Wil Wheaton Thinks I'm Cool

Wil Wheaton thinks I'm cool. OK, He thought something I said was cool. Let me explain. Every year for the past 17 years I have attended and worked at the Polaris convention in Toronto. Originally called Toronto Trek its a fan run sci-fi and and fantasy con that attracts guests and attendees from all over. I work in the auditorium where the guests appear on stage to talk to the audience. I was working backstage when I met him. I thanked him for his Tabletop web show. On stage his enthusiasm for gaming was infectious and I felt part of an exclusive club. His talk reestablished my enthusiasm for gaming. I knew I had to say something to him for that. But it had to be a quick comment as he was sure to be pressed for time and I didn't want to hold him up. After a few moments of thought I had it. As he was leaving I turned to him and said "you give me pride in my passions".  He made the oh that's cool face and said "You have to pay that forward and pass it to the next generation to carry the flag of gaming." "Will do I said". My gaming urge has been restored.

And We're Back

 And we are back. Sorry for the long delay. At first it was a bad case of the doldrums. Then last month I came down with severe stomach pain. It lasted for days and days so I went the the hospital. After several trips over the course of two weeks (including one trip by ambulance) the doctors said I had a stomach Hernia and needed surgery right away. I was in and out of the operation without any trouble and so far no complications. I am in my second week of recovery and doing fine. I also lost ten pounds for my trouble. I'm glad to be feeling well enough to be back but I,m not liking the new blogger interface much.

Please Stand By

I haven't posted much lately. Between real life demands on my time and not feeling motivated, the creative urge has been dampened somewhat. I plan to resume your regularly scheduled content shortly. Please stand by. 

Of Heroism and Hit Points part1

Land Of Nod has a good article on Hit Points. He describes hit points in his game Blood and Treasure ;

"Hit points don’t represent anything solid or real or concrete in and of themselves. Rather, they are part of a complex calculation that boils down to this: “What are the chances that the next moment of mortal peril you experience will be your last.” That mortal peril might be a sword fight, a poison needle, a trap door … anything that might kill you. Most often, hit points relate to combat.

This hits closest to how I imagine hit points work. To him they are an abstract measure of how likely you are to die in a dangerous situation. I think they are an abstract measure of how likely you think you are going to die. Think of it as morale. The player with their knowledge of the remaining hit point total acts like a countdown timer until they cut and run. That's how it could work. There is one problem though. Most players feel they have no other choice but to die when the ticker goes to 0. So many turn into suicide machines fighting on to the better end.

To counter this I use what I like to call my AWO option. Another Way Out. Let them escape or surrender and be taken prisoner. What ever the situation calls for.

P.S This is the first part of a two part post.
In the second part I will go into more detail about HPs work as morale.

I Lost My Notes

AARRGG! I lost my notes. I who never lose anything have lost my notes. I made a note about my next few posts. I just jotted a few thoughts on a single piece of small note paper. I can't find it anywhere.
I will just have to reconstruct the ideas from memory. During the search I did find an old note about several subjects that I never posted so its not too bad. One question to you fellow bloggers;
Do you plan ahead or just wing it when posting?

Not Falling for Falling Damage

Over at Grognardia there is an article about the falling damage articles from Dragon magazine. Falling damage was one of a few things that never made sense. It just didn't mesh with our expectations. Back then we were trying to make everything "realistic". But the relationship between hit points, weapons damage, healing and falling damage was always difficult to understand. Much effort was put towards this end with (IMHO) little results. Usually adding more rules to a growing list.
But I am not falling for it anymore. I my future games (as I'm not currently running any now) hit points are considered a measure of fighting capacity and are only used in stand up fights where you can defend yourself. Falling down isn't a fight so it doesn't do hit point damage. I might use a saving throw to escape unharmed or assign arbitrary damage like half your hit point total. That might seem harsh to some. However I did create the world and populate it. So why can't I decide how much damage someone takes from falling down?

P.S. In my world if its not a monster or NPC attacking you, then its not hit point damage. This includes traps.

I Forgot My Anniversary

My last post was just after the 3 rd anniversary of my blog. I can't believe I forgot it. January 14 was my first post 3 years ago. I also can't believe its been that long.