D&D and Tabletops RPGs V7: Yes you can talk about tabletops other than D&D
703 replies, posted
[img]https://i.imgur.com/uGsdGc0.png[/img]
[url=https://discord.gg/kB8EzMY]Super Official Unofficial Facepunch Tabletop RPG Discord Chat.[/url]
[b]Tabletop RPGs! What are they?[/b]
You know one of those games where a bunch of nerds sit around a table and pretend to be magical elves or midgets with shotguns and helicopter drones? Yes, like Dungeons and Dragons, it's in the title for reason. That's a Tabletop RPG. This is the thread where we talk about them.
[b]Interested in trying out a game but don't know where to start?[/b] First step to starting out is finding other people with the same interests, preferably your friends.
If you happen to already have friends who plays tabletops, congratulations! Just ask if you can join any of the games they're in sometime.
Alternatively, perhaps some of your friends are also interested by lack experience. Don't worry! It's not really that hard to learn, unless you start out with a game that's really complicated. I'd recommend D&D 5th Edition as a relatively simple game to start out with, assuming you're into that vanilla fantasy swords and magic stuff.
[b]But what if I don't have any friends (who are interested in Tabletop RPGs), you might ask?[/b]
Well then, you got two options. First, there's the old fashioned way. Chances are if you don't live out in the boondocks you probably have a Friendly Local Game Store™ somewhere around where you live. Most of these stores are actually a front for secret hidden cabals of nerds playing Tabletop RPGs and children's card games. Go ask around about any ongoing games you might be able to join, and maybe you'll get lucky and find one. This is kind of a crapshoot though since you probably won't know anyone there.
Then there's the online option. Since Tabletop RPGs are mostly talking and dice rolling, it's entirely possible to through a text or voice chat program. In particular, many people use a website called [url=https://roll20.net/]Roll20.Net[/url], and I've encountered a few people using Tabletop Simulator as well.
There's countless forums dedicated to Tabletop RPGs where you might occasionally be able to find a game, and Roll20 for one has it's own dedicated game finder function. It should go without saying though that playing with random people on the internet is extremely hit and miss. Sometimes you might find some really great people, other times you might regret ever meeting them. Usually it's somewhere between these extremes.
And of course, there's people right here in this thread and the Discord above who Tabletops games online.
However, since this is a relatively small community it's not especially common for a game to have an opening for you to join, even more so if you're picky about what you're playing. But it is usually at least slightly less of a crapshoot whether the other players are decent human beings than if you went looking on 4chan or the like. Slightly.
[b]But what about the actual games![/b]
Well we obviously can't list nearly every game in existence, but we'll try to list at least a few of the ones we commonly talk about here, along with a link to their SRD if they have one.
What is an SRD? It's short for System Reference Document. Once upon a time some wizards who live on a coast came up with the Open Game License, which basically gave anyone the right to print any rules information from books using it. So then a bunch of people have put up websites dedicated to reprinting the rules from a few games using this license for free, and it's actually legal! Huzzah! On to the games!
[img]https://i.imgur.com/yu6igsx.png[/img]
Well, obviously, Dungeons and Dragons. Chances are this is the first Tabletop RPG you heard about, and probably the first you played as well! It's your fairly generic high fantasy game with elves and dwarves and at least two other varieties of annoying midget people, who all usually go out slaying monsters and whatnot.
Every edition of Dungeons and Dragons after the 2nd is pretty wildly different and have somewhat different fanbases. The ones most commonly played and talked about around here are the 3rd (3.5 really) and 5th edition. That said, there are some people who play 4th as well and maybe even one or two who prefer the 2nd edition. Although on the subject of D&D editions, there's one more of note down below the SRD links
[url=http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm]3rd Edition SRD![/url]
[url=http://5e.d20srd.org/]5th Edition SRD! Although this one is somewhat more limited than the others as a lot of the material in 5th edition was not free to reprint.[/url]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/WJJlRqg.png[/img]
Or as it's sometimes known, D&D 3rd edition 2: Draconic Boogaloo
Pathfinder is technically not Dungeons and Dragons, but it is built directly off of D&D 3rd edition's rules, and is generally seen as an improvement on it. Most people who play D&D 3rd edition really play Pathfinder nowadays, and it's one of the most popular games around here.
[url=http://www.d20pfsrd.com/]Pathfinder has an extremely comprehensive SRD![/url]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/hONPywp.png[/img]
Shadowrun is a game set in a Cyberpunk future, except also it's fantasy and there's wizards and elves running about. And a dragon ran for president of the United States, won, then died less than a day later. It's pretty darn popular around here.
Normally you play as a sort of rag-tag team of mercenaries called Shadowrunners, who do jobs for megacorporations and various other groups without being part of any of them.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/lw5MFKk.png[/img]
World of Darkness, the urban fantasy game with gothic overtones, emphasis on storytelling, and lots of vampires.
World of Darkness is structured a bit unusually structured. It has different lines for Vampires, Werewolves, Mages and other things that each have their own feel and theme to them, and special rules unique to that type of being. But the lines all share the basic, core mechanics.
There's also a few different versions of the game. There's the classic original World of Darkness, often referred to as the old World of Darkness or oWoD. Then there was a big reboot of the setting with new fluff and a new set of rules which was dubbed the "new" World of Darkness or nWoD. Then they lost the rights to the name and made a second edition that was most similar to nWoD but had some significant changes in rules and fluff as well, and dubbed it the Chronicles of Darkness. At some point some cook named Monte Cook also made his own version of the World of Darkness, appropriately titled Monte Cook's World of Darkness. No one played it though.
Mostly, people play the 20th anniversary edition of the old World of Darkness and the new Chronicles of Darkness.
[img]https://www.peginc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/DL.png[/img]
Deadlands is set in the weird, weird west. It's like a western, only there's a supernatural/sci-fi slant, with mad scientists inventing gatling pistols and Hucksters who cast spells by playing mind-poker with demons. And yes, the mechanics for that are literally drawing a poker hand.
It lends itself well for games ranging anywhere from standard spaghetti westerns with no supernatural stuff at all, to full on horror scenarios. But mostly it's somewhere in between.
I should also note there's two very different versions of this game, the original which is now known as Deadlands Classic (or just Deadlands), and Deadlands Reloaded which is a setting book for Savage Worlds. The general consensus is, Deadlands Reloaded is a lot more streamlined, Deadlands Classic has a lot more feeling and theme to it.
So with that out of the way, yeah, Tabletops. They're cool and stuff. Woo. Discuss stuff.
Hey cool, finally a dnd thread
Lately my friends and i have been starting to play dnd, ive read through the starter rulebook about halfway and weve played a few ghetto one off combat scenarios, and its been hella fun so far.
[QUOTE=Birdman101;53178811]Hey cool, [B][I]finally[/I][/B] a dnd thread
Lately my friends and i have been starting to play dnd, ive read through the starter rulebook about halfway and weve played a few ghetto one off combat scenarios, and its been hella fun so far.[/QUOTE]
[t]https://i.imgur.com/Lk1ftMZ.png[/t]
:thinking:
Also, I'm still looking for 1-2 people for the Werewolf game I posted about towards the end of the last thread. :dog:
I'm going to bring in a DMPC for campaign.
It wasn't my first choice of solution, as you guys gave a few good ones in the last thread, but it's the solution that I think will help them the most.
I'm pretty fair with DMPCs they don't take up any of the spotlight or even the backdrop so I wouldn't take away from my players the DMPC will simply be another tool for the actual players
With that said.. Any advice, on playing one will be appreciated.
Following something from the last page, aside from fun stuff like vision cones and lighting arcs, I’ve found dynamic lighting way more useful as a tool for reducing GM busywork than as an aid for the players
As someone who spends a whole pile of time writing descriptions even while battlemapped, not needing to multitask crap like what the PCs can see has been such a convenient timesaver that honestly I don’t know what I’d do without it anymore
Also, my last RT session was probably about as close to epitomizing the game as I’ve ever seen. The PCs, through the tactical combination of threats (intentional and otherwise), bumbling, and charm, managed to convince someone that giving up their fortress island (to the party, of course) was in their best interests, for far less than its actual value
Has anyone here ran or played OSR games? I've been looking for something D&D-esque but more low powered than 5e.
[quote]I've been playing with the same group for a year now (meeting only every few weeks though) and because none of us have any experience with Pathfinder (or D&D) we are still struggling with getting used to the rules. Just last session we finally thought to look up how class skills work and noticed we forgot the +3 bonus for the last year or so.
Should we just keep going like this and we will get used to the more advanced rules or do you have any tips?[/quote]
Since the last thread was closed by my question I'm gonna post it here again so it doesn't get buried.
[QUOTE=Robber;53178893]Since the last thread was closed by my question I'm gonna post it here again so it doesn't get buried.[/QUOTE]
That's how my group started, we had a basic idea of how it was played, we knew about rolling dice and the basic character archetypes.
Every now and then we'd take what we already know, and read deeper into how the characters worked until we felt comfortable to continue.
The main thing is of course, are you having fun?
[QUOTE=TyHap;53178887]Has anyone here ran or played OSR games? I've been looking for something D&D-esque but more low powered than 5e.[/QUOTE]
Sure, they're my favorite. What, exactly, are you looking for?
[QUOTE=Chronische;53178919]Sure, they're my favorite. What, exactly, are you looking for?[/QUOTE]
I'm not really sure, but I've heard a lot of good things about Lamentations of the Flame Princess. In general I'm looking for a game where some of the most mundane things, like a pack of wolves, can pose a serious threat, or something among these lines.
Can we talk about ERP here too?
[QUOTE=DiscoInferno;53178986]Can we talk about ERP here too?[/QUOTE]
Sorry mate, only EFRP here.
[QUOTE=Birdman101;53178811]Hey cool, finally a dnd thread
Lately my friends and i have been starting to play dnd, ive read through the starter rulebook about halfway and weve played a few ghetto one off combat scenarios, and its been hella fun so far.[/QUOTE]
Tell us about this obscure game niche you found
[QUOTE=TyHap;53178950]I'm not really sure, but I've heard a lot of good things about Lamentations of the Flame Princess. In general I'm looking for a game where some of the most mundane things, like a pack of wolves, can pose a serious threat, or something among these lines.[/QUOTE]
Sure, Lamentations is one. There's actually a shitton. Dungeon Crawl Classics, older editions of D&D like AD&D or B/X, Lejendary Journies, Beyond the Wall, and so on. If you like, I can get you into a group that is specifically all about OSR - it's got a ton of resources for setting up and running games, as well as everyone having pretty good experience with at least one of the dozens of games they'd suggest based on what you like about RPGs.
Fatality to low level creatures is pretty common if you go even to 3rd edition D&D tbh! Level 1-4 or so have always been pretty dangerous, even in 5e. It's really the only time you're likely to die at all in 5e, really.
[QUOTE=_Maverick_;53178914]That's how my group started, we had a basic idea of how it was played, we knew about rolling dice and the basic character archetypes.
Every now and then we'd take what we already know, and read deeper into how the characters worked until we felt comfortable to continue.
The main thing is of course, are you having fun?[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the answer. I've always heard the advice to make the experienced player of the group the DM, like every group already had a super experienced player to show everyone the ropes, so hearing that it's possible to make the jump from very casual knowledge of rules to some deeper mechanics is great.
And yes, we're definitely having a lot of fun. It's just that sometimes we're already arguing over rules. We didn't know that we had to add +3 to class skills until the last session and when we found one one of the players started arguing that that would be unbalanced and we shouldn't do it until the GM grudgingly agreed to not use that mechanic since it worked fine without it so far. I don't like that we're already changing rules before we even understand the game though.
[QUOTE=Chronische;53179032]Sure, Lamentations is one. There's actually a shitton. Dungeon Crawl Classics, older editions of D&D like AD&D or B/X, Lejendary Journies, Beyond the Wall, and so on. If you like, I can get you into a group that is specifically all about OSR - it's got a ton of resources for setting up and running games, as well as everyone having pretty good experience with at least one of the dozens of games they'd suggest based on what you like about RPGs.
Fatality to low level creatures is pretty common if you go even to 3rd edition D&D tbh! Level 1-4 or so have always been pretty dangerous, even in 5e. It's really the only time you're likely to die at all in 5e, really.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the info. I think I'll run Lamentations for my group sometime later and I'll pm you if I need any help. One last thing thing I'd like to ask - do you have any go to OSR adventures for beginners?
[QUOTE=Robber;53178893]Since the last thread was closed by my question I'm gonna post it here again so it doesn't get buried.[/QUOTE]
Start small, and start over.
Paizo actually has like three minicampaigns where they literally cover everything step by step somewhere on the main site. Get that stuff til you're comfortable with the basic flow, and yes you'll still forget stuff and fudge things, but as long as everyone is enjoying themselves it's not like the TSR police are going break down your door and 15th level cast mass papercut at you.
[quote] and featuring _Maverick_ as MarySue Von Interventionstein III [/quote]
There's several approaches to take; you can do the whole "this is the person telling the tale of these heroes after the fact" where you just nudge them in general directions and provide essentially logistical support and "sage advice" with some color commentary and the like on the side
You can do the straight up pack mule thing where you actively take part in direct stuff as a minor character doing essentially vignette stuff and running advice through direct actions
The Giver of Tasks, as direct reinforcement of stuff you're trying to get them to try out or check into, you can play this several ways, from stuffy bureaucrat to perpetual person in intrigue to R. Lee Ermey in a viking thong with pointy hat
The Sneevil Fence: since your group seems to like video game style campaigns and scenarios this one is pretty straightforward, handling the loots and making bad deals or getting double crossed when handling the loots, basically a literal bread crumb provider
Zardoz McZordon: thinly veiled quest giver guy/healer, hopefully this one isn't a necessary option
[QUOTE=27X;53179158]Start small, and start over.
Paizo actually has like three minicampaigns where they literally cover everything step by step somewhere on the main site. Get that stuff til you're comfortable with the basic flow, and yes you'll still forget stuff and fudge things, but as long as everyone is enjoying themselves it's not like the TSR police are going break down your door and 15th level cast mass papercut at you.[/QUOTE]
Other than the campaign included with the starter kit I bought (which ended with the level 3 PCs taking down a massive dragon which was just weird IMO), our current GM has created her own campaign so far which are really good and lots of fun so far. (we've also got the full rulebook instead of the starter edition now)
Maybe we will try some Paizo campaigns at some point though. Which campaigns do you recommend?
[QUOTE=Rats808;53178827][t]https://i.imgur.com/Lk1ftMZ.png[/t]
:thinking:
Also, I'm still looking for 1-2 people for the Werewolf game I posted about towards the end of the last thread. :dog:[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=27X;53179025]Tell us about this obscure game niche you found[/QUOTE]
Sorry, im really not a very attentitive person.
[QUOTE=TyHap;53179060]Thanks for the info. I think I'll run Lamentations for my group sometime later and I'll pm you if I need any help. One last thing thing I'd like to ask - do you have any go to OSR adventures for beginners?[/QUOTE]
Absolutely. There's quite a few, in fact! The Village of Hommlet, In Search of the Unknown, Keep on the Borderlands (kind of a weak one, but it's there), Secret of Saltmarsh, there's plenty. Ones that introduce a good town to use as a home base, plenty of NPCs, and quest hooks for later use are all ideal for a starting module. The Village of Hommlet is that, for sure, though I'd recommend giving them some things to do before they reach the Moathouse. That place is perilous.
You should add WoD and the Star Wars games to the starter sometime, elowin, considering they're the other two games in the 'big 5'.
[QUOTE=Yahnich;53183261]anyone know where i can find all monk monastic traditions and ranger archetypes? the sources i have only show way of the open hand and hunter for monk and ranger respectively
[/QUOTE]
monk: [URL]http://engl393-dnd5th.wikia.com/wiki/Monk[/URL]
ranger: [URL]http://engl393-dnd5th.wikia.com/wiki/Ranger[/URL]
[QUOTE=Yahnich;53183261]anyone know where i can find all monk monastic traditions and ranger archetypes? the sources i have only show way of the open hand and hunter for monk and ranger respectively
[/QUOTE]
[url]https://5etools.com/classes.html#druid_phb[/url]
this site is pretty handy.
[QUOTE=Fury McFlurry;53183316][URL]https://5etools.com/classes.html#druid_phb[/URL]
this site is pretty handy.[/QUOTE]
careful about posting this around, wizards have been trying to take it down for a while now, it's already gone through several rehosts before it got to that domain.
So I start running a 5e game. The setting's a glorious homebrew clusterfuck (which uses all the rules and all the standard lore i can muster) but it boils down to -wizards are divine kings that are working hard in their oversized towers to stabilize the universe- and -nobody knows what a human is, but there's a bunch of extra races thrown in to make up for it and few get along. Oh, there's no common, I told them to pick between Dwarven or "high goblin" (as I'd think dwaves and hobs would do the best job expanding in such a setting), they chose High Goblin.
Anyhow, I got myself a Drow bard (and new player) a Lugaru barbarian (He liked the rabbit dude from overgrowth, and I was cool to homebrew it) and a Firbolg druid of the moon. We started at second level, I wanted a quick start and asked them if they were OK owing a guy, they're in a room, a hobbit crime lord gives them unknown potions and vaporizes a plant who refused to drink, gives them a hundred gold, and tells them that they need to intercept a caravan and bring it's goods to x city, the caravan sets off in three days time and it'd take them three days of walking to get onto the right road (route is 6-8 days for the caravan, they're south of the middle of that route)
The first purchases were donkey and cart, reasonable, even if it seemed the players were forgetting that they were robbing a vehicle capable of transporting heavy goods anyway.
Now, I had a lapse in this no-humans rule, since generally you kind of assume everyone's a human if you don't specify otherwise, so I rush and decide the town was mostly halflings, the next most amiable race to everyone else, with the odd dwarf sprinkled in. And when the players decided not to bother with finding proper mercenaries and hired a bunch of criminals from some random tavern, I decided that there was a hobbit thief their who was interested in the gold being thrown around.
Later that day when they regrouped in the market, The thief tried to steal from the druid, failed their slight of hand check, tried to run. The following went something like this; The firbolg druid used his reaction to grapple the hobbit, the bard casted vicious mockery, the rabbit player delivered a kick to the nuts, the druid used a spell to throw acid on the guy. The druid transformed into a tiger, the thief stabbed him with a poison blade, the rabbit "panics" and attacks the tiger. The tiger chows down on the thief.
Most unlucky pickpocket ever.
When the guards came, the bard said something very close to "fear not little hobbits, we've rid you of a dangerous thief" She then proceeds to roll a nat 1 for her charisma check, and their requests for surrender become somewhat more menacing. The druid turns back and uses his racial ability to go invisible for a turn and try to escape. They then procede to murder five little guards and run, killing another five and routing one during an ally chase. The tiger druid sadly bolting at every opportunity at the expense of the other two. Dude's in danger of dying alone next session.
But I feel the moral of the story is [I]restraint[/I].
Our first player died like, 5 minutes ago.
They were a 5th level cleric, and frankly the only one that wasn't asshole. Great rp opportunity, the non serious bard is shaken up, the younger more chilled out guy is in denial and the warlock is working on some necromancy.
He was killed by the Fighter, who accidentally placed a tree feather token beneath the two of them and a werewolf. He killed the werewolf with the fall as well at least.
Some people here might be interested in knowing that Paizo is developing a 2nd edition of Pathfinder.
[url]http://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lkl9?First-Look-at-the-Pathfinder-Playtest[/url]
[QUOTE=TectoImprov;53184107]Some people here might be interested in knowing that Paizo is developing a 2nd edition of Pathfinder.
[url]http://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lkl9?First-Look-at-the-Pathfinder-Playtest[/url][/QUOTE]
Advanced Pathfinder?
[QUOTE=Pax;53184284]Advanced Pathfinder?[/QUOTE]
Advanced Pen and Paper 2e.
