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flightyquinn · 22 days

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thinking about how cursed objects work in most fantasy RPGs.

typically, they wind up just kind of being a big middle finger from the game master - a kind of "whelp, you should have been more paranoid, so now you get hosed" sort of deal. which includes the somewhat game-y trope of objects that you can't get rid of. it's kind of an un-fun mechanic, when you think about it, which is why in most games I've been a part of cursed items often don't see much play, unless it's as a "punishment", or part of a story arc.

...which naturally leads me to think about how to do it better. in the past, I've tried using a curse as a kind of limiter. restrictions or drawbacks to a mostly functional item that is still worth using despite being "cursed". that's good, but it doesn't let you draw on truly nasty curses, because the item needs to be worth using, but also still needs to be balanced.

so, I'm drawing from a lot of sources here, like the cursed shield in Final Fantasy VI, and especially the comics by @foldingfittedsheets, where curses exist to (literally) teach the recipient a lesson

MEAT OF THE POST STARTS HERE:

what about cursed items that have a way to overcome their curse?

it's actually a fairly common trope in classical literature / fairy tales. every curse has a way to be broken. yet in D&D and Pathfinder, most often the only way to break a curse is to find someone with the specific curse-breaking spell.

so, give each cursed item a condition. perhaps a weapon that fuels a person's rage and causes them to fly into a blind rage in battle waits for them to sincerely forgive a hated enemy. perhaps boots that slow the wearer are actually making them heavy with the weight of past transgressions and a sufficient act of atonement will free them. maybe the perpetually bloody doll that gives its bearer horrible nightmares simply waits for someone to be motivated to action by them, either to right some past wrong, or generally bring a certain number of murderers to proper justice.

...maybe a Bag of Devouring. which is technically actually a creature, not a cursed item (but usually classified with them), can be befriended by figuring out a treat it likes, and will not only carry things for the player if fed and cared for, but even cough up a few things that previous bearers had stuffed inside.

the specifics aren't too important, but the idea is that any item with a curse on it has a reason for that curse, and a way to break it. the players can drop the item at any time, sell it off, give it to someone they hate, whatever, but if they put in the time and energy to actually breaking the curse, it becomes better than it was before, sometimes simply losing a drawback, or sometimes gaining new powers.

for an example, let's look at how that doll idea from earlier could work in D&D 5e;

while the party has the doll in their possession, they will all be afflicted by horrible nightmares, seeing themselves as children being attacked by a group of eight bandits with indistinct features. the details of the dreams change each night, and the players awaken before learning their ultimate fate, but the general gist is always that they are completely helpless, and subjected to harm.

after a long rest, have them roll a Wisdom or Charisma save (challenging DC, but not too difficult), or take a small amount of psychic damage.

if the players bring murderers to justice - meaning deliver them to the proper authorities and see them punished for their crimes - the content of the dreams starts to change. one bandit gets caught or killed by the end of the dream for each real world criminal successfully punished, possibly hinting to the players what they need to do. once eight murderers in total have had their sentences enacted, the next morning the doll will be in pristine condition with a serene expression, emitting a faint glow. thereafter, any player may attune to the doll to gain the ability to cast the Guidance cantrip without components (as thought the doll's ability to project what it wants the players to do into their mind was turned to their benefit.

#tabletop gaming #tabletop roleplaying #roleplaying games #dungeons & dragons #pathfinder #game master advice #homebrew #my ideas #curses #cursed items #long post

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unnatural-twenty · 1 year

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Here's a WIP of some tips for Dungeon Masters on how to begin and maintain a long form dnd (and ttrpg in general) campaign. This advice is intended for irl table sessions. I'll be updating this as I think of more stuff and there's some more point I'll elaborate more on later

Introduction

Hi, I'm Pat. I'm a dungeon master, and I like to think I'm a pretty good one. I've run a completed 2.5 year campaign in dnd 3.5 running a small group of 2-3 from level 1 to level 20 and beyond, and I'm currently running an ongoing 5 year campaign of 4-7 people in dnd 5e which (so far) has run from level 1 to level 13.

My players have remained consistently interested and invested in the game world, their characters, the npcs and overall plots of our games. They've both created and commissioned wonderful pieces of art for both the campaign in general and their characters, and I've done the same for them. They trust me to handle their stories with respect, challenge them and entertain them, as well as allow them the freedom to make strong and meaningful changes that permanently impact the world they play in. My current party are my closest and dearest friends, and the game we're running is something that, I consider my masterpiece. My Magnum Opus, my life's work. Is it perfect? Absolutely not, it's a chaotic mess. We've missed sessions, taken long haituses, and sometimes left the table feeling that an individual game might of been lacking. I've made errors in judgement while dm'ing and sometimes I've had to put to my foot down on my players, or mediate arguments. They've also taken the story on wild turns that I would never have seen coming! We've had players join for individual sessions or story arcs that last a few weeks or months before leaving again. The Party have been heroes and terrorists, the tools of fate and breakers of prophecy.

Not to brag but, I have the best party ever.

All of the above are basically my credentials for when I say 'hey, are you looking to start a long form campaign? here's some advice!'

We here a lot of advice in the online d&d community about specific builds for players or fun encounters for dms to run. But there is rarely any good advice on how to actually keep butt's in seats at your table and tell a great story.

The Advice

So here's a few things to keep in mind.

Spark.

The spark is simply the first idea that eventually blooms into the overall story. Something to inspire the events that will happen at the table. This can be anything from a single cool moment, or an item/s that you'd give the players, a place or person or situation or anything at all! This first idea is enough for you to want your players to interact with it. There really is no need to plan much further than this at this stage, but this first spark is vital! It doesn't even have to do with the first session, it can be something later down the story that you'd want the players to encounter for plot/fun/character reasons. Any good campaign comes from this spark.

Pick your Party.

So you have an idea for a story. Great! Now it's time to think about the people you want to share this idea with, your Players. Like I said earlier, we see a LOT of player advice about how to build characters or do 900 damage in a single run or ideal party composition (blah blah blah) but we rarely see any advice about WHO your players should be. If you genuinely want to run a long campaign that spans months or years, you need to make sure that the people at your table will be able to commit AND MOST IMPORTANTLY that you will all have fun together. Invite your friends, people that live nearby and you don't see moving anytime soon, invite people who seem interested and you think will get along. Invite people you've played with before who's presence you enjoy. Your game will live or die by these people, your story will be about them - so be discerning and honest with yourself about who you want to invite. Do not invite anyone you think is a buzzkill, do not invite people who have beef with each other, do not invite people who hate sitting down for extended period of times, and do not invite newly formed couples.

Additional clarification on this point: Sometimes couples at your tables can be dicey. Breakups between 2 players can KILL campaigns. One of them will probably leave the game, and resentment can build between you and the exiting player, even if you mean them no ill will. The exiting players absence might be keenly felt by the remaining players and the whole vibe might be ruined. However, longer and more serious relationships are less likely to suddenly and explosively end. In my current game I've had two people from the start, they were already dating for a long time when we began and they're now married.

So yes, the people you choose to play with will make or break your game, choose carefully. Which brings us to our next point -

Dont overfill your table.

For starting out I really would suggest limiting it to a maximum of 4 players + yourself as the DM. 5 players at an absolute stretch and never more than 5 to begin. You can add more people later as your skill with DMing improves and your players get more into a rhythm of sharing time and space with each other. But every player at a game is another wild element introduced into the world, another person to divide your attention among, another combatant in fights, another inventory to distribute loot into. Each player added to a game exponentially increases your workload as a Game Master - so don't overdo it if you're just starting out.

Characters

You've got an idea, you have interested and interesting people to play with. It's time to build characters. These characters are going to be ones you'll be spending a LOT of time with and a LOT of time thinking about. Your players come up with an idea or concept, and you help them stat them out and suggest people/places/locations/deities that you already know in your head exist to fill in any blanks or question marks in their characters story. Allow your players creative control over who their characters are, what gods they worship and what lands they hail from and try AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE to fold what they give you into the existing world in your mind. Giving your players this level of input over not only their own characters but some of the worldbuilding of the campaign will really help them start thinking of the campaign of theirs as well as yours. This investment is what leads to commitment and hey, its free worldbuilding. That being said, if a player tells you "This is Greg, he's a Gnome thief. He lived in the forest" End of character backstory - that's fine too! Not every character is gonna have nor should have a 5 page backstory. Some characters find themselves during play, maybe more about who they are and what they want and who they come from will develop naturally along the way. And these people have often been my favorite to play with.

My REAL tip is here though. Tell your players in no uncertain terms that no matter what character they come up with they have to 1) Be able and willing to work with strangers and 2) Be able and willing to do jobs for money. I tell them that 'This is a cooperative game, your starting point is level 1 adventurers who've left their homes and who will be working TOGETHER to solve difficult problems for loot and treasure and money, you can't play an antisocial wierdo whos going to immediately dick over the other players. thats not fun and we're all here to have fun together.' Sidenote, I VASTLY prefer and reccomend traditional pencil and paper character sheets. They're discreet, personal and don't take up space. If you're at a table and all your players and you all have your laptops out, it's a logistical nightmare. Table space can be limited, plugs can be limited, you don't know if your players are distracted on social media. Same goes with phone and app based character sheets to a lesser extent. Yes, you will have to replace the original character sheet eventually as it gets rubbed out and filled in as the game progresses. This is a small price to pay for more space on the table to put snacks, drinks, maps and minis, and avoid excess screen time and distraction....

That being said if a player is playing a spellcaster I HIGHLY reccomend That they download a Spell App on their phone to pull up spell descriptions and reference what their spells actually do. I can't stress how much time and bullshit this saves. Help them find one they like and maybe install it yourself, that way you can pull up this info on your phone at a moments notice. You can either track spell slots in app or on paper, dealers choice.

TBC

Individual and joint session 0's / tutorials

planning the first game JUST DO IT

Actions have Consequences

Be Fair

it's not about you

kill your darlings

you are not smarter than your players.

you are not smarter than your players because you know more about the world than they do

balance wins and losses

downtime

loot

Flagged Danger versus Unflagged Danger

Combat and common problems with it

Framing Expectations

Player Versus Player

So, your Players did something so unexpected you could do nothing but roll with it and now you're half a planet away from the plot.

Being a player makes you a better dm

One shots

Mini sessions and solo sessions

Other game systems

How to handle dm/gm burnout

Idea Piracy, it's fun easy and free

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, THIS IS A GAME, HAVE FUN

#pat talks #reference #dungeons & dragons #dungeons and dragons #ttrpg #long post #dm advice #gm advice #dungeon master advice #game master advice #d&d #dnd #whoever blazes this gets their shit slonked down sloppy style

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dice-wizard · 2 years

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Players love to roll dice. If your TTRPG uses dice, players wanna roll them!

Now, lots of games will tell you not to call for rolls when there wouldn't be an interesting outcome for success or failure - and this is good advice. Generally, do not do this.

However

An interesting outcome for success or failure rests entirely on you, the person facilitating the game. You make those calls whenever someone picks up their dice and says "Can I make a Notice check?"

If you're good at thinking on your feet, you can seed in possible outcomes you hadn't prepared. Maybe there IS another clue here, or a hidden passageway, or something else that might be interesting. Maybe succeeding will introduce a plot important NPC. Maybe failure dictates the same outcome, just with that character approaching with hostility or tension instead of friendliness.

So when someone asks "Can I roll...?" give a moment's thought to what you can introduce on success or failure. You must consider both, especially in games like D&D that use a single die for its randomization. Even outside of that, it's worthwhile to cover all your bases. Then, follow through.

If you aren't great at thinking on your feet, there's an easy solution. Ask the player what they think the possible outcome might be. Ask what they're looking for. Ask what they're worried about. Take whatever answers they provide and consider what that means if they succeed or fail. Players usually have something in mind when they ask. There's nothing bad about asking what that is. Depending on the tone of your game, either give them what they're asking for, or take it and twist it - making it Worse or So Much More Than They Were Expecting.

With this, you can always allow more rolling in your game. You don't have to tell players no.

#dnd stuff #dnd #ttrpg #tabletop #dm advice #dungeons and dragons #dungeon master #Dungeon Master advice #game master #Game master advice #exalted rpg #dice #I like the math rocks #rolling dice #Dice are fun

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circle-of-memes · 2 years

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So one of the hardest things about being a Game Master or Dungeon Master, for me, is that I would put hours and hours into worldbuilding and storycrafting only to have most of my work not come up at the table. Since I also believe in not railroading my players, it felt like a constant battle to make the stuff I prepared enticing enough that the players would choose to engage with it willingly. Frequently, this set me up for disappointment, and I was finding that I was dreading game night.

But I also noticed something else. When my players would engage with the story or worldbuilding, it still didn’t quite satisfy. Sure, it was nice to show off my hard work and when the players genuinely had fun with it, it would make for an epic game session. But something still felt missing. What worked for me is asking myself “what do I enjoy about this game as a player? What keeps me coming back? Why do I spend so much time worldbuilding and character-building?” Now, this answer will probably be different for each person but if you’re anything like me, it would be some variation of “I enjoy the element of discovery, of going on an adventure and finding out what’s around the corner.” When I control the world and flesh it out in detail, that feeling of discovery can be pretty fleeting. By the time my players encounter any given detail, I’d already “discovered” it for myself.

So once I’d realized this about myself, what did I do? To be honest, I wallowed for a bit. I even handed off my games to another DM, because I was afraid that the core thing I enjoyed about the game was incompatible with leading game sessions. But then this current season of The Adventure Zone dropped and introduced me to a new tool: The Quiet Year.

The Quiet Year is a standalone game from Buried Without Ceremony that facilitates cooperative worldbuilding between its players. The McElroy family used it to flesh out the details of a broad concept that their DM had. In this manner, they all had a hand in building the world that they would explore in their upcoming game of DnD.

The next time I had a chance to DM a campaign, I utilized this same technique. I have to tell you, it not only did wonders for my sense of discovery, but also offloaded a lot of worldbuilding and provided bounds for my creativity to flow between sessions. I also discovered that when you give your players more of a role in the worldbuilding of a setting, it makes them feel more invested in the world and its story.

So, if your DM struggles are anything like mine, I highly recommend giving The Quiet Year (or other worldbuilding games if you know of any) a try before starting your next DnD campaign. You never know what you might find!

#dnd #dungeon master #game master #the adventure zone #the quiet year #dungeon master advice #game master advice #tabletop #tabletop advice #dnd 5e #DMing isn't fun #But wait it can be!

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haggardclint · 2 months

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Storytelling in Combat

What Professional Wrestling Can Teach Us About Running Combat Encounters

In the world of professional wrestling, where every slam, suplex, grapple, and high-flying maneuver tells a story designed to captivate its audience, lies an unexpected trove of inspiration for game masters seeking to better craft their combat encounters. Like a well-choreographed wrestling match, combat encounters are an artful blend of pacing, tension, and dramatic moments. In this quest to unravel the secrets behind crafting epic encounters, let’s step inside the ropes and explore how the structured chaos of a wrestling match can teach us how to orchestrate a dynamic, unforgettable battle for your tabletop game.

While not a hard and fast rule, traditionally, any professional wrestling match will follow the Seven Stage Structure. These stages are designed to raise the audience up and lower them down. If done well, tease and twist their emotions into a fever pitch until they explode. Any tabletop combat encounter can follow a similar rhythm. The initial lock-up between wrestlers mirrors the roll of initiative. Characters assess their adversary, position themselves accordingly, stalk the combat space, size each other up, and then go! From there, the narrative evolves into a series of turns, just like the back-and-forth in the squared circle. Tension escalates, reaching a boiling point and then BAM! 1-2-3! The climatic finish and a winner declared! Such pacing, stakes, and pivotal beats transform the mere skirmish into an epic tale of heroism and villainy.

Stage 1: The Stakes

In wrestling, a match has two defined roles: heels (Villains) and faces (Heroes). Start your combat by clarifying to the Heroes how tough and nasty the Villain is. The Villain antagonises the players through trash talk or monologing or, without hesitation, kills a minion or an innocent NPC. Alternatively, or along with, you can have the Villain unleash their most devastating attack, potentially as a surprise, like a chair shot to the head! The more damage you deal at the start of combat, the higher the chances of their hit points being high enough that you won’t completely kill them, but you’ll also be sending a message.

Stage 2: The Shine

The opening moves of your Heroes that’ll allow them to answer back. This stage invites the back-and-forth where the Heroes retaliate, and you have the Villain answer back with equal attacks, allowing them to remain a threat but ultimately be bested. This is the fun part for the Heroes, and by the end of the round, your Villain should be feeling the need to get a little dirty or creative.

Stage 3: The Heat

The Villain has been injured by the players, pushed too far, and will now do just about anything to survive or win. They go for the low blow, use an illegal weapon, or some other underhanded tactic to establish that they’re “the bad guy” and do what it takes if they have to. Like all good heels, the Villain should be arrogant in their one-up-manship. This is a great time to have a few pre-prepared taunts or actions designed to get under the Heroes’ skin. They take turns attacking one of their beloved NPCs instead of them or attempt to entrap them behind a wall, keeping them annoyed and in pain.

Stage 4: The Comeback

With the stakes never higher, the Heroes, too, must find the fire inside them they need to survive. They scramble around the environment, maximise their spell use, and let loose with whatever they have left to solve the puzzle that the Villain has become. The Villain gets hurt and shakes it off as best they can, but is clearly getting hurt and sending the message that the Heroes might just have them licked!

Stage 5: The Shut Down

Just when we think the Heroes will win, the Villain unleashes an unexpected maneuver that changes the encounter into a puzzle needing to be solved. This is the part where the Villain explores (and changes) the environment in some dramatic way that temporarily nullifies the Heroes. The dragon flies into the air out of reach, the wicked wizard teleports to higher ground and unleashes a flood, the rogue general calls down a rain of fire from their warships, or the mad scientist activates the machine and unleashes a devastating earthquake in the area. Whatever it is, it’s a big, environment and stakes-changing moment that creates a puzzle for the Heroes to solve.

Stage 6: The Final Moves of Doom

The Villain makes a mistake the Heroes can capitalise on, or the Heroes somehow get the upper hand, overcoming the Shut Down. In wrestling terms, this is where John Cena says, “You Can’t See Me!” and shakes his hand in their opponent’s face before unleashing their biggest and best attacks in quick succession. This combat stage is quick and loud, like an explosion, putting the Villain on his last legs.

Stage 7: The Finish

With a mighty crescendo, the Villain is beaten, escapes or brings the whole environment down on the Heroes, sending them into an escape scenario. Should Villain find a chance to win, this can happen in various ways. They call minions in to shield their escape. They straight-up cheat and flick a lever, revealing a trap door or self-destruct button. Whatever it is, if the Villain loses, then ok, everyone goes home happy. However, should the Villain win, the previous stages have set the tone to ensure the Heroes may be disappointed but hungry to chase them down and get a second chance.

That seems like a lot of stages? Won’t combat drag on forever?

GOOD QUESTION! Here’s the good news! At any point, if the Heroes kill the Villain or the Villain needs to get away, you can always “go home” and cut to Stage 7: The Finish. While the previous stages raise the stakes and emotions throughout the combat, the Finish can always take place and do its job satisfactorily.

In my experience, though, no combat should last longer than 3 rounds. You can streamline the Seven Stage Structure into 3 rounds using only 3 stages, as follows:

Initiative - Stage 1: The Stakes

Round 1 - Stage 2: The Shine

Round 2 - Stage 3: The Heat/Stage 4: The Comeback

Round 3 - Stage 5: The Shut Down/Stage 7: The Finish

Embracing the narrative flair of professional wrestling, game masters can enhance combat encounters using a formula designed to entertain due to wrestling’s ability to evoke emotions and escalate tension to craft epic battles. The stages, mirroring the back-and-forth dynamics of wrestling matches, provide a rhythmic approach to combat, transforming a skirmish into a captivating saga of heroism and villainy.

Your friend in time, Haggard Clint

#dungeons and dragons #ttrpg community #game masters #dungeon masters #dungeon master advice #game master advice #professional wrestling #prowrestling #dnd 5e #dnd #d&d

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gwenthebard · 1 year

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#ttrpg community #tabletop games #game master advice

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cyanomys · 5 months

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Hey TTRPG nerds

Anybody got recommendations for indie ttrpg youtubers? I'm looking for content that is broadly not D&D-specific, and not actual plays. So, video essays/reviews of games, how-to-plays, GMing/playing advice, game design, etc.

#ttrpg #indie ttrpg #youtubers #tabletop games #tabletop #video essays #how to play #game master #dungeon master #DMing #GMing #gaming advice #indie youtube #help me find

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sheepintheastralsea · 11 months

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if you are a dungeon master (or even a fantasy author/worldbuilder of any kind) and you don’t know about donjon let me make your life a million times easier

want to make a fantasy calendar with your own year-lengths, weeks, months, and lunar cycles? https://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/calendar/

need to come up with some medieval town demographics? https://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/demographics/

want to make a map and layout of a city/town? https://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/town/

want a fleshed-out tavern complete with menu, innkeeper, patrons, rumors, and secrets? https://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/inn/

leading your players through a dungeon and want to customize the size, treasure, layout, theme, etc? https://donjon.bin.sh/5e/dungeon/

tired of creating lists of magic items for different shops to sell, or hoards to be looted? https://donjon.bin.sh/5e/magic/shop.html and https://donjon.bin.sh/d20/treasure/

even a customizable initiative tracker! https://donjon.bin.sh/d20/initiative/

and that’s only scratching the surface! I really recommend all dms check this out. oh, and it’s completely free!

#donjon #dm #dungeons and dragons #d&d #gm #worldbuilding #cr #dm tips #dm advice #ttrpg #game master #dungeon master

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whereserpentswalk · 5 months

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Hey, I need a ptba (or ptba like) system to run for like two to six weeks between the end of one long campaign and the start of another. Please reblog with your favorite ptba game.

#196 #rpg #ttrpg #indie ttrpg #gming #dming #rpg party #game master #pbta #powered by the apocalypse #rpg advice #rpg community #ttrpg community

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cloaksandcapes · 9 months

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DM\GM Tip on Roleplaying Stuff

🎲 GMs, there’s always a way to say yes to what the player wants to do.

🎭 Roleplay isn’t always about getting what you want but being given the chance to try and it doesn’t mean success is always possible. 💪 I once had a Barbarian whose whole purpose was to fight the biggest things he could find.

🌋 The first time he saw a Volcano, he wanted to fight it. Both me and the player knew that wasn't possible. But I gave him the chance to play this out.

He attempted to scale the side while his party looked on, dumbfounded. He eventually fell...multiple times. Until he swore, he would return when he was stronger to exact revenge. Sometimes players will want to do things and not understand that it's not possible yet -- could be due to power levels, influence, ect.

🧙‍♀️ Don't just deny them the opportunity. Talk, communicate expectations and give them chances to work towards those goals.

#Dungeon Master #Game Master #DnD #D&D #Dunngeons & Dragons #Dungeons and Dragons #TTRPG #DM Tips #GM Tips #DM Advice

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lunarbard · 2 months

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A lot of "how to help the GM as a player" advice seems to come down to some amalgam of "take story hooks & don't be selfish when making a character," which is sort of more some basic gaming etiquette than actually taking on a helpful role.

I have been properly GMing my main group for six years now (though I've often assumed a similar role since my childhood, just without a proper ruleset) and am a player at another table with a campaign going on three years now. Knowing what issues I encountered when I GMed, I decided after a bit to take a more active role in the group and hopefully ease some of the inherent stress of running the game.

With that in mind, here are some things I do for my group as a player that are a general help for our GM & the table in general:

Take good notes & share them. I understand different people have different matters of notes & attention, but notetaking is just a basic skill you can bring to a table to the benefit of yourself, your fellow players, and the GM. The more notetakers at the table, the less likely information will fall down the cracks. I'm one of two notetakers in my second group, and between our two different styles it's typically easy to double check an event from real years prior in the campaign. The first ~15 sessions before we started taking proper notes? Lost to time, fuzzy memory, and context-free notebook lines in the single digits per session.

State your Plans. This applies to a lot of things, but basically boils down to "communicate with your GM." Give your GM a heads up if you have a course of action in mind for your next session (like wanting to visit a specific shop to get some new gear, wanting to investigate a haunted house, chasing down a specific lead in a mystery, etc).

Wrangle Your Fellow Players. GMing can be exhausting needing to run the game, manage the social group, and throwing time at prep that can get chucked down the drain. Again, each group & their needs & styles will be different, but you can ease some of this just by being a bit mindful. If scheduling's a problem, take the initiative on sorting out prime session time with everyone. Engage your fellow players openly on their plans heading into future sessions (and remember to State your Plans for the GM so they can focus their time where it will be of the most use). If your group can get a bit rowdy and/or the GM has trouble getting everyone's attention, give them a hand in returning the group to the game.

Provide Information as Necessary. This will entirely differ depending on group and game, but sometimes the GM might need help tracking a bit of information or looking up a rule (or, if you have good notes, looking up an NPC name or similar past encounter the group has had). GMing can be hectic what with managing the entire game beyond the party in many systems. You can respectfully bring up a forgotten mechanic or the text of a rule (especially if the GM asks for it). Importantly, strive to act as an impartial reminder of information and rules if you aim to perform this facet; you are arguing not to better your case, but to ease some load from the GM. A corollary to this that shouldn't need to be said, but sometimes does: strive to understand the game & how you interact with it. For D&D likes, this means "know your abilities & their functions; read your spells." If something's vague or unclear, ask your GM before or outside of game how they understand it (not that they're necessarily correct, but that you'll be on the same page).

Perhaps most importantly though: take an opportunity to GM if you can. A prime opportunity is if a portion of the group will miss a week or the GM is a bit burned out (or can't run due to not having prep time for a period of time), you can volunteer to run a one-shot or short side campaign until everything's settled. GMing may seem spooky at times, but it can easily be a ton of fun once you get into the vibe of it. Even if you don't enjoy it, taking some time to GM for yourself can give you excellent insights on how to be a better player from the other side of the screen.

#ttrpg #gamemastering #tabletop roleplaying #d&d #dnd #ttrpg advice #ttrpgs #dungeon master #game master

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flightyquinn · 7 months

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Letting Players Feel Smart in Combat

or, "Running Encounters with an Information Economy"

PREAMBLE: Something that frustrated me for a long time as a player in TTRPGs was how hard it could be to guess enemy tactics. There are a lot of things that you can do with good tactics, but a lot of the time you lack the information to use those tactics. For example, setting up a prepared action to counterspell just wastes your turn if nobody tries to cast anything. This can be especially frustrating when you're up first in the initiative, and don't have much more than just a description of who/what you're fighting to go off of.

AN ANECDOTE: One day I decided to try an experiment. Each round of combat was supposed to be happening in the same six seconds of elapsed time, right? So, the next time I went first, I asked my GM if I could see what the enemies were doing - everything was happening at the same time, so I should be able to read their body language, the directions they were starting to move, and where they were looking to get an idea of how they were going to act, right?

As I honestly had been expecting, my GM said no. It wasn't their turn yet, so they weren't doing anything yet. I resolved that I did not want to run my own games that way, so I came up with some ways that when I ran a game, I could help my players to not be going into battle completely blind.

THE POINT: Tipping players off to enemy tactics is just good GMing. When they get a "read" on an enemy, they'll feel like an absolute genius. When the party plans for what the enemy will do and uses tactics to put the odds in their favor, they will lose their minds over how cool they feel. Here's a couple things I do to make that happen.

The first is giving enemies tells for what they're planning, which sounds simple, but actually requires a change to how encounters are typically run. Basically, you should know what an enemy will do before their turn, and typically at the end of the last one. Then you narrate them doing something to hint at that as part of their action. For example, a dragon might inhale deeply before using its breath weapon, or a manticore might slowly go from lashing its tail from side to side to holding it stiff as it prepares to launch a volley of spikes.

You don't have to stay committed to a course of action once you've given a tell, but if the players do something that would cause an enemy to reconsider its tactics (or determine them, if you hadn't decided anything for it yet), that's another time to give a tell. For instance, you might have already described a dire wolf lowering on its haunches as it starts stalking toward the ranger, ready to pounce, when the halfling rogue stops taking cover behind the fighter. In that case, you might describe the dire wolf shifting its stance, licking its lips as it turns its attention to this weaker-looking prey.

There's no need to give a tell for every action, of course. That would get taxing for you, and tedious for the party. Generously sprinkling in clues as to key things enemies want to do can keep players engaged, and help them break through the indecision about what to do with their own turns, though.

That brings me to my other trick. If you read the anecdote section above, this is something I came up with as a direct result of that. I decided to add a special action type that is just for the players, the "Observe Action". Every player gets one Observe Action on each of their turns that they can use in a number of ways to get more information about the conditions on the battlefield, or to gain an advantage.

The first use is just applying their skills in the normal way. If they could use a skill to recall information about a particular creature, they now do this as an Observe Action. This one is technically an explicit nerf in Pathfinder, since recalling is stated to be no action, but I find that most groups only check on one monster at a time anyway, and on the occasions when they don't, starting combat with check spam just slows the action down, so I include it. It usually doesn't hurt anything, and having it on the list can actually remind players that doing this is a thing they can do in the first place.

The second is also more or less a bookkeeping task, and that's using informational magic, like the Detect spells. It doesn't change the cast time, but once the spell is up, any further focus to gain more information uses their Observe Action. This is mostly just to remind players they can have these going while they fight, but I do also make any part of using the spell once cast that would normally be a Standard Action into an Observe instead, as a small bonus.

The third use, and the first truly new option, is to "read" a group. This is similar to recalling information, but allows for some different questions to be asked. Use these as a baseline.

Who has the highest/lowest HP?

Who can deal the most damage with physical attacks.

Who has the highest bonus to hit?

General "lean" of the group's alignment. (Most common alignment component on a single axis.)

How challenging does this fight look? (General CR range of the encounter, described as Easy, Average, Challenging, etc...)

Individual with the highest/lowest value in a particular ability score.

Highest/lowest value in a particular saving throw.

Basically, this option is there to help players decide who to focus their attention on. Let them use it for whatever will help them get a better idea of who or what they're facing. Let them ask their main question up-front before rolling to establish the check (whatever skill and DC seems appropriate), but let them ask additional questions after if they get a high roll.

It goes hand in hand with the last option, which is gauging intent. This one should probably be done with Insight/Sense Motive, and it just comes down to that original question. What's going to happen next?

The first way this can work is that the player focuses on a specific enemy, and gets a sense of what that enemy specifically intends to do. In other words, the player tells you who they want to get a "tell" for, and if they succeed, you give it to them.

Alternatively, the player might ask if anyone in the enemy group is about to take a specific action. For example, "Is the cleric about to get targeted." or "Does anyone look like they're going to call for backup?" So basically, instead of focusing on the behavior of one individual, the player is staying alert for a particular situation. Don't let the players get too broad with this one, of course, but it's okay to be a little generous with what they can ask about.

Even more than when I advised it above, if someone successfully gauges the intent of their enemy, and that intent changes, let them know. You should treat a success as them continuing to be alert to what they were observing for until their next turn.

I also toyed with the idea of letting players use their Observation to look for openings to improve their chance of hitting, or for a weak spot to do more damage. I like the idea of this, but felt like it stepped on the toes of other, existing options too much, and would be too tempting to players over the other uses. So I decided to keep Observation Actions as purely a source of information, and not directly pumping numbers. Still, if it sounds like it would work for you, try it out.

For everyone who read this incredibly long post of mine, I hope it helps you out. I haven't done a post like this in a long time, and I really appreciate you taking the time to read it. If these rules improve anyone else's games, hearing that would really make my day.

#ttrpg #tabletop roleplaying #dungeons & dragons #pathfinder #game mastery #running the game #encounter design #roleplaying games #game master advice #house rules #long post #essay #homebrew #this is just what works for me

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brewerssupplies · 1 year

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When you come up with a game you want to run and play, just clone yourself. Problem solved! That easy!

#ad speaks #ttrpg #game master #gm #gming #gm advice #shitpost

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dice-wizard · 2 years

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Hey traditional TTRPG game designers. Hey, you. Yeah you. Look at me.

Stop including mechanics that remove player engagement.

What do I mean by this? I mean shit like stunning effects that prevent a character from taking actions and therefore remove a player's ability to continue to participate, abilities that knock out a player character and therefore remove the player from participating in a fight, effects that instantly kill a character (therefore removing a player from participating), and literally any other effect you can think of that ends in the player no longer playing.

Trad designers, our artform is dependent on player participation. People enjoy maximalist, crunchy, tactical games because they're fun to engage with. What's the point of having all these rules if you're going to include things that stop your players from using them??

You're gonna say "oh, but only D&D does this" - no it fucking does not. These rules are everywhere. They're even in Blades in the Dark. Stop it.

Here are some cool alternatives. I'm trying to present these as open ended as possible:

Force a choice between two actions

You can't attack this enemy, but you can attack another, make a movement action, or any other non-attack action

Present a hard bargain

Attacking this enemy means you choose between taking a certain amount of damage or accepting emotional attachment to them, causing issues later.

Present high risk and high reward

Attacking this enemy means incurring extra damage against you if you hit, but if you succeed, you gain a stat boost for the rest of the fight.

Consider stakes other than character death

In many instances this will require rules reconfiguring, but that's a topic for another post. Besides that, remember that if someone's character gets instantly killed in the first round, that player must then sit on their hands for the rest of the session.

Yeah I know "let them play an NPC" is often a "solution" to this problem, but why do that when you could just implement a rule that lets other PCs get the downed character back to the fight - like in Borderlands or Left4Dead (or Gears of War or Vermintide, or...)

Consider how much more exciting that is, and how much energy won't be lost by someone having to literally sit out while all their friends have fun. Furthermore, players make much more interesting and risky decisions when they aren't at risk of losing their blorbo.

The point is to play. Nothing else. Stop shooting yourself in the foot with your own rules.

#ttrpg #dnd #d&d #tabletop #tabletop rpg #ttrpgs #ttrpg design #dm advice #gm advice #dungeon master #dungeons and dragons #Dungeons and dragons advice #Dungeon master advice #storytelling #game design #Traditional game design #Trad games #Trust me I'm a professional

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