A Thread For Random RPG Musings

[Scott Ruggels]

On 5/22/2021 at 7:06 PM, Vondy said:

 

I think the Heroite bias is to assume everything you find in the books are options to pick and choose from when worldbuilding and genre-simulating.  That is not how the average D&D player, or even the Wizard's writing team, seems to relate to it, however. They seem to have taken the generally laudable notion of player agency straight past reasonable into its logical extreme. The general 5e D&D culture seems to maintain is that limiting  options to build a more coherent filled with more relatable stories and protagonists is "autocratic." That, and even with limited options, I still wouldn't like how it plays. Its not a bad game, per se, but I find the experience it provides decidedly unsatisfying. 

 A recent trend in the 5e games I play on Roll20, are DMs prohibiting Tasha's content, Eberron, Spell Jammer, plus several other  supplements. As of now, there are 45 books and supplements for 5e, and including all of them would really make an entire mess of a campaign.  In the Old days, people would homebrew most of everything to make a D&D campaign, but With an embarrassment of riches, it seems like perceptive DMs are following your advice, and purposefully limiting the inputs into their games, so as to come close to homebrew.  Sure, its not yet common, and yes, they also get complaints from possible players, but from what I have experiences it makes for a better game. (though it's still not Hero).  Sadly, the young groups are resistant to learning Hero, so if I am to GM again, it may have to be 5e.

 

List of current and announced D&D 5e books:

https://dicecove.com/list-of-dnd-5e-books/

 

[Asperion]

18 hours ago, Ragitsu said:

Better a memorable "weak" magical item than a powerful bland magical item.

 

Sometimes the best experiences that I have had revolved around low powered magical items that seemed useless. They actually had more of an impact than something more powerful that everyone looks for. 

[Ragitsu]

13 hours ago, Asperion said:

 

Sometimes the best experiences that I have had revolved around low powered magical items that seemed useless. They actually had more of an impact than something more powerful that everyone looks for. 

 

Bag of Tricks!

 

--- --- ---

 

For some, adherence to realism makes or breaks a battle scene; indeed, for some, their minds will starve if deprived of realistic tactics - grand scale down to mano-a-mano. I, on the other hand, find that emotional investment is key...highly charged broad strokes form the foundation of the most memorable clashes we revisit years later.

[tkdguy]

One idea I had recently was to use Tolkien's discarded characters, maps, and names for a campaign. The Valar really are gods, and some of them had children. Middle-earth was called Palisor instead of Endor. Tevildo and Lungorthin are major threats. Unless your players are Tolkien scholars or die-hard fans, they won't suspect a thing.

[assault]

That's the main reason I own a couple of the Christopher Tolkien books. I haven't used them for this yet and sadly probably never will, but it is an obvious temptation.

[tkdguy]

Running a game on or around Halloween? Here are some ideas; translate them to HERO terms as needed.

 

 

[tkdguy]

OSR vs. D&D 5e? I'm familiar with the edition wars, but this guy takes it to another level. Listen to his claims!

 

 

Here's the response video:

 

 

[Ninja-Bear]

13 hours ago, tkdguy said:

OSR vs. D&D 5e? I'm familiar with the edition wars, but this guy takes it to another level. Listen to his claims!

 

 

Here's the response video:

 

 

Wowza! I watched a little of both. The first video though that guy needs help!

[tkdguy]

Since we're talking about old school games, here are a few systems not produced by TSR.

 

 

[Ninja-Bear]

The older I get the more I question the value of House Rules of any system. Oh sure pick any game and there’s bound to be a problem with a Rule or more. However I noticed that at the end of the game if people have fun and particularly for me if I’m enjoying the game (and the dice are rolling well 😁). Rules that may seem problematic really aren’t, if you go with them. Now I’m not saying don’t House Rule something if the said Rule is really bothersome and the House can reduce complexity.

[tkdguy]

 

[Spence]

On 10/6/2021 at 5:50 PM, Scott Ruggels said:

Sadly, the young groups are resistant to learning Hero, so if I am to GM again, it may have to be 5e.

 

They may not be "resistant to learning Hero" as much as "resistant to having to create literally everything whole cloth to play Hero".

 

Once the PC's and NPC's/Creatures are complete on the sheets, Many have found Hero to actually run easier than many of the other games.   I have been tinkering (for a very long time and very slowly) with a set of Prebuilt options at predetermined costs that a new player can use to build their Fantasy Hero PC's much like they do in other games. 

 

If building a new PC in a new to the player game takes longer than 10 or 15 minutes there is usually resistance.  The more time it takes the harder to bring the new player in.  There are exceptions based on name/brand recognition, but even D&D5e recognizes the issue and provides a large spread of pregenerated PC's built with sheets from 1st to 10th level.    I have seen avid Star Trek fans quickly lose interest in Star Trek Adventures during their "life path" character generation.  Not only is it long, but the play has to make up important traits based on "past life" experiences.  That may not seem to be a big hurdle, but remember how hard it is for some people to pick a name.  Most of the games I have run for STA use pregens. 

 

I know that one big reason that many of the gamers here are into Hero is its customization and the ability to build exactly what you want.  You don't introduce a new driver to a car by putting them in a  Formula 1 race car during the Grand Prix on the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore and just say "GO!".   No, you take them to a empty parking lot with a lot of empty space and let them try things and get a feeling for the car at a very slow speed.  

 

Hero is a very simple game that is attached to a very complicated build system plus literal pounds of additional "options".    

 

I live in the hope that someone with far more talent than me will read one of my rants and actually put on paper what I see in my minds eye

[Ninja-Bear]

Am I the only one who has dozen plus started projects and nothing done and disorganized to boot?

[Spence]

7 minutes ago, Ninja-Bear said:

Am I the only one who has dozen plus started projects and nothing done and disorganized to boot?

 

Nope.......

 

I'm guessing that finding an old project that you completely forget starting is not too rare an occasion as well..... 

[Asperion]

16 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

Am I the only one who has dozen plus started projects and nothing done and disorganized to boot?

 

I have always believed that is the standard for your normal gm, author, blogger, or general creative. 

[tkdguy]

22 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

Am I the only one who has dozen plus started projects and nothing done and disorganized to boot?

 

I agree that it's par for the course. I have a bunch of ideas that I have yet to write down, let alone organize.

[tkdguy]

I've had this idea for a while about an urban fantasy campaign. Instead of presenting creatures as they appear in D&D and other RPGs, go back to traditional stories. Faeries, ghosts, mermaids, and unicorns would make occasional appearances in our world and would be a bit different from what we find in our games. The character who encounters and deals with them would be an expert in folklore, but unlike modern heroes, he would be a normal person. He doesn't have magic powers or super science. While he isn't weak, he's not a commando or martial arts master. He only has his knowledge and his wits to overcome any challenges he faces.

 

Would that work as a roleplaying campaign, perhaps with a GM and a single player? For that matter, would that work as a TV show?

 

Some examples:

 

 

[tkdguy]

Roleplaying games in prison and as a way to reintegrate back into society. I noticed one f-bomb at around the 7-minute mark, but no swearing otherwise. Still gonna add the NSFW tag for some of the real-world stories in this video.

 

 

[pinecone]

On 11/6/2021 at 12:59 PM, Spence said:

 

They may not be "resistant to learning Hero" as much as "resistant to having to create literally everything whole cloth to play Hero".

 

Once the PC's and NPC's/Creatures are complete on the sheets, Many have found Hero to actually run easier than many of the other games.   I have been tinkering (for a very long time and very slowly) with a set of Prebuilt options at predetermined costs that a new player can use to build their Fantasy Hero PC's much like they do in other games. 

 

If building a new PC in a new to the player game takes longer than 10 or 15 minutes there is usually resistance.  The more time it takes the harder to bring the new player in.  There are exceptions based on name/brand recognition, but even D&D5e recognizes the issue and provides a large spread of pregenerated PC's built with sheets from 1st to 10th level.    I have seen avid Star Trek fans quickly lose interest in Star Trek Adventures during their "life path" character generation.  Not only is it long, but the play has to make up important traits based on "past life" experiences.  That may not seem to be a big hurdle, but remember how hard it is for some people to pick a name.  Most of the games I have run for STA use pregens. 

 

I know that one big reason that many of the gamers here are into Hero is its customization and the ability to build exactly what you want.  You don't introduce a new driver to a car by putting them in a  Formula 1 race car during the Grand Prix on the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore and just say "GO!".   No, you take them to a empty parking lot with a lot of empty space and let them try things and get a feeling for the car at a very slow speed.  

 

Hero is a very simple game that is attached to a very complicated build system plus literal pounds of additional "options".    

 

I live in the hope that someone with far more talent than me will read one of my rants and actually put on paper what I see in my minds eye

I have some decks of cards from a kickstarter that makes building Champs chars dead easy...maybe it is for sale? Champions character creation cards.....

[tkdguy]

Dealing with GM burnout:

 

 

[pinecone]

On 11/14/2021 at 2:47 PM, Ninja-Bear said:

Am I the only one who has dozen plus started projects and nothing done and disorganized to boot?

Lots of useful stuff predone for the next venture!

[tkdguy]

Here are a few more options for folks who hate basing miniatures but want their bases to match their terrain.

 

What color is your battle mat? If you use one for everything, find a paint color that closely matches the mat and paint all your bases that color. The paint doesn't have to match the battle mat exactly, as the difference probably won't be too noticeable if the colors are very close.

 

Get a black battle mat instead of repainting the black base on pre-painted miniatures. Black battle mats are usually used for starship battle games, but there's no reason you can't use them in RPGs. You can use felt or even a table cloth. Of course, it may look like your miniatures are floating in space or wandering around at night, but 3D terrain may alleviate the effect a bit. You can also draw a grid on your mat if it doesn't come with one already.

 

Go old-school. If you mainly run wilderness adventures or have a green felt mat, just give your bases the old-fashioned Goblin Green look. It's a classic!

 

Clear bases are becoming more popular. The miniatures in newer D&D and Pathfinder sets now use these instead of the black bases. The bases always match the terrain. Just be careful not to get them too scratched up.

 

 

[Scott Ruggels]

On 11/15/2021 at 4:47 PM, tkdguy said:

I've had this idea for a while about an urban fantasy campaign. Instead of presenting creatures as they appear in D&D and other RPGs, go back to traditional stories. Faeries, ghosts, mermaids, and unicorns would make occasional appearances in our world and would be a bit different from what we find in our games. The character who encounters and deals with them would be an expert in folklore, but unlike modern heroes, he would be a normal person. He doesn't have magic powers or super science. While he isn't weak, he's not a commando or martial arts master. He only has his knowledge and his wits to overcome any challenges he faces.

 

Would that work as a roleplaying campaign, perhaps with a GM and a single player? For that matter, would that work as a TV show?

 

Some examples:

 

 

I think it would work better as a book or TV show than as an RPG. RPG Protagonists are player's escapeism, a chance to be "better" than normal in som way or another. being a dead stock normal, especially when one is not as clever or witty as they imagine their character to be, is a bit of a downer.

[Ragitsu]

1 hour ago, Scott Ruggels said:

I think it would work better as a book or TV show than as an RPG. RPG Protagonists are player's escapeism, a chance to be "better" than normal in som way or another. being a dead stock normal, especially when one is not as clever or witty as they imagine their character to be, is a bit of a downer.

 

Would you consider a Player Character that is luckier than most (reflected through a Luck stat, high "Fate points" pool, Luck-based advantages/powers, et cetera) to be better "enough"...or must there be more to them?

[tkdguy]

Luck would be a good thing to have. Otherwise, an Average Joe wouldn't likely survive repeated encounters with the supernatural.

 

TV and books would work. I remember the old 1970s show Kolchak: The Night Stalker. But my mental picture of the character would look more like Anthony Stewart Head than Darren McGavin, and he'd work as a university professor or antique book dealer instead of a reporter.