Behind the Screen: Regarding Fit and Finish...

Earlier this week, I discussed the concept of the visual polish - the fit and finish - of gaming resources, books, and other miscellanea. Today I'm going to explore a different kind of fit and finish... the kind that makes your gaming sessions appealing.

Flesh out ideas

As you may know, I am an "off the cuff" style DM in many ways. I take pride in letting my storyline and interactions flex to suit the decisions of my characters and I don't like spending a lot of time planning for elements that could get ignored.

I will, however, spend some time fleshing out major plot points, key player characters, and magic items of interest. By taking some time to complete a brief backstory or character motivation for your intermediate non-player characters you gain the ability to let the storyline diverge if the players decide to engage that NPC more fully.

A good example of how this works out played out when Vanir's womanizing bard came across a barmaid that I decided to give a little personality to. He had really connected with that barmaid in a meaningful way, and eventually returned to marry her when he decided he wanted to settle down. If I had not taken the time to give the barmaid a little personality, or if I had decided to handwave the encounter, this nice piece of character development might not have happened.

Be Colorful

One of the best tools a DM can have is a strong vocabulary. One excellent tip that I learned from our college DM is keeping a "resource pool" of key descriptive words, names, and phrases that I can draw upon to illustrate a common element in a more interesting way.

He had been known to create his own charts of descriptive words and phrases and use them on occasion when some additional detail was required. I thought this was a very excellent idea, and I tend to enjoy augmenting this by using a Word-A-Day calendar or some other means of sharpening and expanding my vocabulary. A little tip - Shakespeare had a lot of quality insults that sound great within the context of a D&D game.

Be Creative

Nobody likes a rut. If I am doing my pre-game prep and I feel like I've done this plot point before, I usually end up severely altering it or trashing it all together. Especially in campaigns where you have used the same characters for awhile it is very important to be diligent about introducing new encounters and new activities.

Roleplaying is appealing because it gets you out of the normalcy of life, and if your characters experience the same repeating trends that you wrestle with in everyday life eventually they (and their players) will get tired of the grind.

Staying Tuned-In

During holiday season, we have some difficulty finding game time when everyone can get together to game. These delays can making staying tuned-in to the storyline very difficult. In the past, we haven't done much to keep in touch with the story outside of game nights, but there are a few things I think might help us this time around. Of course, implementation may not happen right away, but that doesn't mean I can't dream!

1. Plot In Review - We have a bulletin board already established for the game. As one of the note-takers in the group, I could post recaps of the plot thus far on the board: one to help me remember, and two to share with everyone else.

2. Character Development - Instead of ignoring my alter-ego until the next game night, I could be working on character development between sessions. I have created a fairly good backstory for my character, but I could take some time to flesh it out, giving her more personality and keeping me in-tune with her.

3. Career Planning - I could take some time to consider my character's career. I can review supplements to explore prestige class options or other feat ladders I haven't had time to pursue. This will give me some direction as my character gains experience, as well as some opportunities for in-game roleplaying as I "develop" these new abilities.

Do you have any tricks to share for staying tuned-in to the game during hiatus?

Proper Villainy Profiles: Beowulf

It's been awhile since we peered into the abyss to see what horrors lurked within, and I'm in an absolutely foul mood so this seemed like a great time!

I saw Beowulf over the weekend. While it diverged somewhat from the myth, it was still a good story. With good villains!

Let's examine these villains, shall we? (* WARNING LOTS AND LOTS OF SPOILERS AHEAD MATEY, YARR *)

• Grendel
  
  Poor Grendel. Born with exposed eardrums, the voice of Crispin Glover, and a bunch of loud drunken Scandinavian assholes nearby. It's not his fault the noise of their partying drives him insane. Maybe killing and eating half of them is a little overboard, but can you honestly say you haven't wanted to do that? I blame bad parenting.
  
  Grendel is a great example of a "villain" who doesn't want to be eeeeevil. He just has monstrous strength and no social skills whatsoever. His way of dealing with adversity is to tear it into tiny pieces, occasionally putting them in his mouth. It's hard not to feel bad for the guy even as he murders a room full of unsuspecting partiers.
  
  Although I was glad when he died because HOLY CRAP HIS VOICE WAS ANNOYING. Who says "heeearmed"?
  
  VILLAIN RATING: I HATE CRISPIN GLOVER'S VOICE
  



• Grendel's Mom
  
  Grendel's Mom has got it goin' on
  Grendel's Mom has got it goin' on
  
  OK, that had to be said.
  
  Anyway, Grendel's mom is another great example of a well-developed (no pun intended!) villain, but unlike Grendel she's got some good healthy evil going on. She doesn't like being bad for the sake of it, mind you. She just knows what she wants (demon babies of kings, apparently) and she'll do whatever she has to in order to get it.
  
  The part I didn't quite get is that she really didn't have to work very hard to get what she wanted.
  
  King (various): ZOMG! A water demon! With goldboobs!
  Grendel's Mom: Hi! Let's have sex and you give me a demon baby.
  King (various): OKAY!
  
  I mean, this worked for Hrothgar, Beowulf, and I assume Beowulf's buddy (and new king) at the end. And she didn't ask for anything else and even (for awhile) granted her baby daddy power and riches until demon baby grows up and goes all dragon on the kingdom. Maybe she's just bored. And I didn't get why it was always a king's demon baby. Maybe she's just got a royalty fetish.
  
  REGARDLESS! She's still a good example of a character doing bad things for their own purposes but not working for the Forces of Blackest Evil
  
  P.S. how in the HELL did this movie get a PG-13 rating????
  
  VILLAIN RATING: DD with gold sprinkles
  
  


• Beowulf's Demon/Dragon Baby
  
  The Darth Maul of the movie. AWESOME fight scenes, but he doesn't do anything else but speak some one-liner crap. I didn't understand why he was terrorizing everyone and demanding vengeance on dear old Dad. I hope my son doesn't do that when he grows up. Eeeeee.
  
  VILLAIN RATING: ZZZZZZZZZZZZ
  



• Beowulf and Hrothgar
  
  What's that? I'm listing the good guys as villains? "What the hell", you ask?
  
  They're the heroes, but they're doing stuff almost as bad as the "bad guys"! Cheating on your wife with a hot water demon, fathering demon babies who end up killing your countrymen, LYING ABOUT IT when you know damn good and well what the deal is?
  
  It's no gory mass murder, but it's certainly not Good behavior.
  
  And while they might not be completely Bad or Good, I say they're great characters.
  
  VILLAIN RATING: IDSPISPOPD
  

Until next time!

<evil laughter>

Someone Heal Me!!

There are days, like today, when I would trade in my doctor for a good cleric and his repertoire of divine spells. And as my loving husband, Dante, pointed out, characters never get sick; they have clerics that can cast Remove Disease or any Cure spells to make them feel better. So, here's my cleric-inspired post, mostly because I'm sick and forgot to post something earlier.

Never Leave Home Without One

Clerics are among the most important characters in any party; it's not impossible to adventure without one, but you'll usually wish you hadn't left home without one. Clerics have that wonderful ability to make you feel better when the orcs have tried (nearly successfully) to remove your sword arm. Plus, they have all other kinds of handy make-you-feel-better spells; it's not just about the wounds. Neutralize Poison, Remove Disease, the Restoration spells... all kinds of things to make you feel better.

Not Just For Healing

Besides ensuring the good health of the party, clerics can also contribute on the combat front. They can hold their own in combat; clerics have simple weapon proficiency, as well as armor and shield proficiencies. Plus, they are great against undead, not just with their ability to turn, but also with their arsenal of undead-damaging spells, which also work great against not-undead too!

On Fit and Finish...

Today, my lovely wife Stupid Ranger and I set out into the cold weather to do some Christmas shopping. We ended up as we often do: at Borders.

While she was agonizing over the sale tables, I ventured into the roleplaying section to peruse the new offerings from my favorite publishers and while I was looking at all of the bindings and titles I began to think about what draws me to certain supplements.

I work in the manufacturing industry and there is a concept called "fit and finish" that is used to describe the final touches that are put on the product before it is considered complete. As I looked at those bindings, idly selecting one or two to pull of the shelf and flip through I found that some very superficial things made me actually pick up certain books and look through them.

Things like fonts, cover art, and titles are what initially drew me to some titles. I grabbed a few books and found that their layout or typeface was so appalling that I couldn't stand to read more than a paragraph at a time, which placed those into the "right out" category. I believe that is why so many roleplaying resources are moving online: you can choose how you want to receive the content, many times controlling the superficial things that help you drive down into the content.

On the car ride home, I was thinking about what good gaming opportunities I may have missed or dismissed purely on these criteria. Essentially, in my opinion usability matters. If the "fit and finish" is off and I can't get past reading a single paragraph, or I can't read the chart easily from arms length I very likely won't buy the book, and often times I have found that I marginalize anything in that same given series purely due to the manner in which the information is presented.

Am I alone here?