D&D was a Wargame

I have been giving this one some thought recently. I was first introduced to wargames, and it was only afterwards that I started into D&D. The concept of the mega-dungeon strikes me as a bit of a wargame. The object of a mega-dungeon is to explore and eventually conquer it. It is designed to be tough. There will be character deaths. It has a players vs. GM mentality, in that the players are actually trying to beat the dungeon. Sure it’s just a game, but the object is to beat the dungeon. This creates a sense of accomplishment, and provides a reason to play the game. There is a winner. This is all good stuff.

As I read through the old school blogs and dig into the history of the game, I get a sense that this is where the game started. It was a game of exploration, and about defeating the dungeon. It was a small scale wargame, in that there were not armies involved, but rather the characters where a small band of explorers. I get the feeling that characters where meant to be plugged into the adventure and they were kept basic on purpose. They were meant to be slightly better than normal men at arms, and one could consider them as leader types with special abilities. When I read through the original rules, I am struck by the notion of how vanilla they are. This idea supports the notion of simple characters, as they are meant to die. Why create a complex character that was not likely to survive the mission. We are not suppose to fall in love with them. They were there to fulfill a mission, and success was based on player interactions, not on character feats and abilities. This is the core of old school gaming. It’s a de-emphasis on creating super heroes. Characters were not meant to be points of light.

But, something happened along the way, and I think this is when D&D moved away from being a wargame, and turned into something a bit different. Looking at it, I think it was really unavoidable. As we played with our characters, we fell in love with them, and we wanted a bit more. This in turn led to an inflation of character abilities and the development of a campaign as a story. Why? Because role playing games pull players into their character. The game encourages players to become their characters, and no one wants to play just an ordinary character.

When I look over the various editions, that is the first thing that really pops out at me. The character classes have expanded in terms of options and abilities, and with the latest releases, they can become quite customized. I will go as far as to say that companies have made a living off creating new and expanding classes. TSR and latter WotC quickly realized that splat books sell very well, because players love their characters.

And to be honest, there is really nothing wrong with that. I think it’s a natural evolution of the game. As folks play with their characters, they become more attached to them. For example, one of the folks in my gaming group played with a character for a long time, and when his character died, he stopped playing for a long time. Subconsciously, the character became a part of him, and with his character’s death, it was like losing a long time friend. There was a sense of loss. Now I am not sure that he would phrase it quite like this, but I think its there.

I have written a bit on the evolution of D&D, and I will write a bit more on this. I suspect that as one plays, no matter how basic you make it, there is a natural tendency to want to move to a story-plot with characters that have more options.

I think this goes back to the question of why do we play the game? How is fun created? I have read that fun is not the responsibility of the GM. I am not exactly aligned to this. If the game is not fun, then why are we playing?

The answer to this question is really determined by the makeup of the group. I suspect that wargamers are more inline with playing D&D as a wargame, and have no problem with character death. On the other side, there are a folks that really enjoy role playing and want to immerse themselves into their character. These folks are going to have a tough time with character death. Now I have just painted a black and white view of the D&D player population, and I am sure that there are plenty of people that are in the middle somewhere.

With this said, I think it is interesting to note that the hardcore wargamer is going the way of the dinosaur, if one is to believe the sales numbers on wargames. Sure board games in general are probably doing ok, but the players that like games such as Squad Leader, Panzerblitz, and other Avalon Hill classics are becoming rarer. Part of this is because of the demands on adulthood, which limits the time available to play. Part of this is having trouble finding consistent opponents.

To go back to my earlier comment, D&D has a fan base that is greater than that of wargames. The focus of enjoyment is very different, and it resonates better with more folks. I suspect that is because the enjoyment of D&D centers around the shared experience of being the hero. There is an element of escapism, and the idea of knights and dragons scratches a certain romantic itch that quite a few folks have. To put it bluntly, we want to believe in magic. Disney has made a fortune on this. This is very different than the concept of D&D as a wargame, and I think explains the popularity of 3rd edition and 4th edition D&D.

4th of July

I would be remiss if I did not comment on July 4th. Officially it marks the birthday of the United States which is recognized as July 4th, 1776 when the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. When I look at this document and the Constitution, I am continual amazed at the thought that went into this documents, and I firmly believe that these are two of the most significant documents created by man, particularly with regards to self governing. They were cutting edge for their time, and are still highly respected to this day.

Consider the first couple of lines from the Declaration of Independence:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Wikipedia has this to say about the second sentence, which I have highlighted above:

This sentence has been called "one of the best-known sentences in the English language" and "the most potent and consequential words in American history". The passage has often been used to promote the rights of marginalized groups, and came to represent for many people a moral standard for which the United States should strive. This view was greatly influenced by Abraham Lincoln, who considered the Declaration to be the foundation of his political philosophy, and promoted the idea that the Declaration is a statement of principles through which the United States Constitution should be interpreted.

That is high praise indeed.

It is no secret that I am a big fan of heroic fantasy. It’s in the struggle between good and evil that everyday people step up to answer a bolder challenge than what they have previously expected. Heroic fantasy is centered on the hero answering the call and getting involved with something larger that self, and with it comes the recognition that this is worth fighting for, and if needed, to die for. It makes for exciting reading, and I never grow tired of this theme. This is exactly what happened in 1776.

When I read the above quotes from the Declaration of Independence, I know why ordinary men and women gave their lives so that we could have freedom today. Back in 1776, it was not a given that the colonies were going to win. It was a bit of a gamble, but the ideal of freedom was strong in the hearts of the leaders at that time. The founding fathers needed ordindary people to take up arms against their mother country. Not an easy thing to ask of, but the principles of the argument carried the day, and ordinary folks stepped up to the call. Of the 56 men that signed this great document, John Hancock deserves a special note as his signature is nearly 5 inches long, and I am sure that the King of England did not need his glasses to read it. He was not afraid to make a statement on what he believed, and it was quite a statement. In many ways, the American Revolution was a victory for the principles that the Declaration of Independence stood for, and I think this is what makes the United States a special place to live.

The Fantasy Internet of Magic

Magic is such a great topic to blog a bit about. I think everyone thinks about it a little differently. I was skimming through the Paizo message board and one post popped out at me, so I will write some of my thoughts on magic in general.

One of the things I actually liked about Forgotten Realms was the way they approached magic. Basically the premise was that there is a weave that flows through everything, and magic users tap into it to perform magic. There is probably more to it than that, but that is my take away on it. This is a simple, yet elegant way of describing how one can access magic. What I really like this is that it becomes really easy to show how dead magic areas can come about. The weave goes through almost everything, but there are some areas that the weave does not go through, and in these areas, magic is not accessible. In modern terms, it’s like not having good reception on your mobile phone. In some areas, the reception is just terrible. As an aside, I am sitting in my concrete office and the mobile phone reception is horrible. However, my internet connect is great as my wireless router about 2 feet from my notebook. This is basically how I think about magic. You are tapping into a magical wireless internet.

In the real world, sometimes the internet connect gets a bit flaky. I see magic the same way. Sometimes things do not quite work the way you expect them to. It’s not really explainable, it just is. I really like the idea that there is always a small chance that magic just does not work right. In 20 sided die terms, I am thinking a 1 or a 2. If the player or GM (for monsters/NPCs) rolls a 1 or a 2, nothing happens. With a roll of a 2, nothing happens, but the character does not lose the spell. With a roll of a 1, it’s a total dud, and you lose the spell. Same with monsters. Now as I take away, I have to give back. With a die roll of a 20, the effect or range or duration is doubled. I like that randomness of this. It’s a bit like critical hits and fumbles, only with spells.

On the Paizo board, there are folks that like this type of mechanic for magic, and there are some that just hate it. I like it as it adds a bit of flavor to magic. There is an unpredictable element to it. It is powerful, but at the same time sometimes it is a bit flaky. Now I totally understand some folk’s opinion that this punishes the magic user. So I have to agree with this, however that is why I like the idea that a natural 20 is like a critical hit.

In my games, a 20 is a critical hit in terms of using weapons, and a roll of a 1 or a 2 is an automatic miss. The concept here is that no matter how good you get, there is still a 10% chance that you miss regardless of how many pluses you have. Nothing is a sure thing. Now, the probabilities maybe very good, but they will never exceed 90%. I personally think this is a good thing. Hits should not be automatic. There should always be a chance of failure. If there is no chance of failure, then the game loses something. That feels too safe. When I play D&D, I want to know that I have accomplished something in game, and to have that feeling, there has to be a risk, otherwise the reward does not mean that much. It always feels better to earn something, rather than just be handed something.

I feel the same way about magic. I do not like the concept that it always works. I think that’s because in real life, there are no guarantees. There are no sure things. You have to weigh the probabilities and take some chances. I think this adds a dimension to D&D, and does not detract from the game.

However, with that said, I do understand the other side of the argument which says that this penalizes magic users and hurts the group. So this argument has merit. That is also why I like the idea that a roll of a 20 results in something very favorable. It becomes a bit like gambling. The payoff is huge, but there is a chance that something could go wrong. I also believe that it is the players that make up the game not characters. As the players start to run low on resources, they have decision to make. It does not mean that they have to pack it up. I am a believer that if there are any specialty item required, it should be found in the dungeon. A dungeon should not be just a hack and slash fest, but rather should have interesting and challenging rooms that require something more than just a strong sword.

Anyway, I will be adding this as a house rule and we shall see how it plays out.

The Future of Gaming

This week, I have been thinking a bit about the pace of technology and its effect on gaming. Clearly video games have been getting better as the hardware has been more powerful. I can remember when my buddy Doug’s dad bought their Apple II, and a new game called Ultima. Ultima was cutting edge at the time, and we all would spend hours watching him play. Doug was a good sport, and we took turns getting behind the keyboard. Fast forward ~25 years and the graphics in today’s games are just eye poppingly good. Today I do not play computer games that much, although I am looking forward to seeing Bioware’s Dragon Age game. I am sure that I will be spending some time playing around with Dragon Age. But gaming is more than just computer gaming, even though that is the obvious example.

When D&D first hit the street, the PC had not yet hit main stream. It would be the introduction of the Apple II that really got the ball rolling. Since then, everyone has a PC, and in most cases folks have a notebook computer that they send a significant amount of time on. The emergence of cloud computing has led to a dramatic increase in the ways that we communicate and share data. When I think of the greatest inventions of the past 2000 years, I have to rank the personal computer, and by extention the internet, in the top 10. Our ability to collaborate without even seeing the other person we are talking to is amazing when you think about it. I suspect that this trend will continue.

But what does this really mean at the game table? I am not sure, but it is interesting to speculate on what it could mean.

1) Technology has enabled virtual gaming. One can host a game over web with folks in other countries. I see this trend increasing. WotC is trying to get their hands around this one with their DDI, as they see possibilities of the virtual game table. I agree with them on this point. However, virtual gaming leaves me a bit cold. I like the direct interaction around the table, and virtual connectedness lacks something. It’s just not the same. But, if one cannot find a group in their local area, virtual gaming creates possibilities. My gut feel though is that computer games like WoW will rule this space, as the user experience is better.

2) Information sharing through the web. If one goes back 30 years, there was no internet. To be honest, looking back at that period it feels like the stone age. It is amazing at what is available at my finger tips in seconds. I just have type an idea, and content is available instantly. As a result, our ability to react to this information has become a lot faster. Scanning through message boards and blogs, I can find a number of good ideas for game encounters. If I am willing to engage, I can get more insight on the information that is being presented. This brings me to the topic of data. Data is just that …data. Not very useful in its raw form. The key to data is to transform it to information and to insight. The tools on the web allow us to do that very well. This really has created cloud computing.

3) The tools are changing. When I first started playing, there were no computers at the table. Now it seems that most tables have at least one, and I have seen tables with multiple computers on it. The notebook is an amazing tool to bring at the table, but it can also be a big distraction. Where I work, meetings are an interesting experience. Everyone brings their notebooks, which as a result, most folks are paying more attention to their notebook than to the speaker. The notebook brings distraction with its email, web surfing and IM’s. I can see this play out at the game table too. I mention notebooks, but the smart phone falls into this category too. This challenge will increase over time.

There are some advantages to having these tools at the table, so it’s not all bad. Regardless of which version of D&D one likes, there is a significant amount of material available. Let me say it like this. I suspect that no one has a complete collection of everything D&D. It’s just too much. However, most of us own an embarrassingly large collection of D&D material, most of which we probably do not even use. The ability to use technology to shrink the number of books used at the table is a good thing. In my lat campaign, I had a crate of 10-15 books which I had standing by for reference, as well as my notebook computer for taking notes and cross checking my campaign outline. Management of the data was critical. For my next campaign, I will greatly simplify which books I am going to use.

Staying on this subject, I am very curious to see how folks will use smart phones and netbooks at their table in the future. They are limited in what they can do, but they are highly portable and can be used to bring up specific information very quickly. I suspect that they will not be a standalone tool, but they can augment what is already being used.

4) Tactical mapping. One of the comments I see again and again pop up is that folks want tactical maps. 20 years ago, we just scribbled on a piece of paper and that was good enough. We have always had strategic maps that showed an overview of a town or a wilderness area, but these were not tactical maps. It seems like most tables have some sort of battle mat tool to help with combat. I am going to go out on a limb and say that 4th edition was designed with the battle mat in mind. That was a core feature that they wanted to include in the game. It was with the 3.5 edition that the battle mat was recognized as a highly recommended tool, and that diagrams were shown with the grid lines. Even though some us (me included) will rant against this, when push comes to shove, we will be cranking out our mats and putting the mini’s on them. To be perfectly honest here, I have 2 large battle mats. I suspect I am not alone here.

5) On demand printing. Printing is an interesting beast. Everyone has a printer. Anyone can print out a nice looking document. However, what has really exploded is the digital document. With the digital document, one does not have to print it out. With a digital document, a 3rd party can print in a variety of formats and send out to anyone. I am thinking of Lulu, but I think there will be other companies that will offer this service. Print on demand offers a number of benefits including lower inventory costs, and custom print solutions. It will be interesting to see what the effect of this new print model will have on the gaming industry. Potentially we could be moving to the growth of the smaller game publishers which can take advantage of these new tools and effectively out maneuver larger companies in some niche areas.

James over at Grognardia stirred up a hornet’s nest with his “More than a Feeling” blog. His basic premise was that old school play is more than just a nostalgic feeling, but rather it is a certain style of play that was very common back in the early days of D&D. He goes on to say that if old school really is just a feeling, then it would be difficult to argue what is really old school, as feelings are very subjective and almost impossible to quantify objectively. James strikes me as a guy that likes to look at things through an objective lense, and shies away from subjective feelings, which is difficult to form a defensible position in which to engage in a meaningful debate.

I agree that D&D is game that when it was introduced was like nothing else on the market. Created by wargamers for wargamers, it offered something very different from the traditional wargame that featured cardboard counters or historical miniatures.

But, with that said, it is still a game. New school or old school, whatever you want to call it, this is still a game. With that in mind, the enjoyment for me, comes not from the rule set, but from the folks around the table.

Originally, I was going to call this blog, “It’s all about the GM.” In my mind, the GM holds a significant place at the table. The GM is one part referee and one part story teller. There are GM’s out there that I would join up in a heartbeat. They have a special knack for pulling the players into the game. Not everyone has this. Their ability to provide that magical touch transcends rule sets. When I was younger, there was a GM in our group, Mike, who was amazing. Sure his stuff was completely off the wall, but he could weave a good story. He liked the high-level epic stuff, and it was frequently said that his adventures were the only ones in which a death salad was a wandering monster. He did not run 1st level adventures. When you joined his game, you knew that it was not going to be a standard adventure with orcs and trolls. This was going to be something else entirely. And by the way, characters died on a regular basis, but the treasure was always very cool. I lost an 18th level paladin in 10 minutes in one of his adventures. It was crazy fun, and it was his style of play that made it fun.

But that is really only half the story. For the GM, the fun is with the folks around the table. Nothing makes me chuckle more than when the characters blunder into something that turns out to be rather funny (like when paladin walked into the goblin trap that dropped a bunch of poop on his head - that was some funny stuff). To me, D&D has become the replacement for the guy’s poker night. Of course I like playing poker and drinking a beverage of choice as much as the next guy, and in that environment, it is still about the folks around the table. Winning the big hand is always a lot of fun. With the right folks around the table, D&D is a lot like that.

Now I will be the first to admit that there is a bit of nostalgia in those early games, and it is really hard to recreate that. I suspect that there are middle aged guys out there that played in the 80’s that are looking to recreate that spark, and my theory is that in some cases, this is what provides the fuel to the old school movement. This is definitely a feeling. But that feeling is hard to recreate without understanding what created that in the first place. I agree that the original rule set and the open style of play is at the heart of those early days. Everything was a bit looser, and the GM’s just made up stuff on the fly. This was all good stuff.

I think there is a natural evolution that creeps into games like this, and when more and more stuff gets published, the rule set gets longer and longer. I think that is the nature of the beast. With more rules, there is a sort of role playing physics that is created. Everyone knows the physics, as we all have the games. GM’s that deviate from these rules leave us a bit confused and may even create anger and disappointment. Things are not suppose to work like that we would argue. Magic ceases to be magic, and instead becomes physics that can be defined within a set of rules. I think there is a bit of fun that escapes when this happens. Rules Darwinism will eventually stamp out magic altogether, and the game magic that existed in the early days will go the way of the dinosaur, which would be a sad day indeed. Sometimes magic just needs to be magic.

So to come full circle on this blog post, it’s the people around the table that make the game fun. If you are going to spend 4+ hours playing this game, you really should like the folks you are gaming with. I definitely like a looser game, and I want to keep the magic in D&D. When I GM, I want to be fair and consistent, and I also want to be able to just wing it, and say “its magic” and not have to explain the theory behind it. In the early days, there was a feeling of adventure where anything could happen, and everyone at the table was aligned to this. The GM promised to bring the magic, and we promised to buy into his adventure.

In the early days, the fun was created by the people around the table, and today, for me, it is still about the people around the table.

Fanzines

I really like Fanzines, and I believe that they are critical to the success in any hobby. Since Dragon was pulled back by Wizards of the Coast, they have been popping up everywhere. I think Wolfgang was the first to launch KQ, which is a really slick magazine, and I believe it is the spiritual successor to The Dragon. I also buy PDF’s of Knockspell and Fight On! The other day, I downloaded Knockspell volume 2 and I am in the process of reading through it. Knockspell is quickly becoming one of my favorites of the Fanzines. There is something about its old school feel that I really like. In the intro editorial, Matt makes a comment that he will be supporting both S&W and OSRIC in Knockspell going forward, which really made my day.

As I look over the landscape of the publishing industry, it is increasing easy for Fanzines to be created, and with print on demand capability available, costs can be kept down and access is available across the globe. I suspect that the print on demand industry is a growing one, and that we will see more changes to the way that content is brought to the end user. The PDF industry has taken off, and as I remarked in my blog a couple of weeks ago, products like Kindle make electronic books a lot friendlier to use. Reading books on a computer screen is a bit clunky, but reading them off a light weight device that is optimized for reading books is altogether different. I still believe that a color Kindle is on the horizon, whether it is produced by Amazon or another company makes no difference, as I think it is only a question of time.

It is interesting how technology has changed the way we view things. Digital content is becoming increasingly important. The printer is really taking a backseat to digital storage. Why print out pictures when one can simply store them on a website or a sharedrive/sharepoint. While I love my notebook computer, it’s the harddrive that I really care about. I almost always have my external harddrive with me for back up and to store pictures and my multitude of game stuff, which now takes up 4 gigs of space, and is growing almost daily.

It is interesting to ponder what would D&D have looked like if Gary and Dave had created it today instead of 35+ years ago.

Eye Candy

James wrote up an interesting blog entry the other day, that I can summarize as "less is more." His basic premise is that the less props provided the more engaged the players will be. He goes on to say that with less props, the players need to actively image the scene, which will create a better game play experience. As more and more props are added, the lazier one can get, in terms of actively engaging their imagination and placing themselves in the middle of the game. I am paraphrasing a bit, but that is the gist of it. He raises some good points, and it is worth taking a harder look at the topic.

His post could not have come at a better time, as I am thinking about buying some Dwarven Forge terrain for use in creating a visual dungeon. Dwarven Forge is both beautiful and expensive. At almost $100 a set, it adds up quickly. In a sense, Dwarven Forge is Legos for gamers. Without a doubt, it’s cool stuff, and the eye candy factor is very high.

So the question for me is it worth the cost, will I use it, and will it add to my game play experience. Adding props to the game help anchor the game experience and provides context for the players to interact with. I have always maintained that D&D is a shared experience. In order for it to qualify as a shared experience, there has to be some commonality in the experience otherwise you have a bunch of folks just doing their own thing, and it is totally disconnected. This would not meet my definition of a shared experience.

But, I agree with some of the premise. The table top D&D DDI that Wizards was working on did not hold appeal for me. The idea was that one could use the digital tabletop to connect to folks virtually and use it as a game aid. What I saw was basically a computer generated version of their miniatures on their cardboard tiles. While I agree that using miniatures is helpful, especially in combat, I am not convinced that Wizard’s miniature lineup is the best, and if I am looking at a computer screen, I definitely want it to look better than that. In short, their eye candy was poor.

As a wargamer, I enjoy playing with games that are very attractive to look at. For example, playing Warhammer/Warhammer 40K with fully painted miniatures is very impressive, and that does add to the game play. In short, its eye candy. FFG’s board games, like Descent and War of the Ring, are very attractive due to their game pieces. For the more traditional wargames, counters that are colorful and that are played on well done maps are more enjoyable than wargames that look cheaply put together.

So back to the original question, how much is too much? I believe that you need some props to get alignment on what is going on. I have been in a number of games where the DM is trying to explain what is going on, and finally just has to draw it out, as it cannot be explained well. I do believe that the plain battle mat is great, as one can quickly draw out the room, and alignment is gained very quickly.

One of the things that I do not like about 4th ed is the heavy reliance on battle mat, due to the way the mechanics are set up. A lot of the powers and feats are tied directly to the battle mat. The battle mat goes from being a tool to tell the story to a required center piece of the game. To me, this turns the game into a miniatures battle game, not that there is anything wrong with a miniature battles game, as I like pushing the lead around as the next person, but this is different game.

When I first started playing D&D, I always thought about creating a 3-D dungeon, as I thought that would be the greatest thing since sliced bread. Without a doubt, seeing a 3-D dungeon actually all lined up is eye candy. But does it add to the game, or does it detract with the flow as one is constantly adding rooms and shuffling around pieces as the characters make their way through the dungeon? At this point, I am not sure.

I am still tempted to buy a couple of sets and see how it works out. It feels like for mega-dungeon crawling, Dwarven Forge would be perfect and would add to the game. But would it then feel like a miniatures game with the players just pushing their miniature through the maze of the terrain? In any event, it would look impressive, but is it really just a white elephant that looks better on someone else’s tabletop?

Well I have another month or two to ponder this, before I am back in the states.

Its all about the food

James posted the interview with Vin Diesel and Jimmy on his blog, and Vin Diesel talks a bit about his D&D experience. It is a fun interview and its only about 5 mins long.

One of the comments that came up during the interview was food. On this, I think we just need to set the record straight. You have to have food and drink. That is just part of the game. You need the books, you need dice, you need paper, you need pens/pencils, and one can argue that some of that stuff is not really mandatory. But the food is. If you are going to sit around with a bunch of folks for 4+ hours, and possibly longer, you need food and drink.

I think of the game as something of a bard's tale. It is a shared experience of action, adventure and exploration, with the story being created based on what happens during game play. At its heart, it is entertainment that is done with a group of people. The food is a critical part of the atmosphere. There is something special about sharing food and drink. I would even go as far as to say that it is hard wired into our DNA. It adds to the fun of the game, and this is really fundamental to any entertainment event. I mean, who would go to a Superbowl party without food?

When I am hosting, I pull out all the stops. We put out a huge spread of snacks and such, we order pizza or subs, we have wings, and then my wife usually bakes cookies or brownies. If that wasn't enough, we have at least one cooler full of all sorts of drinks. I don't roll critical fumbles when it comes to the food.

While I suppose it is possible to play without food and drink, that is not really a game I want to be apart of.

Speaking of food, I think its lunch time here in China.

News from Paizo

A couple of updates from Paizo that I am finding news worthy. They have released the official covers of their Pathfinder Role Playing Game, and the Pathfinder Bestiary, which I have included below. Both covers were created Wayne Reynolds.

Paizo earlier today released this announcement on their PDF sale. I also received an email from Lisa Stevens, Paizo’s CEO, promoting this sale, which is a not so subtle jab at WotC. While I am specifically mentioning Paizo, there are a number of other companies that are running similar sales, and I think the message is fairly clear from the gaming community on this subject. Lisa gets it, and she was very quick to react to the public relations mess that WotC created. There is no mystery on why Paizo in five years since its founding has become a leader in gaming industry. As a final note, check out the PDF love that Paizo and a number of other publishers are offering!

News release as follows.

Paizo Gives PDFs Some Love: 35% Off!

We at Paizo Publishing understand how important PDFs have become to most roleplaying gamers. We know that PDFs allow you to easily carry around a large library of books on your laptop, PDA, or cell phone. We know that PDFs are great for searching for that piece of obscure information. We know that PDFs are a great way to keep out-of-print products available. And we know that PDFs provide a great way to check out new products.

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We would also like to remind you that subscribers to our Pathfinder Adventure Path, Pathfinder Modules, Pathfinder Companion, and Pathfinder Chronicles lines get FREE PDFs when the corresponding print editions of their subscription products ship just another way in which we thank our customers for their support!

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Marketing Management 101

What a mess.

Apparently I have been living under a rock for the past 12 hours or so, because I just received an email from Paizo telling me that Wizards is halting their sales of PDF’s, and that I should buy them now otherwise forget it. Of course by the time I saw that, it was a done deal. In the mean time, every blogger has already posted their commentary on the subject, and Enworld is shutting down posts on the subject that are already almost 20 pages long of folks complaining about it. I definitely feel late to the party on this one.

So I get the piracy thing. I really do. In this digital age, it is something that we have to deal with. The music industry learned that the hard way. Fans want to get their products through digital media, and through the internet is a prime way to do this. However, I do have some commentary on this.

1) It seems to me that the biggest issue is piracy on the new stuff. I am not convinced that Wizards is losing a lot of sales on the older product to PDF piracy. With this in mind, if Wizards is really concerned about piracy on PHB 2, they should delay the PDF releases until the hard cover books have been in circulation for a year or so. This is similar to what publishers do with hard covers and soft covers. The soft covers hit the street about a year after the hard covers. Let’s face it, the big sales spike is within the first 6 months of a product release then drops off significantly.

2) By eliminating ways for paying customer to buy PDFs, I think this has the opposite effect. I have no data to support this claim, but I am going to go out on a limb on this one.

3) Based on what I have seen so far, it feels like an inside job or more likely that Wizards has a problem with one of their printers illegally distributing their products before the release date. It seems like this would be a straight forward process to verify.

I also saw mentioned that Wizards wants to support the local game stores and that means limiting the availability of PDF files in order to keep sales of the books high. Again, I get this, and I think that if Wizards just delayed publishing PDF files until for a year, this could help out the smaller brick and mortar stores. However, I think it is online retailers like Amazon that is really hurting the FLGS, as they can sell it for 20-30% off the cover, and the FLGS cannot match discounts like that.

This brings me to my next point of the older material that is not in print any more. Again, I am going to go out on a limb and say that since Wizards is not selling or supporting the older products, and that the FLGSs probably do not have this stuff on their shelves, the only way to get this stuff is through PDF. Now Wizards is not doing anything to promote the older stuff, as they want everyone to move to 4th ed, so the sales potential on the older material is really just a drop in the bucket, and I suspect that piracy on the older material is very small.

My last comment on all this, is that this is a public relation nightmare for WotC. Clearly this is going to be seen in a bad light. The suddenness of it strikes me rather oddly. They shutdown everything rather quickly, and it feels a bit like a knee jerk reaction, regardless of whether or not this is indeed true. If this was a planned move, it feels like they should have immediately launched a counter marketing plan to put this in some sort of positive spin on the situation. Instead, it looks like things are getting wildly out of control. This cannot be good for business. I am not sure what’s going on over at Wizards.

This may sound strange, but even though I am not a fan of 4th ed, I do hope Wizards is successful at least on some level. Wizards is the big gorilla on the street, and I believe that it is actually in the best interest of the hobby to have a strong lead player in the market. I do believe that the current situation is not good, and it is leading to fragmentation of the fan base, which I think is bad for the hobby. The hobby is rather small to begin with, and anything that causes it to splinter off, will ultimately make the fan base even smaller, which makes it harder for companies and game stores to stay in business. Having a couple of big players in the market supporting a game system is just good for everyone, in terms of keeping interest high in the hobby, and allows the local game store to survive. The FLGS needs big brands to keep a good customer base. Without the big brand, their sales will drop off also. Just as a mall needs anchor stores, our hobby needs anchor brands. When I see fans say that they will not support Wizards, I see this as a slow death spiral to our hobby. This is a bad sign.

Now I do agree that there will be independent game designers that will publish, and that there will be diversity in choices. The retro movement is surviving on this at the moment, but I do not think this is a recipe for long term growth in the hobby. This is one of the reasons that I am rooting for Paizo. Potentially Paizo can keep some of the fan base together, as they have emerged as a strong player in the market.

So to wrap this up, I think Wizards has a mess on their hands. Yes I do believe that Wizards will pull PDF’s to their own stores to control distribution. However, this heavy handed tactic will not win favor with the fan base, and it will take a bit of work to get that good will built back up again.

Value

I was planning on writing up a review today, but I think I will push that to tomorrow. I have a couple of smaller blog posts that I would like to make first before hitting my weekly product reviews. With all the excitement around mega-dungeons and old school, I thought I would post a couple of things first before hitting the review.

Before we get into mega-dungeons, I want to blog a bit about value. From a consumer perspective, value is what a consumer desires and is willing to pay for. I use the workd desire to include both needs and wants. Needs are the things that a person requires to survive, things like food, clothing, warmth and shelter. I will also use the term expanded needs to include things that are needed for a person to get and keep a job. These include education, transportation, special clothes, and other equipment or tools. While they are not specifically needed to survive, one needs them in order to make money to buy things to satisfy the basic needs. Desires also include the wants. Wants are basically anything that a person has a desire for, but are not directly tied to the basic needs. Entertainment and gaming falls into this bucket.

With this in mind, I want to hit on the concept of paying for value and how it relates to gaming. WotC recently launched its digital initiative that included Dungeon and Dragon magazines. The concept they had in mind was to create an online subscription service that folks would want to buy into. While I have no idea on the numbers of the subscribers that they have, their digital initiative holds no value for me. During the launch of 4th ed, they offered a free trial for folks to take a look, which I did, but there was not a consistency of content that was of value to me. Now it is fairly easy to point at the current short comings, but I think that one of the fundament issues with their digital initiative, is the complete lack of content for the earlier editions. They are focused on one thing, and that limits the possibilities of truly creating value for the hobby. To me, the value proposition is not there for me to invest in a subscription.

Wolfgang Baur kicked off this Kobold quarterly a while back (~ 2 years ago), and it has received rave reviews. His offering not only supports his Open Design work, but it also includes a wide variety of topics and supports several editions. He is creating value for the gamer with the depth of his offering. There is also the feel that this magazine supports the hobby, which is important to me. I usually buy the PDF version, and I have been happy with the content. I wish Wolfgang continued success with his project, as I believe that this is filling the niche that Dragon magazine has left.

I have been very impressed with the Fanzines that have recently popped up. Fight on! has lead the charge, and that has been followed by Knockspell and Weredragon. I would not be surprised to see more pop up. Fanzines offer a collection of fan created material, that are not necessarily tied to anything in particular. Fanzines offer value in a number of areas, which include a chance for unknown authors to get published, they generate interest in the game, and they push the more established magazines on the quality that they put out. They fill a very important role in any hobby, and are indicative of the over health of ours. I am buying the PDF's as these fanzines are of value to me.

This brings me to Monte and his recent announcement. Monte is basically a free lancer that has made quite a name for himself. The niche that he has filled with his own imprint was in providing different material that is a bit off the main stream path. He is style is a bit different, and that is by design. He is not an old school gamer, but I think he appreciates industry and its history, which he has been apart of. His newer products are very polished in terms of layout and art work, and he has access to one of the best editors in field. Just last week, he announced that he was going to launch a web site that offers a dungeon-a-day for a monthly subscription rate. He threw out a teaser on his blog, but until anyone sees his product, none of us really knows what’s included. There has been some discussion on the boards about his announcement, which has prompted me to write this blog. Monte is part of the industry, which means he is a professional and needs to make a living. He is trying to create value through this new project, and only time will tell if he can be successful. The ultimate question will be, do the fans believe that he is creating value to be worth the subscription price. He is surely capable of creating good content, but will it be deemed valuable?

James, over on Grognardia, looks to be doing something similar. Monte’s announcement has pushed him to seriously consider creating a site to post content related to mega-dungeons. James has stated that he is going to do this for free. Interesting. If James carries through with this, it does put pressure on Monte to deliver value over and above whatever James does, as if he does not, the customer base will flock to James’s web site. This will create an interesting dynamic. I want to go back to the statement about “free.” While I think it is an extremely generous offer of James to provide significant content for free, we need to consider what he is providing. It sounds like he is providing a dedicated website, he will invest a significant amount of his personal time, and he will have to generate content on a regular basis. As I stated earlier, this is a generous offer. But if indeed James does create value in this project, could he charge money. Absolutely, no question. Would he be successful if he did? I think he would. As I suspect he will not charge, I do believe that he will have a “donate” button on this website. If the content is good and consistent, I will probably make a donation, as this will be of value to me, and I want to show my support in his efforts.

As I have mentioned in my posts on various blogs, I think this is an exciting time for our hobby. The recent announcements have created buzz, which I think is a good thing. I do wish Monte, James, Wolfgang, and all the rest of the creators of content and value the best of luck, and I sincerely hope that this will ultimately create a stronger game as a result, and I believe it has already.

Commentary: The Horus Heresy

‘I was there,’ he would say afterwards, until afterwards became a time quite devoid of laughter. ‘I was there, the day Horus slew the Emperor.’ It was a delicious conceit, and his comrades would chuckle at the sheer treason of it. (the opening lines of Horus Rising)

“I was there.” Such a powerful statement, that I love reading it, in its many incarnations. It implies that that something so significant has happened, that the writer feels needs to attach his own personal reputation to this event. To be able to tell a story, and start it with the phrase, “I was there,” gives special meaning to an otherwise tale normal tale, and promotes it to an epic status. A short and simple way to say that the story teller was fortunate enough to have witnessed such a special event and the story about to be told is true, as it was witnessed first hand. This statement harkens back to an earlier age where minstrels would tell such stories around a fire to pass glories tales of courage and heroism to a younger generation. Ahh..to be able to tell such a tale and say, “I was there.”

I probably should back up a bit. I have just finished reading the 9th installment of the Black Library’s premier Horus Heresy line. After reading the first book, I have been hooked every since. The first book is by Dan Abnett, who is one of my favorites of the shared world authors. Dan is just a machine when it comes to cranking our novels, and he turns them out at a frenzied pace (maybe he really is part machine..but that’s another story). When it comes to shared world authors and subject matter is based on a game, it truly is a bit of a mixed bag in terms of the results produced. I have read some good books, and I have read books that I would describe as bubble gum, and I have read books that are “cover your eyes bad.” In this case, I think that Dan has set a high standard that the other authors are trying to achieve.

Anyone who has been in the gaming hobby is probably familiar with the Warhammer 40K game and the mythos that surrounds the game, even if it is just at a surface level. I have to applaud Games Workshop for creating not just a war game with miniatures, but rather a living breathing universe that gives the games context, and adds an extra element of enjoyment to the hobby. In each iteration of the game, they have further refined and improved upon the background fluff, and there is a consistency of theme that runs through it. I can appreciate the effort that Games Workshop has put into maintaining the consistency and the spirit of the story background, and I wish that WotC was as careful and mindful a steward of the D&D story. But I digress.

The story of Horus is an age old tale of the son rebelling against his father. In this particular tale, there is a strong tie back to the biblical rebellion of angels, and I can not but help think that this is deliberate. The Emperor of mankind is described god that has led mankind to a glorious new age. As part of his plan, he has created the primarchs to assist him. At this point in the myth cycle, it gets very fuzzy as to why the primarchs became separated from the Emperor, and it is not entirely clear as to whether this was by design or by criminal action. After the primarchs have been reunited with their father, he appoints Horus to be the Warmaster for his armies. Over the course of the first three books, there are a number of times that Horus refers to the Emperor as his father, and it further establishes the theme of a rebellion of angels against their god like father. The primarchs are continuously throughout the novels describes as angelic beings blessed with superior talents as compared to the rest of the mankind, including the superhuman Astartes.

While the prose of the novels is not as symbolic as Milton or Dante, nor as heroic as Tolkien or even as colorful as Howard, it is sufficient to breathe life into this story. Where I applaud the authors is how they inject a human element into the stoic space marines, and how they capture the tragedy that is unfolding. When reading the first one, I was caught up in the image of Horus as a heroic figure, embodied of all that is good in a leader. As the first trilogy progressed, one could see the seeds of destruction being sown, building to the scene in the temple of healing where the final tragic step is taken, and the train wreck is assured. This is a dark trilogy that has no good ending. It is truly a shame, as there was much promise in Horus, and that is what makes the first trilogy so good. There is something about a literary tragedy that holds a special place in epic story telling, as it resonates well with our circumstances in our own life. It is this empathy for the characters that leads us back to the tragedies, as it is the only reason that we would continue to read Shakespeare’s tragedies long after his death.

To date, there are nine books in the series, and I like to think of the series as three different trilogies. I will leave it at that for the moment, as I will touch on the different trilogies in future blogs and comment more on the subject matter covered in them. Suffice to say that I do consider the Horus Heresy to be one of the better series based on game material that I have read, and it is worthy of reading at least the first three books.

Missing The Mark

Before jumping back into my definition of ideas, I wanted to rant a bit on a topic that I think WotC has just missed the mark on - enabling the creation process.

There is something special about creating something. I think the urge to create is in our DNA. But it is more than just an urge. There is something that dwells deep inside of us that takes extreme satisfaction to be able to make something with our own two hands, to be able to hold it up, to be able to say I did this and it is good. The ability to ponder, design and construct is a special gift that has been given to us, and I believe that this has been hard coded into our DNA. It is the only conclusion I can come to that explains why we have the incredible urge to create and build.

With the game of D&D, playing the game is only half the picture. The other half is in the creation of the adventure. I think this is the part that WotC is missing. With a tightly controlled GSL and a limited SRD, that effectively prevents 3PP from taking full advantage of all the published material. I have always thought that this was a fundamental misstep in the management of our hobby. To me, it feels that on one hand WotC is trying to provide a wealth of material to use, and on the other hand it is taking away our ability to create and share with others in our gaming hobby.

I do agree that IP is important to a company. Without a doubt, this is the sustaining energy of many corporations, including the one I work for. It is the corner stone on which companies create value and compete in the market. No argument on this. However, creative games, which reply heavily on the creation process, I think there needs to be a built in process to allow sharing of material. That has to be built into the business model. It is easy for corporations to get hung up on revenue and costs. To be honest, I do not want this in my hobby. I do not want the heavy hand of corporate America in my hobby. I want the business aspect out of my game.

There are some positives about having a company be involved in the hobby. I do appreciate having a centralized rule organization, that works to provide a high quality reference database. I do appreciate having the strong presence in hobby, in create overall interest, to generate organized events, and to basically infuse life into the hobby. There was another game system that I liked, ASL, and when Avalon Hill was bought out, there was fear that the game system would end. As it turned out, MMP licensed the game from Hasbro and now serves as the guiding force behind ASL. Without MMP, I am convinced that ASL is a dead game. I clearly do not want this to happen to D&D, or any other game system that I enjoy or others enjoy.

To circle back around on this idea. I like having a company that serves as the guide to keep the hobby up and going. This is a good thing. I fully endorse the idea that companies should protect their IP to compete in the market. However, in the gaming hobby, and I will open this up to any game system that allows for user creativity, I think that needs to be built into the design of the game. This includes the promotion of fan sites, fan created magazines, fan created support material, and the full endorsement of others to create. As I stated earlier, it is easy to get fixated on the numbers, but that is not really what the enthusiasts want. They want to create, because it is in their life blood and because I believe that the life blood of the game depends on it. We should be supporting the creative process not forcing it into submission. I think where a lot of folks miss the boat is that playing the game is only half the story. The other part is in the creation of the sandbox. For once the creation is done, there is the urge to share. I believe that it is in our DNA to create and share with others. This is fundamental to the continued success of our hobby, and this is where WotC misses the mark.