Tonight was the last straw for me and D&D [probably roleplaying games in general] after another barrage of complaining from the other players on how they’re “not having any fun.” This usually translates into “we’re not getting our way.” Well, after eight years of trying to balance their enjoyment much to the detriment of mine, I decided to just walk away from it because gaming sessions eventually deteriorated into forums of incessant bitching.
The list of the whys, the whats, the hows, etc., could fill up a small book yet I think it’s a waste of electrons on my page. Being succinct is certainly not a personality trait of gamers and I am going to make the break from it. Besides, when a hobby begins to feel as if it’s unpaid, part-time job, it is no longer a source of recreation but one of stress; hence it probably contributes to my anxiety. Gary Gygax’s death and the release of the terrible Fourth Edition rules should’ve been taken as a hint to quit sooner.
I can tell my wife is disappointed [she plays too] yet my brother will cheer [he’s always hated it]. Somara will manage though, the others will play with her and we all did long before we ever met.
Meanwhile, I will be in the process of selling my stuff because I don’t want it around cluttering up the house any longer. Maybe I can use the proceeds to finance next year’s trip to Vegas.
When this story hits the bottom of the page [becoming number 10], the D&D category will be removed from the site.
Posted by: Steve Maggi
| @ October 1, 2008 11:56:37 PM CDT ( 0 comments ) |
Number One: If the player's character fumbles in combat or rolls a Natural One [automatic failure] on a Saving Throw. Always a "D'oh!" moment when I am going to bear the brunt of a nasty magic spell.
Number Two: Whenever the player does something the rest of the group deems as a stupid move. What is classified as "stupid" is a matter of opinion yet I know a guy from my old Traveller campaign who'd be wearing it constantly. He [and by extension, his character] would blurt out [practically confess] everything to complete strangers when discretion was imperative. If he were Sam in The Lord of the Rings, it would've been a 30-minute film due to him telling every person he encountered who he was, that his friend Frodo has the Ring of Power and they're on their way to Mt. Doom to destroy it.
Posted by: Steve Maggi
| @ September 30, 2008 2:29:30 PM CDT ( 0 comments ) |
But the great guys at Rogues Gallery knew how much I wanted this so they made sure there was a copy in my file to give me as soon as I walked through the door…right after I spent five bucks at kinko’s [now to be called FedEx-something] having my printed-out PDF bound into a spiral book. I plan to keep both around. The nice, color, perfect-bound edition to use at our [semi-] weekly game and the photocopied version to mark up which rules we won’t be using in my campaign, also known as my DM Fiat; a little legal joke from the two lawyers in the group.
It’s not radically different from the three Alpha releases, just more of the OGL materials are in place: weapons, armor, age, etc. Many of the big departures from 3.5 were already presented in Alpha: more hit points for the “weaker” classes, 0-level spells at will, the CMB option to simplify Grappling [a constant show stopper], so on.
The big deal about this rulebook’s appearance is that I can finally start doing my Pathfinder v. D&D 4e comparison and review story. One site I used to enjoy and respect [enworld.org] has become a complete mouthpiece for 4e, I seriously suspect their objectivity. Then again, I readily admit to have a negative bias toward 4e due to my rather disappointing experiences playing Star Wars SE which I don’t blame Flynn for. I’m the first person to say Flynn’s GM’ing is great! He shares my love of acting, voices and interaction. He’s proof of what my gaming sensei Lester taught me, any [roleplaying] game can rock [or suck] with the right GameMaster.
We’ll probably cannibalize some things from Wizard’s 4e because it isn’t completely awful. I am hoping to enlist the opinions of a couple other DMs and aficionados too.
Now to read this, highlight what needs to be tweaked and amend the Fiat.
Posted by: Steve Maggi
| @ September 8, 2008 7:35:06 PM CDT ( 0 comments ) |
On my first time, I totally forgot it was happening in 1988. My new friend Neal was going and we even discussed it at great length days before. Heck, when I was first getting into D&D as a kid, GenCon seemed to be this Holy Grail of gaming I never thought I would ever see unless I won the lottery. Back in North Dakota, my high school friends even razzed me over choosing Marquette because the event had moved to Milwaukee in 1985.
Despite Neal getting me back into gaming through his RoleMaster campaign over the Summer, WMUR and surviving until school started took precedence. Then I stumbled upon the festivities while killing some time downtown. It looked too interesting to pass up. I rushed to the ATM, bought a one-day visitor badge and took a tour of the whole thing. Definitely a Nerdvana on numerous levels because it wasn't exclusively about roleplaying games like D&D. There were costumes, movies, collectables, computers, videogames…think of it as a comic book or Star Trek convention with much more to do than shop. The primary purpose of GenCon is to play in tournaments, test new games on a random audience and meet gamers from around the world. After taking it all in, I thought to myself, if I'm living in Milwaukee next Summer, I am so going to this.
And so I did from 1989 through 1993 and each GenCon contains strong memories.
1989 was disillusionment. I naively thought that GenCon attracted some of the best players around. HA! College and Neal’s game had erased my memory on how RPGs [roleplaying games] are a magnet for the socially retarded. Two doofuses completely ruined the superhero game I was in with their Min-Maxed [a form of cheating] characters. The silver lining was Mayfair Games' preview of their revised DC [Comics] Heroes. I was impressed and couldn't wait to buy it in the Fall.
I fared better in 1990 by learning how to score a free badge as an RPGA [like a D&D league] judge for the DC Heroes game. My adjusted expectations over the other players' behavior helped and guided my event selections. Participating in TSR's marketing survey was a surprise; I think I was selected to represent the deodorant-using segment.
1991 had the impromptu job interview with GDW. Making Steve B's acquaintance was the better memory. When I got him to tell me all about GDW’s use of Macs to lay out its publications, he showed his enthusiasm. He had been subjected to hours of nerds droning on and on about their D&D characters. I also played in a DC Heroes event with my future Central IL roommate Greg. Running into ND high-school chum Jon bordered on miraculous yet we failed to keep in touch afterwards as I was hoping for a renewal of our friendship.
1992 was covered thoroughly here.
Going in 1993 was a mistake. The wounds from GDW were still to raw to really enjoy playing and socializing. I didn't find much solace in my former employer’s dire state thanks to Gygax’s Mythus tanking and the poor reception Traveller: The New Era received. The avoidance I was getting from my TSR contact over the freelance assignment Knowing that I did poorly on it foreshadowed our next conversation being unpleasant. Had I known how much leeway TSR allowed on editing, I could've done better. Then again, I probably would not since I was trying to juggle the work, my boring DG job and having to move back in with Grandma all at the same time. A sour time I should’ve stayed away from and saved myself a couple hundred bucks.
One hilarious thing at the 1993 convention was the debut of a little game called Magic: The Gathering. I didn't think much of it because a dinky company called Wizards of the Coast published it. Their track record until then wasn’t impressive so no one predicted what would happen. Had I known that Lisa Stevens [she made Vampire a hit in 1991] was involved with Wizards, I would've bought stock with money borrowed from my grandmother! By the Fall of 1993, Magic cards became the crack epidemic of my local hobby store. The rest is history.
Relocating to Austin prevented me from extending the streak to six years. I kept telling Doc I had tentative plans for it in 1994. Too bad I lacked the money let alone the vacation time. The window to go passed and I never had any serious interest in going any longer. My short-lived D&D campaign with Doc being indefinitely shelved contributed to gaming getting mothballed in my life too. Never mind all the closet space occupied by a half-dozen boxes of the junk.
By a stroke of luck, I got to see what turned out to be my last GenCon in 1998 instead.
Originally when I left North Carolina, the plan was to go straight to Austin and loaf around the apartment I would be sharing with Mel. Steve convinced me to take the detour through the Midwest for GenCon instead. As an artist, he was granted two exhibitor badges, one for him and another for anyone he chose. I took him up on it which made my trek back to Austin a mini-vacation. Plus it was a $50 bargain!
1998 was a GenCon shrouded in gloom. Many of the publishers were on the ropes [FASA] or had collapsed [WEG, TSR]. The blame was placed on computer/console versions of RPGs and the aftermath of too many collectible card games; after Magic, there were dozens of those boring things. Wizards of the Coast being D&D's savior in 1997 "didn't seem to matter" was a frequent litany from Wizards’ critics, namely a former WEG trying to woo the Star Wars license away. I wasn't concerned. I knew gaming would live on, it just wouldn't be as successful like the early Eighties, electronics had closed the gap and solved two major problems: “remembering” all the rules and others to play with.
The non-gaming elements were awesome. Star Trek's John DeLancie, Robert Picardo and Jeri Ryan were there. Four people from the original Lost in Space too; I had a great time meeting Mark Goddard [the original Major Don West]. I also got an autographed picture of Claudia Christian from Babylon 5 for myself and a friend I’d be seeing at Apple in a week.
Outside the convention, in the real world, I visited Nelson and Tammy one evening and my cousin Leesa with her husband Joe on another but now they had kids! Alex and Sara. I saw old friends too: Phil and Lazz namely. I completely missed seeing my sensei Lester; not to worry, he’ll be visiting Austin in mid September. Now if Lazz would call me or write me, I’d be thrilled.
I always spent way too much money at these things yet I had a great time geeking out. All the memories of re-encountering “missing” friends or making new ones made it worth more than any of the tournaments I won or placed in. GenCon was an effective way to recharge my depleted batteries before I dove back into school and it did the same thing for me on the madness Austin would turn into.
Oddly, my wife still wants to see this thing. I thought Somara would take my “war stories” as a warning to avoid this rather pricey trip to play D&D with some other town’s annoying monty haulers, power gamers and socially inept. Then again, she has been to at least several SciFi conventions. If it were still in Milwaukee, I’d probably budget a vacation there. Unfortunately, the company which now owns GenCon [Hasbro toys sold off the rights] is in some kind of re-organizational bankruptcy and it now happens in India-no-place, a city with nothing else to do or see when the convention is closed. My friends Flynn and Leslee going every Summer aren’t helping me make my case against going. One day we probably will go, Vegas just takes precedence this year.
Posted by: Steve Maggi
| @ August 10, 2008 7:31:44 PM CDT ( 0 comments ) |
Paizo announced Friday that Sean Reynolds was joining them in developing Pathfinder. First the addition of Monte Cook and now him. I doubt Wizards/Hasbro could care less but I’m excited since these gentlemen made major contributions to Third Edition. So far I’ve playtested Fourth Edition back in May and sadly, I didn’t like it. Our group already had a vote to stay with 3.5E too; I think the results were 7-1 yet I can’t recall who chose to upgrade.
Anyway, it’s too early to make a judgment call even though I dread which direction I’m already leaning toward. I am more excited over Paizo working pretty hard on Pathfinder when it could be easier to just recycle old material with minor, unimpressive changes say like Traveller’s latest umpteenth incarnation from Mongoose.
Personally, I think Paizo will do very well since publishing Dungeon magazine honed their adventure-writing/editing skills. The Gamemaster line of modules prove it: decent premises, great maps by my elusive friend Lazz and solid execution. Only the NPCs are a tad flawed which I would blame on the OGL’s limitations.
Meanwhile, Wizards’ attempts through its new online offerings and few printed products have been terrible. It’s as if Wizards’ staff completely forgot how to write adventures about two to three years ago since the current stuff is more reminiscent of TSR’s Marvel Super Heroes: just large maps, fights and padded with NPC stats instead of substance.
However, I have enough junk to play for decades so if all the RPG companies went under tomorrow, it wouldn’t make a ripple in my group’s schedule. I’m going to stick with my Gaming Sensei’s mantra too, “If we’re having a good time, then we’re playing the game correctly.”
Posted by: Steve Maggi
| @ June 29, 2008 3:34:29 PM CDT ( 0 comments ) |
Every Monday, I do the minimal amount of exercise the nurse from my cholesterol screening told me to do, 30 minutes of walking briskly. Faster than a normal walk but not like those dudes in the Olympics who should be wearing heels. [I know I should do more but it may soon change if we get a Wii Fit this week.] Today, I made Somara tag along because she didn’t have to be anywhere…and she keeps saying I need to make her [translation, nag her, hound her] participate.
My usually route is South on Ora Lane until I hit the last street, turn West and then weaved back n’ forth on the rest of the streets perpendicular to Ora. Usually I only cover half of them because 30 minutes is the limit. Besides, Monday is chore day at home.
Today, we made it about half way up Ora when Somara found a dollar on the ground. Sweet! Another buck to put into our vacation fund since we need to make a deposit this week. This walk was looking up. Normally, I only find beat-up pennies, maybe a dime or a nickel. A few minutes later, we ran into some of the local kids waiting for the bus [we did get going rather early]. One of them was rather frantic about something. He asked us if we found a dollar. We responded “where?” When his description matched the location [give or take], Somara gave it to him [it was in her pocket]. The kid probably needed it more than we did.
This brought up the humorous debate of alignments in D&D. We did the expected behavior of Lawful Good, Chaotic Good, Neutral Good and Lawful Neutral. Neutral is in the air and I think it’s a lame cop-out alignment. Here’s how it breaks down and maybe this will clarify some things with the players in my campaign. Maybe this will help in everyone's expectations.
1. Lawful Good: would return the dollar. The description matches enough, it’s the right thing to do and why “bully” a kid.
2. Chaotic Good: would return the dollar. The description matches enough, it’s only a buck and the kid isn’t from a rich, evil family of bullies.
3. Neutral Good: would return the dollar. The description matches enough, it’s the right thing to do and he looks nervous about it.
4. Lawful Neutral: would return the dollar. The description matches enough so it doesn’t appear to be a lie plus do unto others is a maxim.
5. Chaotic Neutral: might return the dollar. The description matches enough but how badly does the kid need it? Could be a jerk and lie, the usual course of action with most PCs. If a follower of Olidammara, definitely would return it unless it were a rich kid since they also assist the poor.
6. Neutral Evil: unlikely to return the dollar. The description matches yet, inflicting some pain on the kid is part of the plan. Maybe return half and call the fifty-cent tax a “finder’s fee.” Still, keeping as much as possible is the plan because with NE, it’s “all about me.”
7. Lawful Evil: not going to return the dollar. The description matches but possession is nine-tenths of the law. Besides, in their skewed social Darwinism, the kid lost the buck and those are the breaks.
8. Chaotic Evil: not going to return the dollar. The description matches and so what! From pain and suffering comes growth. CE can put the dollar to better use. You can bet your best d20, lying about it will be Plan A.
9. “True” Neutral: anything goes. But as DM, I will be ticking notches on the PC’s card of Evil, Good, Lawful and Chaotic acts.
For those of you who don’t play D&D, get a laugh since this has been a bone of contention for 30+ years in the game. Makes you wonder why anyone still keeps playing. The new Fourth Edition is trying to do away with them but it's hard than it sounds since they're critical to a few of the core classes.
Posted by: Steve Maggi
| @ May 19, 2008 4:25:42 PM CDT ( 2 comments ) |
Yesterday, Paizo announced Monte Cook's involvement with refining the rules to their interpretation of D&D 3.5. I'm rather excited because the last time I read about him, Monte was burned out and looking to move on from RPGs to fiction which was the goal of every other employee at TSR.
His two cents will increase Pathfinder's legitimacy since he was a key designer in Third Edition, namely the DM Guide and my personal favorite, The Book of Vile Darkness, aka the best villain handbook for fantasy ever. I can only imagine what he could've done at GDW if he decided to take the job before they scraped the barrel for Dave Nilsen and Nick Atlas. Oh wait, he would've bailed for TSR in six months after realizing how GDW was run by Homer Simpson.
Meanwhile, I have been going over the current Alpha 2 of the rules. Nothing too radically different from Alpha 1 other than trying a different solution with skills and setting a DC for diseases and curses. I agree with the latter matters. It is rather unchallenging to automatically dismiss mummy rot with a spell like it were a light switch.
Posted by: Steve Maggi
| @ May 13, 2008 10:19:44 PM CDT ( 0 comments ) |
Last week, my friend and fellow DM Flynn brought Paizo's Pathfinder announcement to my attention. Since these guys did a great job with Dungeon and they write excellent adventures in their Gamemaster series [more later], I had to investigate further.
Seems they've chosen to stay with the core 3.5e D&D rules and go their own way through Pathfinder, similar in concept to Monte Cook’s Iron Heroes and Arcana lines. I guess they sensed how unimpressed many people are with WOTC's upcoming 4e D&D. Unfortunately, I’m in the negative camp because WOTC’s recent modules and supplements have been previews of the philosophical shift. These have soured my opinion of D&D’s future with Hasbro in the driver’s seat; ultimately, the parent corporation most likely ordered this new edition. From all the news I’ve caught through EN World and WOTC’s official site, I feel that the current design team is turning D&D into tabletop World of Warcraft. If I wanted to play WoW, I’d spend the money on a monthly subscription and trade D&D’s frustrations for the different ones experienced in online RPGs; the primary source for socially retarded gamers lately.
Back to Paizo and keeping Picayune upbeat! There’s a silver lining to this story.
I read the letter from Lisa Stevens [CEO of Paizo] and downloaded the free 60-page alpha version of what designer Jason Buhlman would change in the PHB. He really exceeded my expectations through his fixes and changes on some of my gripes in the current rules regarding the classes, feats, skills and rules. I only disagreed completely on two changes [both dealing with the Undead] but these are easily ignored without wrecking the game. If he can actually make the grappling rules for combat simple, satisfying and practical, something WOTC couldn’t solve in eight years, then Pathfinder may be the more worthy successor to D&D. His solutions even cured most of my burnout on gaming; I’ve been inches away from quitting lately due it feeling like an unsatisfying part-time job. Plus WOTC drowned the game in too many supplements, another reason why their decision to do 4e was irritating.
I am now pretty excited to see what the next alpha release holds. The one thing I wish Paizo would do is get a more effective way to collect feedback and answer questions. A message board is a noisy, crappy way to do it. They’re filled with pissing matches involving chest-thumping dorks who don’t know the definition of succinct. How glad I am my time at GDW ended before I had deal with such nonsense, the few letters I had to read were enough.
Posted by: Steve Maggi
| @ March 26, 2008 11:15:10 PM CDT ( 0 comments ) |
…and if a stake isn't driven through his heart, he'll return as a vampire with HD 8+3, AC 0 and the level-drain power on top of his blowhard attack.
My initial reactions were skeptical of this since the first sources were message boards and Wikipedia, but when it was declared on CNN, then I knew was 100% true.
I was hoping to write a more neutral piece on him but there was a heated string of exchanges within my gaming group's mailing list, getting my blood up unfortunately.
Unlike many gamers who met Gary, aka the EGG man from his initials, I'm one of the few who actually worked with him directly [as an editor] and indirectly [as a proofreader/typesetter]. Sadly, it wasn't during the rise or salad days of D&D but his poorly written, developed and executed comeback Mythus, the game that torpedoed GDW, but I think they would’ve closed up eventually, this huge flop accelerated the company’s demise by a couple years.
When I discovered D&D, the name Gary Gygax was held in awe. By the time I went to college, he didn’t really matter anymore. I moved on to play better RPGs and my friend Neal told me about his one encounter with Gygax which boiled down to two words, big ego. There were other grapevine stories too: Gary was hard to work with, he had a cocaine addiction, someone was suing him [this was true, Dave Arneson claimed part of the credit, hence the creation of Advanced D&D], etc.
Soon after joining GDW, I was brought in on the Mythus project and I voiced my initial concerns of working with EGG, based upon those rumors. Unfortunately, they were true, especially when I was his editor on The Necropolis adventure for the game. He wouldn't compromise, cooperate or even correct some major contradictions. Gary was also undermining what little authority I had through Frank. I should've taken the hint to bail on GDW in the Spring of 1992 while reading his raw, poorly written "prose." It demonstrated to me that Mythus was not as developed as Gary and his agent claimed. His writing style was also terrible, clunky, pompous and verbose. He made Charles Dickens seem concise. He also wrote like someone with a 9th-grade education using a thesaurus. As I kept telling head editor Lester, ignorance isn't style.
To be fair to him in death, I do thank him for being the main guy to start a good idea. However, pre-2nd Edition Dungeons & Dragons became the success it was thanks to the hard work of Frank Mentzer, Zeb Cook, Skip Williams, Allen Hammack, Harold Johnson, James Ward, Doug Niles, Mark Acres, Roger Moore, Kim Mohan, Don Turnbull and an army of other writers, editors and developers. I equate Gary with Gene Roddenberry for his ability to take the credit for what others did.
Sorry, if it this sounds nasty and mean but all my fond memories of Gary's famous dungeon crawls evaporated instantly when I had to work with him. He was creative, charming and D&D's first "rock star," even his cameo on Futurama brought a chuckle. It's his opportunistic nature that will always taint his legacy.
Update Mar 5, 2008: I was really tired and in a hurry to post this before bed and midnight. I had a big night participating in the Democratic Caucus for my precinct. After reading the original, it was too vitriolic for even my taste so I trimmed it down and brought in some nice things about Gary. He will be missed by everyone, including his detractors.
Posted by: Steve Maggi
| @ March 4, 2008 11:59:23 PM CST ( 0 comments ) |
My Exemplars of Evil review practically wrote itself for it's an overpriced, egregious product. I swear this book has an invisible Under Armour label and missing instructions on how to wear it for maximum protection playing football because it's nothing but padding. The first 30-some pages cover the essentials on making better, more satisfying villains through tips, descriptions, unique Feats, spells and primarily stuff I would've found impressive when I was 13. Not to completely dismiss those 30 pages, there's a rule on Minions and Lackeys which is a great Evil counter to the Leadership Feat. It definitely gives a opponent with a high CR but poor Charisma a chance to have disposable flunkies.
As for the remaining superfluous 130 pages in Exemplars, they're divided into two sections. The first are stat blocks and back stories covering the eight mediocre, tedious villains, their strongholds and Minions. The second section are those useless tactical maps for use with the official minis; what I branded D&D for Dummies in my review of Scourge of the Howling Horde. Without these tactical maps, the book's page count would be shaved by 48 and then it could be sold as a softcover at a lower price.
Another irksome matter is the book's introduction mentioning the game's famous villains Eclavrda, Warduke, Rary, Manshoon, Iggwilv, etc. Why aren't they present? These new ones feel like something the designers whipped together over a long weekend to fill a gap in WOTC's release schedule. The use of non-core classes on them and their minions really annoyed me too. Not everyone buys the supplements so it would be more courteous to publish them with core PHB classes. Then include a paragraph afterwards with suggested substitutions; in place of sorcerer use warlock if one owns Complete Arcane. The NPCs also feel like they were designed by power gamers trying to out do each other on WOTC's old Fight Club forum. Fire giant ninjas? A ranger/duskblade/cancer mage? Hobgoblin rogue/hexblade/scarlet corsair pirates? These aren't imaginative combinations, these are rationalizations for using lame prestige/alternate classes. I personally feel the fire giant queen Valbrynn in Exemplars would've been more impressive if her background made her a successor to King Snurre, the infamous fire giant king from Against the Giants; it certainly would've given this book a ring of continuity and legacy.
Bottom Line: I'm just grateful I received this book indirectly as a gift. Had I spent my own $30 on it, I would've been pissed and contemplated requesting a refund from WOTC before hocking it at Half Price Books. My recommendation is, avoid Exemplars and hunt down The Book of Vile Darkness if you don't have it. Otherwise put the money away for a good module published by Paizo, Goodman or Necromancer Games. One other note, those 48 pages of tactical maps were why I refused to buy WOTC's recent books on Castle Greyhawk, Castle Ravenloft, the Demonweb Pits and Undermountain. They're an insult to every DM's intelligence, even my 11-year-old nephew. He may not have the "logic" of an encounter down yet but neither did I when I first started playing D&D in 1981. It didn't matter then, my friends and I had a great time because we were kids.
Posted by: Steve Maggi
| @ October 2, 2007 11:28:00 PM CDT ( 0 comments ) |
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