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Dienes posted:My players are taking a detour to a fey spa, where the nefarious estranged sister of the rogue happens to work. What are some ways for sister to mess with our group? Slips in extra fees & charges to their overall bill leaving them in debt would be a kinda silly/funny thing to do imho
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Nov 18, 2022 09:22
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Nefarious Spa Worker Sister is known to be Nefarious, I assume, which is why she does... nothing One PC's hair color gets changed, but the sister was nowhere nearby; it's just that the attendant handling the coloring kits was a little sloppy and mislabeled one of them. Don't worry, the treatment is on the house and we'll throw in a free hot stone massage! The hot stones burn another PC and give them blotchy patches on their skin that will take weeks to fade. But again, the sister wasn't involved! The fey spa attendants just thought the PC was made of sterner stuff, is all. The depilatory cream accidentally gets applied to the Barbarian, leaving his skin baby-smooth and soft, but there's no malice involved, that's just the style in the southlands this season... and so on. Nefarious Spa Worker Sister doesn't do anything to the PCs - except for not warning them about the meatheads she works with. She doesn't have to. Because when the PCs inevitably make a scene and accuse her? And she can prove her innocence? And the local clerics can too, so now a literal Divine Judgment says the PCs are wrong and kinda jerks for accusing her? That's all the evil plan she needs. The added fees and surcharges that will get added to the PCs' bill will find their way into her pocket, and all she had to do was look suitably nefarious. Heck, if she plays her cards right she might even handle the situation so well that her bosses promote her to management...
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Nov 19, 2022 02:22
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What do I do now? In my not-Siberia Rolemaster campaign, the PCs have set up shop in a mining town that has a not-KKK sect that is racist against mages with witchcraft met with kidnappings followed by lynchings and burnings miles away from town. The grand wizard of the Hoods is the second-in-command of the city watch which gives the Hoods semi-legitimacy as the Captain of the Guard is old and ineffective. There is a group that helps wizards by arranging sham trials and the witch is then fed a brew that “cures” the witch of their ability to do magic but actually makes them theatrically sick for 24 hours after which they recover fully. This happened to one of my PCs after she publicly used magic and has since been “cured”. The problem arises after this PC publicly humiliated the Grand Wizard who subsequently ordered the Hoods for her death. She was subsequently kidnapped and carried out of town and, in a series of events that I hadn’t planned on (using spells in really cool ways), got free and slaughtered 2/3 of the crowd, including the Grand wizard. The issue is that some of the folks will escape back to town. What will they do? If they say “PC is still a wizard!” This exposes the whole farce of mages being cured and puts the whole group of “mage-savers” at risk but leaves them open to charges of kidnapping and murder and being racist assholes. If the surviving Hoods do nothing, then the Second in Command of the Watch is missing (as well as a dozen or so civilians) with no real witnesses. Where do I take this? Agrikk fucked around with this message at 03:41 on Nov 19, 2022 |
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Nov 19, 2022 03:38
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The wizard's cult of evil magic users (the party) has come to save her, they've murdered the grand wizard and are coming to attack the town! They were all secret wizards in disguise and they want us dead for our holy way of life and for revenge for curing the wizard!
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Nov 19, 2022 04:04
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Is your PC the spellcasting type of wizard or the racism type of wizard. Does the potion cure racism?
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Nov 19, 2022 08:25
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Obviously the PC got their identical twin to take the potion, and then went to get revenge on a totally innocent local political group. This is obviously a flimsy lie... until the twin sister shows up and start badmouthing the PC. I don't know if it is a gullible doppleganger, the vengeful spirit stepping its game up with a willing victim, or just a Hood with a hat of disguise and a willingness to fight fire with fire. Or you could play up the changeling angle. The PC was hiding their true identity all along. The person who took the potion was a formerly poor peasant who agreed to let the PC use their identity as a disguise. The Hoods will be happy to take the PC's "mask" off if the townsfolk would just hand them over... A less dramatic version would have the spirit pick off almost all of the escaping Hoods. The last one gets into town just long enough to tell the townsfolk whodunnit.
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Nov 19, 2022 10:27
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Rutibex posted:Is your PC the spellcasting type of wizard or the racism type of wizard. Does the potion cure racism? The PC is a spellcasting wizard who got kidnapped by a group of anti-wizard racists called the Hoods who are led by the Second-in-Command of the City Watch (loosely based on Imperial wizard Sam Roper). The potion is a sham. It makes anyone who drinks it violently sick for 24 hours after which there is a full recovery. FWIW: this whole subplot originated from this image (hosting mine): 
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Nov 19, 2022 17:58
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Agrikk posted:The PC is a spellcasting wizard who got kidnapped by a group of anti-wizard racists called the Hoods who are led by the Second-in-Command of the City Watch (loosely based on Imperial wizard Sam Roper). The potion is a sham. It makes anyone who drinks it violently sick for 24 hours after which there is a full recovery. Sorry I was confused because the anti-wizard leader also calls himself a wizard
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Nov 19, 2022 18:01
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Rutibex posted:Sorry I was confused because the anti-wizard leader also calls himself a wizard You can distinguish between them easily by noting that the anti-wizard leader calls themself a Grand Wizard.
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Nov 19, 2022 18:15
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Oldsrocket_27 posted:The wizard's cult of evil magic users (the party) has come to save her, they've murdered the grand wizard and are coming to attack the town! They were all secret wizards in disguise and they want us dead for our holy way of life and for revenge for curing the wizard! if a large group of hoods have been wiped out, you could play it that the survivors are a mix of those too scared to reveal themselves (who will fade away and pretend they were never members, if allowed) and/or those who always wanted to reveal themselves but were held in check by the hoods' leader (who will now attempt a violent coup in order to avenge their leader and seize visible control of the town).
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Nov 19, 2022 18:28
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Oldsrocket_27 posted:The wizard's cult of evil magic users (the party) has come to save her, they've murdered the grand wizard and are coming to attack the town! They were all secret wizards in disguise and they want us dead for our holy way of life and for revenge for curing the wizard! Krul posted:i second this explanation. sometimes, the only way to make sense of a lie (when revealed) is to blame the people doing the revealing. "the cure worked, but now we're being attacked by the kidnapped wizard's evil allies!!" or "the cure must not have worked because the kidnapped wizard had her magic cruelly preserved by the other wizards in her circle!!" This is great. I'd fallen into the trap of believing that the racist assholes would behave logically. But if I eschew reason on their part then anything is possible! Aliens from Hangar 51! Communists! Evil sorcerers! Duergar! Winter Elves! The Boogeyman! I'm envisioning a parade of Hoods marching down Main Street, holding banners memorializing the Grand Wizard and the slain Hoods, in a display that polarizes the town into anti-wizards and everyone else. With the PCs stuck in the middle, of course. Agrikk fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Nov 19, 2022 |
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Nov 19, 2022 19:15
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Agrikk posted:I'd fallen into the trap of believing that the racist assholes would behave logically See, if they were logical, they wouldn't be racist assholes Never be afraid to have your bad guys be dumbasses, because very often being a dumbass is a big part of the reason why they're bad guys
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Nov 20, 2022 04:59
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:Never be afraid to have your bad guys be dumbasses, because very often being a dumbass is a big part of the reason why they're bad guys Also rational enemies are way more predictable than real people are.
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Nov 20, 2022 05:05
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Some evil plans can only succeed because a dumb guy thought of it and is carrying it out. A smarter villain would have seen all the holes in the plan and lost the element of surprise over thinking things.
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Nov 20, 2022 05:09
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Dameius posted:Some evil plans can only succeed because a dumb guy thought of it and is carrying it out. A smarter villain would have seen all the holes in the plan and lost the element of surprise over thinking things. Most gang and cartel violence works like this.
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Nov 20, 2022 06:22
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Dameius posted:Some I was running a BattleTech campaign back in the day in which the PCs were running a mercenary regiment. There was a pirate by the name of Redjack Ryan who was notoriously difficult to catch due to his infiltration of most of the Inner Sphere armies. One session started with one of my players deciding that the Regiment should hunt down and destroy Ryan's Rebels during what we called "the pizza decision" due to the decision being made while the players and I were eating pizza. Because the decision was so ad-hoc and the move so sudden, the PCs caught the pirate flat-footed and destroyed him. If they'd done any amount of planning at all, surely the pirate would have discovered their intentions, crawled into a hole, and pulled it in after him but no. So yeah. Some call it dumb, others call it brilliant.
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Nov 20, 2022 07:38
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I actually have a good example of this in a little backstory I wrote for one of my campaign villains. Guys not exactly a mastermind, but he is very dangerous all the same. Kor, Taker of Widows  Kor was the son of Gor, chieftain of the Agarians, a barbarian tribe in the region of the world known as the “Barbarian Lands”. Growing up, Kor was willing to do anything to prove his strength. By the time he was fourteen, he was already a fearsome warrior, favoring the greataxe. As a young man, Kor became the chief war leader and enforcer for his father. He led many raids on other tribes especially against their mortal enemies the Terveri. Soon after Kor grew into manhood, Gor arranged a bride for his son. He was to marry Thesna, daughter of Eretil, chieftain of the Franes, for the price of seven cows. Shortly after making this arrangement Gor passed away peacefully in his sleep and was honored with a great feast. Kor was still mourning his father’s death when he learned that Eretil had broken his promise to marry his daughter Thesna to Kor. He was instead planning to marry her to Agaric, chieftain of the Terveri. Kor gathered his warriors and led a raid into the great hall of the Franes, killing many as they slept. Eretil awoke in time to meet Kor in battle, but the old chieftain was brutally defeated by the powerful Kor. Kor brought Thesna and Ilva, the widow of Eretil, out naked before his warriors. Kor boldly declared that he was “Kor, Taker of Widows''. He and his warriors plundered all the gold and treasures of the Franes, including their livestock and returned to their homes rich in the spoils of their conquest. When the Terveri heard news of this conquest, Agaric came to confront Kor. He entered Kor’s great hall demanding that he release Thesna and give her to him as Eretil had promised. He demanded that Kor release Ilva as well. In response, Kor had his warriors butcher Agaric's men. Kor’s warriors disarmed him and restrained Agaric. Kor then told Agaric that he was going to “cut off his head and drink from his skull” as he decapitated him with one fell swing of his greataxe. Kor rallied his warriors and plundered the Terveri of their women, treasures and livestock. The few Terveri warriors that remained to resist them were disheartened by the loss of their chieftain and surrendered. Kor had each man executed and razed the Terveri village to the ground. Kor, now confident in his supremacy, adopted an ox skull mask as a symbol of his strength. He pillaged neighboring tribes forcing them to pay tribute to treasure, livestock and daughters. Kor, Taker of Widows, is now one of the most feared chieftains in the Barbarian Lands known far and wide for his strength and brutality.
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Nov 20, 2022 08:22
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It would be meaner if he had them marry first. Kor is very mean, I like hating him!
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Nov 20, 2022 16:08
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Is there a cthulhu rpg thread?
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Nov 20, 2022 16:15
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kneelbeforezog posted:Is there a cthulhu rpg thread?
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Nov 20, 2022 18:08
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Admiralty Flag posted:If there were, it'd be a d10/d100 SAN loss for reading the whole thing, but you'd learn valuable spells like Summon/Bind Shitpost and Call Mod.
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Nov 20, 2022 18:17
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My player's entitled noble paladin managed to really annoy the major What are some fun but so far harmless ways this could pop up in the future? I figure the party should have the option escalate or de-escalate the situation, they're only lvl2. The guild only met the paladin and the druid from the party, and notably not our rogue with bonkers sleight of hand, persuasion, and the stated goal of being the greatest thief to walk the earth. I kind of want to set up an opportunity for the players to have sort of information shell game with who is and isn't in the party to try and play the guild in the future and protect our rogue as a "freelance investigator" from guild pressure and compete for jobs.
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Dec 4, 2022 17:36
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Oldsrocket_27 posted:My player's entitled noble paladin managed to really annoy the major News gets around that a golden chalice has been stolen from the home of an important family in the city. They have reputedly issues a statement that the chalice must be returned in the next 24 hours, they say, or there will be severe consequences. The paladin finds something stashed in her belongings. What does she do? (Unbeknownst to your players, the chalice was never actually stolen, and isn't even real gold - this is a prank being played on them by the league out of revenge, to make them sweat. If the paladin comes to them for help, and apologises, then they'll consider the matter settled. But also there is the possibility for this to go horribly wrong, in ways the league perhaps has not considered.) EDIT: the League doesn't know you have an aspiring "greatest thief to walk the earth" in your party, for example, who might suggest something very stupid like breaking into the family's house to put the chalice back without anyone being any the wiser.
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Dec 4, 2022 18:08
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The guild has learned of a young thief with aspirations to greatness, and they make contact with said thief (who is, of course, the rogue PC). They want him to prove he's got chops, and present him with a test; pass it, and he gets a guild "association," with the associated perks that might command - not joining the guild, but being known as a valued friend and associate, the guild's fences will work with you, that kind of thing. The test is, naturally, to humiliate the dwarven noble that they don't know the rogue actually knows and adventures with. Things like "sneak sneezing powder into the noble's breakfast" or "steal apples from a fruit stand, plant them on the dwarf, and then the shopkeeper - who's one of our guys - will loudly accuse him of stealing," that kind of stuff. Ultimately harmless, but very, very annoying. Then let your players decide whether they want to lean into that with the shell game of playing "no we're not friends" with the guild, or whether the rogue doesn't want to make the paladin that miserable for the sake of a gain, since they have to actually live and travel together.
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Dec 4, 2022 20:41
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An endless stream of yes-men grifters with exciting business opportunities and expert advice on how a dwarven noble can really capitalize on their station in this human city.
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Dec 4, 2022 21:09
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"If you find my missing (thing or pet) please find me at (Paladin's lodgings) and ask for (Paladin's name)" signs start popping up all over the city. Clueless folks who just want to help start popping in at all hours of the day. "Freelance" thieves who know that this is a signal that this particular dwarf is fair game show up all night.
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Dec 4, 2022 23:22
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Any DMs out there that like making custom content for their game, you should check out ChatGPT! Its free for now so use it before they make a paywall. If you ask it correctly it will generate pretty much any D&D content you want. For example to make new spells simple speak these words of power:quote:A design for a advanced dungeons and dragons spell. Including Spell Name, Spell Level, Spell School, Casting Time, Spell Duration, Material Components, Spell Description, and Flavor Text: https://chat.openai.com/chat once it has the basic format of a spell in its memory you can ask it for new things like "please give me an 8th level spell in the school of conjuration" or "Please make a spell called "Supreme Donuts Dunk". Some examples: quote:Spell Name: Castle Keeper's Touch quote:Spell Name: Brew Master's Blessing quote:Spell Name: Flea's Folly quote:Spell Name: Summon Sea Vessel quote:Spell Name: Song of the Siren quote:Spell Name: Summon Beholder quote:Spell Name: Summon Vampiric Ally
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Dec 6, 2022 02:22
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Uhhh, holy poo poo.
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Dec 6, 2022 02:29
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Generate a Dungeons and Dragons 5e level 1 character with backstory, race, class, age, height, weight, and starting equipment.quote:Character Name: Esmerelda quote:Character Name: Aric Sunshadow Generate a Dungeons and Dragons 5e level 10 character with backstory, race, class, features, feats, spells if applicable, age, height, weight, and starting equipment. quote:Here is a level 10 character for Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition: Holy poo poo indeed
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Dec 6, 2022 03:22
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You can take that character and ask it to DM a game for you, if you want. It can play either the DM or a player. Last night a few of my players didn't show and we had to cancel the game. So I started feeding the room descriptions from the module into the AI, and it played through the entire dungeon 
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Dec 6, 2022 04:40
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Be careful, though.
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Dec 6, 2022 08:56
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Whybird posted:Be careful, though. lol yeah it takes output from the chat and uses it to inform the next response. That's why its important that the first spell it creates has every element of a D&D spell. If it spits out a spell without a casting time then it will just keep forgetting to include a casting time.
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Dec 6, 2022 14:06
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Rutibex posted:You can take that character and ask it to DM a game for you, if you want. It can play either the DM or a player. Last night a few of my players didn't show and we had to cancel the game. So I started feeding the room descriptions from the module into the AI, and it played through the entire dungeon Jumping in here from the AI thread, but has anyone tied this to a voice yet. I want it to DM my next session for us.
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Dec 6, 2022 17:00
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AgentHaiTo posted:Jumping in here from the AI thread, but has anyone tied this to a voice yet. I want it to DM my next session for us. This sounds like a terrible idea. Let us know how it goes.
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Dec 6, 2022 17:55
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Yeah the AI is too slow to manage that. It would also get confused with multiple people trying to speak to it. Its pretty much only good for solo games right now. Its a great tool for a DM though, if you want to generate something on the fly
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Dec 6, 2022 17:58
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Rutibex posted:Yeah the AI is too slow to manage that. It would also get confused with multiple people trying to speak to it. Its pretty much only good for solo games right now. That's cool, I'll run it thru some solo games and use it to steal ideas.
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Dec 6, 2022 19:19
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Hey, question for the group. I’m playing an arcane trickster in a game and we were having a discussion about hide and spellcasting. I used a turn to Hide then cast a spell, which my DM wanted to counterspell. She had me role a stealth check and the creature rolled perception. The creature hit a natural 20 so unfortunately counterspelled me. I like this resolution and probably would’ve succeeded if she didn’t crit, but I’m curious to what others in the thread think about this situation? Would you let a spell cast from a hidden player be countered?
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Dec 17, 2022 05:24
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Stealth v perception is a good way to do it.
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Dec 17, 2022 05:30
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Wangsucker 69 posted:Hey, question for the group. I’m playing an arcane trickster in a game and we were having a discussion about hide and spellcasting. I used a turn to Hide then cast a spell, which my DM wanted to counterspell. She had me role a stealth check and the creature rolled perception. The creature hit a natural 20 so unfortunately counterspelled me. I like this resolution and probably would’ve succeeded if she didn’t crit, but I’m curious to what others in the thread think about this situation? Would you let a spell cast from a hidden player be countered? The point you seem to be raising is ... should an NPC be able to roll a perception check without taking the search action instead of simply using its passive perception score. It's a really good question! It's also regarding a portion of D&D rules that is unfortunately fairly ambiguous. I personally would have contested your stealth roll with the passive perception of the NPC, but I absolutely can see why the DM would have wanted to make a contest of the casting. I do disagree with the DMs decision and would have had it not happen if the PCs stealth roll beat the NPCs passive perception if they didn't take a search action. Ginger Beer Belly fucked around with this message at 06:24 on Dec 17, 2022 |
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Dec 17, 2022 06:18
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On the one hand, from an action economy perspective, if you use one action to hide and another on the following turn to cast your spell, I think it's only fair that the opponent should have to go look for you before they can use their reaction to counterspell. On the other, loud verbal components kind of work against any attempt to hide so giving the opponent a reroll on their reaction seems fine? The D&D stealth rules are a bit of a mess. I would have ruled that when you hid, you should have rolled Dexterity (Stealth) once and recorded the result. I would have secretly compared that to the passive Perception score of the enemy. I would not have made the enemy go Search for you, because you're clearly trying to set up something cool. On your next turn, when you cast the spell, I would only have counterspelled if you failed your original stealth check. The main thing to keep in mind here is that repeated rolls are the devil, because they increase the difficulty exponentially. If you need to first roll to hide and then roll to cast the spell, your combined odds of success are very low. The same goes for climb checks. Siivola fucked around with this message at 08:52 on Dec 17, 2022 |
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Dec 17, 2022 08:44
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