3250 Maula Dodges A Bullet
Well, I’ve officially volunteered to run my daughter’s Jr.High D&D club. Fun times ahead!
EDIT:
Well. YAFGC is two weeks without an update and I am absolutely devastated. I hate when I drop back on it and I apologize. I’m currently unemployed and have been trying to supplement life with commissions, which for the most part don’t cause me these kinds of delays. But I’ve taken on a project that is just eating up my time. Add that to this humid heat wave that’s making me tired and apathetic and … well YAFGC is suffering. I’ll get on it real soon, I promise.
Point is, I’m okay, just busy (and not good busy), hot and annoyed. Hang in there, more YAFGC is on its way real soon.
-Rich
EDIT-EDIT:
If you’re reading this and I’m working on a commission for you, it’s not you I promise. Portraits of gaming characters is not the issue. I’m working on illustrations for a personalized kid’s book and it’s a lot more involved (and so is the client).
Any would-be assassins still in the crowd, take note…your efforts will *not* be appreciated. Or, I suspect, treated…kindly.
And I can’t blame Mrs/HFRH B. That was a particularly tough specimen of monarchy to deal with.
And am I the only one that thinks Hogga’s helmet looks…adorable?
Now let’s prepare to go whup some Rannites.
But, that grin, in Panel 2, it’s so… warm.
t!
A quote comes to mind:
"The empire awaits you with open jaws." Emperor Izaro of the Eternal Empire (Path of Exile)
I was gonna say Hogga is lucky she didn’t lose an ear when that horn got sheared off her helmet…but looking back at her first appearances after Black Mountain blew, she DID have a big tear in her ear on that side. I guess it got better.
Rich is always a mile ahead of us on the immersive details…which is one reason his tenure at his daughter’s club is gonna be epic. Congrats on the new gig, Rich; those kids are in for a great time. (Are you planning to GM for them, or to help one or more of them with that job?)
They have magic, so a wizard or priest could have healed her ear.
That was a great speech by Maula, and I am sure she is more than happy to a "normal" orc life, or at least return to it once the Rannites have gotten a good ass-whupping.
Bravo, Rich, for taking on the DM task for your daughter’s D&D group. Those kids are going to have an awesome time.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to have to take some time to wrap my head around your daughter being in Jr. High. Wasn’t she a baby just a week ago? š
> your daughter being in Jr. High
WILL PEOPLE STOP SAYING THAT!!!
t!
Weird thing is your own kids get older, but you kind if forget other people’s kids get older as well. I think you’ll have a shock when you next see (and hear!) Matthieu and Sam.
True ‘dat!
(psst! it was earlier this summer)
At our age, the memory starts to go…
t!
Scary…isn’t it?
It feels like that yes.
Aw. Well I hope it works out at the D&D club. I’m not sure how it’s going to go just yet. I plan to spend the first one asking the kids what they want out of a D&D club and seeing how it went last year. But I’m prepared to just be a monitor and a voice of assistance or to turn it into a school-year long campaign. I’ve got ideas for one. Problem I’m facing is that it’s going to be about a half-hour once a week. So I’ve got to figure out how to make that work. I’m thinking to strip it down to the basics, just use (5e) attributes, saving throws and basic basic combat and add details as they come up. I dunno. I’ll figure it out, but it’s going to be FUN!
Ah, that’s an interesting challenge!
If I was gonna run a game under those conditions — half hour, once a week, with possibly a rotating cast of inexperienced players — I might try something like this…
First (non-session-zero) meeting, start [i]in media res[/i], with an ambush or other exciting crisis. Play it out, keeping rules light and flexible to make sure every player gets to do something cool. They learn to roll dice and stuff, but even failed rolls do something entertaining, just not the thing they were trying to do. (And not something that makes the player or the character look stupid. Low rolls mean crazy the-universe-hates-us shenanigans, not "fumbles". You smite the goblin, but his unmanly shriek woke up the troll sleeping in the next room.)
And then your half-hour is up…so let the players do a sort of interactive what-happens-next message board game for five days. Each person can add a sentence to the story, no more than once per person per day. They try to steer things toward another exciting moment…and two days before the next meeting, call a deadline on the interactive posts. Maybe the GM writes one more, to end that part of the story on a proper cliffhanger, and all the players have time to think about what they’ll do next.
And then they meet for another live session, to play out this latest crazy situation. And back to another five days of the "what happens next?" game.
As the weeks roll on, the GM can gradually introduce more rules and more serious consequences, at whatever rate the players seem to enjoy most.
This does rely on the players all being decent human beings — you don’t want them teaming up to bully someone in the freeform narrative sections — but they’re your daughter’s friends and classmates, so naturally they’re all class acts. š
A bigger problem might be the range of expectations; some kids might be veteran gamers who feel insulted by the rules-light early sessions…but if they’re treated as valued fellow teachers for the novice crowd, they might rise to the occasion!
Oh, and in case it wasn’t clear…by "first non-session zero meeting" I meant the first POST-session-zero meeting. Of course there should always be a session zero, especially in a setup like this where the whole endeavor depends on everyone grokking each other’s expectations and each other’s idea of a fun time!
This is an amazing plan! I may steal it…
Maybe you can use an easier system, like Savage Worlds. The pacing of combat is a lot faster, so you can focus more on roleplay.
And be sure to include quirky characters like King Lewie. ^^
Half Hour a week?
Good lord, you and them need to be better organized than my group ever is. The first half hour of most of our gaming sessions nothing gets done.
Another thing that I deal with, and I don’t know, maybe kids will be better, but the real problem is decision making. A HUGE amount of time – in my experience – is wasted with the group dithering about what to do next, arguing about what do next, and generally not actually DOING anything. Maybe my players – who are all old geezers like me (40s, I’m turning 50 soon) – brains are all atrophied, but its a bit frustrating at times.
My ‘favorite’ event:
Eric as GM – "What are you going to do?"
Players – <absolute silence>
Eric (under his breath) – "Oh for fucks sake…"
These are not stupid people. And we’ve been gaming for years, but they seem to be getting worse and worse for not actually doing anything. Especially at the beginning of a session, once they start to get into it, things roll along better, but until then…
Is that Dwarf Fortess FUN? Or easy, not exhausting nor requiring tens of hours of work to use, fun?
Passing the buck and bucking the trend at the same time.
Maula’s speech basically boils down to this, "I am too old for this ish, my son is now in charge, I will be here to advise and guide, but I am not your ruler."
Depending on the interpretation of the second panel, it could also be "I’m done, Glon is king now. Serve him, or else, you will be served… to the wargs."
The fourth panel is why I made my statement.
I think Maula just wants to walk her Wargis. She certainly has earned the right to retire.
To be honest, I think Glon did prove himself a number of times, so most orcs won’t complain about him being king. Its proven by the fact, that they did let him taking the position, despite thinking Maula is dead. But even if he turns out to be too "soft" for an orc king, currently he is still the best choice: his connections and relations to both the "monster-folks" and to the "good races" is what the orcs (and his eventual other followers from the Black Mountain) might just need to get a home of their own, once the Rannites are gone.
A king (or queen) who doesn’t want the job, but is qualified for it, is the very best candidate.
"Wargis". Now I want to actually see those adorable killing machines…LOL.
There’s an actual dog breed called a Worgi.
https://wagwalking.com/breed/worgi
So imagine this with bigger teeth and a look like it got hit in the face with a brick and it got angry about it.
There was a hint of "be disloyal to my son, and you may have to deal with me" in that grin.
And now Glon gets to find out why she hated the job.
Can’t think of anyone better qualified to run a D&D club š
And young people are an excellent source of fresh ideas.
@MDF: Ask and ye shall receive:
Wargi introduction: https://yafgc.net/comic/0064-a-goblins-good-time/
Maula’s Wargis: https://yafgc.net/comic/1026-games-beasts-play/
Hey, Rich, thanks for giving us an update! It is good to know, that everything is okay with you, and that you are just busy -even if not a good way.
But if you are already stressed with work, don’t stress yourself further for us! We will wait patiently till you are back, as we always did, and always will! š
Hang in there, Rich, and you’ve got nothing to apologize for. We love your work, but sanity comes first! Thanks for the update, and I hope things get calmer for you soon.
No worries, Rich. As people have already said, your sanity comes first. All the best with the kid’s book and with the client. And here’s hoping that cooler, drier weather will soon return to your area.
I expect Glon, Maula, and the rest of the orcs don’t mind, anyway. While they want to get rid of the Rannite stink as soon as possible, until you call them back to the set, they can keep celebrating Glon’s ascension to the throne. Party on, dudes! Huzzah! š
Thank you for the heads up Rich, I was starting to get worried. Sanity, while sometimes over-rated, is still pretty necessary. There’s so little of it left, after all! Take care, preserve what’s left of yours, keep as cool as you can, and remember to BREATHE when that client of yours gets cranky. We’ll see you soon!
"Point is, Iām okay, just busy (and not good busy), hot and annoyed."
That is one sad turn of events after looking forward to the "fun times ahead". I hope you can find a stable job again soon.