GoblinStop

The Apple iPad debuted yesterday to mixed reactions.  While many championed its HD-ready touch screen, feather-weight sleek design, and decidedly reasonable price, much criticism was made claiming that the device is more of an iPhone than a Mac.  Regardless of what my overall opinion of the device is, I had to ask the important question: What can the iPad do for D&D players?

Some fantastic D&D iPhone apps already exist, and have been written about extensively on the web (check out this blog post at DorkandBeans.com for a few great suggestions).  However, most of these apps are designed for use by individuals at a gaming table, and rightfully so; character managing apps can only display one player’s character at a time, and it would be annoying to pass around something as small as an iPhone so everyone could roll their dice on it.  But I think that with the iPad, we will begin to see apps designed around communal use. 

With almost 10 inches of touch screen, so many different possibilities open up.  An app could be developed to use it as a miniatures surface, displaying pre-rendered dungeon tiles for smaller rooms.  DM’s would no longer have to print large poster-sized dungeon rooms, or waste time drawing details onto a dry-erase grid.  A prototype of a program like this was shown in the Microsoft Surface D&D video, but that setup and technology looked super expensive to replicate.  The iPad could make this technology accessible, practical, and somewhat economical.

An app could also be developed to manage the party’s collective inventory, so that items could be removed or added in real time, in front of everyone, instead of forcing one player to keep a micromanaged running tally of what’s in the Bag of Holding.  This would make it a lot easier to keep track of exactly how many potions of healing are left. 

There really is a huge realm of possibility surrounding the tabletop gaming uses of the new Apple iPad.  Do you think we will ever see apps like this developed for the device?  What other ways do you think the iPad could alter the way a group plays D&D?

Social media has mixed with just about every possible hobby and business to some extent over the last few years.  There are Facebook groups for every possible niche interest, Twitter tags for any subject area, and blogs about everything under the sun (and some things beyond it).  Since Dungeons and Dragons players tend to be a rather tech-savvy lot, much information related to the game has been digitized and shared socially online. 

The most significant result of the crossing of D&D and social media has been the unlimited potential for player-generated content. 

Aspiring game designers can collaborate on detailed, professional-quality campaign settings the way that software developers collaborated on Firefox.  Players can tweet links to interesting Paragon Paths and magic items they run across.  Startup publishing companies can hook up with independent adventure authors to produce downloadable modules and source books that rival first-party content at a fraction of the price.  DM’s can podcast their game sessions, or even broadcast live video feeds via USTREAM in order to share their experiences playtesting new rules and game mechanics.  There is literally no ceiling for the amount of player-generated supplemental content. 

What does this mean for the future of D&D?  We will begin to see the D&D community really take charge of organizing all this information.  For example, I think we will see a few bookmarking sites similar to Reddit and Digg pop up that focus solely on tabletop RPG content and related articles.  I also believe we will see more social networking sites like Pen and Paper Games, which allows gamers to locate others in their area who share similar gaming styles and schedules. 

D&D has always been a game that encourages individual ownership.  Players and DM’s have always made their own house rules, created their own character classes, and developed their own playing styles.  I think the digital organization and sharing of these ideas is going to drive a revolutionary surge of interest in D&D specifically, and tabletop games in general.

What do you think is the biggest contribution social media has made to D&D?  Do you believe social media tools are actually having a negative impact on the game?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Does a Dungeon Master need a personal brand?

Well, usually no.  If you are perfectly happy playing your weekly game with your buddies, hardly ever bringing in new players (or losing current ones), and running adventures that get tucked away in a forgotten binder or thrown away after use, you absolutely have no need to establish a personal brand (D&D-wise, anyway).  But not all DMs are like this. 

Believe it or not, there are some Dungeon Masters who would benefit tremendously from consciously building their personal brands.  These are the people who want to DM professionally at conventions, play-test published adventures, or even write their own content for Dungeon Magazine/D&D Insider.  These who want to turn their hobby into some semblance of a profession need to set themselves apart from other DMs in the industry, and purposefully building a reputation for producing a specific type of high-quality adventure content is a great way to do that.

Here are a few suggestions for DM’s who want to distinguish themselves from their contemporaries:

• Decide what you are great at doing: Are your custom monsters consistently exciting yet level-appropriate?  Do your adventures seem to shine most at 1^st-5^th level, or 17^th to 20^th?  Would your long-time players tell you that you are better at running site-based or event-based adventures?  Figure out where your strengths lie, and you’ll often find they closely align with your preferred DMing style.
• DM for many different people, and do it often: You don’t necessarily need to have 7 game groups for 7 nights a week, but take advantage of your network of D&D playing friends.  Be a guest-DM for friends of friends, and exchange contact info with all of them.  Offer to DM adventures that fit your profile at conventions or store events for free just to get the exposure.  Get business cards printed up that clearly communicate what you discovered about your personal dungeon mastering style.
• Get your material in front of people: The people who can get your modules and content published need to know that you exist.  So don’t be shy.  Don’t be a pesky, needy leech either, but be confident and persistent.  When you submit your material to publishers, send them testimonials and play-test results.  Show them that your content will fill a specific need they have, and show them you are the best for that niche.

What other suggestions do you have for DM’s looking to build a personal brand?  Do you think DM’s looking for a career in hobby games even need to worry about a personal brand?

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?