Questions That Don't Deserve Their Own Thread - QTDDTOT

If the people you're playing with aren't autistic basement dwellers, they really won't care. The most you'll have is an initial shock.

>my previous campaign
>PCs brought together by circumstance (refugees in same city), end up becoming friends in pursuit of common goal, twist was the organization they thought was friendly was actually run by BBEG's minions, climax was huge battle scene
>current campaign
>PCs brought together by circumstance (students at same school), end up becoming friends in pursuit of common goal, twist was the organization they fought for was infiltrated by the BBEG's minions, climax is looking like it will be a giant battle scene
I can't write more than one type of plot. Wat do?

Read more books and watch more movies. All types of genres except capestuff. Just absorb all sorts of stories and take notes, eventually you'll be able to get out of your comfort zone after seeing what works and what doesn't.

Read more. Pick stuff that you think is cool from previous plots that have been used before, and smash it together. Also take time to run some smaller adventures to test out concepts. I'm sure your players won't mind occasionally doing a short adventure so you can see what kind of plot devices work properly with each other.

Assuming the premise is Adventurers Must Find a Lost Group of Locals, does this work?

>This morose girl was raised alone by her seamstress mother in [VILLAGE]. As a child, she endured much teasing for her pallid complexion and near-constant shivering. As a teen, she lashed out enough to put an end to the jabs. A chance encounter with a shrine in the woods while on a solitary walk changed her forever. Now, whether she likes it or not, she carries the Light of Life within, and it just so happens that some of the cruel children of her youth have grown into hapless buffoons that desperately need help. Her feelings aside, if she succeeds, she can help her mother live a better life with the money she earns, and that's certainly worth the bother.

Which book/supplement/magazine was Melf's Minute Meteors first released in?

She has a clear motivation, some sort of origin, and a mild struggle/conflict in her character background. I'd be okay with this, personally.

If they'd have a problem playing with women then why would you want to play with them? I say tell them in the interview. Otherwise you might be wasting your own time on a game that would rather not have you. The problem with is that there are autistic basement dwellers and there's no way of knowing someone might have a problem. If you tell them and they go "ah, we're full" then good riddance. If your concern is that people might think you're coming off as attention whorish, know that anyone petty enough to be upset by that isn't someone even I would want to play with. Just tell people.

Ya gotta write down something about the characters personality. I know that's not strictly backstory but when I think of people thinking of backstory, I want them also thinking about how they're going to roleplay and that means actively considering what the character is like and how they talk and how they walk. You get it.

Yeah, coming off as an attention whore was the big concern. I try to be pretty grounded and sane, since I've heard horror stories. I just wasn't sure when was a good time to mention it, if at all. I didn't want to be sort of... "Btw im a gril" kind of thing.

How about now?

>This morose girl was raised alone by her seamstress mother in [VILLAGE]. As a child, she endured much teasing for her pallid complexion and near-constant shivering. As a teen, she lashed out enough to put an end to the jabs. As a young adult, she led a solitary life, too shy and resentful to fraternize with others, and too insecure to trust that she could ever know love’s touch. A chance encounter with a shrine in the wood changed her forever. Now, whether she likes it or not, she carries the Light within, and it just so happens that the cruel children of her youth have grown into hapless buffoons that need her help. Feelings aside, if she succeeds, she can help her mother live a better life with the money she earns.

Own it. Doesn't have to be at the start or at the end of your introduction-- just throw it in somewhere. It's only three words.

Is GW writing really getting worse and worse or am I'm just being a grouch?

How many nipples do bats have? Didn't want to make like a whole thread on /an/ asking, and need to know for a game.

Google answered it quite easily...In fact the first link provided a very in depth answer. You should try it sometime.

If a player is inexperienced at a given system, would making one of their first characters an old man or old hag be a bad idea? Would any specific traits make said character more playable?

I know this could fall into the "can non-elf players play as elves" category of question. But it feels like age in a character would suggest some level of familiarity with the setting - which novice players might lack. And crunchwise, in systems using levels, it feels it might be odd to have an experienced character who's only at level 1, an character with baseline adventuring skills gain sudden motivation to improve at an old age, or to have a newb player start off at a higher level.

What's a henway?

As someone who has observed, but not participated, various GW games, it seems to have always been crap. Also, you may still be a grumpy butt.

It seems that bats have 2- 4 nipples depending on species.

You could make them an older person and use them as a channel to inform everyone about the setting. I.E: "Your character knows X, Y, Z" Or, you can make them a young naive person and achieve the same effect by teaching them about the system and setting.

About 6 pounds

My BBBEG is gonna open a portal in a small village and I've been thinking of having a Hydra pop out from the other side. I have 4 level 4 PCs in my game.

Is this a terrible idea? Or is this just gonna be a TPK? Should I throw in a NPC to help them?

Numenera really does.

One dice roll per action, one number per action. Only one kind of die per game. Player side only.

After the generic learning curve that all humans seem to suffer from the only thing tying this in speed was a custom game my friend made.

Of course be ready for the onslaught of "Numenera is bad" from this board

>Of course be ready for the onslaught of "Numenera is bad" from this board
This board is also full of people that prefer to play D&D and GURPS. So those opinions are weighted properly.

Run a test combat to see if it'd be too much. You can always scale the Hydra back a little if you need to.

Depends on a couple of things, like the number of starting heads, the actual strength of the party members, etc. I would take a page from an early hydra boss fight from Dragon's Dogma. It's a tough low level fight, but once you cut off one head, the rest of the body leaves.

Start off smallish, then ramp it up depending on how well it's going for the PC's. Evebtually, you'll find a sweet spot where it can be defeated after exhausting an adequate amount of pc resources.

Regarding Warhammer models, is it feasible to create an orc wielding a leadbelcher cannon? I'll place it on the orc's back, even.

I want a generic system that isn't BESM, Tristat, GURPS. Mutants and Masterminds, Savage Worlds, Fate, Freeform Universal, or Mini Six that isn't rules heavy and doesn't go into wishy-washy narrativist mechanics.

What are some tips to play a low Wisdom, low Intelligence, high Charisma character? Generally speaking, how does one pretend to be a ditzy yet persuasive person?

Jump to conclusions readily, read shit into your environment that isn't there, and don't think too hard about your actions; back all this up with iron clad conviction.

The first descriptions of Drow say that they worship Demon Princes. We know Lolth is chief among them, but what other Demon Princes do you think the Drow would worship, provided Lolth allowed it?

Grazzt, Malcanthet, maybe Demogorgon.

Then you're probably out of luck.

You're the charismatic everyman. Speak in simple terms everyone can understand, ask obvious questions that everyone is thinking. Convince people that the simplest and easiest solution to a problem is the one worth doing (partially because it's true, and partially because yoy have a hard time understanding complex scenerios.) And remember, low intelligence does not mean you're completely retarded.

By "low wis, low int" do you mean a crayon eater? If so, be loveable and swanky as if it came naturally to you. Instinctively likeable. All flash no substance. Lots of confidence.
If you mean average/below average intelligence, be a Gilderoy Lockhart. Charming, dashing, tenacious, but deceitful.

>low intelligence does not mean you're completely retarded.
Depends On The System(TM)

I mean 7,7,17. Whatever the logical ramifications of a -2 penalty on those ability scores should be, coupled with fairly high charisma.
The character herself is a member of nobility, relatively young (~20), physically fit, and a fairly skilled physical combatant.

I'm digging these tips.

Thanks anons, this eases my mind.

How do you find a game when you don't have friends, don't want to make friends, and don't want to play with anyone who isn't a friend?

vidya

Board camaraderie is a friendship already formed.

Either the second or last quality need to change.

Graz'zt I can see, Malcanthet I don't think i'll use. Demogorgon is also a weird one that could work.

It's less about length and more about what questions you ought to answer and how.

>What was your daily routine before the story started?
>How did you come into whatever your character's shtick is?
>What are your characters immediate/long term goals in the story?
>What changed recently to put you on that path?
>Who do you know (both in and out of the party) and how?

Are usually a good start. Give your GM an idea what you want to do in game, and maybe a handful of vague setting elements and/or NPCs to use later.

>Malcanthet

I can't fucking blame you. It's almost impossible to get good use out of figures associated with lust in gaming. That's part of why I always base mine at least somewhat on Ishtar, since battle and passion are easy to work with.

Got two:
1. How to organize ideas in a nice way?
2. How to make investigation quests not shit?

Please advise.

>2. How to make investigation quests not shit?
thealexandrian.net/wordpress/1118/roleplaying-games/three-clue-rule

>How to organize ideas in a nice way?
Folders in Google Docs

Thanks! Will give it a read.
I was thinking maybe using some mind-map thing? You know, like things that come out of the things with things related to things.

>I was thinking maybe using some mind-map thing

The tool I use for something like that is yEd Graph Editor.

>yEd Graph Editor
Thanks! I'll give it a go!

What's with Orcus and being a fucking ladies man? He's a brooding fat gross fuck but he has tons of chicks. Like I think he's sired a whole bloodline, and has had sex with many of his subsequent female descendants.

Does Escalation work with Raise Dead?

I don't know what Escalation is.

Escalation Mage.

Gary Gygax States in Slayer's Guide to the Undead Orcus was a Fat bastard who cast a Dweomer that killed everyone on his native plane and caused the fucking Undead to show up, also causing the reason for Souls to trot on down to the Abyss for The Obrityhs to play with.

It's presumed once upon a time, when he was Human, he was a phat-papu-papu war-chief with many bitches, and this is the motivation by his constant garnering of faith and power and why his end-goal is godhood, and why he's highly melee.

What's a recommended mainstream system that has quick and simple combat? D&D5E interests me but the combat looks so time-consuming.

When it comes to your complaint, I could understand D&D, but GURPS? Most fights in GURPS are over in ten seconds/turns or less.

Lacquer based varnish or polyurethane based varnish for metal miniatures? I have two varnishes that I like in terms of look and ease of application, but which protects better?

>Organize Ideas
I work almost entirely with physical notes, so I will usually take a page and write a broad topic (races, weapons, history) and just shove everything down that fits under that topic; when I want to write something unrelated, I'll either start from the back or (if I've already done that) skip a few pages. Having two "fronts" to the book allow you to leaf through it more easily and big titles will allow you to find any given piece of information with a quick flip-through. Pages of space allow you to add more info later.

This feels basic and probably minimally organized, but I find it best to keep things loose and simple for ideas.

If you already have the ideas and want to organize them, you can apply the same approach (broad topic headers jammed with whatever is relevant) but without the spaces in between.

What separates Crossbows, Bows and Guns in D&D 5E?
They all seem extremely similar to me, with little to no difference aside from fluff.

So a few campaigns down the line, I plan to run an "all-stars" game- basically, all my campaigns take place in the same multiverse with a shared afterlife, and exceptional people (like, for example, player characters) can become angels. So the idea is to have my players pick their favorite character they've played from any of my games and all of them will form an angel team and go have adventures that way.

My question is this: what system works at a very high level of power that isn't setting-specific? Power level here is roughly between that of a level 20 D&D character and a god. I asked the Exalted thread and they told me that charms were too setting specific and hard to get rid of, and the Pathfinder thread ignored me because I wasn't taking about kitsune girls.

Fluff is everything though. Unless you're a hard rollplayer fluff is what makes tabletop tabletop, regardless of system.

simpler than 5E, which is rules-medium? you're looking at rules-light systems then

no, crunch is what seperates RPGing from freeform collaborative story-telling. there is a G in RPG, you know?

Ah hells yeah dude, I accomplish so much more in a Numenera session then I I do in any other game, because shit moves so easily.

How does someone with no experience in traditional games pick up the hobby?

MTG ruling question.
Let's say an opponent in EDH is at 1lp and casts Death Cloud for X=11 as a final FU
If I cast Gut Shot in response does the death cloud resolve or is it removed when the player dies?

Seriously though?

Any spell a player has cast is removed from the stack the moment they die.

So it does not resolve.

>thealexandrian.net/wordpress/1118/roleplaying-games/three-clue-rule
I see people (or same one man) constantly advise this method. Does anyone seen at least one good mystery made by those rules?

BRP is probably the only thing left gor you

What is the connection between evil as a metaphysical quantity and negative energy?

Donald Trump

>I've got a very secret plan to smite Demogorgon
>When Many-Arrows sends us his people, he's not sending us his best.
>etc.

It could totally work

Open Legend.

Next month I'm going to be running a game in a highly lethal system for players who are used to tanking hits from dragons and the like.

In order to underscore the lethality of the game and make sure the players know what they're getting into, I was planning on introducing a strong, mentor-like NPC into the party for their first encounter and then kill him off early on due to a mistake he makes, like failing to properly take cover or rushing ahead.

I've had bad experiences with GMs introducing DMPCs into the party before, so I'm wary of doing that.

Does this sound like a good idea? Anything I should be mindful of when doing this?

could work really well since a high lethality system should make it easy for any DMPC to get nuked. It's also not really "that DMPC" territory if you plan to have him die immediately

Could also go hilariously wrong if the PCs see this "wise" mentor talk down to them then get his head blown off and immediately decide to do the exact opposite of what he said.

I'm a huge fan of Dungeon World.

The whole game works on a system of 2d6. If you roll less than 7, you fail. 7-9, you succeed but something bad happens. 10+ you just succeed.

The consequences of rolling a 2-9 are often left up to the DM, but combat has guidelines as well. Classes have abilities which straddle the line between mechanical and narrative. For instance, one of the Fighter's high level abilities is

When you go into battle, roll+WIS.

On a 10+, name someone who will live and someone who will die.

On a 7-9, name someone who will live OR someone who will die. Name NPCs, not player characters. The GM will make your vision come true, if it’s even remotely possible.

On a 6- you see your own death and consequently take -1 ongoing throughout the battle.

It's a modern game and the PCs are a sort of a traveling infiltration and wetwork team.

I was planning on setting up the NPC as the leader of the squad for the first mission, and then set the mission in the NPC's hometown. During the final stages of the mission, when combat is happening on a sort of a plaza outside a church, I was planning on having some of the NPC's family or an old friend or something be there and get shot, causing the NPC to disregard his training and run out to them, likely getting himself shot in the process, even without me fudging any dice.

That's the general plan, anyway. How does that sound?

sounds good, perfect setup for a game about mercenaries.

>Autism
Should be answer for:

Check out MYFAROG man the combat is awesome and the game itself is fucking fantastic.

Gimme some neat alien ideas for a game with a Stellar Neighborhood connected by a Gate system.

Only thing to keep in mind is that in the setting in question, humans are put into the "warrior race," slot.

My name: John Goodman.
My quest: Do good.
My reward: Gold and ale

Is it worth me learning GURPS well enough to GM a game for bunch of GURPS noobs (who are DnD veterans). Is the system flexibility worth sticking out through this rough start?

Not asking in the GURPS thread as I want less biased responses.

Tiny squid colonies wearing durable little mechsuits. Only about a meter tall, but with bonus shenanigans to make up for it, and more mechanical tricks than a season of Mythbusters. Frame type varies.

Spindly pack hunters, with a little creepy level of collectivism who tend to go catatonic if left alone too long, but make excellent buddies. Super pale, and too many limbs. Usually find work as secretaries or organisers. Automatically keep track of the social situation instinctively.

Read some of this

>Lacquer based varnish or polyurethane based varnish

First up lacquer and varnish and polyeurethane are two or three different things. Certainly lacquer and varnish are not the same.

Oil based polyeurethane will discolour your paint job. Water based polyeurethane is slightly less durable than oil.

Lacquer generally affords very good protection but will probably discolour over time.

Water based polyeurethane can be applied to oil paints and acrylic paints so that's probably the best choice as it won't discolour.

Start playing. Simple as that.

Either find people who alread play, buy some games and find people who play. But you really need to get in touch with people who are willing to play with you unless you go for solo games.

So... are there torrents for the latest rising storm stuff(nothing on PB)? I just want the lore.

What are some non-combat-related applications of high dex?

Catching a ball

So, ball sports? What about playing video games? Sleight of hand tricks? What about dancing or playing an instrument? Is anything that can be considered a performance charisma, even if it's something that requires physical dexterity to do it?

Are there any special origins for vampires in D&D?