What subtle Truths have traditional games taught you?

1. Don't be a duck
2. Talking like actual human beings solves most if not all game problems
3. It is acceptable to choose not to play games with people who you don't like playing games with
4.don't be a dick

Is that because you're smart or your players are stupid?

Pray tell user, what are these "pro brainstorm," non-"dumbed-down" games you speak of? And what makes them more "pro brainstorm" than the games you listed?

So you think it's a sort of rate versus state thinking?

You think he's wrong?

Most people including many intelligent people have visceral instinctive reactions which they double down on. Consistent analytical thinking is a rarity.

A lot of it originates down to survival instinct which calls for split second decisions with life or death consequences. But people seem to apply it to everything. Long term planning is difficult for the same reason.

What the fuck even is a brainstorm game? This almost sounds like a new buzzword.

Back to /pol/ I didn't come here to debate politics and neither should you.

I get the gist of what he's saying.

I, however, do not play by any set rules.

At the beginning we brainstorm how we all want the game to feel then lay down some real solid ground rules. I then develop rules with my group as we playand the game evolves with our interest in it.

We joke that it's our version of the U.S. Constitution and call new rules amendments.

I'm talking about the orks, my buddy.

I'm the forever DM so obviously I a genius storyteller. I think the problem is I spend 3 hrs a week prepping for a 6 HR weekly session. I think about the game all week long. My players live in the moment. A few are here for the social aspect more then the game.

>Talking like actual human beings solves most if not all game problems
This is actually something I've learned in game as well. Too many players want to engage in elaborate ruses, deceptions, or stealth-oriented solutions instead of going for an obvious diplomatic/social approach. This often blows up in their face and could have been avoided by just talking to the concerned parties.

Having fun is the only thing that matters.

Hoping for the best and preparing for the worst while trying your hardest is all anyone can do.

Gracefully accepting failure makes it that much easier to get back up, dust yourself off, and try again.

Sick trips.

You're right about the fun thing, but how do you solve the issue of everyone having different standards for fun?

Ah classic, they are the quintessential players; I never have a solution to fix this problem.

It seems to me to be more of a character trait than a learned behavior.

Have you tried talking to them about it?

Literally what?

>Just because we hold similar beliefs doesn't mean I'm automatically on your side.

This mostly has to do with alignment and how people treat it as a team. It is mostly fine in games with cosmic duality in conflict but even then there will be arguements and disagreement over how to proceed. This usually boils down to someone saying an NPC should agree with them because they have the same alignment or similar beliefs.

What about that discourse is confusing you?

>charisma is the strongest stat
>>charisma is the strongest stat in any system and real life
>anything can be a reasonably worded argument.

>how do you solve the issue of everyone having different standards for fun?
As a player, I try to be aware of when it's time for me to step back and let someone else take the spotlight. I also try to know my fellow players well enough to push the story in a direction that all or most of us will enjoy. I think that if everyone has something they enjoy, some fun, then the mood in the group gets so good that it's easily worth it.

For example, in my current campaign I'm a utility-focused character with decent combat skills, and other players range from social diplomancers to combat monsters. I really like creative problem solving and mysteries, so when those things come up I tend to be pretty active. I don't much care for combat, but I know the combat monster lives for it, and it's not like I hate it, so I don't go out of my way to keep us out of fights. I do my turns quickly and let those that like it more take the spotlight. Same with scenarios where we run into a lot of talking and social. I'm going to ask a question every now and then if I feel we missed something, but I don't steal the words out of the mouth of people who'd rather want to do the talking.
It's not perfect, but I try.

The dice pen and paper rpgs use are the Platonic solids.

In occult circles they represent the 5 classical elements (fire, earth, air, water, aether).

You can consider the act of rolling these dice in order to unroll your story as an alchemical ritual in which your game is embowed with elemental energy.

>charisma is better than wisdom

You can't smooth talk a wise man.

You may as well half ass anything you create as your audience will generally not be able to tell the difference.

Imbued*

This is incredibly important.

Applying this to any social interaction will change your life.

See: Hillary supporters.

How does it feel being a zero issue voter? (Muh vagina, btw, isn't an issue)

There's a lot of wisdom is this post.

Does your DM seem to embody the values and lessons that you are presenting?

Hillary supporters clearly can't manifest their will into reality otherwise she would have won.

Clinton's camp is more like imperium of man blind worshippers.

Clearly you people are the orkz

>t. Johnson supporter

Oy, ya git, wuts a leppo?

As much as this is a shitpost, I counter that Sisters of Battle are able to manifest miracles of the Emperor through belief power as well despite the Emperor being explicitly not a god, so it's not just the Orks

I guess that's how they got rid of Bernie Sanders :(

Kind of, in that he very clearly tries to have there be something for everyone, even if he fails from time to time.
He's a great and very permissive GM who noticeably tries to make sure we have fun, so I can't be too harsh on him, it's just that his permissive nature leads to frequent derailments that don't always work out in everyone's favour. He doesn't say "No" often, with the good and the bad that it leads to.

But I'd definitely say that I like him. It's kind of our fault that we sometimes drag him into improv that fails to satisfy everyone.

"What's 'a leppo'" was the media's linguistic killshot against Johnson.

After that no one could possibly take him seriously which is funny because it was clearly no one, including Trump and the New York Times, knew much about Aleppo at all.

Warboss Trump will bring WAAAAAGH!!! back to Amerorka, and lots o' shiny teef

All of it.

It looks like 3 people each having a totally different conversation with zero definitions or examples for what's being discussed, yet somehow achieving unanimous understanding and agreement on what appear to be only tangientially related points at best.

Maybe I'm the idiot here (which I could be), but from 'the outside' it appears to be a bunch of people talking past each other with totally different individual ideas on what's actually being discussed and finding themselves 'in sync' purely out of the sheer vagueness of the conversation.

Have you considered trying your hand at DMing?

I see it as two people: one asking questions that sorta don't matter in order to get more out of the poster who clarifies his points.

You're right, on the surface it doesn't seem like they even have read one another's posts but it seems like they are satisfied with the communication.

It's odd.

>it's odd
Yes. My initial gut reaction was that of confusion and mild fear/paranoia, as though I had just discovered that all the other posters on Veeky Forums were just elaborately sourced conversational AI's akin to juiced-up Chatterbots.

But you can beat the shit out of one. Doesn't make strength the best stat.

Fair enough, well put

Warboss Krump needs to be a character now, in my opinion. E'll make da Waagh great again, kick out alla dese gits and unorky lads muckin about. Perhaps a Warboss taking over a Waaagh previously dominated by blood axes and their unorkylike behavior, e's a propa goff who wants to build a Waaagh to keep out the Blood Axes and other sneaky thievin gits

You can smooth talk everyone around the wise man, until mob mentality takes over.

Warboss Krump gonna kick out all da' gitz and make 'me build a wall wit' 'dez skullz

Meme magick isn't politics, it's practical esoteric autism.

Fun is a delusion marketed by slavemongers. There is no such thing as good company. There is no such thing as friendship either. You really are just wasting time. None of it matters.

Also you need to watch out where you store your d4s.

Hi, /x/.

You don't need to.
You can smoothtalk his friends. His companions. His pet. Lover. Etc.
You could also just be his friend and not try and get anything from him, but share in his Wisdom.

Charisma is force of personality, not just guile.

Your fun offends someone
Optimism is delusion
Hope is fleeting
Cthulhu fhtagn

>no one knows what alepo is

Syrian Civil War going on for years now. Major frontline and conflict area is alepo.

user, stop, Gary is a fucking retard. Check when he was triggered by 'illegal immigrants'.

>Not making a "Build the WAAAGH" joke

You are all plebians of low-birth and no taste.

>e's a propa goff who wants to build a Waaagh
Didja not read m8?

Because everyone has a different view of the world and different references.

>4.don't be a dick

This isn't wisdom, it's a smug, empty-brained tautology. It has no meaning, because the meaning of "dick" has an almost infinite variance among people and cultures.

>The dice pen and paper rpgs use are the Platonic solids.
Except the d10. Curse you, World of Darkness, for breaking our spell!

Never try to consume an energy sphere bigger than my head.

I've thought about it, but there's no real need for it in my current campaign, and I'm not sure I'm organised enough to pull off a good campaign. I don't require my GMs to hold a terribly lofty standard, I just want things to be functional, but I'd easily get very conscious and critical of my own GMing.
Maybe if someone really needs one down the line.

Spoken like a true dick.

want a good game?
Play your role in the story.
Going against the stream gets you nowhere.

Its a game where imagination and creativity can provide results far beyond what is encouraged, expected, or planned for.

ie, complex games that are easily broken.

When there are no consequences, many people default to acting very selfish.

Rigid plans are weak, flexible plans are strong.

Following a pre-determined path can be more fulfilling than having complete freedom (ie. sandbox games).

No fucking kidding.

On that note, laying down ground rules before the game starts is actually good even is the rules are extremely obvious.

That way if someone breaks them or is treading in dangerous waters they will think of the rules rather than the people and are more likely to play nice.

You sound like dick to me. Eg, the argument was right.

Don't feed the drama queen: everyone is a protagonist in a cooperative game.

Don't be afraid to say "no" to players: you are there to ensure everyone has a good time, yourself included.

No one likes Eldar until they're OP.

For some strange reason, the people that complain about WAAC fags are almost always WAAC fags themselves, and don't take kindly to losing a game. Even if it's Mordheim.

Don't play Monopoly with people you plan to spend more than a few hours with, that fucking game eats friendships like crazy.

Don't expect everyone to agree to your rules, or to your rulings for that matter.

This.

Don't cum inside until you've killed the evil wizard

>NO U

It is easier to act than it is to be yourself, but aspiring to something greater is not impossible.

By providing fun and making others feel good you'll feel better about yourself.
Talking solves almost everything.

Never except a music box from a kindly old stranger.

People cannot change. They may say they will, they may try to, and they may believe they have, but they never do, and often times, in attempting to change something about their behavior, they end up making it more extreme instead.

>Ground my kid for 'umm'ing

Good to know you're grooming him early to distrust authority and hate you.

I think it means a game where the players are involved in the worldbuilding, like Dungeon World or Microscope.

You can't please everyone and that's okay.

Don't abuse rule 0 or else you'll get a horrible mess of a system.

A little world building goes a long way.

>some guy actually thinks space REALLY is dodecahedral
>inb4 the tetrahedron became associated with the element of Fire because it hurts to step on

I love the Pythagorean mystics

Looking at the sheer volume of characters I've had die from critical hit one-shots or critical failures over the years, I've learned that I have the worst luck of everyone I know.

That Veeky Forums is fucking pissed because its very difficult just getting a game going.

t. player that's only had a single session in his entire life

When you raise a bunch of outcasts to believe that they're 'special' or 'beautiful' on the inside, just because they're repulsive on the outside...

They generally turn out to be lazy and shitty on both sides.

>want to be world leader
>don't know your geography
okay, well that probably hasn't stopped too many people
>can't bluff
Well this is odd because as much as we want our president to be honest we don't want him sitting in front of the world with his dick in his hand every other week
>can't even use contextual clues to determine the nature of the item he is unfamiliar with
"What's Aleppo"? implies that he believed Aleppo to be an item of interest: like a project or a codename for some kind of scandal or operation. The guy couldn't even figure out we were talking about a place he'd never heard of and say "What's up with Aleppo" or "What's in Aleppo".

ALL the cunt had to say about it was "It's a very serious situation and, like many people, I'm not sure we would have gone about it the same way twice if he had had the option."

Or fuck it, he could even say "I don't know, has anything new developed in Aleppo I should know about? Has the situation really changed at all?" and run on that.

HE COULD HAVE JUST CHANGED THE SUBJECT BUT HE FUCKING BIT THE RETARD

You can bluff your way out of anything with a decent enough pokerface.

>It has no meaning, because the meaning of "dick" has an almost infinite variance among people and cultures.
So you're saying it doesn't mean anything, while in the same breath noting that it has context-sensitive meaning? Because those seem like two very different things. I'd think the point of "not being a dick" is paying attention to that context and acting respectfully and appropriately.

race-as-class

That OP is a faggot

>derailing by blaming an invisible /pol/ boogeyman for derailing
he was just talking about meme magic, faggot. keep your agenda to yourself.

That people come together to socialize and share, and the curtain you cover that with isn't nearly as important as the interaction itself. But for me, D&D is pretty great curtain.

They'll bring out the edgelord in people.

you're just dm'ing wrong. you can 'change' the player, as in, their attitude and approach, by changing the framing. though make sure you ease it in. e.g. if you want them to be more careful with traps, then make them deadly. if you want them to put more value in their mapping, then make the dungeon more labyrinthine, then put them through a chase. I hate DM's who baby their players. challenge them.

the fact is, you could've taken any of your riddles and stuck it in a room with a lowering spike ceiling that gives them 5 minutes real time before TPK, and 20 years ago, any average party would've made it through every time. If you did it today, your party would barely put up an effort and then bitch up a fucking storm when they realized you weren't joking about the spike ceiling crushing their beloved PC's. obviously I'm not suggesting TPK but just up the ante if you want them to take the game seriously. you'll be surprised what players are capable of when they're actually challenged.

also learn to embrace random tables. I do like a half hour of prep. with D&D there are tons and tons of great tools that make even no prep hexcrawls a cinch; JG's city state of the overlord being the gold standard

I always liked the idea of dice being a consultation with the oracle. do you have anymore dice occultism?

a vague statement is not the same as a tautology. "don't be a dick" actually cannot be a tautology because it isn't a proposition, but a command. It has no truth value.

Wolpertingers look like jackalopes with wings. Did a lot of bavarian immigrants move to the american southwest?

You need at least some variation so every elf does not become a swordsinger. Otherwise your races will be kinda bland.