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My players are around 5/6 at the moment so I'll give it a really good think on some appropriate stuff. I'll probably end up home-brewing a bunch of stuff anyway  I was thinking a mimic/giant venus fly trap that has infested a room that lures in the party with treasure-shaped fruit would be a fun idea.
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Nov 17, 2017 03:37
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Sanford posted:What should I do? I’m pretty sure the townmaster should skip town when he sees it, but it doesn’t feel right to just let them get away with something so obviously naughty. Why not? Honest question. Sometimes PCs will want to do Naughty Things, and unless you've sat down with the players and discussed the kind of game you want to run and how that kind of behavior doesn't have a place in it, why limit them?
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Nov 17, 2017 04:54
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I think a lot depends on what you mean by getting away with it. If you mean 'should this end the challenge prematurely?' then hell no, and the mayor cheesing it definitely doesn't mean the challenge is over, just that it's taking a new form. If you mean 'should the players be punished?' then probably no, but that's very dependent on the kind of game you're running. If you mean 'should the game world react to what the players have done?' then 100% yes: presenting players with the consequences of their actions is one of the most important things you can do as a GM.
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Nov 17, 2017 08:22
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Whybird posted:I think a lot depends on what you mean by getting away with it. Exactly this GM was right letting the players do their Godfather poo poo, cos that's actually pretty cool Now you've gotta consider the consequences: I don't know the setting, so sorry if any of this is outright wrong, I wrote it generically Mayor skips town, is there anyone else to run it? Could the PCs stand in to "help"? Is the backup Mayor poo poo or an rear end in a top hat? Is there no-one up to take the position and it's chaos? Folk are gonna be pissed about this, and while maybe not everyone knows it was the PCs, someone ought to have seen it. Maybe try to blackmail the PCs by saying they could let the info slip and there'd be a witch hunt for them Does the Mayor have friends in high places? Maybe he doesn't skip town, because it's his drat town, and he just calls his "cousins" to come "sort out the problem" It might get so poo poo the PCs need to skip town themselves, or lay low. Hell even if they say "gently caress it, let's go" and never come back, you can still have their actions come back to haunt them 5 sessions from now Universal fact of GMing life is, players will do poo poo you never even remotely dreamed of... Then expect you to have the perfect prepared answer Bad GMs will shut it down and tell them "no, I haven't prepped that so it's not happening" Good GMs have a lot of options, and springboarding off your players is one of the better ones because it makes everyone at the table happy (as long as you can accept that your plans are gonna need to be shelved or edited) and usually progresses the plot/builds the world It's also why having a really good idea of NPCs backgrounds/motivations/resources is so when dumb stuff in the world happens, usually thanks to PCs, you don't need to go away and plan the NPC response, because you know them well enough to tell the PCs their reaction right away I hope you have fun dude! Sounds like it's gonna be a wild ride  VVV I totally skipped over the fact it's a premade adventure. I thought it was a setting  Still, as scary as it can be, going off script on those adventures is usually the best/most memorable bit if you can trust in your own sense of judgement/improv
kaffo fucked around with this message at 10:56 on Nov 17, 2017 |
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Nov 17, 2017 09:36
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Sanford posted:Step 1: I’d a general idea of how it could go So yeah, welcome to GMing  I'm not gonna give any specific advice because I haven't played the adventure, don't own it, and generally don't use premade adventures, but I can answer step 3 for you. You should listen to your players. Every time the players are discussing what to do next, every time they're making guesses about what's really going on, every time they make a plan, and every time their characters act, they are telling you what they want out of the game. If you listen and make mental notes, you will know what kind of stuff to put in. Like Kaffo said, what your players did was some Godfather poo poo. You should understand this to mean that they want to see more Godfather poo poo. Bend the setting towards that. Don't be afraid to "retcon" stuff that they haven't interacted with so it fits the theme they're (unknowingly) asking for. They intimidated this townmaster guy so their friend from the mines could get power, right? Gang working (against / with) Union is a common enough theme that it shouldn't be hard to find some fiction to draw from. Don't be afraid to make up a sublot or side adventure about that, and definitelydon't be afraid to tie it back in to whatever the pre-made adventure does somehow.
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Nov 17, 2017 10:42
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Got a question of my own Not specifically a GM question, since I'm actually the player in the game, but there's good crossover into GM town I'm playing a cleric in a 5e DnD game and I'd really like to pull off some wicked rear end chants for my divine powers ingame, something like "Something Kaffo Made Up Just Now posted:Godess, please hear this plea and bestow upon me but a fraction of your limitless power so that I may smite this sinner who stands before me from your promised land I don't mind having prewritten poo poo, or writing up some flowcharts/cheat sheets, but I want the end result to sound cool as gently caress when I do it ingame, rather than something I pull out my rear end and sounds generic as gently caress I suppose the biggest problem is getting the language right and having a good selection of smart sounding crap which at least vaguely makes sense Any suggestions? Googling "good chants" just brought me to football pages...
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Nov 17, 2017 12:15
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Some fancy titles for the god will help and should be easy to whip up beforehand.
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Nov 17, 2017 12:52
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Well, I would make them a lot shorter than your example, because you're going to be saying them a lot and it adds up to more time than you may think. I'd think of a short phrase or word to denote a prayer - think along the lines of "amen." Then you can append that to any short or long chant you utter in the middle of battle or when you have time, respectively, but only ever use it when you actually use a divine power (or in prayer if that comes up). "Godess help us" is just a thing people say, "Godess help us, amen" are the words of someone who really means it, and who can reasonably expect an actual reply. An actual holy word.
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Nov 17, 2017 13:07
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My Lovely Horse posted:Well, I would make them a lot shorter than your example, because you're going to be saying them a lot and it adds up to more time than you may think. I'd think of a short phrase or word to denote a prayer - think along the lines of "amen." Then you can append that to any short or long chant you utter in the middle of battle or when you have time, respectively, but only ever use it when you actually use a divine power (or in prayer if that comes up). "Godess help us" is just a thing people say, "Godess help us, amen" are the words of someone who really means it, and who can reasonably expect an actual reply. An actual holy word. It's probably something I'll only use when doing channel divinity (one use between rests) cos you're right, doing it every combat would be incredibly annoying A friend suggested parsing out psalms cos they have the same idea. Problem is there's gently caress loads of them and they'd need editing for specific theology
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Nov 17, 2017 13:19
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I would imagine that most combat prayers amount to "I'm totally hosed, please send help". Serious answer: Some of the catholic exorcism stuff could probably be slightly re-worded to sound like what you want. It's pretty full-on.
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Nov 17, 2017 13:32
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A player in one of my games is an inquisitor of the church of the sun and she's been coming up with cool flavorful prayers like that. It would help to know what the god's domain is, but for more generic ones incorporate phrases like: I am your will made manifest, lend me your strength, I will clear the enemy from your sight, etc.
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Nov 17, 2017 13:54
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Think about Supermans titles. When he needs to pick up a building or smash face he's the Man of Steel. When he needs to be an example of the greater good he's the Man of Tomorrow. When he's lost on an alien world and trying to find his way he's the Last Son of Krypton And other things that get evoked when hes the Metropolis Marvel or Kal El or Clark Kent. Break a god down into 2 or 3 aspects and call them that name when you cast that kind of spell. Healing Spell: Lady of Peace/Allfather Buff Spell: Queen of Knights/General of the Gods Flame Strike: Dawnbringer
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Nov 17, 2017 19:02
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Apologies for the double post. In looking for Encounter ideas for 13th Age. The Plot: I'm basing a campaign on this thread's discussion of the Skeleton Computer/Golemancy LCDs. In this world the outlawing of Necromancy has nothing to do with the inherent morality of certain spells. Its the result of a widespread propaganda campaign by the Emperor and Archmage. You see to use Wizardry you have to get your hands on rare, expensive ingredients. For a Wizard or Sorcerer to have learned Color Spray, for instance, they would have had to get their hands on a handful of mirror shards that were created when the Blue spat lightning on sand. As a consequence Wizards are mostly indebted to whatever entity bankrolled their training (Some exceptions for PCs becaise gameplay restraints). Bards who Spelljack are a huge annoyance to Wizards because they tend to view Spelljacks as backwater hedge wizards who lucked into a real spell component. Sorcerers who try to learn Wizardry are viewed as talented kids who need to unlearn some bad habits. Sorcerers who embrace their magics's untameable nature are viewed the way a Sociologist is viewed by a STEM student who reads too much Dawkins. Necromancers are the end result of what people refer to as "Peasant Magic". Its not quite as strong or flexible as the other schools but the components are cheap and its easy to learn. Deaths Gauntlet is prepared by connecting several long bones together in the shape of a staff and then binding it loosely with magical energy. If you really wanted to you COULD use human femurs. However, most people find that deer bones are lighter and nore elegant and beef/pork bones are available at any butchery. Zombies and other summoned Undead are willing contractors. Sometimes the community needs inexhaustible labor in an emergency and agrees to raid the cemetery. Sometimes your kids get into Ranger Academy and you know old Professor Marvolo will reverse loan you 5,000 gold in exhange for 20 years of post mortem servitude. I'm starting the party off within the higher class Wizarding part of the world with a mission to exterminate some rebels and hererics (A peaceful Necromancers School with some living and undead servants, a daycare, and a program that recruits widowed mothers so they can learn a magical trade.) During this mission I'm going to tip the nature of the school in more and more obvious ways before actually telling them what's up. What I need right now: Some cool high concept golem tech. In giving the party aforementioned LCD made of tiny golems as a way for their employer to check in. I figure most of the wealth in the starting city (Horizon) will be doing stuff like riding tandem bikes where the only seat with pedals is the golem's. Kids battling with tiny golems. Matte golems in one color who simply exist to hold up wings and other fashion accessories behind people. I want Horizon to be as frivolous with its magic as possible. Next I need "encounters" that are just people doing their job. A zombie ambush in a corn field thats really just the party slaughtering the work force. A warehouse full of skeletons packing sinister looking bundles that are just weatherproofed spell components and teaching aides. A dark ritual that's actually a poetry reading. That sort of thing. Finally I want this first arc to end with an actual skeleton computer but I don't know why the school would need one.
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Nov 19, 2017 20:44
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Razorwired posted:Finally I want this first arc to end with an actual skeleton computer but I don't know why the school would need one. Class timetabling. Ask any teacher, class timetables are a process determined by huge computational effort, or dark magic.
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Nov 19, 2017 21:01
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The skeleton computer is easiest, it's an automaton that you can speak too and it does all your filing, cataloguing and calculating. A cool tech golem would be a receipt Gollum you could use the magic item Curtain fight from bestiary 2. Basically a wizard literally tries to drown someone in paperwork. Maybe the receipt is the one of the parties debts and it tries to collect so it's an unlikable beast that chases the group and ducks them up until they pay it off or re negotiate with the hiring wizard.
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Nov 19, 2017 21:02
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Reminds me of H.E.X. from discworld. Just don't mess with his FTB (fluffy teady bear).
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Nov 19, 2017 22:45
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I'm running a custom campaign on roll20 and I'm looking to bring it to an end. What would have originally been a big turning point in the story might be a good spot to end everything but is that the best way to end this? It'd put me on the hook for about another month. I feel like the game's just more work than it's worth anymore and I don't feel like the players care about the paths I give them. Whatever I think is fun to come up with and throw at them they don't seem to enjoy as players. I want all these hours that I spend back in my own hands.
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Nov 20, 2017 00:30
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communicate these feelings directly with the players, see what they think
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Nov 20, 2017 00:36
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rumble in the bunghole posted:communicate these feelings directly with the players, see what they think 
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Nov 20, 2017 05:43
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Thanks for the advice on Phandelver everyone! In the end I didn’t punish the players for gibbing the thieves and stacking the bits outside the mayor’s house, but when they went back to try and force him to leave town he wouldn’t unlock the door. The rogue rolled a natural 20 trying to impersonate the mayor’s mother which persuaded him to open the door a crack, but then both fighters fluffed their rolls and failed to force their way in. One of them suffered 2hp of old man damage from the door slamming on his fingers but then the rogue went in through the roof and they got rid of him. So now their patron is in charge of the town and has put new guards in place and everything is fine. Except, of course, that after they left the pile of bits outside his door they went and got drunk at the cider orchard for two days before they did anything else. That means the mayor had time to send for help from his insalubrious allies amongst the Redbrand Ruffians, who have dispatched reinforcements to re-take control of the town. Not only that but the main baddy of the adventure has caught wind of what’s going on and, realising his mistake in putting his faith in humans to keep control, has sent a raiding force of hobgoblins and worgs to deal with the Redbrands and the townsfolk once and for all. I intend to have the players get back to town next session to find the Redbrands and the new town guards facing off in the town square, and depending on how that goes down have the hobgoblins arrive fairly shortly afterwards. I’m now so far away from what it says in the book I have a vague feeling of panic every time we sit down, but everyone seems to be enjoying it. I’m pretty sure I’ll be back for more advice later. Sanford fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Nov 20, 2017 |
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Nov 20, 2017 21:42
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Sanford posted:Thanks for the advice on Phandelver everyone! In the end I didn’t punish the players for gibbing the thieves and stacking the bits outside the mayor’s house, but when they went back to try and force him to leave town he wouldn’t unlock the door. The rogue rolled a natural 20 trying to impersonate the mayor’s mother which persuaded him to open the door a crack, but then both fighters fluffed their rolls and failed to force their way in. One of them suffered 2hp of old man damage from the door slamming on his fingers but then the rogue went in through the roof and they got rid of him. So now their patron is in charge of the town and has put new guards in place and everything is fine. That sounds awesome dude! I suppose you should also consider, if you really wanted to run through the adventure "properly", it wouldn't be too hard to get a group of pubs together for a one/two shot for it What's important is you try not to take away your players sense of agency because "the book doesn't cover getting drunk in the cider orchard for two days" which sounds like you've achieved pretty much perfectly. They are gonna facepalm when they see half the town having a small war while they were away doing their own thing I look forward to your next post, question or progress 
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Nov 21, 2017 09:07
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Our group is on a path to a resolution of the campaign now. I have either 3 or 4 sessions (depending on if jury duty fucks with my prep time) but they threw a monkey wrench into things by having one guy get killed and the others get captured by Duergar in the Underdark. I've got a plan to get the story moving again but god drat we are gonna be on a bullet train to resolution here.
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Nov 21, 2017 16:44
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Anyone have any suggestions on how to make that level from Titanfall 2 where you phase back and forth between two different combats 50 years from each other in order to flank/get advantage on enemies work in a tactical RPG combat system? Specifically Strike! ?
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Nov 21, 2017 18:04
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Nehru the Damaja posted:Our group is on a path to a resolution of the campaign now. I have either 3 or 4 sessions (depending on if jury duty fucks with my prep time) but they threw a monkey wrench into things by having one guy get killed and the others get captured by Duergar in the Underdark. I've got a plan to get the story moving again but god drat we are gonna be on a bullet train to resolution here. The guy that got killed is reanimated by Lloth or whoever because lloths will is not finished. Easy-peasy and now they get a demonic template
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Nov 21, 2017 20:14
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Moriatti posted:Anyone have any suggestions on how to make that level from Titanfall 2 where you phase back and forth between two different combats 50 years from each other in order to flank/get advantage on enemies work in a tactical RPG combat system? Specifically Strike! ?
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Nov 21, 2017 20:16
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My Lovely Horse posted:Not being familiar with that level, from your description it sounds like you could have two maps next to each other and make it an appropriate kind of action to jump from a square on one to the corresponding square on the other. Yeah, I'd do this or just use coins or markers to keep track of who is inside of which timeline.
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Nov 21, 2017 20:56
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That was the plan, I was just trying to think of mechanics to add incentives to jump, I was thinking stuff like riot shields or deployable barriers that aren't there in one or the other time, and removing structures in the past to get rid of them in the future, etc., I was also considering a countdown to make characters jump, but IDK about that. I heard about the level, I haven't played it myself, but it seems like a really neat mechanic worth exploring.
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Nov 21, 2017 21:02
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Moriatti posted:That was the plan, I was just trying to think of mechanics to add incentives to jump, I was thinking stuff like riot shields or deployable barriers that aren't there in one or the other time, and removing structures in the past to get rid of them in the future, etc., Honestly, the game presents itself well enough- I'm sure you can find a Let's Play or something. There's a lot of good incentives like having one zone burning wreckage on one time but not the other, or having two simultaneous combats of very different style (cover-shooter dudes on one time, melee animals on the other) to deal with by jumping when you get in a bad spot. Do note that, in Titanfall, time only progressed in the one the player resided. That made the enemies a lot easier to manage. If players are instead able to split thenselves between both, make sure to give the players opportunities to surprise enemies with well-timed jumps. For example, making a guy with a shield unknowingly have his back to a player's other-time position.
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Nov 21, 2017 21:25
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Moriatti posted:That was the plan, I was just trying to think of mechanics to add incentives to jump, I was thinking stuff like riot shields or deployable barriers that aren't there in one or the other time, and removing structures in the past to get rid of them in the future, etc., Well it depends on how closely you want to quote that level but having obstacles in one time be gone from the other is timehopping 101. Or you could gently caress with things in the past to change things in the present a-la Dishonored 2's Stilton Manor. Maybe an engineer in the past dungeon was on the cusp of perfecting a new defense grid of crystals, and killing him will ensure the future dungeon never ran at peak efficiency. Maybe there's a malcontent in the past who can be encouraged, creating a civil war scenario in the future or even a full blown regime change, loyal to the PCs for their help years ago (if you dont want the dungeon turning friendly, the new overlord could want the PCs dead because he can't have them taking credit for his rise) One seed, planted in the foundation, grows over decades to run through the entire facility, causing damage everywhere.
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Nov 21, 2017 21:32
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Zomborgon posted:Honestly, the game presents itself well enough- I'm sure you can find a Let's Play or something. There's a lot of good incentives like having one zone burning wreckage on one time but not the other, or having two simultaneous combats of very different style (cover-shooter dudes on one time, melee animals on the other) to deal with by jumping when you get in a bad spot. I liked that you heard radio chatter about HE'S GOT AN ADVANCED CLOAKING RIG
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Nov 22, 2017 00:22
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So I'm considering trying to run a one-shot (that could end up being an intro session to a longer campaign if the players want) as a first-time-ever DM using Blades in the Dark. Right now I'm just writing a basic framework for myself. I'd lightly use the setting given in Blades but also use a lot of my own stuff (crews, city districts, etc). I wouldn't call myself a seasoned player either, by any means, but I do have some experience so I've seen what works and what doesn't (for me, anyway), in addition to listening to a few APs and related podcasts. My plan is kind of that the players come up with their characters and their crew type but beyond that, I start them in media res immediately after a semi-successful score (I was thinking that they're leaving a restricted area of the city that's basically a festering black market, with a guard in their faces trying to get them to explain why they're coming out with an unconscious noble), which I then have them play via flashback. The "score" would be them extricating the somewhat unwilling noble's son out of a brothel. I have a few key NPCs there but given Blades' rapid-pace score planning I don't think it makes much sense to come up with much more beyond a very open framework. They would then determine how they got in with it being on me to determine how the guy ended up being unconscious (easiest explanation is he just passed out from booze before they got there). I kind of have to ensure that they succeed to some extent which could be an issue, but probably not? After that, flash forward back to the guard situation - I was thinking that they actually bribed him on their way in and he's only upset because them kidnapping a noble is way more than he had in mind - which they can resolve as they wish and then, finally, it goes off-rails. We'd then resolve the downtime, score rewards, let them tell me about their hideout, etc. I have some hooks in mind (maybe they were contracted by the noble's mother to get him out, could lead to more political intrigue, etc.) and would make more/alter them based on how it went and their character designs/goals. Does the above leave too little player agency? Or is a little bit of on-rails stuff alright in smaller doses/intro sessions? Again, after the above session I'd leave it to the players to come up with what they want to do, which seems more in line with the design of Blades. Also, what should I do if I want a player to do the equivalent of a spot check in Blades? Or are those hand-waved because perception rolls are boring? This is maybe answered obviously in the book, but I've lent it out and need to get it back from a friend. But most of the skill rolls seem to be player-driven according to an action that they want to take.
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Nov 22, 2017 00:56
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That’s pretty railroads for blades, especially with how there’s different gang types; that won’t make much sense if they’re a cult or smugglers. Flashbacks can be pretty confusing for new players as well so keep it linear to start, and it can really easily not match up. Give them a big opportunity, like a museum exhibit or a gang war starting, and see what they come up with to resolve it. Nothing wrong with the patron idea at heart though, just keep it simple.
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Nov 22, 2017 03:37
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rumble in the bunghole posted:That’s pretty railroads for blades, especially with how there’s different gang types; that won’t make much sense if they’re a cult or smugglers. Flashbacks can be pretty confusing for new players as well so keep it linear to start, and it can really easily not match up. Give them a big opportunity, like a museum exhibit or a gang war starting, and see what they come up with to resolve it. Nothing wrong with the patron idea at heart though, just keep it simple. That's fair, thanks. Might shelve the more railroady stuff for another system. I have friends that want to try Blades and don't want to misrepresent it.
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Nov 22, 2017 04:08
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There’s a starter scenario in the book for blades that’s a good starting point, where a gang war starts between the red sashes and lampblacks that I just remembered, it’s worth checking out.
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Nov 22, 2017 06:18
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So, a while back someone mentioned that all their players ended up accidentally creating pacifist characters and that this was a problem. My current campaign sort of has the same thing, but it's not-so-much that they don't fight as it is they're not built for combat. I don't have a tough time right now coming up with adventure ideas (and helpfully half the party has joined a sort-of Thieves' Guild anyway), but I can see it being an issue down the line. Especially because we're playing Pathfinder because we make great ideas. Anyway, the party in question is a Bard who's a radio DJ (and even invented the radio, which was too cool for me to even consider refusing), an Instructor Wizard who teaches remedial magical studies (her best spell for offense is Mount, purely because the horse it summons kicks harder than she can hit things ), a seemingly broody loner Oracle (who's just socially awkward and second guessing himself because of his hallucinations) who mostly just works as a craftsman and potion brewer and... a Noble Tiger Barbarian who's the most combat capable, but it's really more of a "if we need to do this" kinda thing.So far, they've mainly been scouting information for proper adventurers to go deal with threats, some investigatory work to find things/missing people, a delivery mission that seemed shady but was just bringing a guy some really hard-to-acquire groceries and are just about to enter a rich dude's mansion as invited guests in a party because one of 'em won big money gambling on a fighting arena match, so they'll get some high-class socialisation out of it too. It's certainly fun trying to come up with stuff that won't end with them getting murked by trying to fight things that are real threats (...especially since last session some of them nearly got killed by pumpkins...), and there's plenty to play off and ideas for me to jump on and run with. I guess I don't really have a question right now, but I'm all for suggestions of rad noncombat things to do with this in the future. I've already asked the players, and I even ask every week in case they think of something new, but they generally just now are "I'm gonna do this thing on my own" or "I want to buy these few items, is that doable?" which is potentially helpful but also not super useful longterm.
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Nov 22, 2017 15:07
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Any corrupt Kingdoms nearby that could use a systemic change from within the system? It sounds like you've got Bard (influencer), Wizard built to run their own Wizard school, a Noble and... The Oracle might be a bit harder, but basically you've got people who will be running little departments, and could be leaders. If you want, set up a situation where they can get clever/lucky and accidentally kill a Wicked Witch/Black Knight type that makes them the heroes of a rebellion. Or, if all the kingdoms are nominally good, they can see to improving it and making it a hub world. Both of these will allow organic story situations come out and tell you were to throw wrenches or gremlins or rust monsters for drama and puzzles.
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Nov 22, 2017 16:14
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Could they hire/inspire/be seconded some more violence-inclined NPCs for some adventures? A little weird on the character agency side, but might be fun every now and then.
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Nov 22, 2017 16:38
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My party finally cornered Glasstaff, the terribly-named boss wizard in the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure. The book basically just describes him as "a wizard" but the players really built up how important he was, so I wove him into the plot a bit more and made sure he was in a position to tick off half a dozen of their unanswered questions and unresolved plot threads. To make him a bit more interesting I made him a really poo poo wizard using one-shot gadgets to simulate spells - a dwarf bazooka that worked as burning hands, a bottle of strange, silvery hand lotion that worked as shocking grasp, a cloak of teleportation to work as misty step, and so on. He bounced around the room pulling things out of secret compartments and hidden in furniture, shouting "ABRACADABRA!" or "ALAKAZAM!" every time he "cast" a "spell". The party quickly clocked that Glasstaff wasn't a proper wizard and started picking up candlesticks and items of furniture to see if they did anything special. It went really really well with the high point being our dwarf saying "I pick up the inkwell and... drink it?" after a series of terrible rolls. They eventually cornered the charlatan, weeping and near death in the corner of the room, with almost all his tricks used up and nowhere to run. He grabbed his last trinket from a shelf - a thimble that allows him to cast ray of frost - and pointed it at the party. Thing was, they had been having a casual conversation all the way through the fight about how they were going to subdue him and torture him, so I read out the following text: "You back Glasstaff into the corner, crying and begging, babbling and bleeding. Tears and snot mix with the blood caked into his beard as he pleads with you, but the fear of his unknown master still seems to eclipse his fear of you and he will not surrender. He scrabbles desperately at the shelf next to him, slipping a silver thimble onto his finger and pointing it at you. His arm trembles so much that even at this range it is unlikely he will hit you. Then suddenly his resolve seems to strengthen, and his arm steadies. He raises his finger to his temple, looks you straight in the eyes, and whispers "bang". His brains hit the wall at the same time as his body hits the floor." Well they weren't expecting that. Brilliantly, the mage rolled a natural 20 on an insight roll to work out why he killed himself, so I was able to just tell her "probably because you all kept saying you were going to torture him to death". I had to get back to work and they were still arguing when I left.
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Nov 22, 2017 18:14
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Alright my players have finally gotten past the tutorial and are about to get into some adventurin'. Setting's L5R (system's FATE Core) so they've been sent to Naishou Province to investigate some possibly cultist activity. Now after a good dose of Murder on the Orient Express, I'm rather dissatisfied with the standard module in there and I want to make things really full of conspiracy (with possibly links to a kidnapping of an imperial heir). Any pointers for intrigue?
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Nov 22, 2017 19:07
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| # ? May 9, 2024 11:33 |
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Sanford posted:My party finally cornered Glasstaff, the terribly-named boss wizard in the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure. The book basically just describes him as "a wizard" but the players really built up how important he was, so I wove him into the plot a bit more and made sure he was in a position to tick off half a dozen of their unanswered questions and unresolved plot threads. To make him a bit more interesting I made him a really poo poo wizard using one-shot gadgets to simulate spells - a dwarf bazooka that worked as burning hands, a bottle of strange, silvery hand lotion that worked as shocking grasp, a cloak of teleportation to work as misty step, and so on. He bounced around the room pulling things out of secret compartments and hidden in furniture, shouting "ABRACADABRA!" or "ALAKAZAM!" every time he "cast" a "spell". The party quickly clocked that Glasstaff wasn't a proper wizard and started picking up candlesticks and items of furniture to see if they did anything special. It went really really well with the high point being our dwarf saying "I pick up the inkwell and... drink it?" after a series of terrible rolls. They eventually cornered the charlatan, weeping and near death in the corner of the room, with almost all his tricks used up and nowhere to run. He grabbed his last trinket from a shelf - a thimble that allows him to cast ray of frost - and pointed it at the party. Thing was, they had been having a casual conversation all the way through the fight about how they were going to subdue him and torture him, so I read out the following text: that's amazing
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Nov 22, 2017 20:16
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