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Fluff and crunch
2October 9, 2008
A lot of posts on the network are about fluff vs. crunch or at least use those words a lot. Even I have used both fluff and crunch several times in this blog. There are people out there who think fluff is less important than crunch and when they buy a book that contains way more fluff than crunch they feel ripped off.
So, what are fluff and crunch anyway?
According to the Merriam-Webster dictonary, fluff is one of the following:
- down (soft feathers)
- something fluffy
- something inconsequential
- blunder; especially: an actor’s lapse of memory
So, what does has the dictonary to say about crunch?
- an act of crunching
- a sound made by crunching
- a tight or critical situation: as a: a critical point in the buildup of pressure between opposing elements : showdown b: a severe economic squeeze (as on credit) c: shortage <an energy crunch>
- a conditioning exercise performed from a supine position by raising and lowering the upper torso without reaching a sitting position
Ok, that doesn’t really help us how both words are used in the roleplaying games context. Fluff usually means, the background, setting, flavor texts. Crunch are the rules, tables, that stuff. And usually people tend to think that fluff is just something you can more easily live without. Sorry, but I have to tell you that these people are wrong.
Why can’t we do away with fluff?
Because fluff is what makes the game. Roleplaying games are games of storytelling and make-believe. In a perfect world we wouldn’t need any rules, our imagination alone would be sufficient. BUT there need to be some rules to make the game more interesting and reduce arguments to the minimum. When children play “indians and cowboys” or something like that they run around shooting each other with their toy guns or their fingers and you often can listen to dialogs like that:
Kid #1: “Bam! Bam! You’re dead! I shot you!”Kid #2: “No, I am not, you missed me”Kid #1: “No, I shot you, so you have to lie down and stop moving!”Kid #2: “I won’t!”Kid #1: “You will!”
This can go on for a long time and usually it ends in a more physical confrontation that leads to crying and an abrupt end of the game. Ok, I never have witnessed DM and players starting a fist fight over a situation in a gaming session, but given that example you probably know what rules are for. It limits the players and the DM but helps to run the game and dice rolls for example add additional suspense. You never know if you succeed in your actions. But is this why rules (aka crunch) are more important? No, they are necessary but without the fluff it’s all meaningless.
Without the fluff all that remains are the rules. And the rules are in most games 80% combat-related. So you turn roleplaying into wargaming. In my opinion fluff is what makes the game interesting.
For a long time I couldn’t think of anything that could make someone think fluff is a waste of paper. But if you made your first steps into roleplaying from wargaming or you started with older edition of D&D this probably makes some sense. D&D core books are usually almost fully devoid of fluff and the rules were cleary evolved from wargaming. Early players and DMs were probably to create the fluffy part of gaming themselves.
More modern roleplaying games tend to be more light on the rules (less crunch) and there’s a lot of background and flavor texts (aka fluff). Just look at the White Wolf games. So it’s probably more a question of how you were introduced into the hobby when the like or dislike of fluff is concerned. What do you guys think? Am I completely off track? Is fluff something inconsequential after all? Please leave your comments below.
Feed the Reader
6October 8, 2008
No, this post is not about RPGs, but about blogs, the RPG Bloggers Network and feed readers. I’ve noticed that the vast majority of my readers are referred to my blog by our network’s main site. And only a few have subscribed to my RSS feed. So, why should you subscribe?
- You won’t miss any articles
When you check out rpgbloggers.com irregularly you probably miss most of the articles. When I go to our network’s main site I usually skim through the topmost articles and check out if there are any new posts in the “featured” category. If it’s a very active day in the network a lot of interesting posts have probably been pushed to the second page already. - But I’ve already subscribed to the RPG Bloggers Network Feed! Why should I add yours too?
Reading the rpgbloggers.com feed is like drinking from the firehose. When you subscribe to my feed and the feeds of other RPG blogs you like, you not only get the full posts in most cases, you also get to read posts that are NOT related to roleplaying games. Some of the network’s members write about a lot of other interesting things that you’ll miss, when you just read the rpgbloggers.com feed. - But don’t I need an expensive feed reader software?
No, of course not. Although they are quite a few commercial feed readers there are a lot of free alternatives. There are several web-based feed-readers available. You can for example use Google Reader or Bloglines. Or you can add a feed to you personalized Google page or to your NetVibes page. If you prefer a desktop application, use FeedReader3 or search on your favorite search engine for “Free feedreader”. Or, if you use the Opera browser, you can use the excellent built-in feed reader!
I hope I have you convinced by now. So, what’s the next step? Subscribe to my blog’s RSS feed using the method of your choice! If you need the feed’s adress it’s
http://www.stargazersworld.com/wordpress/?feed=rss2
If you have any more questions to this topic, feel free to ask! Post your thoughts in the comment section below!
Iron Kingdoms
4October 7, 2008
The people who followed my Dungeoncraft articles may already have guessed that the Iron Kingdoms setting by Privateer Press was one of the major inspiration for Asecia. In the beginning IK started as a trilogy of adventures that later even spawned the miniature games WARMACHINE and HORDE. IK consisted of the beforementioned trilogy (the “Witchfire” trilogy), the IK: Character guide, the IK: World guide, two Monsternomicons and several smaller sourcebooks. IK was using the d20 System License, so you probably won’t find many copies in stores nowadays.
But alas there hasn’t been any new releases for the IK campaign setting for quite some time now and Privateer Press recently announced on their forums that they will not release an updated version with D&D 4th Edition rules. But they can’t sell their existing material because the d20 System license is no more. The only way to reprint the books would be to make them compliant with the OGL, which in my opinion would be no impossible task.
But if you ask me, I am sure that Privateer Press is focussing on new projects and the IK campaign setting is more or less dead. With WARMACHINE, HORDE and the new Monsterpocalypse they have three miniature game lines. And I don’t believe they have the manpower or will to reinvigorate their roleplaying game line.
And although I own lot of the IK books I haven’t run more than the first part of the Witchfire trilogy. When I’ve concluded our current Pirates of the Spanish Main campaign returning to the Iron Kingdoms could be one of my possibilities. BUT shall I run it as it was intended (using D&D 3.5), shall I try to convert it to D&D 4th Edition (my group really likes the new system) or is converting the setting to a completly different system like Savage World, True20, GURPS, whatever the way to go?
Deep in my heart I still hope that Privateer Press will surprise us with their brand-new IK roleplaying game that perhaps even is compatible to their miniatures line in the future. But I doubt this day will come. So what would you do, if you were in my shoes?
Hinterland
5October 1, 2008
Yesterday Titled Mills released the computer game “Hinterland” over Steam. In that game you play a character that was tasked by the king to build a new town in the hinterlands of his country. You do that by cleaning the area of monsters, bandits and the undead (Diablo-style), building houses for new settlers and equipping them with the best equipment possible. Although the game is pretty simple graphics- and gamplay-wise, it’s much fun seeing you small community grow. You can even ask your settlers to join you on your adventures into the wilderness.
Playing that game got me thinking. The gameplay of Hinterland should be easily adopted to fantasy roleplaying. A whole campaign could revolve around the building of a town somewhere in the wilderness, perhaps at the frontier of a once powerful kingdom. Did someone say “Points of Light”? In my opinion this kind of campaign could be perfectly suited for the new D&D 4th Edition. And with having a small village that the players are tasked to protect and develop further, you not only give them a home base but there’s much to do.
You can have them secure the area, try to establish diplomatic relations with the barbarian tribes/dwarven clans/elven communities in the area, destroy the evil wizard/lich/warlord/whatever that has build his tower near the town, secure access to certain resources like a spring, gold mine, whatever the town needs to grow and prosper. They will also have to maintain peace inside the town and even recruit new settlers and some guards to help defend the town when they are away adventuring.
Of course this could also be adopted to other genres like Western, SF, et cetera. In a western game you have the classic western frontier town and the players are perhaps the town’s mayor, sherrif and the deputies trying to help the town survive. In a SF setting you can expand the town to a whole colony world. You can let the group scout and survey the world, protect colony ships full of settlers, fend of space pirates and explore the ancient ruins left over by an ancient and highly advanced specues!
Free solitaire game: Inquisition
0October 1, 2008
Perhaps you know 1KM1KT, an excellent site that publishes new free roleplaying games on a regular basis. Today they made Inquisition available, a solitaire game set into the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The game was created by Neuicon and Sean Daniels and it’s available as PDF download.
Inquisition: Purge the Unclean is a solitaire game, taking place in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. In this game, you’ll be taking on the role of an Inquisitor; your mission is to eliminate all threats that occupy an underground base in Hive World Golgotha XVII.
In order to play Inquisition: Purge the Unclean you’ll need a few six-sided dice, these rules and some scratch paper to track the Inquisitor’s attributes and any other information.
The complete game fits one page and although I haven’t tried it out yet, but it seems to be an interesting past-time.
RIFTS Ultimate Edition – Just my two cents
4September 29, 2008
When I today opened my mailbox I found an US airmail envelope with the RIFTS Ultimate Edition inside it. I ordered it some time ago after writing about my favorite post-apocalyptic settings. The first thing that surprised me was the hardcover format. I’ve owned a few Palladium Book titles in the past and they all have been softcover books and this is a welcome change. My original RIFTS book is already on the verge of falling and the hardcover book looks much sturdier.
But I was not surprised to see that the look and layout of RIFTS hasn’t changed much. Kevin Siembieda still uses the same font throughout the book he always used and the layout is still the two-column layout we all have seen so many times in all these years. So, even if the cover is brand new, the insides are all the same. Or is there still a glimpse of hope?
There is actually quite some new material and the organisation of the chapters has changed a bit. The book now starts with the information on the setting, followed by the O.C.C.s (Occupational Character Classes) and R.C.C.s (Racial Character Classes). A bit strange is the detail, that Siembieda gives details on Magic etc. before explaining the rules and some background information on Chi-Town is thrown in somewhere between magic and equipment. But if you have successfully run a RIFTS campaign before you know what I mean.
The book is mainly black and white on normal paper with some color pages on glossy paper thrown in. There is some new art (at least I haven’t seen it), but there is a lot of art that has been used in the original RIFTS book. When you are used to roleplaying rulebooks like the more recent D&D 4E books you will be surely disappointed by this book. My copy is from the Third Printing dated July 2008 and it looks like from 20 years ago.
The rules are old-school as well. RIFTS contains quite a large number of tables and every class has it’s own levelling chart. If you are a friend of modern and streamlined rules systems you should avoid RIFTS (and every other Palladium Books game) like the plague. Especially the combat rules still are broken in my opinion. And it’s totally beyond me, why they forgot to include a character record sheet.
Ok, when you’ve read this post to this point, you obviously think that I hate RIFTS to the bottom of my heart. But that’s not true. I just LOVE the setting. The RIFTS Earth is a great place to do campaigns in and some of my most fond roleplaying memories are connected to RIFTS. I just can’t understand why Palladium Books is still clinging to these broken rules and why their books still look like they were layouted by an amateur during the late 80s. When I look at this book I get the feeling Kevin Siembieda was sitting at his desk with scissors and glue tinkering the book together.
Another thing that annoys me is the fact that they never forget to put all that legal mumbo-jumpo all over the text. It’s just no fun to read an O.C.C.s description when there are (C), (R), and TMs all over the text. I understand that a company has to defend it’s intellectual property, but Palladium Books is just going to far.
I think that the Ultimate Edition looks better than the original RIFTS book but it’s far from being a perfect product. The over 375 pages long book is still worth it’s money if you can live with the subpar looks and the Palladium rules system. The setting has some very cool elements and opens up an endless playground for a creative GM.
One GM screen to rule them all
4September 24, 2008
I have seen a lot GM screens in my roleplaying times and most of them were either not too sturdy or the information printed on the GM’s side was only partially useful. One excellent GM screen was the one released by WotC for the new D&D 4th Edition but there’s another GM screen that put’s them all to shame!
I am talking about the “Savage Worlds Customizable GM Screen” by Pinnacle Entertainment Group. For around 26 bucks you get a sturdy trifold vinyl screen that has 6 pockets that you can use to customize your screen. I currently use it with the Pirates of the Spanish Main insets that you get for free at the official site, but you can easily create your own insets. If you don’t mind to create your own insets, you can use this GM screen with any roleplaying game. And since it’s coated with vinyl it’s pretty resistance to the common dangers on the playing table like sticky softdrinks, candle wax and/or spilled snack food.
You can even use it to hit your players if they don’t behave. It’s the perfect tool for the GM. 
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