Introducing: The Tinkerer

Player: Mr. Bond

A time traveler from the near future who's escapades stranded him during the industrial revolution until he managed to build another time machine using the older technology and then found himself at the Worlds End Tavern in Sigil.

He is wearing a hat that acts as a portable boiler for steam power, Brass goggles with night vision, light adaptive objects, and a range finder. A perpetual motion machine and Handy gloves which have tiny robotic tool hands that sprout from them. He is wearing a Magnetic belt which he can use to deflect or attract metal objects directed his way, but more importantly they hold up his TARDIMP, Time and Relative Dimensions in My Pants.

He can wield his Sonic Spanner in melee if needed but prefers his Pistol or Tesla Cannon.

New Group

Finally! I have found a new group to DM and I'm jumping all in balls deep with them with an idea I've been toying around with for a while, which is the planescape campaign, except extended to include more time periods instead of being stuck at the approximate technology level of renaisance europe. Instead this planescape will be much more true to the original concept of Planescape being the center of the multiverse.

Now trully I can tell people that they can be any character they want and really mean it. Future Posts will be about the team roster.

Player Driven Vs. DM Driven

When the question is asked how many ways to play D&D, you will usually get an exhaustive list of play styles like Hack and Slash, Monty Haul, Exploration, etc... but these are more thematic styles than actual styles of play. When someone asks me the same question I say that there are two true styles of play, and that things like Powergaming and Roleplaying are just preferences within one of the two play styles. The two styles are DM Driven games and Player Driven Games.

DM Driven Games are what most people are used to. They have a DM that prepares an adventure or perhaps runs a pre-made adventure, that establishes the world for the players to interact with. If the first person to speak in game is the DM then you are probably playing a DM driven game. In a DM driven game, the DM usually presents the scene to the players, who then react to the DM's description.

Example of Play:

DM: You are in a long corrider made of hewn stone. 30 feet ahead stands a large Oak Door. The walls are covered with a purple mold which glows dimly.

Player: I open the door.

DM: The door opens revealing a large circular room with a fountain in the center. Along the walls are statues of armored men and women carrying spears and shields.

Player: I drink some water

DM: The water tastes of almonds, suddenly your whole body begins to feel hot. As your throat swells up you struggle to breath. Gasping for air you lie on the floor like a caught fish, powerless as the poison takes effect.

Player Driven Games are the opposite of DM driven games. Instead of having the DM provide the situation to the players, the players provide situations for the DM. Many people do this to an extent, usually when the players are in town and are getting supplies and such.

Example of Play:

Player: Where am I?

DM: You are sitting in a tavern.

Player: I look around what do I see

DM: You see several customers at various tables nursing their drinks and avoiding eye contact with each other.

Player: I stand up on the table with a tankard raised and shout "Bottoms up me fellow travelers, the Ale is on me!"

DM: Everyone applauds you and soon the tavern is awash in merry drinking songs.

E6- A look at Level Capping

There's a great little variant of D&D that is going around called E6, which is linked here. Play testing the game with a level cap of 6 really does do wonders to the way players play the game, but the same principle can be used to keep your campaign power level where you want it.

The primary reason for setting the epic level cap so low in E6 was to demonstrate the difference in power levels between what would be your typical medieval farmer (Com 1) and 'epic' heroes of level 6, and also because the D&D 3.5 game is incredibly well balanced at low levels but breaks down at the higher levels. Instead of leveling, the characters gain feats indefinitely, which allows characters to grow without them becoming walking piles of numbers.

This does not mean however that you can't use the 'capping method' at different levels to suit your needs, but be aware that the higher you cap the level, the less of an effect it will have. E8 and E10 games both offer distinct advantages and disadvantages that should be explored by any DM worth his salt.

In all, the 'capping method' is a great quick fix to the 3.5 system that can be implemented with little to no effort since it doesn't modify the rules too much.

First Blog

Well here is my first Blog and I really don't have anything to say right now but I figure making the blog is the first step in actually writing one. I hope to use this blog to share my knowledge and experiences with Roleplaying Games mostly.