PLAYERS & CHARACTERS
I am very pleased to share that after a 6-month+ hiatus, Cole has rejoined the game. In last night's session his character Finnan surged from 4th place to 2nd place on the Leader Board as well as shifting his own place on the Player board from 4th to 3rd by a narrow margin.
Counter-balancing Cole's return, Adam joined Liam on temporary hiatus. These players and their characters will remain on the leader board until 185 days have passed without joining a session, although their characters will still be in the record.
Competing with the good news of Cole's return is the additional good news that Barry plans to try out refereeing in Erin! (The astute may have noticed my name at the bottom of the Player Leader Board for the last couple of weeks.) There is no specific plan yet for when that will happen, but Barry has been reading up on the rules and otherwise preparing to referee a session. I am very much looking forward to getting a character in the game!
Everyone in the game is invited and encouraged to take a go at refereeing. Not only does it give me a chance to play too, but also it helps make players even better at playing the game.
SCHEDULE
Regrettably, I have had to cancel this month's scheduled Saturday session on Feb 21. Please remember, though, that I will run unscheduled sessions on request, my own schedule permitting. If you were hoping to play that session, but you have other days on which you could play when no game is scheduled, please reach out to me and any of the players to try to arrange an unscheduled session.
Instead of requesting an RSVP from every player for every session, we've switched to a "default attendance" sort of plan. Under this new scheme, the players have registered with me their "default" attendance days. A few days before each session I'll send out a reminder and a response is required only from players attending a session outside their default days, and those not attending when they would normally default to attending it. Over the next month or two, please let me know how well or poorly this new RSVP and reminder scheme works for you, and any adjustments you'd like to see in it.
TIPS & TRICKS
Character Progression - Part I
Overview
Characters in the game go through a number of stages in their development, and the path they follow will vary, of course by player choice, but also by class. Skillful play requires thinking about one's character's current situation, as well as where the player would like the character to go, development-wise, and where it is best suited to go in that regard.
Low level characters, up through at least 3rd level typically, start with the "classic" dungeon delve. The dungeon environment has some controls on it which keep the dangers within a predictable range. The range may extend above what the characters are capable of dealing with, but only by so much, and generally recognizably. The dungeon can be returned to throughout the characters' careers, but other pursuits which are more practical for middle and upper level characters, generally offer greater reward to risk and/or time ratios.
Mid-level characters, that is a minimum of 4th level, and more commonly 5th through about 8th level, have better options available to them. First they have more exposure to the campaign world, so they are apt to have contacts, allies, and enemies whom they've accumulated amongst NPCs and other players' characters. They have a greater understanding of the game world's dynamics, politics, and economics as well, so they can participate in more meaningful ways than what the dungeon offers. At this level, characters often have the capability to take on larger numbers of better organized enemies, smashing monster lairs where the treasure is likely to be much higher per hit die of defeated enemy than in the dungeon. At this level, mages have spells around the use of which operations can be centered. Fighters can command substantial military forces, just a 4th level fighter, for example, could command as many as 200 soldiers and 28 officers. Clerics can offer perfect protection against death by infection or disease, cure blindness, and remove magical curses at 5th level, and by 9th level, bring their dead comrades back to life.
High-level characters, particularly those whose classes offer "name level" capability for dominion, may begin playing an entirely different game from what most players think of as "D&D." Clerics, Fighters, and Rangers at 9th level, and Wizards and Illusionists at 11th level, may build strongholds, clear territory, collect taxes, and grow a domain. Their game becomes political, economic, and military on a grander scale than other characters' games. Druids, assassins, and monks have their own end games which focus on internecine struggles within their institutions. Thieves at this level focus on building institutions and while their exploits may rival those of the domain builders, but they operate within the domain of another. The paladin never attracts followers (except an intelligent horse), never exercises dominion, and is stuck forever in an extended mid-level game.
Beginning Strategy
For first level characters, the options are very limited. Characters need to band together, probably pooling their gold, in order to meet what I would call the "minimum adventuring requirements." That is, a party numbering at least 6, and ideally 9 members, at least 3 of whom have a class level. The remainder can be heavy infantry mercenaries (0-level men-at-arms) equipped with at least padded armor, helmet, wooden shield, spear, and hand ax. That equipment will cost 17 gold per man, and for a 1-month agreement, plus 1 day of hazard pay to accompany the party into the dungeon for their first expedition, brings that cost to a minimum 21 gold per man. In order to afford 3 to 6 such helpers, the party will need to minimize their costs, buying limited armor (studded leather at best) and probably no bows or crossbows. The party and the mercenaries need provisions for the expedition, sacks for the treasure recovered, and torches to see what they're doing.
A party's first dungeon delve is a make-or-break event. If the characters don't come out of it with enough gold to upgrade their arms & armor, and that of their mercenaries, and to round out the group to at least 9 members, then they may as well not come out at all. It's possible too go on after bad luck, a few bad rolls early, but unless they carried out enough treausre to go back for a second expedition with at least a slightly improved or larger force, they're done and might as well fall on their swords. Players in this situation should almost certainly throw their character away and try again with a fresh, new one.
The Low-Level Game
If the new character survives a successful first delve and hauls away enough treasure to upgrade his equipment and/or his support, he or she needs to maintain momentum. Monthly upkeep costs work against the character throughout his or her career, but as these costs increase linearly, the character's capability increases geometrically, and the monthly upkeep will become less important. At the lower levels though, through 3rd or so, upkeep is an important consideration. Similar to upkeep, the monthly disease and parasite checks can slow down and even kill a character. The best defense against this is to play frequently so that the character has plenty of gold, and to find allies, either NPCs or other players, who can cure diseases and earn sufficient favor that they would be willing to come to the characters aid if stricken. Doing a favor for the church or even a mid-level druid can earn promises in return which end up saving a character from random death outside the session.
Every return from the dungeon should be followed by an examination of what can be done to make the character more effective and efficient at treasure extraction. The best armor that can be afforded should be purchased for the characters and the party's employees as soon as it can be afforded. Horses will get the party to and from the dungeon site more quickly, reducing the number of chances for dangerous wilderness encounters to occur. More mercenaries to guard the animals left outside the dungeon can be hired. A base of operations near the dungeon can be bought or built. A cleared dungeon itself, can become a base of operations, and if it's near resources and can be accessed by vehicle, it can become an early source of income.
Placing a lower level PC in the service of an NPC as a henchman offers a way to protect against the drain of monthly upkeep. For players managing multiple characters especially, this helps with the reality that the character might not be played for several sessions at a time. This arrangement offers a couple of other advantages. For one, the NPC employer will have an agenda and will ask services of the PC, services that are likely to gain the PC experience and wealth in some measure, and save the player the work of deciding what to do next. Second, it connects the character more deeply to the details of the settings. The player may develop allies among the NPC's allies or employees, discover situations in the game world that can be exploited for gain, and learn less obvious truths about local politics, for example.
Conclusion
After each session, think about what the character has just gained and how that could be used to increase the character's gain in the next session. Constant, measured ambition is the key to winning in the early game.
Next time I'll share a brief take on the mid-level game.