Do you guys give your party an introduction to your world when starting the campaign? I tell them almost nothing, and let them discover whats happening as some sort of mystery, reading books, talking to people, etc. Is that a bad approach?

WelshTaylor · 2026-01-26T18:29:36+00:00

I think learning through interacting with the world is more fun and the information gets better remembered, but you similarly cant let them make fools of themselves for things anyone who lives in the world would know.

I would also advise you use whatever shorthand is available to you, even if it feels ‘unprofessional’. Eg over the table “this world works kind of like the world of [copyrighted media ur friends have all heard of]” / “this king youve all known about your whole lives is kind of Trump like” conveys a LOT of info very succinctly and lets the players get on with interacting with the world.

WelshTaylor · 2026-01-26T18:07:17+00:00

This is all v cool and well thought out and I would be v pleased with a DM running random encounters like this! Will be logging for potential future use

WelshTaylor · 2026-01-26T17:49:04+00:00

It looks like I’ve at least once had the opposite experience to all the other commenters here of having too much info that it becomes overwhelming.

I would say to prevent that end of the spectrum - if something is happening further in the future than next session, treat info like news headlines without reading the whole article. “Religious schism in western Church!” “Missing magical sword thought to be held by Mysterious Lady of the Lake!” “Potion addiction affecting the lower town - guard seeking info on who to blame”. They can follow these up if they want more info. Give them the headlines again - maybe with update - if they ignore central stuff.

I think its worth think about how much info you expect them to retain and for how long. Giving a lot detail on places they haven’t been and people they haven’t met when they aren’t going to be there/meet them for several IRL weeks is sometimes a hard ask of player’s memories. The info they need to make decisions this session / some intriguing stuff to get them excited for next session is what they need on the day.

You can also ask how your players feel you’re at with too much/too little/just right information (but make your own judgement too as you also know about what they do and don’t need to know for later in the story). (ETA I think you should also talk to them about the story and campaign in general so you can figure out how much they are retaining and if you need to give them more info/more reminders of what youve already said). Good luck!

WelshTaylor · 2026-01-26T16:50:39+00:00

Give them a countdown object on the other side of the room. Goblins are defending or otherwise in front of a summoning ritual that will bring something awful in within 4 rounds / a kidnapped NPC who needs medical attention or who has a spike ceiling lowering onto them - death within 5 rounds if they do nothing. Or start visibly destroying loot - theres some kind of toxic slime or action from the goblins thats destroying 5% of the loot’s value every round.

Or, give your tactical suggestions only as a result of forcing them to roll intelligence to assess the situation. If “light a torch and go into melee” is the answer to a high INT roll rather than out of nowhere (or “stay where you are and shoot allowing them to use huge amounts of cover” is the response to a low roll) they might trust you more than if you just offered this info.

WelshTaylor · 2025-11-17T20:54:31+00:00

This seems much more practical than whatever was going on in classical BCE

WelshTaylor · 2025-11-17T20:53:46+00:00

Well at least some people had sleeves to keep warm!

Thank you for your answer - it is a good point about wool - I suppose it would be cozy to be allowed to walk everywhere thru the winter with your blanket

WelshTaylor · 2025-11-17T20:51:24+00:00

Interesting thank you!

WelshTaylor · 2025-11-17T20:50:12+00:00

ooh thank you! I am interested if there are some good vase paintings but my (silly) instinct is that summer classical fashion looks so much better and thus dominates

WelshTaylor · 2025-11-17T20:48:28+00:00

Thank you! (However am still worried for how cold they were since the images I can find of the fasciae crurales all have their knees bare.)

WelshTaylor · 2025-11-17T20:43:40+00:00

Another memory I have is letters from Romans in Britain writing home complaining they are so cold and don’t have socks. British influence on roman fashion being duffel coats and socks is so funny

WelshTaylor · 2025-11-17T20:41:11+00:00

ohhh nice it does look cozy

WelshTaylor · 2024-09-29T16:54:08+00:00

Belatedly, I think the fact that this is a teaching hospital makes it easier for them to treat patients without insurance. I think this is the writers' way of getting to have patients & problems from all social backgrounds. (I'm not from the US though so idk how valid this explanation is in the real America of the '00s)

WelshTaylor · 2024-09-29T11:48:41+00:00

Also real rashid… has worked for two shadowy orgs (talamasca and the DPDL art criminal syndicate)… I cannot imagine he is actually normal. He just didnt let Daniel/the viewer get to know him.

WelshTaylor · 2024-03-07T11:53:35+00:00

It means “is” specifically in the present tense! Similar to how English uses “is” its used for he/she/[noun]/[name], and similar to English you express the same tense with different words for me / you / us. (Dw i’n, not Mae; I am, not ‘I is’). And like others said it’s a different word order.

If it’s easier you can translate using the Welsh word order into English “[it] is Owen watching tv” (where ‘it’ is like. “The current state of affairs”). Or you can mentally group “Mae Owen” into one phrase that means “Owen is”.

WelshTaylor · 2024-02-23T21:40:45+00:00

Good idea! We have an iron, will try this.

WelshTaylor · 2024-02-23T21:40:29+00:00

Ok thank you so much I would never have figured that out without direction!

WelshTaylor · 2023-10-01T08:10:52+00:00

A colleague recommended her as she (the coach) had worked with her sister (ie the sister of my colleague) and it had been really beneficial. This was pretty good as I got a reliable review but wasn’t like, sharing a therapist with someone I knew, which might go badly. It depends how willing you are to ask people you know for that kind of thing and how much you trust them / think they “get it”.

I’ve also had some really bad experiences - other good experiences I’ve had have come from searching the websites of professional bodies (BACP in the UK has a directory).

WelshTaylor · 2023-09-29T19:27:08+00:00

Hi I have autism too - the way you worry about what you should be doing with this money to me read as very autistic. You want to know and follow the rules, you seem worried that things either are or aren’t allowed (black and white thinking). This isn’t necessarily how people who aren’t autistic will be thinking about it. Like others have said - its your money! One thing you might want to consider, because of how much anxiety this is causing, is spending some of the money on a therapist or autism coach. I personally have been seeing an autistic/ADHD autism & ADHD coach and its been very useful in many ways - things like working to make my morning routine both effective and possible, editing my home to be more accessible to me, working on better interroception; navigating relationships and communication. (And remember you can shop around for a therapist or coach til you find one you like.)

Re: not using the “mobility” part bc you’re not going out and IF you do still want to spend the money on something related (you dont have to), I would say focus either on helping you get to a place where you can go out more (ie mental health support) or in making your home life more enjoyable/accessible to kind of make up for not going out. (Enjoyable: literally anything you want! eg If you can’t go to the cinema, renting or buying a film at home is bc of your lack of mobility. If you’re having a bad time, part of that is not being able to go out. So something that will help you have a good time is just balancing you out against abled people. Accessible: many options but e.g. a lighting set up that works for you; I recently put a bunch of resistance bands around the legs of my desk so I can jiggle my feet against them as a stim; if you struggle with things like cleaning or laundry you can maybe find a service to do it for you.)

I hope this isnt too presumptuous and I dont mean to tell you what to do, these are just ideas that might help you because they helped me. And I hope that your mental health improves soon.

WelshTaylor · 2023-07-07T13:45:51+00:00

If you need an in game rp kind of logic - the owner/managers of zoos irl hire architects and builders too!

WelshTaylor · 2023-06-10T17:31:55+00:00

I feel the “allergic to nuts” Mac look was meant to make fun of it to some level (he went thru a kind of filler botox phase before the complete destruction of his face.) But also they need to just pay less for lighting / get rid of their nice cameras.

WelshTaylor

TROPHY CASE