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Reposting from the D&D thread because I think I put this in the wrong place: Just finished the first session of my new campaign. Went quite well. The party is: - A tiefling Paladin of Avandra, who was one of the leaders of a protest-turned-uprising against tiefling discrimination years prior. After the event he became a paladin of the temple of Avandra, but instead of helping the needy and making a difference he's spent years doing thankless gruntwork, losing his mind of boredom and being berated by the head of the temple, who is a blustering rear end in a top hat. - A halfling Cleric of Yondalla, who puts in long hours and works incredibly hard at the temple in the hopes of becoming a journeyman and getting out into the world, but is constantly looked over for promotion by a matron who can't even get his name right consistently. - A dragonborn Monk of the Raven Queen, raised and trained in a remote commune to battle those who subvert the natural order of death, come to the big city chasing a strange dream vision, only to find that she's the only warrior in a shrine of what amount to funeral directors. Her colleagues are nice enough but she feels out of place. Also her scales are bright gold and she tends to attract groups of awestruck kobolds. They've been friends for years, and together they're the greatest pub quiz team in this part of town, and like to commiserate each other over their awful jobs. As the campaign started they helped a friendly but excitable gnome wizard get away from an unsavoury type that was harassing her at their local pub, and end up making a friend. The guy's mistake was trying to be a creep in a bar full of paladins, and it ended up with them throwing him into the river, cheering all the while. The next day there was a montage of their respective awful working days; then each independently discovered missing supplies in their respective temples, and ran into each other in the huge line outside the watch house. There had been a spree of thefts in the region. Mostly things like incense, formaldehyde and oils, but the Diadem of Avandra, a non-magical but religiously-significant item of jewellery, was also gone. They also met their gnome friend, whose wand was missing, and they deduced that the creep from the previous night had stolen it. A priest ran from the nearby church of Pelor having seen and heard something crawling around in their storeroom. The party took it upon themselves to investigate - but not before Paladin, who has proficiency in woodworking, hastily carved an old bit of wood into a marker he stuck in the ground to mark their place in line. In the basement were two giant rats and a rat swarm. Having not run 5e before I discovered how fragile 1st level characters are. After the fight they found broken glass and a pool of green liquid, the same shade of green as the flecks of foam from the rats' mouths. Coupled with the ratholes they found being too small for the rats they fought, they seemed to put two and two together about the liquid being a mutagenic potion. A scream from upstairs spurred them into action as a parishioner was attacked by a similarly mutated Pigeon Of Unusual Size. They were originally meant to fight two of them but I took one away after how hairy the last fight got. After vanquishing it, receiving a potion of healing as a reward, and selling the pigeon body to goblins for 1gp, they took the mystery fluid to a friendly local alchemist, an elderly tiefling. He knew them all, whether through business or, in Paladin's case, because they lived in the same neighbourhood before Paladin joined the temple, and was happy to help. After listening to their story and what was stolen, and consulting dusty tomes, he informed them that the theft of magic items, potion ingredients and a relic of Avandra (goddess of, among other things, luck) indicate an attempt to create a potion of Perfect Luck - which is sacrilege in Paladin's eyes. Returning to the pub, where the gnome's wand was thought to have been stolen, they conferred with the barkeeper, a gruff yet amicable dwarf with a bad leg. He'd not seen the creepy guy steal the wand because he'd been distracted by a complicated drink order... and at this point he realised that could have been a deliberate attempt to distract him from the theft. Luckily he knew the accomplice and led the party to his address. What followed was an on-foot chase including packs of feral dogs, crowds, and two guys carrying a pane of glass. (Paladin tried to slide under it, forgetting he was carrying Cleric like a halfling rucksack, and smashed through it without breaking stride instead.) It ended when Paladin cut the culprit off and threw Cleric at him, missing by a hair but staggering him enough for Monk to catch up and tackle him. The accomplice spilled the beans and the party found the thief's hideout. After a battle on the ground floor with the creep from the pub and a larger, burlier thug, they find the thief in the attic, distractedly working on potions. Rolling a 1 on Stealth, they fail to sneak up on him, but a natural 20 on an Intimidate check by the Paladin, augmented by Thaumaturgy, stopped him from attacking and skipped an encounter entirely. The alchemist did make his escape though - with one hand he threw a flashbang sort of potion down a hole in the floor, and with the other he downed a slowfall potion and leapt out the window. The flash agitated his Huge pet spider in the floor below, which tore a hole in the floorboards and attacked the party. Here, I discovered that a CR1 Giant Spider can one-shot a level 1 character, even if they succeed on the saving throw for the poison. Both Paladin and Cleric went down this way, leaving Monk hanging on to its back. She eventually killed it with an unarmed strike to the head. Now, I'd been playing around with using music in my DMing for the first time, and up to now I'd been using the Dragon Quest 8 soundtrack, but when the Monk pummelled the giant spider's head into a pulp, fists and claws flailing and flames spewing from her maw, there was only one track I could use. After killing it she dragged her friends to safety and the arms of the City Watch. Meanwhile, as I'd mentioned in an earlier post, the alchemist's Slow Fall potion was mixed poorly and resulted in a Very Slow Fall potion. He was falling incredibly slowly as the Watch milled around beneath him waiting for him to get within arm's reach. The party, once revived, got a share of the alchemist's loot as a finder's fee, which included a +1 Shield along with various knickknacks. Also that cape from Xanathar's Guide to Everything that billows dramatically with a bonus action. Having experienced a real adventure together for the first time, as well as earning more in one day than they normally did in a month, the next day at work felt awful for them, but they got backpats, applause and a heroes' welcome at the pub. The owner, a retired adventurer himself, offered to help them start on the path to becoming freelance adventurers, like an old warrior had done for him years prior. Having gotten The Itch, and despite some reservations from Cleric who was a little shaken by the whole ordeal, they sealed it with a handshake and ascended to level 2, ending the session.
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May 8, 2018 10:04
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Yawgmoth posted:I've only watched one episode but the vibe I got was really tryhard, like everyone wanted to be "the cool one" or something. Bad community theater describes it really well.
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May 8, 2018 12:36
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Dr Snofeld posted:They've been friends for years, and together they're the greatest pub quiz team in this part of town, and like to commiserate each other over their awful jobs... This might be the great "you are all in a tavern" opening I have ever seen. Sounds like everyone had a blast!
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May 8, 2018 13:48
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Sniper Party posted:Yeah I enjoy it, but basically every time they have any interpersonal drama or an NPC they're arguing with they just can't. shut. up. Thankfully most of the time Sam or Travis are there to cut off the bloviating, but I still ended up skipping huge parts of the first campaign. I skipped to the second campaign and it hasn’t really been like this at all.
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May 8, 2018 13:59
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CobiWann posted:This might be the great "you are all in a tavern" opening I have ever seen. Sounds like everyone had a blast! After all 3 players independently picked religious classes, the rest fell into place on its own. They all work at different temples on Temple Row, where the archpriests bicker like a Homeowners Association but the acolytes and clerics chat while they're taking the bins out and go out for drinks with little umbrellas in them on a Friday night.
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May 8, 2018 14:15
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Pollyanna posted:I skipped to the second campaign and it hasn’t really been like this at all. The second campaign is really different for two big reasons: 1. The first campaign was with a lot of newbies. I think Matt, Liam and Taliesin were the only experienced D&D players at the time (the whole thing started as a birthday surprise for Liam) and it was mostly played in huge 8-hour weekend sessions the few times they could all get together. The start of Critical Role was years after the campaign had begun, so you've got a lot of established backstory and buildup conflicting with trying to shift gears into a regular 3 to 5 hour session every Thursday. One of the many reasons Orion Acaba started grating on people was because toward the end of his run he started taking up a ton of time in a time-limited session doing solo stuff (along with saying some things he shouldn't have, drug addiction, possibly cheating on rolls, and burning a lot of bridges when he left the show). 2. None of the players knew each other's second season characters beyond their race and name before they started playing, so we're getting to see everything introduced fresh to a group of experienced players who know how everything has to go. The sessions feel like regular D&D sessions, including players occasionally latching onto red herrings and taking an extra few hours to figure out a mystery. If you want to watch Critical Role, I recommend starting with the second campaign because it's much tighter and everyone is at Level 1 so they aren't whipping out magical items or dropping thousands of gold every session. For the second season, start on episode 24 where the Briarwoods arc starts because Taliesin has just gotten onto his new medication so he's mentally back to normal, they start an interesting arc with long-term implications and a lot of character development, and Orion leaves in a few episodes. chitoryu12 fucked around with this message at 14:21 on May 8, 2018 |
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May 8, 2018 14:19
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I'm running a Strike game about running a catering company in a post-kefkapocalypse-type homebrew fantasy world. Is this the thread where people wanna hear about our dumb adventures? I was getting kinda embarrased about being the only person posting in the Strike thread but maybe this is a better home for wayward writeups
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May 8, 2018 14:47
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Ignite Memories posted:I'm running a Strike game about running a catering company in a post-kefkapocalypse-type homebrew fantasy world- holy poo poo yes 
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May 8, 2018 15:00
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This is indeed Foster's Home for Wayward Gaming Stories, so
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May 8, 2018 15:02
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Good, good. I've been meaning to get the adventures written down before I forgot everything that happened. I'ma take some time to kludge together something from the notes of the first session, but in the meantime i'll give you a bit of an amuse-bouche.Narrator posted:DOOMSDAY - The four warriors of light lay defeated. Gaurok the Glutton has destabilized the triad of creation and claimed their immense power. The planet itself has been rent and shifted by his dark design. The kingdoms of man have been scattered, and strange beasts emerge from the shadows. I'm playing it super-episodic: self contained bite sized adventures featuring a rotating cast of friends with difficult schedules. The idea is that hopefully we can have cute little stories that wrap up in a nice status quo blanket at the end of the night so no one has to feel bad about playing when someone else isn't available. There's seven people involved so far but the first two sessions had five players each. Here's the cast: Dutch Baby, the Faerie Baker (Warlord Controller) Gruyére, the Avian Forager (Archer Striker) Lemon, the Otter Fisherman (Duelist Leader) Colby, the Minotaur Cheesemaker (Martial Artist Defender) Soufflé, the Fairy Pastrycook (Necromancer Blaster) Bento, the Catman Sushi Chef (Duelist Striker) Guac, the Mole Saucier (Bombardier Controller) Everybody has miniatures and they're all amazing. Ignite Memories fucked around with this message at 04:26 on May 9, 2018 |
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May 8, 2018 15:18
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chitoryu12 posted:The second campaign is really different for two big reasons: You could also just start with the Taryon Darrington arc from the first campaign around episode 85, after all none of the rest really matters and the whole second campaign is set in his homeland a few decades later. For a character designed to troll the rest of the group by copying their gimmicks and making them flashier it ended up as an awesome side story for the most part.
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May 8, 2018 15:31
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Sam made his character in the new campaign a goblin with a Charisma modifier of -3. She's the polar opposite of his last two characters and can't talk for poo poo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp-_wNFouSM&t=269s "Zero."
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May 8, 2018 15:40
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RedMagus posted:Foster's Home for Wayward Gaming Stories
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May 8, 2018 16:19
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Tuesday morning - the beginning of the workweek. Four intrepid chefs make their way downtown, to the World of Ruin Catering Company: Bento the cat, Lemon the otter, Dutch Baby the faerie and Soufflé the fairy. They are let in by Gruyère the bird, who lives in the attic and works as sort of a janitor/trash disposal. The owner and manager Alfredo the hobbit is already there, and he's made breakfast! There is a hot, fresh batch of Dogels for everybody. I pass out 5 little sheets of paper with dogels drawn on them, and give everybody crayons. The players are instructed to dress the dogels, which are a delicious toroid pastry that straddles the line between savory and sweet, in any way they see fit for their family meal. As the chefs prepare their breakfasts, Alfredo explains the day's work. As everyone knows, Pie Day is coming up (not reflective of any numerical date, just the day that everyone collectively agreed upon to celebrate pie) and Mayor Cannoli has ordered 3 Truffled Meat Pies and 3 Mixed Berry Pies for their special holiday dinner. But there's a catch: Whoever used the last truffle didn't leave a note or anything, and now there's no truffles in the pantry! Now Alfredo needs his employees to go on an emergency truffle hunt. After everybody eats breakfast, I pass out Action points and explain how to use them. In my game, your 1 free action point per session is, of course, tied to the most important meal of the day. The players agreed that Bento had made the finest dogel, and Bento was awarded an additional action point. Alfredo lets them borrow his trained hamlet, named Tuber. They bring the hamlet (pig) to the woods (which was at various times referred to as 'the black forest', 'the dark woods', and 'forest zone act I') to go truffling. On their way they run into the constable, Surströmming, who greets them warmly and warns them to keep their ears open - it's Mesquito season. Taking off into the forest they follow the path for a while, collecting fresh jazzberries and klingonberries for the pies, until the hamletbearer rolls a twist on his animal wrangling check. Tuber escapes! They take off after him, engaging in a short but fun chase sequence where they almost catch up but ultimately lose Tuber when he takes a daring rush over some slimy river stones. So the hamlet gets away, but Gruyère spends an action point to use their Never Lose The Mark trick and declare that they're on the trail! Meanwhile, the group of chef/adventurers slowly make their way across the river - Bento invokes his Hydrophobia complication, opting to go the long way around and look for a proper bridge. He catches up to the group a few minutes later, feeling winded but fully stocked on action points. The group folows the hamlet's trail (and eventually audible squealing) to a clearing where the hamlet has been caught in a snare. They try to free the hamlet, but are interrupted by a band of Goblins who declare their ownership of the hamlet. A brief argument occurs. The laws are fairly vague on the subject - though the goblins have rightfully captured the animal, its collar and leash could be said to constitute Proof of Ownership on behalf of the party. Neither side is able to convince the other to budge (and everyone clearly wanted to try out the combat rules) so they begin to fight. These goblins can inflict Distracted or Marked with their at-will attacks, and can choose between one of two encounter powers: Weighted Net, to throw down Immobilizing zones, and Pocket Sand, which is a miss trigger that inflicts Blinded. They also each had one of three fighting styles which granted opportunist/reach/slippery. So the Goblins move into position surrounding everybody, and toss a few daggers. Dutch Baby maneuvers to cover her co-workers (did I mention that Dutch Baby is huge? She is 2x2 and provides cover) and starts lighting up enemy targets with her moonbeam attack. Lemon gets to work bashing their heads in with his club and shield, moving to recover the hamlet and cure its wounds (he cures wounds the same way he cures fish - with lots of salt). Gruyère starts hopping around the battlefield pinning enemies down with flurries of arrows, while Bento engages a speargoblin at the edge of combat. Bento is trapped in a weighted net, but manages to use his 'Get Over Here' ability (I Can Haz Bellyrub?) to pull two more goblins into the net with him and mangle them. Soufflé, meanwhile, has sucked the soul out of one of the goblins and reshaped it into a puppy. Two of the goblins go to haul the hamlet away, but Gruyère uses his Pungent Arrow (all of their trick arrows are flavored) to bog them down in a cloud while Lemon moved to recover the hamlet. In the end, the remaining goblin relinquishes his claim to the hamlet and they let him on his way. Finally they were able to continue their search, and a very good foraging roll reveals that the hamlet had led them right to a big aromatic truffle! They recover it, and go to forage for some more berries and truffles when a 'Twist+Cost' put an end to their good time. A horrendous buzzing approaches from the south as a horde of Mesquitos descends onto the forest, surely enough to bleed the lot of them dry! The group has a second chase scene (this time as the Pursued Party) to hightail it back to Macadamia with all of their truffles and berries and blood. They get back to the catering company, where Alfredo is getting all the pie crust ready. He thanks them for their valiant efforts, and asks which one of them would like to kill the hamlet. Soufflé happily volunteers and carts the pig away to the slaughterhouse while most of the party looks on in some combination of amusement and horror. Alfredo explains that the recipe calls for the hamlet to pick out its own truffle in order to achieve the perfect pairing. They cook up the meat pies and grind the truffles over the crumbly crust, and put together the berry pies as well. It was represented by a series of various skill rolls that everyone could perform or help with one of. Dutch Baby rolled a 6 making her crust, so she had time to help Gruyere out with his struggling berry filling (which mostly involved picking out the pinfeathers.) Everything turned out satisfactory, and they were able to make another two small pies to split amongst themselves. We wrapped up the session, concluding that everyone had learned a valuable lesson about something probably. I'll try to get some pictures of the party together to share with the thread - a couple of the players are taking some time to finish painting their miniatures, so i've been holding off on fancy photos. In the meantime you will have to just assume everything was super adorable. next: the mystery of the wine cellar! Ignite Memories fucked around with this message at 04:33 on May 9, 2018 |
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May 8, 2018 22:28
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CzarChasm posted:But you gave me an idea for a youtube show: Live re-enactments of lovely D&D behavior. Collect all the bad stories from this thread (and elsewhere), and build scripts off of them. There are already youtube series based around dealing with bad kinds of players and bad GMs, but those are more generic. Dealing with real world examples of horribleness might have some viewership. A classic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-leYc4oC83E
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May 8, 2018 22:35
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Pour one out for Tuber ;_; Also this game sounds loving amazing.
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May 8, 2018 22:42
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Ignite Memories posted:He thanks them for their valiant efforts, and asks which one of them would like to kill the hamlet. Soufflé happily volunteers and carts the pig away to the slaughterhouse while most of the party looks on in some combination of amusement and horror. Alfredo explains that the recipe calls for the hamlet to pick out its own truffle in order to achieve the perfect pairing. 
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May 8, 2018 22:42
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Ignite Memories posted:Alfredo explains that the recipe calls for the hamlet to pick out its own truffle in order to achieve the perfect pairing.
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May 8, 2018 23:11
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Ignite Memories posted:Guac, the Mole Saucier Is this "mole" the underground mammal, or "mole" the delicious sauce? e: oh wait, "Guac, a mole" I get it never mind
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May 8, 2018 23:45
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Ignite Memories posted:World of Ruin Catering What system are you using for this? It sounds super fun and totally up my alley.
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May 9, 2018 01:34
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Thats the best/worst post apocalypse.
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May 9, 2018 01:54
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Ilor posted:I love how this setting is both super light-hearted and yet also super dark. It’s not grimdark, it’s grindark!
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May 9, 2018 02:45
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Jade Rider posted:What system are you using for this? It sounds super fun and totally up my alley. Strike! It is a very good system where I can be an effective DM without having to abstain from substance abuse all night Ilor posted:I love how this setting is both super light-hearted and yet also super dark. I am primarily inspired by Chowder, and am trying to run a game that is essentially a cartoon. One of my back-pocket TPK-recovery scenarios is that everybody gets crushed into an accordion shape and can eventually continue onward with a debilitating "accordioned" status. But another thing i've been trying to stress to the players is that there is a very different value system in this new world. For instance, it isn't unacceptable to eat a sapient being as long as they're cool with it. (I have plans for a wendigo episode where I reveal that the curse of the wendigo will befall anyone who eats somebody who has asked you nicely not to eat them.) I don't have the entire setting mapped out or anything, but I try to address world-building questions through a lens of "what if god really loved food" Ignite Memories fucked around with this message at 15:43 on May 9, 2018 |
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May 9, 2018 15:23
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I like how Strike is setting agnostic, though it seems more crunchy/action oriented rather than narrative, which isn’t quite my style. If you’re into figures, sounds like a fun game to run.
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May 9, 2018 15:29
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Ignite Memories posted:For instance, it isn't unacceptable to eat a sapient being as long as they're cool with it. (I have plans for a wendigo episode where I reveal that the curse of the wendigo will befall anyone who eats somebody who has asked you nicely not to eat them.) So it’s not okay to eat someone who has politely told you not to eat them, but it is okay to cram someone kicking and screaming down your gullet as long as they’re throwing a tantrum about it? Grindark indeed.
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May 9, 2018 15:38
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Pollyanna posted:I like how Strike is setting agnostic, though it seems more crunchy/action oriented rather than narrative, which isn’t quite my style. If you’re into figures, sounds like a fun game to run. The combat is light and crunchy, like a couple of saltines. The noncombat material is smooth and freeform, like a pinch of weed sandwiched in peanut butter. e: It is a good game. Here is a picture of our intrepid heroes, while I'm at it! 
Ignite Memories fucked around with this message at 15:52 on May 9, 2018 |
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May 9, 2018 15:41
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Ignite Memories posted:The combat is light and crunchy, like a couple of saltines. The noncombat material is smooth and freeform, like a pinch of weed sandwiched in peanut butter. Everything about this campaign is absolutely charming, thank you for sharing it with us.
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May 9, 2018 16:17
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Ignite Memories posted:The combat is light and crunchy, like a couple of saltines. The noncombat material is smooth and freeform, like a pinch of weed sandwiched in peanut butter. I love your campaign. I love it a lot. Keep sharing stories.
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May 9, 2018 18:32
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This is so amazing, thank you for sharing. 
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May 10, 2018 02:41
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The teeny wine bottle with the teeny wine glass is just 
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May 10, 2018 04:57
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Ignite Memories posted:The combat is light and crunchy, like a couple of saltines. The noncombat material is smooth and freeform, like a pinch of weed sandwiched in peanut butter. The... rat? in blue, second from the right, is adorable and I want one.
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May 10, 2018 05:06
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that's an otter cleric and yes, everybody should have one Dark sword actually sent that (and a couple other minis) for free along with a big order I placed. Those guys are great Bento's miniature is a hello kitty samurai cellphone charm my brother bought for me like 12 years ago. I haven't had that phone in ages but I kept the charm and now I'm so glad I did. Ignite Memories fucked around with this message at 16:28 on May 11, 2018 |
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May 10, 2018 15:32
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So I mentioned before that my DM won't be introducing Half-Orcs into Tanicus because that world's Orcs are fungal based. After watching Doty in Critical Role this morning I messaged him and asked him if he ever considered introducing Warforged. "I was going to, but you guys stopped him." Our party had stopped a gnome artificer who had been trying to transfer a Wizard's brain into a golem. If we hadn't had stopped him with one round left or if we hadn't pulled on that particular plot thread in time the Wizard was going to be the first Warforged on Tanicus and in the next campaign, like three years down the line, Warforged would have been a PC option. "I had a backup plan - there were notes and blueprints that I meant for Typhomine to pick up and examine with instructions on how to build a Warforged. It could have been done without brain transfer, it just would have taken a lot longer and been much more difficult. Then Kynwall Fireballed the lab." I don't know if my DM is a sadist or a genius.
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May 11, 2018 15:51
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Falstaff posted:The teeny wine bottle with the teeny wine glass is just Teeny, nothing. I see a 28mm scale Pantagruel there.
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May 11, 2018 16:20
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CobiWann posted:So I mentioned before that my DM won't be introducing Half-Orcs into Tanicus because that world's Orcs are fungal based. After watching Doty in Critical Role this morning I messaged him and asked him if he ever considered introducing Warforged. Why can't he be both?
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May 11, 2018 17:01
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Ignite Memories posted:that's an otter cleric and yes, everybody should have one I would gladly pay for one if there was any hope that I could paint it with any skill there is no hope
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May 11, 2018 19:07
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So I've mentioned before in this thread I'm not s super experienced tabletop player. Once upon a time, I was invited to a 2nd edition game. Why yes, this is a worst experience. Toby's Game, Toby's Rules So the particular way I tend to play games doesn't let edition factor into things too much I don't think - I prefer to roleplay stuff out and then have everyone else tell me what dice I should be rolling. So the idea of playing a 2e game didn't phase me too much. I figured rolling characters would probably take longer (and holy hell boy did it!) but once that was done I was confident I could handle it. We met up with the DM (I think this was off a game store posting, none of us knew each other very well), he laid out the setting for us (magic is rare, homebrew, sounds pretty whatever) and we agreed to meet up for the first session after making characters. DM specifies two things: no magic users unless you can give him a really good reason, and your character needs to have a secret that is known to the DM but not the other players*. I make up an elven Ranger whose deep dark secret is that she was promoted at a young age to lead a squad of Rangers and, via some reckless actions, got most of them maimed or killed. As a result she will be somewhat overprotective and paranoid of the other PCs. I figure this works pretty good, not too earth-shattering but it will make my character act a little irrational in ways that could lead to some roleplaying stuff. Spoiler alert: this will never come up again. Ready to roll, right? Enter Toby. Toby was my ride to the first session, which was at a player's house. I was kind of excited about this because I'd only really played tabletop games in game stores. Just as I'd heard about, people had brought snacks and beers and were chatting and being genial, if kinda goony. We start the game off in a tavern, there is a mysterious figure by the fire. It's unclear if we're supposed to know each other already or what's supposed to be going on but ok whatever. Roleplaying! I'm good at that part. I engage the shadowy figure and he starts cautiously hinting at some quest-type things. Toby immediately interrupts and takes over the entire conversation. He buys shadowy figure drinks. He monopolizes the entire conversation and gets kinda way too intense about his ~*~acting~*~ in a way that kinda makes everyone else a little weirded out, but he is the most experienced player so we kind of let him take the lead. None of the rest of us are playing now, it's just Toby and the DM. He gets our quest and we set out. Nobody else has been able to get a turn or a word in since Toby interrupted me. I shrug it off and we approach a camp of bandits. There are 2 lookouts up trees and the rest of the bandits are gathered around a campfire. The DM warns us about engaging them directly so the party starts to strategize - everyone except Toby, who is playing with his phone and ignoring us. We eventually agree that I'm going to try to knock out one of the lookouts with an arrow and our rogue will try to stealth kill the other, then we can try to deal with the bandit camp. We set this into motion and immediately things go wrong (I realize now that, from playing 4th I was probably being wayyyyy too reckless for 2e), the arrow misses, the bandits are alerted, we are in scary outnumbered combat now. Until Toby's turn. This part is sort of hard to explain, but Toby puts away his phone and immediately retcons everything that just happened. He proceeds as though both lookouts are still up trees and unalerted, and tells us where our characters are and what they're doing right now. We look at the DM, who does nothing and just goes along with this. Toby's Magical loving Turn finishes and he goes back to his phone. The rest of the session proceeded like this, with Toby basically ignoring everyone else in the party during our apparently pretend turns and then moving us all around like chess pieces on his, canon, turns. I eventually get fed up and give up on roleplaying or making any kind of plans. The DM can tell we're having a lovely time playing Toby's game but keeps on doing nothing. We eat snacks and take our pretend turns. I start sneaking bottles of beer into my bag for later. I literally can't remember anything else that happened because nothing we did really mattered until Toby took his turn. There's no real dramatic conclusion to all this, the whole session just sucked, but there was one other thing. I'd made a decision to talk to the DM about Toby after the session and see if we could maybe salvage things. Until one more incident that made me decide to just lose everyone's number. One guy at the table, let's call him Craig, had been rolling an extra die at the beginning of every one of his turns. I figured this had to do with his Secret Thing and shrugged it off since my character wouldn't know anything about it. One turn deep into the session he failed. Turns out the guy had been a changeling disguised as a human this whole time, and his shapeshifting ability had just failed him! Shock! Awe! This guy we've known and trusted for so lo- oh wait we just met him but whatever. The DM describes the ability wearing off and Craig's true shape revealing itself. Toby shrugs, says something like "well he's in the party still so whatever" and moves on. This is where I decide my character is super racist against changelings and wants nothing to do with Craig anymore. I proceed to blow the thing up into an IC argument over whether we're going to kick this dude to the curb. Here's my reasoning: this guy put the thing on his character sheet and has been rolling dice every single turn**, he wants this to be a thing, this is his one plot hook. He wants to roleplay this poo poo out, not have us just shrug it off because out of character we know we're not gonna kick him out. Like I wasn't advocating PvP, I wasn't gonna kill the guy or kick him out for real, I just wanted to do some kind of interacting where my character doesn't totally trust him anymore. Then we can have some kind of reconciliation over the course of the game, I don't know. Something other than a shrug for poor Craig. Toby loving hated this. Accused me out of character of trying to split the party, said the whole thing was a waste of time since the conclusion was preordained, even tried rolling persuade checks on me and poo poo (which is actual PvP!) but I took all the party-face stats so it wouldn't've worked anyway. In any case the way he totally blew up over someone playing in a way he didn't like, trying to throw a RP bone to poor Craig, and the fact that the DM let us argue about this (Toby tended to blur in and out of character arguments in a way that was super confusing so this went on for awhile) made me decide to bail on the entire thing. Toby was also my ride home. It was a very quiet ride. * at the time I figured this was a good plot hook but in retrospect it seems like a terrible way to promote a cohesive party - out of character we all know everyone else is deceiving us on some level right? ** this seems like a lovely way to do this, am I right? Maybe have him roll once in awhile while under stress or something, like right after a big fight? Have it start to slip a few times and roll to see if anyone notices hints? This was such an unsatisfying way for a kinda-interesting plot hook to blow up. I have a better Dala experience to write about too to balance this out next time: Local Squid Kid Makes Good edit: also don't let me forget at some point to write out You Broke the Drow
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May 14, 2018 04:41
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So did you ever find out why the DM allowed Toby to get away with this.
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May 14, 2018 05:22
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Ignite Memories posted:that's an otter cleric and yes, everybody should have one Their entire range is quite something https://www.darkswordminiatures.com/shop/index.php/miniatures/visions-in-fantasy-critters.html
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May 14, 2018 11:09
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| # ? May 22, 2024 00:11 |
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MonsterEnvy posted:So did you ever find out why the DM allowed Toby to get away with this.
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May 14, 2018 14:21
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