Sunday, August 30 2009

Tales of the City Within, Session 3: The Final Chapter

By Eric Maziade on Sunday, August 30 2009, 00:22 - Dungeons and Dragons

I had a chance to play with ChattyDM and his bunch of merry players a few weeks ago and really had a blast!

For the occasion, I rolled up Kellen, a level 10 bard which I tried to make into an actor instead of the usual musician.

I warmed up rather rapidly to Phil's group and in no time I felt at home among fellow geeks.

I won't bore you with the details of the events of the game itself - better bloggers have done it before me and Kellen tried to sing about it in his own cryptic way.

One of the things that marked me the most was how group composition impacts how the game plays. My and Phil's group have roughly the same number of players, but we have wildly different compositions.

To my sense, his group is composed mostly of butt-kickers, tacticians and story-tellers - most players being a blend of these.

I could ask the shaman about how he actually perceives spirits and he could explain to me how he envisions all the workings of his magics in rather striking details.

While in combat, making our powers work together was a breeze - whenever my bard could do something to make a friend or a foe move on the board, I had suggestions from multiple players on how to make the best out of that move... making the bard an impressive cog in the butt-kicking team we were making.

Role-play wise, there wasn't much to speak about. I came in geared in, ready to role play my awkward little gnome but did not find or generate much opportunities for it.

Of course, this was to be the last game of the season aimed to close a few loose ends - no time to chit-chat and plenty of monsters to vanquish.

All and all, it was a wonderful experience that I wouldn't mind repeating if I ever get the chance :)

After this night of adventures, I still had to get ready and run the game I was supposed to run a month ago with my own group - the game session was scheduled for the next day and I had a few cool scenes prepared that I thought could intrigue my own players.

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Saturday, August 8 2009

Kellen on Tales of the City Within, Session 3: The Final Chapter

By Eric Maziade on Saturday, August 8 2009, 01:38 - Dungeons and Dragons

I was looking for a new way of relating the events of the final chapter of "Takes of the City Within" where ChattyDM gave me the opportunity to participate.

I decided to give voice to Kellen, the bard I played that night. This is what came out;

(Yes, Kellen has a fake Irish accent)

In my town there were undead men
Turned by a magic item antique
A resolution we started to seek
When a fiery dragon in our midsts came to be

This dragon from us exacted tribute
We nay did retort anything astute
And these heroes found a merry solution
That would surely entail resolution

Well you take the artefact
And chuck it to the dragon
And what we got, it is a fact
A fraggin' undead dragon

I joined in their fight hoping to land a hand
They mystically carved soul - that I saw firsthand
Jaiel held its own all alone I don't think this was planned
Helpers dispatched in time to see Frangs rip its prostate gland (the dragon's)

We had a death priest ready for questioning
How to stop the artefact, I burned to ask him
I got near ready to coax and intimidate
And Fangs got around tore its throat and away with its head!

The rest of their plan would lead us to frying pan
To negotiate with many eyed tyran.....t
By dictating terms none of which uncertain
Perish or die, here are your options, let us strike a bargain!

On this fight we sadly must drop the curtain
To shield your eyes from violence most certain
In the end we beheld the tyrant's retreat
Through his portal the artefact we dunked - how discrete!

While best laid plans might often fail
I've been taught otherwise by bold Jaiel
That one need not plan with much detail
And in the end with might one can still prevail

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Wednesday, July 15 2009

Meta != Crunch

By Eric Maziade on Wednesday, July 15 2009, 09:45 - Dungeons and Dragons

Not playing much gives me little fuel for blogging here...

So I try to come up with ideas that jive with the "Meta" I decided to slap in the blog's title, when I realized that I've been confusing "meta" and "crunch".

I seem to have decided that "meta" was the opposite of "fluff" - the explanations that dress the rules ("crunch").

Since I've decided to go "Meta" - or, more accurately, when my meta tendencies were demonstrated to me - I've been mostly interested about "fluff": role playing, setting, etc... making me wonder about that whole "meta" thing.

Well, turns out I got my "meta" description wrong. Meta is about thinking of the game in terms of a game, but it doesn't mean 100% focus on rules.

It basically means an effort to understand how things work.

With a "meta" mindset you could:

  • Find the best possible combination of powers and stats for your player (rules, min/maxing)
  • Study how the GM handles a particular situation (storytelling, social... anything)
  • Determine how the personality of your PC (or an NPC) works in order to role play

In this way, meta defines me as a player and a DM.... and well, just about any aspect of my life: I love understanding things and figuring them out.

Meta enough for me.

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Friday, July 10 2009

An interesting lunch with ChattyDM (did I post this too early?)

By Eric Maziade on Friday, July 10 2009, 10:08 - General

Monkey-typing.jpg This is what you get after a mostly sleepless night, playing with the awesome Ghost Buster video game demo, having a rough morning getting the kids used to kindergarten and looking forward to a lunch with a friend.

This morning my kids woke me up earlier than usual. I helped my wife to get them ready and, since they don't go to kindergarten on Friday, I went back to bed for an extra 30 minutes of sleep.

What resulted is an odd dream - too odd not to share.

So I was diving my car, going to meet ChattyDM for our scheduled lunch. Except this time, it was at his house. So I got there: a enormous mansion. Lots of people and servants working fervently. Looks like they're preparing for Chatty's daughter birthday party.

A skinny hispanic-looking man comes to greet me: "Hey! Mr Maze!", he says. At first, I don't recognize him - but it gets obvious that this is ChattyDM, who obviously (and dramatically) changed his appearance. Chatty talks like a gangster from Godfather - the Italian accent and all.

So we talk business (biz-a-nesse) for a while... and about personal matters. The "impostor" knows everything I know about Chatty and knows about our previous chats and inside jokes.

Eventually, I just can't contain myself: "who are you?", I ask.

- Well, I'm ChattyDM, of course.

- I know ChattyDM... I've met Phil a few times. You're not Phil.

- I'm not Phil. I'm Chatty DM. We all are ChattyDM.

He pulls a conveniently placed curtain and reveals a bunch of guys sitting in front of computers, writing blog posts and constantly chatting about feats, skills and challenges.

- Uh?

- See, ChattyDM is a collaborative effort. We all pitch in. Sorry Phil couldn't make it to the lunch. Will you stay for my daughter's party?

So I stayed for the party, where hundreds of people purchased each tens of gifts. Somehow, a gift I bought for my boy got mixed in there. So I dove into the pile of gifts to retrieve it. Then the Hispanic ChattyDM tried to get away (?), so I ran after him. I had to fight countless illusions with my proton pack before being turned to goo and waking up as some sort of sentient slime thingy in a coffee cup.

Then I woke up.

I rarely remember my dreams... this is probably one of the strangest ones. I feel like I've been railroaded in that one.

Typing Monkey found on Wikipedia

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Saturday, June 27 2009

Jinx Shot : bad metafluff?

By Eric Maziade on Saturday, June 27 2009, 23:27 - Dungeons and Dragons

Fiddling with the bard, I found a power I like with metafluff I dislike : Jinx Shot.

Fluff: Your expert shot renders your foe unaccountably clumsy.
Crunch: Charisma vs AC. Hit creature falls prone when missing an attack before the end of your next turn.

Keywords are arcane and weapon... no instrument there. The fluff doesn't give much - the power's title is much better here.

Let us look at the crunch to see if we can come up with a better fluff. So, the bard hits with his ranged weapon, using his charisma... and "jinxes" the enemy.

Hitting using charisma means that the bard uses his bard techniques to secure the shot and affect the creature's psyche. Taunting fits well here - enticing the enemy to attack more clumsily in a fit of rage.

To make this different than a normal bluff or intimidate during battle (you know you can do that, right?) and to differentiate wit the other bard powers (''Vicious Mockery comes to mind), we need to make the taunting more in line with the "jinx" idea.

So what could bard do to give bad luck? Really depends on the bard's style. I can easily picture a trickster bard saying something à la "your shoe is untied".

However, a bard is the ultimate performer - it can be in the actions...

Kellen aims his crossbow at the enemy, ready to shoot... The enemy catches the movement of the bard's arm, noting where the bold should land, he readies himself for a dodge. For a split second, the bard pulls his aim, a puzzled look on his face as he stares at the goblin's feet.

The enemy, taken aback by this unexpected pause, looks at his feet. The bolt hits him straight in the arm. He angrily jump toward the bard, swinging madly. In his haste, he steps on one of his boot's loose lacing and lands on all fours.

"Looks like your boot's untied", says Kellen, lifting the edge of his top hat with his free hand.

To my sense, the fluff should render a sense of the bard's action being tied to the result - not his marksmanship.

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