Tomb of Horrors, Revised for 3.5

Very cool - WotC has released a free PDF of the module Tomb of Horrors, revised for 3.5.

Yeah, it's a rather non-sensical killer First Edition dungeon, but it's still cool to have.

Unnecessary Details

In a recent issue of Dungeon (#125), there's an article for generating the color, flavor, and other characteristics of potions. It's a neat article, but looking at it I have to ask - what's the point? Using the 3.5 RAW, you can identify a potion just by tasting it. So,is the extra detail really necessary?

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not the type of player who rushes past the color and "fluff" of a game just to get bigger numbers (i.e.; more XP, more gold, bigger pluses...); this much should be obvious if you poke around my website. But you need to be practical - details need to add value, not just more detail. When a GM describes a place you're going to enter it not only allows you to build a vision in your head, it also provides information that may prove useful in the game later on. You may note the position of things for tactical maneuvering in melee, for instance, or you may see something that provides foreshadowing for a later encounter.

The article could be useful if you've decided that potions cannot be identified by a taste, but instead must either be consumed completely or identified via identify or analyze dweomer. In that case, the players are going to want to keep track of each potion they find by color, viscosity, odor, etc. after they've been identified. This may seem more appealing (for whatever reason), but does it really add anything to the gameplay? There will be a transition time when the players are collecting potion data but once they have an appreciable amount all this is an extra step to do something that with the RAW is relatively simple. It also adds extra paperwork for the collection and identification processes. It's likely many players will resent having to do this, particularly if their characters have to spend extra money for identifications to do something that by the standard rules is free. Granted, those who taste potions run the risk of getting poisoned, but that's generally why its done by the character with the best Fortitude save. And poison "potions" should be fairly rare.

To be clear, I'm not picking on this particular article; I'm simply using it as an example. When adding detail to your game, make sure the detail also adds value if it's going to add extra work.

Heh... for David Eddings readers

The Belgariad summarized. (Not that funny...)

The Mallorean summarized. (...but this is)

The Zombie Scenario Survivor Test

Normally I don't pay attention to those "What kind of XXX are you?" or whatever quizes on the Internet. But we all know how important it is to be ready for the coming Zombie Apocalypse. Therefore, this quiz is rather important.

My result:

Official Survivor Congratulations! You scored 75%!

Whether through ferocity or quickness, you made it out. You made the right choice most of the time, but you probably screwed up somewhere. Nobody's perfect, at least you're alive.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 34% on survivalpoints

Link: The Zombie Scenario Survivor Test written by ci8db4uok on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Misadventures with the Audible Manager/Player

Recently I started listening to RPG podcasts on the drive home from work (I'll be talking more about that another time; that will be a far more pleasant post than this one). For this, and other reasons, I'm planning on getting a new car stereo that can handle MP3s. However, that's presently lower on the "funding" priority list, so for now I've been using my Palm (Zire 72) with a cassette adapter. Works fine, though it's a somewhat of a hassle.

I'm using the Real player for the Palm, and it works fine for the most part. The biggest problem is that it doesn't remember where you were in a song/MP3 if you turn off the Palm or switch to another program. So if I'm halfway through a podcast when I get home I have to pause it, record the time, and then select that the next day. Not a huge deal, granted, but is it so hard for the player to remember where you stopped? I'm familiar with how PalmOS programming works, so it's not some special "Palm thing".

I went looking for a replacement, preferably a free one since this is temporary until I replace the stereo (I don't listen to MP3s on my Palm otherwise). I eventually found the Audible player, which did exactly what I wanted. Though I then discovered that Audible uses a proprietary format and won't play MP3s (not on my Zire, at least). I figured that they would have something to convert MP3s to their "AA" format since MP3 is a popular, known standard.

Apparently not. At least, not for the Palm.

Foolishly, I downloaded and installed their desktop manager, thinking that would convert MP3s to AA. Granted, I didn't verify this ahead of time. But the hassle to install, set up, and uninstall their software was maddening. If it'd just been "Oh, this doesn't do what I thought it would." it would have been no big deal and I'd have no ill-will towards Audible. However...

First I had to register an account with Audible, which included giving them a CC# for when I actually ordered things from them. I had no plans to do that, but you shouldn't have to do that until you do order something. Then, the software on the desktop and the Palm had to be "activated", so more of a hassle there. Finally, when I decided that it wasn't working for me I went to uninstall everything, but that didn't work because the installation process said the desktop Manager was still running. There was no indication of this - no program running, no icon in the system tray. It wasn't until I found the process in Task Manager - running with no indication that it was there.

My experience with Audible's software took more time and was more frustrating than how it may appear from the previous paragraph (which is more of a summary than a detailed account). Now, it's very likely that I could have avoided some of the headache I received if I'd read through their docs a little more carefully. But, really, all I wanted was a simple Palm MP3 player that would remember where you last left off on a track. It shouldn't have been that much of a pain - but it was, and it totally soured me on Audible.

There's a big difference between how most software is and how it should be. And this is a perfect example.

My Eyes...They Burn! They Burn!

Watch the video for "Unicorns L.A."

You might want to have a spork handy for gouging out your eyes. And a pointy stick for your ears.

The KODT Movie Rant...Ranter...Review...Thing

I don't recall where I ran across the link to this forum thread over at Kenzer, but I found it rather amusing. I read KODT each month but I gave up on the movie rant column a long time ago. I'm not insulted by it like some people seem to be, but for those that are - why keep reading it? I can't understand why people spend so much time on something they don't like...

Unlike Jolly and some of the others posting in that thread, I don't find it funny either. I can laugh at the stuff we dorks enjoy - gaming, WoW, sci-fi movies and TV shows, etc. But this guy just isn't funny. He sounds like early twenty-somethinger going through an angst-ridden, "everything sucks / constant sarcasm is cool" phase (I'm sure there's a better, more intellectual-sounding term for this). If it was funny, I'd read it. But it's not. So, I don't waste my time with it.

From what it sounds like, this is exactly what he doesn't want - people ignoring him. Love him or hate him, he's getting attention. The vocal "anti-crowd" just feeds into that... Anyway, my interest in talking about the subject is rapidly waning - since I just don't care - so that's that.

On the other hand, these pictures - which are from what I think is his blog - are pretty funny:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/spoonyone/6161.html

http://www.livejournal.com/users/spoonyone/8167.html

http://www.livejournal.com/users/spoonyone/9760.html

More Drama from the Gaming Community

I'm talking about this and this.

Some random, Adam Smithian thoughts about this:

• RPGNow has every right to run their business how they want. The thing that turns me off is the marketing, spin-doctoring about how this is "better" for the "indie" publishers. If the majority of their sales comes from the main site, they're going to devote most of their efforts there - it only makes sense. Having "The Edge" (oooooo!) site seems more like PR than good business. Maybe they're trying to avoid the (small and in the end, ineffectual) backlash that White W- er, DriveThruRPG had when they were initially perceived as "too selective" or some such. My opinion: Focus on what drives your business and don't worry about the "indies". If there's a market for them (and there is), someone else will come along and fill that niche. I think it would make more sense to have RPGNow focus on its "main" site and have someone else handle the "indies"; someone who could focus just on their needs and not their's and publishers who complain about having to operate in a free market.
• My last comment was based on publishers who derive an income in gaming who don't like that people who are hobbyists or amateurs are producing product as well. This fits in with that "elitist/prima-donna" attitude I've commented on in the past that annoys me (again, as I've said before, this isn't all publishers, just a vocal few). I really hate it when people complain about the very market forces they themselves have used to their advantage but which are inconvenient once they've reached a certain level in the market.
• That said, if complaints of the "mainstream" publishers drove this decision (and it sounds like that may have been the case, but there were a number of other factors as well), so be it. RPGNow has to consider what's best for its well-being.
• When someone says "If this makes it harder for new publishers to get into the business, good!", they kind of sound like an elitist prick (even if I know they're not) But, really, it's true. People shouldn't be publishing unless they're serious about it. But if they're serious about it, it won't be any harder for them than it would be otherwise - they're going to go through the same planning and processes as they would otherwise. Naturally, the market will weed out the crap and let the quality rise to the top. I wouldn't stand in the way of that. It's just nice if there are processes that help facilitate that.
• To go back to my previous thought, I think a better statement would be "If this makes it harder for new publishers to get into the business who shouldn't be there in the first place, good!" That qualifier seems less prickish, and in most cases is probably implied. We've all seen small-press...excuse me, "independent" publishers comes and go who should never have been there to begin with (though they get some credit for giving it a shot; unfortunately, it probably hurt them the most in the long wrong). Good ideas, quality, talent...if you have the drive and ambition to go along with them, you're going to succeed in a free market. The degree of success is something for another discussion.
• Someone complained that this would be an impediment to people with good ideas, creativity, and talent. Bull. What did these sort of people do before RPGNow? The exposure people have to one another owes exponetially more to the Internet itself than RPGNow, the OGL, ENWorld, or anything else.
• Usually if I'm looking for something in PDF it's not by publisher or title, but by subject matter. What I want to see is a search utility that looks at both RPGNow and "RPGEdge" (or whatever the hell it's called) and gives me results based on the subject I'm looking for.

That's enough drama on my part... And before someone complains, my putting quotes around "edge" or "indie" or whatever is not meant to be denigrating to small publishers. I just find the terminology to be a little ridiculous. "We're cutting edge!" "We're independent!" C'mon. You're a small publisher with a new or niche product. You don't need "hip" labels, just product a quality product. Reminds me of the self-imposed titles a lot of the PDF publishers were using (and sometimes still use) for their "positions" within their companies. It's rather ridiculous to call yourself an "RPG Products Brand Manager" when the company consists of you and two of your gaming buddies publishing PDFs from your spare bedroom...