Positively Terrible - BroXT

The dangers of fast friends.

For this BroXT challenge I’ve expanded my repertoire by reading Appendix N authors I haven’t touched yet. Manly Wade Wellman has been lauded by bros, but I’ve not heard mention of Fredric Brown. I can’t win this challenge — the audience is tired of me, I’m too decorated, etc etc. I’m doing it for the love of the game. King of the Ring belongs to someone more deserving of a ratings boost. The bookers have their reasons.

‘Changeling’ by Wellman is a story about a rash of strange deaths solved by reading old books.

‘And the Gods Laughed’ by Brown is a story about being on an asteroid telling a story about being on a moon.

Despite the contrast in genre, setting, and tone, these stories share a common theme that can improve your D&D game — those that come as friends can easily be your demise. Upstanding and honest DMs have a tendency to play the reaction rolls straight - a friendly reaction means the players make new friends. That’s what the table says and that’s the way you feel you need to handle it. But if these stories from Wellman and Brown can teach us anything it’s this — those friendly or enthusiastically friendly reactions can be more dangerous than the hostile ones, if the DM can use a little imagination.

In ‘Changeling’, accepting a gift from a friendly little girl leads to certain death. Under the surface, strange fey powers feed on the souls of men who accept the gifts. Are the elves you just rolled up serving nefarious powers that demand human sacrifice? Is there an ulterior motive? There is no need to give players a free lunch, even if the dice roll in their favor.

Along similar lines, ‘And the Gods Laughed’ describes first contact with friendly villagers on the moon of Ganymede. Not all is as it seems. The natives are possessed by intelligent artifacts from beyond the stars. One by one the expedition is overtaken under the banner of friendliness.

You don’t need to lean on this trick, but once or twice at times when things get too easy is a good way to inject tension and save a boring session, especially if you’re using low/no prep. Your players should be operating with suspicion at all times — this is a big part of the fun in braunstein. Shrewd players may figure out the ruse, but then they will be at odds with the rest of the party. You can have a microstein in the dungeon.

At the end of the day, the only thing holding you back from leveraging braunstein dynamics at the table to improve your game is yourself and your imagination. Just as you don’t have to let the dice ruin your game with easy treasure, you don’t have to let good luck on reaction rolls turn the world into a friendly place. The game as a whole cries out for conflict—will you answer the call?