Mr. Topp and the Big Bad Blog

Yes, I am on vacation. But don’t let that stop you from finding out about the newest roleplaying blog on my reading list: Playing D&D With Porn Stars.

It’s a normal enough roleplaying blog, to be honest — the writer just happens to play with strippers and/or porn stars. I happen to play with history geeks. We seem to often encounter similar issues, which may or may not be disturbing. The blog includes both brilliant roleplaying ideas and (naturally) random porn stars dropping in to play. I will note that while my group comes up with all sorts of awesome, porn stars don’t tend to drop in. Yet.

The links, of course, are not entirely safe for work. Porn, and all. You understand.

(via Bastard)

roleplaying dungeons and dragons, Other Blogs, porn, porn stars

In one of my previous games, I allowed the PCs to start at different levels based upon the amount of plot hook that they allowed me to give at the beginning of the game. They could choose no plot hook, a small plot hook (a mentor, family, et cetera), or a large plot hook (a large organization). The idea was that the small hooks would be emotional hooks; large hooks would be enforceable by the organization to which the character owed a debt.

The plan worked, for the most part. Most of the PCs chose the small hook. A couple chose no hook. One chose the large hook.

Eventually, the organization that was owed a debt by the large hook character called it in. You owe us, they said. We need you to do this.

The player balked. There were consequences.

As a GM, I doubt I will ever use that system again. The player received some serious advantages due to taking on that debt at the start of the game; I could not make the consequences insignificant as a result. Nor could I simply take away those levels in the context of the game. Wait. I could have. I would go back and change it all if I had it to do again — I hate thinking of these things a decade later.

In any case, the consequences that were settled on at the time disrupted the game in a way that I did not like. Consequences and debts are a dangerous thing if not planned in. Yet, I am a fan of them — a game without consequences is boring. While I have enjoyed playing in games where everything always works out, and the PCs can do no wrong, they are not nearly as much fun as the games where things don’t always go according to plan, and mistakes can be costly.

Every character has a background: The Wizard learned their spells somewhere. The Cleric owes his powers to a deity. The Warlord presumably has trained in a military program somewhere. They all “owe” somebody something, though that somebody might be dead, or not care — after all, is your high school shop teacher going to come and collect on the debt you owe them for your awesome jigsaw skills?

There is one class in 4E D&D which has a real debt built in, however: The Warlock. Warlocks owe their powers to a pact; some sort of agreement that they made with a supernatural agreement. When I look at the Warlock, I wonder: Who is the agreement with, and what is it for?

Most importantly, I think that this is something that should be considered when making the character, and something that should be used by the GM. What happens when the demon comes knocking?

I’ve been giving you power for years, says the Demon. Now pay up.

Does the Warlock say no? Lose their powers? I think not … though have a plan, in case they do.

The pact is central to the Warlock as a concept. Don’t wave your hand at the nature of the pact and ignore it. Bring it front and central at some point.

Consequences be damned.

roleplaying debts, demons, dungeons and dragons, GMing, pacts, plot hooks, warlocks

In 2004, Wisconsin prisons banned the playing of D&D. Earlier this week, an appeals court upheld the decision, and I have spent several days mulling this over in my head.

The rationale used for banning the game is that it forms a gang-like structure. It creates a close-knit group of players with a clear-cut person in charge (the DM), and that the violent fantasy basis of the game could lead to a divorce between fantasy and reality with violent repercussions.

Usually, I would simply scoff at this, but the ruling states that punishment is a fundamental aspect of imprisonment, and prisons may choose to punish inmates by preventing them from participating in some of their favorite recreations. No arguments here. I would not expect to be able to engage in all the recreation I currently enjoy were I in prison. Skiing, for example, would quite clearly be out.

But what of their actual arguments? Again, worrying about gang-forming and violent behaviour seems ridiculous when formed outside of prison, but inside prison could be a different manner. These are, presumably, people who have already been convicted of such behaviour and incarcerated for it.

However, the Wisconsin government has admitted that there appears to be no link between roleplaying games and increased violence or gang activity in prison — that being “divorced from reality” is not particularly induced by roleplaying games. People in such a state should be in a mental institution, not a regular prison. There are many books that could also encourage such escapism, but books are not banned — unless they contain rules for a roleplaying game. Or a shiv.

Still, that does not mean that roleplaying ought to be allowed — prison is a place for punishment, after all. However, here at the Big Bad Blog we do not understand how taking away a creative non-violent outlet from prisoners is productive to their rehabilitation; a prisoner writing a 96-page manuscript for a D&D game scenario that he hopes to run for other prisoners is doing something positive, non-violent, and for other people.

In other words, if the world inside a prison turns out not to be so entirely crazy that a D&D group turns into a gang, running a roleplaying game for other prisoners would seem to be the sort of behaviour that prisons should be encouraging, not prohibiting. These inmates will, after all, be freed eventually.

Of course, with the manner in which Wisconsin has phrased their roleplaying ban — it is not simply a ban on any sort of collective make-believe — diceless systems like Amber which depend on few stats could still be used. Inmates simply need to keep track of everything in their heads and talk.

Wisconsin prisons — and the court — seem to be missing that, at its core, roleplaying is simply pretending to be somebody else in a collective, storytelling, environment. Dice, papers, 96-page-plans, rulebooks and character sheets are just tools that make it easier. Two like-minded people free to converse can roleplay, anytime, anywhere.

Hence their ban — that inmates are not allowed to engage in or possess written material that details rules, codes, dogma of games/activities such as ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ because it promotes fantasy role playing, competitive hostility, violence, addictive escape behaviors, and possible gambling — is pointless. The activity is still permitted, so long as they do not have a rulebook for it.

Seems odd, does it not? A prison will allow prisoners to play, so long as they do not play by the rules …

The final verdict? Legal, but dumb.

Sources
BoingBoing
Inside Bay Area
New York Daily News
The Volokh Conspiracy

Photograph: Roleplaying Pro

observations and opinions, roleplaying D&D, dungeons and dragons, inmates, law, prisoners, prisons, punishment, rehabilitation, roleplaying, wisconsin

One year ago, Mr. Topp started a D&D 4E campaign for his friends. His players have all done little to no roleplaying prior to joining the game — Mr. Topp’s first experience with an entirely novice group since childhood.

We hope it makes sense to people who are not in the game itself.

It has been one year since the Big Bad Blogger has brought us new, rag-tag bunch of role players together.  I wasn’t exactly a virgin to the land of Dungeons and Dragons but I was certainly inexperienced.  My only adventure to date was when I was 16 in high school.  Our game play lasted about 4 sessions before degrading into watching strange videos brought in by our DM and generally devolving into random conversation.  I recall that my character was a mage of some sort and that our entire band of people was cursed.  The DM and most of the other players were in grade 12 and so there was a bit of an intimidation factor going on.

With this game I had a better understanding of what D&D was.  My knowledge was basically from general pop culture references and also knowing some others interested in role playing.  Still, there is a lot of input from general experience in game play that was missing.  It is easy enough to say I know what the rules are but interpreting events, goals and the actions of other characters is easier said than done.

My main concern with starting out was ‘Holy crap, I don’t want to die.’  I think this was reflected by most of those playing.  We were VERY tentative with our actions; coming up with elaborate and ridiculous plots and schemes to get us out of tough situations, which then turned out really not to be as dire as we thought.  The turning point, I think, came after our first actual skirmish.  Time for the Dice.    Within that skirmish, you figure out how everything works and the feel of the game begins to take shape and make sense.  It answered questions and sort of broke that initial tension.   We kind of knew how to handle things, what all these skills and feats were for and how to use them in a fight.  Also, how fickle a mistress the dice can be.

I should perhaps mention my character.  I wanted to be a bastard.  This was my goal, no namby pampy mage person this time. No. I was a half-elf/human, bastard son abandoned in the forest.  A rogue, thief, liar, perhaps a bit of a coward but a fun person to play.  One of my favourite moments was when A. was guest playing one day.  Her father had been kidnapped and we were supposed to rescue him.  My response, “how much do you love your father?”  Not really taken with the idea of going to rescue him.  Another when we had almost finished our first major goal in the game but were all dying very quick.  There were mages on our asses and every turn we were losing HP.  Two of our group decided to fight, I decided to get the hell out of dodge.  Screw ‘em, they are dead.   I did the noble thing and help rescue them though, so I guess I’m not all bad.

The best part of the game is the humour that Mr. Topp interjects into the game play.  Sometimes, his characters that pop up from time to time to give us advice, send us on errands or that we have to defeat are a bit intimidating but in different ways.  There are the Baddies, who are generally difficult to defeat or we have to figure out a way to steal stuff from them but then there are the one’s that are a bit…well…you don’t know why they are helping you.   My favourite character by far is Bob.  He’s a bartender in a bar that seems to be in all places at all times.  We often end up in Bearclaw and the bit of banter enters the surreal.  It’s never a dull moment with Bob.  It is many of those kinds of details that keep me interested in the game.  I like to get a sense of the entire world and Mr. Topp has more than supplied enough richness and detail in the world for my imagination to invest in.

I think as a group we have gained some more confidence but are still hesitant in some of our actions.  We are all over the fights and skirmishes but when it comes to overall strategy and plans we are more lost, sort of flying by the seat of your pants gaming.  We go where we are chased out of, fleeing from or sent on a mission to without much kind of real idea of why we made that decision.  However, I think we have a definite feel for our characters and genuinely do like playing them and interacting with each other in the game.

We’ll see what happens in year two.  Will we get the Orb?  WILL WE? All I know is we are going to Germany and everyone has paid me back the gold I lent them.  I have shuriken and enough arrows to last me awhile.  I’m a bit afraid of G.’s Axe as it seems to be possessing him and making him insane but we’ll jump that hurdle when we get to it.  Onward to year two!

roleplaying 4e, D&D, dungeons and dragons, fourth edition, learning to roleplay, new players