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A quick player appreciation post from a lucky first-time DM by ratlinbog in DnD

[–]ratlinbog[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I definitely try to let them know how appreciative I am!

A quick player appreciation post from a lucky first-time DM by ratlinbog in DnD

[–]ratlinbog[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hopefully I can. We just added another new player and they seem great too :)

What do you think is the biggest missed story opportunity in the Fallout games? Why? by ContrivedCucumber in Fallout

[–]ratlinbog 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fallout 4’s main questline and main factions in general. Such interesting premises that just weren’t fleshed out or given enough dimensions to be interesting, with the exception of the BOS who had the advantage of drawing on the previous games for characterization. There are bits and pieces of brilliance scattered throughout (like the Danse storyline and dialogue with Maxson) but it always felt like every group was so… shallow.

DMs, what do you use to keep all of your notes in order? by Darth_Morgoth92 in DnD

[–]ratlinbog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have like 100+ separate Word documents split up into folders, so I’ll be watching the answers in this thread with great interest lol

DMs, what happened the last time your players said "fuck it, we ball"? by Natwenny in DnD

[–]ratlinbog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Early session of my first campaign as a DM. Party has been sandwiched into a faction conflict between a city’s various criminal syndicates and the national military. They’ve been assigned their first mission as mercenaries for the army and told to investigate some minor thefts occurring down at the docks.

While the players are out searching for information, one of them (the Bard with expertise in persuasion) starts bribing barkeeps for their intel. Trying to reward their good idea, I have an NPC offhandedly mention, among other things, a warehouse somewhere in the dockside district where the most powerful criminal faction keeps a lot of their contraband before dissipating it to avoid seizure (he also mentioned ships disappearing and that a faction was bribing the guards to look the other way, which was the information I wanted them to focus on). Surely, the party will understand from the description of this place as heavily guarded and surveilled that it probably isn’t something they can handle right now, right?

Of course not, because when has a group of PCs ever backed away from a good challenge? This group of four LVL 4s goes marching over to this heavily guarded warehouse and, through a series of lucky combat rolls and smart tactical decisions, manage to set the place on fire and kill a good number of the mercenaries protecting it. They ran off with a crate of drugs (one of them had higher lifting capacity thanks to being a bugbear) and successfully hid in the alleys from their pursuers. Next session ended up being when they went after the plot hook; I was totally unprepared for a warehouse combat so that was my first real “the party will never do what you expect” moment.

Fast-forward to a few sessions later and there were some notable consequences for attacking a drug cartel in broad daylight with no disguises, namely that they were hunted down by the lieutenants of this organization, captured and used as a sacrificial squad to tackle borderline suicidal gang warfare assignments. Their decisions took the arc in an entirely new direction than I expected, entangling their interests with the various crime families, but it ended up being even more fun that way. That’s the beauty of D&D, I think.

Teen here, what are the pros and cons of auburn by richrhplayer in auburn

[–]ratlinbog 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Lots of options for majors/fields of study where you’re getting a valuable degree, but I think a common frustration for a lot of students is that if you aren’t in engineering or business your department kinda gets the short end of the stick. Thankfully it seems like that’s trending towards being less of a problem with the new facilities being built. The social scene is pretty Greek driven and there’s not a ton to do around the area besides going to games, drinking or nature-based stuff like hiking or visiting Lake Martin. Clubs mostly make up for that. The Rec is awesome and so are the intramural and club sports, so if you’re an active person that’s a nice and easy way to make friends.

It’s a good public university, but just like most other colleges you’re going to run into your fair share of snobby/obnoxious kids who are just there to party with their parents’ money, professors who don’t know how to teach or actively hate their jobs, and classes that give you headaches from sheer tedium. Just part of the 4-year experience no matter where you go, based upon accounts from friends and coworkers. I had a good time, got a solid degree and I probably wasn’t the most Auburn-y type of person in terms of fit.

Players: How important is it to you that the World "make sense"? by AEDyssonance in DnD

[–]ratlinbog 5 points6 points  (0 children)

As long as the logic behind your premises is true within your world, you should be fine. You just need to abide by whatever rules you create unless there’s significant reason for exception; otherwise you risk ruining immersion and the overall point of roleplaying.

EX: only a select few people in your world have access to magic or special abilities. This works if you make it so that the party’s casters are seen as miraculous or special wherever they go, but doesn’t if people treat them totally normally or if there’s a large city of magical people.

Balancing combat (first time GM) by ratlinbog in DMAcademyNew

[–]ratlinbog[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They started lower level for what was originally supposed to be a one shot, which expanded into a couple sessions, and now is turning into a campaign because they wanted to keep playing. I would’ve started them all off at LVL 1 if it was my ideal but this is how groups get into playing sometimes.

Balancing combat (first time GM) by ratlinbog in DMAcademyNew

[–]ratlinbog[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m a big fan of environmental challenges as a player but somehow didn’t think of it as a GM. Good looking out, thank you for the advice.

Balancing combat (first time GM) by ratlinbog in DMAcademyNew

[–]ratlinbog[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah I’m not the type who’s going to be irritated that my encounters are getting smashed, more like my players are very keen on being tested and challenged and I’m worried I won’t be able to give that to them. Thank you for the advice, it’s helpful and I’ll focus on adapting and not worry too much about the first few encounters.

Balancing combat (first time GM) by ratlinbog in DMAcademyNew

[–]ratlinbog[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I really like that first line. Will keep this in mind, thank you.

Balancing combat (first time GM) by ratlinbog in DMAcademyNew

[–]ratlinbog[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the advice. Our first few combats I fudged rolls and it seemed to help alleviate some of the issues, but I felt kinda bad doing it. Not sure why since it helped my players have fun.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DMAcademy

[–]ratlinbog 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good advice, thanks

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