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Shanty posted:The guest of honour is "literally satan", but you could easily swap two of those letters to make it more seasonal. Festive counterpoint: 
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Dec 18, 2023 08:31
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sasha_d3ath posted:Festive counterpoint: Less a counterpoint and more a perfect dialectical synthesis. I really want to run this now.
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Dec 18, 2023 13:24
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Is Worldographer/Hexographer 2 still the hex mapping software that people are using? I don't have a problem with it, mostly just curious if there's something newer & cooler out there I should check out.
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Dec 19, 2023 22:11
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mellonbread posted:The other thing I thought about was a single class game, where everyone is just an "adventurer" or something. Like Esoteric Enterprises where the characters are all maintenance workers rather than bodyguards, doctors, mages, etc (but leaving the option for them to cast via scrolls they find, so the magic system isn't removed entirely). .jpg) Someone in the FATAL & Friends thread suggested something similar a few years ago and I think now is the right time. "Blue collar horror" games like Lethal Company and Deep Rock Galactic are more popular than ever. Plus, using a single maintenance worker class (modified version of the Criminal) lets me fit the chargen and rules tutorials on a single double sided page. Advancement is purely through completing maintenance jobs in the undercity, removing the need to track XP shares fractionally divided among party members, henchmen et al. Everyone in my last couple games loved the domain rules I came up with, but they're too complicated for open table play with a revolving cast of total strangers. Now I just have to pick a venue and recruit somehow. I'm torn between a game store (most popular venue in the city but out-of-the-way for me) and one of the nearby breweries (easier for me to get to).
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Dec 19, 2023 23:06
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I'm going to be running Sailors next week as part of a series of games for my Wednesday group - teenagers and young adults who have played almost nothing but D&D - to showcase other aspects of the hobby. They are Very Excited for the peasant funnel concept, so I want to try to give them the best experience possible. This will be my first funnel as well, so any GMing tips for the module or the format would be appreciated. Particularly, I'm concerned about having to run it on Roll20, since I'm running it for five players and I'm concerned about things bogging down on the VTT. Things like, should we use player-facing map at all, or pure theater of the mind? Are tokens for individual characters appropriate, or do you want a single token for all of a player's characters, or none at all? How should we handle initiative? I'm sure there's any number of things I'm not thinking of here, so any insight would be appreciated.
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Dec 29, 2023 04:50
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Play a shorter adventure, like Danger in the Air. Or just cut out a lot of Sailors, especially if people start really dicking around exploring every small thing. Also use a single token for each player, not character. I dunno otherwise, as I can't provide more tips due to me kinda hating running games online because it becomes very "its not your turn so don't talk" versus more inspiring more improv aspect of real life/table play.
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Dec 29, 2023 07:31
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Kestral posted:Things like, should we use player-facing map at all, or pure theater of the mind? Are tokens for individual characters appropriate, or do you want a single token for all of a player's characters, or none at all? How should we handle initiative? I'm sure there's any number of things I'm not thinking of here, so any insight would be appreciated. Player initiative makes it much easier. You can push players along faster that way. Manage NPCs how you want, I split them. I like to use a turn timer in combat, as in the heat of the moment people have to make fast decisions that may not be the galaxy brain 13D chess planning some like to do (and let's face it, with that many PCs in play, if someone hasn't worked out their vague plan, time to alt-tab back to the VTT). But maybe warn players you want to do it, but will leave it off for the start. I let players use a token per PC, but my players are experienced. Maybe pictures and theatre of the mind, or even a group token as required. Sailors does have alterate paths that matter. Have the players give names to all their characters. RIP Crispy the Armorer. That portcullis was evil... It does create some self-lore for the characters as they grow.
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Dec 29, 2023 08:57
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Have everyone pick an "active" character. Unlike most games, this should be the one they least want to use in the future. They're the only ones at risk and doing things unless the players decide to put the rest of the group into the action.
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Dec 29, 2023 14:53
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snail posted:Have the players give names to all their characters. RIP Crispy the Armorer. That portcullis was evil... It does create some self-lore for the characters as they grow. Also remind them that any given level 0's chance of surviving the funnel is directly proportional to how dumb of a pun their name is. I don't know why it's true, but it is.
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Dec 29, 2023 15:55
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A huge pop at any funnel table I run is the "Dead!" stamp. Not too expensive to have made up, and people love it for some reason
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Dec 29, 2023 17:46
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Received my Shadowdark kickstarter pledge. I got the full run, including the GM screen, additional cards, the 3 zines, and a second copy of the book (which I'm giving to a friend for Christmas) as well as the special edition of the book. The quality is really nice. I do wish the GM screen was in color, but I understand the appeal of having everything in black and white. It's very metal. The GM screen also has some surprisingly useful information, primarily geared towards generating NPCs. I do wish it had travel rules, but they are perhaps a bit too involved for such a small screen. The majority of the book is dedicated towards what it means to be a GM, and all of the rules you would need to know as the GM. Gameplay and characters make up the next biggest sections. I appreciate that they kept the game relatively rules-lite especially in reference to character classes. It functions with your typical modern D&D style of linear stats increasing, yielding stat bonuses (8 = -1, 12 = +1, 14 = +2, etc) so the actual class information ends up being a 2-page spread (sometimes one of those pages is just art) with the list of abilities your class has, and a table of random talents you can gain as you level up. The main things you need to know are what equipment you can use, what your hitpoints per level are like, and what 2-3 special abilities you get, making it really easy to introduce newer players to the game. I am disappointed that the only classes available are the main four (fighter, thief, priest, wizard) and that means I'll need to carry zines around if I wanted to run it in person. I really like the way ancestry (races) works. Each ancestry gives you a unique ability, some of which you choose based on what you want to do (for example, an elven character can choose +1 to hit with ranged weapons, or +1 to casting spells). They all seem useful and flavorful. I do think putting the Level Advancement page later in the characters chapter rather than earlier is a misstep. It's sandwiched between a character name table and a random character table, making it the second-to-last section in the characters chapter. It should have been towards the beginning of the chapter, before classes but after the main overview. I also don't like that it kept the randomized 3d6 straight down the line form of stat generation as standard. You do run the chance of rolling a random talent that gives you +2 to one of your main stats, so there's a way to fix a really busted character, but I would've preferred 1, maybe 2 additional methods in the book (maybe a standard array or a point buy or stat allocation method). I really like the "gear slots" system of encumbrance. It's super easy to understand and explain. Everything except your basic clothes takes up 1 slot (some things take up more), and you have a number of slots equal to your STR score or 10 (whichever is higher). I do think the stabilizing rules are a bit harsh, and favor high intelligence characters in a weird way. To stabilize a dying character you need to roll a 15+ INT check, making the wizard in the group typically the best at stabilizing party members. I like the dying mechanic. Roll 1d4 + your CON bonus (minimum 1), and you will die in that many rounds. Every turn you roll a d20 and on a natural 20 you gain 1 hit point and wake up. Downtime seems weird. You spend downtime to learn a thing that you and the GM determine, which is really creative, but also a level of GM fiat that I don't super appreciate. Overall, player-wise it feels like a better version of one of these old-school revivals. It's easy to navigate, simple to get into, and seems fun if these are the types of games you're into. It seems to strike a nice balance between a straight dungeon crawler and more modern story-driven game. I do think it still suffers some of the pitfalls of OSR games, such as sticking with the 3d6 straight down the line formula, and having only a few basic starting classes. To me these feel more like a restrictive tradition rather than a good mechanic and interesting character options. Verisimilidude fucked around with this message at 18:41 on Dec 29, 2023 |
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Dec 29, 2023 18:36
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Talking about 3d6 down the line brings up a topic that's been on my mind; what are your personal sweet spots between not doing a modern stat array and not being frustrated your character is a real sad sack. So, what are your preferred methods? 3d6 and put them where you want them? 3d6 and swap two? Rolling different amounts for different stats? For context, I'm looking to run a OSR flavored game sometime this year or next, whenever my turn as GM comes around. This will be the first time most players have played a "push your luck" sandbox game where your characters are much more fragile and mundane, and I want yo avoid too much of an initial shock if they roll up a procession of sub ten stats
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Jan 2, 2024 22:20
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I've generally played 4d6 drop lowest, arrange to taste, but that may generate characters that are "too powerful." If you're intent on 3d6, do it down the line, have people make multiple characters (since they're probably going to be going through them pretty quickly), and just roll with the hilarity.
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Jan 2, 2024 22:40
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I still use the same method that my friends and I used for 2E back in the day: 4d6, drop lowest, re-roll 1s. Arrange as desired. I ran that through anydice a while ago and found that it gives an average score between 12-13 if I remember correctly. It's still possible to get a crappy score with that method (6 would be the worst) but it's pretty unlikely.
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Jan 2, 2024 22:41
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4d6 drop the lowest is my preference
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Jan 2, 2024 22:42
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I give myself all 18s and tell the Dungeon Master it was just lucky rolls and if he tries to argue I threaten him with my big muscles.
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Jan 2, 2024 22:48
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same e: lol e2: Worlds without Number does either 3d6 down the line & replace your choice with a 14 or an array that's pretty similar to that
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Jan 2, 2024 22:49
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SkeletonHero posted:I give myself all 18s and tell the Dungeon Master it was just lucky rolls and if he tries to argue I threaten him with my big muscles. I once rolled three 18s, two 17s and a 16 in front of the DM for a stat block. I threatened to burn down their house if they objected. The character was unmemorable otherwise.
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Jan 2, 2024 23:10
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SkeletonHero posted:I give myself all 18s and tell the Dungeon Master it was just lucky rolls and if he tries to argue I threaten him with my big muscles. *Nods* It's important to establish dominance early.
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Jan 2, 2024 23:20
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Esoteric Enterprises starts with 3D6 down the line, then if you don't like your scores you can "invert" them (all or none) by subtracting 21 from each and taking the absolute value. It ensures you're never stuck with a character who has more negatives than positives, without just being a free lunch. In my own rules everyone starts with completely average statistics, a boost to a random stat, then another boost based on whatever the "starting class" they choose.
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Jan 2, 2024 23:21
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Jack B Nimble posted:Talking about 3d6 down the line brings up a topic that's been on my mind; what are your personal sweet spots between not doing a modern stat array and not being frustrated your character is a real sad sack. We had an old policy for 4d6 drop lowest before that was codified into 3.0’s ruleset growing up but only CHA was fixed to avoid it being the dump stat. Otherwise, we did our own point buy system. The OSE method allowing for trading points to boost prime requisite stats worked well too. Offering an extra character or a fate point / benny for particularly low stat characters is another option.
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Jan 2, 2024 23:30
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When did they remove draining stat points to buff your prime requisite from the mainline editions? You could do it in OD&D and Basic.
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Jan 2, 2024 23:39
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I haven't really read the osr rules but how old school is it? In the good old days there were stat minimums to play any given class, so straight 3d6 is a good way to not let people play what they wanted. I'd allow free placement at the very least
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Jan 3, 2024 00:04
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wrt classes: I can't remember which OSR game it is that we rolled characters for but it was straight 3d6 and we picked classes based on what stats we got. pretty hard grog. but three of us have been playing together since we were 12 or so and one just started and didn't like the idea of starting a character with basically no input. we abandoned that ruleset right away and stuck with WwN e: Old School Essentials Empty Sandwich fucked around with this message at 02:45 on Jan 3, 2024 |
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Jan 3, 2024 00:43
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Azhais posted:I haven't really read the osr rules but how old school is it? In the good old days there were stat minimums to play any given class, so straight 3d6 is a good way to not let people play what they wanted. I'd allow free placement at the very least It was 9 in the main stat in at least second edition, and when I was a kid we did 3d6 put them where you want, so you were never unable to play what you wanted. And everyone had a 6 charisma. Honestly after thinking more on it I may just ... Not use attributs?
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Jan 3, 2024 00:52
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Jack B Nimble posted:It was 9 in the main stat in at least second edition, and when I was a kid we did 3d6 put them where you want, so you were never unable to play what you wanted. And everyone had a 6 charisma. That's only for the 4 basic classes. Paladin: 12+Str, 9+Constitution, 13+Wisdom, 17+Charisma. Must be Lawful Good. Ranger: 13+Strength, 13+Dexterity, 14+Constitution, 14+Wisdom. Must be some flavour of Good. Druid: 12+Wisdom, 15+Charisma Bard: 12+Dexterity, 13+Intelligence, 15+Charisma Specialist wizards had high requirements too, like 15 int/Dex for an illusionist And God forbid you add in a kit
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Jan 3, 2024 04:13
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mellonbread posted:When did they remove draining stat points to buff your prime requisite from the mainline editions? You could do it in OD&D and Basic.
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Jan 3, 2024 04:35
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Here's a question I've been wondering about: level drain from undead and whatnot. Does everyone agree that it feels absolutely miserably infuriating and un-fumln? That's sure how it feels to me. Do you use it? If not, what do you use instead? What is that mechanic even trying to model, anyway?
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Jan 3, 2024 06:16
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I'm a big fan of 3d6 down the line if you're doing random rolling at all. 3d6 makes the bell curve of ability relatively easy to visualize, and down the line forces you to respond to the character you're given instead of make your own, which is the one big strength of rolling stats in the first place. All these fancy 4d6/drop techniques feel a little pointless to me, like they just blob characters together unmemorably without even having the fairness baked in of point-buy.SlimGoodbody posted:Here's a question I've been wondering about : level drain from undead and whatnot. Does everyone agree that it feels absolutely miserably infuriating and un-fumln? That's sure how it feels to me. Do you use it? If not, what do you use instead? What is that mechanic even trying to model, anyway? Level drain is pretty rough--I don't know why lost levels triggers such a "I've wasted all my time getting to this point" feeling in me that even something like character death doesn't. My solution I've used at times is to make drained XP semi-temporary, where players earn x2 XP until the bonus XP equals what they lost. The best fix is probably just to not use it, though.
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Jan 3, 2024 07:02
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SlimGoodbody posted:Here's a question I've been wondering about : level drain from undead and whatnot. Does everyone agree that it feels absolutely miserably infuriating and un-fumln? That's sure how it feels to me. Do you use it? If not, what do you use instead? What is that mechanic even trying to model, anyway? My opinion used to be to just drop it completely as pretty much any monster that had it was already plenty powerful, The Monster Overhaul instead suggests replacing Level Drain with an XP Debt which will increase how much XP it will take to reach the next level compared to normal, much less of a bookkeeping nightmare than Level Drain while keeping much of the same intended effect
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Jan 3, 2024 07:18
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SlimGoodbody posted:Here's a question I've been wondering about : level drain from undead and whatnot. Does everyone agree that it feels absolutely miserably infuriating and un-fumln? That's sure how it feels to me. Do you use it? If not, what do you use instead? What is that mechanic even trying to model, anyway?
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Jan 3, 2024 15:56
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SlimGoodbody posted:Here's a question I've been wondering about : level drain from undead and whatnot. Does everyone agree that it feels absolutely miserably infuriating and un-fumln? That's sure how it feels to me. Do you use it? If not, what do you use instead? What is that mechanic even trying to model, anyway? In my last OSE campaign I had level draining undead draining d6 CON, which was dangerous, potentially fatal and reduced max HP. But if you survived you would recover 1 point per day (no Restoration spells in OSE). Plus I threw in a couple of divinely blessed potions they could find that would heal a couple of such injuries.
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Jan 3, 2024 16:12
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OtspIII posted:I'm a big fan of 3d6 down the line if you're doing random rolling at all. 3d6 makes the bell curve of ability relatively easy to visualize, and down the line forces you to respond to the character you're given instead of make your own, which is the one big strength of rolling stats in the first place. All these fancy 4d6/drop techniques feel a little pointless to me, like they just blob characters together unmemorably without even having the fairness baked in of point-buy. You can do what you like, of course, but there's good reasons that even AD&D 1st edition recommended against 3d6 down the line. 4d6 drop lowest isn't what I'd call fancy, it's the first listed method in that edition of the game. The method I listed, with re-rolling 1s, is indeed a house rule, but that one by itself isn't.
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Jan 3, 2024 16:32
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our way of handling that in 2e was "life points," sort of another layer of hit points. I think everybody got 10+CON mod. if a character went below 0 hp, they were unconscious and damage was subtracted from life points. instead of level drain, powerful undead would do damage directly to life points. not exactly an OSR solution, though
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Jan 3, 2024 16:36
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Isn't that called vitality/wounds in 3.5?
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Jan 3, 2024 16:39
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I never played enough 3.5 to remember but I did just remember Kask doing a Q&A on some forum years ago and raging against negative hit points as something that would have pissed Gary off bc it is so antithetical to the very idea of D&D and then someone quoted the part of the 1e DMG that covers that as an optional rule and as with everything else in that thread that didn't jibe with what he said he simply never mentioned it again. lol.
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Jan 3, 2024 16:47
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Empty Sandwich posted:I never played enough 3.5 to remember How would it be antithetical to the very idea of D&D? Having a handful of edge-case, weirdly optional, or bandaid-fix rules are a long and storied tradition of basically every edition, as far as I can tell.
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Jan 3, 2024 16:50
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he gives the impression of being something of an edgy case himself
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Jan 3, 2024 16:53
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Everyone who's an rear end in a top hat about D&D has their own peculiar set of criteria for "real D&D." For some people, death at 0HP is sacred.
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Jan 3, 2024 16:54
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I know this is an overly broad generalization but it always strikes me that people who get all hot and bothered about only playing RAW also seem to be mostly unfamiliar with the concept of their players having fun. I don't mind a few weird sacred cow rules because they can make campaigns very memorable or add a challenge/complication that players then have to innovate around, but I don't think I've ever not had at least a half a dozen houserules that have come up during a campaign, most decided in the moment based on what seemed like the most fun at the time (and regretted later at least once)
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Jan 3, 2024 17:00
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