The Long Road to Better DMing

Noisms recently wrote a post, the gist of which was to extol the virtues of practical experience as a GM over mere technical knowledge. It can be found here.

I would tend to agree with that, but I think an even more important consideration is being overlooked.

Noisms asks the question, "who is the better DM - the person who has only been trained in the rules or the person who knows the rules but has 10 years' experience at the table?" He and I agree that it will likely be the person with more experience.

But an even more important question is this, "who is the better DM - the person whose total knowledge of the world and humanity comes from daytime television and trashy novels, or the person with a rich social life who is well-read in both great literature and non-fiction?" I think the answer is obvious.

But so often gamers seem to think that the game begins with prep and ends when the last hit point is expended (Alexis at Tao of D&D is a notable exception - he has often written on the importance of being a well-rounded, well-educated human to gaming, and that is one of the reasons why I have so much respect for him). So often the importance of being a good human being is ignored.

Without an understanding of politics, economics, geography, physics, meteorology, sociology, military science, etc. etc., it is very difficult to run a convincing game world. Without extensive experience of varied social interaction and without exposure to the depths of humanity present in literature, it is very difficult to run convincing NPCs (or PCs, for that matter).

One of my favourite quotes - it was said regarding musicianship, but can be applied equally well to playing D&D - is "Remember that sitting under a tree is also good for your playing." It was a reminder that beyond the technical and the practical is the human, and D&D is nothing if not a game that is deeply human.

So, get out there - read Dostoyevsky. Watch Kubrick. Experience Rodin, Mondrian, Matisse. Fall in love, argue passionately, make and lose friends.

If you want to play great games, live great lives.

Magic Weapons

A few ideas for magic weapons that are a little more interesting than the old +1 attack/+1 damage.

I especially like the idea of having magic weapons that have a drawback as well as a benefit, or a purely situational benefit, or even a non-combat function.

See also Eric's post at the Dragon's Flagon here. He does a great job of outlining the problems with ordinary +1 weapons, and offers some cool ideas to help ameliorate the situation. I especially like his idea of "hero" weapons and "rune" weapons.

Some of these weapons have Spells and Steel specific powers, but many of them are applicable to any old-school-style game.

Stay tuned for more!

Swords

• Longsword, blade engraved with twisting serpents
• On an attack roll of 15+, enemy's weapon shatters (unless magical). On a roll of 1, breaks in two. The halves can be reforged by any swordsmith, and the sword will retain its power.
• Very long, thin sword - inscribed on blade is "it fades away, into nothing, and so is as the air"
• Wielder always knows just how to move the blade to block any attacks - effectively cannot be hit by one opponent, so long as the user doesn't attack.
• Longsword, blade, quillons, and pommel all tinted black
• Bizarrely poorly balanced, and almost impossible to swing, but the edge is exceptionally keen. -10 to Attack and Defense, but roll 4d6 for damage.

Spears

• Drips blood when held. Roll d10 for damage instead of d6.
• Moves with exceptional nimbleness. Can fight an additional enemy without penalty.

Maces

• Feels almost weightless. Ignores all armour.
• Feels exceptionally heavy. Requires high strength (13+) to use (otherwise, -5 to hit and no damage bonus). Roll 2d6 for damage.

Axes

• Looks like a woodman's axe, but handles like a battleaxe. Cuts through wood like it was butter.

Daggers

• Exceedingly sharp. Ignores all armour.
• Ivory handle, pommel in shape of a fat man. Any food cut with this dagger is absolutely delicious.

Complex Polearms

• Poleaxe - Gives wielder an imposing and fearsome mien. Enemies have a -4 modifier to their morale role.

Scabbard

• Wielder doesn't bleed - doesn't take more wounds while hors de combat, automatically passes all Fortitude checks.

DM Tools: Online Maps

In thinking about mapping, hexes, wilderness, overland travel, domain-level play, and so on, I've come across some really cool mapping resources I thought I'd share.

What's the Path? - Britain

If you play in a UK setting, you owe it to yourself to check this out. It's got a split-screen display between Google Maps satellite maps and detailed Ordnance Survey topographical maps and route planning that takes into account overland distance as well as ascent height, and applies Naismith's Rule to figure out how long it would take to hike the route.

It also will display the route in terms of ascent and descent in a cool little graph.

Vision of Britain Maps - Britain

This site has a bunch of nice topographical maps of Britain (and some of the Continent, as well), including a stunning version done in the 19th century. The 19th century hand-drawn version I found particularly useful for visualizing how big a hex is.

Look at the Lake District in England and mentally project a six-mile hex onto it. Look at all those hills, lakes, rivers, streams... It would take ages to explore that hex thoroughly. I realize that this is not a novel thought, but this map helped me understand this on a more visceral level.

While a more modern topo map has more hard info on it, something about the drawing style in this map gives me a better feel for the terrain.

Cassini Maps - France

Going back even further, these maps are from 1750-1790. If you haven't been to France, and traveled through the vast rolling hills of the south, covered in farmland, these could give you a good idea of just how dense the tiny communities are there - many of them dating back to the Medieval era, or before.

If you're running something that's similar to Medieval France, and you're not having the party come across a half-dozen little communities (<100 people) every day of travel, it's too sparse. Opening a random square of Southern France, there would be dozens and dozens and dozens of communities in a 6-mile hex. Even allowing for population growth between 1300 and 1750, there would still be many small communities around.

DM Tool: Random Man-Made Terrain Features

To be used in conjunction with the Random Terrain Features tables.

Plains (7+)

1. Manor
2. Manor
3. Manor
4. Mill
5. Cottage
6. Abbey
7. Tower
8. Castle
9. Ruins (roll again, this table)
10. Standing Stones 

Moor (10)

1. Ruins (Manor House)
2. Ruins (Manor House)
3. Ruins (Hermitage)
4. Ruins (Tower)
5. Ruins (Abbey)
6. Cottage
7. Hermitage
8. Tower
9. Remains
10. Standing Stones

Forest (8+)

1. Manor House
2. Logging Camp
3. Lumber Mill
4. Cottage
5. Hermitage
6. Tower
7. Ruins
8. Ruins
9. Remains
10. Standing Stones

Hills (8+)

1. Manor
2. Shepherd's Hut
3. Shepherd's Hut
4. Mine
5. Hermitage
6. Tower
7. Castle
8. Ruins
9. Barrow
10. Standing Stones

Mountain (10)

1. Mine
2. Mine
3. Abbey
4. Cottage
5. Hermitage
6. Tower
7. Tower
8. Castle
9. Ruins
10. Ruins

Desert (10)

1. Hamlet
2. Hamlet
3. Herder's Hut
4. Hermitage
5. Temple
6. Temple
7. Tower
8. Castle
9. Burial Grounds
10. Pyramid

Jungle (10)

1. Logging Camp
2. Temple
3. Tower
4. Pyramid
5. Ruin
6. Ruin
7. Ruin
8. Ruin
9. Ruin
10. Standing Stones

Overland Movement: Naismith's Rule, FM 21-18, etc.

I mentioned Naismith's Rule in my last post, as it's relevant to overland movement. If you don't know about the Naismith Rule, it's a rule of thumb to guesstimate the minimum time for a given hike. The rule is:

(overland distance in miles + 8 x ascent height in miles)÷3 miles/hour = time in hours

Now, this is for a fit, unencumbered adult in ideal conditions (good terrain, daytime), and it doesn't take into account bathroom breaks, lunch, etc. If you're loaded down, walking through sand, traveling at night, or a halfling, it's going to take longer. But this is a good starting point. You can also plug in different values for the assumed walking speed (which is 3mph by default) to adjust for movement rate differences in your system.

6-8 hours of actual travel in a day is about what is sustainable (according to the US Army).

Dissenting Opinion - combatreform.com

At the same time, I've come across this chart, at Combat Reform. It has much, much higher speeds.

Solder's Load Realistic March Speed Attainable
_________________________________________
0-30 pounds............................5-7 mph
30-40 pounds...........................4 mph
40-50 pounds...........................3 mph
50-70 pounds...........................2 mph
70+....................................1 mph or less (barely move)

Now, if I'm interpreting this correctly, this is not intended to be march speeds for sustained marching. This would be for an approach march from an airborne drop into a combat zone. Even taking into account the fact that soldiers are among the strongest, fittest people around, I don't think this is realistic over long distances. My opinion is backed up by the US Army's documents on foot marches.

US Army Field Manual 21-18, Foot Marches

The US Army's official chart for cross-country foot marching agrees that this is much too fast (from FM 21-18):

 The US Army figures about 2mph average for an unencumbered soldier cross-country in good terrain. Assuming an equivalence with Naismith's Rule, we can see that the US Army allows for about 220 yards of ascent in an average cross-country march hour, or for loading of the soldier, or some combination.

Looking at encumbrance, from 0-40 there's essentially no drop in speed, but then things start slowing down. By 80, you've taken a 25% hit, and by 120, you're at half speed.

This is then backed up by their exhaustion chart (I'm pretty sure MPH is a typo, and should read KPH, as they don't use miles anywhere else in the document). You can see that they figure 9 hours to exaustion at the stated speeds. The manual states the typical travel day is 6-8 hours, which is what you'd expect if you want your soldiers to arrive ready to fight. 6 hours is 8 hours on the trail with a good amount of time for breaks.

They also talk about forced marches in FM 21-18. They say that moving faster isn't really practical, but that you can move further in a day by just marching longer. Roughly speaking, the guidelines for forced marches say that you can do about 50% more miles per day for about three days. This will tucker you out, though.

Conclusions

I think I'd follow from the US Army considerations, but simplify things a little into a few categories. If you're exceptionally fit, move up one category. If you're not very fit, move down one. (i.e. if you have a Constitution bonus or penalty.)

To simplify terrain considerations, for bad terrain (hills, forest), move down one category. For exceptionally bad terrain (sand dunes, mountains, thickets), move down two categories. If you're on a road, move up one category (but not past 3mph, unless you're exceptionally fit).

Drop one category for night movement.

Forced marches give you one Fatigue per day plus one for each weight category (0-40, 40-80, 80-120), plus one if you have low Strength or Constitution.

Speed	Weight	Daily Move
4mph	Very Fit	24-32 miles
3mph	~0lbs	18-24 miles
2mph	0-40lbs	12-16 miles
1.5mph	40-80lbs	9-12 miles
1mph	80-120lbs	6-8 miles
.5mph	Unfit/Bad Terrain	3-4 miles
.25mph	Unfit/Bad Terrain	1.5-2 miles

DM Tool: Random Terrain Features

In working on some hex-crawling stuff, I realized I needed some tables for minor features on travels through hexes. These would also work well for a West Marches-style hexless wilderness crawl (perhaps especially for that!).

The idea is that with a good network of landmarks, the players can travel in a more believable manner than, "Let's head North into that Forest hex". This way, the players can say, "Let's head past that rocky outcropping and into the forest, then make for that copse of evergreens we found." I think that's got a bit better feel!

How to Use

Roll d10 three times a day (or to taste) and compare the result to the number in parentheses next to the terrain type.

Roll another d10 to see what kind of feature you find.


Explanations of Some Terms

• Swamp: wetland characterized by trees.
• Marsh: wetland characterized by grasses.
• Moor: Covered in peat bog, rolling hills, wet, foggy (e.g. central Wales, Dartmoor). Peat harvesting can be lucrative. Organic matter in the peat suffers only minimal decomposition.
• Quaking Bog: A layer of peat, sometimes a metre or two thick, floating on top of water. Possible to fall through a weak spot, which would likely be deadly. Can be detected by feeling the ground "quake" a little.
• Wadi: depression in the ground, possibly a dry streambed or lake. Can be dangerous during rain, as flash floods are possible.

Plains (6+)

1. Rocky Outcropping
2. Copse
3. Copse
4. Stream 
5. Spring
6. Hill
7. Hill
8. Wetland
9. Wildflower Meadow
10. Wildflower Meadow

Moor (8+)

1. Rocky Outcropping
2. Rocky Outcropping
3. Copse
4. Copse
5. Stream 
6. Spring
7. Dominant Hill
8. Quaking Bog
9. Pond, or Small Tarn/Loch/Lake
10. Grandfather Tree

Forest (6+)

1. Rocky Outcropping
2. Copse (Different Tree Type)
3. Thicket
4. Thicket
5. Stream
6. Spring
7. Grandfather Tree
8. Clearing
9. Clearing
10. Wetland

Hills (6+)

1. Rocky Outcropping
2. Rocky Outcropping
3. Copse
4. Copse
5. Thicket
6. Stream
7. Spring
8. Grandfather Tree
9. Cliff
10. Cave

Mountain (8+)

1. Rocky Outcropping
2. Rocky Outcropping
3. Broken Ground (poor footing, treacherous)
4. Broken Ground
5. Permanent Snow Deposit (mini-glacier in a crevice)
6. Stream
7. Waterfall
8. Cliff
9. Cave
10. Crevasse

Desert (8+) 

1. Rocky Outcropping
2. Rocky Outcropping
3. Rocky Outcropping
4. Salt Pan 
5. Oasis
6. Hill
7. Hill
8. Wadi
9. Wadi
10. Wadi

Jungle (8+)

1. Rocky Outcropping
2. Hill
3. Swamp
4. Swamp
5. Marsh 
6. Marsh
7. Stream
8. Spring 
9. Grandfather Tree
10. Clearing

Edited, 2012-10-07: I've edited this chart a little to clean it up and conform it to another chart I'm working on in this series, one on man-made landmarks.

Passing Thought - Skills and the Expected Outcome

What are the possible outcomes of a skill check? Most systems have a pass or fail, some have some kind of critical pass or fail, and some have an auto pass mechanic for certain checks (Take 10 or Take 20), and some notion of a difficulty rating.

The way I see it, when looking at a skill check and assigning a difficulty, I have in mind an expected outcome. I then assign the probabilities to likely produce the expected outcome. The expected outcome could be success, failure, partial success, etc.

It recently occurred to me that there's a needless step here - really, all we should be rolling for is whether we got the expected outcome, something worse, or something better.

Here's what I propose: roll 2d6. On 5-9, the expected outcome occurs. On 10-12, a better than expected outcome occurs. On 2-4, a worse than expected outcome occurs.

I think that this, combined with a page of guidelines for the GM, would be a pretty elegant resolution mechanic.

Just a passing thought, but I think I'll develop this more.

Roadside Encounter Generator: Groups Interacting

I whipped this up to generate some random roadside encounters that feature two groups interacting. Roll on the first table, the second table, and the first table again to get a result like, "Villagers killing knights".

Like any random generator, I think it's good to interpret the results pretty broadly. I might read a result of, "Brigands enslaving villagers" to mean that the party comes upon a town where every few weeks some thugs come to collect protection money and crack a few heads to keep people scared. Or I might just interpret it more literally - a group of slavers rounding up local folk to take to auction.

Table 1 (1d8):

1. Villagers
2. Lord & Retinue
3. Knights
4. Brigands
5. Lepers
6. Madmen
7. Wizard(s)
8. Savages (wilderness)

Table 2 (1d8):

1. Betraying
2. Worshiping
3. Enslaving
4. Traveling to see
5. Fleeing
6. Negotiating with
7. Killing
8. Being killed by 

Obviously, adjust Table 1 to include groups appropriate to the region and your campaign. You could also repeat some results on either table to make the results more likely. Maybe a war-torn region would have only villagers, knights, and lords on Table 1, and only killing, being killed by and fleeing on Table 2.

Some of the more interesting results I rolled up:

• Brigands fleeing madmen
• I quite like this... Maybe the madness is contagious? Maybe the brigands thought they'd be easy pickings, but it turns out the madmen have some kind of wild magic? Lots of possibilities.
• Savages betraying knights
• Another interesting one... Perhaps a local guide is leading the knights into an ambush? Or maybe there's a battle going on - a group of savages were fighting on the side of some knights, but are now running away, leaving the knights to certain death?
•  Villagers being killed by villagers
• Witch hunt? Inter-village rivalry? Barroom brawl gone wrong?
• Wizard(s) negotiating with lepers
• Hmmm... I like this. Why would wizards be negotiating with lepers? Maybe the wizard needs leper blood for a ritual or spell, or maybe the lepers want to settle near the wizard's tower? Maybe the lepers are actually some kind of powerful beings in disguise, or even rival wizards who've gotten sick and need help?