Seeing the Forest and the Trees in RPG Design

I've been dipping my toes in Twitter, as this seems to be where RPG discourse is most alive. Blog posts only seem to get offers for penile enhancement or surefire investments these days.

Anyway, there was a call for inspiration in making a scenario, and the answers laid bare what I think is the problem in RPG design. Here is the question:

Q: What are the essentials for a great Star Wars adventure? (I need to get writing)

OK, nothing new here. Just a fellow gamer looking for some inspiration. Here are the first two responses:

A1: Displays of mysterious but cool violence, an amazing array of animatronic creatures with nightclub lighting, shonky 70s tech, absurd disguises working, stop frame, and lasers with recoil.

A2: Stolen plans. There are always stolen plans. Stored on super futuristic enormous cassette tapes. Transmission best done physically. Couriers to be trusted

OK, again, nothing new here. These are all what we'd call tropes, or easily identifiable, genre specific cues. Could be a character, an event, a locale. These are great suggestions, and just what the doctor ordered.

But there is a problem with just relying on tropes, and it is threefold.

First, if we just set up a string of set pieces, we run the risk of a railroad, or rail shooter experience. The GM will set up when the plans are to be handed over, what type of shady bar they'll do the handover in, and just when the violence should start. One character decision is enough to derail the adventure, frustrating the GM and destroying the illusion of player agency.

Second, when using Intellectual Property (IP) especially, there is a danger of what I call "IP Tourism." As you know I am a big Stormbringer fan, and there is always the tendency for GMs to stick with known locales like Imrryr and Tanelorn, while players always want to get the selfie with Elric (usually while being eviscerated by Stormbringer). As the Breakfast in the Ruins podcasters note, a true Moorcock gaming experience would be on some random, unknown world of the multiverse, not just traipsing through locales from the novels. Considering that the Star Wars universe has literally an unlimited number of planets, the fact that no less than 5 movies have visited Tatooine implies that filmmakers themselves have trouble with this aspect of IPs.

Last, if we just recycle tropes all the time, we are doing nothing new or exciting, and interest will eventually wane. Look at the films - the original trilogy was chock-a-block with new or innovative storytelling and visuals (much expertly recrafted from other genres - such as the Death Star canyon run being lifted from 1954's The Dam Busters). But by The Force Awakens, the storytelling was so laden with tropes that not much new was being done.

"So, Tedankhamen," you ask, "How would you do it?"

My answer was this: Fascism, inequality, tech, exotic locales, and hope.

I don't think my answer was better than the other two, it just completed their list of the tropes with a reminder of the over-arching themes behind them. The violence in Star Wars is born from the struggle against fascism; the hegemony of the fascists creates inequality throughout the system, which even colours the use of tech (ie droids are nothing more than created slaves), and shows that, sadly, technology won't save us from man's inhumanity to man. The exotic locales are born from this struggle as well  - rebel bases hidden in jungles, pod racers in desert planets that could be turned lush and green if the empire wasn't so busy making Death Stars.

NB: My two favorite 'new' SW films are Rogue One and The Last Jedi. The former leans heavily into tropes (fleet battles, stolen plans) while keeping the theme (the Resistance cares about the mission, not the many Bothians who die for it) front and center. The Last Jedi also has tropes galore, but the revelation that the universe, despite being a place of high technology and radical inter-species diversity, is held back by its endless conflicts, is summed up in the words of Benicio Del Toro's character, DJ: "They blow you up today, you can blow them up tomorrow" Whatever faults these films have, at least they succeed in balancing the forest and the trees of their imagined universe.

When you design an adventure, you have to see not only the trees (ie the nitty gritty tropes that help you imagine the world), you also have to keep in mind the forest (ie the themes that drive the characters in the gameworld, and that make players care about it) . Focusing on only one level of the game - tropes or themes - is ultimately unsatisfying for players and GMs alike.

Social Class & Stormbringer Style Characters for Call of Cthulhu

So, character generation in Call of Cthulhu is boring and largely meaningless. Roll 2d6+6 for inflated stats, none of which will matter hereafter. Here is a list of occupations, a couple of skills, take an arbitrary lump sum of skill points and distribute them. Don't forget to look up the arbitrary skill defaults while you're at it.

Ho hum.

I know I’m a broken record on this, but I've always disliked the disconnect in Chaosium games between attributes and skills. It doesn’t matter how high or low your DEX is, everyone shoots a gun at the same starting percentage. This is not very realistic, and the lump sum distribution of skill points is equally uninspiring.

Although classic Stormbringer tried to connect these more, the calculations were a bit fiddly and not worth the trouble.

In the Stormbringer houserules I devised, skill percentages are determined by multiplying attributes, providing a much stronger link between skills and ability. If all soldiers have Weapon skill at DEX x 5%, one with a DEX of 10 will not be as good as another with a DEX of 15. A 50% chance to hit pales in comparison with 75%.

What if we port this over to Call of Cthulhu? Here is how I would implement it:

1) Introduction: Skill and Social Class

In this system, all the starting skills in the Occupation descriptions (see rulebook) are determined by multiplying the Skill Modifier by the requisite attribute. The average Skill Modifier is 5 x the appropriate attribute, but this may be reduced due to social class. Here is a list of all skills and their relevant attributes:

INT SKILLS

Accounting, Anthropology, Archaeology, Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Electronics, Geology, History, Law, Library Use, Mechanics, Medicine, Natural History, Navigate, Occult, Other Languages, Own Language, Pharmacy, Physics, Psychology 

CHA SKILLS

Bargain, Credit Rating, Disguise, Fast Talk, Persuade, Psychoanalysis 

DEX SKILLS

Conceal, Dodge, Drive, Ride, Handguns, Hide, Locksmith, Operate Heavy Machinery, Pilot, Rifles, Shotguns, Sneak, Submachine Guns

 

STR SKILLS

Climb, Fist, Punch, Grapple, Headbutt, Jump, Swim, Throw

 

POW SKILLS

First Aid, Listen, Photography, Spot Hidden, Track

OTHER SKILLS

Craft (varies STR, DEX or POW)

Cthulhu Mythos (as normal rules)

Martial Arts (Decide whether you have learned a hard style based on STR or soft style based on DEX. 

For hard styles, when you roll an attack such as Punch or Kick, if a success is under both Punch / Kick & Martial Arts, you do double damage. Also, if a successful attack you roll is Parried, the parrying character takes half damage.

For soft styles, when you roll a Parry or Dodge as normal, if a success is under both the Parry / Dodge & Martial Arts, you can roll a Grapple attack to throw the attacker.

NEW SKILLS

You could also make up new skills based on this principle. CON skills are noticeably absent, so things like Resist Poison, Resist Pain, Resist Hunger etc could all be CON based.

2) Step One: Roll Attributes & Social Class

First, roll ALL attributes on 3D6. That's right, suck it up, buttercup! You'll be getting some historically accurate, wildly uneven people.

Your EDU score determines your Social Class as follows. This affects your starting money and occupational skill base of x 5% as follows:

3 Destitute. Starting money is 1/10. Skill modifier is  x 2% because you were always too busy making ends meet to concentrate on education.

4-5 Poor. Starting money is 1/4. Skill modifier (explained below) is at x 3% because you were stressed by your lack of means.

6-8 Lower middle class. Starting money is 1/2. Skill modifier (explained below) is x 4% because you had to work twice as hard as anyone above you.

9-12 Middle class. Starting money is as normal. Skill modifier (explained below) is normal (x 5%) because you were supported enough to reached your full potential.

13-15 Upper middle class. Starting money is x 2. Skill modifier (explained below) is x 4% because you were profligate.

16-17 Rich. Starting money is x 4. Skill modifier (explained below) is x 3% because you had it easier than most and coasted to success.

18 Millionaire class. Starting money is x 10. Skill modifier (explained below) is at x 2% because you never had to work a day in your life.

3) Step Two: Choose Occupation & Determine Skills

Occupations are classed into three levels, Lower, Middle, and Upper Class Occupations, and Occupational Skill Modifier is as above. Also, if you choose an Occupation from outside your class, you get a - 1 to your skills modifier for every level of difference . For example, an upper class character (base skill modifier x 2) would have no penalty being a doctor, but would get - 1 (so base skill x 1%) for 'slumming it' as a middle class police detective. This reflects both how rigid class distinctions are, as well as the reduced efficiency individuals have for doing a profession outside their habitus or social origin.

Level 1 - Lower Class Occupations (For Destitute, Poor, or Lower middle class Social Classes). Consists of disenfranchised, workers, outsiders.

Ex. Artist (unsuccessful), Author (unsuccessful), Entertainer (unsuccessful),Criminal, Hobo, Revolutionary, Tribal Fisherman, Tribal Warrior

NB: A player with an arts occupation PC rolls versus Luck or CHA x1% at creation to see if they are successful or not.

Level 2 - Middle class Occupations (For Middle class or Upper middle class Social Classes). Consists of professionals, public servants.

Ex. Athlete, Clergyman, Engineer, Farmer/Woodsman, Foot Soldier, Journalist, Missionary, Police Detective, Police Patrolman, Private Investigator

Level 3 - Upper Class Occupations (For Rich or Millionaire class Social Classes)
All Academics (until the 1970's when Neoliberalism kicks in and they become middle class). Politicians or leaders.

Ex. Antiquarian, Artist (successful), Author (successful), Dilettante, Doctor of Medicine, 

Entertainer (successful), Lawyer, Military Commander, Musician (successful), Parapsychologist, Professor.

For example, a middle class character (base skill modifier x 5) who wants to be a professor (one class above so will have skills at, while a 

4) Step Three: Determine Other Skills

Roll 1D6+2, then distribute these as attribute x 1% per point among any skills you want. You can beef up occupational skills or else take non occupational skills.

Emergency Defaults

In an emergency, a character is considered to have attribute x 1% in any skill they need that they could logically have. If you (surprisingly) haven't taken any skill in Pistol, if you pick one up in a firefight you are considered to have DEX x 1%, not 0%. However, a North American policeman character dropped into ancient Egypt would not be able to speak the language at INT x 1%.

5) Standard of Living

Along with the importance of social class for occupation and skill selection, it also strongly affects characters' lifestyles. 

ALL player characters lose 1% of their wealth between sessions to reflect the cost of living. This means lower class characters will also have to think of making ends meet while fighting cosmic horrors. In case rich characters hire poorer ones, or they get hired by NPCs, daily salary for the 1920's and 30's is INT in dollars per day, multiplied by social class level. So a character  would get INT x1 if lower class, x 2 if middle, and 3 x if upper class.

6) Roleplaying Effects

Social class also affects player and non-player character interaction as follows.

Same social level - Friendly, helpful.

One level apart - Guarded, does the minimum required.

Two levels apart - Arrogant or resentful, refuses help if not in their interest.

Conclusion

If you don't see the use or the fun in this proposal, don't use it. As for me, I think like my previous post on subtext in Lovecraft, this would really add depth to roleplaying, and is thus worth the effort.

Rereading Epic Pooh

I just reread Michael Moorcock’s 1978 polemic “Epic Pooh,” in which he excoriates JRR Tolkien and his contemporaries for sentimentalism.

(You can find the copy I read here, although I think this is updated since it references JK Rowling)

It is a rollicking read, and I always find myself chuckling as I go through it. Not that I agree with it 100% - I think Tolkien’s works are massive influences on fantasy in general and the human imaginarium in particular.

(But I would rather have my toenails pulled than reread LotR. Not so for Corum or Elric.)

Here is how Moorcock sees Tolkien and other works of ‘High fantasy’:

Prose of the nursery room

To soothe and console

Mouth music

Lacks tension

Coddles & befriends the reader

Tells comforting lies

Soft

Success due to its comforting tone

Sentimental, distanced

Avoids implications

Lauds the petit bourgeoise in the face of Chaos

Heroes accept the status quo

No symbols or allegories

Self-serving misanthropy

Sentimental myths to make war bearable

Anti-romance (ie no saga)

Use sentimentality and infantilism

Fearful, backward-yearning

Equate good taste with restraint

Civilized behaviour means conventional behaviour at all times

Happy ending as policy

Fantasy of escaping death

Satisfies ancient desires (ie cheat death, fly, use magic to fulfill wishes)

And since the majority of D&D’s DNA is from LotR, you can see how it has gradually come to take these faults as virtues - how kewl powerz and challenge ratings have nerfed any lethality, and thus tension, in D&D.

Although I think Moorocock gives Tolkien too much credit as an ideologue, he does have some points. LotR and connected books were always a slog, understandable considering Tolkien was a linguistics major, and not a creative writing or even a literature type. The prose and action falters often in LotR, but I give it a pass because the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Conversely, Moorcock is both a literary type and a renaissance man with multiple interests - see Hawkwind and his contributions to music. After excoriating Tolkien, Moorcock goes on to describe his preferred type of fiction:

Epic, dignifies death

Vigorous and careful writing

Respects the reader’s intelligence

Large vocabulary, talented writing, good plot structure

Echoes greater writing

Clear & vibrant, with pace & verve

Style is robust, elegant, and considered

Whether you agree with his thesis or not, it is an interesting examination of the state of fantasy literature in the 20th century.

How does this reflect on Stormbringer?

As noted, Stormbringer has always kept a level of lethality. However, the published scenarios often fall short of the high criteria of writing Moorcock has set.

Basically, although D&D included Moorcock’s works in the original Deities & Demigods, D&D has since bought more into the high fantasy of LotR than the pulpy saga of Elric. And I would argue that this is partially because the storytelling standards are much lower.

You should be reading Traverse Fantasy

 I just found this blog HERE. 

Lots of good thoughts about the hobby.

How to demonetize it.

Should the OSR die?

Well written and thought.

Stormbringer Redux # 14 - Untangling The Threads of Stormbringer

Classic Stormbringer is a funny old game. In some places it replicates Moorcock's fiction, while in others it totally deviates from or subverts it. It has some mechanics and tropes from D&D and BRP, but also does lots of things entirely its own way.

So let's try to follow some of these strands to see Stormbringer's DNA, and the implications for running or playing the game.

I see three categories of Stormbringer concepts:

1) Moorcockisms (ie narrative conceits), what most of us lovers of the novels came for

2) Stormbringerisms (ie game designer conceits specific to the game), which were made supposedly to please us fans of Moorcock, but which largely go off in a different direction due to the change in genres from fiction to game

3) Chaosiumisms or D&Disms (ie mechanic conceits specific to certain systems), such as dice rolling or number crunching from the hobby's wargaming roots.

Let's look at a few of the major gameplay characteristics associated with Stormbringer to see where they come from, and whether they work or not.

Lethality

This is definitely a Stormbringerism. For Moorcock's characters, death serves the story, so there is no chance of an unlucky roll or a TPK. That said, regular Chaosium rules (ie Runequest) give a bit more robust characters than Stormbringer. From my rereading, the critical hits and fumble rules are the main culprit for Stormbringer's storied lethality, which is why I proposed a way to mitigate crit/fumble lethality while giving players more choice in my combat rules.

Personally, I have no problem with some lethality. Just as in Moorcock's fiction, a character's death should be linked to their choices, and thus the threat of death from the road the player puts his alter ego on gives a very Moorcockian vibe.

Random Nationalities

The different nations come from Moorcock, naturally, but the various bonuses (and especially penalties) attendant with them are Stormbringerisms. I used to think they add a bit of verisimilitude to characters through diversity, but the penalties especially are very D&D grognard in their 'challenge of using a hopeless character' ethic. As the designer notes in [2.3.10.3] on running a beggar,

"However, those players who enjoy a challenge may get a special kick out of attempting to beat the system and win with a character who is blind, deaf, or partially crippled. Any triumphs won with such a character would be correspondingly greater than those won by more normal characters. If you do choose to play a Beggar, you have my condolences and best wishes."

The problem I now see is that there is a decided lack of 'triumphs' in the system of Stormbringer. I suppose you could become an Agent, but this is a power up, not an endpoint. Alternatively, you could accumulate wealth and enough political power to rule a nation, thus gaining the ear of greater powers if you are also a sorcerer. But as noted, this would have to happen largely through GM fiat, as no overarching system exists for it. This system of linking social class and arcane power is precisely what I sketched out in previous posts on the cosmic struggle, and is something that I hope to complete at some point.

Although I used to swear by the old random nationality table, hearing the Breakfast in the Ruins podcast pisstake on it the other day, and based on my own reflections, if I ran or played Elric! or later editions, I would be happy to let it slide. I think modern players would appreciate the equality of all starting characters more, and at some point I may make up a Random Nationality table that provides balanced bonuses to all nationalities instead of rehashing the superior civilized and inferior savage dialectic the old table reinforces. Although this is a staple of pulp fiction, it is much less than fun in a game.

My few memories of national characteristics from Moorcock's fiction are either descriptions of personality (ie Melniboneans as cruel and aloof, Purple Towners as gregarious yet mercenary), or very brief introduction of troop types (ie Chalilite archers). This latter was my inspiration for the troop rules I posted earlier, and will inform any nationality rules if I devise them.

Churches of Law and Chaos

I do not recall mass worship churches of the planar forces ever being mentioned in the Elric books, save for the existence of the Theocrat of Pang Tang, whose title reflects the hierarchy of organized religion.　

As the designer notes at the start of the Magic section [5.1]

"Michael Moorcock is not a simple man, and he does not write simple stories. The implications behind his theology of Law and Chaos at war with each other are profound, and would bear considerable philosophizing, but this is not the place for it. Unfortunately, in order for this game to work well, I must simplify and abbreviate many of Moorcock's concepts."

This quote really points out the crux of the matter - for Moorcock's fiction to work as a game, it needs simplification & abbreviation. In the Elric novels, Law vs Chaos is NOT a 'theology', which is defined as religion or belief in god, but is rather a cosmology, an explanation of how the universe works. Stormbringer skirts the overarching cosmological system and replaces it with a theological system, so every PC or NPC can have their 'alignment' like in D&D, even if it doesn't mechanically matter for anyone but priests and agents. Law vs Chaos thus become a hybrid D&D / Stormbringerism.

Honestly, even though such a theological interpretation is largely absent from Moorcock's works, in a roleplaying game about lowlifes traipsing around the Young Kingdoms, it is acceptable, almost inescapable trope of D&D derived fantasy roleplaying games.

Magic

Many have already noted that the magic system of Stormbringer is largely ported over from Chaosium's Magic World, and the debate about whether Stormbringer magic is 'like in the books' rages on. Frankly speaking, no systematized magic in a game could ever satisfy or completely emulate what a great writer like Michael Moorcock makes up to further his story and the themes therein, so I will refrain from going into that. Magic in an RPG is thus inescapably a systemic conceit.

What I will say is that it is easy to see what works and what doesn't. The rules for Elementals work well - they are rules lite, narrative more than mechanic, and were largely untouched from 1st to 4th editions. Demon rules in 1E are half baked, which is why they went from an unfinished and disorganized mess in the first 3 editions to a GURPS style point buy in the 4th. I don't consider this a total success.

Lords of Law and Chaos are arguably overpowered for a game, but emulate the fiction, to an extent. I always objected with the D&D urge to stat out every god and demigod - shouldn't some beings be too powerful for the PCs to touch?

Once again, a balanced systemic approach is lacking with demon magic, which I hope to address sometime in the near future. For the time being, the random tables I previously posted to determine demon, elemental, and deity reaction to being summoned should give the GM some good narrative hooks to help them roleplay summoned entities better and more consistently.

Currency and Encumbrance

Breakfast in the Ruins rightly lambasted the currency and prices list especially, envisaging Moonglum and Elric bickering over the price of canoes. As they note, the trope of pulp fiction is, a la Conan, rags to riches and back to rags again next week. This would seem to be better abstracted instead of codified into currency and prices, which lean into the resource management aspect of D&D and wargames. Considering that Elric never touches money except in rare instances, enforcing bookkeeping would seem to detract from the game.

On the other hand, I could see this being useful if tied to social status and ambition within the larger struggle of the gameworld. As posted previously, I tied the currency of starting characters to their social status, and in our Stormbringer game the Melnibonean high priest that was generated instantly became the patron of all the other Young Kingdom adventurers. In future, I hope to add to this what old D&D bloggers like Hill Cantons call 'the domain game', where PCs play a long game of gaining wealth, buying influence, and building their base while acquiring followers.

If the beggar character mentioned by the game's designers and lambasted by Breakfast in the Ruins could have a chance of climbing the rungs of Young Kingdom society, and even playing a part in the struggle between Law and Chaos, THAT would certainly be a worthy triumph to shoot for.

Scenarios

As I noted before, the scenarios of Stormbringer are hit or miss. For every Hall of Risk that hints at the greater cosmology and sets things on a literal cosmic chessboard, there are a dozen Crystal of Daerdaerdath dungeon crawls that are ripped from D&D. To combat this, I implemented the system of life goals, and it has generated side quests and character motives that, by and large, obviate the need for a published scenario by producing organic and genre-appropriate character ack stories. Just take a look at the motivations of our party members:

Lord Soo (Melnibonean high priest)

Purpose: Restore Melnibone to glory (she was sacked by Pan Tang in our world)

Bones (Vilmir sailor)

Purpose: Get enough money to captain a ship again

Maleia (Dharijoran merchant)

Purpose: Protect her lord

That said, there are things to be ripped from old Stormbringer scenarios, as some of them did hit the mark on occasion. My campaign, The Laughing Tower, is an updated homage to The Hall of Risk, and for the next arc of our campaign, I will be repurposing the Sisters of Chaos from the Sea Kings sourcebook. Basically, I would probably not run any Stormbringer scenario from back in the day as is, but I would definitely take the best parts, amp them up, and fling them at my players.

Conclusion

Classic Stormbringer is a mixed bag, but also a trove of treasures that the original designers put their blood and souls into. I am finding my own ways to make it emulate the source material better, but I realize that it can never fully do that. As lovers of Moorcock's fiction, we have to be realistic about what we can expect the game to do, and what we might need to change to fit our conception of what Stormbringer should be. What complicates this for the GM is, of course, the players. Where fans of Moorcock might play true to character despite this leading to their doom (or even because it does) , a more D&D-honed or modern player might try to 'win' by exploiting gaps in the rules, such as when one player in my old game carried ten swords because they break often and there is no encumbrance system. So my final suggestion would be that GMs, as much as possible, let players in on what their conception of Stormbringer is, whether it is pulp or saga, or just D&D in Elric's world. That way, a better experience can be had by all.

Future plans (Fall & Winter 2022, Spring & Summer 2023)

 Greetings!

I finally killed off the semester today with some Open Campus sessions. Ah, nothing like plague training to work on a weekend.

My plans for the near future are such:

FALL

Continue the Stormbringer material, next up is Magic.

Also, a retrospective of 1st vs 3rd edition, and why I am starting to prefer the former after owning mostly the latter.

A disquisition on why the Elric novels are so hard to bring to life in an RPG.

WINTER

I figure I'll wind up Stormbringer and need a change of pace. Aliens is looking good, also want to try and play a session or two.

SPRING

Big fat old Swords of the Serpentine has arrived after 2 years of waiting. Can't wait to delve into it, but need a break between it and Stormbringer.

Take care, stay cool, and don't get any cooties.

Breakfast in the Ruins, Anyone?

Just started listening to the Breakfast in the Ruins podcast about Moorcock. Good stuff, sounds like me and my mates riffing back in the day.

They have a nice pisstake on the Stormbringer RPG HERE.

I agree that the D&Dification of Moorcock's world was a misstep. It focuses on emulating sword & sorcery, not the epic fantasy of the Elric books, which include the fantasy trope of rags to riches to rags again as a pulp background to the epic saga foreground. Ditto the halfhearted reshaping of Chaosium's house system into a Stormbringer emulator, with D&D bean counting thrown in for good measure.

That said, their assertion that they wouldn't want to play a beggar points to one of the conundrums in roleplaying in a Moorcockean sandbox. You can't have a party of all Elrics. It just doesn't work as a fun game, and didn't really exist in the source fiction aside from the Four-who-are-one crossovers (which are a kind of literary Power Rangers transformation in themselves).

(What's the difference between THIS...)

(... and THIS?)

In the novels, the Eternal Champion is both powerful yet lacks free will. The next tier is Companions to Champions, who have more freedom of action, but consequently less power and a higher chance of being sacrificed for the greater good. Finally, Elric and other avatars pal around with local lords and their nameless servants, a third yet expendable tier of players (or pawns) in the great game.

This is all great grist for the mill, and my eventual homebrew Moorcock RPG.