|
Who is/are the NPCs that have given the players the most information? If the NPCs are all part of an order or could be said to have got their information from that order, then you could have the big bad they defeat that kicks off the end game be the head of said order. The process of taking down the big bad then is the mechanism you use to reveal how Vorneer is a mirror to the players and how the big bad was really an agent for him who was trying to guide the players into doing all the dirty work for him to complete the resurrection of Vorneer or whatever end game you want. This could involve a lot of ways for you to subtly prod and/or gently caress with your players during the build up to get them doubting the motives of the big bad and so on. This could end up feeling like a Shyamalan twist if you make it too sudden, so maybe just have them trying to hunt down whomever could be behind all these artifacts surfacing again this time with unreliable narrators everywhere giving conflicting reports and let them guide themselves to the big bad.
|
#
¿
Nov 25, 2017 15:59
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 7, 2024 09:17 |
|
|
Jack B Nimble posted:So I could make their magic box start having new items in it? And not explain that the items are coming from somewhere else? (From the hands of people who really needed those items and are now dead?) That sounds awesome and you should definitely do that.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 26, 2017 03:17
|
|
|
Have Pict Barbarians Rizer and Bean who live to fight against overwhelming odds in a quest to make their awe inspiring deeds and conquests known by all. ....Basically player 1 and 2 from the first Contra. Also if you need a stealth rogue, grab Snake from the NES Metal Gear.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 26, 2017 18:45
|
|
|
Moriatti posted:Also if Kirby isn't a legendary enemy in this setting... Clearly you mean the Ancient Void Walker, the Great Devourer Kirby, who feasts upon and consumes the immortal souls of it's fallen enemies, forever damming them and denying their place in Valhalla.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 26, 2017 22:24
|
|
|
With alcohol. Rifts has a lot of rules. A lot of broken rules. A lot of rules that don't synergize with other rules. For your first rodeo with that unwieldy bastard, think of an actual, narrowly focused story arc and ignore everything in the system that doesn't help you tell that story. It'll be fun, but it can be easy to get lost in the weeds with it. When you are trying to adjust to everything Rifts brings to the table, trying to implement all the rules at once can end up with you lost and confused. Just go full on, hog wild cyberpunk dystopia with your story first and foremost and slowly import the rules as you go.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 27, 2017 17:48
|
|
|
It was, funnily enough, my introduction to table top when I was around 4-5 because it was what my older brothers had, and its not like I understood why I needed to do whatever Rifts wanted me to, much less know that there could be better. Here is the thing about Rifts, it is a lot like the movie The Room, or any other it is so far past bad it becomes good movie. Depending on how you approach it, and the group you play with, it can be hilariously fun. Trying to play it straight though is probably going to end up with an aborted campaign and a sour taste for everyone involved.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 28, 2017 15:41
|
|
|
Do what every proper Wizard at UU would, get promoted out of the problem, making it someone else's and then claim there never was an issue to begin with. Dude will poses the next guy. Then if the new guy pitches it right, the PC can help him end the possession and your PC can help you figure out the best way for your PC can solve this.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 22, 2018 23:34
|
|
|
I'm not sure how it'll slot in there, but make sure a Bloody Stupid Johnson original featutes in either a foil of, or solution to your PC's plan.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 23, 2018 05:29
|
|
|
Run a wiki on your local machine for free, or toss it on a webhost if you want someone else to see it.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 15, 2018 22:08
|
|
|
Have every 90s Schwarzenegger movie plot be running in the game concurrently. Especially and including Twins.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 7, 2018 14:01
|
|
|
Soup Inspector posted:This sounds like an excellent idea! And you're bang on the money. If someone does something that completely blindsides me it can leave me scrambling to think of something to do. In a way that's why I'm trying to run this campaign more flexibly: to force myself to learn how to roll with the punches better and improve. The fact that I think such campaigns are quite enjoyable and should hopefully provide a better experience helps too. For your campaign, consider this for the Big Bad: Make him a scaled down Thrawn in capability/aptitude. When you get to control the terms of engagement, a knife will beat a gun 100% of the time. Early in the campaign, have your guys be part of a on short notice mission where an irresistible attack of opportunity presents itself. The Empire has a large shipment from Kuat to be delivered to the Flag Admiral of the whatever region your players are in/near. The order itself was force rushed by the Empire so it is being delivered mostly operational; engines, comms, shields, but not really all the offensive capability. And the fleet will have the rest of the preparation done in system. This happened because politics on the Senate being dissolved and the local Moff calling in favors to get his own fleet to protect the region so he can jockey for position with Palpatine (if you need some backstory/justification to it). So off to the ambush they go when the ambush is foiled by Big Bad who isn't there to destroy the fleet, but to capture it. Make sure he is at least partially successful and then your guy will have a flotilla of mostly old stuff augmented with a small contingent of the latest and greatest. In one fell swoop he became a massive threat to the Empire in a local sense and somewhat a threat in the broader sense. He also massively embarrassed the local Moff who will now stop at nothing to grudgekill him. On the rebel side, just the mere existence of that fleet with the core nugget of an ISD (or two, your call) +a few more modern ships is a massive existential threat when they are already fighting the empire. Additionally, depending on how your players go, the Empire might even mistake them for general mercs and the Moff could end up trying to hire them on a mission targeted at Big Bad, blinded by his lust for revenge, giving your players the chance to either play both sides, or double cross the Moff, or whatever else they can think of.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 19, 2018 01:22
|
|
|
You said you solicitied feedback from them after session, but I don't remember seeing if you gave them feedback as well. Something along the lines of, hey I thought I was dangling a hook for you here but couldn't tell if you didn't catch it or wanted to ignore it or if there was a better way to do it, etc... If you didn't, that'd be a great way to figure out how to tailor to them specifically within your current context.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 19, 2018 21:38
|
|
|
Soup Inspector posted:I really like this, to the point where I'm considering ditching my initial idea for drawing the party in. Keep both. First the fleet heist to introduce the big bad, which will understandably refocus their priorities some and then on a mission they come across that droid, either as their intended target or from some GM divined luck. Either way, the droid and/or the ship associated with it has the nav charts needed to one of the fleets staging areas or next target (maybe the droid was doing recon/scouting for target location?). That way your players have something actionable for the next session and you can recycle most of your work/effort you've already done, but just shift it to a different point in the story arc.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 20, 2018 04:40
|
|
|
Sir Lance of Lance Emporium. He'll sell you a Lance. Sir Ance, the insurance salesman slash wondering tourist.
|
|
#
¿
May 2, 2018 19:08
|
|
|
Not a pun but alliteration, Sir Dragonatrix the Dominatrix. The DMPC self insert.
|
|
#
¿
May 2, 2018 19:46
|
|
|
Lynch victim comes back to kill whitey. Spirit says it will be released when those responsible are dead. Do the hunters help; get evidence needed for the law to actually prosecute the crimes; or do they put the slirit to rest forcibly because murder is wrong; but then also get the lynchers arrested?
|
|
#
¿
May 2, 2018 20:09
|
|
|
Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:About Last Knight can only speak in post-coital smalltalk (gonna stretch your RP ability here) The Last Week Knight. The court jester who does political satire and humor
|
|
#
¿
May 2, 2018 21:43
|
|
|
One of the guests is a Disney like princess with the favor of all woodland creatures and just doesn't understand why she shouldn't be bringing all her little mice friends to enjoy this fine selection of cheeses. Make one of the mice like Ratatouille for extra comedy.
|
|
#
¿
May 17, 2018 16:04
|
|
|
Keeshhound posted:And in the middle of whatever clusterfuck you chose, one of the wealthiest attendees obliviously tries to book them for a future gig. Don't make it oblivious, make it conditional that they promise to deliver this exact level of competent dysfunction because that rear end in a top hat at the Rotary club or whatever who is running an event needs to be taken down a peg and the nobleman is in charge of the catering. Then on their next mission have nothing go wrong unless they make it go wrong with the guy who hired them becoming increasingly distressed at how smoothly things are going.
|
|
#
¿
May 17, 2018 16:26
|
|
|
Some doors look breeched with a plasma torch (re: lightsaber) and it looks like some of the bodies were cut up with similar markings. Depending on how you flavor the wounds implying intense close quarter ambushes, some one lucky, someone insane, or someone insanely lucky.
|
|
#
¿
May 23, 2018 17:52
|
|
|
Keeshhound posted:Speaking of, you mentioned that he was going to be half trained. Which half? As in what can/can't he do, in addition to being good with a lightsaber? And as an addendum, what will the party think he can do that maybe he can't, or vice-versa? Also the guy sounds like a classic half built hammer that thinks this means the whole world is his nail. So depending on how much screen time you give him, having him go back to the same basic move over and over could help signal there is a way to outflank him without tipping your hand too much.
|
|
#
¿
May 23, 2018 21:25
|
|
|
Thinking about it, this dude screams ego and hubris to me. And given what you've said, I'm feeling Saturday Morning cartoon villain vibe. Like Bebop and Rocksteady from TMNT were always getting out maneuvered by the turtles but that doesn't mean they werent also chucking literal cars at them either. I'm not sure on the tone of your campaign, but you might get some inspiration thinking back to those shows.
|
|
#
¿
May 23, 2018 22:53
|
|
|
Ignite Memories posted:I posted up a write up of the wine tasting charcuterie event strike session y'all helped me plan for. It's over in the catpiss thread. I was only able to squeeze in 3 or 4 of your wonderful ideas but everyone had a really fantastic time. Your game sounds good and your group sounds good too. Plus you can use all of the unused ideas in a future game.
|
|
#
¿
May 29, 2018 14:42
|
|
|
To elaborate, obstacles X, Y, and Z could be things like, "encounter with two weak and one strong minion," that you've done the stats for and that's it. Then based on what the players latch on to just insert the encounter in front of them where ylu want for pacing however thematically appropriate. A good way to make your villian engaging and compelling is to have them learn from your players' actions as well. If they creamed the last group of minions sent against them, then the Big Bad shouldn't send the same match up. Always aks yourself, "what does Big Bad know about them, and how can that be used against them?" And then, importantly, use it against them. This is collaborative story telling, so let your players fill out the details for you, while you give them the framework. This works for everything from backstory, campaign setting, to details during sessions as you move along.
|
|
#
¿
May 30, 2018 02:04
|
|
|
Ignite Memories posted:Phoenix plot I don't know just yet, but if your group ever played Final Fantasy 6, then you really need to figure out how to make one of the Phoenix feathers (ie a phoenix down) kill something mechanical.
|
|
#
¿
May 30, 2018 23:19
|
|
|
That's the type that, in a middle of a fight after the Wizard casts a spell, goes, "remember what I told you, it is levi-oh-sa! Not levi-o-sah," except: 1. The wizard never asked for help. 2. The Triton has never cast a spell in their lives.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 4, 2018 13:02
|
|
|
Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:I don't do it in my current campaign (it's incompatible with 5e as far as I'm concerned) but a mix of things attacking players' food resources forcing them to eat the weird monsters they kill sounds like a lot of fun. I'd personally relish in the improv exercise that is "what happens when I eat lindwurm/goblin/remmorhaz flesh?" but I don't know if that'd be your thing. I'd want it to be in the context of a dungeon that's hard to just leave, I don't think it'd work that well outside of that. Honestly doing that where you roll against a poison effect table that ranges from sick to balls high sounds like a fun campaign if you're focused on something like Big Game Hunters that travels the world's biomes.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 5, 2018 15:56
|
|
|
Keeshhound posted:What's the dnd version of a go pro, and what kind of stupid poo poo do adventurers do to try to get more views? So Jackass on Twitch as viewed through DnD. I think we are on to something here.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 5, 2018 16:23
|
|
|
escalator dropdown posted:They will try to seduce the log. It may not be normal, but it’s definitely to be expected. When they do this, that'll be the time they roll a critical success. Just go with it. What does your session prep look like? How into the weeds with details do you map out? Given what you have said, I'd be willing to wager you are approaching your prep in a counter productive fashion.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 11, 2018 23:46
|
|
|
Right, you're the guy I suggested Thrawn as a model for the big bad, right? If you need to blow the plot wide open and you haven't revealed too much about your big bad yet, sounds like it is time for him to double cross the rebellion, or whomever your players are working for. That'll get things moving for sure. Hell, if they are anti-imperial then you can have them do an extraction mission for a Jedi that is being closed in on by Vader's forward scouts and that is where the betrayal happens. Get all the Force they never knew they didn't want. As far as you being worried about thinking on your feet, remind yourself that everyone, DM and players, are telling a story together. Player comes up with a cool idea and you don't know exaclty how to handle it? Just ask them, "yeah how do you do that?" and then if you think what they described would require a dice roll, you just need to set the difficulty. I don't have direct play experience with your system, but it does sound like, in your worries on not being able to improvise, you are accidentally railroading them. They want agency, a great way to do that is give them it. You know that they need to end up on Planet X to get mcguffin Y to advance mainplot A to point 2. The planet will have thisndungeon you built, with this notable baddies and their supports. Cool. How do your players get there? Who knows, let them tell you that through their actions in the game. Maybe you have thme get hired to find the mcguffin. If they decide they want to chase leads, just let them and put a guy in front of them that gives them the planet and/or owner of the base. If they want to check shipping data or something, cool, put that exposition there instead and have them find it there. They'll think your some super wizard genius for being able to think so far ahead of them and connecting all of this. Meanwhile you will have no idea what is going on until it is, you've just slotted in your hooks where they left you openings.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 12, 2018 02:36
|
|
|
Soup Inspector posted:I am indeed the guy you made that suggestion for. Good advice, cheers! I feel it is worth repeating for you, a good DM isn't one that has an answer for anything, so don't try. At best you'll railroad them, at worst you'll drive yourself crazy and breakup the group. So don't stress out so much over not being able to think on your feet. The more you DM the more easy it will get and you should always feel ready to ask your players how they do something they want to do.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 13, 2018 00:00
|
|
|
There is a quote for writers, I have no idea where it originally came from, but the jist is tha tif don't know what to so, kill someone and write what happens because of that. That force user of yours was supposed to be a badass, especially in his own head. Time to have him kill some redshirts, even if you didn't realize they were redshirts until just now to up the ante. If your players are the only ones there on their side, automatically revive someone from the crew to kill then. Or pick something else equivalent to killing off. You are overthinking things some. You can always move plot hooks around and present them later. Your players want something dramatic and big to happen. Blow up that ship. Send that Force user on a direct line of murderspree at your guys. Sappers are going to force decompress the ship unless the PCs stop them. Give them a situation that you feel is slightly unfair/too hard for them and just let them work it out. Don't plan for a solution on how they can get out of that. They'll tell you how they get out of it. No matter what they decide, roll with it. Just throw your baddies at them at the appropriate time and act like they figured out your puzzle.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 13, 2018 22:08
|
|
|
Boiler room and generator room. Industrial HVACing (follow the Hollywood idea of it, not the reality). Large scale loading dock area. Security and loss prevention home base. Medical/EMT station. Hidden offices/cube farms. Elfgames posted:i doubt anyone cares about mall realism, is there actually a secret store hidden behind a display waterfall that sells occult bullshit no but in a haunted mall there could be Good point. False storefronts that are portals to other points in the mall. Survivalist rat's nest in the ceiling with sniper line of sights from previous victims Propane bombs everywhere Dameius fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Jun 14, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Jun 14, 2018 18:54
|
|
|
A tech store that only has Stallman Was Right Drones in it.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 14, 2018 23:42
|
|
|
CubeTheory posted:I'm making an amulet that has a face on it. When casting a spell that requires concentration, you can tap on the amulet to wake up the face and make it hold the concentration for the spell. Unfortunately, the face complains about everything and is generally super annoying. Trying to decide what the funniest face to put on it is. Walter from The Big Lebowski and every time you make it work its the Sabbath or someone is cheating at bowling again.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 18, 2018 01:43
|
|
|
Appalachia should get a bonus to snipers and/or rangers.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 19, 2018 01:07
|
|
|
Appalachia needs Hillbilly Sappers. Or really just Hillbilly [noun].
|
|
#
¿
Jun 20, 2018 18:30
|
|
|
Your pirate PCs get a deadzone in the not-Caribbean where there are no winds and the water turns a glassy reflective still. When/if they look directly into the water it shows another realm/time/location on same plane/whatever but reflects light as expected otherwise. PCs must figure out a way to move their boat or try to see if that water is an active portal they can pass through. Your call.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 26, 2018 14:18
|
|
|
You're good. There are some kids that, no matter how many times you tell them to not touch the burner because it is hot, will look you directly in the eyes and open palm slam their hand down.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 29, 2018 18:19
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 7, 2024 09:17 |
|
|
Or is a propagandist for hire.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 2, 2018 20:13
|
|