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I like the Ravenloft one. I'd recommend them.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 02:38 |
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# ? Jun 3, 2024 18:43 |
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Well the Legend of Drizzt and Ravenloft games have the rulebooks as a pdf and a how to play video so I can learn about how the game is likely to be. Edit: Link for what we are talking about for the new page http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/board-games/temple-elemental-evil
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 02:39 |
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I own Ashardalon, my wife owns Drizzt and my friend has the Ravenloft one. They're all fun boardgames and you get a crapload of fairly decent minis with them that work nicely as D&D minis, as well as the actual dungeon tiles that are all kinds of useful if you play any RPGs that use grid rules.MonsterEnvy posted:WoTC technically never did announce the product that was a 3rd party. I suspect we're going to hear "it was a third party product so we had no control over its release" a lot in the next few years. This makes twice in what, 6 months? Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 03:10 on Jan 21, 2015 |
# ? Jan 21, 2015 02:58 |
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I don't have any of those three, but I do have Conquest of Nerath, and it's awesome.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 03:05 |
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Lords Of Waterdeep is also good fun. The theme is nearly absent*, but sending all the "The forest is full of gnolls again and we need it to not be. Run an ad that says something like We need like 5 fighters 2 clerics and a wizard for a short-term contract. We are not expecting to re-employ you at contract's end." *It's a good fun game, with a D&D logo on it. Not having a single clue what Waterdeep is or indeed what Dungeons & Dragons is will have no effect on your enjoyment of the game. Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 03:23 on Jan 21, 2015 |
# ? Jan 21, 2015 03:17 |
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AlphaDog posted:I own Ashardalon, my wife owns Drizzt and my friend has the Ravenloft one. They're all fun boardgames and you get a crapload of fairly decent minis with them that work nicely as D&D minis, as well as the actual dungeon tiles that are all kinds of useful if you play any RPGs that use grid rules. I phrased that incorrectly. Some site just advertised them, then ENworld found the pictures and synopsis. Anyway what do you mean by twice in six months. Because it still looks like we are getting content. Just it will be in the adventure and a PDF instead of another book. Also Lords of Waterdeep does sound fun from your description.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 03:35 |
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MonsterEnvy posted:Anyway what do you mean by twice in six months. Maybe referring to the app that got shitcanned.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 03:36 |
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Generic Octopus posted:Maybe referring to the app that got shitcanned. The message coming out of their failed Kickstarter was the most passive-aggressive thing ever quote:First, we need to assess whether the gaming community has a real interest in our technology. The response to our Kickstarter is part of that answer - and I won't deny that the role player in me will be disappointed if we don't fund. quote:Not pledging is telling the industry that you are happy with the status quo.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 03:40 |
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MonsterEnvy posted:I phrased that incorrectly. Some site just advertised them, then ENworld found the pictures and synopsis. If the book was never planned for release, how come it has an ISBN? I'm not arguing that it wasn't a third-party product, just that it was clearly planned to be released as a book. And yeah, twice in six months, or did you already forget the app? Speaking of which, what do everyone think the chances are they we're going to see an official tool for online play, or even just a character builder? I thought it was originally supposed to be available on release? dwarf74 posted:No link, just this... It's in this: http://edelweiss-assets.abovethetreeline.com/RH/uploads/RHBlueClientSpring15.pdf if that's what you're referring to. Also here: http://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/9780786965779/wizards-of-the-coast/adventurers-hdbk http://www.archambault.ca/wizards-rpg-team-adventurers-handbook-ACH003604124-en-pr https://bnccatalist.ca/ViewTitle.aspx?id=1556547 Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 04:32 on Jan 21, 2015 |
# ? Jan 21, 2015 04:18 |
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AlphaDog posted:If the book was never planned for release, how come it has an ISBN? I'm not arguing that it wasn't a third-party product, just that it was clearly planned to be released as a book. Yes it was planned to be released but at some point it was shut down. However WoTC is technically right they did not cancel it given that they never announced it in the first place. Still it still appears we will be getting the material from the book so I am not going to complain. Especially now that it's free. As the for the App they straight up shut it down apparently they were not satisfied with the progress or the time Trapdoor was making with it. They apparently have plans but have not said anything. It appears Hero Lab may get to take it's place. As for it being available on release. I am pretty certain they never said that. MonsterEnvy fucked around with this message at 05:48 on Jan 21, 2015 |
# ? Jan 21, 2015 04:39 |
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Any game not having digital tools in TYOL2015 is a total headshaker to me
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 04:51 |
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MonsterEnvy posted:As for it being available on release. I am pretty certain they never said that. The following quote is from Morningstar's original release page: quote:All the latest D&D adventures and content will be available to download as they are released, simultaneously with the physical versions. Holy poo poo the fervor with which you defend this game I wouldn't be surprised to find out that you're Mearls himself.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 04:58 |
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MonsterEnvy posted:Yes it was planned to be released but at some point it was shut down. However WoTC is technically right they did not cancel it given that they never announced it in the first place. Still it still appears we will be getting the material from the book so I am not going to complain. Especially now that it's free. And really? A 160 pg pdf? I somehow doubt it.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 04:59 |
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IT BEGINS posted:I don't understand what you mean here. Everything on your character sheet provides a measure of narrative control. That's, like, the point of role-playing, is it not? I mean, I dont run things that way, but I have played in campaigns where people have done things that way.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 05:15 |
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MonsterEnvy posted:Yes it was planned to be released but at some point it was shut down. However WoTC is technically right they did not cancel it given that they never announced it in the first place. A third party product that was cancelled, presumably by the third party. WotC can say "we didn't cancel this or even announce it" and be technically correct. That's exactly what I originally said, yes. I also said "I suspect we're going to hear this a lot". I take issue with the way that they're trying to imply that they have no control over what these 3rd parties do. MonsterEnvy posted:Still it still appears we will be getting the material from the book so I am not going to complain. Especially now that it's free. We're getting a free ~160 page pdf? Sweet! MonsterEnvy posted:As the for the App they straight up shut it down apparently they were not satisfied with the progress or the time Progress was making with it. They apparently have plans but have not said anything. It appears Hero Lab may get to take it's place. As for it being available on release. I am pretty certain they never said that. What? Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 05:28 on Jan 21, 2015 |
# ? Jan 21, 2015 05:19 |
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moths posted:The problem is that it's always bullshit to let a player roll and hope he gets low so it's not the DM's fault you have to follow the script, the dice just didn't work out. 100% yes! This is exactly what I set out to prevent in Strike! When a player rolls, either they get what they want or there's a Twist and the situation changes. There is no "nice try, but you're still on the same railroad" result. If a player wants to negotiate a lower price on a room and I don't want to make that a big deal, I can just "say yes". If I ask for a roll, then there will be some stakes. The player might get the reduced rate, and may or may not end up owing a favor, or there might be a Twist and then I have to think of something more interesting than "nope." VVVVVVVVVVV And this post below me is why Strike has no target numbers. Setting target numbers has always been bullshit. The only games where I've found it acceptable are Burning Wheel and Mouse Guard, because they provide sample target numbers for every skill. Even then, I find it burdensome. Having to set difficulties as a GM is perhaps my biggest complaint about Fate. (Note: I like Fate alright, generally). Jimbozig fucked around with this message at 05:46 on Jan 21, 2015 |
# ? Jan 21, 2015 05:40 |
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ascendance posted:Its simple. Sometimes, people dont want to be empowered to create the details of the game world. They jist want to respond the way someone actually living in that world would respond to things around them. I don't understand what you mean by creating the details of the game world. Like, we're playing a game where characters can unilaterally declare that they can now fly or teleport or shoot lightning out of their hands. Not to mention that the mere decision to attempt something alters the game world. Whether or not it succeeds is always in control of DM, just to varying degrees. You brought up Dungeon World as an example, but DW is just like D&D in that the DM still decides what happens to you. Yes, the game tells you '10+ is always a success', but not only are you as the DM still responsible for deciding what a success means, it just makes it obvious when you are dicking your players over. You can't hide behind 'yeah you rolled a 20 but the DC is 57 because haha or something'. If your player tries something impossible, you don't have him roll - you just tell him 'no'.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 05:41 |
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IT BEGINS posted:The following quote is from Morningstar's original release page: I did not really defend anything. Yes and morningstar screwed up on that which is why Wizards dropped them. AlphaDog posted:A third party product that was cancelled, presumably by the third party. WotC can say "we didn't cancel this or even announce it" and be technically correct. That's exactly what I originally said, yes. I also said "I suspect we're going to hear this a lot". We have no idea how big the book would have been. On the the "What" I was trying to say Wizards canceled the Morningstar thing. They say they have other plans and Herolab has implied they are in talks with WotC. Also just looked at my original post I stupidly wrote Progress a second time instead of Trapdoor. They were not satisfied with how Trapdoor was working as a result a much longer wait for digital tools. dwarf74 posted:I dunno about how things are where YOU work, but if we've gotten just short of actual delivery, I'd call that "cancelled" and it's bullshit to say otherwise. I already said it was for all intents and purposes canceled. Back when I first posted about it. We don't know how big the book would have been. Said book would also be filled with art and stuff that I doubt the pdf will have. Still we will probably get all the mechanics and stuff that were going to be in the book. What I would like to know is why the book was canned. MonsterEnvy fucked around with this message at 05:50 on Jan 21, 2015 |
# ? Jan 21, 2015 05:45 |
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MonsterEnvy posted:We have no idea how big the book would have been. quote:Still we will probably get all the mechanics and stuff that were going to be in the book.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 05:50 |
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Tunicate posted:Genasi are the pinnacle of lazy design. 4 elemental races, plus a shitload of two-element paraelemental races that nobody uses because their only characterization is 'I like Ice'. eh, I had fun with a void genasi psion in 4E, with the Scion of Absence paragon path, so I could do stuff like temporarily blink out of existence, make enemies disappear, or completely absorb attacks. Of course, 5E genasi will probably just get a few daily uses of thematic spells.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 05:56 |
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Jimbozig posted:The picture earlier says 1.3 lbs. Dunno about the 160 page number people are using. Where did that number come from? Could have sworn the advertising copy had the pages, guess I was wrong. The DMG weighs roughly a kilo, which is 2.2lbs, and is 320 pages long. I guess it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume it's about half as long, but yeah, 160 pages was in my head and now I couldn't tell you why.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 06:00 |
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AlphaDog posted:Lords Of Waterdeep is also good fun. The theme is nearly absent*, but sending all the There's a video of Wil Wheaton, Felicia Day, Patrick Rothfuss and Brandon Laatsch playing the game as part of Wil Wheaton's Tabletop webseries. 35 minute edited version or the 2h20m extended uncut version for those of you who simply can't get enough. Anyways, this isn't the first time Wizards has tanked books. The most recent one I know of that came this close to publication was the (heroic) character options thing that was supposed to revise the original PHB classes and introduce themes outside of Dark Sun, but that book got scuttled and what we know of the content was then released in Dragon Magazine. A few years back at Gencon there were murmurings of Ravenloft stuff, but nothing concrete ever showed up (perhaps some of it may have been repurposed into Heroes of Shadow's vampire class or something). There's even more dead projects in the vaults we don't know about. LightWarden fucked around with this message at 06:11 on Jan 21, 2015 |
# ? Jan 21, 2015 06:06 |
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LightWarden posted:There's a video of Wil Wheaton, Felicia Day, Patrick Rothfuss and Brandon Laatsch playing the game as part of Wil Wheaton's Tabletop webseries. 35 minute edited version or the 2h20m extended uncut version for those of you who simply can't get enough. I can't tell if the way the first link is an ad for coal is supposed to be a joke or not.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 06:09 |
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Only partly an error, fixed. Anyways, I went digging, and the canceled 4e book was Player's Option: Champions of the Heroic Tier. quote:Player's Option: Champions of the Heroic Tier offers a wide array of new options for all characters. Themes allow characters' pasts to play a role in their future. New backgrounds allow players to create hill dwarves and wood elves. An all new take on rituals makes those magical abilities more useful in the heroic tier of play than ever before.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 06:14 |
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gradenko_2000 posted:The message coming out of their failed Kickstarter was the most passive-aggressive thing ever They did an interview with some website where they said something to the effect of "We couldn't agree on what sort of product we should make," Wizards wanted a character builder with maybe a rules database attached. Trapdoor wanted to make a drat digital storefront. They were somehow under the bizarre delusion that Wizards was their partner rather than their client. Trapdoor deserves all of the bad news they can get.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 06:31 |
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AlphaDog posted:Could have sworn the advertising copy had the pages, guess I was wrong. Oh you had the Advertising Copy? So what do you know of the book. (Edit: I may have confused this term with with something else. I am not sure.) I also saw another guy on the WIzards forum who supposed had gotten a look at one. So when the adventure comes out we may be able find out what vanishes from the book to the PDF we are getting. MonsterEnvy fucked around with this message at 07:03 on Jan 21, 2015 |
# ? Jan 21, 2015 06:56 |
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The Trapdoor thing is hilarious because when it was first announced nobody had any idea who that company was, and I'm pretty sure they still literally don't have a website. Like, how and why did they find this company? WotC has had so many issues with tech poo poo you'd think they'd start vetting things.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 07:12 |
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ProfessorCirno posted:The Trapdoor thing is hilarious because when it was first announced nobody had any idea who that company was, and I'm pretty sure they still literally don't have a website. Like, how and why did they find this company? WotC has had so many issues with tech poo poo you'd think they'd start vetting things. Oh, but they do have a website. For the product they actually sell which is e-books. Trapdoor Books posted:About Us
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 07:27 |
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MonsterEnvy posted:Oh you had the Advertising Copy? So what do you know of the book. (Edit: I may have confused this term with with something else. I am not sure.) There's no way that you actually read my post and thought that I had a review copy of the book, right? ProfessorCirno posted:The Trapdoor thing is hilarious because when it was first announced nobody had any idea who that company was, and I'm pretty sure they still literally don't have a website. Like, how and why did they find this company? WotC has had so many issues with tech poo poo you'd think they'd start vetting things. Almost... almost... like they're not really a software company. Weird, right? E: beaten. Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 07:32 on Jan 21, 2015 |
# ? Jan 21, 2015 07:27 |
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Tunicate posted:Probably Rolemaster's fault. Well, the thing with Rolemaster is that if you roll a 96+ on a skill check, you roll again. And if that roll is also a 96+ on a d100 you roll again, and so on. So theoretically, it's possible for someone with no training whatsoever to do amazing feats of whatever just through sheer dice luck (1 in 400 chances of a double 96+). But then again on a 1-5, you roll again and subtract, so I've no idea how that affects that odds there. This is distinct from critical hits in Rolemaster, which happen all the drat time in combat, and simply signify "an attack which did more than hp damage" and you get to roll on different tables to see how you mangled the person. But basically in Rolemaster, you never call for a skill roll unless there's a chance the player will succeed. This actually gets a little frustrating sometimes, when our DM is basically only asking us to roll to see if anyone gets an open ended roll because that's the only way we'd notice the assassin, be able to lift the tree, etc.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 07:33 |
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ProfessorCirno posted:The Trapdoor thing is hilarious because when it was first announced nobody had any idea who that company was, and I'm pretty sure they still literally don't have a website. Like, how and why did they find this company? WotC has had so many issues with tech poo poo you'd think they'd start vetting things. Unfortunately, WotC only sent fighters to the negotiations, without a thief.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 07:40 |
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AlphaDog posted:There's no way that you actually read my post and thought that I had a review copy of the book, right? Yeah I confused myself stupidly as admitted. Still someone else on the Wizards fourm actually did have some time with the book. So I may be able to find out what changes once it is released.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 07:52 |
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MonsterEnvy posted:Still someone else on the Wizards fourm actually did have some time with the book. So I may be able to find out what changes once it is released. I don't disbelieve that you've read this, but I'd like to see the posts. Can you please link them? It seems unbelievable that the book got as far as "physical copy produced" or even "layout done" and was then cancelled.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 08:06 |
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My uncle works at Nintendo and he had a copy
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 09:11 |
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Gort posted:My uncle works at Nintendo and he had a copy Please tell Reggie to post some scans, thanks.
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 09:17 |
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AlphaDog posted:I don't disbelieve that you've read this, but I'd like to see the posts. Can you please link them? It seems unbelievable that the book got as far as "physical copy produced" or even "layout done" and was then cancelled. I don't really know who he is and have not really checked. The post from him that suggested to me that he got a copy of something from it at some point. He was not bragging about it or anything it just sort of came across that way from how I read it. It looks like I was wrong anyway, I can't find the post he made nor from his other posts does it sound like he would have anything to do with Playtesting as he is posting speculation. http://community.wizards.com/users/pukunui is the guy I thought made the comment. But It looks like I can't find the post anymore. MonsterEnvy fucked around with this message at 09:27 on Jan 21, 2015 |
# ? Jan 21, 2015 09:24 |
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IT BEGINS posted:I don't understand what you mean by creating the details of the game world. Like, we're playing a game where characters can unilaterally declare that they can now fly or teleport or shoot lightning out of their hands. Not to mention that the mere decision to attempt something alters the game world. Whether or not it succeeds is always in control of DM, just to varying degrees. "Creating the details of the game world" can be taken very literally. The party is investigating an exploded laboratory - the Rogue rolls a nat 20 on his Perception check to spot something. I ask him "something catches your eye buried underneath a plank. What is it?" The Rogue says (and he hesitates a bit here because nobody ever expects that they're allowed to just make something up) "it's a small scrap of paper. Looks like part of a letter" I think for a moment and go "hmmm, someone wrote the Wizard, someone named Lisa. The letter is half-burnt so you can't really make out the whole message, but it goes on to say ..." and the party now has a lead. I've used similar approaches for when players tried to check the distinctive markings on a cultist's robes. I asked the player to describe the pattern of the logo on the robe, and the basic shape they gave me made me think "Moon God" and off they went to check out the Moon Temple. gradenko_2000 fucked around with this message at 09:59 on Jan 21, 2015 |
# ? Jan 21, 2015 09:55 |
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So RE: my current DM and the argument as to whether he's being a dick or not, I don't think he's a dick or even a bad DM on the whole, I just think he doesn't know how to react to charisma type characters properly. I mean in the hands of a clever player it can really derail any session or game you have planned. Assume a natural 20 was auto success for skills, and the DM has this whole plan that we need to do a side quest this session to get into the castle and NEXT session we meet the King or whatever in the castle. I stroll up and I'm like "I decieve the guard". I roll a natural 20 and suddenly there's no need for that side quest right? DM's work is gone on that side quest he wrote out and instead he's in the next session's content which he hasn't fully planned out yet. So when I GM'd other RPGs I dealt with it in one of two ways. The first one would be to, out of character, just tell the player that these guards are trained to be fanatically loyal to the king and it would be impossible for a random dwarf to convince him to let him in. Yeah it's a bit poo poo but ultimately it's better than rolling for no reason. On the other hand if the dwarf was like "Guys we should search the town and find who the servants to the king are and then disguise ourselves as them to get in" I'd let them do it as I could probably get a session of content out of that. The second one is kinda a dick move too but I'd say the guard on the gate let's them in, but once they are in the castle the guards on the King's chamber won't let them in without the writ they get from the side quest. If he tried to persuade these guys and rolled a natural 20 again I'd probably conclude it's fate and make it up as I go along. I think what my GM did was sort of think "Well it's impossible but he won't know that, so he should try and if he fails really badly then he'll piss off the landlord." That's actually accurate and totally right roleplaying wise, but gameplay wise what you're doing is making the player take a roll where all they can do is fail, which is a bit poo poo imo. I mean I would have even been happy if he was like "You succeed and the barman tells you that his family are ill and he can't afford to give you a discount on the rooms. However he does give you and your party free beers for the night. You get the feeling that he feels he owes you a favour for putting a good word for him in with the noble" as later on I gave him a silver piece to tell me about a kidnapped girl, instead if I had the above I could have been like "I use my friendship with the barman to tell us about the missing girl". I mean the rules do state that the DM picks the difficulty of the roll and there's even rules for successes and failures, so yeah you can set something up with a difficulty of 30 and then a roll of 3 is going to loving hurt, but why bother with that? Just tell me it's impossible and we will carry on. Kitchner fucked around with this message at 10:13 on Jan 21, 2015 |
# ? Jan 21, 2015 10:11 |
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Kitchner posted:I stroll up and I'm like "I decieve the guard". I roll a natural 20 and suddenly there's no need for that side quest right? DM's work is gone on that side quest he wrote out and instead he's in the next session's content which he hasn't fully planned out yet. Right. It's completely understandable to not want to allow persuasion-type skills to allow the party to skip over swathes of plot, but that's why pretty much every RPG ever defines the flow of play as "the player describes what they want to do, the DM determines if they will roll or not, then the player rolls if they are supposed to"
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# ? Jan 21, 2015 10:18 |
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# ? Jun 3, 2024 18:43 |
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gradenko_2000 posted:Right. It's completely understandable to not want to allow persuasion-type skills to allow the party to skip over swathes of plot, but that's why pretty much every RPG ever defines the flow of play as "the player describes what they want to do, the DM determines if they will roll or not, then the player rolls if they are supposed to" "I want to bluff the guard. I go up to him and tell him that I'm a..." "You're pretty sure he's not even really listening to you. His eyes are straight front and he's standing at attention like a Buckingham Palace guard. Whatever else they might be, the guards here are very well disciplined, and you don't think they're going to deviate from whatever their orders currently are". If the player really is clueless enough that they don't get the "hint" (like, I dunno maybe it's their very first game), then I'd say directly to them: "The difficulty here is too high for you right now", which is what I'm trying to communicate with the thing I wrote above. I'm not calling for a roll, this is currently impossible for them to do. This isn't railroading. The difficulty here is too high for them right now. They can change something and try again. Just don't block them from doing everything that isn't what you had planned. Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 12:32 on Jan 21, 2015 |
# ? Jan 21, 2015 12:15 |