It was great to have the opportunity to talk with Ron Edwards about Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition and the running of the Con4eR online convention. Check out the video link on Ron’s Adept Play site:
https://adeptplay.com/seminar/conversation-about-4er
We’ll collaborate some more as we go for a second outing for Con4eR later this year.
I take a tour of the big stack of books…
I’m organising a quick pop up D&D 4th Edition convention online at the moment. I’ve talked about the process and how easy it is to do. There’s been some great play at Con4eR so far and it is heart warming to see people getting together and playing this edition of the game.
Having been DMing a 4e campaign, I’ve become much stronger on the core game rules, which are some of the most straightforward and unambiguous versions of all the D&Ds. It’s a joy to run. A four hour convention slot comes with all the usual challenges, including new players to either the system, or the VTT, or both! I went with Role as it is the most familiar to me, and the Foundry 4e system isn’t quite there yet.
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| My setup on Role |
I took a classic ‘Delve’ from the 4e Dungeon Delve book and set the game at 5th level, eschewing the obvious ploy to set your game at 1st level to streamline options. Mostly, the game went down really well for all at the table. There was a lot of fun in the session, but it was ‘full on’ throughout.
I started with a lightning tour round the VTT and player character sheets. I’ve setup clickable sheets for 4e that is designed to speed up dice rolling. There are currently limits to the flexibility of the sheet template system on Role, which they are addressing over the summer. For now, I have a character management sheet that looks after resources and dice rolls.
Inevitably, there is a trade off in providing succint and usable information on VTT function and getting into an actual game, and I was as quick as i could be, hoping that any kinks would be worked through during play. Again, mostly, I think I got the balance about right. I had offered an orientation session before the game day, but in the end i needed to do the walk through as part of the game introduction. understandably, some players clicked on the wrong things, due to the sheet not being completely intuitive. We got over that after the first time different things happened, so no biggie.
The Barony of Harkenworld is in chaos. A raiding army from out of the carcass of the southern Empire of old have attacked and taken Harken, the castle and the Baron. The ‘Iron Circle’ have command of devils and all manner of evil has become emboldened, striding freely amongst the scattered settlements.Heroes of the North, you have responded to a crisis out in the East of the Wold. One of the lieutenants of the Iron Circle, Tal Lorvas, has terrorised the settlements that nestle by the Briar Hills and is said to be uncovering some ancient magics in a rumoured tomb of a banished Empress, Nemeia of Bael Turath.You are in pursuit to prevent Lorvas gain control of the cursed treasures of the tomb. Our adventure begins as you arrive at the uncovered maw of the tomb entrance, breathing a fetid stench from its long deep and dark throat…#Dungeon Delve, #PG-13, #Co-operative play
Or, Delve 5 in the book!. I re-drew the maps in Dungeondraft so that they would pop out and scale well on the VTT. I was pleased with the results; it’s proving to be a really useful tool.
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| Thanks Dungeondraft |
Tokens were created using Token Tool and linked to images of the characters that were created from scratch using the offline character builder. The characters were exported through One Note out to images that were embeded in Google Docs to facilitate easy sharing. During the game I had tabs open with each of the character sheets to check on powers and rules questions. That seemed to work well, as the main challenge for players was to get on top of their power options in game. The players were awesome, picking up the variety very well and, on the whole, swung into the groove of working out what they wanted to do whilst they waited for their turns.
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| So much to explore and so little time |
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| Worth checking out RPG Sounds |
A good game and inspired me to run some more 4e at conventions.
It seems that the process of redrawing the old fantasy map of my youth has brought back old friends and memories of campaigns of long ago, as much legend as reality. Early days with it and a gentle process. I’m starting to place som e nation or peoples’ names and ‘re-imagine’ some of it.
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| Middle Kingdoms of the Kal looking east to the reborn empire of Kestolia |
As enjoyable as the process is, in and of itself, I may extend to running some games there, or at least one! It’s quite fun looking at the games I might use. If it is to be D&D 4th Ed then the old empire of Tareon will be Eladrin, with their faded palaces dotting the landscape to this day. The human Kestolians are seeking to emulate the glory of the past, but choking under the demands of their infernal advisors. The Middle Kingdoms of the human Kal are a fractious concordance of many ancestries bound by the frailties of the old clan alliances of yesteryear. The hinterlands are wild and dangerous and in the inner lands continue to hold mysteries that beguile and threaten.
Meanwhile, placing symbols…
So, I have brought out my dusty old maps from 35+ years ago of my fantasy campaign world of Kallahn, originally a home for some Chivalry & Sorcery 2nd Edition. I’m not going to claim anything too innovative or amazing, but it was mine.
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| Early work in the Middle Kingdom area centred on Palar |
It was always our student house joke about Logical Positivism. You can’t doubt the existence of the table in front of you, if you can put a pint on it. It was the sort of test that we were sure the Vienna Circle would have deployed, down the boozer, in the 20s.
I’m starting to think about gaming around real tables with real people. I think I may find it a challnege on a number of fronts. Virtual Tabletops are here to stay. All of my three regular games have people from other places, either in this country or much further away, so the games will go on and, in any case, I think I prefer playing online. That’s right, I think it is more me. This may place me in a minority, but that is just fine. Embrace the weird.
It isn’t just the convenience of the ‘switch on and play’ nature of virtual gaming, or that I can connect with so many more people and play the games that I really want to play. I think I like the creating of the session experience online. The ease with which you can create the richness of the surrounding assets that give the game the visual pizzazz, and the way the tabletop provides a dynamic concensus to what is going on. Accepting the limitations of the video box we sit in, the commnication tools on chat provide lots of opportunities for group communication.
You can’t go back to savoury now.
Nevertheless, I have space and a gaming table, and our local conventions are going back to the hotel venue, so I will be running realspace games before very long. Getting my current jam of 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons to physical has been occupying some spare processing space. I have ordered some 5cm wooden disks to go with my 2.5cm fridge magnets to give me quick, cheap and portable tokens for grid based play. Oh yes, all hail the beauty of the grid. I may also have to say hello to Loke, not the blind alley, but the battlemat purveyors. At least I hope that’s not a gaming cul-de-sac, but something like this looks pretty good:
Dungeon Draft and printer ink may also be deployed.
Genesys is something I’d definitely like to do more with, and I have my sights on the Summer Twilight Imperium release as the space opera for me. physical will encourage me to get out the specialist dice that I have and watch them clatter around the very real table next to my pint.
Yeah, that sounds pretty good.
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| A D&D 4th Edition Online Convention |
I seem to have a congenital need to create gaming spaces, to bring people together to play tabletop roleplaying games. There could be have been worse things. My next project is to see if I can develop an online convention for the playing of D&D 4th Edition, a game that I am enjoying running at the moment, and fueling some fun with a #4eRenaissance on Twitter. I mean, if you want to own a meme, where better to go?
This is in conceptual/planning stages at the moment, and will act a bit of a wrap around me creating a 4e one shot with some pre-gens to showcase the game for people. I thought I might investigate using Warhorn to enable me to solo organise the schedule, possibly backed up with a Discord, depending on what Warhorn offers in terms of communication. For such an event, I will need to create some safety guidance, and devolve trust to any participating DMs, with a feedback loop to me if needed.
I’m currently targeting the weekend of 10th to 11th July 2021, the one before schools break up in the UK. That’s not far away by design, though might be a bit too tight. It gives just enough time for people to plan ahead, either to get something to the virtual table, or to free up some time to play.
What do you think?
It will be interesting to see if I get any DM takers, and the VTT tools they choose to use. I’ll get some pregens into Role VTT and have the game as a taster for the future.
I have some time away from work next week after the Bank Holiday, so will reflect on when it could be and get some details out and see what happens.
If ‘Con4eR I’ is just me running something for an afternoon, well, it’s a start! 😊
Created from Masterplan output to HTML and edited slightly to give me an NPC.
A thing of beauty.
I am starting to get the hang of 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, and where it sits in amongst the other D&Ds and across the fantasy spectrum. It creates and manages the most engaging and intense combat encounters, where entering the fight is a major risk and an investment of game time. Our sessions involve straight roleplay with interaction and decision making and background development and some set piece combats. Arguably, much like all the D&Ds. The precision of ‘the Grid’, with the cool powers expressed in square zones, is represented easily by VTTs, where 4e shines.
It’s stirring heroics, with capable heroes who all have signature powers that allow them to shine with equal relevance but in thematic ways.
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| Where we left off – Iron Circle defeated |
In our most recent encounter, the group of player characters, ‘Sturm und Drang’, were ambushed by the Iron Circle, a deadly faction that is seeking to dominate the northern lands. The aftermath is above, with a Rage Drake dominating the terror, and became more powerful once ‘bloodied’ (lost half hit points). Powers and Action Points were sent freely as it was clear this one could go one of two ways. I nearly put paid to our Dragonborn Warlord, who was into Death Saves, and the NPC Ranger, Helena, was on 3 hit points and only surviving thanks to Dual Shot and dispatching the Minion Brigands in two rounds of fast shooting.
There is, of course, a lot of roleplaying going on in the tactical play. I don’t particularly disassociate the two, and as such, might be a clue as to why I enjoy 4e so much. A following scene revealed something about our half-eleven Hexblade’s family and past. The bulk of our session was the set piece above, but it remains a blend of character, story and intense combat action. It’s a mix I like.
A fascinating podcast, featuring Rob Heinsoo, affirms that the original intent in 4E was not to have all classes have a similar structure (AEDU) and that it was a lack of design time that brought us the symmetry of similar structures for all classes. The Essentials classes were a closer representation of their original 4e design intentions, with greater variety in the way that they operate. It’s a very good interview, with 4E getting a few minutes worth in amongst the 13th Age. Well worth a listen.
https://www.dicegeeks.com/13th-age-how-playing-ttrpgs-changed-rob-heinsoo/
Personally, I’m glad they ran out of time. Sometimes the constraints of deadline can, in fact, create design beauty, even if it wasn’t entirely intended.
As an expression of my current delight, and to banner wave my 4e enjoyment, I went to Twitter, of all places, and posted this:
Yeah, I know, but I thought it would be fun. It has garnered a little attention and created some buzz. We even have our own hashtag now: #4eRenaissance or #4eR. I’m not sure if we will turn it into a movement, but might be a more recognised tendency. 😆 I’d go More4 but Channel 4 beat me to it.
I had wondered about surging the #4eRenaissance with a series of YouTube streaming adventures, showcasing the game and, probably, the Role VTT.
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| This would make a good 10 episode stream run |
I’ve since noted that there are one or two recent 4E streams, and I’d need to ensure that the roleplaying comes through within the combat encounters, but that’s kind of how we play. Finding a group who would be happy to play 10 sessions of D&D4e in a streamed show is presently unlikely. More-so, do I have the time to do it? I think I know the answer to that one.
As our sensors acknowledge that North Star has successfully jumped for another online year, my thoughts have turned to my experiences of running an online tabletop RPG convention. I thought I’d share some of those thoughts here.
Creating virtual spaces for gamers to enjoy the hobby is incredibly rewarding. The events generate such fun and warmth that you feel like the efforts are worthwhile. All the more true at a time when we haven’t been able to game face to face for such a long time. And they have been difficult times for so many of us, so that an escape into the ether, via the collective inventiveness of the GMs and the imaginative power of players, is a great tonic and recharge, a moment of community and play.
Safe to say that I’m still learning how best to organise such events. Mostly, I think we get it about right, but here are some reflections on how to make them better:
We thought about charging something for the event, with it being refunded if you participate and honour the slots that you sign up for, however many that is. Probably not a good idea. The events are viable, and once you get used to the dropout numbers it’s fine.
The hybrid model of keeping communication in Discord but reaching out via Mail Chimp and signposting in other forum feels like a more ‘together’ experience. I’ll feel more contactable during the convention too, for any help required. I’ve been skirting around ‘convention software’ as this comes with a cost and for the size of what we are doing it almost certainly isn’t worth it. Discord is free and effective.
Keeping GMs to offering a maximum of two games, continues to feel like the right call. Rewarding those GMs with a first round selection of games is also a tried and tested reward for their heroic efforts. I’d keep the maximum that a game can be booked before the general player round as half capacity (possibly round down).
Generous and flexible slot sizes over the weekend opens up possibilities for long games, whilst having set break points so that the schedule can work in the next games consistently all seems to work well.
Formal post-con feedback via a Google Form is something I might do for next time – (see below about ‘next time…’)
There are a number of people combinations that don’t work. It might be worth us keeping a list of them, though I’m all for redemption and not assuming.
It’s great to see international attendance. This is a huuge plus and one of the fantastic dimensions to online gaming. My regular D&D4e game has similarly benefited with a player from the Seattle area.