TRPG General Chat

Ben

12:19 AM

@trogdor It's like that "leetspeak" one I posted yesterday

Which... yup, is still up.

trogdor

12:45 AM

Mm

Ben

@BESW Well now I do want to read this.

trogdor

I do not

XD

Ben

I just read through @BESW's... review of the VfV movie. And I love that midrant, he used "r🐘".

BESW

@Ben Honestly I think the bit where he flirts with Madame Justice, the repudiates her and blows her up, while doing the voices for both sides of the conversation, is probably the best bit and you can just go home after that.

trogdor

Lol

I mean that is great

Ben

12:49 AM

I dunno… I have a soft spot for properly crazy

trogdor

I just don't think it's worth it to me to read it for that

doppelgreener

o/ Just before I head off to sleep, should I rename the HNQ bot to HNQ or similar instead of just "Feeds"?

user15026

@BESW wait what

BESW

@doppelgreener HOT NETWORK QUESTIONS! GETCHER NETWORK QUESTIONS WHILE THEY'RE HOT!

...Or just read those specific pages here.

doppelgreener

That might not fit as a name

Ben

12:51 AM

It's a part of the reason why Carnage is one of my favourites. He's not the best representation of that same stereotype, but he is just unpredictable, to the point where it's completely understandable why he does some of the insane things he does - it's because that just what he does.

@Ash it starts here

trogdor

@Ash he had a whole rant about V for Vendetta yesterday

Ah cool yes

BESW

@doppelgreener But yes, the answer is it should get a more explanatory name.

trogdor

You saved me the trouble of doing what you just did @Ben

XD

Ben

Teamwork

trogdor

I'll take it

XD

user15026

12:54 AM

@BESW Only if I can get mine with ketchup and relish.

user15026

@Ben Ah, it's a comic thing. okay. drops it into the "I don't know how interact with this thing but I can appreciate it existing" bin

doppelgreener

@BESW Groovy. It's been renamed to Hot RPG Questions. This name and its avatar can get updated by a diamond moderator.

BESW

Excellent.

doppelgreener

This won't apply retroactively

But as a side bonus, from here on you can check that one user's chat history for recent HNQ history

chat.stackexchange.com/users/-988/hot-rpg-questions

Ben

@Ash Bunnings (the Australian Hardware name) often has sausage sizzles to raise money for local clubs, etc. Lately, they have started putting the onion (or relish) underneath the sausage, so that it reduces the risk of dropping, creating slip hazards.

doppelgreener

12:59 AM

Good thinking

user15026

@Ben That is quite smart

Ben

It is, but in true aussie style, we all made a big joke out of it. Haha. Some even suggested looping the sausage through each individual onion ring, to reduce the risk even more. :P

trogdor

@Ben huh good idea there

@Ben you just said it's a joke but I would do that

XD

Ben

Jump to 2 minutes - that's the default "aussie" approach to serious matters.

user15026

@Ben "Nope nothing there" hahaha

Ben

1:13 AM

XD

@Ash for some reason the ping sound just made me jump then hahaha

trogdor

@Ben that happens to me extremely often

user15026

@Ben Sorry for the accidental startle

Ben

trogdor

That is,... Mesmerizing

I think that's probably what I look like when it happens

But I'm not a cat

I swear

Double paw, I mean pinkie promise

Ben

You am DAGRON

user15026

1:22 AM

You're not a cat, you're a dragon, duh, I can see your picture.

trogdor

Lol

It's all cleared up then good

Ben

So I just looked up the video on youtube just to check I spelled that right, and the top comment...

> You know you're the definition of internet generation when your idea of nostalgia is rediscovering old flash cartoons

BESW

Badgers : animated music video : MrWeebl

►

Shalvenay

hey there @linksassin

Ben

@BESW Felix Colgrave is another one.

linksassin

1:35 AM

g'day folks. @Ben Are you referring to the great sausage scandal of 2019? It is tearing communities apart in melbourne

Ben

@linksassin It is very much the "pineapple on pizza" all over again, yes.

linksassin

Threatened my mates relationship. His gf works at bunnings, he refuses to go somewhere that won't put his onion on top.

It's quite serious

BESW

@Ben All I know about Felix is the Fever the Ghost music video, because it was linked here.

Ben

@BESW One of his originals - the Pigpen resurfaced in my searches recently.

I think I linked that one?

BESW

[shrug]

My Early Internet Days are probably different from a lot of peoples'.

I had broadband in the college dorms, but otherwise I was on 56k dialup until 2008.

trogdor

1:39 AM

I wasn't on the internet quite as often as I was reading or gaming until probably 2012

Heck maybe longer than that

BESW

And my online interests and social spaces weren't especially representative of the typical nostalgic experience either. My first online community was a couple of webcomic forums for comics nobody ever mentions anymore--or mentioned then, to be fair.

Outside of two specific forums and some LJ fandoms, this is the first and only large public online social space I ever participated in (starting 2012).

trogdor

Community, yes right

XD

Those things

Ben

@BESW GwtB was mine. People started talking about "Red vs Blue" and I thought.... yes? That's what I read? I was just confused because they kept calling it RvB, and I could never remember the name of the webcomic, but there was a yellow team too

BESW

For me, the historic online thing called RvB is RoosterTeeth's Halo series, which was popular with a lot of my IRL friends.

trogdor

I think this site is literally the only place I have done any significant interaction with a "community" online at all

BESW

1:44 AM

(Because I went to college during The Early Halo Years.)

Ben

@BESW It took me a while to actually learn that yes, this is what my friends were actually referring to as well.

OMG YES. There's a GwtB shop.

BESW

My friends were also big on something that was like, a webcomic riffing on a video game I'd never played, and all they ever talked about was how funny a sociopathic wizard was.... and then ten years later I figured out that the author was the same guy who does Atomic Robo.

Ben

Spoon.

Ok, I need help selecting a color for this. This will involve personal opinions

user15026

@BESW Most of the "early internet" stuff I got caught up on much later when my ex-wife was like "I MUST CATCH YOU UP ON INTERNETS" because my parents didn't have anything but dialup til....2011? SOmething liek that. (I had moved out by then). So its a weird thing of "I know this but I don't have nostalgia for it")

user15026

@Ben prepares self

BESW

1:50 AM

@Ash I don't get a lot of the nostalgia for early Internet stuff, because so much of it was cynical and often outright cruel.

trogdor

Green is the superior color

Ben

@Ash Oh, on another note - you're a mod over on Arqade?

BESW

@Ben Blue contains eye-searing secrets and vibrations which will drive weak minds mad.

Ben

@BESW I do have a blue shirt that says "Wednesday" that has a similar effect on people...

BESW

Paisley is technically not a color, but should be.

Ben

1:52 AM

The fact that I never wear it on Wednesday is irrelevant. Obviously

trogdor

green is the superior color

GREEN IS THE SUPERIOR COLOR

XD

BESW

@Ash Like, Foamy the Squirrel is stuck in my head forever but I'm not happy about it.

trogdor

I managed to remove that from my brain actually

Yep it's gone again

Go meditation every day

For the win

Ben

@BESW Oh damn... Foamy. He was, if anything the epitome of my anarchist persona.

BESW

@Ben The only good thing to come out of Foamy was Pilz-e's stunningly accurate description of the pill-to-solve-your-problem culture. "Some of the side effects to the medication I take are [massive list of increasingly terrifying/implausible effects] ...bleeding from the eyes, my ears ache, sometimes I get headaches, migraines, death. But I got pills to cure the death. So I take those, and it offsets the death effects."

Ben

2:02 AM

Lol

The age I was when I watched those videos was less "listen to what he's actually talking about", and more "be impressioned by the mood and tenacity he exhibits"

BESW

Yeeeah, I've always had difficulty decontextualizing media.

user15026

@BESW There is also that.

user15026

@Ben Yep, I am

Ben

@Ash Have you seen this one?

I should probably post that over on the Arqade channel..

Shalvenay

2:33 AM

hey there @nitsua60

trogdor

2:45 AM

@Ben oh great more of that

user15026

@Ben No, but...that's what flags are for, no?

Ben

It's the same one. I'm just feeling like it should probably get more attention.

user15026

I've evaporated it, I have no time for silly trolling people

Ben

@Ash I'm not sure. Personally I feel like it should... well that's fair haha

trogdor

@Ben well it's the same to you but there was one other here

So there have been two

Ben

2:50 AM

My own head gets in the way of my judgement in these things sometimes

user15026

(Sorry if I seem a little short, all of a sudden I realized that not only am I running on adrenaline because four lours sleep but also I forgot dinner so I am eating cheese strings and carrots to try to get my equilibrium back)

trogdor

@Ash fooooooood

Sleeeeep

Ben

@Ash Justifiable

trogdor

Braaaaaaainssssss

Joshua

It occurred to me that in D&D you could testify to your own murder.

user15026

2:51 AM

I should sleep but I am doing that "everything is AWESOME YAY" thing that happens when life is being good and you just are like "I DONT NEED SLEEP EVER"

trogdor

One word elooooooongaaaaateed

@Ash do not do this thing, you will crash

Your new Jet

Sorry but a new Jet would be awesome

user15026

giggles I am just like "BUT HAPPINESS IS ENOUGH FUEL RIGHT"

trogdor

It isn't

Though I have definitely felt like that before

user15026

@trogdor depemding on context, a Jet in general would be nice so I could see all my friends when i wanted

trogdor

I don't want an old one though

Because I'm already real scared of flying

user15026

2:54 AM

True, true

user15026

I am not scared of flying per se, I am most like "this will bring brain melting misery" (my shunt does not like flying)

Ben

Denial will only keep you afloat as long as there are people to nay-say. :P

trogdor

I'm scared of it and I also hate being packed Into a small space

Especially with 200 other people

user15026

Oh, yeah, physically fitting is a wohle other thing (I am fat - I recently am thin enough that I don't need seatbelt extenders anymore but it's still...squishy)

nitsua60

My first online community was... this room =)
Thanks, everyone!

user15026

2:57 AM

Awww nice :D

BESW

nitsua60

@Joshua @Shalvenay--your "matters of law" drama scene! What are rules of evidence like for post-mortem testimony!?

user15026

@BESW now that's gonna be in my head foreverrrrrrr <3

Joshua

Considering that Resurection is a cleric spell, I don't see any issues at all.

Eyewitness is still eyewitness.

BESW

trogdor

3:03 AM

@Ash I'm not exactly thin myself

Ben

@nitsua60 Nice!

user15026

@BESW now I want cookies

BESW

Shonen Knife - Cookie Day

►

trogdor

Lol

Ben

@nitsua60 I wanna say mine was too... but I think I actually hung out over on the gaming channel for a while first :P

So, you know... tomato; potato :P

user15026

3:11 AM

@BESW I forgot this existed and now i am discovering it all over again with such delight

nitsua60

To the math nerds in the room: I'm heading off to bed thinking about R=NdX rolls, where N is large--dozens, maybe even up to a hundred--and X are standard sizes.
Obviously <R> is a good 0th-order approximation. Then <R> +/- dsomething might get you close, but for large N it's tough to get the distribution flat/broad enough.
(See https://anydice.com/program/141c6 for example.)
I've got a gut feeling that somthing like <R> + {some exploding term with +ive and -ive possibilities} might be able to do simply and well-approximating.

trogdor

@nitsua60 oh no, not the maths!

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 speaking of dice math: askamathematician.com/2013/09/…

^^ found that link helpful when I needed to roll a few d27s using our dice roller XD (random seating selection)

Hot RPG Questions

3:31 AM

4

Q: What are the consequences of changing the number of hours in a day?

The phrase "24-7" is a common term for "all the time", referring to the 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week. Early in one of the games I'm playing in one of the other players made an in-character comment of: "38-6". At the time we thought it was hilarious and allowed it to become cannon for our w...

linksassin

Well ok then... never had a HNQ before...

Shalvenay

@linksassin it's actually a pretty good question, IMO :) btw: having a different number of days in a week shouldn't be a concern -- Faerun itself does that, with the "tenday" being the next unit up from a single day-night cycle

linksassin

@Shalvenay thanks, I sent it to the player who started it in the first place too

We've been talking about it for months but never encountered any consequences till the other night. So I thought I'd ask about it

Joshua

Good show man.

BESW

There's some archaeological/sociological study into what effect different week-lengths have on individuals, cultures, and economies.

linksassin

3:39 AM

BTW looks like the HNQ bots is useful and worth it

Joshua

Anybody up for nuclear handgrenades before bed?

Shalvenay

@Joshua did someone order a Davy Crockett minime?

Joshua

lol

Ben

Why is this showing up in the chat feed again? Not that I have a problem with it... I was just used to the pop-up at the top of the apge

page*

Shalvenay

@Ben the chat feed just shows stuff that makes HNQ

Ben

3:43 AM

Ohhh cool

Miniman

4:23 AM

So we can all be ready to flag/downvote/closevote/protect/remove from HNQ. For given values of "we" and "all".

Ben

Weeeellll…… I just had a bit of a recap about the BBEG from a one-off campaign. The player reckons that the BBEG is dead.

[hisses through my teeth] I don't want to correct her. Lol.

BESW

Friends, I wrote up a couple blog posts about my #ScumandVilliany campaign we started up last week. If you're into that sort of thing, check out the character/ship creation notes and the first session notes below. Thanks friends http://tandylarson.com/2019/03/16/scum-and-villainy-ship-crew-creation-session-one/ http://tandylarson.com/2019/03/17/scum-and-villainy-session-one-recap/

Tweeted by zekebowl on March 17, 2019 at 6:04 AM

linksassin

@Ben How is the player's thinking the BBEG is dead a bad thing? Surely that's just more drama for the big reveal

Ben

@linksassin Well they get borderline PTSD about the last encounter

I've never seen someone get so worked up about their last encounter

linksassin

@Ben they get upset about an encounter they survived?

Ben

4:30 AM

They were basically willing to die if it meant that they could take the BBEG with them

Miniman

4:48 AM

@Ben I really hope you mean they were willing to have their character die.

Ben

@Miniman Yes

linksassin

@Miniman Isn't it the mark of a great DM if your players have that much buy in to your game?

trogdor

No it's pretty much only a bad thing to want to die for that

Miniman

5:06 AM

Even with that vital (so to speak) distinction made, it sounds like it's pretty important to them that this villain is dead and gone forever.

trogdor

Vital hehe

Sorry it's still a pun

Even if it's deadly serious

I'll stop now

Ben

@linksassin It can be, but I personally feel that it can also be misguided. In that particular situation, I don't feel really happy about

linksassin

it was a joke. I sincerely hope none of my players are ever willing to die over my game.

But willing to sacrifice a character? Sure.

Ben

@linksassin Oh right you were referring to the more literal sense. Haha

Catastrophic Failure, Running the Game 13/Campaign Diary 03

►

linksassin

@Ben That I was. Good video that one.

Ben

5:16 AM

The way the DM feels about this scenario is similar to how I felt with that scenario in my own campaign. The situation was different; in my game it was the final session, so it had to happen. But the way it all went was just very emotional. The PC felt like there was nothing left to lose - all they held dear had been taken from them.

After the game was over, I spoke to the player, and seven they admitted they were also very angry. Not at me, but at the BBEG, and the situation I set up.

The game ended, with the PCs still alive (this was a prequel to the actual adventure we were currently playing - so kinda necessary).

linksassin

Do you know why they are angry?

MikeQ

@Ben That sounds like a good thing - The players were emotionally invested in the game narrative

They saw the BBEG as a real antagonist and not another pile of HP to chisel away

Ben

5:47 AM

So, the player was invested in the characters. I would bet even personally invested. The way the scenario happened was a dually a little forced - the player kept diverting from the storyline to do relationship roleplay with the PCs. So I basically "kidnapped" the NPC, and left a breadcrumb trail for her to follow.

She got there, and the NPC was a prisoner, incapacitated and out of the fight, so the effort required to get the out basically made it a non-option.

The BBEG was played like this was still playtime... Only just getting warmed up, etc. That's when things got violent very quickly.

As in, initiative was rolled immediately. No BBEG speech... They need to die...***now***

linksassin

How did it end such that the players belive the BBEG is dead but they aren't?

So far I'm failling to see the issue. Sounds like you have invested players who hate your BBEG. To me that's a good thing.

Ben

@linksassin The PC spent there last conscious moments basically choking the life out of the BBEG, but they fell unconscious before anything was confirmed.

trogdor

I think the problem is relatively obvious

linksassin

What caused them to become unconscious?

trogdor

The player(s?) Is (are?) Invested in the bad guys death

Like on a personal level possibly

linksassin

5:56 AM

Do you think they will feel cheated if that battle was "for nothing"?

Ben

I think perhaps the reason I feel bad about it is because the player is upset about it, not just the PC

trogdor

It might be seen as a betrayal of trust if that bad guy shows up again

Yeah I thought so

linksassin

They are upset that they didn't kill him? or that the BBEG kidnapped this NPC?

MikeQ

Isn't there some rule of storytelling tropes that off-screen deaths are not necessarily deaths?

trogdor

I think they don't know he isn't dead

@MikeQ there is

I don't know the name of it but that is decidedly a trope

linksassin

5:59 AM

I agree. I think they know on some level he isn't dead. They might feel a bit bad about it for a while. But it will motivate them to get him next time.

MikeQ

If the player's really invested against the BBEG, then I could understand frustration if something else killed the BBEG first. Otherwise I'm not seeing any issue.

trogdor

It doesn't mean it has to be followed though

linksassin

Make sure you give them their moment to really defeat this guy for good.

Ben

They know the NPC isn't dead, but they don't know that the BBEG is still alive.

They have a feeling, but no confirmation

MikeQ

Recurring villains need to recur at least once. Otherwise they're just... curring.

Ben

6:01 AM

@linksassin Yeah. If that opportunity ever comes.

linksassin

I'm still confused as to what they are actually upset about. I understand that it was an upsetting situation for the PCs to be in. But they survived and their NPC friend did too. I think if you keep playing they will move on

If your players are this invested in hating this BBEG. They will make sure that moment comes

Ben

The game I ran was meant to just be a one- off, as an "introduction" to 5e. It was supposed to peter out as soon as the main campaign started, which I was not actually running.

linksassin

Make sure you give them that chance.

Oh, you aren't the DM for the main campaign?

Ben

Then of course, the GM said "yeah, you can use that game as part of your backstory".

@linksassin No. Lol

MikeQ

Ah okay. Inform the regular DM that they now have a potential recurring villain to work with.

linksassin

6:03 AM

@Ben Ah, that makes so much more sense. Do you think the GM will use the BBEG?

Offer them your notes and stats for the BBEG. Most GMs won't turn down free content

Ben

And, to complicate things further, that game has also sort of petered out. One player has left, and the GM seems to have given up on running it... the last session was 6 months ago (work obligations) but it was also very very forced. even half of the fights were cut short with no explanation

MikeQ

If the primary DM has given up, then you can run a spinoff campaign, maybe....?

Ben

Any NPC interaction was hand-waved away, and there was zero opportunity for any kind of PC RP.

linksassin

@Ben Would you be interested in picking up the campaign?

Sounds like you have some invested players that would love to finish the story

Ben

@MikeQ That's probably the only time it could happen.

@linksassin Me too. The DM was originally invested in a custom campaign, with his own world and everything, then all of a sudden he up and dumped that game, and dropped us all in a pre-written game (Tomb of Phandelver)

MikeQ

6:08 AM

@Ben Given my experiences trying to take over a campaign-in-progress after the GM and half the players abandoned it, I can't advise you do the same for the current story and trying to proceed

Not saying it's strictly a bad idea, but I can't advise it.

Ben

But, if I do run any campaign, it'll likely not be for a while. I am a pretty amateur DM at best, way more of a story teller than anything, and I also have a lot of other stuff going on too, so time is a big restriction

linksassin

@Ben In my experience if you have time to play. You'll find the time to prep. It isn't as big of a time sink and you may think.

Miniman

I mean, letting the campaign die would also get you out of the whole BBEG dead/alive thing.

linksassin

It may be better to drop his campaign entirely. Pick up from where your last game left off instead.

kviiri

I thinl I'd default to not trying to continue the old one, but you could always ask your group how they feel

MikeQ

6:12 AM

Rather than trying to continue a terminated campaign, I can advise running a "sequel" or "spinoff" adventure. Maybe introduce a time skip or change in location. That way, you're working with your own story, you're in control of the lore, but you can also recycle elements from the previous story.

linksassin

That's pretty good advice. ^

MikeQ

I learned it from doing the exact opposite and failing disastrously, so yes, it's backed by genuine experience

linksassin

@Ben If you got that kind of investment out of players I don't think you need to worry about being a novice DM.

@MikeQ Best way to learn isn't it?

Ben

@MikeQ IOf anything, that would be the story I'd go with

linksassin

I learned to always give the party the kill when I had an NPC kill the first Boss of a campaign for plot reasons.

They were a bit bummed about that.

MikeQ

6:15 AM

@linksassin Maybe. Was still frustrating and a huge loss of wasted time and effort.

Ben

One of the main issues well... I say "issues", but it can be an opportunity for a great story if I do it right... the BBEG works entirely thought mind control.

linksassin

@Ben My BBEG is currently an illusion/echantment sorcerer. She plays on the parties mind. It's a great opportunity for a good story

@MikeQ Wow 8 months? I've never done that much prep for a campaign

Ben

There's gotta be a list of do's and dont's in that scenario. Lol

linksassin

I don't think I've done more than 2-3 weeks of prep before starting.

I prep just enough to make the starting location seem real. Then keep them there for 2-3 months while i prep the rest of the world

@Ben Maybe I will have one once this campaign is over. It's my first time running this kind of villian. I hope it works out

Ben

I was pretty terrible in that regard. I knew what I wanted to do in that session, then I made it up as we encountered it.

MikeQ

6:21 AM

@linksassin Since I was picking up at an awkward point in an already complicated campaign, much of the prep time was trying to make material that was consistent and connected to the existing material

linksassin

@Ben That's what I do now, but I have a pretty solid world built that they can sandbox in

MikeQ

In hindsight, if I had separated my story from the prior one (e.g. time skip so that the existing NPCs and minor plot threads don't matter), then I could have assembled a coherent campaign much faster

linksassin

@MikeQ Fair enough. I play in a rotating DM game where the main DM has a really complicated vision for the world but isn't the best at communicating it.

When others DM we basically just make our own little sandbox towns and try not to mess with the larger world.

kviiri

@linksassin One of the few great moments of our Deadlands:RL game was when my character, a fairly brutal law-woman of the Texas Rangers, held a subdued deputy-turned-witchingman down so another PC who was said deputy's superior before their betrayal could off them

It was awesome <3

I wish I remembered those good moments more often so I could make them happen more

MikeQ

@linksassin Yes, that modular approach sounds better. No dependency on external plot threads, no complications when the players all have different preconceptions of what's going on when you begin DMing the story.

linksassin

6:24 AM

@kviiri Cool. At the end of my previous campaign, I tackled the BBEG to the ground and held her there as my party blew the building and brought it down on us. I took the hit but it was worth it to see her dead.

Ben

@MikeQ Daze ran a good one, but he picked up from a very specific point, finished that, then went a completely separate direction.

linksassin

@Ben Sounds like a good way to do it. Pick specific part of the campaign to continue. You can always go back and pick up on the old ones later if you want to

trogdor

@Miniman I agree with this for what it's worth

Ben

@Miniman Actually, the only reason I'm thinking about it now is because the player is a friend of mine, and they bring it up every now and then. Lol

linksassin

@Ben Next time they bring it up you should ask them. "Would you be interested in finishing that story?"

Ben

6:32 AM

@linksassin Oh, they ask me that. Lol

V2Blast

@Ben @BESW areyoumakingmoreredvsblue.com

that's what I meant to link

:P

Ben

@V2Blast lol

V2Blast

longest-running episodic webseries (and second longest-running webseries period, behind Homestar Runner apparently)

MikeQ

@Ben Don't rush into DMing if you feel you're not ready yet. Spend time learning the fundamentals and theories and such. Read the entire DMG, chapter by chapter.

Ben

Yeah.

MikeQ

6:41 AM

Observe recorded groups, but make sure to note the whys and contexts, don't just copy the motions

Ben

The last game I ran, I told a story, more than anything. There was very little "DMing" involved, outside of any combat. And even then, the last combat scenario was its own story too

linksassin

@MikeQ Where's the punchline?

The best way to learn to DM is to DM

Watching shows like Criticial role is a great help but you'll learn more from doing than anything else.

MikeQ

@linksassin Not much of a punchline, but I was a cargo cult DM for a long time, simply copying the motions of DMs I liked, and got frustrated when their tactics didn't work in my games

linksassin

Fundamentally because you aren't Matt Mercer. I try to copy parts of his style but I can't be him.

Hot RPG Questions

1

Q: Is it okay for a cleric of life to use spells like Animate Dead and/or Contagion?

I'm a returning player that's new to 5th edition, but I have played AD&D and 3.5e. I've read the core material for 5th. I'm wondering if it's against the class / sub-class make up to use these spells. Is it okay for a cleric of life to use spells like animate dead and/or contagion?

dnd-5e spells cleric

linksassin

6:44 AM

You have to learn your own style.

MikeQ

@linksassin Yes and no. More importantly, I'm not DMing for that particular group, who enjoys that particular style.

linksassin

@MikeQ Also a valid point. You should definitely run for your particular group

MikeQ

Even if I was magically bestowed with charisma and professional voice acting skills, Mercer's style wouldn't necessarily fit for a random group of players, or the types of narratives I like to manage

linksassin

@MikeQ Mercer was just an example. Whatever DM you copy won't be a perfect fit. Even if you can do it.

MikeQ

Right, I didn't even intend Mercer as an example. An intended example would be... my first DM ran eldritch horror games with lots of convoluted intrigue, and then I tried to copycat their style into superhero and high fantasy swashbuckling adventures. Did not mesh well.

linksassin

6:47 AM

Ah I see what you mean.

My advice would be steal what you can use, but don't try to copy.

MikeQ

Right. So it's less important to note the motions, and more important to consider why those motions do/don't work for the context of that particular game and social dynamic.

linksassin

Every DM will do something better than you, try to figure out what it is and learn from it.

But there is no point trying to copy things that won't work for you.

kviiri

Yea, although there are some really generally good tips to remember

Simple is better than complex, together is better than solo, you aren't as obvious as you think, discuss the game all the time

(Well, not literally all the time)

Ben

At the very least - I know that in this particular case, immersion is everything.

Doesn't matter about anything else - if it's believable, within the universe, and they don't get drawn out by unnecessary or unexpected rule-checks or dice rolls, it's a good game.

Which, then comes back to why I think I feel bad about that ending... because of their personal investment in it. I didn't upset the character, I upset the player, because of their level of investment in the story and characters

MikeQ

7:12 AM

@Ben Maybe have a discussion with the player/DM/group and ask how they'd like to continue moving forward, if at all

BESW

...I think one of my friends from a group 12 years ago is still trying to mimic my old GMing style which I've long since abandoned.

@Ben This is a lesson I've had to learn more than once over many years.

trogdor

@Ben yes, this is what the problem is,.... the thing that has me worried about it is that you may upset them again if you decide to bring forward a villain they thought they had killed

BESW

@trogdor This is where my idea about adapting Microscope's Add/Ban/Legacy palettes would come into its own.

You only get to bring back a villain if one of the players adds it to the Legacy palette.

MikeQ

That makes sense. If the player wants a second round against the antagonist, then it's fair game to bring them back.

trogdor

@BESW that seems like a reasonable way to go about it I suppose

BESW

7:24 AM

Without that, I basically rely on my players being the kind of people who tell me what they want, and/or just talking about stuff outside the game while I'm around and I listen carefully.

So far as GMing styles go, it's a matter of figuring out a convergence of what either you or your players enjoy, what neither you nor your players won't tolerate, and maybe what you're good at but that's not nearly so important.

Really focusing on what you and/or your group likes can make up for any number of failings in execution.

My most successful games are rooted in figuring out what my players are gonna like that I'm gonna be enthusiastic about (I try not to guess, I straight-up ask "I've got this thing I'm interested in, does it sound fun to you?") and building from there into the prep.

kviiri

@BESW Yeah, I fall into that trap quite often

kviiri

7:49 AM

It doesn't help that I'm the "active" guy of our TTRPG group, usually the one who has the initiative

BESW

Ah, yes, I've had to cultivate that quality in some groups.

MikeQ

Little surprises are ok, but no planning big surprises that would change the nature of the campaign.

kviiri

@MikeQ I'm getting flash backs from the "I told my players magic would come with consequences in this campaign and they made mages anyway" question

BESW

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