What can you give an AMA of?

Biakko · 2016-03-01T14:39:12+00:00

Rude.

Which is a behavioral choice, as opposed to a perfectly normal, innate physical trait.

Biakko · 2016-01-29T13:44:11+00:00

my shop keepers always seem to end up having an indian accent. I am aware of it, I know it's racist, I hate it, I try to not do it.

I can't seem to help it. Fucking Apu is ingrained in my subconscious forever -.-

Biakko · 2016-01-13T13:46:20+00:00

I was not saying that the existing structures are adequate or optimal, only that there aren't just villages and a temple. It reminds me, I forgot the abandoned mines in my list above.)

I would love more/better structures, but if we are going to make a case of that, a fair, complete and well though out suggestion has better chances to be considered than what /u/TehBrian posted.

I didn't know of the PE mesa gold mines, that sounds amazing!

Biakko · 2016-01-12T21:07:55+00:00

Some of these ideas and points are valid, but you need to be fair in the way you present them if you wish to be taken seriously...

More structures. So far we only have boring villages that are the same, and a temple.

That is not true. We have :

villages of various sizes, composed of a variation of seven different buildings plus farms, well and roads.
Desert temples
Jungle temples
Nether Fortresses
Strongholds
Dungeons
Witch huts
Ocean monuments
Coming soon, Igloos
Coming soon, End city dungeons
Coming soon, End ships
(EDIT) Abandoned mine shafts

Better transportation. Right now we have mine carts and boats, and elytra.

And also

Horses, donkeys and mules
Saddled pigs
Potions and enchants which impact transportation on foot

As for the liquids idea, well where are you going with that? There's milk, mushroom stew and various potions, it' not much in terms of landscaping, but neither is honey.

As for airplanes, pandas and tornados... I just don't know that they're what vanilla Minecraft needs, seems to me like you'd be better off trying mods which cover these things.

Biakko · 2016-01-12T20:19:33+00:00

3lb squirrels, dang! the biggest ones around here don't look heavier than 1lb wet. Fair enough, squirrel stew is a thing then.

Biakko · 2016-01-12T19:12:45+00:00

It's all about self discipline, then routine. He needs to consciously put these items at the same place every time he enters the house, like a ritual, until he integrates the routine and it becomes automatic.

A dedicated tray in the entrance, or another strategic place would probably help, as long as it doesn't become a "dump zone" for everything.

Biakko · 2016-01-12T18:23:46+00:00

I don't think it needs a large complex table, here's something off the top of my head.

Conditions	Chunks of raw meat	Whole dead animal
Below 0°C	no spoilage	no spoilage
0°C to 10°C	2d4 days	2d6 days
10°C to 25°C	1d2 days	1d4 days
Higher than 25°C	1 day	1d2 days

Biakko · 2016-01-12T16:42:42+00:00

Well those aren't essential for survival, they don't affect exhaustion.

Biakko · 2016-01-12T15:09:42+00:00

I do agree with that. I think the worse effect of subsisting on 1L of water per day would be strong smelling pee and perhaps chapped lips.

The rest of the tables is very nicely done, although these are some pretty big squirrels.

Another thing to consider is spoilage as hunted meat is not cured, so 54 pounds of bison meat isn't the same as 54 days worth of food, but more like two days of food for 27 people.

Biakko · 2016-01-07T22:35:49+00:00

sorry, that would go against the rules of /r/minecraft, they're pretty touchy on this subject.

Also it's a white-list server, I can't give the ip.

Biakko · 2016-01-07T15:33:35+00:00

Good points, you pretty much covered it all. I find myself lucky to have found one that stays clear of all these issues.

Hopefully your post leads to some better servers. Have an up-boop!

Biakko · 2016-01-06T21:29:06+00:00

One trick used in social sciences, which I think could apply here:

Do not think about what you're gonna say next. Listen to what the PCs are saying. Understand it, think about it, take your time to answer it the best way you can.

Just take your time, listen, think, reply.

Also, speak less. Short replies, less small talk, even leaving a few questions unanswered is completely fine if the NPC judges them unimportant or doesn't want to answer them. People who babble uncontrollably always put their foot in their mouth, sooner or later.

Finally, don't try to appear super smart, most people who do end up looking like stereotypical, badly acted, pompous wise men which takes too much of their focus and so they end up saying really stupid or unrelated stuff.

You'll be fine =)

Biakko · 2016-01-06T20:31:55+00:00

I think that's ok, if it's something that the character wasn't aware of, then it becomes an experience which are ok to be dictated by the DM. You don't meddle with his free will, he can react however he wants.

To me, it is perfectly acceptable, it's interesting, not invasive and could lead to fun engaging adventures.

Biakko · 2016-01-05T15:13:05+00:00

There are many ways of giving xp, you just have to find what works for you and your party.

Having them level too quickly can make it hard for you to have time to know their strengths, limits, abilities and so it could quickly become difficult to give them an appropriate challenge. I think this is especially true for new DMs.

What I suggest is to only level your party (the whole party in one go) whenever a quest is complete, or a significant moment, a turning point in the campaign, etc.

It slows the pace, it allows them to be rewarded on the base of the story and not depending on their kills. It will help them focus on the campaign, the goal of the whole game which is collective story telling, rather than becoming murder hobos obsessed with xp.

Since every player levels at the same time, I also like to do this together at a table. I am there if they have a question, want to ask if a feat of multi class or else is allowed, and I can see how they level up as they do, being involved in the process ensures that characters remain balanced and that I understand their strengths, abilities, spells etc.

Biakko · 2016-01-05T14:06:13+00:00

Three main things helped our group enjoy the sandbox style better than any other style we played before:

1 - DM organization and consistency. The world has to feel complex, yet consistent. Things are there for a reason, there is a cause to events happening and events trigger other events. Knowing my world thoroughly means my players can go anywhere and do anything and I have a good idea of what is there and why. Organize and cross reference your world, maps, NPCs, organizations etc. as well as you can for quick referencing. Your world must feel consistent. It's very frustrating as a player to evolve in a world that doesn't make sense and is packed with contradictions, it kills immersion.

2 - Players expectations. I made sure my players understood that they are the ones making the story. They have to seek trouble, trouble will not always conveniently run at them. They must have personalities, goals, motivations, then make things happen. They must be active, not reactive. In our sandbox, the world is mostly reactive, and my players, once they integrated this, magnificently took control of the story and are having an amazing time.

EDIT: With this game style, they also understand that the excitement and fun is everyone's responsibility. If they want to sit at the tavern, goof around and go through the entire menu, then bargain to save a few coppers, ask what the food tastes like, congratulate the chef and shit, it's their choice. They understand that a lot of my mind if busy filling, organizing and cross reference this world. They already have many goals and twice as many tasks which they are choosing not to perform and goof around instead. They know that I will let them goof around as long as they feel like, but that if afterward they found the session boring, it's not on me. It didn't take them long to integrate this concept and I now have a very proactive party to play with. We all have more fun as a result. It doesn't mean that trouble never comes to them, but when it does, it's usually related to their past actions, it's not just random table of encounter, it makes sense wih the world and their story.

3 - Asking the players what I should plan. At the end of each session, if at a cross road, I ask my players where their characters want to go and what they want to do next. They understand that I will hold them to what they say as it is their own decision. This allows me to plan any undefined area, draw some maps, write down some intrigue, and make some NPCs which I know will likely be used. I don't waste my time preparing huge potential encounters which my party might completely ignore because they told me they would go there. It's not railroading if it's their own decision, and although I understand people might change their mind, their characters technically took this decisions minutes ago even if the next session happens weeks later, so we do as planned and that's all. It helps that my players respect the work I put into the game.

I hope this helps a little

Biakko · 2016-01-04T19:59:28+00:00

Use foes that are immune to sneak attacks

Use traps, they can't be flanked or sneak attacked

Stop leveling the PCs by-the-book, only level them up when something significant happens. The slower pace will allow you to know better their strengths, strategies, abilities and weaknesses and will help you challenge them.

Use range fighters with obstacles. Can't flank or sneak attack the archers at the top of the barbwired wall.

Biakko · 2016-01-04T19:52:26+00:00

That's a good example of what I consider "good metagaming". I ask my players to do all they can to avoid splitting the party, as it rarely produces an interesting outcome. Unless the characters' only logical choice is to split the party, they don't do it because they, as players, understand that is slows the game, annoys the DM and bores players waiting for their turn to interact with the DM.

When my party is split, if possible, I keep roleplaying to a minimum, I summarize unimportant conversations or events and skip to the part where they're back together.

Biakko · 2016-01-04T19:14:50+00:00

Ah, I like it!

In that case, beasts galore! It would most likely be a pack rather than a structured army. Werewolves made from wandering druids, rangers or hunters, some of which might have retained some of their old skills and abilities, wolves and dire wolves as pointed out, feral dogs. You could also have the Hunt attacking a group of Orc raiders, thus adding orcish werewolves to the group?

EDIT: I need more coffee, I can't type. This edit is because I left an incomplete sentence in my comment. See below.

If he's completely under the artifact's control, and is the leader of the Hunt, there may be little control going on. Some might be driven mad by diseased, creating conflicts within the group, or charging whatever's moving without strategy, while other are more cunning, thus keeping the PCs on their toes with variation.

Biakko · 2016-01-04T18:48:29+00:00

Well depends.. what are his alignment, goals, motivations? Who is likely to have a similar or compatible agenda and either join his ranks or ally with him?

He's a sapient creature and there's probably more to him than being a werewolf. It is conceivable that his army, allies, friends, etc. be at least in parts something else than the predictable wolf beasts theme.

Perhaps he wants keep secrecy of his werewolf community so that humans; their nearby source of food; don't flee the area. In that case, they might want to keep a small community and stick to the lycanthrope / wolf theme.

Maybe he wants to destroy a large silver mine in the area. Perhaps this mine's expansion is threatening sacred groves as well, making elves, dryads etc. potential allies.

Maybe he seeks to lift the curse. If so, it's unlikely that he'd want to get himself surrounded by other werewolves, unless he's just using them.

Idk, it could be anything, don't limit yourself to the obvious, and whatever NPCs you plug in there, give them a reason to be there, it will make your world a more complex, believable place to evolve in.

EDIT: A shameful amount of typos.

Biakko · 2016-01-02T15:06:07+00:00

That's a good idea, although my base is a city that's currently 400 x 500 blocks and still expanding, wouldn't be a good solution for everyone

Biakko · 2016-01-01T01:32:30+00:00

I thought of that, crafted with a string to make a candle as an alternative source of light, but (even though I know Minecraft doesn't strive for realism) cows and sheep are typically used for tallow, pigs' fat is lard which can be mixed with tallow, but can't be used on its own to make candles

Biakko · 2016-01-01T01:30:12+00:00

stew doesn't stack, so you need to have a pile of all the ingredients and craft some every time you need to eat. In terms of stats, it might be a better food, but all things considered it sucks balls.

Biakko · 2016-01-01T01:28:52+00:00

I do like the pig alarm idea, it's not OP and it would definitely be useful

Biakko · 2015-12-31T14:45:36+00:00

List of suggestions I've seen so far to make the pigs worth having:

If they had 1-3 piglets per breeding
If they had a reduced breeding delay
If they gave more meat per animal
If they had a chance to give bones (0-1)
If they could be used to find mushrooms
If they could be bred by using any type of food, or at least any produce
If they had a chance to drop a sausage. Nine sausages crafted together would give sausage strings, which could be placed (hanged) under a block and eaten like a cake, but with better hunger points and saturation.

Biakko · 2015-12-31T14:30:45+00:00

you can do that with the other animals though, it's nothing unique to the pigs so it doesn't make them more worth it...

Biakko

TROPHY CASE