D&D V6 - Edition jokes don't really make sense anymore - Games

[QUOTE=Archimedes;52369877]Sounds like you had an awesome game man. Some spells like Fear, Hypnotic Pattern, and Suggestion might be worth picking up after that incident because they provide you with less than lethal alternatives to dealing with stuff like that. They're a little less common on Warlocks who tend to be more blasty but they might be cool character spells if you feel like your character might want to take a less violent approach to certain situations.[/QUOTE] I'm currently only level 3 (Just turned it) and Only options I have would be Suggestion(like you mention) and maybe The UAStarterSpell Cause Fear. I don't know. I'll have to think about it. It's hard for me to want to use a non attack for a spell slot but who knows. The only one I HAVE been using was Healing elixir which I usually use before a short rest so people don't have to use hit dice if possible. Like if I didn't use my slots I just make 2 potions and pass them around. My character was an alchemist (Not the class but as a profession) and that's how hes able to do that.

[QUOTE=SeymourGuado;52369948]I'm currently only level 3 (Just turned it) and Only options I have would be Suggestion(like you mention) and maybe The UAStarterSpell Cause Fear. I don't know. I'll have to think about it. It's hard for me to want to use a non attack for a spell slot but who knows. The only one I HAVE been using was Healing elixir which I usually use before a short rest so people don't have to use hit dice if possible. Like if I didn't use my slots I just make 2 potions and pass them around. My character was an alchemist (Not the class but as a profession) and that's how hes able to do that.[/QUOTE] You might wanna try looking at some Eldritch Invocations. Some that you can use for a more pacifist role would be Beguiling Influence which could help you talk your way out of a lot of fights, and Mask of Many Faces which lets you cast Disguise Self at will.

[QUOTE=TectoImprov;52370044]You might wanna try looking at some Eldritch Invocations. Some that you can use for a more pacifist role would be Beguiling Influence which could help you talk your way out of a lot of fights, and Mask of Many Faces which lets you cast Disguise Self at will.[/QUOTE] I mean he isn't meant to be a pacifist. It's just that he was forced to attack weak unarmed creatures cause they started causing problems and that really hit him. Normally he was fine for the most part taking out the stuff he's fought so far.

I'm now regretting my previous session of D&D. I had my players go on a search for a missing NPC that they liked, but because I had no time due to work to really sit down and work on it, it was an incredibly linear dungeon with only one fight. I wanted to expand the whole dungeon into something that would have gotten the player's from level 6 to level 7 after completing. My player's don't care and they think I'm doing an amazing job, but I feel like I'm just screwing this up all the time.

they killed my kraken without taking much damage the dice gods have forsaken me literally every other dice roll failed

[QUOTE=_Maverick_;52370521]they killed my kraken without taking much damage the dice gods have forsaken me literally every other dice roll failed[/QUOTE] The dice giveth, and the dice taketh away. the dice also RUIN EVERYTHING.

[QUOTE=slayer20;52370444]I'm now regretting my previous session of D&D. I had my players go on a search for a missing NPC that they liked, but because I had no time due to work to really sit down and work on it, it was an incredibly linear dungeon with only one fight. I wanted to expand the whole dungeon into something that would have gotten the player's from level 6 to level 7 after completing. My player's don't care and they think I'm doing an amazing job, but I feel like I'm just screwing this up all the time.[/QUOTE] All GMs always feel like they're fucking everything up. Worst part about GMing.

[QUOTE=elowin;52370597]All GMs always feel like they're fucking everything up. Worst part about GMing.[/QUOTE] As a DM myself and having swapped general notes with my friend who also DMs (we are also players in each others campaigns, so we also could give feedback from that end) on how to maybe make better campaigns, can confirm. Campaigns you run are the worst thing ever with bad plots, unbalanced encounters, etc. While everyone else runs god-tier shit. In reality you're actually structuring things the same way as a lot of other people and what you've ended up with is actually pretty neat, if maybe a bit flawed in places. Edit for clarification: My usage of "you" in this case isn't addressing anyone in particular.

Those in-between days when DND doesn't happen (usually a couple or more) for me have been just boring as hell. I thought a game was supposed to happen today so I went to the store early in the morning and everything and it didn't happen.

I'm always terrified when DMing and looking at people's faces to see if they are bored, they always claim they have a great time but there's always that doubt that you're actually complete shit and they don't want to be rude.

[QUOTE=elowin;52370597]All GMs always feel like they're fucking everything up. Worst part about GMing.[/QUOTE] My GM quit his campaign because of this, even though we assured him it was all good I think he had some control issues, he got stressed out cause we wouldn't follow the plan he'd layed out for the group. But the group I had was one of the best ever, it was such a good dynamic with everyone building off eachother that I never had before. Back to boring no dnd life until Starfinder comes out I guess.

[QUOTE=Saxon;52371939]My GM quit his campaign because of this, even though we assured him it was all good I think he had some control issues, [B]he got stressed out cause we wouldn't follow the plan he'd layed out for the group.[/B] But the group I had was one of the best ever, it was such a good dynamic with everyone building off eachother that I never had before. Back to boring no dnd life until Starfinder comes out I guess.[/QUOTE] That's one of the things I'm worried about the most, and it kind of happened to me once already. My campaign is already pretty rail-roady to begin with, and my players have no problem with that (this is their first time playing D&D), but one of the earlier sessions I had the players specifically meet an NPC at a location far away to be teleported to a new area. One of the players wanted to stay behind and wait for the blacksmith to craft him a weapon. The players had already agreed beforehand to meet the NPC the next day, so while everyone else went to meet the guy, the one player stayed behind. I was so unprepared for that and I had to make everyone wait another in-game day for him to show up. [editline]17th June 2017[/editline] But for the most part my sessions are pretty simple "go here, fight this" sort of thing which lets my players do whatever they want in between.

I ran a one-shot of Don't Rest Your Head, because one of the players for my UA game couldn't make it. It was interesting. [quote]Ben, a 23-year-old artist, has been unable to sleep because of some dude knocking on his door and reciting poetry for some reason. He hears a cat scratching at the wall behind him, and when he looks, a two-headed cat is crawling its way out of the wall. He throws a book at it, then throws himself into the hole it crawled out of, and finds himself in a bazaar at night, with half of the bustling crowd carrying lights, and not a single star in the sky. He asks a guy some questions and learns he's in the Bizarre Bazaar, and it's 13 o' clock. He ends up talking to a memory broker, who offers him some happy memories, in exchange for some of his sad memories. He has no idea what he lost, but he suddenly remembers watching his little girl take her first steps, and getting married to his wife. John, a 30-year-old dentist, is afraid to sleep, because every time he does, his dreams seem to last for longer and longer; his most recent dream lasted 10 years, even though only about 9 hours actually passed in the real world. As he's throwing up in the toilet, he hears a woman singing, and it's coming from behind his mirror. He opens it, and suddenly finds himself in the middle of a dissipating crowd, as a clock chimes a single time. Ben bumps into him, and they start wondering where the fuck they are, when suddenly twin armies march out of a buildin and line up on opposite sides of the street, with them in the middle, and start to charge at them. They panic and duck into a nearby building. Heading down, they somehow end up on the rooftop, where they jump to a different building only for a pile of papers to fall from a passing airplane and turn into a giant man. Ben tries to punch him, but gets savagely owned instead, then John fucking destroys the paper man, and they climb into a trapdoor on the new rooftop. It leads into a long, dark, pink tunnel, with a squishy wet floor covered in small dimples. After walking towards the only visible light source for a while, they find themselves in a giant mouth. Ben punches a tooth so hard it shatters, and they climb through the lips and fall into a swimming pool. Having decided that's enough weirdness for one day, they just kick back and relax in the pool, since its so far the most normal thing they've experienced since they left their homes.[/quote]

This session 0 of 4e worked out really well, I'm not sure how the gm managed to get the group acquainted with each other without feeling forced but somehow he managed it :v: Wasn't an easy job either, drow executioner merc(More like brigand really), changeling swordmage scam artist, goliath skald trying to get back to his people, kobold sorc diplomat, and a dragonborn paladin doing paladin stuff. Varying degrees of being new to the town, with the changeling being there for a couple of months and I(drow exec) being there a few weeks, though in very different circles in this river port merchant town.

Think I've found my new favourite little RPG; MouseGuard 2e. It's nicely structured to keep things moving along quickly, and it keeps it nice and simple to roleplay your characters traits, beliefs and instincts (to help or hinder) while rewarding you for it mechanically. The "fail forward" mechanic that constantly introduces new twists to the story and narrative with every obstacle test is pretty great too. It's perfect for new GM's because it lets you very quickly make a story and doesn't give you much opportunity to get stuck and lost because of the players actions, while still giving everyone time in the spotlight and even playing them against each other. We're rotating the GM every session right now, and it's working out well. The only problem is the hard numbers on the Conflict system are slightly incorrect - but they're easy to fix with minimal fuss.

Group is full now.

Never really got the point of a PbP game in this day and age.

PbP is great if you don't have the time to slot yourself into a full session. It's also useful since you can make a hell of a lot of progress depending on everyone's posting speed and it's also less invasive on your life. It's generally more detailed in my opinion too.

I guess I just like having people to talk to, makes it even more hilarious when stupid shit happens too, like the time I crit glitched a 32 diceroll in shadowrun, or the time I threw a fire grenade at myself in only war :v:

Oh these are serious roleplaying kinda D&D games haha Makes for very detailed stories but that are realistic, kinda like a book you are all writing.

I'm an absolute madman, encourage me more. Anyone interested in joining a Mekton game that'll be irregular, played whenever a group is together and free, and in a big "extended universe" kind of deal, where there will be different groups with different purpose and goals who all participate in the same greater setting, join here [url]https://discord.gg/ssnTN7C[/url] More details to follow when I'm home. Edit: link updated, should work now if it didn't before

You ever get excited planning a game, and then your players make a bunch of terrible characters that make you barely want to go through with it?

[QUOTE=Pax;52386814]You ever get excited planning a game, and then your players make a bunch of terrible characters that make you barely want to go through with it?[/QUOTE] All the time.

[QUOTE=Pax;52386814]You ever get excited planning a game, and then your players make a bunch of terrible characters that make you barely want to go through with it?[/QUOTE] Always :v:

That makes me feel a little better at least. What's wrong with players man? Why can't they just be a bunch of clones of me that understand exactly what I'm going for? Or better yet, why can't at least one of them be a clone of me who will run the game that I really want to be playing in rather than running?

Honestly you learn to just wing it after a while, always expect your plans to be ruined, hell, plan in such a way that you expect them to be ruined, and keep your actual plan as a backup :v:

[QUOTE=Crimor;52387111]Honestly you learn to just wing it after a while, always expect your plans to be ruined, hell, plan in such a way that you expect them to be ruined, and keep your actual plan as a backup :v:[/QUOTE] Or take a page from my book and plan nothing until you know what the players want to do, and even then only plan for the things that you can control. (And keep any ideas for scenes you want in mind, but don't write "this is how we're gonna get there", just look for an opportunity that makes sense.)

Also helps to inform your players about what exactly you're going for... sometimes.

Inform each player of something else, enjoy the chaos.

I find it best to inform the players of the kind of game you'll be playing before everyone makes their characters. Usually I go for a similar kind of PC-side environment--that being a group of goofy dorks who nontheless are good at their jobs and get shit done--but keeping the serious tone in the environment and adversaries. This question comes up on r/rpg every other week and the response is usually the same: talk to your players about what kind of game you're playing.