I am making this thread to have a place for GMs to talk shop or about their games outside of the GM channel since that is more geared towards lancer. This chat is for GMing talk for any game
#Gamemastering
teal lily
viral birch
This is a genius idea
teal lily
Cool I hope it catches on
thin lintel
Siiiiick
viral birch
I don't really have much game time, so I'm only playing in a game rn
But people ask for GM advice a lot, so this channel seems like a good idea
thin lintel
I'm currently running a playtest of my YZE game Routine, and running a combination of Tales From the Loop/Things from the Flood/Electric State.
grizzled hedge
oh sweet
teal lily
oh that sounds awesome
grizzled hedge
i don't GM often but i want to get better about it
teal lily
i am kind of a forever GM at the moment lol, i gotta find a game to be a player in
grizzled hedge
and hopefully run something soon for my irl group, likely either lancer or pf2e
thin lintel
I'm hyperfixated on YZE right now and the forever GM by choice. I hate/suck at being a player...
thin lintel
and hopefully run something soon for my irl group, likely either lancer or pf2e
What draws you to those as a GM?
grizzled hedge
we played them extensively before lol so i feel more comfortable knowing most of the rules (emphasis on most lol)
also my group isn't entirely on board with learning new systems again so i'm sticking to what we know already
thin lintel
I think that's super wise!
teal lily
pf2e has a lot of resources too so I think thats probably going to be your best bet in terms of like, ease of running?
unborn anvil
posting a message in here so i can remember this forum channel exists, thank you juno
teal lily
pf2e has a lot of resources too so I think thats probably going to be your best ...
but yeah i keep saying it, archives of nethys is the single most powerful GM tool i have ever seen
thin lintel
(But actually is a genius)
grizzled hedge
pf2e is great and has so many good resources
teal lily
highly recommend Outlaws of Alkenstar if you wanna do an AP
grizzled hedge
I'm hyperfixated on YZE right now and the forever GM by choice. I hate/suck at b...
what's YZE got that has you hooked? i never played a game using it before
outlaws i don't see recced a lot! i'll look into it
autumn sentinel
PF2 is a top tier system to easing yourself into GMing
It might be the best honestly
supple timber
Rules are kind of heavy though
While it is easy to look them up, you still need to understand them and a lot of interactions, + all the variant rules you might want to use
grizzled hedge
mood
supple timber
Idk if 5e is a good system to return into GMing, but when I did run it and while looking at my friends GM I had an impression that its relatively easy to run because you can just throw bullshit all the time and not care too much about the broken rules
teal lily
PF2 is a top tier system to easing yourself into GMing
its definitely on my list for when I finish running Gubat Banwa (though honestly that could very well be 10 years from now lmfao)
supple timber
Idk if 5e is a good system to return into GMing, but when I did run it and while...
While in more well-put-together systems you really got to have all the rules right and preferrably in your head
teal lily
How long has your GB game been going on anyways?
2 years as of last month
real sluice
Nice
autumn sentinel
Rules are kind of heavy though
While it is easy to look them up, you still need ...
I am maybe on the wrong side of the rubicon for this since I've been GMing for a while but I think the complexity of a system doesn't change how hard it is to run that much
teal lily
also 5e is rules heavy
prime parcel
In terms of running your first RPG, I like Wildsea, Fabula Ultima, and Avatar Legends (or other pbta stuff). They're very user-friendly, Avatar in particular has a lot of text introducing and discussing the core components of a TRPG (the conversation, scenes, action rolls, etc) without biasing the instructions toward its own system too much, and it's a pretty rules-light system with a free quickstart that's super smooth
supple timber
I am maybe on the wrong side of the rubicon for this since I've been GMing for a...
If you know the rules and the players do then yeah. But I don't think I've learned them completely yet
supple timber
also 5e *is* rules heavy
It is, but its kinda easier to ignore rules there then in other systems
thin lintel
what's YZE got that has you hooked? i never played a game using it before
YZE has two variants that are otherwise compatible, and was used for the phenomenal Alien TTRPG, and Blade Runner TTRPG.
As a GM, having almost all of Free League's ttrpgs be one of these two variations on the same system gave me a million tools and systems to port between them, all largely requiring little homebrew.
grizzled hedge
i know that my s/o really wants to try a narrative-focused system at some point (CAIN was the idea at first), wildsea is on my radar for that
prime parcel
Wildsea is awesome, and the new Far Field Team game uses its mechanical engine
grizzled hedge
yee!
tidal crane
hello gm friends
prime parcel
I'm extremely grateful for my group, we're ~9 people and we've played like 10 wildsly different RPGs together
supple timber
Btw I'd love to see what people think of FATE and Cyberpunk RED
Considering playing/running them in the near future, haven't read the rules yet thoug cause I'm still on a Lancer spree
prime parcel
hello gm friends
welcome to the cool kids' table 
teal lily
It is, but its kinda easier to ignore rules there then in other systems
tbh i've had to look up rulings on stuff with conflicting info, where the definite answer came from a jeremy crawford tweet
autumn sentinel
Btw I'd love to see what people think of FATE and Cyberpunk RED
Considering play...
I like Red a lot even though I dislike a solid proportion of the rules
teal lily
I'm extremely grateful for my group, we're ~9 people and we've played like 10 wi...
thats a lot of people holy shit
prime parcel
CPR is pretty fun! I had a better time playing than my GM appeared to have running it though, seems like a lot of the official modules are a bit disappointing and he had to improv a lot
teal lily
i can never run for more than 5 personally haha
prime parcel
thats a lot of people holy shit
we've been in a campaign of City of Mist (it's...fine, we're all getting pretty tired of it though) with 6 players + GM
autumn sentinel
Biggest group I ever ran for was 11 and I won't ever do that again
teal lily
nice!!!
prime parcel
but aside from that our games are usually 3-5 players + GM
teal lily
biggest i did was 8 people and ooooogh
personally i like small party sizes like 3-4
though some day it might be fun to do a 2 person party to have a duo chemistry
autumn sentinel
Wait this is a lie I'm running a 12 player pbp and it's ok
prime parcel
like my Fabula campaign is 4 players, I ran Delta Green for parties of 4 in october last year (that was so much fun), we just started a new Lancer game with 5 players
teal lily
very nice
i run his majesty the worm for 5 people currently and I think in a more narrative system like this it works well
prime parcel
Wait this is a lie I'm running a 12 player pbp and it's ok
I long to be a part of a pbp but all the ones I've joined totally fell through bc the GMs either ghosted or had to end it
teal lily
i always struggle with longer posts in a pbp lol
tried doing a DAWN pbp once, had a really fun setting but it became a bit much to handle
prime parcel
I had so much fun with the pbps, I love writing practice
how's His Majesty the Worm? It seems pretty survivalist with the hunger and inventory stuff
teal lily
oh that reminds me, i've started doing a thing with my GB campaign I wanna always do as a GM from now on, which is write prologues for sessions.
Basically they'd be vignettes that either elaborate on background setting stuff or let the players see whats going on somewhere their characters are not
its been the primary way i've been developing my big bad
means by the time they meet him (which is actually going to be wednesday this week!!!) they are already invested in the guy
having the players be both audience and actor lets you do a lot
eh well maybe thats not the best way to put it they're the ones that kinda direct things too
tidal crane
recently finished my icon campaign and i made title cards for each arc. here they are:
arctic ridge
i would never master a game
prime parcel
god damn this is a good idea and these look awesome
grizzled hedge
hell yeah
prime parcel
i would never master a game
I said this too, once
thin lintel
oh that reminds me, i've started doing a thing with my GB campaign I wanna alway...
Similar tech, borrowed from Aabria Iyengar in Misfits and Magics, is the phrase "What you don't see"
Which I use liberally in my horror ttrpg.
I find that it breaks a classic convention of "good" movie horror, but substitutes it for "good" literary horror.
prime parcel
Fabula Ultima codifies this, calls them GM Scenes - City of Mist also has both a Cold Open every session for the GM, and a player monologue each session (we rotate through all of us players)
the monologues are really cool, I might ask my Fabula players if they want to start doing them
teal lily
It's a really great tool
tough kestrel
oh my, a ploce for lil ol me?
signal oxide
Biggest group I ever ran for was 11 and I won't ever do that again
11
Six kills me my guy
chilly drift
This seems cool
signal oxide
Ah the gming section
You will be subjected to my rantings about information organization and notebooks
Sorry in advance
thin lintel
I over-note as a GM.
thin lintel
Standard game:
-Psych/Player profile of each player as a being
-Same for Character
-Notes on campaign themes
-Synonyms for senses
-Npc roster for each character, each one gets different info on each npc
-My npc roster with all the notes and the truth together
-Session notes for each past session
-Plan for next session
thin lintel
Nah. Players are complex beings with tons of interests, lines and boundaries, things they respond to, things they don't, hooks that work best, phrases they like, table habits, etc
supple timber
-Psych/Player profile of each player as a being
-Same for Character
-Notes on ca...
where the hell do you get the mental prowess to write that much
signal oxide
no like why are you reproducing them
thin lintel
No idea. I'm an autistic hyperfixator, and this is my primary hobby
thin lintel
no like why are you reproducing them
Oh! I learn and remember best by writing.
Or maybe I don't understand the question?
arctic ridge
ive never placed anyone including myself on any player typology except one person I can confidently say is happiest just watching
thin lintel
I nod Its usually things like characteristics at the table, things they have a tendency to do, etc. I don't have real profiles - I think those tend to lop off bits of beings to make them fit
X Loves to Laugh, Interrupts when Excited, Most energy for game when breaks are taken every hour, loves puns from the GM, Gets quiet when upset, etc
teal lily
You will be subjected to my rantings about information organization and notebook...
please do this is exactly what i made this for
signal oxide
please do this is exactly what i made this for
do you have questions?
teal lily
do you have questions?
nah but organization and notebooks are cool
and thats exactly the kind of thing i found a little hard to talk about in the tabletop channel lol
signal oxide
Alright then - what kinda systems do you use for prep? For me it depends, typically my method is the same as the medium. Digital gets Obsidian.MD, physical gets printed notes or a notebook.
I've been doing all my notes in one big obsidian vault, but i think it might be better to have one per campaign?
thin lintel
How do you organize handwritten notes?
viral birch
In my case, badly
teal lily
I stuff them in a hidden discord channel
viral birch
I do that for my typed notes for sure
signal oxide
Well i've got a new system recently - cribbing from mothership
one notebook per campaign, in the front you put an index, second page you put a list of ongoing concerns
factions, adventures and ideas get new pages.
thin lintel
Love this. Reminds me of bullet journaling.
signal oxide
That's a lot of what mothership recommends
But i hear for management of campaigns and the like it's good, so i'm inclined to try it out
thin lintel
I do the same, when I write by hand, but I do it full on bullet journaling!
Mostly because I already do bullet journaling.
signal oxide
The more important take away imo is this - the system that works best is the one that works
your goal at the end of the day should be to remember what happened and have something you can use at the table to inform what will happen
all else is pleasantry
oh! the other strong opinion i have is you should be writing After Action Notes
What happened, who showed up, what went well, what didn't go well
new NPCs - especially anyone who might need their own statblock/time spent thinking about them in detail
tough kestrel
Biggest group I ever ran for was 11 and I won't ever do that again
I've done 13 and I'd do it again
Tho only in person
teal lily
I wanna set up a whole tournament thing with actual rules and teams of contestants. Any tips for doing that?
I'm thinking about maybe setting up brackets and rolling dice to see who lives up in battles the players don't participate in
tough kestrel
Last time I've done that
I made a bunch of teams
And made them more detailed as their chances of fighting the players increased
To determine who goes on I just flipped a coin
Two coins if one team had a noticable advantage
teal lily
I got one dude I want to get to be the final fight so I'll make him auto win every match
tough kestrel
Yeah!
teal lily
NPC antagonist named Raja Diraja Bakunawa
Big mfer who's going to try and use the tournament to claim the throne of the Ponong Raja
hushed meteor
I should really look into Obsidian
thin lintel
My GMing is informed by, I'd say, five core principles?
- I use the Spiral World Building method outlined in Return of the Lazy GM.
- I take copious internal notes that I share portions of with the players, using a modified bullet journal method to track what's been used or changed over the course of the notes.
- I do session zero, and then additional zero sessions on longer campaigns.
- I have a GM Manifesto I share with players they can refer back to.
- Lots of safety tools and safety work, since the games are 90% horror.
smoky burrow
recently finished my icon campaign and i made title cards for each arc. here the...
this has me inspired but I'm feeling like my placeholder ICON campaign name is lacking in gravitas
I've been calling it Windrise, as the main conceit is the players' home is an archipelago of sky islands that they'll uncover the ancient history of when they crash onto the surface
anyone have thoughts with the wind theming?
teal lily
I wanna try and help out some of my players who haven't been too prevalent in current plot stuff
thin lintel
anyone have thoughts with the wind theming?
Islands of Flight
teal lily
There's 4 total and two of them are a lot more vocal than the other two. Which isn't a huge problem at all, everyone is still having fun. Though the two less vocal players have expressed that they wish they knew what to do with their characters at the moment
thin lintel
Hmm. What do they mean by that?
smoky burrow
Islands of Flight
something along those lines could work, emphasizing it as a place and what you do there
teal lily
Hmm. What do they mean by that?
That they feel like their characters aren't doing too much at the moment
Maybe if I explain more it will make sense
thin lintel
Please!
teal lily
Wu Lang and Banen (played by the two more vocal players) have had the most sway over the current story beat and the most stuff going on
Banen has inspired revolt in the enemy forces and is rallying them to her cause and Wu Lang is going through some dramatic character stuff
Isagani and Olrac (played by the two more quiet players) are in more supportive roles at the moment and they feel like they aren't contributing as much/don't have a specific thing going on
It's not that they're doing nothing, it's just that there's nothing particularly dramatic or important outside of being there for the plot to happen
I'm talking to Isagani's player ATM about some ideas but for the future I wanna give everyone a chance to shine (especially because I'm teatering too close to making Wu Lang the main character)
thin lintel
I nod Has this always been the case, or did they have more engagement and sense of what to do in the past?
teal lily
These two players have usually been more quiet but they've certainly had the spotlight before.
It's not a lack of engagement, more that they're more passive than active
Which is fine, but it has created a situation where because Wu Lang and Banen are usually the first to think of something to say, they have more sway over things happening
thin lintel
Do these two players see it as an issue?
teal lily
It's not a source of complaint, they feel like it's on them
thin lintel
Ahhhh.
teal lily
It's more that they want to try and think up stuff to do
They want an angle
Direction!
That's the word they want direction
thin lintel
Whats worked to give them direction before?
teal lily
Olrac played more into his growing romance with Wu Lang and his eventual curse, Isagani played more into holding the group together and playing off the previous villain since he had a more direct connection to them
thin lintel
I nod So they tend to run on interpersonal conflict and hooks, sounds like?
teal lily
Pretty much
But I think going forward I want a way to make sure everyone has something to do
thin lintel
My first thoughts are:
What is holding the rebellion together? Where is there npcs and spaces for Isagani to flex those focuses?
Wu Lang can't be popular with all the friendly rebels and their leaders and their people, so is there a space for Isagani to mend fences, talk to soldiers or people otherwise overlooked, and build bonds there?
teal lily
It's quite possible yeah
I should elaborate that this isn't a rebellion it's a group of conscripts defecting to the enemy
thin lintel
Fair!
I remember the talk about it - I think there could be a strong space to have Isanagi be the player who hears about the discontent around the conscripts,
and maybe more discontent than was known before. The sympathetic hero who ends up among the troops,
both defectors and the others.
I'm not sure for Olrac and your comfort level, but my first thought is a spy romance. With Wu Lang busy being the popular hero, its a great time for someone to come along and use the distance and romance/new friendship to try and gain advantage on the party.
teal lily
It's definitely a good idea but I don't think there's room for this angle at the moment as we are at the end of the arc. I talked to Isagani's player and we have an idea for where to take his character.
I repeat that what I'm looking for is tips to make sure I can keep these players invested in their characters/help them find direction in the future.
I'm not looking for story ideas exactly, im looking for ways to help my players find their stride
thin lintel
Ahhh, I misunderstood.
teal lily
No problem
Story ideas isn't the root of the problem I'm trying to solve, I want to try and make sure everyone feels like they're getting equal opportunity and attention
I want everyone to feel like a significant part of this story, the last thing I want is for them to feel like side characters
smoky burrow
this has me inspired but I'm feeling like my placeholder ICON campaign name is l...
here we go
re-posting since I added an outline around the text
smoky burrow
act 2 will be anabasis
smoky burrow
act 1 will cover the players' descent to the surface and down further into the depths to learn the truth of the world, act 2 will be returning to the sky changed by this truth and grappling with its implications
teal lily
remember not to plan too rigidly
smoky burrow
I'll keep that in mind, I've been bouncing this idea around for a while now since I haven't had a group to play it with and I'm unsure how to go about putting one together again 
thin lintel
I want everyone to feel like a significant part of this story, the last thing I ...
I think a lot of what I can suggest is what you are already doing, unfortunately.
I'd suggest talking with each player, like you are with Isanagi, and keeping communication open.
It might be worth it to let the louder players know as well, and ask for them to be understanding of a shift in focus, or to consider if they can help bring focus to the other players.
Lastly, considering what hooks and themes they jived with before, and doing more of those!
teal lily
that works out great, thanks!
thin lintel
That said, I never fully trust what players tell me they want, but combine what they say with what I've observed. It's hard to accurately express oneself and desires, so I try and balance that with what I've seen.
smoky burrow
I think I'm caught in a trap of wanting it to be Perfect but not feeling motivated to really put work into it (read: write stuff down) without a specific group of players in mind, since it crashed and burned after a couple sessions the first time I tried running it for external reasons
on top of switching from D&D 5e to ICON meaning I'm less familiar with prepping for it
maybe I should cut it up into chunks and try publishing adventures for ICON once 2.0's out (I have never done this before or run much ICON at all so I'm not seriously considering this yet)
thin lintel
That said, I never fully trust what players tell me they want, but combine what ...
Trust is a bad word. Trust players.
I assume translation issues and misunderstandings, is what I mean.
teal lily
okay cool me and isagani's player have set up his conflict for the next arc, excellent
signal oxide
for people looking into obsidian, here's one guy chatting about how he uses it for day to day uses.
regal crater
Also this guy:
signal oxide
Sly flourish actually uses Obsidian now lol
regal crater
He also makes some video tutorials for some of the things mentioned on the site
regal crater
Sly flourish actually uses Obsidian now lol
I saw that, his set up is very minimalist as well. Nice to see amongst the sea of hypercomplicated setups that a lot of the community seem to use
signal oxide
He claims that every plugin you use makes it harder to extract yourself should your note-taking app become bad
regal crater
Seems like someone got burned by Evernote
signal oxide
maybe? He used to just use a google doc
he just started notion when i started listening to the prep podcast
There aren't many podcasts dedicated to RPG talkshows
i think i've listened to the most popular
regal crater
Hmm, just know that Evernote went to shit a while back, which spurred a lot of movement, so I assumed he might have had some bad experience there
signal oxide
I don't quite agree with the assessment about plugins, and for people here they might value- for example, here's one i was using for Draw Steel yesterday!
grizzled hedge
that looks great
i'm of the mind that the more mods/plugins you put in, the more dependent you become on the software version you are currently using, and updating it can lead to things breaking, the plugins stop being supported, etc. etc.
but that's a personal hiccup and i doubt obsidian has that as a big issue
signal oxide
it can do
But it really depends on the plugin. I'd say TTRPGs might be the most vulnerable to it, but there's a lot of dedicated devs like the Fantasy Plugin suite that include calandars, statblocks and initative
grizzled hedge
yee that's good that some plugins have strong support
signal oxide
anyway yeah i love obsidian. Lots of little tricks.
grizzled hedge
i need to learn it sometime lol
signal oxide
No time like the present
autumn sentinel
I also don’t use any plugins haha
signal oxide
i don't for my main notebook at least
tidal crane
my draw steel campaign starts soon
been a while since i ran dnd-esque elfgame fantasy
tidal crane
😝
tidal crane
How is it?
have not started yet!
but i made a chara gen table since we're doing random chara gen
tidal crane
no worries!
grizzled hedge
i hope it goes well!
tidal crane
doin some prep! (fanmade map)
idea is the party is doing the thing where theyre uniting the various factions to prepare for a massive attack from the BBEG
im currently torn between robot army and giant demonic war machine
there will be a giant countdown persona style
teal lily
when i plan for sessions or when I'm taking notes I'll usually seperate sessions by title
fun little way to organize things i've found
teal lily
Ooo, what kind of titles?
usually in relation to what has happened but in a cool flavorful way
i.e. "The Indigo Thunderbolt Splits the Sky" is what i retroactively split a session in which they fought against the Grand Army Witch given the codename "The Indigo Thunderbolt"
thin lintel
Ooo. These are delightful.
teal lily
or "Heaven's Tyranny is its Silence", "Love is the Sword We Cut Ourselves Upon" "To Walk in the Den of Lions is to Invite Oneself to its Jaws"
thin lintel
Micro Stories encapsulating form and narrative.
teal lily
exactly
though i usually do this retroactively, once i know what actually happens in that session
the next session though I kinda already know what i gotta write down for it lol
"The Path of No Peace"
thin lintel
Hah!
teal lily
its like, Leo's whole deal and its the session that he's finally meeting the PC's face to face
also as a sidenote to what the current plot is, my players are WAY more clever than me lol
they literally pulled some sun tzu shit to trap their enemies in a valley to end the invasion in one big battle
signal oxide
tidal crane
doin some prep! (fanmade map)
how does this look to ya'll?
thin lintel
how does this look to ya'll?
Well organized, well labelled, hyperlinked!
tidal crane
conceptually, how do u think?
i was trying to think of a more evocative name thats not just "crafting"
but couldnt figure one out
thin lintel
It feels like a mix of high fantasy and weird fantasy.
I want Shambling Mound to be a crafting quest.
tidal crane
hmmmmm
the idea is that the quests are like problems or jobs given out in the local Adventurering Hub of the faction
so thats sorta why its a hunt
"theres a shambling mound doing shit, go kill it plox"
thin lintel
Absolutely. But I think you should make that weirder!
tidal crane
It feels like a mix of high fantasy and weird fantasy.
must admit i have no idea what weird fantasy is
thin lintel
A mound of the dead is shambling around, we think the bodies were buried with rare metals,
go kill them and get that metals!
But no, I think the layout, linkage to the page, and structure of what you are doing is good.
I think the names are evocative, and players would be enticed to pick the ones that interest them.
tidal crane
yeah thats the idea
i was also thinking players can just sorta pick and choose which they wanna tackle
tidal crane
A mound of the dead is shambling around, we think the bodies were buried with ra...
this is for draw steel i generally want the reasoning to be more altruistic
so its like
"the shambling mound is gonna destroy the village, please save us!"
or its like an abomination created by a fell sorcerer
teal lily
my GB campaign is interesting because while i've run campaigns before where the players are good aligned people this is the first time i've run for characters who they've made feel geniunely heroic
thin lintel
Do either of you feel that was because of something different in the stories you told as GMs, or that your players brought to the table?
tidal crane
Do either of you feel that was because of something different in the stories you...
it happens on both sides of the table
a lot of it is based on clear expectations imo
teal lily
Doing a fun thought experiment with my players where we're thinking up what their characters sound like/what NPCs sound like
thin lintel
Oooo. I've never done that.
teal lily
Okay so I'm cooking up the plot for the upcoming GB arc.
Basically: After they resolve the situation in Akai and gain through support of the Sultana, they will travel to the Rajahnate of Gatusan.
They'll find out that the Ponong Raja, Ambasi, is hosting a big tournament, where the prize is anything he has the power to grant.
Of course, they're going to want Ambasi to ally with them so they'll enter the tournament. However, to officially enter they'll need the sponsorship of a Datu or Raja. They'll need to call on their ally: Black Tiger Dancer Sri Kamakama, The King of Ghosts. Unfortunately this means they'll freak people out as most are scared of Kamakama.
Other complications:
- They'll meet a friendly contestant named "The Blind Lion" who will want to support their cause. Unfortunately, she's Lucia Reyes, a former main villain, who now has lost her memories.
- Isagani (a PC) will be trying to find his beloved, Dakila while in Gatusan. Unfortunately, they have been forced to serve in the court of Ambasi. Isagani will have to decide between defying the Ponong Raja, Gaining the alliance, or using the wish to free Dakila
- A mysterious contestant is using the tournament as a means to usurp Ambasi and is cheating to do it. His name is Raja Diraja Bakunawa
How's that sound
signal oxide
viral birch
https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/1jfd04o/free_things_to_use_when_you_are_ma...
lmao this post has been removed for Self-Promo
thin lintel
Drat. I wanted those tiles.
teal lily
So in my GB campaign im realizing that my players might legitimately try to invade the pale kings/raid issohappa itself
The scale is getting bigger lol, i have to keep up with them
thin lintel
How will you do that, you think?
teal lily
No Clue
signal oxide
Well if they wanna invade the pale kings... i guess you gotta put that in the perspective of the world
you reckon they can do it?
teal lily
you reckon they can do it?
if they get the support of the god-kings? possibly
signal oxide
if they get the support of the god-kings? possibly
Well there's their goal
See if they can stick dirt in the eye of imperialism
teal lily
Well before that they gotta succeed on their goal of killing the Pinakalakan
teal lily
I reaaally wanna run overarms, fuck
real sluice
Whats the draw, if I may ask?
teal lily
Whats the draw, if I may ask?
rules-light urban fantasy rpg where you get basically a jojo stand
signal oxide
(The referenced youtuber is questing beast)
(I had to dig for it but that was something you can look into)
teal lily
i think im gonna aim to make more setpiece combats
signal oxide
setpieces are fun
teal lily
my campaign is kinda nosediving directly into mythic fantasy so i have to step it up a bit
signal oxide
Getting a lot more conan than expected
teal lily
not so much conan i mean like, the players are becoming mythic heroes with all these crazy feats
its something i have never, ever done before
signal oxide
I'm sure it'll go great
tough kestrel
Sup y'all
This week I plan to introduce a recurring antagonist to the party
He's one corrupt crooked cop
I need help coming up with a name for him
signal oxide
Roy Bowman
teal lily
really jazzed about the big evil guy i've got
tidal crane
expanding on my prep
thin lintel
Interesting read!
I don't think its a bad starting point, but it could have done a bit more to bulk out where to take notes, and why.
thin lintel
100%.
I do like that it didn't just talk about medium, but talked about this author's relationship to categories of notes, and why they did it.
That isn't always as well centered in these discussions.
signal oxide
I still think on the best ones is Mothership Warden's
and i like Return of the Lazy Dungeon master
thin lintel
Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master is very much how I run games, but I agree the Warden guide is strong.
signal oxide
I think people forget how hard it is for some people to do some things without like
explicit instruction
thin lintel
Absolutely agree.
viral birch
if you're a teacher you can just steal these from work
arctic ridge
if you're a teacher you probably need those for work
teal lily
Got a session coming up and im honestly not sure what to do for it lol
they just ended the invasion of Akai and have the enemy commander in their custody, and now are awaiting entry into the capital to meet with the Sultana
There's a celebration being held in their honor
How should i approach the planning here
thin lintel
Oh wow, thats a huge shift.
teal lily
Its giant
The sultana is planning to send assassins after them because she hates that she's been strongarmed into accepting the player's alliance
The commander sabotaged the invasion to turn the players into folk heroes he could use to inspire revolution
And the rest of the archipelago is now going "OH FUCK THEY DID WHAT?" about the party
thin lintel
Would the Sultana be obvious or somewhat nefarious?
thin lintel
My play would be
-huge community welcome and celebration
-Sultana gives them a meager dinner reception
-soldiers spirit them away to huge community party in their honor, where community leaders worry aloud about the Sultana being so meager about it.
As a way to telegraph assassins
signal oxide
That's definitely one way to play it, but the sultana might be acutely aware that signs her death warrant next
nothing riles up a crowd like folk heroes dying.
I'd make it big and bold, lots of people lots of noise. False Flag Assassins with little warning as possible.
then she swears to catch those responsible, tags a poor political enemy, moves on with her long and happy life.
thin lintel
Oooo
teal lily
The assassins likely won't attack until after the peace treaty is signed
Since the sultana does desire a formal end to the war
teal lily
then she swears to catch those responsible, tags a poor political enemy, moves ...
Thats a great way to look at it
She's already using a noble house that fell from grace as the result of the players actions so she absolves herself of involvement
signal oxide
It's how i'd do that as a PC, if we were playing shadowrun or a pirates game
teal lily
Oh also, i should mention that the sultana is quite literally Omniscient
signal oxide
Then she's even better at finding the path of least resistance
she's not infalible but she's got more information to work with than the average person
She can also manipulate things in ways that regular liars have no hope in hell to do
Imagine you can craft misdirections based on information you have no business knowing
teal lily
Definitely
Im thinking the assassins will be a long term thing rather than a short term thing
teal lily
Definitely
Though i did a bunch of "this is what your characters don't see" teases at the end of last session
So the players know that the house mokamed will come for them eventually
teal lily
idk im still having trouble deciding what should happen specifically tonight
thin lintel
Where are they currently?
teal lily
Where are they currently?
in the fortress city Pasara where there are people celebrating the end of the war. They have been invited to the capital of Akai, Siga and will be allowed inside at a currently unspecified time
thin lintel
How interested are you, the GM, in skipping to the capital versus letting them see the effect of the end of the war?
teal lily
i have no preference, but maybe i ask my players that?
thin lintel
I would, yeah!
If they want to keep moving the plot forward, I'd do a short stint of travel and then arrival at the next big setpiece.
If they want a chance to enjoy ending the war and make their way around, I'd plan a lot of thankful NPC interactions and celebrations to attend.
In fact, my goal would be to exhaust the players with them.
arctic ridge
probably final session of my rebel crown game Sunday... nerve wracking
signal oxide
You got this
viral birch
starting May 4th, I might actually get to run Maze of the Blue Medusa
can't waittttt
304 room bullshit acid trip megadungeon
signal oxide
Do you like Maze?
viral birch
I really do
it's not like.............a particularly cohesive or well structured megadungeon, but it's got so much cool shit in it
Also I like that most things there are not immediately hostile
there's lots of potential for politicking and alliance making between the different personalities
signal oxide
i'm not a huge fan personally
i found it to be a little loosey
thankfully i'm not gonna get it anyhow
viral birch
i found it to be a little loosey
It definitely is that
Then again, I've not seen many other megadungeons this big that aren't either divided VERY tightly into floors, or are just as loose
viral birch
Empty rooms are boring, but yes it was cowritten by absolute scum
Patrick Stuart is a goat tho
viral birch
I disagree but in any case I think the real sin of maze is it's way more of an inspiration than a functional module in terms of who's doing what
Like all that politicking and stuff I will have to help create myself because the module certainly doesn't talk about it
thin lintel
I tend to focus on "safer" rooms over "empty" rooms.
viral birch
The writers thought of “interesting concepts”, like a lich consumed by love, or a dude who’s body is made entirely of knives, and haphazardly shoved them into a 300 room dungeon while making some attempt to present them in a manner that would present a compelling scenario.
What we get is a huge book of really compelling ideas and imagery with almost no information on how to use those ideas in any way that might even slightly resemble a narrative structure.
This is a very valid criticism by someone who did manage to run the whole thing
signal oxide
Well good luck doing surgery on it
viral birch
There's just not enough the module does to provide you with how to use the encounters and concepts. Which is fine if you love it like I do but kinda fails at being a functional module lmao
(Also the break rooms in maze are largely the ones that only fuck with you if you poke and prod stuff)
teal lily
Megadungeon Using Geomorphs...
👁️
signal oxide
Whatchu lookin at
ebon basin
Forgive me this transgression I am about to commit, grafting clocks and CAIN's d6 pools and successes thereof to Risus
I just don't want to set DC numbers
"So you're running mundane Cain" Maybe
winter verge
thin lintel
@zenith fern !
autumn sentinel
Maybe it is better if this stays unused…