Campaign News October 5

This will be a brief one.

RULES INTERPRETATION UPDATE

I've had some thoughts on handling downtime orders to bring our game closer to the rules-as-written that I think could have some interesting in-game implications.

Up to this point, I've solicited your downtime orders for the period of time between sessions all at once, by a deadline. Downtime passes 1 day in game for 1 day in life. Our last downtime period ended on November 9, 1479 aka October 2, 2025. Our next game is October 21, 2025 or November 28, 1479. Twenty days in the game and in life. By the "batch" approach I've been using, I've been asking for orders to be submitted for the entire downtime period by some deadline a couple of days before the end of the period so that I can process those before the next session.

What I'd like to do instead is have no deadline. Rather than processing "in batch," I'll process orders as they would be executed. Today is 3 days after the last scheduled session when game date was November 9, 1479. Today, 3 days later, it's November 12, 1479. It won't be November 28, 1479 until our next scheduled session on October 21, 2025. Since I'm just telling you guys about this change today, I'll accept any orders you want to have started 3 days ago, but after today when you submit your orders will be when your character decides to do whatever it is his orders say.

I foresee a couple of advantages to this approach. From the referee perspective, it makes it much easier to handle cases where two characters submit interacting orders. For example, if two characters both try to convert coin to gems with the jeweler in Killarney, who has only so much stock, the player who submits the order first will find a wider selection available than the one who does so later (unless the jeweler gets new stock in the meantime, and he might because of a trade caravan passing through or another player cashing in gems to cover monthly upkeep). It also spreads my work out instead of requiring a lot of work at once a couple of days before the session.

From the player perspective, I think the cognitive load is a little lighter. First of all, it's advantageous to submit orders shortly after the session so as not to lose any game time, and the game-state will still be fresh mind for those who have just played. It also means that one player trying to collaborate with another and not getting a response can revise his strategy and not lose time waiting to see if there will be a response by the deadline.

It's only been 3 days, so you will not have lost much time if I don't get any November 9 - 12 orders from you today, but since this is a new rule it won't "kick in" until sunset this evening (recall that in 1479 Ireland the day ends and the next begins at sunset rather than midnight).

At sunset it will be the start of November 13, 1479 and the start of day-by-day 1:1 time.

Thanks guys!! As always, I'm very interested in any feedback you have. I'm happy to answer questions and debate different approaches as well. 

Campaign News October 3

I received feedback from a few of you about the ratings policy changes and the "roll low" method for resolving melee combat. With two in favor and one neutral, the ratings change is now in effect. I'll hold off on committing to the rolling method until we've used it in one more session, but that seems to make combat resolution move faster. The method is mathematically equivalent to the combat matrices in the rules, so this is really more of a play technique than a rules change.

PLAYERS & CHARACTERS

The Leader Board no longer shows player rankings because players no longer have a metric by which to be rated. Character ratings accrue only to the character, not to the player, now. Make no mistake however, this is still a competitive game.

SCHEDULE

For very good reasons, but still sadly, last night's game was cancelled half an hour before start time. We have a long gap now before our next game on Oct 21 and the following scheduled game is Nov 6. That leaves a lot of space for unscheduled games, which I am very happy to run at your requests, in groups or individually.

TIPS & TRICKS 

Although characters will no longer gain ratings of 4 for not submitting downtime orders, submitting them is still HIGHLY advisable. While it will no longer impact character level training costs, all of the opportunities for skilled play afforded by downtime orders are still lost if they are not submitted. Downtime orders, for lower level characters, should be focused on maximizing treasure and experience acquisition in the session(s) following the downtime period. Activities such as securing previously acquired wealth, upgrading character, henchmen, and hireling equipment, gathering information about lost treasure, researching monster vulnerabilities, and henchmen acquisition can all be accomplished in downtime thereby maximizing both the efficiency and the amount of session time available for gaining XP and gold.

Every character in the game now has a rating of 1.0. Going forward downtime orders and sessions in which the character participates will be rated according to the rules:

Consider the natural functions of each class of character. Consider also the professed alignment of each character. Briefly assess the performance of each character after an adventure. Did he or she perform basically in the character of his or her class? Were his or her actions in keeping with his or her professed alignment? Mentally classify the overall performance as: 

E - Excellent, few deviations from norm = 1
S - Superior, deviations minimal but noted = 2
F - Fair performance, more norm than deviations = 3
P - Poor showing with aberrant behavior = 4

Clerics who refuse to help and heal or do not remain faithful to their deity, fighters who hang back from combat or attempt to steal, or fail to boldly lead, magic-users who seek to engage in melee or ignore magic items they could employ in crucial situations, thieves who boldly engage in frontal attacks or refrain from acquisition of an extra bit of treasure when the opportunity presents itself, "cautious" characters who do not pull their own weight - these are all clear examples of a POOR rating.

Please think carefully about your characters' alignments and (re-)read both the Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide descriptions of alignment. Verify your understanding with the referee (outside of the play session). First level characters can change alignment anytime outside of the play session without penalty. Once a character has trained up to 2nd level or higher, the penalties for changing alignment are severe.

Previously, I had added service to the character's goals as part of the basis for his ratings. This is outside the scope of the rules as written, and so I will no longer do that. It remains a key of skillful play to identify and pursue goals for your characters, however that is between you and your character. I will no longer be rewarding or penalizing that outside the natural consequences of playing a character pointedly or aimlessly.

Campaign News September 27

I have recently written a lot of words about what you guys could be doing better to beat AD&D, but I haven't said anything about what you already are doing better. I've taken a rather castigating tone as well with those words, which isn't the nicest way to address my friends. I'm sorry about that.

All of you have more experience with other systems than AD&D 1e. This is a fundamentally different game from D&D 5e, Traveller, etc. This game makes very different demands on players and is brutally unforgiving. You've all adjusted admirably to this system even though it is not to all of your preferred tastes. I know that some of you would prefer a game you can play casually without it meaning that you will automatically lose. Some of you would prefer a game that has a narrative / story focus instead of a board game / simulation focus. I appreciate that you're willing to bend toward my preferences for this game.

That this game is hard to play, that it rewards study and work and planning and innovation, that it punishes inattention and laziness, and that it won't protect even the best players from plain bad luck are the things which make it great in my estimation. These qualities are what make it a game I'm happy to spend hours and hours working on outside of the session.

I'd like to make it a game that, while still having all those qualities I crave, can accommodate more casual play for those players who prefer it without backing them into corners out of which they can't escape. I have some ideas about how to do that. I'd like your feedback on these and ask also for your ideas. Here are the rules changes I'd like to propose to you all:

1. Character ratings apply only to the character who has garnered them instead of applying to the player so that players with more than one character may have different ratings averages for each of their characters.
2. Characters gain ratings for in-session play and for downtime orders as we've played to date. However, characters do not receive any ratings for downtime periods in which they don't have downtime orders.
3. Character ratings are reset at each level change. For example, if a character has an average rating of 1.5 at the time he trains for 2nd level, the 1.5 rating is used as a multiplier for the cost / time to train for second level, but once the character completes that training, all of his past ratings are deleted and only those received after that point until training for level 3 are averaged for his level 3 training multiplier.

This set of changes makes our rules closer to a straight read of the rules as written. I believe it also still rewards players who make good use of downtime periods, but without punishing those players who don't, except by their lost opportunity. It also means that the Leader Board will display character rankings only as there will no longer be a direct player v. player ranking metric.

SCHEDULE
Our next game will be at 17:00 on Thursday, Oct 2 at my house. Downtime orders for the period ending November 8, 1479 are due before 19:00 on Monday, Oct 1 [correction] Sep 29. The October Saturday game on the 25th is cancelled.