Kinak Talks Games

In which I talk about games, food, geeky media, cute animals, and whatever else I feel like.

[kinakgames]

With the alchemist out of the way, it’s time to look at their unlettered neighbors, the barbarian.

What I Like:

I think a lot of player-side book keeping is out of flavor with the barbarian. The Playtest barbarian moves away from rounds-per-day and the number crunching modifiers of the Core Rulebook barbarian. (Pathfinder Unchained did resolve that part earlier at least).

The totems are fun and flavorful, although I’m sure my players will find plenty of reasons to ask for different anathemas. I particularly like that the giant totem lets Amiri, the iconic barbarian, actually work.

The changes to attacks of opportunity (NPCs generally not having them, specifically) have let the barbarian move around a bit more like I felt they’re supposed to. Their maneuverability counts has counted for than just closing into fights a bit faster.

What I Don’t Like:

Fatigue is a really complex condition, which I don’t like throwing at new players of what is the conceptually simplest class. Thankfully, we went entire sessions (even in the combat-heavy Doomsday Dawn) without it becoming relevant.

The new rage they’re testing as of update 1.6 brings fiddly number crunching back in, which is unfortunate. And flat checks, except as in-game representations of pure luck, sort of grate.

Some of the language of barbarian abilities is pretty unclear, like actions that are phrased as static abilities (in Internal Fortitude and Raging Courage). More than some of the other classes, it needs some polish.

Closing Thoughts:

I have a very particular view of the barbarian, where I really want to be able to hand a brand new player a barbarian character sheet and let them get off to the races. The Playtest gets really close there, far closer than P1 ever got.

And, in Doomsday Dawn, we’ve had a new player cleaning up with the barbarian from 1st through 17th level. They felt appropriately barbaric and had more interesting options than P1 barbarians while also not getting overwhelmed.

So, overall, very happy with the barbarian.

[kinakgames]

Now that the P2 Playtest document is pretty solid (the last of the biweekly updates is out) and we’re finishing up Doomsday Dawn, I’ve been thinking about reviewing the classes. And, thanks to the magic of alphabetical order, we’re going to jump in with the alchemist.

What I Like:

Alchemists actually craft things now rather than acting as second-class spell casters. And they really do use alchemical items, particularly after update 1.6, as higher level bombs were introduced (rather than relying on the alchemist’s abilities).

Mutagens are both entirely optional and more flexible now. And you can share them. But I’m mostly happy they’re just optional, I’ve always been on the hunt for archetypes to trade them away in P1 and now no longer need to.

The original version of the P2 alchemist relied heavily on resonance, which was odd for an ostensibly non-magical class. But ow they have their own resource pool functions a lot more smoothly.

What I Don’t Like:

Alphabetical order is a harsh mistress. I really don’t like alchemist being the first class in the book. I’d much rather have it be something (like barbarian) that new players can read and understand easily and, if something later overwhelms them, default back to.

Poisons, although much improved from P1, are still pretty complicated and don’t really seem to do enough. The poisons shouldn’t be afraid of just dealing damage, causing ongoing damage, or having a save-or-suck effect akin to what spells use.

It’s sort of a weird complaint, but Vancian casting (preparing your exact spells at the beginning of the day) only really made sense to me for the alchemist. And now they don’t use it. Which is more a complaint about the wizard, cleric, and druid.

Closing Thoughts:

As the new core class in P2, the alchemist is going to get a lot of eyes and I’m not sure it stands up to them yet. It has worked fairly well in play for us, but it’s pretty complicated and the uses for different alchemical items aren’t immediately clear by reading the class (because they’re off in the treasure chapter).

Now, I don’t think that’s entirely fair. We’ve put up with spells being in their own chapter for decades, making many classes containers filled by the content in other parts of the book. But, fair or not, I think it’ll get judged on that basis.

The alchemist would play out a lot smoother if the basic functions were baked into the class (and class description). More complicated poisons and so forth can stay in some other chapter, but abilities to create basic bombs, serums, and damaging poisons would let a player get off the ground without digging into another section of the book.

That said, the alchemists we saw in play had fun and I think it’s a great addition to the core classes. I just hope they can get the presentation squared away for the final book.

[crazyhermitdm]

Level 17 is respectable

[aboleth-eye]

Level 14, not dastardly but there’s always next session.

[feebledungeons]

Level 17!

[kinakgames]

Man, 19th.

Just one more level, but eight people is a lot.

[retrogamingblog]

Choose your class

Kirby D&D Class Stickers made by SushiChan

[kinakgames]

<(”<) (>”)>!

[worldanvil]

Hey guys! WorldAnvil hasn’t been around very long, and we’ve been on tumblr for even less time. We wanna meet some mutual blogs who share our love of worldbuilding writing, RPGs and everything geeky. So if you have a writing, D&D, worldbuilding, OC, etc tumblr, or love being creative please reblog us - we’d love to find you! If you don’t know about us already, WorldAnvil.com is a worldbuilding tool - like a wiki taken to the next level, just for worldbuilders, for all your OCs, D&D characters and fictional worlds. We only launched 7 months ago and we’re excited to meet you all!

[kinakgames]

Building Metroplexity, Twilight Heroes, and Vathak. So everything from supernatural cyberpunk to comedic superheroes to cosmic survival horror.

And I run a lot of Pathfinder games, so excited to poke around the tool. Nice to meet you :)

[jimzub]

what would you say were catalysts for you pursuing storytelling? were there special books or movies or a games that sorta made you stop and really consider that career path?

I grew up reading superhero comics and fantasy novels, watching cartoons, and playing 8-bit video games. All of those have influenced me in different ways, but the biggest influence on me as a creative person is Dungeons & Dragons.

Playing D&D with my older brother and cousins had a huge effect on me. I was small and scrawny so we couldn’t play sports and even when we played video games their hand-eye coordination was way better than mine, so it was no contest. When we played D&D though, it was completely different. At the gaming table we were equals. My die rolls and ideas were as good or better than anyone else’s. Coming up with a fun bit of strategy and making the other people at the table laugh was incredibly empowering for that nervous little Zub. 

When my brother went off to university, I started running tabletop RPGs for my friends and that propelled my excitement about making stories even further. Coming up with characters, places, and stories helped me gain confidence as a storyteller.

After high school I went to college for Classical Animation and, when I graduated, I worked in animation as a layout artist and designer, but that need to build new stories was always there, waiting under the surface. It wasn’t until I started writing my own stories again that I felt like I was really playing to my strengths and, fortunately, I’ve been able to build on that and make it a successful second career as a comic writer.

D&D and other tabletop RPGs lit a creative fire in me that’s still burning to this day. It’s my biggest influence and it’s also why I’m so damn proud to be writing official Dungeons & Dragons comics now. It feels like I’ve come full circle and I can hopefully share some of my excitement for the game with a new generation of players and DMs.

[giveashit-aboutearth]

Last days you can register to vote for the 2018 midterms in all 50 states:

Alabama: OCT.22rd

Alaska: OCT. 7th

Arizona: OCT. 9th

Arkansas: OCT. 9th

California: OCT. 22rd

Colorado: Election day.

Connecticut: OCT. 30th

Delaware: OCT. 13th 

D.C: OCT. 16th

Florida: OCT. 9th

Georgia: OCT. 9th

Hawaii: OCT. 9th

Idaho: OCT. 12th

Illinois: OCT. 9th

Indiana: OCT. 9th

Iowa: OCT. 27th

Kansas: OCT. 16th

Kentucky: OCT. 9th

Louisiana: NOV. 17th

Maine: OCT. 16th

Maryland: OCT. 16th

Massachusetts: OCT. 17th

Michigan: OCT. 9th

Minnesota: OCT. 16th

Mississippi: OCT. 9th

Missouri: OCT. 10th

Montana: OCT. 9th

Nebraska: OCT. 19th

Nevada: OCT. 9th

New Hampshire: NOV. 6th

New Jersey: OCT. 16th

New Mexico: OCT. 9th

New York: OCT. 12th

North Carolina: OCT. 12th

North Dakota: Election Day.

Ohio: OCT. 9th

Oklahoma: OCT. 12th

Oregon: OCT. 16th

Pennsylvania: OCT. 9th

Rhode Island: OCT. 7th

South Carolina: OCT. 9th

South Dakota: OCT. 22rd

Tennessee: OCT. 9th

Texas: OCT. 9th

Utah: OCT. 7th

Vermont: Election Day.

Virginia: OCT. 15th

Washington: OCT. 8th

West Virginia: OCT. 16th

Wisconsin: OCT. 17th

Wyoming: OCT. 22rd 

Please register online if you aren’t already. Check your registration and your friends. Lots of people don’t have much time left to register! Don’t wait until the last minute! 

Register to vote ONLINE NOW!

[bylillian]

Memes are all very good, but to get the assholes out, you have to VOTE.

[kinakgames]

Jump scares aren’t always bad and today I took a possibly-too-deep dive into what we can learn about them for RPGs. Check it out if horror’s you’re thing.

[wesschneider]

Terror Tracks: Music in Horror TTRPGs

This is a rework of an article I wrote in 2013. I’ve added some sources, but others might be a bit dated. Additional scores and suggestions welcome! 

You can also hear the gist of this preamble in the recording of “Something at Work in the Soul: Horror in RPGs” from Orcacon 2018 

Silence: Ambiance’s Weak Spot 

I won’t run horror tabletop RPGs without background music. They need it.

More so than other games with their looping tracks from The Lord of the Rings or Conan, horror games absolutely require background music.  

Is that strange? In a genre filled with innocents creeping across creaky floorboards and screams piercing still nights, is it weird to use music to fill every breath-holding moment?

If you’re making a movie, maybe (and even then only maybe). In the TTRPG game you’re running, though, absolutely not.

In any horror game, a absolute goal of your work as a GM is to build an appropriately creepy ambiance or atmosphere. To do so, you’ll use your story, lurid descriptions, whispered conversations, dimmed lights, a whole bag of spooky tricks. But in all of it, your greatest enemy is silence.

That’s because, once a pause hits, once you’re not forwarding the plot, once a player’s not speaking in character, like a mist, the ambiance starts dissipating. Too quickly, the players realize they’re not on rain-slick parapets fleeing the hungry night, they’re in your game room. They remember they’re just playing, they might even realize they’re tense, and in that situation they might do what most humans do when they’re tense: try to break that tension.

Gamers do this with Monty Python jokes.

Monty Python jokes KILL AMBIANCE DEAD. 

Horror Behind Your Words

So what to do? Never slow the game’s momentum. Never look up a rule. Never use the restroom. Never break the session. Lock all the doors. Run the game until either its over or you are.

Or, give yourself some backup. 

Low, subtle, constant, appropriately creepy music provides a steady drumbeat of atmospheric agreement to your story.

While you’re describing the indescribable, it’s an ominous pulse, nodding along, seconding every terror you reveal. 

Even better, though, in the pauses, it’s still there. It’s the dread that lingers even when you’re not building it, it fills the space and holds the atmosphere, helping to keep players in the moment when you can’t.

There are a thousand tricks you can play once you’ve incorporated music into your game—volume, looping, manipulating attention, Pavlovian responses, avoiding recognition—but that’s a discussion for another time. With appropriate selections, the score to your game can do as much to create a memorable experience as your storytelling itself. But, your music has to work for you.

Dread Accompaniment: Horror Music Playlists

Not all horror is alike. The world-destroying marches of Godzilla’s score would never work if you subbed them in behind the visuals of Ringu. Hellraiser’s score works for Hellraiser, The Thing’s score works for The Thing, and trying to swap them would be a mess. The music has to encourage the atmosphere you’re trying to create. If it doesn’t, it might actively work against your story.

As the director on Pathfinder’s Carrion Crown Adventure Path, I wrote several forewords that included my suggestions for music that reinforced the themes of those adventures and that highlighted a specific horror genre or general concept. (The associated films also make damn fine viewing if you’re looking for a specific vein of inspiration.) For ease of reference, I’ve expanded on those playlists here, each with suggested artists, albums, and (where possible) links to help emphasize certain ominous moods. Obviously, these playlists are not all-inclusive; just some of my favorites that have worked well for me in the past.

Use these next time you’re looking for something to enhance the atmosphere of your most sinister TTRPG games, those sessions when you really want to leave  your players dangling from the edges of their seats.

General

Beal, Jeff: Carnivale

Dead Can Dance: The Serpent’s Egg, et al.

Elfman, Danny: Red Dragon

Haslinger, Paul: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Julyan, David: The Descent, The Prestige

Kilar, Wojciech : Bram Stoker’s Dracula*

Navarrete, Javier: Mirrors, Pan’s Labyrinth

Newman, Thomas: Castle Rock

Söderqvist, Johan: Let the Right One In

Yamane, Michiru: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, et al.

Zimmer, Hans: Hannibal*

Ghosts

Carlos, Wendy & Elkind-Tourre, Rachel: The Shining

Carpenter, John: The Fog

Giacchino, Michael: Let Me In

Henifin, Steve: Eternal Darkness

Midnight Syndicate: Gates of Delirium, et al.

Newman, David: Serenity

Revell, Graeme: Below

Yamaoka, Akira: Silent Hill, et al.

Young, Christopher: Drag Me to Hell, The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Zimmer, Hans: The Ring

Terrors of Science

Alwyn, Kenneth: Bride of Frankenstein

Rachmaninoff, Sergei: Prelude in C Sharp Minor, Op.3, No.2

Aufort, Cyrille: Splice

Band, Richard: Reanimator

Beltrami, Marco: Mimic

Bergeaud, David: The Outer Limits

Burwell, Curt: Gods & Monsters

Davis, Carl: Frankenstein Unbound

Doyle, Patrick: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Shore, Howard: The Fly

Savage Horror

Donaggio, Pino: The Howling

Elfman, Danny: Nightbreed, The Wolfman

Frankel, Benjamin: Curse of the Werewolf and Other Film Music

Haslinger, Paul: Underworld (and sequels)

Kanno, Yoko: Wolf ’s Rain Soundtrack 2

LoDuca , Joseph: Brotherhood of the Wolf

Marianelli, Dario: The Brothers Grimm

Morricone, Ennio: Wolf

Powell, Andrew: Ladyhawke

Horrifying Resurrections

Carpenter, John: Village of the Damned

Goldsmith, Jerry: The Mummy

Elm, Bill & Woody Jackson: Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare

Heil, Reinhold & Johnny Klimek: Land of the Dead

Isham, Mark: The Crazies

Morasky, Mike: Left 4 Dead

Murphy, John: 28 Days Later

Revell, Graeme: The Crow

Suzuki, Kota: Resident Evil 5 (Related Resident Evil 7 OST)

Taïeb, Jean-Pierre: Frontiere(s)

Alien Horror

Bates, Tyler: Slither

Beltrami, Marco: The Eye

Carpenter, John: Prince of Darkness*

Elfman, Danny: Mars Attacks

Goldenthal, Elliot: Sphere

Graves, Jason: Dead Space

Horner, James: Aliens

Howard, James Newton: Signs

Kurzel, Jed: Alien Covenant

Morricone, Ennio: The Thing*

Shortner, Clinton: District 9

Subtle Horror

Bell, Joshua: The Red Violin*

Bishara, Joseph: Annabelle, The Conjuring

D’Ambrosio, Marco: Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust*

Fjellström, Marcus: The Terror

Glass, Philip: Dracula

Goldenthal, Elliot: Interview with the Vampire

Jones, Trevor: From Hell

Kid, Jesper: Assassin’s Creed 2: Brotherhood

McCreary, Bear: 10 Cloverfield Lane

Reitzell, Brian: Hannibal (2014 series)

Tartini, Giuseppe: Violin Sonata in G minor

Zimmer, Hans: Sherlock Holmes

World Ruiners

Benyacar, Simone, Craig Stuart Garfinkle, Veigar Margeirsson, & Daniel Nielsen: Requiem for a Tower

Brower, Russell, Derek Duke, & Edo Guidotti: World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

Debney, John: End of Days

Desplat, Alexandre: Godzilla (2014)

Glass, Philip: Candyman

Goldsmith, Jerry: The Omen

Ifukube, Akira & Sagisu, Shirō: Shin Godzilla

Jackman, Henry: Skull Island

Mancell, Clint: The Fountain

Young, Christopher: Hellraiser

Zimmer, Hans: Inception

(* - Personal favorites, especially recommended)

[rpgsandbox]

(twitter thread)

[dr-archeville]

RPGs are for Everyone

[kinakgames]

There’s a lot of great stuff here. And some social justice from around the year I started playing.

Have I mentioned I love this hobby and the people in it?

[kinakgames]

Sundays over Vathak - The Issue with Insanity | fatgoblingames

Madness is a common note in horror stories. In gaming, we tend to associate it with Lovecraft, but psychological horror is an entire subgenr

Ran into one too many "insane cultists" and went of for longer than I really should have. I think it ended up pretty good, actually.

[kinakgames]

Ran part 1 of the PF2 Playtest adventure last night. It took us a few weeks for schedules to line up, so we rushed a bit through the story to test the crunchy bits.

I'll be avoiding direct spoilers, but I’d still suggest stopping if you plan to play part 1.

What I Liked:

The characters largely felt the way the players wanted them to. The goblin giant totem barbarian felt like a little ball of rage with a giant weapon. The cleric of Nethys felt like a healer with some magical firepower. And the sorcerer felt like the glass cannon its player had wanted.

There’s a sort of multi-part story sidequest baked into the dungeon itself. I love this from an adventure design standpoint and hope we see more like it, both in the playtest and in future products.

It may sound like a weird detail to like, but I’m so glad low level enemy ACs are more in line with expectations now. First level combat being a miss-fest was one of the worst parts about starting a campaign to me.

What I Didn’t Like:

The combats ran very quickly, which is awesome. But the number of rounds were very low, which made it a touch rocket-taggy and initiative rolls were too important. That may have been a party composition thing, though.

Related to that, our paladin didn’t quite work. A combination of poor initiative rolls and the paladin’s reactive nature left him unable to use some key abilities. That said, he still contributed by killing plenty of stuff, it just didn’t capture what the class promises.

There are some goblins in the adventure (not really a spoiler), that I didn’t feel had the tone I expected. I could have done a better job making them zany, but I didn’t have much to work with.

Wrapping Up:

I’ve played a couple of demo sessions, so the action economy being awesome didn’t surprise me. Otherwise, it’d definitely be on the “Liked” list. Even in rounds where you’re casting a spell or attacking twice, there are some interesting choices baked into that last action.

Similarly, the increased mobility is something I already knew. But I hadn’t played it in really cramped conditions before and it can still get pretty gummed up. That doesn’t sound like a compliment, but the fact that play feels very different in tight rooms and open spaces is a huge plus.

The survey itself was sort of an interesting dive. Lots of questions I was expecting and basic data on how the game flowed, but also lots of interesting feedback on how exactly the party interacted with the adventure.

We’ll have more time to dive into the story for Part 2 next week. Nobody balked at jumping in with a new wave of characters, which I think speaks to the ease of character creation.

[kinakgames]

I don’t talk about Metroplexity much here, but I’m in a bit of a festive mood since we just hit our tenth anniversary.

It started out as a game of the not-too-distant future inspired in places by Shadowrun and Planescape: Torment. There have been a lot of times where the dark future felt too close for comfort, but it’s been a lot of fun and I’m really proud of the community built up around it.

And, if luck holds, I’ll have another ten years to add even more stuff to it, as long as there are players that want to peer into odd visions through their web browsers.

[outofcontextdnd]

You previously faced a wolf pack. Now you face a wolf stack.

The DM (via outofcontextdnd)

It’s like a wolf pack, except you can only attack the most recently added wolf.

[zemestoun]

[actuallybestrpgideas]

Knife Theory

Original post from u/jimbaby on r/DnD 

When writing a character’s backstory, it’s important to include a certain number of “knives”. Knives are essentially anything that the DM can use to raise the stakes of a situation for your character. Anything that can make a conflict personal, like a threatened loved one or the appearance of a sudden enemy. They’re called “knives” because the players lovingly forge them and present them to the DM so that the DM can use them to stab the player over and over again.

The more knives a player has, the easier it is for the DM to involve them in the story. So it’s important to have them! When breaking down a backstory, it kind of goes like this:

Every named person your character cares about, living or dead (i.e. sibling, spouse, childhood friend) +1 knife [EDIT: a large family can be bundled into one big knife]

Every phobia or trauma your character experiences/has experienced +1 knife

Every mystery in your character’s life (i.e. unknown parents, unexplained powers) +1 knife

Every enemy your character has +1 knife

Every ongoing obligation or loyalty your character has +1 knife

Additionally, every obligation your character has failed +1 knife

Every serious crime your character has committed (i.e. murder, arson) +1 knife

Every crime your character is falsely accused of +1 knife

Alternatively if your character is a serial killer or the leader of a thieves guild, those crimes can be bundled under a +1 BIG knife

Any discrimination experienced (i.e. fantasy racism) +1 knife

Every favored item/heirloom +1 knife

Every secret your character is keeping +1 knife

You kind of get the point. Any part of your backstory that could be used against you is considered a knife. A skilled DM will use these knives to get at your character and get you invested in the story. A really good DM can break your knives into smaller, sharper knives with which to stab you. They can bundle different characters’ knives together into one GIANT knife. Because we’re all secretly masochists when it comes to D&D, the more knives you hand out often means the more rewarding the story will be.

On the other hand, you don’t want to be a sad edgelord with too many knives. A buttload of knives just means that everyone in your party will inadvertently get stabbed by your knives, and eventually that gets annoying. Anything over 15 knives seems excessive. The DM will no doubt get more as time goes on, but you don’t want to start out with too many. You also don’t want to be the plain, boring character with only two knives. It means the DM has to work harder to give you a personal stake in the story you’re telling together. Also, knives are cool!! Get more knives!!!

I always try to incorporate at least 7 knives into my character’s backstory, and so far the return has been a stab-ity good time. Going back into previous characters, I’ve noticed that fewer knives present in my backstory has correlated with fewer direct consequences for my character in game. Of course, this isn’t a hard and fast rule, it’s just something that my friends and I have come up with to help with character creation. We like to challenge each other to make surprising and creative knives. If you think of any that should be included, let me know.

EDIT: I feel I should mention it’s important to vary up the type of knives you have. All 7 of your knives shouldn’t be family members, nor should they be crimes that you’ve done in the past. That’s a one-way ticket to repetitive gameplay. Part of the fun is making new and interesting knives that could lead to fun surprises in game.

[rpgs-are-neat]

I love this! I’ll be introducing this concept to the 2 (count em, TWO) groups of new players I’m DMing for now.

[chandri]

This is so incredibly well-put!

[kinakgames]

There's always a temptation, especially in horror games, to make our characters fortresses. But we're there to be scared, aren't we? So make sure to include some knives.

One advanced trick is to use your knives to choose the types of horror you want. If you enjoy paranoia-fueled psychological horror, some blackmail material and nebulous secretivr enemies are a great way to go. And if your group is up for child endangerment, younger sibling and student knives let the GM know.

[kinakgames]

Today’s PF2 sorcerer preview is one of the most exciting previews for me so far. Is it because I love sorcerers? I mean, yeah, sorcerers are pretty great and  spontaneous casting is my favorite.

There are lots of good little changes, like feats that'll hopefully be more interesting for casters and squaring their spell progression with wizards, but the big change I’m talking about is bloodlines giving access to different spell lists. That's a brilliant way to add a lot of flexibility for basically no complexity.

But what I’m really excited about has more to do with clerics. Clerics have had two weird flavor problems for me, going back decades into the mists of D&D’s past.

One is that prepared magic feels really weird for most gods. Abadar or Asmodeus? Fine, fill out your spell list in triplicate. But miracles feel like they should be more off-the-cuff things. The divine soul and oracle eventually fixed this, but it’d be nice to have a solution in the core book.

The other is the martial feel the cleric gives. Back in the day, clerics had a very strong crusader influence, which persisted despite the addition of the paladin. But, while that’s appropriate sometimes, it’s also a flavor miss with the vast majority of holy and unholy figures I imagine. Sorcerer’s armor and weapon proficiencies just fit far better with the image.

So, adding a line of text to bloodlines has given me my favorite cleric in decades. That’s a pretty damned exciting design.