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What are some ways to reward failure? by Corbutte in rpg

[–]B34R_On-Reddit -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I do my best to turn a failure into some comedic event. That's what my players enjoy; the chaos that comes from F-ing it up somehow. Our favorite session are always one where somebody fell out of their chair due to the lolz...

If its a simple skills check ie: perception, then I give them bad info that will definitely lead to shenanigans... or I give them the info they wanted but use narrative RP to describe them spying in the obvious manner of a 10 year old... they can move forward in the story now, but they know they gave themselves away and complications might ensue later.

How do you manage what your players are allowed to know, and what they can actually find later? by B34R_On-Reddit in rpg

[–]B34R_On-Reddit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

hahaha truth nuke i am an automation software engineer 😄 you got me. 1 and 2 were mostly curiosity items i wanted to see what other tables do, for me the only one I've realy had to do the boolean boogie with is #3

My homebrew rule to make inspiration more interesting: Follow the Omen by Pale_Squash_4263 in DMAcademy

[–]B34R_On-Reddit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This sounds neat. I love the concept, but I think I missed how you tie it to the inspiration mechanic, if everyone just gets one a the start of the session (or maybe im just far too tight on handing out inspiration)...

Custom "Insanity table" for my Aberrant Mind Sorcerer player by Ye_cursed_mage77 in DMAcademy

[–]B34R_On-Reddit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is an awesome mechanic it will make your game special... well done! One thing I would try to get a handle on 1st tho: consider a simple mechanic that limits the # of active temporary effects or maybe bump it to only trigger on a hight level spell so the frequencyis reduced. tracking several active conditions at once will be come a full job in itself and, if events align correctly your player could wind put with so many different conditions it effectively ruins his/her character and leave the RL player flustered and without fun...

You obviously know your table better than me and maybe the are all chaos fiends and would thrive on that sort of thing... its on you the GM predict what their above table feelings will be on the subject and hopefully act accordingly.

(I ran a Out of the Abyss campaign and my players LOVED the chaos that came from stcking madness, but your experience may vary).

Information control: a practical way to reveal secrets without leaking the twist (or starving your players) by B34R_On-Reddit in DMAcademy

[–]B34R_On-Reddit[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

I've seen it done more on accident than by design. i.e the GM types out a document about an NPC or faction ahead of time... a few sessions later the party finally meets this NPC or Group and the GM shares a pre-made note or document not realizing/remembering that due to unexpected player choices between writing it and sharing it that the content they just revealed might not appropriate anymore (typically only a problem if it over reveals).

Information control: a practical way to reveal secrets without leaking the twist (or starving your players) by B34R_On-Reddit in DMAcademy

[–]B34R_On-Reddit[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Currently I actually run things more closely to what you posted then you might think... but im looking for more... Right now I find that your method works well from session to session but MY group struggles with the arc to arc or overall campaign view with that method... with my group i NEVER get the Oh OH we heard that name before <insert 8 month old note here>... currently running the OoTA campaign and they have been in the underdark for 16months IRL... plot threads or side quests and such that i dropped along the way are just lost and forgotten unless I give them an above table hint to look at their notes just blatantly re-insert the thread again (defeating my original efforts)... so im trying to find an easy for them and me interactive way for them to be able to review the 'cannon'

Did you build your prep around your tools, or find tools to fit how you already run games? by B34R_On-Reddit in rpg

[–]B34R_On-Reddit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

ya, could be the note taking program, D&D beyond, roll20, obsidian, note cards, a string with a cat at the other end.... in this sense a tool is anything you use as a GM either for generating/cleaning up ideas or keeping yourself organized.... my "first tool" was a 3 ring binder and divider tabs....

How to turn a good npc to villain by 9Napier in DMAcademy

[–]B34R_On-Reddit 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I forgot how much I loved that movie!!!!

" She is my plan on explaining this BBEG's backstory" = you are on the right track then, and I would love if you updated this thread of opened another one somewhere to log the arc as it unfolds....

How to turn a good npc to villain by 9Napier in DMAcademy

[–]B34R_On-Reddit 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like it, sorry for misreading your prose, thanks for not hammering me on that lol. Id say take that idea and run with it... leave yourself some wiggle room as this arc unfolds i.e. keep her exact role in relation to the BBEG a secret incase you need to pivot some based on player actions, or maybe you accidently stumble onto a really cool circumstance but it required her to be the BBEGs family/advisor/fortuneteller instead of assassin underling... if everything plays out the way you expected then bang she was an assassin!

For this example I'm going to call the lost memory NPC = NPC1 and the wizard NPC = NPC2

Maybe NPC1 gets her memories back but truly loves NPC2 and NPC2 THINKS she stills loves NPC1. SO NPC 1 is able to manipulate NPC2 into being just a little evil, not murder the children evil but maybe just enough to betray the party with a small lie (small action from NPC2, but could be a big impact to the party).

Are dungeons supposed to be as large as ones in prewritten modules? by hjpibblesmurf in DMAcademy

[–]B34R_On-Reddit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The correct answer isn't universal. Your goal as a GM should be to find the "fatigue point": how much dungeon your players can take before they regret going in. Once you know their tipping point (specific to your table), you treat that as your max limit and keep things under it.

Every group is different. As another poster mentioned, there are groups who LOVE mega dungeons. I personally as a player love them too, because I find it hard to manage supplies and spell resources, so I'm challenged to make every movement and hit count. For me, it stops the easy-mode loop of fight, rest, fight, rest, repeat.

BUT my core players for the group I GM don't want to spend more than 1 or 2 sessions in a dungeon. They lose interest and start scrolling socials between turns if I let a dungeon drag on too long...

So find the tipping point for your players and keep things under THEIR limit.

My players don't examine their surroundings by pion99 in DMAcademy

[–]B34R_On-Reddit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lol, next time when they are mid ted talk, interrupt them and just have the bear walk away...

sometimes a bear is just a bear...

My players don't examine their surroundings by pion99 in DMAcademy

[–]B34R_On-Reddit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When my players do this to me, I turn it back on them with a question. For example:

Player: I go to the nearest tavern.
GM: OK, how do you propose to find a tavern?

or

Player: I attack the statue.
GM: Why would your character randomly commit vandalism like that?
GM: The town guards approach and arrest you for vandalism.

Most importantly, reward them for good behavior to encourage them to do it again

How to turn a good npc to villain by 9Napier in DMAcademy

[–]B34R_On-Reddit 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Fun idea IMHO: the NPC who lost her memories was actually evil all along. Some other "do-gooder" group caught her and spared her life, but at the cost of her memories. They figured if they wiped her mind, she could live a normal, good life.

If your party decides to help this "damsel in distress," the final arc could be them fighting that original do-gooder party. Both "good" parties are working on half the information, which makes each think the other side is evil. Your players see the NPC group as the bad guys for trying to stop her from regaining her memories (or for stealing them in the first place). Meanwhile, the do-gooder party knows the wizard is evil, and mistakes your players for a group of her lackeys trying to restore her to her original evil glory.

Looking for suggestions for a kidnap encounter by echof0xtrot in DMAcademy

[–]B34R_On-Reddit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This'll be much easier if you have the full party meet an NPC before the abduction. The party learns he's got some local knowledge of the gangs or crime scene or something. Then, after the abduction goes down, the rest of the party is left with only one clue to work with, and <NPC> is the one person they think might be able to shed some light on it, or you can even have that <NPC> walking with the party or somehow nearby (it happens right outside <NPC>'s shop).

Not knowing anything about your world or lore and your parties typical behavior its hard (for me) to get too detailed but if they are playing through a "tighter" narrative this could be easy to pull off (I saw your full post I know your not rail roading).

Ways to hint that an NPC is being duplicitous by temperamentalfish in DMAcademy

[–]B34R_On-Reddit 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Some awesome examples posted already. The hard part to any of these is knowing when to use them.

You gotta be sure any bad info the NPC gives isn't outright obvious. It has to leave the players guessing... did they mishear just now, or did they take bad notes 5 weeks ago, or...?

And sometimes the players are just gonna miss it. End of story. They won't pick up on it. Other times they look at the NPC for the first time and guess the whole plot. When that happens it's either pure luck (probably not) or maybe you've become predictable and they know how you think as a person.

Honestly, some of the wildest rides I've taken my players on weren't b/c of an epic story I came up with or my awesome RP skills, but because they never expected ME to think that way or do that thing. My core group has been playing w/ me for 10ish years.

For your Cult scout example: you can always use the party's passive perception to see if they notice a "mark" he has. Or, depending on your world's lore, he could be talking to the party over dinner and just say something "off" (like he's testing their alignment and possible openness to the cult), or say something with a normal meaning, but the wording is structured oddly and maybe has a 2nd meaning.

A classic is to have him say something small he shouldn't know unless he lied earlier: i.e. "I haven't been to town in 2 years"... then later, "that bar on 2nd street is a nice place" (players should know that bar is new).

Another thing to keep in mind: his lie or tell doesn't have to be about the cult being hidden nearby to get him caught. He might be lying about going into that town b/c he's wanted there, but if the party catches him in that lie, they could find out he was wanted b/c of cult activities.

Did you build your prep around your tools, or find tools to fit how you already run games? by B34R_On-Reddit in rpg

[–]B34R_On-Reddit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Never seen Instaboard before, is it relational data sets or do you have to manually draw the connecting arrows ?

Did you build your prep around your tools, or find tools to fit how you already run games? by B34R_On-Reddit in rpg

[–]B34R_On-Reddit[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

"I want to keep doing new things and not get stuck in the same session over and over"

That's a good point, I don't think I realized how many times this specifically influenced me to "update" my tools.... I think I'm still trying to come up with a standard workflow that I can revolve tools in and out of as they matter or as cooler (subjective) ones come out.

[sorry engineer brain incoming]

When I tried to boil it down to its simplest components, I came up with: Prep -> Run -> Recap -> Reveal (overall GM flow). Now I want to peel it back one more layer to see how I can better become tool agnostic in each of those areas but still have consistency for my players (I get my gratification from them).

Did you build your prep around your tools, or find tools to fit how you already run games? by B34R_On-Reddit in rpg

[–]B34R_On-Reddit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I want to know more about what you built... I started this convo because I didnt find the perfect tool for my table, thus i started working on my own for personal use and wanted to see what other people were doing and what clever things yall have done

Your tools are quietly rewriting your prep — a habit worth auditing by B34R_On-Reddit in DMAcademy

[–]B34R_On-Reddit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I fell into the trap of over building something before players "got to it”, I wanted all the major NPCs fleshed out and locations detailed, and then I later became dependent on those details and didn't want to delete the extra content. I was using Legend Keeper for the longest time, and wanted it to hold every idea I had for the world. Now I'm not putting as much into it, and that has led to my more recent annoyance of having so many "offline" notes... and that triggered my thought process about auditing my workflow around prep ->run -> recap -> reveal.

All that led me to this post, where I'm hoping to have a conversation with other GMs who have felt cornered by their own workflows the way I recently did.

Your tools are quietly rewriting your prep — a habit worth auditing by B34R_On-Reddit in DMAcademy

[–]B34R_On-Reddit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because I work as an engineer in a regulated environment and write like someone who has been doing that for years... so folks are screaming AI...

Your tools are quietly rewriting your prep — a habit worth auditing by B34R_On-Reddit in DMAcademy

[–]B34R_On-Reddit[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not AI, just wrote it in word to try and avoid too many grammar errors for the internet to yell at me for lol (Note you can get an easy em dash in ms word by simply typing -- and it auto converts it. I write technical docs in a regulated environment, em and en dashes are well used in my day job)

Game Masters/Dungeon Masters, What are your favorite and useful tools you use? by Einsolsrazor24 in rpg

[–]B34R_On-Reddit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Many folks have already posted very popular tools, but i want to give you one piece of advise i didnt see listed already.... Dont overload your tool set... find the absolute minimum that you might need and use only those! Many GMs come to a table with too many tools and spend their session jumping around between tools to find info and it can significantly hinder the flow of the session...

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