|
^I mean, the player involved can definitely eat this up from my experience, I juat want to offer her a few options.Neopie posted:Spider man isn't street level. MCU/movie Spider-man kinda is, given their outlook on stuff. I know he's gonna show up in imfinity war and all, but he's generally a fish out of water type character in these situations.
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2018 19:06
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 06:15 |
|
|
Neopie posted:Spider man isn't street level. Like everything else in comics, it depends. The Spider-Man I grew up reading certainly was.
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2018 19:12
|
|
|
I think that was a pun.
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2018 19:22
|
|
|
I just got it. Doh!
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 00:26
|
|
|
Zomborgon posted:I think that was a pun. It's me, I'm the idiot.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 00:54
|
|
|
Is there a good way to handle players who are constantly “meh” about playing or what game to play?
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 16:41
|
|
|
"Hey, I noticed this doesn't seem to be engaging you, what would you like to see more of?"
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 16:49
|
|
|
What all factors should I take into account when making a homebrew setting? I’ve sketched out the major races and barebones cultural ideas of them. I will next scribble down notes of the major regions and little details about the various. Basically just seeds for plot hooks in those towns. As for story, I have various ideas of how to start and where I want it to go. Thinking of several different ways things could end waaay in the future. Anything else I should think about and write down before I get the campaign going? Haven’t DMed long. Just a few sessions of Phandelver with a mostly new group of players as well.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 16:50
|
|
|
Nash posted:What all factors should I take into account when making a homebrew setting? I’ve sketched out the major races and barebones cultural ideas of them. I will next scribble down notes of the major regions and little details about the various. Basically just seeds for plot hooks in those towns. As for story, I have various ideas of how to start and where I want it to go. Thinking of several different ways things could end waaay in the future. Do you have anything on how the different regions interconnect or any relationships between major players? If the PCs do something that affects the region as a whole, you'll have some prepared ideas for where to take it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 16:56
|
|
|
The homebrew setting my players seemed most engaged in was one where I did the same thing as you, and also gave each player a "thing your character alone knows" for a secret type goal. Some players really liked this and made suggestions that helped shape the world we were building. Some just treated thus as a mystery they would ask about, both seem equally valid. Other than that, don't make anything to concrete, come up with some neat twist and encounters, then be flexible about where you use them.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 16:56
|
|
|
Nash posted:What all factors should I take into account when making a homebrew setting? I’ve sketched out the major races and barebones cultural ideas of them. I will next scribble down notes of the major regions and little details about the various. Basically just seeds for plot hooks in those towns. As for story, I have various ideas of how to start and where I want it to go. Thinking of several different ways things could end waaay in the future. The politics of the land. Who owns what and where. Not saying there needs to be some complicated GOT wheeling and dealing going on, but know who runs the show, or at least know how the power structure is stacked, goes a long way towards helping to establish the setting as a living thing. This can include how the races feel about each other, who's your 'dominant power,' if there is one.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 16:57
|
|
|
Moriatti posted:"Hey, I noticed this doesn't seem to be engaging you, what would you like to see more of?" And no-one says anything. Or just, “nah it’s alright”.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 17:15
|
|
|
hyphz posted:Is there a good way to handle players who are constantly “meh” about playing or what game to play? Stop playing with them, and find some other activity to spend time together if you want?
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 17:15
|
|
|
Nash posted:What all factors should I take into account when making a homebrew setting? I’ve sketched out the major races and barebones cultural ideas of them. I will next scribble down notes of the major regions and little details about the various. Basically just seeds for plot hooks in those towns. As for story, I have various ideas of how to start and where I want it to go. Thinking of several different ways things could end waaay in the future. Give your players the broad strokes of the setting - light on detail, just the big picture. Then tell your players "each of you give me one True Fact about the setting." It can be as big or as small as they want - anything from "this city is ruled by a demilich" to "Bob the Bartender at the Red Griffon Inn is a retired adventurer." This accomplishes a whole bunch of things. One, it gives your players a bit of emotional buy-in to the setting. They helped build it, after all. Two, it provides you, the GM, with some interesting details that you might not have otherwise thought of - and a bit of an intellectual puzzle as you try and fit these true facts into your setting. Three, it's a sneaky way of getting your players to tell you about stuff they're interested in seeing and the kind of game they want to play. If they're giving you details of intricate political machinations, they probably want to play a game where intricate political machinations come into play. If they're telling you about an evil dragon terrorizing the countryside, they probably want to go kill that dragon. If they're telling you about Bob the Bartender and his past glories as an adventurer, they probably want that dude to be a fun member of the game's supporting cast. So you don't just get help building the setting, you also get a glimpse of the kind of things they want to see in the game, and that'll help you craft a more engaging and interesting story.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 17:59
|
|
|
Thanks for pointers. I like how Warhammer Fantasy (RIP) was a take on the real world. I’m cobbling together a setting like that but the ancient world. Rome, Greece, Gaul etc. The people I’m playing with are all into history so I’m taking events and movements from back then in order to get the ideas for things in this setting. Not direct replacements. Edit: Really like the idea of the “true facts” for the setting. Nash fucked around with this message at 18:06 on Apr 14, 2018 |
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 18:04
|
|
|
hyphz posted:And no-one says anything. Or just, “nah it’s alright”. Take a break, try and get someone else to run it and see how that changes it. If that doesn't, then Subjunctive posted:Stop playing with them, and find some other activity to spend time together if you want?
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 18:13
|
|
|
Moriatti posted:Take a break, try and get someone else to run it and see how that changes it. Yea, it’d be ideal. It’s just tricky. The players don’t want to be proactive about the game because they do not want to feel they are pushing the GM to run. I don’t want to be proactive if the players aren’t because I don’t want them to be playing grudgingly. So it gets stuck.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 18:37
|
|
|
hyphz posted:Yea, it’d be ideal. It’s just tricky. The players don’t want to be proactive about the game because they do not want to feel they are pushing the GM to run. I don’t want to be proactive if the players aren’t because I don’t want them to be playing grudgingly. So it gets stuck. Have you told them not to worry about pushing the GM? Seems like you could assuage that concern in about 30 seconds.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 18:48
|
|
|
Subjunctive posted:Have you told them not to worry about pushing the GM? Seems like you could assuage that concern in about 30 seconds. If they were robots. As it is, that’s just something I’m “supposed to say”, and given that I must be only saying it because I’m supposed to.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 18:56
|
|
|
I’m beginning to think this problem extends beyond just regular tabletop issues here.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 18:58
|
|
|
hyphz posted:If they were robots. As it is, that’s just something I’m “supposed to say”, and given that I must be only saying it because I’m supposed to. Do you have any relationship with these people that might lead them to trust what you tell them about your feelings at face value? Why wouldn’t they believe you if you said “Don’t worry about pushing me into this. I want to do it, as long as you’re all excited about it too. What game would excite you most?” I mean, assuming that’s true. You used the third person at one point, but I’m assuming you’re the putative GM.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 19:00
|
|
|
Yea, it’s me. And oh god, I’m not going to directly ask a group question like this, because it’s like asking what restaurant to go to. No one will want to be first to answer with their preference, in case they are the only one.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 19:24
|
|
|
Ask them individually, since you want individual preference? Multiple choice, if you like. Have you actually had meaningful interactions with these people? I’m baffled as to why it’s so torturous to navigate something as low in emotional content as what game you’re going to play.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 19:28
|
|
|
Maybe it's just confusion as to what to do? I have had this problem before during games sometimes. Have you tried the solution of having someone kick down the door and start shooting at them when things get boring? If so, how did they react to that?
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 19:30
|
|
|
Subjunctive posted:Ask them individually, since you want individual preference? Multiple choice, if you like. It's not emotional, but it's potentially a lengthy time commitment if it's a campaign of a particular game. I did try sending out individual surveys but nobody wants to get involved with that because it's too formal and mechanical.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 20:36
|
|
|
hyphz posted:It's not emotional, but it's potentially a lengthy time commitment if it's a campaign of a particular game. Have you tried talking to people one-on-one? Are you sure that these people are interested in playing the style of game you want to run? If somebody wants to do a gritty crime drama then they're not going to respond well to "which of these four epic-high-fantasy games do you want to play?" For that matter are you sure they want tabletop role-playing games at all?
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 20:48
|
|
|
Space Gopher posted:For that matter are you sure they want tabletop role-playing games at all? Indeed. It seems like if they can’t be bothered to fill out a simple survey, they’re not very interested in this. This horse might not drink.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2018 21:23
|
|
|
I saw a thing (it might even have been on here) for gauging players' interests that was kind of neat. The GM made a few little signs for different tones or themes that a campaign could have, like 'Comedy', 'Intrigue', 'Hack & Slash' and so on. I think there were maybe 9 in total. Then they gave each player (I think it was) 3 tokens that they could put on the ones that were of interest to them. It took basically no time at all but quickly gave a sense of what kind of thing the group was into. Another way to look at it is that if they don't care, or express that they're fine with everything, that might give you license to run whatever kind if game you're most excited about. GM enthusiasm can often be infectious. It is also possible, though, that they just really don't want to RPG at all, or maybe not this game, for a while.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2018 15:28
|
|
|
hyphz posted:Yea, it’s me. And oh god, I’m not going to directly ask a group question like this, because it’s like asking what restaurant to go to. No one will want to be first to answer with their preference, in case they are the only one. Have them find a post/job board in game with 3 quests. Make these quests about the weirdest stuff in your setting. Only design the first one or two encounters for each. When they pick something roll with it HARD. I described a dungeon as "Jurassic Park for Golems" and the party has barely made it into the compound because they spent an hour last session stealing Roomba Golems and getting into the gift shop register. Also use a Discord. Set your nickname to something like "Gamemaster" and post a player facing lore doc. Nothing too robust, maybe 3 pages of interesting stuff the players can get to. I'm not a fan of telling my table what to do in the moment. But with a Discord I can set expectations and have reminders of what's going on on all my players phones.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2018 15:58
|
|
|
I don’t know whether to ask here or the 5e thread: Is the Curse of Strahd worth getting and running?
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2018 16:03
|
|
|
VanSandman posted:I don’t know whether to ask here or the 5e thread: Is the Curse of Strahd worth getting and running? It’s good from having played it, but it is a bit grimdark in places (as you’d expect) which may not fit with regular DnD fans.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2018 17:23
|
|
|
Original Ravenloft had a lot of cool stuff, I've heard Curse is a good update so I'd imagine so!
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2018 17:27
|
|
|
Run death house, the opening part of curse, and see what your group thinks. It works fine as a standalone and if they like it then they will like the rest of Strahd.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2018 17:56
|
|
|
Gumball Gumption posted:Run death house, the opening part of curse, and see what your group thinks. It works fine as a standalone and if they like it then they will like the rest of Strahd. I ran Death House as a one-shot in the middle of my homebrew campaign and changed it so it fit within my own thing, and it is super fun
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2018 18:14
|
|
|
Paramemetic posted:3) The DM wants to find out what happens. This is the Apocalypse World approach - the players and the DM (MC) are both playing to find out what happens. There's no plan, the players have most of the rails, the story is being made collaboratively. This is really hard to do in a d20-like because encounters need to be balanced to the players to be challenging, or the whole premise doesn't work and you should be playing using another system (like PbtA) and not using d20. This is interesting given that in the newest Adventure Zone campaign, they're using Monster of the Week (a PbtA system) to tell a story that has ultimately been heavily planned out/determined by the GM. I would have expected the campaign to not be as successful given the above, but it seems to be fairly well-received. Maybe it has something to do with using Monster of the Week as as a set of themes to work off of?
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2018 21:39
|
|
|
Doing a podcast is not even close to how RPGs actually get played.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2018 21:48
|
|
|
That and Monster of the Week indeed requires more structure than other PbtA games by the nature of being, well, a Monster of the Week show in tabletop form.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2018 22:01
|
|
|
So other than maybe a wand of Entangle, what's are good non magical ways to keep characters held in place? I've got a combat encounter planned out where there is a ogre and a bunch of orcs running at the players while Hill Giants are essentially shelling them with rocks from far away. I'm gonna treat it like a continuous trap so they will always be having to dodge something and i want to make it alot harder for them to just get out of the way? There really wasen't enough time between when the enemies showed up for them to have placed bear traps in advance for example and i don't know if i want to just go with "they are aiming at your feet with arrows to pin you in place"
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2018 23:05
|
|
|
HOOLY BOOLY posted:So other than maybe a wand of Entangle, what's are good non magical ways to keep characters held in place? I've got a combat encounter planned out where there is a ogre and a bunch of orcs running at the players while Hill Giants are essentially shelling them with rocks from far away. I'm gonna treat it like a continuous trap so they will always be having to dodge something and i want to make it alot harder for them to just get out of the way? Sudden flash floods create a mudslide, nearly engulfing the party. Moving more than a few feet takes your whole turn and you still go at half your speed. That, or the only safe path into the area got blocked by falling rocks (maybe dislodged by the enemy), so the only way out of the barrage is straight through the orc horde.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2018 23:15
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 06:15 |
|
|
HOOLY BOOLY posted:So other than maybe a wand of Entangle, what's are good non magical ways to keep characters held in place? I've got a combat encounter planned out where there is a ogre and a bunch of orcs running at the players while Hill Giants are essentially shelling them with rocks from far away. I'm gonna treat it like a continuous trap so they will always be having to dodge something and i want to make it alot harder for them to just get out of the way? I'm confused as to what more this encounter needs to accomplish what you want. Why are you so intent on having them be unable to move? Making them stop moving doesn't sound much like "always be having to dodge something." Additionally, being immobilized is it's own penalty; if you're using an immobilize effect to trigger damage from a giant-tossed rock, you're imposing a second penalty that the PCs are likely to have trouble responding to, which is likely to be irritating. Have the attack come when they're on a mountain pass or in a valley or some other narrow terrain, and don't use the tossed boulders as attacks, have them target squares. Mark the squares they'll hit at the start of the round and then have the boulders hit at the end of the round. If you feel like that's too easy to avoid, add a random scatter effect like pre:1 2 3 4 x 5 6 7 8 Comrade Gorbash fucked around with this message at 23:29 on Apr 15, 2018 |
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2018 23:24
|
|
