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

Does anyone here own or help run a game store? I'm tossing around the idea of what opening one up would be like, and I am interested in knowing what the month-to-month finances and inventory management looks like. I know it's kind of a weird question, but I have zero business experience, so I was hoping to get an idea of what it looks like.

There's one next door to where I work and all they seem to do is smoke weed and argue about Warhammer and Destiny, I rarely ever see any customers going into the place either.

To be honest, running an LGS a great thing - but it's also a huge hassle. They are not very profitable, unless you make them so (charge people to play games, for example). The people whom I know to try run their LGS for profit tend to be very stressed out because they have to keep the place afloat no matter what. Meanwhile, in another place which a dude runs as a hobby in afterhours of his full-time job, is pretty chill place (even if I don't agree with him in politics - but I can at least argue with him, in other places I would be immediately kicked out by the owner for disagreement).

[QUOTE=gufu;52654398]To be honest, running an LGS a great thing - but it's also a huge hassle. They are not very profitable, unless you make them so (charge people to play games, for example). The people whom I know to try run their LGS for profit tend to be very stressed out because they have to keep the place afloat no matter what. Meanwhile, in another place which a dude runs as a hobby in afterhours of his full-time job, is pretty chill place (even if I don't agree with him in politics - but I can at least argue with him, in other places I would be immediately kicked out by the owner for disagreement).[/QUOTE] That's one of the main things I've seen: don't run the store expecting profits. I mainly just like the idea of a nice place for people to gather, learn new games, and have fun. If that's something I could support off of a full-time job, that would make me happy.

[QUOTE=UzumakaiPatch;52649177]You have this amazing ability to say things I agree with but in a way that makes me feel I should completely change my viewpoint.[/QUOTE] aww man, i thought that was my super power

So my last sess I realized I hadn't been giving the party any interesting or super challenging encounters so they went to the Underdark and I hit them hard with a lot of interesting shit. However I might have gone too hard, at the end of the sess they just fought off a Drow Drider Queen and her escort but just as they did the sound of fighting brought on a Purple Worm. The party is pretty shaken up and the Purple Worm is one of the strongest thing they fought yet. Any ideas for what I can do to not unfairly slaughter my party? I may have also blocked their exits.

[QUOTE=JeSuisIkea;52656056]So my last sess I realized I hadn't been giving the party any interesting or super challenging encounters so they went to the Underdark and I hit them hard with a lot of interesting shit. However I might have gone too hard, at the end of the sess they just fought off a Drow Drider Queen and her escort but just as they did the sound of fighting brought on a Purple Worm. The party is pretty shaken up and the Purple Worm is one of the strongest thing they fought yet. Any ideas for what I can do to not unfairly slaughter my party? I may have also blocked their exits.[/QUOTE] Well in this situation i can't see the purple worm tying them up and selling them. Alternate exit? Introduce a badass that saves them if need be, or a stronger opponent that accidentally lets them escape or can capture them? Or just have the worm die from a sudden heart attack.

[QUOTE=JeSuisIkea;52656056]So my last sess I realized I hadn't been giving the party any interesting or super challenging encounters so they went to the Underdark and I hit them hard with a lot of interesting shit. However I might have gone too hard, at the end of the sess they just fought off a Drow Drider Queen and her escort but just as they did the sound of fighting brought on a Purple Worm. The party is pretty shaken up and the Purple Worm is one of the strongest thing they fought yet. Any ideas for what I can do to not unfairly slaughter my party? I may have also blocked their exits.[/QUOTE] Purple Worms navigate by sound to find prey and can burrow tunnels through straight rock. Have the worm suddenly take off through the rock walls, providing the only means of escape for the party. Following the path leads them to a massive battle between a duergar infiltration force and dwarvern defenders guarding safe passage out into a mountainside dwarvern fortress. They come out on the duergar side and have to deal with a few duergar that break off. Meanwhile the purple worm takes out troops from both sides indiscriminately to show how strong it is to the players.

All interesting ideas. Any idea what I can do for my wizard? He's out of spellslots but I don't want to make him sit and watch while the party fights.

[QUOTE=gufu;52654398]To be honest, running an LGS a great thing - but it's also a huge hassle. They are not very profitable, unless you make them so (charge people to play games, for example). The people whom I know to try run their LGS for profit tend to be very stressed out because they have to keep the place afloat no matter what. Meanwhile, in another place which a dude runs as a hobby in afterhours of his full-time job, is pretty chill place (even if I don't agree with him in politics - but I can at least argue with him, in other places I would be immediately kicked out by the owner for disagreement).[/QUOTE] The only way I see LGS being profitable if they're heavy into card games (Magic, Yugioh etc.) and don't have much competition in that area.

[QUOTE=Mmrnmhrm;52657421]The only way I see LGS being profitable if they're heavy into card games (Magic, Yugioh etc.) and don't have much competition in that area.[/QUOTE] You gotta have to set your community around few games that gives you constant profits - so, either a card games (MTG, YGH) or a wargame with constant powercreep (Hi, 40k).

[QUOTE=JeSuisIkea;52657390]All interesting ideas. Any idea what I can do for my wizard? He's out of spellslots but I don't want to make him sit and watch while the party fights.[/QUOTE] Have the tunnels be really, really long, therefore necessitating sleep.

[QUOTE=JeSuisIkea;52656056]So my last sess I realized I hadn't been giving the party any interesting or super challenging encounters so they went to the Underdark and I hit them hard with a lot of interesting shit. However I might have gone too hard, at the end of the sess they just fought off a Drow Drider Queen and her escort but just as they did the sound of fighting brought on a Purple Worm. The party is pretty shaken up and the Purple Worm is one of the strongest thing they fought yet. Any ideas for what I can do to not unfairly slaughter my party? I may have also blocked their exits.[/QUOTE] Have the worm burrow away if the party is able to deal a significant amount of damage to it because pretty much all creatures will prioritize life over a meal (maybe have it take a Drow corpse as a consolation prize). Don't specify that it's left however, just that it hasn't surfaced. Once the party feels confident they've spooked it you can choose whether you feel it would be hungry enough to stalk the party through their journey through the Underdark.

Brought together a bunch of my friends to make our own group with my friend from my first session dming for us. We may have accidentally fought two way too strong enemies because we sent our npc badass to fight the little guys instead of the level 12 bard and barbarian bosses. It's a miracle any of us survived the encounter, because even with our dm rolling only first level spells we almost lost half the party in only two rounds. Everyone has also fallen increasingly in love with my new character. She was raised by a legendary white crow and his murder so she acts like a very loud and excited crow. She's very unsettling to everyone she meets because she has this sweet energetic personality and a love for anything shiny but she's dressed like a plague doctor in a cloak of crow feathers. That's not even mentioning her bird-like movements and erratic behavior. Everyone has basically dubbed her the party's child. One friend in our group drew her! Here's an image of her and her with our fighter! [T]https://i.imgur.com/DMbubGR.png[/t] [t]https://i.imgur.com/yAggw55.png[/t] If anyone wants to check her out you can find her [url=amummyart.tumblr.com]here[/url]! She does a lot of cool work and she's inspired some future characters of mine down the line.

[B]Dragonborn monk[/B] (called vox) and my [B]Gaston player[/B] story time (Gaston character is currently out of the story ATM doing evil things so the player is currently playing a drow fighter called [B]Trident[/B], on horseback on a horse called Neptune). Trident has a [U]cursed[/U] merry-go-round horse as his mount. He made a trident out if the pole sticking through it. Hence the name. It brings bad luck. He also has a tower shield of gliding It can allow him to float and glide extreme distances on even the [U]most gentle wind.[/U] like link from legend of zelda He tried to skewer another player, [U]the 3ft Dragonborn monk[/U] while charging He misses and buries the trident in the ground flipping him end over end. Thanks to his shield, he now has lift and starts to fly. The horse while flipping end over end too, chomps on the trident, and lands on top of the flying shield. The 3ft Dragonborn monk jumps and grabs ahold of the trident currently held in the horses mouth. Find this to be a confusing scene to imagine? Never fear It was drawn up very quickly on the whiteboard to help. [t] https://image.ibb.co/nyWHYa/received_10207591081053622.jpg[/t] They flew for 2 hours. This was not the weirdest thing to happen in today's session. These two players scare me. They also now browse Facepunch

In todays Zeitgeist session, Dumb and Dumber(My half orc-dwarf, and our swordmage, both 8 cha), tried to get an angry mob of former captives to not kill the people that captured them as soon as we left to do the mission we actually came to do, it went about as well as you could expect.

Regarding that whole argument about out of print books though, it's actually entirely possible to get new copies of many out of print books still. Maybe not some more obscure things, but stuff like the core 4th edition or 3.5 books you can literally find new copies on amazon if you wanted them. That's just not usually the kind of place you'd look for merchandise as a store owner, generally you buy from the source rather than a reseller, but a really good game store should probably grab a few copies of at least the really major and obvious games anyway.

[QUOTE=elowin;52666969]Regarding that whole argument about out of print books though, it's actually entirely possible to get new copies of many out of print books still. Maybe not some more obscure things, but stuff like the core 4th edition or 3.5 books you can literally find new copies on amazon if you wanted them. That's just not usually the kind of place you'd look for merchandise as a store owner, generally you buy from the source rather than a reseller, but a really good game store should probably grab a few copies of at least the really major and obvious games anyway.[/QUOTE] I'd be more inclined to agree if 4e wasn't so widely regarded as a mistake.

So after 4 sessions, the resurrection quest to get the party's paladin back. And he came back different! [T]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/292009980310323200/356451632776740865/augan.png[/T] Phoenix Bloodline gone genasi style. One of my players is [URL="https://twitter.com/aphalyte/status/906914048456970241"]the artist.[/URL]

[QUOTE=elowin;52666969]Regarding that whole argument about out of print books though, it's actually entirely possible to get new copies of many out of print books still. Maybe not some more obscure things, but stuff like the core 4th edition or 3.5 books you can literally find new copies on amazon if you wanted them. That's just not usually the kind of place you'd look for merchandise as a store owner, generally you buy from the source rather than a reseller, but a really good game store should probably grab a few copies of at least the really major and obvious games anyway.[/QUOTE] Their choices would be to buy it at a surcharge and have to end up charging 80 bucks for it, or buying shitty, beat up used versions and selling them at near full price. It's not really a sustainable method for keeping the books in stock.

[QUOTE=UzumakaiPatch;52666991]I'd be more inclined to agree if 4e wasn't so widely regarded as a mistake.[/QUOTE] You're widely regarded as a mistake. (Seriously though I kinda like it, but I haven't played 5e yet so fuck knows)

just cracked and dropped about $180 on 5e books - Player's Handbook, DM's Guide, Monster Manual, Volo's Guide, a DM screen, and the upcoming Xanathar's Guide to Everything. fuckin WOOSH this is gonna be a rush of material. im a baby player, let alone a baby dm. only played for 5 or 6 sessions now, but I feel the need to run the show. considering taking over for ours, who has been wanting to roll a paladin. [sp]I hear tales how most DM's start because their first DM was...insufficient[/sp] been playing Pathfinder up till now. Looking forward to a bit more freedom from the rules and a more freeflow feel to everything. any recommended adventures or general tips for a soon-to-be baby dm? I'm looking forward to (a bit later on) running conversions of the Planescape campaigns Great Modron March & Dead Gods - mainly b/c I loved Planescape Torment, and dimensional hopping seems fun.

The standard Mines of Phandelvir is pretty solid for a first short campaign arc. Read through it, see what you can do to tie it to future plans. Shouldn't be too hard! I find 5e doesn't have nearly the same feel for something like Planescape. When everyone's already weird (dragonborn feylock paladin with wings, feral tiefling arcane trickster, ect) it has much less OOMPH. Also, the 5e tieflings are not remotely like PS tieflings so even THAT would be a disconnect from the setting. You'd have better luck with Spelljammer, really! That's a setting that doesn't give a fuck! Space hippo gun-loving mercenaries whose own spelljammers (when they can get them) are basically a giant cannon with a ship attached, beholders flying around in world-killing GIANT beholder-shaped death ships, illithid using enormous Nautiloids to intimidate their customers (because they're merchants at heart), the weird-ass Arcane (blue skinned, extremely slender magical giants who make the actual Spelljammer helms, the things that make them all move)... Goofy, fun stuff. Very suited to 5e, for sure.

I DM for a small group of 3. In the world there's a fancy ball coming up, and the adventurers have been hired to extract a high-value target from the event. They were figuring out a plan and looking for a method of getting the person out of a high-security location. They found a solution in William the Sausage, Gastromancer™, who baked for the party a dozen red velvet teleportation cupcakes, which would immediately transport the eater to the location of the leftover enchanted cupcake mix. Given that it's still a couple of days before the ball, the group decides to chill in town for a while. There are posters all around offering rewards for a lost child. The story leads the players into the silver mines beneath the city where the Red Fang, a group of mercenaries who have been one of the antagonists of the story, have taken over. They run into a familiar face - a peg-legged Lieutenant that they met a few sessions ago. (Note: he's peg-legged due to an encounter on a sky-ship in which players decided to push the ship's cannons around and shoot them at their enemies. Lieutenant lost a leg, and our Ranger lost a hand.) The party figures they could get some great info from the Lieutenant, but given they're literally in an enemy encampment it's probably not the best face. The entire party tries to grapple this guy and force-feed him cupcakes. They eventually succeed, and the Lieutenant pops out of existence. The party arrives back in William the Sausage's kitchen just in time to see the Lieutenant slip out the door. I'm really looking forward to the next game; Lieutenant Peg-Leg Cake-Face and the Chase Through Mistbasin

Playing a storm invoker in 4e, we're climbing a slippery rope up, me rolling shittily all the way up, blocking the people behind me. I get to one square before the top, say fuck it, and zap myself with divine bolts for the 1 square shift :v:

[QUOTE=Chronische;52669267]The standard Mines of Phandelvir is pretty solid for a first short campaign arc. Read through it, see what you can do to tie it to future plans. Shouldn't be too hard! I find 5e doesn't have nearly the same feel for something like Planescape. When everyone's already weird (dragonborn feylock paladin with wings, feral tiefling arcane trickster, ect) it has much less OOMPH. Also, the 5e tieflings are not remotely like PS tieflings so even THAT would be a disconnect from the setting. You'd have better luck with Spelljammer, really! That's a setting that doesn't give a fuck! Space hippo gun-loving mercenaries whose own spelljammers (when they can get them) are basically a giant cannon with a ship attached, beholders flying around in world-killing GIANT beholder-shaped death ships, illithid using enormous Nautiloids to intimidate their customers (because they're merchants at heart), the weird-ass Arcane (blue skinned, extremely slender magical giants who make the actual Spelljammer helms, the things that make them all move)... Goofy, fun stuff. Very suited to 5e, for sure.[/QUOTE] I will consider this! I've been watching WebDM and they've mentioned Spelljammer a few times, describe it as Star Trek D&D, and I'm a big fan of The Next Generation, so I'll see. I dunno if my group would be game for that just yet (it'd be a hard left turn from what we're doing now, which is sort of typical sword&board) and my interest in Planescape (beyond P:T) comes from an interest in interdimensional travel a-la Twin Peaks - I like the possibility of surreal, confusing imagery and hopping across the planes through weird silly portals. I would say my partner is obsessed with Data...so I can see a Modron being in the mix for Spelljammer. [url=http://68.media.tumblr.com/f66dd97db9588b8d407e67715902bf68/tumblr_n9cegsDqw21rzk6odo5_1280.jpg]any excuse to make[/url] [url=http://68.media.tumblr.com/46a767fc9b25f38a09042eee68440da7/tumblr_n9cegsDqw21rzk6odo4_1280.jpg]these cute modron minis.[/url] It's definitely on my list to look at; thanks!

[QUOTE=BrickInHead;52670307]I will consider this! I've been watching WebDM and they've mentioned Spelljammer a few times, describe it as Star Trek D&D, and I'm a big fan of The Next Generation, so I'll see. I dunno if my group would be game for that just yet (it'd be a hard left turn from what we're doing now, which is sort of typical sword&board) and my interest in Planescape (beyond P:T) comes from an interest in interdimensional travel a-la Twin Peaks - I like the possibility of surreal, confusing imagery and hopping across the planes through weird silly portals. I would say my partner is obsessed with Data...so I can see a Modron being in the mix for Spelljammer. [url=http://68.media.tumblr.com/f66dd97db9588b8d407e67715902bf68/tumblr_n9cegsDqw21rzk6odo5_1280.jpg]any excuse to make[/url] [url=http://68.media.tumblr.com/46a767fc9b25f38a09042eee68440da7/tumblr_n9cegsDqw21rzk6odo4_1280.jpg]these cute modron minis.[/url] It's definitely on my list to look at; thanks![/QUOTE] If you're going to do Planescape, make sure to read all the books! Guide to Sigil, the inner planes, the planes of law, chaos, and conflict, Faces of Sigil, all that jazz. Lot to work through but it should prove inspiring. Then, there's some bigass adventures you can run, like Dead Gods or Doors to the Unknown. Spelljammer is good stuff, much less developed than Planescape for better or worse. Have a 5e conversion thing I did a while back I could share if you like, unfinished as I doubt I'll ever touch 5e again.

Modrons, aka dice monsters. I do love them though, primarily because of Nordom in PS:T of course.

you can get loads of Warhammer Fantasy RolePlay 2nd Ed PDFs from [URL="https://www.humblebundle.com/books/warhammer-rpg-books"]humblebundle.com[/URL] for the next 10 days. i picked it up, always wanted to see what WFRP was like and then fantasyflight stopped publishing the 3rd edition.

[QUOTE=EXPLOOOSIONS!;52690299]you can get loads of Warhammer Fantasy RolePlay 2nd Ed PDFs from [URL="https://www.humblebundle.com/books/warhammer-rpg-books"]humblebundle.com[/URL] for the next 10 days. i picked it up, always wanted to see what WFRP was like and then fantasyflight stopped publishing the 3rd edition.[/QUOTE] 3rd edition was a mess - a sort of prototype for what FFG ended up doing with their Star Wars games, but also with stupid cards. 4th edition is coming out soon, which I'm excited to see. I've found, however, that Zweihander does fill that niche very well and is also free! However, WHFRP 2e is still a pretty good system with lots of useful information should you be looking for that kind of thing.