How to Resolve Anything That Comes Up!

This blog post was prompted by +Michael Bacon's G+ post over here. This is a one-page article from my first issue of Dice Roll Zine (PDF at RPG Now or POD from Lulu) published in the fall of 2017. I hope you folks find it useful ... and at least a little bit funny. :-)

HOW TO RESOLVE ANYTHING

THAT COMES UP

What Else are Those Damn Ability Scores for Anyway?

In a tense game session, players sometimes forget that NPCs and monsters can be bargained with, not just slain. NPCs have bills, taxes, bad habits, and exes, too. Hired guards might flee suddenly when one of their own is used as Old One bait. Go figure. Your enemies may pay your torchbearer to stick his torch up your ass. When did Oddwick accidentally sell the mahogany chest (or was it the one with gold-pressed black iron locks?) with Blackrazor and the Eyes of the Overworld in it? Why is that weird jade monkey statue looking only at you? Is that giant slug with the bloody spiked tail going to offer you tea and directions or thump you? Did that tavern owner's potboy leave you fidgeting with an itch? Scratch scratch.

When stuff like this happens, either you or the Referee rolls 2d6 and adjusts the sum of the dice by one of your PC's ability score modifiers, whichever one seems right for the situation. Then check the result on the Resolve It! table below.

RESOLVE IT!

Roll	Result
2 or less	Catastrophically bad. It attacks, hurts, steals, hates, maims, attempts to eat, uses its worst, or otherwise fucks you up. Seriously. No chance of fixing. Hope you got a sharp sword or some hot spells of fiery doom.
3 to 5	Hostile or very bad. You're attacked or otherwise thwarted, hindered, harmed, or cleverly made to look like a chump. Too bad for you. If you want to recover, get creative or make some damn good rolls. Maybe get the Referee a beer.
6 to 8	Cautious or uncertain. Make another offer cheapskate, think outside the box, keep the negotiations going, play to your strengths, etc. Roll again if the Referee feels generous. Referee, you had a beer lately?
9 to 11	Friendly or good. Things go your way, your offer is accepted, or the NPC is willing to comply/discuss/help you out. Otherwise, the NPC thinks you rock on toast and quite possibly even likes your sexy smell and smarts. Or thinks you might taste good later, if hungry. Good going!
12 or more	Enthusiastic or extremely good. The monster or NPC goes far beyond your expectations to provide assistance or information. Perhaps you glean arcane or divine insight about something, real or imagined. Can you translate ancient hieroglyphs into six modern languages without a reference? Easy peasy, step aside lads, watch the professional work!

This table means to quickly resolve any minor issues and avoid messing about with obscure situational rules you never recall and probably have to look up during play. In fact, this table may spell the end of rules subsystems as we know them. Forever. Okay, perhaps not. Obviously, this table shouldn’t be taken too seriously—it’s also meant to inspire a ‘Rulings not Rules’ play style. This is only a game, after all. If you decide that a ruling is valuable to your game play, stick with it consistently in the future. No doubt, you do this already. Carry on with the fun!

Medieval Demographics Made Easy (PDF)

Hey folks! When preparing your RPG adventures, have you ever wondered:

How many people live in this kingdom?
How many cities, towns and villagers are there?
How many taverns, blacksmiths and magic shops are in this town?

If you don't give a hoot about 'realism,' then you probably just make up some numbers. Which is cool!

However, if you prefer some semblance of historical accuracy, then you've probably heard of S. John Ross' well-regarded Medieval Demographics Made Easy (PDF) document.

MDME has been around forever. Well, almost forever, at least in internet terms. S. John has graciously made it available for everyone to download by tossing it out there into the Wild Wild Web in a swanky new updated PDF. Many of us fans are hosting it on our blogs and websites. You can find it here. I've also placed a permalink over there in the right-hand column. Just scroll down a bit.

Thanks for reading!

Steve C

Dice Roll Zine Ramblecast on Anchor & Everywhere Else

Did you know I started a podcast? Yeah I can't believe it either!

The Dice Roll Zine Ramblecast is hosted on Anchor, the sweet interactive podcast platform, but is also available most other places that hip, cool, and super trendy podcasts are available (ahem). Places like Spotify, iTunes, Castbox, and so on.

If you are interested in the OSR ramblings of an idiot gamer metalhead goofball, please check it out! :D

I have embedded DRZ Ramblecast episode #10 below for your listening pleasure. This here is the main link to my profile page on Anchor where all the DRZ podcasts are listed. It's also over there (*points right) on the side of the page. Or you can search for Dice Roll Zine on your favorite podcast app.

Cheers!