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Pollyanna posted:Can you elaborate a bit more? Like, with specific examples maybe? Just petty (on my part) complaints. Taking 10-15 minutes per turn, not struggling with mechanics, but with hemming and hawing about best course of action. A bit of directing the other players with what to do on their turn as well. One of the go-against-the-flow examples, the group was following a group of NPCs who had a macguffin. Everyone had split up, and all had found some different piece of evidence that pointed them to the meeting place of the NPCs they were each following, everyone was talking about finally cracking the case they'd been chasing for a couple sessions and then one of them just decides "nah I'ma go do shopping right now, y'all can deal". Then on another occasion when everyone was discussing a different caper, they were all talking about needing to prepare but then the one guy decided "Nah I'ma go deal with this myself" despite a "hey, this is likely to end in an encounter tuned for all, and for everyone's story". They stuck to it. Albeit those are the most offensive events, and in the grand scheme of things, don't occur regularly, and for the most part they're invested and don't go against the party
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Aug 3, 2018 22:05
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Spiteski posted:Just petty (on my part) complaints. i think you should have a chat with them about how you'd enjoy it more if they played a bit differently.
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Aug 3, 2018 23:12
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Try positive reinforcement. Every time they go with the flow, give the whole group some extra praise after the session about how good the teamwork was, but also call out something they did in particular. For the combat stuff, there's little to do but talk to them about it directly. You could frame it as telling them that you, as a group, are trying to run combats in a way that the party doesn't need to optimize every turn, and that them taking to much time to pick the best course and directing others is kinda harshing the casual vibe. (Works best if that actually is how you try to run combats.  )Thanks for all the bard ideas. I decided on something slightly different: The dwarves are gearing up to take back their trading post. This involves sending their best warriors through the Cave of Trials to find and blow their magic alphorn. The horn gives whoever blows it the magic powers of leadership and inspiration. Naturally, this would be a fine thing for an aspiring thief whose friends just got their asses handed to them by mushrooms to have! But only one person can blow the horn in any given year...
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Aug 4, 2018 09:59
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BadSamaritan posted:I used a rakshasa as the main antagonist in my last campaign (they’re immune to low/mid level spells) and I think the key was to make the majority of the face-to-face encounters non-combat. If the antagonist dies, the party loses the only lifeline they have to the greater evil lurking beyond, and they know it. I set up the villain to be in a social position where attacking them directly would quickly get the party in major trouble- in my case, the villain was imitating a prince, but your assassin could have a clear noble benefactor (or an important day job?) that would blow back on the party. Thanks so much for the suggestions. This might be a great way to get them on the bad side of their main city's council as well, which ought to generate a ton of good roleplay.
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Aug 4, 2018 13:08
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Thought I had this nailed but turns out I'm just shifting my crowdsource focus! I decided the Dwarven Cave of Trials will include underground monsters that any dwarf worthy of the horn will have to know how to deal with. Maybe also a thief or two they caught and threw down there. But there must also be trials and traps that only a Real Dwarf will be able to pass! Or someone who's either more cunning than the dwarves expect or enough of an rear end in a top hat to completely disregard the dwarven virtues. All I can think of so far is a twist on the sawblade trap from Last Crusade, where Those With Their Head Held Proud And High Will Pass Unharmed. And everyone who's not a dwarf gets a sawblade to the chest.
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Aug 6, 2018 09:05
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Corridor with big slots, out of which saw blades come, they're easy to avoid by ducking. The third person to cross a stone, the entire floor shoots up underneath them.
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Aug 6, 2018 10:32
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My Lovely Horse posted:Thought I had this nailed but turns out I'm just shifting my crowdsource focus! Locked door, four levers, each with an identical-seeming clear gem set into the handle. A real dwarf will know to pull the one with the diamond and not one of the ones with the cubic zirconias. Even a warrior dwarf still needs to know their gems, after all.
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Aug 6, 2018 10:48
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5 statues of the same dwarf with minor differences: Dwarf 1: Wields a war hammer Wears an eye patch Beard in one long braid Dwarf 2: Wields a battle axe Wears an eye patch Beard flowing free Dwarf 3: Wields a war hammer No eye patch Beard in two long braids Dwarf 4: Wields two axes No eye patch Beard in two long braids Dwarf 5: Wields two hammers Wears an eye patch Beard flowing free Let’s see how much dwarvish history they can remember by successfully identifying the correct statue of the great dwarves hero Dugan Graniteborn. There are three major facts to remember from the histories of Dugan. Pressing the wrong button at the base of the statue triggers a trap.
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Aug 6, 2018 12:38
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Trick question, the real Dugan Graniteborn had two eyepatches.
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Aug 6, 2018 12:44
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The Christ Chalice from Indy, except for the dwarf edition you want the solid gold one.
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Aug 6, 2018 13:13
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Freudian posted:Trick question, the real Dugan Graniteborn had two eyepatches. Now we are unstoppable!
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Aug 6, 2018 13:31
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For the Christ Chalice, instead of immortality/death do all the non-magical metal they are carrying (or just currency) turns to gold when they drink from the right cup, wrong cup all of it turns to rust.
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Aug 7, 2018 00:17
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Seven differently-colored gems on seven pedestals carved to resemble animals. A plaque on the wall has a riddle that seems to give hints as to which gem should be placed on which pedestal to unlock the door to proceed. The correct answer: swipe all the gems some goofus left unguarded on pedestals down here.
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Aug 7, 2018 03:30
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All of the above but the players are drunk!
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Aug 7, 2018 03:37
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The Test of Dwarven Swiftness. A room full of timed traps that trigger such that there's safe spots at the natural points someone with a 20-foot move speed would stop between rounds. Doubles as a militia training room in the off-season. Depending just how Dwarf Fortress you want to make things: A room made entirely of orthoclase or microcline. A test concerning the magma-safe properties of various minerals. The Test of Nobility. A lavish bedroom with a conspicuous lever in it. A true dwarf knows the purpose of bedroom levers and will not pull it. The dresser and chest in the room contain various items made of odd materials. The Test of Arms: Several statues with hands ready to accept armaments, and ceremonial armaments appropriate to their type. Included is a facsimile dwarven baby, which needs to go on the lone female statue instead of a shield. How difficult it is to discern gender in dwarves is up to you.
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Aug 7, 2018 04:40
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A door with a magical elf face on it that asks riddles. The correct answer is always "hit the knife-ear in the face with my axe."
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Aug 7, 2018 06:23
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A room with a cask full of ale that you have to carry across a floor covered in oil and spikes but the phrasing on the trial is ambiguous and the easiest way to do it is to just drink the ale and carry the empty cask across.
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Aug 7, 2018 11:07
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Five tunnels to choose from, all with different stone and woodwork lining the entrance. An entrance with beautiful stone-worked columns holding up an frieze with a relief of a court of a Dwarven king. A weathered series of wooden beams reinforced with rusted bands of iron like the entrance to mine, darkened with black smudges and soot A heavy wrought iron gate with a large lock and key Heavy Granite beams with veins of silver glistening within and running down into the darkness A Bronze archway with Moradin's symbol above The safe path is the one that offers security to it's owner Frankly you could almost play it however you want based on your group, but you can't build strong gates or smith weapons or smelt precious metals without coal and a dwarf doesn't rely on the gods to deliver them.
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Aug 7, 2018 16:59
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A room with nothing in it but a vague instruction about "seeking the way through", which any true dwarf will know means "find the thinnest bit of wall and put a pickax through it".
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Aug 7, 2018 17:38
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Our latest 5e session ended with the group on their ship trying to escape a kraken. After a short sailing skill-challenge thing they decided that wasn't cutting it, and we ended the session with them coming up with the following plan: -The bard will polymorph the warlock into a sperm whale -The warlock/sperm whale will swim back to either distract the kraken and lead it away, or fight it to slow it down -When the warlock drops out of polymorph (either at 0 hit points, or by the bard ending it when they near the end of Dimension Door's range, tracked by throwing a buoy in the water when polymorph is cast), he will Dimension Door back onto the boat, thereby turning their 100ft lead on the Kraken into a 500ft lead which will give them enough time to get into shallow water and safety At the current speed of the boat they'll have maybe 8 rounds of combat before the boat is out of range, which looks like it'll be more than enough time for the kraken to tear through the whale HP and put the 45-hp Warlock into the Danger Zone. I'm trying to figure out any other complications I can throw in that would make the boat crew have to do something during those 8 rounds. I can expedite the combat pretty easily since it'll just be squid and whale slapping, but want to keep the others involved. They have to keep sailing, and we have some rolls for that, but I'm trying to think of more engaging things. Stuff like: -The refugees they have below decks who are unaware of the kraken come above decks when they hear the whale splash, and start freaking out when they learn there's a kraken -If the warlock can get the kraken to chase him, the distance on his Dimension Door changes from where the buoy is located and might cause An Issue -??? That's about all I've come up with so far. They have a cannon on the back of the ship they could shoot but risk hitting the warlock. They've also been in a magical storm recently that had lightning strikes that caused people to phase into the feywild, but the problem with using that is I've set it up as "something you can't really control", so the Warlock wouldn't be able to teleport to the ship if it wasn't in the same plane and then he definitely dies and that sucks. We usually play for dumb fun so I'm open to any other weird twists I can throw into the already-epic encounter they've set up.
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Aug 10, 2018 04:55
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The Pequod.
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Aug 10, 2018 05:27
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I am sitting down tonight for my first ever game of DnD since 3.5 as a college student. I have three keen but totally inexperienced players and the 5ed starter box. Any tips anyone can give me to help people who are excited to play but never actually have before get over that initial awkwardness? (I am GMing)
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Aug 10, 2018 05:44
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Edit: The guy above me has a better idea. The lightning phasing people into the Feywild was just a side effect of some ritual starting up. What the ritual actually does is make [insert monster here] show up in the material plane where the lightning strikes. A real stroke of luck for the [insert monsters here] that your ship just happened to be passing by. Fortunately it shoudn't last longer than 7 or so rounds.
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Aug 10, 2018 05:47
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My Lovely Horse posted:The Pequod.
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Aug 10, 2018 07:08
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Can I get some "random encounters" ideas for exploring a space hulk filled with Alien style monsters? I'm going to be running the exploration of the ship like a classic D&D dungeon, you know, go through the hallways, come upon doors, find treasure or maybe monsters. So I'm looking for ideas like: - the chamber is depressurized - the door isn't powered - there's a corpse in the room, but the door was barred (moving the furniture around the trashed room reveals a broken out vent) Stuff like that, I'd appreciate anything that can be thrown out, I'll write it all down and bring it with me.
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Aug 10, 2018 16:11
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Is the crew long dead, or are the party responding to a distress signal? Because if it's the latter, Aliens was originally supposed to end with Ripley being killed by the Alien, and then it mimicking the Captain's voice, which you could have some fun with.
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Aug 10, 2018 16:29
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Jack B Nimble posted:Can I get some "random encounters" ideas for exploring a space hulk filled with Alien style monsters? I'm going to be running the exploration of the ship like a classic D&D dungeon, you know, go through the hallways, come upon doors, find treasure or maybe monsters. So I'm looking for ideas like: If there's artificial gravity, it gets reversed suddenly, either through the whole ship or one specific part.
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Aug 10, 2018 16:33
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Jack B Nimble posted:Can I get some "random encounters" ideas for exploring a space hulk filled with Alien style monsters? I'm going to be running the exploration of the ship like a classic D&D dungeon, you know, go through the hallways, come upon doors, find treasure or maybe monsters. So I'm looking for ideas like: -Sounds coming from the air vents seem to imply that something big and scary is crawling through there. In the unlikely event that your players don't start tearing up the walls to find this hidden enemy, you can have it burst out of a vent halfway through a battle. -They find a room full of corpses of the aliens' victims, except it turns out one is still alive! An excellent time to drop some spoooooky foreshadowing.
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Aug 10, 2018 16:34
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These are great. And yeah, the crew is decades dead, but it was a penal legionnaire troop transport that rioted en-route, but which was also unknowingly seeded by a chest-burster alien that still speaks in snatches like the hosts it infects. And the crew-mutant-aliens are still alive, but dormant. Until the party shows up. So yeah, I could have the long dormant speakers on the ship start up with revolutionary slogans and security guard orders. Jack B Nimble fucked around with this message at 16:37 on Aug 10, 2018 |
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Aug 10, 2018 16:35
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Actually, you could have the monsters mindlessly mimicking the last words (screams) of their victims as they attack, if you feel like you're up to it. Also, the armory should be conspicuously untouched, as though even in their final moments the crew was terrified to go near it. Keeshhound fucked around with this message at 16:42 on Aug 10, 2018 |
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Aug 10, 2018 16:39
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Hell yes, reminds me of Alan Wake; I'll try that.
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Aug 10, 2018 16:42
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So my party just did a Very Bad Thing and need to escape from a forest that is now trying to kill them. I've drawn up a fairly massive map and given it as many bottlenecks and winding paths are possible for the running through forest vibe. Right now I'm planning on having various vines trying to grapple players to keep them from escaping, squirrel swarms attack them to slow them down, and "unseen enemies from deeper in the woods" lobbing Magic Missiles at them. Overall the vibe is weak monsters trying to slow you down dealing negligible damage while you get whittled away by missiles. There is a cluster or two of NPCs who they saw on the way in doing their thing now trying to also fight their way out. Anyone have good forest traps beyond "branches close to block the path forward" or "tree falls blocking the way" style things? Might mark some trees as dryads that will take opportunity attacks at anything passing through their range. The party is also at the end of a long dungeon and has pretty much no spells or other rest-based resources left in the tank and I want to challenge them to escape but if I make it too challenging it could easily turn into a TPK.
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Aug 10, 2018 16:42
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Keeshhound posted:Actually, you could have the monsters mindlessly mimicking the last words (screams) of their victims as they attack, if you feel like you're up to it. Just do the most blood-curdling scream of utter horror as the first monster charges them. And then shake it up with stuff like "IT'S INSIDE MEEEEEEE".
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Aug 10, 2018 16:44
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Spiderwebs that you can either move carefully through or risk alerting their occupants. Places where the path loops around obviously toxic plants that they can choose to plow through in exchange for making saves against the poisons. At some point a squirrel should fly into someone's face and start biting. chitoryu12 posted:Just do the most blood-curdling scream of utter horror as the first monster charges them. And then shake it up with stuff like "IT'S INSIDE MEEEEEEE". Actually, the first thing should be them approaching an unlocked door and hearing a muffled "Who's there!? Oh, thank God you're here, get inside quick, I think we're the only ones left!" from the other side. Keeshhound fucked around with this message at 17:03 on Aug 10, 2018 |
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Aug 10, 2018 16:52
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Naturally formed tiger pits with man-eating Venus flytraps in the bottom?
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Aug 10, 2018 16:56
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Keeshhound posted:Spiderwebs that you can either move carefully through or risk alerting their occupants. Yeah, the aliens should basically mimic the last 30 seconds of dialogue from their hosts before the aliens harvested them. So lots of whispers or faint shouts of "they're coming from the ceiling!" or whatever to make it seem like there are still survivors actively fighting when your players show up. And the perfect lure to draw them in to a trap/ambush.
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Aug 10, 2018 18:54
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The aliens can eavesdrop on, jam and mimic voices over radio comms Someone prepped the ship for self destruct There is some kind of mundane story told through logs Just steal the poo poo out of system shock basically
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Aug 10, 2018 21:31
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chitoryu12 posted:Just do the most blood-curdling scream of utter horror as the first monster charges them. And then shake it up with stuff like "IT'S INSIDE MEEEEEEE". “Is that you, mom? It’s too dark in here”
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Aug 10, 2018 21:56
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Bad Munki posted:“Is that you, mom? It’s too dark in here” "I'm scared." And then the monster just bursts out of the vents with the scream of a small child.
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Aug 10, 2018 22:02
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I'M SORRRRYYYY
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Aug 10, 2018 22:05
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