Dungeon Design Tips: Cover, Firing Lines, and Dynamic Arenas

If you've played RPGs long enough, chances are you've been in your share of scrapes and scraps. And while there might have been one or two memorable events, chances are good that a majority of these combats were in wide open fields, square or rectangular rooms, and with an occasional circular chamber mixed in for variety. But while the shape of these arenas might change, many of them suffer from the same problem; they're wide open spaces with clear sight lines.

So if you want to make your arenas more dynamic, consider changing that up.

Who's up for a little crossfire?

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Cover, Firing Lines, And Changing Up Your Formula

Let's use the humble tavern as an example. It's one of the most infamous places in fantasy RPGs, because it feels like this is always where your adventure takes place. And while we often think of taverns as little more than long, rectangular rooms, consider all the potential aspects of them. There's the bar itself, which provides cover for those standing behind it. There might be heavy support columns that could do the same throughout the room. There's also the benches and tables that one could leap up onto in order to claim the high ground, or flip over in order to hide behind them in the event that arrows, crossbow bolts, or spells start flying.

And that is just a single example of how a relatively "normal" location for a combat could immediately become a more dynamic arena. But ask yourself what could happen if you introduced that same kind of philosophy to other places where it's likely that steel and spells will come into play.

This is where creativity can really alter the challenge.

Consider the goblin cavern that most adventurers will venture into at some point in their careers. Are there small niches higher on the wall where said goblins can station archers to fire down on intruders? Are there lower ceilings that make their home difficult to invade for anyone Medium-sized, forcing them to fight at a disadvantage? Are there stalagmites that break up line of sight along the cavern, making it hard to target individual enemies as they converge? You could even take this strategy and apply it in outdoor areas, using tall grasses, underground burrows, and even simple hills to give some targets high ground, cover, and so on.

And this is before you have players assault locations that are specifically built to give the advantage to defenders.

This isn't just castles, though they're the most obvious location. Narrow bridges and hallway choke points, stairways, balconies, fences and barricades can all add dynamic aspects and elements to your dungeons and encounters, while also making particular powers more viable and interesting than they would otherwise be in a game where all your arenas are empty, square rooms with no real strategy involved except swinging a sword or firing arrows until all the enemies fall over.

For example, say you have a castle courtyard where there are melee warriors down in the dirt with the party, but there are archers or spellcasters up along the ramparts directing their aggression downward. At this point, characters who have access to spells like spider climb, or abilities like shadow jump could use those to immediately close vertical distance, shifting their position up to threaten the ranged enemies who thought they were safe. Alternatively, if you had an evoker with a spell like chain lightning or fireball up their sleeve, they could use those to clear the upper deck, while the party melee brutes kept the other enemy fighters busy.

And if you had a particularly acrobatic/mobile party, they might all be able to clamber up to the ramparts, keeping themselves out of melee reach while using their new, more protected position to their advantage by slinging spells, firing arrows, or just hucking bombs down at an enemy that can no longer reach them.

These will fix a VARIETY of problems...

The more dynamic you make an area with things like cover, difficult terrain, high ground, low ground, and so on, the wider a variety of tools and strategies your players will be able to use to achieve their goals. And, on top of that, it can stop combat from feeling like just another slog... which is what this whole series is about!

Lastly, when designing these arenas, keep in mind that this also adds to the CR of the encounter. So keep in mind that fighting a squad of orc berserkers and a single shaman in a knock down, drag out brawl is a very different matter than crossing an area of difficult terrain with cover, Czech hedgehogs, and so on that forces the party to get... creative with their solutions!

If you enjoyed this article, and you'd like more ways you can change things up as a GM, make sure you grab a copy of 100 Tips And Tricks For Being A Better Game Master!

 

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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!

Why Do You Love The RPGs You Do? It's Worth Thinking About

If you've spent any time at all in RPG spaces, whether online or in-person, you've heard gamers talk about their favorite games. Whether it's one of the early games from the dawn of the hobby, something that exploded on the scene during the boom of the 90s, or one of the various settings that came out of the OSR revolution a few years back, gamers are not shy at all about bigging up the games we love.

However, a lot of these conversations devolve into arguments over time... particularly when we have a round robin regarding game recommendations. With that said, I feel like a lot of these arguments could be avoided if we took a moment to not only ask which games we like, but to actually take a moment to evaluate why we like them.

Really? That edition? Okay, make your case.

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! 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!

One Man's Meat is Another Man's Poison

All of us have favorite games, but even if two different people adore the same RPG, they may love it for wildly different reasons. For example, Pathfinder Classic is still my go-to game for high fantasy RPGs, as it was for a lot of people. But while I loved it primarily because of the robust mechanics that carried on from DND 3.5, for other folks it was their first RPG, and they have a lot of nostalgia for it. Other people really like certain classes like the magus, or they love the Golarion setting, and enjoy exploring its various nooks and crannies.

While all of these players might share the same table, chances are good they're all getting something different out of this one game system. And while you can have that much variation among people who like the same game, you can also have one person who doesn't care for a game for the exact same reason another person absolutely loves it!

As an example...

While a lot of the interest in the FATE Core System has fallen off over the past few years, I remember when this game was everywhere. If you were looking to adapt a property, or if you needed a fast turnaround, this was the system everyone recommended. Horror, fantasy, sci-fi, FATE could do it all! It was easy to learn, easy to play, and it was a story-forward, mechanics-minimum experience that removed a lot of the reading and number crunching from your game, allowing new and experienced players alike to get to grips with the action quickly.

All the stuff I just described is what a lot of people loved about this game. It's also a description of why I was never more than lukewarm on it at best.

Now, does my opinion that this game is primarily just an exercise in cooperative storytelling but which barely has enough components to it for it to claim to be a game mean it's bad? Absolutely not. I'm one RPG fan in a colossal sea of people, and it was plenty successful without me buying a copy and making it my game of choice. And just because I don't subjectively enjoy an experience, that does not mean it isn't the perfect experience for someone looking for that exact type of game.

It was just bad for me.

And this is what I wanted to get to as part of this week's update. Because a lot of the time we know whether we like a game or not... but we don't always stop and ask why we do or don't like something. Especially when the thing we do or don't like might not actually have been the game's fault; a bad GM, awful table mates, too many homebrewed mechanics that just didn't work... a lot of things can make or break a game that have nothing to do with what's between the covers. That's worth thinking about, not just because it can help give you a better sense of what appeals to you as a player (thus making things easier to recommend to you in the future because you can more precisely describe your enjoyments), but because it can help you figure out what experience someone else might be looking for before you tell them the game they definitely need to play next!

We can like our games for whatever reasons we want. We can dislike games for whatever reason we want. But if you can't articulate what about this experience sparks joy, and what does not, then you're going to get into a heated debate with someone while the two of you talk past one another because the fact that this game is a chopped down, rules-light affair where your characters have the survivability of a wet paper bag may very well be the reason one of you hates it, and the other loves it.

Lastly, even though I didn't find a place to work this link in earlier, take a moment to go and read my article 5 Things You Can Do To Be a Better Ambassador For Your Hobby. I figured that gelled nicely with this week's topic.

A Reminder, For Folks Who Haven't Subscribed Yet!

Regular readers have likely seen me talk about this before, but we're only 106 subscribers away from getting the Azukail Games YouTube channel over 1,000 people! Not only that, but we're slightly less than 1,000 hours of watch time away from getting the channel monetized!

Whether you just want to listen to me talk instead of always reading my blog, you're a fan of audio dramas, or you're looking to break into the TTRPG industry and you want the inside scoop from a professional, that channel has a little bit of everything. And once we get it monetized, we'll be able to expand, and do even more stuff! And if you want to support some of my other work, subscribe to my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary.

I am not allowed to have my own YouTube channel for complicated reasons, which is why I had to go to one of the site's only viable competitors. For the full run down, please read Trying Out Rumble as a Platform For My Audio Dramas (Join Me, Won't You?).

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 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 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!

Some Thoughts on Playing Games at Conventions

About 15 years ago (or thereabouts) I went to Gen Con for the first time. I'd never been to a convention of any sort before, and the group I attended with sort of tossed me into the deep end. While I had some positive moments that year, by the time I got home I felt more confused than I was elated. Given that so many people treated the con like something akin to a pilgrimage, I figured that I may have just missed something my first year. So I went back. Then I went back again. Still, that spark kept eluding me.

I figured maybe it was because Gen Con was too big, so I tried smaller gaming events. I've tried playing, I've tried running, and I've tried half a dozen different systems in my pursuit of finding good convention experiences. And now, a decade and change later, I figured I'd share some of my thoughts and the lessons I've learned as part of this search.

And no, I will not be at Gen Con this year for those who are curious. But for folks who are gearing up, or who might not be sure what to expect, consider learning from my experiences.

After all, I wish someone had talked me through this process.

Before we get into it 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!

Thought #1: Prepare For Premade Games

All righty, I've got a cleric, a fighter, a wizard, and a rogue. Who wants what?

This seems obvious to a lot of folks, but it took me a good 2-3 cons for this to really sink in. Due to the "come one, come all" nature of games hosted at conventions, a majority of games are going to be premade. And this is not just in the sense that the GMs are going to be running modules (though that's typically the case), but it's down to which characters are available, all their stats and abilities, etc. While there are living games like Pathfinder Society or Adventure League where players get to make and bring their own characters, outside of those arenas it's usually just picking which PC you want out of the 3-4 available. Making your own character and telling your own story isn't something that usually happens at a con game.

There are reasons for this, ranging from ensuring a catered experience, to making things easy for volunteer GMs who are running a dozen tables or more over the weekend. But if you're hoping to sit down and make your own character, or play a unique, homebrewed experience, you aren't going to find a lot of that at these events.

Thought #2: You Get More From New Experiences

Well, I can't say I've ever heard THAT one before!

You know how when you go on vacation you get more out of trying the local restaurants and chains that don't exist back where you live? Well, gaming conventions are a lot like that.

Gaming conventions provide the unique opportunity to get a sample platter of a lot of different systems, settings, and worlds. While big conventions might make you buy a ticket to join a table (looking at you, Gen Con), smaller conventions often let you just turn up and play for free if you show up at the starting time. The reason for this is that the people running these games are often trying to give players a free (or at least cheap) sample of their rules and style in the hopes of selling more copies of their books (especially if they're independent game writers trying to drum up popularity for their products).

Even if you consider yourself a single-system player, or you don't think you're in the market for new games right now, you get a lot more out of doing something at a con that you aren't doing at your weekly dice tumbling sessions already.

Thought #3: Know Who You Want To Play With

This is often a make or break for a lot of us.

Who you share a table with can often define experience, which is why it's important to know what you need when it comes to convention tables. For example, if you're an easy going sort of gamer who has a lot of extra spoons, then you might be able to just join new tables and make new friends. On the other hand, if you're the sort of gamer who gets easily stressed out being in unfamiliar places and unfamiliar spaces, then you're better off bringing your own table to try something out... or even just making sure that you've got a friend sitting alongside you to help keep you on an even keel once the game starts.

I speak from experience on this one, as I'm the sort of person who organized my own table of players to try out new games and scenarios when I gamed in public or at events. To my way of thinking, whether I had a good or bad experience was easier to deal with if I knew I had friends there to share it with me. So reflect on this one, and consider it before you push off into the sea of fellow gamers.

Thought #4: Manage Your Expectations

There's a lot of chaff to the wheat you find.

One of the things I've run into time and time again regarding gaming at a convention (gaming specific or otherwise) is that folks often don't know what to expect. Perhaps one of the biggest issues I've seen is that a lot of folks assume that if they're paying to play a game that it's going to be the sort of thing they see on big-budget livestreams, with lots of props, impressive minis, terrain, rehearsed speeches, etc.

I'm not saying you won't find good Game Masters running tables at conventions, or that there aren't going to be carefully crafted setups with scenery, music, etc. What I am saying is that most folks who do this are here as volunteers, and we don't have a budget to work with. Most of us are maybe getting our badges for free, but that's it. We aren't making money doing this, except for those of us who are running demo sessions of our own games in order to make sales. Even then, most folks you see running games at a convention are going to run between 4 and 8 games by the time it's over, if they're actually getting any kind of compensation for their efforts.

Can you find those kinds of elaborate games running at cons? Absolutely! However, they're usually by invite only. So temper your expectations, and be kind to the folks who are running your table. Chances are good you might be the 6th or 7th group of players they've run a particular scenario for since the doors opened, and that takes it out of you.

Something Else To Keep in Mind

For those who haven't seen it yet.

Whether you're running games this convention season, or merely playing them, let me recommend two entries from my meta supplements that have been making the rounds of late. For the Game Masters out there, consider 100 Tips and Tricks For Bring a Better Game Master! This book compiles everything that's showed up on this blog for the past near decade, and picks out all the wheat to help you run a better game. And if you're going to be a player, consider grabbing the sister book, 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better RPG Player! Whether you're brand new, or an old hand, there's something in there for everyone.

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!

If Your Character Has An Edge, They Also Need a Point

Every one of us, as a gamer, has gone through an edgy phase. Whether it was because we read Frank Miller's work on Batman, or we had an abiding love of the Punisher, or we'd just seen Watchman and loved Rorschach as a character, we tried to bring some of that into our games. There is a reason, after all, that the Marquis de Edge is the first entry on my list The 5 Eye-Rolling Rogues You Meet in Your Gaming Career.

Two edges, but you still need a point.

However, there is a little piece of nuance that I think we often forget when it comes to the discussion of so-called "edgy" or "grim" characters. It's that, much like the media that inspired them, the really successful ones have a point they're trying to make. It's only when that point is absent that the concept falls apart, or starts moving into unintentional parody territory.

So I thought I'd talk about that this week.

Also, if you haven't signed up for my weekly newsletter yet, you should consider doing that! It puts you on top of all my latest releases, new blogs, fresh novels, and more. Lastly, if you want to help me keep Improved Initiative going, consider becoming a Patreon patron today... it really helps a lot.

The Iron Age of Comics, And Edgy Characters

If you weren't a big fan of comics in the 1990s, then you might have missed the Edgining, or the Grimming of the medium in the wake of both The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen by Frank Miller and Alan Moore respectively. The former comic took the character of Batman to a new level, as an aging Bruce Wayne comes out of retirement to fight a new breed of criminal with progressively harsher and more demented tactics (most of which got spliced into Batman V. Superman). This culminates in a fight with Superman, Bruce faking his own death, and then training a new generation of Batmen to continue the fight for him. Watchmen was originally going to use a bunch of characters that had been acquired by DC Comics as a deconstruction of the superhero genre, essentially showing the sorts of damaged people and fractured psyches that would exist behind the mask, but DC wouldn't go for it so Moore made his own thinly-veiled versions of those characters as an extra layer of middle finger.

Case in point.

These comics had a massive impact on the medium, going to unique places as they explored the genre of superheroes in ways that hadn't been done before. They acted as the counterpoint to heroic narratives, and showed an underlying bleakness that resonated with readers in a profound way.

What happened next is what always happens next... the tide of imitators began to crash upon the shores.

If you dig through the 90s, you'll find a small ocean of content trying to capture the lightning in a bottle of the foundational titles. Characters like Cable and Deadpool are good examples, but so are the stories of Spawn. Characters who already existed, like the Punisher and Wolverine, were taken to ever bleaker, darker storylines they hadn't been allowed to be a part of before. It seemed like every writer and every artist was chasing that high mark Miller and Moore had laid down, each in their own way.

Some of these tonal imitations were pretty good. The re-invention of Daredevil into a tortured soul trying to balance his more violent desires for vengeance (and giving us the whole Man Without Fear arc) is an example of when this worked. But a lot of titles and stories just devolved into nihilism and brutality, filling pages with empty spectacle that sort of pretended it was trying to be about something, but never really got beyond the belt pouches, bullets, and blood.

What This Has To Do With RPGs

Art doesn't happen in a vacuum, and the explosion of grim, dark, and edgy content that lasted from the late 80s to the early 90s had a pretty notable effect on RPGs as well (not the least of which was the surging popularity of the World of Darkness, which is still with us today). And while there have been plenty of unique settings and games that use grim or edgy content as a vehicle for exploring deeper issues, or to act as a counterpoint to prevailing narratives in storytelling, there are also a lot of games that were just edgy for the sake of being edgy.

Sort of a tabletop version of how Dark Souls gave us deep, impactful worldbuilding, grim storytelling, and an utterly unique challenge and atmosphere, and that spawned an entire genre of imitators, many of whom captured the look but missed the point.

Die, die, die again... but is it a statement on the futility of heroism? Or just punishment?

So what does this have to do with players, and even GMs, who are looking to explore those sharper edges of morality? Those characters and games where adjectives like bleak, grim, or dark apply? Well, it means that you need to have more than just the surface-level aesthetics in order for someone to take what you're doing seriously, and for it to have an impact on the table.

Sometimes that means you're planning an arc for the character, and there's a story you're trying to tell. For instance, if you have a character who's driven primarily by hatred, or vengeance, is this a story about how hollow that victory can be, and the sort of monster it can turn you into despite what you tell yourself? Is it about trying to turn the character off of that path, to give them a bigger cause, to teach them to trust again, and to give them friends and an adopted family to help them heal? Is it about losing your grip on being that better person, and slipping back down into wrath and hatred? Because if you've seen Berserk, that's what happens for our protagonist over the years of serving with the same mercenary company... and let's not forget Guts was found wailing as a baby beneath his mother's hanged body, raised by a brutal "knight" who abused him in every way, and he knew nothing but violence and bloodshed until the Band of the Hawk taught him how to be a person.

That's Mörk Borg level dark, right there.

If you're the Game Master, though, it's equally important to ask what the purpose of the grim/edgy game is. Are you doing a deconstruction of a traditional fantasy tropes, the way Watchmen dissected the superhero? Are you attempting to make a game feel like it has higher stakes by increasing the difficulty and lethality to keep players on their toes, and/or to make things like running in shirtless, sword swinging something that is more likely to get them killed? Are you using the level-based system of power to make comments on hierarchies, personal achievements, or other aspects of a world?

To be clear, you don't have to be going deep and metaphorical with an edgy setting or character concept for it to still be valid. Maybe it just appeals to you in an aesthetic sense, you're more comfortable in that particular archetype, or it's something you haven't really gotten a chance to play. But it is important to do that as an active choice, rather than because you defaulted to it without questioning motives, desires, goals, etc.

And the more edge a character, setting, or campaign has, the easier it's going to be to swallow if there is a point to all of it. Because edge just for edge's own sake can get really tiring really quickly.

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!

Players, Remember, Nobody is a Jerk to Everyone All The Time

We've all shared a table with this character at least once. Maybe it was the rogue who always seemed to have a veiled threat when they interacted with anyone. Perhaps it was the barbarian who always bullied people to get their way. Or the wizard who talked down and condescended to everyone else because, as evidenced by their stats, they were clearly the smartest person in the room at any given time. Even if you liked the player, or you recognized what they were trying to do with their character, after a while you just couldn't put up with it anymore.

Because no matter what happened, no matter what you did, or how you tried to roleplay with them, the character had one setting, and it was being a jerk. That was their whole thing, and no matter what buttons you pushed they just didn't seem interested in shifting gears.

Got a problem? Fight me!

This week I want to remind players of something; no one is a jerk all the time, and to every person they know. Everyone has their moments of thoughtfulness, apology, camaraderie, and even support. Everyone has people they want to stay friends with, whom they want to like them, or who they know they cannot afford to burn bridges with. Being unpleasant all the time is just playing one note, and it's a note people get tired of really, really fast.

As always, if you want to make sure you get all of my updates, sign up for my weekly newsletter! And if you want to help me keep the blog going, consider becoming a Patreon patron... even a little support can go a particularly long way.

You Don't Have To Be Nice (Just Don't Be a Pain in The Ass)

To get out ahead of the strawman criticisms on this point, I'm not saying that all our characters need to be kind, good, nice, or accepting. You don't have to bake cookies and give everyone cool nicknames like you're coaching a little league team. What I'm saying is that to avoid a concept from becoming a one-note character, you need to develop their attitudes more. Allow the character to change and grow, and let them have more than one way of interacting with the world around them.

And in this context, remember that a tabletop RPG is a team sport. All of you are in this together, which means you've got to be able to work with each other.

One more word out of you, and I won't heal you till next week. We clear?

I talked about this back in Make Sure Your Character is as Fun to Play With as They Are to Play, but that entry mostly focused on the meta concerns of gelling with the rest of the table as a player. For this entry I want to look at characters who always seem to respond with snark, hostility, or some sort of aggressive dismissal, and point out that it's a pretty shallow take.

Because you can totally still play characters who act this way... but you need to understand why they act that way, who they act that way toward, and to ask how that element will add to the story rather than taking away from it.

Hey! Nobody Talks That Way To The Wizard But Me...

As an example of what I'm talking about, take your stereotypical barbarian/wizard friction. The barbarian is distrustful of the wizard's academic approach, and dismissive of their use of magic instead of muscle. The wizard considers the barbarian ignorant and savage, always escalating situations pointlessly out of ego, or some backward idea of honor. This situation starts out rough, probably with the two of them either ignoring each other, or trading barbs because neither can do what the other can.

Over time, and the progression of several levels, their relationship begins to change. Uther charged in, sword swinging, to save the wizard from an assailant who could have killed him. And when battle was joined another day, Egregor used his spells to fill Uther with strength, and to protect him from the onslaught of their foes. Their barbs became duller as they began to understand each other, turning into a kind of rough camaraderie that one would expect between soldiers who'd served together, or brothers whose fights camouflaged their affection.

The sort of relationship where Uther might call Egregor a thin-wristed, moon-eyed wren, but let anyone else talk to the wizard that way and Uther will knock that person's teeth out.

Now apologize, before I get upset.

Characters who spend time together, and who face danger side-by-side, should see their relationships change over time, and the layers should be peeled back to reveal what's actually happening.

As a for-instance, the rogue who ran with a gang of toughs is used to insults being exchanged as a form of greeting, or friendship (with certain insults being signs of good relations, and others still maintaining their original, hurtful intent). So what seemed like a barrage of disrespect is actually how you can identify who their friends are. Over time a few party members pick up this patois, while the rogue learns to instead speak to the cleric in a lighter tone that still implies respect and familiarity, without shifting entirely to cold formality. Alternatively the grim, taciturn fighter who always kept to herself slowly comes out of her shell, learning to trust this group of adventurers she's signed on with. In time we find out that she's lost so many comrades that she simply didn't let herself get attached, using stoicism and silence to stop anyone from reaching out to her. After half a dozen levels, though, her party finds out she can cook, and when she's comfortable around you she'll even sing.

This Applies To Evil Characters, Too

The other side of the coin is that you might have a character who is a genuine bastard. There's no cultural misunderstanding for how they act, and no deeper trauma they're hiding; they're just nasty to other people because that is what gives them feelings of power. The ability to hit someone with a really nasty insult, or to outmaneuver someone socially, just makes them happy. Maybe they're not actually evil, just toxic, and they need to keep a strict social hierarchy (and to make clear where they are in the pecking order) in order to function.

Even in these situations, it's important to let characters change and grow as their relationships develop. And, generally speaking, to examine the goals, motivations, and self-preservation of the character in question. And while I covered some of this in 5 Tips For Playing Better Evil Characters, it's worth returning to.

Words are weapons... don't wound your allies, or they won't be your allies for long.

Consider the black knight. His handsome face is constantly twisted by a sneer of disgust, and his every word to those he sees as beneath him is dismissive and arrogant. He'll be the first to backhand a commoner for not bringing him his drink fast enough, or for what he sees as talking back to him.

But would he treat those in his party, his chosen band, the same way? Probably not. It isn't out of the goodness of his black heart, of course, but it might be out of a sense of respect, of honor, or simply of self-preservation.

The knight doesn't respect the hulking brute Caligras, but he knows the half-ogre is dangerous. So he plays the friend, treating him more like a favored hound than as an equal (or even as a person). The witch Tiberius is common-born, and claimed by fell magics to boot, but the knight respects his power, so he treats him the way one might a favored vassal, or a distant cousin. He doesn't want the witch turning those arcane arts from the enemy, onto himself. The same is true of the dark priest Fenethor, whose talk of blood and pain would be frightening were it not so constant. He doesn't waste time intimidating the servant of a flayed god, nor in trying to bully them. Instead he treats their interactions formally, as he would when discussing strategy with an advisor or a lieutenant upon the field of battle.

This lets you play the character as you envision them, but it also means your fun isn't rubbing the other players the wrong way. And even if you establish starting attitudes and opinions regarding others in the party (or even other PCs), those things can always change over time.

Just because a character felt, acted, or behaved one way at the start of the game doesn't mean they can't change as they go through the game. They're getting experience, after all, and experience is what allows all of us to grow and become different over time.

Also, for further reading on the subject, check out:

- Remember, The Party is Under No Obligation To Adventure With You

- Let Them Reap What They Sow (Actions and Consequences For PCs in RPGs)

- 6 Dos and Don'ts of Character Flaws

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, 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!

5 Gifts For The Gamers in Your Life (And At Your Table)

Before we get started with this Monday's post, I wanted to take a second to share something that came across my feed the other day. It seems that my 5th Edition DND horror module The Curse of Sapphire Lake now has its very own play through, courtesy of FeatherFall Tabletop! So whether you want to see what the module is all about, or check out this gaming podcast, I wanted to lead in with that bit of pleasant news.

There's also a straight-up review of the module, if you'd rather just hear the high points without going step-by-step through the full session!

Anyway, as you're no doubt aware we're in the midst of the holiday season. Black Friday has come and gone, and Cyber Monday is in our rear view mirrors. If you're still not sure what to get for that gamer in your life (assuming they couldn't use a solid module like The Curse of Sapphire Lake or False Valor), well, here are some other things that just might make their eyes light up on the big day.

#1 (Affordable) Metal Dice

When you need the BBEG to really feel that death blow.

Metal dice have become the new hip thing, despite the plastic dice we use today being tested for more rolls than we will ever go through in our careers as gamers. There's something primal about the heft of metal dice... their sheer weight makes them feel more serious when you let them fly. And if you've got some wide margins in your budget then a set from Norse Foundry or SkullSplitter is a great stocking stuffer for the ones you love.

With that said, though, my money's on the Hestya metal dice, pictured above. They've got the heft, certainly, and they're more than a couple bucks cheaper than even the least expensive of the glossy, polished sets on the market. What really caught my eye, though, was the 4d6... enough to roll all your stats with the set you'll be playing with. I might be a little superstitious, but I like that feature.

Whatever set you end up going with, though, a simple dice tray is a great pairing with these dice. Last thing you want is to damage the table because someone got overeager with their new weapons.

#2: A Carrying Case

Have you been a good dungeon master this year?

If that image looks familiar, it's because it's the Enhance tabletop adventurer's bag. With more than enough room for rulebooks, monsters, notebooks, and even your map roll, it's really a one-stop shop for the DM on the go. So if someone you love is always rushing off to a convention, or constantly carrying an armload of folders while heading out to their friend's place, this is quite the lovely gift. It is, however, approaching a C-note, which is a huge price tag for all but the most devoted gamers.

For something a little sleeker, more modern, and more affordable, the USA GEAR compact travel bag might be more your speed. With everything from dice pockets to separated sections for books, folders, modules, etc., it certainly gets the job done as long as someone isn't planning on running two mega dungeons back-to-back.

#3: A DM Writing Tablet

It's useful for players, too, but you get the gist.

I talked about these LCD writing tablets a little while back in Stop Marketing On Your Character Sheet (Seriously, There Are Better Ways), but since I'm putting together a best-of-year list, I figured I'd include this one here. These things cost maybe $10, and the battery they run on can last for years before any fiddling is required. Best of all, they can be used for everything from hit point tracking, to map drawing, to initiative. Cheap, but oh-so-effective!

#4: Campaign Notebooks

Well... it's not wrong...

For the paper and pencil crowd who want something a little more old school, this DM notebook (and several other campaign journals) are available from Adventure Gaming Notebooks. If you want to have a little fun with your fellow players, get your table mates matching journals for the next campaign... and if you're the dungeon master, leave a cryptic clue written on the first page to really get their minds churning about what sort of games are coming in the new year.

Just saying... that's what I would do.

#5: A Spellbook

Yeah, it's real dragon skin, since you ask.

I mentioned these earlier this year in Organize Your Spell Cards With a Portable Spellbook!, but once is not enough for these handy dandy little organization tools. This red dragonhide spellbook holds your caster's spell cards, providing you easy access to all the magic you have available for the day, and making sure you never lose track of what you have and haven't cast (or in some cases, which spells you do and don't actually know).

And if the eldritch evoker isn't really the right look, there are others available. The Tome of Recollection has the standard feel of a leather grimoire that's a little more on the traditional side, whereas the Tome of Corruption has a decidedly Necronomicon vibe to it. In any case, if you know someone who loves spell cards, but who needs a little help getting everything in its proper places, these are a godsend for de-cluttering the table.

What Cool Stuff Have You Found?

My own delvings into the dark markets have only turned up so much... have you found something I didn't mention, or that you'd like to share with other gamers here? Even if the new year has come and gone, leave links in the comments below so we can keep the treasure hunt going all year long!

Also, some stuff I didn't have room to mention above can be found in Need Cheap Minis? SCS Direct Has You Covered, as well as in 4 Tools To Help You Control The Dice At Your Table.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. Hopefully you enjoyed, and if you've used run these kinds of games before, leave us a comment to let us know what worked for you!

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 sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, 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!

Rules Might Limit Dungeon Masters, But They Also Protect Players

I've gone on the record several times in saying that I tend to prefer rules-dense games to rules-light ones. Part of this, like I said in Why Pathfinder is My Game of Choice, is because games with a lot of rules also tend to give you a lot of options as a player. As I said back then, games with robust rules back up your character concept mechanically, providing the necessary skeletal structure so that you're not just using the same three or four templates everyone else has access to with different flavor text.

There is another reason I prefer games with a lot of rules, though. It's because, simply put, I think you're less likely to get screwed if you have a contract that spells out how everything works.

Sir, if you'll reference page 357's sidebar, you'll see we've discussed why you can't do that.

The Dungeon Master is Not God

Perhaps the most-quoted thing I see about being a DM is some variation of, "You can do whatever you want. You're god, after all." While this is true in the sense that the DM is the one who handles the spinning of the cosmos, who populates the world, and who rules over decisions, the DM is more like a team lead or a boss than a deity. Ideally they should be working with everyone else on their team to reach their goals and to overcome challenges.

Unfortunately, that is not always the case.

Johnson, your fighter's dead. Roll up a new character. No, at level 1!

Whether your dungeon master is someone who isn't good at making up necessary rulings on the fly (not every good storyteller has the skills to design a game, after all), or because they are actively adversarial in their approach, in a rules-light game it is all too easy for the players to get screwed. It's a lot like how, before the advent of labor laws, there was nothing stopping employers from working someone for 14 hour days until they dropped. Except, you know, fairness, and morality, and stuff like that. Which, if you'll recall, didn't work all that well.

Yes, I'm comparing dungeon masters to the robber barons and cutthroat capitalists of the gilded age. Because while it's true that some of these bosses cared about their employees, tried to be fair to them, and wanted to promote equal prosperity, there were also bosses who used and abused people to get their way. Bosses who wrung out anything workers had to give, then tossed them out on the street when they protested their treatment. Dungeon masters can be the same way; some of them are good, some are well-meaning but flawed, and some of them really should not be in charge.

That's where the rules come in.

To continue this metaphor, the rules of the game are like the labor laws that companies have to follow. Because it would be more advantageous for them to simply fire someone the moment they got injured on the job, but doing that is often illegal. In the same way, you might have a dungeon master who wants to declare that this fall from the rooftop killed your character, but according to the falling damage chart in the book, you would only take 5d6 damage. You've got 50 hit points, so even on a maximum roll you're going to survive, even if the DM thinks it would be more dramatic for your character to die.

Now, having the rules about falling damage, about critical hits and failures, damage dealt to sundered weapons, or about energy resistances spelled out in black and white doesn't stop a dungeon master from telling a story. What they will do, though, is stop a dungeon master from making up their own rules to suit their fancy, or imposing rules that aren't fair because, "Well, there's no rule for that in the book, so I'm going to do it this way."

In short, rules-dense games tend to put players and dungeon masters on a more equal footing, and they protect players from capricious, inexperienced, or mod-happy DMs. They're a contract between you and everyone else at the table about how the physics of the game actually function, and they cut out a lot of the wiggle room that is present in games with fewer rules.

A Paper Shield is Still a Shield

While it's true that groups can change the rules to suit their play style, those changes need to be things that everyone agrees about. And it's a lot easier to come together to collectively bargain over minor changes or modification than it is to make entirely new rules from scratch because something you want to do wasn't covered in the original text.

Cut damage in half and round down on successful saves. All in favor?

At the end of the day, though, both players and the DM are bound by the same contract. Each side is expected to follow the rules they agreed to. While it's true that it requires more reading, practice, and system mastery to play (much less run) these games, they're also harder for a hanging judge-style DM to simply get in the chair and start making rulings about who does and doesn't die, lose hands, get class features stripped from them, etc.

It's not for everyone, but it is a distinction that I consider important. Because if the rules are clear and spelled out, I don't have to extend a DM the same amount of trust that they can handle their position as I would if there were only a few guidelines in place they could ignore at their whim. And if players can point out where a DM's ruling is in violation of the agreement, then that helps keep everyone on a level playing field.

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday post! Been thinking on this topic for a while, so I thought I'd finally get my thoughts out there. What about the rest of you? What are your thoughts on rules systems being used as a way to protect players from bad DM decisions?

For more of my work, check out my Vocal and Gamers archives, along with the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio! Or, if you'd like to check out books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, head over to My Amazon Author Page instead.

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

5 Fantasy-Themed Board Games You Should Have On-Hand (For When Players Don't Show)

We've all had those nights. You've been building the tension and suspense, and the campaign has reached a point-of-no-return... and that's when Jason and Sharon call to let you know that something's come up, and neither your arcane caster or your cleric can make it. So you look around at the rest of your players, who took the time and energy to assemble round the table, and tell them the assault of the Necroforge will have to wait until next time...

But in the meantime...

Since you're all here, the snacks are out, and you're ready to play, you've still got two choices. You can all pack up and go home, or choose something from the game shelf! If some game is better than no game, and you want to help preserve the fantasy theme of the evening, then I'd recommend keeping the following games on your shelf (in no particular order).

#1: Betrayal at Baldur's Gate

Probably the only time some tables will have PvP in their games.

I had a friend give me this one as a Christmas gift a while back, and it has held a place of honor on my game shelf ever since! For those who've never played, Betrayal at Baldur's Gate is a Dungeons and Dragons version of the horror board game Betrayal at House on The Hill, and it uses very similar mechanics. Players choose a character, and that character's tile has their stats, their special power, and all the information you need to start your adventure.

The game starts in the tavern (as all the best adventures do), and the players explore the city. They deal with random encounters, find treasures, and lay out tiles to construct a unique map. Then, when enough Omens stack up, the true adventure begins! Will the half-orc paladin be possessed by a blood cult and try to slay the city? Will a flood bring a tentacled horror from the depths? And most importantly, will the party stand together to face the encroaching threat, or will one of their number betray them?

Seriously, take notes. You can get some great campaign ideas out of this one.

#2: The Red Dragon Inn

All the carousing, none of the adventuring!

If you want to get pedantic, this is technically a card game and not a board game, but The Red Dragon Inn should definitely be on anyone's must-have list. Rather than going out on a perilous adventure, this is what happens when the party comes back to the tavern to celebrate their latest victory! You have to drink everyone else under the table, avoiding getting sick, knocked-out, or going broke before you're out of the game. There are more than half a dozen expansions to this game out there, and if you're looking for one I'd recommend the upgrade with the troll alchemist, as I have a soft spot for him. And he's a powerhouse when it comes to staying on his feet until the end of the night.

#3: Lords of Waterdeep

For the machinators among you.

Rather than taking on the role of an individual adventurer, Lords of Waterdeep casts you in the role of a faction in the City of Waterdeep. Mustering men-at-arms, rogues, wizards, clerics, and of course wealth, you earn victory points to propel your faction to victory. A game that's as much strategy as it is luck, the sheer number of factions and quests currently available (since this one also has a few expansions), can keep your games feeling new and fresh for a long time to come!

#4: Tyrants of The Underdark

For folks who want an evil version of #3...

Most of the games mentioned up to this point cast the players in the roles of heroes. You're a standard fantasy party, and in those there are rarely truly wicked characters. Tyrants of The Underdark, though, is all about seeing who is the baddest of the bad. Each player takes on a single house of Drow, and compete to recruit the worst monsters, to make the most calculated political maneuvers, and to infiltrate the most spies into their enemies' territories. And when the dust settles, whoever controls the largest number of the subterranean realm's environs is declared the Tyrant!

#5: Dungeons and Dragons Adventure System Board Games

A campaign in a box!

Rather than making #5 an individual game, I figured I'd mention the cooperative DND-themed line of Adventure System Cooperative Board Games that Wizards of the Coast has been putting out over the years. From the above-pictured Wrath of Ashardalon, to the classic Temple of Elemental Evil, up through Castle Ravenloft and Tomb of Annihilation, there are all kinds of options to keep on your shelf.

These games feel like the modern descendant of the classic Hero Quest, with multiple PCs, several different scenarios, and the ability to reach conclusion in roughly an hour or so. And while they aren't cheap, you get a lot of parts and pieces with your purchase that you can turn around and use in your regular tabletop campaign (including a free d20), so it's got double the value for those who run full RPGs on the nights when everyone can actually make it.

Would You Like To Know More?

My groups have had some troubles getting full attendance the past month or so, and as a result I've been trying to expand my range of alternative games. I've got a few other lists like this one I could post in future Moon Pope Monday updates, if folks would like to see them? If you've got strong opinions on the subject, please leave them in the comments below along with any games you feel should have made this list, but didn't!

Preferably games we can actually buy without getting a lucky, out-of-print find, if you please.

If you'd like to see more of my work, check out my Vocal and Gamers archives, and stop by Dungeon Keeper Radio where I help out over on YouTube! Or if you'd like to take a gander at some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To keep up with all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. I'm even keeping track of new releases and popular posts on Pinterest now, if that's your jam. Lastly, if you want to support me, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or going to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. Every nickel in the tip jar helps me keep creating content for you!