#RPGaDay 2023, Final Week

The final week! I had fun thinking over my responses to these questions. It gave me an opportunity to look at RPGs from a different direction.

August 28

SCARIEST game you've played

I have a couple of difficulties coming up with an answer here. As a Forever GM, I run far more games than I play. Worse, I've yet to find a GM who can run horror well and has a slot open for a new player. This puts a limit on my ability to play a "scariest game" or pick up the skills to run one.


August 29

Most memorable ENCOUNTER

Likely the "hunt down and kill the traitor" session I described in response to an earlier question. It wasn't the encounter the GM planned on running, but it was the one we wanted to play. Which brings up a point - the best encounters sometimes emerge from a place other than the GM's imagination.


August 30

OBSCURE RPG you've played

I could mention any number of homebrews, but that seems against the spirit of the question.

The majority of RPGs I have experience with are well-known for a good reason. If they weren't commercially successful, they would never have shown up on my radar. Now, I have acquired a few interesting RPGs from smaller companies and places like itch.io, so my response to such a question will likely change moving forward.


August 31

FAVORITE RPG of all time

"All time" is my sticking point with this question. I don't have the kind of nostalgia that some have with older games. I had a good time with them, but that doesn't keep me from seeing how newer RPGs solve issues that I ran into back in the day. My "all time favorite RPG" might end up being one that hasn't been published yet.

My current favorite is Star Trek Adventures, simply because it lets me run a Trek RPG without getting in the way.

#RPGaDay 2023, Week Four

Part three of #RPGaDay2023 questions and my complied answers. Additional commentary in italics.

August 21

Favorite LICENSED RPG

First a couple of honorable mentions. Modiphius' Robert E Howard's Conan for the care taken with the material. West End Games' Star Wars out of nostalgia. Both are solid examples of what can be done with a license.

My current favorite is Star Trek Adventures. It does a good job of supporting the "hyper-competent science nerds solving problems IN SPACE" game I want when running Star Trek.

I like it when I don't have to fight or perform surgery on a game to get it to do what I want.


August 22

Best SECONDHAND RPG purchase

I'll avoid going into my nostalgia-fueled quest to rebuild my childhood D&D/AD&D module collection. Instead, I'll make a selection from my stack of secondhand GURPS books - GURPS Traveller Far Trader. It's a weird choice for a weird reason. It breaks down economic concepts like comparative advantage in a way that's applicable to RPGs. Sure, I could just make stuff up. But I prefer to pretend to model these things.

August 23

COOLEST looking RPG product/book

I favor understatement in RPG materials. Weird fonts and cluttered layouts hamper my ability to read the book. Many things that might make a book look "cool" may turn me off it.

My current favorite is the Star Trek Adventures Gamemaster's Guide. Textured cover. Simple black text on white pages. Enough art to navigate around it. Even has a bookmark!

August 24

COMPLEX/SIMPLE RPG you play

Of the RPGs I keep in rotation?

Let's face it, AD&D is a kludge of unrelated mechanics with a kitchen sink setting thrown in for good measure.

2d20 is a pile of moving parts that somehow runs smoothly once it gets rolling.

Many iterations of GUMSHOE are on the simpler end by design.


August 25

UNPLAYED RPG you own

I haven't gotten around to giving FATE a try. The book's been on my shelf for awhile, but hasn't made the cut so far. There's also the Planet Mercenary RPG. That was a Kickstarter backer reward that didn't appeal as much as I hoped when I got my hands on it.


August 26

Favorite CHARACTER SHEET

I like these D&D character sheets for players with dyslexia. A relatively simple layout with enough going on to be interesting without devolving into visual chaos.

Found out about them in this article:
https://www.geeknative.com/70088/dd-character-sheets-for-players-with-dyslexia/

August 27

Game you'd like a new EDITION of...

Pie in the sky response? D6 Star Wars.

There's no chance of this seeing the light of day.

#RPGaDay 2023, Week Three

Part three of #RPGaDay2023 questions and my answers compiled on this little blog. Additional commentary in italics.

August 14

Favorite CONVENTION purchase: I try to stick to a budget at conventions by not buying things I can source elsewhere. Most of my convention purchases are for out of print products. It warms my heart when my collection of early D&D and AD&D adventure modules gets that much closer to matching the one I had in my youth.

The amount of weight that "try" carries in the statement about budget varies a bit.

August 15

Favorite Con MODULE / ONE-SHOT: In my experience, convention modules and one shots tend to be made with time constraints in mind. They generally follow a linear structure and focus on problem solving and tactical play. I do enjoy this style - going to a convention is a rare opportunity for me to play rather than run - but those experiences don't tend to stick in my memory.

As much as I enjoy getting to actually play, convention adventures are rarely deeply moving emotional events.


August 16

Game you WISH you owned: There are a number of games with limited print runs, are out of print, or are only available in a digital format that I'd like to own in a dead tree edition. The Lancer Core Book hardcover and certain D&D/AD&D adventure modules are examples. For some reason, reading from a book "sticks" better when I'm trying to learn the material.

I did read an article about why some people retain information better from reading a physical book vs the same material off a screen, but I can't recall the website it was on.

August 17

FUNNIEST game you've played: As a Forever GM, I'll be stretching "played" into "participated" for this one. The first game of Toon I ran for a couple of friends. It was over a decade ago on a slow night and I ran it on the fly. We all jumped into an improvised humor vibe perfect for the game and it was a flawless laugh riot.

I need to dig out my copy of Toon sometime.

August 18

Favorite game SYSTEM: Toss up between Modiphius' 2d20 and Pelgrane Press' GUMSHOE.

2d20 is a pile of moving parts, but it runs nicely and builds up speed through a session. 2d20 adapts well to a variety of settings from Starfleet officers doing space stuff in Star Trek Adventures to the savage violence of Robert E Howard's Conan. There are some tricky bits - spaceship combat is a hurdle for any system - but I enjoy it.

GUMSHOE taught me how to manage a procedural adventure. Information might give the PCs an advantage, add flavor, or be nice to know. And there are things that don't make sense to gate behind a dice roll - what the players need to know to get through the adventure.

I respond to these questions as I see fit. Sometimes that means not feeling the need to make up my mind.

August 19

Favorite PUBLISHED adventure: Kelsey Dionne's The Secrets of Skyhorn Lighthouse and the other adventures in The Arcane Library. Not just for the content - which is solid - but for formatting that content in a way that's easy to access while running it. No flowery descriptions or burying key details in walls of prose - just what the GM needs at a glance.

I don't need to know about the big bad guy's hobbies or dating history, I need to know what the player characters need to do to put him down.

August 20

Will still play in TWENTY years time: Given my age and current health issues, I find myself admiring this question's optimism.

Did I take my pills this morning?

#RPGaDay 2023, Week Two

More compiled #RPGaDay 2023 questions and my responses. Additional commentary in italics.

August 7

Smartest RPG you've played: I'm not sure what the question is asking, so I'll just list some clever bits from various games that I've come to appreciate over the years.

13th Age: The Escalation Die. A simple solution for reducing the grind in D&D combat.

Ashen Stars: The realization that the typical "sci-fi space show" is procedural in structure. The space/time ship/station / portal exploration team runs into a problem. The plot revolves around learning more about the situation in stages and implementing a solution. It's something I was dimly aware of, but had never seen made so explicitly clear. I've carried this structure forward to running other sci-fi games.

GURPS Horror (3rd & 4th Editions): Analyzing monsters by the specific fears they embody.

Star Trek Adventures: Rather than present supplemental rules and source material by legacy series or era, sourcebooks were initially focused on area (the Quadrant books) or what role a player character was filling (the Division books). Later campaign books published material for the newer series (DIS and LD), but falls under "a nice problem to have".

TimeWatch: Building dirty time travel tricks into the system rather than leaving them out for simplicity.

This is what happens when I can't make up my mind.


August 8

Favorite CHARACTER: Being a Forever GM, I don't really get to have one of those

Although I am fond of the brief time I played Commander Soval (no relation) in somebody else's Star Trek game awhile back. Think all the snark from Richard Dean Anderson's Colonel O'Neill from SG-1, but wrapped up in a Vulcan package.


August 9

Favorite DICE: There's different ways to interpret this one: type of die, dice mechanic, or picking out the best in a collection.

Type: d8. I like the shape.

Mechanic: 13th Age's Escalation Die. An elegant way to reduce the grind in D&D combat.

Favorite in my collection: Not my favorite set, but a handy tool - the mood die. Lacks the detail of character notes or the utility of a reaction chart, but works fast in a pinch.

August 10

Favorite tie-in FICTION: I have mixed feelings about this sort of thing. Individual works can be poorly written cash grabs, ways to push metaplots, or contributions to creeping, messy snarls of continuity. There's nothing less welcoming than a GM saying "please peruse this stack of sourcebooks and that stack of novels to catch all the references I'll be throwing out during the campaign."

That said, I remain fond of the Battletech novels by Robert N Charrette and Micheal Stackpole for averting much of what I don't like about tie-ins.


August 11

WEIRDEST game you've played: Honestly? AD&D 1e. It was basically Gygax houseruling early D&D to heck and back.

Let's face it, AD&D as published was a kitchen sink setting. Gygax was bolting on every idea, mechanic, and chart he could think of to the game.


August 12

Old game you STILL play: "Oldest in rotation" is the interpretation I'm using here. There's older in my collection that have seen relatively recent play, but I'm unlikely to take them down from the shelf again.

D6 Star Wars. It's like a well maintained classic car - it lacks features that I've come to expect, but the way it handles is still a fun ride.

D6 Star Wars isn't the fastest or most responsive. And the Wild Die causes a dice explosion every now and then. Still a fun for a quick drive down a country road, though.


August 13

Most memorable character DEMISE: A rare time when I played in somebody else's game. Final session of a long running campaign. No loose ends. Nothing left unresolved other than the finale. Every faction gathered for an epic throw down. No more plot armor for the PCs.

But there had been collusion between a player and the GM. Months of secret communications. The PC announcing his betrayal was the first we learned of it. He went to join our enemies.

We completely ignored the battle raging around us to track down the traitorous PC. So focused were we on our betrayer that what was meant to be the campaign's climax failed to register on us. After the faithless PC was dead, the GM tossed his notes and wrapped things up as best he could.

It wasn't the way the player or the GM planned it to go, but I remember that character's death well.

We really wanted that character dead. Names not given to protect the reputations of those involved.

#RPGaDAY 2023, Week One

#RPGaDay poses a question for each day of August. It was launched by David F. Chapman on his AutoCratik blog. The challenge looked interesting, so I decided to participate this year. I'll be answering the questions daily on Mastodon. And I'll be compiling those responses each week on this blog and expounding on them a bit. Additional commentary is in italics.

1 August

First RPG played (this year): Star Trek Adventures by Modiphius Entertainment.

This response shouldn't be a shock, given how often I discuss the game on this blog.


2 August

First RPG Gamemaster: Oh, that would be decades back. Scott. He ran a hybrid of Moldvay Basic and AD&D out of a cream colored hard sided briefcase that he got from who knows where.

Scott was the kind of nerd who would've been sporting a long trench coat if it were the '90s. And not as tropical where we lived.


3 August

First RPG Bought (This Year): I'm going to interpret this as "RPG product" since I've been completing collections rather than getting into new games this year.

That makes it a tie since I ordered both of these at the same time:

• The "everything that I didn't already have before Modiphius drops the license" bundle for Robert Howard's Conan from DTRPG.
• The Lower Decks preorder for Star Trek Adventures.

I wanted to make my Conan collection as complete as possible before it went away. Now I have years worth of material for the game. I preordered Lower Decks because I enjoy the show and thought that running a game for junior Starfleet officers might make for a change of pace sometime.


4 August

Most recent game bought: I've focused on completing RPG collections lately, but I did get a few free downloads while looking for a fantasy game that's not D&D or Pathfinder. Necrotic Gnome's Old School Essentials is the current front runner.

I burned out on the specific kind of fantasy RPG system represented by D&D and Pathfinder awhile back.


5 August

Oldest game you've played: Holmes Basic D&D. I've never owned it, but my earliest gamemasters ran it before switching to Moldvay D&D and/or AD&D.

Some of my early gamemasters used Holmes, others used Moldvay. The differences were difficult to discern, given how loosely they ran their games. Incorporating elements of AD&D didn't help with that.


6 August

Favorite game you never get to play: As a Forever GM, I almost never get to play any RPG on the tabletop.

Now, there's those TimeWatch and Night's Black Agents mini-campaigns that I keep threatening my players with, but those are more "fun concepts to play around with" at this point.

I'll get to those games. Someday...

After Easter: Plastic Egg Sci-Fi Scatter Terrain

I ended up with a significant number of plastic eggs this past Easter.

Lacking ideas of my own, I posed the question of "how can I use these for tabletop gaming terrain" in various places online. There were plenty of helpful suggestions and I'll be exploring those ideas for as long as the supply of plastic eggs holds out. I'm grateful to everybody who took the time to reply.

Needing a quick and easy project to get back into the swing of things, I picked out one that came with a detailed build guide. Dice Mechanic Games has a comprehensive "Micro Reactor" tutorial on their website. The tutorial includes needed tools and materials in addition to build instructions. One thing that's not clear at first glance is that this build requires plastic eggs that are a bit on the small side.

Rosie scores more salvage.

Construction

The basic idea is to glue an egg half on top of a plastic bottle cap. Handling the egg halves can get tricky - the plastic is prone to cracking, but I avoided breaking either of them. This uncomplicated process results in an interesting shape that can be enhanced with any greeblies that might be on hand. I ended up playing around a little to see what techniques I could carry forward to future projects.

I might have overdone the wires, but it's good practice.

The blue one is an experiment in using short lengths of salvaged electrical wire to represent cables or hoses. The wires were added after priming and painting. The terminals and connectors are plastics beads from the craft store. It is a good way to add mechanical complexity to a model by connecting various parts.

To be honest, I'm not sure which is the front and back on this model.

I attached a few stickers to what would become the red one to represent after market panels covering up improvised "improvements" and repairs. Looking at it now, the panels seem too uniform to be convincing, but the idea works well enough. If I were to build something of more ramshackle construction, I might go for covering much of it with overlapping stickers.

The "hat" on top of the red one is the plastic valve from a bag of coffee. Here's a short video on how I wrestled it out:

Priming and Painting

I spray primed both pieces with some black Krylon from a can that I'm trying to finish off. That got followed up with some Tamiya Surface Primer (L) in gray, sprayed in a zenithal pattern from the top. Masking off the sections that would later be painted metallic, I reached for a couple more cans of Krylon I was trying to use up. The blue is Krylon ColorMaster Paint + Primer Satin Iris and the red is the same brand in Matte Poppy Red.

Don't let the name fool you - this stuff comes in all kinds of colors.

The metallic sections offered me a chance to try out something new to me. FolkArt Treasure Gold came to my attention thanks to one of the many hobby YouTubers I follow. I brushed a coat of 5554 Antique Silver over the black primer, being careful to leave some black showing in the recesses. A little 5552 Platinum worked well as a highlight layer on the metallic areas. I also brushed on both metallic paints on various places to simulate scratches and other wear.

FolkArt Treasure Gold, despite the name, comes in a variety of colors. It works well for dry brushing and similar techniques, but seems a little thick for using as a base coat. I'll have to use it some more to get a better feel for how to use the stuff.

The pieces still looked too pristine. This called for a coat of wash. I mixed up some Liquitex Matte Medium, Liquitex Soft Body Payne's Grey, and water. Despite wiping off the excess, I still spotted some pooling when I took a look at the photos I shot for this post. It's one of the dangers of photographing miniatures - every flaw becomes obvious after clicking on the photo and seeing on the screen.

"The energizer's bypassed like a Christmas tree, so don't give me too many bumps."

Wrapping Up

This was a great little project to get me back into the hobby after an involuntary break. These will make good scatter terrain for my next sci-fi game. No idea what kind of machinery they're supposed to represent, though.

A Taste of the Future: Finding Noodle Shops for an Urban Sci-Fi Terrain Board

I've been slowly putting together a sci-fi terrain board partly inspired by the cityscapes of movies like Blade Runner. Currently, I'm short on office buildings, although I do have other structures that can fill in. I do have some suitable scatter terrain, but more would be ideal. I have enough tiles for a small board, but more would expand the playing area and to provide more variety. And my plans for inner city rail are on hold while I mull over how I'm going to build it. However, there's one thing I'm missing that particularly vexes me for some reason.

I got signs advertising burgers, pet replicants, and milk, but not what I've been looking for.

Blade Runner (1982) established the look of gritty sci-fi. It's influence is strongest in cyberpunk, but it can be seen any time a sci-fi production needs a futuristic dystopia as a backdrop. Brightly glowing signs drenching scenes with colors rarely found in nature. Stark, functional structures filling the background. Decaying infrastructure co-existing with cutting edge technology. It's a very 80s vision of the future.

Early in Blade Runner, we're introduced to Deckard as he sits down for a cheap, but filling bowl of noodles. The place resembles the neon lit street bars of Asia. These are little shops where a customer can step off the pavement, belly up to the bar, and order an inexpensive meal after a hard day at work or a hard night of overindulgence.

I'm looking for something to represent such a place for my sci-fi board. Things like this would give it a lived in look. People have to live in the tiny slice of cityscape represented by this board. Where do they go to work. To eat? To rest and relax? To shop? Not every urban terrain board needs to be a slice of city life, but I enjoy entertaining questions like these and coming up with answers in the form of terrain.

Building something from scratch demanded a clearer concept than "bar seating" could offer. A little poking around revealed some possibilities from online vendors. I'm still considering options, but I thought that sharing what I've found so far might help others looking for similar terrain. There's also every possibility that someone reading is aware of something I haven't seen yet.


The "Fast Food" Stall from Zen Terrain

I almost bought this one immediately after coming across it. The price is hard to beat and - except for the lack of an awning - it looks like the kind of food stall I had in mind.

• The price is reasonable, but shipping from Poland adds significantly to the total cost.
• This terrain piece is 90mm long. I would prefer something with more of a presence on the table.
• The curved back is cardstock, raising concerns in my mind about its durability.

I might add this to a larger order from Zen Terrain - some of their buildings would work well for the board - but it's not something I'd order on its own.


The FoodBooth 9000 and RIBD_4 Street Bar from Warmill

Warmill from the UK makes a couple of promising products. The look of the FoodBooth 9000 leans more towards "fast food joint" than what I'm looking for, but I'll keep it in mind if I need a sci-fi burger place. The RIBD_4 Street Bar better matches what I have in mind, although it is marketed as serving beverages rather than food.

• Both items are out of stock at the time this post is going up.
• The cost of shipping packages across the Atlantic.

I'll be keeping an eye out if availability changes. This isn't terrain I need right now and I can use the time to keep looking.


The SciFi Street Shop from Terrakami Games

This is a basic design that offers flexibility for those who own multiple copies of it. Three of these can be placed corner to corner to provide seating for a larger shop. There's even the option of an acrylic sign advertising noodles with chopsticks.

• The issue of transatlantic shipping costs rears its ugly head again.
• I dislike ordering single items, so I'd have to find other things to bulk up the order. Of course, the maglev train pieces that Terrakami offers would solve my inner city rail problem...

I'll have to keep this one in mind.

New Ceres: Sushi Shack Bundle and Odinheim: Pop Shop Bundle from Death Ray Designs

The New Ceres: Sushi Shack Bundle is a modular terrain piece that can comes with ladders, platforms, and other features that can be configured in a variety of ways. The acrylic sign advertises sushi rather than noodles, but the look is otherwise close to what I envisioned. The modular features add tactical options for movement, elevation, and cover during play.

The Odinheim: Pop Shop Bundle is cheaper than the Sushi Shack Bundle and has a sign with a bowl of noodles, but lacks exterior bar seating. Other than the sign, it looks like a fairly generic shop.

• Neither is quite what I have in mind. If I get both, I wonder if I could switch the signs between them?
• Either of these bundles are somewhat more expensive than the other products on this list.
• The higher prices are mitigated by lower shipping costs since Death Ray Designs and I are in the same country.

Death Ray Designs has some other products that appeal to me. Maybe I'll save up and put one or both of these in a larger order from them.


I haven't made up my mind at this point on which one I'll be buying, but the offerings from Death Ray Designs are the strongest contenders at this point. Feel free to share your own thoughts and point me in the direction of any other possibilities!

My New Dropper Bottle Case

I've acquired a modest collection of half-ounce dropper bottles of miniature paints. Storing them in a way that keeps them organized, accessible, and out of the way when I'm using my limited hobby space for something other than miniature painting is a problem that's been vexing me for awhile.

Maybe I can cover up the floral decoration with a sticker or patch?

The latest solution is a bag for essential oils and other cosmetics. It even comes adorned with a pretty floral embellishment. The holes in the foam insert are a perfect for dropper bottles.

This particular carrying case can hold 120 dropper bottles. That's enough space for my current collection with room to spare for future purchases. Because the search for a set of perfect paints is never ending. The case securely holds the bottles in place when zipped up. It's an ideal travel solution for anybody who carries their paint collection around, but mine will likely reside tucked away in a corner of my home office.

My whole collection of dropper bottle paints with room for more!

Cases like this one can be found by searching for "essential oil storage" or "essential oil carrying case" on e-commerce sites like the one named after a river. There's significant variation in size, pricing, and availability depending on the market. A price and capacity that works for me might not be workable or available for others. I encourage anyone interested in such a product to do a little shopping to find one that's a good fit for them.

A cautionary word: This case isn't suitable for storing larger bottles like those used for craft or artist's paints. Games Workshop style paint pots may fit with some convincing, but I don't recommend it as it may damage the foam insert over time. A case like this is best suited for dropper bottles.

I've also uploaded a brief video about this case to my YouTube channel. The information in the narration is similar, but the visuals offer more details than presented in this blog post.

Tying Up Loose Ends

With the end of the year rolling at us at full speed, it's time for me to follow up, wrap up, or otherwise update some of the incomplete aspects of the ol' blog.

The Last Call crew. It was fun while it lasted.

The Last Call

The end of my Five Parsecs From Home campaign was ugly.

The battle of turn #2 didn't go well. Painting up a set of figures to use as Psychos was taking too long, so I resorted to using proxies to move on with the campaign. The battle turned against The Last Call crew due to a combination of poor die rolls, the opposition performing better than expected, and admittedly suboptimal tactical decision making. The result was a bitter grind as The Last Call crew put up a spirited, but futile struggle.

If I were gamemastering it as a RPG campaign, I might have fudged a few die rolls and had the Psychos fumble around a little to give The Last Call crew a chance to pull things together. Even using the options in "The Stars of the Story" section only mitigated things to a point. The outcome wasn't a true TPK, but was still a demoralizing setback. A hole that big would take a long time for The Last Call crew to dig their way free. I would have to bring in a bunch of newly painted miniatures to represent new crew in order to continue. Why not end it, call the whole thing a learning experience, and start fresh later?

I started a draft of the final stand of The Last Call crew, but left it undone. Few of the photos came out well. This would make the resulting battle report an almost unbroken wall of text. The writing alone would have to keep a reader engaged. I know the last stand has a long tradition, but I couldn't come up with a narrative that made the fight anything other than a depressing grind. I ended up abandoning the draft. Everybody only has so much time. I felt that mine would be better spent doing other things.

Beginning a new Five Parsecs From Home campaign is in the cards for next year. The ubrupt end of The Last Call campaign was rough, but it was fun while it lasted! And it fulfilled the goal of motivating me to paint more miniatures. Next time, I'd like to have a model to represent the ship and more terrain, but neither is a requirement that's cast in stone. Any decisions about the ship model or terrain will ultimately come down to time and cost. Having some more miniatures painted up and ready to go would also be prudent. Or I could just wing it. Let's see what the new year brings!

The Last Call - A Very Short Five Parsecs From Home Campaign:

Turn 0 - Crew generation

Turn 1 - Pre-battle steps, also includes campaign start steps

Turn 1 - Battle report

Turn 1 - Wrap up

Turn 1 - Error correction

Turn 2 - Pre-battle steps

I'm still not sure what I'm doing with this thing.

The YouTube Experiment

I'm still messing around with the YouTube Channel I started this year. Learning how to record audio and video, editing it, and finding ways to present it has been an engaging challenge. I think I'm closing in what to do with it, but I also want to experiment with the subjects I cover a little more.

For now, some links and short descriptions of what I've posted over there as of this post are below:

Coffee Bag Freebie Greeblies & Bits?

Short video on the scratch building parts that can be pulled off a bag of coffee.

Fixing a Squishy Based D&D Beholder Miniature

The base on this unfortunate miniature from Wizards of the Coast was far too soft to hold the figure up. Even a mighty Beholder isn't that scary if it's falling over! Fixing it by replacing the base was a quick and fun little project.

Plastic Soda Cap Greeblies & Bits?

Short video on trash bashing with these parts that come with a tasty drink!

Weathering Terrain with a Silver Marker

A quick guide on producing the appearance of bare metal exposed by wear and tear.

Soy & Teriyaki Sauce Bottle Bits

Short video on the junk build parts that come with a bottle of salty, umami flavor.

Some glass I got on my birthday. Both are helpful in the making of this blog.

More Miniature Photography Posts

Writing follow ups to The Post Where I Go On About Photography Gear and Kenko Extension Tube Set - First Impressions has been an exercise in hitting a moving target. There were several times when I thought that I had a handle on a process and started drafting a post, only from something new to upset the whole apple cart.

The simple truth of the matter is that I'm still learning and refining. How I approach miniatures photography has changed radically multiple times since I wrote those posts back in April 2021. A specific piece of gear might come and go and come back again. The camera settings have gone from one extreme to the other as I play with what works. This isn't a good place from which to teach others. I have tried to document my learning experience, but every draft has been tossed aside as no longer reflecting what I do by the time it's nearing completion.

It's going to be awhile before I dial into a preferred method and turn it into a time-tested formula. When I do, I'll be happy to share it so that others can benefit from my experience and improve their own methods.



These three were the glaring examples of unfinished business that I feel I should address. If there's anything else I've left undone that folks are curious about, feel free to fire off a question in the comments. Note that some projects are on hold due to the holidays. They will be resumed when time and weather permits - spray painting in the cold and wet is questionable at best.

Why Are Adventure Modules So Bad?

I've never had a great experience running published adventure modules. From "The Keep on the Borderlands" back when I was a wee lad of a Dungeon Master to "The Pit of Kutallu" one shot I ran over a month ago, I've always run into problems with the things. What's the source of these problems? Is there a better way? Is this just a middle aged man yelling at a cloud? How does this influence my own adventure writing?

Yeah, I'm criticizing a classic. I could run in this thing in my sleep. And I probably have. It's a solid D&D adventure, but it's questionable as an introductory module. Gygax didn't name anybody, forcing people running their first game to make names for NPCs up on the spot. Gygax described the details of politics within the Caves of Chaos without also providing ways for the player characters to find out or act on that information. Both of these things could have been teachable moments for those new to the hobby.

The Problems of Prose and Narrative

Modules are generally written as if they are telling a story rather than documenting a process. Someone reading prose fiction like a novel doesn't usually have to go back and look up key details. (There are exceptions like "fair play" mysteries and certain experimental works, but these meet different expectations.) Editors prefer to avoid walls of text in prose fiction because they can turn off readers. On the other hand, a gamemaster has to quickly understand how a module is intended to work and reference information from that module while running it. Skimming blocks of narration looking for a needed detail buried in the middle of a long paragraph takes up valuable time at the table. Having the information available at a glance would be more efficient, but involves a presentation and layout that borrows from technical writing.


Why Buy Adventure Modules?

I'm aware of two basic markets for adventure modules. The first are gamemasters who outsource creating the scenario, mechanics, and other aspects of an evening's adventure to a publisher. The reasons for this decision often comes down to a lack of time or familiarity with a given game or system. In order to be used to meet this need, using an adventure module should be less work than making one from scratch. Ideally, it should be as modular as the name "module" suggests - an adventure that can be slotted into an ongoing campaign with minimal preparation or adjustment. The second market are those who purchase modules as reading material. Presenting a module's contents as a narrative isn't a problem for them - it's actually a positive feature. They want to be told a story. The technical aspects of gamemastering don't concern them. Unfortunately, this runs counter to the needs of those using modules as adventures.


Background - How Much Is Too Much?

One sticking point for me is extensive background information with little or no application to the adventure. It may develop the setting and be a pleasant read, but is it needed to run the module? The motivations of an NPC and their relationships to the other NPCs in an adventure don't really matter if that NPC only serves as an XP piñata during a combat encounter. The depths of that NPC will never come up in play and become known to the players. The gamemaster doesn't need that information to run the NPC in a fight. It's space that could be better used for things more directly related to running the adventure.

Our group had a great time with this one, as I mention here. One question, though: What happens if nobody starts drowning when the player characters go overboard? The module mentions keeping things "action-packed and quick-moving" while calling for multiple tests while swimming for shore, but doesn't actually tell the gamemaster how many tests are needed or how often to call for them. One? Five? Every round? How many rounds until they get to the shore? The module doesn't say, but the process of how to handle a player character that starts drowning after failing a test while swimming for shore is described in detail.

Old School Solutions

When I ran adventure modules more often, I would thoroughly research each one before showing up with it on game night. This involved going through the contents, making notes as needed, and often running the adventure from my notes rather than the module itself. A simple read through just wouldn't provide enough familiarity with the module for a smooth experience at the table.

A notable change I would make while adapting a module is boiling down long descriptions. This seems to be where some module writers feel free to indulge in maximum verbosity. The eyes of many of my players would glaze over during a long reading of boxed text. I typically cut such descriptions down to the most important elements or used a highlighter on key phrases to use while paraphrasing at the table.

That process didn't cover the time needed to customize the module to fit into our campaign. Many modules recommend that gamemasters do this. Some provide specific advice on where and when the adventure might take place in officially supported settings. This fine tuning takes relatively little time and is an understandable limitation of adventure modules. A publisher can't take the specifics of everybody's campaign setting into account.

I soon gave up on the process as a waste of time. It was essentially rewriting the module into a form that would be easier for me to use. Why bother? Writing an adventure from scratch took roughly the same amount of time and effort. I acquired modules as part of bundles and picked up Free RPG Day adventures since then, but rarely ran them. Most of the modules I own are sources of spare parts. Encounters, NPCs, plot elements, and anything else that caught my eye would be used to inspire things in my own adventures.


The Arcane Library

The adventure modules written by Kelsey Dionne and published by The Arcane Library show a possible way forward. Many of the improvements used in these modules appear in products by others. However, The Arcane Library modules incorporates more of them in one place than I've seen elsewhere. The Arcane Library modules are dungeon adventures for a certain prominent fantasy RPG and use a streamlined presentation well suited for a location based adventure.

• Each module begins with a synopsis of the adventure and the minimum background necessary to understand its context. This information gives gamemasters a roadmap they can use to navigate the contents of the module. It shows how the adventure is intended to go, which elements connect, where they connect, and what interactions might take place. Of course, things may go off the rails, but knowing where the tracks were headed is helpful.
• The opening encounter is designed to quickly involve the players and their characters. A selection of motivations for the player characters is provided. This avoids the issues of slow starts and may short circuit "why does my character care" conversations.
• Each encounter takes up exactly one page and starts by asking a dramatic question. The outcome of the encounter answers that question. Not all encounters pose a question, but it provides a direction for things to go when it appears. The encounter wraps up with a transition describing how things move towards the next encounter. The flow from question to answer to transition helps to maintain the pace of the adventure.
• The aftermath section provides ways to tie off any remaining plot threads and offers the player characters their rewards. Hooks for future adventures building on the just concluded one are also presented.
• Descriptions are short. Lengthy boxed text is avoided in favor of lists of key details that gamemasters can work into their own narration.
• The layout is used to make the important stuff easier to find.
• There's a table of contents.
• Bold text is used for key details, making them stand out from the rest of the text.
• Bullet points are used for descriptive details and other information best presented in list format.
• Things like maps and new monsters are placed in the appendices instead of cluttering up the encounter entries.

Kelsey Dionne's approach requires modification for use with other games. It is optimized for an adventure in a confined environment that limits player choice. The outline of an investigative adventure might need a flowchart rather than a synopsis to show the gamemaster where things are going. A political intrigue adventure may not be able to be divided neatly into distinct encounters. The factions involved will each advance their own plans and modify them based on events. Instead, each faction could get their own section describing their resources, motivations, and how they intend to use any opportunities to achieve their goals.

The Problem of Scale

The Arcane Library modules are an example of how things can be improved, but their short length means that they don't run into the organizational problems found in longer works. A module from The Arcane Library already has a table of contents. This is plenty for an adventure intended to be run in a single session. But as the page count of a book goes up, locating specific information becomes more difficult.

Both a table of contents and a comprehensive index would make navigating a longer module easier. I'm not sure where the cut off between "just a table of contents is fine" and "needs an index too" exists. However, I'm sure that an adventure hardcover with a page count in the triple digits would certainly need both.

This is one of my favorite AD&D modules - to read. There's so much drama and detail presented about the people and inner workings of the slavers' organization.  Unfortunately, the player characters will never experience any of it as they steamroller through the place. I've thought of making the player characters go in and have to put up with the backbiting and office politics while undercover, but I don't think that's the intended way of running this adventure.

Art in Adventure Modules

Artwork may seem to be a waste of space in an adventure module, but it can have useful functions.

• An illustration of an area or encounter can be a handy tool, especially if it can be shown to the players without also revealing the text detailing the encounter. Some classic D&D and AD&D modules have separate booklets for this purpose.
• A piece of art that is connected to the text can serve as a mental bookmark. The most common example is a description of an NPC or monster with an illustration of that NPC or monster on the same page. If gamemasters can find the picture, they can find the related description.
• Memorable art can serve as landmarks while navigating a book. Page numbers might be difficult to recall, but knowing that a particular section is near that eye-catching picture may not be.
• If nothing else, small pieces of artwork can break up walls of text and larger ones can signal the beginning or end of a section.

Writing My Own Adventures

I tended to over-prepare for adventures. The process of rewriting modules had left a mark. There was way too much unnecessary detail and not enough focus on what I needed while sitting at the table. Everything was in one cumbersome outline and I worried too much about the ending.

There's a new process that I'm still refining. I don't worry about planning every detail or beyond the current session. What I'm mainly interested in is having ready access to the information I have prepared.

What I include in my session notes is still a work in progress.

• A sequence of events that will get derailed due to player character intervention. Key details are in bold.
• Scene descriptions (details below). Descriptive details are lists of phrases that I work in extemporaneously.
• Key NPCs. Only the ones that the player characters are likely to fight, interact with socially, or otherwise engage with mechanically have full stats. These include any special rules or notes. Again, key details are in bold. Other entries are just so that I can remember the name of the shopkeeper or other minor NPC.
• Reference sheets for any rules that I might have trouble remembering the exact mechanics of at the table.

As the workhorse of many an adventure, scenes need their share of focus. I haven't gone as far as put each on its own page, but I'm seeing the appeal. I break scenes down into three basic parts.

• How things are at the start of the scene. Example: The guy they are looking for is here.
• What might happen during the scene. Example: Do they confront the guy? Follow him around while keeping out of sight? What are the complications involved with either approach? Let's assume that they fumble their approach and they end up chasing the guy. Where does he go? Does local law enforcement get involved?
• Handling the outcome, including what the next scene might be and how to get there from here. Example: Do they catch the guy? Does he get away? Let's assume that they get their man. What information do they get out of him? How could they make use of what they've learned?

Each category (sequence of events, NPCs, scenes, etc.) gets its own document file. Right now, the docs are .pdfs on my tablet, but I'm considering uploading them to Google Docs or transferring them to Google Keep so I can access everything on my phone. That allows me to work on them while away from my tablet or PC.

I also have a pad and pen in front of me when running the game. I've yet to find a more practical way of taking notes at the table. Most of the notes are on how the players are changing the narrative during play or about things the players have taken an interest in. These notes get transcribed a day or week later. In theory.

One of the adventures in this book involves catching up with an out of control spaceship. The process of intercepting it is a dice rolling contest. When I ran it a few years ago, I couldn't find the number I needed on a page full of text. Maybe it was the lateness of the hour combined with the mental load of running the game and fatigue from a rough week at work, but I kept scanning the page and not seeing what I was looking for. Simply printing the target number in bold or having the information in a more easily digestible format - a chart summarizing the skill checks needed to get through the scene, for example - would have helped my poor, tired brain find it.

Wrapping Up

There are great adventure modules in my collection and there are some duds I hang on to for various reasons. Even the best of them have certain flaws that make them harder to run at the table. Possible solutions involve different lay outs and ways to present key information without radically altering what an adventure module is supposed to do. As an added benefit, gamemasters can borrow these methods to improve their own adventure writing.