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- Nov 15, 2021
They're a bad road to go down if you like having money and time, great if you don't care about either of those things.Supposedly minis are a bad road to go down
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They're a bad road to go down if you like having money and time, great if you don't care about either of those things.Supposedly minis are a bad road to go down
I've never run and only played 5e once (and briefly). I've run or played Shadowrun, Star Wars FFG, Pendragon, Vampire: the Masquerade, Harnmaster, Call of Cthulhu, Delta Green, all Warhammer 40k rpgs, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Pathfinder, AD&D, UESRPG, and Traveller, in no particular order. Might have missed one or two systems.It's one of my pet peeves about the hobby. Hundreds of games, 99% of the get rave reviews, but each group plays only 5e, their house game, and maybe a third for an esoteric setting.
Depending on the specifics and setting(which should be hashed out before people even start writing characters), it can fuck with player agency regarding their character. Why are they a prisoner? Would their character have actually done anything that would get them prison time? Were they framed for a crime off screen? Would their character even have been anywhere that being captured and sold as a slave would be a thing? What if they wanted to be an escaped slave and now they're caught again already?I started a bunch of games similar to this. Prisoners on a ship that crashes is the start of Treasure Hunt, which is a go-to adventure for me I can run almost from memory.
A game I want to run starts with the PCs as prisoners/slaves who's caravan is attacked by a monster and they escape. People really object to this opening, and I'm not sure why. It's not a woke thing either.
Ignoring the people who only want to play TTRPGs, and specifically 5e because it's the popular thing to do. A lot of people simply don't want to take the time to learn another system. I've played quite a few systems over the years, but at the same time I don't necessarily want to learn yet another system if there are other systems that everyone at the table already knows and haven't been played to death. That's even more of an issue for systems/settings that are basically duplicating others instead that myself and the group I play with already know. It's not like just because we played a one shot, and another campaign that lasted a year with all of 3 characters combined because one of mine got killed, that I'd suddenly become bored with a game and would rather be doing something else.Hundreds of games, 99% of the get rave reviews, but each group plays only 5e, their house game, and maybe a third for an esoteric setting.
They rule but are not remotely necessary except (maybe) for PCs/special monsters.What are your guys experience with minis?
The Isekai thing is dumb as hell - with exceptions. Stormhollow, an RPG primarily children to get them adjusted to such things, your character is generally expected to be literal you, or another person from our world. The Heroes are called "Poppins" (as in they "Pop in"). But again, this is for literal children so I let that slide.The above is one of the dumbest tropes I have ever seen. It's lazy, it feels weirdly like it's for people who simply cannot get their head around being a character foreign to their real life and I loathe it.
I start adventures in taverns because nobody really cares how session 1 happened. I'm not trying to win some award for most creative session 1 in history, and I don't like spending any mental energy on a triviality like "how we met." This isn't a dating game.
Curse of Strahd has a optional intro where you start at a tavern and the Yawning Portal module starts in the tavern part of the inn. (I think Descent into Avernus also begins at a tavern) Sometimes people overthink shit, a tavern is okay as a starting place, sometimes people get so obsessed with trying to subvert expectations they are better off sticking with the traditional routes.
From the gaming clubs I've played with and ran stuff with no one gave a shit about starting at a tavern. The only time I had someone freakout about the starting location is someone who thought they should sneak into the city of Baldur's Gate because he wanted to troll the whole plot of the module being "The guards don't let you into the city but they'll let you in soon if you do a quest for them."
Starting is a Tavern is completely fine. As mentioned, that used to be just where people gathered. A Pub(lic House) would be a place where all types, including foreign travelers, would gather without raising eyebrows or too many questions being asked.Unless you're doing a "you're all so wet behind the ears this is your very first time drawing your weapons in anger" kind of campaign, starting at a tavern is fine. Those were one of the social centers of medieval life, and adventurers aren't likely to be cooking their own meals while in town. If you're going to be there every day anyway, and everybody knows adventurers are likely to be there, there's no better place to give out quests.
You forgot about "space". So damn many.They're a bad road to go down if you like having money and time, great if you don't care about either of those things.
I didn't think of the agency part. It's strange as I never really had that problem before. Usually I make a patron or common denominator for the PCs to band together initially. I played in one campaign where the party were kidnapped by a cult, but escaped mid sacrifice. Im told BG3 has you start with the party being infected by an illathid and you go looking for a cure.Depending on the specifics and setting(which should be hashed out before people even start writing characters), it can fuck with player agency regarding their character. Why are they a prisoner? Would their character have actually done anything that would get them prison time? Were they framed for a crime off screen? Would their character even have been anywhere that being captured and sold as a slave would be a thing? What if they wanted to be an escaped slave and now they're caught again already?
That's genius, I never thought of that.track which monster is being attacked and its HP or whatever compared to using tiddlywinks or Sorry tokens that you can easily just write a number on top of with a dry-erase.
Also, if you're going to get minis, make sure you get a bunch of orcs, goblins, skeletons, zombies, generic soldier men.
Yes. I have a box of Frostgrave Gnolls I got for fun. They're fun to build, but I have no use for them. Cultists I could kind of use for a traitor guard army for 40k.Frostgrave is really good. I got their gnolls for a gnoll-heavy campaign and they were great.
My plan was the opposite. I can make a few generic fodder. Gnolls, guards, cultists, casters of various flavours. But any special or one off monsters, using basic tokens as usual. Or using a mini as a proxy. "Oh, this red dragon, now it's a blue dragon" or using a rat swarm as a stand in for a scarab swarm. You get the idea.They rule but are not remotely necessary except (maybe) for PCs/special monsters.
Like I said, it depends on the specifics. Having them be captured by a cult or something could be an option which doesn't change anything about what they want to have for the background of their character, but on the surface without details I can see why some people would readily reject it.I didn't think of the agency part. It's strange as I never really had that problem before. Usually I make a patron or common denominator for the PCs to band together initially. I played in one campaign where the party were kidnapped by a cult, but escaped mid sacrifice. Im told BG3 has you start with the party being infected by an illathid and you go looking for a cure.
Originally it was up to them. All that mattered was they were prisoners (or slaves) in a wagon being taken somewhere. Their caravan is attacked by a monster, and during the massacre they make their escape. Iirc I even had some suggestions, and one was they were set up by a jealous rival.
You could also just use paper standees for the things you don't want to bother making minis for. For the PCs, if it's a campaign that is going to be going on for a while they can make a character in that and I think it's $12 for a 2 sided acrylic standee? Paizo has had their pawns boxes for years, and they're cardboard in little plastic stands and work just fine looking like thisMy plan was the opposite. I can make a few generic fodder. Gnolls, guards, cultists, casters of various flavours. But any special or one off monsters, using basic tokens as usual. Or using a mini as a proxy. "Oh, this red dragon, now it's a blue dragon" or using a rat swarm as a stand in for a scarab swarm. You get the idea.
Maybe using minis creates the expectation you'd do it for all of them?
Oddly enough, PCs might be hardest to do. There's not much is the way of dragonborn or warforged out there without getting into 3D printing. Maybe kitbashing some stormcast could work?
Edit: Forgot to mention. I often see it said that the board game Rune Wars is a great source of DnD figures. Turns out that was a board game that flopped and was being sold off cheap. ie. It was a limited time thing that seems to be repeated over and over. In that spirit, there are other board games that do the same kind of thing. Certain Hero Quest sets, or the recent dungeon crawl board game Maladum.
You could also just use paper standees for the things you don't want to bother making minis for.
Read Robinson Caruso. (that better be "reread")Any idea how to intro a campaign where the player characters were captured and put on a hobgoblin slave galley but then bad weather dashed it on the rocks and the party wakes up on a mystery island? I.e. how to handle losing/reacquiring their gear?
If I were to do something like that, and I knew my players were up for it...Any idea how to intro a campaign where the player characters were captured and put on a hobgoblin slave galley but then bad weather dashed it on the rocks and the party wakes up on a mystery island? I.e. how to handle losing/reacquiring their gear?
I know, that's why I was surprised to see it suggested as an original, interesting way to start a campaign.On the other hand, thanks to Skyrim waking up as a prisoner in a wagon itself has become a meme that some people just may not want in a narrative.
(Ninja'd by @Ghostse )Any idea how to intro a campaign where the player characters were captured and put on a hobgoblin slave galley but then bad weather dashed it on the rocks and the party wakes up on a mystery island? I.e. how to handle losing/reacquiring their gear?
They can obviously just plunder the hobgoblins (also are these total noobs to the point that retards like hobgoblins can enslave them) for basic shit.Any idea how to intro a campaign where the player characters were captured and put on a hobgoblin slave galley but then bad weather dashed it on the rocks and the party wakes up on a mystery island? I.e. how to handle losing/reacquiring their gear?
Again, depending on your players:Have them make some characters at lvl 2 or in whatever system you're using basically being past character creation and having done something. Maybe even treat it like a prologue but have them get captured in the end but don't tell them it's a one-shot(you don't want someone coming up with a throwaway character idea they wouldn't actually use in a campaign) after doing a simple dungeon or something. Beginning of the next session after they've been captured, have them level up. Narrate their journey stuck being captives and getting sold along with maybe some checks to see how they survive dealing with the slavers to give you an idea of what meager shit they might have found on the ship or possibly any beatings or untreated illness they may have contracted during the voyage, then dash their ship against the rocks in a storm.
Reaper's gnolls are terrible, too big to fit into a 1" square.But if you need a bunch of minis, Frostgrave is really good. I got their gnolls for a gnoll-heavy campaign and they were great.
Disgraceful. I'm okay with people wanting to offset the costs of running a game, but I'd rather get raped with AIDS than put up with this shit.5e grifters (DMs for hire aka OnlyRolls) gonna get that bag in 2026:
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If I wanted to roll dice with a bunch of unwashed nerds on a college campus, I can do it for a lot less than $3000.
That's wonderful. That's just beautifully evil. Almost Paranoia level mindfuck.Last time I did a prisoners-turned-castaways session, I also did thing where I handed out playing cards and told the players "anyone with the ace of diamonds is a traitor. We'll connect after session, but your goal will be to derail the party and have them recaptured. Ok hand them back.". The deck was naturally all spades and clubs but the insistence THEY aren't the traitor only mades them look more guilty.
It's the whole "a man has a knife to your throat" "I'm a level 5 fighter, that dagger would do d4 damage and I have 100hp." kind of moment.(It also raises the question, if they had awesome gear well beyond what they could scrounge off the hobgoblin corpses, why were they enslaved in the first place?)
I'm stealing this.I also did thing where I handed out playing cards and told the players "anyone with the ace of diamonds is a traitor. We'll connect after session, but your goal will be to derail the party and have them recaptured. Ok hand them back.". The deck was naturally all spades and clubs but the insistence THEY aren't the traitor only mades them look more guilty.