Support NeoGAF

[Keasar]

Looking briefly over the DnD 5th Edition playtest packet makes it seems like they reacted pretty strongly to a lot of the criticisms of 4E.

Got my email a bit ago. Downloading when I get home. I'm hoping this is something I can call DnD again.

Got mine too, just refuses to load the download page right now. Will be fun to read.

 

[krypt0nian]

Yeah they are having Blizzard type server issues. I grabbed it from /tg/

 

[hoverX]

Got mine too, just refuses to load the download page right now. Will be fun to read.

Check their twitter feed. they gave an alternate link earlier today. Worked for me first try.

 

[Keasar]

Check their twitter feed. they gave an alternate link earlier today. Worked for me first try.

Got it, will read tomorrow night.

 

[ChiTownBuffalo]

We are integrating it into a game/playtest/day drunk/bbq.

Damnit, the older I get, the nerdier I get.

 

[Haeleos]

The changes they made make it look like the simplicity of a beginner box set of rules. As a Pathfinder player, the only thing that I disagreed with was the way healing works. Full HP on 8 hour rest is very gamey, but it's simple enough to house rule, and I still don't agree with healing surges, no matter how it's twisted.

 

[Keru_Shiri]

Yeah, I'm going to start hunting for other places to find the document. I tried to download it from Wizard's site at work, but no luck. Once at home, I'm going to try other places.

 

[krypt0nian]

Finding thins that are good and bad. Re-reading before comment but this is intriguing and as long as they are open to big changes, I'm interested in the play through/feedback process.

Happily entrenched in Pathfinder, but a best selling DnD is good for the whole PnP industry. Now let's pray to Orcus for a wide reaching OGL so it can have the effect that 3.0 did.

 

[dude]

Can't say I'm impressed with "DnD Next". It's very... D&D, I guess. I was expecting something more extreme from the way they've talked about it. I really thought they were going to simplify their bullshit :\

I like the lack of skills/feats and what not though. And I liked the way they handled the saving throws... But D&D is rot starts at the core, and they should have gone deeper.

EDIT: This is pretty silly. They went away with skills and feats, but your character sheet is as bloated as ever - Why the hell do I need "senses", "languages", "Racial Features". "Class Features", "Background features"... This is maybe the most bloated character sheet I've seen. This is crazy. They need to streamline this thing and hard. This is not the simple we were promised.

 

[krypt0nian]

Can't say I'm impressed with "DnD Next". It's very... D&D, I guess. I was expecting something more extreme from the way they've talked about it. I really thought they were going to simplify their bullshit :\

I like the lack of skills/feats and what not though. And I liked the way they handled the saving throws... But D&D is rot starts at the core, and they should have gone deeper.

EDIT: This is pretty silly. They went away with skills and feats, but your character sheet is as bloated as ever - Why the hell do I need "senses", "languages", "Racial Features". "Class Features", "Background features"... This is maybe the most bloated character sheet I've seen. This is crazy. They need to streamline this thing and hard. This is not the simple we were promised.

It's really very simplified. Combat right now is a only a couple pages and conditions list is paired down severely.

Feats and skills are not in this test. They are in the game.

All of those things are optional and it says so on the character sheet.

Calm down. =)

 

[dude]

It's really very simplified. Combat right now is a only a couple pages and conditions list is paired down severely.

Feats and skills are not in this test. They are in the game.

All of those things are optional and it says so on the character sheet.

Calm down. =)

Maybe it's simplified compared to D&D, but from the way WoTC has been talking about this edition I expected some radical shifts - And that's not what I got. This is just D&D 3.7. Hell, this is pretty much how I've been playing D&D anyway. And I don't really see the big change in combat? They removed some rules (like the grappling rules) I never used anyway (and don't know of anyone who used) I guess...
I wanted Skills and Feats out of the game. They're crazy. Skills take like an hour to choose, and they're a huge confusing list full of parameters - and I don't even know what Feats are for. It's bad news to me that they're returning... But maybe they'll be optional as part of their all modular thing (are they still even going for that?)
And yeah, everything is optional, I can play without races or hit points if I wanted to. I just don't understand what good is it to overload you with so much useless information you need to keep track of. When I first read about D&D next, they talked of a super simple character sheet you could write on half a paper, what happened to that?
I expected this D&D to bring something new to the table. This is not how you get new players, this is just the same stuff you've been doing for the past decade. As I said, D&D is rotten from the core, and they did nothing to try and fix that here.

 

[krypt0nian]

Maybe it's simplified compared to D&D, but from the way WoTC has been talking about this edition I expected some radical shifts - And that's not what I got. This is just D&D 3.7. Hell, this is pretty much how I've been playing D&D anyway. And I don't really see the big change in combat? They removed some rules (like the grappling rules) I never used anyway (and don't know of anyone who used) I guess...
I wanted Skills and Feats out of the game. They're crazy. Skills take like an hour to choose, and they're a huge confusing list full of parameters - and I don't even know what Feats are for. It's bad news to me that they're returning... But maybe they'll be optional as part of their all modular thing (are they still even going for that?)
And yeah, everything is optional, I can play without races or hit points if I wanted to. I just don't understand what good is it to overload you with so much useless information you need to keep track of. When I first read about D&D next, they talked of a super simple character sheet you could write on half a paper, what happened to that?
I expected this D&D to bring something new to the table. This is not how you get new players, this is just the same stuff you've been doing for the past decade. As I said, D&D is rotten from the core, and they did nothing to try and fix that here.

Sounds like you wanted Amber. They want to bring lapsed DnD players back, not make something unrecognizable to DnD.

Also sounds like you never had a chance of liking this if you think DnD is "rotten to the core"

It feels nothing like 3.x. It's far closer to 1.x from someone who has loved DnD from the beginning. I'm not seeing all the things to keep track of. It really is super simplified, while still remaining DnD. Skills take me like 2 mins. Feats even quicker. I have a concept and just pick the couple that make sense. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around your issues.

 

[krypt0nian]

I'll have to playtest this to see how advantage/disadvantage dice work in the game. Also, on a read through, not a big fan of how healing during resting looks.

Better overall than I thought it would be, but it will take a lot to get me from Pathfinder. But having an old school feel* goes a long way, WoTC so kudos for that.


* That map at the end of the playtest module gave me wood!


Very cool interview with Mike Mearls over at Kobold Q

Wolfgang: The D&D Next themes feel a lot like 2E kits or 4E themes: thin layers of character elements with a small rules hook. They’re neat, but they’re fairly thin stuff — will themes grow into deeper sets of mechanics or bonuses at higher levels? Can you level up in a theme?
Mike: Yes, as you level up you gain more theme benefits. Originally they were fairly flat, but that proved unsatisfying at higher level play. In the playtest, people will see that their theme gives them a feat at 1st and 3rd level.
Wolfgang: The kobold playtesters found that D&D Next fighters kick a lot of ass. No, really, massive damage with that two-handed great flail, to the point where the 1st-level fighter is sort of scary on a charge, taking down minotaurs. Are you worried the fighter is (for once) overpowered?
Mike: That’s a great question, because it points to a big part of the playtest process. The fighter leans on the basic math of the game a fair bit—how hard should a strong guy with a big weapon hit, stuff like that. The math is still a bit up in the air, and I suspect that we’ll drop both hit point and damage numbers down to keep things easy to work with at the table.
With all that in mind, getting the feel right is a big part of the playtest. We want to see if a fighter unleashing big damage numbers feels right, or should fighters be more durable, and so on. With the fighter, we’re erring on the side of powerful out of the gate.
Wolfgang: Our wizard playtester loves always having an at-will spell no matter what, and he has been fairly effective with it. But it doesn’t feel like a fighter’s “at-will” sword. Have you gotten a lot of pushback on the fusion of Vancian casting with at-will casting?
Mike: It’s actually been really fascinating looking at the feedback. I know there are people out there who hate adding at-will spells to the game, and other people who hate spell slots and preparation. In the playtest surveys I’ve read through, people seem to like at-will spells regardless of edition. 4E fans generally say, “Thanks for keeping this,” while fans of older editions mostly like the idea that they don’t run out of spells.
This response goes back to what I said about githyanki and drow. It’s something that looks like it has made the rounds among gamers regardless of edition, and people like the idea of it remaining a core part of D&D.
Wolfgang: The playtest adventure in the Caves of Chaos has waves and waves of humanoids and monsters, but it doesn’t use anything like the 4E D&D minion rules. Will we see minions return, or is the D&D Next solution just to bring back monsters with pitiful hit points?
Mike: Rather than use an explicit minion rule, we’ll simply scale monsters by XP value so that they essentially become minions. For instance, to an AD&D fighter with gauntlets of ogre power, and a +1 sword, everything with 8 or fewer hit points is a minion. We’re consciously keeping that part of the game without adding the complexity of a specific rule.
Wolfgang: What is really unique about D&D Next that sets it apart from other RPGs? Where is the sizzle, so to speak? (Modularity is neat, but doesn’t count as sizzle in my book.)
Mike: I think the playtest is pretty interesting in that it gives people a chance to guide D&D to where they want it to be. The big idea, to me, is bringing RPGs back to their roots. If you look at card games, board games, even video games, the trend is to get people playing as quickly as possible. With our Lords of Waterdeep and Castle Ravenloft board games, we wanted people playing within 15 minutes of opening the box.
My attitude is the same toward D&D. Open the game, and start playing. I think that RPGs have grown more and more complex over the years, and we’ve lost sight that the real fun of RPGs lies in experiencing a make-believe world through the eyes of a character who isn’t you. The first RPGs fit into 64 pages or less of text, with tons of that space given over to monsters and spells.
I think for too long, people have sort of thrown their hands up and given in to the idea that RPGs are this niche thing that few people want to play. That’s crazy. Tons and tons of people want to play RPGs. It’s time we let them!
Wolfgang: I found it easy to convert my regular Midgard game to the D&D Next playtest rules, because they aren’t super complex—and because the group started over at 1st level. Do you have any advice for converting existing characters? Any advice for people converting their homebrew settings generally?
Mike: I actually converted a basic D&D game (1981 Moldvay set) to Next, and it went fairly smoothly. In most cases, you can keep all your stats the same unless any are above 18. After that, convert your race and class. The big setback right now is that we have a limited list of spells and themes.
Wolfgang: 4th Edition D&D didn’t require players to have a dedicated healer class to get at least some healing in. We’ve only seen the cleric so far—will D&D Next offer other types of healing, from other classes?
Mike: Yes, definitely. We’ve seen that people who don’t want to play clerics might still want to play other types of healers. Of course, that stuff is down the road, but it’s definitely on our radar.
Wolfgang: The core playtest races of human, dwarf, elf, and halfling are fine, but how many races will D&D Next have when it ships? Just those four to start?
Mike: Those four races are part of the playtest materials, but the total number we end up rolling out with is still up in the air.
Wolfgang: Why should a Pathfinder RPG player pick up the D&D Next playtest rules and give them a spin? What about them do you think will convince players who have moved on to return to the D&D well? And isn’t there some danger that D&D Next will fracture the gaming community further?
Mike: One of the advantages we’re facing with D&D Next is that we’re taking a very broad approach to the game. We’re looking at all of the editions at once so that we can take the best parts of each and work those elements into a solid system void of any of the excesses or difficulties that past editions may have brought to the table.
If people who enjoy 3E are looking for deeper solutions to some of the issues that crop up in their games and are looking for something that stays true to what makes D&D intrinsically D&D, then they should definitely take a look at D&D Next.
There’s always a danger of fracturing the audience, but the playtest, combined with our goal to bridge the gap between where D&D started and where it has gone, will help give everyone who likes D&D, and tabletop RPG play in general, something they can enjoy.

More here - http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/front-page12578.php

LOVE Wolfgang Baur!!!

 

[dude]

Sounds like you wanted Amber. They want to bring lapsed DnD players back, not make something unrecognizable to DnD.

Also sounds like you never had a chance of liking this if you think DnD is "rotten to the core"

It feels nothing like 3.x. It's far closer to 1.x from someone who has loved DnD from the beginning. I'm not seeing all the things to keep track of. It really is super simplified, while still remaining DnD. Skills take me like 2 mins. Feats even quicker. I have a concept and just pick the couple that make sense. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around your issues.

How is it closer to 1.x?
In 1.x, you had no race, theme or background, you had just class. You had no feats, or skills, or attacks maneuvers (except maybe a backstab for the thief). The game was super simple and you would make up all the extra details from your head while playing. Wthout refferng to special rules for any little instance. I mean really, "DnD Next"? Do I really need a rule for how high to jump? Any DM who cares anything about immersion would have to change or disregard these rules because they can never cover every situation. Not to mention some of the rules are fuzzy at the best - Did you understand when you roll a charisma saving throw and when a wisdom saving throw? Because to me, they read exactly the same. I don't want to be figuring this out every time someone tries charm someone.

This is a bloated fat mess compared to 1.x, and appears from this playtest to be D&D 3.7. It's just a slightly simplified version of the Player's Handbook from 3e...

I didn't want Amber - I wanted a D&D without the bloat. Like you said, I wanted something closer to 1.x, without backgrounds and features and 36 different skills to remember and know what each is for, or a shitload of feats I can't possibly remember so I have to look at the book every time I choose or use one. I don't want to look at the book every time I want to jump or cover and then do some absurd (because this is a unique mechanic that appears nowhere else in the system) calculation like STR+3. This is not simple in any way or form, this is exactly the same. I thought they were going to go fresh into DnD Next and make a more radical departure, but they didn't, they just made 3e again.

 

[ChiTownBuffalo]

Whilst Dude gets angry about jump rules.

I plan on just having fun with friends playtesting D&D.

I'm not understanding why the issue with feats and skills and stuff. Granted I'm came back into RPG's with 4e, and the Character Builder seemed to lay it all out for me.

I read some 3.5 stuff, and I was like, ok so a fighter can attack 5 times in one round, but it means shit all because that wizard can cast "Wish." Fuck this.

 

[red13th]

Those playtest rules are terrible, where is the Monk!

 

[dude]

I'll have to playtest this to see how advantage/disadvantage dice work in the game. Also, on a read through, not a big fan of how healing during resting looks.

Better overall than I thought it would be, but it will take a lot to get me from Pathfinder. But having an old school feel* goes a long way, WoTC so kudos for that.


* That map at the end of the playtest module gave me wood!


Very cool interview with Mike Mearls over at Kobold Q



More here - http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/front-page12578.php

LOVE Wolfgang Baur!!!

This interview has me foaming at the mouth. I mean, how can he say everything that needs to be done to make D&D good, and then release this horrible piece of shit playtest packet that has nothing of what he said?
He really thinks what is in that thing will make people who never played D&D go "Oh, yeah, that seems simple and straight forward, I just do a STR+3 to see how high I can jump!"?
Also, in what world would it take 15 minute to play this D&D? It took me 10 minutes to read the packet, without the skills and feats and all the other bullshit they don't really need but are going to add, and I already know most of the rules and how to use them.

I don't know how many of you played with people new to RPGs, I do it pretty often. People new to RPGs almost never like the rules aspect of the thing, in fact, they hate it. There's always the part where they want to play something they can't, and you have to explain to them why they can't do it because of the rules. This D&D doesn't change it, the fact that they think this is simple enough for non-RPG players just show you how bad things have become.

ChiTownBuffalo - As for the problem with skills and feats... Well, there's just too much of them. There are at least 36 skills, they're basically a huge cumbersome list of parameters you need to note about your character. And in character creation, this takes up a big chunk of time for anyone not intricately familiar with the rules.
On top of that you have who knows how many feats, interconnected in a web of prerequisites and requirements. Not only do they boggle down the process of character creation (there's always that "wait for the book to pass around so you can choose feats" moment) but also add this Diablo 2-like strategy to them and make the game build-y.
I would have loved to see D&D do away with both of these or at least find a less horrible solution to them.

Those playtest rules are terrible, where is the Monk!

There's nothing about classes in there yet. And even if the Monk doesn't make it to the Player's Handbook, be sure they'll release him soon enough in some other book. Don't worry.

 

[ChiTownBuffalo]

Those playtest rules are terrible, where is the Monk!

Its a playtest. They aren't going to have everything in there.

 

[krypt0nian]

Yeah, they are adding things in waves. This one is just the core rule checks.

So far, not a lot to be unhappy with. I'm chomping at the bit for out first playtest. Our DM has just got a copy and expressed interest. So glad the feel is back to an OSR release.

 

[Keasar]

Can't say I'm impressed with "DnD Next". It's very... D&D, I guess. I was expecting something more extreme from the way they've talked about it. I really thought they were going to simplify their bullshit :\

I like the lack of skills/feats and what not though. And I liked the way they handled the saving throws... But D&D is rot starts at the core, and they should have gone deeper.

EDIT: This is pretty silly. They went away with skills and feats, but your character sheet is as bloated as ever - Why the hell do I need "senses", "languages", "Racial Features". "Class Features", "Background features"... This is maybe the most bloated character sheet I've seen. This is crazy. They need to streamline this thing and hard. This is not the simple we were promised.

You should see my Shadowrun character.

 

[dude]

You should see my Shadowrun character.

I may have exaggerated a bit. DnDNext has nothing on any FASA game or games like Deadlands. But it's as bloated as D&D 3 and 4 if not slightly more so. And when taken in context of the promises of a simpler edition and a return to the roots of D&D 1 and 2, it's crazy.

 

[hoverX]

Can't say I'm impressed with "DnD Next". It's very... D&D, I guess. I was expecting something more extreme from the way they've talked about it. I really thought they were going to simplify their bullshit :\

I like the lack of skills/feats and what not though. And I liked the way they handled the saving throws... But D&D is rot starts at the core, and they should have gone deeper.

EDIT: This is pretty silly. They went away with skills and feats, but your character sheet is as bloated as ever - Why the hell do I need "senses", "languages", "Racial Features". "Class Features", "Background features"... This is maybe the most bloated character sheet I've seen. This is crazy. They need to streamline this thing and hard. This is not the simple we were promised.

Honestly, I think some people like the bloat. Although I don't want to have to worry about hundreds and hundreds of pages of confusing rules, I do enjoy going over cool rulebooks.

 

[ChiTownBuffalo]

I dunno how I feel about the advantage/disadvantage thing. And still dunno what the hit dice thing. But I am drunkish.

 

[Riposte]

I guess I like "the bloat", though not all of it. Not exactly a fan of dumbed down games, even RPGs.

 

[bro1]

Anybody here play Top Secret? We used to love that game, especially when they added super powers. Between D&D, AD&D 2E, Marvel Super Heroes, Gamma World, and GURPs, I don't think I spent a weekend in the late 80's and early 90's not play RPGs. I really wish I haven't joined a fraternity when I went to college as I would have been a lot happier in school staying a nerd. I would have gotten laid less but I would have been happier.

 

[krypt0nian]

Anybody here play Top Secret? We used to love that game, especially when they added super powers. Between D&D, AD&D 2E, Marvel Super Heroes, Gamma World, and GURPs, I don't think I spent a weekend in the late 80's and early 90's not play RPGs. I really wish I haven't joined a fraternity when I went to college as I would have been a lot happier in school staying a nerd. I would have gotten laid less but I would have been happier.

I loved the hit location in Top Secret. Star Frontiers is another of my faves.

The best past of RPGs its that with a little work, they are still waiting there for you. Find a group and get the adventures flowing.

 

[hoverX]

Anybody here play Top Secret? We used to love that game, especially when they added super powers. Between D&D, AD&D 2E, Marvel Super Heroes, Gamma World, and GURPs, I don't think I spent a weekend in the late 80's and early 90's not play RPGs. I really wish I haven't joined a fraternity when I went to college as I would have been a lot happier in school staying a nerd. I would have gotten laid less but I would have been happier.

I had the rulebook but I don't think I ever actually got around to playing it. Back then everyone was obsessed with Palladium books.

 

[krypt0nian]

I had the rulebook but I don't think I ever actually got around to playing it. Back then everyone was obsessed with Palladium books.

Yeah and they (Palladium) had the worst formatting on the planet. Such ugly books.

 

[ChiTownBuffalo]

OK. Being more sober now. My thoughts play testing 5th edition.

1. The sandboxiness of the playtest scenario was kind of annoying. I prefer a story. But it was playtest, so I'm ok with it.

2. Background/theme business. I have no idea why people are upset about this or think its bloat, etc. It serves as a guide for how you should play your character and is optional. Even says so on the character sheet.

3. Spells. I played the paladin and the fighter characters. I understand the reason behind the spell slot thing, a wizard can only memorize so many spells a day. At level 1, this didn't appear to be too much of an issue. But, I can imagine in higher levels this getting limiting.

4. Hit dice. Same thing as surge I suppose. But it seems you are far more limited in how many times you can use it. So, it would seem that PCs ould die farily easily if you aren't careful about how you play.

5. However, PC's in our playtest seemed vastly overpowered. DM would throw waves of enemies at us and our party of level 1 characters would be OK after taking out 13 or so goblins/orcs. Although, that one ogre fucked us up. Example,as the fighter, I could still do damage to a character even if I missed? I think that's a bit weird.

6. Battle map/grid. Missed it. I'll be honest, it was missed. We ended up using it anyways.

7. Advantage/Disadvantage. Did not like. I prefer -2/+2 whatevers.

I dunno, we'll be playing this again. We'll see how it goes. Its definitely more old school. But somethings are kinda "Ehhh" for me.

 

[Des0lar]

I'm interested in the Call of Cthulhu series and want to be a DM. This is the first time I've heard about the game though. I have played a bit of DnD before.

What books do I need and how difficult will it be to learn the basics for someone like me?

 

[krypt0nian]

Buddy of mine who runs Vigilante Press (puts out excellent Mutants & Masterminds/Icons supplements) has posted an actual play podcast as well as two chara gen episodes set in his Atlanta analog Beacon City.

Follow the adventures of The Lamplighter, Jade Witch, Tempest, and Starchild as they come together to protect their home.

Really fun so far and he plans on using characters from his supplements, as well as those from other publishers, including M&M's Green Ronin stuff.

http://vigilancepress.podbean.com/

He also has frequent interviews with the Mutants & Masterminds creators which are fun and often revealing of their upcoming releases.

 

[peakish]

I'm interested in the Call of Cthulhu series and want to be a DM. This is the first time I've heard about the game though. I have played a bit of DnD before.

What books do I need and how difficult will it be to learn the basics for someone like me?

I just picked up the core rulebook, it has a few starter adventures to get you going. I think the rule system is simple enough to learn quickly, on the other hand learning how to craft adventures and actually scare your players is tricky. I think I did all right as a new keeper.

 

[krypt0nian]

I just picked up the core rulebook, it has a few starter adventures to get you going. I think the rule system is simple enough to learn quickly, on the other hand learning how to craft adventures and actually scare your players is tricky. I think I did all right as a new keeper.

On this note, can anyone recommend some really excellent Chthulu actual play podcasts? I'd love to hear a really effective game with great roleplaying.

Also looking for great Fiasco podcasts, as a friend is going to be running it when I get back to Chicago, and I'm still clueless on the system, and read troughs of the rules aren't helping.

 

[Danoss]

On this note, can anyone recommend some really excellent Chthulu actual play podcasts? I'd love to hear a really effective game with great roleplaying.

RPPR has a bunch and they're great roleplayers, quite fun to listen to.

Also looking for great Fiasco podcasts, as a friend is going to be running it when I get back to Chicago, and I'm still clueless on the system, and read troughs of the rules aren't helping.

Only one Fiasco AP on RPPR, but it's a good one. Greg Stolze plays his character like Zapp Brannigan and it's fantastic.

 

[hoverX]

Yeah and they (Palladium) had the worst formatting on the planet. Such ugly books.

This is true but they had the licenses for Robotech and Ninja Turtles which made them pretty popular around my area.

 

[ChiTownBuffalo]

Fucking SDC vs MDC

 

[hoverX]

yeah, I always thought that was kinda lame

 

[Mikeside]

I'm interested in the Call of Cthulhu series and want to be a DM. This is the first time I've heard about the game though. I have played a bit of DnD before.

What books do I need and how difficult will it be to learn the basics for someone like me?

I'm in the exact same boat - let's go on a journey together!


Any further tips, peoples?

 

[peakish]

I'm in the exact same boat - let's go on a journey together!


Any further tips, peoples?

Well Danoss recommended me the MU Podcast which has been a really good resource so far. They're thoroughly covering the basic rules (character creation and combat so far), maybe a bit in depth but their discussions does give some fresh angles on some things. Besides that, I've really enjoyed their discussions on the Cthulhu beastiary, highlighting different ways in which to use the supplied monsters for good effect. Overall they talk a lot about lore and how to use it in that way, it really has been quite inspirational to me.


Now sadly, I just moved halfway across my country to a new job, so I've been left without a group to focus this inspiration on :/

 

[Mikeside]

Well Danoss recommended me the MU Podcast which has been a really good resource so far. They're thoroughly covering the basic rules (character creation and combat so far), maybe a bit in depth but their discussions does give some fresh angles on some things. Besides that, I've really enjoyed their discussions on the Cthulhu beastiary, highlighting different ways in which to use the supplied monsters for good effect. Overall they talk a lot about lore and how to use it in that way, it really has been quite inspirational to me.


Now sadly, I just moved halfway across my country to a new job, so I've been left without a group to focus this inspiration on :/

Cheers for that - going to download and listen as soon as my copy of the book gets ordered and arrives! Time to find a new group! What country are you in?



edit: I'm having a hard time finding a copy of the core rulebook in the UK... anyone?

 

[peakish]

Cheers for that - going to download and listen as soon as my copy of the book gets ordered and arrives! Time to find a new group! What country are you in?



edit: I'm having a hard time finding a copy of the core rulebook in the UK... anyone?

Amazon seems to have it at least. Of course, if I was in the UK (Sweden here) I'd also be interested in Cthulhu by Gaslight, specifically set in 1890's London - it's gotten high praise all around and apparently has some additions that people seem to think will make it into the regular 7th edition whenever that is released. I'd love to get my paws on it, maybe when I've found a new group, haha! Edit: I suppose two books may be a bit too much to handle when starting out though.

6th Edition
Cthulhu by Gaslight

Edit 2: Man there's so much cool stuff in the Cthulhuverse I want to play, Shadows over Scotland, Cthulhutech, Trails of Cthulhu, Delta Green, Dark Ages, ...

 

[Mikeside]

Amazon seems to have it at least. Of course, if I was in the UK (Sweden here) I'd also be interested in Cthulhu by Gaslight, specifically set in 1890's London - it's gotten high praise all around and apparently has some additions that people seem to think will make it into the regular 7th edition whenever that is released. I'd love to get my paws on it, maybe when I've found a new group, haha! Edit: I suppose two books may be a bit too much to handle when starting out though.

6th Edition
Cthulhu by Gaslight

Edit 2: Man there's so much cool stuff in the Cthulhuverse I want to play, Shadows over Scotland, Cthulhutech, Trails of Cthulhu, Delta Green, Dark Ages, ...

Ohhh - I'd looked at that book on Amazon but it didn't say "core rulebook" in the title, so I skipped right over it, thanks!

Would you say 6th edition is fairly easy for somebody who hasn't GMed before? Easy for players?

My group as always been a bit tentative about really getting into character and playing with the story stuff, so last time we did a D&D campaign it was just a new dungeon each week with a co-operative/competetive spin on it, but almost no story to it - I loved the co-op/competetive spin, but would like to fix our aversion to playing out epic stories and I'm hoping that Call of Cthulhu will be the game to get us there! My only other consideration has been Shadowrun, but I'm not sure my group would be as interested.

 

[Danoss]

Set the mood with candles and mood music, it should help players get into their characters and the scene more. With the clues they'll have at hand they'll want to interact a bit more, hopefully they'll start to do that more in-character.

If an NPC is talking to them, voice the character, put on an old man voice, a booming mans voice, or whatever suits them; ham it up. Every little bit helps, and if they can see you're loosened up and not afraid to get silly, then they should eventually open themselves up to it.

Here's a recording I've made of a player aid from 'The Edge of Darkness' scenario in the Call of Cthulhu core rulebook. It's totally cheesy and overly dramatic with music, but I'm no voice actor and it's meant to be fun (let me know if you think I've achieved that). I've made it downloadable in case you or anyone else wants to use it. 'The Edge of Darkness' is a great entry scenario for players as it does give them a great feel for the game and following the clues is pretty straightforward, but is nice and moody with foreboding, which is what you want to ease people into the game. In true CoC fashion, there is a chance for them to die if they make one particular mistake but it's not until near the end, so that's fine if one of them bites it.

Man there's so much cool stuff in the Cthulhuverse I want to play, Shadows over Scotland, Cthulhutech, Trails of Cthulhu, Delta Green, Dark Ages, ...

So much cool stuff indeed, with 30 years of history and iteration, there is more stuff than I could ever find the time to play. CoC 7th edition is undergoing some early playtesting at the moment and reports are promising; that there have been some nice improvements made that tweak the game well, while still remaining compatible with all existing products. Delta Green is being made into its own game as we speak, the premise remains the same but they're revamping the conspiracy theme of it to fit more with fears of the modern day; it has it's own website now too, here.

Keep your eye on Miskatonic River Press, the scenarios they write sound cool as hell. I've got some in PDF form that I've glossed over, but I really want to pick up the books and read them properly that way.

 

[Mikeside]

Set the mood with candles and mood music, it should help players get into their characters and the scene more. With the clues they'll have at hand they'll want to interact a bit more, hopefully they'll start to do that more in-character.

If an NPC is talking to them, voice the character, put on an old man voice, a booming mans voice, or whatever suits them; ham it up. Every little bit helps, and if they can see you're loosened up and not afraid to get silly, then they should eventually open themselves up to it.

Here's a recording I've made of a player aid from 'The Edge of Darkness' scenario in the Call of Cthulhu core rulebook. It's totally cheesy and overly dramatic with music, but I'm no voice actor and it's meant to be fun (let me know if you think I've achieved that). I've made it downloadable in case you or anyone else wants to use it. 'The Edge of Darkness' is a great entry scenario for players as it does give them a great feel for the game and following the clues is pretty straightforward, but is nice and moody with foreboding, which is what you want to ease people into the game. In true CoC fashion, there is a chance for them to die if they make one particular mistake but it's not until near the end, so that's fine if one of them bites it.

thanks, this is all really great info! I'll give that a listen tonight when I get home - hope you don't mind if I pass it on to my group so they can get a feel for it?

Also, from what I read in this post (though I could be completely off) I'm starting to think that in CoC players are kinda expected to roll a new character for each adventure? We've always played persistent through campaigns until dead before... any reason to change that here?

 

[Danoss]

thanks, this is all really great info! I'll give that a listen tonight when I get home - hope you don't mind if I pass it on to my group so they can get a feel for it?

Also, from what I read in this post (though I could be completely off) I'm starting to think that in CoC players are kinda expected to roll a new character for each adventure? We've always played persistent through campaigns until dead before... any reason to change that here?

That's fine, use it in a game or share it with your players for whatever reason.

You can link scenarios together if you like, most of the published ones aren't tied to a location or it can be easily changed or fudged. The thing with Cthulhu is that the "until dead" part can happen pretty often. Another thing is that some character concepts/archetypes/skill-sets suit some scenarios better than others, and players can be hampered if they don't have the requisite skill. You can hand-wave it away, but this might be better saved for when you're more familiar with how everything works.

Sanity is the other aspect that keeps getting hammered and can prevent characters from continuing on. You can return lost sanity points to characters once they kill the monster that is responsible for it, but that does involve combat, which is quite deadly. You can house-rule some stuff away, but that takes the dread and mood away from the game if you're too heavy-handed with it.

This is a horror game where terrible things happen to ordinary people, they're not superheroes. When you listen to the MU Podcast and hear what those GMs do with the Hounds of Tindalos, you won't be able to say you don't want to do horrible things like that and many others to your players. You won't want them all to live, and you might mess them up so bad, they don't want to live anyway.

 

[Mikeside]

That's fine, use it in a game or share it with your players for whatever reason.

You can link scenarios together if you like, most of the published ones aren't tied to a location or it can be easily changed or fudged. The thing with Cthulhu is that the "until dead" part can happen pretty often. Another thing is that some character concepts/archetypes/skill-sets suit some scenarios better than others, and players can be hampered if they don't have the requisite skill. You can hand-wave it away, but this might be better saved for when you're more familiar with how everything works.

Sanity is the other aspect that keeps getting hammered and can prevent characters from continuing on. You can return lost sanity points to characters once they kill the monster that is responsible for it, but that does involve combat, which is quite deadly. You can house-rule some stuff away, but that takes the dread and mood away from the game if you're too heavy-handed with it.

This is a horror game where terrible things happen to ordinary people, they're not superheroes. When you listen to the MU Podcast and hear what those GMs do with the Hounds of Tindalos, you won't be able to say you don't want to do horrible things like that and many others to your players. You won't want them all to live, and you might mess them up so bad, they don't want to live anyway.

I'm not going to lie, the last paragraph put a huge fucking grin on my face.
This sounds like it's going to be very heavily riding on my storytelling ability.

How long do you usually spend planning a session?

 

[Danoss]

I'm not going to lie, the last paragraph put a huge fucking grin on my face.
This sounds like it's going to be very heavily riding on my storytelling ability.

How long do you usually spend planning a session?

I've not actually GMed a game before. That sound file I posted here is actually for the first game I plan on running. Since that scenario is rather simple, short, and can be run in a few hours, prep for it was pretty short. I just read over it and saw where I would change things to put a bit of my own flavour in there. The sound file took a little bit to get to where I liked the background music, and all up that would have been about an hour and a bit.

I'm starting out with written scenarios so I can be comfortable before I start doing my own things from scratch. I know how things are done and how I want to do them whilst bringing a bit of myself to it, but getting comfortable on the other side of the screen is something different. Since I haven't done it before, I'm keeping it simple.

 

[Mikeside]

I've not actually GMed a game before. That sound file I posted here is actually for the first game I plan on running. Since that scenario is rather simple, short, and can be run in a few hours, prep for it was pretty short. I just read over it and saw where I would change things to put a bit of my own flavour in there. The sound file took a little bit to get to where I liked the background music, and all up that would have been about an hour and a bit.

I'm starting out with written scenarios so I can be comfortable before I start doing my own things from scratch. I know how things are done and how I want to do them whilst bringing a bit of myself to it, but getting comfortable on the other side of the screen is something different. Since I haven't done it before, I'm keeping it simple.

Good plan - so when's your first session? I'm giving myself a month to make sure I have time to get the book, read it all through and get comfortable with a scenario.
I think I'm going to have 4 players to start with, but we could be going up to 6...there are about 8 people who want in, but I don't think that'll be manageable at all.

 

[Danoss]

Good plan - so when's your first session? I'm giving myself a month to make sure I have time to get the book, read it all through and get comfortable with a scenario.
I think I'm going to have 4 players to start with, but we could be going up to 6...there are about 8 people who want in, but I don't think that'll be manageable at all.

My first session should be around the end of next month, if all things go to plan.

4 players is great, 6 is still workable. 8 players is insanity.

 

[Mikeside]

My first session should be around the end of next month, if all things go to plan.

4 players is great, 6 is still workable. 8 players is insanity.

Nice, we'll probably be starting around the same time, then! I look forward to hearing how you get on!