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    Loaded Dice: My Storytelling Guides, #4
    Loaded Dice: My Storytelling Guides, #4
    Loaded Dice: My Storytelling Guides, #4
    Ebook170 pages1 hour

    Loaded Dice: My Storytelling Guides, #4

    By Aron Christensen and Erica Lindquist

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    About this ebook

    I've been running role-playing games for thirty years, but am relatively new to playing them. Erica's rolled up dozens of characters, but has only a few Storytelling experiences under her belt. Together, we've written a blog about what we learned, the challenges we have to overcome, and all the solutions we've come up with to keep an RPG campaign going – The RPGuide.

     

    This is a collection of our best and favorite articles from the first year and a half of RPGuide posts. We've got advice for handling players, building NPCs, and we debate rules and play styles. If you're an old hand at role-playing, maybe you'll find a new trick to put up your sleeve, or a fresh way of looking at gaming. And if you're new to RPGs, then you're welcome to learn from our mistakes and take advantage of our experience.

     

    You've probably read My Guide to RPG Story­telling, the Companion, or maybe From Dream to Dice, and that's what brought you around to this little collection. But if this is your first RPGuidebook, welcome! Don't worry, you don't need to read any of the others first – Loaded Dice can be used on its own. We'll even begin with a "What the heck is a table-top role-playing game?" chapter. So let's play!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLoose Leaf Stories
    Release dateOct 25, 2020
    ISBN9781643190556
    Loaded Dice: My Storytelling Guides, #4
    Author

    Aron Christensen

    Erica and Aron are the science fiction and fantasy authors of the Reforged Trilogy, In the House of Five Dragons and the recently completed Dead Beat occult detective serial. Their short fiction has appeared in eFiction and Abomination magazine. They also write paranormal adventure erotica under the porn names of Natalie and Eric Severine. Aron and Erica live together in Sacramento, California, but miss the dark pines and deep snow of the mountains. Their education included medicine, biology, psychology, criminal justice, anthropology, art, martial arts and journalism before they finally fell in love with writing fiction. Now they can’t quite remember why they bothered with all of that other stuff.

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      Book preview

      Loaded Dice - Aron Christensen

      WHAT IS A ROLE-PLAYING GAME?

      – ARON –

      We get asked this question a lot. Erica and I like to go out and grab some food after game, and when asked what we’ve been up to, we answer role-playing… And get a lot of blank stares. If you’re here and reading our books, you probably know what a table-top RPG is.

      But maybe not! A lot of people don’t know much about gaming. This chapter is for anyone who doesn’t understand what RPGs are, or who struggles to explain role-playing to someone else.

      This is for your parents, your kids, your co-workers, your non-role-playing friends who are trying to imagine what is it you’re doing when you tell them what you’ll be up to this weekend.

      Role-playing games are also known by the shortened acronym RPG. And these are the table-top variety, so they’re not video games on a console, your phone or computer. They’re not a field game like soccer or baseball. They aren’t quite choose-your-own-adventures like the books or Netflix’s interactive film, Bandersnatch – but they’re closer than anything else, so let’s use choose-your-own-adventures as our jumping-off point.

      RPGs are like a choose-your-own-adventure (CYOA) in that they are centered on a narrative story that you have some influence over. In both an RPG and a choose-your-own-adventure, when a story event occurs, you get to choose what to do, which determines what happens next. Some video games – also known as RPGs – let you do that, too.

      But a table-top role-playing game is far more open-ended. And you get to play with your friends! So grab some imaginary dice – we’re going to play a sample RPG.

      Here’s how it goes. I’m the Storyteller – also called the Dungeon Master, Game Master, Holmeister, or several other titles depending upon the game system – and I’m marginally in charge. I’m the one who created the story and who narrates the events of the campaign.

      You’re a player! I’m probably going to need more than one player, so bring some friends. We’ll gather in my living room or a table at the local gaming shop – hence the name table-top RPG – probably with some snacks. RPGs take a long time to play, so you’re going to get hungry.

      Time to make the character who will interact with my story. Unlike a choose-your-own-adventure or most video game RPGs, you get to make your own character. Not just select their hair, cos­tume or gender – though you get to choose that, too. But what’s their name? What drives your character? What are their hopes and fears? Now we’re getting into something more like improvisational acting!

      As you develop your character, the Storyteller – which is me in this example – will provide some feedback and guidance. Maybe my story is a fantasy tale of political and magical intrigue, and I don’t know how much fun you’re going to have playing the castle stable hand. But maybe the wizard’s apprentice…? If you like that idea, great! Then that’s the character we’ll create. If not, we’ll work to­gether to craft some other ideas.

      Role-playing is collaborative, and I’m on the same team as my player to help them have fun.

      Your character also gets stats – written up on a paper or digital character sheet – to determine how good they are at certain things, like running and fighting and solving riddles. Maybe you’ll have some special tricks or powers that your character can use, like magic spells, neat combat moves or wielding political clout.

      So now you and your friends have a little band – or party – of characters. We’ve created them together because as the Storyteller, I need to make sure your character has a comfy place in the game (also called a campaign). You’ve got character sheets and a handful of the right kind of dice. Dungeons & Dragons uses a traditional D20 set, and White Wolf is rolled with a bunch of D10s, while Big Eyes, Small Mouth uses just a pair of standard 6-siders.

      Usual notation for dice is a letter D, then the number of sides on the die – a D20 is a 20-sided die, a D10 has ten sides, and so on.

      Next, you need something to do with your new character. So now it’s time to begin telling my story and playing the game!

      I start off by describing a scene. I might give a little history, or talk about the state of the imaginary world your characters are a part of… Then I come to you! I will describe where your characters – player characters, also called PCs – are and what they’re up to when the adventure begins. Then I narrate something happening.

      Maybe someone comes up to talk to your character. You – speaking as your character – get to answer their questions. Maybe you ask some questions, too, if you feel like it. All in your character’s voice, using those mannerisms and motivations that we worked out together.

      Unlike a video game, there are no pre-set dialogue options to choose from. And unlike a choose-your-own-adventure book, you don’t just pick one of the possibilities and then flip to another page. In my story, you can say or do (just about) anything that you want. I’ll have all the supporting and background characters react to you. And all the players get to react to each other, too.

      Maybe it’s not a conversation that starts things. Maybe the PC party is on the road and they’re suddenly attacked by goblins! Maybe you and your friends fight back, or lead your attackers on an exciting chase!

      This sort of action scene is what most people imagine when they think of role-playing, and it’s the meat and potatoes of table-top RPGs. You get to use those stats and dice in fights or chases, but you still get to make the choices. Of all the monsters charging at you, which one do you want to go after? What skills or powers or weapons do you want to use against it?

      In a choose-your-own-adventure book, the reader only gets two or three options. In a video game, you have powers and weapons, but can only deploy them in limited ways. What if you don’t want to hit the bad guy with your sword? What if you want to catch the sunlight on its blade and shine it into the villain’s eyes to blind them as the other characters sneak in close?

      In a table-top RPG, you can do just about anything you can think of. It doesn’t have to be written in advance like a book, or coded and scripted like a video game. If you can imagine something, then I can think of what your character needs to roll in order to do it. Now let’s roll those dice and see what happens!

      The dice stay on the table and the rules remain on the character sheets, but everything else happens in the minds of the Storyteller and players. It’s playing make-believe with a few rules attached, so there’s a staggering number of options. And while you’re coming up with your own ideas, all the other players are doing the same thing. And the Storyteller is weaving it into a single narrative. It’s a collaborative story – one that all the players and the Storyteller create together.

      When I play video games, I can’t help but grumble when I have to choose from a limited set of pre-determined dialogue options, none of which is what I really want my character to say. Or I try to shoot out a support to drop the roof on some villain’s head, but my video game bullets can’t damage background objects. I just can’t read a choose-your-own-adventure book when I can think of better things to do than the options on the page. I’ve been spoiled by the freedom of table-top RPGs, and the joy of creating a story with my friends… But it seems like a small price to pay to play in stories together.

      If you’ve never role-played, I highly recommend it.

      KEEP AN OPEN DOOR & PUT OUT THE WELCOME MAT

      – ARON –

      The previous chapter was a basic explanation of role-playing games, mostly because it’s come up a lot for me recently.

      Hey, what are you doing this weekend?

      Answer: Role-playing.

      What’s your new book about?

      Answer: Role-playing!

      When I explain, people sound sincerely interested and I want to send them out to try gaming. Go for it! Jump in with both feet and have an adventure!

      But then I pause. I would love to be able to take everyone into my group for their first RPG experience, but scheduling game time with my regular group is already hell. I have to work a day job, too, and can never find the time to run as many games as I would like.

      I encourage other people to pick up the core rulebook of whatever system has caught their eye and find a gaming group, but I worry because it’s not always a safe environment. Most gamers are very friendly and welcoming… but not all of them. Not yet, at least. There are people and groups out there who make nerd culture toxic for new­comers that want to play with us.

      I can see how it happens. I’m from a generation for whom nerdy stuff was sometimes a point of deep social shame. When I was young and people asked me what my weekend plans were, I sure as hell didn’t say role-playing. If I did, I would get teased and bullied. I felt unsafe being myself and being open about my hobbies and interests. So I became scared and defensive of my nerdom, protective of my private creative space… And it can be hard to let that go.

      I can see how we might say comic books, video games or role-playing is for us. Some of us suffered for our nerdy loves, and re­sent anyone new coming in. When someone else holds the doors open to bring others into the fandom, we can get angry and feel like our space is being invaded. Role-playing games are becoming more mainstream and accessible now, and maybe that makes some of the old-schoolers feel like it’s being taken away from them.

      But it’s not. RPGs aren’t a pie; there’s not a finite amount to go around. There’s plenty for everyone.

      I’m a cisgender guy, but most of my RPG gaming groups have included at least a couple of women. My nerdy loves have always connected me to people who were different than me, and it’s great to have something in common. There have always been nerds and it doesn’t belong to anyone. We can all share, and we can all defeat a necromancer together. Hell, half of any RPG campaign is the party learning to get along!

      Yeah, I was excluded from the popular cliques of my generation – but because of that, I want to be welcoming to anyone who wants to join mine now. I felt like an outcast, and now the best way to stop feeling like an outsider is to invite as many people into my circle as possible.

      If nothing else, the more nerds there are out there, the better my chances of finding someone at the office party or standing in line at the coffee shop who can talk about Dungeons and Dragons with me. More fun for both of us! So let’s all hold the door open to any­one who’s curious or interested in role-playing.

      WHY I CALL MYSELF A STORYTELLER

      – ARON –

      The person who creates and runs a role-playing game gets all sorts of titles: Dungeon Master, Game Master, Referee, Narrator… And, one of my favorites, Holmeister. But the one I identify with and which I use in my books about role-playing is Storyteller.

      I want to be more than just the guy who sprinkles monsters around a dungeon like deadly cake toppings. Game Master sounds

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