The European Edge

I promised to talk about Zoroastrianism but rest assured, I'm not going to go deep into it.  If the reader knows nothing at all about the religion or about Zoroaster himself - or Zarathustra, as he's sometimes called - then it's worth digging into the subject, if only to get a conceptualization of a lot of the crap that permeates the texts of both the Bible and the Koran.  However, we'll leave all that on the shelf.

 Of a sort, Zoroastrianism is a strongly observational religion combining elements of alchemy (the conception of the four elements, earth, air, fire and water) with the perceived difficulties that every human faces of whether to perform acts of good or bad.  This is then mixed in with concepts of predestination, creation and existence, some of which are distinctly twists upon Vedic philosophy (Hindu polytheism).  Whereas virtually all the details about the order of the universe and matter are deeply in error, one gets the feeling from reading extensively into Zoroastrianism that the founder and his immediate adherents were trying.   After all, we're talking about an obscure period sometime in the early to mid first millennium, BC.  We shouldn't expect a profound scientific revolution.

This post intends to address a minor point associated with the religion that has been ascribed to Zurvanism, a Persian cult within Zoroastrianism that is responsible for giving us the concept of the Magi.  These are theological thinkers that are mentioned in Herodotus' Histories and also by Aristotle and other Greek writers.  The reader will immediately note the obvious connection between the title and 'magic' - and indeed this is the origin of the word.  The Greek magos, meaning a conjurer or a charlatan, became applied to individuals who read palms, omens and who performed slight of hand, so that 'magician' became any person who could stupefy an audience with such tricks and insight.

Stories arose of the Magi being wise, causing the insertion of the "Three Wise Men from the east" into the Christian myth.  The three stars in the belt of the constellation Orion were called the 'Magi' up until the Middle Ages in commemoration of the event (the stars point at Sirius which was widely considered to be the 'star' that they were following).  The Zoroastrian cult that arose in Rome was that of Mithra (which many will remember from the Conan series as the cult of magicians).  Mithra, curiously, was known to have been born on December 25th - and in many parts of the eastern Roman Empire was heavily associated with the saviour Christ. A diligent study of religious iconography post-Zoroastrianism will turn up all sorts of these things.

But consider my D&D world that takes place in this same environment, with much of the same history.  Suppose that we argue that the Magi were not merely religious hacks wandering about doing card tricks.  Suppose magic is something that's real . . . and that the presence of the Magi in my world's ancient history actually references the moment in time that magic was invented.

I know that many players have given very little thought to the logic that an existing magic would be a technology, just as any other development would be.  If magic were real in our world, the origin of that magic would certainly be a major subject in universities (which would seem strange to our eyes, no doubt).  We only give little thought to the concept because magic isn't real . . . and therefore it's origin as a failed philosophy is of very little interest.

Given that it is a D&D world, however, and that characters and their enemies can use magic, we must suppose someone, at some point in time, created the first spell.  No doubt it was a cantrip, but it would have led to a radical revision of the world and its potential.  In my world, that individual who stumbled upon the first form of humanly controlled magic was Zoroaster.

Now, if the reader will allow, I will point out once again (as I explained yesterday) that there are no human cultures in the New World.  Even if there were, they would have crossed the land bridge between the Old World and the new long, long before the birth of Zoroaster.  In my world's case, no human ever did cross that bridge.  My Siberia is full of hobgoblins and norkers (which I perceive as a sort of caveman goblin/hobgoblin that goes back 15-20 millennia in time).  When the humans in my world emerged out of Africa, their descendants ran into these non-human cultures and were turned back.  Therefore, no diaspora into North America, no native human races at all in the New World.

Those races that do exist in the New World have had very little contact with the cultures of the Old.  They would have had some contact with their personal gods, however, so we may grant a developed religion among the Inca and Aztecs, as well as the other races I mentioned in my last post.  However, no Zoroaster, no magic.

So, just as the real Europeans entered the New World with guns that the natives had never conceived, in my world the Europeans possess magic.  That is their edge.  The Bokkeer may have telepathy, but this is a genetic development, not a learned skill.  The Helsith may transform as they age, but once again, they have no control over this.  Wild magic exists everywhere, but the technological construction and adaptation of magic, in the form that we call spells, that doesn't exist except where the breakthrough in logic has occurred.

Thus, a small town of 700 Spaniards can thrive amidst a culture with several hundred thousand natives.  Of course, there has to be considerable care taken, as the potential for Tucapel is far, far greater with these more dangerous non-human races.

Cultures in Paraguay

Making a map isn't enough.  Presuming the party will someday be wandering about the area, it's necessary to create some sort of culture that will infringe upon their actions while promoting new ideas and adventure possibilities.  Supernatural mojo and monsters in the Chaco, lost temples and whatnot stashed in the jungles of Brazil won't do it (sorry JB).

Let's look again at the map I posted yesterday, with a few added labels:

Helsith, in the upper right, corresponds roughly to Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul.  Supay, to the department of Santa Cruz in eastern Bolivia.  If the reader will look closely, there are four small enclaves that can be found in the vicinity where indicated as 'Spanish Missions.'  These represent the few localities that I could find as founded before 1650.  Spanish occupied Paraguay (in 1650) consists of this:

That is, the small area surrounding Asuncion (upper left) and the Misiones district (right).  This consists of nine centers, most of which were small missions, Jesuit and otherwise.

The remaining localities shown on the map are all 'native' cultures.  Of course, none of these are human cultures.  I had no interest in filling the new world with human populations, which would be quite boring - and for the most part I'm not that interested in Amerindian culture, except where that culture became relatively advanced, as with the Aztecs, Olmecs and Incas.  I realize this creates a strongly anti-politically correct stance: I'm simply taking most of all that and throwing it in the trash.  I imagine there would be some who would find that remarkably insulting.

Nevertheless, I believe my world is better for it.  If I'm going to place cultures that the Spanish must face in my world, I would much rather those cultures be as unusual as possible - and somewhat removed from traditional D&D races, as well.  The rest of this post will be about those cultures: the Helsith, the Supay, the Bokkeer and the Guarani-Neembucu.  I feel I must point out that all of these, and what is below, were conceived entirely in the last three weeks, somewhat forced upon me by realizing I would need to fill up the map with non-Spanish creatures.

The Helsith

Here I do borrow from the Monster Manual, but with a twist.  The Helsith are lizard humanoids, somewhat like 'lizard men' from the book.  The development of humanoid lizards for the Amazon & Parana jungles is logical . . . but of course there are several lizard species, so we can easily imagine several manifestations of humanoid lizard cultures.

'Helsith' describes both the creature and a large kingdom, but for the purpose of this post I will refer to the creatures as 'Sith' to keep it simple.  Helsith represents a very old culture, dating back 6000 years, with its source in the upper Guapure river in modern day Rondonia.  It has a high population with many large cities above 15,000 creatures, so it is a considerable political force in the continent.  Note that the Spanish settlements are nowhere near Helsith.

The Sith are differently behaved depending upon their age.  The young are far less threatening, being about 5-6 feet in height, having typically around 7-14 hit points, attacking with bite and claws, being fast moving and full of energy.  As the Sith age, they grow considerably in size, until being around 9 feet tall - but as they age, they become wiser, less interested in raiding and conquest, much more ponderous in nature and slower-moving.  However, their hit points increase into the 60-80 range and they attack only once with a devastating biting attack or with weapon.

This tendency towards patience as they age makes the elder Sith more approachable and appreciative of the necessities of politics and negotiation.  It means that parties are far more likely to encounter the hot-blooded younger form, as they raid surrounding areas without much concern for things like treaties or good relations.  At the same time, it also means these younger raiding parties tend to lack strong, intelligent leaders - for as the Sith shed their skins, they simultaneously grow wiser and cooler-tempered.

The Supay

These are a passive, highly social group of humanoids developed from the Capybara, far more intelligent and organized than typically conceived rodent humanoids.  In shape they are somewhat like dwarves, with barrel-shaped bodies and large trunk like legs.  They have a strong, flexible neck and they attack with both weapon and bite in combat.

On the whole, they don't seek wars with their neighbors.  They occupy the area around the Spaniard missions and are friendly with the Spaniards because that is the Supay nature.  If pressed, they prefer to retreat into the Chaco swamp rather than fight; this works well for them, since they live much of the season in temporary bivouaks in the wild, often abandoning their established stone villages for months at a time.

They will also act as intermediaries between different cultures in times of war, as they are highly trusted and known for their fair dealings and honesty.

The Bokkeer

This represents a master-slave culture among cats, where they masters are highly intelligent humanoid jaguars.  As humanoid cultures go, the master Bokkeer are far more jaguar than humanoid, commonly moving onto all fours in attack rather than using weapons.  They are far more intelligent than most of their neighbours and highly reclusive, there being only nine highly isolated settlements where a large number of them dwell.  Even at that, only 10% of the population will be masters.  The remainder, the demi-Bokkeer, are displacer beasts (which are semi-intelligent).

Each master Bokkeer will share a telepathic connection with up to 20 demi-Bokkeer, which will attack at the Bokkeer's instigation if so directed.  Masters do not share demi-Bokkeer and cannot control those of other masters, so the culture tends to be based upon the intellectual power of a master to control so many underlings.  Even the weakest masters will control at least four demis, making the least of them considerably dangerous.

Thankfully (for the Spanish) the Bokkeer are not especially territorial and are somewhat tolerant of other creatures.  So long as they are not personally threatened, they are willing to correspond, trade or even aid travellers - but they are excessively distrustful of large numbers or any show of weapons or personal protection.  Any number of interlopers above ten, especially if armed, are sure to get attention . . . this will usually mean a watchful eye from creatures designed to move silently and quietly through the natural vegetation of their lands.

The Neembucu & Guarani

A note before I start; the name 'guarani' is stolen from the actual human native that dwelt in Paraguay before the Spanish.  I'm not above using a good name.  No other association should be assumed in its use here.

These two cultures surround the north and south sides of the Spanish incursions in Paraguay.  Both are not humanoid in any way, but are rather Entish in design.  However, unlike the great and powerful ents from Lord of the Rings or European conception, these creatures are much smaller, much more bush-like in form and far more communal.  (My players, once told about them, immediately tagged them 'Bushents.'  Snigger).

Guarani and Neembucu differ in vegetative form.  The Guarani are spreading, full shrubs atop low trunks, with large leaves.  They prefer high country and deep valleys.  The Neembucu are more akin to bottle trees, with fat trunks topped with a small collection of branches.  They like innundated glades.  Both forms are less than 10 feet tall (3 meters) and typically possess 6 hit dice.  

I don't see these creatures as 'protective of trees,' since I view ordinary trees as unintelligent and therefore competition for good water and comfortable glades, where the Guarani and Neembucu would prefer to dwell.  Thus, ordinary trees tend to be displaced in favour of settlement.  These settlements tend to look like well tended copses of trees, filled with carefully designed canals or levees, rice-paddy like shelves in hillsides or low stone dams to create a shallowly flooded plain.

Like most other races in the region, these tree-cultures are passive and respectful of others - but they vastly outnumber the Spanish, who must be very careful not to cause an uprising by the Guarani.  There simply aren't enough Europeans in the region to 'conquer' much of anything.

A Few Additional Thoughts

So how is the Spanish survive?  Remember, this is D&D, so I allow no firearms or muskets for the Spanish to possess, while these races are clearly advanced in engineering, social design and military power.  They are also considerably greater in number than the real world native population (Santa Cruz and Mato Grosso were hardly occupied at all, which helped the Spanish and Portuguese to choose those areas for settlement).

Well, the answer to that question will come with the next post . . . and it begins with Zoroastrianism.

Issues in Mapping Paraguay

Paraguay is the first map I've added to my game world that is south of the Equator.  This became the first problem I had to manage in mapping the region, because it meant having to figure out the dimensions of the sheet map in reverse.  I'll explain.

In choosing a map projection that would work best with a hex-design, I went with the world viewed from the two poles.  I've explained this before regarding mapmaking, but giving a quick explanation, the world is like two sides of a hexagonal coin, the top and the bottom.  I don't have an image of the world depicted as a hexagram (more's the pity) so I'll have to show two circles instead:

This means that the distortion is greatest towards the Equator . . . but I solve this problem by having the inhabitants of the planet dwell in an illusionary haze that supposes that the world is a sphere and that the universe acts in accordance with that supposed truth.  It is important to always remember, this is my D&D world, not a pure representation of any so-called 'real world' that may exist elsewhere.

Because I've been mapping in the northern hemisphere, I'm used to designing my maps leading away from the north pole, thus managing the distortion the hex-map creates habitually with this in mind.  To map a portion of the southern hemisphere, I had to reverse my thinking and design the maps leading towards the south pole, since I did not want to turn the map upside down in representing it (we're used to having north be generally at the top of the map, even in the southern hemisphere).  This actually gave me a headache.  It is difficult to explain why - since I can't express the problem fully in my own mind.  Let's just say it made it hard to determine the exact shape of the sheet maps regarding that 60-degree turn that happens as one circumnavigates my hex-map world (see the mapmaking link above).  Thankfully, Paraguay was not on a parallel that required that turn.

Once figuring it out, however, I began laying out the hex elevation details for the necessary maps.  In a close-up view of either this new map on the wiki or this one, there are little numbers in the corner of every hex.  This is the elevation in feet above sea level for that hex (though there are variances within the hex that I have to imagine, though that isn't important right now).  If the number is in italics, then this indicates the highest habitated elevation in the hex (not the highest point, just the highest point at which people live).  Numbers not in italics represent the lowest elevation.

In making any map, I have to start by diligently placing these numbers in every hex.  Initially, every hex is tagged with the lowest elevation; the black circles on the maps linked above indicate that these hexes do not contain rivers and that the numbers should be altered from highest to lowest.  The difference this makes gives a good indication of the elevation changes from hex to hex, aiding in the maps representing the world.

The more information I have regarding elevations, the more precise I can plot the course of the rivers.  With Paraguay, the plan was to determine the basin of rivers that ultimately drain into the region - the Parana River from the east, the Paraguay River from the north and the much smaller Pilcomayo River from the west, among other smaller tributaries.  To do this, I needed to know where the continental divide existed between the Paraguay-Parana basin and the Amazon basin, to the north.

This proved difficult, because much of central South America is empty.  Very, very empty.

Google Earth helps with this.  I could tell from images that most of the Amazon basin leading up to the heights of central Mato Grosso is full of hills and low mountains.  I could then speculate that the dividing country between the river basins was mostly hilly jungle - human access is dependent upon river travel.  Therefore, virtually anything for which I don't have data (meaning there are no habitations there) could be counted as inaccessible higher altitude jungle.

This is a bit obscure.  Let me show the size of the Paraguay-Parana basin by showing the dimensions of what I needed to lay out in order to determine it:

Looking at it in one piece for the first time (I've been looking at it in seven sections), it actually looks smaller than I supposed. Ah well.  It still makes the largest river basin system I've mapped, so that's something.

The scattering of green hexes across the top of the map are those hexes for which I have no information for the latitude/longitude of that hex.  The hex is therefore colored to either be a highland (dark green) or a lowland valley (light green) in accordance with the vegetation.  The greenish-brown hexes in the Paraguay map on the previous post indicate a Chaco vegetation, what's called a xerophytic open forest (on this post, it is similar to the image for 'Di - caatinga,' except that it's much flatter and much wetter).  The darker green hexes represent a galleria-type forest, a mix of tall grass and jungle trees, a sort of dense savanna.  South Mato Grosso and all of Mato Grosso do Sul provinces correspond to that circular area of pink-orange (the upper Paraguay basin), something I'm pointing out because mato grosso in Portuguese means "thick bush."

Steadily, with Google Earth, the data I could use from the hexes I did have information for and a little fudging here and there (it is my world, remember; I can fudge if I need to), I did get the various limits of each basin (Pilcomayo, Paraguay, Parana, etc) worked out.  After that, it was just a matter of calculating the river sizes and drawing the rivers out.  Well, sort of.

See, I felt I had to plot some of the towns in Mato Grosso and eastern Bolivia in order to get those rivers properly placed (a bit more information helps).  Brazil was easier, the upper Parana valley is well inhabited.  Plotting towns means investigating towns, researching their origin and establishing their political backgrounds.

Now, I absolutely wanted a Spanish/Portuguese presence in South America, so I felt that any town that was founded before 1650 had to exist, regardless of the circumstances.  1650, incidentally, is the historical year on which my world is based - and there are many Spanish colonies founded before that year.  None of them, however, happen to be in Mato Grosso . . . or eastern Bolivia and western Paraguay.  Or eastern Paraguay, for that matter.

In Part II of this post, I will write about what I did about that.  Making a map of Paraguay isn't enough.  Some considerable thought has to be applied to what lives there.

Paraguay

This is a present for JB at B/X Blackrazor.  The explanation for its appearance can be found on this post's comments.  I have gotten more views directed from JB's blog than any other, except direct from Google - so thank you, JB.  Keep the viewers coming.

Did not take me months after all.  I started this the day I finished Burma, Oct 22.  So, three weeks and a day:

I finished this about 20 minutes ago.  I would write about it now, explaining this and that, but I'm actually running a game at 6pm, 19 minutes from now.

So this is a teaser.  I'll write about it as soon as I can.  And put clearer maps on the wiki for it.

Sad

I'm learning new definitions for stupidity.

Each night at work, I take my break out the back door of my restaurant workplace.   The same area serves as a smoking place for patrons, so there is a prominent ash basin where I sit.

This next part applies to both human behavior and stupidity.   The distance between the ash basin and the alley back of the restaurant is about 40 yards.   During a 15 minute break, an average of three to four desperate people check that ashtray.  About one in 20 find something.   I presume these people check about 20 ashtrays behind restaurants to get a butt.

This gives me pause regarding the basic principles surrounding the sustaining of life by conserving  energy. Screw the ill-health caused by smoking. These people haven't grasped the matter of surviving long enough to get cancer.

Why We're Not Great DMs

I have been speculating about the enthusiasm expressed by the fellow at the Edmonton Expo two weeks ago: "I would like to see how you run a game!"  He was remarkably dramatic about that, given that we'd spoken for less than 15 minutes.

The speculation has cluttered my mind because it is not the first time this sentiment has been declared in the last few months.  I've heard it several times, perhaps four or five, one of which inspired this rather vicious post (that was followed by two insightful dissections, here and here).  The ire that emerged in writing that post has been part of the speculation as well.  I find myself wondering why I was angry; and I find myself thinking, if I had possessed the time or the wherewithal to actually show any of these people, what would I do?  That is, to impress them.

DMing is not whipping out a guitar and reproducing Free Bird's bridge to prove one's talent.  It isn't performing Howl at the drop of a hat or demonstrating Bergerac's skill at improvising degradational poetry.  Nor is it a solo performance, bestowed upon the party with pomp and sotto voce.  DMing is, as I wrote once upon a time, jazz.  A form of imagination jazz where there is no audience.

This, I must reckon, is where the anger smoldered underneath the post I wrote.  There is a sense that the player imagines that somehow the great DM will - from some supposed pool of wisdom - a fully-formed adventure.  Naturally, this shall then progress throughout the evening with unimaginable grace - because that is how great DMing works.

The expectation of instantaneous production of campaign wonder has escaped my scrutiny.  It has lurked here on the blog all this time but it has never been directly addressed.  I speak of working and developing a campaign and carrying the drama and immersion to the players all the time.  Yet I don't say, "Oh, and by the way, this is going to take several runnings."  I don't say it because, fundamentally, I pretend that everyone understands this.  When I meet people for whom several runnings is something unwanted, my instinct is to dismiss them.  As voices, as players, as anything having to do with bettering the game or my personal world.  I rank such people - people who play games for one night - with stage performers who don't rehearse, musicians who don't practice and writers who resent grammar.  I dismiss these people because they don't count.

However . . . when I speak to a new DM with new players in a new world, I must confess that my advice has never included the words, "You don't win your players over with one running."

That ought to be the first thing I say.

I do field that question regularly: "I'm new at this, I want my players to like my game, I don't know what I should concentrate on," etcetera.  I usually promote starting with a familiar system and getting more familiar with it.  I encourage expressing to the players what the DM is trying to do.  I promote booting players who deliberately seek to upset the game.

But let's put all that on a back burner.  I don't do any of that stuff, do I?  I'm insanely familiar with my system.  My players already know what I'm trying to do and I know how to convey that without having to hit my players over the head with philosophy.  And I rarely boot anyone, because I don't have those kind of players.

Step-by-step, I've built a game approach that bypasses the need for disclosure, by attempting to involve players as much as possible with their own characters and, in turn, the agendas of those characters.  This approach allows for time spent - I expect a new player to spend at least three solid runnings in my world before there's any chance of their being invested.  Therefore, I do not waste time with quibbling failed ideas like bribery, optional skills, nifty toys or promises of great power or success.  I encourage new players to believe that the world is harsh, dangerous and indifferent, making strong suggestions that making wrong choices in initially developing a character will lead to dire, near-guaranteed consequences of death.

Why?  Because I want the players to feel they're getting into something bigger than they are.

Immediately we start rolling up a character for them.  I remember when I used to roll up characters for the old school games we played, how simple and easy they were.  I do not have my players roll up simple characters.  Rather, I dump great piles of detail on my new players immediately, giving them a load of class skills and a complex character background with no choices (except where they happened to fix their ability scores), telling them, "This is what you are.  This is what you can do.  This is what's happened to you.  Deal with it."

Why?  Because I want my players to be stunned at the depth and detail they're encountering, making them feel inadequate and thus immediately dependent - not upon me, because I don't have the time, but upon their fellow players.  I want every new player to wallow in considerable mounds of new intelligence and uncertainty, because it promotes a sense of doubt and insecurity.

Insecurity will quickly drive the sort of players I don't want from my game.  It will be too much trouble for them, too much annoyance, particularly where it comes to other players and their similar issues.  Good players, on the other hand, will see opportunity and a desire to better themselves as players in order to live up to my expectations.  They will love and adore the detail and respect the work that went into creating it.  They will appreciate my efforts and be more willing to grant my words legitimacy in light of what I've already demonstrated.

Then the new player is shown the equipment list.  They take their 90 or 245 g.p. and find themselves facing a massive excel list with 1500+ items on it, organized in a confusing fashion.  If they beg for something simpler, I remind them that market towns and their goods are not laid out alphabetically.  Again, the player is overwhelmed: omg, where do they start?

I haven't even started running them in the game yet and already they are well behind the curve.  If they're going to beat the curve, they're going to have to try.

That's the crux of it.  That's why this post is titled as it is.  Because I am not a 'great' DM if I have no players who are willing to try at being players.  When I start off the campaign, I'm anxious to see who has the gumption to try.  That is why my campaign is likely to start off something like this:

It is early afternoon on a Sunday, May 5, 1650. Four of you are resting yourselves on the porch of a town gasthaus, the Pig, at the corner where a narrow lane meets with the town square. You‘re waiting for your friend Kazimir to arrive. Not long ago, you watched the usual scattering of most of the citizenry from the town cathedral’s doors from your usual place across the square…whereupon the gasthaus threw open its doors for business. A number of stalls and tables were quickly erected by teams of young boys in the employ of their merchant masters, a goodly number of them against the side wall of the church, where you can the usual piles of vegetables and sacks. Various less blessed members of the town are picking them over, haggling with the sellers and stuffing their bought wares into sacks to be hauled off to the various common quarters of the town.

The bartender, Helmunt, fills your drinks at no charge. Upon an agreement, the four of you have been given the privilege of drinking free in exchange for your endorsement, your willingness to put an end to any trouble and the simple fact that you represent the higher end of Helmunt’s clients. He has hopes that your presence on his front stoop might expose the quality of his kitchen to a few of the better members of the town.

You’re bored. This has been the routine for nearly two months now. You four, Tiberius, Josef, Delfig and Anshelm, met on a cold morning in mid-spring (for the region), finding yourselves all stranger, fairly compatible with one another and equally of the opinion that many of the vicissitudes of life are unappreciated by most. At the moment, however, you could stand a few more changes than there have been.

What have I said?  Have I described anything like an ordinary gaming module?  Absolutely not.  Why?  Because I don't want to give my players an even break.  I'm not a cruise director.  All I'm willing to say is that you're here and you see things.  Deal with it.

No, seriously, deal with it.  Get off your ass.  Do something.  Figure it out for yourselves.  I've been running the game for a long, long time.  You can be damn sure that any sort of adventure you've ever read in any module, ever, exists in some manner in my world.  Your problem is to pick the adventure and then go get it.

I am not a great DM.  Neither are any of you - particularly if you're the sort of sad fellow who thinks drumming up a two-dimensional adventure and presenting it as a drive-through two-hour "experience" at a Con makes you "great."

I have great players.  Players who rise to the bar, who clear it.  I have those players because I make the bar insanely high and then I show no remorse whatsoever.  Want to play?  Be ready to spend time.  Lots of time.  Be ready to get addicted.

We're not great DMs.  At the end of the day, we might manage to chair a great game.  Which is actually better.

Labour

I should be clear about this: I'm not too busy to write. I'm too miserable.

The shock of coming back from something like the Expo to a world where I'm cooking for a living has been hard to suffer.

Why? Because of answers like I heard the other night. Someone expressed a desire to holiday in Jamaica and immediately received the answer, "The drugs are great there."

These are not my people.

I'm am increasingly of the conclusion that the real trouble with marijuana is the potential it has to encourage people to remain uninformed in a world where the only subject that holds their interest is when the next opportunity to smoke comes.  I do have empathy for these poor people.  The time they spend working is, in some ways, worse because on the whole they're jagging for their next hit.  Which explains why they talk about it constantly.

On the other hand, I'm thoroughly convinced they are blessed with less brain activity overall . . . while I am stuck in endless fleeting thoughts I can't sit and evolve in my mind due to small, endless distractions.

Maxwell mentioned in a comment yesterday that the Burma map was probably a matter of grind, grind, grind.  He's right.  The Burma map proves I have time to write blog posts.  I'm drawing back from these because I know - as this post is already proving - that I'm becoming more single-minded about certain issues.

Really, how much of this self-describing shit does the reader need to see?

So the days go by, I work on obsessive projects and wait for the economy to change, so I can find an office job again and get the hell off my feet, returning to a world where people are polite to one another and speak in whole sentences.  When that happens, my stress will fall, my bank account will grow and I'll find the motivation to think through a creative process, building arguments and proposing functional changes to my world and the greater game.  Just now I feel so dry on those matters that it has become a form of misery.  I want my brain to kick in and think of something new - which it would usually do, as people who have read this blog can attest - but the brain has run down and there is no foot around to kick it.

Physically, I'm great.  I've lost about 25 pounds in six weeks, most of it around my waist.  I'm tightening my belt two holes smaller than I did in August.  For all the lack of energy I have, shoving it into the workplace, overall I'm stronger and probably fitter.  It's a terrible exchange.  I'd rather be fat, on my ass and thinking than thin, on my feet and dead-headed.  On the other hand, my partner has expressed her pleasure at the new, smaller me.

So there's that to be grateful for.

Burma

Well, this didn't take long.  Largely because there is so little historical information about Burma online (due to it being run by a fanatical, murderous, highly ignored by the West government that may be supported by the C.I.A. to enable them to obtain large quantity drugs they can sell in the U.S. in order to support their actions without needing to go to Congress - or so I've been told).

Enjoyed this.  Not sure what part of the world to do next.  I may, for fun, work on the source of the Nile.  No good reason, but what the hell.

The wiki has information for the Map Key. Updated sheet maps on the wiki can be found here:

F 12 - Namkin
G 14 - Irrawaddy
G 15 - Laos
H 16 - Andaman Sea
H 17 - Gulf of Siam

Enjoy.

Pursuing Failure

I was thinking yesterday of the old chestnut, "Do not be afraid to fail."  Sometimes these things retain their merit even though we hear them so often that the cease to have meaning.  Yes, yes, right, strive hard, work, try new things and don't be afraid to fail.  Got it.

We should really look at those words as often as we have the time.  Translated, they also mean, don't play it safe.  Don't do the same things that were done before.  We have too much a tendency to repeat our efforts based on "what works," as though what has worked in the past automatically exempts us from any responsibility to find what might work better.  Or differently.  Or with profound, unexpected results.

Gaming is like that.  If our campaigns are built too solidly upon what has always worked in the past, they bind us in a straightjacket.  We are limited.  Our games grow into participations in tradition and dogma, making the 'transformative experience' of gaming into the square-peg into round-hole problem.

Just a daily thought for the reader to ponder upon.

The Edmonton Con in Review

There, I'm back from the Edmonton Expo and rested.  I'll start by saying hello to Barry, Rob, Hanna, Luke, Geoff, Chad, Alison, Mike, David, Jordan, Ryan, Alexandra and Jim, along with the many others whose names I am sorry to have forgotten, though they must admit that we did only meet that one time.  Send me a comment, an email or a tweet and remind me, hm?

In total, we sold 89 books - 41 of the big How To Run, 26 of the How to Play a Character and 22 of the Dungeon's Front Door.  We ran a deal of all three books for $50 and I'd say about two thirds of the big books went from the table with two little companions.  We also talked to many people who were more interested in finding the ebook online.  I'd guess we sold about 1/3rd the people we talked to.

The biggest surprise came from learning that we had not purchased a little table in Artists' Alley for the show, but a 10x10 foot booth in the middle of the t-shirt and poster sellers.  This was way more room than we expected to decorate and as such we were a big, barren hole as far as eye-candy was concerned . . . except for my daughter in a first-rate Sailor Moon costume on the first day.  She had trouble going to the bathroom without getting swamped by photographers.  As we had other plans than the expo for Saturday and Sunday she decided to skip the costume - and it needed work anyway.  The sleeves were a bit too tight and were giving her blood blisters on the upper arms after a day of selling.

The size of the booth did wind up working for us, as it gave a big sitting area for our friends and guests.  It also meant we could handle a larger crowd of people in conversation and it gave more time for people to roam along the table, see what we were selling and stop - whereas a shorter table often loses people.  My daughter and I are both aggressive sellers, however, so we were dragging people back to talk to us all the time.  Role-players are forgivably shy about admitting it.

As far as we could tell, we were the only booth in the whole Expo putting out any material on table-top role-playing.  There was a panel discussion on role-play yesterday (explaining why we had a 40-minute dead zone in the middle of the day) and one of those panelists would find us a couple of hours later, much to his great surprise.  Great guy, can't remember his name, and we talked for about twenty minutes.  Had an annoying habit of constantly looking over my shoulder as I talked to him and of hedging his opinion on things with statements like, "Depends on the campaign" and "Some DMs can handle such-and-such."  Clearly trained in not pissing anyone off.  At the end of our conversation he expressed a great interest in seeing me run an actual game, but being late Sunday afternoon there wasn't any time to arrange for something like that.  Expressed a strong desire to buy the book, made an excuse about his wife having the money, went to find her but he never came back.  Not sure if it was a good meeting or not.  Ah well.

I'd love to be on one of those panels - but I'd probably spend half the time smacking the other panelists for endlessly failing to give solid, sound opinions or express absolutes in their statements.  Like politicians, they seem far more concerned about their reputation than about the improvement of the game - and as anyone here knows, my reputation has always come second (or fifth or twenty-third) to my passion.

But wow, that would be fun!

Sunday was our best day.  It was rushed to the last, as people we'd seen all weekend returned at the last moment to make their final purchases.  It's terrific when someone buys a small book on Saturday, only to come back Sunday saying, "I read it and I want MORE!"  With sincere emphasis on the last word, I can tell you.  It's terrific too when someone says, "I've seen everything and you have the best thing here!" as we stand in our barren, empty booth.  But hey, books are a universe unto themselves.

We really want to go to the Ed Expo next year.  I hope to have finished two books, ready for selling, by then - with posters to match and a ready presentation for the much larger booth.  Hell, the big booth in Edmonton was less money than the Artists' Alley table had been in Toronto - which was why we were really surprised.

Sorry I haven't pics of the cosplayers at this time; they weren't taken with my phone, which had some issues throughout the weekend with power, so I'm waiting for my daughter to send me what she has.

Phew.  I wish like hell I could do a Con every weekend.

Three Books for Sale at the Expo

Because I am getting many, many page views from people who are finding this blog through the Edmonton Expo, I will write briefly on the three books I will be selling at my table.  Prices below are for Edmonton Expo customers only.

Cost: $30.  How to Run (customer reviews) is literally what it says on the cover: an advanced guidebook for understanding and expanding a skilled DM's existing ability to run their world - whatever that world might be, as the book is in no way genre specific.  The book is as applicable to The Masquerade or Rifts as it is to D&D, because it addresses the dynamic between DM and player, not in-game ideals.

We are all in a position where we are striving to manage both ourselves and the players, while presenting the best possible game we can despite our limitations.  Game play is mastered through a practical use of time, an understanding of goals, the mastery of the game's immersive qualities and our most intrinsic motivations.  These elements of game play are universal - and they are, for the most part, wholly ignored by game manufacturers.

I have written a book that discusses role-play the way an academic treatise would discuss a subject among professors or the way that a trade manual would discuss the subject among masters of that trade.  There are thousands of practitioners of role-playing games who are wallowing, uncertain of what they are doing, particularly because there is no standard by which they can judge themselves.

Therefore, rather than present a series of things not to do, the book concentrates upon those things that a DM does that work - and why they work!  I believe that by firmly understanding why a particular running succeeded, a DM can build upon that understanding and ultimately learn to reproduce that result over and over.  The book How to Run proposes to give that understanding.

Cost: $12.  How to Play a Character (customer reviews) is a collection of essays discussing elements of character development, game settings and the social development of Dungeons & Dragons, along with elements of satire and humour.  It features a challenging, insightful viewpoint of a grognard, me, that has dedicated virtually of his life to the game.

And because most of that time has been spent in serious disagreement with the game's mainstream, the content of my mind expressed in these pages will prove to be well outside what the reader would normally expect to find.  The reader will take note, I don't see Dungeons & Dragons as a game, but as an personal expression, a form of performance art, in which participants are enabled and empowered to investigate and comprehend parts of themselves in exactly the way we imagine artists do.

Players are, in the strongest sense, creators.  Creators of character, creators of circumstance, creators of a destiny, contained inside a structure that enables them to seize a moment in time and make it their own.  This sense of gamesmanship that I have permeates the pages of this small but enthralling book, one that promises to be consumed greedily.

Cost: $12.  The Dungeon's Front Door (preview) is my latest book, published this year.  It is a series of essays focusing upon the underground dungeon: its structure, its biology and sociology, its purpose in the game and most important its opportunity for fun and humour.  With this book I've struggled to identify what it is that makes the dungeon an iconic, compelling feature in D&D role-playing, hoping to enable the reader to reinvigorate their dungeon adventures and look at them anew.

I simply don't believe that the traditional game can dismiss the importance that dungeons have for players and for the opportunities they present - and at the same time, as with all things, I tend to look at dungeons askew from the usual tricksterism that's constructed of traps and clever rube goldbergs.  My view is that dungeons are small, profound worlds unto themselves, allowing for endless variety for player and DM alike.  I believe firmly that this book accomplishes the goal in expressing these possibilities.

There we are.  Three books, all available for sale from my table at the Expo beginning Friday morning.  Come around, have a chat, talk about your hopes and dreams and we'll see if we can't raise the bar for your players higher than they've dreamed!

Running the Table at the Expo

I've just finished my packing for the Expo.  Two days from now I will be registered, my table prepared and compatriots in Edmonton well met.  I will be anxiously awaiting the next day's start.  As anxiously - more! - than I am waiting just now.

I'm reading over my notes from last year's Toronto trip.  I remember a sea of faces and few names.  I remember clearly the fellow I sold my book to by proving there were no pictures.  I remember one of the two grognards arguing with me about the legitimacy of the book; the other's face is vague.  I wonder if either has bought the book by now.  There have been many sales in Canada since then.

Giving full disclosure on sales, making the opportunity for some of my readers to laugh out loud as they realize how paltry are my successes, I have sold 341 copies of the How to Run book.  209 of these have been sold through Lulu and the remainder have been sold by hook or by crook on my own.  I take comfort from the fact that it is an expensive book, meaning that gross sales are really not that bad.  Obviously, I would like to have sold ten times the number - but there's always the future.

For example, the next six days.

A year ago I wrote that I felt validated as a writer and that it was evident that the gaming community was looking for the sort of book I had written.  They're still looking for it; I sold a copy of the book online yesterday.  I will probably sell a book tomorrow (if not How to Run, then How to Play a Character or the Dungeon's Front Door).  I wrote that there was a tremendous underground community that has little or no interest at all in the WOTC or the nitpicking nonsense that dominates online discussion.  I am so looking forward to talking to these people - my people - again.

I was casting about for something else to talk about surrounding conventions.  I was thinking about the people surrounding us who had also plunked down hundreds of dollars for the privilege of running a table.  For some, like me, it's an opportunity to get the word out there.  For others, it's hard-core sales.

The twenty-something woman on our right side in Toronto owned her own button-making machine, so that day and night she does nothing but churn out unique and interesting designs pressed on metal.  She did a booming business, though she had no supporting partner to help her out.  Those were long days for her, working days.  When talking to us, without her game face on, it was clear she was fairly jaded where it came to the event itself.  She didn't care what was going on around her, what the people were there to see.  She was there to sell buttons, period.  Nevertheless, she was a pleasant neighbor.

The people on the other side were artists.  The boy, about 19, was there to support the woman who was in her 40s.  She had developed a technique of coloring prints with multiple kinds of tea, dipped or exposed on pressed cloth or paper in a variety of ways.  This then complimented her drawing skills, so that a line drawing of a landscape, cityscape or small study featured an intricate and enticing collection of spatters, splotches and striations, in purples, golds, chocolate browns and so on.  The fascination level for this work was high, very high, and the people it attracted were absolutely not role-players, so we didn't step on each other's toes.  The real pity was that the woman did not charge as much as she should have for the pics (she could have easily doubled her prices) and she did not have any gift for actual sales.  It was driving my business-minded daughter crazy listening to this woman drop potential sale after potential sale merely by failing to emphasize that the things people were impressed with could actually be purchased.

It was evident that some of the people there bought tables just so they could have a place to sit between adventuring around the expo.  Pay money for a table, create a pretense for being there and it provides four easy days of roaming around, with the respect of having a table pass that gets you in early so that all can be seen without the crowds.  For many, it's worth the higher price.

Many there were clearly bored out of their minds.  They didn't have anything of interest or substance and they didn't have the will to 'harass' potential customers as they passed by.  I tribute a lot of our success to our willingness to engage with the passers by, sitting on a high stool that put us at eye level without seeming like we were trying too hard.  Say hello, nod at the people, smile at them, say encouraging things about their costumes, remark aloud on anything that goes on and always be friendly and willing to answer any question, especially those that have nothing to do with what's offered at the table (people are always stopping to ask friendly people for help in finding the bathroom).  My daughter picked up a little puppet wolf that would sit on our shoulder while we manipulated it with our hands (marvelous gimmick, the device allows for small finger movements to move the wolf's head up and down, back and forth).  This was a great draw.

I brought along a cover rendering of the book a meter and a half high and a meter wide, that dominated the space behind us.  The words, "Role-playing Games" on the cover would be just above my right shoulder as I sat on the stool (in about 48 pt font with the size of the poster) and I could see the eyes of a passing browser zero in on those words and react.  Whenever that happened, from the reaction to the words I could guess if the browser was likely to buy.  That's the thing about people who love role-playing games: they are always looking for something.  The words themselves are magic; they're so adored and yet so rare that just seeing the words makes the heart jump.  I've experienced that myself hundreds of times, just from seeing a copy of the DM's Guide in public or hearing half a sentence that tells me the conversants are discussing D&D.

My best pitch, then, is to be friendly and ready to talk openly and strongly about the product.  I have no trouble at all pitching my books.  I love the things.  I'm like a parent talking about their child's chances for playing at the professional level based on the catch we've just seen.  Hold back from telling people about my book?  Wait for them to ask?  But . . . but . . . that doesn't let me talk about the book all the time!

I'm very much looking forward to three solid days of talking about my books.  Unapologetically.  The reader here is just a little tired of it because you hear me talk of them all the time.  But these will be strangers.

My mother had it all wrong.  Strangers are the best people to talk to.