A Thread For Random RPG Musings

[Ragitsu]

What is a D&Der's favorite fast-food joint?

 

Spoiler

 

[Cygnia]

[Ragitsu]

4 hours ago, Cygnia said:

 

Oddly enough, that reminds me of a George Carlin skit concerning prisons; long story short, there may actually be some logic in staying - at least, temporarily - right outside a fortified city.

[Cygnia]

[Cygnia]

[Old Man]

55 minutes ago, Cygnia said:

 

That's a pretty smart cat.  Exalted is not a lightweight RPG system.

[Cygnia]

[Cygnia]

[Cygnia]

[tkdguy]

Who says adventurers have all the fun? I've been watching YouTube videos about The Broken Cask solo rpg, and I think this would be a good supplement to a regular campaign. Introduce the staff as NPCs in the regular game, then roll up their adventures while the PCs are off on their own quests. The GM can do this separately since this is a solo rpg and roleplay the results when the PCs next visit the tavern.

 

"That was some adventure you had, Regdar, but I've got my own tale to tell...."

[Old Man]

54 minutes ago, tkdguy said:

Who says adventurers have all the fun? I've been watching YouTube videos about The Broken Cask solo rpg, and I think this would be a good supplement to a regular campaign. Introduce the staff as NPCs in the regular game, then roll up their adventures while the PCs are off on their own quests. The GM can do this separately since this is a solo rpg and roleplay the results when the PCs next visit the tavern.

 

"That was some adventure you had, Regdar, but I've got my own tale to tell...."

 

The new DriveThruRPG site is very nice!

[tkdguy]

Using Chat GPT to run a solo game:

 

 

[Ragitsu]

Because of happenstance, I became a 2e convert; the system has many "old school" positives to offer (and the setting-specific lore of the era is incredibly rich). However, certain products feature artwork which is...well...

 

Spoiler

 

Let's just say that, when it comes to the undead in my quasi-medieval fantasy campaigns, "Suitable for Hanna-Barbera's finest." is not a description I ever had in mind.

[Cygnia]

The art for 2e Planescape is still probably my favorite.  Ended up using it as inspiration for my Stage Make-Up class in college when we had to do fantasy.

[Old Man]

3 hours ago, Cygnia said:

The art for 2e Planescape is still probably my favorite.  Ended up using it as inspiration for my Stage Make-Up class in college when we had to do fantasy.

 

Planescape was a triumph of graphic design and art direction.  The atmospheric art, the layouts and sidebars, heavy use of the Exocet typeface, working together to create probably the most atmospheric campaign setting in all RPGdom.

 

In terms of pure art, Dark Sun deserves a mention, though it was almost singlehandedly created by Brom.

[Old Man]

[tkdguy]

Ideas for secret doors:

 

 

[tkdguy]

I try not to plug specific products, but this idea is brilliant.

 

 

[Ragitsu]

[Cygnia]

[L. Marcus]

To'lly worth it.

[Duke Bushido]

I figured out pretty early on that since two and three are remarkably, unavoidably universal, I can do my initial "world building" on an index card and completely avoid dealing with number four.

 

I enjoy watching the excitement of a new GM who has just spent an entire season filling two or more three-ring binders with more and locations and NPCs- sometimes I even like reading it, if there isn't a lot of political crap filling the pages-- _especially_ if there is _zero_ international or intercontinental or some other scale way beyond the scope of the first three sessions kind of political crap or tade agreements or anything else that....  Well, that's how you end up with Phantom Menace, okay?  Fill your world up immediately with crap your players do not care about or need to know right away.  Add that in as it becomes,relevant, and only _if_ it becomes relevant.  If your players are content building a smuggling empire here in the heart of Port City with no real interest in a city on the other side of the world that has struck an alliance with dragons to learn six secret magic spells, then don't cram it down their throats, and certainly don't fill a fourth of your world document with it.

 

The first thing the players want to do in _any_ campaign is to get a handle in their immediate surroundings, and then decide a few things for and about themselves.  Then you can start pouring in what-nots.  If you discover a detail or two that don't work for you or your players, _stop building on it_ and move on to something else.  Leave it in, to be sure: someone may want to revist this in a game year or two, or you may need an unchased string way back over there for some unforseen reason, but if it isn't working for everyone, leave it alone, and be grateful that you hadn't already committed ninety pages of 'starter information' to the topic.

 

After the last couple of decades, we are all familiar with the memes and alleged trope of "players ruined all the hard work I put into my campaign!" 

 

I built seven different kinds of magic, some subdivided!  I built nine actual deities and four existential planes!  I created nineteen types of spellcasting techniques, thirty forms of martial Arts, forty-nine playable character races, two of which are not based on elves in any way, created seven draconic alliances, tied the worlds and power of the undead to six compass points across the realm, and converted all the spells and weapons  from no less than eight of the greatest FRPs of all time!  I wove complex tales of intrigue and machinations between the most powerful states, and exposed the natural checks and balances of trade and location of the various routes and destinations, with the enigmatic Nomads always awildcard, always an unknown, and are they really celestial entities? Cosmic beings pretending to be flesh so as to freely move amongst us and control our destinies?  Do they really possess an unknown magic?  Are they sheltered by an unknown God?  Do they really seek to revive the last Titan and trigger the celestial reset that will end existence as we know it? 

 

Or do they just smuggle a lot of dope under their wagons and their mysterious and never-repeating paths from place to place symbolize not a cleverly treacherous means of increasing their security, but instead advertise the quality of their illicit goods?  You will never know!

 

None of you!  You will never know!  You did not gaze upon your refection in the silver pool of Amorak!  You did not quest through the icy climes of the Forlorn Plains!  You did not choose a side when the Basharn swarmed the Fylestren Palace!  You merely watched as the terms of fealty slowly strangled the people of Carlaih and the Hestern nobles made sport of routing the refugees away from their own lands.  You cared not that Pious King Willyard was drugged and being manipulated by his childhood friend turned court sorcerer so that the vast fortunes could be plundered, then the people slaughtered in a demonic ritual, and the lands themselves be sold to neighboring Harklan!

 

Well, in our defense, we never got to repel energy beams with out lightsaber, either, and not once were we offered an extraplanetary dogfight or the chance to cloud the minds of the weak willed, so....

 

 

 

 

Yeah.  That's right.  Now, I am not saying players don't wreck campaigns.  I am most certainly not saying that it is the norm, but campaigns do periodically get wrecked.

 

What I am saying is that I have noticed that just as many times as campaigns have been wrecked by oblivious players, they have also been built to collapse by tone-deaf GMs.

 

 

Edited October 30, 2023 by Duke Bushido

[tkdguy]

I've learned to start small when making campaign worlds. I also talk to the player to make sure the character is consistent with the lore; I reserve the right to reject anything that doesn't work. I keep character backstories short and in general terms. They're novice adventurers, so they don't need elaborate backgrounds IMO. I may plan 2 or 3 adventures ahead, but no more. That helps me stay flexible. I may detail a town but leave the location unspecified so that I can place it anywhere in the campaign.

[Ragitsu]

I typically find myself objecting to an elaborate history if it is an obvious attempt to gain advantages beyond that which is entitled to the Player Character's Race/Class/Level and if I am aware that the Player Character mortality rate is high (I'd rather not see someone go the distance only to dash their expectations). However, if the material presented is genuinely well-written/a joy to read and if it provides me with ample adventure potential for said Player Character, I'll probably allow the indulgence.

[Cygnia]