The Green Dragon in its lair

Under pandemic restrictions, the Tinkerage is confined to home and taking the opportunity to play Green Dragon style scenarios with two novice, or beginner, players. Overall, this has gone very well. Green Dragon play is designed to get up and running fast, and adventures are full of encounters, battles, and dramatic turns.

Here are the current conventions, in a nutshell.

Characters are simple, and fit on a single index-card:

• Type: this is a short description of background and calling, such as Knight of Chalice, Elven Archer, Mysterious Witch-doctor.
• Attribute: a significant characteristic, such as Tough, Intelligent, or Agile.
• Skill: the character’s signature skill, such as sword and shield, archery, or knife-fighting.
• Special: a character”s outstanding feature, often inventive and unique, such as a talent for detecting lies, talking to animals, or magical tricks and curses.
• Each character begins with 3 Hits.

All aspects of the character, including equipment, are chosen by the player, and approved or modified by the GM.

The rules are a familiar version of roll and read with two regular dice. In this simple method, the player declares an action, the GM assesses the likely outcomes, and the dice roll. Any roll of 6+ is close enough to go as expected. Lower rolls are progressively worse than expected, higher rolls, from 9+, are better and better!

The only new rule is the addition of Luck points the younger players can spend to overcome unreasonably bad results that can lead to frustration rather than engagement. We will experiment with a small luck pool, starting with 1 point per session. (Sessions are usually short.)

Addendum; Easy battle pieces

Pitched battles run quickly in this system, but younger players appreciate a figure that they can focus on and to visualize the situation. Any handy chess pieces work well, but the Tinkerage has been experimenting with custom printable tokens folded into standing playing pieces.

1 - Locate some suitable icons, with clear, distinctive graphics. The icons site game-icons.net is a great place to start.

2 - In Google Draw, or a suitable app, set up your printable pieces, using an approximately 1” x 4” grid, with four 1” squares (in fact, slightly less than 1” sits neatly on a standard battle map). The two center blocks will represent the facing side and back of your playing piece. The icons are up to you and the players, but for the facing side I used a portrait style icon, and for the rear side icons representing the character’s battle gear.

3 - Print, cut out, and fold the pieces into a triangle. Use a small coin (a US penny is perfect) to weight the base, with a piece of clear tape wrapped over to hold the paper together. 

Now, choose any adventure or propose your own, and begin.

Craft and Luck at the Green Dragon

[Since the Blogger app caused an inadvertent repost of Narrative Adventures at the Green Dragon pub, the Green Dragon discussion continues with a close look at resolution. This minimalist mechanic is "balanced" because all outcomes are weighted around the middle – a fair roll indeed!]

Let us look at the table used to assess a character's skill and luck in a doubtful situation. This well worn table, somewhat revised, is consulted whenever characters take action according to their particular skills and abilities in a risky situation.

The player rolls two common tavern dice, and the professor interprets the result:

2-3... Horrible. This is often counted as a fumble or serious misfortune. In battle, the character may be severely wounded or even defeated.
4-5... Poor. An error or mishap. In battle, the character's guard is down and they may be wounded or forced to retreat.
6-8... Tolerable (6) to Fair (7) to Skillful (8). A tolerable to good outcome, usually interpreted broadly as the expected or middling result. In battle the character stands their ground and may wound their opponent.
9–10... Fine. A very good to excellent effort. In battle, a strong hit.
11–12... Marvelous to Exceptional. An outstanding result, often described as uncanny or elvish craft, combining exceptional skill and good fortune. The outcome is always decisive.

NOTES

• The professor rarely provides an adjustment, but often rules precisely according to the situation, especially in the 6–8 range. For instance, if a skilled hunter rolls a "5" while tracking a stag, this may not mean utter failure, but rather the tracks become muddled or pass through a tangled briar.
• When a character has a substantial advantage, the professor grants them an additional die to roll, and the player chooses the best pair. In the case of a crucial disadvantage, the professor chooses the worst pair instead!
• A 6 on any die is called the "crown" and grants an immediate advantage in the situation, in addition to the benefit of the current roll. Two "crowns", being a 12 in total, are greatly valued.
• A 1 on any die is called the "evil eye" and imposes a disadvantage in the situation, which may affect the next turn. Two evils eyes, 2 in total, are greatly feared as more than a mere mishap.
• Rolling a 1 and a 6 means the situation holds steady!

On some rolls, a "hazard" is included, representing the number to be rolled to avoid some threat or overcome a particular difficulty, thus:

7. Doubtful
8. Daunting
9. Desperate
10. Sheer chance!

If the player fails to roll greater than or equal the hazard, this does not always mean their character failed (unless, perhaps, they rolled 2 or 3), only that the danger was too great. For example, if a character is fording a raging river with a hazard of 8 and rolls 7, they are taking every precaution but still find themselves swept off their feet by the current.

Narrative adventures at the Green Dragon pub

#Repost#

A speculative sketch, loosely inspired by the (rumored?) free-form, improvised gaming of early designers and players. 

What if other great world-builders took this path?

A game and story at the Professor's table

Professor T--'s group meets at the Green Dragon pub at least once a week. They play a curious game, which resembles more a story or a piece of theatre, inspired by German "free" Kriegsspiel, and best described as a sort of guided adventure in an imaginary realm.

Materials required are: plentiful supplies of paper (exam booklets are common), pens, pencils, common dice, and occasionally chess pieces and chequers, to mark the places of all the participants in a combat.

Each of the players brings a notepad and a sheet of paper dedicated to their "character". On this sheet are many notes, including the character's name and particulars, their salient characteristics, story and lineage. There is also space for lore regarding the history of each kindred, intermixed with notes on quirks, such as the dwarfs' ability to light fires wherever needed, and snippets of common knowledge, including fragments of elvish legend. Room is set aside for lists of gear and other trinkets that the character carries. We have seen characters described as elves, dwarfs, burglars, woodsmen, rangers, knights, hunters, and wizards, among many others!

The professor also arrives with several notebooks, closely filled with extensive notes, glossaries, and background materials, and many maps and sketches.

When play begins, the professor outlines an intriguing situation, continuing an adventure that clearly started some time ago. Each player replies with their preferred course of action, and the professor then responds with whatever happens next, prompting another player to reply, and so on. Journeys, skirmishes, traps, discoveries, and many curious encounters are all resolved by discussion, plain common sense, and the turns of the story. If the players are wise and attentive, they will usually overcome such difficulties. If they are foolhardy or proud, then their situation will deteriorate.

From time to time the outcome of some action is at issue or more than reasonably uncertain, and then the professor will call for a roll of the dice, and perhaps consult one or more of the many small tables scattered among his notes. One table, labelled "Luck or Craft", is often referred to, thus:

2-3... Horrible
4-5... Poor
6-9... Tolerable -- well
10-12... Marvel. elvish! [sic]

When the dice roll, ones are to be feared, and called "the evil eye". Sixes are highly prized, and sometimes called "the crown".

A thoughtful player who demonstrates the great resolve (or skill) of their character, is sometimes permitted to roll three dice and tally the best two.

Brief and intense fights take place from time to time. Such skirmishes rarely continue for more than a few "turns", with the rare exception of protracted battles. The professor is not sentimental about armed combat, and such scenes are short and deadly. The players will usually prevail (although combat always involves rolls, and so an element of risk), but if they misjudge their position, challenge dreadful foes, press their luck too far, or succumb to blood-lust, even the strongest will fall, memorably.

Another curious table, much used, is kept at hand during such battles:
5... goblin, spider, wolf
6... orc or grt. goblin
7... man-at-arms, grt. orc
9... troll, giant, fell beast
10... capt., wyrm, wraith
12... drake, horror

Now and then, the professor will make a "secret roll" of his own design, to judge how things go by chance, or to see if the characters blunder into, or across, something unseen, or are taken by surprise, or put in an interesting situation by happenstance.

Character may indeed be dazed, poisoned, wounded, enchanted, wearied, and so forth, and must make note of these effects and bear the consequences until the matter is resolved.

When the adventure (or chapter) is concluded, it is time to rest, tend to wounds, and divide any treasures found.

Review - Tales from the Green Dragon Inn

The two or three souls who occasionally wander into the Tinkerage will recognize both the "Green Dragon" as an establishment and the name of Eldrad Wolfsbane, or Chris Medders, who is also the author of the free-form RPG Dungeonpunk, which is reviewed here. Tales from the Green Dragon Inn is a "story telling game" inspired by the Tinkerage's thought experiment in Narrative Adventures at the Green Dragon Pub, which speculates how a scholar-author's RPG sessions might appear if they came to gaming without published rulebooks but plenty of creativity and care.

What are the hallmarks of a "Green Dragon" game?

• Free-form characters, created through description.
• Deep, immersive settings.
• Light, improvised rules that are steered by the game-world and its expectations, and rely on creative interpretation.
• Using common materials (notebooks, six-sided dice, counters from other games).

So how do the Tales from the Green Dragon Inn compare?

Character generation, using notes on a "character sheet", is exactly what it should be: descriptive, detailed, and encouraging imagination. The short sample characters are nice guides. The only point to make is that the Green Dragon Inn game seems very rooted in Dungeons & Dragons fantasy, such that the suggested classes and occupations are recognizably D&D, namely fighting man, rogue, holy man (cleric), and magic-user. This is fine as these things go, but one would hope that Green Dragon players would look beyond the regular character class stereotypes.

Players don't really need to know the rules before they begin, but the rules are perfect for Green Dragon play. Most tasks are resolved by a luck roll and interpretation. The target range is similar to that used by the "Powered by the Apocalypse" system, where a 6 to 8 is an "average" roll, higher is better, and the narrator can treat results as appropriate. Combat, as in the original post, is only slightly more complex, where more powerful creatures present a higher number to be hit. A nice addition to combat is a short chart of wounds, from scratches to fatal, which more or less matches the luck table. Armor is introduced as a way to soak up wounds, although in my opinion medium armor should be able to take more than a "scratch". All in all, it's a very light, easy system that encourages adjudication at the table.

It's fair to say that the text is riddled with spelling mistakes and other expression errors, and I hope the next upload corrects the spelling of narrative as "narritive" [sic] on the cover[1]. And there's no need to emphasize every other sentence, virtually, with an exclamation mark. But, with its simple type and layout, Tales from the Green Dragon Inn certainly conveys enthusiasm and the home-made creativity that encapsulates the ethos of the Green Dragon style.

Another quibble is that we find in the "Monsters" list references to "kids", "women", and "men". None of these are, of course, monsters, and I would hesitate to include items in a table that imply that kids are fair game for combat, or that women are for some reason less dangerous in combat than men.

But, while the world of Tales from the Green Dragon Inn is more strongly grounded in the familiar tropes of dungeon fantasy roleplaying than the professor's world (or Arihmere, we hope) the author is committed to fun and adventure in that world, and the simple rules and free-form procedures are a perfect example of Green Dragon style play in action. Let's hope that the Green Dragon Inn hosts many memorable games, and inspires even more.

DISCLOSURE: As above, Tales from the Green Dragon Inn was inspired partly by a Tinkerage post, and the author generously provided a free copy for this review.

Notes
1. Glad to say the cover has, in fact, been updated since this review was first posted. Good to see a quick response from the author.

This update May 15, 2018.

A skirmish at the Green Dragon pub

As has been noted elsewhere, at some of its most dramatic moments, the professor's curious mix of tale-telling and game can involve combats, about which the professor is remarkably clear-eyed.

Such encounters, be they skirmishes or pitched battles, arise from the scenario and choices made in play: they are never forced for their own sake, and the players' characters often (but not always) have a chance to avoid them. Rarely, if ever, do two equally matched opponents stand forth for a gentlemanly bout.

Sometimes, whatever playing pieces are at hand, from chess-men to checkers, may be first arranged to show the rough situation, but this is far from necessary, and short encounters may well be resolved without them.

Whoever chooses to act and move first, whatever the consequences, does so. If the characters are ambushed, then they must respond to the ambush. If they charge or strike, then they have the initiative. From then on, each move and counter-move is resolved as most makes sense. Every player may take some sort of action before the turn is ended.

Given the risk, dice are rolled to resolve each combat. Each player rolls, and the professor adjudicates the outcome based on their skills, tactics, armaments, and position. Usually, a roll of six or more is required for the character to hold their ground and at least keep up their guard. Depending on the foe, a higher roll may be required to strike and prevail. For example, we see in the notes that a "man-at-arms" or "greater goblin" may be slain with a roll of seven or more, but a fearsome troll is wounded only on a roll of nine or more, and a dragon struck on a twelve only. More formidable foes may withstand several hits before they are felled. Even so, when allocating hits, the higher the roll, the better.

A roll of less than 6 means that some sort of setback, a blow, hurt, or wound, is suffered. The lower the roll, the more severe the consequence. The professor is unsparing of both sides, and so a player who rolls low may be wounded, dazed, or even felled and left-for-dead. Some enemies wield dreadful weapons, which may leave a festering wound or even sickness of spirit.

Players look always for sixes – the "crown" on the dice they roll, and two crowns are unstoppable. A single crown indicates a minor boon or advantage. Perhaps the blade bites deep, hampering the foe, or an opponent can be daunted or forced to retreat. Ones, the "evil eye" are feared. A single one may show a disadvantage or complication, but double-ones indicate an evil turn. When ones and sixes appear at the same time, the roll is an alarming close call, with gains and losses for both sides!

Fights do not necessarily end in death. Stern opposition may indeed cause the enemy to falter, but they may flee, or regroup, or attempt to surround the adventurers or even split them. Many goblins could retreat from a single warrior, only to turn and launch arrows at his shield to weight it down. By this token, wise warriors know when to flee, and when a threat is beyond their powers. Recklessness and blood-lust are not rewarded in the Green Dragon game.

Against the most dreadful monsters, only a cunning strategy, knowing the fatal flaw in a dragon's hide or the means to pierce the spell that protects an ancient horror, has any real chance of succeeding. There is always a place for heroism, though, and even a common soldier may hope to defeat the old and strong and cruel if he or she is stout-hearted and battle-wise.