Leonidas

XP Rewards / Other Rewards 

In RPGs, how do characters get more power, spells, better skills?                                         Usually by level advancement.

People act on what they are rewarded and punished for. In game, they will make decisions to maximize reward and minimize punishment. 

Rewards usually revolve ultimately around:

• Gaining XP: Defeating monsters, finding treasures, completing quests and adventures.
• Getting Magic Items or Other unique items: Getting magic and unique items to help build their character out.

XP is doled out for Defeating Monsters (killing, out smarting, getting around etc.) with most parties defaulting to killing monsters if they can. The more powerful a monster is (either HD or special features), the higher the XP. Finding treasure (1 GP = 1 XP) is another though there are variations on how to count: counting everything that you find, counting only what you can carry back, counting only what you spend or donate out. Challenging adventures or quests can also result in more XP upon successful completion. Continue reading →

OSR vs. Modern RPG Tabletop Games:  Pros/Con

D&D has become more popular than I would have ever imagined in my youth. This is great for the RPG tabletop industry and RPG gamers. However, 5th edition of D&D / Fantasy is by far the most main stream. I grew up playing AD&D 1E, B/X, and BECMI primarily, and then Call of Cthulhu (1E-3E) with some Warhammer 40K – Rogue Trader mixed in. Today, our group play mostly OSR game/systems. I have played 5E and do enjoy it too. 

There appears to be a pretty hardline with old school gamers in disliking 5E and Pathfinder / 3.5E. As with anything, there is a balance and OSR and modern systems (post 2000’s) both have pro/cons pending your gaming group preference. The strength of one system is the weakness of the other pending preference. Continue reading →

DM / GM Prep and Game Aids

This article is about being a DM/GM and some basic prep/game aids that will make your life easier and more organized when running the game. We all have busy schedules with work, family, and other obligations so having some basic tools and systems in place will help you enjoy gaming vs. spending time during game doing prep work or looking for basic info. For many folks with busy schedules, game time is their only personal time and time to escape. Maximizing that time is important.

If you play online with like Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds, those platforms already have many things prepped for you like dice, character sheets, maps, managing combat initiative, monster/enemy stats etc. which is great. There are still things that you need to manage or if you play pencil/paper, you’ll need to manage yourself. Continue reading →

Most games have some elements of this. Luck points, pushing rolls, advantages, bennies etc. It is some mechanism that allows the players to re-roll after missing a critical roll/save. Most RPGs have some version of this. I like using Hero points to include doing heroic / extra-ordinary shitte. This usage is more geared toward Pulp / Heroic type games to allow character to perform crazy but entertaining actions. This involves the player more into the action of the game. I get them to describe their heroic act when they spend hero points. Eg. Leaping across to catch a rope, swing over the water, and stick the landing on the other side. Under normal circumstances, that could be like 2 DEX checks at med-high DC level. Continue reading →