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Dungeons & Dragons - Role Playing Tips
Roleplaying Tips Weekly E-Zine Issue #115
Quick-Start Sci-Fi RPG Tips For Newbies
Contents:
This Week's Tips Summarized
Quick-Start Sci-Fi RPG Tips For Newbies
- Dealing With Technology
- Technology As A Game Aid
- Making Space Voyages Interesting
- Creating, GMing, And Role-Playing Aliens
- How To Create Space Campaigns If You're From A Fantasy Background
Readers' Tips Summarized
- Make Silent Rolls With A Mouse Pad
- Cheap Minis For Creepy Crawlies
- Source For NPC Names
- A PC Learning Plateau Simulation
- Give Leaders Multiple Epithets
Return to Contents
A Brief Word From Johnn
New Article Posted At The Site: Hangings Can Be Fun
Mark Kibbe of Basement Games has written some great tips
about cliffhangers. Check the article out at:
http://www.roleplayingtips.com/articles/hangings_can_be_fun.php
New EXP System Working Out
For my new D&D campaign I've been using a new experience
point system and it's working well. I call it justified
arbitrariness. :) At the end of a session I email all the
players and ask them three questions:
- What were your PC's high points in the session?
- What were your PC's low points in the session?
- Who was the best PC for the session?
After a session I always have a gut feel for how much the
PCs "experienced", developed, and progressed along in life.
So, I pick my EXP award based on that feeling and modify it
by the players' responses.
Players always know more about what their PCs did during
sessions than I can log or remember. Plus, their replies are
often surprising and reveal hooks and motives for future
use, such as "Low Point: having two travellers murdered
while I was 50 feet away. Randor forgive me."
Of course, some replies are awesome for their pure
entertainment value: "The highlight of the trip came when I
nailed that evil priest between the shoulder blades with my
crossbow and watched as the demon bug swallowed him whole!"
Anyway, I guess the core tip here is to encourage player
feedback about their PCs after each session and let that
affect their ongoing development as well as help you create
personalized hooks and side-plots.
Till next week,
Johnn Four
johnn@roleplayingtips.com
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Return to Contents
Quick-Start Sci-Fi RPG Tips For Newbies
By Jonathan Hicks
jon@thesas.co.uk
http://www.lightsabre.co.uk
Never done any Science Fiction gaming before? Are you a
Fantasy fan and fancy a change of scenery? Here are a few
handy quick-start tips to make the transition smoother.
- Dealing With Technology
It's not necessary for a GM to know the ins and outs of how
space gear works, such as communicators, lasers, and space
suits, as these items are simple tools to aid the players
and nothing else. The functions will be explained in the
core rules of the system you are using. There comes a time,
however, when these items need to be addressed in game terms
to ascertain an outcome.
For example, let's say Boris and Frank are floating around
outside a spaceship - suddenly *gasp* he's hit by Frank with
a spanner - but what kind of damage would a spanner do to a
spacesuit? How much protection would Boris get?
Most items are covered in sci-fi games and their damage
limitations are detailed, but not all are given that kind of
attention. To deal with this, consider the following:
- How large is the item and what is its function? The
bulkier the item, the more damage it can take, but remember
that an item can still be delicate no matter what its size
so allow for that.
- What is the source of the damage? Being hit by a fist or
blasted by a plasma cannon? The destructive force of the hit
should have a say.
- What is the item made of? Plastic, cloth, or molecular
aligned steel? Its resistance to damage is a major factor.
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- Technology As A Game Aid
There comes a time in every GM's experience where a piece of
technology seriously unbalances a game:
- An item in the game that is powerful and the PCs get it.
- An item designed by a GM [and not play-tested].
- An item designed by a player [and not play-tested].
The item can be anything from a powerful weapon to a good
scanner, so to help balance the game, here are a few ideas
on how to deal with it:
- The item is good in one respect but bad in another. For
example, a rifle scope - good at zeroing in on static
targets but terrible at tracking moving ones.
- The item is vulnerable. It may be a handy bit of kit but
it's delicate or easily damaged.
- Prone to failure. i.e. an excellent machine with a bad
breakdown rate or has the danger of exploding, making
unskilled PCs hesitate to use it.
- Everyone wants one. The item is so good it's prone to
being stolen or attracts too much attention.
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- Making Space Voyages Interesting
Those long treks between stars can be over in an instant or
they can spread out over days depending on what galaxy
you're in. In any case, the PCs will be spending time
onboard starships and the words "right, you're there" might
work in some respects but hardly help the players suspend
their disbelief.
There are a few things you can do to make the journey
interesting:
- Ask what the players will be doing for the duration and
describe the journey in detail. If there's nothing
important happening just give a description.
[Comment from Johnn: to ensure the description is
interesting, focus parts of it on the PCs, based on
their stated activities:
- What do they succeed in learning? (i.e. they're
studying/practicing new skills or using scientific
instrumentation to monitor local space)
- What is the result of their hobbies? (i.e. PC wins twice
against the computer, but loses 23,867 times, or a
small garden begins to thrive.)
- What minor events not worth roleplaying occur that the
PCs deal with? (i.e. a ship repair, letters from home.)]
- If the journey is a long one then get some interaction
going between the players and NPCs. Conversations so that the
game up to that point can be reviewed and plans made. Describe
the hum of the deckplates, the flashing of the panel lights,
the swirl of the stars outside the hull.
- Create a problem. An NPC turns out to be dangerous, an
alien life form is loose on the ship, the vessel is attacked
or hits something. Whole scenarios can be played out with
panic on a starship and makes for some genuinely scary games
- after all, where can the PCs run to?
- Choose a starship with character:
- The vessel is old and broken and a cause for concern.
- The vessel is new and expensive and woe betide anyone
who scratches it.
- It's huge and glamorous, like a liner, with plenty of
games, shows, NPCs - and intrigue.
- It's a battleship, crisp and clean.
- The ship is a pirate vessel, hunted and feared.
- The vessel's so alien that the PC's don't know what
to make of it!
Give the ship some internal character, like a gurgling
conduit that everyone knows if they tap it it'll stop.
The names of vessels are important, too. What ship would you
board? The Soaring Angel or the Third Time Lucky? Add to
that the fact that names can be deceiving...
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- Creating, GMing, And Role-Playing Aliens
Creatures from outer space! How can a GM effectively portray
something that has no place in human consciousness? Well, in
truth, they can't, but here are a few ideas on how to give
your aliens that slight edge that makes them seem out of
this world.
- Concept. What is the alien's purpose? Is it part of a
human-like society or is it a beast with teeth and claws?
This is like giving a alien an intelligence level, from the
ignorant beast to the highly developed being.
- Visual. What does it look like? Mammal, Reptile,
Amphibian? Natural history books and even tomes about
dinosaurs is a must - you can get some great visualisations
and simply saying "it looks like a walking ant" can do the
trick.
- Personality. Is it friendly, with human traits? What does
it like or dislike? Aliens might have a moral outlook on
life that vastly differs from human, such as finding
gladiatorial games acceptable or eating their mate!
To the alien where this is perfectly normal there might be a
PC moral conflict there. Basic emotions might be shared,
such as love, anger, hate, but how the alien acts on these
feelings might be different. Perhaps the aliens don't know
the concept of hate, or lying? Just a few notes on what the
alien understands can make a lot of difference.
- Society. What kind of world does the alien come from? Is
it a democracy, a dictatorship, or even some kind of
monarchy? Perhaps the world has no leaders and they simply
live there. Maybe they share a hive mind and only function
as a group. The aliens' environment can also make an impact
on how they act and react, or how they view their
surroundings or fellows.
- Sound and movement. Do they have any physical traits you
can re-create yourself. A tic, maybe. Or perhaps they have
arms that bend in different ways when they converse. Perhaps
heads and limbs jerk with insect-like movements, or they
permanently have their mouths down-turned like they are
constantly upset.
Remember that giving the alien personality is the key thing
but personality must also be influenced by the aliens'
environment and view on life.
You don't want men in rubber masks with quirky things that
make them appear like aliens - you want a fleshed out being
or creature with a reason for existence. Think of it this
way - you're a TV show with a limitless budget - don't
restrain yourself.
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- How To Create Space Campaigns If You're From A Fantasy Background
The truth is, designing a space-based campaign is relatively
simple and follows pretty much the same rules as a fantasy-
based campaign. You have your plot, your setting, your
players, and your goals.
It can also help to think of the 2D to 3D rule - in a
fantasy game you're pretty much limited to a 2D landscape,
trekking across fields and woodlands and over mountains
fighting and being a hero. In space games you're in a 3D
world, where you can also go up - far, far up.
What is the difference between two kingdoms and two planets?
Nothing, other than the means of transport to get to either
one. Change the horse to a hovercraft, change the tall ship
to an interstellar spacecraft and you're already half way
there.
Then you've got the technology. Most of it is window
dressing so don't worry about what it does. How does it
work? Who cares? As long as it does what it's supposed to do
then it doesn't matter.
Then swap swords for blasters, bows for plasma guns, shields
for energy protectors. A suit of armour can be a power suit,
a catapult a piece of plasma artillery. Your castles are
your fortresses, your dungeons your mountain research
complexes, your way stations your space stations.
Wizards become psychics, necromancers become re-animation
scientists, alchemists are simple chemists. Your orcs, elves
and lizard men are your aliens; your dragons, demons and
wyverns are your beasts on the moons and on the unexplored
planets.
Kings are Stellar Emperors. Knights are Space Marines. And
your lowly kitchen boy is the floor sweeper on an
interstellar starship, blasting from star to star with an
eye for discovery and adventure. The two are not that
different. There are very few things to change, except for
the following:
- It's handy to have some knowledge of what lies between
the stars; nebulae, asteroids and the like. This is mainly
for descriptive purposes but can be handy in certain
situations.
- Make sure you're familiar with the setting and what the
players can/cannot do in general terms. Many technical
questions will be asked and can be answered with a simple
'yes' or 'no', but there's bound to be surprises.
- Have the available locations handy. With faster than
sound planetary travel and faster than light space travel
the PCs can get to where they're going pretty quickly.
- Be descriptive. In fantasy games the landscape is quite
standard and easy to visualise, but in sci-fi there can be
an infinite amount of alien worlds and settings in space
that are vastly different from our own world. Even if you
just say the grass is brown and the sky is pink - alien
landscape. In time you will be talking of natural glass
spire formations, crystal waterfalls, acid lakes, and
phosphorous clouds without a second thought...
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Attention Game Publishers & Companies: THIS SPACE FOR RENT
Do you have a gaming-relating product that you'd like to
tell 11,500 Game Masters about? Put your information and
links here! The GM subscribers to this ezine have been very
supportive of advertisers here in the past and are open to
learning more about your products as long as they're useful
to roleplayers. Just don't try to sell us any swamp land in
Gehenna. ;)
johnn@roleplayingtips.com
Tips Request: "Adventures For Weak Characters"
Here's an interesting topic request I received from a
subscriber:
"I was wondering, how about an issue on encounter ideas and
tips for low-level/newbie characters. Most of the default
encounters are way too commonplace (oh, more kobolds...), or
otherwise way too risky.
How about twists to standard encounters, or ways to make
some encounters less dangerous, while still keeping them
challenging?"
So, what do you think? Do you have any tips, advice, or
ideas for making encounters for weak characters interesting
and challenging?
Email me personally at:
johnn@roleplayingtips.com
Thanks! :)
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Readers' Tips Of The Week:
- Make Silent Rolls With A Mouse Pad
From: Adam T. (see his RPG ad near the
top of this issue for a mouse
pad give-away)
http://www.eilfin.com/rptw.html
With the use of a GM screen (or even a binder), you can
place a cloth or mouse pad behind the screen and make
"silent rolls" at any time. This will keep surprises as
actual surprises. That is, if there is something happening,
and the characters have a chance to detect it (through some
of their skills), making a roll on a pad will not alert
anyone (i.e. the players), so it comes as a total surprise
to not only the characters, but the players as well.
- Cheap Minis For Creepy Crawlies
From: Doc
Johnn,
I took my youngster to the local nature center yesterday and
in the gift shop were small plastic snakes, spiders and
bugs. They were all the size that would be Medium to Large
in the D&D scale, though a few of the spiders were
Monstrous to Colossal :D. Besides the Center and its ilk I
guess any zoo or other type of place would have them.
I wonder what the worker thought when she saw my hands full
of the things and my kid asking if he could play with
Daddy's toys?
[Comment from Johnn: I recently scored some awesome plastic
giant animal figs from my local dollar store for...guess
what?...a buck a piece. A little red and yellow model paint
turns toys like these into demonic and dire creatures
perfect for scaring your players!]
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- Source For NPC Names
From: Arkanabar
Johnn,
There are doubtless many players who will moan and groan
when they hear this, but it is a great source for a huge
number of names that will all be related: the Bible.
It's great--especially those long boring genealogical lists
in the Old Testament that would otherwise make you snore
(and Joshaphat begat Joshael, and Joshael begat
Joshahiah...). Genesis and Chronicles in particular are
just FULL of really neat names. And Numbers can help you
describe a really truly elaborate tent (or temple).
I also keep a pad handy whenever I'm reading *anything*, and
write down almost any word that I'm not familiar with. It
will wind up making a name for something somewhere at some
time. I alphabetize them later and put them into my Names
List.
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- A PC Learning Plateau Simulation
From: Walo
[Comment from Johnn: I thought you might find the following
relatively generic game mechanic useful for spawning the
occasional PC quest. If you hate dice rolling, skip to
Reader's Tip #5 :) ]
I've realized that in real life, in anything you do (be it
playing chess, writing, for me it's fencing), sometimes your
progress comes to a standstill, leveling off for a length of
time. To simulate this in my new campaign I've initiated
what I refer to as the WALO'S TRUE TO LIFE ADVANCEMENT BLOCK
SYSTEM (or WTLABS, but call it what you will).
Every character is assigned a percentage chance of coming to
a block in training (similar to writer's blocks) equal to
+1% per level gained since the last block. So, a fifth level
character who has never had a block has a 5% chance of
hitting the wall. A PC who has just advanced to ninth level
who had his last block upon reaching fifth level would have
a 4% chance.
When a PC advances to a new level he rolls and if he gets
caught with it, then all experience gains stop and the
character must overcome some inner demon (through a quest,
atoning for sins, seeking or bestowing forgiveness, anything
really). Once they overcome this inner demon they gain just
enough experience to level them up, and the percentage
resets to 0% until they gain another level through actual
work (god forbid).
Thus in some respects it is a double-edged sword. On the
negative, they don't gain ANY experience until they've
battled their inner demons, but on the positive, once they
DO defeat them, then they gain an entire level for working
past the plateau. If it goes on for too long though, I will
allow them to begin again, explaining that it was just a dry
spell, a rolling black out, a bad pun gone awry, the pizza
they had before dinner, and the old gypsy woman who needed
help to the bathroom. It's done well in my game, I thought
the readers of the world might be interested...
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- Give Leaders Multiple Epithets
From: Kenneth G.
Regarding the "Epithets And Kings" tip from Aytug
[ http://www.roleplayingtips.com/issue110.html#r2 ]
It's also true that many monarchs had several epithets, or
sobriquets. So, whether an NPC refers to a living king as
"mighty" or "hapless" tells you something about that NPC's
politics.
Aytug mentions that many kings are mighty, so a few actually
get that name. That is certainly true once the fellow is no
longer around to dispense favors. But, while he lives and is
around to give pensions, grants of land, offices, and
titles, there will be those who call him mighty, even if
he's never fought a war, or done anything even remotely
mighty.
Living monarchs should have 3-6 sobriquets reflecting things
like:
- Personal characteristics (the tall, the fat).
- The kinds of things the king wants to hear said of him
(the great, the wise).
- The kinds of things his enemies say about him (the
bastard, the greedy).
- Things that define his policy (the pacific, the good
clerk).
Some kings, but mostly queens, are foreign born. This adds
another whole category of epithets referring to the country
or place where the person is from. References to being
foreign are often hostile.
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COOL GM RESOURCE: TableSmith:
Bruce Gulke is a Tips subscriber and contributor who's made
a great RPG utility (PC). Here's how he described it in a
recent email to me:
"In case you weren't aware of it, I just wanted to mention
my program "TableSmith". If you like random generators,
you'll probably like this utility :) Basically, it takes in
ASCII text files written in a format that TS recognizes, and
spits out results to an HTML file. I have a "Table Gallery"
on my site that contains tables created by myself and
others, and totals over 300 tables. The tables can be used
to generate names, book descriptions, treasure, runes,
dungeon maps, D&D3 towns, calendars, horses, war cries, etc.
TS is shareware, though it's fully functional (it's actually
more like "donationware"). The URL is
http://www.mythosa.net/Utils.html ."
MY PRIVACY POLICY & HOW TO SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE
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by RoleplayingTips.com. It is sent only to those who have
specifically requested to receive it. My subscriber list has
never been and never will be available to any third party.
EVER! Your privacy is very important to me, therefore it
receives the respect it deserves.
SUBSCRIBE TO "ROLEPLAYING TIPS WEEKLY"
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Copyright © 1999-2002, Johnn Four, RoleplayingTips.com. All Rights Reserved.
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