Calling All Dungeon Masters

Well, this is not really in Slashdot's main focus, but heck, it's a rare nerd who hasn't at least dabbled in D&D. Wizards of the Coast is looking to build a new campaign world, along the lines of Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms, and they're offering cash prizes. Their document (.doc file; Abiword reads it; try here if that link doesn't work) sums up the contest. Comments in this thread suggest they're looking for medieval fantasy settings. Show some writing flair and creative ability and take home enough cash to buy literally dozens of lead figurines AND a few new D30's... Update: 06/07 20:38 GMT by M : WOTC has the contest on their site now.

Comments

Re:Auto Generation for Consistancy

[Proquar]

Hmm.. there's a lot to be said for consistency... and a lot to be said for a generator as you've described it. BUT... I won't let a computer near my game (except for storing data after the fact, and thought)... there is something amazingly skewiff about computer-generated randomness... or maybe there is something skewiff with our perception of randomness, that I don't like what the computer generates. And of course, the essence of a good game lies in the ideas. The generation of data - well, you could go to the Bureau of Statistics for that - but it won't lead to a good game of D&D. "The White Pages - yes... lots of interesting characters, shame about the plot."

That was, kind of, my point

[codemonkey_uk]

Yes, I agree that it's the "quality and depth of the ideas, not the complexity of the numbers" that matters, but you have to admit blatant inconsistencies in the game world distract from the experience by breaking the suspension of disbelief. Using automated tools for the generation of the inconsequential details not only improves consistency, but takes a huge load of the designers hands, allowing him or her to focus on the bigger picture.

Re:That was, kind of, my point

[Raedwald]

Sayeth the poster:

but you have to admit blatant inconsistencies in the game world distract from the experience

I strongly disagree. Indeed, the opposite is true. The Roman Empire was:

• A pinnacle of civilisation, bringing benefits such as coinage, roads, drainage and literacy to Europe.
• A nasty, fascist regime that enslaved most of Europe for centuries, grinding down its peasants with 60% taxation for the benefit of a tiny elite.

Would simultaneous existence of such views in a game world distract from the expereince or enhance it? Such inconsistencies makes things more interesting, right? How about a fantasy world in which even basic facts such as whether the world is round or flat are merely matters of opinion? Better?

You want to produce something that appears 'realsitic'. Seen any films? They usually look realistic, but wait! The camera angles and distances are choosen just so. If you could walk about the set you would see that the walls are just flats, and the actress had to be sewn into her costume. To produce 'realism' by generating the statstics of a village is completely useless and wrong footed: you could do better faking it by just describing the things immediately apparent to the players. Nobody will ever know, because none of them have a 'god's eye view'.

Re:Auto Generation for Consistancy

[pubjames]

Personally I think these games are all about people and imagination, and could do without computer involvement of any sort, but that's just my view.

If you are having execution times of over 30 seconds for a PHP script, then it is likely you are doing something wrong. If your a newbie, try asking questions on phpdeveloper.com.

Two issues

[codemonkey_uk]

There are really two issues at hand in what you say. The first, the quality of results, is one that can be tackled computationally.

You say that "is something amazingly skewiff about computer-generated randomness", but I would argue that it is because of the low quality and inherent simplicity of most character generators. There is more to it than just random number generation. You have to make things a bit more sophisticated than that, which is what I am trying to do with the scripts.

The other issue you mention, is the plot, if you read my other comments you will see that that is not something I would want to handle with tools. The tool is supposed to take the pressure to do all the inconsequential details out of the hands of the designer in order to free him up to do the real work.

You are right that a NPC generator tool is not a good idea for you main plot line characters, but for the inconsequential shop keeper, baker, or blacksmith, and for the "random" villages you find along your way, it keeps things varied, interesting, consistent and believable.

What?

[Spunk]

this is not really in Slashdot's main focus

If this isn't News for Nerds, then nothing is!

Re:Ideas, not numbers, matter

[Dr. Evil]

I personally like the idea of a computer-generated backdrop. This stuff is too complex, and it is a pain to make it all consistent. It can stop players from noticing things like "Why is there a blacksmith making armour and weapons in this inland farming community when there is no access to any major waterways and the nearest oar body is a week away."

Of course the blacksmith is only really there because the DM was under pressure to pull a town out of his hat when the players took a wrong turn. So who is this blacksmith? why is he in the town? who is the nearest blacksmith, did he study under him?, is he a competitor? What do they do? How old is the blacksmith? does he have children? who is is wife? What's his wife's name? Is there anyone studying under the blacksmith?

Whoops, it turns out the players went next door, to the cobbler. Quick! flesh out that shop.

What other shops are in town?

It is trivial to write plots onto a backdrop, it is very tedious to do everything ad-hoc.

Admittedly there are some storytellers who can walk through this stuff with nothing but pure charisma, but they also have a tendency to lead player actions and bend rules when players step out of line.

I would rather run games where a blacksmith making armour in a remote inland farming community would stick out so sorely that he could only be part of some plot... rather than being part of some empty game where the blacksmith is only there to answer the question "how many gold pieces for this?"... ugh.

I'm skeptical that a computer generator can do a good job of this stuff. It is tough. The demographics are also shifted by magic, and you want magic to be included in the demographics.

I guess it doesn't really matter, AD&D has been screwed up since they started making all those stupid player supplements in the second edition. Game balance was thrown out the window and my games degenerated into arguments as to why particular spells and 'kits' could not be allowed.

Wha?

[EvilNight]

Am I going mad, or did I read "Well, this is not really in Slashdot's main focus" in the topic blurb?

First of all, if Slashdot HAS a focus (main or otherwise) I'd just love to see someone take a stab at describing what it is.

Second, geeks are gamers. Period. There's just no way in hell that those involved in computers and IT technology, especially those born sooner than 1970, haven't been exposed to gaming in some way. Maybe they didn't game, but some of their friends did. Heck, lots of folks cut their programming teeth on quick little apps to make RPGs easier to play.

As for the contest... well shit, doesn't sound too bad. They're basically allowing some very smart and creative individual a shot at making it into the gaming industry. Sure, they're saving a ton of development costs. Sure, they'll use a lot more of the stuff they get than just the finalists. Just remember that nobody's holding a gun to your head forcing you to give them your ideas.

Wizards has always cared more for their playerbase than the majority of the gaming companies out there. TSR treated folks like dirt, chasing all over the internet shutting down anything even remotely related to their products. Wizards releases a 3rd generation dice system free uner a license that isn't too dissimilar in spirit from the GPL, and allows the fan work to flourish. Small wonder they resurrected dungeons and dragons after TSR ran it into the ground.

TSR never should have dumped Gygax...

Re:Wizards of the Coast

[Asprin]

WotC seems to have a refreshingly player-centric attitude lately. From a player-designed D&D campaign setting to player-designed cards and player input on the next edition of Magic: the Gathering [magicthegathering.com],

IF WE'RE DOING ALL THE WORK, WHAT THE HELL DO WE NEED THEM FOR?!?!grin

plot twist

[jlusk4]

...and in which it turns out several of the warriors' leaders are half-trolls themselves.

Every good story needs a plot twist or two.

Lesse here...

[Drakin]

First Wizards passes up the money cow that is Dragonlance for the 3E/d20 system (althugh, Margreat Wies, one of the creators of the world is going to be publishing the setting for 3E, through her own company), retired Planescape (as in, all the flavour is drained, and the concepts are laid out in Manual of the Planes), shunted Ravenloft off to White Wolf (You know, makes of Vampire the Masqurade, and such... they did a good edition, but should have made the core book compleat, without the need for their DM book)

Pretty much all they kept is Grayhawk (original D&D setting) and Forgotten Realms... both proven products, but, in the case of Dragonlance (nothing new published for games in ages) and Ravenloft, they were established as well.

And they're looking to take a risk on a new venture? paying a total of $160,000 for two potential ideas and one rough product? true, for the independant who gets the money, it's a dream, unless they want to retain ownerwhip of the materials.

myself, i'll keep hacking away on my own settings, useing them and developing them more... if I publish, I'll make them compatible with the Open Game License and release them digitally. Sure, migh not make money, but I have control over them.

Re:Explanation face-the-gazebo-alone dept. bit

[michael]

It's actually even worse than that. There's a card game called Munchkin that plays on typical D&D antics (one of the cards is "Whine at the GM - go up one level"), and one of the monsters you can fight is the dreaded Gazebo, which includes the notation: "No one can help you. You must face the Gazebo alone."