Support NeoGAF

[EYEL1NER]

I knew there was a Pen and Paper thread on here but only just now ever thought to venture into it.
I had my first ever DnD session this morning. A couple coworkers emailed me while I was recently on vacation back home in the States and said they were going to start playing D&D and that I needed to bring a 5E Player's Handbook back with me if I wanted to play (and also to maybe roll a character ahead of time too). I bought a Handbook, a Starter Set, several sets of Chessex dice, the token pack, and the spell cards for Paladins and Rangers since I felt like I might want to try those out pretty quickly. I also made sure to get the Basic Rules and Elemental Evil supplement on my iPad and a former coworker who just started a group recently way over where he works in Japan directed me to get the Fight Club 5E app and hooked me up with a Dropbox collection of files for it. I still haven't read TOO much of the handbook due to being distracted with a 40K novel that I am super-into at the moment but I have gone over all of the races and roles. I already have at this location the first three D&D Adventure board games (don't have Temple of Elemental Evil yet), so I have a ton of monster minis already if they decide to start using any on the maps (and I have first edition Descent up here, War of the Ring 2E, and a bunch of other games that have fantasy-style minis).
While I was home, my coworkers kept trying to get me to roll a character prior to coming back so I could jump in quickly. I kept trying to come up with ideas but kept realizing that they were all super-common tropes or just other fictional characters by a different name. I really wanted to do something more creative or original than that though and emailed the person who is DMing that I fear I am not a creative person. Like, I have always felt I was pretty creative and have certainly been told that all throughout my education and technical training, but now that I am confronted with this option to make myself into something new and adopt a new identity for the game, I can't come up with anything good. One guy who has been playing told me to just go for something really quick and simple, because odds are good that whatever I will create first will not be satisfying for me and I will want to reroll an improved or altogether different character after my first game. The DM told me not to focus too much on it and that it didn't matter too much if my guy was essentially Legolas or maybe Zatoichi or Stick (from Daredevil), that his first characters ever were rips on Solid Snake and Rorouni Kenshin and that another guy he played with years ago was pretty much Goku.
After thinking about it for a while, I finally decided to ask the DM if he would look down on me too much for using a pre-gen character from the Starter Box. My reasoning behind it was A) It would give me an opportunity to at least get my feet wet with the game, learn how it flows and plays, and observe the other PCs, and then maybe I would have a better idea what to roll afterward. And B) From the way things have gone in the sessions so far that have been relayed to me by a players, I figure my first character will be killed pretty quickly anyway, since they keep getting killed off and rolling new characters. He said he didn't mind, so I chose the noble human fighter. A guy last night explained some stuff about my character sheet, told me what I needed to do to level him up to Lv3 to start the game, and showed me his character sheet. While taking a shower I came up with my character's name (though it was pointed out to me after introducing my character that my last name is definitely an elvish name and I immediately upon being told that realized I had seen it recently on some green elf cards in MtG and that is why it popped into my mind... oops). And this morning I joined the party.
I had fun I guess. It was nice to get together in a group to play something and the other dudes aren't bad people. One of them, a dwarves barbarian, had us cracking up and he put on Shartlo Copely's accent from Elysium for a while. The other guys definitely know what they are doing, which is nice. The DM created an interesting world and campaign (or it seems that way from my brief introduction to it anyway). And I didn't really do anything wrong either, which is also nice. Managed to kill a hobgoblin in an encounter we had. My main problem with it though so far is what I was afraid of when trying to come up with a character, that I am starting to fear that I don't have an ounce of creativity in my body. Some of it though may just be poor self-esteem and a low image of myself making me afraid of putting myself out there socially, that I don't want to look dumb to anyone or be laughed at for putting on a certain voice or anything. I'm not entirely sure yet but I've got some hangup that I need to get over quickly, because we play again on Tuesday morning when some of the other guys get off shift.
I just had issues coming up with things to say and things to do. My character is supposed to be a lawful neutral noble, but I felt like I was being a dick and kind of one-note, just pointing out how above my companions I was and how I shouldn't have had to walk or share the back of a carriage with NPC merchants. Out of all the pre-gen characters, the noble seemed most interesting when I first looked through them. I wonder if maybe it just might not be a good fit, that maybe some people just aren't going to be able to play a certain type of character well all the time. I guess there are a lot of actors out there who can't pull off certain roles too well. I also think I was trying to analyze things way too much and trying to figure out how to game certain things instead of just relaxing and not worrying about EXP or anything. Maybe I should have a couple beers while playing...

Oh well. If anyone has any tips to loosen up a bit or just regular beginner's tips, I would be open to hearing them. I've checked out a couple sites today and also looked for any guides to RPing a noble character. Tomorrow I might type up a character here that I was thinking about too, if anyone was interested. I spent all afternoon at work on Thursday coming up with an idea for this character after reading a particular spell in the back of the book, before finally realizing "Oh, shit, I just essentially created 'X' character from that one movie." I relayed the tale to the DM and he said there were some interesting elements there and some cool things I could do or directions I could take, so he was okay with it. I'll check back though if anyone has advice and sub so I can read other people's tales as well. If GAF hadn't been blocked months ago at work, I would spend tomorrow at work reading the first OT and this one. I'll search for some other good sites though and read the handbook further.

 

[Axelhortsemchi]

I knew there was a Pen and Paper thread on here but only just now ever thought to venture into it.
I had my first ever DnD session this morning. A couple coworkers emailed me while I was recently on vacation back home in the States and said they were going to start playing D&D and that I needed to bring a 5E Player's Handbook back with me if I wanted to play (and also to maybe roll a character ahead of time too). I bought a Handbook, a Starter Set, several sets of Chessex dice, the token pack, and the spell cards for Paladins and Rangers since I felt like I might want to try those out pretty quickly. I also made sure to get the Basic Rules and Elemental Evil supplement on my iPad and a former coworker who just started a group recently way over where he works in Japan directed me to get the Fight Club 5E app and hooked me up with a Dropbox collection of files for it. I still haven't read TOO much of the handbook due to being distracted with a 40K novel that I am super-into at the moment but I have gone over all of the races and roles. I already have at this location the first three D&D Adventure board games (don't have Temple of Elemental Evil yet), so I have a ton of monster minis already if they decide to start using any on the maps (and I have first edition Descent up here, War of the Ring 2E, and a bunch of other games that have fantasy-style minis).
While I was home, my coworkers kept trying to get me to roll a character prior to coming back so I could jump in quickly. I kept trying to come up with ideas but kept realizing that they were all super-common tropes or just other fictional characters by a different name. I really wanted to do something more creative or original than that though and emailed the person who is DMing that I fear I am not a creative person. Like, I have always felt I was pretty creative and have certainly been told that all throughout my education and technical training, but now that I am confronted with this option to make myself into something new and adopt a new identity for the game, I can't come up with anything good. One guy who has been playing told me to just go for something really quick and simple, because odds are good that whatever I will create first will not be satisfying for me and I will want to reroll an improved or altogether different character after my first game. The DM told me not to focus too much on it and that it didn't matter too much if my guy was essentially Legolas or maybe Zatoichi or Stick (from Daredevil), that his first characters ever were rips on Solid Snake and Rorouni Kenshin and that another guy he played with years ago was pretty much Goku.
After thinking about it for a while, I finally decided to ask the DM if he would look down on me too much for using a pre-gen character from the Starter Box. My reasoning behind it was A) It would give me an opportunity to at least get my feet wet with the game, learn how it flows and plays, and observe the other PCs, and then maybe I would have a better idea what to roll afterward. And B) From the way things have gone in the sessions so far that have been relayed to me by a players, I figure my first character will be killed pretty quickly anyway, since they keep getting killed off and rolling new characters. He said he didn't mind, so I chose the noble human fighter. A guy last night explained some stuff about my character sheet, told me what I needed to do to level him up to Lv3 to start the game, and showed me his character sheet. While taking a shower I came up with my character's name (though it was pointed out to me after introducing my character that my last name is definitely an elvish name and I immediately upon being told that realized I had seen it recently on some green elf cards in MtG and that is why it popped into my mind... oops). And this morning I joined the party.
I had fun I guess. It was nice to get together in a group to play something and the other dudes aren't bad people. One of them, a dwarves barbarian, had us cracking up and he put on Shartlo Copely's accent from Elysium for a while. The other guys definitely know what they are doing, which is nice. The DM created an interesting world and campaign (or it seems that way from my brief introduction to it anyway). And I didn't really do anything wrong either, which is also nice. Managed to kill a hobgoblin in an encounter we had. My main problem with it though so far is what I was afraid of when trying to come up with a character, that I am starting to fear that I don't have an ounce of creativity in my body. Some of it though may just be poor self-esteem and a low image of myself making me afraid of putting myself out there socially, that I don't want to look dumb to anyone or be laughed at for putting on a certain voice or anything. I'm not entirely sure yet but I've got some hangup that I need to get over quickly, because we play again on Tuesday morning when some of the other guys get off shift.
I just had issues coming up with things to say and things to do. My character is supposed to be a lawful neutral noble, but I felt like I was being a dick and kind of one-note, just pointing out how above my companions I was and how I shouldn't have had to walk or share the back of a carriage with NPC merchants. Out of all the pre-gen characters, the noble seemed most interesting when I first looked through them. I wonder if maybe it just might not be a good fit, that maybe some people just aren't going to be able to play a certain type of character well all the time. I guess there are a lot of actors out there who can't pull off certain roles too well. I also think I was trying to analyze things way too much and trying to figure out how to game certain things instead of just relaxing and not worrying about EXP or anything. Maybe I should have a couple beers while playing...

Oh well. If anyone has any tips to loosen up a bit or just regular beginner's tips, I would be open to hearing them. I've checked out a couple sites today and also looked for any guides to RPing a noble character. Tomorrow I might type up a character here that I was thinking about too, if anyone was interested. I spent all afternoon at work on Thursday coming up with an idea for this character after reading a particular spell in the back of the book, before finally realizing "Oh, shit, I just essentially created 'X' character from that one movie." I relayed the tale to the DM and he said there were some interesting elements there and some cool things I could do or directions I could take, so he was okay with it. I'll check back though if anyone has advice and sub so I can read other people's tales as well. If GAF hadn't been blocked months ago at work, I would spend tomorrow at work reading the first OT and this one. I'll search for some other good sites though and read the handbook further.

Making creative characters is tricky when you're first starting out. My first character was a pathologically insane Drizzt knockoff, so I feel your pain.

The more time you put in with a system, the more you'll have an idea of what you can pull off within and the easier it will be to make your characters seem more creative. My advice would be to start with a concept you want to roleplay out in a campaign. It can be based around a personality or a mechanic, anything you'll have fun with, really. From there, you form the character around that and things pretty much get fleshed out from there as you play more. A lot of the most entertaining things come from being ready to roll along with things, leading to outcomes no one expected at the start of the session, in my experience anyway. Some groups are stricter than others, so how you play your character is going to depend a lot on the people you're playing with. It's all about having fun at the end of the day, so you don't want to play your character in a way that starts to ruin things for other players.

It's also a lot easier when you know how the group you're with handles things and you're comfortable around them. It's also good to ask the DM sometimes if you're in an idea rut. The DM can usually help you at least get pointed towards something that's a good fit for the campaign, and in some cases it's easier to take something and tweak it to something you want to play than to start from scratch. And once you're rolling along with people, it becomes easier to just go "Man, I have a character idea that seems like it would be a blast to play. Let's see how we can do this."

So TLR, just keep playing, and as you learn the system, it'll be easier to get more creative when you're spending less time thinking on minutiae. And have fun with it! Creativity comes more naturally when you're having a good time with things.

 

[dude]

There is no such thing as an original character. You're gonna rip stuff off, your characters will often be knock-offs, that is just the way of things.
The key part is knowing how to steal creatively. Rather than steal characters, steal the tropes. Let's say I wanna play someone like Omar from The Wire because he's cool as fuck: Rather than steal his actual character history and trademarks I'll start by trying to translate what he is to the game. So, for example, I could play some sort of brigand rogue/fighter who is openly gay and walks around in heavy armor and heavy weapons - He's also very dangerous and often gets in trouble with other rogues (if it fits the setting, I'll even give him an Arquebus or something.) From there, I'll let the character take the life of its own and see how it goes. Do not get too caught up in the inspiration or first vision of the character. Often, as you allocate stats and skills the character is going to come out significantly different than the first imagined version, because most systems (or at least most good systems) are built so that you can't have everything you want. It's important to see that as part of the character creation! It makes you prioritize what you want in this character and also introduce new flaws and characteristics. If I want him to have a super high Dex so that he can shoot really well, I might just have to make him a weakling! That was not part of my original vision, but it could help make my character more human and much more interesting. Now that he's weak, I can build that into my backstory - He started shooting the gun because of his weak physicality, for example. This is both making him more interesting and taking him away from the original stolen character.

Now, despite what I said above, I don't usually go for characters because of their coolness. Characters in media will usually possess coolness your character has no chance of rivaling. My character will never be as cool as Omar, because he isn't written by a team of superb writers - Plus, I could botch a roll and fall face-down on my face. That'll go against my vision of coolness and would piss me off.
Rather than thinking strictly in terms of coolness, try and think whether he'll be fun to play. Think of a character that will be fun to play even when he fails! Think about how he talks, how will he act in different situations etc.
If you go for a Kenshin inspired character, rather than going for what makes him cool (Being the most amazing swordman ever and turning into the Buttosai to kick everybody's ass) try and get inspired by the character's personality or essence. So start with the concept of an ex-soldier turns pacifist and go from there.

For a beginning character, I'd think of at least three things:
Style & Quirks, Flaws and Motivation.
Style & Quirks is the fun part. That's the superficial stuff like the way he talks, how he likes to collect the teeth off his kills or just the lisp he talk with. Those are the stuff I almost always outright steal from a character that captured my imagination.
Flaws is the less fun stuff. this where your character fails. It doesn't have to be purely physical! It could be a phobia or a bad personality trait. It's important to make this an actual flaw, rather than a "cursed with awesome" type of deal. Being blind but an awesome fighter is not a flaw, it's a style. Flaws are BAD. Represent those flaws with stats. If he's sickly, go with 9-8 CON. It'll make your character better, trust me. Also, make you life harder with this flaw you chose. If you're sickly, ever once in a while just role-play your character having trouble walking while in a dungeon. This creates drama and will often give the DM a chance to throw some monsters when the situation is bad for you (in other words, fun!)
The Motivation is what connects him to the world. It's not enough to have flaws and style, you also need something to connect him to the adventure and world. Try to think what he cares about, what are his beliefs etc. Basically, I like to frame it like that: "Adventuring is like super dangerous, you can get killed in like a minute. Why would my character do it? Why not settle down and live safely?" 'Boredom' could work for some characters, but I think you need to then answer why he chose to relieve the boredom in basically the most dangerous way imaginable.
Also, this is a question that needs to be answered constantly, not just once. If you are doing it all to restore you family's honor, and you feel like your character did that to any degree - Well then it's time to change it up! The answer to the question should always be - "I have a reason to adventure", because otherwise the character should just go retire somewhere. This is where your RP will come from, because that's what will help you realize why your character is doing what he's doing, and from there is will be much easier to know what to say and do. If the motivation personal, material, selfish, charitable, honorable, important, trivial, evil, good etc. is what's going to define for you that character. If you care about your family honor, it's very reasonable to assume your character holds honor, tradition and probably his name in high regard.

So for you noble -
First think of the fun stuff you want him to have, the style you want to bring to this character. What is his fighting style? What his is trademarks? Just steal those stuff from characters you think are cool. Often just translating cool characters to medieval setting will make them original enough. Also try different accents and talk patterns. See what fits and is fun for you. You might feel silly with an accent first, but I think it's very important. First, it helps solidify the border between player and character and seconds it's super fun after you get over the awkwardness.

Then think of your character flaw. Being a dick is a flaw, but then it should be represented with low charisma (ask you DM to move points around, if he agrees.) But you should also talk with other players to treat your character like he's a dick. Maybe their character should hate you, or think you're the worst. And when they help you, they'll rub it in your face (or even refuse to help!) Also, don't just insult them, maybe talk with the DM to have a plot in which the other characters suspect you for treason! Or maybe you decided you make yourself the leader despite being the least suitable for it (because you're a dick and have low charisma.) Make your dickishness something fun and interesting in the story rather than just one-note insults. Drama is fun.

Then think why your character is going around killing stuff. His motivation. He's a noble, he could just go live in some estate somewhere. Why doesn't he? I can't really help you much here, but if you decide he's a dick - Your motivation should play into that. Perhaps your character is a dick because he's secretly a bastard, and he believes he doesn't deserve the luxury he was born into. So it's very important to him to prove to himself he's good. His motivation is both to perform the task at hand - But also to prove to himself he's actually the arrogant noble he makes himself to be! Now, that's a reason to go risk your life, because he can't just sit around in a big mansion he doesn't think he deserves.

 

[ElectricThunder]

Actually fluent Spanish and/or apparently French folks: Anybody hear anything on what's afoot in the Anima camp of late? Their old English website is apparently no more, and while I know work continues apace on their spiffy 3D spectacle brawler RPG from Kickstarter awhile back now, it would be cool if there was at least rumblings on getting more of the core materials out in English finally---to say nothing of hopefully new stuff outright.

 

[EYEL1NER]

.

.

Thanks for the tips on character building and RPing, guys. I've got some pretty good ideas at the moment, some for the future character I said I would mention. That character came to mind when I was flipping through spells and was reading about conjuring various creatures. I saw that rangers had the ability to conjure crocodiles. And not just one, but depending on the level and amount of slots the spell is occupying, multiple crocs can be summoned. I thought about how cool it would be to conjure a couple crocodiles who upon rolling a crit would each clamp down on a foe's limb and wrestle him to the ground while I delivered a finishing blow. I saw that a couple dozen snakes could be conjured as well. I started thinking about what kind of ranger would be summoning animals and I thought "Elf." I was getting a swamp vibe from the crocs and snakes too, so I thought 'Instead of a Forest Elf, it will be a Swamp Elf.' But then I started thinking that it might take quite a bit of creativity to make a swamp elf different enough from a forest elf besides just making them be dirty and live in a swamp. I mean, maybe it could be done pretty quickly but it was getting close to the end of the day at work and I had already spent hours that day reading the Player's Handbook and sorting a couple thousand MtG cards to build some decks with. I then came up with something almost I thought sounded good.
A half-Orc. At first I thought it would be half orc and half elf but I wondered if the DM would allow that or if maybe the commonly-accepted parentage of a half-orc was only to a human and an orc. So I decided on a regular half-orc, with orcish and human blood. It was discovered as a baby along the edge of a swamp by an elvish couple, abandoned to the wilds by a mother disgusted with what she had birthed. The elves were from a tribe that splintered off from a normal forest elf community and took up in the swamps where the baby had been left. The swamp elves were a dingy and grimy bunch who lived above the mire and muck. They survived by farming what little of the dry ground they could, as well as raiding local villages and robbing anyone who was foolish enough to venture into their lands.
So this elven couple raises this half-orc as their own, teaching him the ways of the elf and of their tribe. He learns to be agile and lithe despite quickly growing to typical half-orc height. He learns the way of the ranger, gaining proficiency with dagger and bow. And he learns powerful elvish magic like: the ability to conjure swamp animals such as the crocodile.
As a very young child he thought of himself as an elf, like his adoptive parents and the people he lived amongst. His parents loved him but the rest of the tribe treated him with scorn and malice, looking upon him as an abomination. By the time he had reached young adulthood he had come to realize that he was not actually one of them and would never truly be accepted. While training on his own one day he is accosted by a group of elves who had harassed and bullied him all throughout childhood. A fight breaks out between them and after many years of being ostracized and treated like an outcast in his own home, the bloodlust and rage submerged deep in his orcish blood boils to the surface. He violently kills the elves and upon regaining his sanity is horrified to see what he had done. Fearing that he can never face his parents again after committing such an act, he abandons his swamp home and leaves for the first time, to wander the world and bring meaning to his life. And then the DM says to the other PCs "While on the way to the town, you see a tall figure walking the same direction as you. He is a half-orc wearing elvish tunic and leathers, with a majestic bow slung across his back. You introduce yourselves," or something like that, and BOOM! I am in the game.
I really liked the idea of conjuring a bunch of crocodiles and swamp creatures, I had thought about playing a ranger anyway and rolling around sniping people with arrows, and enjoyed the idea of playing a character who had zero experiences outside his swampland and was confused by the way the real world operated. But then I started thinking about it harder: "A swamp... Dark green ranger's hoods and noxious bubbling waters firmly putting the color 'green' into my mind... Someone who is hated and feared for what he is... A large muscular Orc, which might as well just be an ogre. Oh, goddamnit... I just created Shrek." I just shook my head for a bit and then started laughing at the ridiculousness of it. I ran it all by the DM when he came on shift to relieve me and he actually seemed to really like it, especially the idea of pet crocodiles with jaws locked onto the arms and legs of a struggling foe as I delivered the coup de grace from above.

Kind of a long-winded description but I am having trouble falling asleep so I figured 'What the hell?' I do want to roll that character but figured I would continue on with the current quest for now without him. But that left my current character, the pre-gen noble whom I didn't want to really play as. I spoke at length with the DM about it as we played MtG Monday night while waiting for morning when two other guys would get off work and we would play again. I said that I didn't want to just kill the character off or just abruptly switch, so maybe we could work something out like maybe I was a bounty hunter who had assumed a false identity to track his prey, a fact that would be found out by the others and I would explain that I did not yet trust them. I asked the DM if maybe there was an important NPC that we could work into that backstory and that I didn't really need to kill him, just have that as a goal and reason why I was questing.
He then told me he came up with an idea that we could run with, if it sounded interesting to me. He told me that I could play a spy and then filled me in on where the story was heading, that there was a secret organization that had been around for ages. A dark god and eldritch horrors had terrorized the lands before being sealed away 1000 years ago. This organization has snuffed out belief in these foul beings over the years and erased all trace of their existence. There have been prophecies foretelling of evil's return. I am an agent, one of many, who has been sent out to learn more about the prophecies. The noble identity would be fake; I would convince the other guys playing that I was the asshole noble champion but underneath my character sheet I would have a second sheet that I would be secretively using the values from for checks, my true identity as the spy. When he told me the story of the order, or what my character knew of the order, I told him that I had a feeling I was being used, that I wasn't really on the side of good and that the order had set out to bring about the return of evil to the world. Or something like that. And then I would have to choose who to stand with. He would neither confirm nor deny anything else, only what the character knew of the order's history and the secret words that would be spoken to me by NPCs to let me know they were also part of the order. I decided that I liked the idea and said sure. We ended up spending several hours on my character, a human spy who would end up being a Fighter3/Rogue1, the multiclass into rogue would give me some stealthiness that would befit a spy.
Equipping the character proved to be a bit difficult. I said "If the other players think I have a massive greataxe that I was wielding in battle, a family heirloom passed down through the ages (per my backstory), I can't very well equip my spy character with anything but a greataxe. He said it would be no big deal but I was having problems figuring out how I was to play a spy with a short sword and crossbow pretending he was a noble with an axe. Acting out the character of a noble might not be a big deal but lying about having an axe might break the immersion for the others once my true identity would be revealed. So we moved on for a bit and worked on my backstory. I was looking at the flaws and figured that I would use one of the ones out of the book while I worked out some more later on when my eyes settled on one that would aid in keeping greataxe for a while. "An innocent man is in prison because of me. I don't feel bad about it." I wrote it down and posited "What if the noble isn't a made up identity but was a real person? I spied on him and his family for a while in the role of maybe his butler, before deciding that I needed his name and status to learn more information. I imprisoned him in a secret dungeon of the order and assumed his identity. a most despicable act but one I don't feel bad about because of my morality: I feel like it had to be done and do not feel bad because I believe that his sacrifice was necessary for the sake of the world and would do it again if I had to. As for the axe, it was a family heirloom, know far and wide. Of course I would need to keep carrying it, to keep up the charade that I was the noble Berrik. He liked that idea a lot.
So we got a cool character rolled up and played for a couple hours early Tuesday morning. I didn't get to do much with him because we were only in a town to learn information for the current quest and then travel three eventless weeks to some ancient ruins where we finished for the day (well, it was almost eventless. We did encounter some floating lights while camping in the woods that led us away from the fire and deep into the darkness. We assumed they were will-o-wisps but when their lights almost went out and threatened to plunge us into darkness with noises around us, I lit a torch and the lights fled. So pretty eventless...).
There are a couple things I need to work out though. I need to do some more work on backstory, who my character used to be before becoming a spy. What gods he follows (his traits describe him as emotionless and logical, so I thought something like an atheist but the DM told me that the gods of his world are very real and have presented themselves to humans before, that I could be an atheist but it would be a bit silly since everyone had proof of the existence of the gods). Then I also talked to the DM about my armor. My noble was wearing platemail, which gave me as buff AC but made it hard to sneak. I said that I didn't know how I was supposed to be a spy in leather armor pretending to be in different armor. The other players knew I was in platemail but it would seem weird if I was found out to be a spy later and I am suddenly wearing leather armor. It would be like walking into the room while they are watching TV and I am wearing no clothes but telling them "Check out my cool-looking Iron Maiden shirt I just got. It goes pretty well with these shorts and shoes, right?" So I asked if there was any way he could destroy my armor or cause it to be gone so my noble could adopt some leathers, like maybe during battle with some enemy it delivers a very nasty blow that slices right through my mail and I end up abandoning it rather than getting it repaired. He said he would come up with something. I also need to check out how much stuff I am carrying. We fully kitted out this spy, but he also has all of his gear and items that the noble had. So I need to add up the weights tomorrow at work and see if I am overencumbered and if so, what I can afford to lose from my pack (hopefully not the steamy dwarves romance novel I found on the corpse of the Hobgoblin I slayed on Saturday. I have a feeling that will come in handy.

Anyway, that is all I have got for now. We are playing again Saturday morning, so hopefully I will get a chance to unleash this guy in combat again, now that I have a fresh idea and new take on him. Thanks again for the responses though.

 

[KittenMaster]

But then I started thinking about it harder: "A swamp... Dark green ranger's hoods and noxious bubbling waters firmly putting the color 'green' into my mind... Someone who is hated and feared for what he is... A large muscular Orc, which might as well just be an ogre. Oh, goddamnit... I just created Shrek." I just shook my head for a bit and then started laughing at the ridiculousness of it. I ran it all by the DM when he came on shift to relieve me and he actually seemed to really like it,

Stuff like this ended up happening enough to the point where I started to do it on purpose. It becomes a fun game to see if people notice or not (usually they don't unless it's deliberately obvious that I'm ripping off Han Solo and Chewbacca).

There are a couple things I need to work out though. I need to do some more work on backstory, who my character used to be before becoming a spy. What gods he follows (his traits describe him as emotionless and logical, so I thought something like an atheist but the DM told me that the gods of his world are very real and have presented themselves to humans before, that I could be an atheist but it would be a bit silly since everyone had proof of the existence of the gods).

There's probably a deity that is worshiped by academic, philosophical, or forward thinking types, but for the most part having a god or goddess for your character isn't required for Fighter/Rogue (unless that changed in 5e, which I doubt it had). It also wouldn't be unreasonable in-universe to question whether deities deserve the renown that they have.

I can't help with the armor bit since I don't know 5e (and your DM will probably have a solution anyway).

 

[Deified Data]

So I recently bought a Savage Worlds DM screen with room for inserts. Any tips on some must have cheat sheets or tables for 5e?

 

[zulux21]

anyone here try to run a potential murder mystery scenario before?

basically the players are going to know that a character will die at a given time, but they don't know who will kill that person. They have 4 potential suspects, but can't rule out that there is outside help or that some of the suspects are working together.

I am currently designing this like sorta a visual novel or telltale game where I have the characters in locations at given times and will give different answers based on how well they trust you. I took a stab at the most common questions that matter that could be asked of each character and then wrote down responses for each tier of trust (as I don't trust myself to keep important answers straight on the fly.)

The goal would be for them to talk to the people of interest, gain their trust, and figure out the truth before it is to late. I have to impose some odd limits for a pathfinder session to pull this off (such as how time works as if I let time work properly I would have to have way to much in the way of conversations and likely wouldn't be able to create a tight story due to to much freedom) and I also will design a more brute force route.

I was wondering if anyone has ever tried doing something like this, and if they have if they have any suggestions? when all is said and done I will have put a couple days of effort into this (i'm not done yet, I will have more to do but current estimates even if just very quick basic responses for things has my outline for the session at around 10-13k words lol) for something that should likely only take a few hours to go through so I am hoping if someone has done this they can offer insight on their experiences so that I perhaps can avoid some major thing I won't plan for as the last thing I want is for this to fall completely flat... mostly flat I am okay with since I haven't tried something like this, it will basically be my playtest of it, and my roleplaying chops are rusty, but I don't want it to completely fail lol.

 

[Rootbeer]

FFG Star Wars players, check out this fan made sourcebook for Star Wars Rebels!

http://rebels.d20radio.com/

Very professionally made. It has a thread on the FFG forums so they seem to be sanctioning it to some extent.

OggDude's FFG RPG toolset has been updated too, with a wealth of new features including support for the new Core Rulebook "Force & Destiny", it also bundles data from the Rebels sourcebook that you can choose to manually import (not available by default since it's not an official publication.)

 

[Gazoinks]

My Carolina Death Crawl deck came today (not my picture)

Really excited to play this. I love games that use cards, the concept is fascinating, and I really like pretty much everything Jason Morningstar's done (he's the Fiasco guy).

 

[Xeinok]

Don't know if anyone here plays Numenera but there's a kickstarter going on for new books.

That's awesome, I'm a big Numenera player (GM actually) and hadn't heard of this somehow.

 

[Megalosaro]

Brought in a new player to my group. He has never played dnd before, but plays other games like descent. Picked up the rules pretty quick. He is a little bit of meta gamer though, but not to an annoying degree.

He's bring descent over on wednesday. Should be fun. Anyone ever try it before.

 

[zeshakag]

Hey, i am glad i found this thread. I'm dming my first game on Roll20 (my irl friends arent really into dnd). I'll be running 5e and am looking for some newer players who are willing to play at least every other week. That way we can all be new and dumb together.

Here's my game listing.

https://app.roll20.net/campaigns/details/1000173/adventures-in-aselar-5e


I have a nervous excitement. I've been soaking in as much as I can from the /r/dnd subreddit and i know it wont go perfectly, but I knew ever since playing DND that i would enjoy dm more than playing.

 

[Axelhortsemchi]

Hey, i am glad i found this thread. I'm dming my first game on Roll20 (my irl friends arent really into dnd). I'll be running 5e and am looking for some newer players who are willing to play at least every other week. That way we can all be new and dumb together.

Here's my game listing.

https://app.roll20.net/campaigns/details/1000173/adventures-in-aselar-5e


I have a nervous excitement. I've been soaking in as much as I can from the /r/dnd subreddit and i know it wont go perfectly, but I knew ever since playing DND that i would enjoy dm more than playing.

Sounds fun, I can always go for more online games to jump into. It'll be my first time playing 5e, so I think I've got the new and dumb part down pat. XD

Also, the link is just going to a page that it says I'm not authorized to see. I don't know if that's due to settings on its end or if my internet is just janky.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Is anyone here into Mage: The Awakening? I've started a PBP at another board, but responses have been kind of lukewarm, so I'm welcome to new faces.

Setting is Texas, during an Inquisition against the Pentacle instigated by the Seers.

 

[Deified Data]

About to have another go at DMing 5e. One of those "if I don't DM then no one's going to play" deals. Still not entirely confident in my skills as a DM as I've only done it once before and personally felt I sucked (though the players said I was fine), but here we go.

The world is an untamed, largely unexplored place, but if the continent-spanning empire of Vidania has its way, it won't remain so for long. Singular in their drive to explore and colonize, Vidania sends exploratory vessels from their capitol of Nicaea to all four corners of the globe. Most return empty-handed. Some never return at all. But one happened to return with tales of a vast tropical continent, ripe for agriculture and grazing - cartographers dubbed this land Ur, and the rush to establish a foothold began in earnest.

A stark truth soon revealed itself to these passionate explorers, however: the verdant paradise they were promised was but a single sliver on a massive continent dominated by inhospitable desert and endless steppes, agonizingly hot in the Summer and deathly cold in the Winter. Sheltered by mountains to the northwest and southeast, their claim was spared the worst of Ur's temperamental climate. Better still, the discovery of a sprawling, ruined city at the nexus of the desert, mountains, and viable land gave them the means to hold it.

The ruined city was host only to scattered, pre-literate tribes of hulking, green-skinned savages - long of tooth and short of temper. Initial attempts at diplomacy proved futile, as the creatures had no discernible language outside of grunts and hisses. Diplomats and missionaries often returned beaten and humiliated, if they returned at all. Growing weary of the stalemate, Vidanian ships sailed to war, and it was easily won. The savages' crude weapons of stone and bone armor were little match for Vidanian steel - the purge was over in a fortnight, and the newly won city named Tribunus, in honor of the Archon who had granted the manpower to take it.

Two hundred years would come to pass, seeing Tribunus transformed from a ruined squatter’s refuge to a prosperous gem in Vidania’s colonial crown. Stark stone walls were erected along the city’s southwest edge, serving as an impenetrable border between civilization and the unknown. The time-worn streets of the ancient city were paved over, its ruined spires still visible in some neglected quarters, a confluence of old and new.

It’s to this city you’ve been called: Tribunus, city of adventure, port of call to merchants, missionaries, mercenaries, and brigands alike. The powers that guide Vidania’s expansion aren’t content to hold a colony – they want a continent, and they need willing adventurers such as yourselves to brave its many dangers. Orcs, Ogres, Beast-folk, Draconians, and nameless creatures from the depths of pre-history are but some of the dangers you might face, but you wouldn’t have received an invitation if you weren’t the best of the best, would you?

 

[Megalosaro]

Anyone have any experience with hero forge? How are their prices?

 

[Deified Data]

Anyone have any experience with hero forge? How are their prices?

They're expensive - about $35 for a model in their "ultra detail" substance. The quality's not bad but they can come out a little grainy. I've personally taken to just using Reaper for minis, unless the class/race combo is super obscure.

 

[Megalosaro]

I’ve been running into a problem with one of my players since we started.
Everyone gets super into the game when we play. They cheer and excited describe what they do. They role play decently well. Except this one player.
Two of my four players are my roommates. This particular is one of them. The only reason he plays is clearly because he doesn’t want to feel left out. But he clearly doesn’t want to play. In none encounters, he doesn’t contribute at all and is on the his phone the entire time. In battle he slogs down everything to a crawl and you can feel the energy at the table die down.
I’ve tried motivating him bit frankly I don’t think it can be done. So how can I nicely say that I don’t want him to play?

 

[embalm]

I’ve been running into a problem with one of my players since we started.
Everyone gets super into the game when we play. They cheer and excited describe what they do. They role play decently well. Except this one player.
Two of my four players are my roommates. This particular is one of them. The only reason he plays is clearly because he doesn’t want to feel left out. But he clearly doesn’t want to play. In none encounters, he doesn’t contribute at all and is on the his phone the entire time. In battle he slogs down everything to a crawl and you can feel the energy at the table die down.
I’ve tried motivating him bit frankly I don’t think it can be done. So how can I nicely say that I don’t want him to play?

There isn't a good way to do this. If he really doesn't like the game then in a month or two he will probably quit on his own. Ask and talk to all your players and make sure you aren't the only one with this opinion before saying anything.

A better solution might be to ask your players what they enjoy about the game before/after your next session. Then try to include something to specifically engage the player who is texting. Maybe that player needs a bigger hook to get pulled into the game.

I had a player who was doing something similar. He had your generic cookie cutter back story as a cookie cutter duel wielding orphaned human ranger. During a fight where the Big Bad let his Right Hand Man fend off the party, this duel wielding old man revealed to the player that he was his father and that perhaps the next time they meet they will be on the same side, and the player let him escape. This was followed up with a note from the father in the next session, explaining how he knew it was his son.
That pulled the player right in. His character was the focus of party discussions and that got him on his phone and thinking through things. They didn't know if it was a trap, if the pc would betray them later, if the guy was just lying, or anything substantial. It was pretty great.

 

[Megalosaro]

So I think I am ready to make the plunge into miniatures, after checking my financials.

Since I'm running lost mine of phandelver, I figured I should start there.

How many of each miniature should I buy to meet encounter needs?

 

[embalm]

So I think I am ready to make the plunge into miniatures, after checking my financials.

Since I'm running lost mine of phandelver, I figured I should start there.

How many of each miniature should I buy to meet encounter needs?

You should start with a few generic miniatures to use as generic humanoids or monsters then one or two big bad guys.

Do you know what kind of miniatures you're going to get? Pre-painted? Reaper Bones? Metal?
I recommend going to a website like miniature market and buying your fodder in bulk. A couple orcs and a couple generic humans can be reused in lots of different ways.

For your Big Bad I would really recommend Reaper Bones and a starter paint kit. Their Bones line is unpainted plastic that is really good quality and cheap. They have lots of dragons that you could use for the Green one in Phandelver
If the painting really appeals to you then Reaper Bones is a great way to fill out your generic minions as well.

 

[Megalosaro]

I bought a few bones already. They are pretty nice for not to much

 

[Mike M]

Anyone know a good resource for digital map tiles? I'm finding it surprisingly difficult to find usable stuff of decorative elements like tables, beds, barrels, torches, etc. I guess it makes sense that people making them would want to profit on their work, but there doesn't seem to be much gratis stuff at all.

 

[embalm]

If you just want images to setup an encounter try looking at video game sprite sheets.

 

[Mike M]

Yeah, I considered that, but man would it clash with everything else on the map.

May break down and do it regardless, I guess.

 

[Megalosaro]

There is one dice I have, a green d20. It's a bit rounder than my other d20s.
My players get pissed when I pull it out. They don't e how much it rolls. They've taken to grabbing after I roll it and hiding it until after the session. Now I just put it to the side after I empty my dice pouch.
On a side note, does anyone have any reccomend at ions on dice trays?

 

[Huw_Dawson]

Sorry for the drive-by recruitment:

I'm looking to run an online 13th Age campaign as GM. It'd be EU and EST timezones and be done via Maptool/Roll20 and Skype or Discord.

If anyone's interested in the system, send me a PM.

 

[Huw_Dawson]

Bumping because I actually made a thing for said campaign:

The campaign is called 'The West, The Wilds and The Wake' and you can see more about it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1HuLTuipQ0&feature=youtu.be

It was gone half two in the morning when I finished, but I actually want to run a campaign and I'm having a hell of a time finding players, so I decided to make a video ad!

This is impossibly sad but hey... maybe other people have done more desperate things?

 

[TheWorthyEdge]

I just started DMing for a Star Wars RPG campaign and holy shit is it an amazing feeling. DMing is so satisfying. I've played a simple DnD session before and I had a ton of fun don't get me wrong but DMing is so great watching everybody come together and explore mending the pieces of your story one by one.

 

[Vagabundo]

About to have another go at DMing 5e. One of those "if I don't DM then no one's going to play" deals. Still not entirely confident in my skills as a DM as I've only done it once before and personally felt I sucked (though the players said I was fine), but here we go.

Cool Map!! Did you make that yourself? I did a quick reverse google search and came up with nothing. (I know your banned, hopefully you'll be back at some point!)

I just started DMing for a Star Wars RPG campaign and holy shit is it an amazing feeling. DMing is so satisfying. I've played a simple DnD session before and I had a ton of fun don't get me wrong but DMing is so great watching everybody come together and explore mending the pieces of your story one by one.

Yeah DM is the business. I wish more people would give it a go. My group has been playing for twenty odd years now, but I'm still the only one who will DM.

It pushes a lot of buttons for me; creative, mechanical, tactical, storytelling. Its an amazing feeling when that one in ten/twenty game just clicks and no one wants to stop.

 

[Dreavus]

Cool Map!! Did you make that yourself? I did a quick reverse google search and came up with nothing. (I know your banned, hopefully you'll be back at some point!)



Yeah DM is the business. I wish more people would give it a go. My group has been playing for twenty odd years now, but I'm still the only one who will DM.

It pushes a lot of buttons for me; creative, mechanical, tactical, storytelling. Its an amazing feeling when that one in ten/twenty game just clicks and no one wants to stop.

I've been DMing my group's games for ages, but mostly because I was the one who wanted most to try a different system (we moved from 4E to Dungeon World about a year and a half ago and it has been awesome). Before that, we swapped it around.

The thing I noticed about DMing is I feel like I'm always learning something new or seeing how I can improve. It actually gets frustrating sometimes that we can't play more than we do, so I can get more practice in!

 

[Jintor]

Finally found the thread!

I just started GMing a game for some friends after a half year or so of being bored the moment every DnD game we were running went into 'walk through the dungeon and hit it with your sword' territory (well, I was a mage, but it was very hard to be creative about things with x spell slots p/day or whatever) and impertinently declaring "I can do better". We only had basic char creation and set up so far but it was fun!

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread.

 

[Tekomandor]

I want to run a 3.PF game on NeoGaf, since I see it's allowed and this is my second most visited forum. Would anybody be up for Kingmaker-esque, high powered, planes-heavy game?

The premise of the game would be the players founding a settlement in a vast, newly discovered plane as a part of a colonisation effort. There would still be plenty of adventuring to be done, but in the name of their new home base.

Would anybody be interested in this (and willing to make a thread for it if I pm'd them the OP?)

 

[Bear Force One]

Just ordered my copy of the 5E Player's Handbook! I didn't know I had Amex points built up and the $24 pricetag was a winner.

Seems to be a fairly positive reaction to this edition after a (being nice) mixed reaction to the last.


Any thoughts?

PS. Hi I'm new to the PNP RPG thread. Been playing and GMing on and off for ages.

I just started DMing for a Star Wars RPG campaign and holy shit is it an amazing feeling. DMing is so satisfying. I've played a simple DnD session before and I had a ton of fun don't get me wrong but DMing is so great watching everybody come together and explore mending the pieces of your story one by one.

COOL! Which game/edition?

Anyone else feel that Star Wars Rebels TV show feels just like a RPG group?

 

[Bear Force One]

I'm stupidly excited for the PH coming in the post today! I have read the Basic Rules but there is nothing like new gaming hardcover!

 

[dude]

Just ordered my copy of the 5E Player's Handbook! I didn't know I had Amex points built up and the $24 pricetag was a winner.

Seems to be a fairly positive reaction to this edition after a (being nice) mixed reaction to the last.


Any thoughts?

PS. Hi I'm new to the PNP RPG thread. Been playing and GMing on and off for ages.

Welcome aboard!
I'm not that up to date on D&D right now, as 4e sort of drove me away. I understand 5e is quite good though!

We're currently playing Exalted 3e (backer-only release right now) and it's pretty amazing. The new combat system is just perfect. Well, not 100% perfect, but I'm sure erratas are going to take care of that.

 

[Bear Force One]

Wow news to me. I will have to check it out!

 

[embalm]

5E has been great for my group. It's balanced enough to make life easy on me as a DM, but allows enough cheese to make my players excited about playing and creating characters.

 

[Megalosaro]

So my party is closing in on the end of lost mines. After wards, they want to keep playing. I decided I'm going to run a home brew campaign.


I've begun work on my bible. My approach is to make it as improve friendly as possible. Which means tables. And also lore. Now I'm week aware players don't give a shit about lore too much. But I just want to have a well to pull from whenever I need a random detail.

So basically when I make a new town, I right a few sentences of flavor. Come up with demographics. For my NPC generation, I roll percentile based on that percentage

 

[Muddimar]

Has anyone on here played (or currently playing) the Star Wars Force and Destiny pnp game? My friends and I are current players of 5E DnD and wanted to give the swrpg a shot. We know a fella that is willing to GM the game for us (since we aren't familiar with the rules, etc), and I wanted to know if anyone could give me tips before I get started.

So far our party has a Technician and Warrior (combat focused). I was thinking about doing a Warrior - Starfighter Ace or a Seeker - Hunter. I want to be able to pilot ships with some confidence in case our party needs help in that area, however, I wasn't sure how much piloting actually comes into play?

Any thoughts? Experiences with the game?

 

[ElectricThunder]

Things That Weren't Supposed To Happen Because Reasons: Volume Something Something

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/systems-reference-document-srd

 

[Bear Force One]

Some REALLY great home brew classes and options here.

http://dnd-5e-homebrew.tumblr.com/

 

[Megalosaro]

As a dm I have no clue how to manage stealth in 5e. Maybe in just stupid, but I don't understand the rules at all.
This is especially bad because I have a ranger and a rogue in my party. I don't want to weaken them but I don't want to make them op either.
My main confusion is what is the difference between hiding and sneaking? Stealth during combat?

 

[Mike M]

As a dm I have no clue how to manage stealth in 5e. Maybe in just stupid, but I don't understand the rules at all.
This is especially bad because I have a ranger and a rogue in my party. I don't want to weaken them but I don't want to make them op either.
My main confusion is what is the difference between hiding and sneaking? Stealth during combat?

For me, hiding is when the PC is stationary, sneaking is on the move. In either event, it's a Stealth check vs a contested Perception or Inestigation roll if the NPC is actively searching, an NPC's passive perception of they're not on the alert, or straight DC rating + modifiers and advantage/disadvantage, etc as needed (e.g. Good look sneaking up to the walls of a fortress through short grass in broad daylight).

Stealth in combat generally works out to be a one time advantage on an attack roll if they're hiding at the start of combat of arrive unseen after it's started for other players. Most of the time it's pretty damned hard to hide in combat barring the use of invisibility or having crazy terrain with lots of opportunity to break line of sight and find a place to conceal themselves.

 

[Vagabundo]

Had some great sessions in my Nentir Vale 4e DND game recently. I've been running two groups of PC with the same players in the same timeline. I made a Return to Shadowfell Keep salvaging the map from the original horrendous adventure and linked it in to a sub plot in Reavers of the Harkenwold.

Of course my players - being the murder hobo's that they are - didn't care/notice. But that will bite them in the arse if this group ever gets to Paragon level.

Anyway their main group is fighting against the Iron Circle at Albridge, this is penultimate large scale battle where the Harkenwold resistance square off against the Iron Circle. So ran a couple of skill challenges - the first time they've worked for me yey!! - I've up-ressed a map and we have little paper tokens and I'm using some custom/borrowed rules to run the battle at a large scale with the players running the large scale battle and their own character at the same time. It's working great and the players seem psyched about the game.

Because the Iron Circle worship Asmodeus I decided they'd have some Devil mercenaries led by a Cambion. I got a good response from the players when that was unveiled and some half-serious requests about changing sides.

Has anyone on here played (or currently playing) the Star Wars Force and Destiny pnp game? My friends and I are current players of 5E DnD and wanted to give the swrpg a shot. We know a fella that is willing to GM the game for us (since we aren't familiar with the rules, etc), and I wanted to know if anyone could give me tips before I get started.

So far our party has a Technician and Warrior (combat focused). I was thinking about doing a Warrior - Starfighter Ace or a Seeker - Hunter. I want to be able to pilot ships with some confidence in case our party needs help in that area, however, I wasn't sure how much piloting actually comes into play?

Any thoughts? Experiences with the game?

What ruleset is the Starwars game in? I've GMed Star Wars Saga for a year - excellent ruleset.

 

[Muddimar]

What ruleset is the Starwars game in? I've GMed Star Wars Saga for a year - excellent ruleset.

We actually played our first game last night (Force and Destiny). The dice system is unique (non-d20) and I actually loved it once I got use to it. You can still fail a check or roll and have a positive action come out of your failure. Likewise, you can succeed a check but still have a negative action come out of your failure. That dynamic makes for an interesting storytelling mechanic.

Combat was fluid (partially because of the knowledgeable GM). The non-combat scenarios were fluid and fun. Overall, I really enjoyed playing. Can't wait to give it another go with "Episode 2".

 

[Megalosaro]

It's a shame those star wars books are so expensive

 

[Muddimar]

It's a shame those star wars books are so expensive

There are sooo many of them too. The Force and Destiny starter campaign has dice that come with it. To buy dice additionally is pretty pricey. You can find them online for free I'm sure (friend of mine did, after we bought them all). So much fun to play, it's a nice change of pace from DnD's setting.

 

[Vagabundo]

We actually played our first game last night (Force and Destiny). The dice system is unique (non-d20) and I actually loved it once I got use to it. You can still fail a check or roll and have a positive action come out of your failure. Likewise, you can succeed a check but still have a negative action come out of your failure. That dynamic makes for an interesting storytelling mechanic.

Combat was fluid (partially because of the knowledgeable GM). The non-combat scenarios were fluid and fun. Overall, I really enjoyed playing. Can't wait to give it another go with "Episode 2".

Cool sounds awesome. I've heard good things about FFG's Star ars stuff. Although some complaints about the expense. You should check out D20Radio. They did awesome Star Wars Saga podcasts back in the day and switched to the FFG new one. they were fun to listen too.

It's a shame those star wars books are so expensive

There are sooo many of them too. The Force and Destiny starter campaign has dice that come with it. To buy dice additionally is pretty pricey. You can find them online for free I'm sure (friend of mine did, after we bought them all). So much fun to play, it's a nice change of pace from DnD's setting.

Yeah I've heard those complaints. I'm strapped for cash at the moment so my RPG budget is non existent so I'm running on whatever I have already bought - which is probably enough to run a few lifetimes worth of RPG campaigns TBH.