Gamer Forge Listener Email: Gaming Etiquette, I'm Stuck, I Wanna Be A Rogue!

1.       From Stott Stewart

a.      Ok I’ve you talk about this several times. But what is the ten commandments of gaming?(sic)

i.      Lord Flagoon’s response. Grammar aside this is a great question. Because what are the Ten Commandments of gaming? Are they the manifestation of years of gaming and roll playing? Are they the collaborations between three gamers who have all seen one, if not all, of these guidelines of basic descent human interaction broken at their prospective game table? Are they rules cast in stone brought to me by the Lord of gaming to help establish my own religion? Too the first two questions the answer is “Yes.” The last one the answer is “Maybe” only if you are willing to see me as a prophet, because Lord Flagoon is not below getting free money from people wanting to believe that he will bring them to the promised land of gaming Nirvana. (When it comes to sacrilege I’m all in.)

But seriously the 10 commandments are nothing more than a list of behaviors that we believe will help assist you and your gaming group into doing what Joe asks of you every week, “Get more from your games,” because that is what gaming is about getting all the entertainment, social interaction, bragging rights, and the fun and entertaining story’s that help create long lasting friendships that will strive throughout the years.

But if all you are asking for is a listing of them look no further than the following link for all your curiosities will be quenched. 

http://www.dungeoncrawlersradio.com/ten-commandments.html

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2.       From Dane Harrison

a.       Hey this is Dane from the Dallas gaming group. We use to email you a while back and we have ran into a small snag and are looking for advice.

We are running a Ravenloft game and my players are stuck in a church that is in the middle of a graveyard. Now one of the players took something they shouldn't have in a previous excursion. 

Now this magical item has created a problem for the players because it is an artifact of evil and has awoken all of the dead in the cemetery to attack the players to free it from their bonds. The rogue that stole it does not know that it is magical nor do the other players. The object is masking itself so that it will not be destroyed. 

So the players are stuck in this old run down church it night time and there are thousands of zombies marching in to kill them. How do I save them or at least make it so they don't forever hate me!

i.       So… Your rouge stole something that is biting everyone in the ass. Typical rouges. Other than giving them hints that this particular item is the cause of their grief, there isn’t much you can do.  As the Commandments say “Respect the Consequences of your actions.”

Like going into the Underdark without any night vision abilities; when you’re in Ravenloft taking any item has the chance of being of a maligned force (I would be more surprised to find a holy item in that cursed place). If you do choose to go this route, give them a fight to end all fights. Imation the end of Halo Reach, they are held up in a church with the horde at their doors, death is imminent, but they are brave warriors ready to die in victorious battle! Another epic fight comes to mind.

Like I said this is going to be a fight and they may not come out unharmed, if memory serves me rite someone very powerful didn’t survive Moria. You can give them a fighting chance if they are the clever bunch and you can leave them some make-shift traps that they can drop on the heads of the zombies.

Another idea comes to mind that the magical item starts communicating to the rouge and tried to take over his body. Or the artifact attracts the, more powerful, creature that’s controlling the undead mass.

If there is something I have said again and again is. “Make them earn it.” You can help, but only slightly, never have the Deus ex machine come down and make everything alright. The players will remember the fight you brought them and how they succeeded or failed. They won’t remember the king’s garrison riding up to the doors and say. “There you go. We took them all out for you. Now on to the next step in your quests you little scamps.” Then pat them on the bum send them on their marry way. That sort of hand holding I would only wish to see in a Modern Shooter. If you want to go the hand hold rout give the players a chance to break the hold and try to stand on their own. As the DM you are the story teller and the facilitator of the characters that your players are portraying.

Hope this helped. On to the next.

3)      Max Cranston

a)      Hey guys this is kind of a character creation question. I am wanting to know what is the best way to create a fun character that is flawed.

I have always played the tank in the group that is designed to soak up damage and I want to try something new and unique. 

Any ideas?

i)        So you want to up your gaming experience and play a fully flushed out character instead of a human meat shield? AWESOME!!! When it comes to creating a flawed character the sky is the limit. If you want to play a foppish warrior that is a bore to be around or is a complete @$ hole but everyone has to work with him because, like you said, is a damage sponge; go ahead.

If your scrapping for ideas try here’s a list of some characters I thought of while weighting this:

(1)    mute Warrior (You would have to be completely silent and have a good story for this)

(2)    Bard with a sex addition

(3)    Anything with an addiction (sometimes the vices will be a hindrance or a godsend who knows)

(4)    A mage who suffers from hallucinations

(5)    A character with severe agoraphobia

(6)    A odd obsession with cats, the color purple, and has a stalker ex girl/boyfriend

(7)    Kleptomania (but isn’t a rouge or kinder)

(8)    Monk

So these are but a few examples to try. Think of any sort of quark and figure how you would roll play it. The biggest rule is not to be afraid if it doesn’t work. Start our small and slowly start trying to break your comfort zones. Hope this helps.

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