One challenge with online gaming is the high turnover rate of players. I rarely run a session without a new player. I try to create a campaign with a specific feel. I created a history of the world establishing major plot lines.
There are many ways to bringing a new player into the campaign. When playing around a physical table, the group of players is normally static. The players normally warn the dungeon master when a new player will be attending. This allows the dungeon master to work out a situation where the party meets the new character. The dungeon master can provide the new player an overview of the campaign. The dungeon master hopes the player will read the overview. With online playing, it is common for a player to join at the last minute.
I frequently have new players who have never used Dungeons and Dragons fourth edition. I started out with the original Dungeons and Dragons in the white box. I remember the first game I played. We started playing about 6:00 PM in the evening and ended around 7:00 AM. It took about an hour for the three of us to create our characters.
Spending an hour a session to create new characters and introduce the setting would really slow down online gaming. I feel players today want to spend about as much time creating a new character as they do when they create a new character in Skyrim or Mass Effect 3. They want to jump into the action.
This is my personal conflict. How do I introduce new characters to a complex campaign quickly without losing the feel of the campaign? I tried a few session where I designed scenarios for the new characters to join the party. In one session, the party found the new players locked in cages. I developed a back-story how a faction in the campaign captured, bound, hooded, and gagged the new characters. The faction then threw the new characters into cages. This worked because the party was exploring a dungeon. I prepared by setting up rooms specifically for the new characters. The party had not explored three directions in the dungeon. I set up conditional rooms in each of those directions and hoped the party would not backtrack and go some other way.
Constructing scenarios to introduce new characters is more effort than it is worth. The character may only play one session then leave. The simple solution is the new characters materialize as part of the party. No introduction. They just start playing. The players introduce their characters to the rest of the party. That works but does not introduce the history campaign.
For several sessions, the first thing I did was provide an overview of the campaign. I intended to create a video on YouTube introducing the campaign. The problem is will the new players actually prepare for their first session? Based on my experience over the last year I thought it unlikely all the players would spend the time preparing. I know some would. I also know some would not.
Now I just start the session. I give a brief overview of the current situation. I let the other players introduce the situation from their viewpoint. I only give a history when it affects the play of the game. This follows the classic epic convention of being in medias res. In Medias Res is Latin for "it begins in the middle of things" and then has flashbacks to explain action leading up to that point.
At first, starting without the backstory seemed contrived in roleplaying. However, it actually adds to the feeling of "being a stranger in a strange land". Player can start the campaign and learn through on-the-job training.
The Evil DM
The Evil DM
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Grids? We ain't got no grids. We don't need no stinkin' grids!
In the 1948 film adaptation of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, the Mexican bandit leader named "Gold Hat" says, "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!" That feeling sums up my attitude about grids in tabletop roleplaying games.
The most effective story is not the one you tell to someone, it is the one the person tells himself. Another name for this is the theater of the mind. Dungeons and Dragons offers the opportunity for immersive roleplaying. Players become attached to the character they created. The attachment is not to the figurine they use to represent the character. The attachment is not to the sheet of paper with the statistics representing the character. The attachment is to the persona and history of the character.
I create maps to organize the adventure. I enjoy creating maps with Campaign Cartographer. In the past, I created both square grids and hex grids for the maps. I found the grids cumbersome and detracting.
Denver is an example of a real-life city with a grid problem. The oldest part of Denver follows a grid oriented diagonal to the four cardinal direction. The rest of Denver follows a grid oriented to the four cardinal directions. This means there are a large number of streets with forty-five degree turns. Denver does not line up on a simple grid. The Flatiron building in New York emphasizes the non-rectangular orientation of the streets.
I can draw a section of a map, then pick up the section and rotate the section an arbitrary amount and join that up with another section. Creating a scenario similar to Denver. The map should not be the focus of the adventure. The map helps me organize the game scenario. My goal is to create an immersive roleplaying adventure for the players. My focus is on the theater of the mind.
Think back on your best roleplaying adventure. I doubt the details of the layout of the grid, the miniatures, or the map are the most memorable. What is memorable is the actions of the characters, both player and non-player characters. You may remember, "I rolled four twenties in a row" or "I rolled four ones in a row" but few will remember, "I rolled a seven, a fifteen, a twelve, and a nineteen". The reason you remember a one or a twenty is they have significance to advancing the game.
If a player says, "my character slides up against the wall trying to hide in the shadows." Does the grid matter? What matters is the actions of the character, the monsters, and the environment.
"My thief slides up against the wall trying to hide in the shadows. Using the heads of the gargoyles carved into the wall my thief climbs up to the second level. While the rest of the party distracts the ogre, I position my thief so I can jump on the ogre's back. Then I jump. With one dagger, I cut off the magical amulet around the ogre's neck. I plunge the other dagger into the ogre's neck."
"As you climb up the wall, the third gargoyle's head opens its eyes, and bites your foot...."
The most effective story is not the one you tell to someone, it is the one the person tells himself. Another name for this is the theater of the mind. Dungeons and Dragons offers the opportunity for immersive roleplaying. Players become attached to the character they created. The attachment is not to the figurine they use to represent the character. The attachment is not to the sheet of paper with the statistics representing the character. The attachment is to the persona and history of the character.
I create maps to organize the adventure. I enjoy creating maps with Campaign Cartographer. In the past, I created both square grids and hex grids for the maps. I found the grids cumbersome and detracting.
Denver is an example of a real-life city with a grid problem. The oldest part of Denver follows a grid oriented diagonal to the four cardinal direction. The rest of Denver follows a grid oriented to the four cardinal directions. This means there are a large number of streets with forty-five degree turns. Denver does not line up on a simple grid. The Flatiron building in New York emphasizes the non-rectangular orientation of the streets.
I can draw a section of a map, then pick up the section and rotate the section an arbitrary amount and join that up with another section. Creating a scenario similar to Denver. The map should not be the focus of the adventure. The map helps me organize the game scenario. My goal is to create an immersive roleplaying adventure for the players. My focus is on the theater of the mind.
Think back on your best roleplaying adventure. I doubt the details of the layout of the grid, the miniatures, or the map are the most memorable. What is memorable is the actions of the characters, both player and non-player characters. You may remember, "I rolled four twenties in a row" or "I rolled four ones in a row" but few will remember, "I rolled a seven, a fifteen, a twelve, and a nineteen". The reason you remember a one or a twenty is they have significance to advancing the game.
If a player says, "my character slides up against the wall trying to hide in the shadows." Does the grid matter? What matters is the actions of the character, the monsters, and the environment.
"My thief slides up against the wall trying to hide in the shadows. Using the heads of the gargoyles carved into the wall my thief climbs up to the second level. While the rest of the party distracts the ogre, I position my thief so I can jump on the ogre's back. Then I jump. With one dagger, I cut off the magical amulet around the ogre's neck. I plunge the other dagger into the ogre's neck."
"As you climb up the wall, the third gargoyle's head opens its eyes, and bites your foot...."
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
The Problem with Five-Foot Grids
My office is approximately fifteen feet by twelve feet in size. That is does not produce an even number of five foot squares. The most common interior door width is thirty inches, not five feet. This causes problems with a gaming system that uses five-foot grids.
I started playing Dungeons and Dragons years ago when stationed in Europe. I used millimeter graph paper instead of the five-squares to the inch most gamers in the United States used. I picked up a 0.3 mm mechanical pencil. They are not as common as the 0.5 and 0.7 mm pencils you find today. I used 1 mm equaled 1 foot. All my walls were one foot thick, similar to the thickness of the walls found in old buildings in Europe.
This allowed creating dungeons that are difficult to map on standard five-squares to the inch graph paper. For example, just make a series of square rooms that are twelve feet wide with one-foot thick walls. If you use a little variety, some rooms are twelve feet wide; some are fourteen feet wide, and so on. Players trying to map the dungeon have a difficult time getting the scale correct. This allows hiding a small treasure room in-plain sight. Slipping a two-foot deep treasure room between rooms is easy. I know how much junk I can cram into a two-foot deep closet. Picture Fibber McGee's infamous hall closet.
Departing from standard five-foot squares causes havoc with games like Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition (4E). I tend to be a devious dungeon master. I enjoy running a game where the party kills themselves. I was running a campaign where one of the player characters loved to use a fireball as his first defense. If anything happened, you could bet the wizard would cast a fireball. I created a dungeon specifically for that character.
Instead of your standard five-foot wide hallways with eight-foot ceilings I created a dungeon where the main hallways were only thirty inches wide (2'6"). The ceiling was only sixty-six inches high (5'6"). This allowed most characters to slide into the dungeon. A small band of creatures about ten inches tall, looking like Barbie dolls attacked the party. The creatures then retreated into their lair. The party took the bait and followed. I worked out the entire volume of the dungeon beforehand. A fireball from the wizard filled a larger volume than the entire dungeon. The main corridor lead to a small circular room about four-foot in diameter. Around the main chamber had three tiers, each about eighteen inches high. This allowed a large number of the Barbie dolls to attack using small little bows.
The logical solution was to retreat. Instead, the wizard cast his fireball. The dungeon exploded. I believe only the fighter survived the blast and the damage from the collapsing dungeon. He received a lot of experience for the death of hundreds of Barbie dolls.
The point is there is no way to play that adventure using five-foot grids.
I started playing Dungeons and Dragons years ago when stationed in Europe. I used millimeter graph paper instead of the five-squares to the inch most gamers in the United States used. I picked up a 0.3 mm mechanical pencil. They are not as common as the 0.5 and 0.7 mm pencils you find today. I used 1 mm equaled 1 foot. All my walls were one foot thick, similar to the thickness of the walls found in old buildings in Europe.
This allowed creating dungeons that are difficult to map on standard five-squares to the inch graph paper. For example, just make a series of square rooms that are twelve feet wide with one-foot thick walls. If you use a little variety, some rooms are twelve feet wide; some are fourteen feet wide, and so on. Players trying to map the dungeon have a difficult time getting the scale correct. This allows hiding a small treasure room in-plain sight. Slipping a two-foot deep treasure room between rooms is easy. I know how much junk I can cram into a two-foot deep closet. Picture Fibber McGee's infamous hall closet.
Departing from standard five-foot squares causes havoc with games like Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition (4E). I tend to be a devious dungeon master. I enjoy running a game where the party kills themselves. I was running a campaign where one of the player characters loved to use a fireball as his first defense. If anything happened, you could bet the wizard would cast a fireball. I created a dungeon specifically for that character.
Instead of your standard five-foot wide hallways with eight-foot ceilings I created a dungeon where the main hallways were only thirty inches wide (2'6"). The ceiling was only sixty-six inches high (5'6"). This allowed most characters to slide into the dungeon. A small band of creatures about ten inches tall, looking like Barbie dolls attacked the party. The creatures then retreated into their lair. The party took the bait and followed. I worked out the entire volume of the dungeon beforehand. A fireball from the wizard filled a larger volume than the entire dungeon. The main corridor lead to a small circular room about four-foot in diameter. Around the main chamber had three tiers, each about eighteen inches high. This allowed a large number of the Barbie dolls to attack using small little bows.
The logical solution was to retreat. Instead, the wizard cast his fireball. The dungeon exploded. I believe only the fighter survived the blast and the damage from the collapsing dungeon. He received a lot of experience for the death of hundreds of Barbie dolls.
The point is there is no way to play that adventure using five-foot grids.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
The Itsy-bitsy Spider Climbed up the Wolf's Bane Stalk
In the last adventure, the party managed to poison sixteen Marazzer soldiers and their leader. The party then piled all the dead bodies into their cart. The image is reminiscent of the scene in "For a Few Dollars More". The party decided to hide the bodies at Wolf's Bane Bottom, where they found the wolf's bane and killed spiders the last time.
Although the party headed out in the middle of the night, for some reason, they figured there was no danger from the spiders. They were wrong. After a long battle, the party killed a dozen Hatchling Deathjump Spider. The spider are about ten inches across. The spiders are not the huge Skyrim style spiders.
After killing the spiders, the party placed the dead soldiers around the nearly empty keg of ale. They posed the soldiers to look as if they were partying and died from an attack of the spiders. The party then gathered up the dead body of the adventurer they found in the last adventure.
They arrived at the Dead Eye's Moon Inn waking Sapphire, the innkeeper. Sapphire identified the dead adventurer as Kaenan, a down-on-his-luck farmer that lived next door to the inn. The party left the dead body of Kaenan in their cart.
Imagine the shock of Sita, Kaenan widow, waking up to a huge, ugly, half-orc pounding on her door. The half-orc then announced Kaenan was dead from spider bites. Sita's screams of terror and loss woke the sleeping town. The party managed to convince Sita and the town they were not the source of Keanan's death.
The party announced that they had freed the town from the Marazzer. The town met this with some skepticism. Then the party started searching the tents of the dead Marazzer.
The party searched the tent of Ahmad, the lieutenant of the Marazeer force in Appary, finding gold and some records on clay tablets. One of the tablets described the death of Carmit, a priest of the Sanctuary of Innocence. They found priest's body in the torture chamber used to test initiates into the priesthood. The record warned to be on the lookout anyone with an Efreet, since a death in the sanctuary would bind an Efreet to someone's control.
The party found three tablets documenting the finding of headless bodies. The first tablet described nine bodies, three of them Marazzer soldiers, missing their heads. Something cleanly removed the heads without spilling any blood. Nothing else was missing. The second tablet listed two more headless bodies. The third tablet listed another four headless bodies, making a total of fifteen. The Marazzer were concerned the forced of Greth somehow unleashed something when they were preparing for their ill-fated defense against the invasion by the Marazzer.
In going through the records, the party found a receipt for one-hundred gold paid to Erskin for information.
Although the party headed out in the middle of the night, for some reason, they figured there was no danger from the spiders. They were wrong. After a long battle, the party killed a dozen Hatchling Deathjump Spider. The spider are about ten inches across. The spiders are not the huge Skyrim style spiders.
After killing the spiders, the party placed the dead soldiers around the nearly empty keg of ale. They posed the soldiers to look as if they were partying and died from an attack of the spiders. The party then gathered up the dead body of the adventurer they found in the last adventure.
They arrived at the Dead Eye's Moon Inn waking Sapphire, the innkeeper. Sapphire identified the dead adventurer as Kaenan, a down-on-his-luck farmer that lived next door to the inn. The party left the dead body of Kaenan in their cart.
Imagine the shock of Sita, Kaenan widow, waking up to a huge, ugly, half-orc pounding on her door. The half-orc then announced Kaenan was dead from spider bites. Sita's screams of terror and loss woke the sleeping town. The party managed to convince Sita and the town they were not the source of Keanan's death.
The party announced that they had freed the town from the Marazzer. The town met this with some skepticism. Then the party started searching the tents of the dead Marazzer.
The party searched the tent of Ahmad, the lieutenant of the Marazeer force in Appary, finding gold and some records on clay tablets. One of the tablets described the death of Carmit, a priest of the Sanctuary of Innocence. They found priest's body in the torture chamber used to test initiates into the priesthood. The record warned to be on the lookout anyone with an Efreet, since a death in the sanctuary would bind an Efreet to someone's control.
The party found three tablets documenting the finding of headless bodies. The first tablet described nine bodies, three of them Marazzer soldiers, missing their heads. Something cleanly removed the heads without spilling any blood. Nothing else was missing. The second tablet listed two more headless bodies. The third tablet listed another four headless bodies, making a total of fifteen. The Marazzer were concerned the forced of Greth somehow unleashed something when they were preparing for their ill-fated defense against the invasion by the Marazzer.
In going through the records, the party found a receipt for one-hundred gold paid to Erskin for information.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
The Queen of Poisons
According to Wikipedia, Wolf's Bane or Aconitum, is also known as "the queen of poisons". Wikipedia goes on to say, "with large doses death is almost instantaneous." In the last adventure, the party used the Queen of Poisons to take out the forces of Marazzer encamped near Appary.
The party is looking for a way to the Hut of Iroine. They heard Iroine is leading a resistance against the Marazzer. The Marazzer in Appary were slowly disappearing in the middle of the night. The Marazzer suspected some sort of large cat. The party suspected a werewolf was responsible.
The party determined it was not a werewolf but some other form of lycanthrope, probably a weretiger. The party purchased a large quantity of catnip from the Little Shop of Flowers run by Chinyere. Chinyere was out of wolf's bane. The Marazzer had purchased all she had. Chinyere offered the party three gold pieces for each bunch of wolf's bane they could gather. Chinyere warned the party of the danger of wolf's bane.
Erskin, a sixteen-year-old native of Appary, approached the part asking if they knew a way to get rid of the Marazzer. He told the party about a meeting at Green Door Woodworking to discuss getting rid of the Marazzer.
The party headed off to gather wolf's bane. They found a body near the grove of wolf's bane. The person was dead from some sort of insect or spider bite. They party started gathering wolf's bane. A group of spiders the size of dinner plates attached the party. The battle with the spiders turned out to be difficult. In part because the microphone of the person with the highest-level character was muted. Again, a small band of first level monsters nearly killed the party. The party recovered and collected a large number of bunches of wolf's bane.
The party came up with a plan to use the wolf's bane to kill the Marazzer. They purchased two barrels of ale from Mansur, also known as Dead Eye because of the damage to one of his eyes by a weretiger.
Sapphire, the Inn Keeper, expressed her doubts about the plan. The party convinced Sapphire they would protect her. Sapphire warned the party Erskin may not be telling the truth about the meeting to get rid of the Marazzer. Sapphire led the party to Osmin, who she suspected was the weretiger killing the Marazzer. After some negotiation, Osmin agreed to attack the Marazzer camp later that night when he received a signal from the party.
The party spiked one of the barrels of ale with wolf's bane. While the bard entertained the Marazzer troops, the party plied them with ale. After the second serving of ale, the party switched the barrel to the poisoned one. Of the seventeen Marazzer troops watching the entertainment, fourteen did not notice the poison until they fell over dead. The Queen of Death caused almost instantaneous death. Three noticed the poison and attacked. The party dispatched them. Osmin, the weretiger, dispatched the other guards.
The party is looking for a way to the Hut of Iroine. They heard Iroine is leading a resistance against the Marazzer. The Marazzer in Appary were slowly disappearing in the middle of the night. The Marazzer suspected some sort of large cat. The party suspected a werewolf was responsible.
The party determined it was not a werewolf but some other form of lycanthrope, probably a weretiger. The party purchased a large quantity of catnip from the Little Shop of Flowers run by Chinyere. Chinyere was out of wolf's bane. The Marazzer had purchased all she had. Chinyere offered the party three gold pieces for each bunch of wolf's bane they could gather. Chinyere warned the party of the danger of wolf's bane.
Erskin, a sixteen-year-old native of Appary, approached the part asking if they knew a way to get rid of the Marazzer. He told the party about a meeting at Green Door Woodworking to discuss getting rid of the Marazzer.
The party headed off to gather wolf's bane. They found a body near the grove of wolf's bane. The person was dead from some sort of insect or spider bite. They party started gathering wolf's bane. A group of spiders the size of dinner plates attached the party. The battle with the spiders turned out to be difficult. In part because the microphone of the person with the highest-level character was muted. Again, a small band of first level monsters nearly killed the party. The party recovered and collected a large number of bunches of wolf's bane.
The party came up with a plan to use the wolf's bane to kill the Marazzer. They purchased two barrels of ale from Mansur, also known as Dead Eye because of the damage to one of his eyes by a weretiger.
Sapphire, the Inn Keeper, expressed her doubts about the plan. The party convinced Sapphire they would protect her. Sapphire warned the party Erskin may not be telling the truth about the meeting to get rid of the Marazzer. Sapphire led the party to Osmin, who she suspected was the weretiger killing the Marazzer. After some negotiation, Osmin agreed to attack the Marazzer camp later that night when he received a signal from the party.
The party spiked one of the barrels of ale with wolf's bane. While the bard entertained the Marazzer troops, the party plied them with ale. After the second serving of ale, the party switched the barrel to the poisoned one. Of the seventeen Marazzer troops watching the entertainment, fourteen did not notice the poison until they fell over dead. The Queen of Death caused almost instantaneous death. Three noticed the poison and attacked. The party dispatched them. Osmin, the weretiger, dispatched the other guards.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Did the Dragon Breath on Us or Not?
Did the Dragon Breath on Us or Not?
Years ago, one of the players in the campaign was a bit of a rule lawyer. I am sure you have run into the type of player that knows all the rules backwards and forwards. In the first edition of Dungeons and Dragons, a dragon could only use their breath weapon three times a day.
A dragon was terrorizing a small town. Each night the dragon would come stomping up to the walls protecting the town and roar loudly. The town knew it was a dragon from the huge footprints and claw marks on the walls. The town left piles of gold outside the walls hoping the dragon would go away.
The group of adventurers heard of the plight of the town and set off to kill the dragon. They planned an elaborate ruse. They set up a three wagons filled with a variety of goods. The party separated the wagons so that a dragon’s breath would only affect one wagon at a time. The party dug a pit with a trap door to hide in. The plan was to use ventriloquism to make it appear the party was in the first wagons and let the dragon burn that up, then use ventriloquism to make it appear the party was in second wagon, and so on. That way the party could force the dragon to use up its daily quota of breath weapons. The plan was the party would then spring out of the pit and attach the dragon.
The plan appeared to work like clockwork. The party heard the roars and stomping of the dragon. They party used ventriloquism to plead for mercy from the first wagon. The first wagon went up in flame. The party repeated the process with the second and third wagon. Confident they were safe from the breath weapon the party sprung from their pit. I asked the party to roll a saving throw. The rule lawyer objected, "Dragons can only use their breath weapon three times a day."
My reply was, "You need to save verses a fireball."
"But, but, dragons don’t cast fireballs."
Two ambitious trolls found a staff of fireballs and came up with a plan to shakedown the town. The trolls carved two tree stumps into the shape of a dragon’s footprint. They used a spear to carve claw marks into the walls of the town. The staff of fireballs provided the flames.
The party of adventurers were disappointed in the rather small horde of gold the trolls accumulated. The party used the staff of fireballs to level the town, killing everyone in the town, and taking everything of value.
It was an interesting adventure to run. I did not expect the party to level the town.
Just because it leaves tracks like a dragon, claw marks like a dragon, and sets fire to things like a dragon; it does not always mean it is a dragon. It could be two trolls with a staff of fireballs.
Years ago, one of the players in the campaign was a bit of a rule lawyer. I am sure you have run into the type of player that knows all the rules backwards and forwards. In the first edition of Dungeons and Dragons, a dragon could only use their breath weapon three times a day.
A dragon was terrorizing a small town. Each night the dragon would come stomping up to the walls protecting the town and roar loudly. The town knew it was a dragon from the huge footprints and claw marks on the walls. The town left piles of gold outside the walls hoping the dragon would go away.
The group of adventurers heard of the plight of the town and set off to kill the dragon. They planned an elaborate ruse. They set up a three wagons filled with a variety of goods. The party separated the wagons so that a dragon’s breath would only affect one wagon at a time. The party dug a pit with a trap door to hide in. The plan was to use ventriloquism to make it appear the party was in the first wagons and let the dragon burn that up, then use ventriloquism to make it appear the party was in second wagon, and so on. That way the party could force the dragon to use up its daily quota of breath weapons. The plan was the party would then spring out of the pit and attach the dragon.
The plan appeared to work like clockwork. The party heard the roars and stomping of the dragon. They party used ventriloquism to plead for mercy from the first wagon. The first wagon went up in flame. The party repeated the process with the second and third wagon. Confident they were safe from the breath weapon the party sprung from their pit. I asked the party to roll a saving throw. The rule lawyer objected, "Dragons can only use their breath weapon three times a day."
My reply was, "You need to save verses a fireball."
"But, but, dragons don’t cast fireballs."
Two ambitious trolls found a staff of fireballs and came up with a plan to shakedown the town. The trolls carved two tree stumps into the shape of a dragon’s footprint. They used a spear to carve claw marks into the walls of the town. The staff of fireballs provided the flames.
The party of adventurers were disappointed in the rather small horde of gold the trolls accumulated. The party used the staff of fireballs to level the town, killing everyone in the town, and taking everything of value.
It was an interesting adventure to run. I did not expect the party to level the town.
Just because it leaves tracks like a dragon, claw marks like a dragon, and sets fire to things like a dragon; it does not always mean it is a dragon. It could be two trolls with a staff of fireballs.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
A Quest for Knowledge
One of the oldest spy stories is record in the book of Numbers in the Bible.
The party receives a quest to spy on an enemy installation. They need to determine if the enemy is prepared to fight off an attack. Are there guards? If there are guards, are they alert or just going through the motions? What is the best direction to attack the installation?
Quest like these provide player the opportunity to strategize and plan. Charging straight up the middle without considering the strength of the defenders is a sure strategy for defeat. The party needs to determine how strong a defense. Observing the guards provides insight on their capabilities. One of the weaknesses of Skyrim is guards are only on alert for a short time. I once tried to use a monster like Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th. The party found a safe place to hole up and plotted how to kill the monster. None of the party would venture out alone, unlike the movies. The party was paranoid about every noise and movement. In Skyrim, you can sneak into a thieves den and kill the guards one by one. The guards will go on alert for a little while, and then settle back into their usual unobservant ways. In real life, it would take weeks, months, or even years before the guards would stop thinking how something killed one of their own in a sneak attack. That can break the morale of the guards. Snipers can effectively destroy the effectiveness of a force by killing only a few. If you killed eight of the ten guards the last two guard would probably run away or at least call for reinforcements.
Planning an attack require gathering information. The information may be only partial or incomplete. For example, you do not know the exact number of guards, but the party can count the number on duty at any time. They can deduce there are at least three times that number if the guards follow a standard rotation. The key is knowledge.
This is very similar to solving a logic problem. You have a set of facts or clues. You need to use logic to determine the best course of action. The difference is formal logic problems have one and only one solution. There may be many possible solutions to attacking an enemy installation. However, not all solutions are as effective.
Most fantasy roleplaying adventures focus on the hack-and-slash. Consider giving your party a quest where they need to obtain information instead of killing.
When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, "Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country. See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications? How is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not?" Numbers 13:17-20a (NASB)World of Warcraft is infamous for quests where you need to get some number of trophies from killing a specific creature. Skyrim has similar quests, for example, the quest to kill ten bears and gather their pelts. Video games have a difficult time asking for qualitative answers. Tabletop roleplaying games have no difficulty giving quests requiring qualitative instead of quantitative answers.
The party receives a quest to spy on an enemy installation. They need to determine if the enemy is prepared to fight off an attack. Are there guards? If there are guards, are they alert or just going through the motions? What is the best direction to attack the installation?
Quest like these provide player the opportunity to strategize and plan. Charging straight up the middle without considering the strength of the defenders is a sure strategy for defeat. The party needs to determine how strong a defense. Observing the guards provides insight on their capabilities. One of the weaknesses of Skyrim is guards are only on alert for a short time. I once tried to use a monster like Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th. The party found a safe place to hole up and plotted how to kill the monster. None of the party would venture out alone, unlike the movies. The party was paranoid about every noise and movement. In Skyrim, you can sneak into a thieves den and kill the guards one by one. The guards will go on alert for a little while, and then settle back into their usual unobservant ways. In real life, it would take weeks, months, or even years before the guards would stop thinking how something killed one of their own in a sneak attack. That can break the morale of the guards. Snipers can effectively destroy the effectiveness of a force by killing only a few. If you killed eight of the ten guards the last two guard would probably run away or at least call for reinforcements.
Planning an attack require gathering information. The information may be only partial or incomplete. For example, you do not know the exact number of guards, but the party can count the number on duty at any time. They can deduce there are at least three times that number if the guards follow a standard rotation. The key is knowledge.
This is very similar to solving a logic problem. You have a set of facts or clues. You need to use logic to determine the best course of action. The difference is formal logic problems have one and only one solution. There may be many possible solutions to attacking an enemy installation. However, not all solutions are as effective.
Most fantasy roleplaying adventures focus on the hack-and-slash. Consider giving your party a quest where they need to obtain information instead of killing.
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