game in 60 minutes

You've got a problem. There's a game in an hour and you're the one supposed to be running it. You had the day from Hell and your prep time was eaten by (insert the crisis/crises here) so you really feel you're not going to deliver a good session and you don't feel you can let your friends down. What do you do?

1. Take care of business - Fire up the computer then get yourself a drink and something healthy to snack on; attending to biological needs is the first step to solving the problem and removes any distractions. Plus the very act of doing these things gets you out of the 'must prep' funk you've put yourself in. Take about five minutes if you can as this is the lead up to your main objective.

2. Write down what you want to achieve - By this I mean something like 'Run a fun and entertaining game session with my friends (insert names here).' This is a declaration of intent and you'll refer back to this later. You need only write one sentence per minute on this and can only spend three minutes tops on it. This will help your focus if you find your attention drifting.

3. Look at your notes - Unless this is a new session, your dog was super-hungry or (insert crisis here) destroyed your notes, you have source material already at your disposal. This includes any copies of character sheets you have available so get up to speed - spend no more than seven minutes getting a feel for things and don't sweat the small stuff up to and including the Maoist Revolution.

4. What shall we do tonight, Brain? - You know your players/audience. Have you already got something you can adapt like a module or sourcebook encounter into maybe three to five encounters? One of the strengths of 4E D&D is prep of this kind is very easy to do - even lazy DMs can handle it. Keep an eye on the strengths of your party and remember to adjust for balance - you have 20 minutes.

If you don't - feel free to go cross-game/genre and amend some minor details. Does chasing a werewolf wizard arsonist* as she sets fires in a town to conceal her plan to awaken a fiendish vampire cleric sound like good 3.xE fun? Who cares if it's a World of Darkness scenario? Do some converting! You get 25 minutes with this option as it's a bit harder. Help is available!

So you're away from most of your stuff? There are plenty of online resources even if you're strapped for ideas. I've referenced Abulafia before and will also flag Roleplaying Tips, WotC's Map-A-Week Archive (maps kill me) and the blogosphere has many ready-made characters, items, locations and monsters for you to work with - as you have the most work to do, you get 30 minutes.

Some sites provide additional system-specific help including D&D Insider and the d20 SRD. Plenty of other examples exist for your system and Google (or some other search engine) will find them for you once you've read this post. Don't try to find them in the hour prep as you need that time for everything else. Feel free to leave your personal favourites in the comments.

You need three encounters minimum as people have worked out that the typical gaming session (about 3 hours) goes through an encounter an hour. I would aim for four or five ideally, which makes the five room dungeons from Roleplaying Tips a particularly handy resource as you can springboard off those or even - gosh - use them with some personalised tweaks.

5. Tweaks and Session Preparation
Take a look at the result of the preceding steps in context of step 2. Your friends need an individual moment in the sun so check what you've put together can give them a moment to shine. Ten minutes will hopefully sort this out - you have an extra five minutes if you have pre-generated materials handy as you'll need time to familiarise yourself with subtle nuances your original reading missed...

6. Get organised - Get the books and materials (miniatures, maps, notes and dice) together; if you're hosting then get the room set up as you need to; this will hopefully take about 5 - 10 minutes. Take a couple of deep breaths, roll your shoulders back on each breath and smile as you exhale. Remind yourself these are your friends and that you're here to have fun.

There. One hour. You've had time to tweak the material, review it for fit and possibly improve on a classic design. How often does that happen in your usual preparation? Now go kick some ass!

* - Rumours of her name being Samantha Hayte cannot be substantiated.

inns and taverns: the rose tower

The Rose Tower is a hostelry used by visiting dignitaries and wealthy merchants as well as those adventurers who enjoy the finer things in life. Tucked in one of the wealthier quarters of the city, the Rose Tower is a four-storey square tower of brick and stone, decorated with ornamental tiles, marble icons of beautiful men and women, hanging banners and numerous trellises home to a number of climbing roses. The doors and shutters over the upper storey windows are made of wood and iron decorated with rose motifs.

Outside the Rose Tower are eight arbours that the roses grow around. These are big enough for a couple to sit in and watch the world go by, enjoying ale or wine from simple clay goblets. Horses are stabled in a city stables as local laws prohibit private steeds to be ridden through the streets; this arrangement is made in return for getting rid of a share of the manure which is used for the roses which are kept thriving through some skillful gardening and judicious application of magic.

Inside, the Rose Tower rivals the opulence of the nobility. The common room is anything but. White and rose marble tiles chequerboard the ground floor tavern and three tables form a stage for minstrels and entertainers. Liveried serving girls move behind the chairs where patrons sit, dine, drink and discuss business. The walls are decorated with rambling rose motifs and tapestries of courtly romance. Prices are expensive but the quality of food and drink is good enough that people do not mind and their stock is comprehensive.

The first and second storeys have private rooms for guests. Decorated with murals of romantic scenes with beds with down-filled mattresses, each room has a heavy iron bath-tub that may be filled for the price of a night's rest - the servants who bring the water (and a small urn of coals to heat it with) will offer oils and scents to wealthy patrons. At least one courtesan has arranged a liaison at the Rose Tower and it's staff haven't yet revealed any secrets - perhaps out of fear or respect of the owners who dwell in the top storey.

They have always paid well and who have always taken pains to smooth over problems with troublesome locals who are rarely heard of again if they cause a commotion in the Tower. The owners pay enough to stay out the attentions of the law and pay dues to the dominant criminal guilds to ensure no trouble disturbs their business, which appears to be primarily keeping wealthy. They are conspicuous about staying out of courtly matters and there are whispers the owners are a retired courtesan and her magician lover which would scandalise court.

Those who pry into the owners will find the manager of the Rose Tower positively uncommunicative; pressing the issue will re-classify the inquisitive as troublesome. Those who fit this criteria will usually go missing at some point due to a combination of drugged drink and discreet gentlemen who know entirely too much about how to subdue troublesome types, poisons and how to deal with extraordinary situations. There are only three of these individuals but their capabilities more than make up for the lack of numbers.

three things: magical shields

A trio of magical shields for 3.x edition, depending on what rules set you've got to hand at the time. Sometimes the best defence is a good defence and these three shields have been found in the hands of those adventurers who believe in that philosophy.

Bodyguard's Buckler - This +1 buckler is made of a single piece of oak bound in black leather inset with shining steel studs. When wielded and the command word 'crosaire' spoken, a wielder can make a Reflex save (DC20) to take a single melee or ranged attack for an ally within five feet of them as a free action. The wielder must be aware of the impending attack. Exceptional missile weapons like giant-hurled boulders or Melf's Acid Arrow cannot be diverted with this item.
Faint abjuration magic. CL: 5th; Craft Magic Arms and Armour, shield. Price: +1 bonus.

Shield of Bearing - This circular +1 heavy steel shield (3' diameter) can bear up to 300lbs weight if laid boss-side down and the command word 'baere' is spoken (this word is usually carved on the back of the shield) for up to three hours once a day. The shield rises three feet off the floor and remains level unless the weight limit is exceeded. The shield usually follows the wielder at 15' per round. The wielder can step onto the shield and (if it can) will lift them three feet off the ground but will not move anywhere.
Faint abjuration and transmutation magic. CL: 5th; Craft Magic Arms & Armour; Tenser's Floating Disk. Price: +1 bonus.

Urchin Shield - This +1 light wooden shield appears to be made out of pearlescent cactus hide but is in fact the skin of a giant sea urchin. On command (the word 'tulang' is commonly used) the shield can extrude spines so that it is effectively a spiked shield and once a day it can fire three spines at a foe within 30' that strike unerringly for 1d4+1 damage per spine. The spines are treated as magic missiles for the purpose of magical defences against them.
Faint abjuration, evocation and transmutation magic. CL 3rd; Craft Magic Arms & Armour; alter self, magic missile. Price: +2 bonus.

azincourt

Bernard Cornwall is my favourite historic fiction author right now; his credits include the great Sharpe series and an excellent retelling of the Arthurian cycle among others. He has an ear for battle and for the superstitious nature of warriors desperate for any edge in battle. He also has a respect for the visceral nature of battle and grim realities of warfare and siege, relaying these in a matter-of-fact manner. Those of a delicate disposition may find the descriptions gruesome but medieval war is neither gentle or delicate business.

Nicholas Hook, a serf and archer outlawed by family feud and striking a priest during a purge of heretics in London is a likeably pragmatic underdog. He must contend with vengeful relatives, sadistic priests, the arbitrary might of nobles, the brutality of war and what comes after with his skill as an archer, an eye for opportunity and rare help from unusual sources. Not the most erudite man, his development through the book is measured and believeable.

The book presents a yeoman's eye-view, first as an archer in a mercenary band at the massacre of Soissons, then as part of a military company of archers in the army of Henry V who after a grueling siege at Harfleur end up at the bloody battle of Azincourt. Cornwall makes good use of Christian theology in reckoning dates and emphasising the dominant and pervasive nature of the Church in dealing with kings and peasants alike.

Cornwall's love of this particular era of history shines through. The characters are consistent and considered, even the Seigneur de Lanferelle, a knight famed for cruelty at Soissons is believable and in some points sympathetic. The book rattles along and the battle scenes are reminiscent of Branagh's Henry V and Braveheart both in sweeping scale and bloody mire - while the story is Anglocentric, it's unsurprising, just as Braveheart's sympathies are Scottish.

Though some gamers may find Azincourt's love for the combination of war bow and poleaxe unseemly in places, the description of melees and effectiveness of armour makes interesting reading. In my edition of the book, Cornwall goes further and shares some of his research, showing some of the history of what it took to make a good battle archer and the effects that the bow had on armour and warfare during this turbulent time.

I recommend this book, not just for it's craft but also for it's content. It presents a compelling vision of the archers as an elite force and it's knowledge of the archer's trade and reputation among English citizens and French soldiers alike. Characters have believable flaws and are given opportunity to reveal and overcome them. The battle sequences are distinctive and pull no punches, from the rout of Soissons and horrors of Harfleur's siege to Azincourt's muddy glory.