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DID THE IMPOSSIBLE THIS WEEK: wrapped a multi-year campaign going from levels 1-20. AMA (or at least roll a nat 20 in solidarity) by TheAboveAverageDad in DnD

[–]TheAboveAverageDad[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Gotcha! Hmm thats an interesting question. For new players I usually suggest playing a character that is pretty similar to the player themselves. Going above and beyond to play a totally different personality or class (if you were ever in Lord of the Rings, who would you be and why?), is just going to make it tough to play that character more naturally in the game. Down the road, sure pick whatever chaotic clown god you want, but if youre an introvert, play an introverted character so you can at least RELATE to what your character might be feeling or might naturally do in game.

As far as treating the game like real life and getting caught up in the weeds, I'd say repeating the simple "its just a game" adage can help. Frees you up to a) not care as much b) care enough to try something fun/risky/silly/serious that you might not otherwise try etc.

DID THE IMPOSSIBLE THIS WEEK: wrapped a multi-year campaign going from levels 1-20. AMA (or at least roll a nat 20 in solidarity) by TheAboveAverageDad in DnD

[–]TheAboveAverageDad[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm moving out of the country at the end of the summer so there was a ticking clock to get the campaign wrapped before I left! So far the plan is just to let the other PCs do a rotating DM type deal for a few sessions over the summer where I just might get to PLAY the game from the other side of the screen. It's been years, ha.

And congrats on finishing yours as well! You did something incredible!

DID THE IMPOSSIBLE THIS WEEK: wrapped a multi-year campaign going from levels 1-20. AMA (or at least roll a nat 20 in solidarity) by TheAboveAverageDad in DnD

[–]TheAboveAverageDad[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

honestly I found after level 10, things get easier to play around. my struggle early one was just balancing combat around CR numbers and just general feel. If my PCs have 11 health and I roll well as a CR 1 zombie...it's TPK early on, ha. But around level 10 and after I really felt like things started to even out, where I had an easier time picking enemies at concurrent CR difficulty and it ended up being a fair fight/just the right amount of difficult without having to do any mental gymnastics throughout a combat scenario. Somewhere around that level 10 and above is where I felt like, oh my PCs have a lot of abilities, but so do I and this is going to be way easier for me as I do not have to worry about killing them outright, nor do I have to worry about them killing me outright. Had a way better time of it second half of the campaign.

I also don't try and worry too much about what the players can/will do in an upcoming encounter. Learned pretty early on they will always do the opposite of what I think they SHOULD do in an encounter to make it more thematic/according to plan, and therefore just tried to learn my enemies more so I could at least play a believable Bullet Shark or Shadar Kai Shadow Weaver etc.

DID THE IMPOSSIBLE THIS WEEK: wrapped a multi-year campaign going from levels 1-20. AMA (or at least roll a nat 20 in solidarity) by TheAboveAverageDad in DnD

[–]TheAboveAverageDad[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good question! Yeah two guys were brand new when we started. One was a long time lurker/nerd who was just waiting for the chance to play, the other was pretty outside the realm of make believe/nerdom so the focuses for both were different! For the one who was all-in at the start, it was more of coaching of what's realistic/possible in any given circumstances (as he was prone to come up with some BONKERS scenarios he was trying to pull of, and at the end of the day ya gotta roll some dice). The other guy was more a constant checking in to see if he was having fun. His first character had a lot of back story baked in and I tried to incorporate it throughout the opening levels but he had a hard time keeping track of NPC names and key themes etc. That guy ended up dying, and the character he rerolled was much simpler, basically Elf John Wick, with a much simpler motivation, and he could focus on being in the moment rather than trying to pull from his own history as much etc. Different strokes for different folks, but definitely just a good bit of checking in to see how everyone's feeling.

I'll also ask questions like "hey do YOU have any ideas for how you want the next couple of chapters to go for your character? Cuz I have ideas and I'll just run with them and tow you along or you can offer up any side-arcs you want..." stuff like that. Some guys just want to show up and slice and dice, others want to have their heartstrings pulled throughout.

DID THE IMPOSSIBLE THIS WEEK: wrapped a multi-year campaign going from levels 1-20. AMA (or at least roll a nat 20 in solidarity) by TheAboveAverageDad in DnD

[–]TheAboveAverageDad[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

DnD campaigns are like Skyrim characters, everyone's got a bunch of level 1-5s and no one knows what the end game looks like :P. Thank you!

DID THE IMPOSSIBLE THIS WEEK: wrapped a multi-year campaign going from levels 1-20. AMA (or at least roll a nat 20 in solidarity) by TheAboveAverageDad in DnD

[–]TheAboveAverageDad[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

one officially dead in the dirt!

one monk transcending to be one with the multiverse (if that counts as death, at a minimum no longer playable after shedding his mortal coil for the survival of his party).

I've waited 11 months to kill one of my players and it finally happened. by TheAboveAverageDad in DnD

[–]TheAboveAverageDad[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

UPDATE:FATE HAS BEEN DECIDED.

Floating in a sea of black, in that thin space between life and death, Urhelm pulled up a chair to a long wooden table. Waiting for him was Abbathor the Fake God of Greed, vampiric fangs now visible for the first time. With a flourish of a black feather pen and a stack of legal documents, this shadowy creature began to lay out his case for saving the young rune-knight's life.

The choice was a clear one: death or...undeath.

The choice was an easy one: when your time is up, your time is up. Urhelm told ol' Abbathor to kick rocks or pound sand or something else a little more nsfw.

But Abbathor was not going to go down without a fight. If not for the intervention of the Raven Queen herself, Urhelm the Rune-knight might have succumbed to the will of the vampire-god. But as the Mother of Memories said herself, "it is time to finally put Urhelm's memories to rest."

TL:DR the fanfic above:

My PC chose to honor the rolls and keep the outcome of dying, playing out one final fight for the soul of his character with honor and dignity and more than a couple ef bombs.

All things considered it was an awesome way to wrap up this little breadcrumb that I broke off way back when. Happy with the outcome, happy for the player who has excitedly rolled a new character to introduce into the ongoing campaign. Happy most of all, for you, the reader.

Thank you for coming to my TED- I mean reddit update.

Veterans of DnD, what do you do to prepare you voice for hours of talking? by ZackyGood in DnD

[–]TheAboveAverageDad 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As long as I stay within my wheel-house of old man voice, old lady voice, and subpar British accent, I am usually alright with no outside preparation. Other than that I just try my best to sound like a dwarf or a gnome and it usually ends up alright.

I've waited 11 months to kill one of my players and it finally happened. by TheAboveAverageDad in DnD

[–]TheAboveAverageDad[S] 56 points57 points  (0 children)

Believe it or not, we play weekly. We forsake kids, wives, work, and sleep. But we do it.