The Grizzly Rant

I have a mage at my table. Her name is Sabina, the Pyromage. She has a spell that can either: Clear a Room of up to three, small (2 Heart) Enemies in one hit, or; One-shot a non-fire-resistant boss monster.  Sabina is awesome. Provided the spell doesn't explode in her face, miss... or accidentally hit her sister. Because there is another adventurer in the party. Her name is Agnes, the Twin Blade. She's pretty cool too, and her regular attack can one-shot 1-2 Heart creatures. Add the Kettish Chains' ability to re-roll on high Attempts and she easily does similar damage at close range. I love both these characters. But sometimes Agnes feels like Sabina takes the spotlight a little too much. That's on me as the GM, because Sabina has almost zero ability in STR or DEX tasks, things Agnes excels in. I need to design more STR and DEX based Effort challenges to give Agnes more screentime. Sabina can lay down some heavy covering fire. On the subject of "...

Wonder. That most illusive goal in any Game Master's heart. Might I suggest to you, dear reader, that an excellent start might be a solid soundtrack? I am a music junkie. I love listening to good music. It moves the heart, soothes the soul, and stirs passion. I'm also a classically trained vocalist, choir director, wedding music coordinator, guitarist and bassist, amateur composer and for five years I was the founder and head of a music program for an organization off my Alma mater. When it comes to music in games, I have a soft spot for classical. However, that can get boring when overused and takes work to find appropriate pieces for all instances in a game. It also has issues, namely the movements within the piece which, while moving in themselves, do not translate well to extended gameplay sessions where things progress at different paces. I have been experimenting with video game soundtracks. The first I tried was Dragon Age Origins because of the shared Fantasy t...

Hearts. In the humble opinion of this GM, one of the more brilliant constructions of ICRPG. However, it can lead to some goofy situations and questions at the table. One for me is: how to use CHA outside of roleplay (as in Combat against a Foe)? The answer might be as simple as using it against the regular Hearts of an enemy with BASIC Effort. Another, more complicated way would be to track a separate Heart of "courage" on an enemy that can be worn down with CHA. Personally, while I find it silly, I think the former option is better than the latter. However, I have also been thinking of simplifying it down to a simple Attempt based on a "D4 tier" system. Behold: GM Grizzly's Relation Meter. The idea is simple: anything from Monsters to NPCs can react to you in one of four ways. To Intimidate, Persuade, Command, Barter, etc, you need to CHA Attempt a Success. The difficulty is based on their Reaction to you: Friendly - Demoralized  (No CHA Attempts neede...

Hit Points, dying and death in table-top RPGs: it's an odd subject for a variety of reasons. The "Meta" nature of hit-points, or HP, and what it means; The sudden change from a god-like killing machine to a helpless pile of bleeding flesh; The anti-climatic moment of a player character's death; and much more. Honestly, we're not going to get into the whole subject of Death in RPGs here. I am going to talk a bit about how to make the process of a Hero's death, well, heroic, and therefore (hopefully) alleviate most of the issues presented above. Behold: GM Grizzly's Heroic Death!  The Heroic Death The Heroic Death is simple, yet (in this GM's humble opinion) beautiful. It is a House Rule on the ICRPG CORE Death Mechanics from RUNEHAMMER GAMES, LLC. The Rules there are something along the lines of "at zero HP, roll 1D20. On a 20, pop back up at 1 HP! Otherwise, roll 1D6, throwing out a 1. In this many rounds, you are dead! On yo...

My sister-in-law came to visit us in March and the three of us conquered the Doomvault in a weekend. It ended with our adventuring duo bruised and broken on the shores of Norburg, ready to drag themselves into the city to claim their Kingly Rewards. She returns the end of May, which has given me plenty of time to think of how to design and run the city of Norburg and their next Adventure. My opinions on Towns hasn't changed since my last post . Norburg is a hub of activity and life, essential to their story and Journey. But the details on designing  the town have developed and matured since then and much like my Journey post, I've approached the creation of Norburg with the concepts and principles of ICRPG Room Design: the TTT's, L.O.G., and D.E.W.. There is intention and purpose to everything within the high walls of the city. There is danger. There is drama. There is Adventure. And there is the chance for Rest, re-supply and information gathering before setting ou...