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Ilor posted:Gods, now I want to be a ghosts' rights activist so badly. well, on the bright side, Geist 2E exists on the other hand, it's best known for being an object lesson in how not to do TTRPG organization and layout
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Oct 25, 2023 20:24
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Tuxedo Catfish posted:how not to do TTRPG organization and layout is... is it worse than Shadowrun?
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Oct 25, 2023 21:31
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There’s an optional rule in Old-School Essentials and older editions of D&D: the Caller. I find this extremely useful outside of combat because it’s hard to deal with and keep track of 3+ players when they’re all independently moving around, opening doors, triggering hidden stuff, and addressing NPCs. It can be confusing even as a PC, since I have no idea if the GM is narrating the results of my actions or if they’re working with a different player instead, plus it’s not clear when my turn to speak and interact with the world ends and theirs begins. Something like this: code:Would it be too much to ask any groups I play with to use this rule? As a GM, I worry about overreaching if I house rule it, and as a PC, I worry about fitting in and being a team player if I ask. And if I do use this as a GM, how do I ensure that each player gets their say and a satisfying amount of in-game focus?
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Oct 26, 2023 14:15
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As GM youre allowed to tell players how youre running a game and reasonable requests, such as above, should be honored. As a player you are are certainly allowed to and probably encouraged to ask for things, especially things that make the GMs life easier, however it is again the GMs decision to do it or not.
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Oct 26, 2023 15:35
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Not technically GM advice, but this appeal on /rpghorrorstories made me laugh, hard:quote:I need help. I (20M) am playing in a group of five (plus DM) as a palladin. The top comment: quote:This is a pretty common thing to happen and it's your fault for not addressing Mari Lwyd in session zero
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Oct 26, 2023 15:50
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Ilor posted:Gods, now I want to be a ghosts' rights activist so badly. I'd probably run it in Dread and have the players be a group sneaking into the Ghostbusters' HQ in balaclava helmets with a mission to turn off the containment grid and release these fine and noble spirits back into the wild where they can once again frolic peacefully.
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Oct 26, 2023 15:52
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grobbo posted:Not technically GM advice, but this appeal on /rpghorrorstories made me laugh, hard: (Crying) gm please don't do Mari Lwyd again Gm (on speakerphone) would you like some cake
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Oct 26, 2023 18:52
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I'm putting together a concept for an open table hexcrawl that I'll almost certainly never have the time to actually run (  ), but it's a fun little downtime exercise anyway. Thing is, I'm pretty sure my core conceit is problematic and I'd really like that to not be the case.Being a hexcrawl, it's a setting of frontier exploration. I'm thinking the only settlement is a coastal outpost with a kind of martial feel to it (adventurers being shipped in to do their thing in a new land, thus providing a steady supply of new PCs), taking some strong thematic inspiration from the hub area in Monster Hunter World. The problem should become immediately apparent: I want to avoid colonialist narratives, and divorcing this concept from colonialism is proving more difficult in my mind than I thought. The Monster Hunter analogy would probably be best as it's a setting where the land is, well, just filled with monsters. But I would like for there to be something *more* out there -- ruins of an ancient and mysteriously fallen situation seem fine, but I can't figure out where/if native populations should/could be included in a non-problematic way. On the flip side, just handwaving the relationship between the adventuring outpost from another continent and the natives as being benevolent, cooperative, and respectful seems like it's whitewashing things. As this actually a problem or am I just getting too into my own head about this?
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Oct 27, 2023 10:44
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Drone posted:I'm putting together a concept for an open table hexcrawl that I'll almost certainly never have the time to actually run ( The latter
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Oct 27, 2023 12:23
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Pollyanna posted:Would it be too much to ask any groups I play with to use this rule? As a GM, I worry about overreaching if I house rule it, and as a PC, I worry about fitting in and being a team player if I ask. And if I do use this as a GM, how do I ensure that each player gets their say and a satisfying amount of in-game focus? No, i think it's entirely reasonable- it's also a good way to make sure everyone's involved in the game. It's a method traditionally used for larger tables but having someone prompt each player for their actions and it not necessarily being the GM does a good job of getting the more passively inclined players feeling like they can contribute without making a weird cacophony.
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Oct 27, 2023 12:42
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Drone posted:I'm putting together a concept for an open table hexcrawl that I'll almost certainly never have the time to actually run ( If you want to have small settlements and NPCs for the players to interact with, there's no reason why they can't be in the form of forward bases that have been there a while but haven't made progress in discovering secrets, other adventurers that have ventured forward to find their own way, that sort of thing. The players will be the first to make any significant progress in exploring this place, but that doesn't mean people haven't tried or are actively trying already.
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Oct 27, 2023 13:06
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Drone posted:I'm putting together a concept for an open table hexcrawl that I'll almost certainly never have the time to actually run ( It might be a good idea to make it explicit for the players that you're here at the sufferance of the natives and if you're too rude they're capable of running you off.
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Oct 27, 2023 13:22
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My players have entered their dragon-snail hybrid into an agility course competition. The plan was to offer winners a choice between a raw gold sum or a few different magical items, with first placce getting first pick, second place getting second, etc. Here's the options I've come up with so far: Collar of Companionship Appearance: This magical collar is made of supple leather dyed a deep, rich brown. It is adorned with intricate, silver embroidery depicting playful dogs running in a circle. Weight: 0.5 pounds Rarity: Uncommon Attunement: No Gold Value: 300 GP Effect: When worn by a beast, this collar enhances their natural loyalty and obedience, making them an even more steadfast and helpful companion. The wearer's master can communicate telepathically with the beast within 100 feet and issue simple one-word commands, such as "stay," "fetch," or "guard." The collar also grants the beast advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks, making them exceptional at detecting hidden threats. Roach Call Appearance: A wooden whistle with bas relief horse heads. When blown, it makes no perceptable sound. Weight: 0.2 pounds Rarity: Uncommon Attunement: Yes (to the pet) Gold Value: 300 GP Effect: Twice a day, the call can be activated to teleport the beast it is attuned to to the space 5 feet in front of the caller. This does not change the relationship between beast and caller; hostile creatures remain hostile and friendly creatures remain friendly to the caller. Familiar's Feeding Pouch Appearance: This small, intricately embroidered pouch is designed to be attached to your belt or your pet's harness. It's lightweight and has a flap that closes securely. Weight: 0.1 pounds Rarity: Uncommon Attunement: Yes (to the pet) Gold Value: 300 GP Effect: When attuned with a beast, this pouch can produce an endless supply of nourishment tailored to your pet's preferences. This not only keeps your pet well-fed but also enhances their abilities. While well-fed from this pouch, your pet gains temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus and a +2 bonus to their Strength and Dexterity for 1 hour. It can be used once per day. I'd welcome feedback or other ideas.
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Oct 27, 2023 14:30
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Drone posted:I'm putting together a concept for an open table hexcrawl that I'll almost certainly never have the time to actually run ( (it didn't take off but it was going to be about realizing the goblins you'd been taught in and out of character were violent savages were just people like yourselves)
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Oct 27, 2023 15:54
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I'm going to plug my favorite TTRPG blogspot here, Signs in the Wilderness, which is packed to the brim with generators and lore for an 17th century fantasy colonial post-apoc America. In fact, it has a pretty good post about what you are struggling with.
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Oct 27, 2023 15:57
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Drone posted:I'm putting together a concept for an open table hexcrawl that I'll almost certainly never have the time to actually run ( I'm currently running something similar to this, down to the Monster Hunter inspirations - they way I handled it was the mysterious ruins were relatively recent and drawn from an exiled offshoot of the PCs culture and the current humanoid inhabitants of the island being a weird shipwrecked pirate cult, so no real indigenous population at all. While that might seem like sidestepping the issue, the islands inspiration was the Galapagos, which as far as we know didn't have any human population until very recently. -edit So your something more might be a rival monster hunting organisation, a pirate base, that kind of thing. Of course Terra nullis has it's own implications but avoiding colonialism when you are literally colonising something is going to be difficult. G1mby fucked around with this message at 05:39 on Oct 28, 2023 |
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Oct 28, 2023 05:36
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another easy uno reversal would be to have the continent be the old world instead of the new. a great cataclysm wiped out the adventurer's own civilisations and the settlement is the first return of long-exiled refugees, with any locals being the unknown survivors (again, of the players' own races).
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Oct 28, 2023 06:43
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Oh or you could turn things on their head: about a century ago, the PCs' home was invaded by an imperialist nation of orcs from across the sea with superior logistics and technology who killed almost all the PCs' people and drove the rest out. Then more recently the orcs' Single Great Leader died, his empire imploded into war and chaos and famine, and now the PCs are part of an effort to try and recolonize a homeland they know almost nothing about other than through stories their grandparents told them. Added complexity: the recolonization is being funded by rich Investors from the three or four other nations who offered PCs' people shelter when they were refugees, who all have their own motivations for wanting the PCs to do the dirty work in resettling the place.
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Oct 28, 2023 08:12
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My RT players have figured out they can do this and while it's kind of charming it's gotten to the point where they're destroying valuable assets and infrastructure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyyoaBa7DaE&t=27s
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Oct 29, 2023 20:56
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Sounds like a recipe for successfully failing their mission and I'm sure that will have no repercussions at all in the short or long term.
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Oct 29, 2023 22:35
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Arglebargle III posted:My RT players have figured out they can do this and while it's kind of charming it's gotten to the point where they're destroying valuable assets and infrastructure.
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Oct 29, 2023 22:54
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Without Burke you wouldn't have the thrilling finale!
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Oct 30, 2023 00:26
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Drone posted:I'm putting together a concept for an open table hexcrawl that I'll almost certainly never have the time to actually run ( You can make it instead your outpost is from that same fallen civilization, the monsters drove you from your land. You know about the ancient ruined city of McGuffinTown because your grandfather told you stories that his father told him after the civilization was sacked by the monsters. You aren't colonizing a "new to you" land, you're taking back your home.
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Oct 31, 2023 03:18
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyyoaBa7DaE&t=16s My RT players figured out they can do this one too. Today we nerve-gassed a bunch of apostates and had a theological debate on whether cannibalism is allowed by the Imperial Creed.
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Nov 6, 2023 00:21
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Arglebargle III posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyyoaBa7DaE&t=16s Who won? My opinion is it has to be, the space marines literally have an organ that allow them to get the memories of things they eat and the Blood Angels induction rituals involve consuming the flesh of the fallen.
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Nov 6, 2023 02:18
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Oh the consensus was that the Emperor didn't explicitly forbid cannibalism, but that hunting and eating the Emperor's faithful begets rightful retribution. In this case delivered in the form of a Rogue Trader crew with nerve gas mortar shells.
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Nov 6, 2023 03:56
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I’ve not checked this thread for some time but I’m coming to the end of the very, very long campaign I used to post about a lot, and I’m in dire need of some advice for both story, and how to run the sessions. To set the (very cliched) scene, the god of death is trying to cause a massive war to empower himself and become top god. The players need to kill all his followers so the war won’t happen, and their deaths don’t matter as they already belong to the death god. They have just cleared a subterranean area under an occupied city and left an enormous bomb there. The plan is to use an addictive magical substance they have loads of to draw all the death god’s followers in over the bomb, then detonate it. This will cause the death god to go “ah poo poo, guess I better manifest in person” and they can kill him. The end. How I wrap that up into a playable game I do not know. The players are in one half of massive fortified wall city with a friendly army outside held together by fragile alliances. Their biggest asset is an army of frost giants, with the downside that they’re the ones the death god really wants to kill. The fortified wall is semi-demolished in the middle (to prevent the baddies overrunning the giants) and the players just planted their bomb deep down below the other bit of the wall, which is full of baddies. Someone needs to plant the magic drugs to tempt all the bad guys into one spot, someone needs to guard/set off the bomb. Makes more sense for my players to do the former but… it’s holding off the enemy, running down the clock till a bomb goes off. I also need to throw in a showdown with the Dark Pair, the undead shades of a PC’s father, and a famous swordsman they exposed as evil and killed long ago. This was meant to be the Dark Trio but they have gone to extreme and highly successful lengths to prevent this happening, which also opens up the possibility of the death god’s whole plan being off-kilter because he’s missing one third of his top staff. One other point worth mentioning is they’re currently carrying the semi-comatose sister of one PC who last session revealed she’s been speaking to their (supposedly dead) father. At the last moment she tried to stop them planting the bomb under the wall (the wall is their home) and then tried to jump into a bottomless pit. She was my last attempt to fill the missing seat on the Dark Trio, but the player did such amazing rolls and role playing to stop her I definitely feel he’s earned it and it’d be cheap to pull more bullshit with her. So, any idea what to do with any or indeed all of that? Just as an added complication one of my players is pregnant so I’ve got to get this wrapped up in the next two months. You don’t run a campaign for nearly six years and have someone miss the end because of some stupid baby.
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Nov 7, 2023 10:56
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Any thoughts on how the players would feel about intentionally getting blown up? My thought is that the death god was really counting on rounding out that Dark Trio... and can't stop a/all the PCs from absorbing that power if they die in the right circumstances. On further review this would work on the implication that things work on a mortal world - transitional post death world - realms of the gods basis. With the players at the peak of their power intercepting the god of death at the nadir of theirs in the post death world; before the full manifestation in the mortal world. You might further square the circle by saying that the death god is checking up on their followers "in person" as a final check for somebody worthy to round out the Dark Trio. This also means the "lure people to the giant bomb" plan is working on multiple levels which some folks love and some folks don't. Time wise I think this breaks down into one month to fight the Dark Pair and deal with family issues. Are the Dark Pair the sort to have hijackable plans to betray their boss? Then the next month is the bomb going off and the players hijacking that/beating the final boss/epilogue. Players that would prefer to be alive for the epilogue can use their newfound power to divest themselves of their godhood. They haven't been gods or godlike long enough for a bunch of troublesome rules and rituals to tie them up. Make sure to point this out in a timely manner. edit: Looking over the post history you do have three players... that are heavily invested in the established gods. back to the scratch pad habituallyred fucked around with this message at 07:40 on Nov 8, 2023 |
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Nov 7, 2023 20:17
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I asked how they would feel about one of them dying and they very much don’t like the idea. They intend to live heroically or die stupidly, just like always. They decided they want to fight the dark pair first so I’m just writing some lines for a shaman to cast bones saying if the moleman doesn’t face his father he’ll end up joining him as the third part of the trio. Fake edit: realised when I asked for advice a few months ago I never said thanks, despite using most of it. Thanks Lamuella, Grobbo, Squidster and, of course, HabituallyRed. Please forgive my poor manners.
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Nov 8, 2023 20:28
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I've got a problem. My players raided space Fort Knox and pressed enough chaos buttons to walk out with an economy-distorting amount of money. We're playing Star Wars, circa 4 or 5 BBY. The players get a tip: near the end of the Clone Wars the Separatists created a depository ship called the Aphelion. They parked it in uncharted interstellar space in the heart of Separatist territory. No one heard from it again, and even its existence was obscure. Their job was to find and confirm its existence. Payment for the job was whatever they could carry; they physically could only carry a fraction of things at most. The players eventually find it. It's a big space frigate that had been crippled and bisected in orbit over a planet. When they arrive, a bunch of droid starfighters muster to escort them onboard. There's eleven surviving crew members, a saboteur Jedi prisoner, a droid computer that can activate two dozen droids (out of 1300 available) at a time, two Magnaguards (one would be enough,) and a medical droid. I had contingencies. Multiple, nested contingencies. After catching several lies, the Ship Captain told the party he was going to hijack their freighter and escape with enough material to pay his crew. With time pressure on and through a clever series of plays, the party captures the crew with only a single crew casualty, defeat both Magnaguards, jettison the army of droids, and talk down the Jedi. A PC lets it slip that they were a Jedi padawan back in the day. I let it slip that their big empty freighter can hold about a trillion credits worth of materiel. My players were clever and lucky; I want them to be able to cash out. I don't want them to cash out with a number reasonably expressed in scientific notation.
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Nov 12, 2023 23:25
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Finally feel like I ran a good combat encounter. Gear mattered, healing mattered, terrain mattered, psychology mattered, timing mattered. The party had to make the difficult choice to charge up a stairway that they knew was defended against them or let some fell creature prepare for their arrival as they called in reinforcements. They decided to charge and the daemonhost at the top of the stairs rolled really well and went first, fried half the party's NPC troopers with a blast of warp fire, and put the arch-militant into critical damage. When it was all over between the demon and our Confessor they'd burnt down half the library of forbidden knowledge, left a pile of corpses at the top of the stairs and mooks were jumping out a third story window to escape.
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Nov 12, 2023 23:27
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Hobo By Design posted:I've got a problem. My players raided space Fort Knox and pressed enough chaos buttons to walk out with an economy-distorting amount of money. They’ve got to sell all this stuff, right? You can’t just fence sequenced credsticks or serialized blasters or whatever through One-Eyed Jimmy at the cantina. Even figuring out where to begin to find someone capable of handling a percentage of the loot is a few adventures in itself. And the Jedi prisoner is going to look askew if some of these goods don’t make their way to this burgeoning “Resistance” people are talking about.
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Nov 13, 2023 00:15
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Also: Once word gets out about a freighter full of stolen loot, other pirates are going to start circling. Now the PCs will have to stay on the defensive against every other scoundrel in the galaxy. But: Also consider letting the players make and keep a ton of money. One of my favorite space games was running a PC who was worth billions and had, in essence, unlimited resources. We basically stopped keeping track of space finances and said anything he could want he could afford (unless it was something egregious like a dreadnaught or a space station). The challenge then becomes writing adventure arcs that don’t include killing and fetching ten wolf pelts and instead become more about building and training a personal security force or buying and shipping material to the rebellion or carving out a fiefdom somewhere.
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Nov 13, 2023 01:39
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Yeah, don't take it off them, but do complicate the poo poo out of their lives as a result.
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Nov 13, 2023 01:55
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Every reward is an opportunity for more complications. And they just got a lot of rewards.
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Nov 13, 2023 02:23
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Hobo By Design posted:I've got a problem. My players raided space Fort Knox and pressed enough chaos buttons to walk out with an economy-distorting amount of money. My advice: let them cash out with a number reasonably expressed in scientific notation... and then believably reduce that number via complications. First off, they have to turn that materiel into credits. Is it still worth credits? If this is Clone Wars era war materiel, it's not exactly selling at market price anymore. The Empire created an awful lot of jobs with their military modernization programs, and all those Star Destroyers and TIE Fighters were meant to replace all that Clone Wars era materiel... which means the black market is already flooded with that poo poo. If it's more stable materiel like fuel or gold or whatever, that's one thing, but the market for Z-95 Headhunters and such isn't exactly robust. So there's that to consider. Second, now they have to fence that stuff. Who can move that kind of weight without getting Imperial attention? You're mostly looking at things like Hutt syndicates - and those dudes are just as likely to capture the party and try to torture the location of the Aphelion from them as anything else (after all, they own more freighters, they can just clean out the whole drat thing). You can deal with them if you're smart and careful, but still, there's plenty of risk. Risk which can be avoided... by spending money. Third, recall there's another option - namely, the nascent Rebels. They would buy that stuff, even the dusty war materiel, with no questions asked... except they don't have a ton of money. But if the PCs are interested in the whole 'Rebellion' thing, well, a large donation would probably make them some friends in high places... Fourth, once the PCs do turn that stuff into money, no matter what... rich people get attention, both positive and negative. Positive attention, like all the people who are suddenly very eager to make friends, and negative attention, like all the thieves and murderers. Both of these things have a way of costing... Fifth, the simple fact is that very few entities have that kind of liquid cash, even to work in fractions of these numbers. And those entities that do have eyes on them at all times - not just Imperial Intelligence but, like, bank regulators and such. Which means the PCs should find out in a hurry that the quickest and simplest way to cash out (barring the 'donate to the Rebels' option) is going to be to trade it for things like jewels or spice or stock options or mining rights on distant worlds or whatnot. Oh, they could maybe get more liquidity in the Corporate Sector, but do they think they're gonna get the freighter full of loot across the galaxy to the CS without getting ambushed? The point I'm driving at is, the problem with PCs having Too Much Money is that money lets them do basically whatever they want; it's hard to plan for that kind of open-ended power. So the job now is to find ways to turn the infinite possibilities of wealth into a more finite, sensible set of possibilities. Turn the money into stuff, because there's fewer ways for them to derail you with stuff. Let them turn it into "now you're a Rebel officer" or "now you own a mining operation in the Galactic Rim" or "Now you have that badass smuggler ship with the ultra-rare cloaking device you wanted" or "now you have a mission to get your loot to the Corporate Sector without getting intercepted" or whatever. Don't reduce their rewards, just turn those rewards into poo poo you can deal with and turn into a plot, is the thing. They should get Amazing, Cool poo poo, because they fuckin' earned it, but you're within your rights to limit it to Amazing, Cool poo poo You Planned For, you know what I mean?
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Nov 13, 2023 05:10
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I had a character become ultra wealthy through the course of an adventure. She used it to buy a private jet and fabulous outfits, none of which destabilized the game. I would try and get player buying what they really want and let them each get an amazing thing (a fashion line, a private moon, plasma rifles for every day of the week) and then get on with it. If they want more, there are a lot of adventure hooks posted upthread. But the thing about wealth is, you can’t buy someone as daring and competent as you are. In the Star Wars universe, main characters always go on missions. Golden Bee fucked around with this message at 03:05 on Mar 7, 2024 |
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Nov 13, 2023 06:11
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As everyone said above, people dont just have elventy billion in cash just lying around, even in our world if theres a billionare running around he doesnt have cash, he has land, property, ownership stake, all sorts of poo poo that takes time to convert from theoretical money into money and thats assuming all the poo poo is legal in the first place and not stolen goods or embargoed or whatever. If a party has a space hulk worth megamillions or whatever congrats, theyre not gonna get near full value if they want to get rid of it in a tinely manner. Have a smuggler or something who does have that kind of time offer a non power level destroying amount of creds to just take it off them if you want a tidy solution.
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Nov 13, 2023 06:33
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In general I think it's good to offer choice. You can put your players in a situation where they have to choose to do something with their haul or give something up in order to keep it. For example in my game the players will need to choose soon between looting a planet of treasure or rush to the aid of a ship they've already captured as their rivals close in. Leaving the planet will mean that their rivals capture all the remaining booty, but staying will mean their prize crew and a prominent bridge officer NPC will be slaughtered and they'll lose their new ship.
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Nov 13, 2023 13:55
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I hope this is OK! I want to try to run a DnD game as a DM. I have played 3 sessions before as a character a few years ago so I have a little bit of experience, plus watching Harmonquest. I bought/downloaded the DnD Starter Rulebook and the Lost Mine of Phandelver books. So, in theory, I just need to read these then I can DM my first game using the pre-made character sheets? Could it really be that simple?
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