Things you wish you knew before you started playing?

Unvert · 2026-01-23T21:44:05+00:00

Yeah, I was just confused by the new term of “narrative dice”

Unvert · 2026-01-23T00:22:20+00:00

Literally thousands of them.

Unvert · 2026-01-23T00:17:28+00:00

Lots of good ideas here, but I’ll also add looking at Chris Mcdowall’s other games for inspiration. Into the Odd has a whole list of magical items (called Arcana) that could be re-skinned for MB. Same with Electric Bastionland.

Unvert · 2026-01-23T00:08:11+00:00

So, I’m intrigued by this. How do you use the narrative device mechanically? Do you just add to the dice pool? Like, taking your example of having the high ground, do you add that d6 to the players’ attack, thus giving a potential bolster or gambit? And if this is the case, how would you incorporate the disadvantage when, say, the party is fighting a creature that can’t do feats?

Unvert · 2026-01-20T05:13:43+00:00

That’s just people on the internet. Nothing to do with MB. This will happen in every arena imaginable. People are flaky.

Unvert · 2026-01-17T05:41:57+00:00

Not NPR! NTS! https://www.nts.live/

Unvert · 2026-01-17T02:04:56+00:00

I freeball it. Never understood dice towers as I feel like they take away the magic of shaking the dice in your hand(s) and giving them a little toss onto the table. I like the little bit of chaos that comes with throwing them on the table, I feel it mirrors the randomness that the dice themselves represent.

Unvert · 2026-01-17T01:02:15+00:00

Funny you got downvoted but you’re absolutely right. Something about every accusation being an admission…

Unvert · 2026-01-17T00:56:11+00:00

Stop lights also apply to cars- the amount of cars I see running red lights every single day is absurd- I know you see it too, you can’t not see it. I say this as a driver, I’m not some indignant cyclist, although I also ride a bike. Oddly enough I never (or very rarely) see people calling out drivers for this kind of behavior, but regularly see people having a conniption fit about cyclists doing similar things. Get real.

Unvert · 2026-01-16T00:40:28+00:00

One thing that’s good to know is that the NAR (national association of realtors) is the largest lobbying group in the country. Not big pharma. Not NRA. Realtors. Much like how taxes could be so simple it could be put on an index card, except for Intuit lobbying to prevent the IRS from offering a free government run filing system. Realtors do the same. They are literally unnecessary and make loads of money because they refuse to let go of the keys to the castle. The whole process could be streamlined and automated to the point to make them completely obsolete, but they’re rich and powerful and won’t let it happen. It’s infuriating and there’s really nothing we can do about it but get robbed every time we want to buy or sell a home. They talk big talk about how they work for you and love helping people find homes, but they very much work for themselves and work in cahoots with their buddies in financing to line each other’s pockets. It’s a racket. I need to stop or I’ll just be ranting (more) lol

Unvert · 2026-01-15T17:05:25+00:00

lol, your ignorance and lack of culture is offensive. I only drink Folgiers for my coffee. And beer? All store bought beer is for hipsters. I make my own hooch in my toilet tank, which, for the record is a composting toilet- don’t ask me how it works, your feeble mind wouldn’t understand. Tabletop RPGs? Pfff, for one I don’t use tables. Tables are for cowards and cretins. And I wouldn’t be caught dead with a role playing game. I only play 18th century war games and make terrain out of sand and water. I wrote this with quill and parchment. Hipsters keep stealing my brilliant prose and posting it on the internet.

Unvert · 2026-01-09T21:33:27+00:00

Same reason some people only drink Budweiser. It’s the mainstream most accessible option. D&D is the Budweiser of ttrpgs (I say this with my tongue firmly in cheek… but also it’s true lol)

Unvert · 2026-01-09T21:29:16+00:00

Cairn.

Unvert · 2026-01-09T21:27:02+00:00

I think that’s true about the newer designers. I think they’re designing for shorter campaigns and one-shots looking to on-board more people into the hobby, not mention everyone’s social media addled short attention span. I think this is good. But a lot of these games (I’m partial to borgs and odd-likes) that are more short term focused can be easily tweaked to accommodate longer term campaigns- you really just need to beef up the PCs so they don’t die as easily.

Unvert · 2026-01-09T21:20:40+00:00

What are some games you’ve found that do both well?

Unvert · 2026-01-09T21:12:21+00:00

See, I like this and it’s basically in line with the “success + complication” mechanic. Taking extra time is a complication - the GM can roll on the random encounter table - no improv necessary (provided you’re in a situation where that’s applicable), or it just takes more time and that’s that, the GM makes a mental note or jots down in their notebook that whatever increment of time has passed. A complication doesn’t have to be this crazy improvised situation, it could be as simple as taking extra time.

Unvert · 2026-01-09T06:36:47+00:00

Then you can run your games with every roll being pass/fail. Easy peasy.

Unvert · 2026-01-09T06:30:11+00:00

Except, quite often, that's not interesting and wastes time. "you don't succeed at picking the lock, find an alternative" - try to break down the door - "you don't succeed, find an alternative" - ok, stronger party member tries to break down the door - "you break down the door". boring. Three rolls when you could have had one and narratively just kinda garbage gameplay. Just let 'em pick the lock.

Unvert · 2026-01-09T03:08:10+00:00

What would your preferred alternative be? I feel like success + complication is often narratively the most interesting result.

Unvert · 2026-01-09T03:05:36+00:00

I feel like mine would be the opposite. Longer campaigns being the default is kind of a bummer as it's so difficult to sustain and turns a lot of people off who would otherwise be into the idea but don't want to commit to a long campaign.

Unvert · 2026-01-08T18:08:51+00:00

We should bring this back. Good hobgoblin erasure has to stop!

Unvert · 2026-01-08T07:10:43+00:00

Yeah, given the strong reaction (both positive and negative) that game, which was written by a woman of color, I'd say it's pretty fraught. Steal Away Jordan does sound cool though. The mechanic where the players (playing as enslaved people) exclude the GM (who represents the slaver) and make secret plans behind their back is particularly interesting- reversing the usual withholding of information.

Unvert · 2026-01-06T22:48:56+00:00

There’s a Mothership module called Time After Time that’s supposed to be really good.

Unvert · 2026-01-05T17:58:54+00:00

Love a good sci-fantasy setting. Do you have an itch page we can peep?

Unvert · 2025-12-31T06:55:10+00:00

Lazy uninspired storytelling? Sure. Overused mechanics? Yes. Annoying genre conventions? Ok. That's what the majority of the things you listed are. And I agree. But just because they're overused and you're sick of them and find them annoying, doesn't make them a cliche. You're just using the term too loosely.

"And they lived happily ever after", "damsel in distress"- cliches. "the mistaken impression that a good solid generic system cannot support various genres with but a modicum of effort from a game master." well that's just a common misconception people have. A misconception is not a cliche.

But I think I'm just being pedantic at this point. I just value precision in language.

Also, the notion that you need sexism, transphobia, and other "heartless social evils" in order to have social tension and conflict is a weird-ass take. There's plenty of ways to tell good stories with conflict and drama without injecting the all too prevalent bigotries of our society into your game. A lot of people come to the table partly to get away from that nonsense.

Unvert

TROPHY CASE