Refreshing fantasy

Right now I'm involved in two different Dungeons & Dragons games, which will mark me as a geek among the highest order. Which I'm quite proud of, so save your taunts and your barbs 'cause I will ignore them.

In one game, I am the Dungeon Master; I've written previously about that game and it has continued. In fact, we're meeting again next Monday.

Tonight, though, I played in the other group. In this one, I'm a player, rather than running the game. Right now we have a group of five players, though we may be adding another player in the future.

I'll spare you most of the details of the game and world, because I'm sure that listening to other folks describe their adventures is only interesting to a small handful of people. But the DM, Lynn,¹ has made some interesting choices. He's using an alternate historical setting, putting us in Europe around 950 C.E., with the additions of standard D&D tropes: magic-users, clerics with spells, elves and dwarves and orcs and goblins. Magic, though, is rare, and controlled by a group that owes ties to the Catholic church; and priests who cast spells and heal by touch are rarer still.

I got involved in the game on the idea that it would be a temporary gig; Lynn was writing a module for sale, and wanted a group to playtest it. So I was handed a character, one I did not create from scratch myself. That being the case, my character began a bit "vanilla" and outside my comfort range, but in playing him I've grown to like him and enjoy trying to put myself into his shoes. He's a straight fighter, a swordsman of vaguely Germanic background, one who values the law and hierarchy and structure, and who gives at least lip service to the demands of the church.

He's also a bit abrasive and tonight I discovered through play that he's a bit of a misogynist, which I thought was a logical attitude for the times and considering his background, but led to a funny/awkward moment tonight when it bumped up against the rather modern ideas of our mixed-gender group.

We were investigating the disappearance of a local old maid who had disappeared, a cook who was renowned for her special herbed butter. When we searched her shack, she was gone, but Aoric, my swordsman, realized that the exotic and foreign herbs and spices were probably worth considerable gold coin, and began stuffing them into a bag. The priest, Father Caelin, and the elven nature-worshipper, Galithean, both admonished me for stealing. To which I replied, honestly if defensively, "It's not stealing. She's a woman."

A shocked silence fell over the group. Including the DM.

I looked to the priest, sure he would agree with me (the player for the priest is well-versed in the historical context, much more than I am, surely he'd get it) but he just stared at me, eyes slitted.

"Oh," I said, "even the priest is giving me the eye. Um, I'm just saving them for the old woman, so we can give them back to her if — I mean when — we find her again." And if we don't, I reasoned, I'll just keep them and sell them.

The priest informed me that even though women couldn't own land, they could still have posessions. In that moment, I had channeled my inner Jayne, and had found the nugget for my character.

Aoric's moment of glory came later, when he dealt the death-blow to the Italian mercenary who had been hired to ambush and kidnap the Margrave's son. It's the first and so far most satisfying critical hit I've rolled since I took up playing again.

But I'd promised not to regale you with tales of the game. The major point I wanted to make, before wandering off into storytelling, was that after each game, whether I'm running the game or playing in it, I am refreshed. I'm laughing, I forget my troubles, I feel as though I'm connecting to the other players, and my mind is always filled with plans and memories. It's amazing to me how energized I always feel for at least the next day or two.

I like playing, but it's more than that. I like telling stories, but it's more than that, too. The accomplishments are minor compared to the rest of my life, but I think being in a small party of like-minded folk, as opposed to being in a social gathering of strangers with nothing in common, is the circumstance under which I flourish. This is my favorite kind of interaction, and it makes me very happy.

---

¹ In the game I DM, we have a player whose name is Lynn and she's female. In the game I'm a player, the DM's name is Lynn, and he's male. I've messed up emails by sending them to the wrong Lynn before. It's mildly embarrassing.

Labels: DandD

• 11:03 PM 0 comments

Fish and cranberries

A quick recap of the D&D game from the other night, a first draft of an ongoing, improvised story...

Player Characters:

• William "Willie" Brewer, human priest of Rhoban, and brewer
  
• Maira, half-elven wizard (with Fith, her viper familiar)
  
• Matla, barbarian of the north
  
• Xanril, human rogue (and architect/engineer)

In the town of Warjos Dos, in late fall, on the farthest edge of the Old Empire, a group was formed in the weeks just prior to the festival of Redtoberfest...

It all started, as it often does, in the tavern down by the docks. Over beers and dinner (fish and cranberries), Willie and Xanril reminisced and Maira and Matla were looking for work.

Ilbhaan the Dark, keeper of the lighthouse, did not show up for his normal afternoon round of drinks. Some sailors, three men, remarked that they might not get their shipment. Maira questioned the sailors and they were cagey and did not want to answer any questions, and immediately beat a hasty retreat. The bartender asked Willie if he could check on Ilbhaan since it was so out of the ordinary

Xanril followed them to the docks, and was able to overhear a conversation between the captain of the ship and the leader of the gang about their shipment, which apparently is "building supplies". The captain said to keep an eye out for the half-elf girl, but that she was of no concern. He ordered them to go find the dwarf. The sailors did not want to go back to the tavern, where they thought the half-elf girl was, so instead they began searching in the marketplace.

Xanril caught up with the rest of the group and filled them in. Willie and Xanril knew of several dwarves in town, but couldn't think of which one the sailors could be looking for. Matla decided to go check out the lighthouse.

At the lighthouse, they found the dead bodies of Ilbhaan's wife and 12 year old son, murdered in their beds, with slashing weapons.

While the others debated what to do, Matla decided to search the lighthouse. On the first floor, they found a library - and Maira immediately went looking for spellbooks. To Willie and Xanril's surprise (because they never knew Ilbhaan was a wizard back in the day), there were not just one or two, but eight full spellbooks.

They search the rest of the lighthouse, but find nothing: no other clues, no other people... or creatures. They light the fire at the top of the tower, and prepare to guard the bodies until they can take them back to the cathedral in the morning.

Shortly after nightfall, as Maira and Matla stood guard outside, someone approached: a dwarf from town, by the name of Mavel. He's suspicious, until he sees Father Willie. Mavel is saddened by the deaths, and over beers and dinner (fish and cranberries), Mavel shares his story. He is looking for his brother, Gorm, who, many years ago, was an adventurer with Ilbhaan and Worjos. On their last adventure, they found... something... out, something that was enough to make Ilbhaan swear off magic entirely. But that was many years ago; now Gorm, who is a miner by trade, has been approached by the same sailors that were acting suspiciously earlier. Mavel didn't think that Gorm was in any kind of trouble, but he also didn't think his brother wanted anything to do with the sailors.

After dinner, Fith the snake felt some creatures approaching, and Maira felt it through her empathic link. The creatures were approaching along the beach, below the cliff on which the lighthouse stood. The group went outside and tried to spot them; Willie stood and loudly demanded that they reveal themselves, and Matla tossed his torch down onto the beach to get a better look, but all they could see was shadows.

Willie was pelted with stones from down below! The creatures, who hid in the shadows at the base of the cliff, were attacking! Xanril, Willie and Maira shot arrows and crossbow bolts, and Matla climbed down the cliff to take the creatures on face to face. Xanril took down one creature, which Willie identified as a kobold, before taking a deadly blow to the eye with a well-placed sling stone; he was unconscious and bleeding to death...

Willie was able to heal him with the loving power of Rhoban, but when Xanril returned to the top of the bluff to take aim, he was hit again!

Maira got off another shot but missed. Instead of continuing, she picked up on the way the kobolds avoided the torch on the beach and cast a light spell on a rock near the center of the group. The yapping little creatures scattered, half of them going north and the others going south - straight for Matla, who had had some blood drawn by a slung stone but was still ready for a fight!

Matla's greataxe made quick work of the small creatures, and soon only one was left. The cowardly kobold, wounded by Willie's crossbow, threw down its spear and prostrated itself before the mighty barbarian. Matla showed it mercy and told it to go - and with a leap, the creature was off and running to catch up to its comrades.

Xanril once again felt the power of Rhoban, and the group convened to watch the lighthouse for the rest of the night, which passed uneventfully.

Labels: DandD

• 7:47 AM 2 comments

Out of my head at last

Last night I hosted my first game of Dungeons and Dragons in well over 15 years, maybe longer, if I stop to think about it. Myself and four others played, and I had the best time improvising and story-telling and being surprised by where the players took the information, characters and setting that I've been dreaming up for the last several weeks.

There's so much I could babble on and on about, but I don't want to spoil anything yet to come for my players, so I'll keep that to the barest minimum. And it's likely the few readers my blog has left may not be interested in hearing about the nitty-gritty work of creating and running a fantasy role-playing game. But once again, as I recall from the long ago days when I played quite regularly, I remember how satisfying it is to sketch out some simple basics - a town, some interesting folk with a history and goals of their own, some economics and basic lifestyle - and have it all come to life when presented to four other creative, active minds. Suddenly my little frontier town, which until now has only existed in my head and in random sketches here and there, and in a handful of statistics from a book, is full of life and intrigue.

I'm also reminded how important it is, as the Dungeon Master, to be careful in how I describe things and what I say. My words are the primary means for the other players to interact with the world, so everything I say and do can be fuel for their reactions and consideration. And anything I forget to relate, like, say, the fact that the little reptilian creatures were reddish in color, or skipping over the dwarf's grief, shock and horror at discovering a murder, has to get woven into the story, no matter my previous intentions. That's part of the surprise: no matter what I had thought about and planned previously, the words and the story as it happens with the other players becomes the actual story. So I have to adjust.

But, likewise, I don't have to be responsible for everything. I don't want to dictate to the other players things that may relate to their own characters, so if they ask me "How long have I been in this town?" I can generate some excitement and encourage their participation by turning it around: "I don't know, how long do you want to have been in this town?"

Really, running a role-playing game is very much like being a writer, only with the help of several other authors. And anyone who knows me or has read my blog much can probably guess that I really like story-telling.

So for now, this is a great hobby for me...

Labels: DandD

• 7:20 AM 0 comments

Worldbuilding

So... I'm in the last week before I actually start running a Dungeons & Dragons game, and I'm... worldbuilding.

Which means: drawing maps, creating characters, deciding on stories, and setting them all together, like dolls in a house, so that the other players can come over and play around in my world and, hopefully, change it for the better. And we'll all have a great time. That's the goal - to enjoy ourselves.

And I've been scurrying around, trying to make it all work and all come together, as the time ticks down to Thursday 5 PM, and I feel the press of the deadline and want to have it all done... so that the players feel like it's a real world. At least as much as a world with Elves and Dragons and magic wands can be, anyway.

Did you see this post on IO9? Josh Friedman was the producer for the Terminator TV show (that was awesome, by the way, if you ever get a chance to watch it on DVD) and in this article he talks about "worldbuilding" and, because I'm in the middle of worldbuilding myself, it really resonates with me. Especially about how some of the world is always going to be fuzzy no matter how much work I do. It will always be bigger than I can imagine it, because it's a freakin' WORLD.

He says:

Which lead us to this: there will always be a point in your world-building when the world you've built outgrows the scope of the story you're telling. The edges are fuzzy; the next town over is mysterious. Perhaps you've hinted at something which suggests something else, which would really turn things on its fucking head IF you were to go down that path BUT YOU ARE NOT.

Not now. Not yet. And possibly, never. If you're world-building well, your world should feel full and alive and bustling in the corners, even if you've never actually made it over to the corner to see what the fuck is going on there. The world is true to your vision, but there is ambiguity and mystery and things undiscovered. I can know a thousand things about my the world I've created, but if there aren't a thousand others just outside of my creative periphery, then I start getting a little sketchy and bored.

This is how I feel lately: every time I turn my attention to some part of my D&D campaign, there's always something more to be decided, or detailed, or written down, or rolled up, or named. Always. No matter how much work I do, no matter how much effort I put in. There's always going to be a part that's overlooked.

I just want my players to feel that, no matter where they look, they see something that's a part of the whole.

Yeah... I'm probably going to have to let go of that want. 'Cause I barely have time enough for this world... Let alone a whole 'nother one.

Labels: DandD

• 1:12 PM 0 comments

You've been hired to explore and protect a lighthouse...

I've been thinking about Dungeons and Dragons lately and putting together a few ideas for a campaign setting.

My sister and her husband have a beach house in Washington. It's on the Long Beach peninsula. The little town of Ilwaco, WA, is right on the southern tip of the peninsula and right at the mouth of the Columbia River. There's a lighthouse there, and a small sheltered cove for a fishing fleet, and a small town. To the east and north are cranberry bogs. The peninsula shelters a little bay and there's a little village called Oysterville; at the north end of the spur of land is a marsh and wildlife refuge. And, of course, to the west is the gigantic Pacific Ocean.

I haven't been there for a few years, but on my many visits back in the day, I've pondered using Ilwaco and the surrounding areas as the geography for a fantasy setting.

The lighthouse and fishing village I'd keep, but in the center of town I'd place a large cathedral/religious school. Back on the small lake I'd put a walled lord's manor; not big enough to be a castle, just a fortified mansion. Instead of paved streets and cars there would be carts and horses; swords and bows instead of guns. A medieval technology level, with a smattering of magic.

I imagined stories about a young man who had grown up in the area and who had rejected becoming a fisherman and had fed his curiosity with the stories of visitors to the city; the young man wasn't much of a fighter but was very sneaky, picking pockets and stealing food when he could rather than trying to earn or catch it. The young man (I had never named him) would be fascinated by the stories of the powerful men and women (and occasional elven princes and princesses and dwarven barons and baronesses and... stranger things) that came to seek help at the religious school or seek the counsel of the lord of the town. Wizards and paladins, who were once the military might of the Empire, have fallen into decline and in some areas are even feared and hunted and thought to be the cause of the dark age that has fallen; but the boy has seen some things that make him believe that the wizards and paladins are returning and that someone is trying to put the Empire back together again. For good or evil, though, he can't yet decide.

The town was once the farthest outpost of a kingdom or empire that, centuries ago, was the most powerful political and military force in the world. But the eternal Empress had died, and her sisters and brothers, and her few sons and daughters, had not been able to decide on an heir to take the throne, so the Empire had been splintered. Some regions were overrun with wild monsters; some areas were under control of one of the families and children of the Empress; and some had reverted to local customs or been merged with the non-human races. The tiny coastal town, that I had modeled after Ilwaco, though, was self-sufficient enough to survive in roughly the same manner for a long time, and had been blessed with a string of benevolent masters and mistresses in the lord's manor. But it was still a wilderness; there are still monsters in the bogs and wetlands.

That setting has been sitting in the back of my mind for a long time. In the last couple of days I've added a bit more backstory and given some thought to what the overall story of a campaign would be, and most importantly where and how it would start. The beginning characters could be fighters, thieves, clerics, wizards, rangers, human or non-human, either locals or visiting, hired by the priests or lord for a specific purpose, to protect the lighthouse or a sailing vessel or caravan on a trip inland. And I've got some ideas for what the first few adventures would be; the lighthouse has fallen into disrepair and needs cleaning out and guarded; monsters from the swamps are raiding the town and need to be stopped. That sort of thing.

...and, of course, the more I think about it, the more details I come up with and need to start writing it all down. The Empress' crown, and shield, and sword, and scepter, were all magically endowed and were lost when she died; each had special powers that aided her in ruling over such a large land. Finding those items might help bring the Empire back; likewise, keeping those items out of the wrong hands could prevent a lot of suffering.

I've started drawing up maps and making character sketches of some important people in my setting. I still need to get a set of the rule books, though, and I'm a little lost in which edition of D&D is the best for this kind of thing, but I'm semi-settled on Edition 3.5, even though, used, those books still go for $30 or more. But the rules themselves don't much matter, I think.

I've always known that Dungeon Masters are often frustrated writers. And I've been a frustrated writer for a long time. Maybe it's time for me to return to a medieval fantasy setting...

Labels: DandD

• 11:43 PM 0 comments