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Player vs. DM: Drinking and D&D, or D&D&D
Posted 9 years agoGather 'round and let me tell you of the last time I DMed a game with a drunk player at the table. It's an informative tale, I assure you. This is a situation that all new DMs should be aware of. It can happen to you. DMs beware!
Some years ago, I had a group of players that would meet up at my place for the game. It was easier than hauling books around to other people's places. It was also the first year that I was the DM. It was a rather monumental experiment, as I had not played D&D in nearly a decade.
I had a solid group going at the time. It was fairly exciting. It was my first adventure to present to people! Well, the group was solid, all except for one guy. Let me fill in a few details before I proceed. This particular player was involved in an after-work activity known as “hashing”. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the term, it's a group running activity designed to promote being healthy while having fun and socializing with much food and beer along the way. (And more beer at the finish line... It sounds unusual, I know.) Directly afterward, he'd come over to play D&D. (There was no off-duty driving here. This was on a military base overseas. Everyone walked.)
Needless to say, he was often late. While I don't begrudge players being a half-hour late while partaking in a scheduled event, this event encourages the consumption of alcohol. As a result, some days he'd be 30 minutes late. Some days he would not show up at all. Anytime he did show up, though, he was pretty smashed.
I also don't begrudge anyone that wants to have a couple drinks at the table. I myself tend to have a beer in hand, as it helps me loosen up, talk easier, and get into the improvisation that roleplaying revolves around. But. There are limits. One fateful night, that player clearly stumbled right past them.
An hour late into the game that Friday night, he knocks on the door and comes in. He sits down and we fill him in with what's going on. Well, he points out that he bought some more beer on the way over and asks if he can drink it. I swear everyone else looked at each other like this has bad news written all over it. I ask him, “Are you sure that's a good idea? You've been out drinking like a fish already.” And of course, he assures me he's going to be fine. Well, I don't say no because some of the other players sometimes have a drink at the table. My novice social experience tells me to not single him out.
Fast forward an hour and we're in the middle of the session. Things are well under way and we're getting deep into the game. The drinking player decides he needs to pause for a break and he goes to get up. As he returns, he stumbles over everyone and lands directly on his beer. Stuff is flying everywhere, his beer is soaking books, notes and character sheets, getting all over the carpet and all over himself and other players. It was an unmitigated disaster.
It was chaotic for a good 15 minutes, with one of the other players shouting at the drunk, everyone else running around trying to save sheets and books, and me rubbing my temples. Once we got everything cleaned up to the best of our ability, I think everyone calmed down, but no one was happy. I kept the game going because, as they say, the show must go on. For about a month afterward, the room smelled distinctly of old, warm beer. It was after that event that I decided the heavy drinker would not be permitted to bring beer over anymore. He eventually stopped showing up to the games and I don't think anyone missed him after that very much. We got along just fine without him.
From that point on, it has become a long standing rule in my games that if you partake in alcohol, I don't mind it, but I'll end the game early if people are getting a little too loose. Some things just aren't worth dealing with.
(I sincerely apologize for the lack of postings lately. I have been caught up in college work and spring projects, to include the construction of a workshop for my hobbies. My posting may spread out, but I will try to ensure the quality of the reading does not go down.)
Happy gaming,
fluffygryphon
Some years ago, I had a group of players that would meet up at my place for the game. It was easier than hauling books around to other people's places. It was also the first year that I was the DM. It was a rather monumental experiment, as I had not played D&D in nearly a decade.
I had a solid group going at the time. It was fairly exciting. It was my first adventure to present to people! Well, the group was solid, all except for one guy. Let me fill in a few details before I proceed. This particular player was involved in an after-work activity known as “hashing”. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the term, it's a group running activity designed to promote being healthy while having fun and socializing with much food and beer along the way. (And more beer at the finish line... It sounds unusual, I know.) Directly afterward, he'd come over to play D&D. (There was no off-duty driving here. This was on a military base overseas. Everyone walked.)
Needless to say, he was often late. While I don't begrudge players being a half-hour late while partaking in a scheduled event, this event encourages the consumption of alcohol. As a result, some days he'd be 30 minutes late. Some days he would not show up at all. Anytime he did show up, though, he was pretty smashed.
I also don't begrudge anyone that wants to have a couple drinks at the table. I myself tend to have a beer in hand, as it helps me loosen up, talk easier, and get into the improvisation that roleplaying revolves around. But. There are limits. One fateful night, that player clearly stumbled right past them.
An hour late into the game that Friday night, he knocks on the door and comes in. He sits down and we fill him in with what's going on. Well, he points out that he bought some more beer on the way over and asks if he can drink it. I swear everyone else looked at each other like this has bad news written all over it. I ask him, “Are you sure that's a good idea? You've been out drinking like a fish already.” And of course, he assures me he's going to be fine. Well, I don't say no because some of the other players sometimes have a drink at the table. My novice social experience tells me to not single him out.
Fast forward an hour and we're in the middle of the session. Things are well under way and we're getting deep into the game. The drinking player decides he needs to pause for a break and he goes to get up. As he returns, he stumbles over everyone and lands directly on his beer. Stuff is flying everywhere, his beer is soaking books, notes and character sheets, getting all over the carpet and all over himself and other players. It was an unmitigated disaster.
It was chaotic for a good 15 minutes, with one of the other players shouting at the drunk, everyone else running around trying to save sheets and books, and me rubbing my temples. Once we got everything cleaned up to the best of our ability, I think everyone calmed down, but no one was happy. I kept the game going because, as they say, the show must go on. For about a month afterward, the room smelled distinctly of old, warm beer. It was after that event that I decided the heavy drinker would not be permitted to bring beer over anymore. He eventually stopped showing up to the games and I don't think anyone missed him after that very much. We got along just fine without him.
From that point on, it has become a long standing rule in my games that if you partake in alcohol, I don't mind it, but I'll end the game early if people are getting a little too loose. Some things just aren't worth dealing with.
(I sincerely apologize for the lack of postings lately. I have been caught up in college work and spring projects, to include the construction of a workshop for my hobbies. My posting may spread out, but I will try to ensure the quality of the reading does not go down.)
Happy gaming,
fluffygryphonPathfinder question.
Posted 9 years agoI would like to know what version of pathfinder i should go with. I never played so if theirs an easy version for a beginner let me know.
dyno
dynoInterview with Paul Kidd.
Posted 10 years agoHow did you get started writing?
From high school days, i had always wanted to be a writer. Parents sneered - but to hell with that. I went to university to study the things i thought a writer should - Literature and History, Philosophy. History in particular had always been my first love. I fell in with a slap-happy group of creative people, and ended up doing a lot of comedy writing for the university newspaper and theater groups. University in Australia was free, so it was a place for ideas and cross pollination. Very energetic and creative. a great place to gather skills and stretch your wings.
I had been an enthusiastic war gamer ever since my first days in high school. When role playing games first came out back in the mid 70's, I plunged into playing them, and have been a gleeful and devoted gamer ever since. RPG's have always kicked off my story ideas.
Soon after graduating university, I began working on my own Role Playing Games and got them into publication. First came ALBEDO,and then LACE & STEEL. Meanwhile, i managed to get a job as pretty much the first full time games designer in the computer industry (as opposed to programmer - someone just there for dialogue and ideas). I Worked on the early Lord of the Rings Games and several text adventures, and then when home consoles were invented, I designed some of the first console games (such as 'Airwolf". Ugh!). But what i *wanted* to do was write novels.
I had been introduced to comic book artists and fandom by Steve Gallacci while working on the ALBEDO RPG. Furry fandom began to coalesce - and with it cam an invitation to join the APA "Rowrbrazzle". This gave me a chance to put some stories out in the 'non pro' universe and get some practice with skills. The first draft of "Mus" was actually serialized in Rowrbrazzle and handed about in furry parties.
I began writing in earnest, trying to get my first novel "Mus" written. Being too poor to own a computer, i would head into work many hours early, and put in 3 or 4 hours of writing before anyone else arrived. I would also carry the computer secretly off home with me of a weekend and work on material at home. Printing out drafts on a line printer could take 48 hours or more. It was a long, hard grind.
However - I was off and working on the dream.
Incidentally - I have always made sure that i do things in real life that will contribute to my ability to write. I have been a soldier in the army reserves, a volunteer fireman, and definitely a traveler. I have continually trained with the sword since i was in single digits,and have expanded that out to many decades of training with Japanese sword, spear, naginata - these days i also do bayonet fencing. My ongoing love for animals and insects shines through my work. I have flown aircraft and climbed through caves and ruins. Laughed hard and well,and watched and enjoyed all manner of my fellow humans. My advice to anyone who wants to write is - live!
you wrote 2 books for Forgotten Realms: Nobles and Greyhawk. How did you get into writing D&D books?
My first novel, "Mus" was published by TSR, the publishers of D&D. TSR suddenly decided that they were not going to publish any more novels that were not related to their games. My editor there decided t move to another company. But he phoned and asked me if i wanted to do a last book with TSR before he left. He would set up in his new company and publish my books - but he had a slot open for a D&D novel in the 'Forgotten Realms' setting (a setting i loathe due to its over dramatic pretensions). D&D novels were too serious, too heavy and held very little of the fun of the actual game. What he wanted me to give them was a comedy adventure - something fun and furious. I could create my own section of that game world and run with it.
So I wrote "The Council of Blades".
The books was bright and funny. The new owners at TSR hated it, but it was bought and published before they could do anything with it. Fans loved it.
My editor never did end up with a job at that other publisher. He just vanished into the wilderness, never to be seen again.
Some years later, Wizards of the Coast were under yet another change of management. They were planning on creating version 3 of Dungeons and Dragons, and wanted a series of books written to help with the launch. They wanted the books to bring old time players back into the fold - so they had to be funny, they had to be written by a gamer who knew and loved the anecdotes gamers loved to tell. They searched their fan mail, saw that "Council of Blades" had gotten the right sort of attention, and so they phoned to ask me if I would be interested in doing them a series to launch D&D 3.0.
I agreed!
So i wrote "White Plume Mountain", "Descent into the Depths of the Earth" and "Queen of the Demonweb Pits". These were a great hit - people seem to love them. Unfortunately, Robert Salvatore had been chosen as the company star. Their advertising efforts and subsequent book contracts were all channeled his way. so I heard nothing more from WotC for another 10 years.
Enter D&D 4.0. Another call came. They were releasing a version of "Gamma World", one of my all time favorite games - and once again they needed action and comedy. I was utterly broke and in shock, having had an appalling collapse of my entire life at the time. It was a life saver to be wanted.
I must say it was a very unfortunate deal for me. It paid virtually nothing (literally a quarter of their old prices). but it was a book, it came out on shelves,and hopefully it gave people a lot of joy.
TSR/WotC had always had extremely interfering editors. Working with them was always a fight - ofn a vicious fight. the new regime made an absolute botch of the Gammaworld novel, literally cutting it to pieces. Gags were cut out, scenes chopped, comedit footnotes and asides all removed without any real consultation. It was the final straw for me. I've had it with mainstream publishers. Since that time, i have been concentrating entirely upon self publication, getting stories out the way they should go out. Not writing for an editor, but doing what is right for the story is wonderfully pure and liberating.
"Mus of Kerbridge" was your first published novel, what was the inspiration for it?
I have always been fascinated by the English civil War period, and the European 30 years war: that entire early to mid 17th century period delighted me. One of my ongoing majors at University was English Civil War History. When travelling in England shortly after university, I haunted a great many battle sites, museums and library collections. I even came back to Australia with sets of armor. I love the costumes and the literature of the period.
- So when setting out to write my first real, proper book, i decided to create something with a 17th century flavor. I first published the Role Playing Game "Lace & Steel", which created the setting. "Mus of Kerbridge" then built on that setting to create a rather lovely novel.
Mus languished for years as I tried to find a publisher. I went on and wrote other books, trying to find publishers for THOSE, and ending up being bitterly disappointed as major publishers reneged on deals and cancelled arrangements to publish me. I finally cornered a TSR editor at a party at a world con and convinced him to read "Mus". TSR bought the novel, and so Mus became my first ever published novel.
It went on to do astoundingly well (60,000 copies sold and translated into German). However, the rest of the publishing world closed ranks against TSR, seeing them as interlopers into their very private pond. It was impossible to get other companies to look at my material, or accept that 60K sales with TSR meant my books could do similarly well for THEM. TSR underwent a buy out by Wizards of the coast, who decided they would no longer print any non D&D related novels, so I lost that avenue as well.
You wrote 2 short fiction story's Dragon Magazine
By The Job in Dragon Magazine, May 2000 - Issue #271
Keoland Blues in Dragon Magazine, December 2000 - Issue #278
Due to dragon magazine out of print can you summarize what the story's were about?
Land o' Goshen! (which was just near Gath!)
These were both "Jus and Escalla" stories, tied in with the "White Plume Mountain" trilogy. One was the tale of how my character "The Justicar" first met up with his pal, the sentient hellhound skin called "Cinders". The Justicar is brought in to investigate weird goings on in an area. A paladin is operating in the area, and tries to prevent the Justicar from intruding into his turf. While investigating a series of arson and murders, the Justicar encounters a hell hound and comes to a truce with it. It helps him out of trouble in return for his aid.
The paladin later slays the hellhound, preserving its intelligence inside the skinand head so that he can use it as a hellish trophy. Just discovers that the region's troubles are all due to the Paladin's reign of zealot madness. He slaysthe paladin and takes on the hell hounds skin as his companion from that time on.
The Keoland Blues story was another Jus an Escalla case. Damned if i can remember the details!
Discworld II: Missing Presumed... - The Official Strategy Guide (1996) this must have been a great thing to write, any inside info on how you write a Strategy guide?
I had been invited over to the UK to work with Terry Prachett on the "Discworld"computer games,and ended up taking over the entire dialogue for the game. due to the complexity of the thing, the company decided that they needed a strategy guide. I had written similar books for the "Lord of the Rings" text games years before. Since I had finished the game dialogue, i offered to do the strategy guide for them.
Strategy guides are not hard - just tedious! You have to have played every screen intimately - but also know the quirks of the game system. So it should really be written by someone who has been on hand to test the game as it is created.
I know you have some new novels and even a new board game coming out can you fill us in those?
These days, my efforts are closely focused on self publishing.
I spent literally 2 decades working diligently to bring my stories into film. This journey into weirdness took up a vast amount of time and effort. I am still working away at trying to find the millions in finance required.
- Which is hard when you live below the poverty level.
Life visited a number of horrors on me over the past set of years. My wife died. I lost my kids. I lost my home, my income and my film business, and all of my possessions - no car, no books no clothes. I've been on skid row ever since, living with friends. But somewhere in there, I managed to create "Kitsune Press".
"Kitsune Press" was set up back in 2008 as my own self-publishing venture. Years of battling against editors and the gate keepers of the publishing industry were making it more and more clear that there was no place for real writing out there in the mainstream companies.
... And it has been wonderful freedom. By doing what is right for the stories and what is artistically right - by not wrestling with the ill informed and often bizarrely wiggy demands of publishers and editors - I make books I can be truly proud of. I have also come full circle, and i'm putting out RPG games once again.
It's a particularly active time at the moment, with RPG games in page layout phase, and art coming in for board games - a new novel is being finished. The next couple of months will see me release:
A new "Spirit Hunters" novel. Samurai paranormal adventures!
A furry fantasy role playing game "Heroes of Morhost" - a wonderful game!
A furry post apocalypse RPG, "GeneStorm". There are already 2 GeneStorm novels.
A sendbox campaign for "GeneStorm"
A beer & pretzels dice game called "A Fistful of Quidloos".
A furry racing game based on GeneStorm
And finally a card game entitled "The Full Bronte"
My material is all available on lulu.com as print on demand,and amazon.com as kindle e-books. The role playing games will be available via drivethruRPG.com. Look for "Paul Kidd" and "Kitsune Press".
Thank you Mr. Paul Kidd for your time.
You can find Paul's FA page here
Patpahootie
dyno
From high school days, i had always wanted to be a writer. Parents sneered - but to hell with that. I went to university to study the things i thought a writer should - Literature and History, Philosophy. History in particular had always been my first love. I fell in with a slap-happy group of creative people, and ended up doing a lot of comedy writing for the university newspaper and theater groups. University in Australia was free, so it was a place for ideas and cross pollination. Very energetic and creative. a great place to gather skills and stretch your wings.
I had been an enthusiastic war gamer ever since my first days in high school. When role playing games first came out back in the mid 70's, I plunged into playing them, and have been a gleeful and devoted gamer ever since. RPG's have always kicked off my story ideas.
Soon after graduating university, I began working on my own Role Playing Games and got them into publication. First came ALBEDO,and then LACE & STEEL. Meanwhile, i managed to get a job as pretty much the first full time games designer in the computer industry (as opposed to programmer - someone just there for dialogue and ideas). I Worked on the early Lord of the Rings Games and several text adventures, and then when home consoles were invented, I designed some of the first console games (such as 'Airwolf". Ugh!). But what i *wanted* to do was write novels.
I had been introduced to comic book artists and fandom by Steve Gallacci while working on the ALBEDO RPG. Furry fandom began to coalesce - and with it cam an invitation to join the APA "Rowrbrazzle". This gave me a chance to put some stories out in the 'non pro' universe and get some practice with skills. The first draft of "Mus" was actually serialized in Rowrbrazzle and handed about in furry parties.
I began writing in earnest, trying to get my first novel "Mus" written. Being too poor to own a computer, i would head into work many hours early, and put in 3 or 4 hours of writing before anyone else arrived. I would also carry the computer secretly off home with me of a weekend and work on material at home. Printing out drafts on a line printer could take 48 hours or more. It was a long, hard grind.
However - I was off and working on the dream.
Incidentally - I have always made sure that i do things in real life that will contribute to my ability to write. I have been a soldier in the army reserves, a volunteer fireman, and definitely a traveler. I have continually trained with the sword since i was in single digits,and have expanded that out to many decades of training with Japanese sword, spear, naginata - these days i also do bayonet fencing. My ongoing love for animals and insects shines through my work. I have flown aircraft and climbed through caves and ruins. Laughed hard and well,and watched and enjoyed all manner of my fellow humans. My advice to anyone who wants to write is - live!
you wrote 2 books for Forgotten Realms: Nobles and Greyhawk. How did you get into writing D&D books?
My first novel, "Mus" was published by TSR, the publishers of D&D. TSR suddenly decided that they were not going to publish any more novels that were not related to their games. My editor there decided t move to another company. But he phoned and asked me if i wanted to do a last book with TSR before he left. He would set up in his new company and publish my books - but he had a slot open for a D&D novel in the 'Forgotten Realms' setting (a setting i loathe due to its over dramatic pretensions). D&D novels were too serious, too heavy and held very little of the fun of the actual game. What he wanted me to give them was a comedy adventure - something fun and furious. I could create my own section of that game world and run with it.
So I wrote "The Council of Blades".
The books was bright and funny. The new owners at TSR hated it, but it was bought and published before they could do anything with it. Fans loved it.
My editor never did end up with a job at that other publisher. He just vanished into the wilderness, never to be seen again.
Some years later, Wizards of the Coast were under yet another change of management. They were planning on creating version 3 of Dungeons and Dragons, and wanted a series of books written to help with the launch. They wanted the books to bring old time players back into the fold - so they had to be funny, they had to be written by a gamer who knew and loved the anecdotes gamers loved to tell. They searched their fan mail, saw that "Council of Blades" had gotten the right sort of attention, and so they phoned to ask me if I would be interested in doing them a series to launch D&D 3.0.
I agreed!
So i wrote "White Plume Mountain", "Descent into the Depths of the Earth" and "Queen of the Demonweb Pits". These were a great hit - people seem to love them. Unfortunately, Robert Salvatore had been chosen as the company star. Their advertising efforts and subsequent book contracts were all channeled his way. so I heard nothing more from WotC for another 10 years.
Enter D&D 4.0. Another call came. They were releasing a version of "Gamma World", one of my all time favorite games - and once again they needed action and comedy. I was utterly broke and in shock, having had an appalling collapse of my entire life at the time. It was a life saver to be wanted.
I must say it was a very unfortunate deal for me. It paid virtually nothing (literally a quarter of their old prices). but it was a book, it came out on shelves,and hopefully it gave people a lot of joy.
TSR/WotC had always had extremely interfering editors. Working with them was always a fight - ofn a vicious fight. the new regime made an absolute botch of the Gammaworld novel, literally cutting it to pieces. Gags were cut out, scenes chopped, comedit footnotes and asides all removed without any real consultation. It was the final straw for me. I've had it with mainstream publishers. Since that time, i have been concentrating entirely upon self publication, getting stories out the way they should go out. Not writing for an editor, but doing what is right for the story is wonderfully pure and liberating.
"Mus of Kerbridge" was your first published novel, what was the inspiration for it?
I have always been fascinated by the English civil War period, and the European 30 years war: that entire early to mid 17th century period delighted me. One of my ongoing majors at University was English Civil War History. When travelling in England shortly after university, I haunted a great many battle sites, museums and library collections. I even came back to Australia with sets of armor. I love the costumes and the literature of the period.
- So when setting out to write my first real, proper book, i decided to create something with a 17th century flavor. I first published the Role Playing Game "Lace & Steel", which created the setting. "Mus of Kerbridge" then built on that setting to create a rather lovely novel.
Mus languished for years as I tried to find a publisher. I went on and wrote other books, trying to find publishers for THOSE, and ending up being bitterly disappointed as major publishers reneged on deals and cancelled arrangements to publish me. I finally cornered a TSR editor at a party at a world con and convinced him to read "Mus". TSR bought the novel, and so Mus became my first ever published novel.
It went on to do astoundingly well (60,000 copies sold and translated into German). However, the rest of the publishing world closed ranks against TSR, seeing them as interlopers into their very private pond. It was impossible to get other companies to look at my material, or accept that 60K sales with TSR meant my books could do similarly well for THEM. TSR underwent a buy out by Wizards of the coast, who decided they would no longer print any non D&D related novels, so I lost that avenue as well.
You wrote 2 short fiction story's Dragon Magazine
By The Job in Dragon Magazine, May 2000 - Issue #271
Keoland Blues in Dragon Magazine, December 2000 - Issue #278
Due to dragon magazine out of print can you summarize what the story's were about?
Land o' Goshen! (which was just near Gath!)
These were both "Jus and Escalla" stories, tied in with the "White Plume Mountain" trilogy. One was the tale of how my character "The Justicar" first met up with his pal, the sentient hellhound skin called "Cinders". The Justicar is brought in to investigate weird goings on in an area. A paladin is operating in the area, and tries to prevent the Justicar from intruding into his turf. While investigating a series of arson and murders, the Justicar encounters a hell hound and comes to a truce with it. It helps him out of trouble in return for his aid.
The paladin later slays the hellhound, preserving its intelligence inside the skinand head so that he can use it as a hellish trophy. Just discovers that the region's troubles are all due to the Paladin's reign of zealot madness. He slaysthe paladin and takes on the hell hounds skin as his companion from that time on.
The Keoland Blues story was another Jus an Escalla case. Damned if i can remember the details!
Discworld II: Missing Presumed... - The Official Strategy Guide (1996) this must have been a great thing to write, any inside info on how you write a Strategy guide?
I had been invited over to the UK to work with Terry Prachett on the "Discworld"computer games,and ended up taking over the entire dialogue for the game. due to the complexity of the thing, the company decided that they needed a strategy guide. I had written similar books for the "Lord of the Rings" text games years before. Since I had finished the game dialogue, i offered to do the strategy guide for them.
Strategy guides are not hard - just tedious! You have to have played every screen intimately - but also know the quirks of the game system. So it should really be written by someone who has been on hand to test the game as it is created.
I know you have some new novels and even a new board game coming out can you fill us in those?
These days, my efforts are closely focused on self publishing.
I spent literally 2 decades working diligently to bring my stories into film. This journey into weirdness took up a vast amount of time and effort. I am still working away at trying to find the millions in finance required.
- Which is hard when you live below the poverty level.
Life visited a number of horrors on me over the past set of years. My wife died. I lost my kids. I lost my home, my income and my film business, and all of my possessions - no car, no books no clothes. I've been on skid row ever since, living with friends. But somewhere in there, I managed to create "Kitsune Press".
"Kitsune Press" was set up back in 2008 as my own self-publishing venture. Years of battling against editors and the gate keepers of the publishing industry were making it more and more clear that there was no place for real writing out there in the mainstream companies.
... And it has been wonderful freedom. By doing what is right for the stories and what is artistically right - by not wrestling with the ill informed and often bizarrely wiggy demands of publishers and editors - I make books I can be truly proud of. I have also come full circle, and i'm putting out RPG games once again.
It's a particularly active time at the moment, with RPG games in page layout phase, and art coming in for board games - a new novel is being finished. The next couple of months will see me release:
A new "Spirit Hunters" novel. Samurai paranormal adventures!
A furry fantasy role playing game "Heroes of Morhost" - a wonderful game!
A furry post apocalypse RPG, "GeneStorm". There are already 2 GeneStorm novels.
A sendbox campaign for "GeneStorm"
A beer & pretzels dice game called "A Fistful of Quidloos".
A furry racing game based on GeneStorm
And finally a card game entitled "The Full Bronte"
My material is all available on lulu.com as print on demand,and amazon.com as kindle e-books. The role playing games will be available via drivethruRPG.com. Look for "Paul Kidd" and "Kitsune Press".
Thank you Mr. Paul Kidd for your time.
You can find Paul's FA page here
Patpahootie dynoTabletop Night: The Settlers of Catan
Posted 10 years agoThe Settlers of Catan ranks high on my list of favorite board games. When I was introduced to it, the first thing I thought was “This is Sid Meier's Civilization's simplified cousin. No doubt.” The Settlers of Catan is a settlement building and economics game where you and a few others settle on an island rich in resources. Strategic settlement placement, trading, and building helps you collect resources that can in turn be spent of further development and trade opportunities. The goal is to become the most successful empire on the island through those means.
How it plays:
The game board consists of 19 hexagonal tiles that represent various aspects of the landscape. They can be arranged in any order within the island region, leading to different strategies required each time you play. Each type of hex tile produces a specific resource, except for the desert, which produces nothing.
When the board is set up, resource frequency tokens are distributed to each production tile. When the number indicated on that tile is rolled on 2d6, any player with a settlement touching that tile can collect one of that resource. If they have more settlements on that resource, (or a settlement that has been upgraded to a city) they can collect more.
Because the rolling of two dice produces a natural bell-curve of numerical results, certain resources will produce more than others. To make things simple, the game points this out in the form of dots or pips under the number token. The more there are, the more likely that resource tile will produce. (6 and 8 being the most common rolled, they are also in red so they are easily noticed.)
Resources:
Resources are the primary currency in this game. There are five of them: Bricks, Wheat, Stone, Sheep, and Wood. Resources are required to build roads that allow you to expand your empire, and they allow you to develop (purchase Development Cards and upgrade settlements to cities). The game board setup encourages trade, especially when certain resources are monopolized by other players. This can give rise to alliances, under the table deals, or hermit play styles.
The Wild Card:
The game has an unpredictability element to it. Any time a player rolls a 7 or chooses to play a Knight Card, that player may place the Robber Token on any hex in the game. This token not only destroys collected resources from all rich (8+ resource cards) players with a settlement on that hex, but it also locks that resource hex down. It won't produce resources until the robber is moved again. This adds more strategy to the game, giving people the ability to engage in simple warfare.
Winning the game:
In order to win the game, you must have 10 Victory Points on your turn. Victory points are accrued through purchase of Development Cards and earning achievements, i.e. having the Longest Road, and /or the Largest Army. Actual gameplay takes about one to two hours.
Further Expansion:
This game is modular in that there have been a number of expansions released for the game that add on further gameplay and strategy. They can also change the way the game is played with the additions of scenarios and missions. These are as follows:
Catan Seafarers:
Radically changes the game board layout, adding the ability to create multiple islands and build trade routes between them.
Catan Cities & Knights:
Adds additional tactics by expanding the usefulness of cities and knights, as well as adding three new resources and a rogue barbarian element to the game.
Catan Traders & Barbarians:
A compilation pack composed of smaller expansions, this pack adds new tokens, resources and tiles, and of course, additional rules that allows for barbarian invasions. Also introduces castles.
Catan Explorers & Pirates:
Expands the game to three different islands and adds ship tokens. While the main island is visible, the other two island layouts are not revealed until they are explored. Adds pirates to the equation, too, which can demand tribute, or can be captured for vast rewards.
Note: While Traders & Barbarians will combine well with the other expansion packs, it's not advisable to combine any of the others, as the rules for each pack radically tailors the game to a specific ruleset. Combining them will only make the game confusing and slow play down.
Hope you enjoyed!
fluffygryphon
How it plays:
The game board consists of 19 hexagonal tiles that represent various aspects of the landscape. They can be arranged in any order within the island region, leading to different strategies required each time you play. Each type of hex tile produces a specific resource, except for the desert, which produces nothing.
When the board is set up, resource frequency tokens are distributed to each production tile. When the number indicated on that tile is rolled on 2d6, any player with a settlement touching that tile can collect one of that resource. If they have more settlements on that resource, (or a settlement that has been upgraded to a city) they can collect more.
Because the rolling of two dice produces a natural bell-curve of numerical results, certain resources will produce more than others. To make things simple, the game points this out in the form of dots or pips under the number token. The more there are, the more likely that resource tile will produce. (6 and 8 being the most common rolled, they are also in red so they are easily noticed.)
Resources:
Resources are the primary currency in this game. There are five of them: Bricks, Wheat, Stone, Sheep, and Wood. Resources are required to build roads that allow you to expand your empire, and they allow you to develop (purchase Development Cards and upgrade settlements to cities). The game board setup encourages trade, especially when certain resources are monopolized by other players. This can give rise to alliances, under the table deals, or hermit play styles.
The Wild Card:
The game has an unpredictability element to it. Any time a player rolls a 7 or chooses to play a Knight Card, that player may place the Robber Token on any hex in the game. This token not only destroys collected resources from all rich (8+ resource cards) players with a settlement on that hex, but it also locks that resource hex down. It won't produce resources until the robber is moved again. This adds more strategy to the game, giving people the ability to engage in simple warfare.
Winning the game:
In order to win the game, you must have 10 Victory Points on your turn. Victory points are accrued through purchase of Development Cards and earning achievements, i.e. having the Longest Road, and /or the Largest Army. Actual gameplay takes about one to two hours.
Further Expansion:
This game is modular in that there have been a number of expansions released for the game that add on further gameplay and strategy. They can also change the way the game is played with the additions of scenarios and missions. These are as follows:
Catan Seafarers:
Radically changes the game board layout, adding the ability to create multiple islands and build trade routes between them.
Catan Cities & Knights:
Adds additional tactics by expanding the usefulness of cities and knights, as well as adding three new resources and a rogue barbarian element to the game.
Catan Traders & Barbarians:
A compilation pack composed of smaller expansions, this pack adds new tokens, resources and tiles, and of course, additional rules that allows for barbarian invasions. Also introduces castles.
Catan Explorers & Pirates:
Expands the game to three different islands and adds ship tokens. While the main island is visible, the other two island layouts are not revealed until they are explored. Adds pirates to the equation, too, which can demand tribute, or can be captured for vast rewards.
Note: While Traders & Barbarians will combine well with the other expansion packs, it's not advisable to combine any of the others, as the rules for each pack radically tailors the game to a specific ruleset. Combining them will only make the game confusing and slow play down.
Hope you enjoyed!
fluffygryphonDungeon Mastering 101: Monsters are not fodder.
Posted 10 years agoThis article is a small part of a bigger discussion where I aim to help make sure your epic dungeon crawl doesn't become a tedious grind. Tabletop RPGs are already a leisurely paced type of game. Spending four hours a session is fairly typical. That's enough for a decent chunk of adventure and roleplaying opportunity.
Anyone who has DMed a game of D&D or an equivalent has been there. “What do I put in this room? Maybe I'll shove some orcs in here... Maybe a displacer beast in the next room.” The idea of populating a dungeon seems easy when you consider just tossing a bunch of assorted creatures here and there, but it really isn't that straightforward. Eventually, the lack of rhyme or reason will catch up to either you or your players and you'll find yourself in trouble. You've fallen into the same trope a lot of video games run into. You're using monsters and dungeons as a crutch for game content.
This brings to the table my main point. Don't throw monsters in everywhere just for the sake of having monsters. It doesn't have to be like that! It's not too late!
Monsters do not exist merely to be struck down by the players. Give them a purpose. They're in that crypt for a reason. Make one. They are wandering the land for a reason. Give them one. Random encounters are fine, but they should make some amount of sense. Your job as a DM is not an easy one, but that little bit of effort makes a campaign truly shine. Develop an ecology for your dungeons.
“There must be a reason these creature can survive down here. Perhaps a powerful presence put them there and ensures a source of food?”
Fill in those details. The more you expand upon the story of each crypt, lair, or dungeon, the more it will interest your players. Even if your players are a 'kick the door down' variety, a well-designed dungeon makes for a memorable combat session.
“How are the monsters avoiding those clever traps?”
“Who built this place?”
“How did that treasure get down here and are the monsters aware of it?”
I'll draw up an example:
In one part of your dungeon you have a group of orcs who are using this old ruin as a stronghold for their local operations. For a small band of orcs, they've been living a rather peaceful life, sticking to the forests to hunt. They've been quite successful, but some time ago while they were out on a hunt, a displacer beast broke in and ate their entire store of food. The orcs came back to find that they could not outmatch the horrible creature, but they managed to trap it further in the dungeon. To prevent it from growing hungry and breaking free, they've been feeding it shares of food each day. To keep up with the demands of the displacer beast, they've been attacking outlying farms and stealing cattle. They'd like to be rid of the beast, but they're just not strong enough.
In but a few minutes, I built up a compelling justification for two creature types within this dungeon. In fact, I've built up an entire mission! With some creativity, this can be incorporated into some serious roleplay. Perhaps the orcs are of but trivial concern to the characters of the story. Maybe what the characters seek is deep within the dungeon and the orcs don't dare tread that far. If the party seeks to enter without bloodshed, perhaps they could pay for passage by solving the orcs' displacer beast problem.
It doesn't take much effort to connect the relations between various monsters in an area and it can lead to a very compelling narrative. Suddenly this dungeon has come to life. It is much more than a collection of rooms and beasts. It's not boring anymore. Monsters can have a bigger purpose.
Written by fluffygryphon
Thanks for reading!
Anyone who has DMed a game of D&D or an equivalent has been there. “What do I put in this room? Maybe I'll shove some orcs in here... Maybe a displacer beast in the next room.” The idea of populating a dungeon seems easy when you consider just tossing a bunch of assorted creatures here and there, but it really isn't that straightforward. Eventually, the lack of rhyme or reason will catch up to either you or your players and you'll find yourself in trouble. You've fallen into the same trope a lot of video games run into. You're using monsters and dungeons as a crutch for game content.
This brings to the table my main point. Don't throw monsters in everywhere just for the sake of having monsters. It doesn't have to be like that! It's not too late!
Monsters do not exist merely to be struck down by the players. Give them a purpose. They're in that crypt for a reason. Make one. They are wandering the land for a reason. Give them one. Random encounters are fine, but they should make some amount of sense. Your job as a DM is not an easy one, but that little bit of effort makes a campaign truly shine. Develop an ecology for your dungeons.
“There must be a reason these creature can survive down here. Perhaps a powerful presence put them there and ensures a source of food?”
Fill in those details. The more you expand upon the story of each crypt, lair, or dungeon, the more it will interest your players. Even if your players are a 'kick the door down' variety, a well-designed dungeon makes for a memorable combat session.
“How are the monsters avoiding those clever traps?”
“Who built this place?”
“How did that treasure get down here and are the monsters aware of it?”
I'll draw up an example:
In one part of your dungeon you have a group of orcs who are using this old ruin as a stronghold for their local operations. For a small band of orcs, they've been living a rather peaceful life, sticking to the forests to hunt. They've been quite successful, but some time ago while they were out on a hunt, a displacer beast broke in and ate their entire store of food. The orcs came back to find that they could not outmatch the horrible creature, but they managed to trap it further in the dungeon. To prevent it from growing hungry and breaking free, they've been feeding it shares of food each day. To keep up with the demands of the displacer beast, they've been attacking outlying farms and stealing cattle. They'd like to be rid of the beast, but they're just not strong enough.
In but a few minutes, I built up a compelling justification for two creature types within this dungeon. In fact, I've built up an entire mission! With some creativity, this can be incorporated into some serious roleplay. Perhaps the orcs are of but trivial concern to the characters of the story. Maybe what the characters seek is deep within the dungeon and the orcs don't dare tread that far. If the party seeks to enter without bloodshed, perhaps they could pay for passage by solving the orcs' displacer beast problem.
It doesn't take much effort to connect the relations between various monsters in an area and it can lead to a very compelling narrative. Suddenly this dungeon has come to life. It is much more than a collection of rooms and beasts. It's not boring anymore. Monsters can have a bigger purpose.
Written by
fluffygryphonThanks for reading!
Monster Highlight: Owlbear
Posted 10 years agoVery few wild beast symbolize pure insanity and foul temper like the owlbear. A beast born of twisted magic, these creatures spend their lives slaughtering literally any non-owlbear creatures they can get their talons on.
While it's true that D&D and other games that feature owlbears also feature many other overly-aggressive creatures, the owlbear takes the cake. They have a single-minded tenacity to utterly destroy anything that moves larger than a mouse. This likely means that they have been known to assault objects swaying in the wind or things rolling down hills as if their very lives depended on it. This also attributes to their perceived madness, as they have little care about who or what they fight, so long as it ceases to move when they are done.
Their recklessness is only matched by their lack of wisdom and sense and self-preservation. In lemming-like fashion, they will gladly charge through or over anything that stands in their way of their target, to include throwing themselves off a cliff to reach a creature on the opposite side, as so eloquently stated in the AD&D 2ed Monstrous Manual. It's not too far out there to imagine that an owlbear would happily pummel its way through a wall to get to some hapless villager or adventurer.
This madness also makes them fatal when directly encountered. An owlbear will stop at nothing to pursue their target, grabbing at them until they are locked within their crushing grasp. Their ability to grapple targets should be focused on while using these creatures in a fight. This is their primary ability. Once they establish a grapple, the victim takes crushing damage and should also be bitten. This will not cease until the victim or the owlbear is dead. Luck be with any party that encounters a group of these beasts.
The number one reason for adventurers to seek out owlbears is to stop an infestation from taking root near civilization. This is not the only reason, however. Many powerful NPCs, such as wizards will pay a decent sum of gold for owlbear eggs. They are not trainable, however, they serve as excellent guardians, so long as the owner takes suitable precautions.
Recap: The owlbear is a vicious and insane predator that will attack anything, even it it means killing itself in the process. Its ability to grapple is its primary mode of attack and should be used whenever it can. Its mindless thirst for death should be expanded upon by the DM if flavor is important to the campaign.
Thx to fluffygryphon one of my new writers. So excited to work with him.
While it's true that D&D and other games that feature owlbears also feature many other overly-aggressive creatures, the owlbear takes the cake. They have a single-minded tenacity to utterly destroy anything that moves larger than a mouse. This likely means that they have been known to assault objects swaying in the wind or things rolling down hills as if their very lives depended on it. This also attributes to their perceived madness, as they have little care about who or what they fight, so long as it ceases to move when they are done.
Their recklessness is only matched by their lack of wisdom and sense and self-preservation. In lemming-like fashion, they will gladly charge through or over anything that stands in their way of their target, to include throwing themselves off a cliff to reach a creature on the opposite side, as so eloquently stated in the AD&D 2ed Monstrous Manual. It's not too far out there to imagine that an owlbear would happily pummel its way through a wall to get to some hapless villager or adventurer.
This madness also makes them fatal when directly encountered. An owlbear will stop at nothing to pursue their target, grabbing at them until they are locked within their crushing grasp. Their ability to grapple targets should be focused on while using these creatures in a fight. This is their primary ability. Once they establish a grapple, the victim takes crushing damage and should also be bitten. This will not cease until the victim or the owlbear is dead. Luck be with any party that encounters a group of these beasts.
The number one reason for adventurers to seek out owlbears is to stop an infestation from taking root near civilization. This is not the only reason, however. Many powerful NPCs, such as wizards will pay a decent sum of gold for owlbear eggs. They are not trainable, however, they serve as excellent guardians, so long as the owner takes suitable precautions.
Recap: The owlbear is a vicious and insane predator that will attack anything, even it it means killing itself in the process. Its ability to grapple is its primary mode of attack and should be used whenever it can. Its mindless thirst for death should be expanded upon by the DM if flavor is important to the campaign.
Thx to
fluffygryphon one of my new writers. So excited to work with him.D20 top 20 best board games
Posted 10 years agoThis is my personal list of games i love and is not in any order.
Please feel free to add your favorites games.
Boss monster 1 and 2
Risk
Clue
yahtzee
The witcher board game
chutes and ladders
Monopoly
backgammon
where in the world is carmen sandiego
jumanji
The game of life
Trouble
perfection
cards against humanity
Guess who?
Dont break the ice
Hero scape
Kerplunk
Trivial Pursuit
Arkham Horror
This is D20 top 20 games, you agree with what we had? What are your favorite games?
Please feel free to add your favorites games.
Boss monster 1 and 2
Risk
Clue
yahtzee
The witcher board game
chutes and ladders
Monopoly
backgammon
where in the world is carmen sandiego
jumanji
The game of life
Trouble
perfection
cards against humanity
Guess who?
Dont break the ice
Hero scape
Kerplunk
Trivial Pursuit
Arkham Horror
This is D20 top 20 games, you agree with what we had? What are your favorite games?
Intro To Magic The Gathering Deck Building.
Posted 10 years ago(60 Card Standard Game Deck)
By The Enigma
To get things started Magic The Gathering Is a multiplayer card game with lots of strategy,time,and effort that will be put into it by the players.Players must choose what format he or she wants to play rather its from the (Constructed)-Standard,Block Modern,Commander,(Eternal)- Legacy,Vintage, (Limited Formats)-Booster Draft,Seal deck.Also the team formats of Two-Headed Giant,Team Unified Constructed,team Limited Booster Draft and Team Sealed Deck. Each one of these formats has there own rules and deck constructions/restrictions so make sure you do your homework before jumping a game.
Today we are gonna focus on the "Standard" format of deck building.Some of the rules to keep in mind before you play and build are as follows;you the player have to have a minimum hand size of sixty cards that doesnt mean your restricted to the total size but in order for it to be of greater size, you the player have to be able to shuffle the deck unassisted.Players are allowed up to fifteen cards in his or hers sideboard if you the player chooses to have one.
Also the player may not have more than four of any individual card in your main deck and sideboard combined with the exception of basic lands.Now with this in mind deck strategy can be based on a whole lots of things ranging from a common theme (vampires,wizards,goblins etc),Too color (mana,black,blue,white,green and red) combos.You also have deck types which can be from aggro,control,beat down,lock down,Etc.With this all in mind now you ask yourself how do I build the "perfect sixty deck" well to assisted in this conundrum, There really isn't a perfect deck. why do i say that....well every combination of cards can be broken with other types of cards,It doesn't mean you cant make it near perfect and that's were the time and playing are gonna come into play.
One thing too think about is the flow of your deck, do you wanna end the game quick, or maybe have some fun and prolong the game? Don't be afraid to experiment with the deck size as well as the flow or theme with the deck,They are many combinations to choose from. One big tip is when building see what types of Creatures,enchantments,sorcery spells and abilities cost.Too much mana (land) result in slow creature pull, too low of mana can result in not being able to put those cards in play.Deck Size is a consideration as well too many cards might result in not being able to get the right cards for combos and damages.Generally speaking 60 cards is the sweet spot.
One last thing to consider is the Synergy and Redundancy of the cards in your deck.While constructing your deck you wanna make sure cards work well with each other so you have to ability to unleash more damage and or abilities quick and effectively,Also while playing you need to pay attention to the cards that are giving you the most trouble with you deck and use them for a possible sideboard or switching them out all in all for new cards.
I hope this helps with the process and learning of the game schematics.This brief tutorial is solely based on my opinion of this game. If you have other suggestions about the construction or strategy please comment.
~The Enigma~
By The Enigma
To get things started Magic The Gathering Is a multiplayer card game with lots of strategy,time,and effort that will be put into it by the players.Players must choose what format he or she wants to play rather its from the (Constructed)-Standard,Block Modern,Commander,(Eternal)- Legacy,Vintage, (Limited Formats)-Booster Draft,Seal deck.Also the team formats of Two-Headed Giant,Team Unified Constructed,team Limited Booster Draft and Team Sealed Deck. Each one of these formats has there own rules and deck constructions/restrictions so make sure you do your homework before jumping a game.
Today we are gonna focus on the "Standard" format of deck building.Some of the rules to keep in mind before you play and build are as follows;you the player have to have a minimum hand size of sixty cards that doesnt mean your restricted to the total size but in order for it to be of greater size, you the player have to be able to shuffle the deck unassisted.Players are allowed up to fifteen cards in his or hers sideboard if you the player chooses to have one.
Also the player may not have more than four of any individual card in your main deck and sideboard combined with the exception of basic lands.Now with this in mind deck strategy can be based on a whole lots of things ranging from a common theme (vampires,wizards,goblins etc),Too color (mana,black,blue,white,green and red) combos.You also have deck types which can be from aggro,control,beat down,lock down,Etc.With this all in mind now you ask yourself how do I build the "perfect sixty deck" well to assisted in this conundrum, There really isn't a perfect deck. why do i say that....well every combination of cards can be broken with other types of cards,It doesn't mean you cant make it near perfect and that's were the time and playing are gonna come into play.
One thing too think about is the flow of your deck, do you wanna end the game quick, or maybe have some fun and prolong the game? Don't be afraid to experiment with the deck size as well as the flow or theme with the deck,They are many combinations to choose from. One big tip is when building see what types of Creatures,enchantments,sorcery spells and abilities cost.Too much mana (land) result in slow creature pull, too low of mana can result in not being able to put those cards in play.Deck Size is a consideration as well too many cards might result in not being able to get the right cards for combos and damages.Generally speaking 60 cards is the sweet spot.
One last thing to consider is the Synergy and Redundancy of the cards in your deck.While constructing your deck you wanna make sure cards work well with each other so you have to ability to unleash more damage and or abilities quick and effectively,Also while playing you need to pay attention to the cards that are giving you the most trouble with you deck and use them for a possible sideboard or switching them out all in all for new cards.
I hope this helps with the process and learning of the game schematics.This brief tutorial is solely based on my opinion of this game. If you have other suggestions about the construction or strategy please comment.
~The Enigma~
Your Most Heinous Stories of Role-Playing Games Gone Wrong.
Posted 10 years agoAnd go!
D
*Rolls 13* trips and stumbles but recovers *lose 10 gold*
D
*Rolls 13* trips and stumbles but recovers *lose 10 gold*
Free printable minis
Posted 10 years agoMy friend 
fc32 is making printable minis 100% free to you.
More will be on the way and i will update as they become available to print.
Printable Minatures
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17540776/
D
*Rolls 18* Heads into the the dark woods*
fc32 is making printable minis 100% free to you.More will be on the way and i will update as they become available to print.
Printable Minatures
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17540776/
D
*Rolls 18* Heads into the the dark woods*
11 tips to be a better role player.
Posted 10 years agoONE. Do stuff.
Job One for you as a player is to do stuff; you should be thinking, at all times – “What are my goals? And what can I do to achieve them?” You are the stars of a very personal universe, and you are not going to get anywhere by sitting on your arse and waiting for adventure to come and knock on your door.
Investigate stuff. Ask questions. Follow leads. No-one needs you to point out that this is an obvious plot thread while you do it. Mix up scenes, talk to people, get up in their grill. If you’re not playing the sort of character that would do such a thing, find something you can affect, and affect it.
If you keep finding yourself pushed to the back of scenes and twiddling your thumbs – why is such a boring character hanging around with the sort of people that Get Shit Done?
Be active, not passive. If you learn nothing else from this article, learn this.
TWO. Realise that your character does not exist outside of the things you have said.
You can write as many pages of backstory as you like, but they don’t factor in one bit to the game unless you show them happening. Are you a shrewd businessman? Cool. Do some business, shrewdly, in front of everyone else. Are you a hot jazz saxophonist? Play the saxophone. Are you a wild elf struggling through social interactions with civilised people? Struggle through those interactions! Don’t go off and sit in a tree, you prick!
This ties back into the first point, really; you only exist through your actions. It is not the responsibility of other players to read your backstory, and their characters cannot read minds. Well. Some of them can, but you know what I mean. They shouldn’t have to.
So display your talents, your traits, your weaknesses, your connections. Take every opportunity to show, and not tell, the other people at the table what your character is about.
THREE. Don’t try to stop things.
Negating another player’s actions is fairly useless play; it takes two possible story-changing elements and whacks them against each other so hard that neither of them works. For example, your fighter wants to punch some jerk, but your monk’s against it, so he grabs the fighter’s hand. In game terms, nothing’s happened. All you’ve done is waste time, and we don’t have infinite supplies of that.
Instead, go with the flow. Build. If the fighter wants to break someone’s nose, what happens after that? Does your monk rush to help the jerk up? To admonish the fighter? To apologies to the jerk’s friends, before shit really kicks off? To save the fighter in the big brawl that ensues, even though he was going against your will? Or to throw the biggest guy in the tavern right at him, to really teach him a lesson? Those are all examples of interesting stories. Stopping him from doing anything whatsoever isn’t.
Don’t negate, extrapolate. (See, that rhymes, so it’s easier to remember)
FOUR. Take full control of your character.
“My character wouldn’t do that” is a boring excuse, a massive NO to the game’s story on a fundamental level. It’s a point-blank refusal to participate.
Instead of being bound by pre-conceived notions of what your character would and would not do, embrace complications and do it, but try to work out why. Why is your Rogue doing this mission for the church? Does he have ulterior motives? Is it out of a sense of companionship with the rest of the party? Characters in uncomfortable situations are the meat and drink of drama.
(Do you remember that great story about that hobbit who told Gandalf to fuck off, and sat at home picking his hairy toes all day before his entire village was swallowed up by the armies of darkness? No. No you bloody don’t. So put on your backpack and get out there, Frodo)
If you keep finding yourself having to explain your actions, or not wanting to go along with group decisions because of your character’s motives… well, sweetheart, maybe your character’s motives are wrong. They’re not written in stone. The group’s the thing, not your snowflake character, and if they’re not working, drop them off at the next village and maybe try playing someone more open to new ideas. Maybe work with the group to build a character that fits in. Your character is part of the story; this is not your character’s story.
FIVE. Don’t harm other players.
Oh ho, here’s a jolly thief that nicks stuff from the other party members! And their Sleight of Hand roll is so high that no-one will ever notice! Gosh, what a jape.
Fuck that guy. No-one likes that guy. (That guy generally plays Kender, and I am fully of the opinion that Kender should be promptly genocided out of all RPGs. I don’t think genocide is a crime if we’re talking about Kender.) If you steal from other players, you are exerting power over them in a really messy, underhanded sort of way. If they find out, what are they going to do? Are you going to force them to escalate? Is it fair if they kill you for it? Is that fun for them?
Similarly, attacking other players is awful, too. I’m okay with this where systems fully support and encourage this, of course – something like Paranoia or Dogs in the Vineyard – but, Christ guys, give it a rest. I am hard-pressed to think of a way where such a thing improves the game; if your group is fine with it, discuss it beforehand. But keep me out of it. There are a whole load of things out there to steal from and beat up and kill that won’t get offended when you do it to them, so go bother them first.
SIX. Know the system, don’t be a dick about it.
If you know a system, you are easier to GM for, because you know your character’s limitations. You can calculate the rough odds of a particular action succeeding or failing, just like in real life. You can make prompt assessments of situations and act accordingly, because you understand the rules of the world.
(New players, of course, get a free pass on this one. But do make an effort to learn the rules, obviously, if you’re keen on sticking around in the hobby.)
But for the love of God, don’t rules-lawyer. Do not do that. It is not hard to work out, because here is a simple guide – if you are arguing over a rule for more than twenty seconds, you are a rules lawyer. You are the Health and Safety Inspector of roleplaying games, and you need to stop talking, because you are sucking the fun out of the game. There are times when the rules are wrong, and that’s fine, but I’m hard-pressed to think of that time the guy remembered the rule and we all laughed and had a great time because he made the GM change it.
SEVEN. Give the game your attention. If you can’t give your full attention, step away from the table.
Hey! What’s that you’re playing, on your phone there? Oh, is it Candy Crush Saga? That’s funny, all these dice and character sheets gave me the impression that we were playing Dungeons and Fucking Dragons, I must be terribly mistaken.
It is hard to think of a way to be more dismissive of someone’s game than playing a different game during it. If you find yourself getting so bored by what’s going on you’re resorting to playing a game on your phone, or reading a book, or checking Facebook, then step away from the game. You are draining the group with your very presence. I would rather have an empty chair than someone who wasn’t paying attention, because I don’t have to entertain an empty chair.
And of course, it’s up to the GM to offer an entertaining game. This is not one-sided. But going back to point one, act whenever you can. Give them something to work with. Unless you’re paying them money to do this, they are under no obligation to dance like a monkey for you just because they’re behind the screen.
EIGHT. If you make someone uncomfortable, apologise and talk to them about it.
I have a rule in my games, and that rule is: “Nothing fucks anything else.” Simple. Clean. Elegant. No sexual conduct; it’s weird, often. I’ve had seduction attempts, obviously, and that’s fine. I’ve had characters deeply affected by rape. I’ve even had someone negotiate time with a skin-thief alien to reanimate a cat for the purposes of sexual pleasure as part of a heist. But, and this is the crucial thing here, nothing fucked anything else “onscreen.” And if you’re thinking, “Ha ha, okay then, but is fisting all right?” then fuck off out my game, sunshine.
And that’s the point; in situations like the ones we find ourselves in on a weekly basis, it’s easy to make people feel uncomfortable. Maybe it’s as blatant as discussing dead babies or bestiality; maybe it’s something much more benign, like being rude or chatting them up in-character.
If you think you might have upset someone, then ask ’em, quietly. And if you have, apologise, and stop talking about that particular thing. It’s not rocket science; that’s how existing as a functioning social human being works, and somehow because we’re pretending to be a halfling for a bit, we often forget how to do it.
So, you know, be nice. Be extra nice. No-one’s going to think any less of you for it.
NINE. Be a Storyteller.
The World of Darkness books call their GM a Storyteller, because they are very obviously unable to call a spade a spade. But they have a point; a GM is telling stories. It’s easy to forget that the players are doing that too.
So put some effort in, eh? Say some words. Develop a character voice and stance. Describe your actions. Work out a level of agency with the GM so you can chip into wider descriptions, or just make assumptions and describe it and see if it sticks. A good GM should go with what you’re saying, anyway, unless it really goes against their plan.
Similarly, brevity = soul of wit, and all that. A good GM doesn’t monologue, or have their NPCs have long discussions, or make players sit back and watch while their world plays out. So know when to shut up, and to keep your descriptions short – unless you’re an incredible storyteller, of course. But short and punchy is always better than long and flowery.
TEN. Embrace failure.
Failure can be embarrassing. I know that I get pretty het up when the dice don’t favour me – when I’ve spent ages waiting to have my turn in a large game, say, or when I’m using some special power, or when I’ve been talking a big talk for a while or described some fancy action – and I use some pretty bad language, too. And not “fun” bad language, like we all do when we’re gaming. Like threatening “is this guy okay” bad.
And that’s not cool. I need to learn to treat failure as a story branch, not a block. Why did I miss? Why didn’t my intimidation roll work? Why didn’t I pick the lock? Why was I seen? Who worked out that I’m the traitor? What other options can I explore?
Some systems build this in by default – Apocalypse World, for example – and they give you the ability to somehow affect the world whenever you roll the dice, not just fail to affect someone’s Hit Points. That’s great! We need to get ourselves into that mindset by default. We need to view failures as setbacks and explain why our character didn’t achieve their goal, and we need to understand that failure is not the end of the world.
ELEVEN. Play the game.
This is a game. This is not a challenge that exists solely in the head of your GM. This is not your character’s personal story arc. This is not your blog. This is not an excuse to chat up one of the other players. This is not a table to sit at in silence. This is a game.
We have signed up to play a game together. We are all telling a story with each other, to each other, and the story comes first. Step back from the heat of combat; step back from your character’s difficult relationship with their half-Drow mother; step back from the way that the Paladin’s player keeps stealing your dice.
This is a game. Respect the other players. Respect the story, and act in service of it. Respect that you will not always get your way, and that not getting your way can be interesting.
Do what is best for the game. Do what is best for the story. Be active! Be positive! Be interesting! Change things! If you can’t walk away at the end of the night with a good memory, with something that you could talk about in the pub in years to come, then everyone at the table has failed.
D
*Roll 1* *well, time to run like hell from the inn......
Job One for you as a player is to do stuff; you should be thinking, at all times – “What are my goals? And what can I do to achieve them?” You are the stars of a very personal universe, and you are not going to get anywhere by sitting on your arse and waiting for adventure to come and knock on your door.
Investigate stuff. Ask questions. Follow leads. No-one needs you to point out that this is an obvious plot thread while you do it. Mix up scenes, talk to people, get up in their grill. If you’re not playing the sort of character that would do such a thing, find something you can affect, and affect it.
If you keep finding yourself pushed to the back of scenes and twiddling your thumbs – why is such a boring character hanging around with the sort of people that Get Shit Done?
Be active, not passive. If you learn nothing else from this article, learn this.
TWO. Realise that your character does not exist outside of the things you have said.
You can write as many pages of backstory as you like, but they don’t factor in one bit to the game unless you show them happening. Are you a shrewd businessman? Cool. Do some business, shrewdly, in front of everyone else. Are you a hot jazz saxophonist? Play the saxophone. Are you a wild elf struggling through social interactions with civilised people? Struggle through those interactions! Don’t go off and sit in a tree, you prick!
This ties back into the first point, really; you only exist through your actions. It is not the responsibility of other players to read your backstory, and their characters cannot read minds. Well. Some of them can, but you know what I mean. They shouldn’t have to.
So display your talents, your traits, your weaknesses, your connections. Take every opportunity to show, and not tell, the other people at the table what your character is about.
THREE. Don’t try to stop things.
Negating another player’s actions is fairly useless play; it takes two possible story-changing elements and whacks them against each other so hard that neither of them works. For example, your fighter wants to punch some jerk, but your monk’s against it, so he grabs the fighter’s hand. In game terms, nothing’s happened. All you’ve done is waste time, and we don’t have infinite supplies of that.
Instead, go with the flow. Build. If the fighter wants to break someone’s nose, what happens after that? Does your monk rush to help the jerk up? To admonish the fighter? To apologies to the jerk’s friends, before shit really kicks off? To save the fighter in the big brawl that ensues, even though he was going against your will? Or to throw the biggest guy in the tavern right at him, to really teach him a lesson? Those are all examples of interesting stories. Stopping him from doing anything whatsoever isn’t.
Don’t negate, extrapolate. (See, that rhymes, so it’s easier to remember)
FOUR. Take full control of your character.
“My character wouldn’t do that” is a boring excuse, a massive NO to the game’s story on a fundamental level. It’s a point-blank refusal to participate.
Instead of being bound by pre-conceived notions of what your character would and would not do, embrace complications and do it, but try to work out why. Why is your Rogue doing this mission for the church? Does he have ulterior motives? Is it out of a sense of companionship with the rest of the party? Characters in uncomfortable situations are the meat and drink of drama.
(Do you remember that great story about that hobbit who told Gandalf to fuck off, and sat at home picking his hairy toes all day before his entire village was swallowed up by the armies of darkness? No. No you bloody don’t. So put on your backpack and get out there, Frodo)
If you keep finding yourself having to explain your actions, or not wanting to go along with group decisions because of your character’s motives… well, sweetheart, maybe your character’s motives are wrong. They’re not written in stone. The group’s the thing, not your snowflake character, and if they’re not working, drop them off at the next village and maybe try playing someone more open to new ideas. Maybe work with the group to build a character that fits in. Your character is part of the story; this is not your character’s story.
FIVE. Don’t harm other players.
Oh ho, here’s a jolly thief that nicks stuff from the other party members! And their Sleight of Hand roll is so high that no-one will ever notice! Gosh, what a jape.
Fuck that guy. No-one likes that guy. (That guy generally plays Kender, and I am fully of the opinion that Kender should be promptly genocided out of all RPGs. I don’t think genocide is a crime if we’re talking about Kender.) If you steal from other players, you are exerting power over them in a really messy, underhanded sort of way. If they find out, what are they going to do? Are you going to force them to escalate? Is it fair if they kill you for it? Is that fun for them?
Similarly, attacking other players is awful, too. I’m okay with this where systems fully support and encourage this, of course – something like Paranoia or Dogs in the Vineyard – but, Christ guys, give it a rest. I am hard-pressed to think of a way where such a thing improves the game; if your group is fine with it, discuss it beforehand. But keep me out of it. There are a whole load of things out there to steal from and beat up and kill that won’t get offended when you do it to them, so go bother them first.
SIX. Know the system, don’t be a dick about it.
If you know a system, you are easier to GM for, because you know your character’s limitations. You can calculate the rough odds of a particular action succeeding or failing, just like in real life. You can make prompt assessments of situations and act accordingly, because you understand the rules of the world.
(New players, of course, get a free pass on this one. But do make an effort to learn the rules, obviously, if you’re keen on sticking around in the hobby.)
But for the love of God, don’t rules-lawyer. Do not do that. It is not hard to work out, because here is a simple guide – if you are arguing over a rule for more than twenty seconds, you are a rules lawyer. You are the Health and Safety Inspector of roleplaying games, and you need to stop talking, because you are sucking the fun out of the game. There are times when the rules are wrong, and that’s fine, but I’m hard-pressed to think of that time the guy remembered the rule and we all laughed and had a great time because he made the GM change it.
SEVEN. Give the game your attention. If you can’t give your full attention, step away from the table.
Hey! What’s that you’re playing, on your phone there? Oh, is it Candy Crush Saga? That’s funny, all these dice and character sheets gave me the impression that we were playing Dungeons and Fucking Dragons, I must be terribly mistaken.
It is hard to think of a way to be more dismissive of someone’s game than playing a different game during it. If you find yourself getting so bored by what’s going on you’re resorting to playing a game on your phone, or reading a book, or checking Facebook, then step away from the game. You are draining the group with your very presence. I would rather have an empty chair than someone who wasn’t paying attention, because I don’t have to entertain an empty chair.
And of course, it’s up to the GM to offer an entertaining game. This is not one-sided. But going back to point one, act whenever you can. Give them something to work with. Unless you’re paying them money to do this, they are under no obligation to dance like a monkey for you just because they’re behind the screen.
EIGHT. If you make someone uncomfortable, apologise and talk to them about it.
I have a rule in my games, and that rule is: “Nothing fucks anything else.” Simple. Clean. Elegant. No sexual conduct; it’s weird, often. I’ve had seduction attempts, obviously, and that’s fine. I’ve had characters deeply affected by rape. I’ve even had someone negotiate time with a skin-thief alien to reanimate a cat for the purposes of sexual pleasure as part of a heist. But, and this is the crucial thing here, nothing fucked anything else “onscreen.” And if you’re thinking, “Ha ha, okay then, but is fisting all right?” then fuck off out my game, sunshine.
And that’s the point; in situations like the ones we find ourselves in on a weekly basis, it’s easy to make people feel uncomfortable. Maybe it’s as blatant as discussing dead babies or bestiality; maybe it’s something much more benign, like being rude or chatting them up in-character.
If you think you might have upset someone, then ask ’em, quietly. And if you have, apologise, and stop talking about that particular thing. It’s not rocket science; that’s how existing as a functioning social human being works, and somehow because we’re pretending to be a halfling for a bit, we often forget how to do it.
So, you know, be nice. Be extra nice. No-one’s going to think any less of you for it.
NINE. Be a Storyteller.
The World of Darkness books call their GM a Storyteller, because they are very obviously unable to call a spade a spade. But they have a point; a GM is telling stories. It’s easy to forget that the players are doing that too.
So put some effort in, eh? Say some words. Develop a character voice and stance. Describe your actions. Work out a level of agency with the GM so you can chip into wider descriptions, or just make assumptions and describe it and see if it sticks. A good GM should go with what you’re saying, anyway, unless it really goes against their plan.
Similarly, brevity = soul of wit, and all that. A good GM doesn’t monologue, or have their NPCs have long discussions, or make players sit back and watch while their world plays out. So know when to shut up, and to keep your descriptions short – unless you’re an incredible storyteller, of course. But short and punchy is always better than long and flowery.
TEN. Embrace failure.
Failure can be embarrassing. I know that I get pretty het up when the dice don’t favour me – when I’ve spent ages waiting to have my turn in a large game, say, or when I’m using some special power, or when I’ve been talking a big talk for a while or described some fancy action – and I use some pretty bad language, too. And not “fun” bad language, like we all do when we’re gaming. Like threatening “is this guy okay” bad.
And that’s not cool. I need to learn to treat failure as a story branch, not a block. Why did I miss? Why didn’t my intimidation roll work? Why didn’t I pick the lock? Why was I seen? Who worked out that I’m the traitor? What other options can I explore?
Some systems build this in by default – Apocalypse World, for example – and they give you the ability to somehow affect the world whenever you roll the dice, not just fail to affect someone’s Hit Points. That’s great! We need to get ourselves into that mindset by default. We need to view failures as setbacks and explain why our character didn’t achieve their goal, and we need to understand that failure is not the end of the world.
ELEVEN. Play the game.
This is a game. This is not a challenge that exists solely in the head of your GM. This is not your character’s personal story arc. This is not your blog. This is not an excuse to chat up one of the other players. This is not a table to sit at in silence. This is a game.
We have signed up to play a game together. We are all telling a story with each other, to each other, and the story comes first. Step back from the heat of combat; step back from your character’s difficult relationship with their half-Drow mother; step back from the way that the Paladin’s player keeps stealing your dice.
This is a game. Respect the other players. Respect the story, and act in service of it. Respect that you will not always get your way, and that not getting your way can be interesting.
Do what is best for the game. Do what is best for the story. Be active! Be positive! Be interesting! Change things! If you can’t walk away at the end of the night with a good memory, with something that you could talk about in the pub in years to come, then everyone at the table has failed.
D
*Roll 1* *well, time to run like hell from the inn......
20 of the Most Useless Dungeons & Dragons Spells Ever
Posted 10 years agoWizards are the most powerful characters in Dungeons & Dragons, as the hundreds of spells available to Magic-Users, Illusionists, Necromancers, Clerics, Druids, will attest. But for every Meteor Swarm, Time Stop and Resurrection there are a dozen spells that are utterly worthless. Here are 20 D&D spells almost no one has ever needed to cast.
1) Banish Dazzle
“Once this spell was cast the target could see clearly through blinding sunlight and heat shimmer. Reflected sunlight from a mirror had no effect on the target, and they were immune from being blinded by light spells.” So, uh… sunglasses, basically.
2) Basket Trick
In D&D, there’s a reasonably useful skill called Blink, which allows wizards to basically pop briefly over to the Astral plane, gives them a chance to move around, effectively teleporting a short distance and confusing (or escaping) foes. Basket Trick is Blink except you don’t get to choose where you move, but instead pop back into the physical in a random nearby basket. Not only is this a basket-specific teleport spell, you don’t even get to pick the basket.
3) Bowgentle’s Fleeting Journey
Another insane variation of the teleportation spell, Bowgentle’s specific version teleporting one being to a known location for a minute… and then immediately brought them back to their place of origin. It’s the 60-second teleport. Now, you may be the thinking that this could be useful for sending a brief message to people if nothing else, but the distance for this spell was 60 feet, and had to be in visible eyesight of the wizard. You could run 20 yards and be back again in two minutes.
4) Chastise
Need to browbeat someone, but don’t have the time to say actual words? Them cast Chastise (although you do have to cast the spell by saying words, so I’m not sure how much time it really saves). For bonus silliness, this spell only worked on people who offended the spellcaster, making it spectacularly situation-specific.
5) Converse with Sea Creatures
A.k.a. the Aquaman special. Unless you were roleplaying in an underwater setting, which was not impossible but very unlikely, this spell is as useless as Aquaman himself.
6) Corpselight
This made corpses glow. That’s it. Perhaps it would be helpful in the daark, but it wouldn’t be nearly as helpful as the smple Light spell, which didn’t require a nearby dead person as a conduit. Even then, I’m trying to think of how often anyone would need to turn a corpse into a rotting nightlight, but I’m coming up empty.
7) Decastave
This spell transformed a small piece of wood into a 10-foot-long battle staff that wizards could wield. It sounds kind of useful… until you remember how long a 10 foot stick would be. For perspective, 10 feet is the length of the shortest possible pole vaulting pole. Now imagine trying to fight someone with a pole-vaulting pole, in a dungeon, where the length of the hallways are almost always exactly 10 feet wide.
8) Depth Warning
Exactly as it says on the tin—it lets when your depth changes. About the only time I can think of that this spell would be more useful than just paying attention to your surrounding is when you’re somehow in a submarine without a window, and I have yet to do this in a D&D game.
9) Detect Undead
If there are undead near enough you to be discovered by this spell, I guarantee they’ve already made their presence known.
10) Disguise Undead
Got a corpse? Of course you do, you’re playing Dungeons & Dragons. Need him to look like he’s not a corpse? Then Disguise Undead is the spell for you. The only reason this spell would be worthwhile if it is was titled “Bernie’s Adventurous Weekend.”
11) Guise of the Yak-Man
Self-explanatory.
12) Hold Portal
A spell that holds a door, gate or window shut as if it was locked. You know what also does? A lock. And unlike Hold Portal, a lock can actually hold your portal for more than a minute per level of the spell caster.
13) Otto’s Irresistible Dance
In the mood for some entertainment? Then cast this, which as its title suggest forces its target to dance uncontrollably to the exclusion of all else. In terms of incapaciting an opponent, it’s undeniably goofy, but it could be useful… until you learn it’s an 8th level spell, at which point wizards are actually traveling through dimensions, creating giant clouds of fire, bending entire groups of monsters to his/her will, and driving people insane. Making someone do a little jig doesn’t sound that useful now, does it?
14) Quincy’s Enchanting Gourmet
A spell that doesn’t just cook a grand meal, but also cleans up the kitchen aftwards (kitchen not included). If you have ever play a session of D&D where you needed to clean up a kitchen, I feel very sorry for you.
15) Shillelagh
This Druid spell transforms a stick into a club or a quarterstaff, which is to say a stick that does slightly more damage than the original stick. If you’re carrying a stick that you plan on turning into a staff at some point, just buy the stupid quarterstaff.
16) Snilloc’s Snowball
One snowball. A single, solitary snowball, that at least hit its target no matter what. With snow. Somehow, this spell did damage to things other than fire creatures, but still, it’s basically a very embarrassing version of Magic Missile.
17) Spendelard’s Chaser
A spell that mainly cured hangovers and drug withdrawal symptoms. While this would be an unbelievably spell in real life, why would any D&D player choose to fill up a spell slot with this thing when telling the gamemaster “My character sleeps in for another couple of hours” would have the same effect?
18) Ship of Fools
This is basically the same as a Confusion spell, but only for sailors. It makes an entire crew basically forget how to sail all at once. Like so many of these spells, why would you take the ludicrously specific version of an original spell? Why not have the option to confuse people on and off ships?
19) Tenser’s Floating Disc
Need your hands free? Then summon Tenser’s Floating Disc, a medium-sized bowl of force that can carry loads for you while floating behind the caster. Or, you know, you could spend a couple of gold pieces and get a goddamned backpack.
20) Waterbane
A spell that kept wizards from getting wet, even if they enter a body of water. For the life of me, I can’t find any table that indicates there has ever been some kind of penalty for being wet in any edition of Dungeons & Dragons, meaning apparently this spell exists solely for the comfort of your imaginary character. A snowball spell would be significantly more useful.
*rolls D20* 5 *you fall over drunk and pass out*
1) Banish Dazzle
“Once this spell was cast the target could see clearly through blinding sunlight and heat shimmer. Reflected sunlight from a mirror had no effect on the target, and they were immune from being blinded by light spells.” So, uh… sunglasses, basically.
2) Basket Trick
In D&D, there’s a reasonably useful skill called Blink, which allows wizards to basically pop briefly over to the Astral plane, gives them a chance to move around, effectively teleporting a short distance and confusing (or escaping) foes. Basket Trick is Blink except you don’t get to choose where you move, but instead pop back into the physical in a random nearby basket. Not only is this a basket-specific teleport spell, you don’t even get to pick the basket.
3) Bowgentle’s Fleeting Journey
Another insane variation of the teleportation spell, Bowgentle’s specific version teleporting one being to a known location for a minute… and then immediately brought them back to their place of origin. It’s the 60-second teleport. Now, you may be the thinking that this could be useful for sending a brief message to people if nothing else, but the distance for this spell was 60 feet, and had to be in visible eyesight of the wizard. You could run 20 yards and be back again in two minutes.
4) Chastise
Need to browbeat someone, but don’t have the time to say actual words? Them cast Chastise (although you do have to cast the spell by saying words, so I’m not sure how much time it really saves). For bonus silliness, this spell only worked on people who offended the spellcaster, making it spectacularly situation-specific.
5) Converse with Sea Creatures
A.k.a. the Aquaman special. Unless you were roleplaying in an underwater setting, which was not impossible but very unlikely, this spell is as useless as Aquaman himself.
6) Corpselight
This made corpses glow. That’s it. Perhaps it would be helpful in the daark, but it wouldn’t be nearly as helpful as the smple Light spell, which didn’t require a nearby dead person as a conduit. Even then, I’m trying to think of how often anyone would need to turn a corpse into a rotting nightlight, but I’m coming up empty.
7) Decastave
This spell transformed a small piece of wood into a 10-foot-long battle staff that wizards could wield. It sounds kind of useful… until you remember how long a 10 foot stick would be. For perspective, 10 feet is the length of the shortest possible pole vaulting pole. Now imagine trying to fight someone with a pole-vaulting pole, in a dungeon, where the length of the hallways are almost always exactly 10 feet wide.
8) Depth Warning
Exactly as it says on the tin—it lets when your depth changes. About the only time I can think of that this spell would be more useful than just paying attention to your surrounding is when you’re somehow in a submarine without a window, and I have yet to do this in a D&D game.
9) Detect Undead
If there are undead near enough you to be discovered by this spell, I guarantee they’ve already made their presence known.
10) Disguise Undead
Got a corpse? Of course you do, you’re playing Dungeons & Dragons. Need him to look like he’s not a corpse? Then Disguise Undead is the spell for you. The only reason this spell would be worthwhile if it is was titled “Bernie’s Adventurous Weekend.”
11) Guise of the Yak-Man
Self-explanatory.
12) Hold Portal
A spell that holds a door, gate or window shut as if it was locked. You know what also does? A lock. And unlike Hold Portal, a lock can actually hold your portal for more than a minute per level of the spell caster.
13) Otto’s Irresistible Dance
In the mood for some entertainment? Then cast this, which as its title suggest forces its target to dance uncontrollably to the exclusion of all else. In terms of incapaciting an opponent, it’s undeniably goofy, but it could be useful… until you learn it’s an 8th level spell, at which point wizards are actually traveling through dimensions, creating giant clouds of fire, bending entire groups of monsters to his/her will, and driving people insane. Making someone do a little jig doesn’t sound that useful now, does it?
14) Quincy’s Enchanting Gourmet
A spell that doesn’t just cook a grand meal, but also cleans up the kitchen aftwards (kitchen not included). If you have ever play a session of D&D where you needed to clean up a kitchen, I feel very sorry for you.
15) Shillelagh
This Druid spell transforms a stick into a club or a quarterstaff, which is to say a stick that does slightly more damage than the original stick. If you’re carrying a stick that you plan on turning into a staff at some point, just buy the stupid quarterstaff.
16) Snilloc’s Snowball
One snowball. A single, solitary snowball, that at least hit its target no matter what. With snow. Somehow, this spell did damage to things other than fire creatures, but still, it’s basically a very embarrassing version of Magic Missile.
17) Spendelard’s Chaser
A spell that mainly cured hangovers and drug withdrawal symptoms. While this would be an unbelievably spell in real life, why would any D&D player choose to fill up a spell slot with this thing when telling the gamemaster “My character sleeps in for another couple of hours” would have the same effect?
18) Ship of Fools
This is basically the same as a Confusion spell, but only for sailors. It makes an entire crew basically forget how to sail all at once. Like so many of these spells, why would you take the ludicrously specific version of an original spell? Why not have the option to confuse people on and off ships?
19) Tenser’s Floating Disc
Need your hands free? Then summon Tenser’s Floating Disc, a medium-sized bowl of force that can carry loads for you while floating behind the caster. Or, you know, you could spend a couple of gold pieces and get a goddamned backpack.
20) Waterbane
A spell that kept wizards from getting wet, even if they enter a body of water. For the life of me, I can’t find any table that indicates there has ever been some kind of penalty for being wet in any edition of Dungeons & Dragons, meaning apparently this spell exists solely for the comfort of your imaginary character. A snowball spell would be significantly more useful.
*rolls D20* 5 *you fall over drunk and pass out*
Your top ten.....PC/NPC
Posted 10 years agoThis has to be PC/NPC you have created (don't worry you don't need 10)
*rolls dice* 16 *you have found 25 gold*
D
*rolls dice* 16 *you have found 25 gold*
D
Character Tokens
Posted 10 years agoWhat are those your asking.....read on you will find out.
is taking commissions on costume made character tokens for usage of tabletop games (ether it be for in person or online using programs or websites such as Roll20.) Click the link for more info and net yours today!
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6833214/
DM
Dyno
*you hear a loud crash in the dark* Roll 5 *run away*
is taking commissions on costume made character tokens for usage of tabletop games (ether it be for in person or online using programs or websites such as Roll20.) Click the link for more info and net yours today!http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6833214/
DM
Dyno
*you hear a loud crash in the dark* Roll 5 *run away*
Member Review: Kitsune Compendium
Posted 10 years agoReview of Kitsune Compendium by 
Previously when I used a kitsune character I only knew the small paragraphs that explained the race of magical vulpines. Even though that gave me some time to fill in the blanks with some guess work playing with other players kitsune character without the solid race history or how to use the race got a little mixed up. So I ended up using other races most of the time.
A while ago I found the book Kitsune Compendium http://shop.d20pfsrd.com/products/k.....une-compendium my problem of the missing information on the race. The book is made for PathFinder games and contains information on the Kitsune, its culture a lot of racial traits to choose from and more. I originally read this book on a friend's computer but I will definitely buy this book to support the creator.
Rating of http://shop.d20pfsrd.com/products/k.....une-compendium
If you are a fan of fox characters then this would be a 10 out of 10.
If you are just looking for more information on the kitsune race then it is probably a 8 out of 10.
Thank you to ananda. for the review and the idea.
If you want to submit a review just send me a note and and the completed review i will post it up for you.
DM
D
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Previously when I used a kitsune character I only knew the small paragraphs that explained the race of magical vulpines. Even though that gave me some time to fill in the blanks with some guess work playing with other players kitsune character without the solid race history or how to use the race got a little mixed up. So I ended up using other races most of the time.
A while ago I found the book Kitsune Compendium http://shop.d20pfsrd.com/products/k.....une-compendium my problem of the missing information on the race. The book is made for PathFinder games and contains information on the Kitsune, its culture a lot of racial traits to choose from and more. I originally read this book on a friend's computer but I will definitely buy this book to support the creator.
Rating of http://shop.d20pfsrd.com/products/k.....une-compendium
If you are a fan of fox characters then this would be a 10 out of 10.
If you are just looking for more information on the kitsune race then it is probably a 8 out of 10.
Thank you to ananda. for the review and the idea.
If you want to submit a review just send me a note and and the completed review i will post it up for you.
DM
D
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Boss monster 2.
Posted 10 years agoJust arrived....late, its in stores all rdy also. But i got the 17 holofoil cards only available from the kick starter. This weekend ill sort them all out play a few games and post a review of the new cards. I will have my boss monster 1+2 mega deck at Midwest furfest. Ill let you know how to find me as the con gets closer.
May you find lots of swag and no traps.
D
May you find lots of swag and no traps.
D
Boss monster 2 coming soon.
Posted 10 years agoI have boss monster 2 coming in soon with all the extras. Ill post up a review of the new cards when i can in june.
If you go to Midwest furfest i plan on having my whole deck with me. Your welcome to come and join me in a game or 2.
If you go to Midwest furfest i plan on having my whole deck with me. Your welcome to come and join me in a game or 2.
HC SVNT DRACONES RPG update.
Posted 10 years agoJust a reminder that some updates were posted on HC SVNT DRACONES. Please go check them out.
http://hsdroleplayinggame.com/
If you have played it let others know how it is, the staff/watchers would love to hear your feed back.
Thx again to
Red_The_Hunter for the updates.
http://hsdroleplayinggame.com/
If you have played it let others know how it is, the staff/watchers would love to hear your feed back.
Thx again to
Red_The_Hunter for the updates.Boss monster
Posted 10 years agoGot to play this too. Game is fast paced very fun, we did only have 2 people so sometime soon i will try and add a 3ed & 4th person to the mix. I going to find the mini add-on this week and see how that plays out.
DM
Dyno
DM
Dyno
WITCH - a dark, modern fantasy role play game.
Posted 10 years agoIs a new kick starter funded RPG from angry hamster publishing.
https://www.kickstarter.com/project.....role-play-game
Angry hamster publishing: http://angryhamsterpublishing.com/
Thank you to
HalcyonHeartbeat for the heads up.
DM
Dyno
https://www.kickstarter.com/project.....role-play-game
Angry hamster publishing: http://angryhamsterpublishing.com/
Thank you to
HalcyonHeartbeat for the heads up.DM
Dyno
Genestorm update#1
Posted 10 years agoI got more info on Paul Kidd's Genestorm RPG and new novel.
This is a quote right from him:
DM Dyno: Anything new i can report on GeneStorm?
Paul Kidd: Yeah - the novel is almost done! Maps for the huge sandbox campaign are almost done.... But
Dirtiran is being utterly GLACIAL about getting the game art done. I'm trying to light a fire under her!
GeneStorm is going well. Test games and minor fiddles to the rules have all tapered off. So I'm waiting on the art from Dirtiran to arrive. Bits and pieces will appear in my gallery
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/15771454/
http://www.furaffinity.net/full/14758281/
Looks good! So the game is all that I think GammaWorld should have been, and never was (playable! With a world you'd actually love to live in). None of the 'grunge' normally found in post apocalypse games. It's all about weird nature, gene-splice creatures and amazing journeys.
So - the core rules are done! Just awaiting more illustrations.
The GeneStorm novel, 'City in the Sky" is almost complete. It should be heading off to my volunteer proof readers at the end of the week.
A sandbox campaign book has been written. It's a great campaign environment.
There's also an adventure module, "The Good, the Bad and the Bluetongue".
Dludnerad has been working on some illustrations for the huge sandbox campaign, "The Weird-Lands", and my crappy hand drawn maps are now becoming snazzy arty maps. She is also doing a cover for the novel.
So - yaaaay! That's where we stand right now.
Patpahootie
Thank you Paul,
There you go watchers right from Paul Kidd himself that Genestorm is on the way. Along with a new novel.
DM Dyno
This is a quote right from him:
DM Dyno: Anything new i can report on GeneStorm?
Paul Kidd: Yeah - the novel is almost done! Maps for the huge sandbox campaign are almost done.... But
Dirtiran is being utterly GLACIAL about getting the game art done. I'm trying to light a fire under her!GeneStorm is going well. Test games and minor fiddles to the rules have all tapered off. So I'm waiting on the art from
Dirtiran to arrive. Bits and pieces will appear in my galleryhttp://www.furaffinity.net/view/15771454/
http://www.furaffinity.net/full/14758281/
Looks good! So the game is all that I think GammaWorld should have been, and never was (playable! With a world you'd actually love to live in). None of the 'grunge' normally found in post apocalypse games. It's all about weird nature, gene-splice creatures and amazing journeys.
So - the core rules are done! Just awaiting more illustrations.
The GeneStorm novel, 'City in the Sky" is almost complete. It should be heading off to my volunteer proof readers at the end of the week.
A sandbox campaign book has been written. It's a great campaign environment.
There's also an adventure module, "The Good, the Bad and the Bluetongue".
Dludnerad has been working on some illustrations for the huge sandbox campaign, "The Weird-Lands", and my crappy hand drawn maps are now becoming snazzy arty maps. She is also doing a cover for the novel.So - yaaaay! That's where we stand right now.
PatpahootieThank you Paul,
There you go watchers right from Paul Kidd himself that Genestorm is on the way. Along with a new novel.
DM Dyno
HC SVNT DRACONES RPG.
Posted 10 years ago
Severus sent a me a game a while back that looked great and is now available to buy.HC SVNT DRACONES is a RPG set in a post-human world. Here are some links to help explane the game and where to order your PDF or hard cover copy's.
The main website: http://hsdroleplayinggame.com/
Videos about the game: http://hsdroleplayinggame.com/videos/
The tumblr: http://hcsvntdracones-game.tumblr.com/
The book: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/produ.....-Svnt-Dracones
If you have played the game let me know how it is.
Your DM
D
All link credits go to
SeverusGeneStorm RPG
Posted 11 years agoPaul Kidd is a noted author and RPG guru and has posted his new RPG up for funding on Indiegogo
I quote: The "GeneStorm" Role Playing Game. A tabletop RPG set in a gloriously weird, wild post-apocalypse.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/genestorm-rpg
I quote: Paul Kidd has been a professional games designer for 30 years, creating pioneering RPG tabletop games such as "Lace & Steel" and "Albedo". He has created card games, RPG games supplements, and countless novels - including such hit Dungeons and Dragons novels as "White Plume Mountain". His long list of computer games titles include design and dialogue work for the "Discworld" computer games, "Nightshade" and "Shadowrun SNES".
If you don't know who Paul Kidd is you can find him at:
Furaffnty: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/patpahootie/
Published works: http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?.....butorId=264530
DM Dyno
I quote: The "GeneStorm" Role Playing Game. A tabletop RPG set in a gloriously weird, wild post-apocalypse.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/genestorm-rpg
I quote: Paul Kidd has been a professional games designer for 30 years, creating pioneering RPG tabletop games such as "Lace & Steel" and "Albedo". He has created card games, RPG games supplements, and countless novels - including such hit Dungeons and Dragons novels as "White Plume Mountain". His long list of computer games titles include design and dialogue work for the "Discworld" computer games, "Nightshade" and "Shadowrun SNES".
If you don't know who Paul Kidd is you can find him at:
Furaffnty: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/patpahootie/
Published works: http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?.....butorId=264530
DM Dyno
How to Create a Dungeon in D&D....in 11 steps.
Posted 11 years ago1: First off, know your campaign setting - is it Forgotten Realms? Is it Eberron? Is it Greyhawk? Or is it even a campaign setting that you thought up yourself? Well, whatever it may be, be sure you are aware of where the PC's are starting out, what the climate and overall environment in that area is, and most of all, what level they are! Being a DM, you should know these kind of things right off the bat, so you don't have to worry about doing incredible research to learn them.
2: Now that you know those things, you can think of a rough idea of what you want this dungeon to be like. Some examples might be an underwater adventure where they must learn the secret to where the Wand of Orcus is, an extermination mission where they venture into the city's sewer system to wipe out the thieves' guild there, or a flat-out dungeon crawl. I'd suggest the dungeon crawl for beginners because it requires little story or role-playing on your part (assuming that handling NPCs will be challenging for you in the beginning stages of DMdom). Anyway, a dungeon crawl is basically just your average dungeon with random monsters plaguing its caverns, a few random traps, and some random treasure. It may sound difficult with all of this "random" stuff, but it is actually very simple.
3: Now that you know that, you should start on the dungeon creation. The first thing you want to do is write a short and sweet backstory about how this particular dungeon came to be. Is it an abandoned dwarven city? Is it a forgotten kobold mine? Both of those are widely used, so see if you can think of something a little unique and interesting before resorting to the cliche path. Keep in mind where this dungeon is geographically positioned, though - you wouldn't have an magmin-infested tunnel complex in the arctic wastes of Arthaenor, now, would you?
4: Build some settlements (at least one) relatively near the dungeon. This will come in handy to the players, who can restock on weapons and equipment there, heal there, and most of all, get their magic-items identified there!
5: Think up maybe two notable NPCs in the village - people that the PCs can refer to when asking "so-what-are-we-supposed-to-watch-out-for?" type questions. You don't need every bit of personality worked out the NPCs. Just enough so that you know what their occupation is and a rough idea of what their disposition is.
6: Next, draw a map of your dungeon. Grid paper is recommended, since in combat, you play on a "battle-grid." I've found that I like 4-to-an-inch paper or 10-to-an-inch paper, but that's just me. Use whatever size grid paper you want. Also keep in mind the size of your dungeon when choosing grid paper. Here are some things that all dungeon crawls have: at least 1 encounter with 3 or more weak monsters. At least 1 encounter with a not-too-tough-and-not-to-easy monster. At least 1 encounter with a "boss monster" that will be the final challenge in the dungeon. At least one trap or locked door that the rogue or bard can disable or pick. At least a total treasure of 100 GP per party level per party player (i.e. for a group of 5 4th-level characters, reward each of them 400 GP). At least a total treasure of one magic item per party member (if they are above first level. If they are first level, just give them non-magical items, such as masterwork weapons, precious stones, and perhaps some platinum pieces. These 6 "musts" are essential to any dungeon. However, don't overdo it on the treasure. That is a mistake that many fledgling DMs make.
7: Now, choose which monsters you want for the first three "musts." For the weak encounter, an average battle will be the players against 3 kobolds or goblins. For the medium encounter, a few orcs or a medium monstrous spider will do the trick. And for the "boss" encounter, a choker or phantom fungus will do. This is all assuming that the characters are first level. If they are higher, you should have tougher monsters.
8: Now that you've chosen your monsters, place them in the dungeon and write up their stats. You don't need to write out every single thing in their entry in the Monster Manual - just their basic combat stats (i.e. special abilities, AC, HP, attacks, saves, speed, initiative, etc.
9: Now, choose the treasure. You should put it in a hard-to-reach spot (such as behind a secret door, or even guarded by the boss monster). For a party of 4 first level characters, an average treasure horde would be 300 GP, two 50 GP gems, a masterwork battleaxe, and four potions of Cure Light Wounds for later adventures.
10: Now that you have done this, figure out the leftovers. Are there any locked doors? If so, what are the Open Lock DCs? Are there any secret doors? If so, what are the Search DCs? Are there any traps? If so, what are the effects of the traps? What are their Search and Disable Device DCs? Are there any other noteworthy features of your dungeon? These are the kind of things you should do at the end of dungeon creation.
11: Now, find a group of players, schedule a time and place, and play.
Hope this helps new DMs get there feet wet.
2: Now that you know those things, you can think of a rough idea of what you want this dungeon to be like. Some examples might be an underwater adventure where they must learn the secret to where the Wand of Orcus is, an extermination mission where they venture into the city's sewer system to wipe out the thieves' guild there, or a flat-out dungeon crawl. I'd suggest the dungeon crawl for beginners because it requires little story or role-playing on your part (assuming that handling NPCs will be challenging for you in the beginning stages of DMdom). Anyway, a dungeon crawl is basically just your average dungeon with random monsters plaguing its caverns, a few random traps, and some random treasure. It may sound difficult with all of this "random" stuff, but it is actually very simple.
3: Now that you know that, you should start on the dungeon creation. The first thing you want to do is write a short and sweet backstory about how this particular dungeon came to be. Is it an abandoned dwarven city? Is it a forgotten kobold mine? Both of those are widely used, so see if you can think of something a little unique and interesting before resorting to the cliche path. Keep in mind where this dungeon is geographically positioned, though - you wouldn't have an magmin-infested tunnel complex in the arctic wastes of Arthaenor, now, would you?
4: Build some settlements (at least one) relatively near the dungeon. This will come in handy to the players, who can restock on weapons and equipment there, heal there, and most of all, get their magic-items identified there!
5: Think up maybe two notable NPCs in the village - people that the PCs can refer to when asking "so-what-are-we-supposed-to-watch-out-for?" type questions. You don't need every bit of personality worked out the NPCs. Just enough so that you know what their occupation is and a rough idea of what their disposition is.
6: Next, draw a map of your dungeon. Grid paper is recommended, since in combat, you play on a "battle-grid." I've found that I like 4-to-an-inch paper or 10-to-an-inch paper, but that's just me. Use whatever size grid paper you want. Also keep in mind the size of your dungeon when choosing grid paper. Here are some things that all dungeon crawls have: at least 1 encounter with 3 or more weak monsters. At least 1 encounter with a not-too-tough-and-not-to-easy monster. At least 1 encounter with a "boss monster" that will be the final challenge in the dungeon. At least one trap or locked door that the rogue or bard can disable or pick. At least a total treasure of 100 GP per party level per party player (i.e. for a group of 5 4th-level characters, reward each of them 400 GP). At least a total treasure of one magic item per party member (if they are above first level. If they are first level, just give them non-magical items, such as masterwork weapons, precious stones, and perhaps some platinum pieces. These 6 "musts" are essential to any dungeon. However, don't overdo it on the treasure. That is a mistake that many fledgling DMs make.
7: Now, choose which monsters you want for the first three "musts." For the weak encounter, an average battle will be the players against 3 kobolds or goblins. For the medium encounter, a few orcs or a medium monstrous spider will do the trick. And for the "boss" encounter, a choker or phantom fungus will do. This is all assuming that the characters are first level. If they are higher, you should have tougher monsters.
8: Now that you've chosen your monsters, place them in the dungeon and write up their stats. You don't need to write out every single thing in their entry in the Monster Manual - just their basic combat stats (i.e. special abilities, AC, HP, attacks, saves, speed, initiative, etc.
9: Now, choose the treasure. You should put it in a hard-to-reach spot (such as behind a secret door, or even guarded by the boss monster). For a party of 4 first level characters, an average treasure horde would be 300 GP, two 50 GP gems, a masterwork battleaxe, and four potions of Cure Light Wounds for later adventures.
10: Now that you have done this, figure out the leftovers. Are there any locked doors? If so, what are the Open Lock DCs? Are there any secret doors? If so, what are the Search DCs? Are there any traps? If so, what are the effects of the traps? What are their Search and Disable Device DCs? Are there any other noteworthy features of your dungeon? These are the kind of things you should do at the end of dungeon creation.
11: Now, find a group of players, schedule a time and place, and play.
Hope this helps new DMs get there feet wet.
Helpful RPG guides #2 & #3
Posted 11 years agoI was sent 2 more guides for all you starting players/DMs out there.
Tip set #2
http://nosphaer.tumblr.com/post/914.....erd-d-tipset-2
Tip set #3
http://nosphaer.tumblr.com/post/916.....erd-d-tipset-3
Thank you again to
nosphaer for his sharing his work.
Tip set #2
http://nosphaer.tumblr.com/post/914.....erd-d-tipset-2
Tip set #3
http://nosphaer.tumblr.com/post/916.....erd-d-tipset-3
Thank you again to
nosphaer for his sharing his work.