3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
I've run plenty of games with joke characters. It's a rare table that doesn't have at least one person who starts off with what they consider a funny character concept. I'm not even totally against a small nod to something else! But I absolutely hate reference humor.
Cool, have fun pissing off the guy who's taking the time to run something for you, I guess :?
I mean hopefully astrobstrd knows their friend and the person's limits and isn't just kind of taking a deuce on the social contract but in general I just find this conception of "D&D" that seems to mostly consist of coming up with gimmick characters to recount as a joke on a forum kind of exhausting after a while
like how long is a character with a name like Farty McMurderpants actually funny? I guess I feel like if the real joy is in your friend group one-upping each other with outrageous gags you could be playing Jackbox or Telestrations or something
A good example of this Taako from Adventure Zone. He was a goof off whos goal was to invent the taco. He had no idea the character would get popular or he would fall in love with the character and the game and later had to apologize for the stupid, possibly kind of racist, idea he had.
astrobstrdSo full of mercy...Registered Userregular
The next level evolution of the joke character is 13th Age's Fool character class from Glorantha where your pratfalls and lame jokes serve as a party buff that makes everyone else look good at your expense.
I've run plenty of games with joke characters. It's a rare table that doesn't have at least one person who starts off with what they consider a funny character concept. I'm not even totally against a small nod to something else! But I absolutely hate reference humor.
I guess you've never played D&D at... any game store ever, huh?
I've run plenty of games with joke characters. It's a rare table that doesn't have at least one person who starts off with what they consider a funny character concept. I'm not even totally against a small nod to something else! But I absolutely hate reference humor.
I guess you've never played D&D at... any game store ever, huh?
I'm Dming a new campaign for some new players to dnd.
Having some difficulty threading the needle for all the players, for a fun engaging quest chain.
Got a by the book mercenary,
a hermit monk, a magical fugitive, a person smuggler/refugee savior/getaway driver, and a professional burglar.
I've just gotta figure out how the mercenary fits, beyond wants money! But there is probably less I can do until they get back to me on some questions I have. I actually probably got something though, I need to make a web or something.
+2
Tynnanseldom correct, never unsureRegistered Userregular
Ask the player: “Why do you need 200g?” Having then come up with a reason they’re under pressure goes a long way to justify their spot in the adventure.
+8
BroloBroseidonLord of the BroceanRegistered Userregular
So, in a bit of small worldness, some kids at the school I work at got a video from a friend of theirs that happened to be a summer camper I had a few years ago. This video is of me running a Killer Breakfast style elective. Key differences are I had only 80ish kids in the elective in this video, there's no songs or musical interludes because it only lasted an hour, and in the back of the stage there's a projector displaying a Word document being updated in real time with causes of character death. I don't remember the exact numbers, but in the under hour play time we had, I could kill 400-800 characters, meaning the 80 or so kids could get 5-10 turns.
Anyway, they want me to run one as a club fundraiser thing. Sure, I'm a little rusty, but I'll take a swing so long as they're handling all the scheduling and logistics.
My point is here, tons of dice is easy to come by, even if they are largely pointless/just a prop in this event. Still, I thought it'd be fun to have some giant D20s that are 19 1s and 1 20, or just 20 1s. I was envisioning like basketball sized or larger. Even softball sized would be doable, and I'd just paint the numbers myself.
Apparently the internets idea of "giant" is like 2 inches. Bah. Now to see if I can get the welding class, or construction class, or adv. manufacturing classes to build me a gigantic d20 unless y'all know somewhere I can get what I'm looking for.
So, in a bit of small worldness, some kids at the school I work at got a video from a friend of theirs that happened to be a summer camper I had a few years ago. This video is of me running a Killer Breakfast style elective. Key differences are I had only 80ish kids in the elective in this video, there's no songs or musical interludes because it only lasted an hour, and in the back of the stage there's a projector displaying a Word document being updated in real time with causes of character death. I don't remember the exact numbers, but in the under hour play time we had, I could kill 400-800 characters, meaning the 80 or so kids could get 5-10 turns.
Anyway, they want me to run one as a club fundraiser thing. Sure, I'm a little rusty, but I'll take a swing so long as they're handling all the scheduling and logistics.
My point is here, tons of dice is easy to come by, even if they are largely pointless/just a prop in this event. Still, I thought it'd be fun to have some giant D20s that are 19 1s and 1 20, or just 20 1s. I was envisioning like basketball sized or larger. Even softball sized would be doable, and I'd just paint the numbers myself.
Apparently the internets idea of "giant" is like 2 inches. Bah. Now to see if I can get the welding class, or construction class, or adv. manufacturing classes to build me a gigantic d20 unless y'all know somewhere I can get what I'm looking for.
So, in a bit of small worldness, some kids at the school I work at got a video from a friend of theirs that happened to be a summer camper I had a few years ago. This video is of me running a Killer Breakfast style elective. Key differences are I had only 80ish kids in the elective in this video, there's no songs or musical interludes because it only lasted an hour, and in the back of the stage there's a projector displaying a Word document being updated in real time with causes of character death. I don't remember the exact numbers, but in the under hour play time we had, I could kill 400-800 characters, meaning the 80 or so kids could get 5-10 turns.
Anyway, they want me to run one as a club fundraiser thing. Sure, I'm a little rusty, but I'll take a swing so long as they're handling all the scheduling and logistics.
My point is here, tons of dice is easy to come by, even if they are largely pointless/just a prop in this event. Still, I thought it'd be fun to have some giant D20s that are 19 1s and 1 20, or just 20 1s. I was envisioning like basketball sized or larger. Even softball sized would be doable, and I'd just paint the numbers myself.
Apparently the internets idea of "giant" is like 2 inches. Bah. Now to see if I can get the welding class, or construction class, or adv. manufacturing classes to build me a gigantic d20 unless y'all know somewhere I can get what I'm looking for.
I'm Dming a new campaign for some new players to dnd.
Having some difficulty threading the needle for all the players, for a fun engaging quest chain.
Got a by the book mercenary,
a hermit monk, a magical fugitive, a person smuggler/refugee savior/getaway driver, and a professional burglar.
I've just gotta figure out how the mercenary fits, beyond wants money! But there is probably less I can do until they get back to me on some questions I have. I actually probably got something though, I need to make a web or something.
Jayne Cobb was a mercenary. He jumped to Mal's crew when he got a better offer (more than a "sad 7%" and his own room). He stuck around because, presumably, it was still better money than he got elsewhere, but he made no secret of the fact that he'd turn on Mal and the crew in a second if the money was good enough.
I'm Dming a new campaign for some new players to dnd.
Having some difficulty threading the needle for all the players, for a fun engaging quest chain.
Got a by the book mercenary,
a hermit monk, a magical fugitive, a person smuggler/refugee savior/getaway driver, and a professional burglar.
I've just gotta figure out how the mercenary fits, beyond wants money! But there is probably less I can do until they get back to me on some questions I have. I actually probably got something though, I need to make a web or something.
Jayne Cobb was a mercenary. He jumped to Mal's crew when he got a better offer (more than a "sad 7%" and his own room). He stuck around because, presumably, it was still better money than he got elsewhere, but he made no secret of the fact that he'd turn on Mal and the crew in a second if the money was good enough.
And in fact did at one point!
+4
MsAnthropyThe Lady of Pain Breaks the Rhythm, Breaks the Rhythm, Breaks the RhythmThe City of FlowersRegistered Userregular
Best character names are obscure references that people probably won't notice because it would involve reading the 1000 word backstory that you put up on the shared Wiki page and/or knowing a different language
Can confirm this.
My character in @Jacobkosh’s Star Trek game was an officer on the bridge of the USS Bozeman in the TNG episode Cause and Effect. The captain of that ship was played by Kelsey Grammer. Her last name is Fresel, which is the Norman antecedent of the name Frasier.
We reached the conclusion of a characters arc this week in my eberron game, shit got real weird.
like, 'delve into a mindscape to fight strange angels with your dead companions and then fight a ghost army on a mountain and then the ghost army turns into a giant end-of-inside flesh monster that screams prayers to heaven in a dead language' weird
i'm also gonna post the unique special character weapon that resulted from this, since said player ended up drawing custom art for it
Mage. I want to run some Mage. Scifi campaign writing continues but is long run in nature
But where to set it? Thoughts...
One idea I've been holding onto for a few years now is Kafka Mage, set in 1919 Prague and with a strong The Trial/The Castle vibe. A city stewing with intrigue between anarchists and authoritarians, bohemians and conformists, a brooding castle on a cliff issuing mysterious or nonsensical directives, faceless bureaucrats shuffling around, madmen running loose by night with Supernal sigils tattooed into their flesh.
I'm sure someone can give me a pretty good idea of this, but, how many dice do you figure you can (we'll say comfortably) fit in a dice bag that's 6" x 6" x 8".
If you want to get all straight mathematical about it, these would be 16mm d6s.
Hmm I think I have a problem in my group with a player. This is the third game I've run shes played in and its the third character in a row who is: Always wearing black, hates everyone, has a specific goal in mind and doesn't care about anything at all about that. We got in an actual argument about this last night, I told her if she was bored (since shes always on her phone) she doesn't have to play. She said she just plays characters like her and her characters don't give a fuck about stopping a thing or getting to know people in the group. Like she said she honestly doesn't know why her character is still here helping the rest of the group stop the BBEG from destroying the world because she already got what she wanted.
My argument was that, I dunno, I feel like thats not playing the game? Thats coming up with a reason to not interact with anything, and even if your aloof or don't care most people at least care about themselves, and if something kills everyone, they tend to be part of everyone, so at least self preservation could be a motivated, and if she wanted to make a new character she could have said something. She said I'm just mad at her for not "Playing the game how I like to play it". I don't think I am, I think my reasons are valid. If every character doesn't want to even talk to others...its not very much of a character in the game?
Also she wants to DM next, and its her first time so I'm trying to help her this is where it gets...more complicated
She wants the campaign to revolve around a creature that has kidnapped and devoured every child in a city. Not a small town, a huge city.So one creature has somehow eaten thousands of kids without being caught. And there is nothing the character can do it stop it or save ANY children. They are all already dead, for reasons. I told her this sounds less like an entire campaign and more the start of one, and tracking down the creature could be a few sessions worth of content...and also that maybe let the characters have at least a chance to save SOME of the kids because spending hours tracking a thing down only to find they didn't, and couldn't, make any kind of difference is kind of demoralizing. Her response was "Well maybe for you, but not everyone wants to be a hero who saves people" and yeah sure, but whos all excited by dead kids? Also one of our players wives just had her third miscarriage and two others have a baby under 1, so I feel like this is in poor taste. I feel like she just started with "Creature eating kids" and worked backwards, and some of the details shes already set up, like crime scene sketches the characters can steal from the guard captain or witness testimonies are very detailed and gruesome. I told her in general it might not land well and her response was "Thats a person problem for them, not me" and I am...really shocked.
In 16 years playing RPGs I have never run across issues like this and am totally unsure what to do.
Hmm I think I have a problem in my group with a player. This is the third game I've run shes played in and its the third character in a row who is: Always wearing black, hates everyone, has a specific goal in mind and doesn't care about anything at all about that. We got in an actual argument about this last night, I told her if she was bored (since shes always on her phone) she doesn't have to play. She said she just plays characters like her and her characters don't give a fuck about stopping a thing or getting to know people in the group. Like she said she honestly doesn't know why her character is still here helping the rest of the group stop the BBEG from destroying the world because she already got what she wanted.
My argument was that, I dunno, I feel like thats not playing the game? Thats coming up with a reason to not interact with anything, and even if your aloof or don't care most people at least care about themselves, and if something kills everyone, they tend to be part of everyone, so at least self preservation could be a motivated, and if she wanted to make a new character she could have said something. She said I'm just mad at her for not "Playing the game how I like to play it". I don't think I am, I think my reasons are valid. If every character doesn't want to even talk to others...its not very much of a character in the game?
Also she wants to DM next, and its her first time so I'm trying to help her this is where it gets...more complicated
She wants the campaign to revolve around a creature that has kidnapped and devoured every child in a city. Not a small town, a huge city.So one creature has somehow eaten thousands of kids without being caught. And there is nothing the character can do it stop it or save ANY children. They are all already dead, for reasons. I told her this sounds less like an entire campaign and more the start of one, and tracking down the creature could be a few sessions worth of content...and also that maybe let the characters have at least a chance to save SOME of the kids because spending hours tracking a thing down only to find they didn't, and couldn't, make any kind of difference is kind of demoralizing. Her response was "Well maybe for you, but not everyone wants to be a hero who saves people" and yeah sure, but whos all excited by dead kids? Also one of our players wives just had her third miscarriage and two others have a baby under 1, so I feel like this is in poor taste. I feel like she just started with "Creature eating kids" and worked backwards, and some of the details shes already set up, like crime scene sketches the characters can steal from the guard captain or witness testimonies are very detailed and gruesome. I told her in general it might not land well and her response was "Thats a person problem for them, not me" and I am...really shocked.
In 16 years playing RPGs I have never run across issues like this and am totally unsure what to do.
Hmm I think I have a problem in my group with a player. This is the third game I've run shes played in and its the third character in a row who is: Always wearing black, hates everyone, has a specific goal in mind and doesn't care about anything at all about that. We got in an actual argument about this last night, I told her if she was bored (since shes always on her phone) she doesn't have to play. She said she just plays characters like her and her characters don't give a fuck about stopping a thing or getting to know people in the group. Like she said she honestly doesn't know why her character is still here helping the rest of the group stop the BBEG from destroying the world because she already got what she wanted.
My argument was that, I dunno, I feel like thats not playing the game? Thats coming up with a reason to not interact with anything, and even if your aloof or don't care most people at least care about themselves, and if something kills everyone, they tend to be part of everyone, so at least self preservation could be a motivated, and if she wanted to make a new character she could have said something. She said I'm just mad at her for not "Playing the game how I like to play it". I don't think I am, I think my reasons are valid. If every character doesn't want to even talk to others...its not very much of a character in the game?
Also she wants to DM next, and its her first time so I'm trying to help her this is where it gets...more complicated
She wants the campaign to revolve around a creature that has kidnapped and devoured every child in a city. Not a small town, a huge city.So one creature has somehow eaten thousands of kids without being caught. And there is nothing the character can do it stop it or save ANY children. They are all already dead, for reasons. I told her this sounds less like an entire campaign and more the start of one, and tracking down the creature could be a few sessions worth of content...and also that maybe let the characters have at least a chance to save SOME of the kids because spending hours tracking a thing down only to find they didn't, and couldn't, make any kind of difference is kind of demoralizing. Her response was "Well maybe for you, but not everyone wants to be a hero who saves people" and yeah sure, but whos all excited by dead kids? Also one of our players wives just had her third miscarriage and two others have a baby under 1, so I feel like this is in poor taste. I feel like she just started with "Creature eating kids" and worked backwards, and some of the details shes already set up, like crime scene sketches the characters can steal from the guard captain or witness testimonies are very detailed and gruesome. I told her in general it might not land well and her response was "Thats a person problem for them, not me" and I am...really shocked.
In 16 years playing RPGs I have never run across issues like this and am totally unsure what to do.
Hmm I think I have a problem in my group with a player. This is the third game I've run shes played in and its the third character in a row who is: Always wearing black, hates everyone, has a specific goal in mind and doesn't care about anything at all about that. We got in an actual argument about this last night, I told her if she was bored (since shes always on her phone) she doesn't have to play. She said she just plays characters like her and her characters don't give a fuck about stopping a thing or getting to know people in the group. Like she said she honestly doesn't know why her character is still here helping the rest of the group stop the BBEG from destroying the world because she already got what she wanted.
My argument was that, I dunno, I feel like thats not playing the game? Thats coming up with a reason to not interact with anything, and even if your aloof or don't care most people at least care about themselves, and if something kills everyone, they tend to be part of everyone, so at least self preservation could be a motivated, and if she wanted to make a new character she could have said something. She said I'm just mad at her for not "Playing the game how I like to play it". I don't think I am, I think my reasons are valid. If every character doesn't want to even talk to others...its not very much of a character in the game?
Also she wants to DM next, and its her first time so I'm trying to help her this is where it gets...more complicated
She wants the campaign to revolve around a creature that has kidnapped and devoured every child in a city. Not a small town, a huge city.So one creature has somehow eaten thousands of kids without being caught. And there is nothing the character can do it stop it or save ANY children. They are all already dead, for reasons. I told her this sounds less like an entire campaign and more the start of one, and tracking down the creature could be a few sessions worth of content...and also that maybe let the characters have at least a chance to save SOME of the kids because spending hours tracking a thing down only to find they didn't, and couldn't, make any kind of difference is kind of demoralizing. Her response was "Well maybe for you, but not everyone wants to be a hero who saves people" and yeah sure, but whos all excited by dead kids? Also one of our players wives just had her third miscarriage and two others have a baby under 1, so I feel like this is in poor taste. I feel like she just started with "Creature eating kids" and worked backwards, and some of the details shes already set up, like crime scene sketches the characters can steal from the guard captain or witness testimonies are very detailed and gruesome. I told her in general it might not land well and her response was "Thats a person problem for them, not me" and I am...really shocked.
In 16 years playing RPGs I have never run across issues like this and am totally unsure what to do.
Kick her ass out of the group?
Oh yeah, its uh, my wife
And?
+7
StraightziHere we may reign secure, and in my choice,To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered Userregular
My one specific note that I would say is:
Like she said she honestly doesn't know why her character is still here helping the rest of the group stop the BBEG from destroying the world because she already got what she wanted.
That's her job to figure out. It is her character, and she either needs to come up with a reason to be helping the rest of the group, or feel possessed of the agency to choose instead to not help the rest of the group.
While getting players invested in the plot can be a part of the DM's job, it can't be solely theirs either.
+7
Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
Hmm I think I have a problem in my group with a player. This is the third game I've run shes played in and its the third character in a row who is: Always wearing black, hates everyone, has a specific goal in mind and doesn't care about anything at all about that. We got in an actual argument about this last night, I told her if she was bored (since shes always on her phone) she doesn't have to play. She said she just plays characters like her and her characters don't give a fuck about stopping a thing or getting to know people in the group. Like she said she honestly doesn't know why her character is still here helping the rest of the group stop the BBEG from destroying the world because she already got what she wanted.
My argument was that, I dunno, I feel like thats not playing the game? Thats coming up with a reason to not interact with anything, and even if your aloof or don't care most people at least care about themselves, and if something kills everyone, they tend to be part of everyone, so at least self preservation could be a motivated, and if she wanted to make a new character she could have said something. She said I'm just mad at her for not "Playing the game how I like to play it". I don't think I am, I think my reasons are valid. If every character doesn't want to even talk to others...its not very much of a character in the game?
Also she wants to DM next, and its her first time so I'm trying to help her this is where it gets...more complicated
She wants the campaign to revolve around a creature that has kidnapped and devoured every child in a city. Not a small town, a huge city.So one creature has somehow eaten thousands of kids without being caught. And there is nothing the character can do it stop it or save ANY children. They are all already dead, for reasons. I told her this sounds less like an entire campaign and more the start of one, and tracking down the creature could be a few sessions worth of content...and also that maybe let the characters have at least a chance to save SOME of the kids because spending hours tracking a thing down only to find they didn't, and couldn't, make any kind of difference is kind of demoralizing. Her response was "Well maybe for you, but not everyone wants to be a hero who saves people" and yeah sure, but whos all excited by dead kids? Also one of our players wives just had her third miscarriage and two others have a baby under 1, so I feel like this is in poor taste. I feel like she just started with "Creature eating kids" and worked backwards, and some of the details shes already set up, like crime scene sketches the characters can steal from the guard captain or witness testimonies are very detailed and gruesome. I told her in general it might not land well and her response was "Thats a person problem for them, not me" and I am...really shocked.
In 16 years playing RPGs I have never run across issues like this and am totally unsure what to do.
Kick her ass out of the group?
Oh yeah, its uh, my wife
Well, that's what you get for marrying the cashier at Hot topic!
j/k, obviously you need to talk to her about this, not us.
And yeah, if she's not willing to become a proper part of the group, then she can't play anymore. It's not "The Amazing Adventures Of Your Wife's Character (plus some background tagalongs nobody cares about)", it's a group adventure.
+2
astrobstrdSo full of mercy...Registered Userregular
I'd be blunt with her about what you and the other players expect/enjoy in TTRPGs and if she can't get on board with that, tell her you'll support her as she navigates Roll20 or Meetup for a new group that matches her play style.
I'd consider her response to the miscarriage concern to be a point of no return myself.
Mage. I want to run some Mage. Scifi campaign writing continues but is long run in nature
But where to set it? Thoughts...
One idea I've been holding onto for a few years now is Kafka Mage, set in 1919 Prague and with a strong The Trial/The Castle vibe. A city stewing with intrigue between anarchists and authoritarians, bohemians and conformists, a brooding castle on a cliff issuing mysterious or nonsensical directives, faceless bureaucrats shuffling around, madmen running loose by night with Supernal sigils tattooed into their flesh.
That could be very cool. Inter War Central Europe is culturally very interesting and I happen to have read quite a bit about it, setting Mage there could be fascinating.
+3
StraightziHere we may reign secure, and in my choice,To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered Userregular
That has me thinking about Mage hanging out with the existentialists
Camus and de Beauvoir both powerful mages just at each other's throats all the time
Thanks for the advice guys. I hate how we never argue about money, or work or like important life things but get in dumb arguments about D&D and World of Warcraft...sigh.
3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
Just as a point of reference, wife or no, I have an absolute three strikes rule about being on your phone during a game (outside of like, looking something up that's relevant to the game or having a character sheet you're referencing on there or something). That's completely unacceptable in my eyes.
Thanks for the advice guys. I hate how we never argue about money, or work or like important life things but get in dumb arguments about D&D and World of Warcraft...sigh.
Encourage communication. I've had the issue with her loner/disinterested PC, and the one thing I can say is that it almost always shows up in groups that don't have a "session 0" and almost never in groups that do. So in theory the question of "why is your PC hanging with the party, what's keeping them around?" should have been answered, but if not it needs to be.
Additionally, I wouldn't personally worry about "fixing" her game idea, just encourage communication. If she presents it to the group, then hopefully they'll either go for it or explain what they don't like about it. Hopefully she's mature enough to handle that sort or criticism.
Just as a point of reference, wife or no, I have an absolute three strikes rule about being on your phone during a game (outside of like, looking something up that's relevant to the game or having a character sheet you're referencing on there or something). That's completely unacceptable in my eyes.
Conversely, I sidebar like crazy on my phone, but 1 - it's almost always during combat, where (during other PCs' turns), I can afford to multitask; and 2 - I'm never less focused on the game than multitasking. Even if I'm on my phone, I'm doing both, and can engage functionally while playing around on my phone.
Fuck I played a 4e warlord and was still able to multitask during other peoples' turns
If someone told me I couldn't be on my phone during a dnd game I would not play with them
There is a LOT of downtime in dnd
It doesn't mean I'm not paying attention, but if its not my turn in combat and we have like a 4 person party I'm absolutely gonna get something else done
We have a no phone rule at our table, but it's more because we know we'll get distracted and not pay attention if we don't just put them to the side
0
3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
I've had too many bad experiences with players zoning out and not paying attention to the RP or descriptions, so I just ban them completely now.
I also think if combat is dragging so much that people really want to be on their phone, that's a good warning sign to you as the DM that you need to rejigger your encounters to make them more dynamic and involved for everyone.
We have a no phone rule at our table, but it's more because we know we'll get distracted and not pay attention if we don't just put them to the side
That makes sense.
Additionally some groups get really immersive with it. Like background music and lighting and shit,and I can get with that being a ohoneless group. You know. For the aEsThEtIc
I also think if combat is dragging so much that people really want to be on their phone, that's a good warning sign to you as the DM that you need to rejigger your encounters to make them more dynamic and involved for everyone.
Yeah but for reference this was 4e with 6 fairly optimized PCs (at least op'd at s group level)
I've had too many bad experiences with players zoning out and not paying attention to the RP or descriptions, so I just ban them completely now.
I also think if combat is dragging so much that people really want to be on their phone, that's a good warning sign to you as the DM that you need to rejigger your encounters to make them more dynamic and involved for everyone.
I and about half my board have ADD it'd be downright hypocritical for me to totally ban phones and distractions for 3 to 4 hours straight.
Yeah a phone ban isn't a solution I think, particularly during combat, though I wish more people would pay attention when I talk, or even think about whats going on before the exact moment its their turn.
Posts
Does this mean they now actually get benefit from feats that require you to wear armor?
A good example of this Taako from Adventure Zone. He was a goof off whos goal was to invent the taco. He had no idea the character would get popular or he would fall in love with the character and the game and later had to apologize for the stupid, possibly kind of racist, idea he had.
I guess you've never played D&D at... any game store ever, huh?
Gamertag: PrimusD | Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
I haven't, for exactly this reason.
Having some difficulty threading the needle for all the players, for a fun engaging quest chain.
Got a by the book mercenary,
a hermit monk, a magical fugitive, a person smuggler/refugee savior/getaway driver, and a professional burglar.
I've just gotta figure out how the mercenary fits, beyond wants money! But there is probably less I can do until they get back to me on some questions I have. I actually probably got something though, I need to make a web or something.
Anyway, they want me to run one as a club fundraiser thing. Sure, I'm a little rusty, but I'll take a swing so long as they're handling all the scheduling and logistics.
My point is here, tons of dice is easy to come by, even if they are largely pointless/just a prop in this event. Still, I thought it'd be fun to have some giant D20s that are 19 1s and 1 20, or just 20 1s. I was envisioning like basketball sized or larger. Even softball sized would be doable, and I'd just paint the numbers myself.
Apparently the internets idea of "giant" is like 2 inches. Bah. Now to see if I can get the welding class, or construction class, or adv. manufacturing classes to build me a gigantic d20 unless y'all know somewhere I can get what I'm looking for.
Something like this?
Ooooh, that is better than the plastic option I just found via image search that runs ~$130 per.
I'm going to ask to see if they'll do some custom panels of 1s...
Jayne Cobb was a mercenary. He jumped to Mal's crew when he got a better offer (more than a "sad 7%" and his own room). He stuck around because, presumably, it was still better money than he got elsewhere, but he made no secret of the fact that he'd turn on Mal and the crew in a second if the money was good enough.
And in fact did at one point!
Can confirm this.
My character in @Jacobkosh’s Star Trek game was an officer on the bridge of the USS Bozeman in the TNG episode Cause and Effect. The captain of that ship was played by Kelsey Grammer. Her last name is Fresel, which is the Norman antecedent of the name Frasier.
I go deep with my in-jokes.
"The only real politics I knew was that if a guy liked Hitler, I’d beat the stuffing out of him and that would be it." -- Jack Kirby
i'm also gonna post the unique special character weapon that resulted from this, since said player ended up drawing custom art for it
But where to set it? Thoughts...
One idea I've been holding onto for a few years now is Kafka Mage, set in 1919 Prague and with a strong The Trial/The Castle vibe. A city stewing with intrigue between anarchists and authoritarians, bohemians and conformists, a brooding castle on a cliff issuing mysterious or nonsensical directives, faceless bureaucrats shuffling around, madmen running loose by night with Supernal sigils tattooed into their flesh.
If you want to get all straight mathematical about it, these would be 16mm d6s.
My argument was that, I dunno, I feel like thats not playing the game? Thats coming up with a reason to not interact with anything, and even if your aloof or don't care most people at least care about themselves, and if something kills everyone, they tend to be part of everyone, so at least self preservation could be a motivated, and if she wanted to make a new character she could have said something. She said I'm just mad at her for not "Playing the game how I like to play it". I don't think I am, I think my reasons are valid. If every character doesn't want to even talk to others...its not very much of a character in the game?
Also she wants to DM next, and its her first time so I'm trying to help her this is where it gets...more complicated
In 16 years playing RPGs I have never run across issues like this and am totally unsure what to do.
Kick her ass out of the group?
Oh yeah, its uh, my wife
Seems like it's just a bad fit.
And?
That's her job to figure out. It is her character, and she either needs to come up with a reason to be helping the rest of the group, or feel possessed of the agency to choose instead to not help the rest of the group.
While getting players invested in the plot can be a part of the DM's job, it can't be solely theirs either.
Well, that's what you get for marrying the cashier at Hot topic!
j/k, obviously you need to talk to her about this, not us.
And yeah, if she's not willing to become a proper part of the group, then she can't play anymore. It's not "The Amazing Adventures Of Your Wife's Character (plus some background tagalongs nobody cares about)", it's a group adventure.
I'd consider her response to the miscarriage concern to be a point of no return myself.
That could be very cool. Inter War Central Europe is culturally very interesting and I happen to have read quite a bit about it, setting Mage there could be fascinating.
Camus and de Beauvoir both powerful mages just at each other's throats all the time
Encourage communication. I've had the issue with her loner/disinterested PC, and the one thing I can say is that it almost always shows up in groups that don't have a "session 0" and almost never in groups that do. So in theory the question of "why is your PC hanging with the party, what's keeping them around?" should have been answered, but if not it needs to be.
Additionally, I wouldn't personally worry about "fixing" her game idea, just encourage communication. If she presents it to the group, then hopefully they'll either go for it or explain what they don't like about it. Hopefully she's mature enough to handle that sort or criticism.
Conversely, I sidebar like crazy on my phone, but 1 - it's almost always during combat, where (during other PCs' turns), I can afford to multitask; and 2 - I'm never less focused on the game than multitasking. Even if I'm on my phone, I'm doing both, and can engage functionally while playing around on my phone.
Fuck I played a 4e warlord and was still able to multitask during other peoples' turns
There is a LOT of downtime in dnd
It doesn't mean I'm not paying attention, but if its not my turn in combat and we have like a 4 person party I'm absolutely gonna get something else done
I also think if combat is dragging so much that people really want to be on their phone, that's a good warning sign to you as the DM that you need to rejigger your encounters to make them more dynamic and involved for everyone.
That makes sense.
Additionally some groups get really immersive with it. Like background music and lighting and shit,and I can get with that being a ohoneless group. You know. For the aEsThEtIc
Yeah but for reference this was 4e with 6 fairly optimized PCs (at least op'd at s group level)
I and about half my board have ADD it'd be downright hypocritical for me to totally ban phones and distractions for 3 to 4 hours straight.