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Tag: DnD5e

Thoughts Against Gas-Pedal Pacing in TTRPGs

Published by MichelV69 on March 3, 2020

Post Views: 1,533 “It is a fast [plot]? // It’s fast enough for you, old man.” “Pacing” is one of those nebulous issues in story-telling.  Generally, it refers to how fast a story progresses through the arc of events of the plot.  In an era of non-stop-action movies, it’s easy as a GM to feel that things need be a rolling boil at all times in our Table-Top Role-Playing Games (TTRPGs).  I personally think that’s a mistake. “Just Write” on YouTube does an interesting talk-about “Rise of Skywalker” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD5mLw0A8vI) .  One of the remarks he makes is that the director’s trademark style is to push the plot ahead at a frenetic pace by virtue of exposition sequences that drive action sequences.  There are no scenes as a common…

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Failing to Meta-Game Causes Problems

Published by MichelV69 on February 25, 2020

Post Views: 689 Wait, what? Isn’t “meta-gaming” bad? Not usually. Firstly, we need to pin down what I mean by “meta-gaming”. The way I see it commonly used, it means “cheating”. But cheating doesn’t mean meta-gaming. Meta (from the Greek meta- μετά- meaning “after” or “beyond”) is a prefix meaning more comprehensive or transcending — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta So, “meta-gaming” then, is “actions or knowledge which are more comprehensive or transcend the game space“. It’s on that second qualifier, that I want to focus. Transcend (verb) “to rise above or go beyond the limits of” — https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transcend Imagine what you might know if your full time job involved climbing a hill twice a day, hunting for glowing mushrooms of energy that, under the right conditions, cured a nasty and fatal…

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What’s To Be Done About TTRPG “Murder Hobos”?

Published by MichelV69 on February 18, 2020

Post Views: 644 One of those questions I see go by on Twitter from time to time is a new Game Master (GM) asking for help in reining in their players whose characters are operating under the “Murder Hobo” trope.  For those of you unfamiliar with the term, no, I don’t mean https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobo_with_a_Shotgun .  Essentially, the reference comes from the fact that most Adventuring Groups / Teams, irrespective of genre / game system, are constantly on the move.  If they use that rootlessness to be a “why not” rationale for killing random bystanders, or anyone who annoys the group, or the merchant that wants to haggle, etc … that’s being a “Murder Hobo”. Firstly, this is a problem at the meta-game level.  I’ll talk more in detail about…

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When Sub-Optimal Is Better in TTRPGs

Published by MichelV69 on February 12, 2020

Post Views: 2,280 For those of you who haven’t heard “Due Respite Media” (https://durespite.com/) have started a Table-Top Role-Playing Game (TTRPG) focuses VODcast / Talk-show that runs every Monday night, 9pm Mountain time.  It’s titled “Story Teller’s Studio” and you can catch it live at https://www.twitch.tv/duerespite or the next morning on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIiBBusPG1DoXelX3lIUNLg . The driving force behind Due Respite Media (DRM) is Erik Taylor, who you can catch up with on Twitter as @Shrimpiclese .  He’s clearly passionate about TTRPGs and stories, as well as the tight group of awesome people he’s got working with him in his vision for DRM. Thus far, the show has hit episode six.  The conversations are consistently smart and thought-provoking.  It’s done in a curated-table format, with Erik putting questions…

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Puzzles and Points of Failure

Published by MichelV69 on May 16, 2019

Post Views: 611 How not to stall your game with stuff other than hitting monsters I was asked recently on my Discord server how I handle puzzles in my games.  Do I use them, how do I make sure they aren’t too hard, and what do I do if they party gets stumped?  A fellow Game Master (GM) dropped the following snark: “You want to put a puzzle for your players to solve?  Easy, just look up ‘puzzles for toddlers’ on the Internet, and then spend the evening tearing your hair out as they fail to solve it.” — Annon GM This perception, while funny, is at the heart of why so many GMs do not use puzzles or tricks in their table-top role-playing game (TTRPG) sessions.  The…

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MCDM’s Strongholds & Followers Warfare, At Scale, Part 2.

Published by MichelV69 on May 7, 2019

Post Views: 4,319 The battle rages on for the fate of Ravenskull Valley.  In my previous post about MCDM’s “Strongholds & Followers” Warfare rules being used at scale, we had just reached the end of Round 3 when I reported in about how things were going. We’ve now reached the end of Turn 6. As a reminder, each round of S&F Warfare is 1 minute, or 10 rounds of D&D5e-scale “Encounter Battle” time under my house rules.  So, the combined forces of the Human Castle-Town of Crierton and the Ravenskull Elves have been fighting the fearsome Sundered Mountain Legion of Hobgoblins for six minutes. Using the “reaction / intercept” mechanic I introduced in my last blog post, the Heroes have attacked and defeated one of the two Seige…

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MCDM’s Strongholds & Followers Warfare, At Scale

MCDM’s Strongholds & Followers Warfare, At Scale

Published by MichelV69 on April 15, 2019

Post Views: 1,460 I’m a fan of Matt Colville and MCDM. While I don’t always agree with Colville on everything he says, he usually has well articulated reasons for saying it. Naturally, when the “Strongholds & Followers” (S&F) project was announced, I backed it. The Heroes in my Monday night DnD5e game are hitting the end of the “Chapter” for the story, and have arrived at this game’s version of the “Battle of Helm’s Deep”. In our game, this is the “Battle for Ravenskull Valley”. I decided that we’d use the S&F “Warfare” rules to manage the battle. The players are responsible for managing the two “Allied” factions, and myself (GM) and a guest player are handling the Villian faction. In story, the Clanhold of the Ravenskull Elves…

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DnD5e : I Made A Map. More To Follow.TTRPG Map Sadelyn Island from my Scattered Islands setting

DnD5e : I Made A Map. More To Follow.

Published by MichelV69 on December 16, 2018

Post Views: 725 So I was having a quiet evening at home, and got playing around with ProFantasy’s Campaign Cartographer 3+ on a live stream.  This is what I came up with: It’s free to use for non-commercial reasons in your private DnD5e game.  I’m going to be setting up a section on the website here that will hold all the maps I make as I fill this place in.  The next one will be a “Classic 5-Room Dungeon”.   I had a lot of fun doing this.  I hope folks enjoy the aesthetic.

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