RPG Rules Editions Episode.026

You reach up to grab the flying Roc who is passing over your head, rolling for acrobatics….er…dexterity.  Acrobatics was removed in this edition.  You roll for damage with your longsword+1 that’s right.  Numerically magic items are no longer in this edition either.  So just add your strength modifier to the roll.  What’s that?  Oh now it’s just a fixed amount depending if you have a strength score over a certain number.  I’m pretty sure that’s what the rules says.  *sigh* Hold on, let me look it up.

Roleplaying editions are always going to happen both from a financial and efficient point of view.  No one can expect to make one set of rules and expect to make money off the series indefinitely.  Even if you saturate the market with supplemental material such as adventure modules, campaign settings, and new rule addendums, sooner or later it’s going to dry up.  So new editions have to come out.  Some companies enjoy making their old systems “obsolete” while others add an insert into the book that assists GMs on converting the rules over, which can be a chore if you have dozens of books on the shelf unless it can be done quick and easy on the fly.  Older materials are never truly obsolete.  It may be out of print, more expensive through resellers, or harder to find, but if you invested in all of those old edition books, you have more than enough material to run an effective campaign.  Yes, if you want the newer rules system you will have to “rebuy” all of the books that you essentially already own, but what is the difference between doing that and buying an entirely different system from another publisher?  One could argue that many editions are very similar to each other with only a few updated rules that look more appealing but are not enough to justify a rebuy of the lot.  One in particular is one of my favorite roleplaying systems, Call of Cthulhu.

CoC came about back in the 80s based off the series of books and short stories by H. P. Lovecraft who wrote from about the 1910s to 1940s focusing on unknown horrors and cosmic fear.  The RPG that came about from the publisher Chaosium has now witnessed the passing of 7 editions of the system.  However, the core concept of the rules has remained fairly consistent throughout the years with just enough change to make it curiously more appealing than the last.  Typically it is not necessary to purchase more than one edition of this system in order to enjoy the initial purpose of the game.  Instead the new editions are a combination of occurring when the previous series is close to running out of prints and when the publisher feels a new edition might attract newcomers to the game.

However, not all moments in new editions are truly justifiable.  When the 3^rd edition of Dungeons & Dragons was released in 2000, many gamers enjoyed the new concept of the classic game since the previous edition back in 1989.  It was a surge for the game system to both revitalize the industry and to assure the company would avoid bankruptcy.  Unfortunately, back in 1997, when the publisher TSR was facing imminent Chapter 11, Wizards of the Coast, most famous for the creation of Magic: the Gathering, bought out TSR with dreams of capitalizing even more money.  Ironically enough, their card game has made far more revenue than all of the editions they have produced combined.  The unfortunate situation came about just 3 years after their production of 3^rd edition was released when they released a ½ edition, which as far as I know has almost never happened in publication.  With the release of 3.5, the changes to the system were minor yet a few significant changes made for considerably more arguments and confusion as to whether a rule was from 3.0 or 3.5 editions.  The ½ edition was released in hardback and sold for the same amount as the three core books of 3^rd edition.  This naturally sparked a lot of outrage among gamers after having invested in a system that really felt that it was obsolete at the time.  The truth in this statement was, unlike other editions that simply run its course, 3^rd edition had barely been out with minimal supplemental material before a new edition was released that improved on several rule choices.

Keep in mind that the distance between 2^nd and 3^rd edition as 11 years, Wizards of the Coast produced 3.5 in 2003, 4^th edition in 2008 (only 5 years later), and their latest 5^th edition released in 2014 (6 years later).  In the course of 14 years, 4 separate editions have been released.  However, they are not the only system to have produced numerous editions in a short amount of time.  Call of Cthulhu first released their game in 1981, which followed with a 2^nd edition in 1983, 3^rd in 1986, 4^th edition in 1989, 5^th in 1992, a few ½ editions around 2000, 6^th in 2004, and the most recent 7^th edition in 2014.  Oddly enough, as Chaosium makes later editions, the distance between each one has steadily increased.

Personally, I am a sucker for some rule systems that I will invest in each edition for the shelf collection if I particularly enjoy the system (or it just looks good on the shelf).  Paizo’s Pathfinder has a nice, consistent production line in their layout, which does look attractive when laid together.  However, it is completely absurd to become irate at a company for producing a new edition “too soon.” when what you have is ample enough to run an efficient and enjoyable game.  Even if you just have the core books for 3.0 D&D, if you enjoy the game and the rules fit your style of play, then use them and ignore 3.5.  If one of your players is insisting you, as a GM, adapt to 3.5 or another rule system, keep an open mind and offer to read into it as long as they loan the material to you.  There is no sense in you investing into a product you aren’t 100% interested in only to satisfy a player or two.

Also keep in mind that many conventions and gaming stores will lower the price of previous rule systems when newer ones are released, especially if they were not very popular.

I’m currently re-reading the rules of what is now referred to as Classic Traveller although it is simply the first edition published back in 1977.  While there are numerous newer editions available, one especially from Mongoose Publishing, I find the original as my personal favorite.  Should I update to the latest Traveller5?  Of course, not.  I don’t find my current edition superior, but I enjoy the structure of the system and probably a bit of nostalgia as well.  Find an edition you enjoy, and don’t succumb to the temptations of a new edition just because it’s shiny and new.

Until next time, lie about your dice roll as much as you can get away with.  Thanks for stopping by.

Solo RPG Adventures Episode.023

You check your 6 to make sure you lost your tail.  Nothing but shadows follows behind though it’s anyone’s guess if he’s still back there.  Meanwhile, your target continues down the street past two guards before suddenly making a quick side step into an unlit building.  The quick motion appeared suspicious.  Did he notice you were following him?  You skip across the street under the moonlight into the next row of shadows and slip down next to the building.  There’s a candle inside that has just been lit, but the windows are mostly frosted to get a good look.  Deftly you climb up the wall, nearly losing your footing at the moment of carelessness before reaching the roof.  There is a vent that is open, and you peer down to spy on your target as he is talking to someone out of view.  Your grapple lets you drop down into the room, hovering above the two to hear better.  You don’t recognize the other, but it doesn’t matter.  You are here to remove your target.  It will have to be a double kill.

I have seldom had the opportunity to run or play in a solo adventure.  I remember during the 2^nd Edition AD&D era there were a series of solo adventures specifically built for the main core classes, most notably for me was for the thief simply called “Thief’s Challenge.”  The series was popular enough to produce a second series for the classes.  Running solo can be a lot of fun on a number of levels.  The player obviously gets more playing time and doesn’t have to wait his turn during combat.  The game is focused on one character, so encounters tend to be more lethal because you have no one to watch your back.  Pick someone who has the ability to heal and you lose the chance to deal out massive combat.  Go the other route and who mends your wounds when you are nearly dead or dying?  It allows for the flow of the game to have less choice in which path to take.  If you’re playing a thief-like character, charging in through the front door as you might do with a group of 4 well balanced players would not be the wisest method.  Solo adventures also open up one class in particular that typically does not play well with others: the assassin.

 Assassins are really not great team players in most RPGs.  Their special abilities usually deal with quick kills either from more lethal strikes or through the use of poison.  Although it is nice to have a player in the party who can take out an enemy relatively quickly, it becomes a challenge to decide whether to have the assassin go on by himself to try and take out the BBG or have him just kill one or two random henchmen while the rest of the party deals with the villain.  Some core rules give a decent chance for an assassin to kill an enemy in one shot if saving throws are failed.  This gives a better than bad chance that an encounter becomes too easy.  So they tend to not be allowed in games that I run unless I offer a solo adventure.

As a GM, what are some things that you must take into consideration before running a solo game?  First, you need to know the class to be used inside and out.  Unlike a more traditional RPG where you just need to have a good understanding of each class played and let the players know the rest, it is far more important to know everything about the one class.  This is because every situation in the game will revolve around the choices that class has.  The class may not be able to heal or bend bars or cast spells or pick locks or wear heavy armor.  All of these could come up in a situation, and you as a GM should have the scenario revolve around these.  It should not be necessary to mention that a situation such as the need to bend bars should not come up for a thief.  The best kid of adventure, and perhaps your ultimate goal here, is to find a way to utilize every ability for that class.  Their skills go right along with their abilities in that goal as well.  So read languages, use magic device, appraise, and acrobat (I know I’m referring to D&D and Pathfinder, but you get the point), are all things to consider.  You don’t have to come up with situations for every skill they have, just think of unusual ways to present a few of the ones that aren’t used all the time.

For example, the individual must use disguise to enter an elaborate ball where the duke has arranged to invite numerous distinguished aristocrats, one of whom has recently purchased a lot of forged paintings he wishes to sell.  Appraise will come in handy when the character must quickly identify which of the lot of paintings are fake and which are real.  He must bluff his way past the guard into the vault by mentioning he is a nephew.  The use of escape artist skill will allow him to free himself when he failed his skill check to disable the snare trap in the vault.  And finally his ability to figure out how to use magical devices by holding them in his hand will allow him to use the wand to open the door that is locked on the other side and escape into the night.

The more challenging solo adventure would be surprisingly a fighter type class because unless they are a specialized class such as a ranger, they might lack in non-combat abilities.  Even if you sit down with someone who wants to be a fighter and just “kill everything,” you two are going to find some challenge keeping things interesting after the 30^th combat encounter in a row.  That’s when you watch action movies.

Even movies like Rambo and Predator have a plot and don’t comprise of combat after combat after combat scene.  Rambo offers the element of surprise and stealth.  Predator offers suspense of the unknown.  You can create tension through suspense by having the fighter as the hunted rather than the hunter.  Give a brief encounter with a creature that shows it clearly is more powerful than the fighter, but have the creature retreat during combat for unknown reasons, perhaps to toy with the fighter.  When a creature encounters something that it knows it clearly overpowers it sometimes has a tendency to play with the prey before killing it.

Another situation for a fighter-only class would be the horror genre.  Fear can break down even the heartiest characters, and a GM can put it to the test.  Even though it is a solo adventure, the character need not be alone.  I often will place weak NPCs in the protection of the party to give them more responsibility and force them to be more cautious in their actions.  They can’t charge into a dragon’s lair if they have an 8 year old orphan girl with them.  Three massive giants coming this way?  You better believe the party will try avoiding the confrontation entirely so the girl is less likely to be harmed by a random thrown boulder.  One other option is to start a solo adventure with the character severely wounded.  Give them but a few hit points and force them to go through an area that is dangerous.  Like having a weak NPC in the group, it causes the player to think twice about being too bold on their decisions and gives more challenge to each encounter.

Solo adventures can be a lot of fun on both sides.  One-on-one moments give GMs and players a lot more experience and challenge as they must approach the game a little differently.  It works for good practice for GMs who have gotten lax in their need to find diversity in their stories, too.  Try the simple exercise of creating 4 short, solo adventures for a fighter, thief, cleric, and wizard class and see what you come up with.

Until next time, lie about your dice roll as much as you can get away with.  Thanks for stopping by.