Gary Gygax and the Terror of Fame

 In 2001 we met Gary Gygax for the first time (see my post here). We didn't have anything of his to sell as we had only begun working together. Work had begun on the Canting Crew and Gaxmoor, but they were still a bit away. We were pushing out own material, the newly arrived Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition d20 adventures Malady of Kings and Dzeebagd. Having met Gary we hung out quite a bit, in the smoking area, the booths and eating at the Old Town Serbian Cafe. He graciously offered to sit in our booth several times and sign books. 

We were very small in 2001 and at Gencon, at that time, the noise was picking up at tremendous volumes. Companies were jumping on the d20 bandwagon at a rapid rate and we were only one. But we had a booth and banner (bought for us by my wife, Kathy) and product. So we sold.

Gary joined several times, and would sit and chat and sign books whenever someone approached. We had a big chalk board up with his name on it and Davis and I stood in the aisle and engaged folks, turning them into the booth whenever we could (this is the core of the con approach to marketing when you are new on the scene, and still is in many respects, as I write this I am at Garycon and the few minutes I was at the booth I found myself doing it again). Gary happily signed books they pulled from their bag or if they had nothing they could take an After Winters Dark Campaign Setting book and he would sign that. 

He engaged with each of his fans, talking and chatting until the conversation was finished. He listened to stories of wild adventures, thank yous for saving childhoods, and the many varied tales of characters and their colorful deaths or exploits. 

I never once heard him complain. He just smiled that slightly crooked smile of his (I suspect a smokers smile, as my own dad had that) and responded with the occasional comment. It was a humble abode that the Trolls offered him, but he didn't seem to mind. He seemed as comfortable as if he were at home. It helped that he and Davis and I could chat, when no one was there, about history and other sundries.

There were many of these encounters, but one has always stood out in my mind. A young father approached with his daughter, pulled into the booth by the sign or one of us, and he tried to introduce to Gary, but she was terrified. I suspect she was 7 or 8 or there abouts. She seemed very sweet but shy and tears began to well up in her eyes as she hid behind her dad's leg. Gary began talking to her, I don't know what he said, I can't remember, but I do remember he just talked to her like she was a person, an adult or anyone else. After a minute or two, he got through to her somehow and she came forward. Just a little at first, but soon enough up to the table. He was still talking to her and she said something or the other...at least I think she did, it fades in my mind some.

At that point her father realized he didn't have anything to sign. He was truly aghast and didn't know what to do. So I grabbed an After Winter's book and handed it to him. Gary took it, signed it and gave it to the little girl. Her terror was replaced with awe...well still a hint of it I'm sure...as she took the book. Her father thanked Gary profusely and they said their goodbyes and moved on.

I have no idea what Gary said in that book. He scribbled something and signed his name, but I suspect, whatever he said, sent her down a gamer's path and one I hope she's still on today.

Conventions, Writer’s Block and Gary Gygax

 
Well, it seems I missed Gary Con this year. Stephen fired me from Gary Con. That’s not entirely true, he suggested that if I did not want to go and catch up on all the work I have not been doing, I would be more than welcome to stay here in the hovel and work. I volunteered not to go. I think that is how that worked. It has been a very low productivity month for me. I was distracted and obsessed then developed writer’s block. I hate getting writer’s block. I always have to go looking for inspiration. Quixotically, going to conventions always alleviates that problem and for some reason, I made the unwise choice not to go.

I enjoy going to conventions. I used to go to a lot of conventions. I think in the mid-2000s I was going to a convention once every three weeks. I kept that up for half a decade. Then it started to wear me down and we all agreed to reduce our convention presence. The conventions themselves were not the problem. I enjoy meeting people, relaxing and hanging out playing games. I di not enjoy the driving, packing, and unpacking. I like to travel, but I travel light. Troll Lord Games does not travel light. I can say that I enjoyed several conventions better than others. Those being the Lake Geneva Gaming Convention and Winter Dark convention TLG hosted in Lake Geneva. We really hosted these so we had an excuse to go hang out with Gary. We probably could have come up with a better business model but that would have obviated the goal now wouldn’t it have. 😊

As I have mentioned on many occasions, Gary and I rarely talked games or business. This is always surprising to many people considering Gary was the game designer of the century and I now help operate a game company. And, even more surprising, I only played in a few games with Gary. I remember him saying “boogadee boogadee boo” once. I literally fell on the floor laughing. It was my first game with Gary and some spell casting illusory gnome was casting a spell. The “boogadee boogadee boo” was the spell being cast. And that pretty much brought all my pretensions about the game back to earth. I still laugh thinking about that particular moment.

In the long though, my favorite times with Gary were spent on his front porch, at dinner, or on smoke breaks at conventions. I suppose the best times were on the front porch, drinking a beer and relaxing before the arrival of many fans and visitors. These moments were rare as the TLG crew only managed to make it to Lake Geneva a couple of times a year during those conventions we ran.

It is difficult to say I miss Gary because I don’t really. You see, Gary was unwittingly standing behind me as a child and on into adulthood, and even unto this day. Every time I roll a dice, crack a game book, pen a module, write a rule, Gary is still there, standing over my shoulder, cracking jokes and encouraging me to keep gaming. I do wish I could sit on his front porch again, drinking a beer, sharing thoughts on politics, military history, word play, and other pleasures. That would be nice. But that’s not how the world works and we all have to continue rolling the dice and playing the hand dealt. 

Gary Gygax: When First we Met

Click here to see more of this series.

I reached out to Gary Gygax for the first time in the late summer or early fall of 2000 and we began talking about projects to do together. After a few months of wrapping up technical legal stuff we signed and began working on the Canting Crew and Gaxmoor for him and the World of Aihrde for TLG. In the meantime we converted to d20 and began releasing a few modules. I had never actually seen or met Gary. I had no image of him in my mind as I had no pictures of him that I knew of, internet searches were no where in my thought process.

The first time I met Gary Gygax in person was 2001 at Gencon. We were setting up the booth, a small 10 x 10 tucked away on some forgotten isle somewhere. It was our second time to exhibit and was all chaos with some cardboard POPs (I think that is the correct terms, point of purchase displays, but I've never been good at remembering all the terms marketing and business people give things, its all terribly exhausting), a big banner, tubes of the map for the world of Aihrde and books. I believe our new releases were The Malady of Kings and Dzeebagd. We hadn't yet released any material of Gary's. We had converted some of the books from the previous Gencon to d20 from our own, now defunct, game of Swords and Sorcery. 

The only real plan we had for Gary -- because we didn't have any books -- was for him to sit in the booth and and sign material people brought up.

It was Wednesday and we were very busy. Davis was out and about and Todd and I were throwing things around the booth trying to make it look professional. People we had met were stopping by to chat...and there was a lot of that. The d20 explosion was in full swing and people were jumping on with new companies popping up everywhere. There was an indescribable energy in the hall, as if some intellectual dam had burst and the corridors were rivers of gold for all our collective imaging. 

As I'm busy putting the table together this gentleman walks up and stands for a moment and asks if I wanted to get a smoke. He was smiling a bit. I had no idea who he was. I smoked in those days, marlboro reds, and looked up and thought, what in the name of hellfire is this about. He was a little taller them, with the weight of a comfortable man around his belt, a hairline that was lost in a pony tail and short, groomed beard. He was holding a pack of unfiltered camels.

My next thought was, yes I do want a smoke, but I have no time for this and I started to make small, polite chatter as one does. He listened and didn't say a word but watched me be uncomfortably polite when at last, after what in my memory seems to have been a great long while but was probably fairly fast, I saw his name tag. 

Gary Gygax.

He saw it immediately. My recognition and I'm sure laughed or smiled and I proceeded to exitadly come out from behind the ramshackle table and introduce myself with a firm handshake and eye contact as one does. He returned and said something about "the offer still stands" so I deserted Todd and wandered out the loading dock and sat down with Gary and we promptly began talking about history, a passion we both shared. I don't think we mentioned games or game design or publishing or our recent agreement once in that first sit down. It was really cool.

I later found out that he knew who I was, where we were and that I probably didn't know what he looked like, as he had run into Davis, my brother, on the same loading dock and they smoked together for awhile and Davis didn't know who he was either. Gary being a bit more astute had already figured this out.

I remember that smoke break. Him sitting in that chair, me sitting down a little from him just chatting like people do. It's a fond memory.

Next I'll talk about Gary's signing, at that table and the young lady he was so insanely gracious to.

This pic has nothing to do with Gary really, but it cracked me up as it is Davis and our first customer at that Gencon!

Gary Gygax and Shadows Along the Sidewalk

Gary Gygax and I worked together for about 8 years. We finished quite a few projects together, but there were so many more that he wanted to do. It always fascinated me, this seemingly never ending well spring of creative energy. Though we disagreed on an occasion or two, I always entertained the idea of publishing these many projects. But the volume of them was large and on an occasion or two he let me see through a window into his mind and where it all came from. Some of this he wrote down, and we published in the Crusader Journal, and lingers with me still.

We put on three Winter Dark cons in Lake Geneva. They were smaller shows, and had fewer Troll Lords at them (I can't say Trolls as i'm accustomed too because the internet changed the meaning of that word!). It was usually Mark Sandy and myself. I remember one year in particular, with a scant crew, and while staying a block or so over with Elisa Gygax, I was sitting chatting with Gary on the porch. 

Before I recount Gary's tale, I should note this memory in my mind merges with the story Gary told me and what was then, beyond the confines of his porch, laying the dark quiet of the snowy evening, jumbles with what his young mind, agile and full of worlds beyond, clouds my own memory. So forgive me any mishaps in what was and what was told.

It was rather cold outside and a fresh blanket of snow covered everything. We talked about this, because, for some reason, it was unusual for the January con, for there to be snow. My other journey's to Lake Geneva at that same time of year had seen little of it. But it was deathly quiet, shadows hung to everything, the street lights more yellow than not and almost no noise came to us through the winter's glass they put up around that huge wrap around porch on Madison Street.

As we sat there he began talking about his childhood in Lake Geneva. He talked about the game that he and his friends played, where they took on roles and acted out one heroic deed or the other. he had been living there since 46 or 47, having moved there when he was 8 or 9. We laughed about the antics and some of the other games they played and trouble they got into (there was a Judge somehow involved at one point  but I can't remember exactly what that was about).

As I commented in yesterday's blog about Gary, he had a soft, measured voice. It was one of an older man, who didn't have much reason to raise it. And as he mentioned the snow it seemed that the voice echoed the quiet outside and he began to spin this tale and though the particulars have slipped away, the imagery remains.

He was about 12 or some such. It was early 1950s and the movie The Thing From Another World had just come out. Gary and watched this terrifying movie about an alien creature found in the ice and brought back to life, that then turns on those who unlocked it from its frozen prison. Gary, barely old enough to comprehend the shadows of the unknown that always haunt the young, sat and watched this movie, clinging to popcorn in frozen hands as he took in all that unfolded before him.

When he left the theatre (I think alone, but if not, his friends soon left him), he did so into a cold, dark, night. He spoke of this terrifying journey from the theatre to his home. The haunts of dark places, holding shadows out of nightmare. Sounds without explanation that hounded him. Of attempts to fight the fearful monsters that pursued him. It seemed forever, this long sidewalks, tall hedges and stained yellow lights that never cast enough surety upon the darkness.

By the time he returned home, having fought demons out of mind, he was tired and exhausted but exhilarated.  

As he spun this tale, I could not help but see the shadows beneath the hedge, the dampening snow that both holds and hurls sound, and the frightened young man who braved it all on an adventure that had only just begun. This clearly left an impression on him and it clearly led him to all this that we enjoy.

It was a wonderful tale, and I remember the telling as much as the tale itself. 

He was a good story teller.

Be sure to check out Gary Gygax, Puns, and Me and Gary Gygax Bails out the Road Crew

Gary Gygax Bails Out the Road Crew

Be sure to read Gary Gygax, Puns & Me

Troll Lord Games fell together rather quickly back in 2000 and 2001 and Gary Gygax was a huge part of that. We debuted with a smattering of adventures and a world setting and soon after signed Gary to do the Gygaxian Fantasy World series: a collection of books for RPG enthusiasts and world builders. We eventually published 7 in the series, but there were at least another 4 in the queue he wanted to get out the door. There was so very much more. 

After Gencon moved to Indianapolis in 2003 or 04 or whatever year that was, there was a sudden deficit of cons in the Lake Geneva area. Gary was a little older and didn't care for long car rides so trekking to Indiana wasn't something he contemplated with any degree of joy. We had done a few shows in Little Rock and were musing on whether we should do more and then of course, the idea of doing one up in Gary's neck of the woods was floated. But before we could do anything a con was launched, GameFest, that promised to bring Gencon madness back to Milwaukee. 

We were all quite satisfied. This was the year we were releasing Gary Gygax's The Hermit (I loved this adventure, still one of his best). A monstrous tome of lists that any CK/DM/GM should have. Editing and laying it out alone made my vocab jump through the roof, something Gary found rather amusing. 

(Gary had this great way of smiling, that softened the lines of his face. It favored the one side of his mouth more than the other and involved no outlandish motions like myself or brother Davis have when we laugh. It was very comforting.)

So that summer Davis and I loaded up the truck and lumbered north to Gamefest. Peter Bradley, our artist at large, met us there as did Casey Christofferson (now with Frog God Games) and other folks. 

But  en route Davis and I got distracted at a variety of bars in East St. Louis and we discovered, as many have before us, and many will after, that money doesn't last nearly as long as one's appetite. So we plundered the Troll Lord Games till and spent it as well (we were very loose with money in those days).

Once our health returned we hit the road and continued our journey to Milwaukee. Scrambling, we got set up for Gamefest only to discover that someone had plundered the till. Memory served and we had to scramble to find cash. People were already meandering into the booth to buy the aforementioned World Builder and we had no way to get change. 

Well there was Gary. Sitting in his Hekaforge Booth (with Chris Clark) and so having no other options I went to borrow some from the GM DM. I told him our tale of woe and he smiled as it unfolded (there were more details there than I'll put here) and even chuckled a little, dug into his wallet and produced enough cash for us carry on, shaking his head, amused, all the while. It gave him quite a few laughs for the rest of the convention. 

I think he rather appreciated our unorthodox methods, they were so different than many companies he had dealt with before - though I know at times it drove him nuts. Our approach had an honesty of purpose that I think he appreciated and I found Gary himself, in all our dealings, to be scrupulously honest.

Gary Gygax, Puns, and Me

 As many may or may not know, Troll Lord Games was Gary Gygax's last publisher. We worked with him from 2001 until his passing in 2008. He and I talked almost daily and at conventions (we threw 7 for him up in Lake Geneva) we inevitably met for dinner or when in Lake Geneva, on his front porch in the evenings and afternoons and often at dinner. It was a fantastic 8 years, where I got to know the man who created Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and consulted on our own game of Castles & Crusades and who played such a pivotal role in creating such a gigantic gaming community that thrives today. 

For those who know me, they know I don't do puns. My brain sees things a little differently, more in concrete terms. Double entendre, puns, word play, most of it rolls right over me. It takes me a minute or so to catch up with the speaker. Gary, on the other hand, absolutely loved puns. It seems, to my memory, that he made a pun out of almost everything. He enjoyed word play. His vocabulary was massive and included many archaic terms, so he could have a lot of fun with a lot of words. 

Rare was the table conversation that didn't include some pun, spoken in his rather calm, almost soft voice, with focused gaze to see who would see his word play. 

It didn't take long for him to realize that I never got them. Or at least, I got them later than everyone else. 

We worked together all the time. Sometimes we agreed, sometimes we didn't. We talked movies and history as well, both of us enjoying each subject (books as well). He was clearly more experienced and knowledgeable than me, being very new to publishing, but he always deferred to me because it was my company (except once, he really insisted and was right in the end), he did this even when he knew I was wrong. (as a side note, he never gloated when I would tell him. "Well Gary, you were right...").

But once he discovered my weakness he enjoyed watching me squirm. It amused him, I suspect as much as his puns did! I remember distinctly sitting at the table, we were drinking a shot of that Serbian whiskey he loved so much, and he fixed my gaze and canted out some pun about something I can't remember. He was smiling before he finished it because he could see the wheels in my wheelhouse turning. I looked back at him trying to decipher the word play and it took me far too long.

All the while his eyes were patiently smiling. 

I absolutely loved working with Gary. 

Sales! Get your Digital On...

As you can see in some posted blogs after this one, we Trolls are once again going on the road.  We are headed to GaryCon in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  Steve and Tim are driving up today, and others are driving/flying/thumbing their way in.  Promises to be a fun time catching up with old friends and hopefully making new ones as well.

But while we are out and about, the shipping office suffers a bit.  Steve is second in line on shipping and therefore things slow down.  That's why we are trying to entice all of you -- that if you order this week -- you order digitally.  We've marked down everything in our digital category by 33% through Sunday starting now!

All you need do is go to our Digital Category and shop like mad.  Then use this coupon code at checkout:

GC33XH7S

And let us know what you think of the new layout as well in the store.  Should be streamlined somewhat, shorter steps to get to checkout.  

Have a great week and look here and on social media for tales from the road!

~ Tim & The Trolls 

 

Weapons, Weapons, and More Weapons

 

The upgrade of the Arms and Armor book is now starting. Like literally in as soon as I finish this blog post. I’ve been asking for ages and Stephen said ‘Sure.’ He was, incidentally, looking for a Dr Pepper while I was proposing a metric ton of projects so I am not sure he heard the proposal nor knew what he just said yes to. These types of meetings are my forte’. I blabber incoherently for a time, never listen to anyone, and come away with something I want. Even if no one else does. To wit the NPC Almanac went from @200 pages to @600. 😊

That said, the current book is @50 pages. When it is done it will be @150 pages. I say that not knowing how much I will really write and what subjects I care to tackle. So here are some issues that are of concern and how I might address them. If anyone can think of anything else, please let me know.

Simple/Complex: Weapons will be presented in simple for and more complex forms. Some players/CK have no need nor desire for complex damage systems. A quick d4, d6, etc. suffice perfectly well for their games. Complex rules will take into account the weapons function, size, make, etc. The latter are their to provide non-essential graininess but give players and CKs a reason to choose a weapon.

Damage: The baseline is that weapon’s damage has a limited range; 1-2 to 1-12. Doubling dice (ie. 2d6) and adding modifiers (ie a 1d4+1) are the only two methods of giving the weapon some unique nature. I intend to offer a simplification to the damage as well as several layers of complexity. The damage will be bounded by size (ie. medium sized weapons will be limited to a 1d8 and variations on that).  

Size: This one is weird and has yet to pass muster but, the larger the weapon the more damage output it shold be able to do. As an example, a 16-foot-tall giant wielding a giant’s mace will not do 1d8 damage. The damage output should be reflective of the size of its wielder and size of the weapon. 

Attribute Score and Utility: This would take maybe too much work, but I am thinking of adding strength and dexterity minimums to effectively use some weapons. A six foot long double bladed 12 pound battle axe requires strength to use effectively.

Unique Capacities: Many weapons have unique functions or are designed with several specific functions in mind. These include utility versus some type of armor, tripping, staying, disarming etc. I hope to brign some of those to the fore.

Types: This is where it will get really fun. Peter and I will be making a host of weapons from different races. Orcs, goblins, giants, centaurs, etc. will have unique weapon types reflective of a culture, enemies, and physical dynamics. This will be cool I think.

Armor: Armor will be managed in the same manner as weapons.

That, off the top of my head is where we are headed. I will keep everyone updated as we move along with this.

 

Word of the Day -- Gill

I get inspiration for the Words of the Day from a lot of places.  From merriam-webster, from wikipedia, from my inbox of word-genius and word-trivia.  But some of you might be surprised that I get a lot of my inspiration from the animated series Archer.  

It's a clever show.  From the campy,  clever comedy, to the irreverent humor.  Hidden in all that,   behind the slapstick humor, the silliness -- is a story told with intelligence, bite, and humor.  

 So I was watching an episode from early one, as I'm wont to do in the wee hours of the evening.  And Archer was being drained of his blood, specifically from a "gill" of his blood.  And I felt a tingle on my skin when I heard that, because I was about to come across a word that was rare, antiquated, interesting, and rare. 

Gill -- a measure of liquids containing one fourth of a standard pint.

It’s often mentioned in the Lewis and Clark journals that whiskey was rationed out by the gill or dram. Joseph Whitehouse wrote on June 9, 1805, “…the officers gave the party a dram, the fiddle played and they danced late &c…”

How much was a gill? The Oxford English Dictionary defines a gill as "a measure of liquids containing one fourth of a standard pint." Thus, at one-fourth of a pint, a gill equates to four ounces. With two pints to the quart and four quarts to the gallon, there are 32 gills to the gallon.  A fluid dram equals one-eighth of a fluid ounce (the equivalent to two average-size thimbles), so there would be 128 drams per pint and 1,024 drams per gallon. So, there are 32 drams in a gill.

Adventure Hooks in Aihrde

In writing material for the Barachian Coast in the world of Aihrde I try to include adventure hooks for the CK/DM/GM, so they have plenty run with. Here is a rough sample. The Hemland.

The Hemland is a small stretch of land between the Aratock Mountains and the sea. The land here is very fertile and sports deep grass that lasts much of the year. The grasses grows almost to the sea, coming to an end amost to the sea. Here long, narrow, and largely open and free of habitation guide the land beneath the waters of the Amber Sea. Dozens of small, low-lying islands, dot the shallow waters of the Hemland, creating the perfect environment for a rich harvest of fish. 

The Lace Road crosses the Hemland.

A small lake, Lake Theal, lies beneath the western eves of the mountains, between them and the sea. Here the Emperors built a massive palatial villa in days of old, nestled upon a series of ledges, overlooking the small lake and calm waters of the sea beyond. Abandoned during the Winter Dark, it stood seemingly empty, but in truth some of the Imperial family fled there, hiding from the wrath of the Horned God. There they lived in secret, until they died off. Though many believe they did not die off, but linger their stills, ancient relics to an ancient world, kept alive by elixers of health. Or their ghosts haunt the abandoned halls, hording what treasure they may. In any case, travelers on the Lace Road, avoid it as a haunted place, cursed by the gods.

Despite this, the Hemland is a peaceful area, well used by the peoples of New Aenoch.

Excerpts from teh Barachian Coast, an Aihrde expansion book.

Stone Upon Stone

 A castle seems a simple thing, stone stacked upon stone, but it is anything but simple. A fortress, that when planned with care and concern to details, becomes so very much more. 

The castle is a symbol of power and the wealth of the builder. When built overlooking the countryside it becomes a highly visible symbol, one that travelers from near and far must come to terms with. 

As a work of art it both adapts and adapts to the country around, the very rock it is built upon, allowing it to blend with the natural world like no modern structures can imagine. 

The home within the castle is protected from the vast array of dangers that stalk the night and as such gives the family, and all those within, a sense of security that both emboldens them and strengthens them, for their children do not grow up in fear, but live in security.

The castle as a repository for supplies against the coming storms, is unmatched. For her granaries and armories are well defended against poachers both bold and clever, and foolish.

The castle is a fortress, but it is so very much more... 

Coming soon: Halls of Wood, Halls of Stone for the Castles & Crusades Role Playing Game.

Distractions and the Fog of War

I was thinking more about combat in role-playing games in general. One of my ‘issues’ is that combat can seem static, organized, and managed to the point where it feels staged. I like combat to be chaotic, unpredictable, noisy, and for it never to quite go as planned. There are only few mechanical manners of doing this and every time I sit down to come up with a rule for managing chaos I have to stand back and laugh at myself for being an idiot. 

 

Create chaos with rules?! Why do I always think it can be done? I do continually try it with a confusing array of ad hoc decisions at the table, obstacles, and even one non-rule. Now, to this non-rule! I don’t really use initiative. I say I do and most times I encourage players to roll for initiative. Everyone seems to like rolling for initiative. It doesn’t really matter though, not really, not in the big picture of the combat. Initiative plays only a small role in the combat though it may appear otherwise.

Prior to initiating combat, I have all the players tell me what their characters are going to be doing in the upcoming round. Once a player has told me, their character has to follow through with that action no matter what else might be going on elsewhere in the combat. There is no changing of minds, redirecting attacks, or courses of action. The only function initiative serves is allowing me to orchestrate an order to who gets to roll first. That’s just a metagame necessity.

Occasionally this leads to some overkill, unnecessary actions, characters working at odds with one another, all manner shenanigans which cause not a small amount of hilarity at the table, and confusion. I appreciate the confusion the most. When a spell caster accidently traps half their party in a web spell, well, things get interesting at the table. Monsters are under the same restrictions as well, which adds even more ‘fog’ at the table.  

Now I just want to throw initiative out altogether and not even bother with it. I doubt that will happen but I will give a try and see what happens. I will ask everyone just announce what their characters are doing and we all start rolling dice to find out how the round ends. That sounds like a plan.

Oh and starting the five count again. Players will only have five seconds to decide what their characters are going to do.