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Mr. Maltose posted:Lazer Ted is a national treasure. Also it's cool and good that you insist that Ali was playing her character wrong all the time by being too quiet and passive that's not weird at all. I'm just going to point to the start and end of every episode, the narration and somber music over which Austin has complete control, as indicative of what he actually wants this game to be like. And, you know, his audible sighs of resignation when they fail to live up to the expectations which were mutually agreed upon before setting out. And yeah, I'm going to be critical of Ali for sure. She describes quite clearly what she wanted Aria to be like ("Han Solo if Han Solo had also been Beyonce" plus Shonen Mecha Protagonist), and didn't bring it off in play. Sometimes we reach beyond our grasp, it happens, and hopefully it was a learning experience for her. We also need to put some blame on the other players for that, tbh, because unsurprisingly she is the player in that game who gets talked over the most, and has the least screen time. That's a failure of the group dynamic. Harrow posted:And by "grounded," I mean "playing characters who feel like they belong in this world and behave like remotely-believable people given their circumstances." At least a couple of my players really want to do that, and two more think it might be fun, so we're going to find out in a couple weeks whether it can stick. I'm definitely not asking for stone-faced seriousness, just coherent characters and, when there's levity, it should make sense in-universe. (Obviously we're all friends so there will be out-of-character joking around, that's both inevitable and welcome, but the goal is to not let that overwhelm the game itself.) Godspeed. It's great when it works, and you already have enough players to do it even if the two who are on the fence decide it's not for them. One of my regular groups is myself and two other players, and we find it leads to a lot more focus and engagement. Kestral fucked around with this message at 20:29 on Aug 4, 2017 |
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Aug 4, 2017 20:24
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Check out Campaign podcast at oneshotpodcast.com. it's a little slow to progress the story but the GM Kat is inspired at working collaboratively with the players. It's FFG Star Wars for the game.
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Aug 4, 2017 21:36
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I'll second Campaign, Kat's an incredible GM. Its a very silly show, but the stakes are very real and come down like a hammer. It's good. And maybe its a faux pas to plug your own thing but I've felt really great about my GMing in To Winter's End, the latest Six Feats Under campaign. So check that out, too, if you've got time between these other great suggestions.
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Aug 4, 2017 22:25
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Campaign is great (as is its sister podcast, One Shot), but it should be noted that most everyone but Kat herself is a trained improv actor. It makes for great radio, but it's not exactly your typical group.
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Aug 4, 2017 22:43
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For what it's worth we also have a Actual Play discussion thread https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3743698 The past few pages have been great analysis and discussion though!
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Aug 4, 2017 23:16
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Oh my god the episode of Campaign (don't read this if you have any interest in ever listening to Campaign) where they flashback to Leenik's Bounty Hunting adventures where his brother dies was just amazing. James kinda has a weird tone compared to JPC and Johnny throughout the first half of the story, but that little moment gives a lot more nuance to Leenik.
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Aug 4, 2017 23:52
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dwarf74 posted:So I am not all to familiar with modern/supernatural RPGs, and I'm looking for recommendations. The new edition of Call of Cthulhu has a pulp supplement. It defaults to the 1930s, however. I'm sure some of it could be used for a more modern setting. That all supposes you like CoC's core mechanics though.
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Aug 5, 2017 01:21
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Kestral posted:I'm just going to point to the start and end of every episode, the narration and somber music over which Austin has complete control, as indicative of what he actually wants this game to be like. And, you know, his audible sighs of resignation when they fail to live up to the expectations which were mutually agreed upon before setting out. Friends at the table is a cool and good and rad podcast and you should listen to it. Dunno what this guy is on with 'things can only be serious or funny, not both' Nea fucked around with this message at 03:51 on Aug 5, 2017 |
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Aug 5, 2017 03:49
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Feels weird to fault a quieter player for taking a back seat when more aggressive, vocal players jump in to drive the plot every time. Drillbot Taylor is a good example of that, and probably could have been resolved by discussing out-of-game how to share the spotlight.
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Aug 5, 2017 05:36
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Neopie posted:Dunno what this guy is on with 'things can only be serious or funny, not both' Nuns with Guns posted:Feels weird to fault a quieter player for taking a back seat when more aggressive, vocal players jump in to drive the plot every time. Drillbot Taylor is a good example of that, and probably could have been resolved by discussing out-of-game how to share the spotlight. Kestral posted:We also need to put some blame on the other players for that, tbh, because unsurprisingly she is the player in that game who gets talked over the most, and has the least screen time. That's a failure of the group dynamic.
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Aug 5, 2017 06:21
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I really didn't get that read from Austin's reactions to poo poo like Lazer Ted. I interpreted it in the same way he sometimes is just laughing at the way the fiction is going. You got particular points as examples? I'm not disagreeing so much as not following the argument. I will admit that he's terrible at building time-based tension in fight scenes cause he wants to do character/story digressions. (Which is whatever but I like and I think my players do too the occasional "O gently caress what do we do????" that needs a firm hand. Think about how Space Alert can be a good change of pace sometimes.)
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Aug 5, 2017 07:19
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Kestral posted:Quoting myself here: Oh, yeah, missed that before, sorry. I did enjoy listening to the COUNTER/Weight game but I'd agree that the Friends at the Table could to a better job balancing the personalities of the players/their characters. The game may have used cyberpunk/crime noir games as its base but it went in a totally different direction from the established fiction really fast.
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Aug 5, 2017 07:37
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Spotlight sharing conversations rarely if ever work anyway. Inevitably the result is that the loud player(s) will retreat at key moments to throw the quiet player into the spotlight like a deer in the headlights, and when he/she shows discomfort, let this be an implicit argument for the former status quo to return. The sad truth is that RPGs just aren't that great at letting players play personalities other than their own; they can only manage it in a few select cases.
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Aug 5, 2017 14:35
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hyphz posted:Spotlight sharing conversations rarely if ever work anyway. Inevitably the result is that the loud player(s) will retreat at key moments to throw the quiet player into the spotlight like a deer in the headlights, and when he/she shows discomfort, let this be an implicit argument for the former status quo to return.
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Aug 5, 2017 15:09
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hyphz posted:Spotlight sharing conversations rarely if ever work anyway. Inevitably the result is that the loud player(s) will retreat at key moments to throw the quiet player into the spotlight like a deer in the headlights, and when he/she shows discomfort, let this be an implicit argument for the former status quo to return. There's definitely middle ground between *player gets talked over and dragged along with other, less serious character's wacky antics at every turn* and *spotlight is thrown on quiet player by aggressive player in an uncomfortable attempt at balance* and I think it's worth exploring that for a solution that satisfies both people. Especially if you're producing a podcast for the entertainment of others. Of course, a quiet player can be perfectly fine with letting a loud player drive the plot and tagging along for the ride. In that case the GM might want to work with the group to find a tone and story that works to everyone's strengths. I don't know if there's much RPGs can do to help a person with no experience take on another persona, other than suggesting that they play tons of games across multiple genres with a skilled GM. Or buying Acting One and learning the theories and principles of acting.
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Aug 5, 2017 15:36
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Nuns with Guns posted:There's definitely middle ground between *player gets talked over and dragged along with other, less serious character's wacky antics at every turn* and *spotlight is thrown on quiet player by aggressive player in an uncomfortable attempt at balance* and I think it's worth exploring that for a solution that satisfies both people. Especially if you're producing a podcast for the entertainment of others. Of course, a quiet player can be perfectly fine with letting a loud player drive the plot and tagging along for the ride. In that case the GM might want to work with the group to find a tone and story that works to everyone's strengths. Well, the podcast matter is a whole other thing. I really don't like the idea of the Stream of Annihilation, as if WotC were claiming that the way people play for podcasts is equal to the experience a closed group will have at their own table. It becomes the reality TV version of RPGs and plenty of disappointed storage lot buyers will tell you it's not a good guide.. quote:I don't know if there's much RPGs can do to help a person with no experience take on another persona, other than suggesting that they play tons of games across multiple genres with a skilled GM. Or buying Acting One and learning the theories and principles of acting. Another problem I do notice is that GMs tend to throw "face" characters into unreasonable situations based on fictional portrayals of faces who have substantial authorial fiat. I've seen cases where a face player said, "Well, I can't really do anything about that.." and another player, or the GM, said "But what about <X> in <Y>?" And the answer of course is that the writer who wrote <X> got to write the other guy's response too, and had multiple drafts. It seems hard for some groups or DMs to accept that you're not going to get Coyote stories from players who have 30 seconds to come up with them and have to hedge their bets.
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Aug 5, 2017 16:01
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As someone that tends toward the loud and spotlight-y PC in group settings I've balanced that by taking a de-facto "leader" or "co-leader" role that makes a point of knowing what other quieter PCs are good at and pointedly delegates poo poo whenever possible. So "We need to be sneaky about this...hey quiet rogue guy, what's our best approach here?"
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Aug 5, 2017 17:28
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https://twitter.com/AsaTJ/status/894455338711236608 There's this twitter thread about the "real" heights of castle walls: * Constantinople's Walls were only about 12 meters tall. That's the height of a 5-story building * Guy uses a Minecraft analogy, saying that that's "only" 12 blocks tall * Hadrian's Wall was only half as tall as that - 6 meters, or about 20 feet * Most of what we regard as "castles" in the fantasy context tend to be more like ornamental palaces from the Late Modern period, so they'd be even less about combat/anti-siege fortification * And sheer height often wasn't the only factor in making a castle difficult to attack - surrounding terrain, and wall arrangement/design were also big contributors Basically, a castle should probably be more like a squat, sturdy keep, set on top of a hill, with an outer wall securing it. Walls probably aren't more than 20 feet a lot of the time, and beyond 40 would be reserved only for the most extravagant and advanced areas. This, of course, ignores the potential effects of ""magic"", but that tends to throw everything off-kilter anyway.
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Aug 7, 2017 08:56
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It's not a surprising notion that popular culture would skew people's perspectives, but it's one that I'd never considered to be all that odd a sentiment that 20-50 feet is really loving a lot of space. If you do just a little bit of construction labor or just were a kid who liked to climb on top of poo poo, it's pretty obvious that 20 feet is loving gigantic.
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Aug 7, 2017 09:06
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I'm apprehensive to boast that I've never had a setting with walls even as high as 40 feet, because I can't assume that the media I've assimilated to shape my assumptions is common, but I did a quick check on a module I've ran before and, sure enough, a "hill fort" is listed as having a 20-foot-high stone wall wrapping all around its 650-foot perimeter, which in retrospect seems like a poo poo-ton of effort for what the module tries to pass off as a minor outpost.
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Aug 7, 2017 09:15
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Is insanely high castle walls a thing? I've always pictured then being a couple of stories tall. Of course I spent chunks of my childhood climbing around the ruins of an old castle so maybe I'm the weird one.
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Aug 7, 2017 10:18
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Thanks to some ill-advised posting, RPGnet had to sanction someone for innocently trying to shill their poo poo. Ooh, it's a CRPG. A really classy looking one! a very original premise posted:In this story, YOU change the events based on your choices. You have lived an honest life, trying to not make other people suffer and even trying to alleviate their pain. But life isn't fair. In a short time, you have lost your job, girlfriend... and even your life. However, are you satisfied with this ending? In a world between life and death, you discover a second chance.  Wait, this isn't classy. This is boring! finally a game with choices posted:These games aren't supposed to be classic RPG games; we want you to have the full control of the story and the character, with an innovative open world interaction.  Oof, and it's hard to look at.  Wait, uh… mode 7 key parties! posted:The game is able to self-configure itself on your sexual preferences.  no "lesbian actions" is one of those nonsense anime titles I bet posted:• GamePlay: Male \ Female \ Futanari This was sitting in RPGnet's hype forum getting regularly updated for six months. Until they tried to post a screenshot I guess. The demo video for the Patreon is someone skipping dialogue boxes I would assume they helped write, as quickly as possible, set to the sickest dubstep to include choral chanting. In summary: Today I learned that the amount of money you're making can be hidden on Patreon!
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Aug 7, 2017 10:41
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Splicer posted:Is insanely high castle walls a thing? I've always pictured then being a couple of stories tall. gently caress-off massive oversize castles are common as hell in TTRPGs and lovely fantasy novels alike. The derelict castle in the adventure in the BECMI basic box has 50' high walls. The Keep On The Borderlands is supposed to be a remote outpost and it starts with 2 30' towers and a 20' high gatehouse and goes up from there. Splicer posted:Of course I spent chunks of my childhood climbing around the ruins of an old castle so maybe I'm the weird one. You're not weird, it's just lovely writers trying to get the idea "this is an imposing, intimidating, solid structure" across without understanding how to do it except by making numbers bigger. e: Also people are real bad at estimating/imagining heights. Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 12:18 on Aug 7, 2017 |
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Aug 7, 2017 11:32
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These aren't real castle walls, they're symbols of division, safety and power. It doesn't matter what they are in reality.
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Aug 7, 2017 11:45
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That Old Tree posted:Thanks to some ill-advised posting, RPGnet had to sanction someone for innocently trying to shill their poo poo. So what?
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Aug 7, 2017 14:23
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There is at least one RPG, Car Lesbians, that is specifically about Lesbian Action.gradenko_2000 posted:There's this twitter thread about the "real" heights of castle walls: Halloween Jack fucked around with this message at 14:52 on Aug 7, 2017 |
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Aug 7, 2017 14:40
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Halloween Jack posted:There is at least one RPG, Car Lesbians, that is specifically about Lesbian Action. Are the lesbians cars, or do they just like cars?
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Aug 7, 2017 14:44
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Halloween Jack posted:There is at least one RPG, Car Lesbians, that is specifically about Lesbian Action. Not the exact same thing but been there, done that. 
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Aug 7, 2017 14:48
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Halloween Jack posted:If I remember right, what made Constantinople's walls so impregnable was not that they were so very high, but that there were three of them before you even got into the city. You never see this in fantasy media except for there being a huge outer wall and a keep. Believe it or not, this is a plotpoint in Avatar: The Last Airbender. The reason the Fire Nation never could invade the capital of the Earth Kingdom and why the war had reached a stalemate for so long was the capital city had two sets of walls keeping people out. It was considered an accomplished when one general managed to breach the outer wall, but could not keep the momentum up to reach the second wall and his accomplishments were eventually removed with repairs.
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Aug 7, 2017 15:18
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Halloween Jack posted:If I remember right, what made Constantinople's walls so impregnable was not that they were so very high, but that there were three of them before you even got into the city. You never see this in fantasy media except for there being a huge outer wall and a keep.
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Aug 7, 2017 15:21
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Halloween Jack posted:If I remember right, what made Constantinople's walls so impregnable was not that they were so very high, but that there were three of them before you even got into the city. You never see this in fantasy media except for there being a huge outer wall and a keep. FMguru posted:Yeah. The walls also ran the entire width of the peninsula, so there was no getting around them. And the city had huge cisterns and easy access to the sea (for resupply) and a strong navy (with flamethrowers). I don't disagree. Age of Empires actually depicts this in its Frederick Barbarossa campaign, where you really do have two layers of walls sandwiching guard towers, which makes it a bitch to siege. And it does reinforce the point that there's a lot more than just wall height that determines the strength of defenses.
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Aug 7, 2017 15:24
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FMguru posted:Yeah. The walls also ran the entire width of the peninsula, so there was no getting around them. And the city had huge cisterns and easy access to the sea (for resupply) and a strong navy (with flamethrowers). Also the easiest access by water was by a point which had two keeps with a giant chain between them that could block any ships from coming. The only reason the Venetian/Crusader army in 1204 took the city was because they scaled a natural wall not too far from one of the towers and captured it so the chain could be lowered
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Aug 7, 2017 15:29
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Halloween Jack posted:If I remember right, what made Constantinople's walls so impregnable was not that they were so very high, but that there were three of them before you even got into the city. You never see this in fantasy media except for there being a huge outer wall and a keep. There was also a moat as well. You would pretty much get through a small wall on the moat, to a bigger wall, and then to an even bigger wall. The outer and inner wall were also pretty thick so attackers could be dealt with before they were able to compromise the wall or scale it. My understanding of it is that the Dardanelles Cannon was a big deal not because it was a cannon, both sides had cannons for a while, but because it had the firepower necessary to damage the wall more and make an assault more feasible. After this period as well, canons make walls outside of a star fort formation obsolete. It was kind of an end to an era in not only geopolitics but also technology.
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Aug 7, 2017 15:38
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Apparently the reason canons never really got much development in China was because Chinese fortification design has always favored stone-faced packed earth. Turns out that Europe just had uniquely lovely castles.
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Aug 7, 2017 15:47
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Packed earth is a very very old method of building that is still in use. It's also incredibly labour intensive without modern machinery to do all the packing.Harrow posted:Are the lesbians cars, or do they just like cars? Despite being apparently written by 4chan, merely the latter.
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Aug 7, 2017 16:17
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Haystack posted:Apparently the reason canons never really got much development in China was because Chinese fortification design has always favored stone-faced packed earth. Turns out that Europe just had uniquely lovely castles. The Chinese were also mostly fighting horse nomads. Gunpowder developments on that side of the world favored weapons like the hwacha, land mine, and fire lance because of that. I would imagine if Japan was more rich in metal deposits, canons would have become more common place but I could be off base there.
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Aug 7, 2017 16:24
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Unfortunately, China and Japan aren't too concerned with continuity  The smiley means I'm being goofy, not mean
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Aug 7, 2017 16:31
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Plutonis posted:So what? As a socialist, I like to share.
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Aug 7, 2017 20:01
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I'm not exactly sure when this happened, but Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying 2nd Edition is back and purchasable on drivethrurpg again: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/54/Cubicle-7-Entertainment-Ltd/subcategory/179_4943/Warhammer-Fantasy-Roleplay-2nd-Edition
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Aug 8, 2017 02:30
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gradenko_2000 posted:I'm not exactly sure when this happened, but Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying 2nd Edition is back and purchasable on drivethrurpg again: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/54/Cubicle-7-Entertainment-Ltd/subcategory/179_4943/Warhammer-Fantasy-Roleplay-2nd-Edition Well, here's the why: http://cubicle7.co.uk/cubicle-7-and-games-workshop-announce-new-edition-of-warhammer-fantasy-roleplay/ Edit: As for the when - http://cubicle7.co.uk/warhammer-fantasy-roleplay-2nd-edition-pdfs/ To be more precise, July 21st.
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