Doesn't necessarily have to be That GM, just an annoying quirk or two that drives you bonkers.
>seems to have a hateboner for turning undead
>there's ALWAYS a reason it just doesn't work
>usually because "dude it's viral lmao!"
>this is across multiple settings too
>hardly features undead at all to begin with
At this point I no longer feel bad about taking divine metamagic every time.
>FFG Star Wars
>immediately defaults to inflicting strain every time we roll threat results on the dice
>>46539477
Stealth missions and sabotage are auto-win, no matter what precautions we take.
We get to do some too, but nowhere as much.
>>46539477
>It's been almost 15 seconds since I made you all roll stealth checks. Roll them again!
>>46539477
Standard 3.5 turn undead IS awful tho.
It is literally a save or die, which is why anything worth a flying fuck is entirely immune to it (vampires notably) unless you outrageously minmax for it, and works on a ridiculously obtuse system to boot.
>>46539760
This, turn undead is more or less a "ghouls fuck off" move, or DMM fuel.
>arbitrary high will saves
>you fail anyway if you pass
Also
>gives out gear
>forgets what he gave out
>design scenarios that could be beat by forgotten gear
>takes party gear in cut scene when his encounter was easily beat
And then constant plane hopping.
>>46540900
>>takes party gear in cut scene when his encounter was easily beat
Should plan for this so he can't even do that without fiating hard.
>>46543910
>>46543910
He had a fit one time I played an unarmed kensie because I had enough.
When he learned I had a 32 ac and could actually fight his fey bullshit with no gear, for the first time, he almost quit the group.
>Gm says we can do (a)
>few weeks later says we can't do (a)
>few weeks go by and rules we can do (a) and acts like we never had the issue to begin with
>Vaugely wonder if why I'm playing because every time it has to do with random rules to do with my class
I sware to god he's got early onset dementia
>nearly half of every session is him pausing the game to transcribe everything that happened in-character, including dialogue
I'm half afraid he's going to try to make a novel out of our game or something.
>clearly unbalanced encounters based around what gm knows of fluff instead of crunch
>hastily and obviously rebalanced encounters while being run
>powerful npcs for those lol i troll you moments
>quit whenever plot goes too off rails and decides it's too much work arbitrarily
The guy works real well with players getting character concepts off the ground and does a good job at using backstory and even a larger plot. Just some really frustrating habits.
>>46539477
>map is not in scale, w/o any indication of where we are, where the north is or if it is actually our continent
>still, he gets mad when we ignore it
>every monster is a rare monster you don't know anything about
>when you don't have to fight it anymore, even kids know about them
>"you try to bribe the tavern guard with..."
>"3 sapphires", rolls 32 on Diplomacy
>"The guard attacks"
>you start building something, anything
>town gets blown into pieces or conquered by unknown forces in less than 3 hours
>random implausible shit such as
>no keys in an entire prison
>no tools in a blacksmith's forge
>random passer-by can cast save-or-die spells
>Always plays a charisma character when he plays
>Charisma rolls never work when he GMs.
>Not even bartering
>NPCs needs us to help them, but is always flippant with us PCs, giving no respect
>Killing dragons is 'meh, I still don't respect you' shit to the NPCs
>crit fail shenanigans
>Everyone is evil
>interprets dog-eat-dog world as the party is the only group of people who will ever work together.
>Everyone will betray us
>"Being nice is just a way of manipulation"
>Hates Paladins. They are always the most evil
>Save an NPC from a dangerous situation
>Something else kills them the moment we get them to safety
>>46545291
The only winning move is to bite off your own tongue.
>>46545291
>"you must find a powerful elf who performs divinatory arts to know more"
>only answer from this NPC is "it's evil"
>NPCs are just filling and answer with one or two phrases (always the same) to every question
also like >>46545445
>no one gives a shit you saved the town from a hundred orcs
>"We could have handled it without you"
and
>this NPC had to die, so I'll kill him/her in a totally safe situation with "unknown forces" or a bullshit excuse
>mfw I ask my players what their Perception scores are, roll some dice behind the screen, and say "You don't notice anything" no matter what the results are.
>>46539477
>trolls regernate from anything including acid and fire
>you cant leave the forest even though you are rangers who have a map and can travel through the thick brush with no problems
>"that's not how i want the magic to work here"
>when we all quit cause hes being a cock wines louder and complains how we are all assholes and storms out then later asks why we never play together
>>46545291
>>"you try to bribe the tavern guard with..."
>>"3 sapphires", rolls 32 on Diplomacy
>>"The guard attacks"
This shit, right here. Is the absolute worst. I know we love to take the piss out of rollplayers who try to convince NPCs to do stupid shit but diplomacy just never working is so fucking shit and way more common in my experience. If you're a DM and you do the above just remove diplomacy and intimidate from your games so people can spend their skill points on something you'll actually let them succeed in.
>>46539477
He's genuinely a good gm, he just has a few moments that irritate me.
>NPCs move balls to the walls fast as soon as combat is over, when they're fleeing
>Constructs many human enemies as though they're a pc which makes shit ridiculously hard
>Can't for the life of him look over at the skype when we ask him something on it, and he was the one who said that only in-character shit and rolls were allowed in the roll20 chat
>Forgets to say when combat is over, and forgets to say when a round is over
>These traits sometimes combine to have an npc flee at lightspeed while we ask if combat is over because we don't know for sure
>>46545291
>>"you try to bribe the tavern guard with..."
>>"3 sapphires", rolls 32 on Diplomacy
>>L"The guards attacks"
So bribing with 150GP worth of items and a check suitable for passing the hardest tasks known to man gets instant hostility? Kill that GM.
extending the annoying quirk to players and not only GMs I have this one
>player chooses fighter, doesn't know a single maneuver, only full-round attacks
>player chooses caster, doesn't know how to properly choose a set of spells
>player chooses CHA-based class, can't speak properly
Is it just my group?
>>46544620
I do, man. I'm sorry. I'm sort of winging rules that catch me off guard, and I fear that my mind has been going since before you met me.
>>46546086
man that sounds like some people trying out new things not a Quirk thing maybe be a bro and help out your party
>>46546116
I know, that's why I'm not labelling them as That Guys. I do help them, it's just that the fighter and the cha-based have been playing this game for 4 years now, I'm starting to think they're retarded.
>he forbids a lot of completely fine character names for the only reason that "someone might find them funny or make a joke about them"
>same for races with certain names... for example he forbid tengus
>>46546360
>he allows tengus
XD playing worthless demons that are only there to make weebs feel better
>>46545291
see, the real problem isn't this GM, it's that you're playing with him.
fuck that asshole, if he wants to be a douche to you guys, don't even give him the opportunity, just leave.
>>46546166
>they've been playing for 4 years
>i'm starting to think they're retarded
only just now?
>>46545709
>>no one gives a shit you saved the town from a hundred orcs
>>"We could have handled it without you"
This makes some sense though. If towns couldn't handle a hundred orcs then how did they do they even survive without PCs being involved? If there are towns then they must be able to protect themselves from threats. Otherwise there wouldn't be any towns.
Our DM has a clear fetish for muscle girls and he sometimes pushes one into his game. I ain't got a problem with muscle girls, but it is painfully obvious with his detailed descriptions of them he got a thing for them. But hey, atleast they fit into the game and they always serve a purpose in one way or another.
Beyond that he is a cool guy.
>>46546412
we take turns being GM so I put up with this bullshit. Also, it only seems to bother me so I wouldn't want to go full sperg on them
>>46546441
No, I'm concerned about their social and mental functions since I've met them, but every time they ask me "Hey anon, is the mage cha-based/how does the trip maneuver work again/what is an "anus"?" I get more and more concerned
>>46546481
This would have made sense if the town was not composed only by commoners, as we have previously come to know through many serious scrutinies.
>>46539477
I had once a GM who would force his magical ream (lolis) in everything, but luckily in such way that it didn't hurt games and generally he was good GM. Typically he would put lolis as shopkeepers and barmaids and describe them in vivid detail, but nothing stranger than that. Not really annoying, but more like weird quirk.
>>46546555
>what is an "anus"?
I'm now concerned.
>>46546555
I was only poking fun at you starting to think they're retarded, because it's hilarious. I have some friends like that as well. One of them is majoring in Computer Programming, and he still asks me questions about how to install X game or where did my file go.
>>46546360
>>he forbids a lot of completely fine character names for the only reason that "someone might find them funny or make a joke about them"
This pisses me off a lot more than it probably should.
>constantly abandons current campaigns for new campaigns
>>46546618
Are you serious?
>>46546483
>>46546564
Would be fun if these 2 GM's came together and made a world. A joke campaign with Loli's and Amazones is something I would do for a session or 2.
>>46546650
Fucking this.
To date I have never completed a story arc with this guy and he's been doing for me for 3 years. We've been through seven different campaigns and we always stop mid battle or some shut to start a new campaign because he got bored with this one or some shit
>You got into a brawl at a tavern! LMAO UR ALL IN JAIL NOW
>makes up random bullshit in defined settings
>inserts mary sue dmpcs in everything
>has no concept of how to balance an encounter
>randomly unavailable every few weeks
>fat as fuck
>has zero concept of how countries and armies work
>Inserts weird mindrape fetish in everything
>obsessed with ninjas but violently opposes anything Japanese
>mildly racist
>clearly doesn't prepare for sessions
>can't quit cause he'll throw a hissy fit and my friend has known the guy since elementary school.
>>46546899
>>mildly racist
This is ebin though.
>>46546688
...muscle loli?
>>46546899
Would you mind elaborating on what you mean by the GM not knowing how countries and armies work?
>>46546898
To be completely fair, causing, or including yourself in, a public disturbance is a jail-able offence in plenty of places. ESPECIALLY if it's a place that relies on commerce.
>>46546899
>>can't quit cause he'll throw a hissy fit and my friend has known the guy since elementary school.
Holy fuck, are you really this much of a pussy?
>>46547069
I think his issue is that the whole party ends up there and that the GM probably does a jump cut so they can't flee.
>>46547020
He made a custom setting where the United States invades all of Mexico during the Mexican American War which the Mexican people are totally on board with which allows the US to invade and conquer Europe (because I guess Mexico was economically significant during this time).
His understanding of a nations power seems limited to comparing their sizes on the map. Which is confirmed by him thinking Losing Canada was a major blow for the British.
He's also kind of a wehraboo who thinks the only thing that matter is if you have the best tanks.
>>46546899
Make a prototypical paladin or crusader who uses a masterwork bastard sword and then make him act weeby as fuck once his guard is down.
>>46546678
unfortunately, yes.
It's so weird, the kid knows how to program like a monster, but mundane tasks are a brain bender for him.
>>46545758
I do that when you play Call of Cuthuluthere was nothing to see to begin with
Most of this just applies to GMs on Roll20 or other similar platforms with integrated features.
>Never uses music or ambient tracks but then WILL play unfunny 'level up songs' or Old/Tinny-Sounding Final Fantasy Victory Themes when he feels like it.
>"Eh, Tokens aren't really that important", Proceeds to compress journal character art into a squares for use as tokens; Thusly everyone's art assets are squashed or stretched horribly. Can't wait to stare at THAT mangled shit every session.
>Doesn't prepare any maps whatsoever prior to starting a campaign. Time for featureless white background with black grid as far as the eye can see!
>"I'm running X Anime RPG!", Proceeds to accept Photographic character art for PCs.
Why do all the GMs I find hate Aestetics?
>>46545758
Careful buddy.
Our ex-DM lost screen privileges after a dragon golem "rolled" nine nat20s in a row.
>not ThatDM
I don't really have anything to complain about here...
>>46547293
>fudging nine 20s
For what purpose.
I no longer have to deal with this autism, thank Kami.
>No retarded characters! Meanwhile, one of his encounters was a naked man that had as much HP as the PCs, and attacks with his elephant cock that hit as hard as a club
>Poor attempt at containing his magical realm as most female NPC portraits are highly sexual or loli
>Will unsutbly try to control stronger PCs from doing much more than the rest of the party
>Thinks non core D&D material is broken, while Core is balanced
>Enjoys trying to kill the party a little too much
>Will be passive aggressive to anyone who's too optimized instead of admitting he can't handle such a PC. Keyword is optimized, not minmaxed or powergaming. Just optimized.
>>46545948
>NPCs move balls to the walls fast as soon as combat is over, when they're fleeing
It's a narrative game. Just say you pursue the enemy as soon as initiative is dropped. It's not a CRPG where you have to click as soon as possible to avoid scripting; unless of course your DM is as autistic as a computer program.
>>46547221
Really? Because i've mostly met GMs who painstakingly make every map by hand and i endeavor to do so too, even going as far as having maps for sessions that are 6-8 weeks away and only use tokens for creatures ( or make them large enough that they are not squashed).
>>46547293
There's a difference between fudging and false perception rolls in a spooky house. One is cheating and the other is atmosphere.
>>46547509
No, it's more that he doesn't have a good sense of keeping pace with what the pc's are doing. Someone will get really far away when the players are doing things that are very quick to complete, even if the fleeing individual has to go through obstacles.
The GM should try to have a better sense of pacing instead of instantly rushing that once the combat is over.
My personal faults
>I tend to railroad.
>I tend to fudge dice in the player's favor
>I am quick to anger against rules lawyering.
>I don't use official monster stats.
>>46547221
I see literally no problem with any of this.
>>46547293
What the hell is a dragon golem
>>46547631
>I don't use official monster stats.
Depends on the game really. If its a more small scale one I always customize the monsters, makes for better fights.
>>46547689
It's a golem made out of dragons, clearly. Or a dragon made out of golems.
>>46547631
>I don't use official monster stats.
Almost always a positive, unless the monster literally goes by the exact same name and appearance as the book equivalent.
>>46547649
You are cancer.
>>46547631
Not using official moster stats? Why?
>>46547221
>GM has had a week to prepare, he knows where the PCs are going and he knows who they'll be meeting
>Everyone logs onto Roll20
>Game starts
>"okay guys give me a second I need to make the map and find character portraits for these guys"
>>46547777
I use the standard creatures that are slightly different to justify why the stat blocks some players have memorized are different from the thing in front of them.
He never names anything in advance. We have a world map, with a bunch of dots all over it, one of which is sign posted "capital" but none of them have names. None of the NPCs have names, none of the weapons have names.
>>46547406
>>Thinks non core D&D material is broken, while Core is balanced
Should've brought out a minmaxed Druid to show him otherwise.
>>46547843
I understand this pain.
>Game Time, "Hey my one friend I invited to this pickup game is late/not coming, so i'm just going to stall or cancel the entire session until he's here."
>"I'm running a GURPS Mechfighting Tournament game!", but then later once characters are prepped... "Oh, I don't have the Rules! Just the Character-Creation Book! It's okay, I homebrewed new rules! This skill is based on [IQ+DX/2]! You need it above atleast 13+X! Battlesuit/Pilot(Mech) skill? What's that? No, remake your characters!"
>GM's Girlfriend is playing a Druid, All of a sudden the campaign is nothing but Animal and Magical Beast encounters. This despite said Girlfriend throwing a bitch-fit if anyone tries to attack any of the animals even if they're literally about to kill another PC.
>Hey GM, I know preparing everything is pretty tedious work so I setup 'Insert Genericly Useful Macro/Asset Here', GM: "Ugh, Stop trying to run my games for me!".
>>46546898
Had one kind of like this.
>PCs travel to the cleric's hometown
>Small town, everybody knows everybody else kind of deal
>Chasing a bandit we're pursuing because plot
>He's apparently gone to the church and is seeking sanctuary
>As in, arrived in the last 2 hours
>Talking to the bishop of this church about why we need this guy
>One of the other PCs gets impatient and attacks the bandit
>The bandit counters his attack completely and basically goes "AHA IT'S ILLEGAL TO ATTACK PEOPLE IN A CITY GUARDS GUARDS PLS HALP"
>Runs away to get the city patrol
>The bishop backs the bandit up
>We all get thrown in jail alongside the cleric
>The cleric who is on a first name basis with one of the gate guards
>This stranger who has been in the town for like 2 hours and has a band of adventurers chasing him and accusing him of banditry has more sway than a reputable cleric who grew up here literally his whole life
That session left such a bad taste in my mouth. Why even ask PCs for backstory like hometowns and shit like that if literally none of it is going to matter?
>>46547221
le theatre of meind faec :DDD
>>46548392
>Girlfriend throwing a bitch-fit if anyone tries to attack any of the animals even if they're literally about to kill another PC
Hippie druids are right up there with kender in how awful they are. I hate alignment faggotry but you can definitely use that to shut down one of these types (or at least get the GM to take your side). Neutral is neutral aka RULES OF NATURE. The natural course of things is that I'm going to gut the bear for trying to eat me and then I'll eat him.
>>46548022
wow
>>46548468
The one thing many GMs need to git gud at is moving around or reflavoring set pieces and encounters. It's really transparent that he didn't have anything planned beyond getting you thrown in jail.
>>46547631
>>I don't use official monster stats.
Do you mean you customize the monster stats, or you just make them up as you go along? There's a big difference.
>>46539477
>we can have starting weaponry
>we get dropped naked into the plains like a teleport
>we still have weapons but clothing is not allowed to have
>towns with military but no forge
>strict rule to "not mix level differences in equipment , enemies and environment", resulting in level-barriers for locations and even forbidding you to sharpen your old sword at the first town you enter
>asking for natural roll instead of stat modified roll for scouting , searching and observation
>having overall experience in warfare , hunting and scouting does not give you the knowledge to start a fire for camping
>a 5m bear has only slightly more strength than average starting stats for PCs
>size is somewhat just played for effects
>infrastructure that makes less sense than acceptable considering how much military every city is able to contain (no forges , no streets , no farmland , no city walls)
>a fucking ostrich in a pine forest
>80% of all enemies are random animals that are full kamikaze-mode
>we kill a bandit , and there is only a -% chance of him leaving SOMETHING. His axe , the fur cloak and the bag of coins disappeared a la vidya style drop rates
>he is bad at making jokes , and does them in a lolrandom 4th wall breaking manner at inapropiate times
>his storytelling is pretty damn good during his better moments
>>46539477
>always resorts to unavoidable kidnappings whenever something unexpected happens
>it was dream, more than once
>>46539760
>save or die
>anything worth a flying fuck is entirely immune to it
>works on a ridiculously obtuse system
Sounds like 3rd edition, all right.
>>46548850
>strict rule to "not mix level differences in equipment , enemies and environment", resulting in level-barriers for locations and even forbidding you to sharpen your old sword at the first town you enter
>we kill a bandit , and there is only a -% chance of him leaving SOMETHING. His axe , the fur cloak and the bag of coins disappeared a la vidya style drop rates
Holy fuck. I would definitely try to talk him out of that silly pseudo vidya bullshit. That's fucking awful.
>>46548843
Customize. Keeps the people who've memorized he monster manual guessing.
>>46548022
This sounds like an interesting setting. Players explore a half-formed world where everything is just a vacuous concept and things gradually shift their nature, so names are meaningless and don't stick. The PCs try to impose order and meaning, but at first it backfires; everybody makes their own names for things, and the concepts become volatile and spasmodic as they attempt to conform to dozens of imposed names at once. The PCs leave a small farming town and return to find that it has become a pile of woodworking implements interspersed with gusts of strong, but sweet-smelling wind.
How will you bring order to a world that can't even agree on what it is? Should you even try?
>>46548022
The first time I DMed was sort of like this. I had names for places and stuff, but a lot of NPC names I just made up on the fly. Which means that there are a lot of people with names that end in -by. One of the famous heroes of my setting is named Grumby, just because it's the first thing I thought of on the spot, and we're going with it. Everybody loves Grumby.
>>46548850
>>a fucking ostrich in a pine forest
sounds like Dwarf Fortress
>>46546970
Someone somewhere has porn of that.
I'm the DM here, so it's a bit of a reverse situation, but
>refuses to acknowledge North, South, East, and West on a galactic scale because it doesn't account for up and down and there's no poles in space.
At the beginning it was funny to tease him about it, but after a while it's kinda getting annoying that he won't acknowledge it even if it's in the rulebook.
>>46545758
I also do this. It makes them incredibly paranoid.
even better when you smile 'that' smile after they roll poorly.
then when they start to calm down you hit em'.
I dunno if this is bad but he kind of over-tells traps and puzzles, and we all end up getting antsy and we sit at the table OOC discussing the proper course of action here for 3 hours because the solution just seems too obvious and easy, when in fact, it was that obvious solution.
Surely, he'll never do it again, that'd be too obvious.
>>46549212
>>46549414
Is there porn of her in her true form?
>>46539477
The thing that I find annoying is that my GM makes everything too easy to the point where I literaly have no fear of dying in game not matter what stupid shit I do even if the rules say I should be dead. For example:
>Taking a break from the main campaign to do a one-off as different pre-made characters
>I get a changling rouge
>Our objective for the session is to assinate a guy in a crowded market place & flee
>we kill the guy, everyone's fled & I'm the last one still in the market
>Since I was still new to D&D & I'd never played a rogue before, I was at low health
>Get hit by an arrow when I was almost gone & it's enough to put me below 0HP
>I fail my 3 saving throws & my team isn't there to help, so I die
>GM: Wait keep rolling, I want to see what happens
>The GM stops the game until I roll a 20
>Luckily the 20 comes quickly
>I get up & continue on like nothing happened
>A few months later my rogue from the one-off comes back into the main campaign as an NPC just to get executed
What's the point of doing death-defying feats if there's no death to defy?
>Bullies players
>Impossible high DCs, if you roll high enough you still fail because, ignores any rule that allows players some agency and pretty much freeforms to make his monsters and traps always win
>When someone calls bullshit he yells "I'm the DM, I'm GOD!, shut up and do what I say!"
Just left a game with a faggot like this today, the cunt even used the "if you leave I stop GM, will you leave these players with a GM?" card
Btw, fuck those players too, they were to afraid to do shit, they weren't enjoying the game but still kept playing, they literally accepted what was coming to them like fucking sheeps
>Changes stuff PCs should know during the game without telling the Players
Examples:
>We're in a cave, isntead of using torches we use a magic sword that emits light like one
>Suddenly attacked
>Seems we failed perception
>Fail tons of attacks
>Get hit tons of times
>Almost TPK
>Us "The fuck?! how was this so hard, they weren [insert weak monster]"
>GM "You were fighting in the dark"
>Us "What? no, we have this weapon"
>GM "Stopped working 2 hours ago"
And this is the most light offender
Other stuff includes:
>PC loses its powers because now they have a new prerequisite, introduced by GM without telling us, player didn't know
>Tons of game lore stuff we don't know because it's made up stuff by the GM but our PCs should totally know
>Removes equipment without telling players, so when we packed 10 torches in reality we packed none, when we packed food for 2 weeks, in reality we packed none, etc
>Players don't know how their own classes operate, p.e. your undead hunter doesn't know that now zombies are immune to any damage that isn't fire, etc
>>46549680
Good man.
>>46549680
So mad I don't know what I'm typing, meant "if you leave I stop GMing, will you leave these players without a GM?"
Srly, so mad my blood is boiling, had to use all my willpower to just leave without saying shit. Happened today, just 2 hours ago.
>>46550079
it's okay anon, I understood :)
>>46544625
Buy him a tape recorder
>>46549680
You did the world a favor with one less shitty GM in the pool.
The only main issue is when a GM railroads. Like one time I was playing with a bro tier GM who wanted to play a game that was more linear, which was fine by us. I love open world just as much as I love story based linear games. All depends on the setting. So, we're playing, and after a few sessions, shit gets out of control. We'd beat a pack of guys trying to bring us to jail, and rather than let us go or build enemies who could bring us to the jail, he decides "okay, you beat them, but then blah blah blah you're in jail now". It's like those cut scenes from video games where you'll kick the boss's ass, but then some random mooks will kick your ass for the convenience of the plot.
At least immerse us in the game and give us some agency, not just using fiat to go "fuck you, you may have won but you really lost".
>>46544625
>you complete the campaign
>GM writes a novel
>your character is killed halfway through despite surviving through the end
"um" TWICE EVERY GODDAMN SENTENCE.
>>46549916
"Okay and your horses die flipping your cart"
"..."
"you didn't say you were feeding them."
>>46549680
>"if you leave I stop GMing, will you leave these players with a GM?"
That sounds like an incentive to leave more than anything else. You'd be doing those guys a favour
>>46552535
I don't know why some GMs struggle with plausibly getting their party jailed. If you're going to railroad do it right. He could've let you go on your merry way, stalled with some generic task + random encounter for a bit, waited until you guys rested, and then black bag you or have a ridiculous amount of mooks ambush your party while your guard was down. Maybe end the session there for a cliffhanger and so he could re-plan for the those 2 party memebers who still didn't get captured because they were keeping watch or something.
>>46549916
How did you hide the body?
>one player has a full-on combat character with no social abilities, but the player is friendly with the GM, or more experienced
>another is a character that should be the party face but the player is shy
>GM goes by the "no social rolls" rule and lets the first player become the face while the second is entierely useless
>>46546898
You must be one of my player.
>I drop hints that there's one tavern know for spontaneous brawling.
>PCs go and start brawl.
few rounds of non lethal nonsense later....
>Burning hand can ignite stuff right? What happens if I hit the liquor supply?
>"That would be bad, it would probably start a fire"
>"I do it"
>"But why am I in jaaaail, that place is known for fighting"
>"WAS"
>it's a "you lose all your equipment" game
>resolve the situation
>don't get equipment back
>>46547406
>pics of hot women
>magical realm
Dude what?
That's sorta the OPPOSITE of M.R.
Also makes the rest of your assertions seem sketchy.
>>46553147
Point being he clearly couldn't keep it in his pants even when trying to GM like a normal human being.
Also
>loli
>Not magical realm
Shiggy diggy
>GM always makes the final bad guy a tragic figure who wasn't ''really bad'' he just had his back to the wall/wanted his family back/had no other choice.
>>46553499
Tough shit. Shouldn't have done evil stuff if you didn't want to die like a bitch.
>>46553499
realistic desu
>>46553499
Ya'know, unless it was built up through the whole campaign or clues were left that the BBEG had a shit life, that's just a lame asspull for the sake of sympathy points.
>>46545758
I played in a group that passed a lot of secret notes and was prone to good natured infighting, and sometimes we'd pass each other fake notes just to cause paranoia. I always liked passing notes to the DM asking him to ask one of the other players to make a roll and then act secretive about the result, which he was always happy to do.
>>46539477
>all monsters use the "swarm and melee" tactic of generic MMOs
>except, of course, "stand behind a waist high object, don't move and shoot" of sentient beings with ranged weapons
>Seems to think difficulty is only made through stacking numbers, not smarter opponents
I'm bored with my GM.
>>46547168
High INT.
Low WIS.
>>46549085
Throw in some magical amnesia and you've got a campaign setting.
>>46546412
Players have are like battered women.
>>46546086
Oh man, I have a guy who suffers from this hard.
God bless him though for at least trying but goddamn, it was the most cringe worthy shit seeing him trying and failing to roleplay diplomacy with an important NPC.
>>46548843
I'm guilty of the second one.
My players will be fighting some humanoids and I'll just attach a smattering of class features to the NPCs in my head and an arbitrary HP value.
>>46553147
What are you, 12? D&D is for fantasy adventures, not for getting boners and masturbating under the table. Want hot women and big breasted beauties constantly? Go to an ERP or just look at porn.
>>46554400
>Want hot women and big breasted beauties constantly? Go look at 80s-90s-era TSR art.
FTFY
>I don't prepare maps
How bad is this? I generally go TotM and for more complicated battles, I'll sketch out basic things about the environment and put X's and O's and stuff down, then draw arrows for movement like it's a football play.
>>46554523
TotM?
>>46554523
Depends on what you're playing. D&D 4e and similar, kill yourself.
I personally prefer to have an accurate map, so I know what's there to hide behind, etc.
>>46554563
theater of the mind
>>46554569
I generally play osr games, sometimes 5e, CoC or BoL. I don't premake maps but I draw them up if the environment is something that would be too complicated to describe. The only times I pre-make a map is if I know there's going to be a real major battle next session, usually larger combats.
I run sandboxy games for the most part so it just seems like it'd be logistically impossible to pre-make every map. i tried the idea of having a set of pre-made generic maps once but it didn't seem to add anything to the game that making maps on the fly wouldn't.
>>46554867
Maps are pretty important in OSR, aren't they?
>>46554944
Mapping a dungeon is and mapping wilderness is(I always pre-make wilderness maps) but tons of detail in mapping and precision in distances isn't very important to combat.
Like, making tokens, elaborate dungeon maps and all of that seems like a waste of my time when I could be making random encounters and npc's. I just don't see how a game where I can predict and precreate the map for every single combat in the game would be fun for me either, I like to be surprised as a gm.
>>46554867
>theater of the mind
Thanks, I learned a new term.
>Comes up with interesting plot hooks but if we try to finish the current task instead of jumping on them right away he doesn't write them down and forgets what they were around 1/4th of the time.
>Everything outside of combat and having conversation with named NPCs is really easy. Like I once seriously fucked over house Cannith by unionizing their factory workers and inciting them to riot and burn shit repeatedly in a single session, and still had time for shenanigans
>Reruns old characters he played in games none of us were in as NPCs and also the descendants of those characters in what is sometimes a super annoying way.
>>46553012
kek
>>46546360
Ah *sigh* rest in piece Rogue Trader San Holo and his faithful xenos Seneschal Buchaka. We could have had such a great Rogue Trader game.
>>46539477
>DM: Alright, roll to climb the rope.
>Me: 24
>DM: Cool, you're climbing the rope easily. Give me another
>Me: 22
>DM: Alright, you're continuing up. Another roll.
>Me: Uh, okay, 27
>DM: You're getting there, give me another roll.
>Me: Isn't it a 20 foot climb?
>DM: Another roll please.
>Me: Fine, 32.
>DM: Another.
>Me: ...15
>DM: WELL WELL LOOKIE THERE LOOKS LIKE YOU FALL TOO BAD TAKE 10 POINTS OF DAMAGE GOTTA START ALL OVER AGAIN BUCKO!
>>46557571
Fucking THIS.
Or just ANYTIME a GM requires you to make several rolls to complete a simple task.
>>46557624
It gets really annoying when a well laid plan can go to shit because the DM makes us roll 4-5 skill checks for something that should be simple.
>>46557571
This is a bad one with our DM
Multiple checks for fucking everything.
Even perception; If I am looking down a hallway, I need to perform perception on the floor, another roll for the walls, and a third for the ceiling. Usually my lowest roll is where the trap is hiding
>>46539477
>DM makes nearly all his campaigns magic-less cause he doesn't like spells used against his NPCs.
>>46546898
Hey, my PC's did that on their own, and only one of them was even IN the tavern.
>>Wizard has 100 different wands
>>When he wants to use one, he rolls a d100 and uses the corresponding wand from a table
>>NPC asks him for a magic trick
>>Fireball
I mean, as a GM, wtf was I supposed to do? The cleric was worse.
>>"Hey GM, are there any churches in this town?"
>>"Yes, it's a prosperous town with many diverse backgrounds coming here to-"
>>"Imma break down the door to every one of them."
Guy literally breaks down every door of every church, screams "I am the law!" at the clergy, then moves to the next one. He messed up five worship buildings and an outdoor shrine before I brought in the literal cavalry.
Guys tell me if I'm being "that DM"
>player has that obscenely bullshit "lucky" feat
>uses it pretty much whenever he can and also uses it to make monsters and shit fucking re-roll too (that is just straight up bullshit and next time he tries it I'm telling him no)
>other players all decide they want it too, I tell them no, it's only something you can take at start (or something like that, I did not want fucking 12 points of luck floating about amongst all my players, monsters would never fucking hit and they'd never miss)
>also don't let him make monsters re-roll nat 20s because that is absolutely fucking obscenely over powered and retarded
I think I'm well within my rights honestly. Had I known exactly how retarded that feat was I would have never allowed it in the first place.
Fuck the retard who thought that shit up. Make monsters re-roll? that makes no fucking sense and is meta as fuck. Feat should be something like "random luck" or something were in addition to those 3 points of good luck there is 3 points of bad luck that also spring up
>>46558152
>next time he tries it I'm telling him no
Kinda that DM, you can't use it that often.
>>46558186
>you can't use it that often.
It's three points you get back on a long rest, those go a long way, especially when the player remembers to use them at every chance
I guess I just really hate the concept of the feat in general, it's complete meta
>>46558152
I've played with that feat before, although it didn't refill and you had to burn more feats points to get more rerolls. Honestly, it's not that big of a deal. They're clever, instead of being upset at their resourcefulness, just make some encounters where rolls won't matter, or where a lot of rolls will happen to make that luck a lot less nifty.
>>46558204
>>long rest
Make them go without sleep? Interrupt their camps with big fights, so they can't regain stuff. Not every time of course, but often enough to where they'll think twice about burning every roll every day.
>>46558230
>>46558208
>interrupt their camps with big fights, so they can't regain stuff.
well then I really fuck over my casters (party is a cleric/arcane trickster rogue/ranger/fighter with the lucky feat)
and again I think my biggest problem is how meta it is. The player who has it is a fighter, not some lightfoot rogue who barely gets by by the scruff of his neck. He just took it because he noticed how horseshite it is
>>46558152
Depends on your encounters per day; if your dungeons are paced properly, they should be doing 4-6 encounters per long rest.
3 luck points means he can only force 1 re-roll once every 1-2 encounters (be they combat or social)
It's a nice feat to have, but hardly overpowered. There's no guarantee that the roll will be any lower; a crit will just turn into a hit, for example. Or re-rolling a miss might still be a miss.
If you wanna fuck with them, give the lucky feat to the occasional npc rogue or something
>>46558152
Throw them against meaty guys with solid DPT, save mooks with status ailments or save or die effect for the end of the day encounters.
Lucky is good, don't get me wrong, but remember that they are sacrificing other feats to get it meaning what their character is gaining in small moments of saving their own asses they lose in overall character effectiveness.
>>46558280
I've always chosen to think of Lucky as simply being favored by some deity, not so much as to make them a chosen one or avatar or anything but enough to lend a helping hand now and then to keep the PC alive and effective. This also gives you the means to turn lucky off when facing certain opponents where said God would not be able to help anymore without showing large amounts of favoritism.
>>46558152
Doesn't he have to declare that he's using the luck point when an attack is declared against him? If you use a DM screen he won't be able to call it only when he's about to be hit cause he can't see the roll.
>>46558152
You're being That DM, definitely.
Get over your fucking self, and just adjust encounters accordingly. Don't nerf it, don't stop people from taking it, don't be a fucking bitch about shit, dawg. Just step up your game.
Protip: Re-rolling critfails and enemy crits is the main use everyone has for it. Don't get rid of the main feature of that feat, you fucking autist sperglord.
>>46558152
A single feat that allows 3 re-rolls of different sorts, I'm guessing a day?
You mention nat 20s and "DM" so I'm assuming D&D. If it's a 3oid, That does sound obscenely overpowered. I would guess at a glance that either someone is misreading the feat, or it's some weirdo third party bullshit.
But for instance, in 5th edition, feats are very powerful, so it makes sense, but the Luck trait can't be applied to rolls against you.
If it's D&D3 based, well, you'd need to spend about 12 feat slots to get that many effects from the Complete Scoundrel's luck feats.
So if you haven't actually read the rules, you are That DM.
I also think fucking around with the feat itself is kind of That DM-y. Mid-game, fine, you're DM, you made your ruling and it's time to move on. But it sounds like this is a more long term thing. After the session you need to double check the feat description and the player's sheet and see exactly what it actually exactly says.
Fucking around with the feat itself, and tacking on extra rules to it (can only be taken at start) is absolutely a That DM move. You're 100% playing out the butthurt neckbeard who can't deal with something not working just like they think, so they tack on bullshit after bullshit to move things to the way they want it to be. If you don't like it, just ban it and force the player to retcon that part of their character.
I actually tell players going into Pathfinder games that I allow 3rd party stuff but very provisionally, and if I feel like something isn't working, I'm going to demand a change. If they can't deal with it, they don't have to sit at my table.
If you didn't tell them at the beginning, it makes for more hard feelings, but you can just be cool and collected and tell them that this feat isn't working, it messes up the game dynamics too much, and makes things less fun for you. Because that's the fundamental rule here, having fun.
>>46558280
>well then I really fuck over my casters
You're a fucking retard, you know that?
I bet you'd have no problem with the goddamn Wizard casting a "make the enemy miss" spell three times a session (Hint: there is one, and it's called Shield) but when the fucking Fighter gets even a scrap of an ability to affect the game in the same way, it's suddenly ridiculous?
You're a-okay with some asshole in a bathrobe fingerbanging a pouch full of bat shit to imitate a flamethrower, but somebody being LUCKY blows your goddamn mind?
You are everything wrong with D&D.
>>46558453
>>46558465
jesus settle down captain autismo
that fighter butthurt sweet god. Feels bad being completely worthless at level 20 compared to even a level 10 wizard huh? :^)
>>46558461
>>46558461
>If it's D&D3 based, well, you'd need to spend about 12 feat slots to get that many effects from the Complete Scoundrel's luck feats.
kek @ using Complete anything as a metric for game balance
>>46558152
You just have to learn how to make the player burn the luck, or make him feel compelled to save it for the big fights.
Also, you don't have to consider it meta. Consider it more he's blessed by Lady Luck. It's not truly meta until he can start screwing with your actual campaign notes or other players.
>>46558461
Lucky
You have inexplicable luck that seems to kick in at just the right moment. You have 3 luck points. Whenever you make an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw, you can spend one luck point to roll an additional d20. You can choose to spend one of your luck points after you roll the die, but before the outcome is determined. You choose which of the d20s is used for the attack roll, ability check, or saving throw. You can also spend one luck point when an attack roll is made against you. Roll a d20, and then choose whether the attack uses the attacker’s roll or yours. If more than one creature spends a luck point to influence the outcome of a roll, the points cancel each other out; no additional dice are rolled. You regain your expended luck points when you finish a long rest.
>>46558509
its cool to admit ur game sucks
dont see it often but its cool
>>46547406
>furfag opinions mattering
Please off yourself.
>>46558461
Sounds practically like my old DM. Spergs out so hard just because someone did something that was out of his comfort zone or he didn't prepare for. Apparently a level 13-15 character optimized to be a sniper dealing 25-40 damage per shot is considered broken. Nevermind a Barbarian at that level being able to deal up to 100-200 damage. Nevermind a Wizard making reality his bitch, but it's a sniper character that is doing nothing more than being extremely annoying by taking pot shots from half a mile away.
He gets salty as fuck just because my Luck Cleric kept preventing player's fumbles, and more than once he decided to add in house rules to control stronger PCs or characters. He also never admitted that it was due to not being able to handle PCs making the most of his own homebrewed features. But everyone in the party can tell it was his reason to suddenly shove in a new game rule.
If you're reading this old DM, at least take a moment to ask yourself if you can handle giving level 3 characters the equivalent of full plate armor with built in Bull's Strength/Bear's Constitution stat boosts. If you can't handle it, don't make such strong items in the first place.
>>46558547
>Implying I'm a furfag
>Not a DBZfag using an old DBZ meme
You couldn't be more wrong.
>>46558797
Its pretty obvious you are a furry
>>46558746
>>46558746
Seems like a lot of this shit stems from the idea that the players and the GM are supposed to be on opposite sides.
Like retroactively unmaking a player choice if it starts threatening to ruin their precious "game dynamics" or whatever.
>>46558840
Whatever helps you sleep at night.
>>46548850
>80% of all enemies are random animals that are full kamikaze-mode
druid BBEG confirmed
>>46558797
Care to explain how that is a dbz meme for a newfag?
>>46559167
Are you fucking serious? Do you live under a rock or something? It's literally a 10 year old meme.
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/its-over-9000
>>46559264
>thank Kami
>posts an anthro fox
u r furry
>>46559264
But why is it a fox man? I agree with that other anon, you are a furfag exhibiting typical furfag behavior of shoving furry into everything for no reason
>>46559264
No, I'm pretty sure most people see and question the furry itself more than what the furry might be referencing.
>>46548843
Sometimes, when dming, i do not track hp of big monsters, especially bosses. Players just fight with them until i decide it's time to turn the tables somehow or end the fight. Of course, i give the players description of their actions, but those actions have no mechanical impact whatsoever. It the biggest sin i've done.
>>46559524
End this habit immediately, shitlord.
>>46557867
>DM makes a magic-less campaign
>Every major enemy is a spellcaster
It's like fuck man, why even play DnD if you hate magic so much?
>>46559524
>mfw my DM does this shit too, but with also making the party burn 90% of their resources in a futile to stay alive.
Fucking cutscene power bullshit, man.
Make fights have set stats, or don't make such a fight at all.
>DMPCs
>DMPCs everywhere
Or, alternatively:
>"No, you can't go that way."
>"Why?"
>"Because the DMPC told you not to."
>"Fuck it, doing it anyway."
>"The DMPC points their sword at you and tells you to sit the fuck down."
>"More like, 'tells me to get back on the rails.'"
>*laughing like a giddy idiot* "Basically, yeah!"
>>46539737
I know, at least in D&D, hide and move silently are opposed checks. You hide somewhere, or hide a thing, you roll once, and it sets the search dc to find it. You move into something's line of sight, you roll hide, and they roll to oppose it with spot. You move close enough for something to hear you, you roll move silently and they roll listen, to oppose. I don't think I'll ever understand the whole, "I'm gonna make you roll your checks to not get fucked over," mindset.
>>46557571
I've done something similar as a GM with stealth rolls, but I think it was warranted.
Namely, the character was sneaking out of a tower, so I let her roll stealth on quietly opening the lock of the door, then again to sneak past the guard and hide in a corner, and after that again to sneak past both him and several others that had just arrived once their attention was turned elsewhere.
A final stealth roll was asked when she snuck up on a final guard sitting between her and opening the gate for her allies as she wanted to slit his throat.
I think that's still well within bounds of the reasonable though right? It's 4 stealth rolls for 4 different actions she takes while trying to stay undetected.
>>46539477
>>group transitioning from 3.5/PF to 5e
>>every save or skill check is still 25+
>>point out that 5e has lower checks across the board, get accused of of whining
My DM is cool but this shit is getting old.
>>46549428
No that would be gross
>>46539477
Not sure if it's annoying but my GM is the master of the cliffhanger session end. It works! As players, we're talking and emailing about the game between sessions. Other GM who ends sessions at natural lulls doesn't get nearly the same level of between-session hype.
I'm so used to cliffhangers, the season finale of Walking Dead didn't even phase me.
>>46539477
My GM heavily weights rulings on personal experience. It might not sound bad, even logical, but he expects too much from people who don't share them. When he was heavily into rock climbing, he'd throw in stupid-ass modifiers for people who didn't adequately detail their strategy for dealing with corner climbs, chimneys, overhangs... Now that he's a gun enthusiast and running a modern game, he's produced pages of house rules about guns, gun accessories... again, sounds potentially cool but when he starts throwing stupid ass penalties at characters with maxed gun skills because their player doesn't know minutiae that most games tend to ignore (like shock from noise while firing in enclosed spaces, for example), it makes the Dumb Shit list. I'm not opposed to the penalty... just to the, "Surprise! Your character with years of combat experience just committed the most classic blunder since Princess Bride because you didn't know shit your character clearly would have and no other game we've ever played in 30 years of gaming has ever concerned itself with!"
Fortunately, in all other respects, he's a good GM so this ends up being tolerable. Overall, I am a happy player.
>>46561449
25 is an extremely difficult dc to pass
If you have human peak in the relevant stat you need a straight twenty to meet it
Lower with proficiency, sure, but not that much lower
>>46561412
Seems warranted, but I'd think about cutting them some slack on repeated checks.
If they need to roll four times and have a 50% chance to fail, think about lowering the difficulty behind the screen a bit, you know?
Unless it's something stupid or that messes with the game.
The group I play with has no permament DM, instead we alternate depending on who is the most motivated/prepared for running the next adventure. One of the guys plays a barbarian who tends to be an attention hog, taking center stage no matter whether the current encounter is combat- or dialogue-based. Threatening, beating up and attempting to kill the other, less combat-oriented PCs when they disagree with him certainly helps with that. So when he offered to run a campaign I figured that we get to play a bit without his character constantly being in the spotlight. So...
>we travel to the land of the not-vikings, the homeland of his barbarian
>the main city has the same name as the DM's character
>oh, well, I guess they could be named after the same hero or something
>nope, it's really named after his PC
>who, as it turns out, is the beloved god-king of these people
>and, according to an ancient prophecy, has to fight his evil twin brother for the right to reign over the country
>he also has a fancy mansion with loads of servants
>and super-tough fighters under his command that also name themselves after him
>the rest of the campaign boils down to following the now DMPC on oversea raids, where he fights astonishing battles against terrible odds, while the party slinks off to raid the local temple
>>46562049
Just leave
>>46562012
I was doing them all opposed with the guards, who didn't really have that much perception. The one check with multiple people I gave them penalties for being further away and with their backs turned and occupied with other stuff.
Not to mention she got incredibly lucky and rolled above 20 every single time until it came to actually attacking the guard. Then she only barely got above flat-footed, but it was still enough.
The atmosphere was incredibly cool though, everyone was holding their breaths. They were aware it was a risky plan, and I think the guards acted a bit smarter than they had anticipated, but they pulled it off quite well. It was a very improvised plan after their attempt to bluff themselves in failed due to some bad arguments mostly (their rolls were ok, but "oh hey, we're definitely merchants and not pirates, please let us in, widow of notorious pirate who has been fending off the occasional pirate attack for the past 10 years or so" didn't exactly cut it).
>>46547689
Same as a flesh golem, but with dragon parts instead of people. I think it was in Monster Manual 2.
>>46558450
Nah, the player can declare after being hit, but before knowing the effects or damage result
>>46562131
Seems legit, keep up the good work, Anon.
Wouldn't that be some shit to nail the stealth checks but not the combat? Sounds like a fun game.
>>46546086
>player chooses CHA-based class, can't speak properly
do the player need to be strong to be a fighter or just the character? Stop this bullshit already
>>46546739
>he's been doing for me for 3 years
are you gay anon?
>>46562416
>You don't need to be strong to play a str char
>You don't need to be fast and agile to play a dex char
>You don't need to be a genius to play an int char
>You don't need to be super wise to play a wis char
>You need to be charismatic to play a cha char
fucking /tg/
>>46562539
>Implying I don't personally enrich my knowledge with proven information about strength training and dietary intake to properly play a str-con beast of a man and keep track of his projected gains
>>46561412
Perfectly reasonable when each of those seem like Entirely different actions
the gm and other players scream at me during encounters with npc's due to my social anxiety and autism
>>46562539
>He doesn't powerlift to properly play a STR character
>He doesn't run track&field to play a DEX char
>He doesn't do mental exercises to play an INT char
>He doesn't burnout in chess tournaments to play a WIS char
>He doesn't consult pickup artists and scammers to play a CHA char
This board has gone to the shitter
>>46559671
>>"No, you can't go that way."
>>"Why?"
>>"Because the DMPC told you not to."
>>"Fuck it, doing it anyway."
>>"The DMPC points their sword at you and tells you to sit the fuck down."
>>"More like, 'tells me to get back on the rails.'"
>>*laughing like a giddy idiot* "Basically, yeah!"
...and you wouldn't leave a campaign over that?
DMPCs can be done well, but they should support the party or offload tasks the players aren't interested in handling, not tell them what they're allowed to do.
>>46562416
Is personal strength a central part of collaborative role-playing storytelling bullshit? No.
Is speaking? Yes. Should you penalise *bad* speaking? No, that would probably cause issues. Should you penalise half-arsed speaking? Yes. It's what the game's about.
>>46563237
Man, I hate retards hear a joke at the expense of their shittiness and focus on the joke part, disregarding the shittiness.
>>46563169
That's not just rude, but inconsiderate as hell. They seem to be the ones with the bigger case of autism than you.
>>46562539
Sure, let the bard convince people with "Ehi...ehm...you know...ehm...I could...I could...oh,yes! Ehi, you, I could give you money if you want. Do you want? I only have 3.5k golds with me,so ask less. K?"
>>46557897
I want my players to do this...
>>46539477
>doesn't boot That Guy from the group
>That Guy that noboby likes, GM included
>even when he ruins every encounter with HUAHUEHUU xDDD "random" humor
>and everyone is actively trying to kill every character he makes to prevent that
Why are you doing this to us, man?
>>46558152
you are being that gm
>>46565810
>My character bribe the guard
>make a roll to see if he buys it
somewhat diferent from
>My character attacks the guard
>make a roll to see if you hit him
>>46563947
Can a low INT, low WIS character come with the brilliant plan his player come with?
Can a low CHA character get away from problems talking because his player is a good talker?
Are you aware of what role-playing mean? You are not your character, that's why the DM can give lore information to the players that their characters would know but they don't. Their characters can fight even if the player can't tell a sword from a spear apart, etc. If you can't role-play a smarter, wiser or more charismatic character (or in the other way), then you are no role-playing you are playing yourself with powers.
>>46566981
>My character bribe the guard
>make a roll to see if he buys it
somewhat diferent from
>My character attacks the guard
>make a roll to see if you hit him
The DC for an attack is set by the opponents AC just as the DC for this should be set by the guards predisposition towards the party, alignment, and other factors like his sense of honor and personality.
The only real difference mechanically is that attacks can crit.
>>46562495
A little bit not with hjm. I meant dming
>>46562539
You don't have to be rich
To be my girl
You don't have to be cool
To rule my world
>>46563947
Holy fuck, thank you for encapsulating this so well. It comes down to knowing the player in question. Do you know they are stuttering autists? Don't penalize them for it. Do you know they are normal socially and are just being lazy? Penalize them for it.
The difficulty of a social check is determined by what you are saying, in virtually all systems. This is the same as saying what you doing with a mundane task. If someone said "I want to climb the cliff one-handed" you'd either assign a penalty to the roll or set a higher difficulty, require more successes etc. I don't expect someone to climb a cliff out of game to do it though.
>>46568711
>I don't expect someone to climb a cliff out of game to do it though
Yet you expect them to be able (or know how) to bribe, seduce, intimidate, etc. Like a master con-artist despite in the more likely escenario they are below average people on this aspects.
>>46569180
not even reading his post
>>46569233
>The difficulty of a social check is determined by what you are saying
>Do you know they are normal socially and are just being lazy? Penalize them for it.
He expect them to say what they characters (high charisma in this scenario) should say and penalize if they don't do it right (right according to GM) despite them are likely low charisma.
A high charisma character is not normal by fucking definition.
>>46569335
I don't think that's what he is saying. I think him likening it to " I climb the cliff one handed" means he would accept something like "i bribe the guard with some sapphires" vs " i bribe the guard with some copper" you don't have to actually say what you say the guard if you don't know what would be best to say as most people wouldn't.
>>46546481
The town might be able to handle roving bands and such, true, but fighting off or dealing with 100 orcs is still worth some respect and appreciation at least.
I mean, thats a lot of lives and properties of the townfolk saved, ya know? Thats worth at least some appreciation
>>46549916
Wait, the DM removed equipment from your ''packs'' without ye using it?
Thats... hard to believe
>>46558533
That's somewhat vaguely worded in a couple spots but, assuming I'm reading the intent correctly, not only is it not overpowered but it's probably only about a C+ or maybe a B- as far as 3.X feats go.
If you (foolishly) use it for what seems to be the intended primary use (I'm about to do something important, better roll 2d20 and keep the better roll), it's only about a +4 bonus 3/day.
If you use it a little more intelligently it's 3/day of "oh shit I just rolled terrible on something important, better retry that" the new roll is still going to have a chance to roll low and screw you over. The new roll will average 10.5, same as any other d20 roll, so even if they save it for times when they roll a natural 1 it's only an average of +9.5 (which is way less than a lot of 1-time bonus spells give so I'm fine with it).
Making monsters reroll attacks against you, depending on whether you can activate the feat before or after you see their roll, either makes the feat just as good there as the second use (so, not overpowered) or nearly-useless in this area. I notice the text says you can use it here "when an attack roll is made against you," which implies to me that you have to use it before the DM tells you whether or not you're getting hit by the attack.
So basically, assuming the group is running into an even remotely appropriate number of encounters per day it's just a limited "don't critfail / get critted" button that doesn't even work every time.
tl;dr not overpowered, don't know why anon has his panties in such a twist over 3/day of this.
>>46569445
following the chain of post and who was he agreeing with I didn't read it that way.
>>46558152
If 12 luck points is that big of an issue, you aren't running them through enough stuff.
Like seriously, Luck isn't that OP of a feat so long as you adjust for it and your players are somewhat cautious. If they aren't, make them realise how stupid it is to waste your luck on minor shit.
I would say to make it not apply to certain things though, true. Like, if you fail the DC to avoid a dragons breath attack by a long margin then Luck won't help you unless there was already something in the physical world that could block it.
>>46539477
One DM I had always designed females in the most fedora way possible. They were almost always reminiscent of any female character of an anime he may have watched or may have been watching.
His character designs as a player are also lacking, in that there's no real depth to them and often times they are also just based on anime characters, in the rare case it may be a video game character but he cannot roleplay them too well.
>>46570489
That's not fedora, that's just standard weeaboo or neckbear. Fedora would be modeling them on either side of ID politics.
>>46570152
Not the guy you were talking to, but as I read it
>>46563947
>>46568711
were saying that you have people say (or probably paraphrase) what their characters say and don't penalize the roll if they're bad at speaking or social stuff. If, however, they just half-ass it and don't really try, THEN you start handing out minuses.
>>46539477
>party has become so chaotic and randumb that DM just gave up trying to create a plot outside the setting
>now pure sandbox hijinks
>no direction whatsoever
I hate to say it /tg/ but, I kind of wish my GM would be a little less chill and railroad us a bit more often.
>>46570728
He should just do a hexcrawl and improv a fairly generic and modular plot around your actions. That way everywhere you go has some structure planned out and no matter the outcome he can work some stuff into a vague "main quest".
>>46570000
I literally put the examples
>Packed 10 torches each
>Suddenly none brought torches
>And we realize this 2 weeks away from the closest settlement while inside a cave
>Similar with food, we realized we were out of food when one of us fell unconscious DM told us "you're all hungry", when we asked "how, we just had a rest for lunch an hour ago" he told us "sure, but you didn't have food so you didn't eat".
First times we avoided confrontation and just went along just to not argue and draw the game down, but at the 5th session I just packed my stuff and left without saying a word.
>>46570889
How did he do it? Does he keep track of everyone's inventories and just deleted/erased them? Did you guys say you use X and he responded with "you don't have any X anymore?"
>>46570889
>First times we avoided confrontation and just went along just to not argue and draw the game down
You probably should have pushed harder. I understand the desire to not rock the boat, but you want to also stand up for yourself.
>>46570808
Yes, that was his initial idea.
It lasted about 2 months.
Literally any time a main plot with some kind of moral dilemma arises the group splits into the paladins of the bleeding heart and the tyrants of orphan-kicking.
At this point I've personally given up and just started to boycott having a plot at all and create characters that focus entirely on mundane jobs.
>a paladin whose primary focus is patrolling the streets and handing out citations for jaywalking and cart violations
>a janitor who just wants to keep the the PC fortress in working order
>a "Paul" bard desperately failing to save his band from wenches and ego trips while trying to focus on an arguably superior solo career with some session musicians.
>a mad sorcerer who's just trying to get his work published but nobody wants his bullshit theories mucking up their magic user's journals
>>46570683
but it's something really subjective if he is half-assing it or not.
Like in the climbing example, it's made under the assumption that making no coment is doing it at the best way the character can. If you say "I climb the wall" you are doing the better you can, if you say "I climb the wall with one hand" you are imposing conditions on your on for no reason, you get a penalty.
In a charisma based action: "I bribe the guard" should asume the best course of action the character can come up, "I bribe the guard with X" should factor in function of what is X. If the player says "Hey let us in and we give you X" what I do as a GM is interpret it as an attempt to bribe in character (which is nice even if done bad) for a player not knowing how to bribe then say something like "You sense the guard will let you pass for X+Y if you offer it right", if the player is to stubborn to take such a hint then the penalty is applied.
>>46571117
He said we never had them, though still paid for them and didn't have money. At first we though this was "essential" to the game, you know, maybe an invisible stalker who stole our shit, but after a couple of games we realized this was just to exert his arbitrary power over us, that he was the GM and he doesn't follow any rule, like he said in the last session I played after asking him what was happening, "I'm GOD here", I just calmly grabbed my stuff and left in that instant
>>46571541
>Didnt' have money
the money back*
>I want you all to play good characters
>You are all kidnapped and taken to a death arena
>You try to talk to someone, he shanks you
>You try to help a group, they follow you and turn on you 3 minutes later
>Walk into a room and see a group of people devouring food like crazy and they beckon us to join them
>Look at the other combat player, we nod to each other and both exclaim we're shooting up the whole room
>GM rage quits and spergs about how we're not playing good characters.
>>46571541
>"I'm GOD here"
From were the do this people get that idea? it's nonsense.
Why the fuck did you play more than once with that turbofaggot?
>>46571915
Did you point this out to him?
>>46572119
I played 5ish sessions, I gave him the benefit of the doubt the first 3, the 4th was almost a confirmation, I asked some explanations and tried to understand what was happening at the begining of the 5th, then left.
>>46572211
It will never work. He's so edgy it actually hurts. Unfortunately we've all known each other for years so he's not going anywhere.
One time in a game of Rogue Trader we got shit of his edgy shit. And decided to play a bunch of party animals on the party barge. We organised a huge party expedition with booze and drugs and tons of nobles. We must have spent hours planning it.
He literally spoiled our fun with a horde of ghosts. Millions of them, just pouring from the planet. They then no joke, got onto ghost jet bikes. And flew after us. Killing all the nobles and chasing us back to the ship.
>Believing fluff is absolutely and unequivocally married to the crunch. Therefore if you pick ranger class and say my dude is a knight you can't.
>Strict 3x3 alignment stupidity.
Also...
>Skilled craftspeople make you this item, they have access to resources you don't. Somehow, they made it substantially worse than the base material you provided them
True story, gave them a huge amount of super-magic-steel and asked for a really strong helmet. Helmet was weaker than wood. How even?
>Interact with NPCs
>NPCs do not know things that are integral to their lively hood and well-being.
True story
Hey factory manager, now that I've boozed you up and used my awesome social skills to endear myself to you, is there anything interesting going on in your lab? I'm consider investing a substantial amount of cash, so any information is useful, and some of that cash could go straight into your pocket!
NPC: "I don't know what happens in the factory that I manage."
Wow factory manager, you are good at this.
Inside the factory when we broke in later there were like living blob-monster experiments going on in unsecured labs upstairs and an enormous steampipe and gear labyrinth leading to a huge chamber with a super complex occult portal contraption.
How did Mr. Manager know of none of this at all??
>>46572749
>True story, gave them a huge amount of super-magic-steel and asked for a really strong helmet. Helmet was weaker than wood. How even?
>NPC: "I don't know what happens in the factory that I manage."
What the fuck?
I am so sorry
>>46563341
I've introduced DMPC's in my games before, pretty much to fill gaps in the party, and the PC's universally kill them out of spite.
>Rogue Trader - Archmilitant DMPC to be the tank: they leave her to die fighting Necrons while they run for it.
>Pathfinder - Bard DMPC to be the party support/healer: one PC tries to slit her throat while she's singing because 'my backstory says I hate all magic users'
>Dark Heresy - Sister of Battle DMPC to be tank: they beat her to death because she was trying to purge a mutant they wanted to protect (a mutant that had just murdered a senior inquisition agent)
My players hate DMPC's beyond reason.
>>46547631
Holy shit. Are you me?
>>46547631
Like my last GM but with small changes
>he fudges in his favor
>he doesn't play by the rules but forces players to follow them strictly unless it helps players
>uses homemade monsters that are way harder but give way less exp
He's still calling us to come back to play, kek, fuck him
>>46571404
>really subjective
Yes, though that makes it like a lot of DMing-related stuff.
You need to know your players and have an idea of how good they are at game-related stuff, so you can tell when they're actually trying. That said, if you play with them regularly, you should have a fairly easy time picking up their baseline competence at that stuff.
>>46575581
Whoops, hit post early.
>>46571404
I, personally, am typicall fine with "I do X" type comments, though for important things I prefer a little more immersion (but not really to the point where I'll penalize someone's roll for not giving more).
I like to think of it like giving units orders in a video game; you say (or click) "do X" and then your character(s) do X to the best of their ability. However, under some circumstances it's a good idea to micromanage them (something like "no, go around the other side of the rock"). In video games that's typically because of limitations in the program (characters tend to walk straight toward their objective, for example), whereas in PnP it's typically more along the lines of "I want this to be a bigger deal than just a half-sentence followed by a roll."
>>46571541
Well fuck that guy.
>>46572119
I think it's just that he wanted to power trip. Still, I'm sure there are better ways of dealing with whatever the relevant problem is, even from the perspective of just making him feel better.
I've been thinking of removing social skills from games and base character's reactions based on my player's arguments. Assuming the proper balancing went into it (altering/removing/increasing many aspects of the game) how viable is that for a game?
>>46539477
>playing rogue trader
>doesn't want us to have nice things
>overestimates the value of best quality gear
>gobsmacked and infuriated by the supposition that fate points return at the end of the session
>doesn't get that the only reason we could beat the last ridiculously overpowered creature he threw at us was because we were lucky
>every single time we roll high on an attack and high on damage, says he'll have to throw [insert rediculously overpowered enemy here] at us
>doesn't actually read the rules
>or use them as anything but a vague suggestion
>>46575799
It strongly favors the players who are actually more charismatic. Furthermore, it encourages people to dump stats used for social interaction which might unbalance encounters since people haveore freedom to focus on becoming combat monsters.
>>46547406
>the first one
Stopped reading, you're a liar.
>mostly DM magical realms
>select players who will be comfortable frolicking there
I am thebestDM
>>46567095
>The only real difference mechanically is that attacks can crit.
>implying diplomacy can't crit
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/skills.htm#diplomacy
>>46557897
>>>Wizard has 100 different wands
How the fuck did this even happen?
>>46561449
You deserve it for playing an edition where the rules for anything outside of combat is "I dunno lol the DM makes something up".
So I'm starting a campaign for a group of my friends, and I want everyone to have a good time. What advice can you guys give on crafting stories, encounter and so on? Also what should I avoid doing?
Edition is 3.5 if anyone's wondering.
>>46548850
>>a fucking ostrich in a pine forest
I'm putting this in my next game, holy shit. Ostrich-riding gnome druids/rangers.
>>46578245
Oh I fucking wish I was lying. I couldn't make this shit up if I wanted to.
>Playing d20 Modern, mix of Fallout and Doctor Who setting
>Playing a not-Sontaran with augmented power armor. Had 20 STR, so +6 damage per 1H melee swing
>Currently level 4
>Got into a side quest where I was sent back in time, met a down-in-the-dumps scientist who was upset his wife got seduced and stolen by some punk-ass who was super hung
>Decided to help the guy out, since he was near suicidal from losing his wife AND his job
>Found the guys house
>DM explicitly stated he and the wife were naked when they met me, and he had an "elephant trunk"
>Began with breaking his legs
>He attacked by slapping his cock at my PC and once thrusted so hard it pierced the power armor. DM's words.
>The guy took at least 4-6 good hits before he was downed. In my head, I tracked at least 30-40 HP.
I couldn't tell if I was still in a regular campaign, or walked right into an ERP/DMs magical realm
>>46579525
Why would you think this thread is the most appropriate place to ask this? You'd probably get better advice if you started a new thread. Or just search for one of the many first-time GM guides available online.
>>46579647
Meant +5 damage per 1H swing, but you know what I mean, he's fucking strong as hell for a midget alien.
