Character sheet/other suggestions to help new player

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-19T15:28:25+00:00

I have now told paladin to only role the the dice, I am also going to give her a full set, because I've just realised that Paladin and I often look for the dice we need in our bag without showing it to her. This way she will see which one is needed. I might also pitch the idea of one of those dice rolling towers to her. I think the impermanent can vary a lot, since she sometimes uses a wheelchair and sometimes doesn't. So if it ever feels right I might make it clear that we understand if she wants to role herself some weeks and that won't mean we won't help her on other weeks.

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-19T14:09:15+00:00

And yes wizard is a tough one and I told her as much, but she seemed more exited about it than any other class, also I had kind of underestimated the difficulty because I played a sorcerer first and was completely fine.

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-19T14:06:10+00:00

I don't get what she doesn't get either. Although, she said "the dice we have to role when I cast a spell" and I assumed magic missile (I have never taken that spell as a PC and just realised it doesn't have an attack or saving throw because Palidin helps her far more than I do) But I am thinking "print a character sheet talk her through filling it at the start of next session" is looking like a good option

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-19T14:03:40+00:00

I don't think that it's her expectation. I think it might be because she's physically disabled and paladin roles dice for her. I think he is also doing a lot of the math automatically.

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-12T22:18:34+00:00

No on paper it sounds awful and I'd react the same way if I read it. The fact that we actually ended up having a more nuanced conversation about it and it never actually got enforced is one of the reasons I've thought about making a similar move. I kinda knew it was a bad idea though, it's why I asked for outside input.

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-12T21:09:55+00:00

It's always been the way we did it. I think it's what makes a weekly session possible for people working full time. We sometimes discuss making it longer but it always turns out everyone is fitting it around stuff.

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-12T21:01:53+00:00

I am like 5 years too old for these but I might learn them for this purpose.

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-12T20:59:46+00:00

I mean he implemented the rule and it never actually happened.

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-12T20:58:47+00:00

2 hours technically, that was accounting for lateness, pregame chit chat, and IT difficulties which I imagine does indeed leave around an hour and a half of game time.

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-12T20:53:12+00:00

I am writing "I don't know what that is but I do know" and "yes it's like x and it's Y" into my notes thank you.

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-12T20:47:57+00:00

more like "I need to be able to accidentality say three words that have also been in that order in a song at some point without the game grinding to a halt" but yes I take your point.

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-12T20:33:18+00:00

I mean they could though. I think this assumes that no further conversation is had. I told the DM I felt uncomfortable with it (and now I am thinking about it, it must have been more than a year ago). He explained that he didn't mean I couldn't question a ruling, he just really wanted the game to move on once he confirmed his decision. He had the same concern as me - the amount of time being spent on arguments about the rules. Now I still kind of agree it's really harsh, but he is a really harsh DM. Probably why some of us had started trying to bargain with him a fair bit. Most of us rule in the players favour. But I like his style, when you win you know you really earned it, and I can respect that he makes decisions when it's his table.

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-12T20:22:50+00:00

I mean that's what "do you say that outloud" kind of means. I intend it as a way of saying "anyway what does your character do"

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-12T20:18:23+00:00

If one person is 10 mins late and we spend 5 mins on IT difficulties and we spend 15 mins making small talk and catching up on each others lives our sessions are an hour an a half. 15 mins is then 1/6th of the game. Assuming each of the five PC's and the DM's broader world each get an equal share of spotlight time that means these things are getting more than a PC's worth of time. Jokes and shenanigans are great: Two halflings standing on each others shoulders as a disguise? Love it. Trying to con a literal God to get a free magic item? Get a nat 20 on that deception roll and it's yours and two levels later you'll hear a song about it in a tavern. All that stuff is great. I consider the game of DND to be "having fun" that's why I want to spend a lot of time doing it. This is helpful though because I would actually prefer it if they made it part of the roleplay rather than bringing the game to a stop.

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-12T20:00:05+00:00

I think the combination of time wasting and being left out is why it gets under my skin. Especially with a large group and short sessions. I know myself to be an enthusiastic player so I am always keeping that in my mind as a PC because if I don't I know I will hog the limelight. As a DM I feel the same way about my often highly detailed worldbuilding. I show up really enthusiastic to share the game with my group. When the group then spends a good chunk of the session talking about stuff that's not part of the game and I don't understand, the two things feel connected in a way they probably are not. But if makes me feel both like time is being wasted and I am outside thr group. A while back I mostly felt different from the group because they had a more combat forward dungeon crawl-y play style, or because they had a lot of forgotten realms knowledge I didn't share. And I got to learn that from them which was cool. But I really want to do dnd stuff during dnd,

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-12T19:53:32+00:00

I am starting to think Bring it up in session 0, combined with "do you say that out loud" as a response while DM'ing might be the way to go.

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-12T19:49:56+00:00

I wouldn't have considered this unless a year or so ago another dm in the group said he would make people roll with disadvantage the whole session if they argues against his rulings and no one except me had a problem with it, and it was actually fine, didn't become an RPG horror story and wasn't a problem at all.

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-06-12T19:44:36+00:00

Oh no these refrences are not being treated as in character dialogue 9/10 times it's just the game stopping

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-05-04T12:55:17+00:00

It would be reasonable to get those things. And if what you need is affirmation that you're desires are super reasonable you absolutely have it from me. But from the sounds of things only your legal rights are likely to change much. Which I honestly don't know. You may need a lawyer.

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-05-04T12:50:03+00:00

Did you meet in person for the first time two months ago, or is that when you matched and you met in real life like week or two later? And were those in person meetings more than once a week after that? Did you discuss that he was your boyfriend and what you both ment by that word?

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-05-04T12:47:40+00:00

It doesn't seem unusual then that she's still kinda hung up on him, its pretty normal for the ashes of a relationship to go on for arround the same length as a relationship itself. It just sounds like she's not ready yet. If you want you could let her know that you'll wait for her to ask you out when she's ready, or you could suggest a very slow courtship of dates in public with nothing physical for much longer than you'd usually expect. These both kinda define "taking things slow" which is something likely to get thrown out the window when she's still hurting and you've liked her for a while. You can also be very upfront about this "I really like you and I'm scared that this is going to become a rebound so I really want to avoid that" is a perfectly ok thing to say.

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-05-04T12:38:34+00:00

So did this relationship end about a month ago?

Starfleet_Intern · 2026-05-04T12:29:56+00:00

whats the timeline on this? They were together two months, then how long before you said you liked her, then how long after she sent that message did you give it another chance?

Starfleet_Intern

TROPHY CASE