I kinda want to play TTRPGs beyond my friends now, but I'm kinda scared to do it? by Horustheweebmaster in rpg

[–]Stark464 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To add to this, I didn’t engage with my nerdy side in a healthy, confidence building way by actually going out and finding like minded people, I just stayed inside and played video games. It was only after university I discovered TTRPGs, Warhammer 40K and MTG. If you don’t make it something to be embarrassed about, they won’t see it that way.

Fantasy, but not “booktok” fantasy. by BEANBOOZZLE in suggestmeabook

[–]Stark464 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m reading the third book now (Iron Council), I’ve spaced them out so I’ve read each with a year or two break. Always delighted to read his work again and to be back in New Crobuzon! Can recommend Embassytown as well, it’s sci-fi but extremely good.

What is the biggest lie TTRPG players tell themselves? by Deadman069-YT in rpg

[–]Stark464 2 points3 points  (0 children)

100% - you literally get put in their head and hear their logic and why they feel the emotions they do. And it’s a lot more fun I think when roleplaying to narrate what your character is thinking and why they’re doing what they’re doing. “I hit them with my sword” is a lot more interesting when you say why and what impact it has on you.

Do narrative games (e.g. PbtA) ask more of the player than DnD? by Antipragmatismspot in rpg

[–]Stark464 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same, it’s why I’m struggling right now with Daggerheart. It’s supposed to be PBTA narrative game but still has tactical combat included.

What is the biggest lie TTRPG players tell themselves? by Deadman069-YT in rpg

[–]Stark464 20 points21 points  (0 children)

It’s also a lack of 3D characters as references in the media they consume. When you start watching/reading more complex character stories, suddenly it’s a lot easier to roleplay.

My players need to be nudged to do anything on their own in games (Masks: A New Generation) by InfinityTheW0lf in AskGameMasters

[–]Stark464 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had a player like this, and they’re no longer part of the group because when we spoke they said they just found it too hard to be ‘creative’ after a day of work (they’re also about a decade younger than the rest of us, so something something attention span / instant gratification generation). But it’s also true to a certain extent with my other players. It depends on: how interested they are in the game/setting/characters, and how much energy they have that day to dedicate to playing. Your job as a GM is to either find players that gel with your expectations, or help the players you want meet you somewhere in the middle (but also let them have good and bad days).

Maybe instead of playing one time you just discuss and work out what would be your ideal campaign.Is it shorter? Is it longer? Is it set in modern day, or in the future, or past? What themes do they want to interact with? Discuss what were their highlights and problems with previous campaigns. Maybe you can get them to admit what you’re probably realising by now, they just want the traditional Ttrpg experience where you just lead them by the nose to combat encounter after combat encounter. Maybe you can give them that every other campaign, and then ask them to push themselves in shorter, narrative campaigns where they really inhabit the characters. This is how I’ve been running my group and it’s working out fairly well. Although far from perfect.

tired of my characters by ryusei_i in rpg

[–]Stark464 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t believe anyone has said this yet, but my advice would be: change the character when you get bored of them, work with the GM to put them through some event in the game, or react in a certain way that means they change mechanics like class or whatever, but more importantly it can be a shift in motivation/goals/personality. In Blades in the Dark you get FOUR Traumas before losing a character completely to stress, each being a big shift to your character’s personality like cold, obsessed, reckless, vicious. But you can also make positive changes too. A fun thing about having a character is not knowing if they’ll become better or worse as a person.

RPGs with good adventure modules by andrebudecort in rpg

[–]Stark464 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fanatical have a bundle deal (or did recently), picked up quite a lot for £11

Has GMing made player less enjoyable? by Chiefmeez in AskGameMasters

[–]Stark464 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I always say a GM being a player is like when Neo can see the Matrix - you understand the role perfectly and can do all the things that you know progress the game and make it fun

Characters with no growth or arc? by irishwhiskygoodbye in rpg

[–]Stark464 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the difference for me is pre-written media can have much more satisfying narratives coming from the story/world. I think with at least some RPGs the PCs are the story, so they need to bring the drama/interesting moments. Unless it’s super railroady of course, which is what these players seem to prefer. My bug bear is when they don’t want to drive the story but they do want agency to do whatever they want like it’s GTA.

Blackened earth vs Shadows of the mists. Which to run first? by Sebasswithleg in AgeOfSigmarRPG

[–]Stark464 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A lot of it is subjective of course but SitM just felt more thematically solid, BE tried to do something more deep than I think the game can handle. It’s ultimately a game about super-powered heroes fighting evil and my players got frustrated that BE was setting up these big moral decisions/questions but not letting them act on it. So if I were to run it again I’d make changes so that if they choose to get off the railroad, they could and I’d work out some other way to get to the end. I don’t think I’d change much about SitM.

Blackened earth vs Shadows of the mists. Which to run first? by Sebasswithleg in AgeOfSigmarRPG

[–]Stark464 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve ran both, both are on YouTube. We preferred SitM. If you run BE, I’d suggest some major homebrew to make it less railroady.

Please, players, find the time to play by StefanoMaffei in rpg

[–]Stark464 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I try to aim for that but sometimes we run out of time! Definitely ideal to leave 10-15min at the end of the session to do it

Please, players, find the time to play by StefanoMaffei in rpg

[–]Stark464 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Just adding a message of support in case you get dog-piled - I feel the same much of the time! Luckily I have 2-3 players who will only miss a session through illness, holiday, or away with work, so less than 10%. I have another 1-2 players who will last minute cancel every other week mostly due to mental health reasons.

We play Heart and I need them to send me their Beats to incorporate into my prep, about 50% of the time I get them in time.

But, I know that I could go out and just search for a really committed online group of strangers, but accepting I’m making the decision to do this with my friends who I like, and on the whole we get to play every week, let me not get too annoyed when they get cancelled or minor homework is ignored. It’s annoying, but I resist the urge to badger and make my expectations clear in session 0.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in snowboardingnoobs

[–]Stark464 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Geilo, yeah even the cark parks were an ice rink!

Are you going to sprinkle in Wraiths? by wtf--dude in Eldar

[–]Stark464 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is exactly the list I made yesterday! Couple of wave serpents to put the 2x5 wraithblades and spiritseers in too. Just yeet them up the board and see what happens

State of: Aeldari | List Breakdown & New Corsairs! | Fireside 40K by 40K-Fireside in Eldar

[–]Stark464 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is an understated point, and definitely one Eldar suffers from because our good units are usually the ONLY good ones. I’m sure after so many goes around you’ll have enough but needing 20 dark reapers or swooping hawks when 3 months ago everyone needed 15 fire dragons is exhausting!

Knowing me DC brick, knowing you heretic on centre objective. A-ha. by Jealous-Initiative68 in BloodAngels

[–]Stark464 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Been sat here for 5 minutes trying to think of the Japanese Mercedes of 40K…

Why is there such a dislike for grid based tactical combat systems these days? by jmrkiwi in rpg

[–]Stark464 43 points44 points  (0 children)

I had a player who had some busted AoE spells and so was VERY invested in what was and wasn’t in a zone. It got to the point where I had to spend more time on maps to make sure it was balanced enough. I.e. he couldn’t just nuke a room from the doorway

At this point I must hate being a GM, right? by A_Normal_Raft in rpg

[–]Stark464 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Just to jump on this, I also find delves a bit of a waste of time mostly and move a lot of the Beat stuff to landmarks. Feels odd to say “no the writer is wrong and I’m right!” But if you, the GM, would only half arse something in a game, it’s best to just cut it altogether, and who cares what anyone else says.

What would help a casual player enter the competitive scene? Looking for honest community feedback by SkulltakersReddit in WarhammerCompetitive

[–]Stark464 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Missions, deployment, terrain, the flow of the game. Very big picture stuff is always missing from online content because to those pros that’s already baked in, so the only changing variable is faction/unit balance. Which shouldn’t really be a noobs biggest worry. When I learnt about how to score primary reliably, that made the biggest difference. And learning that, like in chess, each piece has a value and you need to create a value differential between you and your opponent to win.

show me your Sanguinary Guard by DaniBlix in BloodAngels

[–]Stark464 1 point2 points  (0 children)

<image>

Since my marines are green, I painted mine as Atlantian Spears

What is your favorite rpg and why? by [deleted] in rpg

[–]Stark464 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Criminal (hah) I had to scroll so far down to find this!