Staying Power

I have heard a few reports that some Shadowdark players lose interest after a few sessions. Now, this is not the case for everyone, and many have experienced months- or even years-long struggles with this issue. However, for some player types, I can see why that may happen. Those used to the options and character builds of 5E may find that characters in Shadowdark a bit flat, and with random progression, a few boring rolls could make them lose that connection to their character.

I could run an extended campaign with Shadowdark, no problem. There are ways to keep characters compelling and make them feel like they are advancing. Non-advancement rewards, retainers, favors, magic items, special skills and abilities, unique items, magic weapons, and other things can be given to characters rather than rolls on the level-up chart. The game is also highly mod-friendly, allowing you to add a new advancement system in other areas to keep characters feeling like they are advancing and maintaining player choice.

Granted, there is more in a Shadowdark and OSR game, such as Old School Essentials, in terms of character power and progression. In OSE, you are not getting a random power roll every two levels, and your progression curve is a lot flatter. There are strict non-human level limits, along with a maximum level of 14 for all classes. OSE does not have the problem of people losing interest, or at least I have not heard of it happening much.

OSE has far more "stuff" in it regarding treasures, monsters, retainers, and other non-character powers. Retainers are character power, along with pets like war dogs and other animals. Old-school games let you trade gold for power, and forming an expedition is always better than going it alone. Shadowdark's "on the map" style of play, with every turn a combat turn, will discourage retainer use and a softer theater of the mind style of play in OSE.

Because Shadowdark is more 5E adjacent, the players come from a 5E background and have those experiences and expectations. OSR players have a longer-term perspective on campaigns and character advancement. Getting bored feels like 5E expectations creeping into the game.

I wonder if Daggerheart will retain its staying power, especially into higher levels. Like Shadowdark and a lot of the newer games, advancement stops at level ten. This is also true in Dungeon Crawl Classics, but a level ten DCC character is far more potent than OSE, Shadowdark, and even Daggerheart. Time will tell if Daggerheart will be compelling for more extended campaign play, but from what I saw, this game is retaining players and keeping them interested with the build variety, which is better than 5E.

Also, we have yet to see more official expansions and word of the next book for this game. It is early, but I hope they come out of the gates strong and build a great follow-up game.

Time will tell.

Downturns Suck

The fighting between fandoms, YouTube's destruction of games, and all the strangeness going on have got me feeling pretty down about role-playing games.

We are undoubtedly in a downturn.

How can I tell? Everyone is fighting more than they usually do. The players of these games feel the need to 'white knight' and destroy other games so theirs can 'reign supreme.' This is about keeping players in our clique and undermining other games to attract people to ours.

What logic are these people using?

And YouTube is filled with people attacking games. Unlike them, I can separate the art from the artist. There are plenty of bands with whom I disagree on many things, but that does not stop me from enjoying their music. Who says I can only appreciate things from people I agree with 100% on every issue? My blogs cover games from every possible angle, as I enjoy playing them. If the music is good, I appreciate it. If the game is fun, I play it. Quality work is quality work.

The whole hobby sucks.

YouTube especially sucks. The platform destroys every hobby and fandom it encounters.

What one company or person does is used as an attack that invalidates decades of work, just because "I don't like something today." Unreasonably high standards are the tools of zealots and agitators.

The anger videos about Hasbro, Wizards, and D&D get exponentially higher views than actual content.  Creators will create fake outrage thumbnails and farm them for views. That should be a warning sign. If I want to watch phony anger, I will watch wrestling. Or the news.

Yes, there is free speech. But YouTube is a flawed platform that rewards negativity.

I also see this fake brand of Wall Street-inspired pandering activism as the last gasp of a dying company. Please like us! We are desperate now! We will remove all the humanoid monsters to make you like us! Even if nobody really cares about this, we will do it to appear as though we are on the right side. If there isn't a grandstand to stand on, we will invent one and build it ourselves. One side triggers the other, and it bounces back and forth like a ping-pong ball.

Companies do this since they know it will attract controversy and coverage. They are monetizing the hate directed at them, specifically aimed at YouTube and (anti)social media.

Why do I pay for YouTube Premium again? Would I be happier deleting the app and platform from my televisions? If something is detracting from my enjoyment of the games I love, why not just eliminate it?

Without YouTube, would the entire hobby be a better place?

I wonder.

Video: Why Has D&D Lost the Ability to Create Quality Adventures?

A fascinating video today that compares the classic adventures with the modern incarnations. Theme, 5E's rules, modern reinterpretations, and how the rules today eliminate all the classic elements that made the adventures fun are covered.

Watch this one all the way through, and please like and subscribe! Let's raise thoughtful, insightful, and engaging content on YouTube.

Additionally, even the structure of the anthologies is justified by a "streaming service" excuse, allowing readers to visit and explore classic adventures.

The adventures you think you're playing are not the adventures we played.

They are not the adventures that made D&D what it is.

Sadly, they are more modern Hollywood remakes.

Heartless, soulless, conflict-free, and sanitized.

The new versions of classic adventures should come with those paper wrappers that hotels put on toilet seats. Sanitized for your protection.

Upheaval in Tabletop Gaming

D&D 5E is dying. It's enormous, and it will take a long while, but with Daggerheart videos already garnering tens of thousands of views on YouTube, I can see which way the wind is blowing. I put the old Aftermath game box up here, since that is how things feel in the 5E world. We are sifting through the ruins, discarding spoiled food, storing the outdated books, and rebuilding a sustainable community.

Draw Steel (MCDM RPG) is about to release very soon. This will be another nail in the 5E coffin. This is a 4.6 million dollar Kickstarter that is lying dormant and will drop huge, like a hammer.

Daggerheart is rising quickly. I wonder if this will be a fad game or if it will have traction and drive add-on sales. If Critical Role switches the rules to their own game for campaign four of their TV show, that will cement this game as the narrative champion. I hope they do, and I hope the narrative gamers flock here and build a strong home around the game.

There needs to be a separation between the narrative gaming crowd and the traditional D&D enthusiasts. This will benefit both communities.

D&D 2024 did not land that well. While I know some who have bought in and have the books, the content on YouTube isn't getting any traction, and most are still holding out with D&D 2014. They stopped caring about "new stuff from Wizards," which is a scary development.

If Critical Role pushes this game hard, it will be the next D&D. If they let fear and Hasbro money rule their hearts, it will end up like their other games. My advice to them is not to play nice and consider the name of the game when dealing with competitors.

Shadowdark perseveres! This pulled in all players who felt "D&D should be a board game," where the game's adventures were smaller in scope, the game played like a Monopoly game, and dungeon crawling was tight, timed, and tense. This is not narrative play, but more tactical, where teamwork against a ticking clock is a must, and you are constantly battling the darkness encroaching from around you. Shadowdark's Kickstarter projects are still exceeding expectations, and the third-party community is strong.

Shadowdark will always be around. This will outlast 5E.

Tales of the Valiant is still a low-key competitor and is in the position Paizo was with Pathfinder 2 before the OGL crisis. The moment Wizards drops the ball again, or announces an incompatible 6E early, ToV will see a massive influx of dissatisfied, but still 5E loyal, players. Until then, they need to survive the hype of other games coming out (Daggerheart took a lot of steam from the Player's Guide 2 launch), but they are playing a long game here.

As I mentioned at the beginning, this is what I am doing with ToV. I have stored half of my old 5E books, pared down my collection, and I am just focused on the best-of-the-best, plus my Kobold Press books. Players Guide 2, plus my three core ToV books, will be the heart of my game.

That said, 5E is still the weakest of the games here, especially in my collection.

As much as I love Open 5E and this game, the days of 5E are numbered. The soft launch of D&D 2024 pushes up the next edition from ten years to about three.

ACKS II is taking off as a strong alternative. I saw a video reviewing the game hit nearly 2,000 views in a day. That does not happen for a niche game. The new version is glorious, leather-bound, and boasts some of the finest art and presentation in the gaming industry. Please do not ignore this game; it's like an event movie for some, and not something you want to miss.

The treatment of the "fall of Rome" mixed with classic Greek and Bronze Age antiquity will be a model that the next 10 years of gaming shall try to copy, but never attain. The Treasure Book has finished its campaign, and we are awaiting word of the next project to drop for this incredible "event movie" of a game.

While I love ACKS and appreciate its quality, I wonder if I will ever have time for it. This is my "white whale" game, and like Moby Dick, one I will be dreaming of having time to play, but never truly getting there.

Castles & Crusades is also picking up tons of players. This is becoming the "walk away game" for many 5E groups that want an original edition experience without all the complexity. C&C just stripped the OGL and SRD from their games, and it is a fantastic transformation.

My ToV library needs to downsize to compete with C&C. If this is filled with shelves of junk books, it will not survive alongside that game. C&C is just that good. A tight, focused, well-written game will destroy a junk-filled 5E library every time.

But still, the ease and quality of C&C will destroy a well-curated 5E collection every time.

These last three games are my best solo-play games, since each one of them offers something different.

Another game that is killing it with its Kickstarter projects is Dragonbane, which is about to finish its expansion book campaign strongly. Like C&C, this has become a "walk away" game for many, and they have left 5E to play this. Even solo play is strongly supported here, and it is an excellent game. Dragonbane is close to being put back on my game table, especially the solo play options.

The best part about solo play here is that the game has the solo-play rules written into it. The monsters use randomized tables to attack. Every one of Free League's games takes solo play into account, if they can. From Twilight: 2000 to The Walking Dead, they are great solo-gaming sets.

Dungeon Crawl Classics is my D&D 3.5E and Pathfinder 1e replacement game. It's an easy enough game that I can play on the side, and the fun factor is very high considering the time invested. They received some criticism for dropping the ball on messaging a recent crowdfunding campaign, but they made things right. Some of the criticism went way beyond what was warranted, and I have dropped supporting the games linked to the anger and hate directed against them. The negativity drives people away from an already weak hobby, and we don't need any more of it.

DCC is such a fantastic collection of art, vibe, and experience. This has the Pathfinder 1e "extreme feeling" that I miss, where things are incredible, the fights are deadly, and characters can be over the top. Every class brings fun to the table. The game isn't trying to be a reflection of modern society; instead, it aims to replicate the fun feelings of the past, when the game first began.

I often compare this game to a classic rock tribute band, but a great one that can consistently deliver a stellar performance every night. This is a pitch-perfect game when it comes to the old-school feeling.

Replacing the mess of "needs a computer" Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5E games was a target of mine to reduce the software I need to play these games. If I can run a character sheet by hand and get 80% of the experience of the original, it is a good game. We are in an era where we need to rent access to our game's character creation tools, and buy the data packages, and it sucks. All of 5E is like this, no matter where you go, from D&D to A5E, to ToV. 

It's all a massive scam to fleece players in the tabletop gaming industry. If I can't run it by hand, it is going in the can.

What DCC offers is the classic 3.5E play, plus many random crit and spell result charts. This creates a chaotic mix of gaming that I was always looking for with Pathfinder 1e, but had to buy a few dozen books to find, and software to somewhat support the concept. In DCC? It is all included with the core rules, works, and is designed for fun.

The one exception I will ever give a game for the "by hand rule" is GURPS. They offer two excellent character creation tools: one is a one-time purchase, and the other is free, with additional support through Patreon. They are significantly cheaper than 5E tools. Still, I can run GURPS by hand if I need to; it is not that hard.

GURPS is a game I find endless enjoyment in, designing characters, powers, and running solo games. If I had to keep only one game on this list, every other one would have to go, and I would keep GURPS. If I were allowed two, it would be DCC as well.

GURPS is everything, every game, any game, and it can do anything.

Ethics

I like The Warhammer Fantasy RPG...

But Games Workshop suing all these content creators for their miniatures feels like a step too far. How can I support a company like that? They must protect their IP, but gaming communities and creators must come first. Sure, the game looks nice and is playable, but is it an ethical choice? I support One Page Rules for wargaming, why can't I support other alternatives?

I don't feel good about supporting that sort of corporate behavior. I love the game and the world, but, nah, I'm out. Little choices by each of us add up. If we want a better world and a better hobby, we must learn to sacrifice and walk a more challenging path to achieve it.

Convenience is the enemy of the good. Just because something is popular does not make it the right choice. Don't let nostalgia fool you into going against your values.

I have Zweihänder, and this game supports a community of creators. The books are in print, and a new edition is coming. I am not tied to the Warhammer world (despite how great it is) or looking for players. This is an easy choice. If I want something that looks and feels like true grimdark fantasy, here it is.

The definition of progress is like a gear that should never go backward; we crank the wheel, the gear moves from a bad place to a slightly better one, and we ratchet our successes and victories at making this hobby better and more positive one step at a time. We can't throw out people who have made an effort to crank that wheel forward, since if people aren't able to improve, you might as well give up the cause, since you are setting an impossibly high bar where no one can work to get better.

D&D and Hasbro are not easy to support, and I have a list of reasons that is longer than my arm. What they tried to do to the community is still fresh in my mind, and not something I want to support.

I have Tales of the Valiant, which can be my 5E. Yes, it is 95% similar to the 2014 D&D, but I'm not complaining. The game is good enough, and the company is ethical and solid. I want to play games from companies with whom I agree ethically, and I don't wish to have negativity associated with my choices. ToV has the better monster and spell choices, plus the game world is superior to anything else out there, even from Wizards.

The game isn't as well-designed as A5E, but it is far better supported and compatible with my other books. EN World is a small company that struggles to support the game in comparison to Kobold Press. If you want a viable, sold-everywhere, well-supported, massive storefront, many adventures, a beginner-friendly, and highest-quality tabletop game, go for ToV. I can be a nerd and go on and on about how A5E this and that are better, but A5E is a niche game compared to the momentum ToV has, especially on VTTs like Shard.

ToV is designed for beginners and has mass-market appeal. A5E is designed for 5E system veterans and is a niche version of 5E.

Tales of the Valiant is Pepsi to D&D's Coke.

I also have Shadowdark if I want rules-light, classic-gaming 5E. This is a fantastic game, incredibly supported, and it has the design ethos and old-school sensibilities that I love. This supports small creators, and the game is a joy to play. The creator is ethically sound and fosters a positive gaming environment. This is what "Basic D&D" should look like these days. A simple game, back to basics, small book, incredible art, and an immersive and tense experience is the holy grail of gaming.

Free League and Dragonbane are awesome. This is already too many games to play in the fantasy genre. The Kickstarter is expanding the game, and this looks exciting. Dragonbane is one of Free League's absolute best games, and a clear D&D competitor without question.

I have a fantastic expansion of the first edition with Adventures Dark and Deep. This is another great game, everything first-edition is, plus more. This game is pure first-edition goodness, written by a Greyhawk historian, and it just keeps getting better and better.

Dungeon Crawl Classics is a classic. Despite this year's noise, pointless drama, and clickbaiting, this is still a fantastic game with so much fun packed into the books; it will remain on my shelves. And you can tell the entire industry is in a downturn because companies are starting to attack each other and trying to eliminate their competitors to capture players. It is sickening behavior, and I don't support it, but I will still support the games I love.

But they clicked that gear forward a notch in fixing this.

They made the best ethical decision in this case, supporting gaming history and resolving a long-standing failed Kickstarter without rewarding nefariousness. They initially blew the messaging, but they ultimately made it right in the end. We should support people who come to their senses and make the right choices. Otherwise, no progress can be made in making our hobby a better place. Lessons learned, time to move on.

I also have Castles & Crusades, a company printed in print shops that support jobs in the USA. I don't care if it costs a little more. I will keep it for life. I would rather pay people in this country and help put food on the table, help get this country's kids through school, and put a roof over the heads of families here than send the money overseas. They are building a factory for more print books and are likely to take on print jobs from other publishers, so that work does not need to go overseas.

C&C is the 5E replacement I always wanted, and the missing version of 2.5E that Gygax supported in his final years. The company is supporting good-paying jobs here. I am not interested in a Wall Street company issuing pages of optimistic proclamations about progress, yet still shipping jobs overseas to make their books. You don't get cover for one by doing the other. We demand better from you.

Ethics matters when you look in the mirror.

Ethics also means moving from bad places to good ones.

And you should easily roll a 20 on every ethics skill check you make, if you make the right choices.

Monsters as Monsters? ...or Monsters as Evil?

...the mob.

Or in programmer terms, the "mobile object" in an MMO.

Ever since D&D 4, monsters have taken on this "mob mentality." Monsters are not monsters, but artificial challenges for the party to defeat for "fun and treasure." The MMO design continues into D&D 5, which is just a reskinned and cleaned-up version of D&D 4. The class powers are hidden in text blocks, the spells for martial classes have been renamed so they don't look like spells, and most of the D&D 4 "improvements" were just shifted around and given an old-school veneer.

Monsters in many games aren't alive, but merely things summoned by the simulation in which the characters live. I get this artificial feeling in D&D 5, and I can't shake it in alternative versions of the game, even ToV and A5E.

In more simulation-based games, such as GURPS, I don't get that "inside the Matrix" feeling. Monsters are real inhabitants of the world; they live and breathe the same air as people, they need to eat and sleep, and these creatures need to survive and fight for food and resources, just like anyone else.

A simulation-based game is an equalizer for everyone. Monsters are the things that try to take the things you have, and kill the people you like. We are in a zero-sum game here.

In the first edition, I didn't get that feeling either. However, monsters often reflect the concepts of chaos and evil; they are not just mobs, but usually metaphors for sins, human failings, weaknesses, and our fears. Monsters were introduced in original D&D as metaphors for evil and the human fears and weaknesses we face every day.

This is why religion came after D&D in the 1980s.

D&D started to replace religion as a way for people to deal with the fears we all have. It is still doing that today, but extending the reach to identity and a place in society. D&D these days is trying to completely replace societal structure with its own, corporate-branded, identity-reflective version of reality. Most of our "fears" these days revolve around social media and how we are perceived. D&D gives the online-addicted people an avenue for this expression, and monsters have taken the back seat.

Instead of greed, gluttony, temptation, or anger, we fear being rejected on social media. Even the fear of death has become secondary to the fear of being attacked and piled on by social media peers.

The quest for a false identity has replaced the metaphor of the monster as a symbol of evil and personal struggle. This is why there are 101 character races to choose from today, since that "self-reflection" of "what you identify as" becomes an insulation layer against who you really are on social media. If I am a blue fox, that comes first, and that is the face I present to others. It makes everything so easy.

If I had to "be myself," then that is hard.

That blue fox identity also serves as an insulation layer for us, allowing us to be worse people online and giving us the bravery to stand behind that persona and act unlike ourselves, because that blue fox is not ourselves. Sometimes, this is "better than ourselves" in those identities, but many times, the false identity subsumes the real one, and you get a generation living in a fantasy world.

This is why old games had a "human-based" world, and some of the character races reflected human failings (dwarves as greed, elves as pride, halflings as gluttony, and so on). These kin were in decline precisely because of that reflection of human weakness, and this was each kin's "original sin." Some of the new character races make no sense since they don't have a role to fill, which is why a race of butterfly-people makes no sense and only exists to fill some identity-based fantasy. They exist solely to sell books and are irrelevant to the moral conflict the game presents.

So if we all have pretend identities, and we all are acting worse toward each other, then we become the monsters the original game had us fighting. We are the representations of sin, fears, and weaknesses. Our new identities embody those traits, be they wrath, lust, gluttony, pride, envy, sloth, or greed. We become a vampire, and now we are the darkness we feared.

The game is now upside-down.

We are playing the monsters now.

The bestiary monsters in these games are inconsequential. They are not a representation of evil. They are punching bags to fill a numerical function of providing us the "slow grind" to level our characters from. It is like any MMO - you are meant to get to the maximum level and then "the real game" starts. It is all designed to keep you in the game, encourage you to spend money, and draw everyone in your social circles in.

Go into any MMO, and you will see the players are worse monsters than anything in those worlds.

And notice how playing an elf or a dwarf isn't "cool" now, unless they provide some min-max benefit to a character build.

Also, notice the late-stage phase we are entering with "cozy gaming," where the games are non-violent and players are asked to take on the roles of baby animals and the like. The alternate-identity gaming trend is nearing its end stages and burning itself out. This happens with many kid-focused entertainment IPs, from Muppets, to Muppet Babies, and then, nothingness. You may see a "teen phase" in here at times, but in general, this is how an IP burns itself out by going younger to stay relevant.

If you take away anything, it is to realize what purpose your monsters are serving in your games. Are they "things in rooms to provide entertaining combat," or are they metaphors for a greater evil, inside us or outside of us? Does fighting them help us deal with our fears and daily struggles? Are they "real factions" in our worlds, or do they just wander in because some table said they were there?

While I love my monster books, I can have so many that my game becomes a mess. There is such a thing as "too many monsters" in a world, and nothing can relate to the thousands of other things in there, with dozens of humanoid races fighting to fill the "orc" role in the world.

I always find it better to play with one monster book and a limited subset first, and explore those relationships before moving on. If the red dragon is the symbol for destruction, greed, and power, let's go with that for a while. Let's give that dragon a tribe of orcs to command and cause trouble with. We don't need to introduce giants, mind flayers, Drow, or any other villains yet, since we have a solid working model with a few key components that we can use to tell focused stories. We don't need Bestiary 4's "steam dragon" showing up, or a shadowed stalker from Bestiary 3.

Pick five monsters that represent fears and weaknesses, make one of them a boss, and go with that.

Mail Room: Advanced FASERIP

I hold this game in such high regard, as we loved the original game it was inspired by in the 1980s. This game takes direct inspiration from the best superhero game ever made, and the second edition is even cleaner, better balanced, and play-tested than the original. The PDF is free, too, meaning anyone can play.

The art was redone with public domain comic art, which is terrific. The vibe is 1950s comics, and it fits the genre and game, giving it a very iconic comic look that is not modern but could be. I love that era—the cars, the gangsters, the post-war culture, and the entire feeling of the time. There is no reason why any modern team could not be reimagined there, and some of the best retro graphic novels for DC were amazingly set in that era.

A 1950s X-Men would be closer to the war that inspired them and to their origin in the 1960s. Something tells me this is where they belong. Even a 1950s Avengers would be fresh air, Cap would not be on ice, and Stark could be in the defense industry, making Cold War weapons. Many of the DC heroes were in their primes in this era.

You can play at any time, too; this is not limited to the 1950s. This system easily adapts to anything from cowboys to sci-fi, anywhere from the 1850s to the year 3000 and beyond. Lower the power level one step and have an Indiana Jones pulp adventure game.

The game is a simple beer-and-pretzels system. In five minutes, I had it figured out, with character creation. One book with a free PDF, and you are good to go. This is like the Star Frontiers of superhero games.

Highest recommendation.