Wargaming roots and 4E

For awhile now, there's been poking and prodding by many of us at 4E - what does it mean, what does it bring to the hobby and what exactly do we do with it? For alot of us, myself included, it's just not the D&D game we want to play - for whatever reasons. It's not D&D to me, but it is D&D by name and therefore by intent and brand, and it's not something to ignore.

It is, however, really damn close to a modern style wargame with the name of D&D, when you look at it like that.

That's what is popular today - wargames dressed in tactical miniatures. Look at Memoir '44, Warhammer, Monsterapocalypse and so on. The public loves these games - and it therefore is no surprise that Wizards of the Coast (WotC) aimed the latest game at it. D&D Minis apparently wasn't going to fit within that market, so why not point your flagship product in that direction and go with it?

The funny thing is that I can now talk to 4E'ers from a wargame roots aspect. When Chatty spoke about his problem with "the grind" of 4E combat, I thought "how do wargamers end battles" and I suggested victory conditions. That's a wargame mentality - when you've completed XYZ objectives, the battle is over. It takes a huge mental shift in me to look at a version of D&D as just a "wargame", but once I do, I can talk in concepts that are going to mesh with the latest version. If D&D 4E is a series of battles, using characters with "stories" that will travel from battle to battle, then looking at it from a wargame with roleplaying, versus roleplaying with combat - that makes it a little easier.

It also makes a bit of sense where people have spoken of the changed role of the DM in 4E - and the more static nature of progression with treasure parcels, magic item expectations, etc. - well, wargames don't always have a "Game Referee" unless it's one big battle requiring one - so player v. player wargames and Players vs. Monsters really starts to make sense.

Let me say that the "style" of wargaming for 4E is not for me. It's not a wargame that I could necessarily feel comfortable with - but suddenly, I feel as if DBA and 4E are of kin - except 4E has a ton more "add-ons" than a typical wargame than I play. I still prefer the D&D I play and the original rules. But D&D 4E as a modern wargame - that makes a lot more sense to me now. It's ironic. Those of us who hew to the older versions appreciate the wargaming roots from 30 years ago. D&D today may not be all that much different in the lineage, but from wargames of NOW. Are we all that different?

And the old-school has a lot of lessons learned from wargames and from the original viewpoint that role-playing and wargaming were complimentary. It's not that terribly different if you look back and consider that quite a number of people still enjoy the Chainmail style of combat during OD&D (agreed that we're talking about combat resolution, but is there more that could be considered? Has anyone tried the movement rules in Chainmail and tied it to movement rules for OD&D? I must remember to ask that question on the OD&D Board...)

(BTW, check out the game Spellcraft & Swordplay if you want to see what D&D keeping the Chainmail combat system would look like.)

Maybe you're thinking "Duh, Michael, welcome to Mr. Obvious Land" but it really just kinda clicked. Maybe I need to play more Games Workshop games to appreciate modern wargames a bit more... I have LotR Mines of Moria starter set, now I need are opponents.

Final note: I make it a point to try to not get into Flame Wars and Edition Fights over D&D and games, so please don't construe this post as that. If you want to get into a "I hate 4E" or "I hate old-school", please go to those places where that discussion is apropos. I will be ruthless in moderating comments that aim towards starting an edition war.

Craigslist treasure find - OD&D arts and crafts

It was two weekends ago that I had a niggle (my word for intuition) in the back of my head. A lot of times I don't pay attention to them but I've been learning to do that a lot more. So I found myself on Craigslist for Chicago, typing in the words "dungeons dragons" to see what was for sale. I skimmed through a set of ads and then stopped dead in my tracks - there was a picture of the 3 original D&D books, Greyhawk and Ref Reference sheets. "Make an offer."

Now comes the part where I have to admit that I was a bit of a dick. (Sorry, Wil!) I thought that these were probably going to be in bad shape or (me being paranoid) maybe even fake - I didn't know - so I offered $20. I fell out of my chair when the gentleman indicated he would take it! I felt bad and offered more, but he said he was satisfied with $20. I picked them up last night.

They are in pretty decent shape! There is pencil writing inside - the monsters are X'd off one by one, so someone was working their dungeons hard. There is some penned initials on the covers of each. The best part though? The dragon on the cover of Monsters and Treasure (Vol 2) has been crayoned in yellow in a typical toddler scrawl. Someone loved these books, someone had a family and someone played these books. Perfect!

The seller and I exchanged info and stories, of course. He had bought these in the early 90s in a shop of some sort and had played with them a bit before storing them. He had said that many people had turned down buying them because he didn't have the box! Well, their loss was my gain, and I took care of the box problem in short order. I invited the seller to my table at anytime, and I assured him these books were going to be lovingly used - and so they shall. For $20, these books are going to be my most valued treasure find, and something that I hope to pass on for just as low a price in the future. Yellow dragon and all ... and I'm still making up my mind on what a Yellow Dragon does, exactly!

The box issue was solved by a post on the OD&D forum by the creative Will (aka coffee) on the OD&D forum. He shared pictures of a booklet box he made from a paper mache book-box he found at Joann Fabrics and the box front graphic from the 4th/5th printing. He shared his graphic with me, and after a trip to the nearest FedEx/Kinkos to get two 8x11 white sticker sheets for a color laser, I had my labels printed. I also picked up some embossed felt to put on the side for both protection and a little bit of a classy look. I think it turned out fantastic!

That box is right where it belongs, on my shelf, waiting to be taken out and played. I have to admit, I really dig looking at the books. The PDF printouts were fine, but there's something ... magickal? ... about holding the actual card stock and flipping through the heavy paper booklet. I also dig the ref reference sheets - I may have to whip something up like this for my campaigns - I can see where it would be useful instead of squinting at my ref screen... I could empty out the screen for the maps and what not.

So the next time you have a few minutes, take a gander through Craigslist - you never know when you might find hidden treasure.

OD&D Solo game w/wife - Dice story telling

Last night's game was a story courtesy of the dice and of a miscommunication which made the game even more interesting. After the game, she said "This was a really fun game" which always makes me smile and fills me with satisfaction. So what exactly happened?

My wife's character Aeli has commissioned a sage to find clues to defeating a magical smoke dragon guardian. To do this, she had to "go on credit" to provide the sage with a total of 500 gold plus some books from another individual. She also needed to finish a task of bringing bandits back to the Lord's keep for trial.

A side note - I had the pleasure of finally meeting a fellow OD&D gamer, Tavis from the East Coast. I've known him from the OD&D Boards and we made plans to play some Swords & Wizardry at GenCon. He joined in the large game I ran Saturday night with the crazy blogger crew. Although much silliness ensued during that game, Tavis ran a tight character and did all the right things. To his credit, he participated in all the battles, he disarmed a trap and he survived long enough to find a treasure hoard on level 1. Unfortunately, he was fighting alone at the end and he died. I really enjoyed playing with him.

Tavis posted on the OD&D board on Monday about the dice telling the story and reading it was like gaining another DM level for me. I let the dice tell the story for the AD&D/OSRIC hex crawling game on Tuesday and I let the dice tell the story last night. Both games have gone really well and it has allowed me to become as much an explorer of the game, plot and sandbox as the players are. I think, as a DM referee, this is ideal for me. The dice are impartial, therefore I'm impartial.

As the solo game progressed, Aeli rode with a group of soldiers to return the bandits for trial. It was a very wet, rainy trip. Upon arriving, she left to go see if the Patriarch would give her the books she had retrieved from the Minotaur Mage's ruined tower. However, he was apparently in seclusion and unavailable for the time being. Aeli was going to have to return to the sage empty-handed.

She rounded up the bandits from jail and the escort made their way back through the forest and wild hills back to the Lord's Keep. Surprisingly, there was no attack by the bandits to retrieve their fellow compatriots. Upon return, Aeli was handed 200 gold for the mission (which included some extra for having actually captured the bandits in an earlier adventure) and dismissed.

What is cool is that all of those elements were completely random. A plot-driven, story-driven game might have included a huge bandit attack to free their compatriots, the Patriarch giving the books to Aeli and a completely successful mission. The dice, however, told a different story. No random encounter/wandering monsters were rolled during the game - had there been, then it would have been most likely bandits. There was a 1 in 6 chance that the Patriarch was unavailable - and he was. What is neat is that this opens up all sorts of interesting possibilities that otherwise might not have happened - Aeli has to figure out where to get some books from (the sage is interested in any books from ancient mages - and Aeli has two possible avenues of getting them) and she is now wondering why the bandits didn't attack. Is this the real bandit leader then? Are there other things afoot?

It's freeing and really awesome to see the story develop to my surprise as much as it is for her. I have the broad brush strokes of how the world would progress given no PC input, but once Aeli performs her actions, I get to figure out what happens.

The miscommunication actually made for a better game! Aeli wants to find books for the sage, in return for him telling her how to defeat the smoke dragon. She knows that there may be books in the dungeons she's been in: the ruined tower of Zenopus in the city of Westport and the ruined tower of Alaxus, the Minotaur Mage, near Valetown.

She was in Westport after returning the bandits to the Lord, when my wife says "OK, I want to go to the tower." I'm thinking "OK, Westport, Zenopus's Tower - that's COOL. She wants to return to her first dungeon. Now what would have happened in a month..." So while I got a drink from the fridge, I decided that the Lord probably would have mounted guards and forbidden entrance until the bandit situation is resolved and he could mount an expedition into the tower to determine what was there. So I returned to the table and started playing the role of the guards at the tower's entrance...

... except SHE thought she was back at Alaxus's tower near Valetown! So we're playing two different games for about 10 minutes! She went along with it, even tried to persuade the mage NPC to put the guards to sleep (he was horrified by the suggestion - he doesn't want to hang for attacking guards...) but then when I described what she saw as she went in, it dawned on both of us what had happened! Much laughter followed, but we agreed to play it the way I had interpreted it. That's because she realized she might be able to find more of Zenopus's books AND she was asked by the Captain of the guard to look for bandits in the ruins - which may mean more rewards!

So the plot thickened because of the mistake. Now how cool is that?

Image title: Lady and Youth Playing Draughts, Source: Green, J. R.: "A Short History of the English People" (1902)

Dear OSR - We won an ENnie!

Mythmere Game's Swords & Wizardry won 2nd place Silver Award for Best Free Product! Congrats to Matt Finch, all the authors, artists and contributors to S&W! Wow!

Matt - I need your phone number! You've got hardware coming, my friend!

Edited to add:
The reason that's my ugly mug up there is because Matt couldn't make it and asked me to accept anything in his place. We both had a "Yea, right, when pigs fly" attitude about winning, and look what happened. I was really honored to accept in Matt's place - it was a bit surreal considering what happened with my Dad this week. I hope I didn't sound like an idiot up there.

Grappling with Grappling

Ugh. Ha. I'm sure every single DM who's played D&D/AD&D has come to terms with this very issue at some point, so I am walking on long-treaded roads here.

So the insanity from last game's grapple-fest had me comparing the rules on grappling in OSRIC to how I used Philotomy's rules on Combat Sequence. I wanted to simplify it down so that it's 1) clear who can do what/when and 2) make it reflect some realities (size of opponents).

Here's the OSRIC rules on Grappling/Overbearing:

Two other unarmed attack forms are possible: Grappling attacks and Overbearing attacks. A successful grappling attack inflicts 0-1 (1d2-1) points of damage, but also restrains the target and prevents him or her from fi ghting. The chance of breaking a successful grapple should be determined according to the relative strengths of the creatures concerned. (An ogre could restrain a kobold almost indefinitely, and would be able to break free of the kobold’s grasp at will.)

Overbearing attacks are Grappling attacks exercised at the end of a Charge (see “Charge” above). If successful, the opponent is prone rather than restrained. Otherwise the attack is treated as a grapple.

Simple, right? For one on one, yes. The situation Sunday was that we had several opponents (goblins) trying to take down a human. It was not fun to roll through this, and I didn't like trying to roll each individual attack and determine it on an attacker by attacker basis. Now 1E's grappling rules are non-existant in the PHB, while DMG and UA has insane grappling rules.

I proposed the following rules to my group and there was no consensus on whether this was a Good Thing or not - so I'm going to at least try them on for size and see how it goes. A trial post at Knights & Knaves got a couple of questions, but the only real feedback I got was "It's close to UA" so I'm guessing at least I'm not way off base. I don't think I've made a fantastic rule that will change RPG-dom, but I like it and it's stood up to most questioning.

Chgowiz's OSRIC Grappling rules

I want to make attacks and freeing attempts as a simple attack vs. AC roll. I want to keep the max # of modifiers to 3 - Number of opponents involved, size and any STR modifiers available.

Grappling attacks are made against an opponent using the standard modifiers applicable to melee combat (including attribute and magical effects.) If an grapple attack is successful, the opponent is now held. Any future attacks by the held combatant are at -2 for each grappler holding. A grapple attack results in 0-1 (1d2-1) points of damage.

Multiple opponents may attempt to grapple one opponent. For each additional grappler, +2 is added to attack roll. If the grapple attack is successful, then all grapplers are said to have a hold. Only dice once for damage. For mixed level groups, designate a primary attacker (would usually be the highest level.)

A held combatant may attempt to free themselves the next attack (this round if they lost initiative, next round if they've already attacked this round) by rolling a successful attack roll. They suffer a -2 penalty per grappler having a hold. If they are prone, they also suffer the normal -4 to the attack. A held combatant may not perform any other combat action or movement.

In the round following a successful grapple, the grappler(s) may attempt to force them prone (pin) with a successful attack. The multiple opponents bonus applies.

Alternatively, rather than forcing a pin, the grappler(s) may choose to pummel the held opponent (think sucker shots here...). Roll an attack normally, with +2 bonus to the attacker. Damage is 1d2 with normal bonuses/penalties.

Size matters in grappling attacks or freeing attempts. Any penalty is applied ONCE to a single die roll, and multiple attackers vs a larger being may end up negating the penalty. Bonuses are cumulative.
If an attacker is Small, they have +0 versus other Small, -2 versus Medium, -4 versus Large.
If an attacker is Medium, they have +2 versus Small, +0 versus Medium, -2 versus Large
If an attacker is Large, they have +4 versus Small, +2 versus Medium, +0 versus Large

Example:
Aramin faces 4 snarling goblins who wish to force him down. They win initiave and attack first. Aramin's AC is 3. The goblins gain a +6 for 3 additional grapplers, and a -2 for the small size penalty, for a total bonus of +4. They roll a 15 (+4) for 19 total, a successful attack. Aramin has now been grappled. The goblins dice a 0 for damage. This ruins the attack that Aramin had planned for that round, but he can try to free himself. Unfortunately, he rolls a 14 which is penalized a -8 (-2 per attacker) although he gets a +2 for STR and +2 for size difference. His total attack is an 10. He cannot free himself.

In the next round, the goblins win intiative (again) and attempt to force Aramin prone. They have the same bonus (+6 for 3 additional grapplers, -2 for small size) of +4. This time, they roll a 3. Aramin is proving too strong for them to pull down!

Aramin will now attempt to free himself. He has a +2 for strength of 17 (example), a +2 for the size difference, and a -8 for 4 grapplers, for a total penalty for -4. The goblins' AC is 7. Aramin dices a 16, which is enough for a successful attack. He throws off the grapplers and frees himself!

Now, this is not perfect, but it serves to abstract the inclusion of multiple attackers and the size differences enough without being too cumbersome. We can also run through this and tweak it if it works. I should also note that group vs. group grapples, I would resolve singly or however the party wanted to divide up the attacks.

(Edited to update that I will allow an attempt to free oneself if they still have their attack to perform that round.)

Also, as an edit addendum, someone asked me about AC and the fact that AC would actually hinder someone. Well, I says, this is abstract D&D combat and I'm thinking that while someone might be easier to pull down in plate, I'm also thinking that if I'm trying to grapple someone in armor and he smacks me in the head... well, then I wouldn't care so much about AC, I'd just have a lump. I may go to ignoring AC for grapples, but since the grapple-fest previously mentioned, it hasn't come up again. We'll see.