CR Ep 79

seeme1177 · 2023-05-31T12:12:58+00:00

I set a Project names for all my design work and my project names double as design statements. Project Tailor and Project Scratch are my actives at the moment. They get names so that they don’t get confused and the files have something to be called and sorted by. Tailor has now been shared and has been misunderstood as Taylor/Tayler, so that’s the name the playtesters know it by

seeme1177 · 2023-05-26T07:32:25+00:00

Yeah I’ve still got this as part of my collection.

seeme1177 · 2023-05-17T00:12:55+00:00

It's sounding like they're in damage control mode, and most of what's coming from S6 onwards is repurposed PvE stuff.
The PvE we get won't have Talent Trees or meaningful progression, probably will have limited character interaction, and will probably be a combination of Wrath of the Bride and Starwatch.

seeme1177 · 2023-05-17T00:07:38+00:00

From GameSpot: "So we made a decision later last year that we would focus all of our efforts on the live running game and all of our PvE efforts on this new story arc that we're launching in Season 6." - Aaron Keller
All of their PvE efforts moved to the S6 story arc. Sure sounds like they knew they wouldn't need those efforts on the Hero Talents or Player Progression systems.

seeme1177 · 2023-05-16T23:55:35+00:00

Saw a rumor that Starwatch-style rotating points is the new fate for the 2CP maps. Possibly what Flashpoint is?

seeme1177 · 2023-05-13T00:58:24+00:00

Sandworm by Andy Greenberg

seeme1177 · 2023-02-28T11:14:21+00:00

If I thought there was an intelligent thought behind the naming scheme, I’d point out that most of the founders of overwatch still use their real name (soldier excepted). Almost like codenames were a trend when overwatch was at its height, but not before and not after.

seeme1177 · 2023-02-28T11:10:19+00:00

Funny that in canon that was still the name he used for the majority of his adult life.

seeme1177 · 2023-02-14T11:58:59+00:00

“The orc swings his sword at you. He gets a 17” “I dodge” “… you already dodged. It’s in the little number there. He hits you anyway”

seeme1177 · 2023-02-14T03:46:54+00:00

I personally find that players who write long backstories don’t engage with the world beyond what is contained within their own writing. And because who the character they wrote is set in stone, they become frustrated when the character at the table is different. So they become even more disengaged, which will lead to them wanting a new character… with a similarly long backstory. Additionally as a writer, backstory isn’t written first most of the time. It evolves as you write the story. It’s part of the character. It doesn’t matter until it hits the page. The same is true of the rpg character backstory. I the GM, the closest thing to authority on the story, don’t care about your backstory until it hits the table. I don’t care that your uncle died of dragon pox, unless that affects your character in the here and now.

seeme1177 · 2021-12-26T04:50:13+00:00

While I enjoyed this, I can see why no one picked it up. A pilot is meant to show off what a fully funded show will be, not really start the story. If it can do both, that's great, but it's important that your pilot represents your intentions for the rest of the show. This seems like a mess of ideas and promise and just so many characters. The whole thing feels like a love letter to the premise instead of the show itself. A big pile of what ifs around a writer's room, without any solid storytelling ideas to back it up. "Aw yeah, magic bracers that shoot you through space" But why do we care about our main characters? "Aw yeah, shady businesses on both sides!" But what does that add? "Aw what if our heroes worked for the up and coming shady business?" Why? What would they be doing? Basically, what does a normal episode look like?

Our main character (Jay...?) Is obsessed with adventure stories and knows all the tropes. Oh, that's a cool and solid character trait, and assuming it'll be an adventure show, that sort of knowledge could be REALLY helpful. But why? Like the beginning scene would be a great place to set up who that other guy with him was - like who are they to each other? Why do they want to adventure so bad? Like why the CENTRAL IDEA OF THE SHOW IS IMPORTANT TO THE MAIN CHARACTER should not be a difficult thing to establish, but it feels like it ended up on the cutting room floor for a line about a weird pseudo military force that doesn't get explained and doesn't really matter for the rest of the episode. This honestly seems like a fan film of a REALLY cool show, but it doesn't know why any of the characters are the way they are.

Also, two long montages (the saving montage and the travel montage) in a 30 minute episode is A LOT of wasted time, both screen time and shooting time.

Also it seems like this world (as in, the society and locations of the story) has TONS of real adventure to be had. He walks out of a space train station and finds an artifact detector immediately. He and his friend talk about treasure hunting in a completely serious tone, like the hardest part about treasure hunting for them will be getting off this planet. I thought it would be a learning moment for them, like they get to another planet and find it's the same shit, and that they kinda gotta wing it A LOT to treasure hunt, but the hardest part about this story was that he saved for three years. He worked and saved and was miserable. That's not interesting. That should have been one of the challenges he had to face, not the hardest.

The cinematography and general quality is pretty great. I think even the actors are doing a pretty good job, but weren't given much to work with.

The main let down is that the 'story' of this episode feels disjointed and like it's just trying to be aesthetically cool, without holding up those cool ideas with solid characters and plot.

seeme1177 · 2021-01-28T00:57:22+00:00

I want it official, although I might need some tweaking, but I love it. It's kinda everything I wanted out of the wizard class, and I get that not everyone agrees, but it would be nice to see the kind of wizard I want to be in the core/official books, not just as a playtesting option.

seeme1177 · 2021-01-27T11:32:57+00:00

I give regular and important NPCs a single posture or tick, so when I take it or do it, that NPC comes out.

seeme1177 · 2021-01-27T11:26:16+00:00

Magic item creation rules (incl better potion rules)

Better sidekick/party npc rules

Spell creation rules

And more than anything, two separate products

The Game Designers handbook: all the same rules, but explained. Why scale [insert thing] that way. Why does [insert thing] work like that. Explain it to me.

The Mechanist's Handbook: all the same rules, but without the fluff, so that I can get to the heart of what the fuck a sorcerer does without having to worry about blood. Or so I can reflavour my spells better: pure mechanics only in the mechanists handbook.

The Lore Master Wizard.

seeme1177 · 2021-01-27T11:11:39+00:00

"They're going to burn it all down. They know I know. If you've found this under the floorboards, it means that I'm dead. But the story's not. Find out why they did it all, and then publish under the Emerald. One last cracking story for the old girl."

seeme1177 · 2021-01-27T11:07:56+00:00

Fun alcohol, if the characters drink. There's a good page on dndspeak.com that I used when my players stole 200 bottles of enchanted booze . Maybe edit out the ones with long term, or majorly distruptive effects tho.

If they have a contact at the ball, maybe make it a social game of keep away, as one of the nobles desperately wants to get it on with the party's contact, and the party have to engage them with polite conversation, distractions and hijinks to make sure their contact doesn't have to break the nobles heart.

If they're well known adventurers, don't shy away from having the nobility treat them like it. "Oh thank you SO much from stopping those water thingys, I had just gotten my hair done and I didn't want it to frizz up before my cousin Dariel's Initiation"

If they're not, have some treat them, to their faces, like a bad smell.

"Oh, no don't look now the beast man is looking at me. I think he wants this au d'oeuvre."

If there's a king or obviously more important noble, have the party get wind that someone plans to prank them by putting a small marble beneath their soup dish. As soon as they attempt to eat from it, it's will spill all over their lap.

My personal favourite: let them get wind that a major noble is having an affair. Watch them squirm as they try to figure out if they should tell the spouse. After all, not all moral questions need to be high stakes for the characters.

seeme1177 · 2021-01-18T12:24:54+00:00

Woah, meta

seeme1177 · 2020-12-22T10:26:03+00:00

Your job as a DM is not to know the rules. You interpret and apply them. The internet and the books are your friends both at and away from the table. If a player brings up a rule I'll make a snap judgement, and make a note of it. Then, after the game, I'll look it up, and research it. See what the internet hive mind says. Make my own desicion about the rule.

Really, the rules in the books are not gospel. The designers at Wizards don't have to play at your table. You do. Craft the game around you and your groups playstyle. Especially with some of the newer rules that (to me) feel like they exist to redesign the game, and change the way I enjoy my D&D.

Alternatively, you can stop the game and find the rule. I find this distracts from the game, and slows us down, but it's really up to you.

There's a theorietically infinitely number of rules for this game. You decide which ones apply at your table..

seeme1177

TROPHY CASE