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

[Ghostse]

I think he likes the views he's getting a lot too. Just three weeks ago he went from about 400 views a video to getting about 3500 views. Now this week this newest video is at 26k. This guy wants e-fame, which will poison him in the end as e-fame usually does.

The guy tard raging NOW makes me think of a joke:

Guy and his friend are pulled over for speeding. The cop comes over and motions for the driver to roll down his window.
"License and registration, dumbass." the cop says, reaching in and smacking the driver in the back of the head. He looks down at the driver with a 'say something' look, and the driver hands them over. "Thank you. I'll be right back, dumbass" the Cop says, giving the driver another smack to the head.

Cop comes back with the documents.
"Well, you fucking moron, you were doing 60 in a 55." He says, giving the driver another smack to the head.
"And Your tail light is out you retarded goober" Another smack
"And your registration expires this month so get it fixed you worthless shitstain." another smack.
"Here's your speeding ticket, I'll let you off with a warning on the light. Get it fixed, dick cheese." Adding in another smack
"Oh and one more thing before I let you go."

The cop walks around the car and smacks the passenger upside the head.
"Dumbass."

The passenger stammers
"What was that for? I didn't do anything!"

"I'm just granting your wish." The cop says. "Cause in about 10 minutes you were going to turn to your buddy and say 'I wish he'd have tried that shit with me.' Now have a good day."

tl;dr The Pinkertons should have smacked him around a bit because he's having an after the fact realization of just how much of a puss he is.

 

[Scream Aim Fire]

I don't know if it was a new change, but I suspected something was up when I saw the page about furries spent more time bitching about how hypocritical /tg/ users are than the topic of the page itself.

Yeah, that page was what alerted me to the writer going full retard; seriously, trying to defend furfags at a table is a bad idea. I've got an entire WoD campaign from about a year ago that pretty much confirms it.

 

[Ghostse]

I don't mean to criticize a friend or complain about an incoming party wipe, we all have our own styles of DMing, but I think he hasn't quite realized that your primary role isn't to murder your players at the first opportunity.

What a moron. You don't kill your players at the first opportunity. there's no fun in it.
You need to let them build up their hopes and dreams before you shatter them so there's a nice CRASH as they hit the ground from height.

Like, ToA is a tough campaign, and rightly so if it's building off of one of the most challenging dungeons in the game's history. But if I were in the DM chair this go around and I rolled a definite TPK for a random encounter two sessions in, I would do what you'd do: either fudge the roll or come up with a way to get them out of the fight. Nothing's more demoralizing than setting up a party and starting to put effort into them, only to have that all be thrown in the garbage before you've even gotten a chance to play, through no real fault of your own (they were disguised as explorers in need of aid and only revealed themselves when one of us approached).

For B/X/O I'd probably let the dice fuck them because that's b/x/o. For 5e I'd just stab myself in the eye with a fork because fuck 5e you are building heroes not just rando meat for the gristmill.

The DM screen isn't just there so your players can't cheat, it's also there to allow the DM to cheat. I've done it more than once when I was DMing, but I don't think he's realized he has that capacity yet. He's already telling us to have backup characters planned, so it sounds like he's fully prepared to wipe us and have us start over (and I'm definitely just going to reuse my bard with a new name). We're all mature enough that this isn't going to ruin friendships or anything, but I dunno how long people are going to be willing to play if we keep wiping from random bullshit, as well as all the survival mechanics to keep track of. We'll see!

A DM should never fudge their rolls. And when they do fudge the rolls never let the players know.

What I'll often do in cases like that is "table" the roll. I'll give the players a less bad encounter and then later on when they are in a better state and something good should happen, I'll instead bring that ass-wrecking encounter from the back pocket.

 

[anti SJW]

Link to tweet. Publisher of Castles and Crusades.

 

[Hikaru86]

Well, we have a new playtest document for D&D-whatever-name-WoTC-is-calling-it-now, and its... Not good. Crawford is a wizardfag and its shows. Barbarian and Fighter don't really got anything new (and got some nerfs, for fuck why?!). Warlocks are 1-level dip class now. Sorcerer are meh. Wizards got new toys, because of course they do.

 

[King Dead]

What a moron. You don't kill your players at the first opportunity. there's no fun in it.
You need to let them build up their hopes and dreams before you shatter them so there's a nice CRASH as they hit the ground from height.

It would certainly hammer home the notion that this is a deadly campaign if party #1 gets BTFO five minutes into the story, but I dunno how much everyone would be interested in playing that sort of campaign. I'm willing to give it a shot (partly so I can actually play again and take a break from DMing), but I'm also willing to drop it if others get tired of it.

The Death Curse throws a bigger monkey wrench into the works since your party can't rez someone who dies, which means that until the campaign is over, anyone who dies off is basically gone for good. So if you have someone you're attached to, you're shit out of luck for a while.

Depending on how many times my bard dies, I'll have quite a bit of fun getting them all resurrected and meeting up afterwards. I imagine it'll go something like this, especially the Mentok part:

A DM should never fudge their rolls. And when they do fudge the rolls never let the players know.

What I'll often do in cases like that is "table" the roll. I'll give the players a less bad encounter and then later on when they are in a better and something good should happen, I'll instead bring that ass-wrecking encounter from the back pocket.

My personal rule is to avoid a roll fudge as much as possible, but be a little more lenient at the start. It's not my goal to have a TPK in the first session unless my party is deliberately trying to do the absolute dumbest things possible to force my hand. So if that means the occasional hit becomes a miss or a creature flunks a saving throw that they passed, so be it (and obviously they never learn that it happened that way). Gradually that comes to an end and the dice will choose for me once they have a decent understanding of how their characters work and how they work together as a party.

That idea about tabling a bad encounter for later is a good one, I'll have to keep that in mind.

 

[The Ugly One]

As a player, how do you personally handle replacing your character after a death?

After session 2 in our ToA campaign, we just hit level 2, and the very last event before we stopped the session had us encountering a group of three sea hags. Based off of encounter calculators I've looked at, that's probably going to be a TPK. Random encounters are probably going to be a bitch in this campaign, I can tell.

It's kind of a pain to have gone to the trouble of working out a whole character only to need to replace it literally two weeks later. I was thinking about pulling the old "identical twin" trick and keep the same character sheet, just changing his name by a letter. I'd probably feel different if I hadn't just made this character, I just don't feel like going to the trouble of figuring out something totally new so soon. But maybe we'll get lucky and I won't have to worry about it.

Last session did give a nice line out of context: "finger guns are a free action!"

I invest nothing into back story because I run and play in high-lethality campaigns where it's just a waste of time. That said, if you run into three sea hags, try using words or distraction instead of blades to avoid getting killed, unless your DM is one of those idiots who thinks D&D random encounters are supposed to work the way they do in Final Fantasy.

When you roll a random encounter, you aren't generally supposed to roll for initiative immediately. You're supposed to ask the party what they do. If I'm DMing, and the party comes across a pair of Hill Giants at level 3, I expect them to try to run away or perhaps offer the Hill Giants all of their rations, not draw their swords and charge into certain death. I'm happy to kill them all if that's what they do, but they usually are smart.

 

[You gain Brouzouf]

So what VTT are people using nowadays?
I used to use Astral which was jank but offered more functionality than Roll20.
With Astral being dead I'll need to find a new option for my group for when we don't play in person because they absolutely don't want to use Roll20.

 

[Ghostse]

So what VTT are people using nowadays?
I used to use Astral which was jank but offered more functionality than Roll20.
With Astral being dead I'll need to find a new option for my group for when we don't play in person because they absolutely don't want to use Roll20.

I use MapTool, because its free & has a lot of functionality. They call it the Millenium Falcon of VTT and that's pretty accurate. You need to understand how to do port forwarding on your router and be comfortable with your players knowing your IP.

Other people use Foundry.

And congrats on having a smart group with standards. Fuck Roll20.

 

[You gain Brouzouf]

I use MapTool, because its free & has a lot of functionality. They call it the Millenium Falcon of VTT and that's pretty accurate. You need to understand how to do port forwarding on your router and be comfortable with your players knowing your IP.

Other people use Foundry.

And congrats on having a smart group with standards. Fuck Roll20.

I'll definitely check out MapTool.

My group is what you get when most of the players also take turns DMing with a VTT and are forced to use Roll20. Just making people use it is probably the fastest way to impress upon them how shit it is.

 

[anti SJW]

 

[Brain Problems]

I'll definitely check out MapTool.

He wasn't kidding when he said Millennium Falcon. You can do an incredible amount of stuff with it. But good God, be prepared to spend some time figuring it out.

My friend has Foundry and the integration with 5e.tools is wild. You can literally upload an entire splatbook and run it as is from there if you wanted to.

Maptools is the Linux of VTTs.

 

[ZMOT]

Skepticism. It looks like they're aiming for form over function in a big way, and since they're hosting they got you for a monthly fee on top of microtransacting you for all the pretty wallpapers; the only one and done price point is $500. And that's if, like Ghostse pointed out, they don't change the terms down the road and fuck you like Roll20 did to its kickstarters.

Additionally they're touting game systems like Vampire 5th and Modiphius and Pathfinder 2, no thanks.

the VTT market is pretty saturated, if you're not a 5e cuck playing the 5e version of VTTs (roll20), there's a good chance you're already on fantasy ground, foundry or any of the free alternatives like owlbear. hence the "gimmick" pr speech which in the end will most likely be the same as other VTTs, maybe added with some stuff you can already get via 3rd party like dscryb or kanka. maptool exists but as other's said it requires quite a bit of effort and elbow grease most people can't or don't wantt to spend and rather pay for it (personally I'd recommend foundry for the business model and how open it is, combined with a big enough community of devs just cranking out addons and system support. there's even one where you can turn it into a 3d table...)

the systems thing seems to be just cooperation and what support is already included and to give more value to the pledges, wotc is a bit faggy in that regard with their whole dndbeyond push. anyone else is just happy to have another store to sell stuff...

speaking of pf2, this happened:
https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo6siae?Pathfinder-Second-Edition-Remaster-Project

basically reorganizing the books (@Ghostse got his wish and GM/player books are now separate) while moving it to ORC and getting rid of potential legal issues (even tho they said nothing in pf2 can be considered to fall under OGL, maybe they want to be on the safe side), among them.... alignments. 3x3 grid is apparently gone and it's down to good/neutral/bad. can't remember what they exactly said in the stream. not all bad since there have always been issues with certain damage types, so those get cleaned up alongside it, while also renaming/reflavoring some monsters.

while they're at it they're apparently giving certain weaker classes like witch and oracle a touchup and combining all of them them into single books (no more having to read both core and APG, same for core+GMG), which is a nice gesture since class reworks/additions usually doesn't happen with the otherwise rigid release schedule.

also everyone has to buy the new books, even if you're already a cuck subscriber, otoh rules are gonna be free anyway so it's not really paywalled.

 

[Ghostse]

speaking of pf2, this happened:
basically reorganizing the books (@Ghostse got his wish and GM/player books are now separate)

Thank fucking christ.
Imagine having to lug around a cucked, gay setting.

3x3 grid is apparently gone and it's down to good/neutral/bad.

4.5e

also everyone has to buy the new books, even if you're already a cuck subscriber, otoh rules are gonna be free anyway so it's not really paywalled

Yeah, I'd bitch but sounds like they're doing enough to justify a new SKU. And as you point out, the rules are free anyway - this is just giving people an excuse to vote with their wallets.

 

[Alabama Gamer]

1d4chan is back. I'm honestly kind of disappointed, I was hoping that Root was going to disappear for good and someone who was less of a flaming faggot would replace him.

 

[ZMOT]

Thank fucking christ.
Imagine having to lug around a cuck, gay setting.

setting stuff was less than 30 of 600 pages, mostly a short overview and listing the deities if you wanted to play a cleric or champ. so it's probably gonna make it's way in the new player book too (since players need to know their god's anathema or how to deal with it etc.)

never really cared much about the grid anyway, most of the time it's just some spergy drama involving people that want be LOLRANDOM CN or whatever, anyone else usually doesn't give a fuck either besides broad strokes.

 

[Alabama Gamer]

Thank fucking christ.
Imagine having to lug around a cucked, gay setting.

Honestly, strip out the niggerfaggot shit, and Golarion is a pretty cool setting if you like kitchen sinks and your suspension of disbelief wouldn't be broken by different regions being severely anachronistic (for lack of a better word) relative to each other. Conversely, If you don't like that Gothichorroristan (d.b.a. Ustalav) has 19th-century architecture and dress while bordering Barbarians vs. Space Robots, Low-Tech Gorkamorka, and Medieval Fantasy Classic, or that Revolutionary America But With Pikes declared independence from the evil empire of Satanist Renaissance Italy, you probably won't have a good time.

 

[Ghostse]

never really cared much about the grid anyway, most of the time it's just some spergy drama involving people that want be LOLRANDOM CN or whatever, anyone else usually doesn't give a fuck either besides broad strokes.

I'm really torn because "super good" "good" "meh" "kinda bad" "really bad" pretty much covers the spectrum of alignments, and while alignment should be a result of actions not a character trait, moving to the buckets is just accepting reality.
I guess its one of my least favorite things about 4e.

setting stuff was less than 30 of 600 pages

I'm being about 80% facetious. Its more that when I'm checking the play rules I don't need the GM section. I read my DM's guide when I'm planning out adventures, not at the table.

Honestly I'd like and extremely boiled down "Here is how to build characters/progression. Here are races. Here are classes. Here are feats. Here are skills. Here are spells. Here's adventuring gear. Here's common adventuring shit things and checks." with all the "What is a 'roleplaying'? Well, its not something you eat. Let's take a look at some fictional nerds" and "When you are at the table, it might be a good idea to not be a toxic garbage person. You should think about that." stripped out, for when i'm familiar with a system.
The 'fat book' is good when you're getting aquainted, but I'd like a 'just the facts' for the table.

Hell, I'd really like if I could just get a cheap $10 "Cleric" splat to give to out players. And yeah, you can start C&P the online rules, but typesetting and trimming info takes work.

 

[ZMOT]

I'm really torn because "super good" "good" "meh" "kinda bad" "really bad" pretty much covers the spectrum of alignments, and while alignment should be a result of actions not a character trait, moving to the buckets is just accepting reality.
I guess its one of my least favorite things about 4e.

part of my impression was it's removing another "dnd-ism" WOTC could be pissy about in the future, in case they go full retard with the law (given the cunts they are and the recent antics not impossible).

haven't looked into it further yet, so not sure if there is even more info out, but I suspect they might be handling it like champs and clerics in giving you a rough outline what is "good" and "bad, and how it affects your character (deities each have things they like and dislike, with possible mechanical effects. good or bad is almost completely relative in that regard). an advantage to that approach is also that they could change it depending on the AP. have an "evil" campaign? here's what's considered good/evil in that context and setting.

most people won't need it, but it's helpful for people who do, are too lazy or outright want to fuck it with for the lulz. and in the end you can always ignore or homebrew it back in, it's just not in the official material anymore.

I'm being about 80% facetious. Its more that when I'm checking the play rules I don't need the GM section. I read my DM's guide when I'm planning out adventures, not at the table.

Honestly I'd like and extremely boiled down "Here is how to build characters/progression. Here are races. Here are classes. Here are feats. Here are skills. Here are spells. Here's adventuring gear. Here's common adventuring shit things and checks." with all the "What is a 'roleplaying'? Well, its not something you eat. Let's take a look at some fictional nerds" and "When you are at the table, it might be a good idea to not be a toxic garbage person. You should think about that." stripped out, for when i'm familiar with a system.
The 'fat book' is good when you're getting aquainted, but I'd like a 'just the facts' for the table.

Hell, I'd really like if I could just get a cheap $10 "Cleric" splat to give to out players. And yeah, you can start C&P the online rules, but typesetting and trimming info takes work.

isn't that just stuff that's usually considered to be on the GM screen or your notes? for most other stuff I just let players handle it themselves (like printing/writing down skills if they can't or don't want to remember it, cards are great for that), at some point I don't really need the book anymore, be it 6 or 600 pages. maybe that's why I was never bothered by it. worst case I can just look it up online afterwards or inbetween.

 

[Ghostse]

isn't that just stuff that's usually considered to be on the GM screen or your notes? for most other stuff I just let players handle it themselves (like printing/writing down skills if they can't or don't want to remember it, cards are great for that), at some point I don't really need the book anymore, be it 6 or 600 pages. maybe that's why I was never bothered by it. worst case I can just look it up online afterwards or inbetween.

I often want more than what'd fit on a screen. Its also helpful to get context on shit - a lot of things I'll do short notes that get 90% of it, but sometimes you hit an edge case. I don't look things up constantly, but when there is a little used mechanic that comes into play, its nice to check myself - its less that we're playing strictly RAW and more that I make sure I'm being consistent.

I'll look up things internet/digital but prefer to use a book.

OSE did this sort of segmentation but arguably a little too much - their individual system books are almost more cover than pages.