D&D General GM's Closet for the CONAN RPG

[Water Bob]

FYI, there's a new Conan RPG in the works. Vincent D. (who wrote a major part of the Mongoose version) is one of the writers. Here's an update I received via e-mail:

Major Writers & Artists Announced!

Hi there, Modiphius has been continuing the quest to assemble one of the greatest ever teams to work on CONAN - Adventures In An Age Undreamed Of!

We can now announce that we've added legendary Conan artist Ken Kelly (Robert E. Howard covers for Berkley and Tor, Eerie, Creepy and Vampirella for Warren magazines) and Dark Horse regular Tomas Giorello (Conan The Cimmerian, King Conan, 2013 Robert E. Howard Foundation Award for Artistic Achievement) to the team who'll be creating the stunning covers for the Conan books.

They join other greats including Sanjulian, Carl Critchlow, Mark Schultz, Tim Truman, Phroilan Gardner, Alex Horley with more still to be announced!

The writing team is also growing with long time TSR stalwart Thomas M Reid (Dragon Mountain, Tales of the Comet, Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Ravenloft, Temple of Elemental Evil novel), Monical Valentinelli (Firefly RPG Lead developer & writer, Tomorrow's Precious Lambs), Kevin Ross (Masks of Nyarlathotep, Cthulhu by Gaslight, Colonial Lovecraft Country, Down Darker Trails), Lou Agresta (Snows Of An Early Winter, Slave Pits of Absalom, Freebooters Guide to the Razor Coast) and Scott Oden (Best-selling author of the historical fiction novels Men of Bronze, Memnon, and The Lion of Cairo)

You may also have missed our update that Vincent Darlage (Conan d20, Member of the Robert E. Howard United Press Association) has joined the games design team alongside Mark Finn (Blood and Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard, The Barbaric Triumph, The Dark Man: The Journal of REH Studies).

Finally, two other major names join the team:

Patrice Louinet, well known for his expertise and seal of approval for the Conan board game by Monolith, will be working alongside Jeffrey Shanks to ensure the Conan roleplaying game is of the highest standard. Patrice was Editor of the definitive, three-volume Conan series (from Del Rey Books (US), Wandering Star (UK) and Bragelonne (France). Awarded Lifetime Achievement award from the Howard Foundation (USA, 2014) and the Special Award from the Imaginales (France, 2012)).

Sally Christensen (Cortex Hackers Guide, Firefly RPG, Leverage Companions, Marvel Heroic) steps up as Line Editor with support from Thomas M Reid, to keep the rabble writing proper.

These all join the existing team of Timothy Brown, Jason Durall and Chris Lites led by Jeff Shanks

Remember to tell friends to sign up at http://www.modiphius.com/conan.html to get the first news of the Conan roleplaying game launch and be invited to the playtesting.


Thanks!
Chris, Modiphius
www.modiphius.com

 

[Water Bob]

-- THE SUNLESS CITADEL CONVERSION --



In staring my new Conan game (using the 2E Mongoose rules), I am using parts of the old early 3E WotC adventure called The Sunless Citadel. I thought some Conan GMs following this thread might be interested in my process and choices.

I tend to be pretty free as a GM, letting the players do whatever they want. So, when we actually play this adventure, it may come out completely different from what I have planned. As a GM, though, I like to have a plan (and have the luxury of breaking that plan later, if the need arises).

Without going into too much detail, I imagine the PCs to be on foot, running for their lives, from killers on horseback. They're in a shattered, dusty, almost desert region of Argos, near the border with Shem. It's a hilly part of the kingdom. Not much vegetation. But, lots of ravines and small valleys between the hills.

The Terrain is considered Hills. Move is normally at 1/2. But, the PCs will find a trail--a track--through the wastes that, if used, will make movement easier and faster, boosting Move to 3/4. Whether the PCs use the trail is up to the players. Depending on how the previous encounter goes, there may be men on horseback searching for them.

If the PCs spend any time on the road, though, they will find ancient etchings in the rock, in the tongue of Argos, that says, simply, "Old Road".

The one thing that the PCs will have going for them is that darkness is upon them, though they have a few hours as evening falls. At one point, it will be so dark that movement will be very, very slow.

As the darkness comes, the PCs will see the men on horseback with torches, looking for them. This is a general push, moving the PCs up the side of one of the hills (on the trail or not). One side is a cliff that steadily rises. Behind the PCs and to their left are the torch bearing horsemen. To keep their distance, the PCs have no choice but to obtain the higher ground.

-- NOTES --

Old Road - is really a trail or track through the wastes. In some parts, it's hard to follow. Rocky. Desert. Hills. Shale and loose rock. Some scrub. The trail can be lost and then found again, especially if a marker is sited: an ancient etching with the words "Old Road" on a boulder. Sometimes, these rocks are stacked to about chest height, making a pillar that can be seen from some distance.

Once found, the Old Road generally moves to higher ground, up the side of a hill. Eventually, a cliff will drop to the character's right. As night falls, torches from searching horsemen can be seen behind the characters and down at the base of the hill to the characters' left.

Terrain = Hills

Speed during day on the road is 3/4.

Speed during day off the road is 1/2.

At night, it's almost impossible to move very far. It's so black that you can't see your own hand in front of your face without some light source.

Twig Blights

A new monster used in the adventure are the twig blights. These sorcerous creatures fit into my Hyborian Age story, so I've decided to keep them. If the PCs stop to rest or hide, they will notice that the once still air starts to kick up with a pretty strong wind. It blows their hair, and some light debris--even some dust--fog the area. Right before their eyes, brown vines will spring from the ground, twist and curl, until it looks something like--what? An animal? The vines grow so that it has appendages--like legs and arms attached to a central core body. These twig blights resemble, in shape, dogs or bigger four legged animals--or they can even fold up to stand on two "legs" with two "arms" like a human.

Once formed, they will attack. They are sorcerous, so they know exactly where the PCs are. These creatures move straight for them.

But, their movement is slow (Speed 20)

This encounter will only happen at night. And only one twig blight will be seen growing form the ground. A second or third creature will attack from the darkness beyond the sight of the PCs. There will be one twig blight per two PCs.

"LOOK! What grows there is something foul! Look, I say! SORCERY!"​

These twig blights will be an easy encounter. This is more about atmosphere and setting up what is to come when the PCs go underground than it is meant to be a dangerous encounter. Still, we are dealing with Level 1 PCs, so just about anything can turn dangerous. Conan games should have slow advancement. Award 30 XP per defeated twig blight.

 

[D'karr]

I don't play the Conan RPG, but I've always enjoyed the information you have provided [MENTION=92305]Water Bob[/MENTION]. I've even started to scour these threads for some of the interesting mechanics you have highlighted.

 

[Water Bob]

I don't play the Conan RPG, but I've always enjoyed the information you have provided [MENTION=92305]Water Bob[/MENTION]. I've even started to scour these threads for some of the interesting mechanics you have highlighted.

Thanks, man! Hopefully, you'll find something useful. That's why I posted this stuff after all. Some things are specific to the Conan RPG, but I'm sure there's got to be something among all these pages that might be useful to a standard d20 3.0 or 3.5 game.

 

[Water Bob]

-- THE SUNLESS CITADEL CONVERSION --


WAR DOGS


It occurred to me today that my players are usually pretty resourceful. It would not surprise me at all if they engineered a way to take a horse or two away from their followers, using the darkness as an advantage. I'm the type of GM that likes to allow the players to do whatever they want (and they also have to live with the consequences). The horsemen are pretty tough for 1st level characters, but with the ingenuity of my players, and maybe a Fate Point spent, I could see it happening.

On the other hand, the adventure I'm preparing really begins once the PCs enter the crack in the ground to explore the dungeon. I don't like to railroad my players. No, scratch that. I don't like my players to feel railroaded (even if that's exactly what happened to them). The GM-ing trick is to get the players into the hole in the ground and have it seem like it was their idea from the start.

So, I set up a situation to encourage that circumstance. Even then, I've played games in the past where the players still did something much different than what I was expecting. In this case, if they don't go into the hole, I'll probably throw a fight at them to burn up the game sessions, then re-evaluate and re-plan before the next game session.

As it stands here, going down into the ravine (that they will find) will certainly become an obvious way to get away from the Horsemen trailing the party.

And...to encourage that set of events, I think I'll give the horsemen some dogs. Big, mean, tough, dogs. War dogs. These dogs have been cross-bred with wild wolves then taught discipline. They're tracker dogs. And, the things, at HD 2 with +2 HP per level (min 6 HP), are pretty tough for 1st level characters. If needed, I'll only throw one or two at the PCs. And, hopefully, it will turn into a situation where the PCs run and jump into the ravine to escape the war dogs that are about to pounce on the party....with the horsemen not far behind.

War Dogs are covered on page 375 of the 2E core rulebook as part of the entry on the Wolf.

I like to roll HP, so give the first dog 12 HP and the second make HP 16.

As for XP, these should be worth about 150 points each.

 

[Water Bob]

 

[Water Bob]

-- QUICK PLAYER CHARACTER CREATION --



One of the gripes that is common about the d20 system is the time it takes to create characters. Those stat blocks hold a lot of detail. But, we all know that there are times during a game session that a character is needed as soon as possible. Maybe a PC dies and the player wants a new character. Maybe, through roleplaying, another character joints the group (and this could be caused by a new player joining the session late). Maybe the GM needs a detailed NPC quick but doesn't already have a character designed.

Here's the quick method I use when these situations arise.



1. Roll 4d6, drop lowest, and total. Do this for each stat. Allow the player to arrange to taste.

2. Pick class and race. Add racial and class benefits to the character's sheet.

3. Roll (or figure, if 1st level) the character's hit points. Assign Fate Points.

4. Quickly outfit using the equipment packages available in the core rulebook and in the Player's Guide. The GM should add or remove equipment as the story requires.

And that's it.

The whole point here is to get the bare minimum and KEEP THE GAME MOVING.



It doesn't take long to do the above. It DOES take long to figure skills and pick feats and complete the rest of the statistics on the character's sheet.

What I do is this: Figure skill points and (the GM) keeps a tally. If a skill check comes up that game session, then let the player choose, right then, how many skill points he wants to put into that skill. What the player says is binding. He cannot later reduce the number of skill points used for that skill (but, I do allow a player to increase the skill points used, if possible). Then, after the game session, before the next game session, the player should have ample time to complete his character. Many of the blanks on the character sheet (height, weight, and so on) can be chosen and scribbled in at the player's leisure. Usually this is done during that first game session, but I've had players want to "get to know" the character that they are creating over a session or two. The player will show up to a game session soon, saying something like, "I see him! He's got this long black hair, hacked off with his knife, and these piercing green eyes."

Feats and other aspects of the character can be chosen in the same way.

Now, sometimes players are lazy and show up to game session two with some excuse and an incomplete character. That's OK with me. My rule is that all skill points must be assigned before the character advances to the next level. All Feats must be chosen before the next level is obtained.

If an unresolved detail becomes important during the game session, then simply resolve that one issue quickly, record it, and keep the game moving. For example, let's say that the characters are crossing an old wood and rope bridge that spans a ravine, one at a time. The GM knows that there is a chance that the wooden slats will break, they're so rotten, after a certain amount of weight presses on them. The GM needs to know the weight of each character using the bridge so that he knows who, if anyone, breaks the slat and must make a Reflex save or fall into the ravine.

If this type of thing comes up in a game, simply ask the player to assign weight to his character. And, again, what he says then, is binding. He cannot change it later.

Yes, there is a little advantage that a player has in being able to game and then assign Skill Points or pick a Feat in the face of a problem that must be surmounted during the game session. But...so what? Let the player have that little advantage. He's a hero, after all. And, creating characters this way sure keeps the game from being bogged down.

I sometimes do this with NPCs. I create what I need--maybe just a single attribute and a skill to go with it--then forget the character after use. If I plan to use the NPC again, I may fully flesh him out. It depends on what is needed.





Requiring more work, but something I also do from time to time (when I have time) is create NPCs and keep them for special occasions. I may have an idea for a neat NPC as I drive home from work. I'll come home and create that character. Then, I just throw him in a stack at the back of my GM notebook. If ever a circumstance presents itself where I need that type of character, I pull him out. I'll also hand a pre-made character to a player who needs a character, if that player is open to playing a character he didn't create. If he's not, the player might just play the character that one game night and create his own character in between sessions--when there is more time.

 

[Water Bob]

One thing I should add to the discussion above about GMs creating d20 characters on the spot is about Feats. If you can't think of an appropriate Feat, then just don't give the character any Feats. There's always a good chance that a character, picked at random, doesn't have a Feat that fits the situation.

Typically, a GM just needs to describe a character as the GM sees him in his mind's eye.

He's tall. Taller than most, but hidden, wearing long robes of pastel orange and white. None of the dyes are very vibrant, but his garments are not old. He has a short clipped beard that comes to a point at the chin. He doesn't grow a full beard. His hair is sparse. Maybe he's younger than it originally seemed. His head is wrapped in a white turban, but what you notice are the unblinking dark brown eyes. He looks at you intently, not in a threatening way, but only as if very interested in what you have to say.

"You've rode in from the wastes," he smiles and proffers a robed limb at you. "Look!" He gestures to the table laid out with various bits of used equipment, reclaimed from the dead of desert raids, no doubt. "All that I have here is retooled, cleaned, and functional. I will give you a good price."

You can probably just roleplay the encounter and never worry about stats, skills, and Feats. If you do need them later, then just add what you need.

For example, let's say that I need the character's Diplomacy skill. I'll quickly use the Average Array for stats ( 13 - 12 - 11 - 10 - 9 - 8 ) and decide, since this is a merchant, his Charisma is his best stat (probably followed by INT for the skill points and skills like Appraise), so he's got CHA 13 with a +1 modifier. I decide that he's a 3rd level Commoner--a Merchant. His max skills would be 5 ranks, so I make him, quickly, Diplomacy +6 (+5 ranks and +1 CHa mod).

This character probably has more, but I'm doing this quick. I haven't considered racial benefits that could boost Diplomacy. (Shemites don't have a Diplomacy racial bonus, but I didn't know that before looking it up just now. They do have a +2 racial bonus to Appraise, Spot, and Bluff.)

That't it. I'm done. I know the dude's got Diplomacy +6 and CHA 13. If I need to develop him further in between games, I'll keep what I've established and not pick any Feats or raise any skills that I have already created. Whatever Feats this guy has, it cannot improve his CHA or Diplomacy skill.

But, most of the time, I won't even get that far.

Run and gun. Keep the game moving. Don't be a slave to the details. And, I love detail in an rpg--but I hate bogging the game down. I always try to find the right marriage of the two.

 

[Water Bob]

-- CROSSBOWS AND THE DROP --



There are subtle (or, maybe, not so subtle) differences between standard d20 3.5 D&D and Pathfinder that, for me, make the Conan RPG a superior game. One of these aspects of the Conan game is the fact that armor does not make a character harder to hit, but if the character is it, the armor will absorb some or all of the damage.

Just that little fact makes weapon choice important in areas besides roleplaying. Weapon choice, in the Conan RPG, is more than just selecting the weapon that delivers the highest amount of damage. For example, a war hammer in the Conan game has an Armor Piercing value of 7 but only does 1d6 damage. Compare this to a cutlass, which does 1d10 damage but only has an Armor Piercing score of 2. The cutlass is not a good weapon to use against an armored foe as it damage will often get reduced by the full value of the armor Damage Reduction rating. The heavier armors will often result in zero damage even after a successful hit (because the weapon did not penetrate the target's armor).

The war hammer, on the other hand has a high Armor Piercing score, and, thus, will do more damage, on average, against armored foes that would the cutlass in spite of its inferior damage die. This is because the war hammer will, more often than not, break through the foe's armor. When a weapon pierces the target's armor, the Damage Reduction of the armor is halved.

What I love about this is that it gives the game a strong mechanical reason for Pirate characters to prefer the cutlass over the war hammer, as they go up against unarmored foes often. And, the war hammer you will most likely find on the large battlefield of armored knights and soldiers where the heavier armors are normally worn.





The Drop - A New Function For The Crossbow

Crossbows can be important in a game for the same reason I illustrated above. Crossbows, and their heavier brother, the arbalest, are historically designed to penetrate armor. Not surprisingly, the crossbow (and arbalest) have high Armor Piercing values in this game. Where a Hunting Bow is at Armor Piercing value 1 (and that's only good for the first 50 feet as AP drops to zero after that distance), the crossbow is rated four times as high at AP 4, and that drops by 1 every 60 feet--giving the crossbow penetration over a much longer range.

The strongest bow in the core rulebook is the Bossonian Longbow, rated at AP 5 and given a range increment of 80 feet. It's a hell of a weapon meant to simulate the effect the historical English longbow had on warfare (and make the Bossonians, in the game, the ultimate archers of the Hyborian Age). Well, compare that bow to the arbalest, the larger cousin of the crossbow, which has an Armor Piercing score of 6 (the highest in the core rulebook for a ranged weapon) and a range increment of 70 feet. Sure, the range isn't there to equal the Bossonian bow, but the Bossonian weapon is rare, considered an Exotic weapon. You won't find too many of them outside of Aquilonia. But the arbalest, you will find in all of the Hyborian nations. In addition, damage on the Bossonian bow is 1d12 where as damage on the arbalest is 2d8 (rolling two dice makes it much more likely that higher average damage is thrown, and the maximum of 16 is four points higher than that of the Bossonian bow). It is much more likely that a crossbow or an arbalest will be compared to a Hunting bow because of the Exotic nature of the regional bows with higher AP and DMG ratings.

The reason bows remain more popular with the peoples of the Hyborian Age is twofold. First, bows are easier to manufacture. It takes technological prowess to create a crossbow. And, second, the rate of fire on a bow is generally superior. The hunting bow may only do AP 1 at 50 paces, but it can be fired twice a round (when the archer gives up movement). But, if you're dealing with an armored foe, the crossbow and the arbalest are clearly the superior choices. A hunting bow may even hit twice, doing 1d8 damage, but if the target, wearing a simple leather jerkin (Armor Value 4), is at 60 feet, both shots from the bow will splinter against the target's armor doing no damage at all. A crossbow, though, will penetrate the armor, doing much more damage.

Yes, crossbows and arbalests take a long time to reload, but where armored targets are concerned, they are obviously the correct choice of ranged weapon.





Got the Drop on 'em....

The idea I'm about to discuss is one that I've considered before (and wrote about before earlier in the thread). Experience gaming with the rules many times fosters better house rules. And, here, I am focusing the Drop Rule on Crossbows alone (with maybe a few exceptions).

The original idea for the Drop Rule came with my frustration (back when playing 1E AD&D) about situations where a guard or soldier has a crossbow cocked and leveled at a target. If the prisoner has a lot of hit points, then it was never much of an issue to have guards "cover" a prisoner with their weapons. Those guarded would take their chances because there was no risk. If they were hit, then so what? They lost 1d4 hit points from a crossbow quarrel. At second level and beyond, having a crossbow leveled at you quickly became a non-event.

The Conan rules, and the 3.5 D20 rules that they are based on, took steps making a leveled crossbow scarier, as a prisoner could be considered flatfooted (and may loose some defense). In the Conan RPG, being flatfooted means that the character cannot Dodge or Parry, and thus he uses his base AC which is almost always AC 10. This made it much more likely for a crossbow to hit. And, in the Conan game, most weapons are beefed up. The crossbow does 2d6 damage, and the arbalest does 2d8 (they've come a long way from 1d4 and 1d4+1 in the AD&D game!). In addition, the Massive Damage rule kicks in at a mere 20 points of damage (it is 50 points of damage in 3.5 D&D) so that, if any weapon does 20 points of damage from a single attack, the victim must make a saving throw or die.

My idea is simple: Whenever a foe has a cocked and loaded crossbow aimed at a character, "covering" him, it is said that the foe "has the drop on him," and the Drop Rule will activate.

DROP RULE

Whenever one character has the drop on another, using a loaded and readied crossbow, the crossbowman can add his character level to the weapon's Critical Threat range, making it easier to roll extra damage (thereby making it easier to activate the Massive Damage rule).

Example:

The classic example from the Conan stories is when Arus, the watchman, leveled his crossbow at Conan in Robert E. Howard's story, The God In The Bowl. According to Mongoose's published adventure of that REH tale (available in the The Compendium hardback), Arus is a 3rd level Nemedian Soldier. When Arus has the drop on Conan, this means that the crossbow he has has a Critical Threat range of 17-20 (instead of the normal 20) for his next shot, as long as he continues to have the drop on his target. Should Conan attempt something, initiative is still thrown as usual. When Arus fires, he's got a 20% chance (naturally rolling a 17-20) to roll double damage. With the crossbow, double damage means damage of 4d6, making it much more likely that 20 points will be scored and the Massive Damage rule invoked.











Should the Drop Rule be used in other ways?

My opinion is that the Drop Rule should be almost exclusively with crossbows. These are supposed to be extremely scary weapons, after all. But, I can see one other instance where the Drop Rule might be used. And, that is when a thief sneaks up on an unsuspecting Soldier and puts a blade to the victims throat before the Soldier can react. If a thief (or, really, any character) successfully does this, then consider the Drop Rule in effect.

Of course, the other argument is that the Drop Rule is not needed in this instance (that it should remain in the domain of the crossbow) as the GM could consider the victim a Helpless Defender. In this case,the thief could use a Coup de Grace to automatically score a critical hit AND make a Fort save against death.

My preference here is that the Drop Rule above should apply exclusively to crossbows, and this idea of a blade to the throat should be played out using the Coup De Grace and Helpless Defender rules.





Is there an in-game rule that renders the Drop Rule unnecessary?

Yes. You can use the option above, but also let me draw your attention to the Helpless Defender/Coup De Grace rules on page 198 of the core rulebook. There, it specifically states that a crossbow or bow can be used.

What I object to is that, with a crossbow, the target has no chance at all. I think there should be a chance that a critical hit is avoided, and I like how the Drop Rule handles that situation. It's easy (just add character level to the weapon's Threat Range), and there's plenty of room for the target to escape certain death after a failed mandatory save against death.

In the end, it's your game. Use what you feel is correct. I'm just presenting options here.

 

[Water Bob]

-- INITIATIVE and EARNED SKILL CHECKS --



I present a lot of optional rules in this thread, but I actually use very few of them in my own game. I'm a GM who likes to play the rules as written as much as possible. I always keep House Rules, in most of the RPGs that I play, to the barest minimum (and none at all, if I can manage it). The one House Rule I do like and use is the GUSTUD rule (that you will find earlier in this thread). That rule is priceless to combat, making it even livelier than it already is in the Conan RPG.

One other rule change that I wholeheartedly think should be changed (and it can be argued that the Conan RPG does not implement this rule) is the way GMs are instructed to roll Initiative in the 3.5 Core d20 rules. If you look at the 3.5 DMG, you may be surprised that Initiative is meant to be rolled whenever an enemy is sighted. This is a far cry from how I've always rolled initiative--when an aggressive action, like an attack or the casting of a spell, is made.

If you don't believe that the 3.5 rules are written like this, then go to the 3.5 DMG and read the examples. There's even an example where an enemy is sighted on the other side of a door, initiative is rolled, and the GM is instructed to count rounds off before the door is opened where both sides can get at each other.

I don't think this plays well at all. It's a factor of the 3.5 being rooted as more of a tactical wargame meant to be played out on a grid than it is a free-form roleplaying game. For me, it's always worked better in my games when the time for rolling initiative came organically, when an offensive action is made. Doing it the 3.5 way precludes a lot of roleplaying that can happen. Think of the party running into a known foe. In 3.5, you roll initiative right there. Using what I suggest, you have opportunities to avoid combat and parlay through the situation.

I don't think its necessary to default to combat each and every time a potential enemy is sighted.





On Skill Checks....

One other thing I should address here is skill checks, especially those type that are interpersonal. Back in the days of AD&D, long before there were non-weapon proficiencies (and even longer before there were skills), players would describe how they were going to handle actions. What were they going to say. How they were going to act. If they didn't act it out, they'd describe it third person. Even when a roll was involved, say, with Thief class skills, traps were looked for using a 10' pool, asking the DM how the floor looked. Where there any scratches? Searching for thin, almost invisible cat-gut stretch across a corridor, and once found, the player described how he would handle the situation. It was at that point that I, as DM, would call for a thief skill check. Once I knew how the character was going to go about searching for traps on chest or secret doors in a wall, I would allow the roll--not before.

As 3E has come along, with it's in depth skill system and wargame-like affection for tactical grid movement, many players seem to forget the roleplaying and go straight to the dice rolling. "I check for traps here!" And, then roll dice, is not near as fun, I think, as playing out the situation through roleplaying with the give-n-take between the player and GM.

No, I'm not talking about bogging the game down. Sure, there are many instances where its best to just roll dice and move on, keeping the game moving. Sometimes, it's most interesting to roleplay the bartering between character and merchant. This can be fun and take half the game sessions. Other times, its best to roll dice quickly and move on. It's up to the GM to keep his finger on the pulse of his game and decide which approach is appropriate at the moment. So, all that I'm saying here is that I think it is best to bring back the roleplaying sometimes. When its appropriate. Don't default to rolling dice all the time, seeing the outcome, and moving on. You might as well play a computer game if you do it that way. So much fun can be had by roleplaying out the different obstacles and situations that pop up in a game.

What I do to encourage this type of old school gaming is to ask my players questions when they state their character is doing something. I don't allow a roll right away. For example, let's consider the simple situation of a PC trying to enter a town past the gate guard after night has fallen and the gates are closed. Instead of going straight to Diplomacy checks, ask the player what he says. Roleplay some it out.

"Eh?" Says the gatekeep from atop the battlement. "Who moves in the night. State your purpose, and state it promptly!"

The player roleplays, "I am Arus, a Watchman myself, from Numalia. I have come at the bidding of my commander. Rodolfo. I am charged with business within!"

"Yeah....err...what kind of business."

"The kind that involves silver!" The player indicates that this character, Arus, holds up three silver pieces. "I would be happy to pay this fee to you or your agent, if, indeed, entry will be allowed."

It is here that I would probably roll dice. I'd allow Arus a Diplomacy check and give him a +2 circumstance bonus for the fun roleplaying to boot! I find this so much more fun that defaulting to something like....

-- There's a gate guard. He won't let you in.

-- OK, I'll roll Diplomacy and try to talk him out of it.

-- Sure. You bribe him. Give him three silvers and enter.

The roleplaying I find fun and interesting. The default rolling is boring to me. But, as I said above, there are times when defaulting to rolling is the clear choice. Maybe the party is tired of roleplaying having spent the first half of the game sessions with a greedy merchant. Or, maybe the action is happening elsewhere, and a character ran back to town to get a needed item. In those cases, roll dice and keep the game moving.

Always default to the most interesting thing that you can do in the game. Sometimes, that is straight dice rolling. But, don't forget how much fun you can have with impromptu roleplaying moments.