Attempting To Tighten Control is Leading To Wizards' Downfall

Anyone that's sat in the big chair as a Game Master has likely heard the advice that you should work with your players to create a cooperative environment whenever possible. Nothing spikes the game harder than the GM keeping a white-knuckled grip on the reins, and taking away the independence and creative autonomy of the rest of the table.

We already know that the higher-ups at Wizards of The Coast who've been largely responsible for the current crisis don't play the game. Because if they did, then they would know that the harder you try to control the players, the more problems you make for yourself.

What do you mean they'll just make their own games?

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Capital Doesn't Create (It Simply Tries To Control)

I know we're all sick of this OGL talk, so I want to draw everyone's attention to something that a different gaming company did in the recent past. A year or two back there was a big kerfuffle with Games Workshop, a company that's rather notorious for having a contentious relationship with its own community. They were leaning hard on fan creators who made video content, they were sending out rather angry messages to third-party mini makers and 3D printing folks, and generally being even more snappish than usual.

Why were they doing this?

First and foremost, GW was trying to clamp down on control of the minis market regarding its IP. It was getting a lot stricter about requiring players to buy official products for participation in events, but more than that it wanted to try to build walls to keep 3D printing away from anything that might look vaguely like a space marine, tyranid, or tau. Secondly, though, the company had plans to build its own streaming service, Warhammer+, where it was going to put out multimedia content to those willing to pay a monthly fee.

Short answer, they wanted to make sure there wasn't competition who was doing it better than they were.

Now, if we were to Monday-morning-quarterback this whole thing, we can see that this approach was a massive mistake. Games Workshop coming out swinging, particularly against smaller companies and fan creators, made them look like a bully who was trying to crush other people's livelihoods, steal content that took a lot of work to make, and generally just take things away from fans. This left a particularly bad taste in the community's mouth, and it's a big reason why so few people signed up for Warhammer+ when it was announced, and it led to a lot of fans out and out abandoning Warhammer 40K as a game, moving over to games like Mechwarrior instead.

So what could they have done differently?

Well, if you have fan creators who are putting in long hours of work to make passion projects, and they have hundreds of thousands of followers on YouTube, that shows there's a thriving community with a big interest in your IP. Each one of those people represents a doorway into your hobby, and a way to expand your community. So rather than kicking in their front door and demanding they kiss the ring, a smarter move would have been to offer them some kind of sponsorship deal. Get them to help move figures, get eyes on upcoming games, or recruit them to make content for the company without the underlying threat that if they don't say yes you'll force them to remove their channel from YouTube. Be magnanimous, and show the community that you support them, and you want them to keep talking about how much they love your products.

But what about those 3PP minis producers? Surely they need to go, don't they?

Let's get one thing straight here; Games Workshop only produces miniatures for a small fraction of the forces and factions that exist in the grim darkness of the far future. There are hundreds of space marine chapters, thousands of imperial guard regiments, dozens of orders of the adeptus sororitas, and that's just the human faction. You throw in the diversity for the eldar, the orks, the tau, the tyranids, chaos, and more, and it would be impossible for GW to ever make full runs of minis for every option someone might want to play without losing a massive amount of money. As a company they need to move minis in bulk in order to justify the cost of doing a particular run, which is why they tend to focus on the units with the broadest possible appeal.

Those other companies, though, could create stuff for the parts of the game that GW isn't going to run. Whether it's offering unique head sculpts for space marines, or making unique armor additions, or putting out weapon modifications, bases, or insignia, they have the flexibility that a bigger company doesn't. This goes double if they're selling digital STL files for users to print out at home for their own use. Games Workshop could have approached these companies in good faith, and worked out a deal so that they could produce more obscure sets of minis and parts as they wished, provided they gave GW a small cut of the proceeds. They could even have sweetened the pot by allowing content from official partners to be used in tournaments and events. These other companies get more customers, the community gets more diverse, and GW makes more money overall.

That wasn't the approach they took, however. Instead they simply tried to clamp down on control, bullying and intimidating people not on their payroll. At the end of the day this burned bridges, alienated a lot of known talent in the community, and drove off a lot of people who were active participants up to that point. And, last time I checked, Warhammer+ has been plugged in to a golden throne and has to be fed a dozen GW employees every day just to keep it breathing.

Parallels to The OGL

For those who saw the parallels, you know where this is going. In case you don't, though, let me go through the details.

Prepare your symbols of disapproval!

We have to go back 23 years ago to the creation of the Open Game License. The short version is that, though you cannot copyright game mechanics any more than you can copyright math, you can get contentious with the language used to describe those mechanics. So the OGL was proposed by Wizards of the Coast as a kind of peace treaty between themselves and third party publishers. It was meant to be a perpetual agreement that said while their intellectual property was not open to all (unique creatures they'd made, settings for their games, etc.) that anyone who wished to use this license could use both the mechanics and the language to describe those mechanics without fear of reprisal.

This agreement is what made Dungeons and Dragons' d20 system the most popular basis for dozens of RPGs out there. It wasn't the only option, obviously, but DND became the lingua franca of gaming. Because Dungeons and Dragons was already a popular game, so making your own supplements, settings, etc., that didn't require players to learn a whole new language just to try your product out made for an easier transition, and it netted smaller publishers more fans, and more sales. Not only that, but this allowed publishers to make smaller, niche books and products that Wizards simply wouldn't print because they wouldn't sell enough copies, or they were considered too risky.

And what did Wizards get out of this? Well, folks who wanted to try those other games usually bought the base books from Wizards of The Coast. It allowed Wizards to act as the kind of first-among-equals when it came to DND, and it ensured that a lot of the gaming world thought of them as the default game. So while there were always going to be people who preferred the World of Darkness, or Call of Cthulhu, or Warhammer 40K, DND was something a majority of gamers were going to at least be familiar with. As an RPG creator myself, I can say that up until the end of last year if I wanted to write a module, supplement, etc., for a fantasy RPG, it needed to have a 5E port for the simple reason that if it didn't it simply wouldn't sell.

Some estimates claimed that, for online play, DND 5E was about 85% or so of the market. I can't speak to the accuracy of that number, but I would be surprised if it was too far off.

Seriously, it was the DEFAULT fantasy game until three weeks ago.

As you can see, Wizards of The Coast was in a similar position to Games Workshop. They were a huge brand, their games had a really active fan base, and they were poised to grow even bigger in the near future. And while both companies had dips in profits just before this move, let us be clear, they were not going bankrupt. They were both still hugely profitable companies.

But like Games Workshop, Wizards thought the best way forward was to put up paywalls, and to cut off as much of their competition at the knees as possible. What they didn't realize, though, is that their "competition" was basically creating the rich ecosystem they needed to make money, and remain king of the heap. Because without all those third party publishers putting out fresh adventures, and new subclasses, or unique species guides, Wizards simply wasn't producing enough books, figures, and accessories to keep itself afloat.

And then there's this digital product it's apparently shoveling money into... something that didn't work when Games Workshop did it either.

DND Shorts broke it down above, but it's looking like what the folks in charge of DND were planning was to create a proprietary virtual tabletop that would act as their primary money maker. People would pay a subscription fee to use it, there would be microtransactions for everything from outfits for your mini to effects from your spells, and it would finally be the answer to how you could get money out of everyone at the table, not just the Game Master who was the one that bought the majority of the rule books, campaign guides, etc. in the past.

The result of all of this, of course, has been a massive backlash straight to Wizards' knees. Players have cancelled their DND Beyond subscriptions en masse, and there is a large boycott of Wizards products. Companies that were using DND as the default rules system for all their products have cut ties completely, and won't be going back. YouTubers, digital play platforms, everyone it seems is abandoning Wizards.

Because they tried to force their community to do something, rather than innovating and providing them something of value.

Second Verse, Same as The First

This might be a controversial opinion, but I think that all of the stuff Wizards has talked about is stuff that, in another context, we really would have been super excited about. Expanded digital tools for making our games better? More options using digital tabletops? The ability to run through modules with a robot GM? I'm sure that a lot of us would have at least signed up for a free trial of that kind of program, if it was presented to us as a cool new option for playing the game.

That's the key, here. Option. Freedom. Choice.

The attitude from Wizards of The Coast has been to take away as many options for their players as possible, while attempting to ram through their own decision. It is, in a lot of ways, attempting to turn Dungeons and Dragons, a game based on imagination and innovation, into just another mobile game filled with microtransactions that reliably earns a profit for the company who holds the rights to it.

It's not working out too well so far.

And I think this could have been done in a way that was beneficial to the community rather than turning it into the firestorm we're seeing now. Wizards could have partnered with popular virtual tabletops to ensure they had multiple digital storefronts to sell to the widest range of players possible. They could have cultivated connections with more live play YouTube channels, and opened the doors for those who wanted to focus more on digital content by giving them a suite of publisher's tools, and taking a cut of what was made just like with DM's Guild. Most importantly, though, they could have left the OGL alone so that even if they didn't want to focus on making print books anymore, other companies who wanted to fill that niche would keep their brand on top by filling that need.

But instead of building bridges and cooperating, polishing up their reputation and growing the community (and thus increasing the number of people who might buy their product) they opted to try to burn down everything they deemed too close to their borders. They chose to share nothing, and to alienate everyone... which is why they'll likely end up ruling over a kingdom of ashes.

So, as a reminder, we cannot let up the pressure if we want Wizards of The Coast (or the next big-shot games company who thinks they can get involved in a land war in Asia) to learn a lesson. Keep supporting third-party companies, and if you have a subscription service to anything Hasbro does, cancel it. Because while they appear to be trying to mollify the fan base, they seem set on forcing through as many poison pills as we'll let them.

For Folks Who Want To Help Me Get Through This

If you made it all the way through this post, and you want to help me haul myself up a rung or two so I can get off this sinking ship and to a safer harbor, here's a handy list of the places you can go where your efforts would be much appreciated!

- My Facebook

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

- My Daily Motion Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Lastly, consider checking out my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting. The more sales I can eke out before decisions come down on this OGL situation, the more likely it is my publisher will work with me to convert it to a new rules setting instead of just writing it off as a loss going forward.

Cities of Sundara

The setting first began with the Cities of Sundara splats. Self-contained guides to some of the larger and more powerful centers of trade, industry, arms, and magic, these unique locations provide plenty of fodder for character generation and plots. Not only that, but each one comes with unique, mechanical goodies for players and GMs alike to take out for a spin!

- Ironfire: The City of Steel (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Built around the Dragon Forge, Ironfire is where the secret to dragon steel was first cracked. The center of the mercenary trade in the region, as well as boasting some of the finest schools for teaching practical sciences, Ironfire is a place where discovery and danger walk hand in hand!

- Moüd: The City of Bones (Pathfinder and DND 5E): An ancient center of trade and magic, Moüd was lost to a cataclysm, and then buried in myth. Reclaimed by the necromantic arts of the Silver Wraiths guild, this city has once again become a place teeming with life. Despite the burgeoning population, though, it is the continued presence of the undead that helps keep the city running, ensuring that Moüd is not swallowed up once more.

- Silkgift: The City of Sails (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Built on the cottage industry of Archer cloth (an extremely durable material used for sails, windmills, etc.), Silkgift is a place that prizes invention and discovery. From gravity batteries that store the potential of the wind, to unique irrigation systems, to aether weapons, the city positively churns out discoveries... and then there's the canal they cut through the mountains that makes them a major center of trade across the region.

- Hoardreach: The City of Wyrms (Pathfinder and DND 5E): A center of power across an entire region, Hoardreach is ruled over by a Cooperation of five different dragons. A place for refugees and outcasts of all sorts, Hoardreach boasts some of the most unusual citizens and creations from across Sundara. Infamous for their sky ships, which require the cast-off scales and unique arcane sciences of the Dragon Works to take to the air, one never knows just what they'll find in this city built atop a mountain.

- Archbliss: The City of The Sorcerers (Pathfinder and DND 5E): A floating city in the sky, Archbliss has been a refuge for sorcerers for thousands of years. It's only in relatively recent years that the city has allowed those from the ground below who lack the power of a bloodline to join them in the clouds. However, while there are certainly amazing wonders to behold, there is a darkness in Archbliss. Something rotting away at its heart that could, if not healed, bring the city crashing to the ground once more.

Gods of Sundara

- Gods of Sundara (available for Pathfinder and DND 5E): In a world with no alignment, and where the gods are often genuinely mysterious forces that are far too large for mortals to truly comprehend, the divine feels genuinely strange and unknown... something that really does have to be taken on faith. This supplement provides a sample pantheon for Sundara, but also provides instructions on how to easily make your own gods in a world where you can't cast a spell and tell whether someone is good or evil.

Species of Sundara

Sundara is filled with creatures that many of us recognize, but I wanted to give greater depth to their cultures, and a wider variety of options. After all, humans always get 15+ ethnicities, languages, and unique histories, while elves, dwarves, orcs, halflings, etc. are almost always left with footnotes, or maybe with a handful of offshoots. So, in short, I wanted to give all the fantastical creatures the treatment that humans usually get in our games.

And there is no human book yet. If readers demand to know more, then I may sit down to pen one... but I figured that humans didn't need to be front-and-center in this setting just yet.

- Elves of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Elves are one of the most quintessential fantasy creatures... but if you want to see more than just high elves, wood elves, and elves of the sun and moon, then this supplement has you covered!

- Dwarves of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): The children of the primordial giants who were meant to fill in the details of the world they'd made (or so the myths say) there are as many kinds of dwarves as their are kinds of giants... and possibly more, depending on who is keeping count.

- Orcs of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Supposedly a creation of the elves, none can say for certain exactly how or why orcs have been made. What most agree on is that these creatures are far more than most may think at first glance.

- Halflings of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Little cousins to the dwarves, halflings are tough, clever, and not to be underestimated. From living beneath the hills, to taking up residence in the deep forests, halflings in Sundara come in quite a variety!

- The Blooded (Half-Elves and Half-Orcs) [Pathfinder and DND 5E]: When orcs and elves mix their bloodlines with other creatures, the result is one of the Blooded. This inheritance takes many forms, and it can even wait generations before manifesting when the right combination of individuals come together to have a child.

- Gnomes of Sundara (Pathfinder and DND 5E): Gnomes are strange creatures, found in places where the spirit of the land has coalesced and made children of its own. The sons and daughters of the ancient nymphs, they are the stewards of these places, and they change as often as the weather and the land.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Daily Motion channel!. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

5 Dick Moves That Probably Mean You're A Bad DM

Most of us who know what it's like to sit in that big chair at the head of the table have experience one of those moments. Whether it was just after you made a tough call, or while pondering the next arc of your campaign, you've wondered if you're really cut out to be a dungeon master. If you are providing the experience your players want, or if you're making big mistakes and ruining everything.

Well, every table's experiences are going to be different. However, these are the five biggest dick moves I've experienced in my time as both a player and a DM, so if you can avoid these issues, you're probably doing just fine.

#1: That Was Really Powerful... You Can't Do It Again!

It does HOW much damage? Uh-huh... well, we're gonna fix that.

This particular maneuver is commonly used by DMs who either aren't totally familiar with the game's rules, or who don't actually know how the PCs' abilities work. Either way, when they're caught off-guard by something a character can do, their first reaction is to figure out how to take it away from the player. Their rogue deals enough sneak attack damage to take out an important bad guy in a few hits? Clearly sneak attack is broken, and too powerful. The paladin's smite lays waste to an entire encounter? Well, it must be unbalanced if they can cake walk through such a tough fight because of it.

And so on, and so forth.

I'm not going to lie, you're going to get surprised sometimes. You'll forget that the bard can counter your bad guy's main ability, or that your evoker took primarily sonic spells that shatter your crystalline creatures. And you should definitely read the ability description to make sure your players are following the letter of the law when it comes to how their characters' powers work. But if they're following the rules, you don't make your game better by changing the rules so they can't win. Instead, make note of how many times a character can use that ability, and what situations it takes effect in. Then design your encounters appropriately. Because sure, the rogue could sneak attack his way through your hordes... if he could properly see them. Yes, the paladin's smite would destroy a demon, but what about the humans that demon is using as pawns who don't know what their master truly is?

But If You're Going To Do It Anyway...

Like I said, the best thing to do is to let your players have their victories and change up your strategy. Do not, I repeat DO NOT just say, "well, Geoff's favored enemy is demons, so I guess we're not fighting those anymore." But if you want a fight to be a challenge, understand that just tossing a few demons at the party isn't the challenge it would normally be if that's one character's jam. So add in some additional challenges like terrain, multiple enemies, and maybe a ticking clock element to add extra tension. You can still have enemies that the party isn't specialized in fighting, but don't completely negate their abilities just because it's inconvenient for your game.

If they have discovered a serious combo that breaks your game, or that you feel is causing a problem, talk to the player about it. Try to work out an agreement, and give them something different to make up for what you're taking away. And never, ever do it in the middle of the game, because that makes you look like you're just pulling out an everything-proof shield because you don't want to lose.

#2: Either Do What I Said, Or Die!

If this is your motto, you might be in the game for the wrong reasons.

We've all had those players at our tables. Maybe it was a casual friend who just won't take the game seriously. It might be that drop-in player who always plays against genre and tone just to be contrary. Or it might be that one player who acts inappropriately and makes everyone else uncomfortable. Part of you just wants to roll the dice behind your screen, pull a pained expression, and tell them their character is dead. If they want to make a new one, you would suggest making someone more in-line with the game you're actually running.

Don't do that.

No matter how satisfying you think it will be, as I said back in Killing Characters Won't Solve Out-Of-Game Problems, it isn't going to do what you want. All you're going to do is strengthen a player's resolve to make a new character who is just as irritating as the old one, perhaps even worse, just to spite you. And if you kill that one, you're just going to be the passive-aggressive DM who won't tell you no, but who will make sure your characters die if they don't meet the unspoken rules.

But If You're Going To Do It Anyway...

Don't. There is no way to do this without making yourself look like a royal douche nozzle.

Instead, what you should do is talk to the player you aren't seeing eye-to-eye with. Explain where you're coming from, and ask them what they want to get out of your game. Work with them to modify their behavior, and if you really want to save time and energy, put out some ground rules for character creation to nip problems in the bud. Characters who don't meet the stated, Session 0 rules won't be allowed, and that can eliminate as much as 85% of most problems you'd have. And if a player won't work with you, then officially un-invite them from your game; don't just keep bringing down the hammer and hope they'll stop showing up.

#3: Make A New Character... A Level 1 Character!

Exactly how many liters of piss are you taking right now?

When a player creates a character, they get invested in that character. They are the author of their story, they have goals, plans, and arcs they want them to complete. Having all those plans cut short because the gnoll captain scored a lucky critical with their battle ax is bad enough. But most players can soldier on, and bring a new character in to fill the old one's shoes.

Not if you make them do it as a level one PC, though.

This is a bad habit left over from the old days, and it makes your life hell as both a player and a DM. It's hard enough to present a fair challenge for a party when everyone is the same level, but if you have three members of the Avengers, and then Steve the farm kid with 11 hit points, anything that could remotely pose a threat to everyone else is going to splatter the new character against a wall. While that might not be the case if you allowed them to bring in a 4th or a 5th level character with a 6th-level party, there is no reason to make someone play at a handicap. You already killed them, what does making them play at a lower level accomplish other than adding insult to injury?

But If You're Going To Do It Anyway...

There are really only two circumstances I can think of this mechanic being used in, and it's if you're either going for a hardcore run, or if you're doing a kind of Dark Souls thing where the PC has to recover their lost spirit from where they died to get back their full level and powers.

Other than that, no. All you're doing is making it more likely that this one player is going to die again, making them feel singled out, and frustrating everyone else that they now have to contend with losing their bruiser, their stealth, or their nuclear power house, and have nothing to replace it with but a kid sidekick.

#4: No, I Promise, Sir Pendleton is Here To HELP You!

Isn't he just peachy? Good thing he was there!

DM player characters have a bad rep, and they have it for a good reason. Because when you're a player, the only means you have to interact with the world is your PC. You only have your wits, your stats, and your dice to accomplish great things. If the dungeon master puts a personal character into the campaign, though, that's like trusting the fox to keep the hen house safe. It's entirely possible that the fox will follow all the rules you've set out, and play fair. But you're probably going to keep a sharp eye on the chickens all the same.

Put another way, it's tough to trust that the referee can remain impartial when he has a personal stake in a particular character.

But If You're Going To Do It Anyway...

A DM PC is one of those things that should be offered, but never forced on the party. If they don't have a healer, then make a healer they can choose to take with them. If they need a bodyguard because everyone is playing wizards, then draw up a hireling mercenary they can bring with them (perhaps someone from the 100 Random Mercenary Companies written by yours truly?). Hell, give them a few options to choose from so the players don't feel you're trying to get them to take any particular character with them.

Secondly, the best thing you can do to make your DM PC work is to play support. If your paladin is always dealing the death blow, or your barbarian's armor class mysteriously fluctuates, players are going to feel like you're purposefully stealing their thunder. On the other hand, if your DM PC is a bard providing a handy background bonus, a healer keeping everyone on their feet, or a one-man shield wall giving the rest of the party space to cast and shoot, that lets you contribute without overshadowing the players.

#5: Who's The DM Here, Me Or You?

Hard to be a DM without any players. Just saying.

There is this common refrain among lots of people that the DM is god. It's a cute thing to say, like telling people the cat owns the house, but fluffy's name isn't on the mortgage. While the DM runs the world, provides the plot, and technically does portray the deities of the setting, they are not a dictator.

Or, at least, they shouldn't be.

Running a game is a cooperative experience. The DM sets up the scenes, and then the players take over, interacting with the scene and world through their characters. While the DM should feel free to make rules calls, and present results in accordance with the natural flow of actions and reactions, it's important to make sure they understand that they are just as much a player as everyone else at the table. It's just that their role is very different.

Regular ego checks are what keep DMs running smoothly.

But If You-

No. Just no.

Just as anyone who must declare himself the king is no true king, so a DM who abuses their authority will seem less deserving of that authority in the eyes of the rest of the table. So while it is tempting to pull this trump card out and throw it on the table, it's never going to work the way you want it to. If you need to declare a ruling, but players have objections, don't just write that off as, "I'm the DM, and what I say goes." You have to address your players' concerns, and make sure they feel you're treating them fairly. You don't have to do it at that exact moment, but when the session is over, or when the scene has wrapped, you need to talk it out and be sure everyone can reach a point of agreement. Otherwise you'll find yourself in the same position as France's nobility when the common folk started building guillotines.

Or they'll just leave and find another table. Real talk; DMs who abuse their authority are likely the #1 reason players who don't want to be dungeon masters end up taking on the mantle.

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday installment! If you have DM dick moves that didn't make the list, leave them in the comments below! And if you'd like to see more of my work head over to my Vocal archive, or stop in to take a look at my Gamers page if you just want to see my tabletop stuff. Also, head over to the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio where I work with other gamers to make videos for players and DMs alike!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. If you want to leave me a tip you can Buy Me A Ko-Fi, or go to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular patron. Or, if you'd rather buy some of my books, you could have over to My Amazon Author Page to see what I've got available!