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

  • Want to keep track of this thread?
    Accounts can bookmark posts, watch threads for updates, and jump back to where you stopped reading.
    Create account
Mr. Manchester said:
Nice thing with NPCs is that if they never come up you just toss them somewhere else later on.
Click to expand...
I also had a few recurring NPCs that would basically occur in every campaign, sort of like Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion. Like the Eternal Accountant (always with the same name or a variant of it), who would keep track of the party's finances and assets so the players didn't have to diddle around with that boring bullshit, and would also give good, pragmatic advice they would ignore at their peril.
 
AnOminous said:
Like the Eternal Accountant (always with the same name or a variant of it), who would keep track of the party's finances and assets so the players didn't have to diddle around with that boring bullshit, and would also give good, pragmatic advice they would ignore at their peril.
Click to expand...
I might have to steal that one. Easiest way to track their resources is to just do it myself sometimes. Half the time they forget who's doing it anyway.

I have Mister Gnomeberg. He's a Gnomish lawyer, has represented the party as the defendant in some cases, has been the prosecutor against the party in others.
 
Tom Bombodildo said:
I want to throw out a question to both DMs and players; how strongly do you feel about playing in a homemade setting (made by either yourself or your group) vs. an established tabletop setting (Ravenloft, Golarion, WH40K, Traveller's Third Imperium, etc.) vs. a setting from a series of books, games, tv show, whatever? And do you feel you and your group have had more fun playing common systems (d20 stuff, Call of Cthulu, GURPS, Savage Worlds) or have you had more fun playing around with more niche or fanmade systems? Or have you noticed no difference whatsoever? I've been thinking about this a lot lately, since I realized that despite like 5 years of my group going all in on Pathfinder, the setting, and the published adventures, the most fun I've had both running and playing was with more niche systems and settings either made by the group or from books and games.
Click to expand...

I usually start with something established and then twist it to fit my ends.

I find we usually have the best fun with something that plays similar to D&D WMPRPG e3.5 just because that is what everyone is the most familiar with and if runs contrary to 3.5 flow will be broken because they have to remember how things go in not-3.5.
 
Mr. Manchester said:
I have Mister Gnomeberg. He's a Gnomish lawyer, has represented the party as the defendant in some cases, has been the prosecutor against the party in others.
Click to expand...
I had a CoC campaign where they'd survived Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth, Deep Ones, Byakhee, and what ultimately took them out was the IRS.
 
Tom Bombodildo said:
I want to throw out a question to both DMs and players; how strongly do you feel about playing in a homemade setting (made by either yourself or your group) vs. an established tabletop setting (Ravenloft, Golarion, WH40K, Traveller's Third Imperium, etc.) vs. a setting from a series of books, games, tv show, whatever? And do you feel you and your group have had more fun playing common systems (d20 stuff, Call of Cthulu, GURPS, Savage Worlds) or have you had more fun playing around with more niche or fanmade systems? Or have you noticed no difference whatsoever? I've been thinking about this a lot lately, since I realized that despite like 5 years of my group going all in on Pathfinder, the setting, and the published adventures, the most fun I've had both running and playing was with more niche systems and settings either made by the group or from books and games.
Click to expand...
The best middle ground our GM has found is to make his own settings, but use premade modules for when he's out of ideas for an adventure, or just feels like running a one-shot. It's surprisingly easy to convert most old-school 2-6 page adventures/crawls to whatever world you're playing in.
 
1709971135521.jpeg
1709971287941.jpeg
My predictions. Hasbro assumes they haven't sold D&D to someone else yet. Will probably learn the wrong lesson from Baldur's gate 3. They think people like Baldur's gate 3 for being rated M, gory and saying F-words. I bet WOTC will be ordered to have a new mature rated D&D setting. Either Hasbro or new owners. WOTC don't have the talent to make a new setting. I bet we will either see a 5E second edition Dark Sun or D&D safe edgy hell setting because Hazbin Hotel and tieflings.
 
Tom Bombodildo said:
I want to throw out a question to both DMs and players; how strongly do you feel about playing in a homemade setting (made by either yourself or your group) vs. an established tabletop setting (Ravenloft, Golarion, WH40K, Traveller's Third Imperium, etc.) vs. a setting from a series of books, games, tv show, whatever? And do you feel you and your group have had more fun playing common systems (d20 stuff, Call of Cthulu, GURPS, Savage Worlds) or have you had more fun playing around with more niche or fanmade systems? Or have you noticed no difference whatsoever? I've been thinking about this a lot lately, since I realized that despite like 5 years of my group going all in on Pathfinder, the setting, and the published adventures, the most fun I've had both running and playing was with more niche systems and settings either made by the group or from books and games.
Click to expand...
As a DM? I very much prefer running a homebrew setting than using an established setting, for several reasons. First being that I generally find it more fun to create my own ideas than it is to use another's when I'm running. I find it more freeing and fun. This also ties to another benefit: I don't have to deal with people who like a setting instantly calling out errors that are bound to creep in. I don't have to worry about something like "x wouldn't do this" or "y already happened". It's not a big issue with my group, but it always made me a bit disincentivized about that. Thirdly it means I don't have to deal with metagaming bullshit; my usuals are great about avoiding that as well they can, but I've dealt with fuckers who would read the adventure to know how something goes. Fuck that.

Lastly? I just had an initial bad experience. My first ever time GMing something not play-by-post was set in VtM's LA, and I never liked myself how I mangled it. Sure, first time ST, but it tainted my experience enough that I wanted to be less likely to avoid the issue in the first place.

As for playing? I actually am fine with adventures in a setting. I may like some settings less than others, but I'm game to try it. Helps I make a point to not read adventure splats if I can help it, so I stay surprised.
Acrid Alchemist said:
For example I run the fan game Pokemon Tabletop Adventures most of the time. The couple of times I ran it in established regions and with more or less vidya and/or anime lore I felt really constrained because all the players had expectations about things like what Pokemon appears where and what Gyms appear there and such. My current game I sat down with the group and did a like Session 0, or I guess Session -1 since it was even before character creation, where together we plotted out the major beats of our custom region but still left more than enough wiggle room to surprise the group and it feels just so much better when I'm sitting down to do session prep.
Click to expand...
My group and I are big fans and play Pokerole. We're actually rocking through Kanto; the big twist though is it takes place a good period of time after the events of Gold and Silver. So we have new pokemon encounters, dungeons have changed in some spots, and the gym leaders are all different. It's a lot of the similar, but also different.

We also have a glorious madman who singlehandedly statted out a shitload of beta pokemon that never made the cut, like Pinsir's evolution, the OG Farfetch'd evolution, and so on. It's amazing.
 
32 minutes episode. Skip the first 9 minutes of them shilling a train robbery board game. When they start to actually talk about West End games Star Wars. It wasn't bad. They barely talk how West End Gamew played beyond Ghostbusters the role-playing game with more rules. Then the podcast devolved into a weird rant about Star Wars being better than Star Trek because Star Wars is more pro-multicultural while Star Trek is pro-segregation because the federation and Klingon empire still had boarders and didn't merge into a single galactic government. They also hate Deep Space Nine for racism existing. Around 21:00 they went on a typical rant about how Star Wars fans are racist and sexist babies and Disney's best thing to happen to the Star Wars rant. Yes they, with zero irony, cry about the Cis White male and argue African Americans and women didn't like Star Wars before Disney. Also, orange man totally likes palpatine! The top most voted comment is a fan calling them out on the woke rant. Daniel Strain is suspicious and looks like one of those faggots on Teamunwinnable alt accounts arguing Star Wars was always woke.
I swear. This Irish Ham dyke a long lost channel awesome girl. . She also a #METoo activist. Like anyone drunk black man would want to touch her.
 
Tom Bombodildo said:
I want to throw out a question to both DMs and players; how strongly do you feel about playing in a homemade setting (made by either yourself or your group) vs. an established tabletop setting (Ravenloft, Golarion, WH40K, Traveller's Third Imperium, etc.) vs. a setting from a series of books, games, tv show, whatever? And do you feel you and your group have had more fun playing common systems (d20 stuff, Call of Cthulu, GURPS, Savage Worlds) or have you had more fun playing around with more niche or fanmade systems? Or have you noticed no difference whatsoever? I've been thinking about this a lot lately, since I realized that despite like 5 years of my group going all in on Pathfinder, the setting, and the published adventures, the most fun I've had both running and playing was with more niche systems and settings either made by the group or from books and games.
Click to expand...
I don't really know if l can answer this fairly because I have only played in or run 2 pre made campaign settings. But I would probably say homebrew. The only premade campaign settings I like are Darksun and Ebberon.
 
The Ugly One said:
If you strip everything "problematic" out of Dark Sun, you don't have a setting any more. Maybe they'll add more gay sex to the rules.
Click to expand...
It would genuinely be easier to make a whole new setting set in a fully sanitized Hazbin Hotel-style Hell (with white men as the oppressive archdemons, of course) than to strip everything problematic out of Dark Sun.
 
Adamska said:
We also have a glorious madman who singlehandedly statted out a shitload of beta pokemon that never made the cut, like Pinsir's evolution, the OG Farfetch'd evolution, and so on. It's amazing.
Click to expand...
We've been using beta mons too. The group found Beta Remoraid and Octillery in an abandoned military base. I made them Water/Steel to more fit their weapon like appearances. I also fully intend to use Wolfman/Warwolf once they get to the cold north. A lot of those beta designs are just too good to leave on the cutting room floor.

We also use a lot of type shifted Pokemon. The group went into the sewers to investigate a rumor and found Poison type Sandiles living in it. In the past I also did a Rock/Flying fossil Doduo that looked more terror bird like.

I switch off GMing with my one player and in his last session he had us fight a Fairy/Ghost Rotom that instead of possession electronics it possessed historical artifacts like an old helmet, a clay urn and an ancient doll. We ended up smashing up the museum we were fighting it in so it couldn't possess more stuff.
 
Mr. Manchester said:
I might have to steal that one. Easiest way to track their resources is to just do it myself sometimes. Half the time they forget who's doing it anyway.

I have Mister Gnomeberg. He's a Gnomish lawyer, has represented the party as the defendant in some cases, has been the prosecutor against the party in others.
Click to expand...
You could have Mr. Gnomeberg steal everything when the party is at their most vulnerable and it would be perfectly fair and maintain verisimilitude. I mean, how much more clearly could you telegraph what he's about?
 
Alfred Delapore said:
You could have Mr. Gnomeberg steal everything when the party is at their most vulnerable and it would be perfectly fair and maintain verisimilitude. I mean, how much more clearly could you telegraph what he's about?
Click to expand...
Mr. Gnomeberg is smart enough to know not to directly associate with the party and instead maintains a working relationship to avoid being caught in whatever world damaging shit they're in. It's simply a working relationship. He just profits from and supports it.
 
Adamska said:
First being that I generally find it more fun to create my own ideas than it is to use another's when I'm running. I find it more freeing and fun. This also ties to another benefit: I don't have to deal with people who like a setting instantly calling out errors that are bound to creep in.
Click to expand...
I generally liked working with fictional settings that already existed, especially if it was something everyone was a fan of, because everyone would already know what was up with the setting without any need for boring exposition dumps. It helped I wasn't playing with a bunch of nitpicky fags, although if I legitimately screwed up something major, I'd fix it.
 
Spelljamer not being popular or influential is one of the dumbest Dungeons and Dragons historical revisionism I have heard from 5E players. The spellamer is so unpopular WOTC keeps bringing back the setting for new editions. While Dark Sun's last official edition was in 4E. The episodes ends with the woke boomers calling censorship making stuff cool for everyone. Sadly, games with rape, animal abuse and human sacrifice still exist in the RPG market. Work is still being done. There still new games like Hol out there.
I looked up Hol reviews after being reminded it existed on YouTube. I found a username: Auntie Hauntie. A tranny documenting taking a regular yearly vacation in Thailand. Auntie Hauntie calls for Antifa still political assaults against the people who worked on HOL. Spends his time spreading quoted LGBT education to bigoted closed-minded countries like Japan. This guy sounds like the stereotypical pedo tourist Chris Hansan busted on television back in the day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom