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that's neat! do you have a rumour chart? and friendly residents/natives?
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Oct 30, 2019 05:02
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At the end of my last session one of my party looted some magical armour from the tomb of an old war general. Without going into detail, the armour’s previous owner was regarded as a war hero by his countrymen but in actuality he used immoral underhanded techniques and straight up war crimes to win his battles then brushed them under the rug. I’m looking for some fun/interesting enchantments the armour could have to reflect that. +X on deception seems obvious but a little dull. I’ve toyed with the idea the armour glows whenever the wearer is being deceptive which I thought would be quite funny, but I think this would be more of a curse put on it by someone with a grudge against the former owner and therefore probably wouldn't have been buried with him.
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Oct 31, 2019 12:05
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Tea Bone posted:At the end of my last session one of my party looted some magical armour from the tomb of an old war general. I haven't played DnD in a while. Can you still give PCs +2 to war crimes? But really, I think it'd be cool if the armour was part of the general's "techniques" so maybe they stick it on and realise it steals souls to raise AC or something Or maybe it can cloud the minds of people willing to listen so he can form an army or convince people he was a brilliant general when all he really did was spin doctor stories
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Oct 31, 2019 13:10
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If this was a general from ages past the enchantments should use ye olde tymey magic in case the players need proof to rain on the parade of the people that their hero was a bit of a poo poo.
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Oct 31, 2019 13:50
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The armour has picked up a little of the general's ideology and, for now, it provides a basic +1 (or whatevs) bonus. It also reminds the wearer -- verbally or non-verbally -- of the benefits that underhanded, treacherous tactics will provide, and once per day can possess the wearer for a few moments; it'll usually do this to provide its own input on a plan the PCs are putting together. "If we poison the river, we'll wipe them out without needing to risk a single one of our troops" It can offer greater bonuses (things like: anybody nearby gets a bonus to damage when attacking an unsuspecting foe) but it won't do that unless the wearer impresses it with their ruthlessness, or grants it a greater degree of freedom in influencing their actions.
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Oct 31, 2019 13:59
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The armor could do something simple like "the wearer is immune to disease and poison" and possibly other paladin-like qualities that make people trust the wearer... and leave the wearer free to go down a dark path with unearned "righteousness power" like the general or use it for good. If the armor made a player immune to poison and created lethal poison to slip into food, you know the PCs would be dying to assassinate their enemies at dinner.
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Oct 31, 2019 16:40
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Tea Bone posted:At the end of my last session one of my party looted some magical armour from the tomb of an old war general. Bonus to ability checks made while giving speeches and/or testifying before official inquiries. The general's real strength wasn't his akill, it was his ability to use magical persuasion to convince a crowd of listeners that the diseases rampaging through the enemy camp were not the result of biological warfare but actually the result of the enemy's own substandard hygiene practices, further justifying their conquest. Or to convince his superior officers that actually when he was seen running away from the battle that was actually part of a tactical masterstroke that drew the enemy out of position, and that's why he should get the credit for the victory, not any of the guys who stayed and fought.
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Oct 31, 2019 16:48
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It should definitely be called “Flashy’s Armor” or have some other reference to Harry Flashman because he is so much that character. DCB’s idea is great and is right up that alley.
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Oct 31, 2019 17:19
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:Bonus to ability checks made while giving speeches and/or testifying before official inquiries. I'd go even further. Don't give bonuses, just straight up, every so often, a lie they make up to cover up their bullshit just is automatically accepted, and goes completely viral, complete with mutations. There's a load of fun to be had there.
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Oct 31, 2019 21:44
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NinjaDebugger posted:I'd go even further. Don't give bonuses, just straight up, every so often, a lie they make up to cover up their bullshit just is automatically accepted, and goes completely viral, complete with mutations. There's a load of fun to be had there. I like this, with the caveat that the lie must be one that either avoids righteous blame or gives the wearer credit for something they don't deserve credit for - and in the latter case, the person they're taking credit away from is immune to all further lie-effects of the armor. To use the American Revolution example I was thinking of when I had the idea - it turns them into General Horatio Gates, but by correlation it must then create some Benedict Arnolds.
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Oct 31, 2019 22:01
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:I like this, with the caveat that the lie must be one that either avoids righteous blame or gives the wearer credit for something they don't deserve credit for - and in the latter case, the person they're taking credit away from is immune to all further lie-effects of the armor. Yes, this exactly.
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Nov 1, 2019 01:47
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Thanks for the suggestions guys a lot of really great ideas! I think this is what I'm going to go with combined with a simple +1 to deception, but not fully explain this extra mechanic and leave them to work out why sometimes a lie just lands without question. NinjaDebugger posted:I'd go even further. Don't give bonuses, just straight up, every so often, a lie they make up to cover up their bullshit just is automatically accepted, and goes completely viral, complete with mutations. There's a load of fun to be had there.
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Nov 1, 2019 15:42
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For all you online game runners, is there any consensus on roll20 vs fantasygrounds vs foundryvtt vs <something else> for best online tabletop solution?
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Nov 3, 2019 23:57
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Azhais posted:For all you online game runners, is there any consensus on roll20 vs fantasygrounds vs foundryvtt vs <something else> for best online tabletop solution? Edit: after roll20 inflicted their latest impossibly stupid downgrade on everyone, gently caress these assholes with a rusty bayonet. "people don't like having scroll bars or using their scroll wheel to move the window up and down! so we took away the scroll bars and made the scroll wheel zoom in and out!  "
Yawgmoth fucked around with this message at 02:30 on Nov 6, 2019 |
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Nov 4, 2019 00:51
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Fantasy grounds (as long as you are OK paying retail for some poo poo you already own or arent opposed to  )
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Nov 4, 2019 01:06
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Tabletop Simulator is good if you need really specific functions (like a virtual blindfold for Obscurio or whatever) to run a board game or a particularly gimmicky TRPG but for general use I don't think roll20 has a real competitor.
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Nov 4, 2019 02:26
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I use Tabletop Simulator for running Rogue Trader - nice having the ability to set up fancy 3d maps with snazzy effects and there are plenty of 40k/BFG/generic sci fi models to download for it.
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Nov 4, 2019 02:46
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My group is getting together soon to do a Session Zero for our new Space Fantasy campaign. The first thing I'd like to do is design the ship and decide the layout. Is there a medical bay? Secret storage compartments? What kinds of weapons systems? Top speed? Maneuverability? I'd like this to be a give and take thing. Sort of like point-buy but for a ship instead of a character. Any systems out there that do something similar to this? Something I can steal and modify to fit a 2d6 Dungeon World hack?
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Nov 4, 2019 16:24
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I would defo recommend Scum and Villainy for this. It suits what you are asking for down to the ground.
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Nov 4, 2019 16:36
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I've been using fantasy grounds for years, and it has some nice automation. Version 2 is not to far out now as well, and will be adding in some of he things roll20 has that 8t doesn't, like real time Los for players.
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Nov 4, 2019 17:22
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kaffo posted:I'm about to start a Pokemon RPG using Pokerole (it's a bit more rules light than PTU) The party of 2 cuddly old men have met the anime Team Rocket guys, Bunsen and Burner, who've got a Spheal and a Stunky respectively. Burner is a surfer Bro who's along for the ride and doesn't really know what the ride is but he's up for it. Bunsen is a valley girl who's decided she doesn't actually like being told what to do in an organisational kinda way, and just wants to do her own thing really. But also doesn't really want to leave Synthesis because all the cool kids are in it My question... These guys need a rhyme, or a theme song or something. And I blow at this kinda thing. I'm taking any and all suggestions for over the top elaborate intro/outro music and anything that rhymes I'll happily role play the whole thing myself standing on a chair at the head of the table.
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Nov 4, 2019 17:37
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Has anyone got interesting homebrew reskins of existing mechanics? For one of my players (cleric of Beshaba) I’ve changed Sacred Flame, which would be thematically odd, into an oWoD Mage-inspired “bad luck” cantrip. Same mechanic, but the damage is caused by falling brickwork, errant arrows from allies, falling onto something sharp, etc.
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Nov 4, 2019 17:41
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kaffo posted:Friends I'm back asking for more Pokemon RPG advice, also to do with Team Synthesis (see my self quote) Team Synthesis is constantly trying to find a motto that will win fights for them. As a result it's being continuously updated with whatever random arthouse nonsense their constantly rotating PR staff can come up with. It can start out as a rah-rah chant but get creative. Random nouns like you're in a Calvin Klein ad. Only saying the word "Synthesis" like they're the Pokemon now. An opera. A rock opera. An opera but with Rock Pokemon. Just Youtube for some crazy commercials and you'll probably get inspiration. One more thing: Bunsen and Burner have never been able to get through a single one without breaking down laughing. It varies who breaks first.
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Nov 4, 2019 19:53
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The breaking should happen before they even start the first couple of times. The players should also face off against another Synthesis squad who play it straight and are waaaaay to into the hailcorporate side of things. This other team should use a lickatounge to lampshade it. Dameius fucked around with this message at 20:02 on Nov 4, 2019 |
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Nov 4, 2019 20:00
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Josef bugman posted:I would defo recommend Scum and Villainy for this. It suits what you are asking for down to the ground. Hot drat. I am going to steal a billion things from this. Thanks!!
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Nov 4, 2019 20:58
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kaffo posted:Friends I'm back asking for more Pokemon RPG advice, also to do with Team Synthesis (see my self quote) Synthesis has the same number of syllables as Pokemon. Do with that what you will. (write a parody of the TV theme song)
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Nov 4, 2019 22:34
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Glory to Italia!
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Think about it like a corporate form or memo. The start and the end are the same every time but the middle bits are up to the employees, as long as it rhymes. "To whom it may concern, [Line that ends with employee A's name] [Line that ends with employee B's name] [Whatever A wants that ends rhyming with A's name] [Whatever B wants that ends rhyming with B's name] You have heard Synthesis, now feel it!" [note: rework this line before it reaches the field] In the headquarters this has fine poetry backed by a relative playing a cello. Established teams have a pretty decent combination. Teammates who hate each other have a real mess. Raw recruits just read the memo out loud, possibly with their names in the right place. An example for burner and bunsen would be: "To whom it may concern, Rolling on out, its Bunsen, Burnt by the sun, its Burner! Having fun on the run, This fights gonna be a learner! You've heard Synthesis, now feel it!" Maybe pick villains whose names are more conducive to rhymes.
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Nov 4, 2019 23:19
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Ceros_X posted:Fantasy grounds (as long as you are OK paying retail for some poo poo you already own or arent opposed to
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Nov 6, 2019 02:31
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sebmojo posted:that's neat! do you have a rumour chart? and friendly residents/natives? Thanks! Although I've been thinking of scrapping the idea entirely in favor of a mega dungeon instead so no residents/natives yet D: I dunno, I had an idea for a sci-fi/fantasy gonzo thing but I'm wondering how well it would work. Using Basic Essentials, with the intention of running a megadungeon. The basic idea for the game is "What if something like Westworld, long after the death of its creators, but on a planet that was a tourist attraction built from the ground up to simulate medieval fantasy?" The various dwarves, elves, and humans that make up this world are either bioengineered humanoids or androids. The society that built them is gone now, leaving behind a fantasy amusement park filled with technology that can reasonably replicate magic, AIs who stock the wilderness with monsters, and "NPCs" who are blissfully unaware that the dragon harassing their town was made in an underground lab. The Megadungeon in this game is…well, THE MEGADUNGEON; a sprawling attraction originally built to entertain guests who sought immediate danger over politicking, romance, and intricate backstories. The old tech inside the ruins works sporadically, the bioprinters that created monsters for the guests to slay are still running but results vary. The creatures who have been calling THE MEGADUNGEON home have formed their own little cliques and factions, as monsters are wont to do. Many segments of the dungeon have crumbled away, revealing the control rooms and maintenance passageways behind the brick and mortar. There are vending machines for hirelings and retainers that display their stats. I imagine the culture that built this wonder had stuff like neural backups and whatnot so THE MEGADUNGEON was legitimately dangerous, with REAL COMBAT and REAL TRAPS for anyone hardcore enough to sign a waiver. Today, the bored AIs running the place are spitting out weird little monsters for fun while placing traps and treasures for guests that have been dead for centuries. The further into the dungeon you go, the more the sci-fi intrudes upon the fantasy Would this work? Any OSR stuff I can pull from? Elderbean fucked around with this message at 09:19 on Nov 6, 2019 |
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Nov 6, 2019 03:35
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Thanks to all the above posts for your rhyming wisdom! I'll get my poets hat on and see what I can come up with tonight, if it's funny enough I'll be sure to share I'm extremely tempted to rewrite the Pokemon theme as suggested above and hand out song sheets when they meet the first leader, and have everyone sing along
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Nov 6, 2019 10:09
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kaffo posted:I'm extremely tempted to rewrite the Pokemon theme as suggested above and hand out song sheets when they meet the first leader, and have everyone sing along Please do not do this. If you have any players at all who have not completely bought in, or are just a little awkward, they will feel intensely uncomfortable about it. I once had something similar happen and honestly I wanted to die at the table.
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Nov 6, 2019 10:30
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Hattie Masters posted:Please do not do this. If you have any players at all who have not completely bought in, or are just a little awkward, they will feel intensely uncomfortable about it. Don't worry, I got this, but thanks for calling it out
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Nov 6, 2019 10:36
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Elderbean posted:Thanks! Although I've been thinking of scrapping the idea entirely in favor of a mega dungeon instead so no residents/natives yet D: I think a bunch of things from Anomalous Subsurface Environment would fit right in here. It's specifically a megadungeon which was discovered and used by (modern technology) humans a long time ago, who then sealed it shut for unknown reasons. I think it has the tone you're going for, it's a bit absurd but has the right mix of sci-fi and fantasy, along with factions of monsters who have been living in this megadungeon for generations.
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Nov 6, 2019 12:00
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Jesus that "Westworld megadungeon" concept is absolutely brilliant. The perfect justification for a literal funhouse dungeon where you can build it just for gameplay and need no concessions to realism or sense.
Guildencrantz fucked around with this message at 12:26 on Nov 6, 2019 |
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Nov 6, 2019 12:23
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Multiverse seems like it'll be great for playing online
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Nov 6, 2019 18:04
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I want to do a Westworld style game where all but one of the players are robots, but the last is a member of a terrorist group trying to free them. He can't just say your robots, as their programming would reject it, he's got to lead them to the realisation. I was thinking shadowrun, where instead of white or black hats, the punters wore mirrorshades or pink mohawks.
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Nov 6, 2019 18:34
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The thing I'd suggest is making the stakes something that exist outside the game world. If the only thing the protagonists are fighting for is the imaginary freedom of a bunch of non-sentient computer sprites, any victory is going to feel a little hollow. If you reveal that some of the automata are capable of breaking their programming, becoming self aware, and trying to end the cycle of death then you have something much more interesting on your hands.
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Nov 6, 2019 20:13
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habituallyred posted:Think about it like a corporate form or memo. The start and the end are the same every time but the middle bits are up to the employees, as long as it rhymes. To whom it may [option 1, adjective: rightly, currently] concern [option 2, timing or location: today, right now, right here] [Reference to either or both members, rhyming, 8-9 syllables for cadence.] We're here for hostile acquisitions So here're are our terms and our conditions Synthesis will have your [donation/co-operation/research station/target of choice] Or we will move to aggravation Our goals today will be realized And will tomorrow be synthesized So then: To whom it may currently concern, I'm back again to bring the Burn or To whom it may today concern Bunsen and Burner proudly return or To whom it may concern today Burner and Bunsen are out to play for instance. habituallyred posted:Maybe pick villains whose names are more conducive to rhymes. I mean it's like one rhyme to switch up or elaborate on, then, after all. Saves Kaffo the work.
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Nov 6, 2019 20:34
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Getting back into my campaign after a period of short and interrupted sessions meant the material I had prepared has lasted me a couple of months. The players have just learned that it’s the god of the sea herself trapped beneath the enemy citadel, still in the mortal form she took to fight in the big war a hundred years ago. They are at the point of discussing how to get into the citadel - the ratman drilling machine, the giant robot from the desert, the favour they are owed from an airship captain (that I forgot they had) or their magic boat (which I also forgot they had). Here’s my problem: the ratman boss revealed the rats are also adherents of the water cult, and filled the players in on what was going on with the sea god. He told them her mortal form needs to finally die, so she can reform her essence and start to regather her godly power. This makes sense with some bits of lore they know, they’ve got two or three weapons that would have good RP reasons for being used to do the deed, I’d got some ideas of how it might go and some potential rewards, and some bits of dialogue to help set up hooks for where they go next. Even the chance for my moleman player to meet the god of death and move his character in the new direction he wants to go and the centaur druid finally having some motivation to pick up a personal quest. All good. Paladin player is not having it. Just absolutely not prepared to discuss it, told the others so firmly “This is not happening. Drop it” we still aren’t sure if it was in character or not. Insight check on the ratman, looks like he’s on the level. Religion check for what he’s talking about, yeah when a god’s mortal form dies the god survives, no worries. Not a chance, he says. Not going to be a thing. What shall I do instead that means I can still use stuff I’ve thought out? Is it fair to just go ok mate, then what do you want to do? We’re all ready to finish up in the city - we’ve been here since we started playing a year ago - and this throws a spanner in the works of wrapping up a load of loose ends and acting as a springboard to any of half a dozen other places they want to go. I really don’t want another romp around the city, this time with an unconscious sea god in tow.
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Nov 6, 2019 20:37
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Yeah at that point 100% talk to the paladin player. Not even like "so what do you want" yet, first figure out what's going on with him, if he's doing an in character bit or not. If he's firmly set then I guess it's time to explore what happens if the group doesn't kill the mortal form and how that turns the ratmen against them.
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Nov 6, 2019 20:46
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