Tabletop Roleplaying Games (D&D, Pathfinder, CoC, ETC.)

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Hope it goes well, I'm in a similar boat as I haven't really played for years and the friend I plan to play with has no experience at all. Hopefully it goes well, I think she wanted to play D&D both to try it for the first time and to hang out as she recommended her place rather than the park we usually go to for hiking.
I hope it goes well for you too!

I've been told a spot has been reserved for me and I'm sort of flip-flopping between looking forward to it and being apprehensive. My first group who I was with for about a year or so ended so disastrously and ended up being handled so poorly that it kind of put me off playing ttrpgs for a long time. I'm kind of worried that it'll happen again I guess.
 
Hope it goes well, I'm in a similar boat as I haven't really played for years and the friend I plan to play with has no experience at all. Hopefully it goes well, I think she wanted to play D&D both to try it for the first time and to hang out as she recommended her place rather than the park we usually go to for hiking.

Also does anyone have any recommendations or things to watch out for with two player D&D?

ERP
 
I was checking out the D&D adventure league books and I wanted to share some of the crazy stuff they consider putting in as content warnings. Here we go: performance anxiety, insomnia, oppressive aristocracy, Swarms of insects, fur trade (mention), oppression (slavery), and natural disasters (earthquake, eruption). Maybe I'm just jaded that this stuff doesn't bother me.
 
I was checking out the D&D adventure league books and I wanted to share some of the crazy stuff they consider putting in as content warnings. Here we go: performance anxiety, insomnia, oppressive aristocracy, Swarms of insects, fur trade (mention), oppression (slavery), and natural disasters (earthquake, eruption). Maybe I'm just jaded that this stuff doesn't bother me.
The only one I'd even give the time of day to is performance anxiety, because every now and then I get a touch tangled up (I hate to speak in public). OK, they get one point. It'll die from loneliness, poor thing.

But come the fuck on, WotC. Insomnia? Really? An aristocracy that is oppressive, boorish, or obnoxious? You don't say. Natural disasters? How about UNnatural ones, like an undead attack or a dragon deciding to raid the treasury?

Jesus, are some of the current year gamers really this fucking fragile?
 
I was checking out the D&D adventure league books and I wanted to share some of the crazy stuff they consider putting in as content warnings. Here we go: performance anxiety, insomnia, oppressive aristocracy, Swarms of insects, fur trade (mention), oppression (slavery), and natural disasters (earthquake, eruption). Maybe I'm just jaded that this stuff doesn't bother me.
Stunning and brave people who watch people play D&D on Youtube play D&D have too few spoons these days. Too few spoons in their playtimes…
 
Okay, so I just came off my last Shadowrun game and...oh man, this is going to be a blog post but hopefully you all like the story.

So, the Runners are going around doing their thing and the Decker decides to head up to the convention center a day early to case the joint. No problem, in and out, right? I figure since he's a shifter it'll be an easy hack. Unfortunately, he decided to do the hack outside in the bushes as opposed to...well, literally anywhere else. Luckily, the guards roll like shit and he manages to get into the host. Grabs the floorplans, camera locations, where the objective is going to be, and the security schedule. You know, the usual. Jacks out, then gets spotted by security. I need to mention: his shifter's human form is a gnome, giving him Childlike for free. So, obviously security pegs him as a lost kid (and he plays along) and talks him to the security office. Now here's where it gets stupid.

See, as much of an asshole as cops can be in Shadowrun, they're not about to billyclub a kid. So they ask him the usual, parents, contact info, names, etc. He clams up and starts speaking in German, which is just what every security guard wants to happen on his shift. So then he pretends he's gotta shit. Fine, one of the guards takes him to the bathroom. He then proceeds to clog the toilet, shift into fox form, then climb the walls and hope his stealth beats the guard's perception (he's got gecko feet, so he can scale the walls without a check). He does, hides in the trash can. Guard leaves. He then slips into the air vent and decides to case the security office. After a while, he decides to run a second hack. This time he fucks up, gets backtraced, and the security Spider gets a lucky roll and one shots him. So now he's knocked out and at the mercy of Champion Security Services, proud subsidiary of Lionheart Universal Inc. Luckily for him, the guards decide to capture and interrogate since they're banking on no honor among thieves and if they can grab some Shadowrunners who are planning to fuck up their event a couple shift supers might get promoted to manager (corporate culture in Lionheart is massively competitive, so they'll shoot for beating their coworkers to raises and promotions over anything else).

The rest of the run was basically the other PCs running around unaware and trying to do legwork while a wagemage basically tried to get the hacker to roll on the team. He refused, so the team tries to figure out if they should rescue the decker or prioritize the job while the spider tries to get info on the teammates (made harder by the decker's habit of giving everyone nicknames, a nice bit of RP that saved their collective asses). Unfortunately, this lead to the shell-shocked veteran destroying his commlink so now he had no communication. At one point, Chief Runs-with-Klansmen slugs the elf face in the hopes they'd be arrested too so they could find out where they took the decker, but instead security breaks up the fight and threatens to kick them out. After about three hours, the wagemage gives up trying to get the decker to roll, and instead switches to honey: she says her priority is making sure nothing gets stolen, blown up, or shot and if he and the team agree to work for her and Champion instead, she'd pay them more money than Johnson and let them walk. It took some cajoling, but the decker eventually agreed to let her meet the elf face. So now, they're working for the security company (unless they decide to steal the disk anyway) because the decker couldn't just do his legwork and get out. I had to pull pretty much everything that happened out of my ass because of that.
 
Okay, so I just came off my last Shadowrun game and...oh man, this is going to be a blog post but hopefully you all like the story.

So, the Runners are going around doing their thing and the Decker decides to head up to the convention center a day early to case the joint. No problem, in and out, right? I figure since he's a shifter it'll be an easy hack. Unfortunately, he decided to do the hack outside in the bushes as opposed to...well, literally anywhere else. Luckily, the guards roll like shit and he manages to get into the host. Grabs the floorplans, camera locations, where the objective is going to be, and the security schedule. You know, the usual. Jacks out, then gets spotted by security. I need to mention: his shifter's human form is a gnome, giving him Childlike for free. So, obviously security pegs him as a lost kid (and he plays along) and talks him to the security office. Now here's where it gets stupid.

See, as much of an asshole as cops can be in Shadowrun, they're not about to billyclub a kid. So they ask him the usual, parents, contact info, names, etc. He clams up and starts speaking in German, which is just what every security guard wants to happen on his shift. So then he pretends he's gotta shit. Fine, one of the guards takes him to the bathroom. He then proceeds to clog the toilet, shift into fox form, then climb the walls and hope his stealth beats the guard's perception (he's got gecko feet, so he can scale the walls without a check). He does, hides in the trash can. Guard leaves. He then slips into the air vent and decides to case the security office. After a while, he decides to run a second hack. This time he fucks up, gets backtraced, and the security Spider gets a lucky roll and one shots him. So now he's knocked out and at the mercy of Champion Security Services, proud subsidiary of Lionheart Universal Inc. Luckily for him, the guards decide to capture and interrogate since they're banking on no honor among thieves and if they can grab some Shadowrunners who are planning to fuck up their event a couple shift supers might get promoted to manager (corporate culture in Lionheart is massively competitive, so they'll shoot for beating their coworkers to raises and promotions over anything else).

The rest of the run was basically the other PCs running around unaware and trying to do legwork while a wagemage basically tried to get the hacker to roll on the team. He refused, so the team tries to figure out if they should rescue the decker or prioritize the job while the spider tries to get info on the teammates (made harder by the decker's habit of giving everyone nicknames, a nice bit of RP that saved their collective asses). Unfortunately, this lead to the shell-shocked veteran destroying his commlink so now he had no communication. At one point, Chief Runs-with-Klansmen slugs the elf face in the hopes they'd be arrested too so they could find out where they took the decker, but instead security breaks up the fight and threatens to kick them out. After about three hours, the wagemage gives up trying to get the decker to roll, and instead switches to honey: she says her priority is making sure nothing gets stolen, blown up, or shot and if he and the team agree to work for her and Champion instead, she'd pay them more money than Johnson and let them walk. It took some cajoling, but the decker eventually agreed to let her meet the elf face. So now, they're working for the security company (unless they decide to steal the disk anyway) because the decker couldn't just do his legwork and get out. I had to pull pretty much everything that happened out of my ass because of that.
That has to be one of the most gloriously fucked-up things I have ever read. Bravo.

Also, Chief Runs-with-Klansmen sounds like he's going to be a source of much lols if you and the player can keep his racism to a proper level.
 
Yep, you need to change plans on the fly, especially if you're doing a lot of heist scenarios. It is partly on the Decker's fault though for changing his tactics so damn much and doubling down when he had an out IMO.
Wait, wait wait, picking the smart move instead of doubling down on his brilliant plan? Surely you're talking of someone other than a stereotypical RPG player, right?
 
That has to be one of the most gloriously fucked-up things I have ever read. Bravo.

Also, Chief Runs-with-Klansmen sounds like he's going to be a source of much lols if you and the player can keep his racism to a proper level.
Yeah, that character's going to die at some point. He can't keep his mouth shut to the point where when security came up to break up the fight, the player's first question was "Is the guard a human?" But then, we're talking about a guy who in Through the Breach made a gremlin named Mohammed Ravage whose hobbies were praising Allah, finding snackbars, and cultural enrichment. Oh, and he almost converted a (FEMALE!) sheriff to Islam. In 1908. Yeah.
Yep, you need to change plans on the fly, especially if you're doing a lot of heist scenarios. It is partly on the Decker's fault though for changing his tactics so damn much and doubling down when he had an out IMO.
Everyone at the table was asking him why he didn't call a team member (like the face) to play parent. He's trying to commit to the whole "not actually human" thing as a shifter, so some of his weirdness is from that. The rest is...well, he's like the racist Indian's player and likes to play characters that can easily turn a GM's game sideways with their actions.
Wait, wait wait, picking the smart move instead of doubling down on his brilliant plan? Surely you're talking of someone other than a stereotypical RPG player, right?
This.
 
There is something that's been bothering me again as of late and it is how I usually run dungeons:
I play exclusively online using virtual tabletops like roll20 or foundry, primarily using text and I feel any dungeons I run, no matter how small they are, take forever. i picked up the habit of making maps on tile based software so they end up looking more like what you would find on a rpg maker, meaning it is in such scale that every player can have their character move individually.
I have tried making maps closer to what I see in modules and have everyone move as once, but I feel like thats also slow since it brings another problem: sometimes my party can't agree between themselves where to go/what to do and I don't like railroading or pushing them to a certain outcome.
I am open to advice, pointers, anything really to run dungeons in a way that's not a slog, and yes I am aware what works for others may not work for me.
Guess it could also help watching videos/streams of decent DMs running dungeons, so feel free to post those as well.
 
There is something that's been bothering me again as of late and it is how I usually run dungeons:
I play exclusively online using virtual tabletops like roll20 or foundry, primarily using text and I feel any dungeons I run, no matter how small they are, take forever. i picked up the habit of making maps on tile based software so they end up looking more like what you would find on a rpg maker, meaning it is in such scale that every player can have their character move individually.
I have tried making maps closer to what I see in modules and have everyone move as once, but I feel like thats also slow since it brings another problem: sometimes my party can't agree between themselves where to go/what to do and I don't like railroading or pushing them to a certain outcome.
I am open to advice, pointers, anything really to run dungeons in a way that's not a slog, and yes I am aware what works for others may not work for me.
Guess it could also help watching videos/streams of decent DMs running dungeons, so feel free to post those as well.

>I am open to advice, pointers, anything really to run dungeons in a way that's not a slog

Give up. You will turn lead to gold first.

Serious answer: For random encounters, you need to streamline battle. If you are running D&D 5e or PF2, you will never achieve that with the monster manual monsters. You need to use a different system or tweak their specs to make them glass cannons.

Next, read your module and then work out a story for your dungeon. I build my maps in Maptool using tiling and objects from google & free packs. Sometimes you put some ground clutter down and start to build a story - is this dungeon a tomb? Is the undead the corpses warriors looted from the niches there? Why are the dead there? Is it to honor them? Or maybe to hide them.
I find just chopping up encounter maps doesn't give me that same mind space using the drawing tools does.
Tiles I usually save for tossing together a quick unplanned unecounter.

Also, remove dead space from your dungeon. Everything should have a purpose. Your dungeon should feel organic and put together (which is why I hate "gonzo" dungeons). Work out an ecosystem. Why are these creatures here? What do they eat? etc. If it doesn't add to the dungeon crawl's plot/mission, if it doesn't need to be there, then it doesn't need to be there.

I also have a rule: No splitting the party (unless its in town). Its metagaming, but you are playing a game. (Though if you're doing everything in text, I guess maybe you don't have quite the problems with voice which is sequestering information.) If the players are having issues deciding, do pass the conch. Have everyone who hasn't gotten the conch yet roll a D6, high number decides where the party is going. Next time there's disagreement, everyone but that player who won last time rolls D6, high number decides. Go like this till everyone gets a turn being the decider.

But in a very real sense, going back to my comedy answer, there is a bit of truth. Its going to always be a bit of a slog to run a dungeon. Accept it and move one.
 
There is something that's been bothering me again as of late and it is how I usually run dungeons:
I play exclusively online using virtual tabletops like roll20 or foundry, primarily using text and I feel any dungeons I run, no matter how small they are, take forever. i picked up the habit of making maps on tile based software so they end up looking more like what you would find on a rpg maker, meaning it is in such scale that every player can have their character move individually.
I have tried making maps closer to what I see in modules and have everyone move as once, but I feel like thats also slow since it brings another problem: sometimes my party can't agree between themselves where to go/what to do and I don't like railroading or pushing them to a certain outcome.
I am open to advice, pointers, anything really to run dungeons in a way that's not a slog, and yes I am aware what works for others may not work for me.
Guess it could also help watching videos/streams of decent DMs running dungeons, so feel free to post those as well.
@Ghostse offers good advice so let me throw my own 2 cents on top of that:

My GM loves throwing threats/random encounters at us if the party is dawdling. Urgency is a great motivator to get people moving, even if not necessarily in the right direction. On the other hand, you're the one controlling the dungeon: until the players open the door, the room beyond could be a hallway, a room full of treasure, a puzzle room, a combat encounter, or the final boss. And if the players are convinced a room has some sort of secret passage (they do that a lot around dead ends), consider making one up on the spot. Even if it doesn't lead anywhere important (say, it just goes to a room they previously explored), a few coins piled up on a niche and the knowledge they "found" something secret does wonders to cheer people up.

In short, be flexible and don't stick too hard to the plan.
 
@Ghostse offers good advice so let me throw my own 2 cents on top of that:

My GM loves throwing threats/random encounters at us if the party is dawdling. Urgency is a great motivator to get people moving, even if not necessarily in the right direction. On the other hand, you're the one controlling the dungeon: until the players open the door, the room beyond could be a hallway, a room full of treasure, a puzzle room, a combat encounter, or the final boss. And if the players are convinced a room has some sort of secret passage (they do that a lot around dead ends), consider making one up on the spot. Even if it doesn't lead anywhere important (say, it just goes to a room they previously explored), a few coins piled up on a niche and the knowledge they "found" something secret does wonders to cheer people up.

In short, be flexible and don't stick too hard to the plan.

Going along with this:
If you don't want to encourage ferret behavior and be a little evil ,while not shutting down interaction with the dungeon....
Create a nemesis for your party. Famed Adventurer Jertavious Gerrymander-Provington IV, esq. When your players are convinced there is a hidden treasure, have them discover that there WAS treasure, but Jertavious has beaten them to it. If they find a secret passage, Jertavious has left his name carved in the stone. They will come to hate this NPC for the dispicable crime of beating them to treasure. Use this white-hot hatred as a motivation.
 
Also, remove dead space from your dungeon. Everything should have a purpose. Your dungeon should feel organic and put together (which is why I hate "gonzo" dungeons). Work out an ecosystem. Why are these creatures here? What do they eat? etc. If it doesn't add to the dungeon crawl's plot/mission, if it doesn't need to be there, then it doesn't need to be there.
(looks guiltily at his copy of Caverns of Quasqueton and Keep on the Borderlands)

My party has sworn to crucify the architect of that complex. Hoo boy.
 
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