A quick review of most RPGs reveals them to have more in common with The Matrix and Final Fantasy than the myths and legends of old. I like some of the "manga-combat", because that is a lot of fun for me, but I do like a touch of realism to my games. That is why I love the World of Darkness games and have exorcised D&D 4.0 from my life. To me, 4.0 feels like a knock-off of the MORPGs that were a knock off D&D in the first place. To me, creating a knock off of a product that is a knock off of your original product is just plain stupid. Thus, I stick to 3.5: just the right blend of combat and role playing without an overriding "video game" feel.
Still, despite my enjoyment of 3.5, I do feel compelled to fix parts of it. Lately I have taken to AD&D books and listening to my fathers stories of his campaigns for ideas. I started by bringing intoxication rules back to life. Then I read the more "adult" D&D products so I could memorize the pregnancy chances, birth control spells, and high fantasy STDs. (well, you did manage to get that barmaid to sleep with you. now let's see if she's pregnant... oh, and you now have herpes. let's see how much we take off your charisma...)
Today, I revived a rule that apparently died in the first edition: infection. Let's face it, your average adventuring group spends half their time fighting gross monsters in dank and filthy environments (like sewers!) in a medieval society, where sanitation isn't even an concept. And these "heroes" don't ever have a chance to get sick?!? Bullshit! Not only am I resurrecting the rule, but I am adding another chance of infection the late Gary Gygax forgot: wounds. Think about it: every time someone cuts themselves, they have a momentary panic about getting tetanus, even if it is a squeaky clean knife. And the brain covered sword of a goblin that lived in filth all it's life is non-infectious? I think not.
Now, I do realize that this might be too cruel for my players to handle. I already killed the same player twice in one game. But in all honesty, I just might need to smack them around and make them fear my world enough to work as a team. At the point they are at right now, the Knights of the Dinner Table are a better team than they are. Perfect example: the group has recently faced a dragon. It was a young dragon, but it is still a thirty foot, fire breathing, ages old, hyper intelligent creature. The berserker went into a rage (in my campaigns you can not distinguish friend from foe while raging) and charged the dragon alone. Everyone else stood back. Berserker got lucky and managed to gain an advantage, then the fighter charges in to gain some credit. He gets incinerated, convincing the group cleric that the berserker has everything under control. Then the thief sneaked in and stole all the treasure, just as the berserker got the dragon down to the end of it's life. The dragon was slain, and the berserker was in dire need of healing, as he was at deaths door by the end of the ordeal. The cleric did heal him, but not before he extorted 50 gold from the poor fool. In the mean time, the thief was already heading out with a backpack full of gold. Never will I find a more wretched hive of traitors and hack munchkins.
Tomorrow I get back into the game, and I hope that I make a real team out of the group and find my missing monster manual.
Oh man, I remember games like those, nothing like a little interparty douchebaggery to spice things up.
ReplyDeleteHow did you cure the problem in your group?
ReplyDeleteWe got older, that sort of fun stopped being as entertaining. Working together to resolve DM created issues was generally a better time. In a number of cases we'd start the campaign or introduce new characters with pre-existing reasons to know each other and cooperate, that was usually helpful too.
ReplyDelete