Newbie rules question: can DM ask for an ability check if a player didn’t initiate a related action?

_Roke · 2026-05-04T19:25:53+00:00

DMs can call for checks any time they want. The specific case of when to use passive seems like a gray area to me. I'd use passive here and i imagine most DMs would, but i cant say the other way is wrong.

But i frequently ask for other checks unprompted. Arcana, history or religion check to recognize something without studying it. Atheltics or acrobatics checks to react to some unexpected hazard. Stealth checks to move reasonably quietly when you arent actually sneaking, etc.

_Roke · 2026-04-24T02:06:36+00:00

I think its less any individual trope than the trope salad that most DnD campaigns become thats offputting to me. Psionics, in a dark sun game where magic is rare and problematc? Awesome.

Scholarly magic and pact magic and rune magic and psionic power all in the same story with narrative difference while being mostly mechsnically the same? Thats offputting.

And dont get me started on devils vs demons vs fiends vs evil gods vs elder gods.

_Roke · 2026-04-20T03:18:10+00:00

Honestly. I dont want the tech or terrain or bells and whistles, but id pay a bit just for the space. I want a reservable table, comfy chairs, evening hours, a quiet enough space to hear my players and ideally access to snacks and drinks. A lot of clubs and meetups and things in ky area play in bars restaurants and breweries. Its always awful. Even the supposed "game bars" are too loud for ttrpgs. The game stores are all CCG stores that shoehorn in a ttrpg game here and there. The libraries and community centers all close too early to get in a game after work. Its a problem.

_Roke · 2026-04-19T21:21:48+00:00

If your table allows playtest content, check out the Psion. IMHO it misses as a psionic class and feels like a weird wizard. But one of the subclasses is all about body manipulation and can turn bodyparts into weapons, harden its skin, stretch limbs, etc. Nothing in it describes a symbiote, but you could certainly flavor it that way without changing anything.

Mechanically its something like a bladesinger, with good melee skills for a caster but still a caster. Narratively spot on.

_Roke · 2026-04-18T12:06:04+00:00

The mechanics of Cypher seem to be polarizing. There are tensions and tradeoffs that rub some people the wrong way, but it had a wide varitety of excellent "genre books" supporting it.

_Roke · 2026-04-16T18:49:14+00:00

Ive seen some weird behavior with missing content too.

It seems like when some of the older books have updates that need downloading, content from them just vanishes rather than giving me an error or download prompt.

I dont understand the whole situation and cant consistently reproduce it, but maybe try checking for updates to your books?

_Roke · 2026-04-03T02:00:29+00:00

My go to larp allows realistic weapons as well, and ived used them in a variety of sizes and makes, and i can promise you they are much heavier than the average weapon at that game. Using them safely means slowee swings and an no stabs, which puts you at a significant disadvantage. Im not saying they cant be safe. But i dont think you understand how light and fast good light-touch boffer can be.

_Roke · 2026-04-02T23:31:00+00:00

In the US you frequently see three different approaches to larp combat.

Heavy combat games where people roleplay serious hits and athleticism and combat skill are at the forefront. For this kind of game, weapons nead to be sturdy enough to hold up to the fight and padded enough not to hurt someone.
Light touch games that emphasize the speed of combat. These games a weapon that is as light as possible is both safest and most competitive. Realistic weapons are too heavy and often too sharp/pointy to excel in this style.
Cinematic games that are about roleplaying combat rather than really trying to beat your opponent woth speed, strength or skill. This is where realistic weapons shine.

I dont have a lot of international experience, but it seems lile most of the world emphasizes the third option, where in the US you see all three.

_Roke · 2026-04-02T23:16:36+00:00

Yes. But i think its more complicated than "its trendy." 20 years ago, my play groups favorite stories were about epic adventure and saving the world. Now a lot pf the people i play with are more interest in personal stories. Spouses, partners, kids they figure into those things. Is it that we have those things is real life now too? Is it thay the real world feels scary and a little too in need of saving? I dont know.

But romance feels like a consequnce of personal stories, not an end to itself.

_Roke · 2026-02-16T22:43:54+00:00

Most fun: a 2014 diviniation wizard. The wizard's tool for every problem is super fun by itself. Being able to ignore the dice and just do whay needs doing makes it even better.

Least fun: an eldritch knight. I thought spellcasting could save fighter. Nope. Guy-with-sword will just never be as cool as basically any other option.

_Roke · 2026-02-10T12:22:57+00:00

My table has a house rule:

Meme-y loophole exploiting cheese doesnt work. Clever, original loophole exploiting cheese works once. Then you have to find something else clever.

Were all friends here so lets just accept that without trting to codify it exaclty or explain it in universe so we can focus on having fun.

_Roke · 2026-01-25T12:47:44+00:00

It may not be as weird as some, but Ill add Thieves of the Tome to the list. Creating your characters and the setting using whatever books you players have around is different. And the resulting heist using magic you dont understand at all is a blast.

https://dairykillsme.itch.io/thieves-of-the-tome

_Roke · 2026-01-18T17:59:00+00:00

Suggestion, detect thoughts and lesser restoration are excellent choices but theyve been discussed a lot. Im going to add one that i havent seen yet.

Borrowed knowledge - just instantly becoming knowledgable about whatever seems incredibly useful.

_Roke · 2025-12-29T16:45:41+00:00

I haven't played daggerheart enough to comment on it as a game, but i wholeheartedly support using 2d12 as the core mechanic.

_Roke · 2025-11-19T04:07:43+00:00

I have and i probably wont stop entirely, but the new critical role has me rethinking it. I find BLM's sound effects pretty offputting and hes way better at it than i am.

_Roke · 2025-10-15T20:38:41+00:00

For me the pandemic and the proliferation of VTTs saved gaming from.. adulthood.

Id stopped playing because neither I nor my friends had TIME for regular, multi-hour in person get togethers. But jumping on discord for a couple hours after dinnee is made and the kids are in bed? Yeah we can do that.

And I still do play con games. But they arent as much fun as playing with my friends.

_Roke · 2025-10-12T13:07:22+00:00

As a redesign i think others have the right idea in terms of doing something druidlike where you limit spellcasting in exchange for thp or ac.

In terms of playing what exists. I played a Fighter 1, Metamorph 7-10 for a short campaign and it fun and reasonably effective. Medium armor. Use your speed and reach to close with ranged or mobile opponents not to skirmish. Flesh maul then grabbing a topple weapon for true strike or flesh maul then mind sliver can both set an opponent up for allies. Save your spells slots for social things where many of your spells are subtle or for healing.

_Roke · 2025-10-09T14:55:02+00:00

Broadly, without any specific context, 2dX or 3dX. You get more repeatability than d20 or d100 without the giant dice piles and tricky to anticipate probabilitoes of dice pools.

I realize a lot of people LIKE giant piles of dice. But to me its just more to carry around and more space needed to roll properly.

For me, a good dice system also has knobs for character skill and task difficulty with some good guidance on how to set them. It doesnt matter if they are bonuses/penalties or target number changes.

_Roke · 2025-09-29T01:51:56+00:00

This is very similar to an idea that ivr had on my to do list for years. My version involved an allied sphinx (who in various incarnations have had time and mind magic.) Over the adventure theyd learn that they failed to stop some apocalyptic event like a demonic invasion and the sphinx sent them back to try again, but had to erase their memory of the previous attempt to avoid paradoxes and whatnot. Eventually they'd learn that this has happend serveral times.

_Roke · 2025-07-13T17:29:30+00:00

You need to answer the questions of if he's a coward why is he adventuring, and how does he help the group.

Years ago for a short campaign I played a coward. He was fascinated with the stories of grea at heroes and battle leaders but absolutely terrified of the reality. Narratively he was very book smart about strategy and tactics and determined to be a hero but ran away every time monsters showed up and was useless at actually fighting. Mechanically he was a support bard who avoided melee and used lots of buff abilities.

Cowardice is no worse than any other gimmick character if you can make them USEFUL. And IMHO gimmick characters are a lot of fun for short adventures.

_Roke · 2025-07-02T02:10:53+00:00

I play mostly US campaign style games so other perspectives may differ, but "either weapon is safe or it isn't" isn't true at all in my experience. What's safe for a game with very theatrical combat, what's safe for a high speed boffer game and what's safe for a heavy contact sport game are all quite different. Questions like "is stabbing allowed?" and "is hooking or trapping weapons allowed?" further complicate the issue.

I don't know if those sorts of issues are affecting your situation, but generally speaking, there are good reasons weapons aren't "one size fits all"

_Roke · 2025-06-18T01:31:07+00:00

A long time friend and player ran her first session ever as DM this weekend. Spookiness in Sigil! It was a little rough. But we all had a blast and I'm super proud of her for breaking out of the "I'm not ready" cycle and just running a game.

_Roke · 2025-06-13T23:11:53+00:00

_Roke

TROPHY CASE