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Okay, so don't play any "Gotcha!!!" cards and give them chances to pull back, is what I'm hearing from this, basically. Thanks all.
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Oct 20, 2018 20:30
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There's a website that's basically that, table top audio.
sebmojo fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Oct 20, 2018 |
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Oct 20, 2018 22:04
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OscarDiggs posted:Okay, so don't play any "Gotcha!!!" cards and give them chances to pull back, is what I'm hearing from this, basically. Thanks all. Some solutions I'd use: Show the cultists being all chilled and friendly to each other in a very cult like manner Have conveniently unattended robes lying about - if the PCs are in disguise you have loads of options to drop hints. Have the cultists loudly proclaim "the demon Seph'rz'thulhu must not escape, he really is a poo poo" at every possible moment.
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Oct 21, 2018 14:35
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I would make the 'cult's' HQ look anything but stereotypically cult-y. Maybe there are lovingly tended gardens. The place is bright and airy, big windows, maybe brightly-coloured stained glass. A few visual clues that this is not the Lair of Evil might get your players thinking about something other than a tactical strike.
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Oct 21, 2018 16:07
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Strom Cuzewon posted:Have the cultists loudly proclaim "the demon Seph'rz'thulhu must not escape, he really is a poo poo" at every possible moment. Two cultists enter scene. quote:Cultist 1: Did you hear about that Seph'rz'thulhu?
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Oct 21, 2018 16:15
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I think a time locked door with conveniently located information posters would be more than enough. "Due to recurring security concerns visitors to our compound must wait in this antechamber for 30 minutes. Feel free to read the literature, and to reconsider murdering us."
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Oct 21, 2018 17:48
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dreadmojo posted:There's a website that's basically that, table top audio. This is loving brilliant, thanks dude.
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Oct 21, 2018 19:31
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Comrade Gorbash posted:You do have to provide a reasonable opportunity for the players to discover they’re wrong along the way, though. And being able to find out shouldn’t be gated behind rolls. Players are generally okay with consequences for their decisions; they balk when they feel like they’re being held accountable for things they could not have reasonably known or anticipated. I think this is the key thing. The players have already run into a mysterious spirit that is sealed away, and they only have its word that the spirit is what it says it is. For my players, who are savvy as all hell, that would be the point at which alarm bells started ringing in their heads -- but then, every group of players is different. The other thing I'd ask is: is there any reason why the big bad you have planned out wouldn't also work as a demon who has just recently been released by a group of idiot adventurers? If so, you can do a rather nice trick: If the players don't release it, you carry on with your original plan, but if the players release the spirit, they've just let out the big bad and everything that happens over the course of the campaign is them trying put right the mistake they made.
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Oct 22, 2018 01:09
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Ysengrin posted:Two cultists enter scene. Alternatively - make it clear the cultists worship a different demon, Baal'sothoth, arch rival of Seph'rz'thulhu. Obviously they're evil, but smashing their evil is gonna release yet another (nastier?) demon into the world. That might be one plot twist too many though.
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Oct 22, 2018 11:08
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Hello GM thread, Spoilers for Curse of Strahd follow, also if you're a player in my campaign do not read. I need a bit of a second opinion. I'm Running CoS(because it's the one campaign book i have, and I really love it.) And I've made a bit of a fuckup. My players(level 4 , LE Warlock, CG Blood Hunter, CN Ranger) Got into repeated spats with the Night Hag coven that hangs out in the windmill. This started in Barovia with the Blood Hunter attempting to take the cart from her, the Warlock then attempting to serve them a eviction notice. And them getting yelled at to almost the point of physical violence every single time. As an aside they've been warned by almost everyone they met to not gently caress with them. But players that they are, after blowing a hole in a building in Vallaki, their action hero sensibility kicked in. and they went to fight he hags, who were all present at that point. I misread the spell list for the hags, and had them planeshift them into the Dining Room in Ravenloft in a spur of the moment decision(half awake, end of a twelve hour session). and that's where the issues start, between the Blood Hunters general sass with every single NPC. and their absolutely suicidal tendencies, I don't see them making it out of ravenloft whole. (8 gargoyles, 4 dragons, and Strahd's manservant stand in their way. And they will find a way to piss him off.) I want them to have some challenge from this, and a reward. Would the following be a cool thing? from a player perspective? Strahd is at this point starting to test the party. The dining hall they are in is somewhere between the Wizard of Wines(level appropriate-ish) and Argynvostholt(bit out of depth for them, but doable.) , both places where they need to go but have no reliable intel about.(Both are Tarokka readings. for relics.) I'm tempted to have the Dining hall be a crypt. Glamoured to look like the dining hall in ravenloft. And the 'Strahd' that they meet there is actually a doppelganger. Or a Illusion. That will spout a bunch of half-truths and straight up lies about the area to them. Since i also dropped him into the scene in my infinite wisdom and rational decision making. It'll probably end up being a crypt from one of the families in Vallaki, like the gravediggers. have some cool loot, like a silver shovel or some other weird thing that is oddly practical. thoughts?
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Oct 22, 2018 11:13
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What DnD module would you recommend for a newbie dm? (has to be one shot friendly).
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Oct 22, 2018 16:03
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Fruity20 posted:What DnD module would you recommend for a newbie dm? (has to be one shot friendly). assuming 5e: Death House is a pretty short and fun module, depending on how fast your players go, you can run it in a single session. It's from Curse of Strahd. but I think Death House itself is on the wizards site for free. It's not a standard DnD adventure though, first half is more investigation/spooky stuff, second half is a bit more combat oriented.
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Oct 22, 2018 16:26
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AzMiLion posted:assuming 5e: just in time for halloween. thank you so much.
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Oct 22, 2018 17:00
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Fruity20 posted:just in time for halloween. thank you so much. Suggestions! Just give everyone a level 3 character. And either tone down the killyness of the specter a bit(remove the con draining) and tone down the shadows in the same way. Or, get the expanded dark gifts, print then on cards. And every time someone bites it they get back up with some new horrifying mutation(no eyes! But blindsight!, miners lung so bad they can belch up smog!, a hive of insects in your arm!, half-wolf appearance! It's in the adventurers league somewhere. I can find you a link if you want.) i generally use that and by the end everyone has some disturbing party trick.
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Oct 22, 2018 22:26
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I want to GM for the first time. I tried once 15 years ago and it was a railroaded disaster. I wasn’t prepared to think of my feet at all. I’ve played a lot of other things since then, and have followed threads like these, so I’m hoping I can do better this time. My group would really like to do a high school dramatic game, and Smallville seemed like it might be a good fit for what I had in mind. Unfortunately, the book is out of print and the pdf does not seem to be available through regular channels. The cortex hackers guide IS available, but appears to be a slimmed down version stripped of setting details. Questions: 1. Are there other systems that I could consider outside of Cortex/Smallville systemthat would help achieve a a teen tv drama feel? 2. Any advice for a generally inexperienced GM jumping into a system like this? How can I better respond spontaneously to my players actions without laying down railroad tracks?
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Oct 25, 2018 18:08
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if your group is down for supernatural high school drama there's always the classic monsterhearts
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Oct 25, 2018 18:24
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Knockknees posted:I want to GM for the first time. I tried once 15 years ago and it was a railroaded disaster. I wasn’t prepared to think of my feet at all. I’ve played a lot of other things since then, and have followed threads like these, so I’m hoping I can do better this time. I don't have any specific advice for your Cortext/Smallville setting/system but I do have some general advice for your second question My best advice is know your setting, know your NPCs and have an idea of "what would happen if the PCs never showed up". Never plan too much, put your plans into wide brush strokes then worry about the details when/if they come true. Instead make sure you have the tools avaliable (stats, pre-written text, NPCs, places, whatever) so that if the game does go that way, you have something to show. That's not to say you'll always be prepared, a lot of the time GMing is making it up on the spot and making it sound like it was your plan all along. There's also a bit of "the troll is always down the tunnel you pick" going on too. But back to the very first point, know the world. Then when the players try to do something you don't expect (from trying to save the BBEG rather than kill him to just misunderstanding a clue or going the "wrong way") you can say to yourself "ah, that's easy, Uncle Bob walks around the park at night at the weekends, the PCs will definatly meet him, and he was there during the shooting they are investigating, so they can use this as an oppertunity to ask some questions if they are smart" rather than "the park? at the weekend? I didn't plan this, there's nothing there! um...." The second point, unless you are sure the PCs are going to end up there (like the introduction to the game/quest or the boss fight) don't bother getting into detail. That way you a. won't be upset if they miss it and b. won't find yourself trying to "rail road" them to the scene you spent 2 hours writing. When I say "broad strokes" I mean sentence, couple sentences for each thing that might happen. "Brad gets beaten up by Chad in the pub on Tuesday night, Ann sees it but doesn't say anything". If the PCs happen to be there you can go into detail. If they aren't you know enough details to fluff around it when they ask about it. If they mess up the plan by getting drunk with Brad on Tuesday at his folk's place, then maybe Ann and Chad get togther (I'm sure you know Ann and Chad better than me). Quickly check down your other plans if that causes any major issues, if it does introduce a new Brad and make Chad fight Stan at the bar. Hopefully this word vomit makes some kind of sense. I'm writing it off the top of my head, I don't know the setting very well, but I think that's the kinda thing you are aiming for? I'm sure you'll be fine 
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Oct 25, 2018 18:28
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Brother Entropy posted:if your group is down for supernatural high school drama there's always the classic monsterhearts MH does a very specific kind of high school drama, the kind that deals with how lovely high school is for most people and especially for marginalized folks, and especially how a lot of that shittiness comes from how teenagers build relationships with each other in unhealthy ways. That's not inherently a knock against the game - those are important topics and MH2e especially does a lot of lifting to make exploring those topics as safe as it can. However that does make it a high-wire act even for an experienced GM playing with a group that trusts each other and has experience with addressing and de-escalating stressful situations. This isn't even about toxic players or folks acting in bad faith - there's just an inherent risk in the topics MH covers. To its credit the game is very up front about that risk. But that does make it a game that probably shouldn't be someone's jumping off point for running TTRPGs.
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Oct 25, 2018 18:37
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I'm in a bit of a pickle, one of my players basically doesn't roleplay. Background: I've GM'd a few times before, had to stop for a couple of years because of school and work, so I've only been back roleplaying for about 1.5 years again. I started a new group in April playing DND 3.5 because I wanted "goofs on standard competent fantasy party" and all but one of my players already knew 3.5. The only player I didn't know well, a friend of a friend, has been playing for years and years & I value the judgement of the mutual friend enough that I wasn't worried that he would be a bad fit. However, we've met roughly twice a month for six months and he seems decidedly resistant to the idea that his character is anything more than the levels and abilities they have. Specifically, he speaks in absolutes based on his written alignment and is content to let everyone else handle any situation that isn't combat while his character just pulls up a chair and idly watches. In my mind, it became particularly frustrating when they were on a long journey that took them through a desert. I wanted to know how people were reacting to this, just as an easy exercise on how each character felt about travel and new sights. The responses were fine, except when I pointedly asked this player and his response was "I've never been to the desert, I don't know." I pressed him, elaborating a little on why I was asking and got another verbal shrug. I'm not upset at the idea that he doesn't know his character well after nearly 15 meetings, but rather that he is disinterested in the idea of actually roleplaying. Any advice? e: VVV Thanks, I figured that was the general tack. I'll just try to not let it bother me. Chakan fucked around with this message at 19:33 on Oct 28, 2018 |
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Oct 28, 2018 18:01
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Honestly I'd let someone like that be as long as they're enjoying their bit and not actively interfering with the game or others enjoyment.
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Oct 28, 2018 19:14
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Yeah I always had a player kinda like that and eventually just gave up on it and figured, if she ever finds something that piques her interest she'll speak up, then I can still lean in on that, in the meantime I've got more time to juggle plot hooks and development for the rest of the group. e: I hope your guy at least plays a regular human fighter or something that can blend in with the background, mine once got it in her head to be a super offbeat dragonborn subtype and it got a bit tough reconciling her playstyle with her being by far the most exotic character in the group. "Now we don't get many of your kind around here, friend, have a drink with us and tell us your story" - "i'm a level 3 sorcerer" My Lovely Horse fucked around with this message at 22:10 on Oct 28, 2018 |
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Oct 28, 2018 19:26
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Agreed; as long as they're happy with whatever part they're playing in events, and not actively making the other players' experiences worse, there isn't much you can do. Leave them to it, and trust that they're getting what they want out of the game.
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Oct 28, 2018 20:04
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Just wanted to thank everyone for the terrible name ideas a page or so ago. I'm looking forward to suddenly giving my GM 6 or so names to have to remember and characterize almost immediately!
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Oct 28, 2018 21:58
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Chakan posted:e: VVV Thanks, I figured that was the general tack. I'll just try to not let it bother me. If it is just that it seems like the wrong way to play/you can't fathom how it's fun, and that player is getting what they want out of the game, then ultimately you do just need to let it go. But it is important that you enjoy the game as well. All past times have some amount of burn to them - work you have to do that you don't particularly care for, in order to get to the bit you like. If for this game the bit you like is the roleplay interactions and the interactions between character and mechanics, and the actual crunch of combat is mostly burn, then it's reasonable to do some reassessing of how much work you put in that's directly associated with this one player. If there's not really any extra lift to involve him in the parts he engages with on his own, great! Just spare yourself the extra effort to put forth things he isn't interested in. If on the other hand you're spending a fair bit of effort to involve his character in what he does engage with and there's no payoff for you, then that is a time to see if you can find a better balance with that player (which probably mostly means cutting back on your side and seeing if that still is enough to meet the player's needs).
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Oct 28, 2018 23:18
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During my GMing experience I have begun to prep less and less as I realize that the game will go in completely bizarre directions that I won’t be able to predict and that what I do come up with won’t be very good anyway. I worry that flying by the seat of my pants like this makes the game less interesting and cohesive, but considering that last session the party burned a faux-German cultist with a He-Man wig to death and summoned a parade of scenester skeletons riding on giant Kenshiros with dolphins for heads to rip off his skin like a coat off a rack in a Looney Tunes cartoon and free the skeleton friend trapped inside, it’s probably fine. I have no idea if I can GM well, but they still want to play, so 
Pollyanna fucked around with this message at 16:07 on Oct 31, 2018 |
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Oct 31, 2018 16:03
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Does anyone have a link for an online or Android app that can assist me in creating a legendary item? I'm running the Tyranny of Dragons, and the party just finished Hoard of the Dragon Queen. The warlock decided to skin the dragon they managed to kill due to sheer loving luck, and he wants to make something with it. I'm thinking of cribbing the vestiges idea from Critical Role, having whatever gets crafted power up as he does/kills more dragons and adds to it/whatever, but since this is my first campaign I've ever run, I'm not so great with making stuff up like that. I don't mind overpowered items in the hands of my party, either, because I can balance that out much more easily than I can invent stuff whole cloth.
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Oct 31, 2018 19:24
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How y'all deal with weight? I want to be fairly fussy about weight in my game where people aren't running around with 2 sets of armour and 10 weapons and a million trinkets and pieces of loot, but I also don't want the game to suddenly be all about weight and inventory management.
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Oct 31, 2018 19:29
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Baronjutter posted:How y'all deal with weight? I want to be fairly fussy about weight in my game where people aren't running around with 2 sets of armour and 10 weapons and a million trinkets and pieces of loot, but I also don't want the game to suddenly be all about weight and inventory management. I've been treating it essentially the same way I do casting reagents. It doesn't exist unless it's extremely heavy/expensive. The aforementioned dragon skin required some effort to move, but the reams of papers they've stolen from everyone (including a book of terrible, dragon based fanfic written by a cultist) is in hammerspace, if you will.
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Oct 31, 2018 19:32
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Baronjutter posted:How y'all deal with weight? I want to be fairly fussy about weight in my game where people aren't running around with 2 sets of armour and 10 weapons and a million trinkets and pieces of loot, but I also don't want the game to suddenly be all about weight and inventory management. Honestly? For most games, just don't track it. The only reason to track inventory is if you're playing a game where e.g. you have to carefully ration what supplies you take into a dungeon, and how much treasure you can carry out -- and any well-designed game of that type will already have systems for inventory in place and you wouldn't need to be asking here. e: also if you're playing D&D the hammerspace idea doesn't even have to be figurative, there are a bunch of minor magical items that are exactly that
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Oct 31, 2018 19:36
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I don't get picky about carrying capacity. Class tools and adventuring gear as well as class appropriate weapons and armor are basically free within reason. So the halfling wizard with 6 strength can carry his pack full of spellbooks and components plus whatever else they need to do their job. The half-orc barbarian can carry whatever he drat well pleases.
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Oct 31, 2018 19:42
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Baronjutter posted:How y'all deal with weight? I want to be fairly fussy about weight in my game where people aren't running around with 2 sets of armour and 10 weapons and a million trinkets and pieces of loot, but I also don't want the game to suddenly be all about weight and inventory management. You could do it with weight classes, where a standard adventuring load has no penalty, but a ridiculous amount of crap (giant skull, treasure chest) makes you burdened (-2 to actions or w/e). That way it's easy to track but gives a little tweak of verisimilitude.
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Oct 31, 2018 20:12
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You can absolutely common-sense weight and encumberance. Your usual armor and weapons and are "free", as are any amount of coins. Food and water are free unless they are gonna be important (ie, unless you're doing a wilderness survival scenario or something). Your regular pack with 10 spikes and 50' of rope etc is free. A huge tough guy isn't fazed if he straps an extra sword or two to his pack, but an extra 30 swords is a goddamn joke, right? You can carry an extra couple of weapons. Carrying an extra set of chain mail sucks, but it just sits in bottom of your pack being heavy. Carrying an extra set of leather armor sucks too. It's light enough, but it's bulky as hell and you can't fold it because that would ruin it. You can carry 1 extra set of armour. Nearly everyrhing else is either small enough to go in a pack, pocket, pouch, etc, or big enough that "How are you carrying that?" would be an interesting thing to answer.
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Oct 31, 2018 21:16
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But for a game that's something like a "camping and hiking simulator"where you're really managing your own fatigue, every bit of weight matters. Like just switching from a super old school rigid frame backpack to something much more modern and lighter will make a noticable difference in comfort when you're on some awful 3 day hike/camp. Do you really need a spoon and a fork when a spork can do? All that weight adds up and impacts you speed and comfort.
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Oct 31, 2018 22:19
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Sorry, had the wrong idea about what you were trying to do. What game are you running? E: because if it's D&D then lol at the idea of grafting on rules about worrying about the comfort of brushed teeth vs the extra weight of a toothbrush with its handle cut off to save 15 grams. But you could check out the encumberance and fatigue rules from Hackmaster. Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 22:48 on Oct 31, 2018 |
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Oct 31, 2018 22:44
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Baronjutter posted:But for a game that's something like a "camping and hiking simulator"where you're really managing your own fatigue, every bit of weight matters. Like just switching from a super old school rigid frame backpack to something much more modern and lighter will make a noticable difference in comfort when you're on some awful 3 day hike/camp. Do you really need a spoon and a fork when a spork can do? All that weight adds up and impacts you speed and comfort. Torchbearer is this game (I think? haven't played it, but that's my understanding).
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Oct 31, 2018 22:47
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Yeah, if you really wanna do that, play torchbearer or just pick an item limit that's smaller than anyone would like, and enforce it.
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Oct 31, 2018 22:49
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dreadmojo posted:Torchbearer is this game (I think? haven't played it, but that's my understanding). Eh... ish. It's an excellent game and a big part of it is resource management vs a grind-down dungeon, but its abstracted to the point where it will reduce you to tears if you want to worry about what material the frame of your pack is made of.
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Oct 31, 2018 22:51
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dreadmojo posted:Torchbearer is this game (I think? haven't played it, but that's my understanding). I really don't like using commercial rpg systems but torchbearer sounds like it does a lot of things I want. It even has a system for tracking your mood. Looking for an almost darkest dungeon style grind where combat can kill you but stress will drive you mad in the long term. I don't need all that sort of stuff codified into a rule system though. I was just hoping for a little app or neat trick for helping players quickly juggle and add up inventory lists and weights. Like if I'm playing D&D beyond it's pretty fast to look up an item, add it, and see how that affects my weight. Baronjutter fucked around with this message at 22:54 on Oct 31, 2018 |
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Oct 31, 2018 22:51
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Baronjutter posted:I really don't like using commercial rpg systems but torchbearer sounds like it does a lot of things I want. It even has a system for tracking your mood. Looking for an almost darkest dungeon style grind where combat can kill you but stress will drive you mad in the long term. This is exactly Torchbearer, yes.
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Oct 31, 2018 22:52
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AlphaDog posted:This is exactly Torchbearer, yes. To the point that the promo RPG sessions they ran to hype Darkest Dungeon were based on Torchbearer. Remember that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer. (1 3 2 3 1 1)
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Oct 31, 2018 23:38
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