5 Things I've Learned Running COVID D&D for 10 People

 Despite my lack of posting, I still do putz around with my little D&D hack rules every once in a while. If I ever finish a complete copy I will post it here at some point. As I have iterated on my game rules over many years, I can say that the lessons learned have been worth it. Clearer answers to what makes a class a class, what behavior the rules should bother to foster, and so on are welcome insights to running any game. But that is all beside the point of this post.

Ironically, the global COVID response's prohibition on free and easy human interaction has led to the most solid D&D game run I have had in a long time, perhaps ever. We play over google hangouts, I use a very basic google spreadsheet to record initiative and status effects, and an even more basic google drawing as a place to map out larger battles. Here's a quick screenshot from the end of our second to last session:

I have little icons for all of the players, simple circles with letters for enemies, happy faces for NPCs (hostages, in this case), and other shapes for things like fog clouds (that large rectangle at the top). It has worked surprisingly well! I just need to figure out a good way to lock the background image, because I regularly move that accidentally while trying to move a character.

Honestly, I have found this much easier and quicker to manage than something like Roll20. We use a discord server to organize any links or questions or chatter, and google handles the rest easily.

BUT! Even that is a bit beside the point. What this post is about is five things I have learned from running the game (D&D 5e, by the way) in this totally remote milieu...and with TEN (yes, 10) players.

#1 - The chatter at the beginning of the session is half the fun

Back when I went to school with all of my players, we didn't really have an excuse for wasting time to chat at the beginning of our D&D sessions. But now, people have kids, people need a social outlet, and even if it weren't COVID, everyone is busy and we don't get to talk as much anymore. My games start at 7, but we don't get to the recap until at least 7:30 and that is totally fine. I fully believe that half the reason my friends show up to the game is to shoot the breeze at the start.

#2 - Having a mix of new and veteran players is the best

There is something magical about not knowing the rules of the game. This idea, or a corollary of it - namely that the more one thinks about the rules the less creative their play becomes, pervades my game design choices. For this campaign we're running straight ahead D&D 5e, so I'm not making any design choices per se. But there seems to be no better inspiration for the experienced players than watching the new players try "suboptimal" plays, and being rewarded by me according to the Rule of Cool.

#3 - A serious combat takes all session

With so many players, a combat with even just a handful of enemies will take the full three hours that we play. At first I felt bad about that, because some of the characters are more socially focused, or adventure focused, than combat focused. But there really isn't a way around it if nearly everyone is attending, which is what I want anyway. The idea I've had to address this is to make sure there are more environmental combat options (think swinging chandeliers, cover, rocks to throw, water like the map above, etc.), so that the non-fighter types have a reason to engage. Also, make sure combat is only planned for every other session at most.

#4 - Encounters are impossible to balance

I have thrown things at the party that were, on paper, supposed to be deadly, and ended up being total non-issues. On the other hand, the fight that was depicted above was very underpowered, but one of the characters nearly died because of how the players divided up their attention (and the water played a role too, so again, dynamic environments are A+). At this point, I'm doing almost no encounter math at all. With eight to nine regular players each session, they should have one "get out of jail free" card available to them if things go screwy.

#5 - The more players you have, the harder it is to ask them what they want

You might think that having a ton of players leads to decision paralysis constantly. Ten people who theoretically all have different character goals and backstory ties should just be in a constant state of disagreement about their next adventure. This is not at all what our first ten sessions have been like. Everyone seems to just want to play and not get into arguments about next steps. The occasional tough choice does warrant five or ten minutes of chatter, but the players seem to want me to railroad them a bit more than in previous campaigns I've played. One of my goals this campaign is to make lots of "hooks" in the form of places to go and people to interact with, which the characters pass by all the time. Any of them are legitimate things to explore in the world, but these detours seem to be very low on the list of things the players want to do - at least so far.

Hopefully they loosen up a bit after this first adventure arc or two. I look forward to the first time they take a breath and decide as a group what they want to do without being told by an NPC about some job.

Delvers in Dàrkmesa - Campaign Rules 2.0

First post in over a year, and it is an updated version of the ruleset I posted as my magnum opus in February of 2019.

I can't say precisely what drives me to forever re-write these rules, though part of it is certainly a lack of play. This is a problem I hope to amend soon, if only virtually. Given that my play group has spread itself over much of the state now, that would appear to be our only viable option even without Covid-19 running amok.

Despite the dearth of play, I have, in the past year and change, had ample time to contemplate what makes a robust and flexible ruleset. I have not been posting my ideas here, mostly for lack of time or motivation, but I also find some guiding priciple in what Stephen King has said on several occassions about writing notebooks and journals, "They're a great way to immortalize bad ideas."

Now that these ideas have stewed for a while, I feel imbued with just enough confidence to put them on here.

Some of the things you may find interesting in these new rules:

• No ability modifiers. I want treasure that provides bonuses to be the most important modifier.
• Two "defenses" cover everything: Armor Class, and 4th Edition-style "save-on-10+" d20 rolls.
• The most available healing has a kind of "cap" mediated by a 4th Edition-style "bloodied" status.
• Four classes available, one per "pillar" of fantasy dungeoneering: Outlanders (wilderness travel), Sages (literacy and healing), Thieves (getting into places you aren't supposed to be), and Warriors (killin' sh*t). No race-classes so that the rules don't require changes if elves, dwarves, or halflings aren't featured in your game.
• The rules don't include a rigid magic system. Rather, they provide examples of how to make magic self-limiting. GM discretion is paramount. Sages can be the de facto "magic user" if that is a player's aim.
• Monsters have very simple stats, and are not meant to be "balanced" for groups of any particular level or size. Like spells and magic, example monsters are provided in a wandering monster table.
• 1d6 weapon damage. 1 damage for unarmed strikes or hits with torches. 2d6 (or 2) for critical hits.