Air Your Grievances


Gamer Life General Discussion

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Kileanna wrote:
It's not wasted time. Probably not healthy either but as a person who has suffered from insomnia I'd rather do something productive than rolling in the bed for hours, unable to sleep.

My dogs must have sensed how tired I was. They let me sleep until 11 this morning before we went for our first walk of the day. I'm really glad they did.


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Today I had to cancel my S&S session because I was called to work in the afternoon.
I had to cancel my WotW session last Sunday and I really wanted to meet my pirates today!
I love my job, but as this was unexpected I felt a bit pissed.
Well, spending my afternoon with faeces, urine and other human tissues is not so bad... is it?


Sounds delightful. ;)

Liberty's Edge

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Agreed and seconded. i usually do something as well when I can't sleep. Otherwise I end up feeling more tired than just tossing and turning.

Scarab Sages

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DungeonmasterCal wrote:
Sounds delightful. ;)

DungeonmasterCal - your avatar is so appropriate to responding to Kileanna's post.

My grievance today:

I really want my character to reach 6th level and her first Mythic tier. That level increase cannot arrive soon enough. But the character in question is currently only 4th level. =(


Be patient. She'll get there! Which advancement speed are you using?


Only one of my GMs is able to handle long stories and characters actually leveling up. That's why actually only Dalindra and I GM in our gaming group.

Silver Crusade

Since returning to RPGs a few years ago, I've mostly been GMing published adventures and sticking to script. Mostly in PFS, but also running Rise of the Runelords from the anniversary edition hardback.

Now, we're up to the 6th book of Runelords, and there's a very large section that's much more "free form" than I'm used to. I'm having a harder time dealing with it than I expected.

The funny part is that back in high school, I was very much a "make it up as you go", free form style GM. But I was also young and stupid. Now that I understand the game better, and it's a more detailed game than the old 1st edition my group played back then, I find it's harder to come up with reasonable improv.


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I'm the opposite. I've run maybe 5 modules my whole 30+ years of gaming. I have a devil of a time following the script, and improv and being able to instantly respond to when the players go off track is a skill I've developed pretty well. But, there's no wrong way to play the game, so if modules are what you like to run, then run 'em! :)


I tend to improvise a lot, and most of my best NPCs were actually improvised. My players interacted with a random peasant and I made up some quick story to make him look real. A lot of characters that my players love were created like that.
Other times I forget about how things were supposed to be and I change something in a story or a personality, because I'd rather react quickly than start looking to a book for minutes for something irrelevant. And the players end liking my version anyway, so I go on with it.
I had a lot of good stories that came from a GM mistake.
I think I wouldn't be able to GM without improvising. Improvisation is both a talent and a curse for me, because random ideas come out at the last moment and I just have to make them happen.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

I used to have to stick to the script. As time wears on, I have become more comfortable at improvising encounters and adventure changes. But it is always nice to have a script to work from.

Silver Crusade

I improvise a few things here and there, especially in the Runelords campaign. But we're up to a large section of "the PCs should spend time exploring the whole city", with minimal guidance as to how to get them to the specific encounters that absolutely MUST happen eventually.

Last session was stressful for me, since I wasn't sure how to handle that. And the players didn't help, as they insisted on remaining hidden the whole time (using invisibility), and completely hiding from the random encounters I threw their way. I couldn't even have the NPCs that are supposed to seek them out (both friends and foes) actually find them.

They ended by becoming attracted to a particularly large building, which has some specific stuff in it, but isn't entirely scripted. So I have to improvise rooms and encounter locations, and exactly what they'll encounter in each area. And I don't have a lot of time to plan and draw maps like I'd prefer.


I can see where that would be very frustrating. Invisibility has spoiled many a plot point for my games, but I'm usually able to free form things until I get what I want..er..get them back on track.


When my players avoid something because of teleporting, invisibility, etc. I just go on with the campaign as if nothing happened. If it was something important, they will go back to it. If I feel it was something cool, I look for a way so they want to go there anyway, and if it was just a random filler thing, let them bypass it. If they need more XP, I'll add some aditional stuff later.


Yeah, if I have something planned for them to do/encounter/bash it's going to happen, no matter what they do. It may not be in the location or at the instant I want it to, but it's going to happen and they won't know that I moved it to the new location. They just think that's where it was going to take place.


That's the magic of GMing. You have set that something has to happen but you get them to perceive it as something that came naturally or even because of something they did.
Or when you decide that they have to do something but you trick them into thinking it's all their own plan xD

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Plus it's trivially easy to have the planned encounter react to the party's actions. Sometimes gaining an advantage, sometimes losing resources in the act.


Fromper wrote:

I improvise a few things here and there, especially in the Runelords campaign. But we're up to a large section of "the PCs should spend time exploring the whole city", with minimal guidance as to how to get them to the specific encounters that absolutely MUST happen eventually.

Last session was stressful for me, since I wasn't sure how to handle that. And the players didn't help, as they insisted on remaining hidden the whole time (using invisibility), and completely hiding from the random encounters I threw their way. I couldn't even have the NPCs that are supposed to seek them out (both friends and foes) actually find them.

They ended by becoming attracted to a particularly large building, which has some specific stuff in it, but isn't entirely scripted. So I have to improvise rooms and encounter locations, and exactly what they'll encounter in each area. And I don't have a lot of time to plan and draw maps like I'd prefer.

I ran that module a few weeks ago and had a very similar experience. The PCs had absolutely no interest in exploring the city, spent the whole time paranoid, invisible, evading everything....

I eventually just made it easy to get to the mountain climbing and then on to glory <insert equine-hydro aphorism here>.

That adventure was three weeks quicker than the second fastest of the six installments.


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My players tend to go too quick in places that I'd expect them to take their time, like solving a full story arch in a single session. And when I start worrying about everything going too fast, they spend months doing things that I'd expect them to do in a few sessions.
I tend to adapt to their rythm and not trying to force things.
But now I have to fasten things in WotW. They are stuck at the Horn of Abbadon and for a lot of reasons it's being very slow (a lot of cancelled sessions, a new player, they love to make their plans carefully, I have encouraged a slow pace...) and they risk starting to lose interest.
So I'm giving it throttle next session!


Kileanna wrote:

That's the magic of GMing. You have set that something has to happen but you get them to perceive it as something that came naturally or even because of something they did.

Or when you decide that they have to do something but you trick them into thinking it's all their own plan xD

Yes. I've been doing it for decades.. lol

Silver Crusade

The problem in my case isn't that they avoided the specific encounters. It's that they avoided EVERYTHING. They literally spent an entire session scouting, and avoided EVERY encounter I offered them. They didn't even want to risk getting close enough invisibly to eavesdrop.

It basically turned into "How are you going to beat the bad guy if you aren't going to capture/kill/interrogate/loot his minions to find out more about how to get to him? Or even turn visible long enough for the potentially friendly NPCs to find you and offer you information and aid?"

I think it's just a case of them being slow and cautious. It was only a day in game time, and I expect them to pick up the pace and start actually doing stuff next time. Which I think just got postponed, so it's not happening tonight.

Scarab Sages

DungeonmasterCal wrote:
Be patient. She'll get there! Which advancement speed are you using?

Whatever the Adventure Path dictates and the GM decides. I think we're supposed to reach our first mythic tier by the end of the first book, or the beginning of the second. I'm just not sure how far away from that we are.

My trivial complaint today:.
Why are wondrous items given such specific physical descriptions? For example, a headband of vast intellect is described as an "intricate gold headband decorated with several small blue and deep purple gemstones."

What if the maker liked red or green gems instead? What if the person doing the crafting preferred silver or platinum to gold? Shouldn't a headband crafted by an elf look different from one crafted by a human or a dwarf? Shouldn't they differ by the crafter's cultural background as well?

If every headband of vast intellect looks exactly the same, could characters identify the item just by its appearance without having to use Spellcraft checks or Identify spells? If the item has to use the specific materials in the description, why don't the construction requirements state that you must use gold = X value and blue and purple gemstones = X value?

I don't like being told that a craftable item always looks a certain way, without accommodating the personality, race, culture, and skill of the crafter; or the personality of the GM running the game or preferences of the player purchasing the item. I know that's not what it's meant to do, but that's how it comes across.


That's a small thing to fix. Just because the books says what they look like doesn't mean you have to stick to it. I gave out a Headband of Vast Intellect to a player and described it as a simple silver circlet. As long as it gives the benefits it's designed for there's no reason to stick with the static descriptions in the books.


In my games whe personalize the looks of everything. If a headband of intellect is created by a noble it might be a gold band while if it was created by a wild elf it might be made of braided leather.

My grievance: I had my weekly session of WotW cancelled again. Third consecutive week, each time for a different reason.
At least we could have RoW Epilogue at last but it makes me kind of sad, I have enjoyed this story more than any other I've ever play. Wonderful GM, excelent group, it was a complete story in every way (personal, complicated, interesting) and I'll miss playing it. Kileanna the chabgeling witch has earned a good rest, but she'll be missed!


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Grievance:

So, I rarely get to be a player, but every few months we play this strange mashup of Vampire: The Masquerade and Call of Cthulhu d20 where I get to sit on the other side of the screen for a few hours.

Well, that game is about to wrap up, so we decided to go back about 20 years and drag out our old DC Heroes stuff to replace it. My rules are a crude photocopy set that is falling apart, so I go a-huntin' on eBay. Sure enough, I find a near mint boxed set for about $15. I put in a bid. Check it the next day, someone's bid another $.50. I respond in kind. I go up to as high as $25 then decide to stop because I'm getting outbid and it didn't cost that much new, as I recall. Then I noticed IMMEDIATELY after I made my bid and it was entered it showed I was outbid by a dollar. So I bid again, just to be sure. Yep, I'm bidding against a bot. And to double check my theory (and I'd have paid this just for the nostalgia) I bid $30. Sure enough, as soon as I bid it says I'm outbid by a dollar.

I. Hate. Bots.

Grand Lodge

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DungeonmasterCal wrote:
I. Hate. Bots.

Ebay bids for you incrementally when you place a bid amount that is higher than the current bidding price.

For example, if the current bid on an item is $2.00, and you place a $50.00 bid, Ebay sets your bid at only $2.00 (or a little bit more in some cases), as that is the current bid; when someone else places a bid after you, the price goes up a small fraction, and then ebay, acting as your proxy, places another bid for you (in the appropriate amount), and does this for you right up to the maximum bid you set (which for this example, was $50.00). If the other person bidding against you set his maximum bid at $25.00, there would be an automatic back and forth as ebay, acting as proxy for the both of you, placed small bids, until you, having bid a maximum of $50.00, come up as the highest bidder.

So in your situation, you were out-bid in both auctions by someone that was willing to pay more money for the item than you were by entering a higher maximum bid. Ebay was simply acting as their proxy.

The process may be automatic, but the maximum bids are set by real people.


Digitalelf wrote:
DungeonmasterCal wrote:
I. Hate. Bots.

Ebay bids for you incrementally when you place a bid amount that is higher than the current bidding price.

For example, if the current bid on an item is $2.00, and you place a $50.00 bid, Ebay sets your bid at only $2.00 (or a little bit more in some cases), as that is the current bid; when someone else places a bid after you, the price goes up a small fraction, and then ebay, acting as your proxy, places another bid for you (in the appropriate amount), and does this for you right up to the maximum bid you set (which for this example, was $50.00). If the other person bidding against you set his maximum bid at $25.00, there would be an automatic back and forth as ebay, acting as proxy for the both of you, placed small bids, until you, having bid a maximum of $50.00, come up as the highest bidder.

So in your situation, you were out-bid in both auctions by someone that was willing to pay more money for the item than you were by entering a higher maximum bid. Ebay was simply acting as their proxy.

The process may be automatic, but the maximum bids are set by real people.

If Ebay is everybody's proxy, that sort of process sounds like it could be made smarter by just having Ebay automatically make the lower bids go all-in (because Ebay knows it's the lower bid), then have the highest bid beat that by an increment. So you bid up to $50.00 on a $2.00 item, so Ebay would set your bid to $2.01. Once someone else offers a max of $25.00, it should automatically bid all $25.00 because it knows you have $50.00, then it should respond by putting up $25.01 for you. Saves a lot of steps that way. That's probably how it's actually done, given the way DungeonmasterCal described the situation. In that case, it's a human bidding against a bot, and while Ebay has perfect information on what everyone is initially willing to bid, the human keeps changing that information, so the bot has to keep changing.

I don't think it's the existence of bots that's really your problem - it's that bots aren't so useless that you're better without them, but are just useful enough that they can get in your way, and aren't perfect enough to read your mind and settle the bidding war before it starts.


Dire Elf wrote:
DungeonmasterCal wrote:
Be patient. She'll get there! Which advancement speed are you using?

Whatever the Adventure Path dictates and the GM decides. I think we're supposed to reach our first mythic tier by the end of the first book, or the beginning of the second. I'm just not sure how far away from that we are.

My trivial complaint today:.
Why are wondrous items given such specific physical descriptions? For example, a headband of vast intellect is described as an "intricate gold headband decorated with several small blue and deep purple gemstones."

What if the maker liked red or green gems instead? What if the person doing the crafting preferred silver or platinum to gold? Shouldn't a headband crafted by an elf look different from one crafted by a human or a dwarf? Shouldn't they differ by the crafter's cultural background as well?

If every headband of vast intellect looks exactly the same, could characters identify the item just by its appearance without having to use Spellcraft checks or Identify spells? If the item has to use the specific materials in the description, why don't the construction requirements state that you must use gold = X value and blue and purple gemstones = X value?

I don't like being told that a craftable item always looks a certain way, without accommodating the personality, race, culture, and skill of the crafter; or the personality of the GM running the game or preferences of the player purchasing the item. I know that's not what it's meant to do, but that's how it comes across.

You get similar things with feats, since some feats are a purely mechanical effect (Power Attack, Weapon Focus, Skill Focus), while others provide a very specific description of the bonus (Pummeling Style, Hamatula Strike, Fey Foundling). And spells as well - you get things like necessarily green Disintegrate rays (tip for ID-ing rays - if it's green, you're gone, if it's black, you lose levels, if it's fiery, you get burned, if it's frosty, you don't have to worry, if it's something else, it's custom).


My Self wrote:
Digitalelf wrote:
DungeonmasterCal wrote:
I. Hate. Bots.

Ebay bids for you incrementally when you place a bid amount that is higher than the current bidding price.

For example, if the current bid on an item is $2.00, and you place a $50.00 bid, Ebay sets your bid at only $2.00 (or a little bit more in some cases), as that is the current bid; when someone else places a bid after you, the price goes up a small fraction, and then ebay, acting as your proxy, places another bid for you (in the appropriate amount), and does this for you right up to the maximum bid you set (which for this example, was $50.00). If the other person bidding against you set his maximum bid at $25.00, there would be an automatic back and forth as ebay, acting as proxy for the both of you, placed small bids, until you, having bid a maximum of $50.00, come up as the highest bidder.

So in your situation, you were out-bid in both auctions by someone that was willing to pay more money for the item than you were by entering a higher maximum bid. Ebay was simply acting as their proxy.

The process may be automatic, but the maximum bids are set by real people.

If Ebay is everybody's proxy, that sort of process sounds like it could be made smarter by just having Ebay automatically make the lower bids go all-in (because Ebay knows it's the lower bid), then have the highest bid beat that by an increment. So you bid up to $50.00 on a $2.00 item, so Ebay would set your bid to $2.01. Once someone else offers a max of $25.00, it should automatically bid all $25.00 because it knows you have $50.00, then it should respond by putting up $25.01 for you. Saves a lot of steps that way. That's probably how it's actually done, given the way DungeonmasterCal described the situation. In that case, it's a human bidding against a bot, and while Ebay has perfect information on what everyone is initially willing to bid, the human keeps changing that information, so the bot has to keep changing.

I don't think it's the existence...

So, eBay is the bot, then. Gotcha.


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Saw one of the topics pop up on the boards today that really grinds my gears, but because I try to be a nice guy and not offend folks, I'll keep this grievance to myself.

grumble..then play a different game..grumble grumble...


DungeonmasterCal wrote:

Saw one of the topics pop up on the boards today that really grinds my gears, but because I try to be a nice guy and not offend folks, I'll keep this grievance to myself.

grumble..then play a different game..grumble grumble...

Now I am curious about what topic you are referring to.


Kileanna wrote:
DungeonmasterCal wrote:

Saw one of the topics pop up on the boards today that really grinds my gears, but because I try to be a nice guy and not offend folks, I'll keep this grievance to myself.

grumble..then play a different game..grumble grumble...

Now I am curious about what topic you are referring to.

Same here lol


My Self wrote:
If Ebay is everybody's proxy, that sort of process sounds like it could be made smarter by just having Ebay automatically make the lower bids go all-in (because Ebay knows it's the lower bid), then have the highest bid beat that by an increment. So you bid up to $50.00 on a $2.00 item, so Ebay would set your bid to $2.01. Once someone else offers a max of $25.00, it should automatically bid all $25.00 because it knows you have $50.00, then it should respond by putting up $25.01 for you. Saves a lot of steps that way.

That is how eBay bidding works. So, you can save yourself the hassle by simply placing the highest price you're willing to pay up front, and you'll either win at your price or lower, or you'll be outbid and won't have to overpay.

What often helps in this case is adding a few extra pennies at the end of the price. Sure, you and someone else might value something at $50, but if they say $50.00, and you say $50.03, you win.

The other way to game the system, of course, is to wait until the very last minute, bid the maximum price you're willing to pay then, and hope that the present highest bidder hasn't set a higher maximum price. People being what they are, they'll tend to come back to something, willing to bid just one dollar more. Get in at the last minute, and there's not enough time to execute "just one dollar more."


Today's grievance:

What happened to you, radio, my old friend, my only company when working?

You used to be cool, but today you're making my brain melt and flow out from my ears...

The only station that plays rock plays the same songs over and over again. And the other stations just make me want to throw the radio from a window.

I'm sure there are a lot of new cool songs, but what I'm getting today in all dials just sucks!

Sovereign Court

@Kileanna if you can stream online, give twin cities station 89.3 the current a try. They have members all over the globe :)


I am at work with my only companion being an old trusty (at least I used to trust it until now) radio.


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Kileanna wrote:

Today's grievance:

What happened to you, radio, my old friend, my only company when working?

You used to be cool, but today you're making my brain melt and flow out from my ears...

The only station that plays rock plays the same songs over and over again. And the other stations just make me want to throw the radio from a window.

I'm sure there are a lot of new cool songs, but what I'm getting today in all dials just sucks!

I used to be a radio dj (announcer, if you're not sure of the term). I worked in radio for 10 years. Today I can't even listen to commercial radio, especially pop or "classic rock" radio without hearing the same songs over and over. It drives me crazy. If what I'm hearing on the radio is in my LP collection, I really don't care to hear it.

When I listen to music I listen to to streaming stations, both playing hard rock or heavy metal. One is hairbandheaven.com and the other is Rock Radio 1 on TuneIn.com.


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But what about Breakfast at Tiffany's?


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Kileanna, here is the direct link to Rock Radio 1

rockradio1.com


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Wrong John Silver wrote:
But what about Breakfast at Tiffany's?

As I recall, we both kind of liked it...


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oh you guys are deep blue something terrible :)


I do what I can!


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DungeonmasterCal wrote:
Kileanna wrote:

Today's grievance:

What happened to you, radio, my old friend, my only company when working?

You used to be cool, but today you're making my brain melt and flow out from my ears...

The only station that plays rock plays the same songs over and over again. And the other stations just make me want to throw the radio from a window.

I'm sure there are a lot of new cool songs, but what I'm getting today in all dials just sucks!

I used to be a radio dj (announcer, if you're not sure of the term). I worked in radio for 10 years. Today I can't even listen to commercial radio, especially pop or "classic rock" radio without hearing the same songs over and over. It drives me crazy. If what I'm hearing on the radio is in my LP collection, I really don't care to hear it.

When I listen to music I listen to to streaming stations, both playing hard rock or heavy metal. One is hairbandheaven.com and the other is Rock Radio 1 on TuneIn.com.

I usually have my own playlists and my own CDs, but at work I'm stuck with an FM radio. And I mostly enjoy international music.

Who knows why do the Spanish stations play mostly Spanish music?

Sovereign Court

This reminds me of a work story I have. I was working overnights as a manager for a stocking crew at a major retailer. In the stockroom they had wired up a few speakers to a receiver and CD player. Eventually, the CD ended and I wandered over to put something else on. There was a CD book with about 40-80 CDs in it. All of them were burned copies that only had the name of American cities on them, Chicago, San Fran, Little Rock, etc.

I asked the guy working back there what was up with his collection. He said it was, "all live concerts from the "boss" (Bruce Springsteen)" I'm always amazed by super fans :)


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Does Spain have laws regulating a mminimum of Spanish music on the airwaves?
France has such laws, there's a percentage of songs that must be French language, I'm sure lovers of Rock would gladly do away with that, as French rock mostly sucks.


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Klorox wrote:

Does Spain have laws regulating a mminimum of Spanish music on the airwaves?

France has such laws, there's a percentage of songs that must be French language, I'm sure lovers of Rock would gladly do away with that, as French rock mostly sucks.

I don't think those laws exist in Spain, but as most Spaniards cannot speak or understand foreign languages I think most people don't enjoy music that is not sung in Spanish, so they mostly listen Spanish and Latin American songs.

And to me, most music in Spanish lacks variety. There are some good artists, but it's mostly not my style.


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You know you have a pretty good life when your grievance is that people are too nice to you. Nonetheless, my drivethrurpg account is cluttered up with hundreds of PDFs I didn't want (and my paizo account has probably thousands). Publishers struggle to understand that I'd prefer a book without the associated PDF than with it (I'd pay more if I could get a print only option instead of a print/PDF bundle).

I wish it were easier to opt out of electronic content or to delete PDFs from one's own account. (Or that I was more techno-savvy).


I'm just going to leave this here


Wow. We had similar flooding in my part of Arkansas (USA) back in 1982 and again in 1984. I remember people kayaking in the flooded first floor of my dormitory.

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