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?

You’ve been in this scenario before.

You’re at work on Monday morning after an awesome all-day gaming session yesterday.  You head to the coffee machine and your boss greets you while he finishes putting cream and sugar in his little Styrofoam cup.  “So what’d you do this weekend?” he asks.  Uh-oh.  None of your coworkers knows you play D&D, and you don’t want to lie.  Do you brush it off with a witty retort, or do you tell your boss that you spent the day gaming with your buddies?

As acceptable as Dungeons and Dragons has become as a somewhat mainstream pop culture icon in the last decade or so, the fact remains that there are a lot of people who still view the game as some creepy, anti-social fringe hobby that is only played by awkward, comic-convention-attending Star Trek fans living in their parents’ basements.  Unfortunately, many of these people are your bosses, family members, clients, pastors, and others in positions of relative power with whom you want to remain in good standing.  At what point, if ever, should you let these people know about your pastime?

I’ll admit to not telling people right off the bat.  Until I began writing this blog, I usually waited at least a few weeks to even mention it, and even then, it really depended upon the person in question.  Here’s my reasoning:

Because of common preconceived notions about D&D perpetuated by the media over the last few decades, I want to ensure that people I meet get an accurate idea of who I am as a person before I share that information.  I want them to see that I am a pretty cool guy, that I am fairly responsible and industrious, and that I am outgoing and conversational.  Letting someone get to know you reasonably well will help prevent unwarranted comparisons to Screech, or the cast of Freaks and Geeks. 

I certainly would not recommend actively hiding your gamer status or lying about it.  I just think there is no reason to mention it too early if nobody asks.  So what are your thoughts?  Do you shout it from the rooftops?  Do you actively try to keep it secret?  I’m interested in other opinions.

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.

Random encounters have been a hotly debated topic since the early days of role playing games.  Endorsers of random encounters champion the variety-on-the-fly that they can add to a game session that is quickly growing stale.  Opponents claim random encounters take away from the cohesion of the adventure’s storyline, and can unintentionally throw the party off the scent of the plot.  With all the differing opinions, it can be easy to get indecisive on what option is best for your game.

For those who don’t know, random encounters (or “wandering monsters”) are social events taking place within the context of an adventure that are quasi-randomly generated by cross-referencing the result of a die roll with its corresponding outcome on a pre-generated “random encounter table.”  In other words, you roll a 17 on a 20-sided die, and then you look at a table to find out what happens when you roll a 17.  Easy concept, huge implications.

I personally like the concept of random encounters, because it makes the world feel more alive, and reinforces the concept that the PC’s, while important to the adventure at hand, are not the center of the universe and the world will go on with or without them (until epic levels, that is).  However, there are a few key guidelines I keep in mind when implementing random encounters:

• Random encounters should be planned.  Random encounters should be treated with just as much preparation as regular ones.  A great random encounter is one that the players will never realize is random.  Rather than simply putting “8 orc barbarians” as the result on your table, put a little time and effort into fully fleshing out the encounter with an accompanying map, interesting terrain or features that pose a challenge.  Decide on monster tactics, throw in traps, and place hidden treasure.  The DM should be the only one who knows the encounter was randomly generated. 
• Don’t have more than 8 maximum prepared per adventure.  There is no reason to have more than a d8’s worth of random encounters in an adventure.  Most of your work should fit easily into the scenario you are crafting, and the verisimilitude will start to feel disjointed if nothing has anything to do with anything else.  
• Don’t use more than 1 random encounter per 4 planned encounters.  At most, every 5^th encounter is an okay time to insert a random one.  If you are using more than that, you are not doing enough to tie your encounters into an interesting story arch, and your players will notice and lose interest.
• Present a variety of difficulty levels, but ALWAYS give the option of escape.  A random encounter should not EVER kill an entire party, unless they just flat-out make really, really stupid decisions.  While I have no problem putting a dragon on the encounter table for a level 5 party, I always make sure that there is either…
  • something that puts the giant scary monster at a severe enough disadvantage so that it falls within a reasonable level of the party, or
  • a relatively easy means for the characters to run for their lives.

What other rules or guidelines do you go by when implementing random encounters?  Do you think random encounters take away from the cohesiveness of a story?  Other opinions?