EbolaZa1re's page

Greetings,

The short: players are about to be caught breaking and entering into a noble's house, how much trouble should I put them in?
I'm thinking hefty fine and pay to repair damages.

The long:
I'm running rise of the runelords for a group of mostly true neutral to chaotic good players. One ranger, one warrior, one magus, one druid.
We're on chapter 2, the skinsaw murders.
I may have laid it on too thick and they now believe that Titus Scarnetti is behind the murders at the mill.

The ranger takes 20 to lock pick and takes 20 to sneak. There's no rush, so I allow it. I rolled perception for Titus every 15 minutes he's in the house.

Well, the Magus likes to be in the spotlight and decides to try to sneak into the house, I tell him to roll move silently, bam, natural 1.
I explain he trips over the step into the front, the door slams open, Titus is aroused from his slumber and comes out to investigate.

The druid decides to summon creature and places a boar inside the front door.
At this point, I'm adlibbing the layout of the house, deciding there's a foyer that overlooks the entry way. The magus decides he's going to play it off like he was tracking the boar and it broke into Titus' house.

It's a new group of players, I'm very generous when it comes to meta-gaming and out of character talk. They convince the magus that's a bad idea. He decides to run, but not before Titus is able to catch a glimpse of someone.
The ranger, meanwhile, is remaining hidden in the deepest darkest corner her can find, basically afraid to move.

Advancing to the point, the boar dashes outside into the forest before the summon expires, Titus goes outside in a robe, sword, and shield searching for the intruder.
The magus reveals himself, tries to sell the 'I'm hunting at 3am and a boar managed to lock pick and trash your entryway'.

Titus escorts the magus to the sheriff. Sheriff is en route to the house to further investigate to try to decide who's story is less outlandish.
It was late, I ended the game there.

In an effort to add believability to the story, after Titus left, the ranger kicks in the front door to simulate the boar smashing his way in. What he failed to realize is that Mrs. Titus locked herself in the upstairs bedroom. Surely she heard the crash after Titus left for the sheriff.

I figure, as long as the players don't say anything stupid; the sheriff still needs these adventurers to help keep the town safe, he'll fine them a decent amount of gold, give them a good scolding, and make them pay for a new door.

Your thoughts?

Greetings,

Not real sure where this post is appropriate, my apologies.

I had an idea and was curious on general consensus.
Has there ever been a character back story collection? Where players can post the history of various characters they've made through the ages.

Posters could request evaluation on any number of criteria; feasibility, creativity, grammar, etc., or post just to encourage inspiration to other players looking to make a new character.

I've got a couple that I'm fairly fond of but given my minimal writing experience, I'm skeptical on quality.

Comments, criticisms, critiques?

Cheers,

. . . Set the expectations clearly and anything goes. Spring situations on players out of the blue that are known to be controversial, and that's just being a richard.

I'm not 100% familiar with 'Richard', but I completely agree with everything you've said.

. . . They were pissed, and asked that I not attend again.

Yea... as I think about it, the group I used to LARP with are rather infamous for being player killers. Perhaps my group was more the exception rather than the norm.

If anyone is curious, I asked the group as discretely as I could if they'd be interested in allowing PvP. I actually copied and pasted what Adamantine suggested earlier.

Hubby and Wifey asked, "Why? Is Andy bored?"
I literally lol'd.
"He can do what he wants, but it will likely turn out ugly."

With that, I decided it's reason enough to not allow it. I'll simply say it's outside the scope of my preparation for this campaign, plus I never warned players that such actions were on the table.

If Andy doesn't like it, not a big deal, D&D isn't made for everyone.

. . . Way to go man. High five.

I'm not sure who this is directed at, but it is not necessary.

I understand the emotional investment in characters. I've been there, I've done that.

For this very reason, I never, ever, refer to the player when something is happening to their character. I will never say, "You find xyz". It's always, "Your character finds xyz", "Your character sees abc".
All in an effort to remind the player, although subtly, that they are not their character.

I highly recommend you never get involved in any Minds Eye Society game.
'Etiquette' involves informing a player that their character is going to be killed in the near future.
But somehow, at the end of the night, everyone manages to meet at a mutual location and imbibe unnecessary amounts of alcohol and reminisce on the evenings events.

Anyone who takes it personally, simply doesn't stick around for long. They do manage to make a few friends in the process and rarely do they fall out of touch.

I fathom that this is simply a figure of what culture we've been molded from.
I'll try to analogize: Someone born in a third world country is likely to recognize poverty as a common occurrence and oppression as something they're born into, her oppressors being born into their position as well.
However, in the US of A, we are all aware of the choices that every single person has and the freedoms everyone deserves.

Somewhat similar is our predicament. Where character on character confrontation is the norm for one, while the other expects rational and pleasant human behavior.

Finally, let me emphasize that I completely understand where you're coming from, Adamantine. Which is why I posted this discussion in the first place. With such a large majority showing disapproval of the scenario all together has led me to decide that I ought to bring the possibility to the players before springing such scandals on the characters.

If any have the smallest inkling of doubt about allowing such antics, then the act will be out of the question. I will deem the group as not ready for such activity.

Although my experience is on and off over the past 10 years, I still have enough sense to recognize the pros of full-disclosure.

Cheers,

I hope everything goes well for you, man.

Greatly appreciated!

I also want to extend my unending gratitude to everyone who has participated in this discussion. I feel it has been eye opening. I've learned a lot and am almost surprised how strongly so many feel about pvp on a ttrpg.

Thanks again!

One last request, does anyone have an example 'intro to my house rules' type of document I can mooch?
Or a 'list of things all DMs need to know' type thing?

No sense reinventing the wheel if someone already has the thing mastered.

Cheers!

Oy, this topic is definitely extensive.

Someone asked if Andy is the 'experienced' player; he is not.
The two experienced players are hubby and wife. They have invested a lot of time in developing their characters, drawing portraits, detailed back stories, etc.

Personally, I thoroughly enjoy character development. It's the minor details that make a game fun, because of this, I tend to bias toward them because it's what thrills me.

However, most of my experience is from LARP via Vampire: The Masquerade/Requiem.
In these games, PCs are never your allies. If you're not being back-stabbed, it's because you're currently back-stabbing someone else.

The fact that Andy simply wants to spend his money on booze and boobs I think is the biggest red flag. I see no benefit to spending fake gold on fake boobs, because there is nothing statistically beneficial to it. This leads me to believe he is simply skimming off the top to create tension.

Again, I say skimming off the top. I told him he would need appraise to take anything more than coin, he showed no interest.

When he approached me, I explained how it could be done. After our conversation, I began contemplating how other players may feel about it. I definitely sensed a 'purely co-op' environment and would rather uphold that vibe than let a single player do what he wants at the expense of that cozy feeling. Which is what brought me to find the perspective of others.

As I said earlier, I don't know this group too terribly well. I am mostly concerned with Hubby and Wife. Concerned that they'll feel their vested time is wasted because this seemingly friendly game took a turn for the worse.

I will admit that I made the mistake of not addressing this sort of thing prior to the campaign starting, namely because I didn't think it would come up.
Now that we've started, I'm incredibly hesitant to allow it because it was never discussed initially.

However, lesson learned, I'm creating a 'house rules introduction thing' and at least bringing this up.

In my perfect world, what beej67 is suggesting is exactly how I would execute.
But again, I did not mention this type of behavior being possible, therefore I'm not sure players are prepared for it mentally.

Just before writing this response, I sent an email to each person individually (except Andy, 'cos I know how he stands), asking how they would feel about allowing some adverse player on player actions.

Waiting on responses.

Finally, my stance on character relations. I think if the option is available, it needs to be mentioned before game. Then as long as everyone is at least made aware and the GM executes fairly; then anything goes.
I would then try to craft history with the other players, so I can get a feel for where we stand.

Regardless, I just love playing the damn game and can meld into any type of environment... anyone looking for a player? =D

Edit: Present tense, not past.

This is magnificent! Thank you all very much for your response! I never expected such a strong reply.

It seems some clarification is necessary, unfortunately I don't have the time right now.

Couple quick points though.
I don't know this group all too terribly well. I've probably known the group for only a few months and again, we've only played 3 sessions.
They are very easy going so far, they're rolling with my mistakes, are actively engaged in reading the CRB and verifying rules.

It's less, 'hey you screwed up' and more 'hey let's get this right', which I'm thrilled about.

Andy's character is a level 2 fighter, so he didn't make his character with the intent of being sneaky. I *think* he wants his cake and to eat it too.
He's also a world of warcraft player, so I think he's more used to that realm of loot spreading, he also said he really enjoyed the PvP aspect of WoW... so I think he's looking for that same aspect. Whereas everyone else looks at is as a social experience.

I'll respond in much more detail later.

Thanks again, everyone!

Greetings.

First time reader, long time poster. Seeking some advice for a Pathfinder Adventure Path I'm running for a mish-mash of players.

There are 5 players, 3 of which are brand new, one played AD&D in college some years ago and the last hasn't played until recently, but reads all the books for fun.

I am much more of a player than a DM or ST, but I've played more consistently than anyone in my group. However, my experience is mainly from the World of Darkness games, Vampire the Masquerade/Requiem, Werewolf, etc.

We just finished an fairly hardcore 10 hour session of Rise of the Runelords on Saturday.
This is our third gaming session, the first two sessions were one-shot adventures I made up. Typical save the princess type thing.

RotRL went well and everyone, for the most part, enjoyed the game.
One player, however, expressed some boredom throughout the game, he tussled with town guards, spent his 'downtime' in the brothel, gambled and was rude to NPCs. Not a big deal to me since they're NPCs. I didn't pick up on any incredible frustration from the other PCs, so I didn't do much to stop it.

The whole group works at the same place, so I was approached by our bored player, we will call him Andy. Andy said he's upset that gold is split 5 ways and wants a higher cut of the loot.
Right now, I simply read off what players find and they have a little auction and give out who needs vs. who wants then evenly divide the coin.
Andy wants to be able to earn more than everyone else, when I asked why, he simply said so he can buy more women and gamble. Lame reasoning to me, but, it's all about the players having fun IMO.

I informed him of this option (which I made up on the fly, this might not even be the best system).
Right before I announce giving out loot, he could wink and smile at me or whatever to indicate he wants to try to pocket more coin. I would then announce for everyone to roll perception checks. Which everyone does, except for Andy, he rolls a sleight of hand. If his SoH is higher than everyone's Perception, then no one notices anything. I read the amount of gold a few coins fewer, and Andy gets his higher cut later when I tell him.

However, if someone rolls higher than him, they're going to notice something fishy.
My fear is the social aspect of the game, am I potentially ruining a joyful/blissful experience for our little clique, or am I incorporating a realism of the game? You can't trust everyone.

TL;DR
One player wants to start stealing treasure from the group, should I let him and potentially ruin the trusting/happy nature of the group? Or should I say no and force him to continue being bored with his hack/slash fighter?

Any words of wisdom are greatly appreciated.