I need help solving a problem typical of many RPGs:
"I scout ahead."
I always hate hearing these words. Granted, they make perfect sense from a non-meta, real life perspective, but when viewed from a meta game-mechanic and flow sense, what's essentially happening is that the party is splitting up. That means one player grabs the spotlight for a long stretch of time as I describe to him what he sees and resolve all the rolls and rules, while the rest of the table just sits around and does absolutely nothing but act board and fuck around on their smartphones.
I know scouting ahead sounds like it makes perfect sense but from a game mastering perspective it's essentially disengaging all but one player from the game. And as a game master I feel it's my job to keep everybody engaged in the game. That's what they showed up for, after all, right?
So how do I handle this whenever it pops up?
>>43904123
Just occasionally switch back to the rest of the party and focus on them for a bit, or just throw something in the adventure beforehand that makes it clear scouting ahead may be far more dangerous than it's worth. You don't need to shrink the world to one player just because they go off on their own.
My party frequently has someone scout ahead, but when we do, our DM often has something approach us from behind so the rest of the party gets surprised. It's never been an issue for us.
>>43904123
If it's an ongoing problem, I can think of a
>make recon fast and easy
Get in, make a roll, and dole out some intelligence. Actions do not always need to be resolved in beat by beat detail.
>talk to the group about the problem, they may have suggestions
You may even ask them OOC to keep recon missions short and simple, and avoid lengthy separations.
This makes sense from a character perspective too--what good is recon if you can't get the info back to the party?
We make lots of concessions for the sake of making our games playable. For example, if a player says "my character has no reason to travel with the party, he stays in town and starts a bakery"--I'm fine with explaining OOC that we are playing a pulp adventure game about an adventuring party, and that is more important than some cherished character concept.
Anyone can tell me how they would class DND 5E classes by tier?
>>43903640
If you use the 3.5 Tier system, everything is Tier 3, with the exceptions of Ranger being Tier 4, Wizard and Bard being Tier 2 thanks to a few specific spells, and Druids being Tier 2 thanks to Wildshape
>>43904568
>wrong things the post.
Ranger is fine, their spells are great and lore bards should pick their spells over a paladin's
The top tier would be wizards and bards based 100% on utility.
The middle tier would be almost everything.
The bottom tier would be the elemental monk, berserker, champion (though champion might not deserve it), and blade pact warlocks. These are narrow in focus and their class abilities either don't add much or don't work well by RAW.
Beastmaster would still probably be middle tier because they are effective with spells and class abilities alone, and no one is better as a guide or tracker than a ranger still.
top tier: wizards
middle tier: everything else
bottom tier: fighters
Dwarves are Gaelic
In your setting? Cool.
No, Elves are Gaylick.
Dwarves should only be Norse, since that's where actually respectable men come from, not cock-sucking faggots like the Gaelic people.
>>43903987
Nah, elves should be Roman.
Post 'em
Would a Valkyria Chronicles tabletop game be any good /tg/ ?
>>43903448
Small squads, interesting aesthetics, some vehicles, weapon and unit type choices, turn based...
Actually, it would be perfect for a tabletop game. Also, where did you get those models?
>>43903448
Yup, I agree with >>43904147 it would be a fantastic game. I'd play the fuck out of it.
>>43904249
The biggest problem the game would have would be getting unique/unique looking Imperial units.
Though /tg/ could probably be home brewing a system for VC. Would be an interesting project.
Who plays dicemasters here?
Own some. Local meta is toxic, so no, I don't play.
>>43902629
My brother.
I don't like my brother.
>>43902648
>Local meta is toxic
how so?
Why did Cyberpunk 2020 never make it big or last as long as other renown RPGs (Like Shadowrun, D&D, White Wolf, Dark Heresy, etc)?
>>43902087
It had as long a run as any given edition of those games, but ran out of steam when the author did. He retired RTal for health reasons.
>>43902087
It became the "It's like Shadowrun but..." setting.
is this the version with dress up dolls?
Inspired by a thread a week or so ago full of all sorts of megafauna for some anon's primordial campaign.
So /tg/, how does one go about making such a campaign feel primordial?
Has anyone ever been in a campaign like this?
Bumping with beasties
>>43902056
It's a lot of fun actually. Instead of fetch quests, you have to track down and hunt food for the tribe. Instead of feudal politics, you have tribe members with different strengths and weaknesses all vying to be the ooga booga with the biggest stick.
Why does wizards make bad cards on purpose.
I mean in each set there are a handful of cards that are unplayable in any format. Why can't every card be viable or at least situational and force you to make real decisions about your play style instead just following the sheep meta? Why can't this game be more diverse?
>>43901856
Play pauper, stop following the "meta", dont play magic.
Obviously this is bait, but the real answer is because of drafting.
"Bad" cards are created with drafting in mind. All those vanilla creatures, inefficient removal cards, over costed bombs are all created with draft in mind. Drafting wouldn't be possible if the only cards that got printed were Baneslayer Angels and Goyfs.
And honestly, the best test of skill in magic and probably the most fun I've ever had playing, was from Limited formats, either prerelease's or drafting. It actually tests your ability to play and how well you understand all areas of the game (like deck building), instead of testing the size of your wallet and how well you can net deck.
>>43902043
It's not just drafting, they do need to pad out packs to create card value
Let's say a single vehicle is tasked with protecting an entire planet from extraterrestrial threats, be it asteroids or ayy lmaos.
How can it cover the hemisphere it isn't presently in?
>>43901714
Can the vehicle carry other, smaller vehicles or remote-control drones to the planet to help out? Perhaps construct them with on-site materials from the planet?
>>43901714
Put the vehicle in orbit
>>43901714
With a lot of feedback from the other Emisphere and orbit-capable missiles
Tell me what you think. I went for a Space Mongols vibe, without trying to ape the White Scars.
>How are they different?
Read it, you'll see. It focuses more on the Mongols as destroyers, as well as their propensity for collecting intellectuals, missionaries, and engineers. None of the "bikes are horses!" of the White Scars.
>Why don't you just play White Scars?
I think bikes are lame and I can't paint white.
Anyway without further ado I present the Reckoners.
>>43901536
>Reckoners
>22nd Founding
>Ultramarines Stock
>Crusader Chapter
>Recently Codex Divergent
>Mongol Horde theme
>Shamanistic interpretation of Imperial Cult
>Disdain for civilians/Open Admiration of Priests/Mechanicus/Heroes
>Total warfare, useful only for the most destructive of conflicts
>Typically bombard from orbit and move on
>Planetfall only to execute survivors
>Emperor worshiped as creator myth
>Geneseed:
The Reckoners hail from Guilliman’s stock although an outside observer would be hard pressed indeed to find any traces of the polished nobility of the XIII legion within this wild offshoot of the Ultramarines. Yellowed skulls and weather beaten totems adorn the combat plate of most Reckoners and indeed most would assume that the Chapter might hail from the lineage of the more savage legions.
Needless to say the Reckoners are kept at arm's length from the intrigues of the Ultramarines and their more codex adherent offspring, but the wild sons of Gurdorum care little, seeking only to bring the enemies of the God-Emperor to heel.
>>43901578
>Codex Adherence:
>In Battle:
Though initially Codex adherent this brutish chapter has adopted the strategies and goals of warfare idealized by the steppe raiders of Gurdorum, a significant divergence from the teachings of the Chapter’s mentors and a direct result of the influx of recruits specifically selected from the Chapter’s homeworld.
For all their barbarity the Reckoners rarely engage in open battle, preferring to utilize their naval assets to bombard their enemies from orbit. While some Chapters such as the White Scars have applied their traditions of mounted steppe warfare to Astartes pattern bikes the Reckoners have instead applied this tradition to Strike Cruisers and Battle Barges.
Typically an enemy world will be issued a warning to surrender. If they do so then naval assets of the Reckoners will stay in orbit only long enough for the ponderous fleets representing Imperial reconstruction and pacification to arrive before moving on to another world.
On the rare occasions that an unexpected strike force of Space Marines at the doorstep is insufficient threat to cause an opposing planet to capitulate that is when the ships of the Chapter will open fire.
Oceans of promethium and cascades of laser fire devastate surface-to-orbit weapons. Crack teams of Astartes personnel are dispatched to eliminate planetary defenses that require a more personal touch to destroy. Eventually after a short but violent campaign of conventional bombardment a second call for surrender is issued.
There are no third calls for surrender. If the target planet still refuses to acquiesce to the Reckoners then that is when exterminatus is sanctioned and entire civilizations are shattered. After exterminatus the ground elements of the Reckoners are deployed en masse to ensure the guarantee of complete destruction.
>>43901606
Critics have made the argument that this ruthless nature spawns a devilment of problems for the Chapter. How effective can Astartes who rarely see the field of combat effectively be? And the Imperium hurts already for lack of developed worlds, why allow these flea ridden barbarians to destroy entire planets? While valid criticisms it bears noting that the fleet bound nature of the Reckoners has seen the rise of some of the most ruthless and successful boarding actions this side of the Segmentum Solar. In addition the Reckoners themselves will tell you that any planet unwilling to surrender to Space Marines after complete defeat of its armies is clearly beyond saving and deserving only of fire.
In Organization.
Beyond the immediate primitive motif visible upon every Reckoner’s armor lay a variety of changes from the tenets of the Codex Astartes. The most significant change is the Chapter’s treatment of failed initiates into the Chapter.
Traditionally an initiate who cannot complete the trials required for ascendancy into the ranks of the Astartes can hope only for honorable service as a serf but more commonly these failures end up as servitors or in more extreme cases are executed wholesale as a warning. In contrast the Reckoners see great value in men whose bodies may not have been up to standard but whose minds may yet be of some use.
These men are referred to as the gu-gureshi or little brothers although the term applies more to the stature of these men as opposed to authority. While the little brothers will never enter battle clad in holy ceramite plate they can play a wide range of roles, from participating as honored advisers in the Chapter’s councils of war to being ranking naval officers indeed the Chapter’s flagship Horde is commanded by one of these men, once an initiate crippled by failure to accept the Oolitic Kydney but now known to the Reckoners as Fleetmaster Ardan.
It never made much sense to me for professional assassins to be really good hand to hand fighters. Is there any setting where they aren't ninjas-lite? I guess it's just easy to go there after making them stealthy.
Aren't ninjas assassins? Like, they're the same thing, right?
Anima comes to mind. The assassin class specializes in traditional stealth, yes, but mostly in acting, blending in, disguises, and poison usage; actually combat skills are secondary if not tertiary. If they have to fight, they're already fucked up HARD.
Then again that's more of a system difference that setting. A Technician or Weapons Master can still make money killing dudes in a flamboyant and open manner.
>>43901580
Yes, but not all assassins are ninjas.
so you have informed the devil of the threat
yet you have neglected to give it all of the necessary information
why
is it not your so-called "best friend?"
do you not want its assistance?
it seems that you would rather gossip instead
>Thread archive:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?searchall=false+dendrite+quest
>Branches known thus far:
http://pastebin.com/WDXAfN9q
>Twitter:
https://twitter.com/QM_Archelon
>Ask thing:
http://maouzenigame.tumblr.com/
>Game production blog:
https://studioarchelon.wordpress.com/
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While Charlotte leans back in her chair with a wide grin of satisfaction on her face (I guess she must've really missed fast food), me and Mina pick at our food at a much slower pace until the only things left on our table are burger wrappings and french fry boxes.
"So..." I say while gathering everyone's garbage up to throw away, "...now is it?"
"How is what?" Mina asks.
"You know." I raise and lower my eyebrows a few times for added emphasis. "the non-single life."
My innuendo is met with a long groan, courtesy of my best friend.
"I'm curious too," Charlotte joins in. "Especially since it's been a few weeks since the last time I was able to ask you about how things have been progressing."
"Dammit..."
Defeated, Mina slumps over until her forehead is resting on the table.
"Good," she says. "It's going good."
>super teasing mode activate
>just be serious mode activate
>>43901494
>just be serious mode activate
>>43901494
>super teasing mode activate
Good news everyone! I have a rare real life pic of archelon eating thanksgiving dinner!
What do you think about dnd podcasts like nerd poker where they record dnd sessions /tg/ ?
I like the idea in theory, but every one I've listed to as been full of insufferably annoying people.
>>43901406
I've never heard one but my assumptions about the idea are identical to this anons experience.
>>43901297
The type of people who make podcasts and youtube videos are not the type of person I want to hear or see ever.
Dear /tg/,
I've been running Rise of the Rune Lord's module for a group of friends and it's been a lot of fun, still learning some of the mechanics of the game but it hasn't been a problem so far. At this point of the campaign they found out that there's a goblin raid coming to town with 200+ of the little shits expecting to burn the place down. I've dropped some pretty big hints in game that they should strike at the goblins before the raid commences, but they are stuck on the idea that they should fortify the town and use what little recruits they've been able to get on top of the town guard to fight them off. They spent a week in game doing such and showed no signs of leaving town until the raid commences, which does sound like fun but that's where the problem comes in. I have no idea how to run a city sized battle with that many units.
Please help a new DM out and any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advanced.
just concentrate on their fight and make the rest up. Have consequences for them not leaving fight them before.
Either fiat the battle one way or another where the players aren't involved, better still make it so if the players don't accomplish some objective (kill the gobbo general, defend the gate, some climatic thing) then the the town will be overrun. Do this if you want the PCs operating pretty much independently from the guards. Puts lots of flavour in for the battle happening all around though.
Or just do one-roll checks for units of 50ish gobbos vs guards. If the PCs are leading troops this is a better option are leading troops, have them add leadership or fighting or some single skill to their unit's roll. Again, lotsa flavour, go re-read your favourite novel where the heroes are in the middle of a big battle.
For a new GM I'd definitely advise option #1 though.
>>43901259
>>43901678
Thank you both very much and a future thank you from the party, I was ready to have them roll all night for this game.
