Using CraftWork to Make NPC Groups

I needed a group of rangers or scouts for an encounter, one of those times where you think the NPCs are going to hang around for a while so you want them a little more fleshed out than you might otherwise. I began to use CraftWork in a more deliberate way, using the crafts as ingredients for the group that I envisioned in this particular area. This pushes the procedural piece farther down the decision tree, so that the randomization is adding flavor to a structure rather than providing the framework itself.

I started with level and figured three level three characters. Each one will have one level of Wildcraft, with one of them adding in at least another. The second will have a layer of Thiefcraft and a layer of Warcraft. The third will have a level of Seer and one of Sorcery. They'll all start with some sort of missile weapon, with skills and spells rolled randomly.

What I ended with was a trio well acquainted with this bit of country, and with a variety of skills that would serve the party in their time of need. It is a dangerous passage for the group, so any of the three could be a substitute character if one of the player characters fails to make it, interesting enough to be fun to play for a short period of time, and maybe someone they would want to be for longer.

Broadened Accessibility

I listened to a nice interview with Brian from Dungeons on a Dime, and, while most of the interview was focused on various products, he offered up a lovely, expansive view of accessibility that resonated with my own. Funnily enough, it is similar to the view some folks in the disability community are taking with regard to Accessibility and Intersectionality.

Some Questions

Is the work available in a wide variety of formats? 

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If it is a video work, is there close captioning? Audio descriptions?

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If it is a written work or PDF, is there a plain text version? Are the photos or illustrations tagged and described? Have the producers checked it themselves for readability with regard to screen readers?

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Are there free or community copies available? If not, what are your thoughts or plans to help folks who can't afford the product access the product?

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Thoughts about translation to other languages?

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Are you, the creator or publisher, accessible to those who purchase or access the work to answer questions, hear feedback, etc?

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Paper source? Printing? Other materials? Are they easily accessible? Easily sourced? Recyclable? Low impact?

Growing up With D&D

Thinking about my history of gaming after listening to Trying to Be Kind (Season 2, Episode 2), especially a bit Fiona put forward about learning the game in the early days of D&D. As related in another post, I started playing with friends the year it came out and we developed our own interpretations and play styles in response to the loose system presented in the three books. 

However, it wasn't too long before we began joining other games, with older players, both college students in Urbana, Illinois, and older gamers, early adopters, friends of TSR, college professors, etc. It was at once an intoxicating scene for it's interest in the games we played, and to be in that orbit was amazing! But it was also one where we were marked outsiders: young and, more critically, playing The Game in what was clearly becoming a non standard way. We were outsiders, not on the mailing list, too young to attend any but local conventions, to drive, to fully engage in the expected ways. 

So, the 'OSR', whatever it is, is, in some ways, referencing a conversation or frame we were two steps away from. We played all the games, voraciously, but rejected, in many ways, those that pushed us and our playstyles aside. We moved quickly towards punk and anarchy in an era of massive RPG growth. All those convention goers and box set purchasers of the late '70s and early '80s were symbolic of capitalism's worst excesses and seemingly a betrayal of our game's roots.

Gaming was about taking the slimmest of seeds and constructing an artifice of imagination around it. The premade adventures, the dueling iterations of advanced versus basic, and the artifice of the right way to play, well, that was as alien then as it is now.

CraftWork Hacks!

With CraftWork out, there are a couple hacks I find helpful when using the procedural character generation sequence. What does a good hack need more than a hack!?!

Mustering Out

I often call a Character done after 5 or 6 levels, even if they aren't. They are full of possibility and personality at that point! There are dice sequences I could use to force this, but it seems unnecessary.

*Wizardry*

Wizards gain casts every level but they memorize spells from a spell book. I suggest waiting until the character rolling is done before filling out the spell book, and putting in 1D4 spells per level attained (eg a level 2 wizard would have 1D4 1st level spells and 1D4 2nd level spells.) I often add 1D4 spells of the next level, just because I want that NPC to be aspiring to something (and if they happen to *cough*cough* lose the spell book then it gives the finder some additional goodies.)

Practices & Circles

StageCraft and SeerCraft both have interior specializations. When a character returns to either one, do they stay with the one they started or do they switch to a new one? As someone who both likes both breath and depth, this can be a hard question! The way the book is set up, you just roll and the luck of the die will take you to new spaces or familiar ones. However, you could also use a different dynamic, say a 1D6 roll with 1 to 3 being stay, and 4 to 6 being switch. Sometimes I will roll straight up and then decide, as if I have been offered a position in the new specialty; what does the growing character want to do? Which feels more authentic to this little fictional person?

Character Sampler!

In honor of the Official CraftWork Sale Launch:

Another Character

Well, this one went in a cool direction! Two levels as a juggler and then two in WarCraft. Whaaaat? A knife thrower?  An elite sideshow performer?!?

M'Jeh

Background: Farmer, Refugee, Human 

Level 4

Str 11 | Dex 16 | Con 8

Int 13 | Wis 12 | Cha 7

HP 23

Proficiency 3

4 items in the air!

Skills

History, Tracking

Juggling, Jumping, Other Ranged Weapons

Improved Critical, Improvised Weapons

Abilities

Encore - Immediately repeat a successful action (Shtick: 3 Uses)

'Dark Dagger' Elemental Weapon (+1D6 Necrotic Damage) (1 Use)

Magic

Set List 5 Spells

Adept: Dancing Lights, Magic Hand, Prestidigitation, Accuracy

Pro: Animate Object, Befuddlement

Significant Possessions

Throwing Knife set

Potion of Healing

Salve of Slipperiness

Emerald Ring

M'Jeh left the Hooroon Highlands after the Red Purge, when their family fled west. They adjusted, joining a performance group as cooks and wagoneers. Young M'Jeh quickly took to the stage side, learning juggling and spells of distraction, as well as a quick hand in defense of the troupe. 

They are definitely combat oriented, but not in the thick of things, popping off spells and flinging deadly objects into the fray. 

CraftWork Launch!

At the risk of sending people into a crazed internet infinite loop, here's a link to the CraftWork sale page on Exalted Funeral. I am very excited about the launch, equally excited about how the book looks, and more than excited about next steps and publications. So much to consider: website, development schedules, other projects, more authors, and increased accessibility!

CraftWork purchase page

CraftWork, B/X & OSE Saves, and Character Optimization

So, all this Craft stuff is cool, but I don't really see how it works with the class-based save system in my game. If I am a third level Fighter, then that dictates my saves. How does that work if I have two levels of fighter and one level of thief, for example?

Solution #1

Use the total number of levels in your predominant craft to determine your save chart. Your save chart will switch around as you progress, but probably not as much as you might think, generally once or twice over the course of a character's life.

Solution #2

Use the save chart that you started with as a class and continue using that one, referencing total levels, all the way through your Character's career. You could say that this represents natural tendencies, or you could rationalize by looking at the total number of saves you'll actually take throughout the characters life. The percentage difference is not high.

 

Okay, so then I should probably start off with the best chart, because that will give me an advantage. Yeah, you could, and you could optimize your movement through the Crafts to get the best set of skills and the most uses of abilities. That might be kind of fun to work out (It actually IS kind of fun to work out!), but it also is not much fun to play, especially over time. CraftWork is an easy system to exploit from this perspective, but at the end of the day it is built to develop characters not caricatures.