GoblinStop

There is a lot of debate about the usefulness of electronic devices at the D&D table (see my post on using Twitter to support your D&D game).  Some Dungeon Masters swear by their use of the laptop while running an adventure.  They often have adventure notes, dice-rolling programs, and maps all saved to their hard drives for many reasons, ranging from security to efficiency.  Now with the release of Amazon’s kindle and the proliferation of the long-unpopular eBook, a new question has entered the Dungeons and Dragons technosphere: Are D&D sourcebooks in electronic format a good idea?

Before anyone says so, yes I know the content of any sourcebooks released by Wizards of the Coast is available with a subscription to the D&D Insider.  This is not what I am talking about.  I am referring to the online distribution of D&D eBooks through mainstream channels, such as the Kindle Store at Amazon.com.

There is no doubt that D&D eBooks are useful to DMs when they are preparing for game night.  However, I think using them during game sessions has bigger cons than pros.  Just about the only 2 advantages I see with eBooks on game night are cost reduction and searchable text.  Cost reduction is always a nice advantage, and searchable text would be awesome to have when looking up an obscure rule for which nobody knows the chapter or page number. 

But when it comes down to it, there is just something about having a big stack of books on the game table that adds so much to the authenticity of D&D.  Additionally, passing a book between players is much easier than clumsily passing an open laptop across the room, and having to find a place to set it as well.  Plus, whereas eBooks might one day be rendered obsolete as newer and “better” file types replace them, a book never becomes obsolete.  They are universally useful, they look great on a shelf, and they are sources of wonder and mystery that we can pass on to future generations.  Books hold a kind of magic and universal appeal that a text file on a screen just can’t replicate, and D&D books are no different.  Or maybe I’m just getting old.

So you play in a regular D&D game, and you love it, and you’re also a bit web savvy.   So here’s the big thought you might be thinking: “Should I start a website for my D&D group/campaign setting?”  Your motivations and preparation will largely affect the success of your venture.  Without thinking too carefully about the who’s, what’s, and why’s of your site, you may find your traffic as low as a kobold’s bite mark.

If you’ve ever done a Google search for anything D&D-related, you’ve undoubtedly come across a website dedicated to someone’s D&D campaign setting.  Oftentimes, these are full of maps of overland terrain and dungeons, statistics sheets and biographies for any number of non-player characters, and pages of site descriptions and historical information for major locales in the world.  The things that separate a successful campaign site from a failure are a focused demographic, good presentation, and diligent marketing efforts.

Here are a few questions you should ask yourself before deciding to spend your valuable time and energy (and even money) on a D&D-related website:

1.       What type(s) of content will I share?  Do you want to share geographic and flavor information specific to your campaign?  If so, make sure your materials are well organized and at least of decent quality.  Any world/dungeon maps should be clearly comprehensible, with features all labeled in legible, clean handwriting.  Color maps help, although not always necessary.  NPC descriptions should be free of statistics errors.  Or perhaps you want to provide a running blog of your party’s adventures, or even of your group’s experiences in a metagame context.  Remember that this requires regular updates and a bit of guerilla social marketing if you want to build traffic.  Consider offering a podcast of your game sessions available for free download.

2.       Who do I want to visit my site?  Figuring out your target demographic will help you decide how to present your content, as well as what level of depth and complexity to aim for.  15-22 year old boys who just found out about D&D 4^th Ed. from a guildmate on World of Warcraft are going to respond better to different diction, media forms, and setting styles than will 35-45 year old men who have been playing since the days of Advanced D&D 1^st Edition.

3.       What is the clear purpose of my site, and how will I market it?  If your site is just an information hub for your players to use internally, your job is easy; since you don’t care much if anyone outside the immediate group uses the site, you really don’t have to do any marketing at all.  However, if you are looking to build up an excited user base for your campaign world, and eventually publish and sell it, you will have to generate some buzz.  Join message boards, link to other D&D sites you enjoy, and some will return the favor with links to you (as long as your content is up to snuff).  Even join social bookmarking sites like Digg or Delicious, make sure you bookmark lots of interesting related-content, and occasionally bookmark something on your own site.  There is nothing wrong with this as long as you are participating in the dialogue in other ways as well.

What other tips would you give someone wanting to start a D&D or gaming website?  Disagree with any of these?

If you have played Dungeons and Dragons before, I guarantee you’ve had this conversation with at least someone:

“So what is so important about Wednesday nights?”

“That’s when my buddies and I get together to play D&D.”

“What?”

“Dungeons and Dragons.”

“I’ve heard of that.  What is it?”

“It’s a role-playing game.”

“Oh, like World of Warcraft.  My little brother plays that game for hours on end.”

“Well, sort of.  It’s actually not a video game at all…”

And then you go into a long-winded, jargon-filled train wreck of a description that no one could ever be expected to understand, and finally end up with, “Eh…it’s really tough to explain, but easy to demonstrate.

Every so often I get asked by a friend, family member, or anyone really, what exactly is this weird little game I play called Dungeons and Dragons?  Anyone who has ever played D&D knows that it is easily demonstrated but near impossible to describe accurately.  Most of us could spend hours explaining to someone the most basic aspects of the game, and they still wouldn’t get it, but 30 minutes of watching and listening in on a game session will give them a very clear understanding of how things work at least at a conceptual level.

Unfortunate, rare is the occasion when you will be able to (or want to) bring one of these people to a game session.  So, here are some examples of how I answer basic questions about Dungeons and Dragons:

• What is D&D? 
  • Think of D&D as cooperative storytelling, kind of like an improv game, only much deeper.  Each player controls a character in a fictional game world, and makes decisions about what actions he takes when presented with different circumstances.  Physical and mental prowess are expressed through statistical ratings, like Strength and Intelligence, which affect the probability of success for those actions.
• What’s a Dungeon Master?
  • The DM is kind of like the program itself in a video game.  He presents the characters with their circumstances, plays the roles of everyone in the world who are not controlled by players (including monsters), and determines the outcome of characters’ actions.  In short, the DM provides the setting in which the improv game takes place.
• How do you win?
  • By having a good time.  Since the players are (usually) cooperating to complete any number of goals, there really is no “winner.”  The game is a story that writes itself, and you can keep creating that story as long as you like.  The point of the game is to have fun with good friends, so as long as everyone’s happy, you are all winning.
• If the only point of the game is to have a good time, why not just hang out and watch a movie or something?
• Sometimes we do, when we just want to veg or relax.  But often, D&D is kind of like Chess on steroids, and we like the mental exercise of a good tactical strategy game. 
• Do you dress up in costumes and hit each other with plastic swords?
  • No.  Those are LARPers, and they actually are just plain weird.  Avoid them.  (Just kidding…kind of.)

Obviously, some of these don’t sound very conversational, so feel free to paraphrase.  There are other questions, but these seem to be the most common ones I get.

One of the biggest issues facing adventuring parties (among many others) is distribution of loot.  Who gets that shiny new thundering bastard sword +2?  Who has first dibs on the cloak of resistance (because ANYONE can use a cloak of resistance)?  Does the bag of holding really belong to any one person, or is it owned by all the characters collectively? 

Adventure sites (and the monsters that inhabit them) are absolutely dripping with loot in D&D.  Ancient monasteries, hobgoblin strongholds, and dragons’ lairs are full of gold coins, powerful weapons and armor, and curious magic items (not to mention the always-welcome healing potions).  So with all this awesome treasure, how is a group to decide who gets what?

Here are a few various methods of loot distribution that have worked for different groups:

• Gold Value Auction: The group totals up the gold piece value of all the loot at the end of an adventure, and splits it into equal shares.  Players can “bid” part or all of their share on an item, and whoever bids the highest gets the item.
  • Analysis: The big benefit here is that the player who clearly wants the item most is the one who gets it.  The negative is that a player who could use the item most effectively might not end up with it, and items could be misallocated because of this.  You could also have an aggressive player who is loaded down with magic items, but hasn’t a copper piece to his name when he needs one.
• Participation Point Auction: This is used by a lot of MMORPG guilds to divide loot after raids.  Devise a system under which players receive a certain amount of points for showing up on game night and actively participating.  Optionally, the DM could also award points for great deeds, deduct points for acting completely out of character, etc.  Then players bid participation points on magic items, and whoever is willing to pay the most points for an item receives it. 
  • Analysis: The pros here are similar to Gold Value Auction, in addition to the benefit that nobody has to spend actual gold on items.  The downsides are pretty much the same; the person who could use the item to the party’s greatest benefit might not have the points to bid on it, and items could be under-utilized.  Additionally, if you use the option I mentioned, this is subject to Dungeon Master favoritism or tampering.
• Draft: The party makes an initiative roll once each at the beginning of the campaign.  This determines the order in which magic items will be handed out.  Each time an item is found, it is immediately distributed to the next person on the list, whether they can use it or not.  It is then theirs to use, sell, trade, disenchant, destroy, etc. 
  • Analysis: This is arguably the most fair method of distribution, as it is almost completely random from the players’ perspective, and it could end up fostering some interesting choices over what to do with the loot.  However, this is the least effective method from an optimization standpoint.  The party will likely end up with greataxes carried by wizards who can’t use them, and other terrible matchups.
• Intraparty Socialism: All items first go into a “Party Treasury,” and the entire group decides (usually at the end of an adventure) who gets what items based on who can use them most effectively.  Everyone is given a small stipend of gold pieces from time to time, while the vast majority of the money stays in the Party Treasury, and is used to replace outdated gear for whomever needs it most.  My group has pretty much always used this method of distribution.
  • Analysis: The biggest benefit here is that every member of the party is as optimized as possible, and thus can take on bigger and tougher adventures, and gain bigger and better loot, and so forth.  Additionally, no one can complain about not getting a fair share of the loot, because everyone votes on every item, and it always goes to whoever can put the item to its most effective use.  The downside is that, without proper care, parties can end up as just one giant damage-dealing sheet full of statistics, and players might not inject as much personality into their characters. 

How has your party decided to share the wealth?  What methods have worked well for you?  Which ones haven’t?