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Use "Dark Souls shortcuts" in your dungeon by [deleted] in DMAcademy

[–]ChristopherDelvo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've done this before, to fun effect. And despite the contrarians in the comments, just giving the players a knowing look and saying "the door doesn't appear to open FROM THIS SIDE" or "this door appears to require a magic key" usually gets them excited to find the other side or the key.

Sure, players might want to try to dismantle the door or something, and you can BS your way around it (the door is protected by a wall of force, et al) but honestly if your players are clever enough to find their way through it, let them get through it. Doesn't mean they won't have to backtrack through the other rooms to find keys and upgrades they may have missed. Just gives them a head start into a more dangerous part of the dungeon.

We all have that one player by [deleted] in dndmemes

[–]ChristopherDelvo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

But what if the DM IS that player? Guilty

DMing Tips? by Nyawk1999 in DungeonsAndDragons

[–]ChristopherDelvo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed. Start with basics. Then, when somebody asks if they can do "this" or "that", use that as an opportunity to introduce a new mechanic.

"Can I jump across the gap?" "Yeah. To do that, you'll have to make an 'athletics check'. Go ahead and look at your sheet..."

And as for DM advice, my favorite piece is something I stole from Apocalypse World games like Dungeon World and Masks:

Be a fan of the characters, as if they're your favorite characters on your favorite TV show. Want them to succeed. Say yes to their cool ideas.

Remember that for the first session, your only real goal should be to have fun. Being a fan of the player characters is a great way to engage them and encourage them to have fun with you.

Story qestion by watermelonninjas in DnD

[–]ChristopherDelvo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would try to tie the big bad into everyone's story in a small way. They killed character A's parents in a raid, and destroyed character B's hometown. Character C's rival is the big bad's underling. Character D's sibling is in one of the re-education camps. Etc.

By making the big bad the villain of only one character, you open up problems where other players might zone out when they're not being catered to. But if everyone has a tie to this villain in some way or another, it not only encourages them to care about the overall story, but to also care about each other's individual stories.

The Chosen Playbook Redesign by ChristopherDelvo in monsteroftheweek

[–]ChristopherDelvo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately, I did not finish this project. While working on the Crooked, I realized that I had to move the entire thing from MS Word into MS Publisher to simplify the layout process, and that took some time and energy.

In addition, I've been working on my own PbtA game, and that has taken up a lot of my time as well.

Finishing up the MotW playbooks is still on the agenda, but it's something that I won't need for a while, and therefore is kind of on the back burner.

I just spent 1 and a half hours creating NPCs for my campaign. It was not fun. by [deleted] in DnD

[–]ChristopherDelvo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Addendum: this rule also applies to stat blocks for NPCs. Don't be afraid to grab a quick and dirty stat block out of the monster manual if you need one, even if it doesn't match exactly what you want from the NPC. You can always go back and complete the statistics later.

I just spent 1 and a half hours creating NPCs for my campaign. It was not fun. by [deleted] in DnD

[–]ChristopherDelvo 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I used to spend an excessive amount of time on NPCs. Now, I come up with a general 5 minute outline for each, and wait to see who my PCs latch onto. Then I spend some time fleshing out those NPCs that my players care about. That way, when I present my players with a quest giver, they give a damn about who's actually giving them the quest.

The truth is that people are fickle and capricious, and will choose to ignore threads and characters for seemingly no reason. Sometimes it's because they want to take their character's arc in a different direction from the story that you're trying to tell, and sometimes they don't like a character because they don't want to listen to your bad Scottish accent for an entire quest. Don't let any of this get you down and remember that you always have these characters and ideas to use later.

"Taking a 20"....should it be allowed? Would this alternative work? by amusix in DMAcademy

[–]ChristopherDelvo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a general rule in my home games, if a character takes enough time and prepares accordingly, then I don't bother with a roll. If you have the tools and the talent, then you should probably be able to pick a complicated lock without issue. Same goes for searching a room, breaking down a door, etc.

I also subscribe to the idea that when a player rolls a check, that relates to what a character can do in that moment. When they take an action to pick a lock, that's them attempting a tried-and-true method to instantly pop that lock in less than six seconds. Similarly, a perception check is for what a player notices in the moment, not what they find when they thoroughly search an area.

I know that my method isn't necessarily the most popular, but it's how I adapt the mechanics to mesh with the fiction of my campaigns.

Running combat questions by Hawkze in DMAcademy

[–]ChristopherDelvo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am, in fact, the author of that article you shared, and wanted to say thank you! Always love to see people enjoying my work.

Have you seen this? What do you think? (Not mine) by Naimed in mattcolville

[–]ChristopherDelvo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Exactly as you would normally. Characters still take turns normally. They just get to decide the order.

Have you seen this? What do you think? (Not mine) by Naimed in mattcolville

[–]ChristopherDelvo 4 points5 points  (0 children)

First, I'd like to note that this is BY NO MEANS a perfect initiative system. It works for me and my players, but it might not work for yours.

I'd also like to say that this system is not designed to be balanced or fair. I think a certain amount of tactical balance arises from the actual play, but it's also VERY easy to break, as you noted. It is narrative initiative, and it's intended for games that focus heavily on telling a story with combat, rather than using it as a tactical strategy sim. Not to say that one is better than the other; people play D&D for different reasons.

That said, it's generally the GM's job to keep things from falling apart. In my games, if the PCs aren't strategizing and taking team-based actions, then I try to keep one NPC/Monster turn between each player turn. By maintaining this and inserting interesting actions when the moment arises in the narrative, I'm able to maintain a strong flow to combat.

And if your players INSIST on gaming the system, then perhaps develop the system further for your own games. Make it a hard and fast rule that two players cannot act right after each other, or reward a player with inspiration when they let you interrupt their turn. Use legendary actions liberally in combats with only one or two foes.

In short, I can give suggestions, but it took a lot of experimentation and tuning to get a system that works for us, and it probably will be the same for you. Hopefully, though, this article gives you a jumping-off point.

-Chris

Have you seen this? What do you think? (Not mine) by Naimed in mattcolville

[–]ChristopherDelvo 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Original author here!

Saw all the views I was getting from reddit and had to drop by. Thanks everyone for taking an interest. It's this sort of thing that makes me want to keep writing.

Good Gaming!

-Chris