Roleplaying Tips Weekly E-Zine Issue #47:

How To Keep Your Butt In One Piece

While Adventuring In The Wilderness

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SENT BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY With Compliments
From: Johnn Four, http://www.roleplayingtips.com
mailto:feedback@roleplayingtips.com

CONTENTS:
--> A Brief Word From Johnn

--> This Week's Tips Summarized

1. Pick Your Camp Site Very Carefully
2. Guard Duty Is Very Important
3. Early Warning Is Critical
4. Vision At Night Is Crucial
5. Guard your Horses, Animals & Mounts Well
6. Learn Your Game Master's Tricks
7. Bring Building Tools With You
8. Waterproof Yourself
9. Pay the Toll--Fighting Isn't Worth It
10. Prepare For Ambush

--> Readers' Tips Of The Week:

A Couple of Great Organization Tips

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A BRIEF WORD FROM JOHNN

Well, I GM'd my first D&D 3E session last week. It was a lot

of fun. I achieved a long time goal of starting a campaign
off on a special foot too. The first three words I said as
GM, to the group, in this brand spanking new campaign were:

"Roll your initiative!"

LOL. I've always wanted to do that. It sends the right

message to the players right from the beginning, don't you
think? ;)

I always find the first session to be the toughest as

everybody is still getting used to their new roles. So, I
had a specific strategy:
* Have the players arrive with their characters pre-made so
we could start playing right away.
* Provide lots of Indiana Jones style of adventure and
action to keep things exciting and moving along.
* Give the PCs a clear, short-term goal to focus on right
away.
* Don't worry about character motivations at first--let them
develop naturally over time.
* Focus on having fun and don't get too stressed about
plotting, foreshadowing, or building "the perfect campaign".
My players all reported afterwards that they had a lot of
fun and were looking forward to the next session. So, if you
are starting a new campaign soon, perhaps consider some or
all of the tips above. :)

* * *

This week's tips are "reverse" tips: they're intended for

players rather than GMs.

I am writing an article for Fiction-Fantasy.net on giving

players tips for helping their characters survive wilderness
adventures and travel.

As I was writing the tips though, it dawned on me that you

could benefit from them too. By seeing tips from a player's
perspective, you might extract a few GM tips from them, and
perhaps some counter-strategies too. ;)

I am open to feedback on this experiment. Feel free to let

me know whether you enjoyed these player-oriented tips or
not.

Have a great week and make the time to play.

Warm regards,

Johnn
mailto:johnn@roleplayingtips.com

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HOW TO KEEP YOUR BUTT IN ONE PIECE
WHILE ADVENTURING IN THE WILDERNESS

1. Pick Your Camp Site Very Carefully

-------------------------------------
Your campsite location could be the difference between
gaining more experience points or rolling up a new character.

* Unless you fortify, do not camp close to a river. That

puts you in a tricky spot as smart attackers will sandwich
you between them and the water. Fortification, optionally,
turns a river into your friend by cutting off a potential
route of attack and keeps drinking water close by. But
fortifying takes a lot of time and effort (unless you have
the "dig" spell, of course :).

* For the same reasons, don't camp near any spot that cuts
off your potential retreat: near chasms, cliffs, ravines,
dense forest...

* Don't camp on a slope as attackers could have higher-

ground advantage.

* Do camp near a windbreak. Protection from the wind will

keep you warmer and drier.

* Avoid camping near pools and ponds. Those places are

usually gathering spots for thirsty wild animals and
monsters.

2. Guard Duty Is Very Important

-------------------------------
Your game master is most likely to strike while you're
sleeping. So it's very important to post guards and to post
them wisely:
* Use two guards to keep each other awake and as back-up.
* Keep the guards separated so that only one can be affected
by an area affect spell at a time.
* Guards should patrol the perimeter of the camp site, and
choose random routes and intervals to avoid being
predictable.

3. Early Warning Is Critical

----------------------------
If you're attacked at night in camp, you're first worry is
waking up. You're second concern is your combat equipment:
arms, armour, spell books & components, magic items, etc.

An early warning system will help give you and your party
members enough time to wake up and get prepared:
* Spoons, cans or noisy objects strung up across paths,
between trees or just placed on the ground to trip over.
* Guards with night vision.
* Spell wards.
* Dogs or other animals with keen senses and a loud voice.
* Dig pits, plant sharpened stakes and put other surprises
all around the camp perimeter to slow down the enemy.

4. Vision At Night Is Crucial

-----------------------------
You need to see what you're up against when being attacked
at night. If members of your party cannot see well in
darkness, then you should prepare for quick illumination:
* Keep a low fire going at all times. Large fires could
interfere with night vision and make you an easy target
to spot.
* Place torches near the fire for quick lighting.
* Place lanterns around the campsite on level ground, hanging
from tripods or branches, or resting on a stable surface.
Keep matches, flint & tinder, etc. near each lantern for
quick ignition.
* Keep all magical and hi-tech light sources under cover but
nearby for fast activation.

5. Guard your Horses, Animals & Mounts Well

-------------------------------------------
Guard your animals well for several reasons:
* They're prime targets for GMs as they're usually easy
fodder
* Injured animals and a shortage of mounts will slow you
down. This has huge repercussions if your GM likes wandering
monsters or if you're on a tight deadline.
* Your animals usually carry your stuff while travelling,
which makes them prime targets for bandits.

6. Learn Your Game Master's Tricks

----------------------------------
It's not really your character vs. mother nature. It's your
character vs. your game master. And while real life
knowledge of wilderness survival may help you roleplay
yourself out of trouble once in awhile, you're best bet is
to learn the typical dangers that your GM throws at you and
figure out good solutions.

In other words, GMs are human, which means they're creatures

of habit--so your GM will quite likely fall into predictable
patterns throughout the campaign.

That goes the same for you. If you do things the same way
all the time, your GM is going to learn your patterns and
use them against you:
* Do you set-up camp the same way every night?
* Do you use the same marching order/defensive formation
all the time?
* Do you react to ambush the same way each time?

7. Bring Building Tools With You

--------------------------------
Think beyond spell components, rations, arms and armour for
your travelling equipment needs. Bring a sharp saw, lots of
twine/rope, axes & shovels and a block and tackle in case
you have to build anything (i.e. a raft, battering ram,
etc.).

It's also nice to have a strong animal or two to drag logs,

pull down obstructions, etc.

And a party member with civil engineering skills never hurts

either. :)

8. Waterproof Yourself
----------------------
Getting wet can be bad news while travelling. Not only could
it lead to health problems, but important things like
scrolls, maps, spell components, etc. can be ruined in the
rain, while crossing a stream, or when swimming for your
life, etc.

So, carry one or more waterproof sacks/bags and put the

stuff you need to keep dry into them (including a spare set
of clothes & boots, if you have the room).

9. Pay the Toll--Fighting Isn't Worth It

----------------------------------------
Let's say some bandits block your path and demand tribute or
they'll chop you down where you stand. What do you do?
I'd pay the toll if I were you. Unless your foes demand a
ludicrous payment, it's far wiser to pay the few gold
pieces, dollars or credits than to start a large battle and
weaken yourself for the upcoming adventure.

Would you rather pay a 100 gold pieces and pass by unharmed,
or save the 100 gps and risk not being able to recover the
huge treasure hoard that lies ahead?

On the return trip, if you're in good health, you may have

the opportunity to settle the score...

10. Prepare For Ambush

---------------------
Every game master enjoys a good ambush. To thwart your GM's
glee, be prepared:
* Bring along a guide or fellow PC who has sense ambush or
alertness abilities.
* Travel with companions who know many languages so you can
parley if it's possible.
* Determine beforehand how you will react to attack:
- Does everybody need to hit the ground for the fireball
that's going to roar overhead?
- Should you stick together or split up?
- Protect spell casters or every-man-for-himself?
- Where would you re-unite if the party gets split up?

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READERS' TIPS OF THE WEEK:
A Couple of Great Organization Tips

From: Jay Rob

I can't tell you how much easier tracking events is with a

printed calendar. Not only that, but I can also create
special days for characters and mix it up a bit. For
example, Halloween, which has been renamed All Hallows Eve,
has the first record of the existence of a lycanthrope, has
triple encounter chance, and 95% for a lycanthrope encounter
instead of whatever. Just rename the months and days with a
little background. Pretty easy to do in Excel and can
assist note-taking.

From: Kate Manchester

colour Coding Your Campaign

--------------------------
While highlighter pens have been mentioned as a useful aid
in note taking and grouping one's notes together for later
use, the use of coloured paper has not been touched on as an
effective way to organize your campaign.

For example, I write my "To Do" lists on ivory paper, while

the rest of my Chronicle notes are on plain white. These
pages stand out from the notes, making it much easier to
find them when I want to work on my Vampire Chronicle.

Another good method of organization would be to establish a

colour coding system. For example, keep your notes on white
paper, your NPCs on green and copy your player's character
sheets onto blue. Or if your PC's sheets cover several
pages, set up a separate colour for each character. Either
system would have an added bonus: if you lend your copy to
a player that forgot his or her sheet, you can more easily
spot it and know that it is YOUR copy and needs to be
returned to you.

While coloured paper may be a little more expensive than

white paper, it's not that much more, and it is certainly
possible to purchase small quantities from almost any local
copy place or office supply store.

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That's it for this week's issue.

Have more fun at every game!

Johnn Four
mailto:johnn@roleplayingtips.com

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