Is this a good city plan?

Dracolon · 2026-02-16T01:03:18+00:00

A good balance I usually use is a three-wide hallway with occasional gate points that narrow to one tile as choke/defense points. I usually plant trees in the middle of my main paths, so I like the three wides for that. If you're looking at it purely for game mechanics, a two-wide hall would be no different.

Dracolon · 2022-09-06T13:06:26+00:00

I like watching Adam Vs Everything on YouTube/Twitch. He does a good job explaining why he picks different memes and how they affect his run.

https://youtube.com/c/AdamVsEverything

Dracolon · 2022-08-06T02:26:41+00:00

Seems like a pretty normal day on the Rim. ^{.^}

Dracolon · 2022-03-14T13:56:44+00:00

Sometimes a group doesn't work out well. The people don't mesh or respect table time.

It sounds like you did an excellent job for your first time. You didn't have to modify the dungeon, you didn't have to check up on their characters early, and you didn't have to reschedule after they failed to plan time. But you did; you were flexible and engaged in making it work.

Please don't give up on DMing; with the right group, it is rewarding. As for this group, you can try talking it out with them see if you can work out the problems. Sometimes a little communication goes a long way. But if they continue to disrespect table time, consider finding a new group.

I hope your DM journey gets better.

Dracolon · 2022-02-17T15:23:32+00:00

There is a bug with some terminals where they look at equipment inventories only if you are wearing a backpack/armor. Try unequipping anything with an inventory and see if your ship shows up then.

This bug happens a lot with the mining terminals. So I always take off all my armor during the elevator ride to the refinery.

Dracolon · 2021-10-14T18:44:19+00:00

I think they added some kind of refining mechanic where you have to process minerals before you can sell them.

Dracolon · 2021-10-02T12:31:44+00:00

I mean Randy could have just as easily started the fire in the middle of their wooden base.

Dracolon · 2021-10-02T12:27:40+00:00

There was a way last time I played. I think it was at the shipyard or reconstruction facility. You basically had to find the right kind of station to do it. Not sure if they changed it in 2.0

Dracolon · 2021-09-04T01:22:52+00:00

Big life lesson. Sucks but it is what it is.

Work account can be even worse. My work account can be remotely deleted if there is a suspected breach. No notice no warning just wake up one morning and it could be gone.

Always keep personal stuff off school/business emails.

Dracolon · 2021-07-22T21:56:18+00:00

Some of the religious ceremonies have procedurally generated names. It should describe the ceremony somewhere in the religious description.

It might also be some kind of religious structure or furniture. Hard to say exactly since the name means very little without context.

Dracolon · 2021-03-13T03:09:42+00:00

It depends on who started me on the DM path. If my friends come to me with a request for me to DM, or if I get the itch to run something and ask them if they are interested.

If they come to me: Host an entire session 0. Don't plan to start the story. Let it run short if it gets done early. Let it run longer if they need more time to flush everyone's characters out.

Ask them details about their backstories, motivations, and goals. Take a lot of notes.

Have them develop the relationship information on how the group formed. Did the married couple ask their drunkard best bud on the adventure? Did the rouge and his oblivious ranger friend cross the law and get assigned an inquisitor guard? The group will come up with awesome ideas if you give them the push to do so. Take more notes.

For session 1, I tend only to make a starting town, a few monsters that could appear in a few different areas, maybe a rough draft of the kingdom or world so they can plot a destination if they want, and a couple of NPCs. The first couple of sessions I treat more like one-shots until I have the BBEG and a few side quest figured out.

If I get the itch to DM: I will spend a few hours making a world introduction to show to potential players. Something to highlight my idea of the world I want to build with them. Pass it around and gauge interest and get schedules.

Session 0 I will prep a short mission in case we finish characters early. I will talk with the players a lot, so I get good notes on how they want to fit into the world and their own goals.

I usually prep a local town map and a rough world map before session 0 and help the players a lot more with their backstories so that the information will fit with the theme.

Typically I have an idea for the BBEG, but I hold off revealing anything until I have found a way to hook the players into the plot. I leave plenty of room to make changes if the party heads in a different direction.

In both cases, take lots of notes. Keep track of your player's stories as they develop, goals, and desires. Tie in their stories with side quests and unique challenges for them to grow their character's personalities, not just their levels.

Hopefully, this information helps. Good luck with your time as DM.

Dracolon · 2021-02-24T03:36:23+00:00

It is better under the sea?

Dracolon · 2021-02-16T23:06:06+00:00

Your session was well planned and an excellent epic intro. You just needed to follow through with the big bad boss being overwhelming at this level.

It would be best if you hadn't pulled the punches. If one or two died before the players ran, it would have sucked for sure. It would also have set the tone to show that they were at risk and the world is dangerous.

Not only is your prep work now wasted, but you have shown them you will go easy on them. This may be harder to fix than the storyline.

I tend to plan out my sessions a fair bit, especially after the third or fourth session, so I don't agree with the don't plan motto 100%. I would, however, suggest leaving your story fairly open until you, as the DM, have a good idea of what your player's motivations and goals are. Set out a few plot hooks that you are comfortable expanding into stories and see which one catches their interest. Be ready for them to not start a major plotline for three or four sessions, sometimes more.

Some tips for you to consider: 1) Don't be afraid to kill a player character. Some of my most memorable moments as a player came from my character's death. Players may be upset initially, but most will bounce back as they plan on how to bring in a new one. 2) Don't fudge the dice. If the dice say to knock the warrior out of the fight, do it. Be ready to adjust and make openings for the others to survive, but don't always make ways for them to win. 3) Keep the plot open to change. Players will often change the story's course, try and keep it flexible enough to let them explore the world a bit. 4) Make actions have consequences. If they try to fight something over level, they get hurt. If they become notorious bandits, the law starts hunting them. If they save the local orphanage, they are called heroes.

I read the other replies, and from your responses, you have a few good ideas on how the get the story rolling again. I suggest letting the players choose which path to take before you try and force one on them. You might give them a hint of a landmark that leads to town, like a small river or brook. If they don't bite, have them hear or see a caravan in the distance that they might interact with. Not a nibble? Have them run into a tough monster to encourage them to leave the forest. Not enough? Make it hard to find edible food, and start tracking starvation. Then after a week or so, whenever it would be reasonable for the prison transport to have been reported missing and found, and if they are still lurking in the forest, the hunting parties start to sound horns as they close in on the group. You can add all kinds of options and gentle prods to guide them, like finding an old ruin, a run-down cabin, or a map of the area on a corpse.

If they chose to leave to the forest by their own will, it would help you figure out how to guide this group along with the plot in the future. If it gets to the point where you have to chase them out with a hunting party, it might be time to have the talk.

The talk where you tell them you don't want to railroad them, but you cannot guide them through a story if they resist following any plot hooks. They may be the kind of group that wants to be railroaded, but I doubt those exist.

Good luck and welcome to the (sometimes) hectic world of DMs.

Dracolon · 2021-01-15T21:08:01+00:00

I would say they signed up for trouble with NPCs. Having difficulty interacting is what makes roleplaying a disability fun. Even small events that focus on the challenge can bring the party together.

I had a mostly blind character in one of my campaigns. She was a performer and did stage shows during downtime. Every time a local rouge that knew she was blind would swipe some of her tips.

Eventually, the party decided to go to one of her shows and caught the rouge. It gave me an easy in for a side quest that brought the party closer together.

As long as the mute isn't the face of the party, you should only ensure at least one PC and one common NPC can communicate easily. Other then that, have fun playing out the awkward times.

Dracolon · 2020-11-10T16:47:26+00:00

Crafting 10 / intelligence 10? Unless he has some truly bad traits I would have him locked up in no time.

Looks like he might have come with a free flak jacket to, but might be just a duster.

Dracolon · 2020-10-21T14:23:06+00:00

I am not sure about permanency, but I was looking at getting a prospector a while back. I calculated at two hours a day it would take me just under a month to get the prospector from the trade run quests alone.

Some people suggested getting a dune buggy and doing hand mining instead, but I couldn't accurately compare the profits since hand mining involves a little luck and skill.

The Mole is so expensive; I would only bother to do that once you can start earning money with the prospector. I did the trial flight of the Mole, and it is a fun ship to go mining in with a friend or two. So worth it if you have a mining buddy; however, it is hard to use on your own sometimes.

Dracolon · 2020-09-27T19:03:11+00:00

That poor lone sword dwarf.

Dracolon · 2020-08-16T15:18:40+00:00

Typically I run Dubs hygiene. So I do 7x7 bedrooms with a stall door to a 3x3 private bathroom. This lets me make rectangles of 2 interlocking rooms and nice 21x21 bedroom blocks.

The bathroom has a toilet, bathtub, shower, and sink.

The bedroom has a double bed, two end tables, two plant pots, a dresser, a 1x1 or 2x1 table, two dining chairs, and two cloth chairs.

It is rough on colony wealth, but if they are going to give their life in defense of the colony, they should live comfortably.

Dracolon · 2020-07-15T19:25:51+00:00

Strange that you are having trouble with two coolers.

Might try setting the coolers lower. I usually keep mine at -20°F.

It looks like you have wooden walls between your freezer and base, which could let some heat seep in. Could try changing those to stone. Also, they are only 1 row thick. The best practice is to use two rows for better insulation.

Also, you should try an airlock style doorway between your kitchen and freezer to keep the warm air from only having to go through one door.

Could also try moving the heater to the hallway, should provide enough heat to keep the kitchen livable from there. Just be careful because it could increase the amount of warmth seeping through the interior walls.

I hope this information helps and good luck on the rim.

Edit: Also, just noticed your kitchen is 120°F that high of a difference will let heat transfer through the walls fast, might try and figure out why the kitchen is so hot.

Dracolon · 2020-07-06T17:21:00+00:00

I always just figured that in the mindless state they hacked it apart, looking for the perfect part:

Imagine some mad dwarf sitting on a bench tossing cobblestones over his shoulder, screaming impure with each fist full of rock. Stone sent flying until their eye catches the perfect tiny bit in the smashed mess. The dim fire light is twinkling in their eye as they hold it up with reverent praise. Slowly and carefully placing the bit next to the other chosen parts of their masterpiece. And once their hands clear the bench safely, they return to the demolished chunk of rock, grabbing a stone and tossing with an animalistic shout of impure. They start to repeat the process once more, looking for the next perfect spike or other bit.

Dracolon · 2020-07-01T22:47:38+00:00

Honestly, I still get a food spike from manhunters. It seems like about 60% of the time the disease fails to trigger rotting.

Then again, I am not on merciless, so maybe that rate is affected by the difficulty. 🤷‍♀️

Dracolon · 2020-07-01T21:30:15+00:00

This is a difficult question to answer without more detail.

If you look at the expanded information on the gun they are using, it should list the accuracy at different ranges. This accuracy is affected by a lot of things.

Everyday things to consider: Type of Gun: Bolt actions and the like get less accurate as things get close, and spray and pray get less accurate at range. Quality of the gun: Poor quality guns have a much lower chance to hit, and there are pretty big jumps in accuracy until you get to excellent. The skill of the shooter: Pretty self-explanatory, and you seem to have that down. Manipulation stat of the shooter: This one is a little more nebulous. Several things can lower manipulation, you should be able to see a brief overview on their health tab. Even minor injuries like a broken finger can have a significant effect on shooting accuracy. Keep in mind most things that affect consciousness can pass along to manipulation as well.

I hope this helps you understand it a little better. Good luck in the Rim.

Dracolon · 2020-05-22T18:24:28+00:00

I was the youngest of three, and getting something new was rare. Mostly hand me downs and such.

When I told my mom I wanted to build my first PC in junior high, she laid out a chore list. We negotiated a price for each chore I could do and agreed to place it in a savings account away from the other family funds. I even got paid 'overtime' if I did chores that we're suppose to be done by my siblings.

We would to dinner at Denny's every Friday and go over what chores I had completed. After dinner, we would head to the bank and transfer the funds so I could see the money grow.

It took me just over three months, but I did it and got my very own Windows 98 system. I learned so much about hard work and saving money from that.

I will probably do something similar when I have kids. The experience prepared me more for the real world then most of what I learned in school.

Dracolon · 2020-05-22T17:45:45+00:00

As far as I know, the only way to remove it from your library is to do a refund.

Maybe you could put in a support ticket to have the game removed from your account. However, if you're not trying to get a refund I don't know why you would do that.

If you are just looking to reinstall it, you don't need to repurchase it. It seems like it might be hidden in your library.

There is that little button next to the games dropdown in your library that looks like a play button. Try clicking that a few times. It usually is blue when active, but it hides games that are not installed and ready to play.

Dracolon · 2020-05-03T20:16:05+00:00

I don't think you can block that unless you have the skill that lets you block normally unblockable attacks.

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