Three things RPGers tend to ignore

Dungeons and Dragons: For most, it's a chance to pretend that they're someone they're not, and do things that they either can't or won't in real life. Things like, the slaying of monsters come to mind, for example. Sure, it's make believe, but for that couple hours, you are a completely different person, with a whole different set of attributes. We play ourselves all day long! D&D is our chance to play someone else.

The whole idea of role playing is to have fun. Otherwise, they'd call it role working, I would think. We don't get together at the table, generate characters and file imaginary taxes! We don't roll fortitude saves vs. physics homework! No! We strap on swords and defeat bad guys (or good guys maybe?) and reap rewards! We have fun!

Sometimes in the throes of role playing though, we tend to ignore certain things that our characters would not be able to ignore, if the game were real life. The reasons we ignore these things vary, in some cases they're not really all that pleasant, and as the point is to have fun, they're omitted. Sometimes they're just facets of life that we just don't think much about.

Here are three things things we tend to ignore or overlook in our games. These are simply ideas that could possibly be added at some point for a heightened sense of reality in your games... Even though, to me, adding a sense of reality to a night of Role Playing sort of sounds counter productive...

Extreme Weather
Throughout history, forces of nature have been the cause of some of the most beautiful creations, and some of the most catastrophic disasters. While it's not uncommon for a GM to throw in a little flavor by using different kinds of precipitation, things like flash floods are not as common an enemy as Orcs or Goblins.


Rain: A thorn in the side of a traveler, yet a gift from the gods for a farmer.

Not enough rain and crops wilt and lands blight. Animals die of thirst. People are forced to travel further for drinking water as local wells dry up. The city streets get dirtier as waste and refuse are not so easily washed away, causing health issues to the local residences.

Along with drought comes a heat wave. Long, dry and hot days can be a terrible foe to anyone, adventuring, farming or otherwise. People drop dead from the heat. Heat stroke and sun poisoning are a big problem. Dried fields catch fire and surrounding houses are reduced to ash.

Players are caught adventuring in the scorching heat and it becomes too hot to wear armor. Their skin burns in the sun's inferno. Perhaps some adjustment to your player's attack bonus is in order, as swinging a sword is very difficult when your skin is sun-burnt...  fortitude save negates? A fail results in blisters and -2 to hit perhaps?

When the rains finally come, the people are caught off guard. Windows are hastily closed, people rush home to put out buckets to catch what water they're able to. Farmers rejoice, hoping to save what crops they can. Items carelessly left outside are ruined, such as hats or shoes.

The water soaks the things that gathered in the streets, some of which are partially decaying organic material. These things can begin to stink as they slowly rinse away. If it's a brief ran, just enough to wet the junk, this gives fungus and parasites an excellent place to grow.

Too much rain can be just as devastating as not enough, and usually in a far less subtle way. Crops drown and meadows become bogs. City streets fill with water, sewers flood and run into the streets. Rats evacuate their cozy basements in search for dry land and food, filling upper floors of houses and shops. Bugs settle in to areas they previously found inhospitable. Foundations wash away and buildings topple. Reservoirs spill over, and levees break drowning people and animals alike. low ground is flooded, while high ground is crowded.

When it's over, the streets are filled with filth and pestilence. Huge clean up efforts are required and funded by local government, especially if the area generated money or goods used by the rest of the kingdom. Damaged buildings become targets for crime, shops are pilfered.

Some things that were once buried are no longer. Shallow graves are found, people who were killed and hastily buried in their own yards, maybe. Treasure perhaps was uncovered by the water?

Some things that were once treasured are now lost. Priceless heirlooms, magical items, now lost, washed away in the floods.

Change
Time marches on! Too many times have I traveled (in real life, that is) through neighborhoods I'd known as a kid and gasped in wide wonder at the number of things that have gone on in the time I'd been gone, sometimes as short as only a year!

People don't stay the same, and neither do places. People come and go, buildings are built and destroyed, disasters change the face of the lands. The same should be true in your games. Just because the spotlight has been following the PCs around for the last few years in game, doesn't mean things cease to change back home.

There are many reasons that things change, some of which can be attributed to weather as I'd said above. Perhaps something like that happened while the group was away, giving them plenty of things to fix or address upon return. But beyond mother nature's intervention, there is a deep fascination that humans today have with constant change. Personally, I'm not much a fan of it, but I will admit that some changes are necessarily to improve things. As places become more and more crowded, wider streets accommodate more traffic, for example.

The quality of a place is truly a relative thing. One person's perfection is another person's room for improvement. It's very common for someone to move to a new area and envision tremendous changes to the area for what they consider to be the benefit of everyone, when someone who'd grown up in that area sees only tranquility and familiar comfort.The unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on your perspective) thing is that the person with the vision of change is likely to get his way if he's got money, or if he's able to convince enough people that the change will bring money.

The General Store that was once famous for quality items at bargain prices has declined in popularity after the original owner passed on and his greedy son took the business over. It's said that he's got ties to the local thieves' guild and is using the store as a front.

Or, the city was attacked by ogres, and the captain of the guard was slain in a valiant attempt to protect the city. When the dust had settled, a large statue of the man was erected in the city square in his honor. While you respect the gesture, you find it to be an eyesore, and nothing more than an expensive pigeon perch.

Sanitation
Your morning routine is probably not all that dissimilar to that of your D&D character. You wake, use the bathroom, wash your face, brush your teeth, bathe, eat, etc. On the road, while the convenience of these things is far less, then need  still exists.

Forgive this section, as it will probably deal with things that we ignore when it comes to D&D because frankly, they're unpleasant, and dealing with them doesn't really add much, if anything to the story. Nothing pleasant at least...


An adventuring group is in many ways closer with one another than most people are today. We have our friends over for dinner, and share a meal, but at the end of the day, it's typically just us and perhaps one or two others, be it spouse or room mate. In an adventuring party, you're pretty much always together. You share meals, water, medicines, camps, fires... Just about everything. You're likely to learn things about your team mates that you probably don't really want to know!

Just like living with a room mate, you're going to learn your adventuring party members' routines. Do they get up before you? Do they wash their face or whole body along the side of the road? Nothing at all? Do they brush their teeth? Change their socks? Do they stink?

(I know you're hoping I don't mention some things here, but I'm going to.)

Where do your characters take care of business? This can be (if you allow it) a pretty important thing! We've all stepped in a mess or two, hopefully from a pet of some sort, but when the party breaks for lunch, there are going to be some other things that really will need to be taken care of. (It's not healthy to hold it too long!).

Believe it or not, something like going number 2 should be at least discussed (that's discussed, not disgust!) when camping in real life, why not in D&D? You should at least tell your "roommates" what direction to NOT walk in. You'll never hear the end of it if they end up walking through it, you can rest assured of that.

You're going to want to take into account a lot of things, such as the direction of the wind. Your group members aren't going to thank you for turning their stomachs mid-meal. What to wipe with is as legitimate a concern too, it's not like they're all going to be clean ones. You should probably make sure you take a couple of ranks in survival or "knowledge: Nature" to make sure you don't accidentally grab a poisonous plant or cactus or something.

It's probably not a bad idea to keep on hand a small utility shovel, as an adventurer so you can dig yourself a hole, and bury it when you're done to keep from attracting some disgusting critters, or disgusting some attractive ones!

Now like I said before, this is commonly left out because... ew. But there are ways you could probably work these things into your game. Don't forget, many possible adversaries hunt by smell. Hell, some critters even mark their territory with number 2. And as much as it sickens me, we've all see the nature guys on the Discovery channel tracking this or that type of animal who can't resist but to show us some left over turd they've found on the road and started to play with... So gross...

Hopefully you've had a few ideas sparked by one if not all three of these things. Please comment and share some other types of overlooked activities or "duties" we do in real life that could be incorporated into your gaming sessions!

First time D&Ders

(Note: Through out this post, I use "he" and "she" interchangeably when talking about a character.)

I roll a what? A d20? Which one's that?? Ok, I got a 4. What do I add? I didn't hit? Why not? But I have a bonus to hit I thought? I do? But I missed? Can I roll again? Why not? When can I roll again? Ok.

It's your first time at the gaming table. You've heard your friends talk about the game, and you understand what they're saying when they talk about the foes they've fought, but you get a little confused when they mention their critical misses and failed saving throws. Testing the waters of D&D is somewhat involved and the first game you play may seem like a hurdle.

For the best scenario, try to get close friends or family members in your gaming group. As the new player and new group member, you may feel intimidated. If you're surrounded by folks you don't know, you're more likely to avoid asking questions. This is only going to make the learning process longer and more difficult. If you can't find people you know to play with, let your group know that you're new, and ask a lot of questions!

First, don't rush out and spend a lot of money. Pick up maybe a set of dice for yourself, but do your best to borrow someone's player's handbook and get familiar with it. See if you can get that and a character sheet, and have one of the folks from your group sit with you during character creation.

(Oh, and if you need a 3.5 character sheet, click the link at the top of this blog!)

Character creation can seem difficult due to all of the necessary decisions. Start with deciding on race and class. There are probably races and classes in some of the non-core source books that are allowed in this campaign, but stick to the core book for your first time. Ask your GM what kind of campaign this is going to be, because depending on the environment, you may want to play a different kind of character. A Human Fighter can be frustrating to play in a subterranean campaign, since they cannot see at all in the dark!

In your off-time, you could make good use of resources such as the forums at Wizards.com, Enworld.org, and posting comments on this blog will certainly get you some answers!

Your character's attributes are the next step. These numerical values will determine things like how smart your character is, how fast he heals, how hard he swings his sword, and how likely he is to succeed in skill checks. There are many different ways to generate these numbers. Check with the GM on how they are asking players to come up with these numbers. It's very common for a GM to not bother going by the rules in the book for this.

Following the attributes, you pick your feats and allocate your skill points. This can be confusing so make sure you've got someone around to guide you. If you can't, just stick to the source books, and you should be okay.

Now that you've got your character fleshed out, you know what he wants to do and what he's capable of, you're going to need some equipment. Once again, there are different ways to figure out how your character gets his equipment so check with your GM. In some cases, the GM will say go by the book, in which case, there's a chart for each class that tells you how to determine how much starting gold your character has, and then you can spend it as you see fit. The equipment section of the Player's handbook has prices for all the gear in there. Make sure you've got yourself a weapon, and whatever armor suits your class. After all that's done, I like to spend my remaining gold on things like flasks of oil to keep my armor from rusting, a length of rope, perhaps a tinderbox for starting fires, and maybe torches. They're all pretty inexpensive things, so even if you never end up using them, at least you've got em!

With your character created, you can look forward to your first gaming session. As a first time role player, you may find yourself getting distracted at the table. If you're lucky, your gaming group won't cause too much trouble that way, but there are sometimes those who would rather check the score of whatever game is on, or read a magazine. Do your best to listen to the GM, and think about what he's saying. Don't get caught up stacking your dice either. I know it's fun, but you've got learning to do!

Another thing that you will notice around the table is that the people in the group do different things to "get into" their characters. A player might wear a certain piece of clothing, or even a piece of armor. The person might talk with a particular voice that they only use for their character.

You may also notice that your fellow players' personalities might be vastly different than those of their characters. One of the wonderful things about role-playing is that you can be anyone you want. If you usually shy away from conflict, for example, then you can play as someone who always gets in the face of anyone who crosses your path.

For your first game, though, do not worry too much about your character's personality. The easiest (and most common) thing to do for your first game is to play yourself as far as personality goes. If the situation would make you afraid, then let it make your character afraid. As a player, you have to learn to pay attention to a lot of things going on at the table. Focus on rolling the dice, accumulating experience, keeping up with all of your combat abilities, and other such game mechanics. Once you feel comfortable with the mechanics of the game, then you can think about how to make your character's personality unique.

By your second session you should have at least a fair grasp of the game's mechanics: things like how to deal with combat and what to do with your experience points. Depending on the campaign, you may even have gained a level or two. Now that you understand the game a little bit better, you can think about making some changes. Your GM might allow you to change your current character or substitute a new one. This might be a good opportunity for you to try a different character class, perhaps trading a spellcaster for a fighter, or vice versa. Alternatively, you might make the same type of character, but distribute the numbers differently; trade a higher strength, for a lower constitution, perhaps. This would make for lower hit points, but a more damaging swing of the sword. I would recommend sticking with the same character though, for at least five or six gaming sessions. Give yourself a chance to get to know him!

Watch what happens when your fellow gamers change characters. Watch for changes in their new characters' personalities, tendencies, habits, etc. The player might have a different voice, or different shirts that they wear, or perhaps a different set of dice.

Gaining a little confidence in the game mechanics? Try to add some personality quirks. Pick something that does not conflict with the group or hinder gameplay. For instance, giving your character an aversion to clothing might draw a lot of attention to your group, most of it negative. You do not want your character to get his or her group in trouble with the local authorities. An example of something minor that can add to your character's personality is a musical instrument. If your character plays the flute or harp, it adds a dynamic to the character's personality, and it just might earn you and your group a free room at the local inn or a little extra spending money.

You might also want to experiment with adding a small character flaw. Again, avoid choosing something that would hinder your group or the game play like a severe allergy to sunlight. You want your character to seem unique, not annoying. Make the flaw something small: a minor stutter, a slight nervous tick, maybe a fear of heights. Be creative.

Soon you will have a solid handle on the mechanics of the game and a decent understanding of your character's station in life. At this point I suggest thinking about some larger undertakings, such as generating a background for your character.

Where we came from and what we've done goes a long way in explaining why we are who we are. We wouldn't be who we are today without our background. Why is your character a fighter? Obviously something in his background afforded him the opportunity to learn how to use a sword, what was it? This is your chance to tell a story, and it can be as detailed or as vague as you'd like. Beyond simply being a story though, this is your chance to give the GM some ideas as well.

Your character's background will be wrought with this that the GM could use in the campaign. You're a fighter now because your father was a fighter, perhaps. Well, maybe your father had some enemies in his day, and they're coming back to look for the +2 sword he won in a tournament. They've been training for all these years, and they want a second shot at that sword your father had given to you, all those years ago.

Our characters are our chance to play sides of our personalities that we don't always get to explore in real life. Your devious mind might sometimes say it would be nice to have some more money, but you know you can't simply take it. (right!?) So why not roll up a rogue who might not be quite so worried about right and wrong? Whatever you choose to play, always remember the goal was to have fun. Make sure you've got your bases covered, and the sky is the limit!

Questionnaire

Every player has come to a point during game play where they're presented a situation, and they're not quite sure how their character would respond. Would my character run, or fight? Would he take offense to that remark or simply ignore it?

It's simply impossible to anticipate everything your character may come up against, and from time to time, we're going to have to ask the group to hold for a moment while we collect our thoughts and figure things out.

Here is a survey I found online some time ago that I found incredibly helpfull in fleshing out my character. I can't remember where I got it, or I'd gladly give credit to the original creator... If you've seen it before, please comment with a URL or at least a name!

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Player (you) Name:


What is the character's full name? Nicknames?


What is the color of the character's hair, eyes, and skin?


What is the character's general appearance?


What is the character's age?


Where was the character born?


Describe the character's family.


Has the character begun his/her own family?


Has the character ever done anything else (besides adventuring) for a living?


General attitudes & approach:


When or how was the character educated?


What are the character's political and religious beliefs?


What is the character's moral code?


Does your character have any prejudices?


How would your character handle an insubordinate servant?


What would the character die for? What would they be willing to sacrifice
the lives of their friends for?


Who is the one person your character trusts the most?


How would your characters parents describe him?


What was the best moment of the characters life? Worst?


What flaws does the character have? Is he quick to judge people? A slob?


What advice would you give your character?


List the 5 most important people in the character's life.


What is the character’s “big secret”, and what will happen if it is discovered?


"Hey, I've got an interesting job for you..." Name 3 jobs that your character might find interesting.


How will the character die? What would you consider a good end to a life well lived for this character?


What might someone seeing the character for the first time think?


Does the character have any goals?


What is the character's personality?


Any reoccurring mannerisms?


What is this character's "thing"? That is, what action, activity, saying, motion, mannerism, etc., would be considered their "trademark", such that if I were to do it, others would say "oh, now you're acting like [this character]"?


What is her first reaction to a situation?


What would be the ultimate magic item for this character?


What would be the worst curse this character could ever receive?


Are there certain things the character just cannot do? Get close to people; perceive himself realistically, etc. That is, what do people who know this character well criticize about them?


What does your character hate?


What does your character love?


How does the character perceive government? Those who are opposed to the government?


How did the character gain his abilities?


What motivates him to act as a hero now?


How did his peers treat the character as a child? His elders?


What does your character hope to accomplish by adventuring?


Why is this goal more important than his safety? (i.e., Why would you take up adventuring, rather than being a nice, safe accountant?)


What is the character's kryptonite? What is their weakness or what will paralyze them with fear?


What does the character do to relax?


Describe the characters ideal mate.


What is in your character’s pockets, right now?


What do they normally carry in their pockets that they don't have right now, but wish they did?


What is the silliest thing your character has ever done?

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Characters – Who’s who, What’s what

Being responsible for the story, the GM should know as much as possible about the characters in her campagin. I’m not necessarily talking about character names, height, weight, or color of hair and eyes, although these things are also good to know. I’m talking about the things that make a character come to life; the reasons the players spawned this creation. Is this character pious? Does this character have any prejudices? Is this character allergic to anything?

Origins. Everyone comes from somewhere, and most of the time, where someone comes from has a lot to do with who they are. Give your players an opportunity to explain things to you, have them generate a background story. Give your players as much room for embellishment as possible without detraction from the balance of your campaign. Obviously you're going to have to step in if these backgrounds include factors which you didn't plan on having in your campaign, like certain creatures or magical items, etc.

Players, this is your chance to tell a story. This is not an opportunity that presents itself very often. This might actually be your only chance, so take it! The GM has many, many things to do, other than come up with a history of your life. If left to the GM, you may just end up with something uninteresting, which takes away from your character. Don’t let this happen!

Example: Ed wants to play a paladin. In the description of his character, Ed makes it a point to mention that he’s got a scar on his left cheek. When you tell Ed that he needs to come up with a background, make sure that you tell him to explain where he got the scar. You tell him, “Your parents were eaten by an owlbear when you were four-years old, while you were traveling from the Great City of Somewhere to the Vast Sands of Nowhere. A great swordsman, Sir Larry McGoobers happened by, killed the owlbear and took you to his home in the village of Dumpwater.” Now you leave it up to the player to come up with why the family was traveling, what was his father’s occupation, where he got the scar, and why he decided to become a paladin.

Of course, you could also leave all that up to Ed entirely, if Ed's the type of fellow whose judgement can be trusted. (i.e. you won't get some crazy story about him defeating a red dragon with both hands tied behind his back!)

Naturally, you may run into some issues along the way. Some players may try to add in things like a history of fast riches and incredible conquests. “My father was the only merchant allowed in the palace and he was best friends with King Stormwell. I have since kept in contact with King Stormwell, and he has offered to adopt me because he’s got no children and he’s sick. Now I’m a crown prince…” and so on and so forth. You are the GM, so it’s ultimately up to you. Do you want him to be King of Burntlandia? You have the power to say no, or to let him do it only to be overthrown by the King’s secret mistress, Penny Pincher.

On the other hand, your players may all draft up good, plausible backgrounds. Now you have something to work with. Ed decided that his father was a farmer, and they were traveling because his farm was burnt down by Baron Von Greenbacks, who gave Ed the scar. Well, you’ve seen enough sci-fi movies to know that Ed is going to be the one to finally go against Baron Von Greenbacks in the final parts of the adventure – only to find out that they are brothers. I’m sure *no one* will see that coming.

It’s a good idea to have a chat session with players about their respective characters to get a feel of who they want their characters to be. This way you can get a fair hold on what types of reactions these characters are likely to have in certain situations. Perhaps one of the characters lost a loved one at the hands of an ogre and his life’s mission now is to eradicate all manner of ogre. You know what he’s going to do the first chance he gets to fight an ogre regardless of how powerful the ogre may be. Any GM, new or experienced, could use this in a campaign.

Don’t rely too heavily on assuming that the character would act a specific way however. If you set up the adventure so that the character reads a sign that says something like, “Help, heroes wanted to guard against ogres! Apply within!” and the characters decide, “Nah, sounds boring,” your whole session just went down the drain unless you find a different way to shove the players in the correct direction, which is usually unappreciated by the players. Make sure you have a backup plan, otherwise, you may find yourself sitting behind your GM screen reworking the adventure that took you all last weekend to plan. If you are hanging the storyline up on an assumption of how your characters react, give some thought to what you can do if your assumption doesn’t work out the way you had hoped.

Knowing the types of personalities and proclivities isn’t enough. A GM needs to know what the characters have for items and abilities to effectively create an adventure. You as a GM might layout an adventure that includes a sleep spell being cast against the party and it needs to succeed for the storyline to run smoothly. You tell the party, “someone is making magic-looking movements, next thing you know, you are waking up in a dungeon” when a player reminds you that a few sessions back, (Which these days are further and further apart, at least for me) she found a treasure trove from which she acquired an item that prevents sleep or charm spells. Now your story line is botched. Sure, you could always say something like "Gee, that didn't work this time, maybe you spent all it's charges?" but that can seem a little thin and sloppy. Likewise if you know that your player’s characters have an item that shield them from psionics, you probably wont waste the time to generate a paraplegic psionicist with no armor for an arch villain. Or maybe your sense of irony is such that you would.

Keep a separate notebook to keep track of things like these. I personally like to have a couple sheets of paper (I prefer graph paper) dedicated to each specific character and one master sheet for the most general notes. I keep notes like “Zippy hates goblins” “Cowboi is allergic to goblin hair,” and “At some point, these guys are going to have to fight some goblins” on the master sheet. The individual sheets are filled with as much information about the characters as I can get. You can of course go high-tech. These days I keep track of the info that I need to keep on my trusty laptop, and a backup copy on my phone.

Something that you have to remember as a GM is that just because YOU know that the character has a specific item doesn’t mean that the villain knows about it. In other words, that same spell caster that I mentioned before would still cast the sleep spell. This is not something that you want to omit! Why bother letting the character get an item that has a specific purpose if you are never going to let them use it? Have the spell fail, but have a plan B ready. (Bad guy runs away or brings in henchmen is always a good one.)

The other side of the coin is that if you know what your player characters are capable of, you can (and should) allow them the chance to use their abilities. Player #1’s character has the uncanny ability to slip through very small spaces. Make it a part of the story that he has to do this in order for the party to triumph and save the maiden, or the planet… what have you. What’s the point of allowing a special ability if they’re never going to have the chance to use it. (It used to drive me nuts when I'd take "swim" as a non-weapon proficiency, and never have to use it...)

You have a good handle on what your characters would do in some specific situations, and you also know what they are capable of doing, given their items and abilities—now you have only to learn what it is exactly that the characters want. Have your players set down on paper (or electronically for you Green Beans) some short term and long term goals.

For instance, the fellow who was hunting the ogres knows that he will never eradicate all of the ogres on Earth (or whatever you call your world) and thus instead, a goal might be to run the ogres out of the local caves, and see how he feels after that. Having met a short term goal, maybe he got it out of his system. If not, then it’s off to the next cave network.

It is sometimes easy to lose sight of the fact that who a character is, can be strongly impacted by where he came from, who he was, and what he has lived through. Above all else, have fun. After all, that’s what you’re there for. Think of your campaign as a story in the making. What would you like to read?