When You Alter Or Ignore Rules, It Changes The Game's Challenge

All of us are familiar with the first rule of RPGs (or the 0th rule, depending on how you count)... namely that if you don't care for a particular rule that you can just change it, replace it, or even toss it out entirely at your table. It's been my experience, though, that a lot of players and Game Masters take this as carte blanche to do whatever they want, but then they're surprised when the minor change they thought they were making ends up being the flapping butterfly wing that leads to a completely unexpected monsoon in another area of the game!

So, while you are absolutely free to change, ignore, or otherwise customize your gaming experience when playing an RPG, it's a good idea to ask why a particular rule exists in the first place, and how this alteration is going to affect things going forward.

No movement penalty? Oh I'm comin' for ya!

As always, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Change The Rules, Change The Game

I will be the first to admit, rule changes are not inherently bad. Even the professionals sometimes get things wrong, or maybe you just want to simplify something in a way that doesn't boomerang back and smack you in the head as a GM because the deeper changes to the rules never have an effect on the monsters you use, or the characters and classes your players pick. But it is important to stop and ask why certain rules exist the way they do, and to ask yourself what removing those rules does to the challenge of the game, but also to the balance you're working with.

For example, let's talk about wizards.

Say you're running a wizard in the first edition of Pathfinder, or in the 3.5 edition of Dungeons and Dragons (this example might work for other games and other editions, but I don't want to make assertions I'm not fully confident about). So, you are a prepared caster, and you need your spellbook in order to properly prepare your spells every day. That spellbook is both your advantage (since you can learn new spells from other books, and from magic scrolls), but it is also your weakness. If something happens to that item, you are in deep shit, as you can't refresh your spells until you come across a new book.

Most GMs aren't big enough dicks to deliberately target a wizard's spellbook, as that is a surefire way to upset and frustrate a player. However, even if you don't have goblins trying to snatch it away, or enemy wizards casting disintigrate on the book, there are a slew of other rules that we often ignore regarding this jarring weakness. For example, if a character winds up in the midst of an area of effect spell, like fireball, they're supposed to roll saves for particular possessions on their person... and for wizards, that often means a spellbook. There's also the question of what happens when a character's possessions are exposed to the elements, such as when they're thrown overboard into the ocean, trapped in a downpour, or just fording a river on their journey. All of these situations have rules that can affect character possessions (scrolls, black powder, alchemical items, rations, etc.), including one's spellbook.

This is the reason (not to shake my walking stick at the clouds) there were so many alternatives for wizards specifically, and for other prepared arcane casters in general. There were warded spellbooks, spellbooks made of specific materials, spells that kept your spellbook safe in a pocket dimension where it wouldn't be affected, tattooed spellbooks that would be safe as long as you didn't get your skin flayed off, and it was why some campaigns just gave you thick tomes of extra spells that you could use to copy over your existing spells, ensuring you had a copy back at the cart, the inn, your castle, etc. if something happened to your in-the-field grimoire.

A lot of us ignore these rules entirely for making separate saves for player equipment when they're exposed to particular hazards. And on the one hand, yes, that means wizards, magi, and similar characters don't have to worry about a single bad roll taking away an item they need. That also means they aren't spending their resources to ensure their books are safe from harm, and that they have back-ups in case something happens. It also means that the advantages of other casting classes like the sorcerer (who requires no spellbook, and often doesn't even require material components) are far less powerful by comparison.

I've run the numbers here... they check out.

This doesn't just apply to the one, specific example I listed. It also happens when you ignore rules that say spellcasters need one hand to hold a focus component, and one hand to make somatic gestures. This undercuts special class features and powers that let weapons, shields, etc. double as necessary components to free up a character's hands. Ignoring the requirements of a holy symbol for divine casters (something that is also subject to the above rules for environmental damage in many cases) devalues features that may give you tattooed or birthmark symbols that can't be destroyed so easily, or which may free up a character's hands for other actions. It happens when you completely ignore encumberance rules, and you have your party carrying a literal ton of magic and alchemical items into the next dungeon, and it happens when you don't bother keeping track of ammunition (special or otherwise), and you wonder why the long-ranged characters have such a major advantage.

Again, we can all run our games however we want to. It is important to remember, though, that game designers don't just make up rules to fill more pages and expand our book so it looks more impressive... rules are made to solve issues in the system. Kind of like the safety precautions you're supposed to follow at work. Yes, they might be annoying, or you might wish you could ignore them, but the powers-that-be required that rule because the boss kept putting barrels of toxic waste in the crew's sleeping quarters, or the machinery kept ripping off people's fingers... the alterations were made for a reason.

The easiest way to find out what that reason was is to ignore the rule, and see what happens as a result!

Players Change To Reflect The Rules

This isn't a white room thought experiment, either. If the rules shift, that has the potential to encourage players to use different avenues and mechanics to reach their goals. I told a story about this very thing happening in real-time in episode 34 of Discussions of Darkness, How Rule 0 Creates Ripples in Playstyles.

This warning is basically the other side of the coin. Because the examples I talked about in the previous section were all things that GMs could do to throw players a bone, and relieve the burden/pressure on certain classes or characters... however, when you institute rules to limit the effectiveness of particular options to control player behavior, players often find alternatives and workarounds in directions you might not have expected them to go.

For those who don't have time to listen to the full story in the video, it was about how Minds Eye Society limited the damage a single character could do in one strike. 5 levels of lethal damage was the universal cap, regardless of what someone's powers were, what magic items were play, etc. Whether it was a mortal security guard who got off a lucky shot, or a Promethean who threw an exploding tanker truck at someone, 5 levels of damage was the most that could be done... and since an average character has 7 levels of health, and 6 at a minimum, it became impossible to kill anyone outright with one attack. So players started investing in the ability to hire goon squads of their own, bringing teams of characters with tooled-up armories as back up and fire support. Because no one of them could deal a death blow... but if you have 10 elite troopers at your side, and you also get into the fray, well, now you've got superior firepower and a bunch of extra attacks on your side of the fight.

Change Requires The Whole Table

We usually think of rule changes as something the Game Master does, and that players have to deal with, for good or for ill. However, changing the rules of the game is something that should be done with the consensus of all players. If you want to change things up, explain why you think a rule isn't working, what you'd like to do instead, and make sure everyone has buy-in for it. Also, make sure that you make it clear that if this change doesn't work, or creates more problems than it solves, this is something you can come back to in the future and talk about more.

I've said this before, but it bears repeating. Everyone at the table needs to be playing the same game, and rule changes should be made with the consent of everyone so that each person believes this is more fun (and potentially more fair) than the system that's already in place. And while not every change is going to work, everyone should be onboard for it, and be part of the discussion for how to structure the game you're all playing.

Lastly, if you're looking for some extra reading along these lines, consider checking out my ice cover supplements 100 Tips And Tricks For Being A Better Game Master, and the sequel I wrote soon after 100 Tips And Tricks For Being A Better RPG Player.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Crunch post! 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 Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, 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 Blue Sky, 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!

Rules Are Written in Blood (Advice For GMs and Game Designers Alike)

There's a story I heard a long time ago when I was working as a security guard at a steel mill. We had a few days of on-site training to go over protocols and rules, and someone kept rolling their eyes at a lot of the listed safety precautions. Because who the hell needed to be told not to do that, whatever that happened to be in a given situation? That was when the instructor told us a story about a shipping company that stored extra barrels of toxic waste against the wall in the crew quarters. This allowed them to take on more hazardous cargo and make more profit, but as you likely guessed it also meant the crew was exposed to extraordinarily dangerous levels of harmful chemicals. This led to a lot of people getting sick and dying, but the company wasn't held criminally liable.

Why not? Well, because there weren't any rules that said you couldn't store toxic waste in the crew compartment, either to pad the company's bottom line, or for any other reason.

That was when he dropped a phrase most people have likely heard somewhere before. "Every safety regulation you read, no matter how ridiculous, is written in blood."

This is not hyperbole in the slightest.

While that might sound dramatic, it's true. Even if something seems like common sense to you, there's no guarantee someone will have the same thought process and experience that you do. Someone might not know any better, they might be more concerned with speed, or with profit, or they might be looking for any way to increase results.

And this is something I wish more game designers (and Game Masters) took to heart.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!

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Even If It Seems Obvious, Write It Down

When you are making a game there are going to be times where you feel like something is super obvious. Whether it's explaining that yes, orcs can have children with elves, or no, a high roll on a Diplomacy skill does not give the player control of another character's actions, just because something seems self-evident to you doesn't mean it's going to be self-evident to other people who read your text.

How much can I carry? It's just gold coins... by the sack...

As someone who has written my share of supplements and modules for several different systems, there's a trick I would recommend designers use if you aren't doing so yet. When you're reading over your text, take a minute and ask yourself how the rules you just created could be interpreted by someone who has no idea what's going on. Then, once you've done that, ask yourself how they might be twisted by someone with malicious intent who doesn't care what the spirit of the game is, but who is just looking for some advantage.

For example, take the spell animate skeleton. The intention of this spell is that you can create an undead, skeletal minion to haul things, act as a trap tester, fight on your behalf, etc. However, ask yourself how many people will try to use this spell to animate a skeleton inside a living person as a way to try to force them to act like a flesh puppet under the spellcaster's control? Or how many people will argue that a statue of a skeleton is still a skeleton, so the spell should work on the 20-foot-tall stone sculpture they ran into as part of a fantastical art exhibit?

Should you have to specify that the spell animates the complete bones of a dead creature? You might feel like you don't, but doing so is going to cut off a lot of complaints that start with, "Well the spell doesn't specifically state that I can't..."

The same goes when you're a Game Master, and players are asking for your interpretations of things. In order to maintain consistency, make sure you write down any rulings or changes. Again, this seems obvious, but there is no greater lie ever told than, "Don't worry, I'll remember when this comes up again." You won't. So keep a notebook, use a sticky note on the page, or keep a digital log of incidents, but make sure you fill in the specifics.

And one, last thing...

As a final note, it's important to look at things from all sides when you write or interpret rules. This is most commonly referred to as the, "if your players get it, then the bad guys get it, too," corollary. Because a rule system is supposed to be the reality in which characters exist, so it's important to ensure that everyone is on the same page, and playing by the same rules. So whether it's the existence (or non-existence) of resurrection magic in your setting, weapon degradation, or any of a thousand other things, don't just ask how it affects your monsters or your players, but try to see it from both sides. Because if a rule or interpretation puts one side or the other at a huge advantage or disadvantage, that is something you should address before it gets too out-of-control.

Speaking of Rules, Check Out Sundara If You Haven't Yet!

As an example of some of the stuff that I've put together over the past few years (much of which involves the creation of new magic items, monsters, class archetypes, spells, and more), I would recommend regular readers check out my "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age" setting for Pathfinder Classic and DND 5E. And if you're one of those folks who wants to hear a pitch before you make a purchase, I've been putting together episodes of Speaking of Sundara on the Azukail Games YouTube channel (which you should definitely subscribe to) talking about some of the design strategies I've used, breaking down what's in particular supplements, and explaining some of the changes I've made to what folks might expect from a traditional fantasy RPG setting, from how I chopped out alignment, to the uncertain nature of gods, to how technology and magic both lead to unique inventions among the people of Sundara!

Check out the full 26-video Speaking of Sundara playlist, in addition to the following supplements!

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!

For The Love of God, Play a Different RPG

I've been playing RPGs for almost half my life now. That's longer than some, and nowhere near as long as others. However, there is a very curious trend I've noticed among a lot of tabletop RPG players, and it's something that never ceases to confuse and fascinate me in equal measure.

Namely that they'll find a game they like, and then just stop. They don't want to hear about other editions, they don't want to try out other systems, they have this one thing, and they will not be moved from this hill. And this often leads to people turning themselves (and their games) inside out instead of just making their lives easier by playing a game that already does what they want (but which their current/favorite game doesn't do).

Please... on behalf of all designers out there... play something else.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!

Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

The Right Tool For The Right Job

If you were going to enter a drag race, you'd probably want to bring a muscle car to that event, right? Something that's got a lot of pick-up and go, that hits its speed fast, and that will send you rocketing over the finish line inches ahead of the other guy. Now, maybe you're not used to handling that kind of machine. However, bringing the dusty old VW bus you're used to driving to this kind of event basically guarantees you're not going to make it over the finish line at all. No matter how much you chop down, re-rig, or alter this machine, it's never going to perform as well at this task as a vehicle purpose-made for it. It's even possible that you could cut it down too much, and end up with the whole thing just dying right under you.

For those who aren't sure what this metaphor is talking about, keep reading. You're the ones who most need to hear this.

Because sometimes you just cannot make an X into a Y.

What I'm getting at is that RPGs are built and designed for a purpose. Even games that claim to be broad-reaching and genre-neutral still have limitations regarding what you can and cannot do with them, or alterations you can make to them.

But there are a lot of players (and a lot of GMs) out there, who want to take their game of choice, and twist it in an attempt to make it do something it was never designed or intended to do in the first place.

A perfect example is something I saw the other day. I love Pathfinder, as my regular readers know. I have an entire Character Conversion master list that covers concepts from the Death Korps of Krieg from Warhammer 40,000, to The Incredible Hulk from Marvel, to Sandor "The Hound" Clegane from Game of Thrones, because there's a lot you can do with this game. Something you really can't do with it, though? Run a modern fantasy game where the players are all vampires in a secret world, and who are differentiated into a bunch of different clans each with their own unique power sets and heritages.

Why would someone attempt to run Vampire: The Masquerade using Pathfinder rules? I don't know, but there was someone on a forum who seemed bound and determined to make it happen!

I hope they eventually stopped.

This is the clearest example of this kind of thinking. For one thing, Vampire is a classless system with no levels, and Pathfinder has classes AND levels. Beyond that basic issue, though, vampires are an extremely potent threat in Pathfinder, far beyond something that PCs are supposed to have access to. Not only that, the magic systems are completely different, with Pathfinder using Vancian magic and Vampire using trees of unique powers that cost blood to activate.

It may be the most extreme version of this, but it's certainly not the only one that just wasn't going to work. From trying to remove magic without a replacement from Dungeons and Dragons to make a gritty, "realistic" game (forgetting that high magic as a resource is a major pillar of the game's mechanics), to trying to twist a game as simple as FATE to run a full Werewolf: The Apocalypse campaign, you're just going to be better off choosing the right tool for the right job.

Mechanics Cause Ripples. Flavor Usually Doesn't

As someone who hasn't had the disposable income to purchase a new RPG of my own in most of a decade, I know the struggle when it comes to keeping things fresh around the table. Sometimes you really want to do something different, but you have to work with what you've got. And sometimes you want to change things up, but your group is really loyal to a particular system, and don't want to play anything different, even as a sampler. As someone who's sort of made converting content from one game into content for another my personal niche, let me offer a piece of advice that will save the GMs out there a lot of time, energy, and sweat.

Changing mechanics causes more issues that changing flavor. However, when mechanics and flavor are closely linked, you end up needing to change both of them.

Sand in the gears, and the whole thing falls apart.

Let's say, for example, you wanted to run a DND 5th Edition sci-fi game, but you didn't want to use the rules created by products like Ultramodern Redux. A simple change would be to re-write the classic fantasy species as genetically-engineered creatures, and aliens. Turning orcs into a gene-spliced species of super-soldiers, or making elves into highly-advanced aliens, would change none of the mechanics, but give you all of the flavor shift you want. Changing the species name would likely help, too.

Then there's simply shifting high magic to high tech. Now instead of wizards you have something like Ingeneurs, who use their unique tools and foci to create changes to the world around them. Each school becomes a unique discipline of the sciences, and their "spells" are now cast via implanted neuro devices, handheld computers, and even their familiars might be little more than intelligent, hard light projections. Sorcerers become psionic anomalies altered by a variety of cosmic events, gene-tampering, or alien influences, armor is given a clean up and a name change while the stats remain the same, and so on, and so forth.

That would be a lot of work, but it would be a functional change because the underlying mechanics of the game haven't really been touched.

Could you strip out all magic entirely? Sure, you could. Could you then replace it with a completely different system of high technology? Yep. But at that point, you'd basically be writing your own game, and having to re-balance some really big issues, and to make sure the rules and content you created kept things fair and balanced. And that is a lot harder, while also presenting the real potential for the whole thing to come apart at the seams in the way that flavor changes wouldn't.

So, if you feel you have to alter a system you have in order to run a game it wasn't meant for, keep this in mind. It's going to save you a lot of time, energy, and effort going forward.

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 YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel Painted Cats, 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!

Is This What It Feels Like To Be a Grognard? (Deja Vu and DND 5E)

Being an old hand at anything feels strange. Because on the one hand I always feel like I just became a member of a hobby (or even a profession) a few years ago. Then I take a step back, look at my timeline, and realize that no, I really have been here long enough for an entirely new generation or two to crop up and come into the hobby behind me.

Before we go much further, I'm going to try to follow my own advice in 5 Things You Can Do To Be a Better Ambassador For Your Hobby and not just grouse about things. However, I keep getting the strangest sense of deja vu, and I just felt compelled to talk about it this week.

Even in death, I still play.

As always, if you want to stay on top of all my content, make sure you sign up for my weekly newsletter. Also, if you'd like to help me keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!

Lastly, if you want to check out all my info in one place, I've recently acquired a Linktree page... so drop in if you like getting everything from a single source!

Wait, We're Having THIS Debate Again?!

For those not familiar with the term, a grognard refers to an older member of most hobbies (and of RPGs in particular) who has chosen their particular style or edition and opts not to move on with the changing flow of the hobby. Whether it's folks who are perfectly happy with the first edition of DND and have been playing it for decades, those who grew up on 2nd edition in the 80s and don't like what came after, or folks like me who came in during the 3.0/3.5 transfer and found their happy place there or with Pathfinder's first edition, we can sometimes feel strange and dated when our tastes are compared with what's popular in current gaming circles.

The term itself traces back to the French military, and when capitalized it refers to the imperial guard formed by Napoleon. Something I went into more detail on back in What is a Grognard? for those who didn't see it.

THaCO? Only a few of us left know that name...

While I definitely have my preferred styles of gaming and play (I like crunchy games with a lot of customization, and where the GM is more of a referee and less of an author, for those who are wondering), I also make my living designing supplements and additional content for roleplaying games. As such, while I may choose not to play certain games or editions for my own entertainment, I still have to read, understand, and keep up on all these changes to make certain I can handle any contracts that might come my way.

And though the 5th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons isn't new by any stretch of the imagination (I've moved twice since the playtest, and there's rumbles about the 6th edition already), it is responsible for bringing in one of the largest generations of players into the hobby. That's a good thing, and I won't knock any edition for acting as a solid recruitment tool to expand what it both my favorite pastime, and the primary way I pay my rent.

But without getting too critical, the 5th Edition feels like a greatest hits list of all the things Dungeons and Dragons has already done before. They gave us Ravenloft and the Forgotten Realms, the Warlock and the Artificer, and every time Wizards announced they were going to be putting out some shiny new content it turned out to be something that was just a re-tooling of a class, adventure, setting, or archetype that was already old when I joined the hobby nearly two decades ago.

Perhaps as a natural result of that, it feels like players are even having the same arguments that tables were having back when I still didn't know the difference between my skill synergies and my saving throws.

Atheist Clerics, Celibate Bards, and Emotionless Barbarians

If you've been a part of any RPG boards, social media groups, etc., chances are good you've come across the debate over the atheist cleric. In short, it's a cleric who draws their power from commitment to an idea or philosophy, rather than one who forms a bond with a god in a traditional sense. The arguments over this have been raging for weeks in my feed... and I have this weird feeling that people aren't aware this was settled forever and a day ago?

Seriously, ask the old timers. We have citations for these arguments.

Way back when Pathfinder first came out, there was text in the rulebook specifically addressing this. It was also handled back in the 3.5 edition with various prestige classes and expansions. Hell, just before the latest round of debates hit, I addressed the way this is often done poorly in Addressing The Fantasy Atheist. So I felt understandably baffled that there were so many people shouting about this when as far as I could tell there should have been at least a few grognards raising their voice to let these newer players know this wasn't a new conversation, and there was already a lot of established reading on the subject.

But then I started noticing other echoes that gave me the same, weird feeling.

There were people arguing about how barbarian rage worked, and what forms it could take. An argument I first had about 17 years ago (and it was considered a dead horse then, too), and one which I expanded on two years back when I wrote 50 Shades of Rage: Reflavoring The Barbarian's Signature Ability. There's been arguments about bards that don't play music, and who use dance, poetry, or rhetoric are somehow invalid even though there have been archetypes and suggestions for doing these very things for several editions, and none of these extra limitations are backed up by text in the book.

Pick a class, a species, or nearly any concept, and people are still having the exact same debates they've been having for years now. But, more importantly, it feels from reading the comments and interacting with some of the more vocal individuals that a majority of folks are convinced they're the first individuals to have these ideas, or to raise these points.

Though I'm not old enough to be a grandpa grognard, I've been at this long enough that I think I could be considered a wise and world-weary uncle. So I'd like to offer some uncle-y advice to folks out there with regards to gaming; before you get really revved up about an idea, direction, or debate, ask someone who's been in the hobby for a while. I guarantee you that we've got stories to share, and we'll save you a lot of time, energy, and community outrage.

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 YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel Painted Cats, 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!

Not Every Story Element Requires Mechanical Backup

Folks who are long-time readers know there are few things that make me happier than mechanical freedom. I talked about this in depth in Understanding The Difference Between Story Freedom and Mechanical Freedom, but the short version is that mechanical freedom is when the game rules create specific effects that back up your story explanation. If your story is that when you get enraged your strength increases, then you need a mechanic like the Rage class feature (or something similar) to make your story flavor a fact in the game world. If your story is that you're a prince, then something like the Noble background, or the Noble Scion feat, is kind of necessary to give that teeth. And so on, and so forth.

However, it's possible to take this concept too far. Which is why I wanted to take this week's installment to talk about how to judge whether an aspect of your character really needs mechanical backup, or if you can just say it exists, and move on with the game.

Because sometimes story really can stand on its own.

As always, if you want to help me keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron. And if you want to stay on top of all my latest releases the make sure you sign up for my weekly newsletter as well!

Will This Affect The World Mechanically?

Game mechanics, generally speaking, serve a single, broad purpose in RPGs. In short, any time there is a conflict, the rules exist to mediate and resolve that conflict in a fair and balanced way. And if there is no conflict, then there's no need to get the rules involved.

Only roll the dice if success is in doubt.

It's also important to point out that when I say "conflict" I'm not just talking about fighting in RPGs. A conflict is, generally, whenever you want a certain action to happen and there is something attempting to stop that action from happening, so you need to use the mechanics to figure out which result happens. And sure, does my strike cleave the hobgoblin's head from his shoulders is an example of conflict. So is asking if you successfully persuade the merchant to show you his VIP goods, if you manage to sneak past the sleeping dragon, or successfully craft the enchanted blade you've been working on.

However, if there is no conflict, then you don't need the mechanics to be there. You can just make statements and let the story flow.

A simple example is saying you want your tiefling to have eyes like a goat. Or that your elf has green hair and a braided beard. Or your dwarf has sixteen children. These are just aspects of who they are, and the story you're telling. They don't really affect the mechanics of the world, but they fill in the blank spots and personalize your character and contribution to the story. And you should be coloring in those empty spaces... the problem is that a lot of us are looking for lines that aren't there when we start trying to fill in the gaps.

Don't Impose Limits That Aren't There

Lots of players and GMs look at rule books and feel overwhelmed by all the control the rules exert... but the rules are merely the physics of the world. They are the natural laws that govern the game. And though they are important (and often in our faces for a lot the nitty gritty parts of a campaign), it's important to make sure that what we think is a rule, and what is actually a rule line up. Because a lot of the time the rules as they're written don't actually impose as much control on the character you're making (or the story you're telling) as you might think.

For example, there's nothing in the rules that says your paladin must be a knight. Nothing says your rogue has to be a thief, or even a criminal of any sort. Nothing prevents your orc from being a wizard, or your dwarf from being a heavily-tattooed surfer from a volcanic island (more on that below). Your gnome can be of noble birth, your goblin can be a cleric of the goddess of beauty, and your drow could have been raised by adopted dwarf parents in a clan stronghold.

Unless there is an actual consequence of an aspect of your character (you need to have a certain Strength score to be believable as a champion arm wrestler, you must be at least a certain age in order to have experienced particular world events first-hand, etc.) you basically have carte blanche to fill in those blank spaces as long as your GM doesn't naysay you.

And, perhaps just as importantly, make sure you draw a distinction between what is purely flavor text, and what is mechanical function. Because if you want your sorcerer's magic missile to look like flaming skulls in Disney-villain green, there is no reason you can't do that. If you want your barbarian's Rage to manifest as a completely blank affect, becoming almost an automaton who feels no fear and shows no mercy, that doesn't change the morale bonus you receive, and it gives you a unique spin on how the mechanic looks for your character (and it's one of many options I discussed in 50 Shades of Rage).

Because rules are important when it comes to keeping the game fair, and making sure no one is getting special treatment. But we have a lot more freedom than we seem to think within those rules to define who our characters are, and to tell our stories round the table.

Also, Dwarves of Sundara is Out!

Before we go, I wanted to share the latest installment in my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age RPG setting... Species of Sundara: Dwarves is now out both for Pathfinder Classic and Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition!

There are dangers in the deep... and across the whole of the world!

I'm going to be doing a deeper dive on this in an upcoming post (and hopefully giving folks a more focused look at how I'm changing up dwarves for my setting), but if you need a quick reason to give it a look, I'd say the Takatori should do it for you. These heavily-tattooed, volcano-dwelling dwarves were directly inspired by my old article Do Dwarves Surf? Tips For Diversifying Non-Human Fantasy Races. Perhaps one of the pieces that got me the most hate mail, I decided it was time to finally make those particular dwarves a reality!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Fluff post!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my alley cat thriller Marked Territory, it's sequel Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my recent 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!

"Well-Rounded" Rarely Works in Pathfinder

There is a desire among a lot of players (and particularly among newer players) to try to build a character that's "well-rounded" when they sit down at a Pathfinder table. They want to put a skill point into Handle Animal, for example, or they want to take 2-3 different classes just so they "have options" when it comes to what they can and can't do in game.

And I get that urge. I do. However, I would like to try to save my fellow players as much frustration as possible, since I had to learn this lesson the hard way over several campaigns between 3.5 and Pathfinder. That is, in short, that the game does not, generally speaking, reward spreading your resources wider and thinner. That's why you have a party.

No one is meant to be able to do everything on their own.

As always, if you want to help me keep the wheels turning then consider becoming a Patreon patron today! It makes a big difference, and ensures I have the bandwidth to keep the blogs going. And if you don't want to miss anything that I'm doing, sign up for my weekly newsletter as well!

Increased Challenge Requires Focus To Succeed

As anyone who has played Pathfinder can tell you, as the game proceeds, everything about it gets harder. The difficulty checks for skills get higher, the armor class for enemies goes up, enemy saving throws get better, and so on, and so forth. So while you can sometimes succeed at lower levels with nothing more than a good roll and a higher-than-average attribute, that isn't going to cut it past level 4-5. After that you need to start stacking bonuses from various sources if you expect to succeed.

I put one rank in Intimidate... I should still be able to do this, right?

As an example, say you want your barbarian to be able to move around silently. They're a hunter, after all, so you put a skill rank into Stealth. That's not an inherently bad idea... however, a Stealth check is always going to be opposed by an enemy's Perception roll. And at lower levels that's often going to be a toss up as to whether they hear/see you or not. But if you just leave that one rank in Stealth? Or if you didn't make it a class skill by taking an appropriate background trait? And if there are no magic items, spells, etc. giving it a boost? Well, at level one having a +4 to Stealth means you've got a decent shot of not being seen or heard if you roll well. At level 8 or 10, that +4 to Stealth is nowhere near as good when your opponent has a +12 or more to their Perception score.

You can apply this to a lot of different aspects of the game. For example, identifying monsters and their abilities is a Knowledge roll, but that difficulty goes up with the monster's CR. Intimidating a creature gets harder the more hit dice they have. Traps get more difficult to bypass, spells become harder to resist, enemies get more difficult to hit, and they gain more and more hit points.

So if you want this thing you're putting resources into to be something your character is actually going to succeed at, you need to make the necessary investment to pull it off.

In short, Pathfinder is a game that rewards focused builds. You should be good at more than one thing, but generally speaking any given character is going to have a small handful of things they can be really, truly good at that they should expect to succeed at more often than not. And if you're good at a particular thing, there's a trade off for it elsewhere. It's why full casters don't get a full base attack bonus, it's why skill monkey builds tend to have lower hit points, and so on, and so forth.

End of The Day, You're All Part of a Team

The logic behind this structure is that a party is assembled with the intention that you're all filling necessary roles, and covering certain tasks. For example, the barbarian is here to tank damage, dish out the harshness, Intimidate the enemy (or those who annoy them in social situations), and perhaps one other sub-specialty depending on resources and expenditures. The paladin is here to fight evil foes, but they can also act as a diplomat during social situations due to their class skills and necessary attributes. The wizard is here to provide arcane insight, and to use their spells to provide solutions for their comrades. The rogue is the one capable of disabling magical traps, spotting ambushes, and doing Stealth reconnaissance.

Swap the roles around as your build sees fit.

Now, while the examples given are the stereotypical roles for these character classes, one of the great advantages of Pathfinder is that it gives you a lot of flexibility in which classes can be made to fit which roles. For example, you could make a long-ranged, Stealth-based paladin who can sneak around and provide fire support, while also smiting demons. You could make a rogue who favors a greatclub over daggers, and who runs in bellowing a battle cry when initiative is rolled, dealing out damage on par with many fighters. You can make a bard who's just as adept at dealing with dungeon crawls as a rogue, or a wizard who focuses their skill set on diplomacy and social skills.

However, even when you step outside of class stereotypes, you still have to deal with the fact that every character regardless of the class or classes they take levels in, has a set amount of resources. They only have so many skill points to distribute, so many feats to take, and so much gold to buy magic items with. And if you spread them around to a bunch of disparate, unconnected skills or abilities, then you're going to find that you aren't keeping pace with the challenges you're facing.

Everyone Gets a Turn

A common issue a lot of players run into is they want to be able to participate (if not to shine) in every, single situation. However, Pathfinder is a game where a lot of the time players need to work together to assist one another, handing off the spotlight as one character's skill set comes into focus. Those with Knowledge skills are the ones who discover lore and shout out a monster's weaknesses, those with melee skill engage the enemy to keep them back from their allies, spellcasters utilize their magic to end threats, etc.

While you can build a character to be effective at nearly any task you set, as a lot of people have pointed out, unless you want to keep investing in that ability as you level (increasing your skill ranks, increasing your caster level, increasing your combat prowess, etc.) you are going to fall behind until something you were reliably good at in the start of the game is something that will require a natural 20 to succeed by the time your level hits double digits.

In Other News...

For those who've been following my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age RPG setting, a completely new installment dropped today! This month we take a break from exploring the physical locations we saw in the Cities of Sundara series, with Gods of Sundara, a book that delves into the metaphysical workings of this setting, and what makes it different from more traditional DND and Pathfinder settings.

It only gets stranger from here on out.

For those who haven't been tuned-in, though, Sundara has done away with alignment completely and utterly. There is no divinely mandated good and evil... but this also means there are no angels, no demons, no devils, and so on, and so forth. There is also no huge nexus of the planes as we're used to seeing... there is only the physical, material world and the strange, impossible realm of the Prim beyond it. The place where all magic is drawn from, which is also the realm of the gods. And in Sundara there is not one pantheon, but many, with faiths and religions often unknowingly venerating different Masks of the same god.

So if you'd like to see a more organic take on the development of faiths and deities, or you'd just like to see what tieflings and aasimar were replaced with in this setting, pick up your copy of Gods of Sundara for Pathfinder, or Gods of Sundara for DND 5th Edition today!

Like, Share, and Follow For More!

That's all for this week's Crunch topic! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio! Or if you'd like to read some of my books, like my alley cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well! And if you'd like to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little bit of help can go a long way, trust me on that one.

There's a Big Difference Between "Not Optimized" and "Not Functional" in RPGs

We all know that one player who is terminally unlucky. No matter how good the stats they have are, or how small the chance of failure is, they are practically guaranteed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory if you have them roll a die. As someone who has gone entire sessions barely breaking double digits on a d20, and who once rolled half a dozen natural 1s in a row, there are theories about which ancient deity my bloodline wronged, and what sort of quest I need to undertake in order to free myself from this burden.

Changing dice doesn't help. And may curse the new set temporarily.

However, it is this tendency to roll absurdly low numbers that led to me carefully tweaking every aspect of my character builds so that even with my abysmal luck accounted for I can still succeed often enough to contribute to the ongoing game. A habit that, if I'm honest, is why I have guides ranging from The Death Korps of Krieg to Teddy Roosevelt over in my ongoing Character Conversions project. And while I've weathered my share of accusations that I'm a min-maxing, number crunching point whore who's more concerned with my stats than just "having fun" with the game, there is something that I would like to address this week.

Because as someone who feels he has to optimize his character to the nth degree in order to have any chance of success, I can tell you there's more than one way to reach a goal. Also, there is a massive difference between a character who is simply not optimized, and one that is not functional.

Before we get deeper into this, if you haven't already, consider subscribing to my weekly newsletter to stay on top of all my latest releases, updates, and projects. And if you'd like to help me keep Improved Initiative going, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Every little bit really does help.

You Don't Need To Be The Best (But You Shouldn't Be The Worst)

Something I always recommend that players think about when making their characters is asking what they are meant to do. What's their function within the party? Because once you understand what a character's job is, in a mechanical sense, you can find the rules in the game to help support that goal. That is the framework you can then attach your story, personality, quirks, goals, etc. to.

Now, some choices are going to be more "optimal" than others when it comes to achieving a goal with your character. But sometimes a player will specifically not take those options because it will conflict with the story they're trying to tell, or another aspect of their character. And they aren't "playing the game wrong" by not making the best of the best... but they still need to make sure their character can actually get the job done adequately when the dice start rolling.

Perhaps an example would help?

For instance, let's say a Pathfinder player wanted to put together a blasting caster that could penetrate enemy spell resistance. Taking the feats Spell Penetration and Greater Spell Penetration are some of the most obvious choices, as is playing a character that's an elf. Those three choices together add a whopping +6 onto attempts to overcome an enemy's spell resistance, thus making it very likely that slung spells aren't going to slam up against that natural resistance and fizzle out to no effect.

However, say that a central feature of this character's story and history requires them to be an orc. Or a halfling. Or really any species that isn't an elf. Sure, not taking that additional +2 is going to be less optimized, but the difference between a +4 and a +6 on the check isn't some uncrossable gulf. Hell, the player could even opt not to take the Spell Penetration feats, just going at enemies with raw caster levels, and that is not an inherent problem because spell resistance is generally scaled specifically to provide a challenge in this manner.

The elven wizard with the 20 Intelligence and the right feats is going to have an easier time blowing through the protections than the half-orc sorcerer with the 20 Charisma who doesn't have the feats, but both characters are still viable options capable of overcoming this challenge. The half-orc version is still functional.

What would make it less functional, though, would be if the player chose to multiclass the character, ensuring that every other level is something other than sorcerer, thus putting them at a serious penalty when it comes to overcoming spell resistance. Or even choosing a partial casting class like ranger, bloodrager, etc. instead of a full caster like a sorcerer or wizard. In this scenario it's not impossible that they could overcome an enemy's spell resistance, but the fact that their caster level is so much smaller, and that it isn't boosted by feats, class features, etc., it might mean their magic won't practically work against a lot of enemies if they try to use it as a gun.

Change Your Goals, You Change What's Functional

The key thing to remember when discussing optimization and functionality is that you can only use those terms if it's in service of a specific goal. And if that goal changes, then suddenly the specifics for what makes a "good" choice for building an effective character also changes.

For instance, take our spellcaster example above, but alter the goal. Now instead of overcoming an enemy's spell resistance, you want to make that character a more effective buffer for fellow party members. By switching that goal (and casting spells like mage armor, bear's endurance, haste, etc. to protect and boost fellow party members), this character suddenly becomes a lot more viable for the reason that they won't need to overcome spell resistance in the way they would if they were attacking foes. They're using the same tool (magic), but the goal changes, and so things that made them bad at one task are suddenly not a concern on this new one.

There are many paths to success... you just need to define what success is.

Something else to keep in mind is that the more specific you can make your goal, the better the chance you have of narrowing the field in terms of functionality. Because if you have a broad goal like, "dealing the most damage in melee combat," there is probably a single best way to get that done (likely involving an over-sized bastard sword and some combination of barbarian Rage Powers and/or fighter archetypes and features). But say you wanted to make your character Dexterity focused rather than Strength focused, and you wanted to use a dagger, or a shortsword instead. You may not measure up to the raw numbers output of the hulking brute described above by using a swashbuckler, a fencing-style fighter archetype, or one of the other finesse-leaning combat options, but the difference between that extremely optimized brute and your fancier, faster character might not be as big as you think. Again, you're still functional.

Where you will run into problems, though, is when you attempt to choose square-peg options, and hammer them into round-hole goals.

Because that fighter/barbarian with the massive bastard sword he looted from an ogre? Well, he's not going to get a lot of class skills, or skill points. And if you try to make that character knowledge-centric in their skills, chances are good they're not going to get enough points to ever meet the DC to know what a monster, noble, exotic plant, etc. ever is. If you want to multiclass your fighter into wizard, but he has an Intelligence of 9, then you have an entire class level that's essentially grayed-out because you need at least an Intelligence of 10 plus the spell level in order to cast it. And while it's entirely possible to make a sorcerer that wades into melee with a greatsword swinging, between their very low base attack bonus, inability to wear armor without penalty, low hit points, etc., that is a decision that is far more likely to lead to a quick and messy death than it is to a truly unique character who succeeds in unorthodox ways.

I talked about all this and more in Players, Remember, Just Because You CAN Doesn't Mean You SHOULD for those who missed that installment.

So when it comes to discussions about builds, and effectiveness, and arguing over what is and isn't a smart choice, do your best to clear all the static from the air. First, ask what task you want your character to accomplish. Second, ask what requirements they need to have (whether they be of a certain species, from a certain part of the world, if they need to use or not use a certain weapon, fighting style, etc). Then find a way to accomplish the goals you've set forth for them, within the constraints of both the game itself, and their character.

If you can accomplish those goals, then you don't need to be completely optimized. It's only when you can't actually achieve the goals you set out to (or when those goals aren't necessary for the game you're playing) that you end up as a fish trying to climb a tree... and that's a situation nobody wants to find themselves in.

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 YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel Painted Cats, 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!