I've DM'd a few campaigns with the same group. We started 5th together and got through the starter set and a homebrewed/scaled Tyranny of Dragons.
I fucking hate them.
The group is predominantly min/maxers which you would expect isn't that big of a deal in 5th, but it also means that they don't want to RP for shit. One of them's off playing Hearthstone, the other is reading builds for Diablo 3, and another one has the monster manual open and a pdf of the DMG and is trying to power game.
There's a couple people who actively participate in the RP and they make the game worth it, but we're all a group of friends so it's not like I can start a new game without the min/maxers.
Here's the issue:
They breeze through the fights. Many instances there have been some one hit KO's or they've stomped the boss in 3 full rounds and there's never been a fear of actual danger. They all wanted to go Fighter for 2 levels and then multi class into something else so their AC's are all pretty high. Consequently, a typical turn goes like this:
"Oh, it's my turn? Okay, who's the closest one to me? I run to him and roll to hit. There's my roll for damage. I'm done." Back to doing something else. No description, no effort, no interest. They don't come up with any strategy, just run in and punch, even when the CR is too high.
I tried creating some unique and interesting encounters or interactions with NPC's but with the exception of the two normal players, the rest aren't caring. When an RP decision comes up, they mostly stare blankly at me. When I ask, "what would you guys like to do?" they weren't paying attention so I need to spell out all the options. I do this, thinking that it will move the story along instead of forcing them to go back and talk to people again when gathering side quests.
How do I get my players interested in more than just combat without TPKing them?
>>43764283
I would start off by making fights rougher, and I hate to say it, more 'puzzle-like". Set it up so that if they just run and punch, they'll get beaten up. Don't kill them, not at first, but signal to them that they need to adjust tactics.
Have NPCs suggest ideas, and good ones. It might pay to be a bit obvious if they're minmaxing munchkins. But keep it in the realm of tactics at first, but you want to build the association in their minds that listening to NPCs is something important to do becuase it helps them win the fights they otherwise couldn't.
Then have the NPCs ask for a return on the favor. And that will snowball into other things, and you can get a real plot going.
>>43764283
Here OP pic related for you. In the end you only need to remember one thing you're the DM you don't need to stick with a group you don't like.
>>43764283
Use the most dickest villan ever!!
So I've been considering cannibalizing the Legend of the Wulin system to run a Nasuverse game (and make a PDF to share) but I'm curious how to implement magic in the system considering that it's not really a thing, as far as like using healing magic and fire balls.
Got any ideas?
>>43764219
Off the top of my head, so it could be shit:
>knowing magic requires buying into a loresheet
>the type of magic known is given when buying that loresheet
>casting a spell is an action using wu wei or equivalent, and requires spending a certain amount of chi
>elemental associations apply, so fire chi would count double for casting fireball
Some guy storytime'd about running Nanoha using that system, so it can be done. Don't remember how and I'm not at all familiar with LotW in the first place.
>>43764219
Honestly, I would just have magic be a way to fluff internal style techniques.
You also could fluff them as non-magical if magical uses don't fit your character concept (and maybe stay away from the elemental internals while you are doing so) and everything works out fine with minimal editing.
But that's my lazy approach to it.
>DM begins to describe a sumptuous feast prepared by the villagers
I had to stop him midway through his description, because if there's one thing I can't stand, it's rampant anachronisms.
I had to explain to him that medieval villagers wouldn't have access to salt, pepper, tomatoes, potatoes, leeks, apples, pears, pork, pineapples, salmon, scorpions, artichokes, turnips, chicken, carrots, or just about everything else that he described.
At best, a medieval peasant ate a porridge made of boiled and mashed tree bark in the morning, a flagon of bathing water for lunch, and they would cry themselves to sleep for dinner.
>>43764215
Was it actually a medieval setting, or was it a medieval fantasy setting, where you'd be wrong and anachronistic NOT to have magic influence how the world works, down to what peasants could and couldn't have access to?
>>43764215
I've always been curious, OP, what's it like to not know what fun is? Additionally, what's it like being an enormous sperg?
Going to be MCing a fallout style game for my friends soon. Any tips some more experienced MCs can give?
>>43764004
Read the rules twice over.
I had a problem with gangs and vehicles last time I MC'd it because I didn't know how those worked.
>>43764004
Remember that Fallout 4 has a different tone than the other Fallouts, and Apocalypse World has a different tone than Fallouts in general. Decide in advance whether you're going to twist Apocalypse World to suit the Fallout tone, or whether you're going to run it in a Fallout-like setting but still in the Apocalypse World, deferring to the latter's theme.
It's not a huge gap -- to a certain extent, a postapocalypse is a postapocalypse, even with their differences -- but it's an important enough thing that you need to think about it in advance.
Remember to ask for Moves when they happen.
Remember that Moves aren't the strict boundaries of what characters can do -- they're just what anyone cares about rolling for.
>>43764004
Read the rules, but /most importantly/, read the MC Section, especially 'The 1st Session'. The biggest things for me were having a solid grasp on Fronts and what they do (tl;dr, they create interesting problems), and having and giving the players a /really solid/ grip on the world they're in.
Past that, always tell the players /as much as you can get away with/. That doesn't mean never make someone Read A Sitch/Person, but if an NPC is shouting mad, and a PC /might/ have a guess as to why, then say it. It could be wrong but always err on the side of giving all the information players need, so they can make cool choices.
And don't stress too much over the rules--almost all the rules in the game are for /players/ to play with, and nearly all those will be on the players' playbooks. If the rule/Move/whatever says "when you X, Y happens", make it clear that Y /happens/, anytime that PC Xes. If players know their own sheets well enough, you'll hardly ever need to look at the rules yourself--your rules are in the MC section, and your job is to follow them. If everyone does that, it'll all be groovy.
Most of all though, the mantra I kept saying in my recent (first ever) game of AW? "Okay, cool; show us IC." Some examples:
> "Can my Driver have a little ultralight chopper instead of a car"
Yeah, why not, that chopper is your character's life IC, so show us. Having a bonafide helicopter pilot sounds fun, and opens up whole new problems that can happen.
> "Can my character trade in little hand-bound instruction / education manuals they scavenged up?"
Hell yeah they can, knowledge is power. Tell us IC what you've got on offer, like dentistry manuals, farming tips, what is it? It'll be cool to reveal NPC traits by what information they trade goods for.
> "I levelup'd to where I can take another playbook Move! Can my super beefy meatwall PC take this seductive Skinner Move?"
Awesome, show us IC how your meatwall puts the turbo flirts on someone.
>>43763463
Continued from the last thread.
Another PC (a knight of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, a Templar conspiracy to kill the antichrist with the Daggers of Meggido) rescued this girl of the Quintet, a group of songstresses who could evoke miracles through, well, songs.
The thing was that each girl had a minor blessing of her own, and one of them could walk on air whenever she was happy. She had very little control of this power, and often used it unconsciously. But around that particular PC, she could always use that power.The secret was that she was always happy when she was with him.
I've actually run the campaign a few times with different groups, and it's always interesting to see how the PCs interact with the Quintet.
I've read you posting about your game/the Quintet a long time ago. They seemed fairly neat.
>>43764207
Yeah, I'll admit: As a DM, character-heavy stories are the most fun ones, really. But generally, to make it easier for me to run, I don't have more than one PC's love interest show up at the same time, so to speak. So everyone gets a 'spotlight episode' that is peripheral to the main plot.
>>43764270
I'd love to GM more character heavy stories but I feel like my characters are terrible and not up to par with what they should/could be.The "always walking on air around that particular PC" thing is gloriously cheesy/silly and I love it.
You live as though swimming in an ocean. The noise of people and cars, of dreams being realized and breaking to pieces, honking horns and howling wind all fades into a low thrum - the heartbeat of the city. Your shades are drawn shut, and your eyes open for a moment to look at your apartment's whirling ceiling fan before closing again. You can't seem to sleep.
You shift the towel you draped over your clock - it's 11:59 on a Saturday night, then 12:00 on a Sunday morning. It's now your birthday, September 7th. How old are you?
>13 years old.
>17 years old.
>>43763771
>>17 years old.
>>43763771
>13 years old.
Also, OP, give yourself a name.
This is the official thread for all discussion pertaining to the modern format of Magic the Gathering
First some questions just to get discussion going
>Do you think any cards will be added or removed from the ban list? Do any cards need to be banned or are there any cards you would like to be unbanned?
>What's your personal favorite sideboard card?
>What's the deck you find most interesting in the format?
>>43763659
>What's your personal favorite sideboard card?
Scavenging Ooze
Reminder that WotC is waiting for Amulet Bloom to spike a GP so it can ban Summer Bloom.
If you don't already own the deck then don't bother buying it.
>>43763815
>WotC will ban Amulet Bloom
Why do people keep saying this? The deck isn't even that good. Splinter Twin is the best combo deck there is and nothing out of there is banned.
So in your experience, how do Cat People work out in your games?
>>43763641
>gloves with fingernails
ew
>>43763641
In their own homes, mostly; felines, being the introverts they are, aren't very fond of the gym.
>>43763641
I prefer them to be vaguely sociopathic and extremely smug, lazy and apathetic. Mostly occupying roles with less scruples, such as assassins or spies.
>Low level campaign
>BBEG is a pacifist who uses other people for fights
>He moves slowly, protected by the bulk of his schemes already in operation
>Sacrifices his pawns against the party because he doesn't care about them
>Party manages to flip his number 2
>Convinces him to kill BBEG and take control
>Should be childswork to kill a pacifist who never dirties his hands
>No. 2 challenges him in front of the rest of the BBEG's crew
>Party is ready to bust in and sweep out the malcontents after the assassination
>Suddenly the BBEG maims the No. 2 without even having to try
>BBEG cleans off the blood casually and turns to the room
>"Now do you see why I was never worried about these attacks?"WasIt
R-R-RAILROADING??
How would it be railroading?
What was your reasoning for thinking him weak? Just because he "seemed" be to be pacifist.
>>43763492
>How would it be railroading?
>Players act on knowledge given to them
>Formulate a plan that isn't BUST IN FULL ATTACK
>RP it out and build contingencies
>DM "changes" the BBEG to "beat" their plan
>muh player agency
>>43763559
Yeah, acting on the information you have an realizing you don't have all the information isn't railroading. It just means people don't have all the information. People in real life make incorrect assumptions all the time.
If they had a piece of information that directly contradicted the idea he was a strong combatant then I'd be on his side. Being a pacifist doesn't automatically make you a weakling.
Your burgeoning party of adventurers has achieved a notable victory in clearing out a den of bandits. As such, you have received an upgrade in personal protection from crude leather and padded cloth. You have each received from a local mayor a set of metal armor from far off parts. It looks a bit strange and it does not cover as much as the armor you're more familiar with but it's solid and sturdy.
>>43763309
ask why it has bullet dents?
>>43766592
>Rostam, we need more breastplates
>Now you tell this, I'm out of metal! Whose bright idea was it to make a hundred metal bucklers?
>Why not use the bucklers?
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DishKingQuests
Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Dish+Washing+Quest
Ruleset and Other References: http://pastebin.com/QwnkfP2d
Character Sheet: http://pastebin.com/c8PFHvHv
Product Catalog (Equipment can’t be purchased until the end of the session.): http://pastebin.com/Tc2gUUF8
You are John Bayliff, a Dishwasher at Mackleroy’s, a Brewpub in the Midwest.
Sunday's shift was a success, you did significantly better than what’d you’d usually do, there was a couple hiccups but things panned out, and you have a date with Jenna this weekend, but today is Wednesday, and you have another Shift on Friday, today’s a normal shift so no one will be helping you today. You step off the bus, it’s 4:50, the bus got stuck at a near perpetual red light, but hey, still on time.
You step through the back door and pass through the kitchen, Kim is alone frying up some wings, she turns to you and gives you an attentive nod, you nod back to her, “Morning.” You say, Kim gives another attentive nod, seems like when she’s cooking she doesn’t want to talk, “Is it just you tonight?” you ask. She pauses for a moment, then turns to you.
“Yes, aside from busy days, there’s usually one cook. It’s Wing Wednesday by the by, so expect a lot of baskets.” Kim states. “I won’t be able to help you so don’t fuck up.”
>I wouldn’t dream of it
>Please, me? Fuck up?
>>43763265
Drop pants and take an enormous shit in the fryer.
>>43763265
>I wouldn’t dream of it
An invasive thought enters your mind but quickly shake it off. “I wouldn’t dream of it!” You exclaim. “I’ll try to stay out of you way, is there a way you’d like me to stack the plates? You ask, silently reasoning her height would make the high plates hard to reach.
“... I’d like them on the counter” Kim pauses. “I can’t really reach plates and bowls otherwise.” almost seems hard for her to admit she’s short.
“Alright sounds good, see you in a couple minutes.” You say, Kim nods and goes back to her cooking, sliding a basket of wings into the window.
“MARGO!” Kim shouts out, you walk past Margo.
“Sup” Margo says to you.
“Hey” You respond, she seems familiar now that you think about it, but can’t remember from where you know her, oh well. You step into the break room, Aside from the usual people you see in the room, this time it’s Jesse, eating some tacos.
“Sup man, how ya doing?” Jesse asks slightly muffled by the tacos in his mouth.
>Doing good sir
>It’s another day man.
“ALL PASSENGERS, LISTEN UP! TIME TO GET ON THE SHIP. LEAVE YOUR BELONGINGS ON THE DOCK WITH YOUR TICKET. THE SAILORS WILL CARRY THEM TO YOUR QUARTERS. ALL PASSENGERS MUST PRESENT THEIR SEALS TO ME BEFORE BEING LET ON BOARD.”
The ship captain sits back down at his wooden table, flanked by a swarthy looking orc and a darker-skinned human wearing full plate mail. The various people waiting on the waterfront begin to stir and collect their things. Your companion, Sir Renault, turns to you and hands you a blue, velvet bag and a letter. The letter has the seal of The Republic on it and the bag rustles with the sound of clinking coins.
“There's 200 gold coins in that bag. Keep it close and the letter closer. Don't open it and don't let anybody touch it after the Captain inspects it. The only person who should open this letter is Blackburn. He'll meet you when you get off the ship. The trip will take about three weeks. I'll handle your equipment.”
He stoops to pick up your luggage and brings it over to where the rest of the passengers are putting their things. You shove the bag into your pocket and move into the line of people going past the Captain's table. In a few moments it's your turn and The Captain sticks his hand out. You give him the letter and he stares at the seal for a moment, his brown eyes inspecting it meticulously before softening as he hands the letter back to you.
“So you're one of Renault's hopefuls are ya? That makes you number seven then.” He looks you up and down. “So what's so special about you?”
>Magical Potential
>Martial Potential
>Mysterious Potential
>>43763263
>>Mysterious Potential
Tg's always choose the mystery box.
Writing
“Sir Renault told me he believes I possess some latent ability to . . .” You trail off. Renault told you this was very confidential information. You don't know what you should say out loud in the open around so many people. The Captain picks up on your hesitation.
“Don't worry, all my boys and girls here have been vetted personally by the best spooks and inquisitors Ceril has. Don't know if the same can be said about the passengers, but Renault generally knows how to pick 'em. Can't say I have a good sense of your skills, but you look a bit average compared to the others. Shit, all this is over my head. Well, I'm Francisco Faraday, captain of The Skipping Stone, and I'll be your guide for the next coupla weeks. Its a bumpy ride but I've done it many times before.” The two of you shake hands as Renault returns to your side. Captain Faraday looks at him as a smile creeps onto his face. “Renault! You old, bald bastard. Your crew is motlier than mine!”
Renault instinctively grabs at the long locks of red hair that frame his balding head. “Bald? Not yet, you young pup. When you're an old sea dog and that bird's nest of yours migrates to your chin, you'll feel sorry for insulting an 'old' knight.” Renault looks towards you. “This group's a bit colorful, but they're a good sort. Especially this one. I think he'll go far over there.” You smile in spite of the small amount of sadness that washes over you. The way he's talking . . .
“You aren't coming with me, are you?” you ask him. His expression answers your question before his words do.
“No. Recruiting requires me to stay on this side of things. Many more with potential I need to look into.
So, this is where we part ways. I've enjoyed these few weeks we've spent together.” He extends his hand and you grab it. “For the Republic.”
>“For the Republic”
>Thank him for saving you
>Remind him of his promise to your family
Lizardfolk/Lizardman/Reptilian Miniatures, I need them! Where Can I get those types of minis/what kind are there out there that aren't the Warhammer fantasy kind? I guess Reptilian-humanoid thread.
I like kinda dinosaur looking lizardmen personally. Kinda like the Saurus from WHFB
Welcome one, and I welcome you all to the tale of a world called Thespia.
Here is the odyssey of one that clings to this world with no face of their own! In a place where magic is fundamental to all of creation, all who live wear their lives upon their face, where a fire might wish to be the cooking fire of an inn!
Previously the Faceless set boundaries with a clingy Protean foxwoman, letting her know of his role's status as a widowed man. Bereft with guilt, she had begun to flee yet the faceless urged her to stay.
Feeling that the rebels could potentially become a greater fighting force with the right "Allies," The Faceless incites them to seek out pacts, finding the old innkeep, Valce a friend in a simple campfire while the Huntress, Oddette, made do with a far more vicious partner.
As she performed her trial, The faceless assisted Mira in getting her two pacts to work together and let the girl train on her own as he fell into slumber and saw visions of his Face's past.
His old allies and friends under the cloak of night and a young Hylon King by the name of Acer...
What trials shall we overcome? We shall see.
The Twitter!
> https://twitter.com/Faceless_Quest
If you have questions...
>http://ask.fm/Dranzy
And a log of the quest!
>http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Quest%20Of%20The%20Faceless
And The Faceless!
http://pastebin.com/dDstf0SN
Sol's light fades upon the labor camp as your people prepare for the attack. There are many that want to be part of the forward group, yet you hand select only a few. The ones advancing are: Yourself, Mira for her capability as a contractor, Cornel for his contract being your way in, and Odette for her fury and weapon pact.
Before leaving, you all stand together, forms darkening as horns are collectively let loose. You stand before them and look upon each of their faces. You've alredy given them the rousing speech tht made them trudge all the way back to this hellhole, and now you've barely anything to say but, “Tonight, we take back what we've lost.”
A murderous atmosphere arises from the solemn words and the Guisi that hd once been slaved noe appear as a collection of devils. Gone are their gentle disposition. Gone are the thoughts of pain and remore.
Now there is only revenge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2XR6zmZ4Ps
Your group goes forward, already drawing pacted weapons. You all wear your cloks despite the offensive stench they carry. Once the massacre begins, it won't matter if they've caught your scent.
Lunlight flows down from above, idle and as serene as a calm before the storm. Mira follows at your side, Cornel at the back, Odette to the left, and Gaffer ahead of you bearing one of the salvaged swords.
You keep your eyes on the sentries, keeping to the darker paths of the land, once close enough, you perform a simple gesture to ask Odette if the tower is within range, she confirms with a nod.
>[Have Odette kill the sentry.]
>[Fly up yourself to kill the sentry quietly.]
>[Command Odette to shoot the tower down.]
>[Slip by the sentry quietly.]
>>43763159
How noisy is Odette's shooting again?
Also an hour delay, I almost wondered who replaced you
>>43763159
>[Have Odette kill the sentry.]
1 hour too late.
Nice to see everything as usual
>A new Magic format in which all Legacy-legal cards are permitted, but decks may only contain cards from any one block.
Is this a good idea?
Nope. It means I won't be able to use any of my old cards.
>>43762786
Not really, some blocks have power level that's far and away better than others
>>43762786
They already have that and it sucks.
