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You give them the bear, give them some glorious moments of bear based potency. Then, then Some Fucker Steals Their Bear.
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Dec 3, 2017 23:24
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Pleads posted:Or if your players aren't big babies they go on a short wacky sidequest and form a bond with the thing for their struggles beyond "we paid money for Bigby" People don't form bonds with poo poo by having it dangled in front of them and then taken away, they grow attached to it by having it. Give them the bear, let them enjoy the benefits and then gently caress with it after they've gotten used to having it. Edit: What Maltose said.
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Dec 3, 2017 23:26
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Mr. Maltose posted:You give them the bear, give them some glorious moments of bear based potency. Then, then Some Fucker Steals Their Bear. Make sure the bear is trained in all aspects of war, as well, from strategy to peace negotiations.
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Dec 3, 2017 23:26
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See, if you take it before the party just had something they want stolen. If you wait, you've just totally kidnapped (bearnapped) a vital member of the party, who they love like family.
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Dec 3, 2017 23:28
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All good ideas, I have already said that it would cost more than they currently have, but I've sent them to the town market again as part of the main quest and I'll introduce them to the counterfeit war bear stall that they missed last time. They're just big lazy dogs with fake snouts  The legit war bear breeder will give them a discount if they run out the fake. Either way, the party gets a cool pet.
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Dec 4, 2017 01:06
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You realise you are now giving them not only a war bear but a whole bunch of big lazy dogs?
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Dec 4, 2017 02:18
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Eh, they're gonna run into a kraken soon, that can eat up the dogs.
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Dec 4, 2017 02:26
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Plot twist: the bear loves the dogs, and becomes the pack matron. Later when the PCs do something that doesn't quite align with the bear's strong sense of morality, it forms its own adventuring party with the dogs. They occasionally cross paths with the PCs, for better or for worse.
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Dec 4, 2017 02:31
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For money sinks, nothing works like a castle. It sounds like a terrible idea because adding a base building game on top of your RPG is a lot of work, but the trick is you don't really need it to be a base building game. You just need a list of what they've added over time, and use the story game conceit of if it's on the list, it's just true. Most of the time you won't really need to add any bonuses for it. Throw them the occasional +2 for a thing, or describe some improvement they've made as the reason they can do a particular thing and they should be happy. It's an endless source of subplot and drama too. Eventually of course some enemy will launch a major assault on it, but even then you don't need stats, just narrate how the improvements they made thwart one or another stratagem of the enemy. The players don't need to know you're just describing it and not comparing some numbers behind the screen. If possible do have one enemy scheme work because of something they didn't do, especially if they argued about it or if its a to-do list item they haven't gotten to yet. Then you can have an encounter of the PCs rushing into the breach and saving the day before the inevitable showdown on the ramparts. Special mounts and companions are also a great money sink, especially if they're more "cosmetic" and are the justification for an item-like bonus rather than really operating as their own creature with stats. Players are usually okay with this if you explain that it's so you can keep the power level reasonable and to minimize bookkeeping. In exchange, you are also telling them you aren't going to arbitrarily take their new toy away.
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Dec 4, 2017 02:36
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If you've given the party a bear and a bunch of dogs, you have your money sink. Those things need food. E: "Sorry, guys, it turns out the bear refuses to fight unless it gets fresh river trout after, and since you're so far away from any suitable fishing holes that stuff costs."
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Dec 4, 2017 02:38
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Bad Munki posted:Plot twist: the bear loves the dogs, and becomes the pack matron. Later when the PCs do something that doesn't quite align with the bear's strong sense of morality, it forms its own adventuring party with the dogs. They occasionally cross paths with the PCs, for better or for worse. Bear is adventuring, how can this be?!
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Dec 4, 2017 03:16
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alternatively, let them befriend the kraken 
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Dec 4, 2017 04:00
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The bear and the kraken begin competing for the PCs attention, hijinks ensue.
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Dec 4, 2017 04:16
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The counterfeit war bear breeder now stocks one big lazy dog with a paper snout tied on, a normal-sized cat with a round-eared headband and a cardboard cutout of a bear. If I'm going to allow shenanigans I'm going to go full hog. Ibblebibble fucked around with this message at 05:22 on Dec 4, 2017 |
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Dec 4, 2017 04:31
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The kraken is actually a bunch of lazy dogs in a kraken costume
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Dec 4, 2017 04:46
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Ibblebibble posted:All good ideas, I have already said that it would cost more than they currently have, but I've sent them to the town market again as part of the main quest and I'll introduce them to the counterfeit war bear stall that they missed last time. so goddam good
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Dec 4, 2017 04:54
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:The kraken is actually a bunch of lazy dogs in a kraken costume The kraken is actually another war bear, he is the PCs’ war bear’s arch nemesis, it all started when they were room mates back in war univURSAty
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Dec 4, 2017 05:34
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Bad Munki posted:univURSAty 
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Dec 4, 2017 06:35
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Comrade Gorbash posted:For money sinks, nothing works like a castle. I tend to go with whatever vehicle works in the setting and has the following traits: Big enough to live in, too big to easily hide in a town or city. At least as cool as the Millenium Falcon, HMS Surprise, Serenity, Queen Anne's Revenge, or Arcadia. Completely customizable so it's something they constantly spend money on.
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Dec 4, 2017 06:45
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The best part about vehicles is every time the party feels cool you can have a rival party show them up with THEIR cool vehicle. Party gets a wagon? Rivals have a gilded carriage. Party got a ship? Rivals fly by in their airship. Party gets an airship. Guess who pulls up in a straight up Spelljammer...
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Dec 4, 2017 07:14
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NinjaDebugger posted:Make sure the bear is trained in all aspects of war, as well, from strategy to peace negotiations.
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Dec 4, 2017 07:19
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Subjunctive posted:- who has blackmail material on the captain of the guard? On the subject, what are the primary organized crime elements in the city, why do they thrive, and what are their areas of interest?
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Dec 4, 2017 07:26
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Man, that sucks. Our party got to the end of LMoP and all we got was a TPK lol.
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Dec 4, 2017 12:07
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At what point can you slap players down for wanton silliness, especially if it's against the grain of the setting? Not to sound as much as a buzzkill as I actually am... Likewise, how do you differentiate between players doing silly stuff because it's awesome, and players doing silly stuff to see how much longer they can get away with it?
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Dec 4, 2017 13:17
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If you, or your players aren't having fun, talk to them about the issue, full stop. Don't try to push back on them in game, and don't look for any other red line beyond "is it fun for all of us?"
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Dec 4, 2017 13:21
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I'm not necessarily talking about not having fun. It might be that but that wouldn't have been my first point of call. I'm talking about insisting on having lasers in a strictly medieval setting, as one of the few things they're insisting on. And before you ask, that was the setting we agreed upon on game start.
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Dec 4, 2017 13:29
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Ibblebibble posted:All good ideas, I have already said that it would cost more than they currently have, but I've sent them to the town market again as part of the main quest and I'll introduce them to the counterfeit war bear stall that they missed last time. "Look, for the money you're offering me, you're not gonna get a trained war-bear. I'm gonna have to skimp on one of the three: the training, the war, or the bear. Which is it gonna be?"
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Dec 4, 2017 13:48
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OscarDiggs posted:I'm not necessarily talking about not having fun. It might be that but that wouldn't have been my first point of call. I'm talking about insisting on having lasers in a strictly medieval setting, as one of the few things they're insisting on. And before you ask, that was the setting we agreed upon on game start. No, there aren't any? None for sale, none to be found, none of the bits you would need to build one. So you're not saying there are no lasers full stop, but there's certainly none round here.
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Dec 4, 2017 14:29
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OscarDiggs posted:At what point can you slap players down for wanton silliness, especially if it's against the grain of the setting? Not to sound as much as a buzzkill as I actually am... I've had a lot of tone problems in my games. I felt like I got over the "do what you want and be super dumb in a DnD setting" thing after a year or two of playing/DMing but my players/friends didn't. I spent a looonnngggg time (like 5 years) trying to find a happy medium where the games were serious enough that I could scratch my hyper nerd itch and they could still enjoy themselves I'm just gonna kinda word vomit here a little from personal experience and you can take from it what you want Obviously talking to players is where you always start, but my problem extended further than this, and I'm sure yours will too. Since players all agree "yeah dude, more serious is great!" then 15 seconds later can't help themselves And all my friends admitted they slipped back into silly, but actually wanted to avoid it, because it's both a safety net and a self propelling thing. For one there's this kinda social pressure on people at the table to do something cool and edgy, which 99% of the time comes off as dumb and silly. Like "I stab the dude with my sword" is exactly what your dude would actually do, he'd not "get down on all fours, roar like a lion, do a triple backflip, kick the guy in the balls revealing leopard print pants" And the second point is once one person starts, everyone else wants to join in on the silliness, since that first person set the tone For the most part I solved this with a combination of the following: 1. Reading this book Specifically "What's obvious to you is surprising to other people. What's surprising to you makes no sense to other people" because that was like a light switch in my head as a GM and player. Once I shared that with my players it made a big difference My players started pulling of cool stunts after they realised that. Like going to stab a dude in scale mail between his armour plates with a dagger or going for the exposed legs on a guy in plate 2. Setting the mood, by using music, props, ambient lighting (this is an IRL game)... Anything that pulls the players into the game/setting is another anchor for them to help avoid sailing away to laser cannon land. Like, your players won't be asking for lasers if you give them a really loving awesome crossbow. They definitely won't if you hand them A REAL CROSSBOW 3. Culling the problem players. This was kinda specific to my game, but I had two players who were really really messing with the tone of the game because they embraced... madness. It got to a point I had to ask them to leave since (at least) I wasn't having fun when they contributed. They now have their own game now and I have mine, so it's worked out OK There's probably more, but those were the big ones for me in trying to set tone As for your actual question, it's something you need to sort out of game and not in the middle of a session, cos that's a no no. And never, ever try to solve any player issue with in-game solutions. Because it never works That's my 2 cents at least, I'm not really sure how personal this advice is, but I hope you (or someone else) can take something from it
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Dec 4, 2017 15:02
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That's solid advice. The problem with the "haha so random!" humor thing is, well, most of the time it's not actually funny. Surrealistic humor seems like the easy mode since you do whatever you want, but it's actually really difficult to pull off well. Plus the surreal, over the top aspects that are cool usually aren't meant to just be funny. Take works like Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Kill 6 Billion Demons, or Adventure Time. They work with surreal and over the top elements because they commit to them - the ancient psychic tandem war elephant becomes an actual plot and even shows up again later as an occasionally recurring character. On top of that, it's a rare case where it violates the "let characters do cool things" from the PC side of the table. Because the goofy tone breaking stuff isn't the character doing something cool, it's making fun of the idea of doing something cool. It's supposed to be laughed at by the players and remind everyone you're playing a game, to highlight that it's made up. That isn't inherently a bad thing, there's a lot of fun mileage to be had from that. But if it's not what the group agreed to then it makes it so none of the cool stuff the other players want to do works. It's also often self-directed, with players coming up with jokey things because they're worried about seeming to care too much about this game. Having people laugh at something you legitimately think is cool kind of sucks, so sometimes you'll make up something that's a dumb parody of cool things so the laughter is built in. So it comes down to - is this being introduced because the players think it'd actually be a cool addition to the world, or because they're undercutting themselves or others at the table? If it's the latter then even if it's funny in the moment, it's going to make things less fun overall. If it's the former, then it's something to work with.
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Dec 4, 2017 15:34
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These are both very good pieces of advice and help articulate things for me way beyond what I had thought of myself. Thanks a bunch.
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Dec 4, 2017 15:42
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This is part of the reason why I was reconsidering hinting to my players about the war bear. I'm not entirely sure if it would fit the tone I was going for, but hopefully the players will treat it as less goofy and more cool. I don't mind some sillier character moments (inevitable because our gnome bard is at this point a walking stack of hats and sunglasses), but I'm aiming for a slightly more serious tone for the overarching story and hope the players would peg onto that over time. Hopefully the overrun laboratory they're about to be shoved into helps them put on the semi-serious hats even with a bear about.
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Dec 4, 2017 18:02
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OscarDiggs posted:I'm not necessarily talking about not having fun. It might be that but that wouldn't have been my first point of call. I'm talking about insisting on having lasers in a strictly medieval setting, as one of the few things they're insisting on. And before you ask, that was the setting we agreed upon on game start. Isn't this Krull? Why do you hate Krull?
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Dec 4, 2017 22:01
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Moriatti posted:Why do you hate Krull? The man has raisins in his braincase.
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Dec 4, 2017 22:05
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I'm running a call of Catthulu two-session game this and next Saturday to give our regular GM a nice HolidaY Break. I think I want the set-up to be that they all live in an apartment complex and that a person who doesn't own or care for cats (maybe has a dog?) Has an ornament on His christmas tree that`s causing Weird poo poo to happen. I'd love some suggestions for weird poo poo that would be appropriate for a party of cats to deal with. I'm thinking that a toys come to life scenario is good and also having food be the wrong texture might also be fun. Any suggestions?
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Dec 6, 2017 19:00
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Not knowing the system, every time they fail a roll or whatever to spot a detail have a cucumber materialize right behind someone. Never explain why or how this is happening.
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Dec 6, 2017 20:09
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Lots of moving red dots
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Dec 6, 2017 20:12
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Moriatti posted:I'm running a call of Catthulu two-session game this and next Saturday to give our regular GM a nice HolidaY Break. You could give the cats a job. Off the top of my head, something like protecting souls from evil spirits that would steal them from people. Like in that awful anthology film, Cat's Eye. Maybe the ornament is cursed and they have to destroy it before everyone in the apartment building becomes soulless? The guy's dog could be a hellhound. Alternately, steal a page from Cats. The Cats are given a task by the Cat King, and if they succeed he'll take them to Cat Heaven..
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Dec 7, 2017 02:50
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Falstaff posted:You could give the cats a job. Off the top of my head, something like protecting souls from evil spirits that would steal them from people. Like in that awful anthology film, Cat's Eye. Maybe the ornament is cursed and they have to destroy it before everyone in the apartment building becomes soulless? The guy's dog could be a hellhound. Yeah, that's kinda the default setting, though I'd like most of the physical creatures they interact with to just be unaware of all this spiritual stuff that's only visible to cats. I definitely want the ornament to be Bad Magic. That's the overall end plan, I was just trying to crowd source some fun encounters for a part of all-cat PCs.
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Dec 7, 2017 04:12
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Have them encounter an old animal of some kind, who talks at great length about "The Beast." The longer they talk to and indulge his tales, the more apparent it should become that instead of talking about a shoggoth or something ("it's appetite was never sated! It devoured everything in it's way, sparing nothing!!!",) he's talking about a roomba. Two encounters later, have them encounter what initially seems like a roomba, but is in fact a shoggoth.
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Dec 7, 2017 04:29
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