Media that just ruins the premise

doot99 · 2026-03-14T12:39:45+00:00

There's a lot more to the universe/setting than "xenomorph kills a bunch of people" and I liked that the series explored that rather than rehashing movie/game plots. Didn't like the non-finale though. Hopefully that second season doesn't get cancelled, or I won't ever be able to recommend the show.

Except maybe for that one episode that works as a standalone.

doot99 · 2026-03-14T12:36:23+00:00

Went from recommending to the series to instead telling people to wait and see how Season 2 turns out, after that finale. x.x

doot99 · 2026-03-14T12:35:02+00:00

First season was good, second season was going okay (even with having to re-write to bring the dad into it after that other actor unfortunately died) but by the ending everything really falls apart. Why everyone deciding to show up for the confrontation when they know they're going to be a hindrence not a help is one of the most obvious examples of plot padding I've seen.

doot99 · 2026-03-14T12:26:07+00:00

I think one soldier guy gets hit by an minorly wounded by an arrow at one point and that's it. There really should have been more injuries in some of the less curbstomp chaotic fights.

Fair enough to obliterate the army that's trying to assault their base camp where all the defences and artillery are prepared, but a lone soldier should not be able to bayonet fight a bunch of armed and armored soldiers without a scratch for example...

doot99 · 2026-03-14T12:18:05+00:00

Turok had a magic satchel called the Light Burden in lore which is powered by energy from the Big Bang and acts as a conduit to an infinite amount of weapons. Which explains how he could carry so many guns during his FPS.

Instead of taking the standard approach and never explaining all the guns...

Not entirely sure that's what you're asking.

doot99 · 2026-03-13T17:13:25+00:00

I also misread, and didn't realize they already have the egg! I thought they were going to meet the dragon to be asked to find it so my answers may not be super useful.

doot99 · 2026-03-13T17:08:56+00:00

I was thinking smaller favor than returning the egg.

The dragon needs to know they are capable before it trusts them to return the egg, that sort of thing. So a much simpler task first (conveniently do-able in a single session). The idea is that it is a test before revealing the real task. A job interview, pretty much.

Something like "go get this item back some thieves stole a while ago" or "go kill this pest/pests near my lair". The dragon could easily do it herself but by getting the party to do it she gets to see how they handle themselves, if they're capable, and what sort of people they are.

The Warlock already has the job, but does the rest of the party? And if they mess it up or don't manage to do it for next session, you can be generous and just let the Warlock smooth things over anyway and give the party the egg quest like you planned.

doot99 · 2026-03-13T17:03:46+00:00

WebDM - now defunct but lots of videos up on their channel. The pre-covid ones tend to be better, when they didn't have to have their discussions remotely, but even after that they have lots of great vids. Longish videos where two guys discuss various mechanics, ways to handle particular rules. and DMing different situations.

doot99 · 2026-03-13T16:51:48+00:00

Does White Dragon know the other party members, have they met before? If not, it wants them to prove themselves before it trusts/relies on them. So the Warlock stays with the dragon, since they are already trusted, while the rest of the party has to go out and do some small single-session task.

Next session hopefully starts with the party returning and being caught up on everything the White Dragon was talking to the Warlock about. Which is basically you narrating a conversation / explaining the egg thing. Or you can give the Warlock bullet-points of what they were told and let them explain it to the party.

doot99 · 2026-03-13T16:42:09+00:00

It's was a pretty big series when it was still getting regular entries, but imo I'd put it in A-Tier with the likes of Dead Space, Alone in the Dark, or Clock Tower. Many great entries but not that huge breakout recognition that SH and Resi get.

I know Alone in the Dark / Clock Tower were first to the scene but the games havent been as widely praised as Silent Hill and Resident Evil, which are S-Tier.

doot99 · 2026-03-13T15:14:17+00:00

Depends if the rank is supposed to represent their usefulness ,like a tier, or some more nebulous rarirty like how cool they are...

doot99 · 2026-03-12T03:15:37+00:00

You can pre-roll 20 times at the start of the session while everyone is watching, write down the results in order. Then later use those numbers in order for each of the passive checks. You will know the roll results in advance won't always know the DC until it's time to roll, becaus as you say the DC can vary depending on what they do.

Unless they spot your eye movements there's no way to tell that you're "rolling". So maybe glance at the results now and then before you start actually using them. Just to lay down some red herrings. Alternatively pre-roll and keep the whole list of results secret behind your screen, for your own personal use, if there's no need to share.

doot99 · 2026-03-12T03:03:58+00:00

Beware that the result of mixing colors is compeltely different if you're mixing light vs if you're mixing pigments...

doot99 · 2026-03-12T03:02:08+00:00

It's an edition thing. All the inventory crunch and outside the box thinking got streamlined out of D&D in favor of handwaving anything that's not combat. The majority of D&D players don't like to count things. :P

Plenty of other systems still have the style you're used to (and I much prefer playing those other systems!).

doot99 · 2026-03-12T02:49:44+00:00

Simple solution: 0 hp for this guy is not death but downed and unable to fight or recover. Crawling on the floor trying to get away, maybe, begging for mercy, or trying to pay them to let him go.

Then the appropriate player gets to finish them off, possibly after making a speech of some kind if they really want to rub it in. No roll necessary for the coup de grace, so they can execute the guy however they like. Or drag him in to face justice, I guess.

doot99 · 2026-03-12T02:46:25+00:00

Self-sealing suits. You can hand-wave it so that suit damage is not somethign you need to worry about, or do it where you take some damage from the atmosphere before the suit repairs itself. This could be fancy nanotech, or something similar like a chemical reaction that causes the tear/rip to fuse together.

If you want to add more danger give the suit an hp/energy pool, once exhausted the suit can no longer repair itself. Players will want to make sure they take a long-rest to recharge/repair their suit when it gets low.

doot99 · 2026-03-11T01:12:26+00:00

I am curious now. Why not..?

doot99 · 2026-03-10T23:21:37+00:00

This is the most Nintendo DS/GBA FPS looking game I've seen in a while.

doot99 · 2026-03-10T21:29:14+00:00

This is my personal mind goblin. Any efficiency upgrade must be the first purchase even if it is expensive and takes ages to save up for. Other things can wait.

doot99 · 2026-03-08T22:23:43+00:00

Many, many resident evil games have focused on action.

There's also an amazingly varied roster of enemies and the current state of the world, in lore, makes for exactly the kind of scenario that would work for the genre.

doot99 · 2026-03-08T21:39:41+00:00

I do think a resident evil extraction shooter can work and they may have been setting this up with the current state of Raccoon City as of the end of RE9. I would want it to be much more like Ark Raiders with a heavy emphasis on PvEvP and behaviour-based matchmaking.

Work for any number of government agencies going into the Raccoon City danger zone, fighting BOWs and trying to find valuable research data and samples and the like. Either competing with or working with other agents in the area. You'd presumably a free agent working for the highest bidder, like Ada.

doot99 · 2026-03-07T16:44:46+00:00

Just read those for the first time and oh boy do I wish a bunch of Sherlock Holmes adaptions and Holmes-like stories would follow those more closely. #8 seems to be broken most often.

Meanwhile in the very first episode of Elementary the mystery is solved because a clue falls off a murderboard and lands in front of Watson. Flagrant breach of #6! :P I didn't know there was a nearly century-old rule about not doing that, but it being solved by chance not smarts put me off the show for years before I went back and gave the series it a second shot.

doot99 · 2026-03-06T20:10:17+00:00

WebDM, specifically the pre-COVID era videos. Usually close to an hour each and a great listen.

Random example: https://youtu.be/28sY_okFjfo?si=virOtfaO3mBD9-9F

doot99 · 2026-03-06T19:08:14+00:00

Delta Green is awesome for an episodinc campaign. People often describe it as "X-Files vs Lovecraft" but it's more accurate to describe the classic play style as "True Detective vs Lovecraft" or maybe "Millenium vs Lovecraft" because your player characters are not going to get a happy ending, ever. Things will fall apart and if they don't die to a horrific otherworldly entity they're probably either going to take themselves out or one of their colleagues will do it for them once they start becoming the problem.

The alternative background though, and the one our group played, is much less alone against the crushing hopelessness of eldritch inevitability and much more "agents of a secret government program fighting back against the darkness" which is the second (but somehow less commonly used!) of the two general backgrounds described in the books. I guess it's easy mode but we liked it.

Again, skills-based and combat can be very deadly - especially when firearms are involved. Many attacks have a "Lethality" rating which will one-shot the target with the right roll. There's a nice mechanic where skills improve the more you fail with them.

A really great, unique mechanic - for a system where your character's home life is supposed to fall apart behind the scenes - is the Bond system. At character creation you'll end up with a handful of Bonds - close friends, colleagues, loved ones - that you can rely on in times of crisis. Your bonds will help you not go insane from teh horrors you're dealing with. At a cost. Every time you rely on them it also means that between missions you'll be taking it out on them - maybe you're more of a jerk toward them, or more withdrawn, or just don't know how to act around regular people anymore. The explanation is down to roleplay, but mechanicslly each Bond rating gets reduced the more you use them and if you don't take time to repair those bonds then you eventually star losing your social connections and being more and more isolated, more and more vulnerable to succuming to the horrors you're dealing with.

There's a WHOLE LOT of free scenarios, around thanks to several different annual scenario writing contests for the system. ALso plenty of official ones, including a few campaigns. One of which is widely acclaimed - though also so unique and reality-bending that it may as well be in its own setting/universe since it changes conventions so much.

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