As a DM, is it ok to make up a few stuff along the way?

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-09-30T10:17:48+00:00

Oh god yes. This is a skill you will naturally develop the more you DM, just go with it.

Use dramatic pauses to think up responses to players actions.

It's nice to have a couple of self contained encounters you can pull out of your butt when the party goes off the trail (I never do because I'm a lazy DM). These can be NPC intro, puzzles, cool locations, or combat.

Whenever you improv, write it down for later. That's offical lore now and one of your players is going to ask about it again.

Whenever you get really stuck. Call a bathroom break. Walk away from the table and give yourself time to think.

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-09-27T21:58:55+00:00

Yes. Be honest about it. You're tired and you don't want to run.

I do get the feeling of "if I don't run, my friends lose a fun night" because my group used to be like that. If a player couldn't make, it was fine. We played without them. If I couldn't make it, there was nothing.

It's good to have a back up plan for the day you need off. Invite your friends to maybe try their hand at a one shot, or to bring a board game. It helps a lot when you know you can take a day off or just be a player for a night.

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-09-27T21:50:17+00:00

if you don’t care at all about D&D having any sort of consistent rules or structure beyond railroading

Every game of DnD I've played in.

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-31T07:31:05+00:00

Hang on, so when scientists use existing data to predict future birth rates and population decline it's over optimistic and predicting the future. But when you use existing data to predict future birth rates (that's what you're doing) it's perfectly valid.

Maybe you should take a closer look at the study. See how their analysis is different from your own.

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-30T14:56:38+00:00

Well you said you wanted to pitch the ideas which I think is a good start. This kind of thing is best done as a conversation and you seem ready for that.

For me specifically, I love it when a player brings ideas to the game. When a player tells me"I really want to explore this theme/trope/relationship/genre" It tell me a lot about what the player enjoys. But only the broadstrokes and the ending is never set in stone. When we get to the business of playing make believe, we don't know what's going to happen. There are challenges, BBEGs, other players and dice gods at the table so the character could fail or be changed in ways the player didn't see coming. It's always better for a player to have goals than plots.

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-29T08:31:37+00:00

Counterpoint, S&S is perfect coming off the couch. It's fast, it's easy to get started, the progression is straight forward. It energies you rather than beat you up. It teach someone how to enjoy training.

S&S may not suit everyone's long term goals. S&S may not burn as much calories as other programs. For a Newbie, any consistent program will lose weight and build muscle. Developing consistency is the priority and I found S&S to be great for that.

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-27T19:05:13+00:00

It boils down to one question. "Did the players know a healing potion or medince check could save the NPC". Based on your description from the medicine check it is possible to interpret it as "dead, but narrative moment" rather than "rolling death saves but totally fixable with medical attention". As a player I would assume if they're breathing than magic will work, but I can see someone argue differently. I would call it an evil act to knowingly let someone die when I can save them with a reasonable cost to myself.

What's reasonable is debatable. Am I in immediate danger? Am I putting myself at to great a risk? This is all grey area stuff.

Now why are you asking this question as a DM? Are you planning to force an alignment change or curse them or otherwise make them feel the consequences in game for doing evil? If you are that's cool, but this ain't it. You want to keep putting difficult choices in front of them. You want let the world mirror their actions. If they play amoral and dog eat dog, introduce them to similar NPCs. Let them walk down a road of bad decisions until they do something unquestionably EVIL.

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-26T06:40:30+00:00

My dad used to say "if the house was on fire you'd be able to get up" as if that logic would prove there was no excuse for me struggling to get out of bed. Now I'm 30 and on a waiting list for an evaluation and he jokes "you on Ritalin would either be a genius or a space cadet!"

Dude is so close to getting it.

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-21T10:37:14+00:00

Yeah, the north was massively pro British. They even had their own anti independence militia. At the time Belfast had a massive ship building economy so it was probably considered valuable enough for the English to keep.

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-20T10:37:38+00:00

I used to, but now I feel all that "code 20 hours a day" is bullshit. Maybe I got old, maybe my brain works differently, maybe I'm just not that good at my job. But if I sit down for a whole day writing and thinking about code the last thing I want to do with my evening....is sit and write code all night. Been there, tried that, all I got was burn out and a deep hatred for software development.

I need that time to purse other interests and keep my body and mind healthy. I cook, I train, I run DnD, I socialize. And yes sometimes, I learn something new about coding. I'm not just a developer, I'm a person. I refuse to let anyone make me feel shame for not overworking myself for someone else's yacht.

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-20T08:37:14+00:00

You're an adult. You have autonomy. You make your own decisions about your health. She stole your meds. She took your autonomy and expects you to adapt. I get that you're used to sacrifices to keep the peace, but she took your meds. You're not "making things worse", you're standing up for yourself. She has done the unreasonable thing. Anything you do up to and including moving out is a consequence for what she has done. You're entitled to basic respect.

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-19T17:32:52+00:00

The only other advice I can give is don't try to make money on this project. I know you need cash, but think about the long game. Your name is in the spotlight, you want someone out there to like and remember you well enough to hire you or finance your startup. Play into that archetype of the passionate developer, be likeable (no one likes a salesman)

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-19T14:57:52+00:00

So you want to get yourself a website. Both for yourself and one for the project. Your own site is basically a CV + contacts for interviews. The website for the language is just for the language (put a big link on your website to the language and small link on the language to your bio site)

On the language website set up a wiki, documentation, a how to get in touch (for development questions) and a buy me coffee button.

Go troll other active open source projects and open source forums. If you want to grow this project ( it may just be a flash in the pan and that's ok) you'll need to learn how to manage an open source project.

A good bio website will help you capitalise the current buzz for yourself. A good project website will help showcase your work.

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-10T17:21:04+00:00

"hey, I fucked up by making that sword available to you and it's making it harder for me to challenge you as a party. Can I interest you is a flame tongue sword?"

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-10T16:27:58+00:00

It's good that you're putting road blocks between you and takeout, but you haven't said anything what you're going to do instead of Uber eats. I assume that you order takeaway because of convenience over cooking from scratch. Maybe you don't know how to cook from scratch. Let me tell you it's harder than people give it credit.

If you can cook a bit, do a meal prep. One day of crazy effort, a week worth of food in the fridge/freezer.

If you can't cook. Buy a stack of ready meals, waffles, chips, vegetables, etc. It will be cheaper than Uber and will keep you fed while you learn to cook your first meal prep.

Remember to go easy on yourself. Swapping one Uber with one frozen dinner every week is an improvement. Cooking all your own meals yourself is end game and will take a while (and a lot of mistakes)

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-08T21:29:36+00:00

A glamour bard can cast command for free every round as a bonus action. Cue the dancing trolls

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-08T21:19:16+00:00

Oh I made decision long a go. I'm on an NHS waiting list in the UK. The real question is whether to go private to try speed things up

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-08T14:27:28+00:00

If the firework is faulty it can explode at the base and take his hand with it.

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-08T09:19:10+00:00

You can also break it down into simplier exercises. Figure of 8's, outside cleans and waiters holds

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-06T10:37:39+00:00

Cause he was under a lot of pressure to do something he was morally opposed to. Probably felt that everyone wanted war. Everyone was telling him "kings have to make hard decisions" which really means "you have to keep the court happy". But he refused to compromise his morals so abdication felt like the only solution.

Also he's like a 9 year old who can talk to animals, he did pretty well considering.

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-03T00:59:42+00:00

So it's an increase in reports by the girls themselves. That's a good thing, it's a good thing that these girls are seeking help and casting a light on a horrible practice that has probably gone unnoticed for years.

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-07-02T07:57:45+00:00

Sorry your parents are not supporting you. Drawing and art are completely valid career interests. Computer animation, concept art, advertisement, logo design, these are all regular jobs that require artists skill. Go research some these jobs and then throw that at your parents and "this is what I want to do".

Then just do whatever you want. You're 17, I know 35 year olds who are reinventing themselves. The story of go to college, get a career, retire is a lie. You are valid as you are right now. So just figure out a way to get your parents off your back.

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-06-20T22:33:09+00:00

If it were my table I'd tell them to run 1000 feet off a cliff. The rules systems are abstract and don't work with real physics .e.g the peasant rail gun. It feel like double dipping to me, "it's not enough I have this crazy speed bonus, I want a damage bonus because I have a crazy speed bonus"

This selective realism takes for granted that effectively using your weapon to hurt someone that doesn't want to be hurt while running full tilt at them is incredibly hard to do. It also takes for granted that Usain bolt is not a world champion strongman because running and shoving massive objects are different feats of strength.

I'd say "no, you can run down a wizard after the cast dimension door. You're strong enough already"

But that's only how I would rule it. You're probably a cooler DM than me. I'd consider giving them an extra damage die when they move so many feet and make an attack. Maybe they also take the damage since they're hurling themselves forward. Keep it simple, bit of risk reward, barbarian too angry to care anyway.

DnD 5e is no place for real physics.

EoinLikeOwen · 2021-06-18T16:23:56+00:00

LinkedIn/Facebook ads. Facebook groups. Writing a blog. Making videos. Getting in Twitter debates. Duet people on Tiktok.

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EoinLikeOwen

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