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Carefully paste text into your rulebook so that your rulings were right. Sneak into your friend's houses and change the other player's rulebooks if they have any. Do the redirect thing with your wifi network to send them to a fake version of the SRD where your ruling was correct. Slowly gaslight them. Text your pizza place to change your group's order after you place it, then play a carefully created tape to convince them you were right all along. Lies and misdirection: This is how you become a real GM. 
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Jan 7, 2014 01:54
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Mimir posted:Carefully paste text into your rulebook so that your rulings were right. Sneak into your friend's houses and change the other player's rulebooks if they have any. Do the redirect thing with your wifi network to send them to a fake version of the SRD where your ruling was correct. Slowly gaslight them. Text your pizza place to change your group's order after you place it, then play a carefully created tape to convince them you were right all along. Lies and misdirection: This is how you become a real GM. I would like to join any campaigns you're currently running.
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Jan 7, 2014 01:55
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Bad Munki posted:I would like to join any campaigns you're currently running. Perhaps you already have. How would you tell? 
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Jan 7, 2014 02:11
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Whybird posted:Perhaps you already have. How would you tell? Oh poo poo, you're right. This is fantastic! I think I'm really enjoying this maybe!
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Jan 7, 2014 02:15
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Whybird posted:Perhaps you already have. How would you tell? I think we found that other guy's missing GM
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Jan 7, 2014 02:18
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Seriously though "There's a poo poo ton of minutiae. Trust me as a DM to rule fairly on the fly and if it turns out I'm wrong we'll correct it in the future." should be something every table has agreed upon. If players ever seriously get mad because in Dragon issue #9928 Water Orcs had D8 biscuits in the cupboard and you said there were 12 it's time to have the "be an adult" talk.
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Jan 7, 2014 02:46
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Mimir posted:Carefully paste text into your rulebook so that your rulings were right. Sneak into your friend's houses and change the other player's rulebooks if they have any. Do the redirect thing with your wifi network to send them to a fake version of the SRD where your ruling was correct. Slowly gaslight them. Text your pizza place to change your group's order after you place it, then play a carefully created tape to convince them you were right all along. Lies and misdirection: This is how you become a real GM. Quasi-related, but the Dungeon World game I ran today was actually fantastic with only two people. I bow to your wisdom, Sensei.
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Jan 7, 2014 03:49
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Captain Walker posted:Quasi-related, but the Dungeon World game I ran today was actually fantastic with only two people. I bow to your wisdom, Sensei. DW is pretty much the best because everyone is involved all the time.
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Jan 7, 2014 23:40
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Pretty much any AW-hack is awesome because of how involved it keeps everyone. I've started running sprawl, and have been having a lot of fun by having the hacker (who is pretty shy, and doesn't like to speak over our boisterous group,) bring a laptop. I'll do her parts over skype or IRC while the whole time letting people roll and narrate to the players, only interjecting every once in a while by "You suddenly notice a camera has stopped functioning," or, "You notice <hacker> suddenly seems to be in a lot of pain." or small things like that. Players love it. Sprawl / ApocalypseWorld / DungeonWorld, is awesome.
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Jan 8, 2014 10:20
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Turtlicious posted:Pretty much any AW-hack is awesome because of how involved it keeps everyone. I've started running sprawl, and have been having a lot of fun by having the hacker (who is pretty shy, and doesn't like to speak over our boisterous group,) bring a laptop. I'll do her parts over skype or IRC while the whole time letting people roll and narrate to the players, only interjecting every once in a while by "You suddenly notice a camera has stopped functioning," or, "You notice <hacker> suddenly seems to be in a lot of pain." or small things like that. Players love it. That's kind of an amazing little combination of tabletop tools and pseudo-larping!
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Jan 11, 2014 19:17
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So I've got a question to the GMs here because I've been invited to a Pathfinder campaign but it's kinda hinky It's two sessions, one week. The backstory is a vaguely worded such-and-such about corruption that the GM wrote. She has a history of writing very grandiose stories that she gets attached to; we've dabbled in role play in one of them before, and there are esoteric yes/nos on what is and is not allowed because it doesn't match her vision. Tonight we went over character creation, and the first thing she did was pick my race for me. No choice in the matter, she just picked. Then she insisted on reading all the information about everything to me from a website, refusing to just let me read the drat screen to decide what I wanted to do. I instead had to take notes of stuff, because then I can pick out what I like by writing it down instead of just clicking links on a drat page. After deciding on a wizard, she then heavily pushed me toward selecting a certain magic class to specialize in "for story reasons" and, I quote, "I may even just force you to pick it if you want to be a wizard" After explaining the idea for a backstory that I had (wizard heavily obsessed with books and literature), I suggest using a bound item for my character, specifically a book that is locked shut and can't be opened, which would be party of my characters story/potential for a hook. It could, on paper, function exactly like a bound wand, but it would just be a book. I was not only completely shut down, but berated for even picking a bound item, because "familiars are just flat out better. You should pick this familiar. I'll write you down for it" As the whole process went on, she kept trying to make more and more decisions about the character for me. Not to help with this being my first pathfinder campaign, but because they would "better fit the story" and work well with the race that I didn't get to pick. On top of this, I've been told that all other characters are level 12, but mine will be level 8. For story reasons. Most GMs in the past have played very fast and loose with the group I was in, allowing fun stuff to happen just because it's neat. I'm not used to being stonewalled for something as little as "a book that functions as a wand for character flavor", let alone being outright guided toward building a specific character "because reasons" Am I right in feeling like this is going to be not fun at all? Has anybody worked with 4-level differences in Pathfinder parties before, and will it be as annoying as I think it is? Am I right in thinking its petty to stick so closely to the written rules about, as an example, the bound items available? I just get bad feelings about this, but she's also a good friend. Is it even remotely worth trying to play with the group, or are these blatant warning signs that this is going to be a slog?
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Jan 12, 2014 10:31
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Run very far away.
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Jan 12, 2014 10:37
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I think you already know the answer to that. I'd be running for the hills after that setup - it sounds like she just wants to tell a story to a captive audiance rather than, y'know, roleplay. On the other hand, if she's a good friend, you could try talking to her about your concerns - she doesn't sound like the type to take criticism too well, though.
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Jan 12, 2014 10:39
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Stick with it; she's clearly put a lot of effort into what's doubtless gonna be an intricate and beautiful story, so you should stop being so ungrateful and play the game. no don't
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Jan 12, 2014 10:41
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petrol blue posted:She doesn't sound like the type to take criticism too well, though. Not even close. I told her the entire time, and successfully did, build a character of my own choice. I wasn't forced to do anything in the end, but those attempts at decision-making were pretty telling. It feels a lot like she had an existing idea for a DMPC that she's trying to hand off to a player without outright handing me a character sheet. On the flip side, this is her first foray into running a custom game, and she isn't doing it alone. She's mostly there to support the fact that she's writing it, while another guy (who I've never played with) is going to be doing the actual GMing. But I think I'm going to run away. I just wanted a little assurance that I wasn't being paranoid in thinking she was acting a bit beyond reasonable about character creation, of all things.
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Jan 12, 2014 10:46
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It sounds to me like she wants your character to map to the story in her head rather than giving you the freedom to play your own story. This is one step removed from the "I'm going to turn this game into a novel one day" syndrome. Run. Run like a motherfucker.
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Jan 12, 2014 10:51
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Good for you! Always remember: no gaming is better than bad gaming. I want to be clear that it's okay for the GM to impose some limits on character types for the sake of cohesion ("You're part of a starship crew that explores the galaxy," or "you're prisoners in the wicked king's dungeon"), and it's within her rights to reject character concepts that make it harder to run a cohesive plot ("Everyone else made characters focused on diplomacy and intrigue, so Gorblak the Destroyer's not going to fit in.") This GM's taking it too far, though. Pththya-lyi fucked around with this message at 10:56 on Jan 12, 2014 |
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Jan 12, 2014 10:53
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P.d0t posted:Run very far away. This. Sever. No gaming is better than bad gaming.
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Jan 12, 2014 11:23
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death .cab for qt posted:She's mostly there to support the fact that she's writing it, while another guy (who I've never played with) is going to be doing the actual GMing. Yeah, I don't see this going anywhere good.
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Jan 12, 2014 13:48
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Zereth posted:... so wait, she is literally writing a script, and then not even playing it out herself, she's handing it over to somebody else? If she really wants you guys to act out something she's planned in advance, she should write a play.
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Jan 12, 2014 14:23
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Nagna Zul posted:Yeah, I did. You get the point, anyways. Seriously, it wouldn't. At least not unless you jumped over to something else as hyper-detailed (GURPS, Hero, Rollmonster, and Palladium possibly are). You can write all the rules you need to play Fate on a trifold. Dungeon World, 13th Age, and even 4E are not that far off this standard - and all of them are excellent games with the right group and very much D&D. D&D 3.5 is notoriously hard on the GM precisely because of the sheer volume of rules that can catch you out. And the correct answer is "No one died. Just run with it - and possibly mention it and apologise to the players. No one died, no one even grumbled, so don't sweat the small stuff." And death .cab for qt, this is going to turn into an echo chamber. But run. Do not stop to pack. And possibly get her a copy of either Fate Core or one of the *World games. She's quite obviously missed some pretty big points somewhere along the line.
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Jan 12, 2014 15:09
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She does not want a game or players, she wants puppets. Run. You can try to reason with her, show her what's she's doing, but flee regardless.
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Jan 12, 2014 16:27
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No do it, just play the opposite of how she wants you to undermining he master plan, magic missle the first Mary Sue NPC you encounter. Of course talk with the other reasonable members of your party to make sure they are on board.
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Jan 12, 2014 19:39
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socialsecurity posted:No do it, just play the opposite of how she wants you to undermining he master plan, magic missle the first Mary Sue NPC you encounter. Of course talk with the other reasonable members of your party to make sure they are on board. No. It sounds funny but it's just stupid, petty bullshit that always happens when people take a player problem and try to address it in game. Just tell your DM her game isn't your style, and if she's unwilling to let you color outside the lines say you won't be attending anymore. If the other players feel the same way and she's unwilling to change just have them over for Dungeon World or Fate or something.
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Jan 12, 2014 20:19
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Pththya-lyi posted:If she really wants you guys to act out something she's planned in advance, she should write a play. The indie game "My Daughter, The Queen of France" would be a great fit. One character is William Shakespeare; everyone acts out a scene he introduces, then he yells at them to fix it until he either admits he's a bad father, or all the actors quit.
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Jan 12, 2014 20:25
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Golden Bee posted:The indie game "My Daughter, The Queen of France" would be a great fit. One character is William Shakespeare; everyone acts out a scene he introduces, then he yells at them to fix it until he either admits he's a bad father, or all the actors quit. I read about a game that's like that but with Josef Stalin, sounded hilarious. Re the game, o god run.
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Jan 12, 2014 20:53
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Ahahaha holy poo poo she actually was forcing a gmpc on me and I was level 8 because I was supposed to die and magically resurrect as the final form of that gmpc's character build with new motivations and completely different class abilities based on celestial stuff and divine magic/aasimar related abilities she was going to try to kill me so I would be forced to play her mary sue for ~story reasons~ On the bright side I'm gonna be able to try my hand at GMing soon because some of the guys in the group want to have something more freeform. Is pathfinder at all good for more freeform playing, or are we better off finding something easier to understand than just slightly modified D&D? Were all broke bastards
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Jan 12, 2014 22:14
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death .cab for qt posted:Ahahaha holy poo poo she actually was forcing a gmpc on me and I was level 8 because I was supposed to die and magically resurrect as the final form of that gmpc's character build with new motivations and completely different class abilities based on celestial stuff and divine magic/aasimar related abilities Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, what the gently caress  . I've been railroaded before, but never like this.
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Jan 12, 2014 22:20
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socialsecurity posted:No do it, just play the opposite of how she wants you to undermining he master plan, magic missle the first Mary Sue NPC you encounter. Of course talk with the other reasonable members of your party to make sure they are on board. Please don't act like a five year old. death .cab for qt posted:Is pathfinder at all good for more freeform playing No. Play Dungeon World, the pdf is only $10 and the rules are available for free online anyway because it's CC licensed. Lemon-Lime fucked around with this message at 22:43 on Jan 12, 2014 |
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Jan 12, 2014 22:22
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death .cab for qt posted:Is pathfinder at all good for more freeform playing, or are we better off finding something easier to understand than just slightly modified D&D? Were all broke bastards You can cludge D&D to allow it but really, do yourself a favour and look at dungeon world or fate. Simpler rules, designed around 'do awesome stuff' rather than 'you fail to hit the goblin, next'. e: Most games are a lot cheaper than D&D, the whole 'need three books to be be able to play' is pure bullshit. Fate is available as a pay-what-you-want pdf, as is Fate Accelerated, which is designed as 'get it and be playing inside ten minutes'. petrol blue fucked around with this message at 22:48 on Jan 12, 2014 |
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Jan 12, 2014 22:40
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death .cab for qt posted:Ahahaha holy poo poo she actually was forcing a gmpc on me and I was level 8 because I was supposed to die and magically resurrect as the final form of that gmpc's character build with new motivations and completely different class abilities based on celestial stuff and divine magic/aasimar related abilities Oh boy. Oh boy. Ohhhhh man. I pity her. That way leads only sadness.
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Jan 12, 2014 22:43
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I'm getting the impression she watched The Gamers and took it as video tutorial. 
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Jan 12, 2014 22:52
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Holy poo poo, dungeon world owns.
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Jan 12, 2014 22:53
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It really does. My GM's been running it for a few months now, and it's so awesome to level up and get a move like "can grant wishes" or "literally immovable by anything less than a god". The custom classes in the thread are amazing, and I'd especially recommend megane and gnome7's Alternate Mage over the one in the rulebook - 'any spell you want, but with drawbacks' beats the pants off spell lists.
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Jan 12, 2014 23:04
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How do y'all feel about Dungeon World for online-only play? Via, say, maptool or roll20 or just plain old google hangouts.
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Jan 13, 2014 00:01
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Bad Munki posted:How do y'all feel about Dungeon World for online-only play? Via, say, maptool or roll20 or just plain old google hangouts. I like it over Google Hangouts for the "Theatre of the Mind" feel. just add one of the dice plugins and maybe google docs sharing. Here's an actual play with pretty good production values, though there's coarse language if that's a concern. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooa-apRt2wk
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Jan 13, 2014 00:21
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I've played/ran DW over Roll20, went fine for me. Even for systems that don't really need a map and tokens I still prefer to have one.
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Jan 13, 2014 00:24
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death .cab for qt posted:Is pathfinder at all good
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Jan 13, 2014 03:17
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death .cab for qt posted:Ahahaha holy poo poo she actually was forcing a gmpc on me and I was level 8 because I was supposed to die and magically resurrect as the final form of that gmpc's character build with new motivations and completely different class abilities based on celestial stuff and divine magic/aasimar related abilities   quote:On the bright side I'm gonna be able to try my hand at GMing soon because some of the guys in the group want to have something more freeform. Is pathfinder at all good for more freeform playing, or are we better off finding something easier to understand than just slightly modified D&D? Were all broke bastards Pathfinder? Freeform? Nope. Something easier to understand than D&D that's better for freeform playing? I'd (like most Goons) recommend Fate, Fate's slighly crazy aristocratic half-brother Cortex Plus (Marvel Heroic Roleplaying if you like Superhero settings), or Dungeon W... death .cab for qt posted:Holy poo poo, dungeon world owns. Yes. Yes it does. And the scary thing? It isn't close to being the best game in the line - I think that Apocalypse World, Monsterhearts, and Tremulus are all better games. (DW is the biggest because it's D&D so has that audience). Pathfinder? You could learn every game named in this post (and throw in Fiasco because it's another type of distilled awesomeness - a Cohen Brothers movie created in the time it takes to watch one) and you'd both have not finished understanding the Pathfinder rules, and probably have spent less than you would on the Pathfinder Core book and the Pathfinder Bestiary. Pathfinder would look better on a coffee table, however.
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Jan 13, 2014 14:19
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If we're doing that, throw in microscope for extended world-gen, or just a fun time making up worlds. Pretty sure we're still at about the price of a single PHB.
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Jan 13, 2014 15:04
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