Narrative, Challenge, Reflection

 “Do not…keep children to their studies by compulsion but by play.”

– Plato

I admire Professor Scott Nicholson’s scholarly work about games. He inspires people to look at different aspects of games with a more critical eye, particularly in an educational setting. And he helps fuel my interest in games for learning, using game experiences inside or outside a classroom to encourage people to expand their horizons. His latest project – EscapeIF – uses educational storytelling (in a familiar programmed text adventure format) to provide an innovative and engaging framework for classroom learning. In exploring EscapeIF I realized this format relies on three core elements – narrative, challenge, and reflection – all of which easily apply to teaching as well as our own game experiences.

Magazine Daydreams & A Side-Trip to Egypt

Lately I’ve been daydreaming about establishing a kids magazine featuring historical articles with an appropriately themed game in every issue. The grandparents had been asking us what to get our son, the Little Guy, for his birthday and Christmas, which, unfortunately, sit frightfully close on the calendar. One set of grandparents got him a subscription to National Geographic Kids, which he enjoys mostly for the cat features. His new-found interest in various historical periods coupled with Dad’s collection of games with historical themes and my own advocacy for using games for learning (especially with kids) got me daydreaming about a magazine concept. What if kids could get a bi-monthly magazine filled with articles on a specific historical subject complete with a small game bound within its pages? (In yet another daydream I’m employed in my chosen career field with a salaried position at a non-profit group advocating the use of games for learning with both children and adults....) Alas, in this Internet Age where everyone’s plugged in, staring at a screen, and doodling away at some solitaire online time-waster game there probably isn’t much of a market for a print magazine, let alone one geared toward kids (probably more plugged in than any other demographic), and one focused on history with an analog game inside. But it was a nice daydream before reality dashed it to pieces, one that inspired me to develop a very simplified solitaire game about ancient Egypt.

[Editor’s Note: And how timely that, as I prepare to post this, archaeologists in Sakkara, Egypt, have just discovered an undisturbed 5th Dynasty tomb of a priest from 4,400 years ago....]

Romance of the Perilous Land: OSR Meets British Folklore

It’s almost a roleplaying game cliché that Dungeons & Dragons and its many retro-clones from the Old School Renaissance (OSR) often focus more on hack-and-slash dungeon delves than more story-driven fare. Mechanics in these games primarily focus on characters’ abilities in overcoming combat-oriented obstacles – armor class, hit points, to-hit bonuses, saving throws, spells – with other elements like thief abilities intended to safely grab treasure. What players do with these rules remains their own business; some engage in “murder-hobo” rampages in the full hack-and-slash mode, while others seek to infuse their games with more story elements despite the combat-oriented mechanics. Yet Scott Malthouse has deftly integrated old-school mechanics with more heroic, story-based themes from British folklore in his OSR game Romance of the Perilous Land. As a pay-what-you-want game it’s worth picking up to check out the setting-influenced innovations to OSR mechanics. Having recently featured the Kickstarter revision of the classic Prince Valiant: The Storytelling Game, I think Perilous Land offers a similar game experience with the legendary trappings in an OSR-friendly package.

Perilous Land covers the usual old-school bases – ability scores, character classes, armor, equipment, spells – with some nice adjustments, combining some original interpretations of OSR game mechanics with some previously seen innovations. Unlike other “grinder” games the characters in Perilous Land are heroes with a solid set of rules designed to help them survive at lower levels and give them a sense that their actions matter even if they’re only first level.

“War” Inspired Battlefield Card Game

I don’t know why the card game “War” has been on my mind lately. I played it a few times as a kid more to pass the time than anything else; but as an adult game designer I realize, much as game design luminary Greg Costikyan posited, it’s not much of a game considering the completely random elements and lack of player choice (to which variants only add small, limited degrees of strategy). It’s an odd enigma among games – if you want to even call it a “game” – yet it incorporates some game-like elements: drawing and playing cards, comparing card values, and collecting “tricks” used for scoring.

The 5 of Clubs helps reinforce the meager 4 of Diamonds.

This inexplicable fascination feeds off my general predilection for developing new game designs and for adapting them to themes I find interesting (usually rooted in historical periods). The attraction to a basic childhood pastime ties into my urge to create games accessible to both a young audience and newcomers to the adventure gaming hobby.

In examining what few rules the “game” of “War” has, several elements stand out that I like in gameplay: pitting cards against each other with the higher value winning; the escalation mechanic when two cards tie (in which additional cards are drawn, with the top ones revealed to break the tie, winner take all); and a clear scoring mechanic of the player with the most cards at game’s end wining. But I also notice several deficiencies related to the obvious lack of any player choice to affect the game’s outcome: players have no hand from which to choose particular cards; they have only one position to deploy them and one opponent to face on the field; and even when additional cards are drawn to break ties, the result still boils down to comparing two completely random card values. A little bit of casual internet research shows a frightening number of “War” variants exist, some offering more player choice and strategy than others.

Since I have a passing interest in wargames (as well as other adventure games) I sought to infuse the basic concepts of “War” with some elements of battlefield strategy, enabling some meaningful player choice along the way and creating an entirely new game with a military theme playable with a standard deck of cards.

Battle Lines

I’m calling my “War” inspired game Battle Lines since that perhaps best characterizes the game’s core mechanic. Like “War,” players begin by evenly dividing one deck of cards (with the jokers removed). Each turn they draw or “draw up” to a hand of four cards. From these they deploy three to their battle line, one on the left flank, one in center, and one on the right flank; each of these stands opposite a card the opponent deploys in similar fashion. This leaves one card in each player’s hand as a sort of “reserve.”

Players reveal all their cards on the battlefield, comparing cards matched up in the same locations: one’s left flank to the other’s right flank, the center cards against each other, and 0ne’s right flank to the other’s left flank. The highest card captures the lower card in each contest (with face cards valued at 11, 12, and 13 respectively, and aces worth 14). Before anyone takes cards on the flanks, the player with the lower card may play his reserve card and add its value to his card in the battle line; but this flanking reserve card must either have the same suit as one of the cards played to that location. For instance, Player A plays the four of diamonds on his left flank opposing the seven of clubs Player B deployed to his right flank; Player A needs to have a card with diamonds or clubs to reinforce and increase his total, presumably higher than the opponent’s card (like in the photo at the top of this post). Cards deployed and captured at each position go into the winner’s discard pile. Should any confrontations result in a tie, each card on the line returns to the respective player’s hand; reserve cards used to achieve tied values go into the discard pile of the player who deployed them. The next turn players draw enough cards from their deck to make a four-card hand (three cards if they didn’t deploy reserves, four if they did).

The game ends when one player’s deck runs out, resulting in one last deployment with the player possessing fewer cards deploying them last (possibly having battlefield positions without cards, which the opponent wins by default). Each player counts their discard pile; the one with more cards wins the battle.

There’s a little more room for strategy than in “War” itself. Players have to evaluate their four-card hand to determine what they want to play to the flanks, where the reserve card might help them. After players reveal cards on the battle line they have to determine if they want to play a flank card based on their own cards or those their opponent plays to his flanks. And both players must evaluate and try to second-guess their opponent’s general deployment strategy (if any) within the limited seven, eight, or nine turns enabled by the small deck sizes; does the opponent tend to place strong cards in the center, or does he have any rationale to playing certain cards to the flanks?

The only rule I’m waffling on is what to do with tied cards in a battlefield location. Right now I think it best for them to return to their respective players’ hands, giving opponents a glimpse of what might come into play next turn. I’ve considered keeping them on the battlefield but forcing players to deploy them to different, non-opposed positions.

I’ve modified a few ways certain mechanics in “War” work to better mold the game. Battle Lines still retains elements like splitting the deck evenly between two players, drawing cards from the top of that randomized deck, and resolving combat by comparing the values of two cards. The differences alter or evolve from parts of “War,” particularly using a discard pile to determine the winner instead of feeding captured and used cards back into the active draw deck, deploying several cards at once against matched opponent cards, and using the extra “reserve” card to sway individual battlefield contests in one player’s favor.

So that’s my “War” inspired card game you can run with a standard deck of playing cards. Give it a try, offer some feedback (see the “Comments” boilerplate below...) and I’ll see if it deserves some revision and publication in some form or another, just for fun.

Comments....

Want to offer feedback? Start a civilized discussion? Share a link to this blog entry on Google+ and tag me (+Peter Schweighofer) to comment.

Short & Sweet RPG Source Material

Every so often I’m possessed by the urge to ramble on about my growing preference for short yet substantive roleplaying game materials...so before proceeding down that perilous path yet again I’ll beg the pardon of those who’ve already suffered through previous musings here and here (and the most recent one about the One Page Dungeon Contest here). In my middle age, with family and house responsibilities consuming my time, focus, and energy, I prefer keeping things simple in my gaming, particularly roleplaying games. I’ve recently been exploring and enjoying a design movement – intentional in some cases, fortuitous in others – in which creators present useful game material in concise yet meaningful format.

I like to see concise yet intuitive mechanics, books that don’t range much past 32 pages, and settings that don’t require a thorough reading to understand the key points and tone. Sure, I’ve occasionally indulged and immersed myself in some particularly enticing games and worlds – most notably Wicked North Games’ Westward (to which I also contributed) and Monte Cook’s groundbreaking and award-winning Numenera – but I rarely have the time or focus to sit down and digest a 300-page rulebook or even a 96-page adventure. I want the enjoyment of reading (and possibly prepping and playing) an engaging scenario with brief encounter descriptions without all the blow-by-blow details with a rules engine that doesn’t require me to constantly consult the rulebook tome.

So I’ve happily indulged in a wealth of short yet substantive material available for fantasy roleplaying games, primarily those that might garner the label of “retro-clone” or “Old School Renaissance.” I’m not looking for terribly epic storylines or expansive location and character descriptions. I want a juicy tidbit that offers some original, entertaining game value and that, incidentally, I can drop into my own game setting or campaign. Some even inspire me in content and format. Here are a few worthwhile projects (some more current than others) I’ve found that really hit that sweet spot for my inner gamer who really prefers concise yet fulfilling material:

Dyson’s Dodecahedron: Dyson Logos’ website offers a wealth of resources for fantasy roleplaying games, primarily in the form of his wonderfully rendered maps, but also in short adventures, zines, and the Dyson’s Delves books. The maps, many adventures, and zines remain free downloads (or pay what you want on RPGNow.com); those willing to contribute to Dyson’s endeavors can pay for one of the extremely useful Dyson’s Delves books (in print or PDF) or contribute to his Patreon campaign to support his creation of new maps that eventually make their way to the Dodecahedron website. The adventures he offers on the site and in the Delves books demonstrate how – with one of his maps – one can easily craft an engaging dungeon-delving scenario with brief descriptions. I recently bought Dyson’s Delves II in PDF for the principle reason of having ready-to-print scenario materials; set up the print preferences properly and you can generate a one-page scenario with the map on one side and a lined space for handwritten notes on the other.

Micro Adventures: Tim Shorts, who blogs over at Gothridge Manor and produces The Manor zine, refined the concept of the “micro adventure” and as set out on a mission to produce several each month. In Tim’s own words:

A Micro Adventure is a small adventure made up of a few encounter areas and maybe one or two battles or problems. Micro Adventures set up other adventures. Or they can be used between or during larger quests. Micro Adventures are generic enough to fit into your campaign world with little to no adjustments.

Tim’s Micro Adventures fulfill my search for short and engaging game material to drop into a fantasy roleplaying setting. Need a side trip on the way to a larger adventure? Looking for an incident as a hook to something more substantial? Need a brief encounter to introduce new players to the concepts behind fantasy roleplaying games? Look no farther. Like many creators today Tim’s offering his Micro Adventures for free online through his Gothridge Manor blog and is seeking supporters to contribute financially to his efforts on Patreon.

OSR Zines: In my recent exploration of OSR zines I discovered a few brief adventures that appealed to my preferences for short game material. The printed zine format – limited to a finite number of pages for production purposes – forces scenario-writers to stick to a shorter format than, say, a rambling PDF with no restrictions on page count. Some zines expand on adventure elements in related articles, such as new character classes, locations, monsters, and treasures...all kept tight and tidy with the small page count.

One Page Dungeon Contest: I’ve already featured this growing, annual contest inspiring and highlighting perhaps the quintessential “short and sweet” roleplaying game scenario format. The contest gives newcomers and veterans the chance to offer a single-page adventure; while the quality of maps, writing, and content varies, the contest’s esteemed judges help showcase the best entries. A compendium of all entries from the current year provides a substantial collection of scenarios from which to choose...and the organizers are working to compile past years’ entries in similar volumes offered for free/pay what you want.

This commentary is in no way meant as a comprehensive survey of short game materials currently available; I’m highlighting short, substantive game resources I’ve encountered in my internet wanderings.

Like a good short story, writing short adventures presents some challenges to authors. They must impart a unique sense of setting and tone through concise textual notes. Each encounter should last only a few sentences yet must impart essential setting and gaming details as well as advance the action toward the climax. The short form eliminates some of the more verbose language readers frequently come to expect in published adventures and cuts to the chase: a brief introduction of hook, concise location descriptions, short monster stat listings, usually keyed to a small map. The format leaves little room for anything terribly epic in the writing, yet offers gamemasters and players ready-to-play scenarios requiring little preparation.

I surprised myself recently on the “short and sweet” game material front when drafting my recent“Gaming Artifacts: Islands in the Sea of Dread” blog post. The revision of a bland island setting I’d created in high school gave me a fulfilling sense of satisfaction. I had fun designing a map, briefly describing a few locations, and pulling together a “chance encounter” table. It came in at about 1,400 words – not quite as “short and sweet” as I’d like as a reader – but would probably run three or four pages if I took the time to lay it out, drop in some illustrations and the map, and turn it into a PDF. I suppose part of the pleasant surprise came from the feeling of writing something useful and thematic; yet, in the context of my preference for “short and sweet” material, I realize I not only like consuming this kind of game information but also enjoy creating it.

Comments....

Want to offer feedback? Start a civilized discussion? Mention your favorite sources for short-and-sweet roleplaying game materials? Share a link to this blog entry on Google+ and tag me (+Peter Schweighofer) to comment.

The First Taste Is Free with “Basic D&D”

The imminent release of the latest edition of D&D has generated a lot of buzz, complete with cryptic social media comments from team members and contentious controversies fueled by fans. Wizards of the Coast’s strategies in revising and promoting the new edition have mobilized its followers and critics to argue about gameplay, book prices, release dates, the merits of various editions (or the Old School Renaissance movement), whether certain design and marketing choices are “right,” and the future survival of the adventure gaming hobby. Many speculate on both Wizards’ motives and the actual contents of what different products may contain. I’ve offered some commentary regarding the next edition of D&D on this blog – my impressions of the price for the three main books and how those prices are part of a “new normal” in how gamers acquire new core rules – and so I’ll weigh in on another related issue: Wizards releasing a free, 48-page PDF document online, a kind of “Basic D&D” rules cyclopedia purportedly containing the core rules for creating and running characters from four central classes and several traditional fantasy races. Here’s the announcement from Wizards of the Coast’s Mike Mearls on the Legends & Lore D&D blog:

Basic D&D is a PDF that covers the core of the game. It’s the equivalent of the old D&D Rules Cyclopedia, though it doesn’t have quite the same scope (for example, it won’t go into detail on a setting). It runs from levels 1 to 20 and covers the cleric, fighter, rogue, and wizard, presenting what we view as the essential subclass for each. It also provides the dwarf, elf, halfling, and human as race options.

But the best part? Basic D&D is a free PDF. Anyone can download it from our website. We want to put D&D in as many hands as possible, and a free, digital file is the best way to do that.

Various interviews and press snippets released since that statement have tried to shed light on what this Basic D&D PDF can do; without seeing the actual presentation and contents nobody can really say what it actually will or won’t accomplish. But it seems Wizards is trying to address several audiences with this marketing strategy:

New Gamers: With the release of the D&D Starter Set in mid-July, at the same time as the Basic D&D free PDF becomes available, the company is giving those Starter Set players who want to continue their adventures past fifth level the rules framework to do so, up to level twenty. Some claim the PDF serves as a “bridge” from the Starter Set to the full, three-tome game rules, for those who wish to invest in the hobby and believe the “options” in those books improve their game experience.

Old, Skeptical Gamers: The PDF also serves as a free, playable preview of the game, enabling those reluctant to buy into the new edition the chance to see and experience the revised D&D rules in their own campaign settings. (Yes, I’m making a generalization in labeling this segment of the population “old, skeptical gamers.” I’m one of them.) The bait works on several levels: a tempting view of the revised mechanics; a means to play the current edition without investing in a new set of hardcover manuals; a way to bring the older gamer generation into the community of younger gamers.

Impatient D&D Fans: While actively marketing to this most loyal segment of its potential consumer base might seem like “preaching to the choir,” Wizards is using the free PDF to sell subsequent game materials to those gamers already fully supporting the new edition. Given the five month-long release period between the Starter Set and all three core rulebooks, diehard fans have little to sustain their interest and actual play experiences without the Basic D&D PDF enabling them to make characters and run games...plus two full 96-page adventures published between core rulebook releases.

Wizards of the Coast seems to intend Basic D&D as a bare-bones rules set enabling gamers to create characters and run adventures using the various bits of rules the company is releasing piecemeal until everything reaches publication: the Starter Set in mid-July, the Player’s Handbook in mid-August, the Monster Manual in mid-September, and finally the Dungeon Master’s Guide in mid-November, as well as full 96-page adventures in mid-August and mid-October. The release of two actual scenarios before the full trilogy of traditional core rulebooks reach store shelves seems counter-intuitive unless some framework exists in which players can actually use all the rules. Can this Basic D&D cyclopedia deliver on its promises that it’s both a “bridge” to allow those playing the Starter Set to jump beyond fifth-level characters and that it’s a rulebook to create and run characters through the initial two adventures released? It seems ambitious yet possible. One might also think it might undercut sales of the core rulebook trilogy; but I think it touches on another issue beyond providing a free rules framework.

Basic D&D seems intended to enable players of whatever background – beginner, veteran, and enthusiastic – to play the game before all three rulebooks release. Statements seem to indicate the basic edition remains the bare-bones yet functional mechanics needed to play, with the core rulebook trilogy offering more expansive options to character creation and advancement, adventure and campaign creation, and, of course, monstrous adversaries. This represents an interesting strategy of marketing/good-will: release the basic rules for free, then let players decide how much to invest in the rest of the game line. A free, functional preview game remains integral when the initial buy-in to play normally consists of a trilogy of rules tomes with a combined price-tag of $150.

While I’d like to believe the release of this free “Basic D&D” PDF an act of genuine generosity, it’s a rather clever marketing strategy to hook gamers new and old with “the first one’s free” approach. In lieu of evaluating the game based on three expensive rulebooks released over the course of six months, the document allows gamers to review the rules and dive right into playing. Experienced gamers can run scenarios based on the bare-bones core rules – creating their own adventure and using campaign settings as they’ve done for years – and if they go on to buy the three main rulebooks, official adventures, source and setting books, Wizards knows it can garner some additional sales. The move also addresses those dismayed with past editions of the game or discouraged with what they’ve seen for revisions in the latest edition, a sensitive issue Wizards has focused on throughout the new edition’s long development and playtest history; “Here you go...have a look at what we’ve done and give it a test drive for free.” Sure, some die-hard critics won’t go on to purchase rulebooks, adventures, or source material for the new addition, but every former nay-sayer who buys just one new-edition book is a sale Wizards wouldn’t have otherwise made.

D&D remains perhaps one of the few roleplaying game brands that can release a free rules set – however streamlined – that gets hordes of fans playing the game before publication of the actual revised rules and can boost sales of core and secondary product throughout the initial releases under the new edition. Are they “showing their hand” by revealing some of the core revisions in the new edition? Certainly. Can imaginative veteran gamers extrapolate an entire lifetime of play out of the document with their own settings and adventures, without having to purchase any new-edition D&D product from Wizards of the Coast? Quite possibly.

Over the years core rules sets for various other games have seen free PDF release – heck, I just saw The Design Mechanism released the RuneQuest Essentials introductory rules PDF (“much reduced” at 203 pages...) – but many were for current editions popular with fans which did not incorporate significant, controversial revisions. Roleplaying game companies have frequently offered quick-start versions of existing games, or even bare-bones core rules to help drive sales of secondary products. Will a free copy always generate additional sales? I’m sure studies exist citing wide-ranging percentages of sales inspired by free product given away. The perception of a publisher’s goodwill certainly has some effect in attracting and keeping new customers.

Whatever the free Basic D&D document contains it’s a step in the right direction, especially for a company that relies on publishing massive support books (rules options, class “splatbooks,” sourcebooks, adventures) to fuel gameplay among fans. Is it goodwill to give away the core rules of a new game or just clever marketing? The adventure gaming hobby will no doubt contentiously debate the answers as the new edition of D&D release dates approach, free PDFs and paid rulebooks reach gamers’ tables, and the intense marketing and loyal fan hype fades in the face of a few months of actual play and sales.

Schweig’s Postscript

Over the course of three new edition D&D-themed blog entries I’ve waged an inner debate whether to remain involved in the online discussion (such that it is) and speculation on the various issues related to the new release. I think for now this is all I care to say until product starts hitting shelves and making its way to the gaming table. Before all the pre-release marketing hype and contentious online debate rose to a fevered pitch I’d already resolved to limit my personal gaming involvement in the new edition to the D&D Starter Set. I have a particular interest in product intended to introduce new players to roleplaying games, so I’d like to check it out, see if it accomplishes anything new or refines proven techniques, and hope it might rekindle some of the nostalgic wonder I once felt immersing myself in the old Moldvay-edition Basic D&D boxed set.

I’ve seen little to alter my planned investment in the new edition. I applaud Wizards of the Coast for making a Basic D&D PDF available for free, especially to give everyone a chance to preview and even test drive the new system before all the rules reach publication. I’ll certainly download it, maybe even pick up a print copy if that’s ever made available. But of all the new edition product, the Starter Set remains the only one I expect to purchase. That’s not to say people shouldn’t invest in the trilogy of new-edition rulebooks, or that the new edition is the worst. Everyone has different tastes in gaming (as in most other aspects of their lives), and I encourage folks to do what’s in their best interest and respect others enough to let them do the same.

Comments....

Want to offer feedback? Start a civilized discussion? Share a link to this blog entry on Google+ and tag me (+Peter Schweighofer) to comment.

The One Page Dungeon Contest: Short & Sweet

I’m an advocate for brevity (though my writing rarely demonstrates that). I prefer game rules (both in mechanics and presentation) on the short and simplistic end of the spectrum given my lack of time and focus in a hectic life – a subject I’ve previously discussed here – though I have in my more than 30-year history of gaming indulged in “tome” games for both reading pleasure and actual play. So I’ve watched the past few years’ One Page Dungeon Contests with great delight because they not only showcase some outstanding, system-neutral short adventures but generate a host of free material for the gaming community every year.

I love short scenario material, whether a full-fledged dungeon crawl or some in-universe source prop with adventure hooks. Way back during the 2nd edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons days TSR released several Deck of Encounters sets, boxes filled with oversized cards containing brief adventure elements keyed by location and difficulty level; I actually used one during solo play when the gaming scene in my life seemed slow. Some TSR boxed sets also contained one-page scenarios or adventure hooks with related player handout props. R. Talsorian’s Cyberpunk 2020 contained a section of adventure hooks with a “screamsheet” on one side – a one-sheet fax newspaper reporting on key events in the Night City setting, typical of what characters might find – with related scenario ideas on the other. The company used another concise strategy with its Castle Falkenstein game, offering one-page adventure outlines providing the extreme basics of set-up and plot along with brief stats for key allies and adversaries.

I’ve admired the One Page Dungeon Contest from afar for years, though I’ve never entered. I’ve tried to craft an interesting dungeon experience on one page; it’s quite a formidable challenge. The best I’ve managed – combining an adequate adventure with the constraints of one page – ended up being a whopping two pages: Labyrinth of Set, a Pulp Egypt scenario available for free/pay-what-you-want at DriveThruRPG. Creating an adventure with an engaging concept, enticing introduction, and challenging encounters in one page (including a map) seems a daunting exercise in clear, concise writing and tight game design. The contest entries, of course, range across a wide spectrum of quality, theme, presentation style, artistic finesse, and layout. It takes a lot of courage to submit one’s work, whatever it’s comparative quality, to such a very public forum. The contest offers a good opportunity for aspiring game writers to “get published” and gain some recognition for their work.

An esteemed panel of judges determines the most outstanding of all the entries, but all submissions receive recognition and online publication thanks to a creative commons license. This year’s judges include such game-industry notables as Ernie Gygax, Martin Thomas, Steve Winter, and Sean K. Reynolds as well as several others from online communities and the blogosphere. Winners in a variety of categories can receive prizes from a host of supporting sponsors. All entries eventually find a home on the One Page Dungeon Contest website so readers can view or download the PDFs and decide for themselves which ones they like best. Previous years’ entries remain archived on the One Page Dungeon Contest website to peruse and download. They offer a broad spectrum of adventures enterprising gamemasters can customize for game system, genre, play style, and character level.

I admire anyone who enters the contest: they accept the daunting challenge of fitting an engaging adventure (map and all) on one page; they have the courage to share their work in public; and they contribute to a greater body of work available to everyone seeking inspiration for a short adventure.

Don’t miss the April 30 deadline for submissions to the 2014 One Page Dungeon Contest. Develop an interesting premise, sketch out a map, and write some encounters...it can’t take forever because it’s only one page!

Comments....

Want to offer feedback? Start a civilized discussion? Share a link to this blog entry on Google+ and tag me (+Peter Schweighofer) to comment.

Teach Your Kids to Game Week Is Dec. 3-10

The DriveThruRPG website is once again promoting “Teach Your Kids to Game Week” December 3-10. While the promotion unfortunately does not have a catchy acronym like NaGa DeMon (TYKTGW looks pretty awkward and remains nigh-impossible to pronounce), it’s still a very timely celebration* encouraging people to engage their children in games of all kinds, though with a particular bent toward those offered at DriveThruRPG. The website offers several pages of kid-appropriate product in easy-to-download PDF form, much of which is extremely affordable and some of which is free, including my own Creatures & Caverns, 2nd Edition.

I’m only slightly familiar with some of the products listed, but most seem well-suited for parents seeking to introduce and explore gaming with their kids. Several recently received extremely positive online buzz (some of which are still on my own DriveThruRPG wish list), including Argyle & Crew - Adventure in the Land of Skcos by the delightfully zany Ben Gerber; Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple by independent gaming rock-star Daniel Solis;  Justin Halliday’s Hero Kids and its plethora of scenarios (and free coloring book!); Kirin Robinson’s innovative Old School Hack; Kickstarter-funded Mermaid Adventures RPG; and rpgKids (apparently suitable for kids aged 4+). Many, like Cartoon Action Hour, Fuzzy Heroes, and the Mouse Guard Roleplaying Game are time-tested classics that have been around for a bit.

Creating a game kids can comprehend and play completely on their own remains a “holy grail” of game design; but with the first generation of die-hard roleplaying gamers giving birth to what will hopefully become a second generation of gamers, children now have role-models in their own adventure gaming hobby parents.

I don’t have much experience teaching kids to game. My toddler isn’t quite ready to start gaming anything in which I’m interested (though he knows what dice are and has some inclination toward age-appropriate games). Frequent readers know I’m a huge advocate of teaching newcomers -- especially children -- new games across the spectrum of board, war, and roleplaying games; I’ve certainly run enough kid-friendly convention games, though that audience is often highly receptive to such activities considering they’re attending a gaming con.

So my tips remain limited to my narrow experience and skewed philosophies:

Key Off Kids’ Interests: Try games that work with themes kids already like -- such as dinosaurs, trains, giant monsters, space fantasy, heroic tales -- or incorporate these elements in roleplaying games. Run something based loosely on their favorite television shows and films, or use similar heroes, plots, villains, encounters, and themes. Look at what kinds of “let’s pretend” behavior kids enjoy and use it to interest them in a more structured game experience.

Use Toys: This isn’t a problem for board games and wargames, since these already use elements like boards and pieces that seem like toys. When trying roleplaying games, however, offer enough hand-outs, figures, and dungeon dioramas that seem like toys or further equate roleplaying games with the more familiar form of board games. If you’re a gamer who indulges in painted miniatures or even basic paper stand-ups, let kids play with them for an added lesson in respecting someone else’s toys.

Short Attention Span: Make plans with kids’ short attention spans in mind. Keep things short and sweet yet evocative of the play style for the particular game. Try a board game or simplified wargame with a quick set-up, easy rules, and short-turn gameplay that lasts no more than 45 minutes. Running a fantasy roleplaying game? Stick to one core combat encounter ending with some mysterious clues, then see if the kids want to continue and move forward from there.

Know When to Stop: Parents know their kids…watch for signs their attention’s waning and artfully wrap up games if they’re bored, disinterested, or just plain unwilling to go any further. Gaming should create a positive, enjoyable impression parental pressure might ruin. Remember, we’re trying to engage kids and offer them a fulfilling gaming experience, not satisfy our own complex gaming needs.

If kids are only slightly interested in games and more taken by traditional children’s activities, print out a copy of the free Hero Kids coloring book and get both marginally interested and too-young kids coloring some fantasy-themed goodness to post on the refrigerator.

In the past I’ve examined several issues relating to running roleplaying games for kids that might offer more insight and ideas for gamer parents: Roleplaying Games for Kids and Crafting A Roleplaying Experience for Kids.

* Last year I discussed why the holidays seem well-suited for fantasy and gaming.

Gordon & Hague Releases Civil War Minis, Rules

Gordon & Hague Historical Wargames, a relatively new company, recently released a line of 10mm, pre-painted American Civil War miniatures along with free PDF rules, Severed Union. For those of us with limited time and talent for painting miniatures, the Gordon & Hague minis provide a pre-painted mini option; Severed Union offers a basic rules set incorporating many factors that affected Civil War engagements, perfect for those dabbling in miniature wargames (beyond “battle games” like Avalon Hill’s Battle Cry) without overbearing complexities of more detailed rules. Gordon & Hague has provided me with a good customer/player experience, both with quality of the product and its customer service. The miniatures offer a good way to introduce newcomers to miniature wargaming through a popular period and relatively easy rules set, and they mays entice established wargamers to try the period or use the pre-painted minis with other rules.
  
Pre-Painted Miniatures

   
The Gordon & Hague pre-painted miniatures offer a solid selection of Civil War units, including infantry, militia, infantry command, cavalry, scouts (representing both skirmishers and dismounted cavalry), artillery, and generals. At the 10mm scale each base is 1” x 0.75”, small for fighting a skirmish, but ideal for recreating a battle with many units marching across the tabletop. Each base contains a varying number of individual figures (each figure representing 10 men each) depending on the unit: six figures for infantry, militia and their command units, two for generals, three for cavalry and scouts, and four (three gunners and a cannon) for artillery. Typically one stand represents a company of men, while one stand of artillery represents three cannon.
  

While some miniature wargaming connoisseurs might balk at pre-painted minis and the limited detail one might see in that, the paint jobs look fine at that scale and are better than what I could manage with such tiny miniatures. Gordon & Hague’s website encourages hobby enthusiasts to customize their units with additional paint details and base modeling. The website also offers plenty of photos featuring the minis so potential customers can get a good look at the individual units, modeling, and painting.
  
Although the minis originally came in single-base blister packs, the company has since moved toward offering complete boxed armies; the remaining, limited stock of individual blister packs are on sale through the site at 45% off, or $2.19 each until supplies run out. According to the Gordon & Hague website, the reason the blistered minis were on sale is they were the original paint schemes, which apparently were not as well-painted as the more recent minis offered in the army boxes. As long as they last, the single-base blister packs offer gamers the option to purchase specific units (remaining a much more affordable for those of us trying out the period). Civil War miniature wargaming enthusiasts probably want to invest in Confederate or Federal starter army boxes (41 units for $139.99) or grand army boxes (68 units for $249.99); that’s about $3.50 per based unit. The initial army boxes were so popular they sold out, and the company expects a new shipment in early March 2012. Purchasing an army box at those prices remains a serious financial investment for wargamers; one hopes Gordon & Hague looks at other ways of offering boxed sets, such as a starter skirmish set with enough units from both sides to fight small skirmishes.
  

For those without much time, the pre-painted minis offer an alternative to purchasing and painstakingly painting minis, especially when one wants to get them onto the wargaming table to try new rules or scenarios as soon as possible. I don’t have much time; despite being a full-time Stay at Home Dad (SaHD), my toddler and a schedule of housework/home projects doesn’t give me much time for frivolous pursuits like miniatures painting, especially for a gaming genre (miniatures wargaming) and a historical period (American Civil War) in which I only dabble.
  
Free Severed Union Rules
  
Gordon & Hague designed and published the free Severed Union rules available as a PDF download from the company website. Obviously the company would like gamers to use the rules with Gordon & Hague pre-painted minis, but they’d work well with other minis and scales with a little tweaking.
   
The full-color rules include diagrams demonstrating various game concepts (particularly formations and movement), period illustrations, and photos of the pre-painted miniatures on the tabletop. They also include templates to determine fields of fire, flanking, and artillery blast radius, plus counters for various unit conditions from jammed and limbered artillery to units moved at the double quick, marched, or exhausted.
  
The rules begin with overviews of wargaming in the period, including explanation of the different unit types, organizing and building an army, and setting up a game. Turn sequences alternate between players, with steps for rallying retreating troops, movement, a reactionary artillery phase for the other player, firing at range, and close quarters combat. The rules finish with a discussion of terrain and its effects and a summary special rules for different units.
   
Several rules nicely represent tactical elements that figured prominently in Civil War battles. The movement section includes rules for marching in columns and deploying to battle lines, marching at the double quick, mounting and dismounting cavalry, and limbering and un-limbering artillery. After the active player takes his turn maneuvering his troops, the other player has a chance to fire cannon in the artillery reaction phase, giving him some ability to respond during the main player’s turn. Although the close combat rules present the most complicated mechanics in the entire system, they do a good job of simulating the brutal aspects of charges and close action while offering the defending player options in how troops receive the charge.
  
Having used the rules to test out a short scenario, I noticed a few areas that weren’t always clearly defined; but Gordon & Hague seems dedicated to receiving suggestions and adjusting the rules, having offered at least one revision since Severed Union’s initial publication.
  
Online Support
  
The Gordon & Hague website functions primarily to promote and sell the minis, but it also offers resources for Civil War gamers to enhance their experience, particularly with the pre-painted minis. Numerous links promote the free Severed Union rules. The “Hobby Center” page provides several tutorials relevant to miniature gamers but focusing on those using the pre-painted minis, including enhancing them with individual details, adding base flocking, attaching flags to command units, and crafting a customized terrain board; it also provides a listing of websites for scenery and supplies. A brief “New to Wargaming?” provides a general overview of the hobby for newcomers.
  
Given that Gordon & Hague is just getting started, one looks forward to seeing the website offer more articles and tutorials to serve as a focal point for miniature hobbyists.
  
The website’s “About” page offers some insight to the company’s approach, but also hints that it’s looking to expand its pre-painted mini offerings to different periods; many in online scuttlebutt have suggested minis and rules for fighting skirmishes from the American War of Independence as well as other conflicts, and it seems the folks at Gordon & Hague have their sights set on this period next.
  
Personal Experience
  
I’ll admit I’ve had a good customer experience since discovering Gordon & Hague, buying some minis, and playing around with the Severed Union rules.
  
After exploring the Gordon & Hague website and downloading the free rules, I decided to splurge and order a small assortment of miniatures tailored to the local historical skirmish I wanted to re-fight; the Battle of Culpeper Court House -- specifically Custer’s charge of Lomax’s troops defending a departing supply train -- required a unit of mounted Union cavalry (six minis), a unit of dismounted Confederate cavalry (represented by six of Gordon & Hague “scout” minis), a Confederate cannon, and one general stand for each side. The sale on blister packs made this extremely affordable for two reasons: at $2.19 individual blisters weren’t such a huge financial commitment as an entire army box; the blisters also enabled me to purchase only the units I needed to fight this particular engagement, since the army boxes have six stands of cavalry but only three stands of scouts. I was pleased I could order the exact minis I needed at the discounted blister pack price.
  
When my order arrived I found I’d received six Confederate mounted cavalry minis instead of Union cavalry; a quick e-mail to Gordon & Hague fixed the problem and the new minis arrived in the post within two days. The prompt and friendly customer service on the part of Brian at Gordon & Hague -- and subsequent pleasant communications about the rules and minis line -- has made it a pleasure dealing with the company and provided a very positive mail-order experience.
   
Playing around with the rules and tweaking the conditions for my Battle of Culpeper Courthouse scenario I realized the Severed Union rules offer some intuitive gameplay concepts while still accounting for detailed elements that affected Civil War engagements. Die rolls representing the “fog of war” uncertainty elements still determine much of the outcome, though probably more so since this particular engagement focuses essentially on two units facing off with some artillery bolstering the Confederate defenses.
   
I’m often tempted to dabble in new games, though doing so with miniature wargaming rules frequently seems daunting because of the cost in time and effort buying and painting new minis as well as the complexity of different rule systems. Gordon & Hague’s pre-painted Civil War minis and the free Severed Union rules worked well together to draw me into this wargaming period.
  
As an addendum, I’m encouraged to hear the company’s looking to develop pre-painted miniatures for the American War of Independence -- another of my casual-interest wargaming periods given that I grew up in a town with its own Revolutionary War engagement, the Battle of Ridgefield. I’m assuming Gordon & Hague will follow its earlier model by selling miniatures and releasing a free PDF rules set for the period online, a generous strategy that helps boost interest not only in the company’s product but the historical period.

Old School Hack Actual-Play Report

Among the roleplaying game sessions I ran at a recent convention was a scenario introducing my Infinite Cathedral medieval fantasy setting currently under development. While I like the D6 System as my default game engine, I wanted to try Kirin Robinson’s Old School Hack. It recently won an ENnie Award for best free product and caught my interest with its innovative game mechanics that, while drawing on nostalgia for old-school Dungeons & Dragons dungeon-crawling, employs several innovative mechanics. I’ve featured Old School Hack before at Hobby Games Recce, but this convention game provided my first chance to play it.

Five players joined me at the table and we walked through character creation using materials from the rulebook I’d printed. Everyone had a character and class sheet, plus a set of cards outlining combat actions and handy stand-up tent card with awesome point notes on the inside; in hindsight I should have printed up a few weapons and combat pages for player reference. After spending some time creating and introducing characters, we dove into the scenario, which I kept shorter than usual to allow for character creation with some meaningful game time. I won’t harp on the short adventure other than to say it included two combat scenes, one against a goblin bandit party and another against goblins with support from two hammer trolls, with some roleplaying scenes sandwiched between the skirmishes. During actual play several issues arose, most emerging from everyone’s general unfamiliarity with the rules:

Bonuses Everywhere: Old School Hack has a number of rules for advantages to keep track of, especially for players and a gamemaster trying to absorb a new rule set. They’re on the character sheet as talents, plus those offered in the inherent section of each class, then those from weapons used in favored arenas (and I might be forgetting others). At times we had trouble finding and remembering all the applicable bonuses to combat rolls, armor class, and damage. An issue like this resolves itself over time as everyone becomes more familiar with both the rules and their characters.

Combat Action Resolution: Players loved the card mechanic to show what everyone was doing in combat and in what order to resolve it (though as gamemaster I fumbled a bit adjudicating counter-attacking from defending heroes). Some players found inspiration in the cards and instead of simply attacking found interesting ways to use the “impede” and “push or throw” tactics.

Reward and Spend Awesome Points: The players took a while to remember to use the awesome point mechanics, both in awarding them and spending them (and remembering to mark off their expenditure as experience on their character sheets). Similarly, I as gamemaster didn’t put many points from my “Stack” into the player’s awesome point “Bowl” to boost their adversaries’ performance. Most bonuses from spending awesome points made sense, but paying three points to use another class talent raised some questions; we weren’t sure how this related to constant talents, and in the heat of the game I allowed using it to engage constant talents for the duration of the adventure, but probably should have only allowed its use for a specific task or a short scene.

Note that these issues aren’t flaws in the game as presented, but mostly the results of in-game unfamiliarity with the rules by both the players and gamemaster. Most questions that arose during actual play I looked up later and clarified for future reference. Running a campaign would certainly increase everyone’s fluency in the game’s nuances. Using the system for a convention one-shot might move along better with a gamemaster more experience with the rules and perhaps a different set of players.

The players displayed great enthusiasm for the game as they learned the practicalities of the rules and found how they encouraged heroic-style play; their enthusiasm was tempered only by a few slow portions when I had to look up and clarify how several mechanics worked. Both players and a few interested onlookers expressed amazement that these innovative, original rules were available free online.

Overall I liked Old School Hack for emulating classic D&D action. I’d use it again in a home or convention game now that I’m a bit more familiar with how particular rules work in play. We found the game fostered a fun sense of camaraderie, not simply from trying out the rules together, but primarily from the thoughtful tactics the combat actions encouraged and the rewarding awesome point mechanic.
   
Already someone has taken the Old School Hack approach to another genre, this one for a Fallout-inspired game called Retrocalypse (though it could work for any post-apocalyptic setting). Now if only someone would adapt Old School Hack to the pulp genre….

Junior General Is A Wargaming Toybox

The Junior General website offers a veritable toybox of rules, scenarios, and paper figures for those, particularly kids, exploring history through miniature wargames. Primarily intended for children and the classroom, the site provides some good resources for both the casual and hard-core miniatures wargamer.

Paper miniatures and historical scenarios stand as the pillars of the website’s two core resources. The simulations come listed by period: Ancients, Medieval, Renaissance, 18th, 19th, and 20th Centuries. Although the scenario format varies by author, most contain some historical background as an introduction, a listing of forces along with a battlefield map, basic rules for gaming the battle, and some additional resources for supplemental reading or research. Most land battles featuring infantry (some with cavalry and artillery) employ basic rules created by teacher and website administrator Matt Fritz; the rules remain fairly simple while teaching the basics of unit formation and movement, attack, and morale. Other battle formats offer a variety of rules, all oriented for use in the classroom or with wargaming beginners. Each scenario contains links to the paper soldiers and any other accessories needed to play; apparently the site rearranged its paper soldier database, so some of these links don’t directly pull up the required files, but one can find them by perusing the site’s “Paper soldiers” section.

The site’s other core feature is the exhaustive list of paper soldiers arranged by period and conflict. Numerous contributors have created cardstock miniatures of all kinds of units, from infantry and cavalry to armored vehicles, warships, and terrain accessories. Although serious gamers might find the artistic quality of the cardstock soldiers less sophisticated than other available offerings (specifically Patrick Crusiau’s fine cardstock warriors and, of course, actual painted miniatures), the figures cover many military forces from ancient to modern times; often one can choose among similar units drafted by different artists.

Junior General provides a solid framework for enthusiasts to move beyond the scenarios and paper soldiers presented here. Don’t see a battle simulation you like? Find one appropriate to your period, adapt the rules, and provide the units and battlefield based on historical research. Chance are you’ll find appropriate cardstock forces in the expansive “Paper Soldiers” section. “Help File” resources include a host of tutorials on creating, modifying, printing and basing paper soldiers; a guide to keeping paint on plastic figures; useful tips for incorporating wargames, or “historical simulations,” in the classroom; and a “Historical Gaming 101” overview of basic miniature wargame concepts. The obligatory links section contains a listing of other useful websites for paper soldiers and wargames.

Local History

I enjoy exploring local history where I happen to live and like to combine it with my gaming hobby; Junior General offers some solid resources I can use to pursue these interests.

For some time I’ve wanted to create a miniatures wargaming scenario based on a Revolutionary War battle in the town where I grew up; I have several resources covering the battle, including a fairly accurate listing of the forces involved. The Junior General pages for Revolutionary War scenarios and paper soldiers offer solid resources for my casual pursuits.

I’ve recently become interested in creating some kind of miniature wargaming scenario based on a Civil War skirmish that occurred in the town where I currently live. I’ve never really cared much for American Civil War history; sure, I’m familiar with it from school, Ken Burns’ documentary, and having visited a few battlefields in my youth, but it’s never really captivated me like other historical periods and conflicts (like World War II, ancient Egypt, and the Victorian British in Egypt and the Sudan). Junior General’s Battle of First Bull Run provides a basic framework for gaming my local skirmish, though I need to do a bit more research on the units involved and the sequence of events surrounding the battle.

The wealth of free basic rules, historical scenarios to game or reference, and downloadable paper soldiers to print and mount makes Junior General a good place to explore history through miniature wargames.