Stunt Dice: A Story in Design Failure

I haven’t written anything in a while, have I? Sorry about that. Life problems, lack of inspiration, excuses, excuses, excuses. But hey! Here’s something new!

There’s been a bit of talk, lately, about failure. The big primary is the Angry GM, who wrote a Strong Article about failure in terms of the game itself, and how accepting it as a possibility can make you a better DM. He also touched on it later in a couple pieces, and I’ve seen the idea of allowing players to fail at tasks tossed around a bit on other blogs as well as on forums and facebook.

One thing that wasn’t really talked about is how to accept failure as a designer. Not necessarily as a DM, but stepping even further back into the role of game/campaign designer. I’ve always considered myself a bit of an amateur designer. My design work has never been published, but I’m still constantly designing new things, so I’m a designer. Ever since my very first game of D&D, I wanted to play with the system and make things my own. It, of course, manifested as a desire to carry around the same cool weapons as my favorite characters from fiction (in particular, I wanted to wield the Soul Edge from Soul Calibur when I was a kid). That desire shifted, however, as time passed and I learned more about the game in which I was participating. About the time I bought my first core rulebooks (edition 3.5), I had finally taken the step from player to DM. And as a DM, I wanted to make everything my own. I introduced new magic items, new classes, and new systems from my earliest days. I remember lancers, dragoons, hunters, mages, dark knights, and something I called the “Fearless” (a concept I’m still trying to make work). My first campaign boss had a Final Fantasy limit break (he was a dark knight riding on a nightmare, and he shot a giant purple laser beam). And this desire to create new and expanded options only grew as I got more and more involved in the games I played.

Pathfinder was a particular area of creation for me. Once the concept of Class Archetypes was introduced, I went wild. The archives of this blog are a testament to how much I wanted to create my own work. However, with that desire to create comes the inevitable result. Failure.

If you decide to create anything, you are going to fail. A lot. And that’s okay. In fact, it can be a good thing. It can be clarifying.

Take, for example, my attempt at Stunt Dice in D&D.

Chrisfinder II: Fighting Man

So...obviously I haven't posted anything for a while. Life gets in the way of things like this.

However, I have been working on a new project: a continuation of my Monk revamp. This time, I've remade the Fighter in my own image.

The Fighter v1.0

Peace,

-Chris

Design Day: The Artificial

Last week on Design Day, I presented a new, shadowy race known as the Shadowkin. This week, I'm still on a races kick, so I decided to throw something else together...well, not exactly that. I'm actually updating an old race I designed: The Gearman.

Except these guys got a pretty major face-lift. They've been re-designed from the bottom-up, right down to the name. In addition, they have some new flavor that I hope you'll enjoy. I've been meaning to adjust them for a while now, since they're one of the player races in my home campaign setting. So here it is:

Design Day: Anatia, the Witch Queen

Today, we’ll be taking a break from rebuilding the monk, and we’re going to move into the realm of the dark arts… In honor of Carrion Crown, I thought I’d try my hands at building a haunt. But just building a haunt wouldn’t be enough for you guys, would it? Nah, you deserve more than that. So…instead, I present…

Anatia, the Witch Queen!

Design Day: Rebuilding the Monk, Part 4

For the last week, I’ve been working on a near-total monk rebuild. This isn’t just a few fixes (like I did with my house rules), it’s a whole new version of the class. Last Tuesday, I went over the problems with the class, then on Thursday  I talked about how I planned to fix it. Then, on Flavor Friday, I talked about the new Paths I’m introducing.

And now I’m bringing it all together. That’s right. Without any further ado, I present the New Monk.

Design Day: Rebuilding the Monk, Part 1

A while ago, I mentioned that I was working on a total rebuild of the monk. Well, today we’re taking our first step toward that goal, today. And, when you’re rebuilding something that you think is broken, your first step should always be the same.

Identify the problem.

And that is exactly what we plan to do, today.

Design Day: The Guardian of the Green

And now we’re back for Design Day number 7. Today’s piece was inspired by this thread on the Paizo messageboards. It’s something I’ve been wanting to accomplish for a long time, and now I’ve finally put my mind to it and made it happen.

It’s an archetype. Specifically, a nature-based paladin. Some might claim that the ranger acts well enough as a natural warrior, but I thought I’d take it one step further and create the Guardian of the Green, a true defender of nature and the natural order of things.

Weekend Recap: Samurai vs. Ninja

Recently, my group and I started running the Carrion Crown adventure path.  I’m GM of this particular campaign, and we’ve decided to utilize the house rules that I’ve posted before on this blog (here, here, and here). Something very fun and interesting happened this weekend (we usually game on Saturday or Sunday), and I thought I’d share it with my “fans”.

I’ll try to keep it spoiler-free.

Flavor Friday: Re-Interpreting Flavor

Welcome back to Flavor Friday! I know last week I didn’t have anything posted. And while I did have an excuse, that was no reason to leave you guys hanging. So, this week, we’re going to examine what we should have looked at last week. Now, if you remember, last week (and Tuesday this week) was considered House Rule week. I was presenting changes to the basic rules that I utilize in my home games. Now, I want to present some of the changes in flavor that I utilize.

Design Day: Chase Scenes!

Aaaand we’re back! Welcome to Design Day, where I present YOU with something fun to use in your games. Today, we’re taking a turn away from the usual. No NPCs, no magic items, no house rules. Today, we’re looking at a new set of Chase Rules that I designed this weekend during our weekly game. At first, these rules were pretty on-the-fly. One character was fleeing from another (a drunk barbarian from an over-zealous samurai), and I had to come up with a system to use at that moment.

Now, I know some of you are going to ask “why not just use the chase rules in the Gamemastery Guide?” Well, I don’t know those rules off the top of my head, and from what I can remember they’re fairly complex (requiring obstacles and a deck of cards to use). I thought I’d throw something simpler together.

To use these chase rules, all you need is a d20, a piece of paper and a pair of characters that are…well, running.

Design Day: House Rules: Classes

So…I lied. There was no Flavor Friday last week. I do have an excuse, however. I’ve been playing Skyrim for nearly 4 days straight, and Thursday night (when I planned to write the entry, procrastinator that I am) saw me getting dinner with a buddy, watching Death Race at his place, and then standing outside GameStop (freezing my buns off) waiting for the midnight release.

But enough about my failures as a human being…let’s get to design day!

Today, I’m going to continue with House Rule Week (now weeks, I suppose), this time giving my alterations to the current core classes in my games.

Design Day: House Rules: Skills and Feats

…And we’re back with another exciting design day! Today is Thursday and this week is House Rule Week. Today, we’ll be talking a little bit about Skills and Feats. Two major parts of the game.

Design Day: House Rules: The Basics

Hello and welcome to my third design day! Sorry it’s a little late. I’ve been…well, not busy, but I recorded Walking Dead and Hell on Wheels last night and…yeah.

But now I’m here. And this week, I’ve decided, is going to be House Rule Week! Today and Thursday, I’ll be posting some of my favorite, crunchy house-rules. And on Friday, I’ll have some of my more flavorful rules on display.

First off, we’ll start with some game basics. The constant stuff that affects everyone.

Design Day: The Hand

Hey! It’s Thursday, and you know what that means? Design Day! Today, we’ll be looking at another major member of the White Hand, my undead apocalypse-cult presented last Friday. In fact, we’ll be looking at the master of masters—the Hand himself.

Design Day: Tanaya, The Damned Queen

Welcome to my first Design Day! Here, I’ll be posting something design-centered every Tuesday and Thursday, whether that means an NPC, a monster, a spell, a magic item or anything else I can think of. The point of these is to present you with something you can enjoy and maybe use in your home game. And I can’t lie: it’s also good practice for myself.

Today, we’re going to go deeper into the White Hand, the organization I presented on Flavor Friday, and we’ll be examining one of its key members.

Flavor Friday: The White Hand

Hey! Welcome to Flavor Fridays, my new article where I post something chocked full of delicious flavor every Friday! Might there be a little design in these articles? Yeah, but it’s never going to be the focus.

For my first Friday, I’ll be doing something in honor of Halloween: and organization dedicated to the undeath of the world…

The Rogue: DPR Examination

After a short discussion with a commenter, I decided to re-check my numbers and post a small build with the effective DPR for it. And let me clarify up-front that DPR means damage per round.

Lots and lots of math after the jump...

The Rogue: Exploration of a Weak Class

The Pathfinder RPG class known as the Rogue is often touted as being the weakest class in the game. Its main abilities (sneak attack, trapfinding, uncanny dodge) are all situational. And quite frankly, even when they are useful, they don’t help nearly as much as abilities granted to other classes. Even in its main element of being a skill monkey, many other classes can match its strength, and most wizards can do what a rogue can do, only better thanks to spells like Invisibility and Knock.

To get a look at what I'm talking about, here's a link to the Rogue on the PRD: The Rogue.

A huge explanation and some fun suggestions after the jump.

My Design Work Thus Far

Here is all of my design work so far. It's all for the Pathfinder RPG.

Races:

Gearman v2

Classes:

Avatar v3.2
Engineer v2.5
Gunslinger v3.3
Warden v1.1

Archetypes:

Arcane Archer (Magus) v1
Dark Knight (Antipaladin) v1.1 (Final Fantasy-inspired)
Divine Agent (Inquisitor) v1.1
Dragon Knight (Fighter) v1
Dread Knight (Cavalier) v1.3
Gun-Mage (Magus) v1.1
Master of Iron (Monk) v1
Street Fighter (Fighter) v1

House Rules:

Combat Arts v1
Firearms v1.1
New Skills v1

Enjoy!

-Chris

The New Blog!

Hey everyone who may or may not see this blog! This is going to be my definitive Tabletop RPG blog, where I post my musings on the culture, any reviews I have, and all my design work.

Hope you all enjoy!