Campaign News August 31

We're in the short gap between the last Saturday and the first Thursday, so players have less time than usual to sort out their downtime orders. It is also, however, a fairly short period of game time -- 11 days for most characters and only 4 days for the characters in yesterday's game! Today's tip will be about downtime orders.

SCHEDULE

Our next game will be on Thursday, September 4 at 17:00. As always, please let me know ASAP whether or not you plan to attend. Discussing plans among yourselves before the session will maximize your gold and XP potential.

Orders for all characters for the period ending October 2, 1479 are due by 19:00 on Monday, Sep 1.

TIPS & TRICKS

Downtime Orders Made Easier

Issuing good downtime orders has two very direct and obvious benefits: 1) they allow the players to execute "housekeeping" sorts of activities outside of the play session so as to maximize the time available for recovering treasure and earning experience points during the session; and 2) they contribute to a lower ratings average for the player which allows cheaper and faster level training for his characters. 

The "tactical infinity" offered by AD&D in session play is also offered in downtime play, but that metaphorical blank sheet of paper can be more of a hindrance than a help for a player who doesn't already have a plan in mind. While there are an infinite range of choices available, there are really only a few things that the player not already executing some plan needs to consider.

The two things that bring players the most benefit from downtime orders are information about what opportunities offer the best rewards, and the time to plan and prepare for the pursuit of those opportunities. As such, the first thing a player should accomplish in downtime orders is to find out what opportunities for gold and XP exist. Orders to do that can be pretty simple, but considering what a player knows about the setting already can direct and focus that information gathering better than generically "hanging around listening for rumors." If you don't know where to start, start there.

For players who already know about an opportunity they'd like their characters to pursue, downtime orders are even simpler. Such players should consider what's needed to best accomplish their intended goal, as far as they know, and buy and arrange what they need.

For example, if you know you want to go back to the nearby dungeon and hopefully bring back boatloads of treasure, you know that you're going to need some muscle or stealth to deprive whatever has the treasure now of it, and you'll need a way to get it home. Plus you need to get there and back, and the faster you do that, the less likely you'll run into something on the way that might kill you. So, figure out what other characters are willing to go with yours, hire some mercenaries maybe, buy horses and pack animals if you don't have them. And lots of sacks. A large sack will hold 400 coins. How many coins are you hoping to bring back? That tells you how many sacks to bring.

Torches, rations, arrows, weapons, and armor upgrades can all be purchased outside the session. If your character has already paid at least one month of upkeep, you can ignore the cost of things that cost less than a crown unless you're buying huge numbers of them. Do your encumbrance accounting before the session starts, and have your character sheet all up to date. You'll end up earning more XP faster. Not because the ref is happy, but because you've made the best use of the limited session time.

Campaign News August 20

Two canceled sessions in a row are partly to blame for the gap in campaign news. Summer is a tricky time for playing AD&D around here as we are all busy with visitors, summer-only activities, busy season at work, etc. I'm looking forward to September when the summer complaints thin out and we all have a little more time for games!

PLAYERS & CHARACTERS

Last night's game got off to a late and slow start, but finished strong for the two players present. Pursuing the legend of the black sapphire, "Réalta Dhubh," the characters ended up in Killarney.

On the Leader Board, Andy and John both improved their ratings. Andy's new character Frang, debuted ahead of the bottom four characters, while John's character Eoin advanced from 5th to 3rd place in the rankings.

SCHEDULE

Our next game is scheduled for 13:00 on Saturday, August 30 at Footbridge. The game date then will be September 22, 1479.

The current downtime period is September 1 - September 21, except for Eoin and Frang who are already up to September 11, and Shay who is still at August 20.

Orders for all characters through September 21 are due by 19:00 on Sunday, August 24.

TIPS & TRICKS

Casual and Serious Approaches to the Game

As complicated as it is, AD&D is a very easy game to play. Unlike board games like chess, one can play AD&D without reading or knowing any of the rules. Most people who play the game, first played it in that manner with other people who already knew the rules (at least some of the rules). It's very easy to just "show up and play" with an experienced referee at the table. For casual players, an evening with friends, beers, and snacks is all they're interested in having, and there are plenty of players who continue their D&D careers at this level. They absorb a few rules through osmosis, but never really read the rules or find ways to exploit them. These players are at the table for "fun," not to "win." That seems fine, because nobody wins or loses at D&D, right? It's cooperative, not competitive. Isn't it? Yes and no.

AD&D is a very difficult game to play well. It is extremely complex, and the rules not only constrain the players' every actions, they actively work to reverse the players' progress when they're not at the table! Monthly upkeep is akin to backing the player's piece up on the board periodically, or undoing moves the player previously made. The board is in constant flux as well, so a metaphorical space on the board a player was aiming to hit one session, might no longer be there, or be desirable to reach, the next session. The clock continues to run down the time whether the players are on the field or not. To play the game well, the player needs to grasp a fairly large body of interlocking rules and find ways to squeeze advantage out of those rules that are by default working against him. Players who are unable to out-swim that counter-current are doomed to cover the same ground over and over. They are never going to move out of grimy, shitty dungeons, and assume positions of authority in a world where they would fight wars and gain territories and engage in a whole different mode of play. The scale and the scope are altered so that after hundreds of hours of game play they aren’t still farting around like a bunch of scrubs in a roaming gang and robbing people.

If, as a serious player, you'd like to do something besides mucking around in moldering fun-house dungeons, you need to use your characters to learn about the fictional world, and you need to read (and re-read many times) and exploit the rules of the game to get your character ahead.

Remedial AD&D

About a year ago I came to the startling realization that I had been playing AD&D incorrectly for more than 40 years. I thought I was playing by rules, pretty much. I had a few house rules that filled in gaps and shortcomings in the book rules (secondary skills and family background), but by and large, I thought I was refereeing a by-the-book, rules-as-written kind of game. I was dead wrong. Fortunately, I had the rule books and I like to read and figure out hard to understand things. Gary Gygax's writing is hard to figure out. So, I started over and read the rule books cover to cover. There were dozens of rules I hadn't even heard of. I went back to remedial referee school to learn it all again. This time the right way. I'm still working on it.

As a player, reading the rules (Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide) is the only way to learn the game well enough to win. And by "win," I mean get out of the murder-hobo mode of play. Additionally, there are some basic steps you can take to improve your game if you're not already doing them:

• Take notes during the session. Keep these notes and your character's downtime orders and results in a timeline for each character you have. Re-read your character's timeline when planning for the next session in which you will play him and when preparing new downtime orders.
• Prepare for sessions ahead of time by submitting downtime orders to take care of equipment purchases, money exchange, hiding treasure, information gathering, travel, etc.
• PLAN WITH OTHER PLAYERS BEFORE YOUR NEXT SESSION.
• Keep your rating low by submitting high quality downtime orders and killing off characters that are hurting your ratings average.
• Read "Successful Adventures" on pp. 107 & 109 of the Players Handbook.