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

[QUOTE=_Maverick_;53124279]My players asked me to draw the [B]entire[/B] world the game is set in, and a whole bunch of NPCs I live for designing fantasy maps Any ideas for keeping 4 sheets of A1 drawing paper together?[/QUOTE] You could always do what I do and just make increasingly 'zoomed in' maps to describe local regions and so forth. Typically, unless players have 'that one wizard with all his slots locked to Teleport and makes Stargate sounds all session while using them' they're not liable to pass much outside their sphere of immediate influence without DM prompting. That's just been my experience in DMing though but living by that maxim has saved me tons of time. The closer I zoom in to where the players are, the more points of interest and detail I put in; the further away, the less information I put down. (Most-of-the-World Map) [thumb]https://imgur.com/bslVwHX.png[/thumb] (Regional Map of North Cyr) [thumb]https://imgur.com/poiwqKD.png[/thumb] (National Map of Wizard's Peak) [thumb]https://imgur.com/aPvz8UI.png[/thumb] You probably don't need to put in as much work as I do though. I just love world-building. [url=https://imgur.com/NMHijzX.png]90% of the locations I set up for this game with short little blurbs to expand on later if the players go there are going to wind up totally unused and that's OK.[/url]

Are there any good, modern Cyberpunk RPGs besides Shadowrun? I was never a huge fan of the fantasy stuff cause Ive always felt it ran counter to what made cyberpunk so cool.

[QUOTE=Funktastic Dog;53125734]Are there any good, modern Cyberpunk RPGs besides Shadowrun? I was never a huge fan of the fantasy stuff cause Ive always felt it ran counter to what made cyberpunk so cool.[/QUOTE] CP2020 if you want to kill or be killed with a 9mm pistol. Aside from that, Genesys is speculated to be getting a splatbook soon that allows you to run games set in FFGs Android/Netrunner universe, which I believe doesn't have any fantasy elements. That said, Genesys itself should have the stuff to run a game of Cyberpunk. The default game ships with neat Hacking rules that don't alienate the entire party while the Hacker does his thing. [sp]I'm quite a fan of Genesys now, I've been obsessively reading the rulebook for 3 weeks[/sp]

Cyberpunk 2020 is the only cyberpunk game as far as im concerned everything else is genre shlock

Interface Zero for Savage Worlds has a degree of the fantasy shit but it’s incredibly easy to edit out and leave you with a pretty solid setting built on a decent system Beyond that, joining the CP2020 crowd because even if it’s dated the whole thing is still class as fuck and I appreciate that despite it really not aging fantastically

GURPS has 20 years of material dealing with cyberpunk, including work done by Steve Jackson and Mike Pondsmith.

So today in Curse of Strahd we had the toughest fight yet. Not the one with the vampire spawn beneath the church, not the one with the Werewolves, not even the fight with Strahd himself. It was a broomstick. We spent 30 minutes fighting an animated broomstick. Someone died.

[QUOTE=jackattack;53127193]So today in Curse of Strahd we had the toughest fight yet. Not the one with the vampire spawn beneath the church, not the one with the Werewolves, not even the fight with Strahd himself. It was a broomstick. We spent 30 minutes fighting an animated broomstick. Someone died.[/QUOTE] Total party sweep.

[QUOTE=jackattack;53127193]So today in Curse of Strahd we had the toughest fight yet. Not the one with the vampire spawn beneath the church, not the one with the Werewolves, not even the fight with Strahd himself. It was a broomstick. We spent 30 minutes fighting an animated broomstick. Someone died.[/QUOTE] That's the true reason witches were feared - not their magic, but their fearsome animated cleaning tools!

[QUOTE=Funktastic Dog;53125734]Are there any good, modern Cyberpunk RPGs besides Shadowrun? I was never a huge fan of the fantasy stuff cause Ive always felt it ran counter to what made cyberpunk so cool.[/QUOTE] There's Corporation, where you play as badass corporate agents.

[QUOTE=_Maverick_;53124279]My players asked me to draw the [B]entire[/B] world the game is set in, and a whole bunch of NPCs I live for designing fantasy maps Any ideas for keeping 4 sheets of A1 drawing paper together?[/QUOTE] I mean at that point I would unironically suggest investing in larger paper. Whether it's just larger standard sizes or a roll of white butcher paper (protip, look at teacher supply stores for this kind of stuff)

Decided twice to try and use my musical chops to entertain the caravan we were traveling with. I grabbed a flute, rolled a nat20 and gave a perfect performance of Land Down Under. I later rolled a nat1 and decided to basically sing Despacito in goblin. Really badly. It was not well-received.

Dragonborn monk lost a fight to a 14 year old girl. Dragonborn monk later encountered a body that had been ripped apart so much it looked like someone had chucked a human sized portion of pulled pork in a blender. He started giving it CPR thinking he could be saved. He did not have a good session. :v:

[QUOTE=_Maverick_;53133603]Dragonborn monk lost a fight to a 14 year old girl. [/QUOTE] There's a story here we need to know.

[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;53133655]There's a story here we need to know.[/QUOTE] One of my party wasn't happy with their character and wanted a change, so rolled up an adorable 14 year old tiefling warlock. Pretty average stats, nothing to shout home about. Especially when compared to Dragonborn monk. Dragonborn monk suggested that they have a fight, so they pop out the back and put up their dukes. 14year old girl rolls great, with critical hits all day everyday Monk has for the last three sessions had bad rolls with hits never seeming to connect In two hits, monk surrenders. :v:

I'm really enjoying this new DnD and the Noble background. Even in jest, it was immensely satisfying to say the words "execute him" when another PC was apprehended by and at the mercy of my lawful men. The monk was our group's doctor. One of our men experienced strange symptoms after a fight with undead during the morning (last session), and with the monk's medicine check of about 14 the GM said he was slowly turning undead. The Monk stabbed the man in the heart. The GM was really only going for a MMO style fetch quest involving some local herbs, but I guess the monk was having [I]none of it. [/I]

[QUOTE=The Jack;53136445]I'm really enjoying this new DnD the Noble background. Even in jest, it was immensely satisfying to say the words "execute him" when another PC was apprehended by and at the mercy of my lawful men. The monk was our group's doctor. One of our men experienced strange symptoms after a fight with undead during the morning (last session), and with the monk's medicine check of about 14 the GM said he was slowly turning undead. The Monk stabbed the man in the heart. The GM was really only going for a MMO style fetch quest involving some local herbs, but I guess the monk was having [I]none of it. [/I][/QUOTE] Not much of a monk if they didn't impale the man using only their hand.

I've been told by a new player that they feel left out from the game because my players and I reference things that have happened previously in the game that's been running for some time before the new player joined. Is there any good way to handle late joiners of games like that?

A night regaling the new guy with the cool stuff they've done?

[QUOTE=Spacewolf;53137347]I've been told by a new player that they feel left out from the game because my players and I reference things that have happened previously in the game that's been running for some time before the new player joined. Is there any good way to handle late joiners of games like that?[/QUOTE] I think time will help. Eventually they'll get involved in their own cool stuff that they can reference back to with the group.

I've recently started DMing a 5e game, the players are all level 2 How do you keep combat interesting? getting past armour classes seems to be a chore for both players and monsters the average combat seems to go: nothing happens because of armour nothing happens because of armour Spell fails because of wisdom save nothing happens because of armour nothing happens because of armour some damage! roll a D8! oh you only did 3 damage repeat x2-3 rounds It seems like it's all or nothing with the damage, and I'm aware i'm not actively trying to "beat" the players as a DM but there's only so many exciting ways I an describe a miss or failed spell.

That's just how the game is at those levels. Higher levels are more interesting because people get actual abilities and resources to spend.

Try losing a little bit of armor from the foes and adding and equal number to their attack rating. Just a couple points should do it- 1 or 2.

[QUOTE=A Glitch;53146307]I've recently started DMing a 5e game, the players are all level 2 It seems like it's all or nothing with the damage, and I'm aware i'm not actively trying to "beat" the players as a DM but there's only so many exciting ways I an describe a miss or failed spell.[/QUOTE] Reward close shaves and describe hits to the armour rather than constant misses. (Parys work too) especially when it's full plate. I wanted to murder a GM who'd always described attacks to me as "misses" when I was a shield'n plate dwarf with a dexterity you wouldn't write about. Even padded cloth is quite capable of taking an arrow or a slash, so don't skimp out on turning your players into pincushions with a bunch of wild and irrational misses. I'm also fond of "The NPC would've hit, but the player's last attack threw them off, and it was lucky the player made that last stab when they did." or otherwise using the state of a character's health as an excuse on why they didn't make the cut. Also, at level two... you should be looking at 18 AC at most. Splint's something you can only get if you're really lucky with the gold buy or people pooled in for some reason. Plate shouldn't happen, even if you find a set laying about, it should take months, expertise and a sizable gold investment to get it re-sized for you, giving you ample time to level up and claim it when you're the appropriate level. There's a few spells that rely on other people making the save (IE you're always casting successfully, they're just getting out the way in time) that'll make combat a bit more exciting. Sacred flame and acid splash to name a few.

[QUOTE=A Glitch;53146307]I've recently started DMing a 5e game, the players are all level 2 How do you keep combat interesting? getting past armour classes seems to be a chore for both players and monsters the average combat seems to go: nothing happens because of armour nothing happens because of armour Spell fails because of wisdom save nothing happens because of armour nothing happens because of armour some damage! roll a D8! oh you only did 3 damage repeat x2-3 rounds It seems like it's all or nothing with the damage, and I'm aware i'm not actively trying to "beat" the players as a DM but there's only so many exciting ways I an describe a miss or failed spell.[/QUOTE] Most enemies shouldn't have higher than 14 AC at that level, barring rare exceptions like hobgoblins. The idea with 5e is to make enemies easy to hit but have a stupid amount of HP to carve through giving the illusion that you're doing something when it's the same as if you'd missed really. They can try shoving them prone to make it a lot easier, very few enemies have proficiency in skills so they can't resist it very well. When prone, melee attacks get automatic advantage so any melee fighter (not to mention a rogue) will be very happy. Then you grapple so they can't get up, because they get Movement 0 when grappled. You now know the dullest but most effective melee strategy in 5e.

[QUOTE=A Glitch;53146307]I've recently started DMing a 5e game, the players are all level 2 How do you keep combat interesting? getting past armour classes seems to be a chore for both players and monsters the average combat seems to go: nothing happens because of armour nothing happens because of armour Spell fails because of wisdom save nothing happens because of armour nothing happens because of armour some damage! roll a D8! oh you only did 3 damage repeat x2-3 rounds It seems like it's all or nothing with the damage, and I'm aware i'm not actively trying to "beat" the players as a DM but there's only so many exciting ways I an describe a miss or failed spell.[/QUOTE] fiat

[QUOTE=A Glitch;53146307]I've recently started DMing a 5e game, the players are all level 2 How do you keep combat interesting? getting past armour classes seems to be a chore for both players and monsters the average combat seems to go: nothing happens because of armour nothing happens because of armour Spell fails because of wisdom save nothing happens because of armour nothing happens because of armour some damage! roll a D8! oh you only did 3 damage repeat x2-3 rounds It seems like it's all or nothing with the damage, and I'm aware i'm not actively trying to "beat" the players as a DM but there's only so many exciting ways I an describe a miss or failed spell.[/QUOTE] add a spellcaster add a flying enemy work on the environment (aka make it so part of the map caves in at some point or something) describe results in a fun fashion, and perhaps inspire your players to do more than simply rolling a d20 for attacking? there's a lot more that you can do in a turn rather than just attack. you can use your help action to give advantage to someone, you can go dodge, you can grapple someone, etc. perhaps describe enemies doing certain things so players start mimicking those things. watch how a experienced DM conducts low level combat in the new season of critical role and learn a bit from it. remember that low levels are easy to play because they're designed for beginners. the more levels you get, the more complex the game becomes. so if you're playing low levels with veterans, you need to craft encounters that are more than just [I]the gang[/I] versus [I]a bunch of goblins with sticks[/I]. you need to add an element like perhaps these goblins are carrying a bomb and in X turns they'll get to a gate and blow it up, or perhaps they're fighting a monster that always flees, and to win they must craft a trap or find a way to stop the monster from fleeing mid combat. it could be a giant insect that burrows, or it could be a gargoyle that flies away, etc.

A good tool I find to keep combat interesting is "In 1d4 rounds (counting a round as top of initiative) X happens". Roll a d4 in front of players and use it as a count down each time [I]something[/I] happens. In 1d4 rounds a wave crashes over the ship from the intense storm, knocking anyone who doesn't pass their DC12 STR saving throw prone. In 1d4 rounds another goblin will arrive from an unbarricaded door. In 1d4 rounds rocks will begin to fall from the caving in ceiling. It adds a little menace if you just roll the die in front of them without telling them and slowly count down. DnD combat isin't supposed to last that long normally so often times this event will only trigger once or maybe twice. Also have things tigger on initiative counts. Tomb of Horrors had a sliding wall trap that moved five feet every single time a player finished their turn meaning chances are someone was gonna get trapped behind 10ft of solid stone. You can apply this to other things. Each turn the room fills with a bit more water, sending players scrambling for high ground.

It really depends on what kind of characters you've got. If you can trust them, add small sandboxes where you can so they get a hands on approach to the world. I don't think a very large sandbox is DnD's forte since you want excuses to keep the players together most of the time and a lot of freedom erodes that. But if you gave them a few ingame days to enjoy a city or something as a break from linear adventures, or let them take an optional sidequest, they'll be actively learning new things to achieve their own goals, which is much better than just relying on exposition dumps during a linear story. You should really closely comb over everyone's character sheet and asks them what makes them tick/ask them to make adjustments so you can always rope them into the main quest rather than railroad them. So long as you know how to put them back on the path without being a prick about it you can let the players run wild and truly dive into your world. Also try work out how things work in reality so you've got good grounding to how things could work in the game or why they work differently.

[QUOTE=Yahnich;53148609]I'm a new DM in general, and my friends are also new I kinda had to start DMing so we could even start playing DnD, any suggestions on how to let my players experience the world as a world better and less as an imaginary video game?[/QUOTE] One piece of advice that I think a lot of GMs miss out on, is that in wanting to make a big open world with lots of choices, they often miss out on giving their players objectives. [b]What[/b] your players need to do should never be a mystery to them. They should always have a clear objective in mind. "Get to the lost city/find the macguffin/escape the space station." [b]How[/b] your players get there should be where the freedom arises from.