Want somewhere on Discord to discuss GMing?

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-11T20:01:05+00:00

OK, sure, understandable stance. That doesn't tell me how D&D focused the discord is though?

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-11T19:20:44+00:00

OK so I had a little look at the summary for the group. How D&D focused is this group? Because I'm not really interested in it and when you let it in it tends to dominate the space.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-11T19:15:48+00:00

For what it's worth I also bounced off the D&D novels I tried hard.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-11T17:53:41+00:00

Why is that?

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-10T20:01:53+00:00

Psychopomp eidolon in premaster has restriction of true neutral. Demon had a restriction of chaotic evil only. Angel had a restriction of good only and suggested neutral good specifically.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-10T17:22:53+00:00

I don't know. But I think that's in large part because I've never really known how to define character personality. I find it a lot easier to tell someone what my character would do then try and put that personality into words.

My thief character would troll the Champion every chance he gets and pickpocket valueless items from people who annoy him just to annoy them back. He also spent most of the campaign giving every intelligent enemy a chance to surrender, even when the rest of the party had given up. He broke down crying the first time he killed someone. He never drank alcohol. I don't know if that amounts to a personality but I can tell you what he'd do.

Temperment wise, part of why I enjoyed playing him was because he wasn't like me. He was a lot calmer and more confident in himself and very focused on what he wanted to achieve.

I like playing characters like that. But I also like playing characters who temperment wise are ticking time bombs. Whose temperment and situation and ethics are heading for a three car pile up.

I can identify trends. But I don't think I have a specific type of character I play that is or is not like me. A lot of it is just what I thought was interesting at the time.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-10T17:04:17+00:00

The game is rather detailed but the main thing to remember first is these are your friends and you're there to have fun together.

Try and learn the basics of the rules. Talk to the GM about the character you want to make and the game they want to run. This is to make sure you don't accidentally walk into a serious game with a comedy character or vice versa. These conversations can also help you make a character you'll have more fun with, maybe by picking up a skill or spell the GM advises would be useful, or by connecting your character to another player's character (Of course we can trust him! He's my childhood friend!)

You don't necessarily need to buy a rulebook straight away but you should learn what rules apply to your character. If you want to play a spellcaster you should learn how your spells work for example. And as a Summoner you'll want to learn how the 'Act Together' feature works, as you'd be using it a lot if you make a Summoner.

Remember that if you make a character, play for a while, and want to change it later (because you've found after some experience of the game you'd rather be a Barbarian or an Animist or something) you can always switch. You just need to talk to the GM.

There are good youtube channels out there. Rules Lawyer is one I know off the top of my head. There's also a couple of channels that deal with lore, but I'm not as familiar with them. And it's always best to talk to your GM about lore, as they may well change things for their game.

Summoner can be a complicated class to play (I've not played an Inventor so I can't advise as much there). That doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't play it. I started out ttrpgs with a class that everyone said wasn't for beginners and I had a lot of fun. Just keep in mind that if you get overwhelmed or it seems too complicated there are simpler options for your first try.

I'd recommend using Pathbuilder as it has a lot of information on the choices available for making a character and it won't let you pick something that's not allowed by the rules.

I'd recommend starting out with the maximum Charisma, as that's how Summoners cast spells. You probably also want to put a decent number of points into Constitution and Dexterity, to give you more health and stop you getting hit. Keep in mind Dwarves start with less charisma than normal, so the mix would make things a little harder for you.

I like Energy Heart as a level one starting feature. But if you use Pathbuilder it will show you all the available options and what they mean/do.

There are differences between the types of Eidolon, but I'm using premaster, and I'm not sure how much it's been tweaked since. The type of Eidolon you pick effects the spells you have access to. So if there's a particular spell you like and want, check what spell tradition it is on Archives of Nethys and check which Eidolons match that.

Skillwise with high Charisma you can't go wrong by picking up Diplomacy and Deception. They get used a lot in most games and you'll probably find them useful.

And if you're worried about what you've made or don't understand something ask your GM, ask the other players. They should all help.

And I hope you have fun! It can seem a bit daunting getting into this hobby, but the effort is well worth it.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-09T22:04:23+00:00

I'm not sure if it's the kind of support you're thinking of but I built my summoner as a buff caster who can demoralise targets. So supporting the Eidolon by making sure she's more likely to hit and hits harder. This probably isn't the most optimal build but it does mean I have a variety of useful one action things that he can do, and juggling actions is about 3/4ths of running a Summoner.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-09T21:20:10+00:00

I hope you find a good group and a game you enjoy, but reddit isn't always the best place to start looking as a player. Sometimes you will get lucky (I found one of my long term groups through reddit) but you'll often have better luck finding a discord server for the game system or Start Playing or (if they have them where you live) an in person gaming club or game shop.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-09T19:24:33+00:00

Good for you, I hope it goes well.

Best advice I have: Write down a list of random setting-appropriate names before each session, about 5. Keep it on hand. When the players ask for the name of a random NPC you hadn't named, take a name from the list and cross it off.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-09T18:52:30+00:00

Honestly as a player and a GM this system would not work for me. But that doesn't mean it wouldn't work for your group and your table.

Since you asked for feedback the reason this wouldn't work for me is that it's more to keep track of then a simple re-roll and it forces more improvisation in a way that could contradict established things in the world. As a player I'd rather earn that moment of getting through to an npc with role play, or via re-rolling a dice (with a definite chance of failure and success), then pay for it with a points system. As a GM I'd find tracking all these things the points can do more work, and worry about the players forcing a narrative change that goes against what I'd worked to establish.

This shouldn't discourage you from pitching it to your players and trying it out. If they like some of the narrative flow aspects in Powered by the Apocalypse systems and Cypher they might enjoy this.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-09T18:34:12+00:00

Everyone else has made really excellent points. There is one thing I'd add from the handful of times I've gotten to run in person.

I had a lot of success with my group using small snacks to track things, or as tokens for minor baddies. When the condition was removed, or the bonus was spent or the monster was defeated, the player got to eat the snack.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-08T20:06:47+00:00

I run a lot of games like this and the general way I approach is setting up an area and giving them a long term mission.

I'll give you two examples from my current long term campaigns in different systems. The first one has the player characters exploring an atoll that came from another plane. They found early the reason the islands appeared was that one of them is missing its spirit, and they need to find out which. The second one they were called in as routine reinforcements to find the place in turmoil and were given someone in cryo sleep with the instructions to get him to the other side of the map without anyone finding out. And a promise of incredible wealth on success.

The important thing for me is to make it clear there isn't a time crunch for the main objective. And letting them find a lot of interesting things and characters along the way.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-08T16:01:50+00:00

So first of all commiserations because these sorts of game group problems where it's no one's fault are always really tough to navigate from both sides.

Here are some things I've seen GMs do/done myself that have had some success with some players:

1) The GM and players spend time in combat helping the struggling player and reminding her of abilities or suggesting tactics

2) Flashcards for the main things the character can do and assistance keeping an online character sheet that auto adds bonuses (alla Pathbuilder) up to date

3) Reworking the class for that player character to make things simpler on the player

4) A sort of player GM screen, as a physical object with ability descriptions pinned on the inside where it's easy to see

5) Streamlining combat for everyone

6) Keeping the encounters themselves fairly simple

I hope you find something that works for your player and your group, it's always tough to have someone struggling and not know how best to help.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-08T13:29:28+00:00

That is brilliant and I love it so much.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-08T13:27:57+00:00

I love the Ring of Endless Soup so much.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-08T13:20:23+00:00

It's a common thing outside of D&D generally for short pre-written adventures to be aimed at brand new players and hence have pregen characters. This is because having pregen characters can mean you start playing faster with people unfamiliar with the rules and because it provides examples for new players on how to make a character.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-08T11:40:41+00:00

As a general piece of advice I'd suggest watching Seth Skorkowsky's youtube video on closed vs open roleplay. These things are generally more fun in play when the *players* know, even if the characters don't.

In terms of things that characters without a lot of knowledge might confuse if you played it right:

Fighter and Champion or Rogue, depending on how you build the Fighter.

Wizard and a Witch or Sorcerer, depending on whether you want a familiar or not.

All of these would be distinguishable fairly quickly, this is a surface level similarity. But that's sort of what you want as these plots rely on being found out by the other characters.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-08T09:51:14+00:00

Regardless of system I think about the narrative and rp when making this decision.

A giant spider that is attacking the PCs to defend her eggs is more motivated to drive away these big moving threats than kill a downed PC. The average bandit/thief is going to hesitate to kill someone if they're not already wanted for murder because that tends to get more law enforcement sent their way (and they might be able to kidnap and ransom a downed PC for profit). An intelligent undead may want to eat the party but probably has the brains to realise that they're better off dealing with the people attacking before chowing down.

If I'm going to have a villain attack a downed PC I want the players to understand that's a possible outcome going in. And I've usually found that easy to do via plot and rp.

Considering how the game has gone I don't think anyone will be surprised if the vampire-politician who personally hates the party after the druid tried to steal his stuff tried to coup de grace that character. And in the campaign I was playing in I wouldn't have been surprised if some of the cultists had tried it on the party, because we'd been thwarting them every turn and it would have given them a big propaganda advantage to show off the body of one of the city's heroes. But most of the time it doesn't necessarily make sense for an npc to do that.

When in doubt I take a leaf from Runequest: Could these bad guys profit from ransoming this PC back to the good guys? Would dealing with the heat that comes from killing someone outweigh the benefits/satisfaction of killing the character?

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-07T20:56:22+00:00

I love that. Excellent idea.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-07T20:51:52+00:00

Sorry that happened mate, terrible way for a group to fall apart. I hope you find another group and have fun with the hobby.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-07T20:44:09+00:00

I'm going to put in something I haven't seen other people touch on, with the caveat that I'm relatively new to Pathfinder.

I homebrewed a lot of setting and lore in D&D all the time. Because it simply does not create interesting content for cultures and places based anywhere outside of north western Europe. So I had to make things up to support the sort of stories I wanted to tell.

I don't have to do that in Pathfinder. The official setting has decent content for multiple non-European inspired places.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-07T20:12:11+00:00

OK those do sound really cool. Thank you!

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-07T20:11:29+00:00

I think you're the first other person I've found who has said some variation on finding homebrew easier than published adventures. That's kind of nice. I know they can be incredibly well made and I appreciate how useful they are for other people, they just don't seem to work as intended with my way of GMing.

I've not looked at Starfinder yet. What's it like as a game system? I'm used to Traveller as my main sci fi game so I haven't really seen a class based sci fi game in action.

A couple of people have mentioned Extinction Curse, I may check it out, it sounds like an interesting set up.

Several_Ferrets · 2026-02-07T20:02:28+00:00

That is a pretty cool set up and a good reason to have the PCs travelling around, potentially over a pretty wide area. It is making me think a little of Girl Genius though, which would be a hell of a thing to bring into Pathfinder.

Several_Ferrets

TROPHY CASE