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Apr 24th, 2013 at 23:49:02 - Alan Wake (360) |
Alan Wake is a "psychological action thriller," according to the front of its box; more generally, it is a third-person shooter/horror game released in 2010 by developer Remedy Entertainment and publisher Microsoft Game Studios. The game features a plot inspired by horror stories and horror movie tropes, creating a strong, cinematic narrative around the titular character.
I played through the game entirely on Normal difficulty (three difficulties exist, Normal, Hard, and Nightmare; I believe the only difference is enemies are stronger, also certain collectables can only be obtained on Nightmare difficulty), omitting the DLC chapters from my playthrough.
-Player-
Alan Wake is entirely single-player, and solely puts the player in the role of the title character. There isn't really much more to be said; after all, this is a story about Alan!
-Setting-
The game takes place in modern day, no specific time. Alan Wake is a thriller writer who has been having trouble writing for some time; he and his wife, Alice, decide to take a vacation to the quaint town of Bright Falls, Washington (inspired by the town of Twin Peaks from the TV series), where nothing could possibly go wrong! After getting the keys to a cabin on Cauldron Lake from a suspicious woman, the couple head there, only for Alice to fall into the lake while Alan is away. Though he dives in after her, Alan next finds himself waking up behind the wheel of a crashed car, missing a week's worth of time and his wife. It's up to Alan (and by extension, the player) to figure out what happened.
-Gameplay-
Alan Wake, as mentioned, is a third-person shooter. The game can most easily be separated into daytime and nighttime segments, which I will detail the differences between here.
--Daytime--
Daytime segments are primarily story-related. Because the enemies in the game cannot survive in light, none appear during the daytime. Daytime segments break up the action in the game and allow the player to soak in the story without the pressure of combat bearing down on them. It also provides a breather after particularly intense night battles. During these segments, the camera hovers over Alan's shoulder like most third-person shooters; there is little gameplay beyond movement and single-button actions, and the segments basically play like somewhat interactive cutscenes.
--Nighttime--
Nighttime segments are primarily gameplay-related. In these sections, instead of the over-the-shoulder camera like the daytime segments, the camera hovers farther above and behind, letting the player see Alan's entire body. Players have access to a larger variety of controls, including sprinting, jumping, weapons, and light. Players will also be confronted by the minions of the Dark Presence, the game's shapeless antagonist.
-Gameplay, continued-
The controls for the game are fairly simple, with most buttons only having one action associated with them for the entire game. Movement is handled via the thumbsticks; Alan's walking pace is fairly slow, but the left bumper can be held down to sprint. One of the flaws in the game is how short Alan's sprinting is, especially in regards to his body type. Sprinting only lasts for about eight seconds if held down throughout; afterwards, Alan will pant and gasp and slow down to his walking pace, and will only be able to sprint again after about ten seconds of walking. This creates a jarring movement system where the player alternates between running and walking, especially considering that Alan looks to be at least reasonably fit. I'm fairly skinny and not very athletic and I could still jog for a while, especially if monsters were chasing me! I believe a better system might have been to allow for longer periods of sprinting, but slow down the speed at which Alan runs while using it; this would make requiring breaks more believable, as well as prevent players from using it to just skip past most of the level.
Combat in the game operates off of a two-step system for the predominant enemies in the game, the Taken. These are people that have been killed by the Dark Presence, their forms filled with it, and then sent back out into the night to hunt down others. There are a few varieties of Taken: Taken in tracksuits are the weakest, Taken in construction or logging outfits are a bit tougher, and large Taken are the most resilient. There are also fast Taken on occasion; these are difficult to hit with light weapons because of how much they move around, but lose their speed when their shroud is removed. Taken have different weapons depending on the type, and can both throw weapons and attack with melee; the weaker will have hand scythes or axes, while the largest will have big axes or chainsaws. A player can press the left bumper and hold the left stick in a particular direction to dodge out of the way of a melee attack; doing so when the attack is playing will create a slow-motion effect.
To deal with these enemies, the player must "fight with light," as the game says. The Taken's darkness can be stripped away with any light source, which leaves them vulnerable to attack from more traditional sources, like guns. Light that is intense enough can destroy Taken outright, which proves invaluable in certain confrontations. Light can also be used to make a Taken stumble or slow down, giving the player more time to react.
Alan is (at least at most points in the game) armed with a flashlight he can use as a portable light source to handle Taken. There are four different flashlights available at different points in the game: a regular flashlight, a heavy-duty flashlight, a lantern flashlight (the ones that operate off of a big six-volt battery), and a heavy-duty lantern. Heavy-duty variants have a brighter beam and a longer battery meter. Shining a flashlight at a Taken will not do much to stop them, so the player will need to boost the light by holding down the left trigger; doing so will cause a glowing circle to appear around the Taken, which gets smaller as the Dark Presence gets stripped away. When the circle disappears, the Taken will be vulnerable. Boosting drains the battery meter; when the meter is empty, the flashlight will no longer boost. The meter refills on its own slowly over time, but the player can also insert a battery with the Y button to quickly refill the meter partway. Alan can hold up to 20 batteries at a time.
Alan can also carry an assortment of weapons to handle the Taken; these can be swapped to by pressing the D-pad, aimed by lightly holding the left trigger (pulling it all the way will boost), and fired with the right trigger. Aiming is not entirely necessary, as the flashlight beam essentially acts as a reticule for the player. Weapons must be reloaded with the X button; repeatedly tapping the button will make Alan reload faster. The revolver is the first and most common weapon Alan obtains during nighttime segments, taking up the right slot on the D-pad. One to four shots to a vulnerable Taken will destroy it, and it can fire six shots before reloading. The top slot is for a more powerful gun. There are three different guns that can be equipped here. The shotgun is powerful enough to deal with most enemies in one shot (depending on distance) and can hit multiple enemies, able to fire twice before reloading is necessary. The pump-action shotgun deals the same damage as the shotgun, but can hold eight shells at a time; the drawback is that its firing speed is slower. Finally, the hunting rifle can deal with any Taken in the game in a single hit, and is very accurate. It can fire five times before reloading. Alan can carry a limited amount of ammo for each gun, including guns he doesn't currently have.
The other two slots on the D-pad are for light-based weaponry. The left slot is for the flare gun, the most powerful gun in the game. While ammo for it is scarce, one shot can obliterate multiple shrouded Taken; if shot directly at an enemy, the player is treated to a slow-motion shot of the flare flying at it and exploding! The bottom slot is not for equipable weapons, but for throwable weapons, which can be used with the right bumper. Pressing down will allow the player to switch between flares and flashbangs (assuming they have both). Flares are dropped at Alan's feet and create a strong light source that Taken will stumble away from; this will partially remove the shroud from any Taken that is close, but they will almost always move away before being completely cleared. Flares can be used to create some breathing room if surrounded by multiple Taken. Flashbangs are similar to the flare gun in that the light they create is enough to destroy Taken that are close to them, even if still shrouded.
Sometimes, Alan will find special light sources to help deal with Taken. Stationary construction lights can be turned on to provide a strong beam of light to remove the Dark Presence, while searchlights can be aimed at Taken and boosted to destroy them entirely.
In addition to Taken, the Dark Presence takes on a couple of other forms to fight Alan. Flocks of ravens can swarm at him, pecking him repeatedly as they fly past. The Dark Presence can also possess objects and turn them into poltergeists, which hover before launching themselves at Alan, doing damage if they touch him relative to how large they are. These can be destroyed through light alone, no shooting required; flare guns or flashbangs can destroy them outright, or a boosted light source can slowly wear down their health until they disappear. Globs of darkness can also sometimes be found on walls or the ground; the only danger they possess is if Alan walks into them, and they can be dealt with in the same way.
The player's health is regenerating, and regenerates slowly after being hit. The health is located in the top left of the screen, wrapping halfway around a simple compass which points to the location of the current objective, and next to the battery meter. Health regenerates faster when standing in the light of a Safe Haven, detailed below.
Lastly, there are a few driving sections in the game. Controls are fairly simple: left stick steers, right trigger accelerates, and left trigger brakes and reverses. The car's headlights can be boosted by pressing the A button, allowing the player to run over and destroy Taken. The controls are somewhat floaty and probably could have been improved; I had the occasional turn that ended up sending me spinning farther than I wanted to.
The game is divided into six chapters, called Episodes. Each Episode (save the first) starts with a short recap cutscene called "Previously on Alan Wake," styling the game's progress like episodes of a TV show. Each Episode ends with a cutaway to the animated Alan Wake logo from the start screen, then a fade to an "End of Episode [number]" card, along with a song for each Episode; the player can listen to the whole thing or skip to the next Episode. Items the player has collected are not saved between Episodes, usually due to something story-related; this makes each one self-contained. The game cannot be saved wherever the player wishes to; instead, the game uses a checkpoint system. The most visible checkpoints are known as Safe Havens; these are bright lights (typically streetlights) that create a checkpoint when Alan moves into them. Some Safe Havens require a generator to be turned on in order to use them. If the player quits, they can only resume from that checkpoint. For replay purposes, each Episode has a few starting points, allowing the player to jump into the story at one of a few different spots. While I don't necessarily see anything wrong with this system, it did mean I had to do a bit of extra preparation for my in-class demo by getting to the proper checkpoint to start from. It also would be nice to allow for multiple save files, rather than just one.
The game makes somewhat heavy use of quick-time events. Occasionally, Alan will run into generators that need to be turned on; this is done through a QTE where the player taps A when a rotating dot reaches a green segment on a circle, doing this repeatedly until the generator turns on. The player might also run into a bear trap in the woods, requiring rapid taps of the A button to escape. Reloading faster by tapping X can be seen as a pseudo-QTE.
A key element of the game is exploration. While I did not test this entirely, I believe it is possible to explore anywhere in the map of Bright Falls and its surrounding areas at any time during the night. At the very least, it is possible to go off the beaten path to find collectables or extra resources. The game offers a variety of collectables to hunt down, the most prominent of these being pages of a novel called Departure, written by Alan himself. These pages can be read using the Back button, and usually detail events in the game before they happen, or alternate storylines that are happening concurrently. While most can be found on any difficulty, a select few can only be found on Nightmare. In addition to these, coffee thermoses can be collected for an achievement, and pyramids of beer cans can be knocked down (for fun or an achievement).
Another type of collectable is the broadcasts of the local media, both radio and TV. Finding radios lets the player listen in on commentary about the occurrences in the game by the radio host, and finding TVs lets the player view episodes of a Twilight Zone-esque show called Night Springs. Some TVs also portray an image of Alan as he writes Departure, letting the player hear the mad thoughts swirling through his head.
Finally, there are some resource caches that have been hidden away by an unknown person. These can be tracked down by following painted clues that can only be discovered by shining light on them. Usually, an arrow will point in the direction the player should go, and further arrows will lead them on until they find a big circular symbol with a torch in it, marking the location of the cache. These caches prove useful, rewarding a more exploring player with extra supplies to deal with the Taken.
One final note: after a couple of Episodes, it became clear to me that losing all my items was going to happen at the end of every Episode. Because of this, when I felt that I was getting close to the end, I was a lot less stingy on using ammo and batteries. I feel this somewhat works against the game. The player has to start from scratch with each Episode, which means each one starts off somewhat tense due to a lack of resources. By the end of the level, though, the player will have enough ammo to deal with everything, and can even be wasteful; while cathartic, this doesn't really keep the tension going throughout the entire Episode, dissipating it about two-thirds of the way through when the daytime sections are supposed to handle that. Having a maintained inventory through the game would require resource management throughout, but I suppose it would work against the game's day/night system of telling the plot.
-Game Log-
As I mentioned, I played through the entire game for this game analysis. The total time it took on Normal was somewhere around ten to twelve hours, putting each Episode at roughly two hours long.
I won't really go into the plot here, because the story is the main reason I would see someone playing this game. I will say that I found pretty much all the characters enjoyable, many of them playing off of horror or thriller tropes. Of particular enjoyment to me was Barry, whose fast-talking antics kept me entertained whenever he was around.
The daytime segments were sometimes unintentionally funny. The player has control of Alan to do simple things like walking, and in rare cases jumping. This let me do some things that probably wouldn't have made sense in context, like run around in circles or jump onto cars or railings when other characters were talking to me. Usually if I delayed too long, the characters would say something else, generally urging me to move forward. I'm not sure how many responses they had programmed in; should test that sometime.
I found the nighttime segments to be the most fun, naturally because there was more gameplay involved. The "fight with light" mechanic could best be described as a two-weapon system where you have to first remove one kind of health with one weapon, and then remove the other with the other, thus destroying the enemy. In practice, this produced a solid combat system with multiple approaches I could take to handle enemies. Boosting a flashlight would cause Taken to stop or stumble, and keeping it boosted after removing the Dark Presence would keep them stunned until I shot them to death. Flares allowed breathing room when I needed it, and flare guns and flashbangs provided satisfying instant kills. When it came to the shotguns and rifle, I found myself preferring the rifle; the shotguns' ability to hit multiple Taken proved about as effective as shooting each one point-blank, meaning I'd use the same amount of shells for the same effect. They were also less effective at range, while the rifle could instant-kill at any range. The revolver was trusty and made handling the weaker Taken a breeze.
As I said earlier, I both liked and disliked the episodic format. It did provide a unique method of level design that I haven't seen elsewhere, the entire game alluding to being set up like a thriller TV series. The fact there was a Twilight Zone-style TV series that you could watch in-game was icing on the cake. On the other hand, it did make it predictable that I would lose all my supplies at the end of every episode; this was partly the design of the game, since carrying around pistols and shotguns during the day in town would be weird. Plus, there would be no guarantee that the player would have a particular inventory at the start of another level, so requiring them to start from scratch allowed them to design a more consistent experience. I guess in the end it was a good format, and it meant that every episode was entirely self-contained.
I enjoyed the horror/thriller allusions quite a bit. They add a lot of charm to the game, especially when you can pick up on a reference. The ravens reminded me of Hitchcock's The Birds, and there's a particular Steven King movie reference early on that's easy to catch. And of course, there's the aforementioned Twilight Zone reference in Night Springs.
I do have a note on the presence of in-game advertising. Alan Wake came out right after Ford released its first vehicles with Microsoft's Sync in-vehicle system, and thus the game features a short interior shot of a Lincoln car with the Sync logo right in view. The game also advertises Energizer batteries (the only brand of batteries in Bright Springs, apparently) and Verizon Wireless, particularly a giant billboard towards the end that you literally cannot miss. I'm not necessarily against in-game advertising, but it really breaks immersion in a fictional story for me.
I have previously played the first DLC episode, The Signal, as the game came with a token to download it when it was released. I have not purchased or played the second episode, but intend to at a later date.
-Overall-
Alan Wake could be argued to be more of a cinematic experience than a straightforward game, both through its heavy use of cutscenes and its interactive cutscene daytime segments. However, the gameplay is simple yet solid, and it does an excellent job of getting the player engrossed in the game, while also not making it feel like a walk in the park. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a unique take on the horror genre, or someone who is a fan of more psychological thrillers.
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Feb 27th, 2013 at 23:48:00 - Deus Ex (PC) |
Deus Ex is a first-person shooter/roleplaying game hybrid, released in 2000 by developer Ion Storm and publisher Eidos Interactive. Set in the year 2052 and featuring a plot involving cybernetic augmentations, the Illuminati and secret societies, and a dystopian world, the game has been critically acclaimed as one of the best PC games of all time.
I have previously played through Deus Ex in its entirety; this gamelog is for a fresh start with the game, mixed with some insights based on my previous knowledge.
-Player-
Deus Ex is primarily a single-player game (with a multiplayer mode consisting of deathmatch variants patched in later). The player takes on the role of JC Denton, an operative for the United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition (UNATCO). Character customization is limited to one of five skins for JC, as well as a "real name" which comes up in text a couple times during the game. At the start of the game, the player can choose one or more skills to allot their starting 5000 skill points to (typically, no more than three). These vary from computers and electronics to various weapon proficiencies to swimming and environmental training. Gaining additional ranks in a skill will allow the player to better perform tasks relating to it. For example, training in pistols will allow faster, more accurate aiming; training in electronics will allow the use of fewer multi-tools to hack security panels or doors.
-Setting-
Deus Ex takes place in the year 2052 in a variety of locations, starting in New York City before transitioning to such varied locales as Paris, Hong Kong, secret institutions, and even Area 51. As the nano-augmented JC Denton, the player is tasked with putting down a terrorist threat, as a group called the NSF is stealing Ambrosia, a vaccine for an unstoppable plague known as the Gray Death. The vaccine, very expensive, is reserved for the elites of society, with the masses never being able to afford the vaccine. The plot quickly escalates into a story of intrigue, double-crossing, and conspiracy, which I won't go into here.
-Gameplay-
Deus Ex is primarily played as a first-person shooter, though with mechanics most players of the genre are unfamiliar with. For starters, using a gun requires the player to steady themselves if they wish to aim accurately, holding still until their reticule pinpoints their target; the speed of this action is increased if the player trains that weapon's skill. Thus, those who attempt run-and-gun tactics early on will find themselves dying very frequently. There are also several melee weapons in the game, with a strike to the back being lethal in practically every case. A particularly game-breaking weapon, the Dragon Sword, is available fairly early on, and provides a fast way to kill most any humanoid enemy in the game.
Stealth also plays a heavy role. Crouching while walking silences footsteps, allowing the player to sneak past guards (or up to them, if they wish to take them out). Levels are usually designed with a "sneaking" path or two in mind, to allow a stealth-focused player to get into areas they might not otherwise be able to. A player will have to be stealthy if they wish to undergo a pacifist run, in which they refrain from killing any enemies during the course of the game; this is a player-designed challenge, and there are no rewards for doing this during the game itself, save for some different dialogue in places after not killing anyone.
Since the game is heavily cyberpunk-inspired, it is no wonder that hacking is an important game concept. While most (if not all, I'm not sure) passwords and codes can be found somewhere in the game for those diligent enough to look for them, a player can use multi-tools to hack electronics, lockpicks to open locked doors, or their computer skill to break through a computer's login. This allows for many secrets to be uncovered over the course of the game.
As the player completes missions, they gain more skill points, which can be put towards the same skills presented to them in the beginning of the game. It is impossible to earn enough points to fully max out all skills, so careful planning is key. Through the course of the game, the player can find augmentation canisters; these can be installed through a medical bot to gain access to nine additional augmentations. Each canister gives the player a choice of two augmentations (a permanent choice), and each augmentation can be upgraded three additional times through upgrade canisters to increase its effect.
Roleplaying is a fundamental part of the game. A player can choose to be a walking death machine, if they so wish, by selecting skills and augmentations to support this. Alternatively, a more stealth-inclined player can choose a different set of skills and augs to suit their playstyle. Some even play without any skills or augmentations, as the game is designed to allow this (even if it's rather challenging!). A player can choose to kill some or many enemies, or take them down through non-lethal means; NPCS will sometimes compliment JC if they refrain from killing, or admonish him if he doesn't. Dialogue with NPCs will sometimes offer a choice in what JC says; NPCs will react differently depending on what is said.
The game is heavily mission-oriented, with a primary task and sometimes an optional secondary or two. Completion of the primary task is required for plot progression. The player will usually have multiple ways to handle any given situation, whether through direct combat, stealth, hacking, or other means. Levels are designed to support a wide variety of options, allowing for a lot of replayability. Options are even included for boss battles; if a player wishes, they can avoid killing any of the bosses in the game, including the final one. They can also handle some bosses earlier than they are "intended" to.
-Game Log-
For this section, I started a new game, opting to put my skill points in electronics, computers, and lockpicking. The first mission, Liberty Island, is frequently cited by players as a difficult area, mostly due to the lack of experience with the game's controls. It took me a few minutes to get reacquainted, then I began to play.
The mission required the infiltration of the damaged Statue of Liberty and the takedown of the NSF commander at the top; an optional objective involved freeing another UNATCO operative from a prison at the bottom. I opted for a stealthy approach, sticking to the shadows and avoiding guards entirely. A back entrance into the statue helped me scale the statue quickly, though I decided to try climbing back down to free the operative. The path was difficult to really pursue, and thanks to being bottlenecked in a stairwell, I died, highlighting a noteworthy flaw or feature (depending on your point of view): no auto-saving. If a player forgets to regularly manually save, they can lose hours of progress due to an ill-timed death.
Restarting the game, I decided to try a different approach through the front. I found out from an informant on one side of the island that the commander should be kept alive so he could continue to spy on the NSF. In a cargo bay, I found supplies and the password to the security system; using a panel near the entrance, I was able to turn off the cameras, force the turrets to attack enemies, and unlock the doors.
The prison had two ways to enter, by hacking an electronics panel near a laser grid or by crawling through some air ducts to bypass it entirely. I chose the former option and eventually managed to free the operative. I then proceeded up the statue and found the commander, refraining from killing him and learning that the Ambrosia the NSF had stolen was being shipped to the masses.
I was then ordered to proceed back to UNATCO headquarters on the island, where I got my first augmentation installed, opting for the strength augmentation rather than the hand-to-hand combat one. The next mission was to track down the stolen Ambrosia and get it back for UNATCO; it was here that I ended my session.
The gameplay was fairly easy to pick up on again after having not played it for a year and a half. I know a newcomer would have a bit of trouble getting used to it, but most people I know who play it say that the game picks up after Liberty Island, as a means of encouragement to players considering giving up so early. I think there are two reasons for that. One, Liberty Island is a bit of a slow mission with not a whole lot of options for how to complete it (yet still considerably more than most shooters). And two, by the time you finish the mission, you're fairly familiar with the controls and can better handle the game's challenges. In addition, later levels provide the player with more weapons, augmentations, and skill points; by the time you've got a large array of skills and items at your disposal, you're free to choose exactly how you want to pursue a mission.
For things that might be turnoffs to today's gamers, the graphics would definitely be one. Everything definitely screams "late 90s" graphically, both through textures and models. However, I would hope that someone who was interested in the game would look past that; it was released in 2000, after all, so the graphics aren't going to be stellar. The voice acting is also a bit laughable at times (from memory, most of the Chinese VAs are comically bad, and the children are ear-gratingly terrible), but to me, that adds to the charm. The story is one that can throw you for a loop at times if you're not entirely paying attention (it does NOT just spell out the plot for you), but for those who like to delve into cyberpunk stories full of intrigue, it's definitely worth it to keep up with it. And while the controls and gameplay are a bit confusing at first (especially to someone raised on the latest hand-holding games), the learning curve isn't terribly steep, and rewards a persistent player with a memorable experience.
-Overall-
Deus Ex is classic for a reason: it's a game that was deeper mechanically than a lot of games of its time, and certainly deeper than most recent games. Its blend of shooter, stealth, and roleplaying game hasn't been matched by any game I've ever played, and is one I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone who craves something different. I would also recommend its prequel, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, as it is a fairly solid follow-up; the game incorporates many of the systems of Deus Ex, but with more modernized gameplay that would be more enjoyable to today's audiences. I would also recommend playing Deus Ex first, as it gives the player insight into many of the references to it given in Human Revolution, and because it's a bit hard to go back to the first game after playing something more modern that feels like it. Not impossible, just hard.
In short: a classic PC game that exemplifies great game design. A must-play title.
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Feb 5th, 2013 at 01:28:10 - Dungeons and Dragons, 3.5 edition (Other) |
Dungeons and Dragons 3.5e: Thursday, January 17 (Session 1), and Monday, February 4 (Session 2)
Dungeons and Dragons is a tabletop role-playing game for 2 or more players (commonly 6 or fewer). In this fantasy game, players partake in adventures laid out for them by one of their group in a game that is equal parts freeform adventure and more rigid scenarios.
-Players
Players can be divided into two categories: adventurers and the Dungeon Master (DM). Adventurers are players who have characters within the game, who interact with the game world through their characters. Before starting an adventure, these players must create their characters, first picking a race and a class from various fantasy archetypes. Example races include human, elf, dwarf, and half-orc; while example classes include fighter, ranger, sorcerer, and paladin. A player then must determine their character's attributes, such as strength, constitution, intelligence, and charisma. This can be done through random dice rolls or by distributing an allotment of points given by the DM. Other traits, such as appearance or alignment, are determined by the players with no harsh constraints.
The DM creates the scenario for the adventurers to undertake, but does not interact directly with the characters themselves. The DM controls all non-player characters (NPCs) in the game and their interactions with the player characters, as well as designs the game world, places the locations of objectives and monsters, and handles other miscellaneous interactions the players have no control over.
-Game World
The playing field is decided on by the DM. Maps must be drawn to show the players where they are and what is around them, though not all of the map can necessarily be seen at once. For example, a party might not know what lies beyond a bend in the road because they cannot see past it; by moving into the right position, they can reveal more of the map. The layout of the world is determined solely by the DM, and the adventurers merely interact with it.
-Gameplay
Gameplay takes place in two parts. Interacting with the open world is mostly freeform. The DM will tell players about their surroundings, revealing only the minimum amount of information. If players wish to learn more, they must possess the right skills to uncover more. Otherwise, players are free to do whatever they wish within reason. For example, they can wander about the game world of their own free will, but they cannot decide to start flying miles away (unless they happened to possess a skill or item to let them do that).
Whenever a player uses a skill or attacks, they must roll a "check." They roll a 20-sided die in an attempt to roll higher than a particular number for their check, dependent on the skill being used. If they roll slightly higher, they can cause a slightly beneficial result; rolling significantly higher can increase the magnitude of the benefit. The same is true for rolling lower than the check number; a slightly lower number can have a slightly detrimental result, and the result can get worse as the number gets lower. For example, a severely low number on an attack check can mean the character injures themselves, while a very high number can take out an enemy in one hit.
Encounters with NPCs are determined by their position as placed by the DM. Some may be friendly, while others may be hostile. Encounters with hostile enemies can be handled multiple ways. Multiple players can fight the same enemy, each can fight their own, or an encounter can be resolved without fighting, depending on the opponents and what the party possesses in skills or items.
Gameplay usually proceeds with the players following the DM's storyline loosely. They are free to explore and roleplay in a freeform fashion, though the DM's scenario will provide structure that the party can build on, which can enhance the roleplaying aspect of the game.
-Session 1
Our first session consisted of four players and a DM. None of the players had any experience with DnD. As such, the DM created character sheets for the players to choose from. I picked a gnome sorcerer, and the rest of the party consisted of a half-orc paladin, an elf ranger, and a human cleric.
The scenario created for the group to play involved traveling to an archaeologist's house and retrieving an artifact he had found, returning it to the Finder's Guild, an organization dedicated to collecting magical artifacts. The game started with the party on a road which would lead to the archaeologist's house.
The players progressed down the road, with the elf scouting ahead. The elf found a lone goblin who did not notice him, and decided to attempt to stealthily attack. The attempt failed, and he attracted the attention of multiple goblins in the woods. This illustrates one of the key concepts of DnD: the DM does not reveal everything to the players at once. Information must be revealed through interactions of the players with the game world.
After a lengthy battle, the party emerged victorious, though one of the players was knocked unconscious during the fight. After he was revived, the party continued down the road, investigating a cart which had been besieged by another pack of goblins that had since left. Finding nothing of value except barrels of pickled fish, the party continued down a side path which led to the archaeologist's house, where the session ended. This shows another aspect of gameplay in DnD: a session can end whenever the players decide to end it. As long as the players and the DM have been keeping track of their statistics and placement within the game world, gameplay can be paused to resume at any later date. An adventure can thus be completed over multiple sessions.
-Session 2
Our second session consisted of three players and a DM, with myself and the DM being the only recurring players from the first session. One of the other two had had some prior experience with DnD, while the other had had none. I continued playing my gnome sorcerer, while the others played copies of the half-orc paladin and the elf ranger.
The scenario for this session involved the party traveling to a dwarven mining settlement and retrieving a message for the Finder's Guild about their status. That, at least, was the intention, but the game did not go the intended way.
At the start of the scenario, the party was in town, and thus decided to go to the tavern before they left (never mind that it was midday). They drank some beer before leaving town in the general direction of their objective.
The DM told the party of a fork in the road. One path led to the mining camp, the other led to a location known as the Temple of All Dooms. The intention was for the player characters to notice the clear danger of a place with "All Dooms" in its name, and thus proceed to the mining camp. However, the party, still a bit drunk, decided to go to the more interesting-sounding location. This shows that even if a DM thinks that he has everything planned out, players can still do something that he doesn't expect.
The entrance to the temple was located on the opposite side of a ravine with a strange river running through it, and a narrow path led down both sides of the ravine to the river bed. To reach the other side, the party would have to walk down the ledge on the near side, cross the river, and climb up the ledge on the far side.
The elf, being a ranger, decided to go ahead first. He made it about a quarter of the way before slipping and falling down the ravine. He tried to pass a grab check but failed, landing on another ledge which he failed to grab onto. This proceeded until he landed on the riverbank, unconscious and bleeding out. He eventually managed to stabilize.
The half-orc decided that the only way to reach him fast enough to heal him was to jump and aim for the river. He jumped, but fell short and landed on the near bank, killing himself in the fall.
The gnome, still a bit drunk, decided to also jump for the river, instead landing on the far side of the river and knocking himself unconscious, but not terribly hurt. Both the elf and the gnome woke up a while later, and drank from the river, which turned out to heal them. The DM allowed them to dip the half-orc in the pool and bring him back to life as well, illustrating how the rules of the game can be bent to provide a more fun gameplay experience. Thus, the half-orc's player could continue having something to do.
After camping overnight, the party made their way up the other side of the ravine to the temple's door. With no real mishaps, the party made it to the door unscathed. When the half-orc attempted to push open the door, he was filled with an urge to jump off but resisted. The elf attempted to determine if the door required a password, was filled with the same urge, and succumbed to it. The half-orc tried to grab him and pull him back up, but instead fell with him to the opposite side of the river, landing on top of him and killing him instantly, though the elf did cushion the half-orc's fall and kept him alive. The half-orc then dipped the elf's remains in the river to bring him back to life, and succeeded, though the state the elf's body was in made him deformed when he was revived.
The gnome, seeing no alternative, decided to jump for the river to rejoin his party, thinking the water was safe. However, overnight the river had changed from healing to chaotic, meaning that any interaction with the water would cast a random spell. Landing in the water gave the gnome an intelligence boost, but swimming to shore turned him into a dire wolf. The elf intimidated him but could not befriend him, thus the wolf remained wary of the others.
The elf decided to go back to the water to try and fix himself, but his first attempt created multiple magic missiles which fired at him. His second attempt produced a sleet storm above his head, and every sleet pellet that hit the water created a rabbit, which let the wolf gorge himself on an abundance of rabbits. Another attempt produced a mysterious effect, and so the elf decided to quit tempting fate and leave the canyon.
The half-orc, meanwhile, thought to go back to the temple door, and thus forded the river again. Doing so gave the party a constitution boost. The wolf changed back into a gnome while the half-orc was on his way up, and followed the elf up out of the ravine. About halfway up, the gnome slipped and fell all the way back to the bottom, though his fall was broken by several of the rabbits. He then proceeded up and out again, escaping the ravine.
The half-orc made it to the temple door again and tried to determine the language written on it; doing so made him jump back into the water. This time, everything he possessed that was metal (his armor, axe head, arrowheads) melted away, and the impact knocked him unconscious. As his body floated downstream, another spell activated and killed him.
The elf, seeing the party in shambles and no other course of action, punted the gnome back into the ravine, though the gnome managed to pull the elf with him. The elf would have landed on the riverbank and died, except for the spell that activated when the gnome hit the water. This spell teleported the characters to the astral plane, which was no place for a level 2 sorcerer and a level 1 ranger. Both were stabbed in the back by a githyanki upon entering the plane. The session ended here, as nothing could be done with all characters deceased.
-Overall
DnD is not a game that can merely be picked up and played anytime. It takes considerable effort from both the DM and the adventurers. Nevertheless, its freeform nature allows for unlimited gameplay possibilities, and can easily be stopped to resume another time. If players are willing to learn its rules, much fun can be had by all.
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