[QUOTE=elowin;48803901]wait
are you implying not all PCs are like that?[/QUOTE]
mostly just you
[QUOTE=ThatSprite;48796004]I'd rather have a fun and interactive character than a munchkin[/QUOTE]
From what I hear in pathfinder depending on the DM if you don't go what's at least a decently optimal build you're boned as hell.
[QUOTE=ThatSprite;48796004]I'd rather have a fun and interactive character than a [b]munchkin[/b][/QUOTE]
I know what you mean, but...
[img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/67144542/Drawings/2015/788_Oct2_Baby.png[/img]
[QUOTE=Aldawolf;48807652]From what I hear in pathfinder depending on the DM if you don't go what's at least a decently optimal build you're boned as hell.[/QUOTE]
and that's why Pathfinder isn't for me to be honest, I don't find fun in everyone minimise maximising their characters as a priority.
It's not really a priority to minmax, it does take some foreknowledge of the system though (PF assumes you were a 3.5 player before), class structures can be quite rigid which I see throws off a lot of new people. You're never going to make a sorcerer that's good in melee combat for example, but bloodrager or magus might be what you're looking for, if you make a cleric or druid, wisdom does need to be your highest stat even if you want to be front line.
IMO most of this problem can be sorted out if you just have a knowledgeable player helping you out, but then there is the issue that a lot of nerds are dicks/opinionated/unhelpful, I see way too many people get treated like an idiot or the character taken off them and something they don't want to play made, or just told "read the book." (I'm pretty much always willing to help out someone new to RPGs or to a game I know though, I don't mind looking over character sheets or whatever for people)
[QUOTE=ThatSprite;48796004]I'd rather have a fun and interactive character than a munchkin[/QUOTE]
I'll admit that I min-max a bit sometimes but I'm a far better roleplayer.
Also my highland barbarian was gifted a boon by his patron god.
He'a a werebear, now.
[QUOTE=Moustacheman;48808013]I'll admit that I min-max a bit sometimes but I'm a far better roleplayer.
Also my highland barbarian was gifted a boon by his patron god.
He'a a werebear, now.[/QUOTE]
One of my characters got turned into a werewolf once, but they were a gnoll so no one could really tell if they were in hybrid form anyway.
It was part of a dungeon crawl, everyone else got nice magic items and I got bitten, which seemed like a shit deal until I realised DR10/silver meant I could ignore all of the 1d6 spike traps that were around.
[QUOTE=Rents;48808036]One of my characters got turned into a werewolf once, but they were a gnoll so no one could really tell if they were in hybrid form anyway.
It was part of a dungeon crawl, everyone else got nice magic items and I got bitten, which seemed like a shit deal until I realised DR10/silver meant I could ignore all of the 1d6 spike traps that were around.[/QUOTE]
Basically in our setting, the Highland dwarfs introduced bears to the highlands, and a few of the clans, or individual highlanders, have taken to worshiping Ursos, father of bears. An early boon includes being able to communicate with bears, increased body hair and bulk, sharper canines, and an increased appetite. Those who are "chosen" by Ursos become werebears, using their bear forms to mete out bear justice wherever it may be required.
BEAR JUSTICE
Is there a simple way of figuring out how to make fair encounters?
I'm trying to get some dungeons and random encounters (such as when travelling and so on) set up but I am completely confused on how to determine what creatures they should fight, how strong and how many.
That's the one part that always confused me about D&D, challenge ratings, exp spent to create an encounter and so on.
eyeball everything
[QUOTE=Dominic0904;48808528]Is there a simple way of figuring out how to make fair encounters?
I'm trying to get some dungeons and random encounters (such as when travelling and so on) set up but I am completely confused on how to determine what creatures they should fight, how strong and how many.
That's the one part that always confused me about D&D, challenge ratings, exp spent to create an encounter and so on.[/QUOTE]
If you're playing 5th Edition, there's a set of tables to help you easily make balanced encounters based on creature's challenge value. For Pathfinder there's something similar but it was always more difficult for me to figure out.
Eye ball it and don't be afraid to cheat to make monsters stronger or weaker as needed or change things up by having the enemies turn cowardly if they take a loss and back off or have reinforcements show up.
Yes I'm playing 5th and this is my first time ever DMing.
Would it be best to have a document with the stats of particularly common monsters/creatures so if needed I could make a quick encounter?
I just don't want the game to turn into "Okay you are walking through the forest when you are attacked by...uhh hang on *looks through MM*".
I only ask because it's my first time DMing and I think making encounters is my only struggling area so far in terms of thinking them up on the fly.
[QUOTE=Dominic0904;48808852]Yes I'm playing 5th and this is my first time ever DMing.
Would it be best to have a document with the stats of particularly common monsters/creatures so if needed I could make a quick encounter?
I just don't want the game to turn into "Okay you are walking through the forest when you are attacked by...uhh hang on *looks through MM*".
I only ask because it's my first time DMing and I think making encounters is my only struggling area so far in terms of thinking them up on the fly.[/QUOTE]
In general you'd want to schedule some "random"(in reality you should always plan something to fuck with the players, but never do it by the book so that they're always on the toes) events in advance just to be sure. Especially if you're railroading the party down a campaign. Get that stuff sorted out, and then note important info down for the game that'll happen in. If you're doing it online, copy-pasting pictures/segments of MM stuff into an easily accessible format(Roll20 GM layer, DM program, or separate pictures/folder) can also shorten your work. Otherwise you'd have to print out or write down data on papers and stick 'em behind the shield.
[QUOTE=Dominic0904;48808852]Yes I'm playing 5th and this is my first time ever DMing.
Would it be best to have a document with the stats of particularly common monsters/creatures so if needed I could make a quick encounter?
I just don't want the game to turn into "Okay you are walking through the forest when you are attacked by...uhh hang on *looks through MM*".
I only ask because it's my first time DMing and I think making encounters is my only struggling area so far in terms of thinking them up on the fly.[/QUOTE]
For 5th take a look at the tables on pg. 56 of the Basic DMG or pg. 82 of the Core DMG, it has information on building a balanced combat encounter for your party. If you really want to you can generate some balanced encounters with random monsters [url="http://donjon.bin.sh/5e/random/#type=encounter;n_pc=4;level=1;difficulty=any;environment=Underdark"]here[/url], though I'd recommend making them yourself instead.
[QUOTE=Dominic0904;48808852]Yes I'm playing 5th and this is my first time ever DMing.
Would it be best to have a document with the stats of particularly common monsters/creatures so if needed I could make a quick encounter?
I just don't want the game to turn into "Okay you are walking through the forest when you are attacked by...uhh hang on *looks through MM*".
I only ask because it's my first time DMing and I think making encounters is my only struggling area so far in terms of thinking them up on the fly.[/QUOTE]
Having some generic statblocks on hand is definitely useful, on top of what everyone else said. Eventually you'll reach the point where you're knowledgeable enough to just remember or spin something up from nothing, but not yet.
Notecards are also a good storage medium for stat blocks
[QUOTE=Moustacheman;48808123]Basically in our setting, the Highland dwarfs introduced bears to the highlands, and a few of the clans, or individual highlanders, have taken to worshiping Ursos, father of bears. An early boon includes being able to communicate with bears, increased body hair and bulk, sharper canines, and an increased appetite. Those who are "chosen" by Ursos become werebears, using their bear forms to mete out bear justice wherever it may be required.[/QUOTE]
funny, im actually going to be starting a PF campaign soon where the worlds is dying due to some horrific corruption (pretty normal stuff, except we're playing -after- the world is fucked, where there's only a few bastions of light and society left), and im playing as a Coldborn Skinwalker/Orc who is a Feral Hunter. Basically I'm playing as a nature guardian were-bear who has like 3 different increments of transformation due to all of my bestial forms (bear-like from my animal aspect, upright bear from my racial + animal aspect, and then wild form gives me my full bear mode)
bear justice is the superior brand of justice
How important do you guys think full campaign maps are? Like, ones that show the entirety of the landscape. Helpful, absolutely necessary, or just kind of nice to have? I'm thinking of making one for the campaign I'm writing (and this'll probably be the last; I jump from idea to idea and campaign to campaign way to often without ever using them), but I'm not sure if I want to, as I don't want to make a shitty map, or want to make changes to the map later on without doing a retcon of the current map.
Honestly it depends on the type of game you're running.
If you're running a game set in a city, you'll not need a world map other than perhaps a general one of the city. If you're running a sweeping sandbox where you want players to be clued in on the geography of the world and able to act on that information then you might need to invest in a full world map.
The only time I've ever really found a map useful was when I was running a space sandbox where players planned their routes based on travel distances and fuel consumption, otherwise I usually just have a vague idea of the surrounding area and focus my efforts on the stuff that'll actually be played.
[QUOTE=Jrose14;48812425]How important do you guys think full campaign maps are? Like, ones that show the entirety of the landscape. Helpful, absolutely necessary, or just kind of nice to have? I'm thinking of making one for the campaign I'm writing (and this'll probably be the last; I jump from idea to idea and campaign to campaign way to often without ever using them), but I'm not sure if I want to, as I don't want to make a shitty map, or want to make changes to the map later on without doing a retcon of the current map.[/QUOTE]
Depends on the game
Anything open-world, or where you expect the players to be free-roaming a lot? Absolutely. If it's more directed or linear, or limited in scope by various necessities (ex: Shadowrun) it's less of an issue. Always nice to have, of course, just don't fill in everything right away so you have room to maneuver as the plot demands
Eh, I'll try to make some sort of map. I'm not an artist, but I'll see if I can make it look nice. Its an underground setting, so it shouldn't be too difficult.
Could anyone recommend a DnD game for beginners?
Pathfinder good?
[QUOTE=General;48812673]Could anyone recommend a DnD game for beginners?
Pathfinder good?[/QUOTE]
5e. It has the least bloat and has easier to understand systems.
[QUOTE=Jrose14;48812425]How important do you guys think full campaign maps are? Like, ones that show the entirety of the landscape. Helpful, absolutely necessary, or just kind of nice to have? I'm thinking of making one for the campaign I'm writing (and this'll probably be the last; I jump from idea to idea and campaign to campaign way to often without ever using them), but I'm not sure if I want to, as I don't want to make a shitty map, or want to make changes to the map later on without doing a retcon of the current map.[/QUOTE]
scifi spess games? doesn't matter, do what you want
if you're doing like 3.5 and letting the players pretty much do what they want then defo make at least a rough map of the world and it's regions/landmarks
in fantasy games, world maps are great cause not only does it give you objectives to head to and a visual of how to get there, it also lets you do little things like pick what area your character is from. Every time we've had a nice world map in any of our games, I'm pretty sure we've marked our player's home area just for shiggles, cause it gives depth and tangibility to an otherwise relatively meaningless bit of fluff.
no better way to make your world alive than to show your world in all of its poorly cartographed glory
[QUOTE=ThatSprite;48807851]and that's why Pathfinder isn't for me to be honest, I don't find fun in everyone minimise maximising their characters as a priority.[/QUOTE]
You don't have to minmax you just can't get away with a trash build
[QUOTE=Obvious Shizz;48748309]Anyone know any good way to make a pirate ship prop for my campaign without spending infinite money?
I was thinking I could get some cardboard glued together and throw a grid on top but that seems like a real shite idea after seeing [URL="http://imgur.com/a/2PvId"]this[/URL] but I only have about 6 bucks to spend. :v:[/QUOTE]
[t]http://s10.postimg.org/jgt3mgm21/image1.jpg[/t]
I did it.
[QUOTE=Obvious Shizz;48812874][t]http://s10.postimg.org/jgt3mgm21/image1.jpg[/t]
I did it.[/QUOTE]
Amazing. How long did it take?
[QUOTE=Jrose14;48814208]Amazing. How long did it take?[/QUOTE]
About and hour and a half; though I cut up most of the tongue depressors ahead of time.
Also, it turns out, hot glue guns aren't something you want to touch the tip of.
if anyone needs a player
*fingerguns pewp ew pew*
hit me up
[editline]woo[/editline]
i'd prefer to play since I just got out of GMing a game but if you have an idea for a campaign you'd want to do then pitch it to me and i'll think about running it
just give me a system (optional), setting (optional), and premise (not optional since that's most important).
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