Sunday, November 30, 2008

Realism in RPGs

Realism in gaming can be a touchy subject. This is especially true in RPGs, because you tend to be viewing things on a much smaller, more intimate scale than in a war game or TCG. The closer you get to something the more detail resolves, or in this case have to be resolved.

I should probably clarify things here. I'm talking about realism in combat mechanics. You can look at realism for things like lock-picking or tanning or haberdashery, but most people don't care about how to scrub a lock or the differences between chrome and brain tanning. They certainly don't want mechanics for the effects of mercury fumes from felt stiffening solutions.

Much of the contention is due to differing opinions on what is, in fact, "realistic." Debating what's "realistic" in fictional combat is a great way to start a six hour argument. The first problem you run into is that combat is really hard to analyze. This is a problem people struggle with in real life. Everything happens very fast, and you really just have to reconstruct everything after the fact. Factor in things like post adrenal shock and people flat out lying, and you'll have yourself tied for several weeks trying to piece together what happened in one knife assault.

Keep in mind that you're also trying to create an abstract, absolute system for simulating what is often barely controlled chaos. There's very little good data on the immediate effects of physical trauma on a person, and that makes it difficult to make realistic rules for it. Why does a knife deal 1d6 of damage and a sword deal 2d6? How long does the blade have to be before it deals the extra die of damage? And these are fairly minor philosophical problems. You should see what people come up with once they start actually playing the games.

There are a few things you can do to deal with the realism problem. First, decide the level of realism you want the game to have before you start playing. A lot of this will depend on the system you're using, but a lot also depends on the tone the GM sets. Match the tone and the system to what you're trying to do.

If you do run into a question of whether something is realistic, ask yourself this: Does it make sense? If yes, you don't have a problem. If no, find out what doesn't make sense and who has problems with that element. Chances are once you do that you can solve the dispute fairly in short order. If not, have something else happen. The goal is to play the game, not sit around arguing how a fictional universe adheres to abstract, arbitrary rules. Rule of thumb, gravity should be pretty constant. Everything else is mutable for the sake of the game.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Editions: TCGs (sort of)

No trading card games I've played actually had "editions" per se. What usually happens is that new sets of cards are released periodically until the game is either canceled or the company goes under. For games like Magic: the Gathering, that can be a very long time, during which many, many cards have been released and gone out of print.

This is good. It lends a lot of variety to the game. Unfortunately, what eventually happens is that you have so many cards floating around with wildly different effects that it becomes next to impossible to balance the game. When a game becomes unbalanced, people stop playing.

Additionally, if you've been playing a long lived TCG for a large fraction of its life, you're going to have a lot of cards. Eventually, you're going to have all the cards you need. Even though the company still makes new cards, you stop buying them because you don't feel like you need them.

TCG companies have to address these problems somehow, or they'll go out of business.
This is why cards become tournament illegal after a certain amount of time. The companies have to balance the games somehow, and they also need the players to buy more cards. As an added bonus, it also means that younger players aren't constantly having to deal with old, obscure cards from the 1993 whenever they sit down to play with an older gamer.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Editions: War Gaming

Editions in war gaming are a little different than those in RPGs. This is because the major revenue for war game companies comes not from books, but from miniatures. So this means that a new edition isn't going to make a company any money, right? Sort of.

New editions cause people to modify their army list. This can lead to people who own complete armies going out to buy new miniatures for units they never used in the old edition. New editions also mean new army books, which usually involve the release of new miniatures. Combine this with a solid marketing push, and not only do you see people buying new versions of units they already own, but often times people become interested in a new army because of the increased attention. This means they buy another army, meaning more miniature sales. The increased attention around a new edition can also bring in gamers who might have left the game for one reason or another, and then found that they like the new rules, or just miss the game.

The change in rules has another effect, though. New editions change the way people play. Tactics that dominated in the last edition might not work so well in the new one. Things that were questionable (read, suicidal) under the old rules might warrant another look with the new edition. This is, to some extent true with RPGs as well, but there's an important difference between RPGs and war games. War games are competitive. There is much more of an incentive to analyze rules and tactics with war games: the other guy certainly is.

This keeps the game from getting stale. It breaks up dominant army lists, and lets new players feel less outclassed by veteran gamers, for about a week. It keeps the game from getting stagnant. If you want to play a game that hasn't changed in a while, look at chess. This game hasn't changed in 200 years. And that was so they could deal with a tie. That's great, but I don't really have the desire to try and learn several centuries worth of strategy just to move little monochromatic columns around a checkerboard. The least they could do is give those poor pawns some cover to hide behind.

Monday, November 17, 2008

On Editions: RPGs

A lot of people complain every time a new edition of a game comes out. They see it as the company try to squeeze extra money out of the fan base. For the most part, they're right. Sort of.

Let's not kid ourselves here. Game companies exist to make a profit. If they don't end the quarter in the black, the investors do bad things to the management. Bad things involving thumbscrews. So in order to make a profit, companies need to sell things. RPG companies need to sell books, war gaming companies need to sell miniatures. With me so far?

The problem for RPG companies starts when they've done pretty much everything they can do with a system. After the core books there are only so many supplements a set of rules can stand. GURPS 3e is a good example of that. They had these wonderful little 100 page supplements on damn near everything. GURPS Imperial Rome. GURPS Celt. GURPS Steampunk. GURPS Undead. GURPS Vampire. You think they could have covered everything about vampires in the undead book. Nope, needed a seperate supplement for that. I think it was actually called GURPS Blood Types. They were fantastic books, don't get me wrong. I learned more from those books than some of the classes I've taken. But there cam a point where they couldn't put out any more books like that. They had covered everything worth covering, and a lot else besides. Plus, with the advantage of about a decade of hindsight, old SJ Games realized they had done some really stupid stuff. So they decided to fix all of that. Thus came GURPS 4e, with core books available in both normal and limited leather bound, gold embossed editions. Yes, it meant that if you wanted new GURPS content, you had to upgrade to 4e.

This was done on purpose. SJ Games sells, among other things, books. If they don't add new books to their line, they'll go out of business. Such is life. SJ games may be a bad example, as they've made every effort to make 4e compatible with the old 3e material, even if it means selling fewer copies of the new GURPS Animal Rights Activism.

A better example might be the new edition of Dungeons and Dragons. D&D 4e is a radical departure from the last edition of D&D, but 3e didn't exactly follow 2e's example to the letter, either. A large portion of the community genuinely seems to dislike 4e, and to that I say: tough cookies. Wizards owns the license, and this is where they've decided to play the game.

That being said, I don't remember any firemen kicking down my door and burning my 3e and 3.5 books. I assume they didn't do that to you. If you don't like the new D&D, play the old one. Write new content for your games yourself, or even switch to other games. It's your time, play how you want. Just don't expect a company to conform to your tastes simply because you've bought a few of their books.

Next post I'll talk about new editions in war gaming, and how the phenomenon manifests differently than in RPGs.

Friday, November 14, 2008

War Gaming: Design Philosophy II: Revenge of the Colon

Last month I posted about designing an army. While I talked at length about how to think about building an army, I never really gave any advice on actually building the army. Let's fix that.

When building an army the first question you have to ask yourself is "What do I want to do?" Do you want to be very shooty, and hammer volley after volley of fire, or do you want to be really stompy and chock full of close combat nastiness? Do you want to field massive engines of death and roll over your enemies, or do you want to overwhelm your opponents with hordes of infantry. The army you want to play is going to greatly affect your strategy, and therefore your model selection.

Once you've decided on a general modus operandi, start looking over the unit list for your faction, and see what jumps out at you. Are there any units that look especially useful, or that you can immediately think of special tactics for? If so, that's a good place to start your army. After that it's just a matter of finding what units work well together.

Here's a few other things to keep a few things in mind while designing your army:

Avoid point sinks. I know it's tempting to bring every Monster Unit of Doom your faction has access to, and to trick out everything you have with as much gear as possible, but keep in mind you're on a budget. Points spent on cool wargear and really big vehicles aren't going towards more units, meaning that your army is going to be severely outnumbered. I'm not telling you to take nothing but minimally equipped basic troops and one leader with no special gear. I just want you to exercise caution when making big purchases. How many tank do you really need? Will your general really use 100 points of war gear? Does that squad of snipers really need to take grenades?

Be Diverse. I've said this before, but like so many basic concepts it bears repeating: the battlefield is an ever changing environment. You won't always anticipate what's going to happen before it happens. Yes, you could take a horde of frenzied berzerkers lead by an nine foot frothing maniac who can tear a man's arms from his sockets, but what if your opponent brings tanks. They don't have arms to tear off. While individual units may be best suited to a specific role, your army can't function that way. You have to be able to respond to a variety of threats quickly and effectively. So, if you do design the above army, make at least some of your guys are carrying bombs to take out any inconvenient tanks.

Be Flexible. Similarly, your units need to be capable of taking on multiple roles. It doesn't matter if you have the best tank hunters in the game if your opponent is bringing nothing but infantry. Suddenly you have a really expensive unit trying to picking off individuals with antitank weaponry into infantry squads. That's just not very effective. Have a plan B for all your units, and have one or two general purpose units that can do most things capably.

Be Mobile. I've written an entire article on mobility, but it bears mention here. You don't have to mechanize your entire force (unless you want to), but you do need think about how you're going to get your guys where you need them. Imagine that your entire force is on one side of the board, and suddenly you need units on the other side. How are you going to respond to this? If you don't have a good answer, you need to rethink your list. Then again, I play Dark Eldar, so I may be a little biased.

Be Resilient. Bad things happen in war. Don't rely on one unit to perform a vital function. If you're playing a heavily opponent, and you anti-tank unit snuffs it, your out of the game. Versatile units can help you with this.

There's a few basic ideas about how to build an army, or more accurately, how not to build an army. Keep this in mind, and you should do well. Also look at sites specific to your game, and see what other people field. You can find army lists for a lot of games on the 'net. The Jungle is a good place to check out army lists for Warhammer 40k. Otherwise, just keep experimenting. Every game is a chance to learn.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

On Powergaming

We're gamers. We play games. The purpose of playing a game is to have fun. I have said this many, many times on this blog. That being said, there are many ways to have fun playing a game. One of those ways is to win. This is where powergaming comes from.

Powergaming is an attempt to gain every advantage possible in a game. This takes different forms depending on what game you're playing. With war games a certain amount of powergaming is to be expected. You're playing against someone, you might as well play to win. The problem comes from when that's you're only reason for playing. If you can't enjoy a well played game in which you lose, you're probably going to hate about half your games.

Powergaming while roleplaying tends to be a bit more problematic. While in theory being as good as possible at whatever your character does can be helpful to the party, in practice obsessively focusing on one part of the game can hurt other people's enjoyment. The danger here is becoming a munchkin. This can very easily start a bizarre game of one-upmanship, in which the offending player(s) constantly try to get one over on both the GM and his fellow players. This gets especially bad if the player(s) stops respecting the rules.

I've given this advice before, but it bears repeating: Don't try to cheat. You're inviting all kinds of pain on yourself when you do. Don't try to justify it, don't try and rationalize it. You will get caught, and you will get kicked out of the group. Good luck finding other people to play with. Gamers talk, especially about certain types of players.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Relating to Your Fellow Gamers: Being a Good Party Member

Roleplaying is a little different from playing a TCG or war game because you're working with the people at the table, rather than against them. As such the etiquette changes a little bit. More stuff stays the same than changes, though.

Be polite Accept the fact that other people are going to have different ideas about what is fun. You may not get to do everything exactly the way you want to, but compromise can mean that you at least get to do some of the things you like. Be patient when people have to stop and check rules. Yes, they should have looked it up beforehand. That doesn't make it okay for you to be rude to them.

Be efficient Do things as quickly as possible, so that the game moves on. Be ready to take your turn in combat, so other people don't have to wait to take theirs. Know your place in the initiative order, so you don't have to be reminded its your turn. Know the rules for your character. You don't want to have to keep going back to the book to find things every time you want to do something. Also, don't have your character go wandering off by himself for extended periods of time. It slows down the game and makes the others have to wait while you're off pursuing your own ends. "But that's what my character would do. He's a loner." There's an important point to remember when playing a character like that: don't. I don't care how cool you think your character is, everyone else thinks you're a tool for trying to hog the session. Roleplaying is a group activity, act accordingly.

Be helpful. A role playing party is a team. Each character needs to act in concert with the others to accomplish the parties goals. If you're constantly acting against the other party members, you need to stop and reconsider what your goals are. Along the same lines, don't just do whatever stupid, random thing you think of. "But that's what my character would do! She's doesn't want the party to succeed" or "He's impulsive." There's something very important you need to do when playing a character like that to make sure you don't become a detriment to the party. Get a new character. If you're too selfish or socially inept to understand why the above behaviors are unacceptable, then you might as well quit trying to roleplay now. Do us all a favor and lock yourself in a dark room with a video game console. Or just eat a bullet.

Be friendly. Make an effort to get along with everyone at the table. You don't have to be best friends, but you at least have to remain civil while you're playing.

Don't be too friendly. Roleplaying can be a great way to meet new people. Please don't be the guy that hits on all the women at the table, though. That guy's a dick, and nobody likes him. The women are there to roleplay, so put it on ice until after the game. Gaming with a significant other can be a great bonding experience. However, please keep the displays of affection to a minimum. They slow down the game and tend to annoy the more perpetually single members of the group. In game romances can be interesting, but check with everyone before hand to see what they're comfortable with. And make sure it doesn't take too much time away from the main plot. You don't want the uninvolved players sitting around waiting for you to finish hitting on Serving Wench #47.

Follow these rules, and you should get invited back to a game. Again, the mantra is: don't be a dick.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Relating to Your Fellow Gamers: Being a Good Opponent

I've made oblique references to professionalism and etiquette a few times on this blog, but I realize I've never really outlined what it is these things mean in gaming. If you haven't figured it out yet, that's what I plan to do here. This is a big topic, so I'll break this down into two chunks, games in which you compete against someone, like a TCG or war game, and games in which you work with a group, like an RPG. Most of the points are the same, but the application is very different.

Be polite. When you're interacting with another gamer, observe basic courtesy. Respect their personal space, and don't make any sort of rude comments. Don't make derogatory remarks about them or their tactics. If somebody uses something you don't like, deal with it. Don't let them get away with cheating, but don't complain about about a perfectly legal decision because you think it's unfair. Don't sigh dramatically or grumble if he makes a mistake or is taking longer than you think he should on his turn. Ask to touch his stuff, whether it's miniatures, cards, or blast templates.

Be efficient. Don't take too long on your turn. During your opponent's turn, be thinking about how you want to respond to his moves. This isn't just good strategic sense, it prevents him from having to wait while you stare contemplatively at the table. Along these same lines, show up ready to play. Don't sit and tweak an army list or deck while your opponent is waiting to play, and have your miniatures or cards ready to go out of the box.

Be friendly. Shake hands with your opponent before a game and wish him good. Do it again afterward and say good game, thank him for playing, congratulate him on his victory, or offer him a rematch if he lost. Smile and make conversation while you play. It doesn't have to be meaningful or intelligent, just so you're not sitting on the other side of the table silently glaring at him the entire game.

Don't be too friendly. Guys, I realize that women in gaming are as precious as diamonds and as rare as a Cadbury egg at Christmas, but keep it together. I don't care how pretty she is. I don't care how well she paints, or how great her deck is. Treat her like any other opponent. Look at her face. If she's wearing a v-neck top, ignore it. She may have to bend over to move miniatures or reach a card. Ignore it. She may have this really cute way of tucking her hair behind her ear and then smiling at you like you're the only person in the world. Ignore it. And unless she initiates something, for Gork's sake don't flirt with her. She's the enemy. The golden haired enemy, with alabaster skin and a radiant smile, with warm, full lips and curves like a country road and legs that go all the way up to her.....
So stay frosty. Keep it professional. She came to game, not to deal with leering game geeks. Ladies, it's generally considered bad play to use your feminine wiles to distract the men you play. Especially the really shy, nerdy ones. You know who I'm talking about.

Be gracious. Play to win, but also play so your opponent has fun. Don't celebrate his every reverse. Trash talking is completely inappropriate. Victory dances are right out. When you win, tell him it was a good game and offer him a rematch some time. If you can do it without being condescending, offer hims some advice. When you lose, smile and congratulate him. Thank him for a good game, and compliment him on some good move he made. Never blame the dice for a loss. When playing someone who you're just flat out better than, don't grind them into powder. When it becomes obvious that you're caning them, ask if they want some advice. Don't feel obligated to teach them every trick you know, but help them get to the next level. The better they get, the sooner you have a worthy opponent.

Some of these rules relax a little bit if you know you're opponent fairly well, but others are completely non-negotiable. The most important thing to remember: don't be a dick. Your opponent is there to have fun, not to provide you with entertainment. Look at my article on dice for information specifically on dice etiquette. Mav out.

Monday, November 3, 2008

War Gaming: Mobility

I realized that after posting on Friday that there was a common theme through all three of the points I made: the ability to move. Through mobility a player can seize objectives, strike at his weaknesses, and avoid his strengths.

Objectives tend to be fairly static in most war games. Occasionally you need to kill some VIP or leader type dude, but most of the time you'll be trying to get to a specific point. Mobility lets you do that faster. And the less time it takes you to get to an objective, the more time you can spend somewhere your opponent doesn't want you to be. A highly mobile unit can seize an advantageous position in the first turn, cause havoc for the next few, then on the last turn swoop down and take/contest an objective.

Striking at your opponents weaknesses is extremely easy a mobile unit. If you have a unit capable of flanking the entire opposing force by the second turn, you can basically choose whatever target you want. Target something squishy and expensive.

Avoiding strength using mobility seems like it would be the most straightforward of the three. For the most part it is. However, keep in mind that strength is relative. If your opponent charges one of your units that's weak in close combat (James T. Shootsalot) with something big and nasty (Johnny MacStabstab), he's in a strong position. However, if you counterattack with two of your close combat specialists (The Evisceration Twins), suddenly his world isn't so rosy. It's important to recognize the difference between counterattacking and the twins into a meat grinder, though. If you have more to lose from attacking him in that situation than he does, don't charge in to the rescue. A better thing to do might be wait for the engaged unit to break/die messily, then blow Johnny off the face of the table with a rocket launcher. Sorry, Jim, sometimes you have to take one for the team. Mobility is helpful here because it helps you get your shooty units into place to perforate Mr. Macstabstab.

And that's mobility. Some factions in a game have more options than others when it comes to moving fast, but everybody can take something that can move fast. Make sure you do.