D&D General v3 - Games - Facepunch Forum

Make it cliché

make everyone walk on their hands and speak backwards

[QUOTE=Asgard;40595964]Have been playing for 2 years, and finally going to DM my first game. Any suggestions on not making my setting cliché? General tips on campaign and world creation welcome too.[/QUOTE] Sometimes trying to be too original is what kills a lot of DMs. Sometimes, as elowin kindly pointed out, you need to be cliché. Personally I'd start with a premade adventure, tweak it to suit your needs, and go from there. Regardless of what edition you're running you're gonna find at least a few premade adventures for it.

[QUOTE=Asgard;40595964]Have been playing for 2 years, and finally going to DM my first game. Any suggestions on not making my setting cliché? General tips on campaign and world creation welcome too.[/QUOTE] [B]#1 DM RULE:[/B] talk to your players. Ask them what they want out of the campaign. Don't just drop them into your carefully crafted epic railroad story then act surprised when they wander off the beaten path, or when you set up some giant medieval political intrigue simulator and your players just want to bash goblins instead. It's your responsibility to craft the game that your players will enjoy and to do that you need to know [I]what[/I] they enjoy. Heck, some people I know have a "session #0" where they just get together, have some beers and make their characters and discuss the campaign.

[QUOTE=Asgard;40595964]Have been playing for 2 years, and finally going to DM my first game. Any suggestions on not making my setting cliché? General tips on campaign and world creation welcome too.[/QUOTE] Cliche doesnt mean unoriginal. Cliche is cliche for a reason. The five man team, questgivers at taverns, it just makes sense and works better for the team and stuff.

[QUOTE=LiquidNazgul;40598083]Sometimes trying to be too original is what kills a lot of DMs. Sometimes, as elowin kindly pointed out, you need to be cliché. Personally I'd start with a premade adventure, tweak it to suit your needs, and go from there. Regardless of what edition you're running you're gonna find at least a few premade adventures for it.[/QUOTE] It's important to remember that a good few cliches are cliche because they're used so often, and they're used so often because they [I]work[/I]. Speaking of cliches, all of my groups campaigns start in taverns. First did it because "it's so cliche to start it in the tavern, so that's why I'm gonna do it", and then turned into this cliche of our own. My players get upset if I don't do it; so long has it been our "thing". Not that it has really hindered anything, we can literally start with the group half way out the tavern door and go from there; as long as it actually [I]started[/I] in the tavern the tradition is held. Weird players, but I suspect quite a few groups that stick together for almost a decade will get some weird quirks. :v: [QUOTE=dual elites;40598258][B]#1 DM RULE:[/B] talk to your players. Ask them what they want out of the campaign. Don't just drop them into your carefully crafted epic railroad story then act surprised when they wander off the beaten path, or when you set up some giant medieval political intrigue simulator and your players just want to bash goblins instead. It's your responsibility to craft the game that your players will enjoy and to do that you need to know [I]what[/I] they enjoy. Heck, some people I know have a "session #0" where they just get together, have some beers and make their characters and discuss the campaign.[/QUOTE] Definitely this. Many of my groups best adventures were, in part, created by the players themselves. We all talk often in groups so it's the perfect place to start a melting pot so to speak of "what do we [I]want[/I] to do" versus "what is the DM going to throw at us" and I would then craft something using their ideas and the natural flow of the world we play in. Not everything gets included each time, you have to leave them wanting more obviously. Our current adventure for that matter was in-part created by our Paladin (he had the base idea and a few minor/major plot points, then left the rest up to me to refine and make) and is supposed to be a "personal" quest that furthers his characters arc; I've managed to loosely tie it in with our main campaign too for some narrative consistency. The players seem to be really pleased with it so far and I barely had to do any real work!

cliche is synonymous with unoriginal dunno where you got that idea from man. but yeah you don't need to be original, edit premades if you want

[QUOTE=PartyPoodle;40598538]Cliche doesnt mean unoriginal. Cliche is cliche for a reason. The five man team, questgivers at taverns, it just makes sense and works better for the team and stuff.[/QUOTE] Cliche does mean unoriginal, the word you're thinking of is trope.

[QUOTE=Rents;40599175]Cliche does mean unoriginal, the word you're thinking of is trope.[/QUOTE] No, you're both wrong to some extent. A trope is any common storytelling device, regardless of whether it is good or bad. For example, fantasy races as metaphor for racial conflict, using [i]in media res[/i], or any stock character, are all tropes. A cliche is a trope that has become so overused that it is no longer remotely original. For instance, the evil twin, the hero with amnesia, and the "you meet in a tavern" opening, are all cliches. However, what I believe elowin was trying to say was to "make fun of cliches by using them". You can have a lot of fun with a story by using cliches, then making fun of them, or just by taking those cliches to a new extreme (see: Warhammer 40000, which took "grimdark" and ran with it). You might also have fun by taking the tropes of one genre and transplanting them into another (see again, Warhammer 40K taking fantasy tropes into space, years after Star Wars did the same). You could have a character who's a murderous butler, or play as a bunch of magical girl anime characters in a Tolkien-like fantasy setting.

No, I meant cliches, if you use them well, they can be effective. Sure the general idea is cliche, but its how you use it that makes it fun.

I dare you to make super douchebag drow characters fun I dare you.

Okay... some cliches are just too far gone.

Still would like to join a D&D group, preferably for beginners. I'm available Saturdays and Sundays, all day. I'm going to be moving pretty soon, and I'll have to get a part time job, but I'll try to make sure I have at least one of the two days off. I'm GMT -6 (Central Standard Time). I'm usually always up really late at night.

[QUOTE=slayer20;40601987]Still would like to join a D&D group, preferably for beginners. I'm available Saturdays and Sundays, all day. I'm going to be moving pretty soon, and I'll have to get a part time job, but I'll try to make sure I have at least one of the two days off. I'm GMT -6 (Central Standard Time). I'm usually always up really late at night.[/QUOTE] I have a morning session that can take players. Starts at noon your time on Sunday.

Turns out that I forgot to state my details. My timezone is AEST, I'm usually on at Saturdays and Sundays. Usually all day. I'd like a beginners game, system doesn't matter.

[QUOTE=darkrei9n;40602523]I have a morning session that can take players. Starts at noon your time on Sunday.[/QUOTE] I would be more than happy to join. Gives me a good reason to wake up early on Sundays :v: [editline]11th May 2013[/editline] Should I wait until Sunday to make a character, or can I start working on one now? Also, is it 4th edition?

[QUOTE=slayer20;40602743]I would be more than happy to join. Gives me a good reason to wake up early on Sundays :v: [editline]11th May 2013[/editline] Should I wait until Sunday to make a character, or can I start working on one now? Also, is it 4th edition?[/QUOTE] If he is talking about the session I am in, we are playing Pathfinder. You can PM me for help with rules and shit, if you'd like. I also believe you should have a sheet ready beforehand and I can help you with that too.

If everyone that's up for Dark Heresy could at least have the beginnings of a character sheet done by Monday or Tuesday that'd really help me out. Nothing needs to be finalised before we begin, I just would like to know for sure who's actually playing and what kind of role they're going for so I can set up the first session accordingly. Obviously once we start that's it for tweaking your sheet. The current player list is: Drunken Moose (Maybe) No Party Hats (Probably a Tech Priest) PartyPoodle (Scum) Trooper-guy1 (Arbitrator) darkrei9n zin908 [editline]11th May 2013[/editline] If you're new to Dark Heresy and don't really know what you're doing, hit me up on steam. I'm new to the system myself but I've already helped someone set up their sheet and I'd be happy to do so again. Splatbooks are fine if you want to use stuff out of them, although I'd like to restrict the Noble Background for now (as quite frankly it seems pretty overpowered), if you do use an career outlined in one of the supplementary sourcebooks make sure it's compatible with starting at the lowest rank with 400XP. No Grey Knights please. [editline]11th May 2013[/editline] The playerlist is also subject to change,

[QUOTE=slayer20;40602743]I would be more than happy to join. Gives me a good reason to wake up early on Sundays :v: [editline]11th May 2013[/editline] Should I wait until Sunday to make a character, or can I start working on one now? Also, is it 4th edition?[/QUOTE] Pathfinder, if you have the time today please get a sheet ready, if not I can take the rest of the group through their session while helping you get a sheet ready.

I'm going to be GMing pathfinder for the first time. I feel bad having to put the party against 2 Advanced Rust Monsters and I can't offer any suggestions against it because they shouldn't know their in the scenario.

[QUOTE=Zeroarmorclo;40606701]I'm going to be GMing pathfinder for the first time. I feel bad having to put the party against 2 Advanced Rust Monsters and I can't offer any suggestions against it because they shouldn't know their in the scenario.[/QUOTE] Running away is always an option. [editline]11th May 2013[/editline] Or you could fight it naked and neutralise its ability to destroy your equipment. Both are valid tactics.

Hurl a metal object in one direction and run in another.

Have the party wear each other's naked bodies as armour.

[QUOTE=Rents;40606798]Hurl a metal object in one direction and run in another.[/QUOTE] Or better yet, get the Dwarf in heavy armour and throw him

Conviniently place a couple of brass weapons right in plain view right before the fight.

Place a random level in the room before the fight. When they pull it, just be like, "You hear some rattling in the ceiling above, and after a second, some swords shoot out of the ceiling and piece the ground. Good thing you weren't standing there." Optionally you could also give one of them a Reflex save to avoid taking some damage from the falling swords. [editline]11th May 2013[/editline] Even if they are outside just have the swords fall from the sky. Magic knows no bounds.

[QUOTE=RearAdmiral;40606759]Running away is always an option. [editline]11th May 2013[/editline] Or you could fight it naked and neutralise its ability to destroy your equipment. Both are valid tactics.[/QUOTE] It would be an option in any other scenario, but their on a boat. When I went through the scenario with one of my characters, I jumped off the mast wearing only pants and wrestled it down to the ground. Being in the 1-2 tier, there's only 1 normal rust monster.

[QUOTE=Zeroarmorclo;40608541]but their on a [I]boat[/I].[/QUOTE] Source of all life's problems.

If you're not sure if the players can handle the challenge give them a ridiculous environment advantage, like cannons. Cannons always work. Alternatively harpoons.

After my first session in Iron Kingdom I am fully convinced that i don't like Iron Kingdom and it's snail's pace combat system.