|
Why not "If it rolls double, add the value of one of the dice again". IE rolling double 2s gives you +2, double 6s gives you +6. No extra roll, and a array of different bonuses without needing to roll extra dice and bog things down? I mean, if your group really loves rolling dice, and don't mind the extra time he takes to do it, then keep it how it is.
|
#
?
May 30, 2019 21:07
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 9, 2024 03:08 |
|
|
There's a whole lot of mechanical stuff tied to rolling up dice that it feels like it fits better to keep it that way. And yeah, people like rolling. It's hardly a game-stopper since the likelihood of a massive streak is low and it would be no more tedious than when the wizard flings a fireball.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2019 08:54
|
|
|
A question on introductory game prep work: I'll soon be hosting a Monster of the Week game with several local friends. We've already got characters made, backgrounds and connections established. Basically, my players are ready to go. As for me, I've been writing out a few details on what monsters I want to have, various NPC characters, but I'm a bit confused. I've never played an Apocalypse Engine game before, and I know there's more emphasis on the players building the world and fleshing out the story as we play. It's more communal storytelling that I appreciate and lets me concentrate on the moment-to-moment gameplay. What I'd like to know is, how much should I have prepared prior to our first game?
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2019 17:42
|
|
|
Hi again, best and most creative GMs in the world. First of all, I want to say thank you for the help you all gave me on my Gettysburg idea. The adventure that's grown out of it is soooooooo good. My group is getting ready to start recording it next week and none of us have ever been as excited for anything we've done. I really think this one is going to be a classic. So if you could, help me refine this bit of coal into another diamond... The general idea is that in the distant past, the world the campaign is set on was utterly dominated and enslaved by Cthulhu-esque elder things from outside time and space. There was a (tiny) natural rift to their dimension in the middle of the ocean, and slowly their power had leaked into the world of men. Over thousands of years they were able to send forth entities into our world, enslave the minds of many men, and draw them to the rift, cultists and slaves. They had constructed a massive device across the sky (the Crown) to harvest the energy from the suffering, insanity, and death of the humans they bred to strengthen the rift between dimensions, eventually allowing true Old Ones onto the world, monstrously powerful entities who could control time and space. Somehow, the humans who toiled away in this machine managed to sabotage it, severing the link to the elder dimension and destroying almost all of the entities caught on this side. Even the Old Ones do not know exactly what happened, but they do know it was the humans who broke the Crown. Three Old Ones were on this side of the portal when this went down. They were powerful enough to pull themselves outside time for a brief period to decide what to do. They understood the machine had been broken but not how, and that the portal was collapsing and there was nothing they could do to hold it open from this side. They also knew something the humans who sacrificed themselves to break the machine did not, which was that all of the technology in the Crown was alive and would very slowly heal itself of even grievous damage over almost-unimaginable lengths of time (that which is not dead can eternal lie) but they would need the machine to be turned back on from this side. So, what to do? The three Old Ones decided on a course of preparation for that inevitable future. One day, the machine would need to be turned on. To be turned on, it would need power. To have power, it needed suffering and death below it. These were the requirements. Time was of no consequence. The Old Ones could wait forever if need be. So they created a plan that was truly fiendish in its design and implementation. Expending the last of their waning strength, they gathered together the surviving humans who had toiled in and around the Crown and utterly brainwashed them, implanting false memories that they would believe as completely and totally true and would pass down to their progeny as the gospel. In this created version of the past, the Old Ones had been benevolent gods who guided and helped humanity, until the Wicked Ones among men tried to steal their power and slew almost all of them. The last of the gods took the last loyal men and fled to the vastness of the sea, where they used their dying power to raise a great machine across the sky and a massive jagged reef around the islands the machine rose from to protect them from the Wicked World. They told the people this was a realm of their own, for the last loyal men to survive and grow and await the return of the gods in all their glory. All they were to do was told to them in this way, their division into Colors, the insistence that any of the Wicked Ones who made it over the Shipbreaker reef must be slain on sight, that they were to throw the weapons of the Wicked Ones into the sea and use nothing not made with their own hands. Certain knowledge was burned from their brains, cerebral pathways realigned to ensure that these people would forget the secrets of metal and technology, and would eventually descend back to a tribal civilization. Inside the Crown they hid a lit fuse that would destroy this civilization. One of the Colors was bred for war, the Red, and in their part of the Crown the Old Ones left the secrets of metal and smithing, and a reason for the Red to wish to destroy the other Colors. When at last the machine had repaired itself, this secret would be revealed to the Red, and the ensuing war would create enough death-energy to turn the machine back on and reopen the portal. Satisfied with their victory, the dying Old Ones slipped back into their elder dimension to wait for the time to be right. When the humans awakened from their brainwashing they believed, and they did as they were ordered and began building the Colors in the islands below the Crown. Time unknown passed. Outside the Shipbreaker, in the Wicked Lands, civilization slowly rebuilt itself. From time to time a Wicked Ship does destroy itself on the Shipbreaker, and then the Red must go out to the reef or to the beaches where they wash up and kill them all to protect the other Colors. It is what they have always done, what they were born for, and the Red take great pride in their role as the guardians of the Crown. Now the time of the Old Ones has come round again. The Crown has at last repaired itself, and the signal has been sent. The PCs are a group of young Reds, marked from the day they were born for greatness. Now they will learn the secret of metal, and the secret of why they should war on the other Colors. Where we go from there is up to them. In the end, they will face the choice to believe what they have always been told, or to stand against the return of the gods in a seemingly-hopeless act of defiance. What do you think?
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2019 17:18
|
|
|
That sounds cool, but what of the other tribes? If one is the chosen Color who protects the Crown, what do the others do? What is the pretense for the Reds to go out and kill the others? If metallurgy is forbidden, what materials do people use for tools and weapons? Are there traces of the cthulhu poo poo still hanging around the world?
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2019 22:58
|
|
|
On a similar vein, I've been trying to hone my writing and I banged out a 4 page setting guide. This is a setting which takes place in the dark-age post-apocalypse created by my players during an all-night supergame. I'd really appreciate any notes or comments on how I can keep tightening up my writing. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1koFZwKf47gtjxr7Sqic36WIF7WwEOU5iqxQSZ95ZR88/edit?usp=drivesdk
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2019 23:01
|
|
|
Glukeose posted:That sounds cool, but what of the other tribes? If one is the chosen Color who protects the Crown, what do the others do? What is the pretense for the Reds to go out and kill the others? The Colors all work together to provide what is needed for the People to survive. Each of them live on an island underneath one Spire of the Crown, and each island is bioengineered to provide something they all need. The Red grow land crops and provide fighters. The Blue harvest the bounty of the ocean and predict the weather. The Green tend the wood and vines they use for much of their crafting. The Orange cultivate the beautiful dyes and fibers they use to craft their clothing and sacred banners. The Yellow are the craftsmen who turn the raw materials of the other Colors into finished goods. The Purple are seers and visionaries who claim to have seen more of the gods' will and provide direction. In this way they are all interdependent and one People, none of them more important than the others. This unity and peace has lasted forever. There is never any serious conflict. The People use bone, leather, stone, wood, vine, etc. to create their items. There are a large number of huge crustaceans etc. to provide big pieces of shell for things like shields and armor etc. They have been doing this for tens of thousands of years so they have learned how to make beautiful and sturdy items out of these primitive materials, and the Yellow have old ones among them whose craft is so advanced that they can put mild enchantments on these items, like a diving spear that lets you hold your breath for an extra two minutes, or a long vine with a loop at the end that will tie itself when tugged on. Such items are very rare and most all of the People's day-to-day gear is mundane. There is no trace of the world Before. It has been so long that almost all of the metal items they brought with them to the islands have decayed away to nothing. When the Wicked Ones show up, their weapons, made of the sorcerous and strong greywood, are cast into the sea lest their wickedness spread amongst the People.
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2019 23:46
|
|
|
I'm starting the World of Ruin Catering Company game back up next week, and I thought i'd check here for ideas. the cast for this adventure is going to have two new heroes - Hops the Rabbit Ranger and Raisin the Sphynx Witch. They're both pretty outdoors-oriented characters (raisin's thing is summoning air and fire elementals, hops has a bunch of survival skills and the Improvised Cookstation trick) so I thought it would be nice to make them do a hunting-in-the-forest, cook-what-you-find type adventure. The other two characters playing in this session will be Lemon the Otter Cleric and Dutch Baby the Faerie Baker. my basic idea is as follows: The druids of Forest Zone have been fasting all month, and they have hired the PCs to cater their fast-breaking feast celebration (the holiday is simply called 'Eat'). So the players need to cater them a feast using only ingredients procured in Forest Zone. This should give these rugged new characters a chance to shine . If you have any ideas for my Twist List, they would be welcome. Here are a couple potential twists I'm considering: - the druids probably have some strict ethics standards for what they're willing to eat. Maybe they need all of the meats to be ethically sourced, which could mean anything from requiring a ritual slaughter, to only eating animals which have given you permission to eat them. maybe this applies to fruits too! who knows?? My 3rd edition DnD druid wouldn't eat anything with hooves. I could just make up additional dietary restrictions all willy-nilly as we go along. - maybe there is a competing group of druids (or maybe a group of shamans?) that opposes the druids of forest zone and wants this fast to be their last. Or maybe one of the druids themselves resents the lead druid for outsourcing the feast because it goes against tradition. - it seems dangerous to summon fire elementals in the forest. Maybe smokey the owlbear shows up to put a stop to these pyromaniac shenanigans! - maybe some hungry forest denizens are drawn to their cook fire and try to take the feast for themselves. I have all sorts of weird little buggers. I'm out of ideas for now, but that's why I'm asking here! The game's monday.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2019 00:22
|
|
|
That sounds really awesome and fun. It reminded me of a story in Fables where reynard used a holiday feast as a distraction. You could spend some time thinking about what you want to happen during the actual feast event to make it feel like it takes time and occupies a whole settlement at once. Even if you aren't using it as a distraction, maybe the town gets attacked or some prisoners get freed while everyone's eating. I liked the idea of having to cater to some portions of the guests' dietary needs. You could have side missions to offer special dishes. Are you rating the quality of the food or the response from the clientele to increase your regional reputation or anything? Do you have a mini game for the high stress prep/cooking/serving time? e: Smokey the Owlbear should definitely show up. ILL Machina fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Jun 2, 2019 |
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2019 00:33
|
|
Glory to Italia!
|
All the cooking is done through linked skill checks, so if a dish goes wrong we know if it was at the Gathering stage or the Baking stage or the Plating stage or what. There is not a formal reputation rating, but people in macadamia town square will often yaulp their general feelings of satisfaction and dissatisfaction into the open so they do get feedback about what people think of them periodically.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2019 00:36
|
|
|
Leading to the squad taking catering jobs with higher and higher stakes! Some of the help to support the event could be inept. One of the ingredients requested by a prominent figure could be rare or unavailable in the region and require a side mission or trade negotiation or keeping the requester from showing up to the event. One of the ingredients the party brings could seem like a safe garnish but actually be so taboo to the guests that they didn't think of mentioning it. A rival dessert chef could arrive at the 11th hour to compete with your group or, if they're struggling, force his help on them to steal fame. There could be some staples that have suffered a recent blight so you have to hire farmers or steal from merchants or pay a premium at the market. I'm just thinking of masterchef for scenarios and stardew for interactions and food sources. And from battle chef brigade for the hunting and overcooked for the frantic coop cooking action. I want to know more about what works and doesn't with your group. This is definitely my jam. ILL Machina fucked around with this message at 01:00 on Jun 2, 2019 |
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2019 00:57
|
|
|
Thought I'd give an update on the Curse of Strahd Question i asked earlier. I also threw a similairly worded question at the players as to what they think barovia is(all but one of them are first time Ravenloft players) They collectively came up with a thing that is so rad that I'm just going to be using that. And blatantly ignoring the lore. Barovia is part of a larger plane they theorized, where basically horrible and glorious moments from the Histories of various planes end up, sometimes completely, sometimes as a copy. ever forced to repeat themselves(They worked out that Barovia is cyclical) hence them all being drawn to the plane since they all have some connection to a Major Event. (The Warlock under his previous patron did a horrible thing that he won't talk to anyone about. The war forged somehow has memories of the mourning. The Ranger has been an instrument in overthrowing governments.) They didn't come up with a name for the place but they threw some rad ideas a the for thing they'd like to see. A slightly overly zealous order of monster hunters/vampire hunters that run dangerously close to becoming the monsters they hunt. A group of artificers that fell into the plane a long-rear end time ago that have since just been here perfecting their craft, but never able to attain perfection. A Order of Warlocks (similar to groups like Order of the Gauntlet or any big peacekeeping force) that are just doing their damned and blessed best to keep this plane from erupting into war.(They serve as intermediaries for a group of demons and angels that is attempting to learn from this plane, not sure what they want to learn. They've also not asked me to immediately map out everything and have it be a bit more of a collaborative process in building the world. Wich I'm kind of super stoked about. Looks like it'll be a hexcrawl style map and lot's of asking them what they see as well as adding my own flavour to things. It'll also allow me to pull things from other omodules and older DnD stories to use for set pieces, wich is nice.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2019 15:30
|
|
|
The group accidentally kills a wild shaped druid they mistook for an animal - but they might also be delicious? Environmental protection group warns against poaching in one of the last pristine forests in the world of ruin. Smell of roasting meat drives several fasting druids into a frenzy and try to steal a snack early. Over hunting of a particular creature results in the local power structure collapsing, giant spiders/bugbears/something are left unchecked and run rampant. The festival organization committee wants an impressive centerpiece to the feast, a rare creature that they may have trouble finding/subduing, potentially leaving them without enough time to properly cook it / cook enough other foods. Druidic zealots think the feast is an abomination and try to sabotage the meal, ruining the meat and freeing any living creatures.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2019 16:03
|
|
|
Ignite Memories posted:If you have any ideas for my Twist List, they would be welcome. Here are a couple potential twists I'm considering: Luckily, like their smaller, less-incandescent cousins, salamanders non-lethally detach their delicious tails when driven into flight. Your caterers must find a way to literally scare the tail off a forty-foot-long fire-infused amphibian.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2019 20:07
|
|
|
I think I may have hosed up. Running Storm Kings and thought I would throw in "The Eye of Venca" for giggles. They found it in a fairy dragon's treasure horde (which was mostly buttons and other useless baubles) and it was pocketed by the artificer character. So I quickly started sending her "This thing is super evil" flags such as mental voices telling her to kill things, visions of evil wizards taunting her, dreams of her own eye being stabbed, that sort of thing. This was all done through notes so the other players weren't aware. My plans were to gradually feed her information about it over the course of the campaign and only truly reveal what it is and its nature near the end, when she could decide if the power was worth the risk. She decides to trade it to another player who was missing an eye for backstory reasons. He takes it and immediately shoves it into his head. Me: Pikachu shocked face.jpeg Now I have a character with an artifact level magic item, and headmate to one of the most evil and powerful beings to ever exists in the forgotten realms, at level 4. Everyone loved the whole exchange, but I am at a little bit of a loss for where to take it from there. Make him hounded by demons who want the power for themselves? Don't tell him about the chance to have your character instantly killed property and let the dice do what they do? New quest line to remove it without killing him? I really want to do things that make something that powerful more dangerous than it should be worth, any ideas goons?
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2019 22:52
|
|
|
OK, so first off: hell no you haven't hosed up, giving players a magic item that's far above their level is great fun and it sounds like your players had a blast. As for the Eye itself, I'd rewrite it. The "there is a 5% chance that your character is erased each time you use this" is a bullshit way of doing gradual corruption and possession by a magic item. I would have it so that the Eye gives them some stuff for free: say, infravision, or the ability to see invisible as an action, or something like that. On top of that, if they really want they can access the spells that Vecna has left in it. They can only do this temporarily, but for a 4th level character they're the kind of thing that completely turns the tide of a combat encounter. However, each time they do so, the Eye gains more control over them. Maybe at first, it can just send them disturbing dreams of ruling over the world with awesome necromantic power. At the next stage, maybe if they ever roll a 1 on a Will save it possesses them for a short while. After a few uses, they start getting periods of missing time, or they keep waking up having no memory of whatever it is they spent the night doing. E: Also, rather than having demons try to kill him and take the eye, what if they're willing to trade for it, fair and square? Trying to kill the Eye's bearer is a risky proposition whoever they are, and I imagine there's a lot that the kind of demon who would want the Eye would be able to offer a 4th level adventurer, no strings attached... all they have to do is live with the fact that they're handing over an artefact of immense occult power to an incredibly evil being. Whybird fucked around with this message at 23:27 on Jun 2, 2019 |
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2019 23:12
|
|
|
Whybird posted:On top of that, if they really want they can access the spells that Vecna has left in it. They can only do this temporarily, but for a 4th level character they're the kind of thing that completely turns the tide of a combat encounter. However, each time they do so, the Eye gains more control over them. Maybe at first, it can just send them disturbing dreams of ruling over the world with awesome necromantic power. At the next stage, maybe if they ever roll a 1 on a Will save it possesses them for a short while. After a few uses, they start getting periods of missing time, or they keep waking up having no memory of whatever it is they spent the night doing. Instead of it being a chance to possess them, have the eye offer them a deal; one spell for X minutes behind the wheel (maybe one per spell level?), and then have it make those offers during trying times, and of course, it knows just the right spell for the terrible situations they find themselves in. For extra fun, make it clear that the eye will decide when and where the possession will take place, but that it won't be immediately.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2019 00:05
|
|
|
Johnathan strange and mr norrell had a faerie pact where the humans thought they were bargaining the second half of the life of the lady about to die and being wished over when they thought they could save her her prime years. Turns out they were bargaining away her sleeping half so she could participate in an eternal revelry and she started going mad. Maybe taking away some benefits from rest over time could indicate exhaustion a la frodo. Or just use the normal exhaustion stages. ILL Machina fucked around with this message at 07:53 on Jun 3, 2019 |
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2019 00:27
|
|
|
The Vecna thing sounds a little similar to what I plan to dangle in front of my players. Two of them are going to be offered a pact with Kyuss, which has a potential end state of them becoming Larva Mages. The way I currently have it mapped out is that every level up from there has a visual infection effect, and at certain thresholds affect them in other ways. The plan is to start by utilizing the flaws feature, and then eventually move into mechanical effects. I'm using the worms from the movie Upstream Color as a basis, so it will start with just them becoming more suggestible as a flaw, and can progress to them having a harder time resisting charm and domination effects, including those done by their patron. This would in turn lead to either a process of getting rid of the infection and, along with it, the pact, or finding a means of resisting control ala Bloodborne. The latter would still lead to a Larva Mage character but they would still have their minds.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2019 00:51
|
|
|
Whybird posted:OK, so first off: hell no you haven't hosed up, giving players a magic item that's far above their level is great fun and it sounds like your players had a blast. Order of the Stick does a demonic bargain where every minute with Supreme Demonic Power is a minute in the control of the fiends that gave it to the character.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2019 10:23
|
|
|
The Colors and the Crown plot seems off to me and I'm not sure why, maybe because I'm not sure what the human motivations at play are. It's an Amazing DM Secret! But I'm not sure how much that will translate into player fun?
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2019 10:25
|
|
|
My go-to for characters having a magic sensory organ is that they perceive interesting things, useful things, and things they'll really, really wish they hadn't. Doubly so if they're vastly below the organ's league because if you're a level 4 nobody what are you even gonna do about the tentacles slithering beneath the archbishop's robes or the clearly visible eyes on the moon's surface? Consider what the eye wants out of it, too. Train this Lv4 rube into a vessel worthy to bear it? Secretly direct them to search for the hand as well? Or just find some more appropriate vessel and ditch the poor bastard first chance?
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2019 10:49
|
|
|
sebmojo posted:The Colors and the Crown plot seems off to me and I'm not sure why, maybe because I'm not sure what the human motivations at play are. It's an Amazing DM Secret! But I'm not sure how much that will translate into player fun? The humans on the Crown are motivated by the same thing all religious people in the world are: Their (totally brainwashed) forebears told them the ultimate truth of the universe and they are following it. The only real commandments are to stay alive, follow the traditions, be fruitful and multiply, and if all these are done faithfully at some point the gods will return to this world. One of the points of tension in the game is going to be tradition vs. three-dimensional physical reality. Each Color is extremely proud of what it does and proud of how they support the People, just as the gods commanded all those years ago. They essentially live in a tropical paradise on islands that were engineered to provide them with all they need to stay alive (at a very primitive level of tech, of course!) and are protected from the Wicked World by the Shipbreaker and the Red. Those who need proof of the truth of this need only look at the Crown! Who but gods could raise such Spires? Who but gods could raise the Shipbreaker? Who but gods could make the Blue hairless and webbed, the Red strong and tough, the Green with their long arms and legendary grip, etc.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2019 13:58
|
|
|
ItWasMoida posted:A question on introductory game prep work: Assuming you've at least pitched them a setting and they don't show all fired up to run Monster of the Week in the past and on Mars, prep a monster of the week in that setting, including its agenda, and be open to PCs defining their relationship to each other and various setting figures during the process of investigating the monster and stopping its agenda. Ask a bunch of questions during the session and keep track of the answers to plan later arcs.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2019 18:15
|
|
|
Whybird posted:As for the Eye itself, I'd rewrite it. The "there is a 5% chance that your character is erased each time you use this" is a bullshit way of doing gradual corruption and possession by a magic item. 5% chance of death is a hilarious downside to a volatile item, but it's not something I'd incorporate this early in a campaign, especially not without foreshadowing concerning the insta-death, especially especially as a leveraged downside to a character that just gifted you with these storytelling possibilities. Unless there's some entanglement that necessitates the object be Literally An Eye of Vecna then slap some dope upsides to it with a side helping of being hunted by demons/treasure seekers/glory hunters. Make it somewhat difficult to reconcile with the character's face (as in it's clearly a false eye of some sort) so that it's difficult to properly use without gaining some notoriety, which in turn brings in people who want the power for themselves. It could even be a bit one ring-ish in that it wants to be used for evil but ultimately just does what it does so that a more well-intentioned soul could get a lot of use out of it while more nefarious types who know what the object is circle and wait for opportunities to strike.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2019 18:47
|
|
|
Ignite Memories posted:I'm starting the World of Ruin Catering Company game back up next week, and I thought i'd check here for ideas. You should definitely check out the show Dinner:Impossible with Robert Irvine, similar premise you could steal a lot of cool scenarios from.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2019 19:21
|
|
|
My long running 40krpg (only war) is introducing a new PC and some more "regular" soldiers in a single session one-shot, and I'd welcome any advice or suggestions for planning a mini adventure. I know my games always run long so I'm allocating four hours for three scenes and I'm thinking 1 - role playing in a social setting, 2 - exploration of a spooky place and then 3 - combat. The set up is that everyone is in basically a military prison ship, berthed at a city port. The PCs know that 1) the ship is sending the soldiers/ prisoners to a death sentence of a world of questionable military legitimacy and 2) the ship and it's crew itself are awful and bordering on evil/Chaos. The agreed-upon point of the adventure is that the players all work together to escape the ship and go join the "real" party at a nearby military base. I'm thinking escape from butcher bay type stuff, the new player character is a psyker "like jack from mass effect". Maybe one of the players is a new on the job guard with a conscience (or who just needs out). So, any thoughts on how you would run a one shot like this? Either using my three scenes or your own structure?
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2019 19:36
|
|
|
Jack B Nimble posted:My long running 40krpg (only war) is introducing a new PC and some more "regular" soldiers in a single session one-shot, and I'd welcome any advice or suggestions for planning a mini adventure. I know my games always run long so I'm allocating four hours for three scenes and I'm thinking 1 - role playing in a social setting, 2 - exploration of a spooky place and then 3 - combat. Maybe for the social scene it can be gathering info about the mission - maybe there is a cover mission and the players need to find out about it. Once they find out about the mission (maybe just vague rumors) then they'll need to feel out who of the other passengers/support personnel are open to joining their quit campaign. Maybe tue successes to mechanical benefits when it comes the combat part (less fighting, longer before claxons ring, better gear or starting position, etc). Also there could be some Counter Intelligence types posing as crew listening for disloyal crew members. If they do poorly/talk to the wrong person maybe someone wants to snitch in exchange for a transfer to a different ship and they have to be dissuaded, maybe they talk to the Counter Intel guy themselves accidentally. For the spooky exploration part it could be verifying the rumors in a government center/ships secure areas/something like that where they're trying to evade security and sneak? Possibly stow supplies and weapons they'll need underway (are all weapons and armor locked away in an armory until combat is imminent?) Maybe enroute the ship stops to investigate a world in their path that whatever (science division in the setting) directs the ship to stop and investigate and they are chosen to be the away mission? For the combat I think maybe the escape itself would be cool. Maybe the escape necessitates a couple of things (sabotaging the comm system so the ship can't report them as deserting, messing with propulsion to get the ship to slow to a speed they can safely exit from, rigging the ship to blow so they aren't pursued by something that can easily crush them, etc. For the combat, I'd do a running gun fight to the escape pods/means of escape through areas damaged by their sabotage, fluxuating gravity fields, airless spaces, etc. If someone is a pilot have then make checks to escape the ship's weapons range without being blasted until it blows up or whatever.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2019 23:53
|
|
|
Kung Food posted:I think I may have hosed up. Technically only using to cast the spells has a chance of instantly "killing" the user. I mean for all intents and purposes with RAW the character is dead but story wise they're supposed to have their soul devoured and body used as a puppet by Vecna. Considering how Vecna is very "just as planned" he could always opt to not devour the soul. Maybe keep track of the amount of times this 5% chance happens and give Vecna more and more influence over the player without telling them. If they do the best on a perception check have them see something that might not actually be there. Later in the campaign they might be just in the right position to 'see' an ambassador pulling a weapon to attack the local king. Stuff like that. This is the 'god' who was a lich who intentionally got himself took to Ravenloft so he could perform a ritual to become a god (and promptly got kicked out because he is now a god).
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2019 13:29
|
|
|
Luminaflare posted:Technically only using to cast the spells has a chance of instantly "killing" the user. I mean for all intents and purposes with RAW the character is dead but story wise they're supposed to have their soul devoured and body used as a puppet by Vecna. The 5% flat to die is a bit much yeah, you could have it impart Exhaustion or some other temporary determent on the player and have the ailments that effect them get worse with every couple of uses. Eventually leading to more hallucinations and influences from Vecna himself(maybe guiding him towards the hand so he can assert more control of the PC?) Maybe eventually have it impar fome form of madness on the character?
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2019 15:16
|
|
|
My strong feeling on anything that ends with "turn over your character sheet" is that you should recruit the player to enthusiastically participate in, and take narrative responsibility for, their own turn to evil. It minimizes hurt feelings, lets them go wild playing out the internal conflict, and makes the point at which they're finally converted to an NPC (which is to say, the instant they come in direct conflict with the rest of the party) the accomplishment of a goal instead of a random failure in a game of chicken.
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2019 15:29
|
|
|
Tuxedo Catfish posted:My strong feeling on anything that ends with "turn over your character sheet" is that you should recruit the player to enthusiastically participate in, and take narrative responsibility for, their own turn to evil. It minimizes hurt feelings, lets them go wild playing out the internal conflict, and makes the point at which they're finally converted to an NPC (which is to say, the instant they come in direct conflict with the rest of the party) the accomplishment of a goal instead of a random failure in a game of chicken.
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2019 17:39
|
|
|
Ended our last session in mid-combat so that'll be fun to pick up from. The party finally went to the old castle that's been marked on a map they've had for a while... and given they are now 4-5 instead of 1-3, I decided to ramp things up a little bit when we continue. They already scared the two gnoll guards outside the draw bridge into disturbing a huge Raven fiend in the largest tower, and they left off fighting it. Most of the gnolls are still normal, although I've pumped up their leader into a Gnoll Pack Lord. The goblins on the other hand are now quite different. Taking some options from the book, I've made the couple of lieutenants into CR 3's, and some of the more general goblins into CR 1's. Only about 4 though. My intent is to throw normal goblins at them but use them as minions, so they'll go down in one hit and also be excellent fodder for the beefed up gobbo's "Redirect Attack" reaction! On top of this there will be some signs of something bad going on in the second floor. They could find out a few ways. Stumble into the smithy where a lone goblin blacksmith is hammering away at a massive weapon. He's not meant to want to fight, and in the book is full on willing to rat out the others if he gets to continue to work. But even if they kill him the size of the weapon is troubling. Sounds from the second floor will also begin to be more noticeable. The idea is that the leader of the goblins, a lady gobbo that's been worshiping Orcus, has gotten a good bit stronger than she was before (aka as written in the book). She's trying to bring a troll back to life as a zombie! Interrupting that will make the fight an easier time for sure since it's otherwise just her and two skeletons. In the end if they succeed they'll be able to take the castle for themselves. Given I am ramping up the difficulty, I should also ramp the treasure up a bit. A minor hoard perhaps?
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2019 20:47
|
|
|
My players are investigating a giant structure out in the desert (if anyone’s kept up with my previous posts, it’s where they found flying carpets and their enemies The Chosen took control of a load of giant golems). They’re about to get into a vault that contains about three dozen magic items collected from fallen friends and foes following a climatic battle a hundred years ago. I need a reason to only let them choose, say, two things each out of this hoard. They will really enjoy going through the items and choosing, so I need an in-game reason to limit their choices. I have been thinking about this for days and I’m totally stuck so any suggestions welcome. The two different routes that lead to this chamber are themed on water magic & mourning the death of the god of the sea, and a steampunky one with laser tripwires and steam-powered automatons and so on. Just in case that gives anyone any ideas.
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2019 21:19
|
|
|
Sanford posted:My players are investigating a giant structure out in the desert (if anyone’s kept up with my previous posts, it’s where they found flying carpets and their enemies The Chosen took control of a load of giant golems). They’re about to get into a vault that contains about three dozen magic items collected from fallen friends and foes following a climatic battle a hundred years ago. I need a reason to only let them choose, say, two things each out of this hoard. They will really enjoy going through the items and choosing, so I need an in-game reason to limit their choices. I have been thinking about this for days and I’m totally stuck so any suggestions welcome. The room is set in a vault with flowing water coming out of the ceiling (salty sea water maybe) sheeting along all walls and obscuring the stone behind.. Make it so that when an item is picked off of the pedestal, the room begins to have water pouring inside. When the next is lifted, the water rate quadruples but everything remains dry. When the third is picked up, all the doors are sealed and the room begins to rapidly fill with water - 8 rounds or something. Walls seem impervious (maybe force fields from the steampunk thing or whatever) and the 3rd item is connected to the pedestal by a beam of blue light. If it is replaced back on the pedestal the portals open and the water pours out into the hall. This repeats if any more than two items are lifted off their pedestal. The creators of the hoarde made it to capture the treasures of the past but also provide for the defense of the future, and they designed it so that the future would never be left defenseless by one group emptying it etc. Maybe some flavor text to that effect carved into the floor. "Si vis pacem, para bellum."  . Be prepared to have the players try and game the system (they stand outside the room and try and pull an item out with a rope, etc etc).
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2019 21:47
|
|
|
Did the magic items get gathered along with the corpses of the fallen? At some point they could have risen from the grave and gotten stuck in that old saying about master swordsmen calling off a duel when neither would make the first move. Neither side wishes to risk an interruption to their "fight" so they agree to let the players each take one item from a member of each side. A century old standoff between the mummies of old enemies would be really cool, but I don't know if you want the added angles. Steampunk wise I would play with the idea that the magic items are part of some device that controls the door. The players can swap out their old equipment for the new stuff. Make a reference to the old, "weigh your heart against a feather?" My minds eye sees steam engines with magic rods rods filling in for pistons, boilers patched with shields, helms acting as pressure release valves, etc. But that doesn't match up here, so save it for a steampunk dungeon that a previous group barely escaped.
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2019 22:12
|
|
|
Librarian golem in a cage that will only let you check out two items at a time
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2019 22:14
|
|
|
I've got a situation that's popped up a couple of times in my DM "career" and I'm never sure how to handle it. Some background, this is a long-running 5e campaign with a pretty tight and dedicated group. One of our party member's partner just moved to town, and she wants to join the campaign. The whole group knew about this ahead of time, and nobody has an issue with her joining. The problem that I'm having is, I don't know her that well, and she's floated a lot of kind of extreme character ideas. She seems really attached to the idea of playing a 90-year-old human male Warlock. I've always been uneasy about players having characters that are at extreme ages, because I always feel like you either need to use aging rules, which feel kind of extreme (in 3.5 it was something like -2 to STR/DEX, -1 CON, +2 WIS, +1 INT or something similar), or you need to find a fairly hand-wavey explanation for why this 90 year old is dungeon diving, and why they're only like a 5th level warlock at that age. Okay, I can buy that, maybe he formed his pact as a way to extend his healthy life, and in exchange his patron is making him venture out into the world for some inscrutable reason. It still feels very artificial, and in my experience the roleplaying tends to be very broad and caricature-y as a result. But I'm also iffy on players running characters that are a different gender than their own, for the same reason. In theory I'm for it, because I think it's great for people to explore different aspects of their own and other genders in a safe(r) context, but in my experience to date, it similarly feels artificial and forgettable at best, and troubling or offensive at worst. Am I being a needless stick in the mud? Should I just say "yeah go for it" as long as she can justify why this character is hooking up with a party a third of his age? Should I give a poo poo about characters' genders? I'm mostly concerned because I do have a group that tends to enjoy more character-driven roleplaying decisions, so I'm worried about any addition that might make the roleplay less justified and more tongue in cheek or broad.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2019 19:37
|
|
|
We already regularly play games with 130-year-old elves side-by-side with 17-year-old humans with no explanation other than "elves mature slower", which makes no loving sense. Who cares. Worrying about gender swaps because they might end up "artificial and forgettable" is kind of similarly... who cares? If you're regularly dealing with players who play troubling and offensive stereotypes you have a player problem, not a roleplaying problem. Similarly if your group has a consistent tone and you have a player who wants to jump outside that tone in a way that no one else is interested in, that's a player problem. Discuss the tone of your game with the player and make sure she understands it. I think in all my current games (six) maybe 50% of players are playing their own gender and I haven't had an uncomfortable moment in any of those.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2019 19:46
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 9, 2024 03:08 |
|
|
admanb posted:We already regularly play games with 130-year-old elves side-by-side with 17-year-old humans with no explanation other than "elves mature slower", which makes no loving sense. Who cares. That's fair, the last time I had a player who insisted on playing a different gender was freshman year in college and there were... other personal issues involved, I doubt it'd be as big a problem now. Maybe the more useful thing to focus on is impressing on her that the group currently enjoys a little more grounded and justified roleplaying, as I think that's quite different from the last couple of groups she's been in, and I don't think she'd have a problem adjusting. I know I'm probably overthinking it because that's what I do as a DM, I'm just protective of this group because it's the only long running group I've had in years so I don't want anything to upset that balance.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2019 19:50
|
|