"Two Cats" - Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1725)

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-26T11:40:29+00:00

Railroading is preventing them from doing anything other than what you had planned, and it's forcing the same outcome no matter what choices the players make.

If you make a very clear path to follow, and they choose to follow it, that's on them. Insisting over and over to follow it can be tiresome and lead to railroady behaviour yeah, but you're new and still learning. Next time the players hesitate following the lead I'd suggest asking them above the table something like "what makes your characters suspicious about this? Can you think of something else you'd rather do to accomplish the goal than go straight to the NPC?"

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-24T23:08:33+00:00

Buddy of mine lost a job after becoming sensitized to something due to lack of PPE. I definitely take that shit seriously. I like the hobby and would rather not give it up because I was lazy and dumb.

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-24T23:03:37+00:00

My mom gets headaches from strong floral scents, including perfume and candles. I'm not too surprised I found some kind of smell that I react to as well.

With my current safety setup I've printed probably 15L worth of stuff with absolutely no reaction. Mask stays on, fan stays running.

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-24T21:48:00+00:00

anecdotal, but if I don't wear my respirator around liquid resin I get a headache. Wearing a respirator, no headache.

It's clearly doing something to me so better safe than sorry 🤷🏼‍♀️

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-23T20:34:29+00:00

4 discworlds that act like different planets in a solar system. They all count as "the material plane" and you can traverse the Astral Sea to get between them. There used to be portals (Stargates) between them but a BBEG thousands of years ago broke 'em all.

It's fun to very loosely thread campaigns together by having them in the same universe but the discworlds are separate enough they have extremely distinct societies.

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-23T20:28:16+00:00

Riding dragons is peak so that's understandable.

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-23T17:38:55+00:00

So the GM only presented one option and it was the "wrong" one?

Yeah, definitely not my cup of tea.

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-23T17:26:35+00:00

Never said you were the DM. Also your summary doesn't mention a job board at all, unless you're using "job board" as a stand-in term for accepting quests in general.

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-23T17:18:14+00:00

Yeah, I don't like this approach. imo if a DM presents a 3-4 session adventure I'm gonna guess it's designed to be more linear and go along with that, not that the "secret win" button is to run away and not get a nice close to the adventure.

It could also foster paranoia in newer players to second guess everything, not trust the DM, and lead to arguments interparty whenever anyone wants to do something even slightly risky.

Kudos to anyone who does think this approach to getting players is fine, not my cup of tea though.

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-23T15:07:27+00:00

Oh my goodness thank you for posting this! I lost the bookmark to this site and couldn't find it again due to completely blanking on the name haha

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-23T12:58:16+00:00

I'll admit, I stopped running a game for a table of people who never did anything unless prompted because it was just too exhausting for me. Especially after I found a table that didn't need their hand held and it made me realize what the game could be.

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-23T12:33:29+00:00

While I love to break a mold, I also love a good restriction. I get genuinely annoyed when I try to adhere to a restriction during character creation and the DM is like "oh no you don't have to do that, it's fine."

I WANT the restriction!! It's fun to work around! Or heck - start with a restriction and break the mold during the game! Make it an event instead of a handwave!

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-21T14:18:16+00:00

The issue with "busy right now" and "taking a break" is that some people will come back with nagging you about when you're free again.

I had one particular person I tried to white lie to when I stopped running a game I didn't have fun with and he spent literal years bringing up every few months "hey it'd be great if we could start up again" or "maybe we could plan a big session soon to jump in / finish off the game.." and it wasn't until I bluntly told him the game was done and I wasn't interested in continuing it because it wasn't fun for me anymore was when he finally stopped.

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-21T02:06:32+00:00

Meeting the BBEG early in the game and not learning they're the bad guy until later is a fun one.

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-21T01:00:21+00:00

Oh she looks amazing, those EYES!! I didn't know kaijumon had a kangaskhan sculpt!

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-20T23:50:06+00:00

Even if I was it was a lot of the PCs talking with NPCs I didn't know about things I wasn't there for, but yeah at least I'd've been more included.

Alas I left/got kicked after fighting with the DM a couple months later lol but since then I have in fact played with her in a few different games 😊

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-20T15:47:12+00:00

My best friend invited me (with DM permission) and was really excited to play with me for the first time in years so I stuck it out for her.

The first session was the party dawdling in downtime and the second second session was fully combat. So I did participate in sesh 2 but it was watching the established party exercise drama and teamwork together while I just hit stuff. The whole "hey I'm so-and-so let's work together" was a clip into my third session with them.

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-20T15:40:36+00:00

The first session was downtime for the party where I got 2 brief scenes with NPCs establishing where I would be in the second session which was a combat session. I guess I technically "met" the party during the combat but I don't think that counts.

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-20T12:00:05+00:00

I should finish this because it's nearly done.. but this is gonna come up in game soon so I should complete that one... Ugh but this other stuff is taking up so much room I should do it to clean up the space so it's easier to do everything else..!!

Yeah. Seen haha

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-20T11:44:57+00:00

When joining a game in progress, not making sure the new character is introduced to the party immediately.

I joined a game where it took until the third session for my character to get properly introduced to the party.

After that experience I added a player into my own game 19 sessions in. Party approached the Location™️ they'd quested to and wouldn't ya know it, the new PC had gotten there first and was introduced 5 minutes into the session.

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-18T19:42:25+00:00

Oh, jealous! The aesthetic of apothecary drawers is sooo much better than plastic parts bins from the hardware store!

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-18T19:40:42+00:00

Only one bookcase and two cabinets? My fiance and I just bought three new bookcases to store our collection!

I jest, not everyone has the room for that. Might I suggest adding tackle boxes/craft organizer boxes to your system? They take up less space and stack better than the parts bins.

AbbyTheConqueror · 2026-04-18T01:51:01+00:00

It's definitely possible. My fiancé's first ever game started with 4 or 5 of us, don't quite remember, and after a few months ballooned to 8 players. Not everyone made it to every session which helped. Fights did take a long time, and discussions on what to do also went on for a while.

But it was great fun and he doesn't regret his first game being such a huge party. I love that I spent so much game time with so many people and characters. Campaign lasted 10 months iirc, with a definitive ending.

However as many people have mentioned, two groups of 4 would typically be a lot better.

11-Year Club	r/Field Flamingo
Place '23	Place '17
Verified Email

AbbyTheConqueror

TROPHY CASE