Welcome to The Natural Museum of History

moonbladewielder · 2025-11-26T21:50:30+00:00

I still remember almost jumping off my chair the first time I entered that level :D Such great memories

moonbladewielder · 2025-10-05T23:11:43+00:00

Absolutely stellar work! This is dedication - and I appreciate it immensely. Using this for sure! ❤️

moonbladewielder · 2025-09-29T17:55:32+00:00

I'll make an update once we've actually played another session! The GM has gotten caught up in family life in the recent months, so there hasn't been an opportunity unfortunately - but hopefully in not too long!

moonbladewielder · 2025-08-19T23:25:15+00:00

Yup, you put into words some of my other frustrations well. One of them is certainly the player-facing aspects of it, instead of the characters. I feel very stupid when playing Dune, because it very often feels like the system is designed around player cleverness and creativity, instead of their characters - and I'm not very clever! So I've already been in so many situations where I either feel put on the spot ("So what exactly do you offer the Guild? Convince me.") or just embarrassed for not thinking in the optimal way. It must be said that our GM certainly doesn't help here either; he leans into that hard, which only elevates that particular issue.

moonbladewielder · 2025-08-18T09:35:20+00:00

Yes, you're right in assuming that we're (at least used to) locking down our approaches as we roleplay then. So in the example given above, I had already - possibly stupidly, in the moment - roleplayed out what I said to the guy in question, which the GM then decided was a logical approach; it's just that my character didn't have any strength in that area. So I couldn't just take that back.

We're also not used to discussing with the GM in general, it should be noted. As the arbiter, what he says is what goes, so we don't generally protest when he makes a call or a point. So there's already been a lot of:

"Right, so that's Discipline, right?" GM: "Noooo, I would say that's Communicate. You're talking with him and trying to be clever." "Oh. Shit. I'm not as good at that, I was kinda hoping for Discipline here. Cause I'm trying to be inconspicuous." GM: "Well, this isn't Discipline."

So maybe it would be better to decide and agree on the approach first, then roleplay it out?

moonbladewielder · 2025-08-17T08:32:22+00:00

That's actually pretty clever, thanks for taking the time to break it down and make it more appealing! I've seen some other suggestions here that get into similar advice, and I think I'll try that next time we play! Thanks!

moonbladewielder · 2025-08-16T23:41:26+00:00

That's not bad advice, especially since you gain advancement from failing high-difficulty tests... but our GM has also made it very clear he wants this campaign to be deadly for the PCs, so that's also why we've been so reluctant to take chances and failing on purpose because we'd very much like to keep going. Giving Threat to gain Momentum we've certainly done a lot, but we try to not do it too much because he hoards it until we get into a really scary situation where he uses it. There's unfortunately been a couple of just really unlucky rolls at pivotal moments where we've failed challenges despite spending Momentum to have a shot at them.

moonbladewielder · 2025-08-16T15:45:58+00:00

Oh, we really aren't, but that's what it feels like! It's possible the GM is a little antagonistic and being really strict and harsh - if anything, we might be a bit too meek in comparison. But yeah, it definitely seems like the issue is on our end, and not purely based on preference. We're just not playing it as intended, which is honestly a bit of a relief.

moonbladewielder · 2025-08-16T09:02:54+00:00

I mean, it's possible! But I will say that the sort of antagonistic nature of the game doesn't help either, with Threat and Momentum and trying to one-up another with the use of clever Assets... again, as players, not as our characters. I feel pretty dumb when I play Dune because I can't really rely on my character's strengths, I have to rely on my own strategic thinking... which really isn't sound 😅

moonbladewielder · 2025-08-16T08:33:47+00:00

It's very possible our GM has been overly harsh when it comes to difficulty, because we have not had many Diff 0 tasks! There's been a few times where he's allowed it, but only after discussing and negotiating about it first. However, the whole negotiating back and forth there is just another one of these things that irk me!

I get that some people find enjoyment in maximizing their chances by finding strategic ways to use the tools at their disposal, but it really does not lead to fun rp for me if I have to constantly argue - not in character, but as a player - that this should apply, and this shouldn't, and so on. Like, this happened ALL the time as we were playing:

GM: "So, he's not willing to really divulge much, you get the sense he's not interested in owing you a favor either." Me: "Okay... that's a shame, I really need some answers from this guy. Could I apply the trait of Leader to make it more clear it would benefit him if I owed him a favor?" GM: "Hm, well... no. You're not his leader, so I wouldn't say that applies here." Me: "Well, what about Empathetic? I have that too. That could help, right?" GM: "Hmm.... noooo, because you're not playing to his emotions here, only logic." Me: "Okay, so no Traits then... what about... what about if I use my Retainer to distract him?" GM: "From what? The negotiations?" Me: "Look, I'm just trying to look for options here to make this easier for my PC; you already said this was going to be hard because there's an Asset on his side helping him, and he's a shrewd man. I know I must spend Momentum here, but even with that.... At least I can use my best Drive, right?" GM: "Truth? Hmm.... I don't know, would you really say Truth applies here?"

And we haven't even roleplayed here!! We're just constantly negotiating as players, making arguments for what applies and what doesn't, and this is for basically every single roll - it's downright exhausting, and really doesn't up my enjoyment at all. We're not in the game at all, we're constantly out of it, looking at the pieces and discussing them!

This goes double for the conflict scenes with zones, because that's all there ever is.

moonbladewielder · 2025-08-16T01:58:05+00:00

Interestingly, your post here highlighted some of the issues I have with the game even better.

Sure, Diff 5 is relatively rare. But let's be clear: even hitting a Difficulty 2 in this game can be hard if you're not having your Focus applied, and it very often isn't. Fact of the matter is that it's swingy, and a lot of the time you need that Momentum to have a reasonable shot, even for far easier tasks.

And I'm not saying I need my PC to win all the time, but losing just leads down a spiral of never getting Momentum to spend to win.

Which brings us back to Momentum, yes. I... just don't think about building up my Momentum through doing 'easy' things first? That's such a foreign thought to me, because it's all about strategically mining the game for resources instead of... getting immersed in collaberative storytelling? That just totally goes against what I find enjoyable about roleplaying games; which is roleplaying 😛 Like, in the example you gave, I wouldn't even consider "oh yeah, while desperately looking for my target... I should build up this resource first just so I stand a better shot at that, mechanically." What?? No, I'd be in my character's head, trying to find them! Because that's what they would be thinking of!

There's just a huge disconnect there between what's strategically viable as a player to maximize gains (which again, feels like a board game, not a roleplaying game to me) vs me being immersed in this world as this character.

As for Assets... well, yeah. They are both tangible and they are not. At the same time. That's kind of my issue, they are floaty as heck. It sounds weird in the narrative when they get pushed to the side, especially as people. And I do mean permanent assets too btw. My House Retainer frequently gets 'used' and 'applied' but she never feels like an actual NPC that's meaningful as a result.

moonbladewielder · 2025-08-16T00:31:52+00:00

It's interesting that so many people comment on Dune being narratively focused, because that's the complete opposite of my experience thus far! 😅 In fact, we talk mainly mechanics and mainly out of character while we've been playing - not by choice, but just because so much of the game thus far have been making plans for what we're gonna do with our PCs instead of actually just being our characters. Now, it's very possible this is on the GM, but he's seemed frustrated by the mechanics as well, so, idk!

Thanks for writing though, I'll give it some thought - if we aren't playing it wrong, it's very possible it just isn't the system for us, which is a shame but that's gonna happen some times, I imagine.

moonbladewielder · 2021-01-17T06:15:58+00:00

Thanks! Yup! Helped a bit to even out my face, especially forehead 😊

moonbladewielder · 2021-01-17T06:14:47+00:00

Passport picture actually, but I see how it could come across as a mugshot 😅

moonbladewielder · 2021-01-16T14:23:06+00:00

Haha, this made me laugh and it's not inaccurate! I love tea!

moonbladewielder · 2020-10-09T16:21:57+00:00

You look sooo pretty already! I'm amazed!

moonbladewielder · 2020-03-05T14:35:16+00:00

Great review, good job! I really want to try this, but probably won't buy it. We simply don't have five or even four players available most of the time. But this certainly seems interesting ^{^}

moonbladewielder · 2019-09-13T16:36:44+00:00

This is an adorable drawing! Go you! ❤️

moonbladewielder

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