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Post by Admin on Oct 12, 2018 21:47:58 GMT
I had the pleasure of playing a google game on hangouts. I only played 1 game of 1e,played a 6th L MU.
Wow do low level MUs suck in early D&D!!!!!
I spent almost 20 years making peep run L 1-5th wiz's!!! No wonder no one wanted to play MUs!!!!
I CAN"T BELIEVE I WAS THAT IGNORANT, THAT LONG!
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Post by Admin on Oct 12, 2018 21:48:48 GMT
For goodness sake help out low level casters! One or Zero spells is NO WAY to PLAY!!!!!! Lots of great ideas are available. I know all about "wizards dominate at high level and they must PAY!"
C'mon! Would 4 LOUSY cantrips kill you? Bonus spells for high Int? Some sort of "ZAP" mechanic that functions basically as a short bow!
You can EASILY rule that any sort of bonus goes away at say 5th!
HAVE A HEART!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by Admin on Oct 12, 2018 21:49:44 GMT
So in one of my rants I complained about the huge number of OSR rules and advised, Don't write rules, write great adventures. As I said earlier I was switching to Crypts and THings, I'm still doing that but as much as I want to use the RAW, I tinker. And I tinker. And I tinker. I've got allmost as many houserules as the core of the book. Now I'm working on 4 new character classes and adding fighter kits.
What is it with we DMs?
Why do we Houserule switch systems and spend way too much time on such. Our time could def be better spent on world building, new monster, new spells etc. Really even new spells is a waste.
Yet we tinker and tinker, almost kike it's compleatly imbeded in DMing.
I can't follow my own advice!!!!!!!!!
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Post by Admin on Oct 12, 2018 21:50:38 GMT
Even at first L , the PCs are special, even if you are running a gritty city game the PCs are something head and shoulders above the rabble. Fame should be just around the corner for them. They are the Apex Preditors, treat them as such!
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Post by Admin on Oct 12, 2018 21:51:57 GMT
The Min-Maxer I don't have a prob with these guys. The way I look at it, is if he can break the rules, the rules are bad not the player.
Admittedly my exposure to these is limited but I've also seen a trend that goes along with min maxing. In my experience they are also good to excellent RPers. They might actually be the total package
In the very limited amount I play, I'm sort of this. We Min Maxers tend toward spellcasters, and I havn't played a fighter in prob 10 years.
The one time it was a prob was when I was DMing 4th and the Min Maxer made all the char's, Now that was a NIGHTMARE. Level appropriate foes died in 1/2 a round. YIKES. That is when I stopped being such a "seat of the pants DM". But I learned a lot and went up a few L as DM. An unfortunate circumstance that really really stretched me as a DM. I'm truely glad for the lessons learned
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Post by Admin on Oct 12, 2018 21:52:50 GMT
Ok this is HIGHLY hypocritical of me but: Don't waste your time writing whole new sets of rules when there are a thousand different games to pick from. Sure house rules are fine but leave the writing of new ones to others. You will NEVER get rich or famous writing new rules. If you REALLY want to see your name in print write a GREAT adventure for an existing game! Spend your prep time on your setting or individual adventures
Ok now I admit I wrote my own set of rules but that was because one of my players did ALL the hard part, formating and actually doing the typing plus I have no money and a lot of time on my hands.
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Post by Admin on Oct 12, 2018 21:53:22 GMT
Don't make impossible to hit creatures, it is very frustrating for the players. Once in a GREAT while this is OK, but mostly it's just a time waster. The simple solution is to just give the thing more HP but there are creative ways to make the creature last longer
-Give it a force field that shows damage
- A swirling wall of living runes that absorb hits(functionally no dif from force field)
-Give it a "mastermind" ability that allows mooks/bodyguards to absorb hits
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Post by Admin on Oct 12, 2018 21:53:55 GMT
no, No, NO! Nobody wants to read pages and pages of handouts. Nobody will pay attention to them. One of the very successful tricks I learned from running a 31 year long campaign: Less is more. I always UNDER explain everything. It creates an itch in your players, makes them THIRSTY for any scrap of knowledge. You will eventually be rewarded with players deeply engaged in every scrap of your lore.
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Post by Admin on Oct 12, 2018 21:54:32 GMT
My rule number 2 is : Learn to say Yes!
When it really doesn't matter, always say yes to players, especially when it encourages good RPing.
They want to jump on top of T-Rex?, give them an easy roll to make and give them no game modifier
Say yes when heroics are involved
Treat your players like heros, in my game the PCs are always the top of the food chain , even when they are first.
Let them gain fame(it doesn't need to come with any other compensation)
A player has a monster he always liked fighting? Bring it on!
after all : What Does It Cost You?
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Post by Admin on Oct 12, 2018 21:55:24 GMT
Nobody watches, everybody at the table plays, no exceptions! I broke this rule EXACTLY one time since 1977 and sure enuf it was a problem. I let a guy sit in to see what the game was like, he started a loud side conversation and I went off on him. I lost a player and reminded myself how important it was. I even made the 60 year old mother of a 17 year old girl play when she wanted to check us out. She did pretty good for a civilian. Be firm with this one!
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Post by Admin on Oct 12, 2018 21:56:31 GMT
Ok , I just don't understand the love for sandboxing. I never really read that much about it cause' I think the whole idea is silly. I know I might be old and set in my ways but for the last 5 years or so I've really grown as a DM. I've searched many topics on my art and really saw how I had stagnated, but SB no thanx!
For one thing, I really don'r see how you can justify player death in one. I run super detailed rich complex worlds and the idea of letting the PCs romp to their hearts content just doesn't appeal to me. Sounds like a great way to end up dead.
Railroading is a bad term, no doubt concocted by said sandboxers. With railroading you can set clear goals and run epic universe saving stories that I have come to love so much. Selected areas can be run sandboxy, for short periods of time. I can easily see a sandboxy start to a game set in a limited geographical area , alowing the players to learn about where they will be adventuring before their epic journey begins
I will wear my conductors hat proudly for the rest of my DMing career, leading the PCs on epic endevours.
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Post by Admin on Oct 12, 2018 21:57:25 GMT
Most DMs think they are great at what they do. They lovingly craft their worlds and try to be entertaining.But one thing every dm needs to do is never stop learning their craft. The internet is full of dm advice from very creative peeps. Never stop looking for new ways to do even the most mundane of dming tasks. Reach as a dm. Try new types of monsters and color ideas. Don't become so full of yourself that you think you know it all, you don't. Make your players stretch too. And it's never too late to keep adding to your bag of tricks.
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Post by Admin on Oct 12, 2018 21:58:05 GMT
Pet Peeves Both are dice related.
1) STOP ROLLING THE DICE IN YOUR HAND!!!!!!!!
I can't stand it when players shake and shake their dice in their hand!
JUST ROLL THE gosh DICE!!!!!!!!
(If they are describing what they are doing in an RP way, that's FINE, but to shake and shake saying"C'mon Daddy needs a 20!" I just want to strangle them)
2) WORST OF ALL: ROLL THE DICE ON THE gosh TABLE!!!!!!!!!!!
Really, how hard is this? You are doing something a 4 year old can do right!
It got so bad at one point, I made a house rule that dice off the table= lowest poss roll!
DON"T ROLL THE DICE TOWARD YOURSELF!!!!! This is ASKING to throw them off the table!
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Post by Admin on Oct 12, 2018 21:59:33 GMT
I find it hard to believe that anyone reading this doesn't know this but: The DM is always right or more correctly: The DM has power over the rules. There is a 1B to this. The DM MUST be consistent in this and tread lightly.
It is important when using this rule to have a consistent pattern to it. If you are going for a more realistic approach to gaming (something I disagree with), you should enforce this across the board. If fact you are better off with coherent house rules than constant DM fiat. If you are going to take a loose approach to the rules, make sure the players get this benefit too.
A note on monsters and NPCs.: You never need to justify powers and abilities of these UNLESS you are operating a DM NPC (which must be used with care anyway). I advise only experienced DMs go the DM NPC route, and you are always better off letting the PCs have limited control over their NPC companions to a greater degree to avoid DM bias. If you want a DM NPC you should prob find a game and play in it instead. I have used DM NPCs in the past and will no doubt use them again but keep their power in line w/ the PCs(maybe a L or 2 lower)
Individual monster types can always break the rules, but again be consistent. It should be reserved for boss monsters and not Orcs. Making a Liche have triple the number of HP is fine, be challenging not killer.
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