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If the GM for the next quest has their campaign and map up, the group can move forward as soon as the table mentor says so. The map was the last lesson I needed to present before students could start running. I have some other discussion topics and some lessons to add about chronicles and reporting, but there's no reason to wait for that stuff.
I completed my map. I had a small bit of feedback on the instructions.
Replace:
3. You will see a white rectangle surrounded by a grey square with the words ‘Click to Add Title’ on it. Click on the upper border of this rectangle, when you cursor has changed to arrows in all four directions. Then hit your delete key to remove that box entirely.
4. Repeat this procedure for the second box that has the text ‘Click to Add Subtitle.’
with:
3. Right-click in a blank area and select Apply Layout->blank
Step 13, copy the avatar image, doesn't work on Chrome now that there is a custom avatar link. The only workaround I found was to use the Windows snip tool to grab that image. I don't know the equivalent tool on Mac or Linux.
Step 13, copy the avatar image, doesn't work on Chrome now that there is a custom avatar link. The only workaround I found was to use the Windows snip tool to grab that image. I don't know the equivalent tool on Mac or Linux.
If you grab the image from the "Character" tab it still works.
Right! Good point.
I think I've got mine set up correctly, and added to the campaign header:
I like to use accents, as it helps me distinguish characters from one another both via PbP and FtF. I also use them for my characters and have had a few instances, mainly with the same character, in which I believe my accent made it rather difficult for the GM and players to know what my PC was saying.
The other obvious problem I have found with accents, which is unique to PbP, is the dreaded "autocorrect" function on my phone.
I personally like using accents in live-games and have tried using them in PbP too. Obviously, it is a lot harder to get the exact effect down in a text-only format, but if you go over-the-top, you might get some of it across.
There are 2 problems that I see with the use of accents, though. Firstly, it can be hard to decipher what is being communicated. Secondly, even with the best intentions, sometimes these accents could come off as insulting. That is the last thing that I want to do at a table, either real or virtual.
In person, I try to use an accent or character voice for all the NPCs. Even if some of them share the same voice (e.g. I use one voice for all the bandits in an adventure, then one or two for the hostages they were keeping, etc).
In PbP, I sometimes use it. I think it helps, but it's pretty minor. The main reason I don't always use them is that it's just more convenient. If the character in question is a one-off NPC, who's only going to say a few lines, I'm more likely to use a voice since I don't have to keep remember to use it and avoid auto-correct for a long time. I do a lot of posting from my phone during the day, so auto-correct also plays a role.
In order to infuse life into the game, the characters need to be "real" in my head.
Part of them being real requires them to have a voice of their own. Without that voice, it feels like I am just reading words off of a page.
I want the story to have life. Any of the players could simply download the modules on their own and read them. That isn't what we are here for.
Conversely, any GM can simply play through a module in their head. When I am a player, I want to increase the GMs enjoyment with the use of real characters.
I agree with GM MacShack. Its more convenient not to. In table top games I know I have mixed up accents too. And that can add some confusion.
As a player in a PBP I had adopted a Creo accent. I thought I had it down and was enjoying it. The GM asked me to drop it as it was too hard for him to understand what I was saying.
If I had a accent translator that I could drop some text in to translate it into an accent I might use it...
I'm not a huge fan of them, though I don't begrudge minor accents. I've been in games where it's a distraction, not a feature. The now defunct "dwarf to text" website was great for that Goldie Locks spot.
It's likely collateral damage, not intended, but often rather exaggerated accents can turn cliche and therefore backfire. It can also be a distraction - in the 5 minutes I have to post, 4 of them were writing in accent, and one was making the content. It's not that way for everyone, certainly.
If I had a accent translator that I could drop some text in to translate it into an accent I might use it...
I would be all over that as well. Unlike the others, I don't try to play with accents because they always sound awful to me, no matter what I try.
Not a fan of accents in PbP for a couple reasons. They almost always come across cliched, as a few people have mentioned. I tend to end up playing guessing games like "is that an Irish accent? Or Asian? Or what?" so that ends up distracting me. I'm slightly concerned that some people might take offense because they think that the accents are caricatures of their ethnicity.
Also, I'm concerned that non-native speakers of American English might not have any clue what the accent is and it is probably a lot harder for them to read.
That being said, I do like to try and distinguish the speaking patterns for my characters. This is probably what others are referring to as "voice". Some characters have catch phrases. For example: "Well, so now I guess..." or "Yeah, that makes sense but..." I tailor the word choice based on character. My dwarf warpriest who doesn't understand social norms tends to use a simpler vocabulary while my smart elf wizard uses longer words. For one of my characters, I have him repeat words:
"Yeah, let's go to the market, the market."
The character doesn't know he's doing it. Finally, in terms of voice, I have one character to has Profession(sailor) so I try to add nautical type phrases and references in the things he says. E.g., "This place smells worse than a two year old bilge."
With respect to automatic accent software, am I the only one here old enough to remember jive, valspeak, and the swedish_chef programs? They were old unix programs that did text-substitution translation (as a joke). They're probably around someone online.
Plenty old for all that...
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I appreciate any effort a GM or player makes to bring the NPCs and PCs to life, including an accent, if they're of a mind to give it a try. An accent's not yet been a major problem in the games I've experienced.
In our narrative, we have the opportunity to engage all of our senses, not just hearing, and I'd encourage any effort to do so.
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I use accents, voices, and catchphrases at the table, both as a player and as a GM. For PbP, I have generally not attempted to spell out accents, but have adjusted dialogue style to convey the way I hear the character’s voice in my head. I am currently playing a half-orc oracle of the streets in Brunoreturns’s Shattered Star PbP campaign, however, and have been writing his dialogue and internal monologues with the accent spelled out (something between the real Brooklyn of my youth and the exaggerated accent of Damon Runyon’s streetwise New York characters). Autocorrect is killing me, although I am also concerned that my iPad is going to start suggesting “dere,” “dem,” and “dose” as alternate spellings for “there,” “them,” and “those” when I’m working on a document for my day job, but I think it gives the character a little more flavor. Bruno could probably give a more independent opinion on whether it is more annoying than amusing.
Tusk, sir, you are my paragon of mortal vocality. Annoying, never. Caricatures, perhaps, but I fail to see how that is a bad thing.
RPG is supposed to be more B movie than Emmy winning dialogue.
What annoys me is when people don't even make the attempt and just throw rolls out without any dialogue whatsoever.
I suppose that is an advantage that like about PbP: I actually have the time to think about what I want to say, instead of the spur of the moment. Then my characters can actually be as witty as they're supposed to be. I get so tongue tied, FbF.
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What do you guys think is the right balance of how much the GM should 'take control of characters' to keep things moving? Obviously, a little bit is sometimes required, and also can feel really bad to the players if it's overdone.
Some examples:
-botting players who have not posted in a while
-rolling perceptions checks for everyone in a block when they enter a new room
-rolling initiative for everyone
-rolling saves for your players
-rolling AoOs for players
What do you guys think?
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Botting, when necessary, is important. The 1/24hr post rule is useful especially if the rest of the group is moving along, that lull can hurt the rest of the group.
Rolling Initiative for the group allows combat to flow quickly from the start which I personally like. I've been using a document like this to keep track of important details and to create roll blocks for Init and Perc.
If the save would impact their turn they should either know what the effect is, so they can deal with it after they roll, or have it rolled for them so they have the information and can take their turn.
Ultimately, you want the player to take their affirmative actions but not let the medium hold up a turn waiting on a response that can be provided ahead of time with spoilers or a completed roll.
There are so many variables, that simple answers aren't going to cover it. Sticking to the given examples:
-botting players who have not posted in a while
-rolling perceptions checks for everyone in a block when they enter a new room
-rolling initiative for everyone
-rolling saves for your players
-rolling AoOs for players
I roll initiative and saves, along with passive perception checks. I find that this speeds things up, and it doesn’t feel like take taking away player agency in my experience as a player.
With saves, I want to clarify that I roll them when I’m already posting. For example, if the PCs trigger a trap with a save, or get bitten by a poisonous monster, I’ll roll the save to speed things up.
Botting I have no experience in botting but agree that sometimes its needed and I would hope botting instructions will be provided for at least those cases when the player knows they will be out for a while. I think I'd be less likely to bot a player for being late to post but would PM him for sure, offering to bot. BUT if a player has agreed to post once a day and fails to do so often I think he/she and I would be having a serious chat about the game.
Perception I would have not wanted to roll perception checks for the group but am in a game now where the GM does this and it works better than I thought it would. So re-thinking that.
Initiative I think I will always roll initiative for the group. There is no reason, in my mind at least, to wait 2 days to establish initiative.
Saves Rolling saves is a tough one. I do not want to do this, but would be more willing for less severe saves than true save or suck situations. I'd be more willing to roll that save versus 1 point of strength damage or vs fatigue than versus death or dominate for instance. Of note here I play in one game where the GM insists that if you are asked to roll a save then you MUST do so at the start of your post so it is the first D20 roll in your post. Failing to do this in his game means you fail the save. This prevents gaming the roll with sudden urges to do a perception check or whatever. I sorta like this rule.
AOOs No, I would not roll attacks for a player, including AOOS.
Back to the prior question because I only just returned yesterday: IRL I do *lots* of catchphrases and very minimal accents. I don't think there's a hard principal there, just my own lack of comfort doing it in a tasteful way. Also, catchphrases as a way to add character flavor translates over to PbP immediately.
Botting: I haven't met a policy I've disliked in my PFS games and I think the key is communication. Not only on the part of GMs stating policy and players heeding, but players advertising vacations (just had one :) ), and GMs making use of that info. I'm in a game where I said "dates are X, Y, Z, please bot, please preview instructions on character sheet before I go". I returned to find that the character was essentially ignored for that period of time. Not the end of the world, but not great either.
Pre-rolling (which was perhaps closer to the specific spirit of the question): yes to initiatives, *maybe* to perception, and no-or-only-away-botting to most of the others.
The circumstances when I will bot or roll depends. I think it all comes down to agreement and trust.
I try, with some success, to make it clear what the players are agreeing to when they sign up for one of my games. I try to make clear the post-rate expectations and the botting policy. If I am advertising it as a "fast game" with a 24-hour botting policy and an expected post-rate of "1-3 posts per weekday", then I feel obligated to bot PCs after the agreed time limit has passed, not only to keep things moving but also out respect to the other players who signed up with the expectation of a "fast game".
That being said, there are times when I will make an exception that rule - for instance just over the weekend, a PC asked to be botted, which I did for the first 24 hour period. However, I refused to do so for the second because, at that point, one PC was dying and I knew (although the PCs did not) that one of the villains was preparing to cast deathknell and that another was preparing to animate the PC as a zombie if successful. With such high costs as stake, I was not going to bot the player. (It all worked out in the end).
Rolling Initiative for the party seems like a no brainer to me, although I have called for individual PCs to roll their own initiatives on a few occasions where 1) I wanted them each to choose where to place their own tokens on the map and 2) where the average post-rate was usually greater than once per day.
As for the others, Perception, saves, AoOs, it depends on the circumstances. If I think it will keep things moving in a game where players have agreed to keep things moving, then I will do it. If I think it there is time to allow a PC to do it then while still keeping up momentum, then I prefer that. So, far, I have not heard any complaints (not that that is necessarily the best indicator of good judgment, but via PbP, there seem to few others). If your players have trust in how you are doing it, they don't seem to mind the occasional loss of agency (and may even thank you for it!)
Along the lines of my prior post about trust, I think it helps to be transparent. I generally don't fear giving my players some "meta-knowledge", particularly if it helps them feel that I am treating them fairly and honestly. I sometimes provide such information under spoilers, allowing the PCs (in theory) to go back and check what I have done. I know that players sometimes peek under them (and to be honest, which is essential for building trust, I do the same thing sometimes too), but I trust them to keep player info separate from PC knowledge.
So, the trust becomes mutual.
I agree with most.
Regarding saves, there are too many character/item abilities that affect saving throws. I'd probably mess things up.
There are some similar effects for Initiative, but they can generally be handled with CO.
Botting players should be avoided whenever possible, but not at the expense of the game. Most of the time I would prefer to simply have those characters "delay" their actions and then pick up when they finally return.
If a player knows they will be absent, they should notify and provide some preorders if possible.
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These are good questions to ask/answer before play begins.
I wouldn't want to join a table, where the GM insists on rolling all saves/Perception checks/AoOs. I'd politely bow out, if I discovered later that's the GM's approach.
If, on the other hand, it's done sparingly and judiciously, for example, in the case of a player who proves unable/unwilling to meet his/her commitment to post each day (or however frequently stipulated), then it would enable the table to continue to play, avoiding party/GM frustration and irritation.
Honestly, I sometimes wish players could bot on behalf of the GM. I've had a few experiences where the GM seemed to be just going through the motions or would disappear and eventually chime in later with excuses; fine if you're just fishing for a Chronicle, but it sucks if you're looking for some fun gaming.
As the GM, I feel we already have a lot of our plate. Arguably, a lot more than the players. In addition, we have a lot more information at our disposable than the players do.
Because of these things, I personally feel as though we should limit the opportunities for these situations to be involved. For example, when advertising a game, we should make it clear what the posting expectations are and how long we feel that the game with last. This should allow the players to make informed decisions.
Obviously, things come up and not everything can be well planned. To this end, I would ask all my players to include botting instructions on their sheets. And I would have a hard line or no instructions, no botting. Responsibility for a characters lies on the player, after all.
To go along with that, I feel as though anytime we make decisions for a player, be it declaring an AoO, making a save, or even rolling perception, we are making a dangerous call. What if the player wants the character to be absolutely aloof and choose not to make perception checks when entering a room? Or a character that has a special ability that only triggers on getting a certain amount of damage or from failing a save?
While we can't play a PbP game like we would an IRL game, we should strive to make the experiences as similar as possible. The credit that a player gets for playing one or the other is the same. They should put the same amount of effort and work into it. If you go to a Con to play a PFS or SFS, you expect to be there the entire game after all.
So to answer the question, more succinctly, I feel as though we should limit the number of times we make decisions for a player.
I like it when the GM rolls initiative. In fact, I don't think I've played a single PbP game where the GM didn't roll initiative.
For Perception, Saves, Knowledge, and Spellcraft I like the idea of putting the results in a spoiler and telling the players the DC. Then let the player roll and look at the spoiler if they pass the DC. This technique relies heavily on the honor system but at the same time it allows for player interaction and keeping the game moving forward. It seems like the best compromise I've seen so far.
As a GM I don't think I would want to roll AoO for players. That seems too much like a player's-choice type decision. Most players only get one AoO per round and if I use it for them when they didn't want to, I'm causing problems.
Botting is something I have very little experience with. As a player I'm pretty responsive -- I've had 1 post botted in over 40 games that I've played PbP -- so I seldom provide botting instructions and I just don't think about it. However, in nearly every game I've played the GM has had to bot some other player at one point or another so I think it's inevitable. Making clear guidelines about when and how the GM will bot is probably essential. Once I do my first game as a PbP GM I'll have to think about this some more. I'll probably create a list of options that I give players and ask them to choose one.
As a counter idea to rolling saves for players, what do people think about players'pre-rolling' saves and such? Basically, ask at the beginning of the scenario for ,say, 10d20 and apply them in order during the run whenever a save or some other roll is needed.
I don't like it as it could change their behavior, knowing that they have rolled well or poorly.
As a counter idea to rolling saves for players, what do people think about players'pre-rolling' saves and such? Basically, ask at the beginning of the scenario for ,say, 10d20 and apply them in order during the run whenever a save or some other roll is needed.
When I do this in a live game, I apply them in a random order - rolling a d10 to determine which roll to use (or whatever is appropriate for the number of pre-rolls I have left).
Hello all. FYI that I'm going to be away on a trip starting Tuesday, July 31 through Thursday, August 2. I'll likely be posting for part of Tuesday and Thursday and only really be fully out Wednesday.
Feel free to bot as necessary.
Thanks!
I will be at a convention from Tuesday 7/31 through next Monday 8/6.
During that time I'll be very much unable to post with any sort of consistency or accuracy, as I'll only have my tablet with me and not nearly enough time to do it right.
PLEASE bot!
Thanks! If you’re in the Sagamore and see a middle-aged couple with their two teenage kids at a tier 5-6 table during either of the PFS specials, or a tier 1-2 table at the Saturday night SFS special, there’s a good chance that will be my family and me - come say hi!
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Thanks! If you’re in the Sagamore and see a middle-aged couple with their two teenage kids at a tier 5-6 table during either of the PFS specials, or a tier 1-2 table at the Saturday night SFS special, there’s a good chance that will be my family and me - come say hi!
I don't suppose you're really an MD and had your daughter with you for a Gen Con a few years back.... she had a ....druid with a dinosaur?
Ha! Nope, I'm a JD in real life - "MD" in this alias is for Master of Dungeons, which is how I sign the logbook my wife maintains for our home game. Last year was our first Gen Con, and for the specials my daughter played (and will play again this year) a Caydenite halfling barbarian with a dog named Barleybrew.
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Hey, I do know an MD who had her daughter there a few years back, and pretty sure she had a druid with a dinosaur. She (the MD) is a pediatrician and has blond hair. Their family is always at Dragon Con every year and one year she helped my daughter when she was sick at that con.
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Hey, I do know an MD who had her daughter there a few years back, and pretty sure she had a druid with a dinosaur. She (the MD) is a pediatrician and has blond hair. Their family is always at Dragon Con every year and one year she helped my daughter when she was sick at that con.
In this case the MD was male. Story time:
When you GM, F2F or PbP (or VTT) you never know what you're going to get for a table. A good GM is flexible. I can run a violent and hard R table in the vein of Robert Howard meets Quentin Tarrantino. I can run Star Sugar Heartlove with props. You never know.
Well, I was waiting for my table at Gen Con when a quartet of heavily tattooed men sat at my table. They knew the rules cold and worked together. They had come to WIN. I was ready (good GMs can make it feel like the mission is TPK without becoming adversarial.) Their language was rough, and I was fine with it.
The last two to sit were a father (the doctor) and his.... 9-ish year old daughter who had a cute toy dinosaur, and was very quiet.
You never know...
So I was thinking through the scenario (in F2F at conventions you practically have to memorize the thing if you want to avoid the cardinal sin of buffering.) This wasn't going to be easy. Their language changed instantly, but they were still hoping for a knockdown-drag-out table.
Early on some bad dice rolls put them in combat at a disadvantage. A couple of the guys went first, and did what they could.
Then it was her turn. All eyes turned to this 9 year old.
She was quiet and was thinking. Dad wasn't helping her out. The guys started to hem and haw about giving suggestions. Just as one was about to offer, she spoke. It was loud, clear, and very fast.
Her, "As a swift action I'm going to push my dinosaur to do a trick he doesn't know. As a standard action I'm going to cast greater magic fang since I heard him ask about DR. For my move I'll put myself here so that I'm not clogging the charge lane."
The table was silent. When the four men cheered she took a victory lap of high fives.
It was one of the best tables ever.
THAT'S why I was curious. I've been looking for that dad for years to tell him that I still tell the tale.
That’s wonderful!