Geek on the Borderlands

This post is actually in response to a post over at the Tao of D&D (warning, naughty words abound over on that post!).  Within the author makes some good points and then makes a few points that I personally disagree with.  I’m not going to dissect the post or call out quotes; if you’re interested take a read and see what you think yourself.  Instead, I want to offer an opposing viewpoint as to why so many people do enjoy playing heroes in D&D (and other games beside).

I would also like to preface this post with the standard disclaimer that my ideas and words don’t reflect any one true way of playing.  There is no wrong way to play any RPG so long as everyone in the game is having fun and enjoying themselves.  I tend to hammer this point home a lot, but it’s an important one to remember.

To get right to the point, I’ve always greatly enjoyed playing the stalwart defender of innocents and the downtrodden when I bring my dice to the table.  (Yes, I quite like playing Paladins and Superheroes, why do you ask?)  There is something incredibly liberating, fun, and above all hopeful about playing one of the true blue good guys.  Judging by actions and characters of my friends and other gaming groups, I feel that it’s not an uncommon idea, either.  For at least some of us roleplayers, playing the good guy is very much part of the game and part of the fun.

I feel that a big part of the reason is that in this day and age (and in days past, really) there are so many bad things happening in the world that it’s nice to actually help out in a noticable and real (well, pretend real) way.  I feel bad that I can’t help all those people out there suffering by myself, but when I play in our weekly D&D game my character can.

For sure it’s escapism and little more, but deep down within my heart of heats I feel better for having done the imaginary right thing.  Sure, I can volunteer at homeless shelters, I can give money to charity, I can do a lot of things to help people fairly indirectly.  But the results are never immediate or nearly so impressive as those of my alter ego.  I might volunteer my time help the less fortunate, but Sir Boros the Paladin sure helped all those peasants in that village when he stopped the orc invasion.

And isn’t that why we play games in the first place?  To have fun and do something we can’t normally do in real life, to get away from our worries and troubles for just a little while and smile and laugh with our friends?  For me it’s so much less interesting to play the greedy thief who steals from his friends; I see enough of that on television.  Why would I want to play something like that in a game where I can be anything?

Some folks say that good guys are forced to act good or suffer consequences.  Honestly, I think that holds true for every single motivation in the game.  After all, that’s all doing good work or gaining power or gaining treasure really are; character motivations.  Are my games any less valid or less fun simply because my players happen to be motivated by goodwill and heroism rather than gold and raw power?  My players seem to be having a grand old time, doesn’t seem to me like I’ve done anything wrong.

I also think that playing the hero happens to have a rather fun little benefit.  I’ve been a long time player and fan of City of Heroes, and one thing I’ve noticed in that game as opposed to other games is that people are so helpful.  You’ll get guys to drop really tough and challenging missions to help out a new player who just logged in and is clueless.  I’ve done it plenty of times myself.  I think that part of the reason is that it’s so much fun to share in the discovery of some great new game or world (something I want to talk later with a talk on young kids and RPGs) and help others see just how much fun something you love to play can be.

Yet beyond the shared discovery and joy is the simple concept that if you pretend to be a nice guy, it might just rub off.  I’m surely not Sir Boros, but I’d sure like to get that happy feeling that I get when playing him again.  That happy feeling often comes from helping those (perpetually) hapless peasants with thier troubles.  Perhaps if I, myself, were to help someone out just for the good of it I might get that feeling just a little bit myself.

That’s why I truly like playing good guys and playing with others who like playing good guys.  If you pretend to be the hero long enough, it just might rub off on you.

Since Runequester started such a nice little topic, I figured that I’d chime in with my own thoughts and opinions.  In some respects I’m almost the polar opposite of him, far prefering mechanics that fit a specific setting or game than generic or universal mechanics.  To me the rules should support and reinforce the genre or game you’re playing, not function as an all-in-one toolkit.  Plus I want to highlight a very important aspect of roleplaying: there is no one true way to enjoy this hobby.

I fully admit that a large part of why I keep returning to D&D is that it is the teat at which I suckled as a fledgling roleplayer.  It’s a lot like Mom’s home cooking – you were raised on it and it’s comforting.  I think that all of us have that one game we first played and love warts and all precisely because its nostalgic.

Yet that’s not the main reason I return to D&D and similar games.  I love crunchy bits and complex mechanics.  For me there is a great and wondeful game within a game in these systems, namely character creation and getting the most out of what you have.  In short, I love to min-max or powergame my characters a bit.  I’m not one to take it to extremes, but generally I’ll come to the table with a very effective character who tends to excell in one or two areas.  And you know what?  There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

For me the game mechanics should wholly support the game and genre that you’re playing and they don’t need to make sense outside of that genre.  I’m not going to use a wrench to hammer in a nail.  Why would I use a genric game to run something very specific.  (Again, this is not to say that generic games are bad.  Far from it.  I just happen to prefer games that fit one style of play).

I also really happen to like highly tactical combat and almost treat fights and conflict as games within a game.  When it comes time to break out the longswords and slaughter me some demons, I don’t much care how much sense my attacks make.  All I care about is killing those demons in a fun, cinematic, and awesome way.  Let me cleave through enemies like Conan or burn them all down like Raistlin.  I’m probably the happiest when I have skulls to bash and loot to earn.

For me, and most of my players, we don’t really care that we can only use some certain power once per day.  It doesn’t matter and in the world we’re currently playing in it makes sense enough, so we let it slide and get on with the combat.  But when combat ends we’re just as easily able to slip into roleplaying, becuase for me when you’re talking and negotiating you don’t need a lot of specific rules.  So in a sense we play two games at once, one a talky roleplaying free form sort of deal and the other a highly tactical and complex wargame using miniatures.

And this is the most beautiful thing about our wonderful hobby.  Both my take and Runequester’s take completely valid, fun, and perfectly reasonable.  That’s what really irks me when someone tells me that I’m playing a game wrong or that a certain system “sucks.”  In roleplaying there are no wrong or bad systems, only systems you don’t happen to enjoy or that don’t work for you.  If you’re having fun and the group is having fun then nothing wrong is happening; you’ve succeeded and you have a wonderful game.

If you really want to have fun roleplaying that’s all you need to know.  Pick a system that works for you and don’t let anyone else dare tell you that you’re doing it wrong.  Just because my mind loves the strange abstractions and finding that extra little +1 bonus to my rolls doesn’t mean that my style is innately inferior or superior to anyone elses.  It’s only different.

So I’ve played a LOT of different games. I own a lot of different games.

I’ve played year long campaigns, as well as one shot games. And everything inbetween.

But one thing never fails. I always return to Runequest.

The specific version may vary.. 2nd edition, 3rd edition, Mongoose. They all have things I enjoy.
But its always what I return to. The baseline if you will.

And I think I’ve finally put my finger on why:

Modern games (and I use the term modern loosely) have a different focus than many older games. In a way, the best way to sum it up is “style over substance”. That sounds terribly derogatory so let me elaborate.
In many newer games, the focus is on the characters and their powers, abilities and ways they can influence things, the story or even the world at large. Crack open a White Wolf book and you’ll find countless pages of disciplines, gifts or charms. Check the new D&D or its predecessor D20 and you’ll find an ever-increasing number of feats, spells, creature abilities and class powers.

The emphasis is on the character and the powers he posses. The colour if you will.

There’s many reasons for this. It obviously appeal to the wish fulfilment we all do, “wouldnt it be awesome if…”  They define and set apart characters mechanically “My guy can shoot lightning” and they give us cool stuff to be excited about.  Those are all good things.

A lot of new games talk about player empowerment, about being able to influence the story directly, sharing the narrative. They often do this by mechanics that let you change details, take over the storytelling or at its simplest form, succeed at a certain dice roll automatically.  Often these things become rewards for actions taken, or even used as a sort of gamble or metagame mechanic.

The reason that these games ultimately don’t have the deep internal logic that Runequest does to me is that they were built around these steps. Often every single piece of the game is built around the ideas of character powers and player empowerment. Look at D&D4 for example. When you strip away the classes, races and monsters, you’re left with very little information.

Look at Exalted. Its all set up to specifically support a certain style of game, in a certain setting.
Look at Spirit of the Century. The epitome of a given playstyle and mood.

What Runequest did though, and to an extent still does is build a framework that is separated from all that.
If you strip away the monsters and magic, the Runequest mechanics are still rock solid. Nothing seems weird or unusual. The game resonates with an internal logic that matches how we expect the world to work.
Most games look very very strange once you strip away the flavour and the powers.  Some will still work, though they will feel devoid of what made them special. Others will work because they are designed to promote certain narrative ideas (like FATE).

But they don’t inherently “make sense” to me. I ran White Wolf’s Trinity for a year, and I still find the dice pool mechanic completely nonsensical. I understand how it works and I understand the effects on the game, but every single time I sit there and count dice, I am reminded I am playing a game.

Games with meta-mechanics like FATE are even more jarring. Rather than increasing the narrative, for me, they create a divide between the narrative and the mechanical play by producing strange dice quirks or effects.

To me, Runequest has always represented the fundamental way things work. Your ability scores affect skills, you improve by using your abilities or taking time to train them, limbs can get hurt or incapacitated, wounds are serious etc.

Once you add in the monsters, magic and people in funny suits, it feels more “realistic”.. .maybe plausible is the right term here.

Because the foundation is solidly grounded in what we know and expect, the fantastic feels like it makes sense. There’s a sense of scale. I know that an axe can seriously hurt somebody, so something doing 3D6 damage is extremely dangerous. I can equate that to something in my head.

This doesn’t mean I haven’t enjoyed or played other games in the past. I love WFRP, Rolemaster, Traveller, Reign and a bunch of other games. I thought FATE was neat and Heroquest was genius.

But they’ll never be “natural” in the same way.

Runequest can be a pretty harsh and relentless game, if you approach it like you would a game like Dungeons&Dragons or other more high powered games. Injuries can easily dismember and kill, the rules don’t explicitly favour the player characters and magic, while commonplace, tends to be less flashy.

1: Get armour

This might sound like common sense, but it bears repeating. Good armour will do wonders to increase your characters survivability. Even if money is tight, or you are worried about encumbrance, invest in at least some armour. Even Cuirbouilli or soft leather can make the difference between an arm being disabled or dismembered. If you are going for piecemeal armour (again, usually to save cost or lower encumbrance) consider whether you want to protect the arms and legs (which will be hit more frequently in melee) or the torso and head (which will result in more dangerous wounds)

2: Study your weapon options

Runequest isn’t a game where longswords are automatically superior weapons. If your DEX and SIZ are mediocre or low, or you are playing a race with naturally low SIZ (Ducks f.x.) consider a spear. Spears can do impaling damage, and have a better strike rank, which will help even things out against larger opponents. Axes tend to do slightly more damage than swords and are far cheaper. Swords are usefull if you don’t want to use a shield, or you can afford them, due to their high hit points and decent damage.

3: Carry missile weapons

Missile weapons are harder to defend against, and can be used to soften up an enemy before engaging them in melee. In the ancient world, many melee troops would carry ranged missiles that would be hurled prior to a charge, whether the pilum of the Roman legions or various thrown axes and other implements used by various Germanic tribes. Consider having a few throwing axes, knives, javelins or similar. If that broo is 5 HP down and limping on a shattered leg, he’ll be a much easier proposition once its time to get the axe out.

4: Consider your spells

Everyone has magic. Make sure to utilize this. Some spells are used before or at the outbreak of a fight (bladesharp, various protection spells) while others have a purpose during a fight (speedart, demoralize, disruption). Against enemies with average or low POW, a well timed Demoralize or Befuddle spell can easily tip the scales by neutralizing an enemy combatant. At the same time, take enemy magic into account. If the troll suddenly casts True Maul on his warmaul, its propably time to pelt him with arrows. If you know you are fighting Yelm worshippers, be braced for when the Sunspear comes down.

5: Negotiate

If the fight isn’t going your way, or looks like it won’t, don’t be afraid to negotiate. Outside of chaos creatures, most people don’t want to die, and if they can get what they want, or at least an equitable outcome, you can likely avoid violence. Offers terms, be prepared to lose a bit of face, and make sure your in good enough standing with your clan that they will ransom you, if you are captured.

6: Run!

If all else is failing, bail. In any combat situation, there is a “critical mass” required to be able to force a victory. If your side has fallen below this critical mass, or seems like it will do so within the next few rounds, its time to cut your losses and flee. Various spells can assist in this manner, or you may have to do a drawn-out running battle to disengage.

7: Bluff, threaten, bluster

If the enemy thinks you have the strongest tribe in Prax on your side, and they will come baying for blood if you are touched, they may be less likely to interfere with your business. Clan and family feuds can start over very small things, and a fast talking character may be able to verbally transform a band of ragged stragglers to the champions of a fearsome army (in the minds of your opposition anyways)

If all else fails?

Sometimes nothing works out. The enemy is more skilled, lucky or capable, your escape route is cut off, its a blood feud with no quarter given or your fighting for your very lives.

In that case, grab your axe firmly, steel your gaze and prepare to die with your boots on. Orlanth will remember you