The Path of Cunning, issue #5

Just a quick note to flag up that The Path of Cunning #5 has been released, including not one, but two contributions by yours truly!

One of these was sufficient to get my metaphor privileges officially revoked by the editor. I cannot imagine why.

Leadership for the Modern Necromancer

Necromancers are depicted as leading vast armies of the undead, or having extensive lairs filled with their minions. But RPGs rarely provide powers that actually grant control over such armies - a handful of competent soldiers, a mob of lackeys, or just one or two powerful undead beasts is the limit. So how does one go about commanding an undead force to be reckoned with?

General update on posting

This one's basically for Alan. Hi Alan!

I do have several proper blog posts in progress, not just podcast episodes. I'm just snowed under and haven't had time to get them into shape!

When I started this blog, I had a job with a lot of dead time where I could usefully composed blog thoughts in email to myself and just tidy them up later. I then moved into admin, which involved writing an impossible number of emails while opening 4,000 spreadsheets simultaneously and trying not to simply perish. Now I'm a teacher. There's a lot of good things about teaching, but I can say:

1. You cannot realistically write blogposts while teaching a class, unless you have some post-human capabilities that I sadly lack
2. Writing syllabi and writing lessons competes heavily for time, mental energy, and eyestrain with gaming writing, and I prioritise prep for the campaigns I'm doing and writing things I might get paid for (curse you, capitalism)

Anyway, I do plan to get back to this; I have ideas, and I'm really hoping one of these days I'll be asked to teach a course that actually exists so I don't need to spend 10+ hours a week writing it as I go along.

Not sure if you already read it, but I highly recommend Arthur's blog Refereeing and Reflection.

Necropolitans, episode 48: Dunno what that means but that sounds good

We find out what Makoa's been up to in the mysterious realm beyond the portal Episode 048: Dunno what that means but that sounds good

Necropolitans, episode 47: Have you gained flesh?

Iris is left with an unconscious wizard as the great brass door of the Nameless City closes, in Episode 047: Have you gained flesh?

Makoa's player here publicly chose to reveal absolutely nothing about what happened after stepping into the portal because it was simply too good to dispense out of character. It will be really quite a long time before any of them find out what happened out of character, let alone in-character.

Necropolitans, episode 46: More like rapidly-travelling bike

Follow me now through the glowing void-portal under the forgotten city of a long-dead species, and discover what became of Makoa, in Episode 046: More like rapidly-travelling bike.

Necropolitans, episode 45: I am going through a midlife crisis; I cannot fight a Hound of Tindalos

Roleplaying illuminates the human experience, echoing the real-life situations we encounter or the unfamiliar lives of other people, and allowing us to explore and play with them safely, and I think it's fair to say everyone will find something deeply relatable in Episode 045: I am going through a midlife crisis; I cannot fight a Hound of Tindalos.

Necropolitans, episode 44: Well, that was unexpected

The job of the GM is to cunningly predict the players' every move, weaving a seamless web of continuity that will accommodate their whims. This is, of course, impossible, but sometimes more impossible than others. In Episode 044: Well, that was unexpected, Ollie managed to do something I absolutely had not even remotely anticipated.

Necropolitans, episode 43: Pop that on a pedestal, socially

A tradition is born, as Jaal begins Performing The Ritual, in Episode 043: Pop That on a Pedestal, Socially. He will continue to do so, at every inadvisable opportunity, despite the best efforts of everyone. One day, perhaps it will be the correct choice.

Necropolitans, episode 42: Planar Cup of Coffee and a Biscuit

We explore the trials and tribulations of being extraplanar in Episode 042: Planar Cup of Coffee and a Biscuit

Necropolitans, episode 41: My god, he has business cards!

Juggling lighting effects on virtual tabletop becomes confusing and, ironically, obfuscates everything. We learn that all creatures of the Earth subtype are stoners, and those of the Water subtype extremely wet, in Episode 41: My god, he has business cards!

Quick and Dirty: Interactive Magical Combat for Pathfinder

Today I was chatting with Nathan about magic fights. It's something I've vaguely thought about for a while - in RPGs (at least the ones I'm familiar with) fights between wizards tend to manifest as one of the following:

1. Casting the most deadly spells every round you have until one of you fails a crucial saving throw. Essentially a brute-force slugfest.
2. Casting an assortment of powerful buffs before an anticipated fight, then sneaking up and casting that Most Powerful Spell with every possible bonus while the enemy is unaware.

Now to be fair, this is partly an artefact of how RPG fights tend to go; everything's over in a few rounds, if not before a fight even starts. In some cases it's because combat is lethal and players who want their characters to survive long-term have to play tactically, minimizing the risk of an actual fight. In other cases, it's because PCs can unleash appalling devastation in mere seconds. Earlier today, Iris (see Necropolitans posts) inflicted well over 100 damage to one of my NPCs in a single round of combat where several of her attacks missed. There's also received wisdom, perhaps true, that damaging the opposition trumps just about anything else. Certainly in D&D-type games, there's a widespread perception that healing during combat is a terrible waste of time, for example. People rarely seem to duck behind barriers to reload or neck a potion, perhaps worried about what the opposition will do with that time.