Taking 20 Podcast - Ep 91 - Safely Introducing New Gameplay Features

Episode Date: September 19, 2021

Fair warning:  I'm doing weird episodes again.  This week, I advocate taking lessons from video games and movies and introducing new class abilities and gameplay mechanics in a safe, non-lethal environment...except for the one case where it doesn't make sense.

Before we get started with this week's episode, I have a couple of announcements. First, I wanted to briefly discuss the allegations being made about Paizo Incorporated, the company behind the very popular Pathfinder and Starfinder RPGs. There are accusations of bad office hygiene, worker exploitation, and abuse and sexual harassment, and at least two high-profile members of the Paizo team have left the organization. harassment, and at least two high-profile members of the Paizo team have left the organization. I don't know if these allegations are true, but if so, I hope those responsible are investigated and the issues addressed within the company. The Taking20 podcast condemns any sort of workplace harassment and discrimination in any form. I hope my core belief of inclusivity, diversity,

and being welcoming to all players, DMs, and gamers comes through all of my episodes. We are stronger and better when we embrace our differences and love each other. Secondly, I wanted to apologize for the episode publishing screw-up last week. I tried a new way of finishing and publishing episode 92, which it proceeded to publish instantly instead of waiting until the proper time to do it. I doubt any of you were confused, but if you were, my apologies for the weirdness. This week is episode 91, and I'm going to republish episode 92 next week. If you've already listened to that episode, enjoy your week break from having a dad joke. You'll just have to live one week without me pulling another joke from my dad a base.

Now, on with the episode. This week on the Taking20 Podcast. Video games have done this for years. Hell, Pac-Man started off slowly, only later adding bouncing fruit and the ability to leave one side of the screen and enter the other. So GMs, why shouldn't we do the same for our players? we do the same for our players. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to episode 91 of the Teching20 podcast. This week, safely introducing new gameplay features and class abilities. This week's sponsor, electricians. Be wary of any electrician who has a beer while on the job. He's drunk with power. Or she's drunk

with power. They are drunk with power. Whatever gender they are, they're drinking while they're working with electricity, and that's probably bad. The March to Episode 100 is in full swing, and I want to celebrate that episode with a giveaway. For Episode 75, I gave away a $50 Amazon.com gift card. I could do that again, but boy, I'd love it if someone would be willing to sponsor the giveaway with dice, rule books, gift cards, or whatever. If you're interested, please reach out to me at contest at taking20podcast.com and let me know what you'd like to contribute. Anything at all would be appreciated. We will have some kind of giveaway for episode 100. Details will be coming in a future episode. But for now, on with this one. Fair warning, I've done some strange episodes in the past,

and this episode follows in those strange episode footsteps. Today we're going to talk about giving your PCs a safe way to learn their new abilities, and some practical tips on how you can teach players to use these new abilities without quarterbacking and playing their character for them. At the end though, I'm going to give you the one scenario where I don't think you should do this. There are two different categories of these changes that I want to talk about. New class abilities and new gameplay features or mechanics. So let's start with new class abilities. Depending on your game system, characters will most likely gain new abilities when they gain a new character level,

or change out a character build, a process known as respeccing. As player characters level up, they will develop more and more powers, some of which your players may not know exactly how they're going to work with their character. The player may be taking the advice of some best build site that says a certain feat or character choice makes the most sense for their character at this level. Or the character could have taken a feat or class ability just because it sounded cool. The player may have never used that trait or feature or feat selection before, and may not know the right situation to use it in, or the potential drawbacks of using it. Because players always read all the details of their abilities that they take for their characters.

Because players always read all the details of their abilities that they take for their characters. Right? Right? No, of course they don't. A classic example in the Pathfinder RPG is the feat Power Attack. Power Attack is a feat that gives a bonus to your damage roll at the cost of a penalty to your attack roll. The player may have just taken it because they want to select another feat later on

with Power Attack as a prerequisite. They may not have considered the best time to actually Power Attack, it just sounds cool. Power Attack, by the way, is great when you're fighting something that's relatively easy to hit and your to-hit rolls can survive having that penalty attached to them. A relatively new player or player that's never taken Power Attack before may not be thinking about this and want to power attack all the time. Look, we've all been guilty of this at some point in the past. We get a new toy, like a feat or a class feature or some new ability, and we wear it the hell out. We use any half-baked excuse to use this new ability that we've gained.

It's kind of like in that movie Clash of the Titans, the remake, when in a very dramatic moment, Zeus looks at the camera and says, Release the Kraken. I don't know about you, but if I had a Kraken I could release, I'd be looking to release it at the drop of a hat. You injured someone I love in a car accident? Release the Kraken. You emptied the coffee pot without making more?

Release the Kraken. You chew your mouth open in the company break room showing everyone what you're eating, Tanya, you gross bitch. You know what? Release the Kraken. We all get like that with new character abilities. While that can be fine, it can also cause strain on the party as you may be missing attacks that you would normally hit and the monsters living longer because of it.

In the most extreme of examples, this could result in a character's death because of this bad tactical decision to use Power Attack just because the player wants to try it out. Every single character will face this on most of the levels that they gain. They receive a new ability and they're itching to use them. If you want your characters to learn these new abilities, as a DM, you can give them the ability to learn that in a relatively safe environment. Let's go back to learn that in a relatively safe environment. Let's go back to power attack for a minute. Like we talked about, that feat is great against creatures with a poor armor class,

so include a few monsters in the next combat that are weaker than average and may have a poor AC. Now the fighter can use power attack in an environment that's relatively safe. Now I can hear you out there already, the rolling of eyes, the general disgust at what I just said, because players should fear death every single combat. But hear me out for a minute. How many of you play video games? A lot of us do. Not as much as we'd like, but we all have to make our choices what we do in our spare time. I've made my choice of Pathfinder, Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path over Pathfinder, Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path over Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous Video Game. Maybe a bad example there. Gaming at the table versus gaming at a computer. But no, thank you,

COVID. All my D&D and Pathfinder uses a computer these days. I'm not thinking of another example right now. I got other shit to write. But if you've played, for example, the new Doom games, you don't start off with every weapon and every ability in the game. You start off with a pistol and an unrepentant desire to kill every denizen of hell within a billion mile radius. So you do. As you go along, you discover the shotgun, the plasma gun, the RPG, and eventually the BFG, which stands for exactly what you think it does. That's right, the bio force gun, if the extremely mediocre Doom movie is to be believed. And it shouldn't be believed at all.

BFG stands for Big Fucking Gun, and no deeper thought than that needs to be put into it. Almost invariably, when a new weapon is introduced, it's in an area where that weapon can be used to great extent. The shotgun is given in Doom 2016 in an enclosed space with low-level enemies so you can learn how to use it. in Doom 2016 in an enclosed space with low-level enemies so you can learn how to use it. The tactical scope for the heavy assault rifle is given to you just as the game map opens up with long sight lines for sniping. The game rewards you for using that new weapon by giving you a situation that is easier with that weapon. Okay, Jeremy, but Doom is too violent for me. Alright, then what about Portal? You start off with the ability not to be able to make portals at all. Gradually, you learn how to make one color of portal to pair with a pre-made portal on that level. Then you get the ability to make both

color portals that connect to each other. These abilities are introduced slowly so as to get you comfortable with the mechanics before throwing you into areas where you have to worry about complicated gameplay features. More on that in a minute. Darkest Dungeon starts you with the mechanics before throwing you into areas where you have to worry about complicated gameplay features. More on that in a minute. Darkest Dungeon starts you with the same two characters, the Crusader Renault and the Highwayman Dismas. Every game. Gradually, new abilities can be purchased, other heroes added, and the game becomes more complex over time. But not until you're familiar with those first two characters. Video games have done this for years. Hell, Pac-Man started off slowly, only later adding bouncing fruit and the ability to leave one side of the screen and enter the other.

So GMs, why shouldn't we do the same for our players? You can argue that starting off at level 1 in an RPG is their way of doing just that, starting off easy and getting more complex as you go, and that is true. Complexity does very much scale with level, but why not help your players out? Give them an area where they can try out their new abilities. Is this a sci-fi campaign? Give them a holodeck to learn how to use these new features. A fantasy campaign? Give them a training area where they can use it on attack dummies. Alternately, give them a non-lethal combat or low-level monster where they can learn the logistics of their new build.

Hell, this even happens in movies. The knife fight with shields in Dune. The Princess Bride where Wesley says he learned to fence and fight while on the ship. Do you think those fights were lethal? Another example would be in Star Wars where Luke is learning to block laser blasts from the floating orb with his lightsaber. The orb shots hurt, but they weren't deadly. If games can do this, and movies can do this, why not our RPGs?

You certainly could hand-wave the learning of new abilities, but I think that does a disservice to new players. They may be new to gaming or new to this game system and may not know how to use these abilities. Also, they may not want to sit around while others tell them how to play their character. So DMs, consider giving the PCs a simple encounter with these new abilities or an area that lets them learn how to use them in a relatively safe environment. But that's not the only change that needs to be introduced gradually or safely. Let's jump over to new gameplay features. What the heck do I mean by new gameplay features? Aspects of the rules that your player characters may not know and or have no experience with.

Or new environments and challenges that you present to your players. For example, drowning rules, zero gravity, starship combat, environmental effects like extreme heat and cold, three-dimensional rules like aerial or underwater combat, dynamic environments, minigames like firefighting, competitions, and skill challenges. If you've never had these scenarios in your game before, they may require new skill checks, attack types, and dangers that your game really didn't have previously, so your players, especially new ones, may not understand how they work. Like new class features, I recommend that

you introduce new gameplay twists and game rules in a relatively safe environment, and reward the players with knowledge about how it all works, its functionality, advantages, and disadvantages, should they invest the time at your table to figure out how they work. Let the characters roll for insight or knowledge checks to learn the new gameplay features or rules and give them little bonuses for high rolls. Maybe they figure out how to use this feature or skill or whatever in an advantageous way. Perhaps the new feature is moving platforms and jump launchers, you know, things that propel you into the air really far, like the last two Doom video games.

With the right insight or knowledge check, make their landings a little easier. Reduce the DC on the acrobatics check to land on their feet. Reduce the damage when they land. Or, let's pick another game, Portal 2. Maybe you want to use moving platforms and jump launchers. You know, things that propel you into the air really f***ing... Damn it, I just did that one with Doom.

I need to find time to play more video games. If you let the characters explore these mechanics in a relatively safe environment, where fall damage is minimized, or if they miss the acrobatics roll, they just wind up prone or inconvenienced in some way rather than damaged, it's easier for new players because they learn this aspect of the game where the penalty isn't potential character death. Have a relatively easy fight where the players can use these jump gates or teleportation circles or underwater tunnels across the room

or whatever other unique feature or gameplay that you want to introduce with relatively little chance for death or permanent injury. Later on, when the players see the game mechanic in a more dangerous situation, you can introduce additional challenges. You can play around with the mechanic in different ways to add elements of danger. And since the players have a basic understanding of its internal logic and rules, they remember how these game mechanics work and the danger they present. They won't be caught off guard by a tough monster fight

and a weird tabletop situation that they don't know how to handle. As you get more familiar with DMing the mechanic and as the players understand how their characters can use it, combine more and more challenges and introduce bigger rewards by introducing unusual elements. Add more challenges such as enemies that know how to use the jump gates and reward the player by letting them use this mechanic against those enemies as well. For example, maybe the jump pad gives you a better angle to hit a weak spot on a creature,

or maybe you do additional damage, or maybe it reduces the AC when you're shooting it from the air. So let's talk a concrete example from a recent game that I GM'd. I was GMing a Pathfinder game and the characters were going into a heavily trapped area. The players said they wanted to play a traditional dungeon crawl with no town visits, so... wish granted. I dusted off portions of my old Temple of Elemental Evil, updated it to Pathfinder, made up a MacGuffin that was somewhere in the middle of the temple, and off they went. For those who have never played the Temple of Elemental Evil, there are some fun areas, monsters, and yes, traps in it. Since the person playing the rogue was new, I added a fairly

obvious trap early on to get the rogue used to the mechanics of trap finding. She accidentally set off the flying darts trap, took some damage, but learned her lesson very quickly. So later when the party came across the swinging scythe, the gelatinous cube, and sliding wall and floor traps, she was better prepared. Which is good, because that sliding wall and floor trap easily could have been a TPK. Another way you can introduce a mechanic is to do so in a separate adventure or one-shot adventure away from your long campaign. That way, the players aren't risking their characters that they've played for 11 months, and if there's some sort of catastrophic failure, hopefully they learn something along the way. So I advocate introducing these new features in a safe way to new players. But as promised, I think there's one situation where you shouldn't introduce this type of mechanic in a safe way. If you have a party

full of veteran players who feel like they've seen it all, done it all, and there's nothing new under the sun. Really? All right. How about combat in zero gravity where all the walls reflect kinetic energy at 150% of the energy that you hit it with. So you're floating through the air and you hit the wall going 20 feet per round. You'll bounce off at 30, bounce off the next one at 45, and you'll bounce off the other side at 65, and the next side at 95. Seen that before there, Mr. Cocky? Yay, your Minotaur's dead. Now how do you get out of the room before you die from falling damage? I mean, the Cleric only has so much healing magic left. Veteran players love new challenges, so if your party is chock full of the seen-it-all, done-it-all kind of players, surprise them with some unique mechanics. But if your table has one

or more new players, consider introducing the mechanic in a safer environment where the party can learn how it works without the risk of slamming face-first into the opposite wall at terminal velocity. I bet you and your table will have fun doing it. Shorter episode this week, so thank you for listening. Please consider donating to the podcast at coffee-fi.com slash taking20podcast or sponsoring the episode 100 giveaway. Also, tune in next week where I'll give DMs some strategies for making travel and exploration more interesting. I once again want to thank our sponsor, Electricians.

If you want to meet one, the best place to go is the Ohm Depot. This has been Episode 91, Safely Introducing New Gameplay Features. My name is Jeremy Shelley, and I hope that your next game is your best game. The Taking 20 Podcast is a Publishing Cube Media Production. Copyright 2021. References to game system content are copyright of their respective publishers.