Changes. Implemented and Planned

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After another review of my game (and more importantly its UI layout) a few things were found to change. Some of these are a result of recent changes, some were ideas I had before but either never implemented or changed to something else.

First Change

The first change I made which led to some of the other changes was actually a programming change. In the play scene for pre-made levels there is a level select element. The up and down options could be held down to cycle through the levels without constantly clicking/tapping. But it only went at one speed. I changed that so that it sped up as time progressed. Took a bit of coding to get all the proper flags in place, but now you can get much farther much faster than the old version, without sacrificing accuracy for short jumps.

Knock on Changes

The first big change that the improved level select caused was to the “Next Level” and “Previous Level” buttons. Previously I had those two buttons in the lower corners of the screen so you could jump to new levels freely. But back then the level select was… clunky. Now that level select is more smooth those buttons don’t need to be available all the time. But I did still have a use for a “Next Level” button. It now shows up during the “Level Complete” state of the game, around the center of the screen. This is to give the player a direction to go after they complete a level.

Planned Changes

A few other minor changes have also been made, but two major changes/reversions are also being considered. First is one likely to happen and stick around: auto level changes from the level select. Right now, after navigating to the desired level number the player must press another button to actually go to that level. The proposed change will cause the level change to occur as soon as the level up/down button is not being pressed. The second change is a bit less likely, removing the Main Menu level select.

Right now I have a level select screen in the main menu before starting pre-made levels proper. But that screen also has some useful info about uncompleted levels that can guide the player on what level they want to do. So I am very reluctant to remove it. More likely is that I will change the select method to match the one in the play area scene.

Creating a One Shot

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Ahead of my campaign starting, our group is going to have a session with about half the members missing. The three options for this day are as follows. Don’t meet up, play a different board game, or let me run a one-shot adventure as practice for my campaign. I would prefer to go with the last option, but what should I do for it?

First and foremost, for those that don’t know, a one-shot adventure is a game of D&D designed to be done in a single session. No or limited ongoing implications, fast and fun, wrapped up in a bow in one sitting. It allows for players to try out new characters and for DMs to try out new… anything they want really. No long lasting consequences mean if things go pear shaped everyone can laugh it off.

So What About My One Shot?

There are several paths that can be taken when sitting down for a one-shot. The first, very common, option is to find a pre-written one. Plenty of them exist online, just a matter of finding the one you like. The other much more difficult option is to design your own. Lots can go wrong with this approach, but that is half the point of a one-shot. Of course you can also hybridize these approaches. Find an existing one-shot and edit it to your liking. But I am going with the “design your own” method.

The primary reason for this is that for my eventual campaign I am using my own setting, and I want a practice run in that setting. But also, I want the challenge and freedom that comes with making my own one-shot.

The Nitty Gritty

After some thought, I have broken the one shot down into something of a 3 act structure. I didn’t realize it was a 3 act structure until I was writing this, but it works out to that. Each of the “acts” will see the party faced with an entirely different set of problems to solve and decisions to make.

act 1

The first act sees my players on a ship heading to the new uncharted island. let my players introduce themselves and get their bearings. Meet the crew, see the other adventuring party, notice those clouds on the horizon… wait. A squall suddenly hits the ship. Now for the first bit of “conflict” each of the players will take turns describing how they use their skills to try and help the situation. This is something I am stealing from a D&D twitch stream I am watching. But it does not matter how well the players do, the ship is going to run aground on a deserted part of the island.

So what is the point if the players can’t effect the outcome? Based on how well they do they may get certain perks in the rest of the adventure. Maybe they did enough that the captain gives them each a healing potion, or maybe less of the crew is injured and can be more helpful latter on. I won’t punish my players for messing up this part, but I will reward them for doing well.

act 2

This act is fairly short. Ship is a wreck and most of the crew isn’t going anywhere for a while. So they need to make contact with the main settlement on the island for aid. That means someone needs to go and get the help. There are two adventuring groups, my players and a more seasoned and of higher level NPC adventurers. My group now has a choice, either go for help or stay and keep the sailors safe. Whatever they don’t do the more seasoned adventures will do (and probably better). This is a branching path and determines which of two third acts I use.

act 3

If the players decide to go for help, I will have them do some survival based checks to navigate the island (if they did well enough in act 1 a map may have survived). But the culmination will be a big fight with something nasty before they can get to the aid they need. weather they ambush it or it ambushes them will be determined by how they proceeded to this point.

If the players decide to play bodyguard they will have to post a watch. Over the course of several “days” they will have chances of seeing what is about to happen coming, or losing supplies if they fail too badly. With all of this culminating in a Goblin raid. However, if they players did well enough in act 1 (or helped enough in the “downtime” days) the sailors won’t just be dead weight. They did have a ship after all, and ships have cannons.

Creating Dungeons

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So, my campaign has no set “theme” for what the players will be facing. This is a double edged sword. On the one hand I could throw a wyvern at the players one week. Goblin raiders the next week. And wrap up the month with a murder mystery involving creatures from beyond reality. But on the other hand I have no guiding light on what to use. No pre-built encounters, no dungeon layouts, I have to make everything.

Making Everything

So yeah, I have to design every map, every encounter, every twist and turn. That level of freedom is both liberating and terrifying. Because I can make whatever I want, but if it goes poorly I am the only one to blame. It is also terrifying because I have no limits on what I can use, except those I impose on myself.

limits make things better

If I approached each dungeon with truly no limits on what I could use I would never get anything done. Two things come to mind in this regard, the first being “analysis paralysis”. Analysis paralysis is when you have so many choices you could make and spend so much time debating them, that you never actually do any of them. With no limits, the number of possibilities becomes overwhelming. So limits help narrow down those possibilities.

The other saying that comes to mind is this “an artist’s greatest nemesis is a blank canvas”. The meaning is very similar to “analysis paralysis” but slightly more specific. The hardest part of a project is often starting the project, once you get going you pick up momentum, things fall into place. You might hit snags that bring things to a grinding halt, but getting started again won’t be as hard as when the canvas was blank. And limitations can, if constructed correctly, be the first brush strokes on an otherwise blank canvas.

Crafting Limitations

My limitations for a given dungeon can be almost anything. Restrict the setting to a classical castle dungeon, a cave, a forest, or a noble’s mansion. What types of enemies show up in the setting? Goblins? Skeletons? Mimics? All valid options, but I need to pick one as a starting point. Maybe even just a theme. Like illusions, labyrinth, battle gauntlet, or even murder mystery.

don’t have do do it alone

One thing I have been planning basically from the word go, is for my players to have some input on this process. Not in the actual design of the maps and monster placement of course. But in what shows up. My intention is to have them all write down things they want to have show up in dungeons, themes they want to encounter, and some enemy types they want to fight. For example I might get puzzles, gothic horror, and goblins from Player A. Player B might give me traps, survival gauntlet, and fat Dragons. While Player C could give me illusions, nature, and slimes. And I could mix and match them as I saw fit, or even include ideas of my own. The idea is to get a starting point and to give the players a sense of investment.

Lights Out Progress Report

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So, where am I in the development of my game? For a while it has always felt like I am almost there. Almost at the finish line. Then I find something that needs to be fixed, or can easily be improved upon, or was a placeholder that I just got used to. And it keeps getting extended. So where am I?

What I am Doing Now

Right now I am focusing on cleaning up the “level select” mechanic. Initially I had a simple level select as a menu that could be called up in the game scene itself. But I was never completely happy with it. It was small, no room for more buttons, going large jumps of levels took a while. Lots of problems, but a good proof of concept.

Now I have a level select in the main menu before you transition into the game scene. With buttons to go both small jumps and big jumps. Even text to tell you where the earliest uncompleted puzzles are so you can go back and do any you skipped.

Originally I was going to remove the level select from the game scene. But the longer I look at it, the more I think I can just polish it up a bit and keep it. But this might just be not wanting to discard work I have done.

So What is Next?

Next is three things. First is to finalize a design choice I have been fiddling with in the background for a while. Next up is to decide how this game will be distributed. The two main options are: free with ads or small upfront price with a free demo version to get people interested. Based on which of the two I go with I either need to design where the ads go, or figure out what I will strip out for the demo version.

And then I should be almost done… unless I find another thing to do.

Session Zero

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lyWhat is a Session Zero?

In RPGs a session zero is the first session of a new group/adventure. You might be thinking “but wouldn’t that make it session one?” no, but I can understand why someone might think that. But a session zero does not involve playing your character, and a surprising minimum of rolling dice (if any even get rolled).

In session zero several things are decided upon as a group. First and foremost players create their characters. Now with more experienced players they may already have a fully fleshed out character going into session zero. But even these characters may have some last minute tweaking to fit the setting.

But more importantly the group decides on boundaries. What topics are off limits for the story? Are people fine with Non-Player Characters (NPCs) flirting with them? Are players fine with other player’s characters flirting with them? How gory can the descriptions get? Any off limit topics (typical examples include slavery, rape, racism).

So this is called “Session Zero” because it is when the players all decide how the game  will be played. But what concerns need to be addressed in my game?

My Session Zero

The first concern would normally be covering what topics are taboo/expected in the campaign. And some amount of that will take place, but I am going to be DMing for an established group that has been playing together for… over a year now? As such we have a pretty good idea of our personal limits around such things, but making them black and white would still be helpful.

character creation

Next on the list is finalizing characters. Everyone in my group is fairly experienced in making characters, but I have a few things that make character creation non-vanilla. First and foremost I am starting my group at level 3 rather than level 1. Several reasons for this, first is because most classes don’t unlock the interesting features until level 3. This way the players are starting with some interesting abilities and more power than it takes to clear a basement of giant rats.

Next is some of the available options for my players. Of which I have two restrictions. My first restriction is that they aren’t allowed to use options from the latest set of optional rules: Spelljammer. The reasons are simple. First it is a very fantasy sci-fi setting that doesn’t fit the world I am going for. Secondly is that I have not gotten the chance to read it and so don’t know how to balance for the options within. The other restriction is if a player wants to use an option that has a “legacy” version (usually a race) we need to discuss if they can use the legacy version or need to use the “updated” version.

And finally are the extra goodies I am giving each character from the word go. First is a bonus feat. For those that don’t know feats are special bonus abilities a character cha pick up. For instance a character might be such a good cook that their food actually has healing properties. Or maybe you have a special connection to a place of power that gives you some bonus spells. Or perhaps you are simply telepathic. whatever the specific feat it adds a bit of spice to a character that can help make them the player’s own. And for the final bit of flavor for each character I am allowing them one common magic item each.

World building

The next step is to make the players feel like a part of the world. This comes in two flavors: personal connections and shaping the world. For personal connections I have a simple rule: I want each character to have a positive history with at least one other character. This way we can start off with some friend groups in the party rather than a bunch of strangers. As for shaping the world, this isn’t just my story. If the players want an element to be present on the island I will try to incorporate it. But more importantly, they decide where they came from, whether that be a preexisting setting or a custom made one. This can give me plot hooks to draw upon latter down the line. It also starts the players off with some investment in the world.

house rules

I have a few house rules that I will be informing my players about, how flanking will work for instance. But Wizards of the Coast has been putting out playtest materials with new rules that look interesting. As such I will be discussing with my players about which of these rules we will be integrating into our game.

Your Session Zero

I may have laid out how I will handle session zero for my up coming campaign, but that is far from the only way to handle it. There are as many ways to handle a session zero as there are groups playing table top RPGs, and you will need to find the right fit for your group. But there are three important things all successful session zeros have in common. Get the players ready to play, make sure people will be comfortable at the table, and get the players invested in the game. Succeed in these three things, and the fun should naturally follow.

Basic Gameplay “Loop”

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So, what do I have set up for my players? Having a world is fine and all, but what great challenge is going to face the players? Many Dungeons and Dragons campaigns have some epic story behind them. Perhaps a clue to a long lost Dwarven fortress has been discovered. The adventurers must race to find this fortress before another power claims them. Or perhaps a dragon cult is trying to resurrect their dragon god. The adventurers must foil these plans for the good of the world. Or perhaps the adventurers have been stranded in a dark realm ruled by a vampire king. They must unravel the mysteries of this place if they are to have any hope of survival. So what great story will my campaign entail?

The Basic Loop

At first there won’t be some epic quest. In essence they will be the fantasy version of contractors, exploring dungeons and returning with magic items. But, fairly quickly I will have the group come to the attention of those in charge of the settlement. This will get the group a bit more direction in what dungeons to explore, and possible side objectives.

The basic “gameplay loop” I am going for is this: players get assigned/chose a dungeon to explore. They travel to the dungeon and clear it. Upon returning to town the characters get a week “downtime” to have fun and get in trouble. Then repeat the loop.

But of course, nothing ever goes according to a smooth plan. Normally this would be where I would tell you what big twist awaits the players. But as of yet, no twist exists. Mostly this is because when I made this setting I was trying to make a giant “sandbox” for the players to play in. So how will I get my twist?

The Twist

If I have no twist planned, how will I get one? One of three ways. I will go in order of most preferred to least.

backstory

This one is fairly simple. Each player will make a backstory for their character, and I can draw on those backstories to create new points of tension or conflicts for them to deal with.

For instance, a player may be searching for parts of an ancient, broken, magic item. Maybe the pieces have been discovered by another group. How will the player go about getting them? Will they even involve the rest of the party? Or maybe another player’s past catches up to them in the form of a competing adventure’s party. Or even more complicated quests could arise.

it is a sandbox

This one is the most organic. Put simply, given enough rope an adventure’s party with either: 1 hang themselves 2 accidently kidnap someone they shouldn’t have or 3 recreate the Gordian Knot. Any of these can turn into an interesting adventure, and basically only relies on me to react to what the party does with either “Yes, and…” or “No, but…” aka, the two most useful phrases in improv.

Kick the nest

The final one is the one I least want to use. If the players refuse to create problems (or solve problems too quickly) I can have the island throw a problem at them. One idea I had to this is as follows.

During one of the party’s down days the alarms begin to sound. A giant lumbering beast has been spotted approaching the settlement. Too large and fast to face head on they wait at the barricades to face the beast and turn it back. But as it grows closer, it looks… strange, not quite right. Until it gets close enough to realize it is fake, a “trojan horse” monster. It heaves itself over the walls, ignoring the punishment it is taking from the defenders, before disgorging a horde of goblins into the settlement. These goblins are not here to fight, but to steal everything they can get there hands on before running away.

How will the party react to this? Will they get something of theirs stolen too? Who built the mechanical monster that breached the walls? All things to kick off an adventure. The only question now being: Which adventure will they find/create in this sandbox.

Populating My World

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Now, the setting for my campaign is a brand new island, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be people here. While it is true there won’t be any natives (at least as far as anyone is aware) plenty of people have an interest in this island. Some for a fresh start. Others to plunder the riches of the dungeons. Some for the mystery of this place. And a few have arrived to safeguard against the potential danger this place represents.

Primary Settlement

The first group my adventuring party is going to encounter is the primary settlement created by the adventures exploring this island. This settlement is split into two sections: the civilian flotilla and the adventure’s stronghold.

The Flotilla

The flotilla is a collection of ships and semi-permeant floating structures a few miles off shore. Viewed from the outside it looks like a small floating city, with almost all the accommodations you would expect from a well established settlement. Blacksmiths, eateries, tailor shops, housing, a town square, even a hospital all exist in this floating city. As for why the civilians live off the island, that’s simple. The Island is dangerous. Seemingly random beasts sometimes appear, and it is safer for the civilians to just not be in harm’s way. Not to mention easier for the adventures to drive off the beasts.

Adventure’s stronghold

The stronghold is the on land coastal settlement of the adventures. While it doesn’t have as many of the accommodations that the flotilla has, it is hardly bare bones. One giant bar services the adventures, with enough partitions that it functions as almost 5-7 bars. Several weapon and armor shops with gear from all over the multiverse. Many so called “general stores” with all the gear an adventure could want. And then you have the administration.

This is a stronghold after all, so those in charge had to fortify it. Several barracks line the impressive outer walls, with enough semi-retired adventures living in them to fight off several Dragons if it came to it. For those adventures not in the full time business of defending the settlement there are boarding houses randomly distributed throughout the settlement… At least they appear random, until you note the even distribution and a few other patterns that guarantee whatever threat the settlement faces: someone will be on scene quickly. Finally we have the administration of the entire settlement, flotilla and stronghold both.

Administration

The group primarily in charge of this settlement are “commonly” known as The Insatiable Scholars. This is a group I created for the backstory of an old character I once played. In short they believe Magic has no inherent morality, whether it be a firebolt, the magic to become an undead Lich that feeds on souls, or even healing magic. To them the magic itself is not good or evil, although the consequences of a given use may be. Along with this amoral stance is a generations long quest to learn all there is to know about magic. Understandably, an island connected to all the planes of existence, that seems to spontaneously create dungeons and magic items, presents an irresistible siren’s call to them. With their considerable resources, connections, and raw power they got themselves put in charge of the island’s exploration and investigation.

In game terms this means that the primary contact for my group is going to be a very powerful Wizard. This Wizard is going to be a bit absent minded and quirky, but have a bit more level headed wife to keep him on track. Both are very powerful, but so caught up in administrative work and keeping this place from falling apart that they can’t actually go and investigate as they wish. While they will provide the party with some support, they aren’t going to be able to wave their hands and make problems disappear for the party (the way a level 20 player might).

Everyone Else

This is getting a bit longer than I first thought, so I will give a quick round up of the other factions on the island at the start of the campaign. I may return to these and expand on them in a future post.

Goblins

Firstly there are at least 3 goblin tribes that disappeared into the Island’s interior and disappeared. Are they dead? Fractured into more tribes? Combined into one goblin empire? No one is quite sure. But it is known that at least some of them live on, as goblin raids and ambushes are not unheard of.

Creatures

Next up is the “local” fauna. Creatures from all over the multiverse appear to just… show up on the island. They struggle for dominance, some going extinct on the island before more creatures arrive to put everything into chaos again. Almost like the island itself is “borrowing” from other places to create a new ecosystem all its own.

Other Problems

It is speculated that some of the big boogeymen of the D&D world also have outposts on the island. Beings like the Mind Flayers, Cults dedicated to Dragons or Demons, covens of Necromancers or Vampires. Almost nothing is off the table. But by the same token almost nothing is yet written in stone.

Dragons (In my dungeons? more likely than you might think)

The last group I have decided will be part of the setting is a “lauth” of dragons. Long story short a “lauth” is a small group of dragons that have agreed to a common goal, becoming something close to a clan of dragons. These dragons need have nothing in common besides this singular goal, so traditionally good and evil dragons may align together.

In my case the lauth on this island will be comprised of several metallic, chromatic, and even gem dragons. No one is quite sure what their goal is, but tow things are certain. They seem to have the uncanny ability to know everything that is happening on the island at any given time. And they have made a habit of intercepting adventurers returning from a dungeon dive to take the magic item they retrieved. Curiously though, despite the dragon’s ability to simply overpower the adventurers and take what they want, they almost always offer a trade for the item in question.

Ideas for Settings

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When last I left off I promised some of the ideas I had for the setting I would be presenting my players. Unfortunately I got sick shortly after, but I am back now. I must admit, writing these out is only in part for the consumption of others. I also am doing this to force myself to actually write out my ideas rather than letting them fester in my mind. That way I might actually make progress.

Where to Begin?

First and foremost: What world are we playing in? Dungeons and Dragons has a large number of established worlds with their own societies, power structures, threats, etcetera. So which one am I using? None of them and all of them. And just to cut off the D&D experts in the crowd, no this is not a plane shift campaign (if you don’t know what that is, don’t worry about it). Let me explain.

Objectives and Solutions

I had a simple objective when creating this world: Give my players an excuse to go dungeon diving. Inspired by a couple of fantasy stories I have been following, I started with the idea of Dungeons that self generated. But why would that happen? Magic obviously, but the more specific the better. And so I created an “Island”, on this island dungeons spontaneously generate with magic items at their core. Retrieve the item and the dungeon begins to collapse. What is in the dungeon? Almost anything from a classic stone dungeon filled with skeletons, to a cave with goblins and wolves, all the way to a full on “who done it” murder mystery.

You might have noticed I put “island” in quotation marks, that is because this island is on the larger size of that description. Somewhere between the size of New Zealand and Madagascar. AKA more than enough space to have just about anything show up. But where would this “anything” come from? Anywhere.

A little more backstory. In the lore of D&D there are multiple worlds, literally different planets, that compose what is called the “mortal plane”. Surrounding that are the other planes of existence, ranging from the Feywilds, to the Shadowfell, to the Elemental Planes, all the way to the outer planes of Order-Chaos and Good-Evil. Why is this relevant? Well, the back story for my island goes something like this.

Discovery

One day, a new island was discovered. No island should have been there, and it was too large to have gone unnoticed until now. Upon landing and exploring the island, the first explores found others doing the same. These people were strange, just a bit “off” from what was expected. But the Wizards of the expeditions all came to the same conclusion: they had each come from another world. It turns out that this island was somehow connected to multiple worlds of the Mortal Plane. Further investigation proved that this island in fact was connected to ALL the planes of existence. Upon discovering the dungeon phenomenon a kind of “gold rush” began. Spearheaded by adventures this gold rush was targeting not gold, but the far more valuable magic items at the core of the dungeons.

Upshots

With this set up I establish a few things. First a “sandbox” environment where anything can happen and the players are free to do just about anything. Next is two clear objectives: get loot and learn the mysteries of the island. And finally it makes the only requirement for a character created for this campaign to be “a reason to come to this island” place of origin, backstory, species, almost nothing is off the table as long as they have a reason to come here.

First Time Dudgeon Master

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I have been playing Dungeons and Dragons for several years now, through multiple different worlds brought to life by our Dungeon Masters. Some basics of Table Top Role Playing Games (TTRPGs): most people playing TTRPG are simply referred to as “players”. They create and play as a single character in a party of such characters with the other players. One player is different however. This player does not have a specific character they play. Instead they are in charge of managing the world you are playing in.

What is a DM?

They play the shop keep you buy your gear from, the little girl looking for her cat, the wizened wizard that sends you on a quest, down to the goblin you are fighting. They describe the world, they track everything, and even control the rules of the world. In TTRPGs there are mortals, there are gods, and above them all is the Dungeon Master. Some people will tell you the Dungeon Master tells the story for the players. These people are very wrong.

While it is true that the Dungeon Master sets up the initial situations the players find themselves in, it is the Players that decide how to respond to those situations. And those responses are the story that is told for years to come. The DM sets the stage for the Players to improv around.

Why bring all this up?

Simple. Because I have decided its my turn. My turn to run the game, to set the stage, and let the players go crazy. But in order to do that, I need a world/setting/story for them to go crazy in. I have been making that behind the scenes as I am waiting for our current story to run its course. Over the next few weeks, I intend to go over some of the things I have made for this story.

When to Abandon Ship

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The Question

As I wrote about last time, Wizards of the Coast (Hasbro) has been causing a big stir in their community. Lots of talk is happening along the lines of “What could Wizards do to salvage this situation?” The second big point of discussion is “What can we (the players) do to force Wizards into a decision we want?” And the big take away from that second question is simple: stop giving them money. Cancel subscriptions, don’t buy books, and maybe even boycott the new movie coming out. But there is one final question that is floated around from time to time “Do we abandon Dungeons and Dragons in favor of another game?”

A Solution

There are plenty of other role playing table top games to try. And some of them look really fun. From the very familiar setting of pathfinder, itself being a spin off of the 3rd edition of D&D. To the dystopian future of one of several Cyberpunk systems. Even old western meets magic, were playing cards are an integral part of the game. Or more story based games where you don’t even roll dice. Or even cosmic horror with Call of Cthulhu. Point being, if you are interested in role playing games, there is a system and setting for you.

My Solution

But that doesn’t address the central question. Do we need to abandon D&D? As I see it, no. Even if you are 100% trying to “stick it to Wizards” you don’t need to abandon D&D to accomplish that. You just need to stop giving them money. Don’t pay for online services. Lots of players already have most of the books, in a group you likely have enough books to share. And if you need to buy a new book? Buy second hand, and as a bonus try to buy from a local used book store. There are ways to make the community’s dissatisfaction clear without burning down everything we have built.

That is not to say you have to stay with D&D. If you find another game you and your group will enjoy more, go for it. Just don’t bash those that stay with the old ship.

Breaking News

As I was writing this a new announcement was made by Wizards of the Coast. The old OGL will be left in place, and the SRD (System Reference document) for 5.1 will still be going into creative commons as they said previously. So looks like the ship is going to stop sinking… assuming they are being truthful.

Announcement: https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1439-ogl-1-0a-creative-commons