NPC Names

"You will notice that the NPCs don't appear to have individual names." I point out. "Or if they do, the names don't matter. Learning NPC names is something that experienced roleplayers do. It's a skill. I have intended for this series to work as an introduction to roleplaying for non-roleplayers, without intimidating them with a lot of numbers, statistics, or having to remember weird names."

"That makes sense," you say.

"Well, it's my experience, anyway. In my own games, I generally introduce NPCs by name, and my players write them all down. You can assume that something like that is going on here."

"Okay," you say.

On "Return to the Village of Retired Adventurers"

"This chapter is quite long and covers a lot of expositional ground." I say, rubbing my chin thoughtfully. "Though it was the point where I decided to make something more of this idea than just random fragments. I found when I tried to divide it up that I had written a smooth narrative across each possible cut point. I also have this idea of each of these stories being small vignettes of a much larger campaign. I have never intended to provide a continuous narrative. In particular I have wanted to avoid rules-heavy battle scenes, which is why the fight between Mike and the goblins took place offstage. Both are principles I have violated in future chapters. So much for principles."

On "Origin"

"While I have tried to avoid mentioning any Wizards trademarks so far," I say, "the fragment entitled "Origin" definitely references Wizards property and thus firmly locates the campaign as taking place in the Forgotten Realms. However, this fragment is optional, and the other stories can be read without referring to it. It is part of the canon of the story, but it is not necessary to the main narrative."

What's it all about?

"So what's this story about?" you ask.

"Avoiding TPK is like my ideal D&D game." I reply. "It's got ideal players, ideal characters, and an ideally perfect DM who can come up with things on the fly that I have to agonise over for hours to write."

"Is it difficult to write in the dialogue format all the time?"

"I have made some stylistic decisions in order to write what I think works in context, but it does seem a bit awkward in the written medium. In particular, the decision to make all of the dialogue the words of the players. I had to decide how to handle when they were speaking in character. The decision I made was not to nest quotes, but to simply report directly what the player is saying. In a few places this makes some awkward sentences."

"That was a deliberate decision?" you ask.

"Yes," I reply. "I wanted it to be different in style from what writers usually use as fictional fluff text in rulebooks. I'm glad they don't do that much of it in 5th Edition. It annoys me, because neither the players nor the DM act like people. I hope that my players largely act like people." I look towards the camera.

"Secondly, though it is clear that the party is playing 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons from Wizards of the Coast, it is my intention to report only the interactions between the characters and the DM and not the minutiae about rolls and bonuses and specific rules. All players are assumed to have a perfect recall of the rules and there is no need to discuss them at the table. This may put off some of the hardcore roleplayers, but my intent is to be more accessible to people who aren't as familiar with the rules, and for whom therefore a long discussion of the rules is somewhat boring. All properties of Wizards remain properties of Wizards."

"Until the party steals it from them," you say.

"Until the party steals it from them," I reply. "But after that, they have lawyers." I look back at you.

"In addition, this "ideal" D&D game contains no out of character table talk. That again was a narrative decision. While a lot of table talk goes on at a real D&D table, and that is entirely appropriate and normal, I felt that it would merely distract from the story I wanted to tell here."