Your Alignment Isn't Your Motivation

It was the strangest alliance the kingdom had ever seen. Zal-Thuun, a necromancer whose name was whispered in fear when it was spoken at all, and Neren Ka, the sword of the shining light, should have been natural enemies. They were as light and dark, opposite in nearly every way. But even night and day touch during dawn and twilight, and despite their differences the two of them shared a single goal; preserving the capitol against the demon legion. And, united in that goal, they were a force that shook mountains, and which made the heavens tremble.

They agreed to disagree on the matter of when life truly ends, though.

Like it or hate it, the alignment system is a baked-in part of games that use it. It affects class features in many divine classes, it decides how certain spells affect you, and it can even decide how magic items react to your character. With that said, few mechanics will start arguments as quickly as alignment does. However, there is a trap regarding your character's alignment that players fall into all too often. In short, they choose their alignment first, and then base their character's behavior off of it.

I'd suggest doing it the other way around. Flesh out who your character is first, and then ask which alignment box you check based on their views and beliefs.

Motivation, Not Alignment, is What Drives You

While there's no spot for it on your character sheet, motivation is one of the most important aspects of the person you're piloting. It's their driving goal. It is why your character does what they do.

Yes, but WHY are you shooting zombies in the head?

Some motivations are simple. Your character has to earn a living, pay off a debt, or help out a friend. These are small motivations, and they work pretty well for getting your PC out of the inn and onto the road to the plot. But bigger motivations are also important, because you need to know where you're going. What does your character want out of life? Why aren't they a baker, or a butcher, or a simple town guard? Why didn't they take a teaching position at the university, or travel with the circus to show off their in-born magical talents?

In short, why are you going off the beaten path?

Motivation Can Often Stay The Same, Even if Alignment Shifts

How many times have you seen that villain whose goal is noble, but his methods of achieving it are evil? How many times did that villain start as the hero, only to slide into darkness because he could not achieve his ends with the tools he had available to him? His motivation never changed; he simply chose to go about it in a different way.

Sometimes you make sacrifices when you get into politics.

This could happen in a thousand different ways. For example, someone's goal might be to help take care of the poor. A crafty rogue might decide to steal from the rich, when it was made clear he could not persuade people to donate gold to a good cause, or earn enough legally to help everyone. It's a way to redistribute the wealth, and it ensures that the neediest are taken care of. It also ensures that those who can best absorb the loss are the ones being stolen from. Now, say the rich step up their security. The thief now has more challenges to face, and less margin for error. He may have to take more risks to get to the treasure, and he might have to grow more vicious. While his raids were previously bloodless, he might poison the guards, or cripple them, so they won't be able to bring him down. In time he might kill them to claim the treasure, sending a message that opposing his goals will lead to nothing but misery.

The original motivation never changed. The character is stealing money to make sure those in need can cover their expenses. But the nature of his work took a toll, and hardened him. It made him willing to do worse things in the name of helping others. It also meant the gold he offers is now soaked in blood. But can the desperate quibble about where it came from?

Or, for example, say there was a hunter whose goal is to protect his people. He does it his way, on his terms, using brutal attacks and butchery to weave fear into those who would advance on him and his. He enjoys the thrill of the kill, but the purpose is always to protect his territory. But what if there was another way? If he formed alliances, and made peace with words instead of holding enemies at sword point? Those diplomatic actions might force him to see his former enemies as people, and to understand that there are others who matter in the world. So, while he may keep his blades and skills sharp, violence may no longer be the tool he prefers because he knows there is no further recourse once blood is spilled. Peace is more permanent if it is willingly entered into, instead of enforced with a fist.

Motivation Allows Inter-Alignment Cooperation

One of the biggest problems I've seen DMs turn to the Internet for help on goes something like this. "So, two of my PCs are good, and two are evil. One is neutral. There's so much inter-party bickering that the game is falling apart. What do I do?"

Well, ideally you talk with your players and make it clear that everyone has to work together. But if your players need more than that, you should point to their characters' motivations. Even if they have different ideas about morality, they should all have a common goal in place. That common goal is what will allow them to overcome their differences to work together... even if it's just for a little while.

Fine, I will help you overthrow the prelate. If you swear to me you won't crucify him.

Whatever the goal of your campaign is, you need to build a motivation hook into every member of the party's story. The fighter wants to protect the village from goblin raids because these are good people, and he feels he has to step up. The rogue wants a crack at the swag the goblins have been stealing. The cleric is secretly a servant of an evil god, and he wants all this ruckus to quiet down before someone powerful shows up, and he risks blowing his cover. The bard? Well, the bard lives here, this is his town, and he wants to be able to sleep without checking his closets for the little green-skinned buggers.

Though this party might come from all ends of the alignment spectrum, and their individual motivations vary, they are unified in that they want these raids to stop. Period. So they'll likely set aside their differences long enough to handle that problem. And, by doing so, they might find they work well as a team. It's even possible that, through long-term association, evil could be redeemed, lawful could be bent, chaotic straightened out, or good tarnished. But your alignment is what you're willing to do to pursue your goals. It is not the goal itself.

No one is good for the sake of being good, or evil for the sake of being evil. And whether you're good or evil, lawful or chaotic, that doesn't preclude the sorts of goals and motivations you have. It just says something about the means you're willing to pursue to achieve your ends.

That's all for this week's Fluff post. Hopefully some folks found it thought-provoking, and that it is a useful way to frame debates at your tables. If you'd like to support Improved Initiative so I can keep producing content like this, drop by The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page. All it takes is $1 a month to help keep me afloat, and to get some sweet swag. Lastly, if you haven't followed me on Facebook, Tumblr, or Twitter yet, why not start today?

How To Roleplay During Combat

Most roleplaying games have some form of combat. While you're going to see a lot more battle in Warhammer 40,000 or Pathfinder than you might see in Call of Cthulhu there's always the potential for things to devolve into bullets and brawls. Some players feel that when you sit down at a table there are actually two different games being played; the role playing (where you interact with NPCs, put on voices, and act the story out) and the combat (where you roll dice and fire off numbers).

Just because you've rolled initiative is no reason to stop roleplaying though. As I mentioned in The Difference Between Roleplaying Games and Just Playing Make Believe combat is prime time for roleplaying. In fact you might even be overlooking some of the great opportunities you have to develop character and story.

Combat Is About More Than The Fight Itself

I don't know how many of you read my author blog The Literary Mercenary, but this week's post was Author's Fight Club: Rules For Writing Better Fight Scenes. In the event you didn't immediately click the link to see what brilliant advice I had for the authors among you I'd like to illustrate rule three from the list.

"The fight should be about more than just the fight."

It should be about me. Obviously.

I'll give you an example. Say one of the PCs who joins the party is a big man with a bastard sword over his shoulder. He claims he used to be a town guardsman, but has since gone freelance. He's reticent, though not unfriendly. When combat breaks out and he pulls steel though he becomes a whirlwind of death. He wields that weapon with grace and power, fighting in a style that is worlds removed from the cut-and-thrust drudgery one typically associates with military training.

The narration of how this character fights tells you things about him, and insinuates others. For example, it suggests that if he was a guard he was greatly over-qualified for the position. The fighting style might be foreign to the region, suggesting that he is either better-traveled than he looks or else had an exotic teacher. Other details like how he reacts to being hurt, and how he feels putting steel into other people, tell you more about him. Is he a dishonored knight? Was he a child soldier? does he come from a long line of dangerous warriors? Is this his first kill, or does he look like he's done this before? Who knows, but these are all things that you simply will not get to see in any situation outside of combat. Not only that, but if you have a really good group they're going to pick up what you're laying down, and what's discovered in combat may bleed into post-combat story (as it should).

Danger Reveals Character

Have you ever been sitting in a booth talking with friends who assure you they'd take a certain action when the chips were down? They'd stand up and tell cat-callers to show some respect, they'd offer help to someone who looked hurt, or give back money that they found because it wasn't theirs? Did you ever see them get the chance to put their money where their collective mouths were, and it turned out they did something else entirely?

Combat is like that taken to the extreme.

When the dice come out it's time for your characters to make literal life-and-death decisions. It shows what is important to them, and the choices they make will reflect who they are. Sometimes this might mean doing things that are dumb, or taking unnecessary risks, but it can bring a lot of flavor to your game.

For example when the cleric is down to one hit point and he has the chance to save himself with his final healing spell, or a shot to save the party by healing their warrior, what does he do? If the bard and the druid have become lovers and someone harms the singer will the druid immediately rush to his side to help, even if it puts the rest of the party at risk? The paladin has a firm code of honor, but will he stick to that code if violating its principals would let him save his companions?

This is stuff you are not going to get except in six-second rounds of drama.

Set Dressing

While completing personal plot arcs and making noble sacrifices is all well and good, you can't do that in every combat. What you can do though is figure out something dramatic for your character to do in order to help the rest of the table better picture the fight that's taking place.

Maximized burning hands, metal edition.

I talked about a lot of this in Dungeon Master Alchemy: Turning Stats Into Story but it bears repeating. When it comes to combat you need to ask yourself what your character is doing, and how that jives with his or her typical actions.

I'll give you some examples to show you what I'm talking about. Eric Blood might look like just another Ulfen thug, but he prides himself on his focus and control. He has rogue levels, and the sneak attack represents his pinpoint accuracy. So during a normal fight Eric might dance around his opponent to get a better position, using his longsword with skill and style.

Let's say he's fighting someone he hates though. Someone who's wronged him, and whom he intends to kill in a loud and nasty fashion.

Suddenly Eric's whole tone shifts. Blows become vicious, crippling things instead of just strategic attacks. He tosses aside his shield, and draws a dagger so he can get close and personal. When he stabs he twists the steel, making sure it comes away bloody.

In this situation nothing changed except for replacing a shield with a dagger. He's applying the same modifiers to his attacks, and doing the same weapon + sneak attack + stat damage. But the numbers fade into the background when they represent something different.

There are a lot of ways you can do this. Say you have a wizard who typically focuses on shaping the battlefield and helping her companions. When it comes time to throw evocation magic around her voice booms, and raw power crackles through the air. When she digs deep into her spells and unleashes necromantic energy the incantations feel chill, and whispers can be heard even through the roar of battle. Alternatively, say you have a barbarian who treats battle as sport, laughing and hurling insults at foes. When her rage begins though she focuses down entirely, and that smile is replaced by a hard, implacable mask. Perhaps you have a monk who, when his allies are threatened, adopts a strange, serpent-like style that results in crippled, weeping foes instead of the usual insensate-but-whole enemies.

The list goes on and on, really. The prayers your cleric offers up, the sensation of one type of healing magic over another, the grip your character has on a weapon, or even the language your character uses when fighting are all helpful ways to paint a picture of what's happening during a fight. Not only that but if everyone is involved in weaving this tapestry then there will be less attention wandering and fewer side conversations to distract from your RP.

In Order To Make This Work...

While it's totally possible to fully integrate combat into your RP there are a lot of roadblocks you need to overcome in order to make it easy for everyone. These roadblocks include:

- Being unsure how combat works/having no idea what you're going to do.

- Taking an inordinate amount of time to complete your action.

- Playing with a DM who doesn't match the group's participation.

In short the reason combat becomes a drag is because players (and sometimes DMs) let it drag on instead of keeping it tight and fast-paced. This is particularly true at higher levels where players can take more actions and do more powerful, more complex things. However if you want to minimize the chances of your combat becoming a slog you should do a few simple things:

- Stay focused. Sure going to the bathroom in the middle of a combat when it isn't your turn sounds fine, but you're going to miss everything the other players do, and have to be brought back into the loop. Stay off your smartphone, don't doodle on a sketch pad, and don't hold a conversation with your neighbor about that movie you saw last night.

- Roll all your dice at once. Roll your d20 + your damage dice at the same time. If you hit your damage is already there, and if you miss it doesn't matter. This saves a LOT of time when you get higher in level.

- Keep the RP going. Maybe you couldn't think of anything grand for your round, but don't just roll some dice, shake your head, and let the next person go. Say something, or give a bit of narration so you don't break the chain.

- Know your abilities. While there is a LOT to figure out in order to run through combat quickly you will save a huge amount of time by having your action in the pipe so all you have to do is pull the trigger instead of looking up three different things and re-reading eight passages. If you need to look something up do it when it isn't your turn if possible.

- Don't argue with the DM. One of the main sources of combat slog comes from debating a rule in the thick of things. Don't. Ask your question, read the rule aloud, get the DM's opinion, move on. If it's an issue work it out when combat is over.

There are other things unique to each table, and those have to be fixed on a case-by-case basis. The point is that combat is not a huge time sink meant to draw you out of RP and bog you down in numbers. It should be an opportunity to RP under extreme conditions, and to get your pulse pounding with some truly high adventure!

As always thanks for stopping by Improved Initiative, and if you'd like to support me then stop by The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page and pledge today! If you pledge during the month of March you'll also receive a free book! Lastly if you want to make sure you get all of my updates then you should also follow me on Facebook and Tumblr.

Animal Companions, Cohorts, and Familiars, Oh My!

Your character is the way you interact with and affect the game world. Whether you're an ancient vampire running Wall Street or a holy warrior standing against a tide of evil you have only this single skin to wear when you step into the game world.

Or do you?

I am a polymorphed dragon, and I want to be your friend.

Almost every game has a mechanic that grants you some form of companion. Whether it's a magical familiar, a supernaturally loyal bear, or just a sidekick you've picked up along your adventures there are plenty of rules that grant you a little bit of backup. These companions and followers are more than just one more set of mechanical bonuses to be used and forgotten though; they are a huge opportunity to roleplay, and to deepen your character's back story.

Who And What Are They?

The primary questions you need to ask is who and what your companions are. If you're a level one wizard that raven on your shoulder is more than just a talking bird; it's a part of your magic. It's a part of who you are and the journey you've taken. You have to ask yourself where and how you acquired it, what language you've taught it to speak, and what sort of relationship you've had with it. For instance, did your aunt give you the Corvax from her own aerie when she heard you had been accepted to wizard's college? Did you teach it to speak the language of your homeland so that no matter where you go you have a reminder of home near to hand? Does your raven have favorite foods like eyeballs? Is it solemn or profane, quiet or strident? Does it like people, or are you the only one it tolerates? Has it ever run off or gotten hurt?

A lot of questions for a level one caster, right?

The questions only get bigger the more powerful your companions become. How did the druid manage to tame a tiger? Did she raise it since it was a cub, or is it the gift of nature magic and worship that allows her to command the animal's loyalty? Is the animal a totem of her god, or a conduit to the forces of nature? If you acquired a cohort, how did you do it? What does that cohort want, and why did he or she approach you? What sort of bond do you begin with, and how does it change over time?

How Does Your Companion Change You?

Adding companions to the story does more than put another mini on the table; it forces you to deepen your primary character's back story to include this other character. This gives you a lot of opportunity to flesh out parts of your character you may not even have thought about. Is the companion someone from the character's past? Does the companion challenge the character's way of looking at the world, or give them a higher standard to rise to? Does the companion instead represent something your character once did, creating a real sense of continuity in your adventure?

Hellooooo Leadership!

Let's try some examples instead of working in the purely theoretical, shall we?

Say you have your stereotypical barbarian; big, brutish, angry, prone to outbursts and to challenge those he feels are disrespecting him. He's been gaining a reputation, and one day a young woman from his tribe wanders into town. She's looking for him because she wants to come along on his adventures.

What happens now? Does the barbarian maintain his uncouth ways, or does he attempt to appear more like a hero because someone who knows him in a way no one else does is now there to witness his behavior? Does he try to impress her? Is he protective of her? Does she know any embarrassing stories about him, or does she have a childish nickname for him that he never quite outgrew? Does he allow her to believe the swollen stories of his deeds, or does he tell her the truth about what he did and didn't do?

Let's try on another example. Say your paladin's mount is slain in battle, and she is grieving for the loss of her friend. Would her god see this and attempt to ease that suffering by sending a divine creature to serve in the mount's stead? Would the paladin accept the gift gratefully, or reluctantly? How long does she have to train with her new mount before the two of them achieve the oneness of mind and purpose that the paladin had with her original mount? What sort of relationship develops over time; do they become close, or will they always be two creatures simply serving the will of their master?

Examine Your Relationship Dynamics Carefully

Unless your storyteller takes control of these secondary characters they are the only characters other than your PC whose motives and actions you can really control. That also means that you can add to the collective story with them in meaningful ways.

Don't forget that these secondary characters are still characters, though. They have goals and desires and arcs all their own.

Sometimes they just want to watch the world burn... which is still a goal.

I'll give you a spoilery example (avert your eyes if you're playing Curse of the Crimson Throne). Early on in the game you get a chance to save a pseudodragon from captivity, and if you do so you can make him your friend. Spellcasters (my character Egil is tiefling rogue/magus in addition to being a town guardsman) can even convince Majenko to become a familiar. I did, and the sheer number of combats this cat-sized monkey wrench had ended with his sleep poison has become nearly legendary at the table.

Majenko is much more than just a self-absorbed house cat with scales and a stinger, though. Throughout the course of the adventure he's become a bosom companion to my tiefling, and has even shared in his crusade to return his city to order. Majenko has also fallen in love with a silver pseudodragon (one of my other followers), and the two of them have a brood in the Shingles of Korvosa. I have essentially written in a whole subplot about a character who was freed from slavery and who has fought by his friend's side, and who had to leave his family behind in order to help his best friend on a quest. While it might seem like fun and games, Egil has made it one of his sworn vows to return his friend back to his mate and his children. In essence having this friend turned a demonic-looking batman-with-a-badge into a more fully-fleshed character who has more emotions, connections, and reasons to step up and be a hero.

That's what adding secondary characters to your game can do; give you surprise character growth in addition to a dedicated healer or someone who's always willing to be your flank.

Also, check out one of the great stories of how a cohort not only expanded a single PC's plot, but helped alter the course of an entire game by looking at The Ballad of Baldric Brimstone.

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All That Glitters is Not Gold: Non-Monetary Rewards For Your RPG Party

Congratulations, you've conquered another dungeon! You've defeated the Beast of Brackenbridge, slain the wicked cult that brought it sacrifices, and laid to rest the victims of this vile monster. Your reward? A magic sword, and as much gold as you can carry. Again.

Sure, I guess. If that's all they've got.

The first few times players get this reward they're ecstatic. They're low-level adventurers who've been scraping by on a few spare copper pieces, and all of a sudden they're flush with cash and armed to the teeth. But how many times can you get the same reward before it loses its meaning? Three times? Five? How long before even epic level weapons (even ones created with this unique, alternative system for making magic weapons and armor) and enough gold to buy a country just feels like a ho-hum reward for your dragon slaying?

If you really want to keep your players interested, give them something they can't buy.

What Are You Talking About?

I'm glad you asked, bold Italic text. What I'm talking about is the concept of a non-numerical reward; something beyond XP, gold, and calculated magic items. These rewards aren't found on a table, and they don't require any number crunching on your part as the DM. Despite that though, these rewards may be what players talk about for years to come when they sit down to tell people about the coolest things their characters ever accomplished.

Status

Great deeds come with great rewards, but one of the most common rewards that gets left out of any game is a promotion. Take the cleric for instance. After serving faithfully and defeating the enemies of the church it would make sense for the lowly priest to be raised up to the position of chaplain, herald, or even Commander of the Faith. The post would come with increased responsibility, but it would also come with better quarters, access to more of the church's resources, and even lower-ranking priests to delegate responsibilities to.

Personal bodyguards in silly outfits are not out of the question.

The same is true no matter what game you're playing. Modern fantasy characters might be knighted by the faerie court, and given rank and power as well as access to the world between (actually being knighted is pretty damn cool no matter what game you're running). High fantasy warriors might be granted titles and land, elevated from sell swords to lords and ladies complete with heraldry and fiefdoms to oversee. Even something as simple as being moved up the ladder from patrolman to detective (sergeant to captain, watchman to inquisitor, etc., etc.) is a reward that will add more to the story and character development than any number of mechanical macguffins.

Reputation

Actions have consequences, and one of those consequences is a reputation. Whatever a character or a party does is going to leave its marks on them and on the world, whether for good or for ill. A pious quick draw specialist who always gets the first shot off may be known as the God's Gun. An acrobatic knife fighter known for her use of envenomed blades might earn the title of the Cobra Queen, the Poison Woman, or the Pestilent Princess. A heavy-handed gangland enforcer might earn the word "iron" before his name, and a slick-talking rogue who could make you believe anything might be dubbed The Salesman.

No one asked why they called Yuri the Horn Blower.

Fame or infamy, if you have a character who's done anything then that character is going to be known for that act by someone. The bigger the actions characters take, the bigger that reputation is going to loom. At earlier parts of the campaign characters might just be known by a small quarter of a city, or maybe by a small town. Once the party really hits its stride and the tales start getting told characters should be hard-pressed to go somewhere they are't recognized (unless they take steps like not wearing signature pieces of gear, disguising their faces, or making sure that the bards telling stories give purposefully false descriptions of the characters in question).

Giving characters a reputation among certain parts of the game world makes them feel more organic. It might also mean they can avoid some fights (since no one wants to challenge the Coffin Maker to a duel), get special treatment, or be sought out by plot hook NPCs who require men and women of their skills and abilities.

Following

Anyone who gains fame will also develop a following. A knight of great renown might draw crowds to a tournament if word gets out that he'll be riding in the joust, for instance. An infamous wizard might find acolytes at her door, begging for the privilege of becoming her apprentice. Characters who have renown, good or ill, will inevitably have people who want to learn from them, be like them, and pledge themselves to that character's service.

The Bowman's Children are not to be trifled with.

Sure there are ways to gain followers mechanically. Pathfinder, Dungeons and Dragons, World of Darkness, Savage Worlds, all of these game systems and many more besides provide ways for your character to have a set number of followers. However, while characters can use these rules to buy followers, simply purchasing them can be more mechanics than roleplay oriented. This is the primary reason many storytellers won't let players use these rules to add more characters to the party; in the wrong hands these rules can be bent till they scream.

The point is that a following and followers are similar, but different. If a character has followers then that means a player has a specific set of NPCs he or she can call on, and it can put a small army at a PC's beck and call. A following on the other hand can be an amorphous pool of people who are there for roleplay purposes, but whose mechanical capacity is entirely up to the storyteller. Followers can be bought, but a following is earned as a product of roleplay and a character's actions in the story.

But What About Loot?

What about it?

Ooooh... what does this do?

No one said to stop giving players magic items, XP, and money (again though, you might want to consider these alternative systems for generating magic weapons and armor to keep things interesting). I'd be willing to bet that special items, whether they're super-science gadgets in Spycraft or enchanted steel in the Iron Kingdoms, will always be a solid present for your players. But if you want to keep them interested and striving as hard as they can it's a good idea to create some rewards tailored to fit what they've accomplished in game so far.

And for DMs who just want lower-cost loot that is worth less than a gold piece (but which is still useful while adding flavor to your game), you might want to check out 100 Pieces of Miscellaneous Tat To Find. I wrote this guide for Azukail Games some time back, and it's ideal for giving treasure that isn't really all that valuable. The original was written for Pathfinder, but there's a system-neutral version, too.

I'm not suggesting you give status, reputation, and position instead of loot... rather, try to diversify the rewards you give your players. Because these kinds of non-monetary achievements let them feel like they're having an effect on the game world rather than just playing through a pre-determined set of rails with occasional loot drops. That individual attention, and an award tailored specifically to a given gaming experience, is something you won't be able to find on a random rolling table.

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6 Crucial Tips For New Pathfinder Players

How do you know when people are reading your blog? Well mostly it's the numbers that your host is kind enough to feed you on a daily basis, but a good indication that people are reading it and like what you're doing is that they ask to guest post. This week we have a guest post from first-time contributor Jon Perry. Big thanks to Jon for stepping forward to fill this week's slot, and I hope you all enjoy what he has to say.

Also, apologies for the finnicky formatting. As always if you want to follow Improved Initiative just toss your email into the box on the top right, or follow me on Facebook and Tumblr. I'll make sure you get the updates.

Tough crowd, tough crowd.

6 Crucial Tips for New Pathfinder Players

Being new to the world of tabletop gaming can be intimidating; but every gamer from the casual hobbyist to the 30 year Dungeons and Dragons veteran had to start somewhere. If you're starting with Pathfinder then bravo! You’re immersing yourself in a world of lore and adventure, where the unthinkable can (and most likely will) happen. Listed below are a few tips for new players; following these tips will make for a rich and enjoyable experience. These tips apply to more than only Pathfinder players, though. Any player new to role playing can find some critical advice below.

1. Don’t forget the back story!

This is one a must for all role players; most role playing games are as much a story as they are a game. A character that has a history organic to the world you play within is always more developed and rounded than one who is not. This is also critical to giving life to the character you’ve created.

Example: Raya Nesus is a level 1 Human Sorceress. That’s rather bland in itself, no? Where does her flavor come from? Perhaps she was born an orphan, was a victim to the slave trade, or her one true love abandoned her. A back story with detail will help create your character’s attitude, quirks, and motives in the campaign at hand.

2. Make sure that your Game Master (or GM to-be) knows that you are new or inexperienced.

When you alert the GM you're new you're not making yourself look dumb or making yourself a target. What you are doing is making sure that he/she is willing to move slowly for you, and help you along during gaming sessions. The vast set of rules within the world of Pathfinder can be intimidating, and it can be easy for new adventurers to become overwhelmed quickly.

Example: “Hey, Joe! I’m new to Pathfinder, and I just wanted to double check that it’s okay if I need a bit of help during the gaming session on Saturday.”

3. Start Small!

As I’ve stated before, Pathfinder can be incredibly intimidating to new players. In order to minimize the effect this has on your experience, start small. That means that you’re better off starting with core classes, and core races. These are the classes and races presented within the Core Rulebook, all of which are simple and to the point (though still customizable).

Example: A Half-Dragon Wayang Wizard 2/Two Weapon Warrior 4/Celebrity 1/Scout 1?How about a Human Fighter 8?

4. Accept the inevitability of character death

Characters, like people, die. The inevitability of death in our world is real enough, but in the dangerous world of Pathfinder it should be expected. Many gamers get angry or frustrated when a character dies, and that’s okay, but it shouldn’t negatively impact your gaming experience. The duration of a character’s in-game life is nothing compared to the quality of his adventures and personality. Sometimes things have to fall apart to make way for better things.

Example: ”Maximus Awesomus is dead! Agh, *insert angry slurs here*, he was my favorite character! Well, at least I had a blast playing him, and he was super memorable. Now, time to write up Maximus AwesomER…”

5. Keep Yourself Involved in the Role Playing!

As stated earlier Pathfinder is as much of a story as it is a game, and your character is a protagonist of that story. How many protagonists sit back and end up having absolutely no interaction with the world around them? None, duh! It’s easy to get distracted during a long session, but making sure you stay involved is important. Don’t forget that YOU are helping to write the story, and you should have fun doing it! Not to mention, it makes for a more memorable and flavorful character.

Example: As the party sits in a tavern, you decide that your Orcish Bard is going to get himself a wench. As he goes around the bar, he asks women if they’d like to play his…flute. With disgusted faces, they all turn away or run. Poor Gronkl begins to tear up, he doesn’t understand why everyone dislikes him so.

6. Last But Not Least, Have Some Fun!

Nobody plays a Role Playing game in 100% seriousness. Pathfinder is about having fun, and maybe escaping reality for just a bit. It’s okay to be caught up in the gameplay and mechanics, but when push comes to shove you should be having fun. Don’t sweat the small stuff, and make sure that your actions make the game enjoyable for everyone.

Example: “I can’t believe we actually did it! Best session ever!”

So here you have it, 6 simple, but critical tips for anyone new to Tabletop Gaming or Role Playing. With these tips in mind, your foray into the world of Pathfinder should be painless and easy. Trust me, you’ll find yourself enjoying the game in no time. Until next time, happy gaming!

How to Keep Your Magic Items From Getting Mundane

You know how in video games like Diablo or World of Warcraft magic items tend to have names along with stats? More often than not though the names don't mean anything; they aren't plot relevant, they don't reference anything in the game you've encountered thus far, and they don't alter the appearance of your avatar's gear. After half a dozen levels you stop noticing the names at all, or really paying attention to anything other than the bonuses the items in question provide you.

Don't let that happen to your tabletop game.

The Problem

It happens in every game, from Pathfinder to Changeling; magic eventually becomes so commonplace and accepted that players aren't impressed by it. Whatever guise it takes, be it mutant powers, super science, holy light or incantations, the point is that things which would once have wowed your players are now expected and relegated the background information. It goes something like this:

"You find a magic sword."

"What's the bonus?"

"It's a +1 bonus."

"Pfft, I've got a +2. Toss it on the pile, we'll sell it."

Doesn't it seem like only a few levels ago a magic sword would have had the party at each other's throats for who got to keep it? Yes, part of the blase attitude is that the bonus is no longer as impressive. That said, presentation makes a world of difference when we're discussing magic items.

What Does It Look Like?

Meh, put it with the other hell globes.

Telling the party they've found a +2 longsword, or a hedgespun suit of armor doesn't really do much for the imaginative mind. On the other hand the more description you as the storyteller provide, the more real the item in question will be to the player.

Try an experiment. In the same horde have players find a "+1 magic dagger" and "an exquisite dagger wrought from blackened steel. Light shimmers across the blade like a stolen rainbow, and the soft leather of the hilt seems to mold itself to your hand." Now make them the exact same weapon, mechanically. Which one do you think players are going to want?

There are all kinds of details you can apply to magic items. Is there an inscription along the hilt or the blade? What language is it in? Does the weapon have a name (one of my personal favorites)? What material is it made of? For a mace, is the steel bright or dark? If it's a wand is it carved from wood or bone? Does the weapon feel cold to the touch or warm? Does it have a sheathe? Does it respond to being touched, and does it alter in battle?

A sword that's just a sword until it's drawn with intent to kill becoming cleaner, sharper, and making a distinctive ringing sound can make things quite interesting. For more storytelling hints, check out this blog entry on showing versus telling.

Make Them Work For It

I stab the bard with it... what happens?

Like I discussed in this previous blog entry, you should always endeavor to get your players in on the act of storytelling whenever possible. This means that you as the storyteller shouldn't just hand players magic items with nothing but a numbers description. Sure the weapon we're looking at is a +2 holy greatsword, but how do they figure that out? Does the wizard correctly identify the magic bound into the weapon? Does the bard recognize the maker's mark near the hilt, or remember a story about a brilliant, flashing sword once wielded by a paladin years and years ago in this very region? Does the fighter who worships the goddess whose holy symbol is prevalent lift the weapon and feel a tingling in her skin as the weapon recognizes one of its own?

Yes you will eventually need to tell players what the weapon's stats are. By the time you get there though, those numbers should be the icing on the cake.

Make Them Harder to Get

Can you believe they just left these laying here? All 30 of them?

By the time players hit a middling amount of power they buy magic items like every town has an enchanted steel depot. How many times have you as the storyteller heard a player say "yeah, I'm just going to upgrade my weapon from a +2 to a +3 before we head out to the dungeon."

Who's doing that? If your players are the most accomplished adventurers in the land, who is powerful enough to enchant their equipment in a backwater burg? Nobody, that's who.

What I'm not suggesting is that you refuse to let your players buy magic items, upgrade their equipment, or force everyone to take craft feats in order to make the magic themselves. But if players come to accept that every hamlet and village has a learned steel smith wise enough to increase the magic in their weapons then they won't realize how special those items really are. If someone can buy a holy avenger in the corner of any old store, then why should players be awed to find it?

Don't Be Afraid to Give Your Items a Story

There's a story behind every one of these bad boys.

Spoiler alert! In the first book of Carrion Crown your party is attacked by a possessed man from town. If you kill him then you have to deal with the fallout, but if you just knock him out the possession ends and when he awakens he realizes that he's misjudged the party. To make amends he offers them his old armor, which he wore when he was a young adventurer himself. It went to my paladin (the same guy who one-shotted a dracolich later in life), and the ST told us it was +2 ghost touch chain mail.

I could have just left it at that, but I didn't. I designed a crest on the mail, and created a specialized unit our random NPC had been a part of called the Gallows Hunters who specialized in tracking down undead and slaying unquiet ghosts. I put so much work into it that the ST occasionally had people recognize it and realize my paladin was not a man to fool with if he was wearing that armor.

Not every magic item will have an epic story, but every item should be more than just a collection of numbers. A faerie-spun surcoat with cloth woven from honor and promises that protects the wearer as long as he or she remains true is a lot cooler than just filling in some armor dots on your sheet. A rune-etched battleaxe with the names of every previous wielder down through the years engraved on the blade is just a little edgier than a dwemered wood cutting tool. Giving magic items stories of their own does more than make them interesting though; it challenges players to make that story part of their own story. Does the Bloody Blade of Balthazar eventually have it named changed because of the man who wielded the sword against its infernal creators redeemed it somehow? Does a druid become famed for carrying a staff carved from the last of a great ent tribe?

These are things that can add a lot of fun to any game, and keep players coming back for more.


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Tips For Roleplaying Monstrous Characters

Roleplaying games are all about escapism, and one of the most extreme forms of escapism is playing a monstrous character. Whether it's a vampire living out an immortal existence in the shadows or an orc war-chief seeking blood and glory, monstrous player characters have a certain appeal to them. For players who really want to get into the inhuman spirit though, it's important to really develop that persona. This week Improved Initiative would like to provide a few helpful hints.

See through their eyes. Or don't, if you don't have psychotropic drugs handy.

What Can They Do?

The easiest way to really make characters pop is to look at their abilities and ask how that would show up in day-to-day life. Monstrous characters are, well, monsters, and what they are shapes the way they view the world.

Let's start off with an easy example; take the tiefling. A tiefling with a prehensile tail will not move in a human way because of the additional balance this limb provides. Since the tail can draw items from a belt the character might use it to grasp objects in daily life without a second thought. Alternatively, a player might create a whole system of etiquette regarding the tail. The tail drooping might be a sign of submission, whereas whipping it back and forth could be a sign of aggression. The tail curled around the waist, or wrapped around the leg, might be a sign of fear or comfort. There could even be a sort of secret sign language amount tailed tieflings.

Let's try a few others. An ifrit naturally has fire resistance 5, and we may assume that's been the case since birth. How has that affected the character's outlook? Does she sit on stoves or sun herself on hot rocks? Does she rub a hot coal across her forehead when she has a headache, the way other races might use ice? Does she cook without utensils, simply plunging her hands into hot coals to take out meals without a second thought?

If someone is playing a dwarf, does that characters read or play cards in the dark since having darkvision makes the need for a light source moot? Do elves reference events from generations past, and then remember abruptly that may have been two or three generations before the rest of the party was even alive (sort of like how your grandparents will talk about what a building was fifty years ago like it was yesterday)? If a character has the ability to scent like an animal, will he refuse to go into certain places like low-quarter taverns or perfume shops because of his sensitive proboscis?

Whatever a character can do, if it's part of his or her nature ask yourself how it shaped that person's worldview and how it might make them act very strangely when compared to more regular humans.

Where Do They Come From?

After he was demoted though, we summered in Acheron. Lovely hot springs.

If you've ever been to another country, or even to an event like Gen Con or the Pennsic War, you've experienced culture shock. Things you didn't even know you took for granted, like running water or the fact that no one in the room would understand the game references you're making, are thrown right out the window.

Now ask yourself what kind of cultural norms inhuman characters grew up with.

How would a vampire who was originally born and raised in the time of William Wallace adapt to the world around him? Or one made during the reign of Vlad the Impaler, or during the voyage of Leif Erikson? Would the paranoia and casual brutality of the Middle Ages, or the cultural cornerstones of the Roman Empire just fall by the wayside, or would those habits cling for life? Unlife... whatever.

If you don't want to do a bunch of historical research, then how would characters from different planes of existence act? Would an Aasimar raised on the celestial plane be able to lie? Or steal? Would the character understand concepts like hunger, or want? How would monstrous characters who grew up segregated among their own kind act, particularly if the common culture of the world is still foreign to them? Would a half-orc raised by orcs take meeting one's eyes as a challenge, thus forcing him to punch people who were only trying to be friendly? Would a creature with djinni blood, or natural lycanthropy be confused that there are people who are born without the abilities they possess? Would they keep those abilities to themselves out of politeness or the fear of being mocked? Might they instead look down on those who couldn't change their form, or float on a gust of wind?

Once you understand the culture that spawned your character, it leads to a lot of interesting twists. Don't be afraid to get creative either.

What's The Character's Primary Language?

You wanna say that one more time, real slow, in English?

I've harped on this one before (right here in this blog entry, in fact), but the language your characters speak influences so much about who they are, how they think, and how they act. You see this all the time in real world languages and professional jargon. There is a Russian slang term whose rough translation means "I love you, but hate you in this moment." One word. German has a word that means "to enjoy someone else's misery." These are more than funny linguistic turns; they inform the sort of outlook your character might have on the world.

Here's a personal example. I was playing a dwarven paladin, and the elf triggered a trap that dropped large rocks on her head. The dwarf laughed, and I belted out a completely made-up sounding word. The party asked what it meant and I explained to them it was a dwarven word which meant to have large rocks fall upon one's head in a tunnel that otherwise looked safe. I proceeded to explain other words, and built a culture around the idea that every kind of accident involving stone, from huge cave-ins to single rock injuries had a specific word in dwarven. There were over forty-five by the time I finished my aside. They had one word for sky though, and they took it from Common. Their subterranean culture simply had no need for a concept they rarely had to face.

Non-human characters tend to get racial languages for free; the concepts of these languages can shape perspective. If one learned Infernal before common, is there a strict, grammatical order that must always be followed for every concept? How many different words are there for the different parts of a negotiation? Would that lead to a clipped, precise manner of speaking? If someone learned Elven first, does that character have a lilting accent and a slow style of speech? Do words tend to refer to concepts as a whole, reflecting the elven view that all things are connected and cannot be individualized? If someone speaks goblin, are there personal pronouns? Or would a goblin have to use her proper name, or a phrase like "this one" because she comes from a brood-style society where individuality doesn't matter as much?

In The End

At the end of the day what makes monstrous characters unique is the same things that make human characters unique; a distinct sense of personality, feelings, and a compelling story. While some players might not look twice at a human character who seems to be a little too similar to the man behind the character sheet, people might start rolling their eyes if the half-ogre starts talking and acting just the like player who gave him life.


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Dungeon Master Alchemy: Turning Stats Into Story

Numbers are the basis of most roleplaying games. In the World of Darkness you have dots, in Pathfinder you have skill ranks and ability scores, and in Deadlands you have traits and backgrounds, but at the end of the day they're all different names to describe what player characters can and can't do in the game world. These statistics are meant to help participants get a proper image of what's happening when they start rolling dice, and in order to build an effective character it's important for players and storytellers both to understand how these mechanics work together. That said though, there's something important to keep in mind.

Statistics, by themselves, are boring as hell.

My stats have bigger dicks than your stats.

If you want to make your game sessions interesting, push the story forward, and keep everyone's collective heads in the game, here are some rules you might want to institute when it's time to rattle the bones.

Rule #1: Visualize the Violence

Every roleplaying game on the market has violence in it. In some games, like Pathfinder and Dungeons and Dragons, that violence takes center stage. In other games, such as Vampire: the Requiem or Grimm, it's often a little more low key. Game designers know that sooner or later (probably sooner) a character is going to try and solve the plot by kicking it in the crotch. So when that violence happens you need to ask yourself one question; what the hell does it look like?

Make us feel this. I dare you.

Combat is very easy to muddle. Between attack rolls, damage rolls, skill checks, the number of actions a player can take, and which special abilities are being used it's easy to lose track of what's going on. Combat is supposed to be fast-paced and tense though, and numbers tend to put a blockage between the player and the action. As such, it's a good idea to encourage more description and roleplaying to keep everyone involved.

Players can go big or small with their narrations, depending on their comfort levels. For instance, if players don't want to take a lot of time they might add a little flair to their combat round with something like, "Arturo springs forward, rapier darting for the zombie's face." That's easy, it's serviceable, and it's worlds better than "I attack." If a player is feeling more verbose though, there's no reason to hold back. "Fangor crashes his hilt against his shield, charging forward and bellowing 'death to the unbelievers!', laying about him with reckless abandon," is a little more descriptive. Every player gets a moment in the spotlight, and they should feel free to make the most of it to add their own narration to the scene.

Once attacks have been made though, it's the storyteller's turn to pick up the thread. Say that Arturo the dashing swordsman rolled a 2 on his attack, which is a solid miss. That doesn't necessarily mean that the fighter who's trained his entire life in the martial arts suddenly becomes a fumble-fingered fool. Perhaps his sword glanced off the zombie's skull rather than piercing through its eye. Perhaps the corpse wheeled right unexpectedly, and the sword sailed past. If the creature has a weapon or a shield, maybe it parried. Showing the enemy's competence keeps the fight tense, and all participants stay riveted on the action.

Let's flip back over to Fangor the barbarian. Maybe his player's on fire, and she rolled a natural 20 on the attack. She confirms the critical hit, and deals some significant damage. The entire table heard how much damage she dealt; it's the storyteller's job to tell the players what that damage looks like. So, does Fangor's broadsword cleave up through a bandit's skull in a spurt of blood and brains? Does the warrior instead slam the sword up under his enemy's armpit, ramming it in through the heart? Or does he simply cut deeply across the other man's guts, doing him great harm without killing him outright? That's the sort of thing the storyteller should be doing. By giving players a real sense of what effect they're having, and allowing a moment to shine, the battle goes from an exchange of die rolling and number writing to real, visceral storytelling.

Also, don't forget that this can work the other way when the monsters attack the players. If they hit, let players be dramatic. If the monsters miss, let players explain how and why. Back and forth is great for scene building.

Rule #2: Selling Your Spells

Whether you're playing a high fantasy sorceress, a modern-day magus, or you've slipped on the skin of a vampire, characters with supernatural abilities need to work a little bit harder to do their part when it comes time to step into the spotlight.

Otherwise this is what you'll look like. Seriously.

Just as fighters have to describe swinging swords and combat styles, magic-workers need to take the rules and claim them as their own. For instance, practically every game with magic has a spell that lashes out at enemies from a distance with a wave of energy. What does it look like when your character uses it? Some players might choose to use hand movements, doing some semi-arcane gesticulating before rolling a die. Others might speak a short series of Google translated words in Latin, German, or Japanese. Players who are less hands-on might describe a nimbus of blue light, or a shout that travels like a wave before smashing into the target. Spells that open pits in the ground could be accompanied by stomping a foot in the dirt, and those which grant flight might come with an avian howl or a halo of celestial light.

Magic and the supernatural is a prime example of "show, don't tell" (more on that here). For instance, if players are going up against a necromancer who summons a stream of black tendrils that sap away a fighter's strength, don't just tell the players what spell was cast unless they know what it is in-character. Describe the bells and whistles that go with the magic to keep the mood going. This happens with creatures that have some ability to shrug off damage, or who can regenerate health quickly. Whether players are fighting werewolves or dragons though, don't just say "not all of your damage went through." How? Why? Did the bullet wound close back up, pushing the slug back out? Did a thick hide prevent the knife from cutting deep enough? Does the crossbow bolt simply sit there, with no blood oozing out of the cold, dead flesh?

Rule #3: No Out of Character Numbers

It's easy for statistics on the character sheet to be used as short hand for in-character description. We talk about strength scores, hit points, dots of presence, etc., when what we need to be doing is taking a moment to discuss what other players are seeing.

You see a man with bronze skin, and an 18 strength.

In the aftermath of a battle, players should never say how many health levels they've lost. Instead, they should describe the sort of damage they've taken. Is the party leader limping because she took a stab wound in her calf? Does the cop who went toe-to-toe with the hungry dead have cuts on his arms and cheeks, or is there a seeping wound in his side just beneath his flak jacket? Is the knight simply singed, or has his skin been blackened by the dragon fire he walked through? These are things you need to know.

The same is true when it comes to first meetings or in-character description. A player shouldn't say "a bard walks up, flashing a smile that lets you know he has an 18 charisma or better." Sure, players at the table know what that means in game terms. Talking like that takes players out of their in-character head space though, and it doesn't really do much to explain what people are looking at. A better way to handle this might be to say something like, "a man strolls up to the party, his thumbs hooked behind his belt. He's brightly dressed, but chain armor glints beneath his shirt, and the short sword at his side looks very well-used. He grins, and when he tosses his hair back you can see his ears narrow to a point. His voice is pleasant, and it catches the ear of passerby." This is a pretty simple explanation of what a half-elf bard looks like, but at no point in time was he described using the words "half-elf" or "bard".

This goes for monsters and NPCs as well as PCs. Storytellers shouldn't use the names of creatures characters wouldn't know, even if the players do. Those who live in the mountains and have fought goblins their whole lives will recognize goblins when they come boiling out of caves to spring a trap. However, the exact nature of a spell-stitched ghoul might elude characters who are not experts in the arts of necromancy, or who have not made extensive studies of the undead. Storytellers can keep a lot of drama in a scene by keeping the players guessing about what is happening. Giving the players too much information calms their nerves and leaves them confident about their chances. Don't tell them. If they want to know the details, then players need to make in-character observations about the world in which they live.


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In Their Own Words: Finding Your Character's Voice

Creating a character you can get into isn't an easy process. You need to know who this character is, where he or she came from, as well as facts like age, gender, ethnicity, race, religious views, fighting style, education, family life, and a hundred other things that aren't listed here. When you've finally figured all of that out, and you have a fully-fleshed concept in your head, you still have the biggest hurdle of all left to jump; finding that character's voice.

Some masks are harder to put on, than to take off.

Giving a character the right voice is perhaps one of the most important things a player can do, especially in the absence of costuming and virtual avatars. Everything from timbre to word choice plays into it, and everything has to fit together to create a unique, complete whole. It can be a little intimidating at first, so we here at Improved Initiative have put together a list to help you express your characters in their own words.

Tip #1: Accent

An accent is one of the first things you notice when talking to someone. If someone is British, German, Russian, Indian, etc. you notice. Accents are indicative of a geographic upbringing, and that can be used to intimate things about a character. This is especially true if the common language of the land was not the language your character was born speaking.

Ask yourself where your character was born, where she grew up, and what languages she speaks. Also ask if your character has an ear for languages, and can speak them fluidly and flawlessly. Lastly, ask if your character's biology would lead to any kind of linguistic quirks. If your character is a half-orc chieftan who is more comfortable with orc, gnoll, and giant, then his common might be guttural. It might also be hard to understand him if he has tusks, which could lead to him speaking in short, terse sentences even if he knows the language well. If your character is a human learned in esoteric lore, then she might be able to read and comprehend the language of inhuman Outer Gods and other ancient beings. She might have difficulty speaking that language with only a single tongue, though.

Another handy thing about accents is they can make it very clear when you're in character, and when your character is speaking a different language. That lack of confusion is appreciated by storytellers and by fellow players both. For those who need examples of accents, this video by the very talented Amy Walker goes through 21 accents seamlessly in less than 3 minutes.

Tip #2: Word Choices

What words a person chooses to use says a lot about them. If a person was raised in a folksy environment, then backwoods slang will always be part of that individual's vernacular. If someone was raised to the priesthood, or spent a life as an academic, then that person might use precise words with a lot of syllables, or make references to books and learning other characters wouldn't know about. Career soldiers may speak in clipped sentences full of slang picked up during training, and performers may use sensational word choices that draw the ear and intrigue the listener out of habit.

Which words a person chooses to use is a reflection of what they know, and who they are. It might also be a projection the character uses to create a certain impression. If a canny barbarian knows people will underestimate him if they think he's stupid, he might deliberately use simple words, or even the wrong words, despite knowing better.

Tip #3: Linguistic Tics

Every person has his or her own, unique way of speaking. These idiosyncrasies go beyond an accent or a culture, and they make a person's speech pattern unmistakable. The often used trope of "hulk speak", where a character speaks largely in third person and uses simple or childish terms for more complex concepts, is a common one among characters who are not very smart.

These tics can be big things or little things. Does your character have good diction? Does the character have a catch-phrase, like "trust me" or "the gods will as the gods wish"? Does the character speak one way when in the public eye, and another way in private? How does your character's speech change with emotion? Is a character terse or verbose? Does the character swear a lot, and are the curse words real-world swears or are they curses used in the game world? Does the character use derogatory phrases for members of a certain profession, race, sex, etc.? All of these things can speak volumes about the character in question.

Tip #4: Pitching It

Perhaps the easiest trick in the book for making a character's voice sound different from your normal speaking voice is to pitch it. If a character is small or slight, then a higher-pitched voice would help create that visual. If a character is barrel-chested, or of a large stature, then making your voice deeper will help reinforce that image.

Adding qualities to your voice can take practice, but it can be very useful as audio shorthand. A rasping voice might represent a life of hard use, or an injury/scar on the throat that never healed right. Speak in a monotone if a character feels little emotion, or to show someone constantly distracted by interior thoughts. Put a growl in your tone for someone that's aggressive. Movies, plays, and audio dramas are great places for even more examples.

Tip #5: What Isn't Being Said

Quit looking, it's not on your sheet.

Language is how ideas and culture are expressed. Sometimes what people don't say can be just as important as what actually passes their lips.

What does that even mean? Well, it means that if a culture doesn't understand an idea, then there won't be a word for it. For instance, if someone was raised speaking infernal would there be a word for "apology", or would the nearest translation be, "I acknowledge your suffering"? Would abyssal have a word for "friend"? Does orc have a word for "love"? The languages characters speak, and the cultures they come from, influence how they act and what ideas make sense to them.

Wait, one more! Is there a goblin word for "self-preservation"?


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