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The Engine of Oracles

~ Daniel James Hanley's Creations For Gaming. Home of the Ghastly Affair RPG.

The Engine of Oracles

Category Archives: Opinion

The Point of All This

05 Friday Jun 2020

Posted by Daniel James Hanley in Opinion

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

fantasy, Inspiration, Opinion


It can feel strange, even irresponsible, to write about fantastic worlds when reality seems so dire. Some part of me chides the rest, insisting that I should focus only on this world of pandemic, conflict, and oppression. But, perhaps it is precisely now that we need fantasy the most. Fantasy is the exercise of the imagination, and it is imagination that we will need if we are to transcend our problems. We must imagine a better world, where society is not predicated on exploitation and racism; where the law can be enforced without brutality; and where government represents all the people – not just those born into a privileged race, class, creed, gender, or sexual orientation. Without the ability to imagine something better, we may just trade one oppression for another, as has happened too many times throughout history. Without the courage to imagine, we might revert from our current insanity, back to the same system that ultimately resulted in the madness now standing in place of true governance.

The poet (and prophet) William Blake posited the Poetic Genius as the true God, and Imagination as the Savior. Who am I to argue with Blake? So I will write fantasy. I will write fantasy because Hope flows not just from Faith, but also Imagination. Our ancestors entertained each other with stories of fantastic worlds and beings, while dealing with diseases for which they had no cure, disasters for which they had no warning, and wars that seemed endless. The stories they told sustained them in their darkest hours. We exist because those who came before us could imagine a better future, and that imagination gave them the hope to endure.

Fantasy is serious business, for the most serious of times.

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The Golden Rule of Running RPGs – Some Advice to New Game Masters

28 Tuesday May 2019

Posted by Daniel James Hanley in Opinion

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

beginner's advice, Game Master, GM, GMing, role-playing game, rpg


The most important lessons I’ve learned in 35 years of Game Mastering can be reduced to the following maxim:

“Design and present your game world and scenarios in terms of opportunities to be explored, challenges to be met, and consequential choices to be made.”

The Rule seems simple and obvious – so simple in fact, that it is easy to lose sight of it. Nonetheless, application of the Golden Rule solves many of the recurring problems that can drag down games.


To describe environments confidently, don’t try to create a perfect replica, mental or physical, of the adventure/scenario map in front of you. Instead, focus on what the PCs can possibly do because of the environment. The old “choose-your-own-adventure” books actually provide a good model here. In general, avoid getting bogged down conveying exact distances, dimensions, and positions, unless the PCs indicate that they are spending (valuable) time measuring such things. Instead, you might say say something like:

“The entire party can fit in this room without feeling crowded. You can exit it three ways – back the through the door you entered, by a door in the far wall, or by one on the right-hand wall. The stone walls appear ordinary, but in this dim light you would have to get closer to be sure. In the center of the room is a table with some potentially interesting objects on it. Do you want to investigate the table, more closely examine the room itself, leave, or do something else?”

This, incidentally, is why it can often be better to employ a somewhat abstract map. A gorgeous map seems to demand to have its details accurately conveyed, often at the expense of actual game-play. Even if you use a graphical battlemat, call attention to the specific choices the PCs can (or must) make as a result of the environment. This will help you to maintain pacing. By suggesting courses of action, you prevent the choice-paralysis that can occur when people are presented with too many possibilities. Of course, for some genres (particularly Horror), you should always describe some details of the environment before suggesting possible actions, because it will prime minds of the Players to make genre-appropriate decisions. Also, there is a difference between suggesting actions, and limiting them. The strength of a tabletop RPG is that the Players can do unexpected things.


You can prevent dull social encounters by remembering to make each one an obstacle to some goal, or a point at which the PCs must must commit to some consequential course of action. Perhaps the swordsmith is the only one who can fix your damaged weapons, but he doesn’t like your kind at all. The Duchess demands to know now, whether or not you will assassinate her rival. Always place some kind of complication on every social encounter that you actually play out, except those meant as narrative exposition. Run your social encounters this way, and you can encourage good role-playing even among combat-focused (who are really “challenge-focused”) players.


You can better structure your game sessions by remembering the Golden Rule. If your game revolves around exploring dungeons (or a monster-filled wilderness), each room (or “hex” on the map) should be an opportunity (for rest, perhaps), a challenge (from a monster or trap, for example), or a decision point (to possibly change the direction of travel). If your game is meant to be played out in narrative “scenes”, each scene revolves around facing a major challenge, or making a consequential decision. The scene begins with the setup of that challenge (or decision), and once it is faced (or made), the scene can end.


To avoid “Railroading”, remember that at every opportunity, the Player Characters must be able to make a choice that has consequences. If the plot of your game will continue along the same path no matter what the Players do, you must insert some real choices with potentially catastrophic consequences. Ask yourself: “Are NPCs causing every significant situation, and making every important decision? Will everything still happen the the same way if the PCs just stand around shooting each other with water guns?” If the answer is yes, you know what to do. Always give the PCs opportunities to change their environment. Allow for the possibility of failure.


Overcome creative blocks by conceiving a scenarios as a series of linked opportunities, challenges, and choices.

Give PCs opportunities to explore unknown places, meet important people, receive honors, find potential lovers, or obtain unusual retainers. Remember, the game is the PCs’ story, and from that point of view even the most important NPCs exist only to provide opportunities for the Player Characters.

Look at the abilities of the PCs, and create your scenarios around using them. Did someone take the (possibly assumed to be useless) “Pottery” skill? Good. Include a situation where accurately discerning different types of clay will give a vital clue to the identity of a thief or murderer. Or, perhaps knowing that a particular type of ceramic jar is intended to break easily might be vital to avoiding a trap. Design that trap!

You can make an entire night’s gaming by first writing down six to ten choices that must be made  (such as “left or right”; “forward or back”; “red, “green, or “yellow”; etc.), and then deciding why those choices must be made. For example:

  • The first thing the PC musts do when entering the dungeon is decide whether to go left, or right.
  •  If they go right, they encounter a seemingly unbeatable monster – do they advance, or go back?
  •  If the PCs had initially gone left, maybe they reach a wall with red, green, and yellow buttons – which do they press? Is there a clue, perhaps in the appearance of the monster in the right-hand passage?

So remember, when you feel anxious about how to design a scenario, or run a game, just apply the Golden Rule.

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Nine Gothic Maxims

22 Tuesday Aug 2017

Posted by Daniel James Hanley in Gothic Gaming, Opinion

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Ghastly Affair, gothic game, Gothic Gaming, Gothic Horror, Gothic Literature, Gothic Romance, Gothick, Gothique, horror novels, Romance, Romantic Age, Romantic Horror, Romantic-era, Romanticism, schauerroman


Thomas Girtin 005

Here are nine simple ways to recognize the Gothic.

1: Beauty and horror are inseparably linked.
2: Places are characters.
3: The past is present, and inescapable.
4: Innocents shall suffer.
5: Evil is a compulsion to do wrong.
6: The evidence of decay is everywhere.
7: One shall inevitably be in darkness.
8: That which is rejected always returns.
9: Desire drives all things, and will not be denied.

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Bring Back the Christmas Ghost Story!

01 Thursday Dec 2016

Posted by Daniel James Hanley in Folklore, Gothic Gaming, Historical Gaming, Opinion

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

American folklore, American Legend, apparition, Christmas, Christmas Tradition, English folklore, English Legend, English literature, Ghost, Gothic Horror, Gothic Literature, Gothic Romance, Gothick, Holidays, Medieval Folklore, Romantic Horror, Solstice, specter, Tradition, Urban Legend, Victorian, Victorian Gothic, Yule


writing-desk-ghost Christmas time is here again. It’s the season for decorations and songs. Eggnog and cookies. Little men moving in the night, and a spirit of justice flying through the air. There’s darkness around those Christmas lights, and it’s always been there.

Americans have largely forgotten the tradition of the Christmas ghost story, but it was once a vital part of our celebration. We love “A Christmas Carol”, but fail to acknowledge the tradition of Yuletide horror that it represents. But, what could be more appropriate on a cold winter’s night than to shudder at a chilling tale? When our ancestors shivered from the cold, they also told stories to send shivers down their spines!

This year, have a truly traditional Christmas. Help bring back the Christmas ghost story! Remember that elves are kin to goblins, and Krampus comes too. It isn’t just the living who yearn to be with their families, and mischievous sprites still lurk in your Christmas tree.

Look outside. What left such strange tracks in the new-fallen snow?

Horror doesn’t end at Halloween!

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Highdark Hall – A Regency Setting for Gothic Roleplaying

The Illustrated Ghastly Affair Player’s Manual

PDF and Hardcover Print Versions on RPGNow and DriveThru RPG. Softcover Print Version on Amazon.

The Illustrated Ghastly Affair Presenter’s Manual

PDF and Hardcover Print Versions on RPGNow and DriveThru RPG. Softcover Print Version on Amazon.

Hunter’s Song by William Rutter

"Hunter's Song" by WIlliam Rutter

Now available through DriveThruFiction and Amazon

A Ghastly Potpourri

Now Available in PDF and softcover print on RPGNow and DriveThruRPG.

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