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I'd say, take a few things, details, setpieces, like clothing or way of talking that really screams about the setting. Getting a strong ambiance is enough for me.
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Jan 4, 2016 15:23
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Iceclaw posted:I'd say, take a few things, details, setpieces, like clothing or way of talking that really screams about the setting. Getting a strong ambiance is enough for me. Yeah, this too. I wouldn't get too bogged down in details. If you can avoid wild and obvious anachronisms (a German soldier in 1914 carrying an AK-47 or something insane like that) and then drop in just a handful of strong details that set the mood of the time period, I think you're golden.
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Jan 4, 2016 15:29
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Harrow posted:If you have any players whom you suspect would definitely notice anachronisms, why not ask them for help in preventing the anachronisms? So long as you can do so without ruining their experience as a player by giving them too much of a peek behind the scenes, of course. One other thing I'm planning on doing is just having a list of era-appropriate clothes, weapons, military equipment, and various pieces of technology that I can pull from if I need to generate a description on the fly, just to avoid anything too wildly anachronistic. I'm still going to slip every now and again but that's where the fantasy comes in! I agree with this plan. If you know anyone who's really familiar with the setting, just ask them to help you add detail and remove anachronisms or errors. Harrow posted:a German soldier in 1914 carrying an AK-47 or something insane like that That happened in one alternate history WW2 game I was in, where all the technology and gear was almost exactly the same as real life and then suddenly a guard is holding an MP5K.
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Jan 4, 2016 18:50
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I'm going to be starting up a Night's Black Agents game for my players soon, and I have some questions from people who have run it before (I have as a one-shot for NPC Cast, as well as played a few other times in very short games, but never as a campaign): 1) Can you take it from the default European setting and move it to America easily? I know the implied setting is opium dens and eastern bloc hellholes, but I would feel more comfortable having my players tromp around domestic places like Louisiana backwaters, gang-controlled Detroit enclaves and northern California militia compounds that still have an unruled element to them 2) Are Vampires it? Has anyone incorporated other supernaturals, or does it feel wonky and too World of Darkness-y to have the occasional Will-o-Wisp or Sasquatch running around?
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Jan 5, 2016 02:58
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Everblight posted:I know the implied setting is opium dens and eastern bloc hellholes, but I would feel more comfortable having my players tromp around domestic places like Louisiana backwaters, gang-controlled Detroit enclaves and northern California militia compounds that still have an unruled element to them
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Jan 5, 2016 03:15
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Iceclaw posted:I'd say, take a few things, details, setpieces, like clothing or way of talking that really screams about the setting. Getting a strong ambiance is enough for me. This, unless one or more players is very knowledgable about the period and location, in which case chitoryu12 posted:just ask them to help you add detail and remove anachronisms or errors Do it a bit like you would in a PbtA game - They ask "is this the same <item/person/location> that <history thing> happened to?" and you respond with "it sure is, tell us a bit about it".
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Jan 5, 2016 03:16
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Everblight posted:I'm going to be starting up a Night's Black Agents game for my players soon, and I have some questions from people who have run it before (I have as a one-shot for NPC Cast, as well as played a few other times in very short games, but never as a campaign): Yes, and no.
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Jan 6, 2016 04:26
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Everblight posted:I'm going to be starting up a Night's Black Agents game for my players soon, and I have some questions from people who have run it before (I have as a one-shot for NPC Cast, as well as played a few other times in very short games, but never as a campaign): 1. Yes, absolutely. The last third of the Bourne Ultimatum is just as much a part of the setting. 2. You can throw in a lot of other supernatural beings. Dracula Dossier even talks about how to fold in the Cthulhu mythos, if that's your thing. I think just what needs careful treading is if there's too many different supernatural creatures that it starts to detract from the intent of the game to be around a focused villain type, unless creating a zoo of fantastical beasts is part of the conspyramid's agenda.
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Jan 6, 2016 05:49
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I'm a third GM in a group that ran once-a-week game of D&D for mostly/completely new-to-RPG people for this past fall, and we're gonna get together soon to decide what we're gonna do this spring. I've been trying to think of games that we could play for one-to-three sessions to introduce the people to different types of RPing. The group varies in ages from 18 to 25 or thereabouts and like I said have mostly experienced D&D 5th edition as far as tabletop RPGs go. What else could I put forth as possible games to run? Fast character creation is a must, since I'd like to get up and playing in a single four-hour window. So far what I've got includes: 3:16 Carnage Amongst The Stars Dread Everyone Is John Fiasco Kobolds Ate My Baby! Microlite or some other 0D&D heartbreaker for the few guys who really loved that style of play oCtane Not thinking of playing each and every one of these, but I would like to present some options to my friends and see what they think our group could handle well.
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Jan 7, 2016 16:05
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I'd recommend Risus, or HeroQuest 2 if you'd like more structure to it, although those games aren't nearly as "automatically theme-driven" as the others. World of Dungeons / Dungeon World for a fantasy dungeon crawler
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Jan 7, 2016 16:15
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Try A Penny For My Thoughts, it's heavily freeform improv, might make decent character creation for something else.
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Jan 7, 2016 17:59
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You cannot go wrong with Apocalypse World.
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Jan 8, 2016 02:44
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You actually can. The whole "sex move" mechanic can be awkward to explain.
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Jan 8, 2016 18:57
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Iceclaw posted:You actually can. The whole "sex move" mechanic can be awkward to explain. At least in Monsterhearts it's something you can expect given the subject matter.
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Jan 8, 2016 19:01
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Iceclaw posted:You actually can. The whole "sex move" mechanic can be awkward to explain.
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Jan 9, 2016 00:58
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Ilor posted:Only if you're playing with the wrong people. Considering it's supposed to be for demoing roleplaying for complete newbies, it's still a bit of an elephant in the room for a good first imoression: "Yeah, roleplayers aren't actually crazy, unable to dicern game from reality or enacting creepy fantasies. Let's play a Mad Max like game! Here's your character sheet, this one is harder to kill when fighting naked, and all characters have a special power that trigger when they gently caress."
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Jan 9, 2016 01:23
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Get one of the World of Fate games. If you don't start with EIJ, it'll be too light and not interactive enough; going from having a character to having partial PC control is a step down.
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Jan 9, 2016 01:58
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Iceclaw posted:Considering it's supposed to be for demoing roleplaying for complete newbies, it's still a bit of an elephant in the room for a good first imoression: "Yeah, roleplayers aren't actually crazy, unable to dicern game from reality or enacting creepy fantasies. Let's play a Mad Max like game! Here's your character sheet, this one is harder to kill when fighting naked, and all characters have a special power that trigger when they gently caress."
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Jan 9, 2016 05:54
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Havoc Brigade is awesome and hilarious. Alternatively Make Your Own Luck is a great intro to 13th age, not to mention leading into the ridiculously good mega dungeon Eyes of the Stone Thief.
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Jan 9, 2016 09:52
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Thanks for the suggestions guys, we had a sitdown today and decided that we'll write up short intros for these games and let the players decide which of them seem cool. Cheers.
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Jan 9, 2016 14:34
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I'd like to take a poll. As GMs, does it not make more sense to let the player explain how something happens? (Within reason) For example they are rolling an acrobatics check to jump to a chandelier to swing and drop on guy. Or an acrobatics check to do something like wall run and backflip over the enemy. Im frustrated at gm telling me how I do things, when its my character. Im not trying to do anything crazy btw. Instead of climbing down the rope down a shaft I wanted to grab the end and jump down and flip off. Because thats what my character would do. He wouldnt take 10 and slowly climb down which is what he made do. Bad gm or am i being gripy? Also trap with crossbow bolts from the walls, couldnt make a reflex to backflip onto the ground we had to sit there and take it til the trap got disabled. Maybe Ive been listening to too much Campaign Podcast. The players really drive the story. ButtWolf fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Jan 10, 2016 |
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Jan 10, 2016 19:00
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ButtWolf posted:I'd like to take a poll. As GMs, does it not make more sense to let the player explain how something happens? (Within reason) Yeah they love to do this. I've got two monks in my group and this is totally their jam. I've got two rules for it: like you said, it's got to be within reason (and by extension the crazier it gets the harder the check becomes), and they have to live with the way they told the story. For example, if they decide to backflip onto a chandelier, they don't get to complain about losing half their turn putting out the flames that jumped from the candles to their robes.
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Jan 10, 2016 19:11
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ButtWolf posted:I'd like to take a poll. As GMs, does it not make more sense to let the player explain how something happens? (Within reason) That's how I do it, for sure. For one thing, it saves me from having to describe everything all the time, but I also find that (like you're saying) it helps keep my players more engaged and feeling like they have agency. Back when I was running 13th Age, I'd never just say "you did enough damage to the enemy and it dies." I always say, "Describe how your attack kills the enemy." That's especially fun when it was a crit that did some stupid amount of damage and the player gets to go crazy describing how badass it was.
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Jan 10, 2016 19:23
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I've had situations where players try to narrate their way out of any game-mechanical obstacles they come across and I feel like that's a little much (like you said, within reason it's fine). And I've had situations where they just say stuff like "I use Acrobatics to get across, it's a 17" and it's like, someone has to make up something to give that some narrative spice and if that doesn't line up with the player's internal vision, tough, shoulda externalized it. But in your case it just seems like he's pretty oldschool and doesn't quite subscribe to the new-fangled idea of player-driven narration / doesn't realize you actually have your own ideas to add / is a little too hung up on the mechanical effects or simulation aspect of it. For example, if you see the game rules as simulation rules, backflipping down a rope does justifiably feel like it should have a higher DC than regular climbing. Like with the rope I'd say "describe how you get down" and depending on whether or not you make the DC I add a consequence. Or with the trap, I'd check if my system has a rule for that (4E gives you +2 to defenses vs. ranged attacks when you're prone - fair enough). Social situations can be a bit of an edge case. There I like to ask players roughly how they conduct their conversation, have them roll a conversational skill, and sum up how the conversation goes. Cause if you try and play out a natural dialogue you'll be sitting there forever going "forsooth, milord". My Lovely Horse fucked around with this message at 19:32 on Jan 10, 2016 |
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Jan 10, 2016 19:27
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Good. Thanks for reassuring me that Im not being a bad player. Campaign rules by the way.
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Jan 10, 2016 19:39
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What it boils down to for me is, when I play a mechanics-heavy system like D&D, you get to narrate anything you want as long as it fits the mechanics that result from a roll. In systems like FATE what mechanics you use is much more dependent on what you say you do. And games like 13th Age lend themselves to one approach or the other depending on the situation (although I'll admit, 13th Age in particular more to the latter).
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Jan 10, 2016 19:43
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In the specific example of going down the rope, if the end mechanical result is "you go down 10 feet using the rope in one turn" then it's just him being stubborn and old school to restrict your description. What exact action you take do do that says a lot about whether your character is a frightened nerd, a daring swashbuckler or a controlled, competent professional. Like, if you do an attack that kills an opponent, there's no real difference between you saying you struggled, manoeuvred the dude into bad footing and managed to land a fatal blow to the gut, or if you say you stand still with your sword in the sheath before drawing it and bisecting the enemy at the last instant. Some of those particular descriptions may not fit depending on the tone of particular games, but player creativity in this area can ease people into being more open in others and stops the DM getting into a rut of just saying the same things over and over because he's running our of ideas.
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Jan 10, 2016 20:04
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Also.didnt let me do a Derring Do to jump on an altar and ohko a spider. He is like 45 and has probably been.playing since 2e or soemthing. Hes not mean or anything about so i guess ill stomach it, as I dont have an alternative.
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Jan 10, 2016 21:07
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One of my players can't roll a nat 20 unless it's a killing blow. Like, she rolls lovely all game unless whoever she's attacking is < 10% health. Lucky for us, she has a creative genius for the hilarious and/or gruesome descriptions of the murders she performs. If I didn't let her do it we wouldn't have nearly as much fun.
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Jan 10, 2016 22:47
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Re: Player narration, allow it, but don't mandate it.Bushmeister posted:What else could I put forth as possible games to run? Fast character creation is a must, since I'd like to get up and playing in a single four-hour window. So far what I've got includes: Adding a few more: Strike! (Only uses 1d6 and is simple, but combat can get pretty deep.) Ryuutama (Specifially made to introduce new players to the hobby.) Marvel Heroic (Out of print, but character creation is more of a character selection deal.) Atomic Robo RPG (which allows you to create your character as you play.)
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Jan 10, 2016 23:11
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I have to take a mixed approach in my games. Some of my players love that sort of thing, but others hate being put on the spot like that.
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Jan 10, 2016 23:17
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Sneaking posted:I've got two rules for it: like you said, it's got to be within reason (and by extension the crazier it gets the harder the check becomes)
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Jan 10, 2016 23:25
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The Crotch posted:I have to take a mixed approach in my games. Some of my players love that sort of thing, but others hate being put on the spot like that. A lot of times you can coax players to contribute if it's worked into play more naturally. Don't stop play to force Dave improvising the effects of his critical hit. But quickly asking "poo poo Dave, what did you do to that guy?" might a prompt a creative response.
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Jan 10, 2016 23:35
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Everblight posted:This is backwards, btw. When players do some awesome poo poo, they should get a bonus, not a penalty, to encourage them to do more than "five foot step, Sly Flourish (again)" I thinkhe means the check to see if they succeed in the double gainer with his dick out gets higher but the subsequent action gets a bonus which is how id do it. Just for instance flipping onto an altar to stab the spider should have been like +5 to the dc of a regular jump that adds +2 to my atk roll. Or if i rolled a 20, automatic crit wiout threat roll, which is how id gm for a swashbuckler. It seems like a lot of older gms are like actively trying to kill rather than making sure people are having fun. I get that its supposed to be a challenge, but players want to feel heroic, and you should let them. ButtWolf fucked around with this message at 23:57 on Jan 10, 2016 |
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Jan 10, 2016 23:53
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The way I do it is "it's this hard to do X, describe how you did it". The reason I do it like this is that if you assign bonuses to people who take every little precaution, you end up with the dullest descriptions possible. There's giant chains crisscrossing the room and you're trying to cross them. Mechanically, you roll above X (or under Y, or spend Z chips, or whatever the system does to define difficulty), and you move across a chain in one round/turn/move/whatever. If you fail the check (penalty, which might be "fall and take damage" or "lose equipment" or even just "waste more time"). Roll your dice and describe what happened. It makes no mechanical difference if you describe your character as carefully moving along the chain maintining 3 points of contact at all times, or if you describe your character as doing cartwheels along the top and dropping through the links and swinging back up while insulting everyone else for being slow. My experience is that players will end up describing something that fits in with how they imagine their character if you do it like this, but if there's a penalty for doing it in a cool way, they'll take the safer, boring option every time. Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 00:31 on Jan 11, 2016 |
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Jan 11, 2016 00:29
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Sneaking posted:For example, if they decide to backflip onto a chandelier, they don't get to complain about losing half their turn putting out the flames that jumped from the candles to their robes. Don't Do This. Don't punish your players for wanting to do cool stuff, that is lovely as hell.
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Jan 11, 2016 01:46
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I think half and half. Like not engulfed in flames, but theres a small fire.on your back that will ruin your cloak in 10 rds or you sprain your ankle and double movement takes a -10ft or something. Small stuff like that doesnt really (at least for me) wouldnt keep me from doing stupid. My favorite thing of all time was my 2nd time GMing. A big rear end barbarian and a dwarf warden had to escort a gnome bomb maker out of his house and the dwarf accidentally ended up falling backwards against the gnome and they both fell through the 2nd story window. This was because the dwarf was always overconfident and did something stupid. Everyone loved it. The gnome had two broken legs and got a lot of sympathy attention from the ladies, which he loved. As long as you give them an out and dont make some sort awful thing, like youre permanently blind, i think its fun. I dont know i just like crazy poo poo happening.
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Jan 11, 2016 03:29
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Here's a thought: if your players are always wanting to do stupid stunts and flip off walls like it's an action movie or anime or something and you want to punish them for not being realistic enough, maybe the problem isn't with the rules but in the GM successfully conveying the tone of the game and everyone being on the same page. If the players think they're playing some heroic action-fantasy game and the GM thinks it's a hard core gritty simulation, someone's messed up communicating.
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Jan 11, 2016 04:51
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Baronjutter posted:Here's a thought: if your players are always wanting to do stupid stunts and flip off walls like it's an action movie or anime or something and you want to punish them for not being realistic enough, maybe the problem isn't with the rules but in the GM successfully conveying the tone of the game and everyone being on the same page. This is exactly it. If all your players are constantly talking about cutting robots in half with their katanas while screaming RULES OF NATURE, Peasant Dirtfarmer Sim 1989 might not be for them. Conversly, if your group tend to spend minutes talking about the economic trade situation between various Star Systems and the effect of civil uprisings on FTL crystal prices, maybe Lasers and Feelings isn't really the thing either.
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Jan 11, 2016 05:05
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On top of that, there are games that are better suited for "players adlibbing the details of their execution of an action and possibly gaining a benefit as a result" If you're playing a game where the combat rules are strictly regimented, it generally behooves you to follow those rules and for the table to go into the game with the expectation that being powerful within the framework of those rules is part of the point of the game, rather than trying to break out of them at every turn.
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Jan 11, 2016 05:10
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