Mesopotamians

Mesopotamians - a little game about undead warrior kings making it big as a rock and roll band

The game Mesopotamians by Nick Wedig is a game inspired by the song Mesopotamians by They Might Be Giants, and from the tag line above you can see why I was interested in this game.

You might remember I wrote about Runeblade a small narrative game with interesting dice mechanics. As I have stated before, I like simple games and I like narrative games, and although I don't mind more complex or mechanics intensive games I like having something I can put onto the table quickly when the need arises.

I had come across Mesopotamians recently when I picked up in an indie game anthology - it was actually in on one of the Level 1 game anthologies by 9^th Level Games for Free RPG Day I got at a recent event.

I thought Mesopotamians was interesting and having had experience of Runeblade I thought I'd like to give this a go.

I decided to type out the character cards, the character concerns and the van card myself and then print and laminate these so I had some playable cards which would take some abuse at the game table.

I also realised in a quick play test of the game, I needed more dice! Specifically more d6 and d10 dice. So after buying these I was all prepared to get a game organised.

I have been carrying the game around for the past six months or so and although telling everyone about the game and getting interest from others, there was never the opportunity to put this on the table. Until now that is!

Through player illness and forewarned absence the crew of players for my current Labyrinth Lord game was about cut in half. I had considered playing something else, or possibly continuing with the Labyrinth Lord campaign itself with fewwe palyers, but decided to wait and ask the remaining players when they turned up. The consensus was to pause the Labyrinth Lord game and play something else, which is where the moment of inspiration hit me and I suggested we play Mesopotamians!

We all had a thoroughly good time, even though I got the dice mechanic wrong when I walked the players through the first round of play. A quick correction so everyone knew what to do going forward and I guided them through the second round of play. It was only after the game I realised I forgot to use the Goal tracker (which is part of the Van card) but having had my first play actual through with other people I think it all went well and I am looking forward to getting this onto the table again.

As far as the recent game goes I have the abridged the highlights of the game below, and if you think it sounds ridiculous and hilarious, that is because it was.

The Larrys

The unnamed band headed away from the clutches of the Evil Sorceress Azita as far as the end of the road to Darleen's Bar to set-up a gig. They gained Bob "Larry" Wiseman as their band-manager, invented the "Gilgamoshpit", settled a dispute with law enforcement regarding excessive crowds, and became an internet sensation with their first live-gig video all before leaving town for the big city.

On the way to the city they were beset by van troubles (flat tyre), dodged hitmen sent by Azita, gained a couple of magical artefacts (magical whips), recorded their world-sensational track "Bumpin' in my Transit" and finally defeated Azita in some sort of kaiju-esque final battle after she turned into a giant snake and rampaged through the city.

The unnamed band finally became known as 'The Larrys' in honour of their lost Band Manager 'Larry' who died in the final battle with Azita.

J

Rocks

As I had previously mentioned here I like wargames and love scatter terrain you can use to break up open areas of the game board.

Rocks are quite useful as scatter terrain and I thought should be quite easy to make. I had an idea to make rocks out of standard expanded polystyrene many years ago and had made several prototypes. The one you see in the picture is one of those prototypes which survived and was forwarded to this final build.

These were pieces of expanded polystyrene from household appliance packaging cut to rough shape with a sharp knife and then attacked with a blunt knife and finger nail to pull out lumps giving that rough surface effect. It didn't have to look perfect as everything was getting covered in a layer of wall filler, but I needed enough definition to not be lost when applying the wall filler.

Once the polystyrene was roughly where I wanted it shape wise, the polystyrene blobs were attached to pieces of hardboard I had cut for me by a friend who has a great woodwork set-up. I laid out the pieces onto the hardboard, traced around them, then left enough space for a lip if I wanted to add small foliage etc. before these were cut out and sanded. A final shape by hand with some wood files and some sandpaper and I had wooden bases for my polystyrene. After the polystyrene was attached to the wooden bases they got two thin coats of wall filler.

Next up was adding those bits of scenery scatter (sand, cork pieces, grit, etc.) to look like small pieces of rock had fallen off and gathered at the base of each. After these were assembled and dried, everything got a base coat of black paint and Mod Podge.

I was thinking along the lines of granite or slate for these so the paint scheme was a heavy over-brush with a dark blue, followed by successive over-brushes by lighter blues. I wasn't choosy about what direction I was painting on the over-brushed blues and so ended up painting myself.

It looks like I was killing Smurfs!

A few areas were given a red ink wash or a purple ink wash to add a bit of variety to the rocks. Everything then got a black wash before being dry-brushed with the last light blue I'd used, followed by light dry-brush with a white-blue.

Before I added the flock and foliage added a bit of green ink to those areas which might pool water or have water running down along the rock face.

You can get a sense of scale here with my 28mm Dwarf Warrior and Human Wizard models I use to check my builds. Much like my previous scatter terrain project, everything fits into an under bed storage box and will adequately cover a 4ft square game board.

I hope you like these and I have some photos of the final items which I hope you find inspirational.

J

Refreshing old models - Cottage

The cottage you see here was scratch-built by me back in around the years 1992-1993 when I was in secondary school undertaking my Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. For my Silver badge I chose as my skill - Crafting; specifically table-top model scenery crafting (like you would have for model railways which is how I pitched it to my teachers, although I had to explain at length that I was not constructing model railways).

The cottage was constructed from the instructions and template as presented in the Modelling Workshop series in White Dwarf Magazine, issue 130. Issue 130 was released in 1990 and I still have the Modelling Workshop pages from this very magazine tucked in a folder somewhere.

Foamboard, balsa wood, cereal box cardboard, DAS modelling clay, wall filler and some Citadel Paints were all used in the construction of this piece. I was playing a lot of Warhammer Fantasy Battle at the time, so it was definitely a piece I could use on the table, and the cottage was something which I thought I could achieve in building to completion as one of the pieces to present for my Silver badge.

The cottage was at the time stuck to a bit of corrugated cardboard which was then painted green and flocked to give it that in-world appearance. I was never really happy with the base, but I needed to get the cottage complete and out of the way as I had other buildings I was in the middle of constructing for my Silver badge.

The cottage itself is now about 30 years old and has seen it's fair share of play and abuse. There was damage to the tiles especially on the corners, the corners of the chimney stack lintel and the chimney pot itself.

Rather than just touch up the piece to repair the damage, I decided to go full on and replace that base I had disliked since the beginning, as well as fully repair and repaint the model.

I began by ripping off the original base and then finding a suitable base to add the building back on to. I had acquired off cuts of some really thick card (about 4mm thick) a number of years ago. The building was a good fit to an off-cut I had allowing for some space around the building to add some detail in terms of foliage so I went with this.

Before fitting the cottage to the new base I had to repair some of the wooden laths which formed the bottom of the walls. The glue and paint I originally used had ripped off some layers of wood from the bottom leaving a gap. Once these were repaired the the building was stuck to the new base in preparation for the rest of the repair.

Thankfully there was not too much damage to the tiles which needed repair and so re-stuck those tiles which were loose, and where the corners were dog-eared and ragged I just cut these bits away.

The chimney pot and chimney stack lintel were replaced completely. The lintel was just another piece of thick card (the card you find at the back of a file pad) which was easy to restore. My original chimney pot was made from a single piece of DAS modelling putty. My new chimney was made from the pen barrels and plasticard.

Once assembled, everything which was added new was given a quick brush with watered down wall filler, to fill in any gaps and give a cohesive appearance to the original construction, before being painted black to match the original base colour. The entire building, base and all was given a brown wash to tie everything together before I got to repainting the piece.

I think the foliage and flock I added really helps to bring this piece to life and here's to playing with it for another 30 years!

I will leave you with some pictures of the final piece. Enjoy!

J

RPG Saturday

You may remember I mentioned in a previous post here that I was hoping that RPG Saturday would get off the ground – especially as this meant I could get some more regular role-playing in.

So what is RPG Saturday?

RPG Saturday is currently just an unofficial gathering of people enthusiastic about playing tabletop RPGs which was spawned off the back of Free RPG Day. I am currently organising a loose collection of gamers to try and build a community which I am hoping will turn into something more concrete and hopefully more official in the future. I am very reliant on others to provide venues and help with marketing, and although I have been organising this for about eight months now, it still just feels like organising a group of friends around to your house for a game – not that there is anything wrong with that – but it is a lot of effort up front.

I am pleased to say that there now a regular monthly RPG event, which I decided to name as RPG Saturday, currently running at OnTableTop and although it has been a reasonable success so far, it is a lot of hard work as I am the main organiser for this – I have no one to blame but myself as I was the one making the most noise about not having a local RPG meet-up, and after my persistent bemoaning that there wasn't a local RPG event it seems only fair I am the one trying to bring RPG players together.

Most of the work so far has been in actually trying to corral and herd people to attend, which has often times led to just chasing people through private channels to see if they will turn up on the day. At least right now I don't have to organise the venue, which really takes a huge burden off my shoulders - a big thanks to the folks at OnTableTop for having the space available for this each month.

So how does RPG Saturday work?

The plan behind RPG Saturday was to play several different game systems over the course of the year. It is not about running one-shots, but more about mini-campaings, or short adventures which can form the basis of a larger campaign. One of the problems which was discussed back in Free RPG Day 2022 was that if you start a big campaign you have a forever GM and a small group of players dedicated to that game, but you also end up with several people who are not playing that game or who don't want to play that particular game – therefore you really need to have a pool of GMs and systems available to play, to keep the masses engaged and coming back every month. It was this mindset which has led to the running of mini-campaigns or short adventures which would be able to be run over two to three sessions, four sessions at a stretch, after which we could then play something different. This would hopefully keep people coming to the event, but also provide the GMs a break.

There is nothing to stop GMs running longer or more involved campaigns, it is just that we are asking of our GMs to curtail the action for that particular campaign arc to the smaller number of sessions. After a short break, that campaign can be picked up again. Should RPG Saturday grow and there are enough GMs and players available, there could be more regular games and campaigns played each month, rather than having to swap out every so often.

Again, with regards RPG Saturday, there is nothing to stop a group of players breaking off to play a particular game with a particular GM, although that does take away from the community spirit that RPG Saturday was intended to capture.

So far we have played through one shots of The Quiet Year and Most Trusted Advisors, and whilst the first part of a Blades in the Dark campaign is just about coming to an end, I have started a Mouse Guard campaign. Looking forward I have a game of Labyrinth Lord lined up, and there are also mutterings of D&D and Vaesan one-shots awaiting to be palyed.

There are around 8 to 10 players in the group so far, with about half of these turning up each month as regulars to play games. This is a good start although I would like to see the group grow so we can have more games run concurrently, but for this there would really need to be more GMs to step up to the plate and asking to run games.

It is all positive so far, so let's hope that RPG Saturday can keep going all the way to the next Free RPG Day where all this started! Speaking of which the next Free RPG Day is scheduled for sometime in June 2024 – maybe I'll see you there.

Misfit Hobbies - A Pop-Up Game Store

The wonderful Samuel Steele (formerly Tabletop Hub, now rebranded as Misfit Hobbies) has thrown his hat in the ring and started a pop-up game store. Samuel has taken a multi-faceted approach and is running demonstrations, open gaming spaces, workshops, RPGs, board games and miniature wargames, as well as have a small store front selling everything from Warhammer, Bolt Action, Fallout Wasteland Warfare, paints and scenery, even his own TTRPG Zines and Resources – all of which I can definitely get behind.

It is more of a community space and as such has a really cosy feeling. I have helped out by running a one-shot RPG and I ran my Meddling Kids scenario from Free RPG Day earlier this year. I had two new players to TTRPGs in my group which was really nice to see. I have also attended a board game evening and a terrain making workshop, as well as a couple of the demonstration events. I built a nifty ruined tower in the terrain workshop – not bad going for a few hours work, and will post about this separately.

The pop-up store ran it's course to the end of December 2023. The seven weeks it was open was very short, but time which I am grateful I spent in attending and supporting. I really wish Samuel all the best in this venture, and hope that he can get the funding he needs to keep the store running as a going concern. Obviously I have volunteered my services for both RPGs and Terrain Workshops in the future so lets hope that he can keep the store running.

J

Buildings - Wooden Sheds and Wooden Shacks

I decided to make some simple buildings from scratch for my table, these would be wooden sheds, and wooden shacks. I also wanted these to look aged and weather beaten. Also none of these buildings were designed to have playable interiors, which meant construction to be easier.

The wooden sheds would be simple box shapes with a tiled pitched roof, a simple door and a simple window. These would remind me a bit of my parents shed when I was growing up, except their shed had a bitumen roof rather than tiles.

I decided to go all out on the second shed and make it a T shape. I am not convinced this was a great idea for such a small building but I learned a lot of lessons when constructing this. The door knobs were map pins and the hinges were bits of card.

Once the sheds were constructed I gave them a base coat and initial dry brush. The tiles were a dark grey (almost steel grey) colour and the wooden walls were an umber colour. After this I ink washed everything and then brought back the detail with several dry brushes.

The wooden shacks were designed to be some sort of crude building with a rudimentary storage space to one side, to keep the likes of logs or tools.

I liked the idea of trying to give these shacks canvas or hide roofs. I cut up some old towels and sheets, especially material that had a distinct pattern or weave. These small strips were soaked in watered down PVA glue, then draped over the piece and poked and prodded with a cocktail stick until I was happy with the shape.

Again like the wooden sheds, the wooden walls started out with an umber colour. I decided to give a bit of variety to the roof, picking out different materials in different shades and colours.

Again like the wooden sheds, I gave everything an ink wash although I think I lost the colour detail in the roof when I did this. After the ink wash everything was given several dry brushes to pick out the detail. I finished the wooden shacks with some flock and grasses to add detail to the base.

Overall these were quick and simple to make and I am really impressed with the results, even though the paint job may not be what I was initially after.

J

Free RPG Day 2023

You might remember last years post on Free RPG Day. This year, without the disruptions from Covid, Free RPG Day was on 24^th June 2023, and you can find out more about Free RPG Day here.

I had such a great time last year, I was the one asking if my local gaming store, OnTableTop, was going to host games this year... and to my delight they said yes!

The plan this year was to have three tables for RPGs, with three two hour slots across the day. The local gaming store were a little more coordinated this year and had several posts on various social media outlets to drum up support.

In the end up, there were two full tables for the first session, Vaesen and Meddling Kids; two full tables for the middle session, Call of Cthulhu and The Witch is Dead; and two full table for the third session, Blades in the Dark and Dungeons and Dragons. All in all a great turnout for both showcasing games and having players attend.

I ran two games this year, Meddling Kids and The Witch is Dead, and I played in the Blades in the Dark game in the last session.

Turning up on the morning of Free RPG Day I was dreading a repeat of last year with no-one enrolled to play my game, being that I was running another unknown game - Meddling Kids RPG; a 1970s / 1908s cartoon caper style adventure (for example Scooby-Doo or Captain Caveman). Lucky for me I had five players wanting to play. Woohoo!

All the Fun of the Fair

Bart's Fun Fair arrived in town a few days ago and everyone was excited to go. Towards the end of the first evening, a Ghoul Clown appeared and terrorised both the visitors and the staff scaring everyone away.
Both Bart, the fun fair owner, and the town council are desperate to get the fun fair back up and running but every time the fun fair opens the Ghoul Clown reappears scaring people away.

We all had a blast, and the players managed to catch and uncover the villain by the end of the session.

I ran The Witch is Dead for the next session after grabbing a quick ibte of lunch, and to my delight I had five players for this game as well, two of whom had never played an RPG before.

The Witch is Dead is a rules light one shot game by Grant Howitt where you play the animal familiars of a Witch who has recently been killed by a Witch-Hunter. gshowitt.itch.io/the-witch-is-dead

We all had a blast playing this one. I had two Hares, a Dog, a Magpie and a Crow all swearing bloody revenge for the death of their beloved witch.

I played Blades in the Dark in the afternoon. I enjoyed this game and would definitely like to play more of this, although I think I struggled in the game. Maybe it was fatigue from running all the games earlier, or maybe I didn't get into the pre-generated character enough, or maybe it was the one-shot that felt flat. Whatever it was I have a desire to play this again.

One of the boons of running games at Free RPG Day is the swag you can get to take home for donating your time. This year I got a few quick start guides, a few scenarios, a kickstarter party adventure game and some dice. Towards the end of the day, as I was the only person to have run multiple games, I was handed a dice bag. Nice!

During Free RPG Day 2022 there was a discussion about regular role playing slots at the club, the difficulty being GM availability. It was mooted that a once a month RPG day might work and we all agreed. Sadly nothing actually happened after Free RPG Day 2022.

I raised the question again this year and everyone was again in agreement, so I pushed a little harder this year and committed to the third Saturday of the month, booking myself in for the 15^th July and 19^th August to try and get the Monthly RPG Saturday off the ground. We have had the first one (which didn't turn out so great as there were a lot of people off on holidays then – but hey ho I turned up and ran a game with the folks who managed to attend to keep things going), and I am looking forward to the next RPG Saturday. I am also pleased to say that there is a bit more chatter on the socials about the next RPG Saturday due in August so here is hoping!

J

Boardgame Bonanza - Part 2

A Broken Heavy Wall option for Modern or Futuristic tabletop games

I like skirmish wargames and scatter terrain is always good for the table to help break up line of sight and give your minis something to hide behind. Those eagle eyed readers may have spotted some grey wall sections being used during a previous Stargrave game here. The walls in the photo were an early build and paint job where I was trying them out to see how well they would work. They worked well enough for my needs, now all I needed was some more.

I managed to get some 1 inch thick polystyrene insulation for cheap (and when I say cheap I mean it literally fell off the roof of a car, ended up in bits on the road, and was gifted to me for crafting, thanks Karl!). I cut these up into rough broken wall like sections, adding buttresses to look like some sci-fi fortification style walls which had fallen into disrepair. My Proxxon did a great job of slicing through the polystyrene giving all the bases a nice flat edge allowing them to stand reasonably upright on their own.

I really just glued pieces together until it felt right. After I got a few big sections, I wanted to have some smaller more decrepit sections of wall, as well as a few rubble pieces which looked like they came from the wall itself. With regards the amount of pieces to make, I have found that one of the under bed storage boxes filled with scatter terrain fills a 4ft x 4ft gaming space quite nicely, and still allows room for a few hills or buildings.

I didn't want any bases on these pieces as I wanted minis and other scenery to butt up against them easily and I wanted the walls to sit as flush to the ground as possible. With this in mind I decided to strengthen everything by sticking the polystyrene sections to cereal box card, and then cutting off the cardboard tight against the wall. This worked out really well as those rough bobbly ends of the broken wall sections now had something reasonably sturdy holding it together. A light smatter of a mix of wall filler, mod podge and paint covered every surface to hopefully stop the polystyrene from bobbling apart when handling.

I know I wanted these to look like abandoned sci-fi fortifications so for the colour scheme I wanted blacks and greys to make it look a bit like concrete, but also look a bit like strange sci-fi building material. I am not totally convinced with my paint job, but these are finished and playable and do exactly what I wanted them to do.

After a base of mid grey and several heavy black washes followed with a grey over brush I finally got the approximate colour I was looking for. A few more passes of over brush with a lighter grey and several dry brushes from grey to white soon had the piece looking good – if a little bland. A final black wash with a grey tinted white to pick out the detail had the pieces ready for embellishment.

I decided that if these were exterior walls falling into disrepair there might be plants growing on them, so a quick addition of some green ink to look like slime or lichen, a few bits of green flock and clump foliage and we had a final product.

These do look great on the table and I hope these inspire you to try something like this yourself.

J

Inspiration 4

Due to the length of my daily commute I do like to listen to podcasts in the car as I drive to and from work. Whilst a lot of my podcast listens are gaming related, there are a few non-gaming honourable mentions:

No Such Thing as a Fish, a weekly podcast on various topics of interest from the makers of QI (a British TV game show). It's all about random facts along with a slice of comedy on top; and

The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry, a podcast where scientists investigate everyday mysteries sent in by the listeners. Coming from a science and engineering background, this is right up my street.

Two new podcasts I have found recently which I think are worth listening to are:

Ludonarrative Dissidents, a podcast where the hosts (gaming folk Greg Stolze, Ross Payton and James Wallis) explore and analyse tabletop RPGs. I like the critical look the hosts lay against the games and mechanics of each of the games they discuss.

Role Playing Public Radio, a podcast (by Ross Payton) looking at gaming with the host and other members of the RPPR crew. There is the main RPPR podcast (which I listen to) and then a separate podcast stream with Actual Plays by the RPPR crew. I am not a fan of Actual Plays so I tend to give this a miss but if you are interested in such things there is content out there for you. The nice thing about RPPR is the variety of games they play and discuss.

Another source of inspiration I have mentioned previously is Rookery Publications. They now have a weekly live stream on Twitch where they interview various Authors and RPG designers. They not only discuss topics related to the guests but also general topics relating to gaming. I generally join in the livestream chat adding in my own two-pence to the discussions.

The Rookery Publications live stream, Ludonarrative Dissidents podcast and Role Playing Public Radio podcast have given me a lot to think about, and it is nice to see (or or should I say hear) various opinions on RPG games and mechanics, as well as discussions around tabletop groups, group dynamics, and other ancillary tabletop topics.

Royal Road is still one of my go to places for stories. I am currently reading three different fantasy novels in the LitRPG genre. I like the LitRPG genre as it reminds me of gaming, however I have realised I am not a big fan of RPG stat tables and lists of skills splattered throughout a story. Some of the stories I started with good intentions as the MC or plot hooked me in, but after a few chapters they turned me off with their endless list of skills and RPG stats (which I feel do not add to the story, because even if the MC has increased a skill or two, it is now lost in the rest of the guff). There are however stories out there which do keep the RPG information to a minimum, and these read much better as a story. It is some of these I am currently reading.

Also, I seemed to have missed the start of 2023 – so a belated welcome to 2023 and another year of more gaming, crafting and writing about both.

J

Tropes - It's all about Tropes

You may remember I previously mentioned I follow Total Pebble Knockdown and they recently released an episode discussing Tropes in gaming, Episode 44.
 

The basis of their discussion were three lists they came across online:

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/character-tropes-list/

https://gamerant.com/classic-utdated-rpg-tropes/

https://mythcreants.com/blog/six-classic-roleplaying-tropes-that-arent-actually-fun/

Whilst the folks in Total Pebble Knockdown often discuss gaming in all forms often discussing videogames as much as TTRPGs I have focused my thoughts solely to table-top roleplaying.

Before continuing to read through my thoughts on each of these lists, I would encourage you to follow each of the links and have a read yourself.
 

Introduction

This will be quite a discourse on the lists as presented by Total Pebble Knockdown, and as in all good countdowns, I will offer my breakdown in reverse.

6 RPG Tropes that shouldn't be fun – This feels more like a personal rant than a curated list. I get the feeling that the reason there are 6 no-fun tropes is that the writer of this list has personally suffered from each of these. The reason I disagree with this list as a list of no-fun tropes is the first and most important tenet of gaming – Don't Be A Dick – and most of the issues with these tropes can be avoided (or at least mitigated in a meaningful fashion) if you are not being a Total Dick. I truly believe that all the tropes listed here can be used in your games effectively with some forethought and planning. The thing about playing games is we should all be having fun at the table. Whilst having your armour destroyed, or ending up in gaol with no equipment might not sound like fun, giving the players the opportunity to shine – like finding a hairpin to use as a makeshift lock-pick, charming the guards, or finding those (leather) bracers of defence - will provide an opportunity for the players to survive the dastardly plans of the GM, and hopefully an opportunity to shine.

10 RPG Tropes consigned to the bin - This is a list of videogame tropes. Are these tropes no longer in modern videogames, maybe not, although from reading the article, you'll learn these tropes are not gone completely. I will break these down with respect to TTRPGs, where they apply.

15 RPG Tropes to try out in your next character build - This is a list of common character tropes you see in movies, tv and novels. There is nothing wrong is using some of these tropes in your games, either as a player or a GM – although you should keep in mind the gaming tenet – Don't be a Dick. This list is a great resource for players and GMs alike. I will not trawl through this list and comment on each, as reading the article and following the links for each of the tropes listed will give you a better understanding of each trope, how you might play the trope in your game, or how you might try and subvert them. Also this is a list of common tropes, and there are loads more tropes out there than are on this list. The tropes as listed here are more about the character's style of play than the actual character class like Total Pebble Knockdown tried to tie them to in the episode.

As in all lists, these lists are made from someone's opinion as to what to include in the list. My discourse is my opinion of the list breakdown, and also some of what Total Pebble Knockdown said in the episode. Anyway back to the lists, keeping in mind not to be a Dick about things...
 

6 RPG Tropes that shouldn't be fun

6. Freedom is a Choice?
If a character turns up to your game with an over-powered or under-powered character, you as the GM haven't done your preparation right. Also if they build a broken character with you present, you have done something wrong. For games that allow freedom in character building, the GM needs to be on top form and know the rules inside out to ensure the characters are not making broken characters – just take a look at what min-maxers can do within those 'restrictive' D&D rules!! Freedom is good.

5. Personal Puzzle Solvers
Puzzles and the like in game should be solved by the characters. Which means skill challenges, dice rolls and lots and lots of hints. So you roll a check and fail on a puzzle, as you have failed your roll, maybe your comrade gets a bonus to their roll as they will not repeat your mistakes. On some obscure information roll you fail, but the next character gets a hint after your rambling thoughts, which may lead to a different skill check, which also may lead to a different hint or information being presented. Managing puzzles and the like in this manner should prevent the game relying on the actual players knowledge and skills.

4. Your Prison is all in the Mind
Why can't players end up in Prison? If they keep breaking the laws of the land, they should be put in gaol. And if they keep breaking them they should realise there are consequences for repeat offenders. Does that mean you should throw players in gaol every turn-about; no but players need to be aware of the consequences of their actions. So the BBEG is hunting them down and has thrown them in prison? How will they escape? Can they find out how to defeat the BBEG from other prisoners? Can they get a message to the outside? Can they make a daring power play from within the prison? Do they have a patron on the outside who can help them? Just because the players are in prison, does not mean it is the end.

3. Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies
Yes the GM can kill players any time they like. Quite a short game then isn't it? If the players are doing something stupid, and die – that is their fault. As the GM, you are to 'challenge' the players, not wipe them out. Die rolls that could lead to character death should always be explained to the player before the roll. Also rolling in the open is always favourable as there is less room for argument when it comes to situations like this.

2. Re-Supply
There are times to have unlimited supplies, and times to not. This article reads like the author has been burned by a GM though the judicial application of inventory management. Again, if you are a Dick about things, it will not end happily. Is there more to be said on this topic?

1. Scrap Merchants R Us
I think with the specificity on Rust Monsters and the vehemence coming across on destroying players equipment, the writer of this article was the Fighter in question who had all their armour and weapons turned to rust. Why can't you destroy or lose players equipment? Having other (non-metallic) equipment available for the players, or an opportunity to replace equipment after a particular harrowing session will ease the personal pain of the players. Also, if players think they can enter (normal) combat and come out with their equipment completely intact every time, then you as the GM are doing something wrong. Damaging their equipment and allowing opportunities for repair throughout your sessions means players are less attached to their singular precious equipment, and if and when that rust monster appears, they won't be worried as they know they can repair or replace it. Also, who doesn't like rust monsters? Serious high level players should have these as pets. Who needs metal armour or weapons when at high level you have natural bonuses or can enchant yourself ahead of combat. With the rust monster by your side, your opponents metallic weapons or armour will be ineffective. Mu-ha-ha-ha-ha!
 

10 RPG Tropes consigned to the bin

10. Chosen Heroes
The funny thing about TTRPGs is the players are the heroes of the game. They are the main protagonists about whom the story revolves. This doesn't necessarily mean they are heroes themselves in the traditional sense of the word, but that they generally end up doing the right thing. If your campaign sets the players as evil to overthrow the forces of good, are they not the heroes in the eyes of their evil allies? Are they Chosen by Destiny? Ordained by Prophecy? Probably not, unless your story states that. More likely than not, they are run of the mill heroes who by happenstance end up saving the city / kingdom / planet / universe.

9. Damsels in Distress
Damsels (the females) or Swains (the males) in Distress. Although you can use Dudes for males if you don't speak Old English. Your players will not typically be damsels in distress, unless you shanghai them and throw them in gaol to be eventually rescued by someone else – sound familiar from my earlier thoughts on putting players in prison? But there is no reason you can't use the damsel in distress trope in your games. Anyone needing rescued who cannot free themselves is the 'damsel' in the broadest sense of this trope. So the very act of your players breaking someone out of prison, or rescuing someone from the BBEG is enacting this trope. You can play with this trope though. What about some type of Stockholm syndrome? The prisoner you are sent to rescue is suffering from some form of PTSD and will defend their captors, or try to escape from you the rescuers to return to their captor. How will you convince the prisoner to follow you? Will the captor let you release the prisoner, knowing they will escape and return to them? Alternatively why is the captive always a hapless individual who cannot do anything? Once the prisoner is released, they are found to be an adept fighter, magic user, or diplomat and will join the party offering their skills to the party.

8. High-Fantasy settings
There are lots of different settings (genres) to set your games in. Why not a High-Fantasy setting? There is nothing wrong with High-Fantasy, and although this is a well used setting, it may been seen at times as a tad over-used. However that has not stopped new games or other forms of entertainment being created in the high-fantasy setting. One of the ways creators have been tying to change the high-fantasy genre is to merge it with other genres. Sometimes this works, sometimes not. What could you do to change the high-fantasy setting to use is your own game?

7. The Ragtag Gang
Another thing about TTRPGs is the random characters the players bring to the table. Did you hear the joke about the Druid, the Cleric and the Rogue who walk into a bar? No? Well this is just about how most games start, random characters seemingly put together for some purpose. That is not to say that characters won't have backgrounds and motivations to pull them together, but those long-term working together goals can be hard to identify at the very beginning of a campaign, especially when the players are using their own characters and not pregenerated characters and have to work out the fine detail through play and discussion. Sometimes it is the flaws within these characters and their seemingly odd combination that makes for better roleplaying. I mean this ragtag gang of random characters couldn't possibly be the Chosen One's, could they? If you don't want a ragtag gang of completely random individuals in your game and you are not using pregenerated characters, you as the GM need to curate character generation more closely, explaining to the players the type of game, and the type of characters you want them to build for the game.

6. Impractical Costumes
Definitely something resigned to videogames and comics, although official TTRPG art does at times fall foul of this trope. Yes the scantily clad women and man is a sexual fantasy of many. How these characters do not just die from environmental exposure is a mystery? The opposite is also true, over-armoured characters with plates and flanges covering all areas and an assortment of attachments to the armour, you wonder how they move let alone fight in the thing? More sensible outfits are for the most part, what every player and GM will opt for. If someone is scantily clad or over-armoured, it should be for a very good reason!

5. Attack the Heroes Village
Is it a case of the villains attacking the village or of killing characters loved ones? If it is just a case of attacking the village, maybe the heroes won't care all that much as it will depend on their backstory and their connection to it. If it is a case of killing the characters loved ones, this is something you as the GM need to work out with the players before you decide to go down this route. Like I have stated before – Don't be a Dick. What if the heroes come from different villages? What do you do then as the villain? Attacking more than one settlement will likely attract the attention of more powerful forces than those low level heroes you are after. Should you as the GM attack the characters village? No, for as you see, it probably won't do any good, and will likely get more than the heroes coming after your villain. Also, you have to remember what game you are playing is it a dungeon cwarl, a mystery game, a horror game, or something else.

4. Level Grinding
Level Grinding doesn't appear in TTRPGs as TTRPGs are not always about combat. However how you reward your players has to be considered. Gain 50XP for killing that Goblin? Great. How much experience do you get for negotiating with the Goblin to let you past, getting them to spill the beans on where the gold is hiding and how to get past the rest of the guards? 50XP seems a bit lame now doesn't it. Most pre-published adventures provide a guide to rewarding experience to players, based on a list of goals they achieve in the adventure. The goals are not side quests but are things that may or may not have been achieved before the end of the adventure. Did they work out it was Professor Plum before the final scene? Did they prevent the death of Miss Scarlet? This same framework is what you as the GM want to provide for your own campaigns. Don't forget it is not always about killing more monsters.

3. Number Crunching
Some people like number crunchy systems, some people don't. The nice things about the TTRPG scene is there are games that cater for both. Personally I do like a rules-light game, as it is easy to get a game going, especially for a series of one-shots. Do I still play more crunchy games? Yes, and there is nothing wrong with them. I can like and play both.

2. The RNG of Doom
Dice are the TTRPG RNG (random number generator) of choice. They are great, they are physical, and you can perform any amount of dice rituals on them as you see fit (blow on them, rub them, shame them). As games have moved online we have been using online dice tools (which are literally RNGs) to provide our dice roll numbers so the other online players can see. I have had many a bad experience where I have had poor rolls from the online dice-roller and felt cheated. Especially as I have to keep using the damned thing! I think the difference is more psychological, as when I have a couple of bad rolls with my dice, I can stick it back in the bag and bring out a different one, obviously breaking the bad luck cycle immediately! Pity I can't do the same thing for the online dice rollers eh?

1. Save Points
TTRPGs don't use save points. Players tend to have some sort of base of operations where they return to after adventuring. This could just be an inn in a different town on their travels. This is the TTRPG equivalent of a save point. Campaigns will use more of this trope than one shots or short adventures.

Those are my thoughts on the lists of Tropes as presneted by Total Pebble Knockdown.
What do you think?

J