As for myself, I simply LOVE Roguelikes,
especially this Nethack in which you'll find many of my ghosts littered about. The biggest criticism KTR makes is that
Roguelikes have no balance in terms of scaling encounters, and he uses the term
‘difficulty cliff’ to differentiate from the ‘difficulty curve’ of games like
Destiny or RPGs like D&D 4E.
I think he has misunderstood the appeal of Roguelikes,
at any rate ones like the one I play. There is no difficulty curve, nor is
there a cliff. There is just pure chaos. You are just as likely to find a Wand of Death as to run into a
goblin holding one. You WILL die at some point. I am not a ‘get off my lawn’
grognard, nor a masochist. I just don’t have time for a difficulty curve that
strings me along forever – I WANT the game to end badly.
The idea of a difficulty curve is anathema
to me. If you like having the game adjust for you, which I found both boring
and somewhat patronizing in the few 4E games I played, then have at it. Some
people play Monopoly, others obscure Teutonic boardgames, others poker, none is
better, each suits a different taste or lifestyle.
Playing Roguelikes suits my life right now,
but they also have valuable lessons for tabletop DMing.
1 Dungeons Should Be Breakable – Although
there was a lot of posts about Jacquaying dungeons a few years back, i.e.
allowing multiple entrance and egress points and thus avoiding topographic
railroads, Roguelikes blow this out of the water. In Nethack, pick up a pick
axe or mattock and you can make your own damn entrances and exits, even between
levels. Or dig a pit, stand on the far side and let monsters tumble in, slay
them and take their stuff. The pick axe is the ultimate tool of agency. However,
the time and energy spent digging also tires the character and draws attention,
which brings us to the next lesson…
2 You should know what you’re getting into –
Anyone complaining about dying in a game of D&D, unless they are dealing
with a dick DM and their complaint is about them and not the game, seems to
have misunderstood the game and its setting. You are a murder hobo in a world
red in tooth and claw and out to get you. Dying is not a question of ‘if’ it is
a matter of ‘when’ unless you retire the character or switch to another game.
Which brings us to….
3 If you don’t like it, there are other
games – This sounds so trollish on the interwebs, but make no mistake I am not
trying to troll KTR. If Roguelikes seem broken or unfun to you, find something
that does work and is fun for you. I cannot stand poker – it just bores and
confuses me. Everyone at my workplace loves it and has poker nights, which I
skip. Unfriendly? Maybe, but better than me starting to resent some wonderful
coworkers just because our tastes differ. And speaking of social effects of
gaming…
4 Alignment should have social effects –
Alignment in D&D is often a stick to keep character’s actions in line with
some ideal. Too often there is little ‘carrot’ to balance this out. In Nethack,
creatures of a similar alignment do not attack one another automatically. You
may want to strip a pick axe off a dwarf in the mine level, but if you’re a
lawful Valkyrie, you’ll have to find a store selling one. If you decide to
ignore your alignment and kill a dwarf, you’ll be asked if you really want to,
and your dwarficide will worsen relations with your god, who can uncurse
objects and may even bestow legendary items on you if you sacrifice to them.
This is a wonderful mechanic, and one that I would add to my own D&D games.
Speaking of house rules…
5 Games should be hackable – Like Dwarf
Fortress but on a smaller scale, Nethack allows players to use the elements of
the system and setting in ways that have unforeseen consequences. If you plan
on stealing from a shop, digging a circle of pits around the shopkeeper will
keep them from chasing you (but you’ll have to sneak your pick axe into the
store in a sack first or be denied entrance). If you cast a spell while drunk
or confused, it may have altered effects, and I have inadvertently created rustproof armor
and weapons this way. Tabletop RPGs should allow for even more unforeseen
flexibility than Nethack with its limited programmed elements, and a DM not
taking advantage (or letting players take advantage) of this flexibility is
missing out on the greatest feature of the game itself.
So, go out there and play a Roguelike
today. You may not like the overall experience, but you will learn something,
whether to do or to avoid, that will improve your DMing and make your game suit
your style and needs more.
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