I used to really want to use music in my games, with my old group, but everyone used voice chat for OOC and/or had their own music playing with roll20 muted, so it never really happened. I think the one instance I can remember of using music was in my rip-off of Rear's Eclipse Phase story about Buddy the robot, where the players got chased around the sewers by a knight in rusted armor with a music box on his back, that I represented as a Level 6 Fighter(they were level 2, IIRC).
So far, though, in my Exalted game, I used the TabletopAudio stuff in Roll20 quite a bit, and ended up grabbing a lot of good tracks for combat music and general ambiance towards the end of it.
Planning to up the non-TA ambient music for my Demon game, too.(Though, if Antary had his sound enabled in his prelude, he could probably tell you, my library is a little small on stuff that actually works for ambiance right now. I had a couple of songs I thought would work, but they went dead for a few seconds at the end of each loop, so I just switched to other songs.)
Literally roll20s only flaw is that your outside audio has to come ftom soundcloud, severely limiting your tuneage
[QUOTE=leonthefox;49654263]And speaking about jojo, I spent a hour trying to understand what this new player's stand did[/QUOTE]
sounds like a good stand
[QUOTE=No Party Hats;49655455]Literally roll20s only flaw is that your outside audio has to come ftom soundcloud, severely limiting your tuneage[/QUOTE]
speaking of which, if anyone wants any voice stuff done or any sound effects, for a campaign that they're running or any dnd stuff, let me know
credentials: i have done voice stuff for at least a few people for a couple of years, including some cringe as fuck mods that i didn't realise were shit until i actually looked into it
my ork voice is on point, my goblin voice is ironically terrible.
[QUOTE=leonthefox;49654263]I asked my players if they wanted to switch to d100 jojo system (after a single session of jojo FATE) and they all agreed :v:
I feel really stupid for being unable to grasp fate. And speaking about jojo, I spent a hour trying to understand what this new player's stand did, and also asking questions and thinking/setting limitations :suicide:[/QUOTE]
Honestly, i think fate is one of the hardest systems to GM. The game never seems to get out of the way unlike other systems where you just roll dice to beat a certain number with a success or failure then forget about it rather than worrying about all the aspects n shit.
Does anybody have any tips or guides on rewarding players as DM, both XP and Gear-wise?
I think I got everything else pretty well handled and I know what kind of XP certain types of monsters usually give (Monster Manual), but I'm having trouble determining how quickly players gain XP during adventures, how long levels take and what kind of amount of gold/money and gear I can reward them with without it seeming unrealistic/unreasonable.
what edition? generally, a lot of DMs tend to throw out XP based adventuring altogether because it tends to promote uh, level grinding, in certain situations. in that case, you just level people up when you feel like they've surmounted a sufficient obstacle, or RP'd a situation particularly well, i guess.
the only reason i'm using XP at the moment is because it's a pre-written campaign and i want to stick as much to the book as possible
otherwise I would throw it out as soon as possible because it's unnecessary.
also the fact that XP and CR don't reflect how hard an enemy is - what i will term as the 'darkmantle effect'
I long ago stopped caring and have been either operating on a 'you level when I say you do' or, in stuff like SR or the 40k games, using a baseline xp per session, modified by if I think they did a really good job (or in SR's case, by how well they're being compensated, with small bits of karma to reward RP-heavy off the job sessions or encounters unrelated to the current run)
As for gear... Well, I'll be the first to admit I love giving out overpowered homebrew loot and kickin' rad artifacts, which tends to work out in the long run by making my games impossible to balance but my games always ride the ragged edge of unstable equilibrium anyway so it's not much of a change
But the sum is, you're the GM, you've got ultimate say, so go with what you want. I'll admit it's much trickier in purely level-based systems though, where all your progression is lumped together, but if you think it's seriously too fast or slow, just ask your players their opinions on it and what they want
i love having my players level up mid session.
[QUOTE=MenteR;49657564]i love having my players level up mid session.[/QUOTE]
Easy fix, only give XP at the end of the session. I honestly didn't know people did it any other way.
[QUOTE=Funktastic Dog;49658679]Easy fix, only give XP at the end of the session. I honestly didn't know people did it any other way.[/QUOTE]
Technically, you are supposed to award XP as it comes up.
And technically, you aren't allowed to actually level up until you come back from an adventure.
And technically, the XP system in D&D, and most other tabletops for that matter, sucks shit.
[QUOTE=elowin;49658722]Technically, you are supposed to award XP as it comes up.
And technically, you aren't allowed to actually level up until you come back from an adventure.
And technically, the XP system in D&D, and most other tabletops for that matter, sucks shit.[/QUOTE]
That's what I would make up if I was trying to figure out the [B]worst[/B] possible way to award XP.
Only thing worse would be awarding XP based on the monsters/enemies you kill. Oh wait, D&D does that too.
Technically, it doesn't award xp for what you kill, just what you [I]encounter[/I]. Most GMs just don't give you xp unless you actually kill things, which is dumb.
[QUOTE=Funktastic Dog;49658679]Easy fix, only give XP at the end of the session. I honestly didn't know people did it any other way.[/QUOTE]
it wasn't sarcastic. i like having my players levelling up right after they accomplish a relatively big feat or something. i reward them with XP for roleplaying, taking creative actions and decisions. it's kind of an ambiguous system. however it motivates them to truly dive into their characters.
i reward players with xp right before our game breaks. it's cool, sometimes unexpected and it gives the game an old-school rpg feel.
The rule tends to be that you dole out XP for encounters, which includes nonviolent encounters. Too many DMs these days play video games, and video games don't reward you for handling encounters in general very well. Usually it's "easier" to reward pure kills since the assumption is that kills=skills, but D&D and other roll 20s don't exactly operate on that logic.
It's why my pacifist Beguiler/Rogue gestalt for an upcoming campaign is completely viable. I don't have to kill stuff to get XP and both myself and our DM knows this.
I actually like the idea of mid session level ups
[QUOTE=No Party Hats;49661520]I actually like the idea of mid session level ups[/QUOTE]
I love gameplay grinding to a halt while everybody does the bookkeeping for a new level.
If you are playing 5e and you need a point of reference for session-based advancement, the DMG suggests "2nd level after the first session, 3rd level after the next session and 4th level after two more sessions. Then spend two or three sessions for every subsequent level." This is assuming 4-hour sessions.
As a DM, you should always do what you feel is best for your game and your story, but if you need a point of reference for session-based advancement, that is it.
[QUOTE=DarkMonkey;49661701]I love gameplay grinding to a halt while everybody does the bookkeeping for a new level.[/QUOTE]
lol why are some users like this on this thread (i said some, most of you guys are cool yo)? it's like they can't stand people doing different things, they automatically assume it's a broken/wrong way to do it.
it works for my party because i give them their XP during our breaks. [I]if[/I] they level up it takes them literally 5 mins or less to change their sheet stuff and create quick spell lists (prob helps that they're experienced players).
nobody ever complained, it is exciting for the players. and i don't consider it "grinding" ew. if you ever play D&D and think it's monotone/repetitive then the DM is doing something wrong. give the DM feedback after your session if so, or if he just outright sucks then find a new DM.
sometimes this thread is like people saying their way of having sex is better than the other. just stop. if it's working just fine and everyone is having fun, that's what ultimately matters.
i'm sorry in advance if i interpreted your post wrong or whatever.
[QUOTE=MenteR;49661762]lol why are some users like this on this thread? it's like they can't stand people doing different things, they automatically assume it's a broken/wrong way to do it.
it works for my party because i give them their XP during our breaks. takes them 5 mins or less to change their sheet stuff and create quick spell lists.
nobody ever complained, it is exciting for the players. and i don't consider it "grinding" ew. if you ever play D&D and think it's monotone/repetitive then the DM is doing something wrong. give the DM feedback after your session if so, or if he just outright sucks then find a new DM.
this thread is like people saying their way of having sex is better than the other. just stop. if it's working just fine and everyone is having fun, that's what ultimately matters.
i'm sorry in advance if i interpreted your post wrong or whatever.[/QUOTE]
If it works for you then it works for you.
I just think it would break the flow of whatever session I was trying to plan out, by making them focus on abilities and their character sheet rather than the actual events.
Plus, some people like to really plan out their upgrades. Find the feat they like the most, etc. I couldn't imagine upgrading my character sheet in a session, unless it was a really simple game.
Not really much point talking about things if we don't give our opinions. No one really said anything extreme.
[QUOTE=Vengeful Falcon;49661825]Not really much point talking about things if we don't give our opinions. No one really said anything extreme.[/QUOTE]
nah i'm just saying every now and then people just assume instead of constructively putting out their thoughts like funktastic dog did up there.
[QUOTE=MenteR;49661845]nah i'm just saying every now and then people just assume instead of constructively putting out their thoughts like funktastic dog did up there.[/QUOTE]
It's still a valid point, though. Just because you didn't write an essay doesn't make the argument any less valid, and that is that leveling up mid-session is tremendously flow-breaking
Except for when the dude said he does it before game breaks, so no flow is damaged at all
To be honest, I feel that it's best for the players to get new toys and abilities before the current chapter of adventure. This gives them a good time to try out the new stuff, rather than having it Deus Ex Machine out of nowhere.
[QUOTE=MenteR;49661762]lol why are some users like this on this thread (i said some, most of you guys are cool yo)? it's like they can't stand people doing different things, they automatically assume it's a broken/wrong way to do it.
it works for my party because i give them their XP during our breaks. [I]if[/I] they level up it takes them literally 5 mins or less to change their sheet stuff and create quick spell lists (prob helps that they're experienced players).
nobody ever complained, it is exciting for the players. and i don't consider it "grinding" ew. if you ever play D&D and think it's monotone/repetitive then the DM is doing something wrong. give the DM feedback after your session if so, or if he just outright sucks then find a new DM.
sometimes this thread is like people saying their way of having sex is better than the other. just stop. if it's working just fine and everyone is having fun, that's what ultimately matters.
i'm sorry in advance if i interpreted your post wrong or whatever.[/QUOTE]
Maybe with people who're familiar with the system and have already planned out what they want to get that level it doesn't take long, but I've seen plenty of people spend 30+ minutes flipping through books looking for feats/spells that seem interesting. I find just telling the players they leveled up after they do something important that advances the plot to be much handier, sessions usually wind down after they do something like that anyway.
[QUOTE=lintz;49656708]what edition? generally, a lot of DMs tend to throw out XP based adventuring altogether because it tends to promote uh, level grinding, in certain situations. in that case, you just level people up when you feel like they've surmounted a sufficient obstacle, or RP'd a situation particularly well, i guess.[/QUOTE]
5th Edition here!
Really interesting systems everyone's got, though. I was honestly pretty intimidated to balance it right, since we plan on doing this campaign long-term and stick with the characters a while before they start going Tier 4 and throwing cataclysmic spells around (it's very story-heavy, my players and I don't really care too much about the numbers). Hence I think the suggestions of not really sticking to the XP system and levelling up as it feels right is a good idea. We're going to finish the first quest (prologue) in our next session soon, so I'll probably hand out the first level either after the prologue is done or after the first Dungeon.
I decided to only level people who when I think they have developed as a character and how involved they get within the game. So people who get into their characters, act as they would (including flaws) and even give them a voice are pluses in my eyes to head towards levelling up.
Leveling people up at different rates can be awkward to balance encounters for, plus one level can be a big jump in power in some games, it doesn't work out so well when one guy is a level higher or lower than the rest of the party since it could be a big difference in power.
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