The Dungeon of Grond Thus Far

I haven't done much posting this month, so I believe I'll relax a little and do some.

The players of my game are now in their 7th combat since entering the dungeon: single goblin skeleton; dire wolf skeleton; room full of goblin skeletons; bats; jelly; unknown powerful skeleton thing; and now ghouls.  I'm remarking on it because this strikes me as legitimately "old school," though I don't feel any of the combats have been illogical in the old-school manner of arranging things.  Each monster has been carefully set up to match a particular place in the dungeon, enabling them to live cheek-and-jowl in a relatively tight space.  Here's the layout (the known dungeon) for the seven fights thus far:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the proportions seem unusually tight for a standard dungeon, at least those I've seen.  The players are fighting their third combat in the same room, which is littered with bones from killing earlier skeletons, and now two ghouls, one lately made dead.  Personally, this is what I really like about dungeon design — various creatures that are trapped in rooms, which when opened allow those creatures to spread out and fill space, so that the same ground is battled over many times.  And as the ground is battled over, detritus piles up ... such as there now being furniture left all over the "main hall" where the players are, because it was being used as a "plug" to block a room.  In the middle of clearing the furniture, the ghouls attacked.

I really dislike the notion of hundred foot hallways in dungeons.  Who would tunnel that much to make a hall between two rooms that could be adjacent instead?  Note that the longest hall is a natural tunnel —  presupposing that the whole complex was a natural cave of some kind, that was adapted rather than dug out of solid rock.  The second longest tunnel reaching to the right has a reason for being long; the black/grey rectangle on the left is an shaft for a hoist, suggesting some kind of mine that the players didn't want to explore because they could look down to the level below and see the ghouls there.  In any case, doesn't this second hall also look like it might have been a natural tunnel first?

In any case, the fighting has been steady ... and I know some people think that's a bad thing, because they view combat as "boring."  Rest assured, there's been mystery also, and things that haven't yet been explained.  And of course there's the nagging question of who or what "Grond" is, why he doesn't seem to care very much about obvious treasure that's been found lying around and how the apparent takeover of a goblin lair serves his purpose (beyond his getting a lot of rothe to eat).  The party's steadily making its way forward, to learn some of these things.

Player Vacancy

A brief note, as I've just learned one of my online players has withdrawn from my campaign.  That means a vacancy.  Game is done through my Juvenis wiki, using my game rules, from 10am - 2pm MST, monday through friday.  Days off available; sometimes I take a week or more off at a time.  If you're truly committed, leave me a comment.

Battle at the Snow Gate

If you wish, you can see the new progress on the Juvenis campaign taking place, in a wiki format.  The players are in a locked battle with an Ice Toad that has just exhaled its breath weapon, while a demon fashioned of red mud is forcing saving throw after saving throw.  Already, the combat is strained, with Embla having fallen into negative hit points, while the party has issues fighting a demon that can only be hit by magical weapons, when only two of the party have them.

Juvenis Poked

Because I said so in a comment, I believe that proposal was missed ... so I will make a small note here.

I am willing to begin running the online campaign again, under the following conditions.  First, I cannot run continuously on any given day, at least not for more than a short time and virtually always at random, until my circumstances change from what they are.  This will mean that we are making progress very slowly ... but it will at least be progress.

The last scene, moments before the
combat ended.

To do it, I will be checking the campaign regularly, no less than once a day and probably at least three times a day.  If you're willing to play at this speed, I would ask that you still check the comments at least once a day and subscribe to any new posts.  I expect players will be sporadic, so if you don't show up to make a comment when it's called for, I will progress the campaign at least a little bit every day without you.  That will be particularly nasty during a combat.  Something to keep in mind.

The start up will probably be a bit slow.  We could conceivably start today ~ but I do have some Christmas chores and other things, and I wanted to write my 20th class before going to bed.  So don't expect a heap-load of responses right off.  There's no hurry anyway.

Remember that I am totally disconnected for 10.5 hours every day that I work; this week, that's Thur/Fri.  I have Saturday off.

A New Player Wanted

I have just learned that one of the players on the Juvenis Campaign has to drop out of the game.  Is there anyone who would like to step in as a player?

I warn you, this is not an easy commitment to make.  It requires someone who seriously has time during the day ~ at the moment on Wednesday and Thursday ~ who can keep watch on the campaign continuously, jumping in to respond immediately once something has happened.  Any one person who cannot keep up drags the whole campaign down ... and that just doesn't work.

It also requires someone who can express themselves in words.  Who can write as much as is needed to make their point clear.  It requires someone who can read well, who can interact with others in a positive, friendly and supportive way.

It requires someone who can handle a lot of rules and see that as a good thing.

It requires someone that the party is going to support.

It requires a person who won't be mired in old thought processes, in old ways of thinking, in prejudiced ideas of what D&D is.  My game is deliberately experimental, because it stands as an example for hundreds of readers who are reviewing, learning and stealing concepts from the ongoing game.

It requires a willingness to be publicly seen, examined and spoken about, after the fact.

That is a tall, tall order.

I have room for One person.  If two people really impress me, I could expand the size of the party to five.  But waiting on five people is even worse than waiting on four.

Anyone who already supports me on Patreon is bound to be given first priority.

I am sorry for how egotistical this post makes me sound.  Trust me: it is the present party I am most concerned about.  They have worked, strived, fought for the game they are right now enjoying; they deserve to play with the best.  So you will have to be among the best.

Your chances are best if you're sure these people wouldn't last
24 hours in the wild.

New Years 2018 - Things to Come

Here we are, New Years' Day ... and I am finishing up my tenth year of writing for the blog.  There have been so many house rules since the start, so many ideas and things I've implemented into my game.  I've written more than 2,500 posts telling people how to play, making up rules and getting into a great many arguments.  I've made bad mistakes as a writer and, occasionally, as a human being.

So, why not make a few resolutions, since today is the day for it.  By now, the Gentle Reader is surely aware that I consider designing D&D to be a journey, not a destination.  So while I will continue to work on many ongoing projects, some of which will never be finished, I also have some new ideas in mind.

I have tested the screen capture software I have on the new computer and it works.  So does the camera and mic I have, so I have made some dry runs in the audio-visual department as well.  I'd like a better mic, and have had some suggestions on that front, but that's something that can easily wait. Here's some things I am thinking about for 2018.

Vlogging

I tend to agree with readers regarding giving D&D advice via talking head.  I have disliked my own efforts in the past, even to the point of deleting them from youtube.  However, it is also true that we get better with things we practice.  I haven't had a lot of practice.  I should get more.  The right path would be to record myself every day, until it gets to where I don't hate what I'm seeing.  I'm going to try that.  Until I have some insight in this regard, I'll say no more.

The Online Campaign

I haven't talked about this with the players, but I'd like to get the Juvenis campaign going again.  Part of the reason it was a headache had to do with the speed of my old computer, which did not happily process images very well, despite the demand with multiple images for combat sequences.  Just now I am struggling with a new version of Publisher, which isn't anywhere near as friendly as the version I've used since 2007... but I'm getting the hang of it.

I should still be able to make images like this ~ even better.

Something I'd like to suggest would be trying an online game, IF the players are confident enough with their images appearing on the internet.  I considered doing it with voices only, but I think that could be confusing.  I certainly don't want to pressure anyone.  I don't think I'd give up the blog ~ but if it proved possible, the videos of the live sessions could be embedded in the Juvenis blog.

A few things about recording.  I have watched the video strategies that others have employed and I must say, I am not a fan.  Problems I have include the dullness of empty, listening player faces, as the DM prattles; nervous grinning and giggling, because a camera is running, adding nothing; competing for verbal space, as people talk over one another; an unchanging view-shot that goes on for hours, without relief; and not enough editing.

I believe that filmmakers are trying to "capture the table vibe" with this sort of depiction ... but it is awful and misses the point of playing in a game altogether.  D&D is not about staring continuously at players.  Most of your eye-movement will be centered on: a) your character sheet; b) whatever the DM is drawing; c) rulebooks or source material; and d) the face of your dice.  Yes, of course you do look at the other players, but not from a vantage point seven feet away, like depicted here:

The very proximity of the players here takes me right out of the game.  It is nothing like real game-play, where the next player's face is two shoulder-widths away.  Where most of the time, you can only look at one fellow player at a time, as you turn your head from side to side.

I've felt for a long time that properly filming a D&D game is a feat in itself.  Each player should be personally cam'd and mic'd.  The game table needs close-up shots as well; the whole thing should be heavily edited, like a film, with camera angles changing to better catch the moment-to-moment interpersonal relationships.  The example above, the most popular online game in the world, is like a cheesy set-piece in a high school play, with less authentic costumes, voice-acting and amateurish character-casting.  Stuff like the above only played on stage when the performers were super-popular jocks, who could memorize two lines before roaring, "San Dimas High School Football Rules!"

Cue cheers.

It might be interested to get players to film themselves on their cells, up close, then cut that together into the general film, but probably not practical.  I have found that my screen capture will simultaneously capture both my main screen and my secondary monitor at the same time.  I'm planning on making some tests to see if I can split the video after recording (I'm pretty sure I can, as the editing program I have will let me change a video's size quite a bit).  This would let me duplicate a second video that would show the screen with the combat maps and images, separate from the video that would show only the players.  The two videos could then be cut together, with the players' voices retaining their continuity, regardless of the editing.  I could line up another personal video of a player filming their dice or their own face, so long as the sound through their computer was consistent with the recorded sound on my own (which should be easy, and the sound mix troubles basically ignored, as I am not yet able to play with sound).

One big problem is this: how do the players see the maps and images I'll be putting on the video, while the game is going on.  I don't have an answer for that one.

On the editing front, I can edit visuals way easy, I've had hundreds of hours of practice.  It would be a lot of work to present one video of game play, but if it worked out as I liked, it would be WAY different from the shit I'm seeing on youtube.

I'll wait to hear back from Pandred, Embla, Englehart and Lothar on this one, but I am definitely going to try this with someone this year.


Podcasting

This is a different thing altogether.  Part of my podcasting experience has shown that one-person podcasts just don't work.  At the same time, I don't seem to be able to rely on any one person to put in the time and the commitment to get into a regular cage match with me on D&D (or most any other subject), for various stated reasons that I completely appreciate.

However, I think that some of you wouldn't mind having a go at me once, so here is what I have in mind.

I'd like to interview Dungeon Masters who are in the process of running a game that is, in some part, of their own design.  It doesn't have to be D&D, but I may need a primer if the game is very obscure.  My agenda would be this:

The first half of the video would be a fact-finding process.  Keeping my own opinion out of it, I would be asking how the DM got started in the game, what they liked about it, why they keep playing, what sorts of things have they learned, how are they applying those things to the game they are playing now and so on.  I'd like to provide the DM ahead of time with all the questions I'm going to ask, to ensure that there are no surprise questions and that the DM had time to prepare.  I would then run through the questions, letting the DM rule the interview, presenting their opinions and position freely and with full knowledge of what was coming.

Then, I believe I would pause the recording, and explain (based on what I had just heard) where I intended to push back.  I would want the interviewed DM to have a few moments to prepare (again, not wanting to blindside anyone), before starting the recording again.  The second part would be, then, somewhat confrontational, but hopefully in the spirit of constructive disagreement, supported by my giving warning before cutting into anyone.

Once I got a few of these recorded and edited, viewers should start to grasp the principle and intent of the interview, enjoying the conflict while recognizing that the participants did not seem to be taking it personally.  It would still be a cage match, but the agenda would be to inform and deconstruct, not to shame and humiliate.

Obviously, I can't count on any famous people to come forward and be interviewed, but I don't think that matters.  I believe that the best DMs on the internet are familiar with or reading this blog ... and I further believe that the everyday DM has more to say about the creation of a good game than celebrities would.

I haven't got questions yet, but I am researching into it and it is really just a matter of applying myself for a few hours.  Obviously, a few guests will mean a change is needed, so there's no need to feel a strong need to be exact in this regard.

I would like to start interviewing people in January; I've lined up a few people on facebook about this, but I have made no definite appointments.

In Conclusion

So, this is what my superior computer will let me do.  I'm probably biting off more than I can chew, like I did with the comic last year; but that comic was a fun ride while it lasted and I may find myself going back to something like it one day (maybe a serial; people liked that idea).  For now, here is where my thoughts are.  It is just day-to-day from here.

For the Juvenis Boys

I thought the players in the Juvenis campaign might be interested in this entry.  It can be read in full on the wiki.  It might stir a few memories and explain some of the details the party never did fully interpret.

Notes on Stavanger's Economy

A very long time ago, I wrote a series of posts that I called "never too much economics."  I have to apologize to start: if you have not followed past posts I have written on hex generation, economics and my trade system, I'm going to lose your attention very quickly.  There's nothing I can do about that.  I have been working on this method for logically calculating the structure underlying any part of my world, very large world that it is.  The work shown today represents just a few hours of work for this particular region in my game, that created for the Juvenis campaign.

I'm going to use some of the details of that post in order to address this map:

This is a part of my larger game world expanded from 20-mile hexes to 6.67-mile hexes (6-mile for short), using a hex generator I've talked about on my blog before ~ though not for a long time.

The map shows production for food, hammers and coin, similar to the same measurements for the old game, Civilization IV.  Five years ago, I defined one food as sufficient to feed 167 persons at a minimal rate of sustenance, a very unpleasant 1,700 calories per day.  We may assume that is for any period, as we're not actually measuring the weight of food, only its consumption vs. its production.

Back in the day, I also wrote that a hex with two food symbols showing should be read as the binary number "11" ~ which would be 3 in the base-ten system.  A hex with three food symbols showing would equal the binary "111," or 7 in the base-ten system.  Thus, three food showing will feed not 500 persons, but 1,167.  The greatest production on the map above is the hex surrounding Stavanger, showing a loaf and two slices, or "1111111," or 127 in base-ten, enough to feed 21,167 persons.  That's not bad, but the county of Rogaland, depicted above, has a population of 25,627.

How much food is showing, in base-ten numbers?  I may have miscounted, but I get 392 food altogether, enough to feed 65,335 people.  That is, at sustenance level.  That 1,700 calories is fairly low, so we can double that amount for the people around Stavanger and still have enough food for export.  This makes sense.  Norway is a relatively rich country, with productive forests, plenty of water, excellent soil (where there is soil) and a relatively low population.  It ought to be an exporting region ~ even if it is only enough to feed 7,040 persons at a comfortable 3,400 calories a day.  There are many more people than that in the world.

The coins showing work the same way as food.  The number of coins in a given hex show an exponential progression, so that the hex with Stavanger in it would have 63 coins (binary 111111). Altogether, the region shown has 115 coins - so Stavanger by itself represents more than half the total wealth of the region.  This, too, makes sense.

My post on coins argued for a fixed rate of 2,500 g.p. per coin showing, with the understanding the the principle of money is that it flows through the hands of people on a continuous basis.  In effect, I argued, this would mean that the total income for all the persons in the region would be three times the actual physical wealth ~ arguing for a low velocity that would correspond to a 17th century world.

I'd like to deviate from that old number, however, as it was based on an ill-proposed Player's Handbook reference.  I should be able to do better.  For this, I'll turn to my trade tables, specifically the list of goods and services that are produced in Rogaland.

As it happens, Rogaland has a very poor collection of references for my trade tables:

That is a very sad collection of things. Clearly, the encyclopedia I drew from did not have much of a description for Stavanger ~ but the trick is not to rush forward and change it, because that seems best, but to presume that the region is economically depressed, regardless of how much food it produces or the number of people.

At present, my overall trade numbers (subject to change as I add more regions) indicate that one reference is worth 941.18 gold ounces, or 7,647 gold pieces per reference.  Since the total value for Rogaland is only four times that, or 30,588 g.p., it is plain that the number per coin shown on the map is going to be less than 2,500.  30,588 divided by 115 equal 265 g.p. per coin.

With a per capita income of only 1.19 g.p. per person, we have to wonder how anyone can afford to buy books and statues from the party for 1,750 g.p., as recently happened in the campaign.  I admit, that is a problem; but I paid out that money before making the above calculations.

We can push the velocity of the money in the region by 1, to a total of 4, then presume that the total income of the region passes specifically through the hands of the merchants (along with the upper class, the nobility and the hoi polloi, as detailed in my original post).  If the merchants represent 0.1% of the total population, this makes the average yearly income for a merchant in Stavanger (they would all be in the trade town) a total of 1,190 g.p. per year.

We can also assume an accumulation of wealth, arguing that gold (and everything else that doesn't spoil) is steadily mined and added to the system, where it spreads outwards in the form of trade and ultimately collects in the hordes and savings of people.  We might argue that if 2% of the total coins in the world is irrevocably lost to monsters, lost hiding places and being sunk in the sea every year, then there is something like 51 years worth of accumulated gold pieces in the world (at that point, loss more or less equals production).  That is more than enough for an apothecary to dig into their accumulated 56,000 g.p. of wealth to buy something very special.

This could mean that the monetary assets for Rogaland are considerable, even if much less than other regions with far more references to goods, services and manufacturing.  Like any good economist, it depends on how we propose to juggle the numbers.

I think I would want to create additional regions, then spread the income over several regions and not just use Rogaland as an isolated measurement.  I'd argue that the loss of coin from the system was higher, just to reduce the pure wealth available.  I think a combination of factors could lead to a better approximation.

What we want, of course, is to be able to identify the wealth produced by a specific hex, giving us a number as to how much coin is a) regularly flowing out of that hex, if the player wishes to start a venture of some sort, and b) how much gold is buried in the hex, in terms of plundering it from monsters and/or dungeons.

This lets the gold of the hex determine how much product is sold in Stavanger, if the party decides to go fishing or lumberjacking, rather than trying to figure out specific production figures for every imaginable sort of product.  The player spends x time in this forest, which produces y amount of money per year for z number of people (determined by food supply).  This makes a very simple calculation for how much money the player can make from time spent, without the fuss of guessing how much fruit or flax or feldspar a given hex can produce.

Finally, I come to hammers.

I am at a loss here.  My old thinking has one primary problem: the system does not generate what sort of buildings have already been created, or what has been done with the hammers generally in the last 750+ years of Stavanger's existence (founded 862).  If we are only talking of the hammers being used for civic improvement, then they are only available to those who actually control the hex.  If so, I can safely ignore them for the time being.

I would like another value attached to the hammers, however ~ a problem I haven't considered for a very long time and thus also a problem I have distance on.  Since I've only rediscovered the problem in the last couple of days, I haven't even begun to solve it.

What I'd like is some meaning that is applicable to player characters at any point.  It could represent the amount of labor in the area, available or otherwise.  It might somehow represent the present existing infrastructure, but I'm not sure how.  It is easy to add it all together to get the size of Rogaland's military, the work force directly under control of the upper classes or even the amount of original created artwork that can be found (related to the bard).  I just need to think about it.