10 March 2010

Today’s Tabbloid
PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net

ROGUE FEED figured I’d use minis only sparingly — and so I have. Part of the problem
is that it’s a lot of work to pull out all my miniatures and the dungeon
Minis and Me blocks and arrange them in play, especially given the rather seat-of-the-
MAR 09, 2010 01:50P.M. pants style I typically employ nowadays. There’s also the fact that, no
matter how many Otherworld minis I buy, I’m never going to have
precisely the right minis I need. Last session, for example, the PCs
encountered two shambling mounds and, alas, I have no minis to
represent them. Without that, I’ll confess that a big part of my interest in
minis fades.

As I’ve mentioned on many occasions, I have been, at best, an indifferent
user of miniature figures in my roleplaying game campaigns. In ancient
times, when I started playing, we all owned miniatures, at least for our
player characters, and often put them in the center of the table to
represent the party’s marching order. I also owned lots of monster minis,
which I’d sometimes (though not always) bring out in order to show
what the PCs where facing. I even owned a set of cardboard cut-out
dungeon floor plans — by Heritage Miniatures, I think — that I’d
occasionally lay down in order to show the basic layout of a dungeon,
though we often dispensed with this, because it could get tedious and
because I didn’t have enough floor plan pieces for all but the simplest
dungeons.
Yet, I’ve seen the utility of minis in play. The reality is that, much of the
time, without miniatures, OD&D combat is boring. Heresy, I know, but
it’s true. OD&D’s combat is fast-moving and abstract and it’s very easy to
adjudicate when the players come up with extemporaneous tactics and
maneuvers to get the drop on their opponents. However, many of these
tactics only become apparent when there are minis on the table, when
the players and I can both see the “lay of the land,” so to speak. Without
the visual cues minis provide, combat can easily degenerate into a dull
sequence of dice rolls without any flair. That’s not a knock against my
players or a bit of self-recrimination; it’s just how things often go without
minis.
Consequently, I’m making a concerted effort to bring out the minis for
every Dwimmermount session. I still don’t think minis are necessary for
old school play and I know that many would rather not be bothered with
them. For this campaign, though, I’ve found them extremely helpful in
inspiring us to make the most of OD&D’s combat system. If only I had an
infinite budget with which to buy every miniature figure I want/need, I’d
be set ...

All that said, I can’t say that we ever really “used” miniatures in a
significant way. They were mostly cool “toys” rather than an integral part
of our gaming experience. In this respect, I am more sympathetic to
those who argue that minis aren’t a necessary part of the old school
gaming experience. Back then, nearly every gamer I know purchased
miniatures but none of them really used them except as very limited
props. What’s interesting, of course, is that I remember reading many
articles about D&D in newspapers and magazines — this was at the
height of its faddishness, remember — and many of them were
accompanied by photos showing gamers hunched around a table covered
in miniatures. Whether these photos represented the reality outside my
little corner of the hobby or (as I suspect) just made for a nice image to
accompany these articles, I can’t say for certain. For me, though, minis
were absolutely unnecessary.

So, when I began my Dwimmermount campaign over a year ago, I

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 10 March 2010

ROGUE FEED 6. Claim to have visited other worlds.

The Devil’s in the Details
MAR 09, 2010 10:30A.M.
In issue #1 of Fight On!, Aaron Kesher wrote a terrific little article called
“The Devil’s in the Details,” in which he presented a series of random
tables for use in creating quick backgrounds/personalities for characters
in his Otherness campaign. What was terrific about the initial article
(and the ones that followed it) was the way that it simultaneously made it
easy for referees and players alike to quickly — and randomly —
personalize PCs and NPCs while also imparting little details to the
players about the campaign setting without the need for lengthy write-
ups on the matter.
The form that Kesher employed in his articles and subsequently adopted
by others consists of three tables. The first uses 1D20 and is used three
times to provide very “broad” details about that particular type of
character — statements that hold true for most examples of it, such as
“Many dwarves abhor spontaneous displays of emotion” or “Many elves
will die swiftly if imprisoned.” These details have no mechanical effect
(of course!) but they do an excellent job in my opinion of fleshing out a
character type and giving some roleplaying “cues” to be developed
further.
The second table uses 1D16 (either that funky die or by rolling 1D8 with a
high/low die) and is used only once. Unlike the first table, this one
provides more specific details that, while still representative of the type
of character he is, are not present in all examples of that type. For
example: “Some elves are haunted by murders of crows” or “Some
halflings practice pugilism as a dubious hobby.” Again, the table is useful
because it gives us more details from which one can spin interesting
characters and that tell us something about the character type.
The final table (also using 1D16) is used rolled 1D3 times. This table
offers “some common traveling gear” associated with the character type.
These are bonus items in addition to whatever the player or referee
chooses to equip the character with.
7. Call all non-elves “ephemerals.”
8. Periodically spend all their funds on worthless baubles that they soon
tire of and give away.
9. Devote themselves to a single weapon and will never even touch, let
alone wield, another.
10. Can determine if a person is a magic-user simply by sight.
11. Consider silver more valuable than gold.
12. Find the concepts of aging and death endlessly fascinating.
13. Believe politeness is a form of dishonesty.
14. Disappear on the night of a full moon.
15. Refuse to accept magical healing or any other clerical spells.
16. Engage in conversations with beings others cannot see.
17. Are superb mapmakers.
18. View dwarves with strange interest.
19. Will not allow non-elves to watch them eat.
20. Refuse to sign their name to any document.
SOME ELVES (Roll 1D16 once):
1. Fear the gods of Men.
2. Actively avoid meeting other members of their kind.
3. Possess the same height, build, and countenance as Men but otherwise
possess all the qualities of elves.
4. Keep small tokens of every intelligent being they slay.
5. Are zealously Neutral (Balance) in their worldview.
6. Instinctively feel the death of anyone they have ever met, regardless of
the distance.
7. Become mute on the night of a new moon.
8. Feel a special affinity with cats.
9. Will speak no language but their own.
10. Refer to the Sun as “Our ancient enemy.”
11. Have hair of black or gray.
12. Commit to memory every song they ever hear, even those sung by
“ephemerals.”
13. Show an inordinate interest in keys of all sorts.
14. Seek out knowledge about the undead.
15. Must slay at least one living creature each day or sicken.
16. Call themselves by different names with different groups of people.

I’m glad that others have followed Kesher’s example and created their SOME COMMON TRAVELING GEAR (1D16, 1D3 times):
own tables of this sort. John Laviolette, over at The Nine and Thirty 1. A collection of keys to unknown locks.
Kingdoms, has even suggested that the old school renaissance would be 2. A chain shirt as supple as leather.
wise to offer up more examples of tables and systems in this style in 3. A bow made of a strange, silvery metal.
order to better demonstrate the old school approach to character 4. A bag of cat nip.
generation and background. I think he’s absolutely right about that and 5. A vial filled to the brim with sugar.
I’d like to suggest that, in the coming days, my fellow bloggers and 6. Silver eating utensils.
forum-ites share their own “The Devil’s in the Details” tables. Here’s one 7. An odd “compass” whose cardinal points correspond to no known
of my own, detailing the elves of Dwimmermount, to get us started: directions.
8. A hooded cloak that changes color to match its surroundings.
MANY ELVES (Roll 1D20 three times): 9. A silver belt buckle.
1. Have never known another of their kind. 10. An ornate hair clasp.
2. Have hair of white or silver. 11. A collection of hand-drawn maps.
3. Become intoxicated if they consume too much sugar. 12. A guide to etiquette.
4. Have shadows that seem “alive.” 13. A handful of small stones unlike any on earth.
5. Sleep standing up — and only for an hour or two each day. 14. A wide-brimmed hat.

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 10 March 2010

15. Some “twine” made from a flexible, silvery metal.

16. Several small but empty leather bags that they will allow no one else
to touch.