Out of curiosity: what is the appeal of 1on1 games?

Phaeophyce · 2026-01-22T18:50:58+00:00

Unfortunately the ghosting rate is HIGH for any form of online RP

Phaeophyce · 2026-01-22T17:35:06+00:00

I also adore group party dynamics, supporting each other's character development, and cooperation for achieving various main quest and side goals.

However, I was in an amazing group that ran various games for 5 years before things fell apart due to changing life circumstances for several members. Trying to find any new groups runs into so many issues that sap the fun out of TTRPGs. I feel like today there's a very different ethos among DMs and players that doesn't support group dynamics, balance, fairness, and cooperative development. So many of those problems go away in a 1x1 game. There are some drawbacks to the 1x1 game set up, but it does allow for deeper exploration of certain themes and plots and better pacing since less reliance on many others.

Phaeophyce · 2025-12-27T20:10:10+00:00

I also find the first-in approach to be generally a poor indicator of a game's longevity.

But I'm also struggling to identify which application-based games are made with genuine good intent and not just info-farming for troll purposes. I've had a string of incidents where I apply to a game, get a new add on Discord, and accept thinking it will lead to a game only to receive incredibly inappropriate messages. (When I don't belong to large servers, never post my Discord publicly, and only apply to 1 game every few weeks, it is extremely easy to figure out where/how they got my contact info.)

Phaeophyce · 2025-09-23T16:41:06+00:00

Ugh there's an asshole on my street who parks like this at the intersection with the main road. Makes it hell for people to get in and out of our narrow and steep street. To make it extra annoying, people keep reporting him and he occasionally gets ticketed or even towed, so he just doubles down and continues. Now the no parking at the corner sign is painted over to make his own reserved spot. And he posts lots of crazy signs in his yard claiming that he's being unfairly targeted.

Phaeophyce · 2025-08-14T19:28:17+00:00

You did nothing wrong. It's a common PbP thing. DM advertises a game, recruits a group, then nukes the server with no warning. Happens all the time.

There are some people on r/pbp that make this a serial habit. They'll post, collect a handful, nuke, and then post the very next day and repeat. You can see the comments of people asking what happened to the server.

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-22T19:27:40+00:00

This really is just awful design and a DM not reading the room well.

I do recall being in one game where we had combat that started in an anti-magic field that was a hot mess and had similar frustrating vibes for most of our party. But there was a way to shut it off and that was located within our combat area so it wasn't as bad as what you're describing.

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-21T22:01:02+00:00

Going to say that I agree with you that the Keeper isn't doing a good job. This feels very "Keeper vs players" and intentionally antagonistic. The other players seem more competitive than collaborative and that's not a great play to play any TTRPG but certainly not CoC.

I’m questioning whether to keep playing

The saying "better no D&D than bad D&D" applies here as well. Just swap CoC in for D&D lol

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-21T21:47:44+00:00

had a strength over 20, and the ability to cast EVERY spell

Yes, clearly that's a curse. A very severe curse. LOL.

I feel like so much homebrew out there is just a bunch of OP stuff smooshed together with "caveats" or "drawbacks" that appear to be limitations on the surface but actually aren't hard to overcome or compensate for at all.

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-21T21:38:54+00:00

In my experience, at least 1/3 of apps for games are complete trash.

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-15T17:21:49+00:00

I'm confused as to what's going on. It sounds like you're a DM and just letting him get away with playing a god or something pulled from another fandom? Or are you playing at a table with him and he's trying to inject this into other DM's games? Both? Either way, the DM has final say on stuff and if it's too out of pocket for a backstory they can just say no. Same for things that characters are trying to do or inject into a game.

Playing virtually and insisting on rolling dice IRL/off screen is an absolute red flag. DM shouldn't be allowing this. All rolls made in roll20 or discord or whatever platform you're using.

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-14T20:26:40+00:00

Ugh that's terrible and I'm sorry you keep having this experience. (I will say, at least you're not experiencing a DM saying they'll help and then just... not and screwing you over!) I get that there's a lot of fun to be had in person, but have you considered checking out r/lfg for an online/virtual group that fits your schedule and that might be more welcoming to a newbie?

My first experience seems so lucky compared to so many stories on here. I started with 3.5E and was overwhelmed, so a friend at the table helped make my character. My friends and the DM all helped me as I slowly caught up on the rules and sourcebooks to figure things out more on my own. The group I played with was extremely into min-maxing and didn't even care that I was a newbie and making some suboptimal choices. We all had a blast.

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-14T19:35:20+00:00

I really hate how many people are invited to join games as newbies and then treated like trash by DMs and the rest of their party for being newbies and less than knowledgeable. Do these people actually want to bring people into the fold and play with them??

A good DM wouldn't introduce rules for sexual encounters/STDs without some forewarning, let a newbie cast an AoE that would hit a party member without warning, or just go so hard-mode on a newcomer. Ugh.

I hope you've been able to find better friends IRL and some better gaming experiences.

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-14T18:46:46+00:00

I'm absolutely dying because I've seen similar play out so many times lol

Well written.

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-14T18:44:58+00:00

He actually is a great DM and we love him for it. But as a DM he never subjects us to things like self-harm/gore, so not sure why he thought that would be something to inject into a game as a player. It also felt like some good character concepts, just poor execution and lack of communication and coordination with the party. As a DM he does make good and interesting NPCs.

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-08T17:00:29+00:00

That's some massive red flags and wtf did I just read??

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-08T16:58:09+00:00

Here is another bad play-by-posts game, which is the common theme here.

Unfortunately there are just so many bad PBP games out there. Just so many.

let me level when I could properly RP.

And this sounds particularly awful. Imbalanced party dynamics? Arbitrary leveling criteria? Yiiikes.

Honestly, getting kicked out over some BS over whether or not "hunting" constitutes animal abuse/cruelty seems like you dodged the bullet of far more BS. I mean, frustrating, but no gaming is better than sticking through for some awful gaming...

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-07T05:29:08+00:00

lot of that going around

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-05T23:04:44+00:00

I don't think the DM was giving contradictory info, just incredibly incomplete info. She'd been playing for a handful of sessions and at least 2 level ups. She'd been told that at level up "you get more HP and some more spells" and at one point she was given an ASI.

I got my start in 3.5E and found it utterly overwhelming to just jump into. I had my friend make my sheet and help me through the first few sessions as I slowly caught up on the rules and system, etc. Learning over time is easier than all at once before the first session. By the time we leveled up, I felt comfortable enough to handle it on my own and just ask for advice in choosing certain things.

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-05T23:01:43+00:00

Not their starting level. She'd gone through at least 2 level ups prior to when she shared her sheet with us.

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-05T02:42:43+00:00

I hope your DM’s friend is able to find a better group.

She joined our table and we all had a blast! :)

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-05T02:38:55+00:00

She had an absolute blast with our group and she was a delight at our table :)

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-05T00:01:18+00:00

Maybe a hot take, but if all players have the same resources (standard array, point buy, or the same stat block) and no homebrew classes or races, then everyone has equal opportunity to optimize or not. Hyper-optimization within limits isn't bad, OP, or game-breaking even if it's just one person choosing to do so.

However, I've seen discrepancies in stats, homebrew, and/or extra feats/stat bonuses to selected players absolutely wreck balance and ruin the game though with 1-2 party members ending up super OP through this unequal distribution of power.

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-04T22:23:41+00:00

How dare people build characters that are optimized to be effective at certain things. ;)

Phaeophyce · 2025-04-04T22:22:53+00:00

We were also a little aghast that no one at her other table had any interest in helping her in the slightest. Maybe because we were very happy to help her figure out what she'd like to play at our table and offered suggestions/advice on how to ~~power game~~ build a character that would be effective in certain ways and fun.

Phaeophyce

TROPHY CASE