[Spes Magna] Making Craft Work (see last post)

[Mark Chance]

Ludo; ergo sum. I play; therefore, I am. That might seem a bit silly, but isn’t gaming a great way to make friends with whom to share good times and grand adventures? I know it has been for me.

More than 30 years ago in a desk at Landrum Middle School, I discovered the Dungeons & Dragons basic rulebook and a graph paper map of a hand-drawn dungeon done with a blue-ink ball-point pen. I shared this treasure with Fred Hawkins, my dearest friend and longest gaming partner. That “finders keepers” moment turned into decades of gaming ranging across dozens of different systems. Throughout D&D remained the cornerstone of my gaming and social life. Except for my wife, all of my best friends have been gamers. Together, we laugh and share a vision of heroism and an escape from grind of the workaday world. Today, as a husband and father, I groom the next generation of gamer. Stalwart adventurers will oppose the remorseless forces of evil long after I no longer have the wherewithal to roll a d20.

Good triumphs. That is the heart and soul of my gaming and the raison d’être for Spes Magna Games. Grab those dice! Gird your loins! Tonight, evil loses!

 

[Mark Chance]

Subscribe to Quid Novi? and every two weeks this newsletter will arrive via e-mail, hot off the presses and into your in-box. Regular features include each of the following once a month:

* Making History: An article about an historical event that can be used in your game.
* Chance Encounters: A monster or NPC ready to challenge your players.
* Five-Part One-Shot: A short adventure outline using the world-wide-web-famous 5-Room Dungeon format.

Every issue of Quid Novi? also features Recommended Reading suggestions on topics related to both gaming and history. Subscribers have the opportunity to help playtest products, enjoying all the fame and glory that comes with such a noble task. This means that you can get your hands on Spes Magna Games content before it’s released to the public, starting with Rewarding Roleplaying (see the next post for more info).

The first issue went out 13 December. The next issue hits subscriber in-boxes on 27 December.

 

[Mark Chance]

[imager]http://www.enworld.org/forum/members/mark-chance-albums-mlc-s-pix-picture852-rewarding-roleplaying.jpg[/imager]
Are you a DM who wants a little more oomph from your players? Do they need some incentive to play their roles with more feeling? Even if your players are bona fide thespians, there’s likely still room for improvement. But how?

Many DMs award extra XP for “good role-playing” during gaming sessions. This can be a fine thing to do, but in my experience these rewards tend to be inconsistently awarded and most often follow the Squeaky Wheel Maxim*. In worst case scenarios, “good roleplaying” XP awards may hurt feelings. What seemed like a good idea may turn out not being very fun, and what’s the point of playing a game if you’re not having fun?

If I’ve learned nothing after more than a decade as a classroom teacher, I’ve learned that praise and rewards best motivate desired behavior. For rewards to be most effective, they need to be tangible and linked to specific criteria. The latter is key. Tangible criteria put the burden of success on the one seeking the reward.

Rewarding Roleplaying uses three criteria to encourage and reward better roleplaying. Best of all, the responsibility for establishing these criteria belongs to the players. They set their own roleplaying goals. When they meet their goals, you the DM hand out the reward in the form of an Action Point, which is then used by the player to achieve greater levels of success in the game.

Rewarding Roleplaying isn’t just geared toward DMs. It’s main focus is you, the one running a player character. You’ve created a character for the game. Your character has stats and abilities and all sorts of bonuses, skills, and feats. Clever use of these statistics during gameplay is key to your character’s success and acquisition of XP, wealth, and magic items.

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were criteria by which your character could receive specific rewards that aided your character’s in-game success doing those heroic, exciting things that adventurers so often do? As noted above, Rewarding Roleplaying uses three criteria to encourage and reward better roleplaying. Best of all, the responsibility for establishing these criteria belongs to the players. You set your own roleplaying goals. When you meet your goals, the DM hands out the reward in the form of an Action Point, which you use to achieve greater levels of success in the game.

Rewarding Roleplaying is a 10-page, 8-1/2 by 11 PDF product. Rewarding Roleplaying is currently available for free to all Quid Novi? subscribers.

*The Squeaky Wheel Maxim states that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. In RPGs, this can be seen when the loudest, most insistent player gets the lion’s share of the DM’s attention.

Pathfinder and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and are used under license. See paizo.com/pathfinderRPG for more information on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

 

[Mark Chance]

Over the next several days, we’re previewing features of our next PDF, Fencing & Firearms, which takes aim at 3.5E combat’s clunkier aspects. First up, a brief look at two of the most significant changes. After you read this post, leave us a comment or two.

The Big Change #1: No Attacks of Opportunity
Probably no feature of v 3.5 combat causes more confusion, delays, and metagaming than attacks of opportunity. Players and DMs alike forget what provokes and doesn’t provoke them. Attempting to avoid them leads to additional dice rolls from tumblers and spellcasters. The latter characters effectively get one fewer skill points per level since high ranks in Concentration are widely seen as necessary for survival. Battle-scarred fighters count squares to avoid reach rather than charging once more into the breach, and everyone’s movement on the battlemat looks too much like checkers trying not to get jumped.

F&F gets rid of attacks of opportunity. Nothing provokes them because they just don’t exist.

The Big Change #2: The Players Roll Their Own Fate
In many combats, players often have little control over the outcome of events when it isn’t their turn. This can lead to boredom if a player’s attention drifts between his turns, threatening to distance him from the outcome of events. Big Change #2 takes a lot of the work out of the DM’s hands by having the players make the monsters’ attack rolls, saving throws, or caster level checks to overcome spell resistance. That frees up the DM’s attention for more important things, such as NPC tactics, special spell effects, terrain, and the like.

Conversely, it requires the players to become much more active and aware of what’s going on. No longer can players snooze through all the turns but their own: They’ll be rolling more dice than ever before – which (among other benefits) gives them the feeling of having greater control over their successes and failures.

 

[Mark Chance]

One widely perceived problem with 3.5E combat is the drag on play created by PCs with iterative attacks. This comes beyond just the extra die rolls to determine attack success. Iterative attacks also had variable attack bonuses. I’ve seen more than one player with a mid- to high-level character have to break out a matrix to figure out his PC’s various attack bonuses. Fencing & Firearms uses OGC from Trailblazer by Bad Axe Games to help solve this problem. Here’s how it works:

If you get more than one attack per round because your base attack bonus is high enough, because you fight with two weapons or a double weapon or for some special reason you must use a full-round action to get your additional attacks.

Base Attack Bonus
If your base attack bonus is +6 or higher, you can make two attacks per round with a full attack:

* When your BAB equals +6, you get a second attack, but both attacks suffer a -2 penalty instead of +0/-5).
* When your BAB equals +11, the penalty drops to -1/-1 (instead of 0/-5/-10).
* When your BAB equals +16, the penalty drops to -0/-0 (instead of 0/-5/-10/-20).

Another perceived weakness is that saving throw DCs don’t scale well, especially at mid- to high-level play. In other words, it gets increasingly easier to make saving throws against higher-level spells. F&F gives spellcasters something like a full-attack option when casting. Let’s take a look:

Cast a Spell
If your caster level is 6th or higher, you can use a full-round action to cast any spell that has a normal casting time of one standard action. Doing so increases either the spell’s save DC or to your caster level check to overcome spell resistance (your choice when casting the spell).

* If you caster level is 6th or higher, you gain either a +1 bonus to the save DC or your caster level to overcome spell resistance.
* If you caster level is 11th or higher, you gain either a +2 bonus to the save DC or your caster level to overcome spell resistance.
* If you caster level is 16th or higher, you gain either a +3 bonus to the save DC or your caster level to overcome spell resistance.

 

[Mark Chance]

Fencing & Firearms aims to give characters more options in combat without imposing a skill tax or feat tax. F&F effectively makes certain feats available to everyone. Here’s one section from the rules that explains what this post is talking about:

Expanding BAB
Every character has a Base Attack Bonus, or BAB. F&F expands the uses for BAB two ways. First, BAB is added to your Armor Class as a dodge bonus. BAB reflects a character's general skill in combat This includes not only the ability to land a blow, but also the ability parry and dodge attacks. Furthermore, a character's BAB affords a certain amount of flexibility in combat from round-to-round as well.

Each round on his turn, a character can "shift" his up to his BAB to provide a bonus to a specific facet of combat. The same value is applied as a penalty to another facet. This bonus/penalty combinations lasts until the beginning of the character's next turn. A character can apply up to his BAB as a bonus to attack rolls, to damage rolls (for attacks that require an attack roll), or to AC (as a dodge bonus). He must apply the same value as a penalty to one of the two other facets.

For example, Horace Berkeley has a +1 BAB. He's facing three goblins in melee combat. Being outnumbered, he decides to fight cautiously. Horace adds +1 to his AC and applies a -1 penalty to his attack rolls. These modifiers remain in play until the beginning of his next, at which time Horace can keep them or change them as desired. A few rounds later, Horace has defeated two of the goblins. He goes on the offensive, applying a +1 bonus to his attack rolls and a -1 penalty to his AC.

This variable use of BAB in combat replaces the Combat Expertise and Power Attack as feats. These two feats are simply removed from play. Feats for which they are prerequisites are treated as if they have one fewer prerequisites. Thus, a character qualifies for Improved Bull Rush as long as he has at least a 13 Strength.

Universal Feats
Universal feats are feats that all characters gain. These feats give characters a greater range of options in combat. Two universal feats have a prerequisite. Characters gain these universal feats automatically once the prerequisite is met.

Aid Attack [Universal]
You may assist another character’s attack on his turn.
Benefit: If you’re in position to make a melee attack on an opponent that is engaging a friend in melee combat, you can aid your friend as an immediate action. Before your friend makes his attack, announce your intention to use Aid Attack. Your friend gains a +2 bonus on his attack roll. Multiple characters can aid the same friend, and the bonuses stack.

Aid Defense [Universal]
You may assist another character’s defense.
Benefit: If you’re in position to make a melee attack on an opponent that is engaging a friend in melee combat, you can aid your friend as an immediate action. On the opponent’s turn, before he makes his melee attack roll against your friend, announce your intention to use Aid Defense. Your friend gains a +2 bonus to his AC against that attack. Multiple characters can aid the same friend, and the bonuses stack.

Cleaving Strike [Universal]
You lash out again after dropping a foe.
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: If you deal a creature enough damage to make it drop (typically by dropping it to below 0 hit points or killing it), you get an immediate, extra melee attack against another creature within reach. You cannot take a 5-foot step before making this extra attack. The extra attack is with the same weapon and at the same bonus as the attack that dropped the previous creature. You can use this ability once per round. This universal feat replaces Cleave. It counts as Cleave for purposes of meeting prerequisites of other feats.

Fight with Anything [Universal]
You are skilled in wielding any weapon.
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: Reduce the attack roll penalty you face for nonproficiency by your base attack bonus. This applies to all weapons, including exotic weapons and improvised weapons. This feat never confers a bonus to attack roll penalty. For example, if your BAB is +5, you do not suffer an attack roll penalty with any weapon due to nonproficiency, but you do not also get a +1 attack roll bonus.
Special: Once you have a +4 BAB, you are considered proficient with all weapons for the purposes of acquiring other feats. Improvised weapons (melee) and improvised weapons (ranged) count as separate weapons for this purpose.

 

[Mark Chance]

‘Tis the season to be jolly, and all that. Things’re going to slow down a bit here until after December 27, but that doesn’t mean nothing’s happening.

Quid Novi?, Issue 2, is ready to go, and it is sitting the the automailer’s queue. While I’m out of town this weekend with family, the Internet will work it’s magic and deliver the newsletter to subscriber in-boxes on-schedule.

Which reminds me: If you’re not a Quid Novi? subscriber, you should be. Subscribers get the newsletter, bonus material, and (once we go live with our sales), they’ll get a subscriber discount as well.

Fencing & Firearms is just about done. It should be available for subscriber download early January 2010.

Spes Magna Games is hitting the convention circuit (as long as it doesn’t involve leaving town). There will be Spes Magna events at Con-Jour in late January and at OwlCon in early February. If you’re in Houston, stop by and say, “Salve!”

 

[Mark Chance]

Upthread, I mentioned that Fencing & Firearms has players roll their own fate. When I introduced this to my face-to-face group, a couple of the players were mildly confused, but even my most hidebound player adapted quickly enough. Here's a look at how this change to combat works:

Attacking And Defending
PCs make their attacks just like they do in the standard rules. Their opponents, however, do not. Each time an enemy attacks a PC, the character’s player rolls a defense check. If that defense check equals or exceeds the attack score of the enemy, the attack misses.

To determine a creature’s attack score, add 11 to the creature’s standard attack modifier (the number it would use, as either a bonus or penalty to its attack roll, if it were attacking using the standard rules). For instance, an ogre has a standard attack modifier of +8 with its greatclub. That means that it’s attack score is 19.

To make a defense check, roll 1d20 and add any modifiers that normally apply to your Armor Class (armor, size, deflection, and the like). This is effectively the same as rolling d20, adding your total AC, and then subtracting 10.

* Attack Score: 11 + enemy’s attack bonus
* Defense Check: 1d20 + character’s AC modifiers

If a player rolls a natural 1 on a defense check, his character’s opponent has scored a threat (just as if it had rolled a natural 20 on its attack roll). Make another defense check; if it again fails to avoid the attack, the opponent has scored a critical hit.

A foe may have a threat range greater than one. For example, the foe could wield a longsword (normal threat range 19-20). In a case such as this, the foe scores a threat if the defense check falls within the same range as the normal threat range. To continue the example, a longsword has a two digit threat range. Thus, a natural 1 or 2 on a defense check scores a threat with a longsword.

Jeremiah Dawes and his comrades are facing down an ogre. It hurls a javelin at Jeremiah. The ogre's attack score with its javelin is 12 (11 + 1 attack bonus). Jeremiah has a 12 DEX and is protected by a shield spell, giving him a +5 defense check bonus. Jeremiah's player rolls 1d20+5 and gets a 13 total. The ogre misses!

When a PC attacks an opponent, he makes an attack roll against the opponent’s AC as normal.

The procedure is only slightly different using using combat maneuvers such as bull rush or grapple. Every PC has a combat maneuver bonus (CMB) and a combat maneuver armor class (CMAC).

Saving Throws And Save Scores
NPCs and other opponents no longer make saving throws to avoid special attacks of player characters. Instead, each creature has a Fortitude, Reflex, and Will score. These scores are equal to 11 + the creature’s Fortitude, Reflex, and Will save modifiers.

Any time you cast a spell or use a special attack that forces an opponent to make a saving throw, instead make a magic check to determine your success. To make a magic check, roll 1d20 and add all the normal modifiers to any DC required by the spell or special attack (including the appropriate ability modifier, the spell’s level if casting a spell, the adjustment for Spell Focus, and so on).

If the result of the magic check equals or exceeds the appropriate save score (Fortitude, Reflex or Will, depending on the special ability), the creature is affected by the spell or special attack as if it had failed its save. If the result is lower than the creature’s Fortitude, Reflex or Will score (as appropriate to the spell or special attack used), the creature is affected as if it had succeeded on its save.

* Magic Check: 1d20 + spell level + ability modifier + other modifiers vs. save score
* Fortitude Score: 11 + enemy’s Fortitude save modifier
* Reflex Score: 11 + enemy’s Reflex save modifier
* Will Score: 11 + enemy’s Will save modifier

Jeremiah counters with cause fear. He has a 16 CHA and this is a 1st-level spell, giving Jeremiah a +4 on his magic check. The ogre's Will score is 12 (11 + 1 Will save modifier). Jeremiah's player rolls 1d20+4 and gets a 10 total. Jeremiah fails his magic check, and the ogre is only shaken for one round.

If a player rolls a natural 20 on a magic check, the creature’s equipment may take damage (just as if it had rolled a natural 1 on its save).

Spell Resistance
If a PC has spell resistance, his player makes a spell resistance check against each incoming spell that allows spell resistance. A spell resistance check is 1d20 plus the PC’s spell resistance, minus 10.

The DC of this check is equal to 11 + the attacker’s caster level, plus any modifiers that normally apply to the attacker’s caster level check to overcome spell resistance (such as from the Spell Penetration feat). That value is known as the attacker’s caster level score. If the spell resistance check equals or exceeds this number, the spell fails to penetrate the PC’s spell resistance.

To beat a creature’s spell resistance, a player makes a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) against its spell resistance, just as in the standard rules.

* Spell Resistance Check: 1d20 + SR - 10
* Caster Level Score: 11 + attacker’s caster level + modifiers

Jeremiah has been affected by spell resistance from a 9th-level caster, granting SR 21. A 5th-level sorcerer casts magic missile at him. Jeremiah's player rolls 1d20+11 against DC 16 and gets a 23 total. The sorcerer's attack is stopped by Jeremiah's SR.

Neat, huh?

Next post, I'll show you how easy it is to convert a monster to F&F style.

 

[Mark Chance]

Here's the stat block for a standard 3.5 orc:

Orc, 1st–level warrior: CR 1/2; LA +0; Medium humanoid; HD 1d8+1; hp 5; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 13 (+3 armor), touch 10, flat-footed 13; Base Atk +1; Grp +4; Atk Falchion +4 melee (2d4+4/18–20) or javelin +1 ranged (1d6+3); Full Atk (same); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA —; SQ darkvision 60 ft., light sensitivity; AL CE; SV Fort +3, Ref +0, Will –2; Str 17, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 7, Cha 6.
Languages: The language an orc speaks varies slightly from tribe to tribe, but any orc is understandable by someone else who speaks Orc. Some orcs know Goblin or Giant as well.
Skills and Feats: Listen +1, Spot +1; Alertness.
Possessions: Falchion, studded leather, javelin.​

When converting our orc to Fencing & Firearms, these are the areas that need to be addressed:

* AC: Armor works differently in F&F. It has a lower armor bonus, but converts lethal to nonlethal damage. Also, BAB adds to AC.
* Grp: F&F uses a combat maneuver system. The orc gets two new stats as a result.
* Atk: The attack bonus is changed to a DC.
* Fort, Ref, Will: These are changed to DCs.

Here's the adjusted orc (the changes are in bold and underlined):

Orc, 1st–level warrior: CR 1/2; LA +0; Medium humanoid; HD 1d8+1; hp 5; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 13 (+1 BAB, +2 armor), touch 11, flat-footed 12; L2N 3 points; Base Atk +1; CMS 15, CMAC 14; Atk Falchion 15 melee (2d4+4/18–20) or javelin 11 ranged (1d6+3); Full Atk (same); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA —; SQ darkvision 60 ft., light sensitivity; AL CE; SV Fort 14, Ref 11, Will 9; Str 17, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 7, Cha 6.
Languages: The language an orc speaks varies slightly from tribe to tribe, but any orc is understandable by someone else who speaks Orc. Some orcs know Goblin or Giant as well.
Skills and Feats: Listen +1, Spot +1; Alertness.
Possessions: Falchion, studded leather, javelin.​

Let's examine these changes:

* AC: The orc's BAB is added. This counts as a dodge bonus. In F&F, studded leather provides a +2 armor bonus.
* L2N: Studded leather also converts 3 points of lethal damage to nonlethal damage. This might seem like extra bookkeeping for the DM, but it isn't. When running F&F fights, I don't track nonlethal damage for most foes. Instead, I adjudicate on-the-fly whether the foe is dead, dying, or just unconscious once its hit points are gone.
* CMS: This is the orc's combat maneuver score. If the orc attempts a combat maneuver against a PC (such as a bull rush), the orc's CMS is the DC the player must equal or beat using his PC's combat maneuver defense bonus to resist the maneuver.
* CMAC: This is the orc's combat maneuver AC. It is the DC a player must equal or beat to affect the orc with a combat maneuver used by the player's PC.
* Atk: Each attack has an attack score. When the orc attacks a PC, the player makes a defense check. If he equals or exceeds the orc's attack score, the attack fails.
* SV: Each saving throw is a DC. When using a spell that permits a saving throw against the orc, the player must make a magic check against the appropriate saving throw score. If the player equals or exceeds the score, the spell takes affect.

So, you ask, how long did it take to convert the standard orc to an F&F orc? Well, it took me about two minutes including the time to add the bold-face and underline formatting codes. For my face-to-face group, I converted all of the monsters on the first level of The Lost Vault of Tsathzar Rho in about 15 minutes, including the time it took to type up a quick reference table that summarized the changes on one easy-to-use page.

Any questions?

 

[Mark Chance]

Well, I wasn't quite sure what direction we wanted to go, but I've decided that Spes Magna Games will produce Pathfinder-compatible products. We don't have anything for sale...yet. Instead, our first product, Rewarding Roleplaying, is provided as a bonus to everyone who subscribes to our Quid Novi? newsletter.

"But what about Spes Magna Games?" you ask. Well...

Do you enjoy sinking your teeth into crunch?

Spes Magna Games offers crunchy goodness to enhance your game with streamlined mechanics that speed up gameplay. Our Ludi Fortes line features plug-and-play products that can be dropped into nearly any game to help create richer, more enjoyable roleplaying sessions.

But what if you’re tired of crunch and want some fluff?

Our Novus Mundus line presents a campaign that melds alternate world history with tried-and-true fantasy tropes. Two types of Novus Mundus products explore a new world of adventure set against the backdrop of the 18th century. Setting Books are largely system neutral and suitable for many fantasy games, and Adventure Books are for use with Pathfinder games.