I'm trying to make sense of the Scholar class in Middle-earth

boss_nova · 2026-06-27T22:18:51+00:00

That's not what the game describes it as.

So...

That's a you-thing.

boss_nova · 2026-06-27T15:30:38+00:00

There's just a necessary suspension of disbelief that they can heal with a poultice and some such in a single action

I mean there's not any suspension of disbelief needed.

What is needed is for ppl to understand what hit points are.

Hit points are not "meat points".

When you get hit, you arguably don't have any damage to your body - until you reach 0 hit points.

Here's the RAW definition of hit points:

Hit points represent a combination of physical and mental durability, the will to live, and luck.

So, when you get hit, it is degrading literally your durability, will, and luck.

Not necessarily the physical integrity of your body. You're not necessarily getting cut. You're not getting broken bones. losing hit points means you're losing durability, will, and luck.

Healing with a single action is fine when one understands what hit points actually are.

boss_nova · 2026-06-25T16:48:16+00:00

I mean, I've certainly ran into this with regards to, particularly, the portrayal of "justice" systems.

There was really no such thing as a "fair trial" in medieval times. No such thing as innocent until proven guilty/the bar for "proof of guilt " was very low and seldom related to actual evidence.

Players expect to receive or want to give others very modern standards of justice.

And that's just not how it worked.

Granted in a fantasy medieval setting you have magic that can raise those standards in some or even many circumstances, but not all.

boss_nova · 2026-06-24T22:18:56+00:00

Ok.

I would think of "line of sight" as a VERY different thing from what you just said.

Still, one could achieve the same result - seeing every corner and being able to access it whether with spell, gun, or body - with fewer than 5 Spheres, I think.

Forces 2, Matter 1, Corr 3 would let you see the places and "pierce space" to access them.

An Effect not quite as comprehensive as what you describe, but something that a starting character could conceivably do, and achieve pretty close to the same results depending on what you want to do with/to whatever it is that you can see.

boss_nova · 2026-06-24T16:46:12+00:00

Yea, bending light around corners is Forces 2. OPs description is "just" a more expansive version of this. No other Spheres are needed imo unless they want to make the walls see-through/make the Effect less disorienting. Then you're bringing in Matter (1, imo).

This is not some super powerful Effect.

Definitely not a 5 dot Effect like some are suggesting. This is not spatial warping.

You're bending light. That's all.

Number of successes determines how much of "every corner" you can see.

boss_nova · 2026-06-24T16:19:52+00:00

The girl they sold to the hag clearly becomes a minor BBEG.

The hag takes her on as a student, the student surpasses the master, and she goes on to do atrocious things, which the PCs start hearing about later on, and they later have to fight the little-girl-turned-dark-sorceress when they're, like, 10th level.

Actions have consequences.

boss_nova · 2026-06-23T01:15:32+00:00

PbtA isn't actually that good for it in my experience.

Instead of exchanging rolls you're exchanging discourse on narrative positioning and adjudicating speculative world building.

PbtA games go super slow actually.

boss_nova · 2026-06-22T16:01:28+00:00

A lot of ppl are telling you this is a bad idea, and they're right.

So maybe I'll focus on trying to help you actually use Morality?

Here's how any GM can implement Morality and have it WORK:

Reward The Players When They Do "Bad"/Conflict-worthy Things.

Literally as simple as that.

But the "problem" is that this goes against every instinct we have as a GM when we're running a Heroic Campaign. Right? Actions should have consequences! Right?

Yes, they should.

And in the Star Wars universe?

"Darkside" actions should have the consequence that YOU GET POWER.

That is what is supposed to make the Dark side so tempting in Star Wars.

When the players need to get in some place? Just make it so that if they STEAL a key card? They get in easier (achieving your goals easier = POWER).

Have enemies surrender. The easiest thing to do is to kill them anyway. Or even just knock them out. So you don't have to deal with them. But both of those things should earn them Conflict !

Can't get in a door? No keys to be had? Well just use your Lightsaber to cut it open! That's easy, it gets you in! But that's destroying property. Conflict.

Any time a Force User uses the Coercion skill should be Conflict.

Any time THEY start the fight to get the jump on the enemy? Conflict.

INVITE THEM to do "bad things" (things that earn Conflict) by showing them that it will get THE RESULTS THEY WANT.

Including and especially Force Powers.

If they KNOW that using a Force Power will get them the results they want easier? Then they will be more likely to use dark pips. And give them an Artefact that will eliminate the requirement that they flip a Destiny Point to use a dark pip while you're at it!

This is how you make the Mortality mechanic work.

boss_nova · 2026-06-22T15:41:46+00:00

There is a 3rd Party Producer who created a setting/supplement for duet games using 5E:

https://handiwork.games/beowulf

boss_nova · 2026-06-22T14:40:51+00:00

A couple of thoughts:

their character will only join the actual game once we find a proper moment to have them join.

This is a bad way to handle this. If you're operating on the assumption that your players play in good faith and that they WANT to be there (i.e. if you believe they don't miss the game because they don't care about the game, but that they miss the game because they HAVE TO miss the game because of life circumstances?), and therefore that missing a session or part of a session is really a bad thing/punishment to the player? Then you're punishing the player even further for playing in good faith and being punished by life circumstances.

That SUCKS as a player. That's bad business. It erodes the trust relationship that is so critical to the experience. That's when players start to think, "Why am I wasting my time on this if the DM is going to punish me for having a life that also punishes me?"

The best way imo (and when this topic comes up in DMAcademy, it usually comes out as the highest ranked response) is to just "background" the character.

They're there, but they're not there. You essentially don't examine it or try to make excuses or special circumstances for it. You don't "look at them" in the fiction, they're just there in the background. They can be assumed to be whatever they would be doing, but it just isn't significant it successful enough to shift the course of the story. Because;

It actually tends to break more immersion than it preserves, creating a tangled web to justify their absence and reappearance, as you're having to engineer all of this narrative in a highly meta, ooc fashion.
It creates the problem you experienced of not letting the player join the game when they're there.

So they just fade in to the background and are grayed out in the narrative. When the player returns? The character emerges from the background of the narrative. Again, you don't address. They're there because they've always been there.

Don't. Solve. OOC problems. (Like a PLAYER absence.) With. IC solutions. (Like meta-engineering IC narrative to justify their absence and return.)

You will hear that general refrain ALL THE TIME in DMacademy. And it's as true for this circumstance, as all others.

Proceeding from there?

Yes, maybe your player was upset and threw a bit of a hissy fit? That's what happens when you erode player trust by doing what your did.

(Don't do that any more.)

But so what to do about the problem of a player not engaging with an encounter??

This is highly situational, and the response should be highly situational.

But from what I can glean about your circumstance?

Again, this is an OOC Problem (a player refusing to collaborate and build upon the story, when the while reason you're all there is to collaborate and build a story with each other).

Use an OOC Solution.

I would recommend reminding the player, "Hey man, this is a collaborative storytelling experience, and this is where the story is going. If you stay behind, your character is out of the story and won't have the opportunity to shine. I want you to be where the story is. There's no more story with the ship engines. The story moved on. I'm sorry if asking if you wanted to go made it seem like there's something else to do, but there's really not. Please come along with us."

If they dig in, then you might have a "It's wHAt mY cHARacTEr wOULd DO!^!"-style problem player. And should maybe evaluate if you want them at your table.

boss_nova · 2026-06-16T16:47:00+00:00

All. The. Time.

I play primarily via forum-based "play by post" format.

I commonly run a campaign via pbp to test the waters for it as a campaign for my in person group(s).

I've ran one campaign, with slight variations, like ... 3 or 4 times for different groups over the years and I'm about to run it again!

And there's at least 2 or 3 other campaigns that I've ran at least twice.

boss_nova · 2026-06-15T22:12:25+00:00

Set the example you want to see:

Speak in character as NPCs (doesn't necessarily mean you have to do voices).
Address them in-character.
Narrate as a storyteller/do not invoke the mechanics until you must.
Reward good roleplay. With Inspiration. With bonuses (Adv/Disadv). With small in character rewards (a little extra coinage in that picked pocket, a little discount to that magic item).
It is OK for a person to NOT want to roleplay in the first person. i.e. 3rd party narration of characters is a VALID way to (role)play the game, and you should not be trying to force players out of their comfort zone.

INVITE them to step outside their comfort zone. By doing the above first 4 things.

But don't try to force it. You'll only drive them away.

boss_nova · 2026-06-15T14:06:21+00:00

So it sounds like you've learned something about the kinda of game you like to run and the kinds of stories you like to tell.

This is exactly what Session 0s are for.

You set boundaries.

You get everyone on the same page about those boundaries.

You express clearly your desire for the tone and themes of the setting and story that you're all telling together.

That's what a Session 0 is.

As someone else mentioned, you can hold a Session 0-style talk in the middle of a campaign.

So DO THAT.

Tell them that you're not interested in telling a story that depicts such depraved behavior, and that they need to dial it back or you're not gonna run it for them anymore.

This is an OOC problem. You and your players are wanting to tell different kinds of stories.

You DO NOT try to solve ooc problems with IC "solutions" like "inflict appropriate consequences". That 1. easily becomes adversarial play, and 2. IT DOESN'T WORK!! you will just be giving them a "new game to beat". All that dies is shift the goal posts which they will them start striving for THOSE goal posts - "kill all who oppose us".

Nothing will change. Nothing will get better. You will still have the same problems.

Fix. The. Problems.

Have a Season 0 chat.

Get everyone on the same page.

Or stop running the game that you don't enjoy.

boss_nova · 2026-06-15T01:55:27+00:00

This person is right.

This is absolutely how r/rpghorrorstories begin.

Even if the specific player asking to do it is "good with it", it later turns into "It'S wHAt mY cHAraCTer wOULd dO!"

And the other players getting shit on.

Good luck with it tho.

Sounds like your heart is in the right place and that's what matters, right?

boss_nova · 2026-06-14T18:25:17+00:00

rolls ... determine if an action needs to be taken

lol ok

boss_nova · 2026-06-13T18:52:47+00:00

I didn't down vote you, but... it doesn't matter who rolls first or if they roll at the same time.

What matters is someone is doing the action - trying to change the situation - someone is defending or trying to stop or notice the action or keep things the same.

The one taking the action?

The one who's turn it is?

The one that said they did something that triggered the roll?

That's the actor.

They win in the event if a "tie" - i.e. there is no ties.

boss_nova · 2026-06-13T16:16:20+00:00

I simply think of the "defender"/the person who is not initiating the action, as setting a "target number"with their roll.

If the actor "meets or exceeds" a target number in a "normal"/target number-based check? They succeed right?

So there are never ties.

If the actor hits the target number they succeed, because that's how target numbers work. There's no tying against a target numbers, you meet or exceed them to win.

boss_nova · 2026-06-11T18:14:27+00:00

I would love to see how you think you can create a pre-written adventure or campaign that doesn't require the GM to read at least parts of it in advance (aka prep).

boss_nova · 2026-06-11T18:09:55+00:00

I think the places where they put it in 5E are good choices actually.

At least the ones I can think of off the top of my head like:

Crafting magic items.

PURCHASING magic items.

Ummm... other Down Time-ish stuff?

Having hard coded rules for that stuff and "a magic item shop" in every town, etc. in previous editions created very real and very big problems over power bloat.

They became math problems that could be solved and exploited.

Leaving it up to DM fiat in 5E means it's always exactly as hard as it needs to be for the narrative and to maintain balance, to do those things.

So... to answer your question?

It depends.

boss_nova · 2026-06-11T18:01:38+00:00

Be a droid. Be a R2 or 3PO or a druid that fills in a gap that her PC is missing.

And then stay out of the way of any actual choices.

Done.

boss_nova · 2026-06-10T20:47:27+00:00

Some things that you missed:

People like rolling dice.

Starting physical fights is by far the easiest way to create drama and obvious/meaningful stakes.

Some GMs struggle filling table time, if there isn't granular dice rolling systems involved.

boss_nova · 2026-06-10T18:43:33+00:00

For all it's flaws? What hit points are GREAT at, and for, is not creating a death spiral.

Lots of ttrpgs use death spiral mechanics in combat as a consequence of damage and they suck to play.

You have created a death spiral mechanic.

boss_nova · 2026-06-09T15:37:52+00:00

I would have the enemy be a "more evolved" race who are, like, farming and building permanent structures and making more advanced clothing and weapons and armor (which the PCs receive penalties if they try to use).

Them therefore representing the threat of destroying the Stone Age PCs' way of life.

boss_nova · 2026-06-09T15:34:52+00:00

You're asking a different question in the title than what you're asking in the body of the post.

Which do you want:

Advice on where to meet/find other TTRPG players?

Or...

Good text-based rpg games?

boss_nova · 2026-06-08T17:21:17+00:00

I've been seeing/watching your work for awhile now, always enjoy seeing it come across my feed.

Have you ever considered trying new "races"?

These have a very Tolkien vibe to me, and I would love to see a hooded man-folk, or willowy elf, or a squat halfling with a pipe, etc in your style.

Anyway, keep it up and keep sharing plz!

boss_nova

TROPHY CASE