[D&D w/circumstance mod] Icecream Hotdog

[Callan S.]

This was a pleasant dungeon excursion with my five yo, no set GM role. I've run a few games with him before (about eight or so), so this isn't an account of his first play or anything. But it's actually more interesting to see how he's getting a handle on things now.

The mod: Recently I read (or re-read...can't remember) Ron's Tunnels & Trolls actual play account and noted what he raved about in the game...those saving roll things. They reminded me of something I worked on about two years ago. At the time I was trying to figure out what was good to get out of roleplay. One thing I determined that it didn't have to be so much a correct answer (to a gamist problem), but instead it was any answer the person put effort into. The person working hard to create an answer, an answer made of hard work, was more important than the answer lining up with some evaluation as being correct. Rather than concentrate on making a system where there would be a mechanically correct answer (sort of like you have in chess), I wrote up a few bits so the challenge of play revolved around how the making up an answer is difficult (rather than there being a correct answer and the finding of it is difficulty involved).

Anyway, I thought I'd port this over to D&D, using the circumstance modifier as the basis of how to implement it (since I tend to read the advice about circumstance modifiers somewhat like this anyway). It's like this:
* First, roll up a prop for the room. I used the D&D furnishings tables.
> If your solution uses the prop, you get +1
* Determine the monster or trap
> If you use the nature of the monster or trap to your advantage: +1
> If speak your characters name to the described solution: +1 (this might seem odd, but it is fun)
* I had something cleverly involving skills, but really it wasn't going to work with a 5 yo, so it got skipped in play.
> Approval of the other player: +1 or -1 (This is about as 'correct answer' as it gets)

They add up to a circumstance modifier to to hit rolls, or saving throws. I had something for stuff that doesn't have a to hit roll (like magic missile), but it never came up so it doesn't matter right now.

Actual play account: We were using a map the boy had drawn. Since we'd started playing various dungeon delves (and since he'd seen the PS2 Baulders gate game), he's enjoyed drawing up his own maps. There was some consternation when he realised the figures wouldn't fit, so he planted a finger of his on the map to anchor his players position there.

Again, without a concrete GM role, I worried about when/how to inject conflict in and whether to do it mechanically with no traditional GM present. But basically either you inject it or nothing happens so you tend to throw some sort of challenge at yourself regardless.

First off I declared there was some sort of trap involved with the door ahead. Without a GM to hide this info, we had it out in the open here...but on the other hand, we basically can't just walk around it and avoid it (for the challenge reason from above). Anyway, the prop rolled up is a table. Max goes first, saying that the pit traps are like in Mr Burns house in the Simpsons PS2 game and you can sort of run on them and jump before they open up. I knew exactly what he meant from that image and he got a point for exploiting the traps weakness. I prompted him by asking if he uses the table somehow. He was a bit vague but said something along the lines of blocking the trap. Another point from that, another after I prompt him to say his PC's name as he gives the solution and another point from my approval (that's what I'd do). He rolled his reflex save with an extra +4 and made it. Then it was my turn.

One great thing I noticed is that by him going first, I felt compelled to use a different solution from him. This became a further creative focus for me. I did some pole vault thing from a leg of the table...my solution doesn't matter...except I really enjoyed the +4 (boy seemed to approve). It was nice to get a bonus and it was really nice to have earned it through stretching my mind beyond finding a mechanical solution/chess like solution. Even nicer is that I could integrate it into this otherwise mechanical solutions only game. I like both worlds.

So we get past the trap, and in the next room the boy had already drawn a fire in the dungeon, so it had to be a flame jet trap next. Before I even rolled the prop, he starts saying he's going to throw a bucket of water on it. I say just a second while at the same time thinking 'I bet this comes up with'. I roll 1D2 for whether I use the major or minor furnishing tables, followed by D100 for the object. What do I get...a pool of water! The boy doesn't understand why I'm laughing, but I reassure him. I love this sort of in game serendipity (right word?)! Anyway, he throws the water on the fire as you'd expect. For my own thing, I'm compelled to throw water on and use a ray of frost to freeze it. Sadly though I fail my roll even with the +4 and all other bonuses.

Max's cleric 1/Fighter 2 uses up a healing spells on me. Well, he keeps referring to using healing potions on me (PS2 baulders gate influence) so I remind him he uses spells. I'm not quite healed by the first spell, so he tries to hit directors stance and declares there's a healing potion in a nearby tent drawn on the map. In fact, there are hundreds of healing potions there. I say that's a bit too easy, which he doesn't get (since I'm really, suddenly talking at a design level mid game). I use his reaction from my general lack of approval of the idea, to suggest another: I go hmmm, then decide that since we roll treasure for encounters, if we roll enough gold for a healing potion, then it can be there instead of the gold. This placates him...and while were about it, we roll on all the other charts and get a potion of charisma.

Anyway, I say to him that it would be better to just use his other cure light wound spell on me. He is not convinced, until I tell him it's easy to 'make' healing spells and it's hard to make healing potions. Then he agree's. I'm not sure if I got in the way of his step on up, or if just starting to understanding the principle of using easy to make resources first would feel good for him. He latter said that he was going to make lots and lots of healing potions...obviously he wanted to cover this wounds issue.

The next room, the final one, rolled up a monster. I just blindly drew a stat card from my small D&D miniatures collection (I'd sorted ones into a deck which fitted our party level) and drew a kobold champion. I got the boy to choose from a number of dungeon boards (since the map wasn't in miniatures scale). In the end, we rolled a wardrobe, but Max noticed some soot on a table from the board his chose and he wanted that to go onto the monster. So we didn't even use the prop rolled, but still gave a bonus (well, he only got plus three as he didn't use anything about the nature of the monster to his advantage). In my hurry to think about combat tactics I forgot to garner myself any bonus...which is good, because this add on requires some skill to use if it's possible to forget about it.

So we fought it...it did two HP of damage to Oakie, Max's PC. Max laughed at this...I think he has some appreciation of the HP total he has now, since I counted from 1 to 31 to demonstrate how much he has, via the sheer time it took to count that far. Anyway, he shoots an arrow at him and I scorching ray the kobold down to a 1 HP, but hold off a few turns since Max hasn't gotten many hits in. But he's having a tough time, since although the touch AC is low, the full AC is quite high. Eventually I ask him if he wants me to finish it off and I'm surprised his comfortable with the idea and says yes. So I magic missile it and were done. I asked who we rescued and Max says it's someone called Icecream Hotdog, who's a kid. And he gives Max a hotdog, which heals his wounds apparently.

On a final note, the kobold champion had a shield and sword, which Max declared he took (also he wanted to write down the 100 GP the figure had). The figures shield was pretty cool looking, as Max noted. And I found it was a +1 shield, so I said that he might like to use it with a sword, but he wouldn't be able to use his two handed axe at the same time. It's one or the other. He said 'why?' and I told him it'd be too easy that way. This confused him a bit and then he says 'Sword!' in a definite way as if he's trying for the correct answer. I say okay, but you wont be able to use the axe then. This still doesn't please him and latter he proposes the idea of using the sword, then the axe, then the sword, etc, in turns. I say that'll work, it's easy to change between battles, and so he sticks with this middle ground decision.