: the Auran Empire. I was fortunate to have Alex, one of the ACKS creators, as Game Master of the Auran Empire campaign I played in for over a year, which ended with my character Zeodari as queen of the moon.
Generally, after a session I would return home and immediately launch into detailed descriptions of the amazing encounters, feats and shopping trips that occurred during the night's session. My goal for Ignacium is to provide a gameplay experience that will also inspire players to share their adventures.
It will get easier for me to resist temptation, but for the time being I hope that the players continue to roll high when searching for traps and hidden doors...
