About This Blog

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This blog is simply an outlet for some of my thoughts and ideas on tabletop role-playing games.

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Gygax vs History

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 About 18 years ago, I had the privilege of meeting Gary Gygax at a special event at the now defunct Higgins Armory in Worcester, Massachusetts. The curator there was extremely knowledgeable in medieval weapons and armor, and they were able to boast at the time to be the only group of researchers in the world translating and putting into training and practice medieval German combat training manuals. The event, of course, included Q&A with Gary and a book signing. But it also featured a debate between Gary and the museum curator over the use of polearms in medieval combat. The curator held the safe and boring position that the wild and bizarre designs on polearms were strictly ornamental, or perhaps designed for intimidation, and were completely useless in combat. Gary took the position that, no, you actually could learn to use all those specialized and intricate heads. Gary was never one to take the label of "expert" lightly. Although he was well read and knowledgeable, h...
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[AD&D] Stealth Sans Skills

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A question that comes up a lot is how do you handle stealth for non-thieves in AD&D? A lot of people expect there to be some kind of default probability, less than that of a 1st level thief, but some sort of probability in the same vein as the Thief Abilities. Some veteran AD&D players simply allow the surprise check to work as a de facto stealth check, with Thief Abilities representing skill above and beyond that. But that seems to raise more questions than answers. How exactly is Move Silently or Hide in Shadows supposed to be integrated with the surprise system? There is something in the PHB to suggest that being silent would boost the surprise probability from 2 in 6 to 3 in 6, as would being unseen, and both would boost it to 4 in 6. So what do you do? Call for a hide in shadows check, a move silently check, and a surprise die roll just for a thief to sneak about? I can understand how the extra stealth skills of a thief would enhance the surprise ability, leaving the a...
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The LEDGE Method: 5 Things to Consider When Designing Encounters

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Some gamers like to play and/or run RPGs with a real story bent. And some story buffs like to take a "fractal" approach to stories, where each scene in the telling of a story is a mini-story in itself. Me, personally, I prefer to never lose sight of that roleplaying games are games. But unlike some of the prevailing theories out there, I feel good game, good story, and logical coherency actually work best in tandem. And so I think even gamers who aren't necessarily trying to create a story in their games will find these ideas make encounters more interesting. First, I'll say I have actual reasons why I feel different styles actually work better together rather than separately. It's not just a warm and fuzzy sentiment for me. It's because when I get into some heavy duty thinkers, like famous psychoanalyst Carl Jung and legendary economist Ludwig von Mises. I couldn't help but notice that the anatomy of Jung's conception of a story correlates strongly to...
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