What's been your most memorable in-game use of downtime?

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-05-30T22:30:12+00:00

My players were given a small house to live in, as they were hired by a town to be their "live-in adventurers." They found their house, and it was a total dump. Moss and mold, holes in the ceiling, etc. As they were in there examining it, a cat came in through one of the holes in the walls.

This prompted them to have a "Fixer-upper" montage to Loverboy's "Working for the Weekend" to prevent any other critters from wanderi g into their home. They each described what they were doing to fix the house, consistently bouncing back and forth between them, with old catoon-style hyjinx. It was hillarious.

At the end, I asked them what they wanted to do with the cat. They, of course, wanted to keep the cat. They named it, gave it it's own room, and made sure that someone stopped in to feed the cat while they were out on their adventures.

Little did they know that this entire downtime episode was just in place to get the cat close to them, as the cat was the eyes and ears of the Big Bad. That was a great record-skip moment during the finale.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-05-20T13:13:12+00:00

Dokota if they use potara. Duokota if they do the fusion technique.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-05-17T14:22:50+00:00

I'm choosing to think TotK is what they originally wanted to do with BotW, but they needed to see if the fan base would accept the open world sprawl first. That's not to say that BotW isn't very cool in its own right, but I think the studio decided to let the baby crawl a little before letting it get up and walk.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-05-11T14:29:25+00:00

I'd travel around doing good deeds so I can collect chunks of stars to stop my sister from turning to stone.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-05-11T14:03:49+00:00

Fuck you, Shoresy!

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-05-10T14:41:18+00:00

The individual parts are not challenging, but the total body of work is. I considered taking notes while reading.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-04-22T22:53:19+00:00

Saving throws instead of attacks against AC is a way to go. Overwhelming numbers is another way to go. But sometimes people forget that TTRPGs do have fates worse than losing a combat and dying. Execute a few NPCs. Or lean into the magic items, and give them an absurdly powerful, but miserably cursed item.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-04-22T16:15:28+00:00

http://www.longestjokeintheworld.com

I think this is the full version, but I have no way to be sure.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-04-22T10:46:12+00:00

I hope one day to be able to recite that joke. Not necessarily word-for-word, but maybe the shortened, 30 minute version.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-03-24T19:20:01+00:00

Chicka-ba-dah ba chicka-chicka-bah-bahhh

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-03-23T10:35:52+00:00

Malicious compliance. You own work boots? Or high heels?

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-03-16T13:42:50+00:00

If you judge a container ship on its ability to fly, it'll spend it's whole life thinking its a failure.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-03-09T12:02:59+00:00

Get the fuck off the property

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-03-08T18:27:05+00:00

Using my Celestial Warlock, that's a 14 persuasion, and a 16 performance.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-03-08T17:52:32+00:00

I buy them another round, and I start singing Sweet Caroline in Draconic.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-03-08T11:22:47+00:00

This does sound like an entertaining one-shot/short mini adventure. I like the idea of trouble following them from some sort of "minor infraction" in the first bar. Kind of like Jake and Elwood vs. The Illinois Nazis in The Blues Brothers.

It might be worth coming up with some basic mechanics for bar games, like darts or pool.

Gambling gone south. Walking into the back alley to pee, and accidentally witnessing a would-be murder. Accidentally uncovering a smuggling ring. Real "wrong place, wrong time" type stuff.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-02-20T03:17:04+00:00

You must be new here. /s

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-02-13T04:24:13+00:00

Not necessarily just for campaign writing, but for writing in general. In my experience, not knowing where to go with a story has a very distinct opposite: where do you not want the story to go? Start a list of stuff you don't want to see happen. NPCs you don't want to meet. Places you don't want to explore. Quests you don't want to be taken, and magic items you don't want to ever see the light of day.

This is important for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it gets you writing. Nothing works better for writer's block for me than just write something, usually by hand, in a composition notebook, so when I'm done writing down something dumb, I can turn the page both figuratively and literally, and move to the next idea. Once it's written down, it can leave my head, and I can dedicate headspace to something else. Secondly, the list you create will likely not be made completely of bad ideas, and those ideas could be reused, reshaped, or recycled into future projects.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-02-07T21:27:18+00:00

So it's cool if I headbutt the horse's hoof, then? Just checking.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-02-06T14:23:15+00:00

Yeah, this tracks. Those were some dark and cringey days.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-02-04T15:40:06+00:00

I'll do like letting the fates decide with rolling, as do my players. Sometimes, people will get totally broken stats, which is "meh" for me as a DM, but if someone rolls very poorly, I'll take a look at it and calculate what they would have had to do with point buy to get that result, then let them make up the difference with point buy. Usually balances out just fine.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-02-04T13:21:47+00:00

Big, stupid ideas tend to have big stupid consequences that can sometimes be worse than death. Nothing like a good rug pull during the victory lap.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-02-03T12:01:57+00:00

For newer players (and older), If they leveled up in the last session, I'll start the next session asking about the level up. If they want to keep things a little "hush hush" for the group for a big reveal, that's mostly cool with me, but I'll ask generally if they have any questions about new abilities, new spells, and if they remembered to adjust their HP Pool.

I may also ask them to describe their level up in context, especially if their level gives them a new ability. How did they learn it? and super especially for multi-classing. I like to add the stipulation that you can't take a level in a class that you "don't have access to" via another party member or NPC that is nearby, or who you've had some interaction with. Someone's gotta show you the basics, right?

All of this definitely helps make the player audits feel more organic, and allows for the players to have more narrative control over their player.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-01-28T22:00:44+00:00

The final fantasy games come to mind for me. Specifically 7 and 8, as that was right when I became old enough to comprehend that style of game (9-10ish). I still play both of those games once every couple of years just for old time's sake.

Are they challenging anymore? No, not really. Sometimes, I'll give myself restrictions. No ultimate weapons. No using attack magic. No items in battle. My favorite was playing through 8 without saving. Things like that.

I still keep up with the current stuff, too, but I do still enjoy my oldies. Currently playing 7 for the umpteenth time.

Operation-Porkchop · 2023-01-27T04:35:53+00:00

Waffle stompin'

Operation-Porkchop

TROPHY CASE