I recommend using tinder. Just put in keywords like "roleplaying" or "group activity" and you will be surprised by all the hits you get.
I have an opinion on this topic!
I sat next to a visibly terrified child at Jurassic World a few weeks ago. Jurassic World is a pretty hard PG-13 and at one point prehistoric birds are pecking and pulling apart a screaming woman mid air and then continuing the carnage underwater. I just could not get into the movie because this kid sitting next to me should NOT be here. I could not get that out of my mind and it made me very uncomfortable. Now obviously mom and dad really wanted to see Jurassic World. Yeah I get it, I wanted to see it too. but really?? How does a movie relate to gaming? Well at a movie you have no control over the narrative. One the movie starts you are along for the ride. A game however can be adjusted. If a Child sits at the game table the GM can (and should) responsibly alter the game so that the child is protected. So all of a sudden after years of R rated games you get watered down PG or G rated games? I'm not ok with that. I'm an adult, I'm not interested in a PG game and even less interested having a child participate with my/our R rated game. So I'm 100% for dads being active in their kids lives. And to the OP I'm happy you can spend this time gaming with your child and cool that some of your gamers are sticking around. Honestly the gamers who are sticking around are better men than I because I would walk away and find another game group.
Man, I hear you on that! I had an account on Obsidian Portal and would spend hours posting information, pics, histories, back story information on main NPC's, i.e. tons of work, and show up for gaming with people looking at me blankly when I'd reference something I had put up. The first few times, okay - but when it became apparent people were not availing themselves of it, I was both hurt and annoyed. I finally cancelled my account and stopped doing all the recording and recounting what transpired for them.My group had an Obsidian Portal account, too. No one used it but me. I quit bothering with it years ago. We should start a support group. I'm in the same boat.
I use tinder. I just say that I'm into "roleplay" and I get hundreds of hits each day. Most of people who respond want to meet up at bathrooms and reststops which I find odd.
I would imagine even the most experienced GM might have trouble managing a game with insta-level 20 characters. When you slowly level PC's over months/years you have a better grasp of what then can and can't handle. This GM had no way to know this and I'm frankly amazing it went as well as it did. But the end result is that you did not enjoy the game and I can't blame you. Talk honestly to your friends and GM. Make sure to point out what the GM did well as well. A GM can't get better without feedback.
Was your showing of Curious George 3: Back to the jungle ruined by children?
A player who lacks charisma should not be penalized when playing a character with charisma. This is one of many ways to handle it. Before we start an in character interaction I might have the player make an charisma check and/or a heraldry or perhaps a local history check so that he addresses the NPC by his proper title. Assuming success I would relay to the other players a quick description of what the players character is doing. You see Ramius take a knee and places his right hand over his left brestpocket and greets the magistrate as Thotar, son of Yolis, slayer of Genthor the horrible. Thotor has a surprised look upon his face. "I did not expect an outsider to know the ways of the Lower Denborian". Thotar smiles and says "Arise traveler that I might know your name" Now at this point I hand the mic to the player. What was established what the characters skill and charisma put them in good favor. I give a great deal of leeway to the player as long as he makes a reasonable attempt to be in character. What I never do is speak for the character. I might relay what he is doing as it relates to a skill or attribute check but I never give voice to a PC. It never hurts to remind your GM that your players charisma is High. You would be amazed how often GM's forget about those things.
As GM I can proudly say I've never killed a PC. I root for them and hope they are successful in all that they do. However, my dice do not like player characters at all and have murdered several despite many attempts to switch up my rolling technique. Overhand, underhand, on a book, off a book, shaken well... it matters not. They tumble across the table heartlessly drinking deep the tears of lesser gamers.
Almost all your GMPC rules were broken in this classic comic strip.
Cheating of any kind is not allowed and this starts with the GM.What would constitute GM cheating, pray tell? This is beating a dead horse but GM "fudging dice" is cheating for us. We (all the players and the DM) prefer the honest brutality of the dice. Please note, This constitutes cheating at table. What other groups do is their own business. Excessive railroading is a form of cheating. Harder to prove but most players know it when it happens. Stacking the deck unfairly against the players. Example: Requiring players make excessive successful rolls just to succeed. "Yeah, I'm going to need a int check, followed by a dex check and an acrobatics roll" The problem with this is you are stacking the odds unfairly against them when all that is needed to fail is one bad roll. Stacking the deck really just the GM trying to discourage the player from whatever they are trying to do. Anyway that's a few Jaelithe
At our table the heartless fates tumble across the table in open view and feast on the tears of lesser men. Cheating of any kind is not allowed and this starts with the GM. The closest I've ever seen to player cheating at our table (in recent years) are players who roll attacks or skill checks before being promoted or before I as GM have given approval. These are most often honest mistakes of eagerness on the players part. In such cases I just ask that they re-roll in the open for all to see. We are all grown ups and this arrangement has never been an issue.
Just curious: Has anyone changed his or her opinion as a result of reading this thread? Or are we just barking at each other to no effect?Fairly sure it's the second. I have totally changed my opinion on GMPC's after readig this thread. I still will not use GMPC's due of my limited ability to be both a good player and a good GM. It's just not a strength I have as GM. So I choose to focus on my better attributes and avoid it. However as some have pointed out they can do both and do it well. Jaelithe (among many) made me realize that just because I've never had a good GMPC experience does not mean they are not out there. And on another rant...What's the point of engaging a conversation if you mind is not open to be enlightened?
Characters often have stats, abilities, and knowledge that are far beyond that of the players that control them. If the character in question is a seasoned fighter I wold assume that they have some sort of grasp or tactics even if the player playing him/her has none. So allowing other players to chime in can fill in the difference between the characters skill and the players lack thereof.
Graph paper, pencil, pen, and imagination I've tried other methods but I always go back to the classics.
The analogy was as perfect as something that was really really good. I better stop with the bad jokes before Liz bans me for thread derailment. Sorry I get bored and ruin threads, and I know that grinds some people gears.
A good analogy is like a boxer with a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
mmmmm Cheetos
The Beastmaster. Was is Chris Rock who said that HBO was an acronym for Hey Beastmasters On? TBS was lovingly called "The Beastmaster Station". I think I watched it wayyyyy to many times. Beastmaster is awesome.
Old Clash of the Titans. Those skeletons were awesome. I swear that movie changed my DNA. It was my gateway drug and has led me to a lifelong addiction of Fantasy. Is it underrated? In my mind it's one of the greatest fantasy movies ever made.
Wrath of the Titans was way better than expected. Particularly since the Clash of the Titans remake was so bad. The made for TV movie The Odyssey staring Armand Assante is vastly underrated and underseen. Also one of my favorites as a kid was Dragonslayer. Peter MacNicol was not a particularly good heroic lead but the star of the movie was that awesome dragon Vermithrax.
but you do have to recognize that they have a right to express them—civilly, of course. :D Liz I've seen several post disappear from this thread that expressed opinions with civility so obviously this is a right we do not have, it's a right you grant us. Paizo staff seems hypersensitive about Transgenderism/gay conversations. I understand that need for moderation as these can be hot button topics but I've seen posts disappear that defiantly do not breach the user agreement. Please slow down and read the posts. Each post that is deleted is a persons expression/opinion. Remember there is a person behind each avatar. Deleting a post is just as good as saying "your opinion is not wanted".
Thanks for sharing PH, I will defiantly check it out. I'm envious of you writers. -MD
Really did not feel up to drawing this morning. I looked down at the small 5x5 piece of paper and it stared back at me with indignation. I came very close to giving up but then gave resistance the middle finger and drew a Totoro. I had more fun once ink hit paper than I have had all week.
Fixed, sorry about that. I don't think many creative types enjoy working in vacuum. Creative work inspires creative work, so thank you. The reality is I have to set aside daily drawing time at my new gig. I give myself a 30 minute warm up before I st in on design work so I'm attempting to do a daily portrait as part of that process. (you gotta limber up your hands and mind.) So if in the future you see more depictions of your characters do not be too surprised. If I run out of ideas I might take some suggestions but tomorrow I've got my heart set on drawing Feyd Harkonnen.
I'm not sure how to make it look like she is a hologram with just pens. I'm hopeless in photoshop... She's a great character, I have a lot more to read but if you kill her off I'll never forgive you. :P
The year was 2009 and I was constantly amused by the crazy media revolving around our new president. I came up with a comic strip called Politics and Gaming do not Mix. The idea was high school D&D club with Obama as a mysterious kid who transfers from another school. None of the students know what school he was transferred from but he has a mysterious K on his letterman's jacket and no one has seen his transcripts. Now young Barry is stepping in as GM after the previous GM left the game in shambles. At the table sits Sarah Palin, Glen Beck and Keith Olbermann. I drew out pages and pages of material and wrote scripts for them but never matched the two an lost most of it during a move. It some point I'd like to start up a new Politics and gaming strip but I can't imagine a cast of characters as strong and what we had in 2009. Sarah, Keith and Glenn were a treasure trove of comedic material and while they are not gone they are not as prevalent as they were.
Thanks for sharing Jem, my progress on reading has been hampered by my new job I just started last Monday. I look forward to reading more and hopefully I'll be inspired to do some more illustrations should time allow. Bad movies are a love of mine. My favorite include: Gymkata
And pretty much any movie with a cyborg in it...
Once you get past being able to calculate thaco after a few beers 1st and 2nd edition are pretty easy to run. A lot less page flipping. HOWEVER...(and it's a bit however). Neither 1st or 2nd edition had a movement system when they launched. Adding figurines and movement added a level complexity that 1st and 2nd never had to address. But having just gone back to 2nd edition I find it a lot easier to run. A LOT less rule hunting and page flipping. Rounds move a lot faster. And I don't care what ya all say, initiative and weapon speed are the cat's meow. I do love the strategic movement of Pathfinder/3.5 though. It's a bit of a chess match and even the worst game I can take joy in the strategy.
I've never killed a PC before. My dice however are cold blooded murderers who refuse to cower behind a GM screen.
If you know characters not in attendance would stop this happening, then delay the event. Have a random encounter or something until they are back. But the cat's already out of the bag compounded by the fact that you allowed an evil PC in your game. NPC's are not snowflakes and if the player has good reason for his actions that say goodbye to your LG Zombie. In the future try and save any campaign hooks for when everyone is present.
Devils advocate and/or acting willfully obtuse.
While playing a TMNT and Other Strangeness our group of heroes robbed a bank to fund our fight against crime. It made sense to us then. In my defense I was 16 and stupid.
Our group tried Pathfinder for a few years and then went back to our 2nd edition home brew game. I don't think I could go back to 1st...at least not how we played it back in the day. When I played 1st we had no figs or movement system. We rolled 3d6 dice 6 times and then determining what class we played by what we qualified for. There was no stat-buy, 4d6 drop lowest, no re-rolls. It was brutal. Everything in my 1st edition games out to kill me. The traps, the spells, and the GM...ugh. I prefer 2nd edition since it had a bit more focus on characters and campaign building but still had some teeth to it. Fun article. In particular I love this line. It was awesome, and it was awesome because stories happen when you follow the brutal ethos of the game and Things had a price and a value. Experience felt earned. The game was arbitrary and sometimes random, but this made for more dynamic scenarios
Do you mind if I post this to the blog? Consider it yours to do with as you please so long as you keep up the good writing. :) Cheers,
I'm just started the TWWG from the first post/chapter and am slowly making my way through. It's really good. But I love film noir so I'm an easy mark. The only thing missing might be copious amounts of smoking and a solid description of the main character (at least as far as I've read). Maybe the next time Charlie Danger gets into a fight you have him step up to the mirror afterwards and describe himself by way of him observing the damage from the scuffle or something to that nature. Keep up the good work Jemstone, you have a real gift. * also I'm not on facebook, tumbler or any of that noise. So I just lurk...
There is no such thing as mental illness! At least that's what the voices in my head keep telling me...
Hi, my name is Muad'Dib and I'm a deviant.
56. You get nothing! You lose! Good day,sir!
Sorry about that. Here, I just created a deviant art page. You can check if out there.
4- That's YOUR problem, not your players' problem. If you can't handle being the GM, don't... Because I tell my players I prefer no evil characters in the heroic fantasy games I run is not an indicator that I "Can't handle GM'ing". And I wholeheartedly disagree with the second half of your point #2. 2- As the GM, it's your responsibility to manage the game in a way to maximize the fun for all the players. If the agency of certain players interferes with the overall enjoyment of the others, then it is your responsibility to talk with them and, if they cannot mitigate their behavior, mitigate it for them. This is not unique to alignment. I play with grown ups and I expect them to act accordingly. I'm not here to mitigate their behavior or babysit. Time spent babysitting is time not spent playing.
Wow, that sounds great. When I was his age I had to put my hand in an intensely painful box with a Gom Jabbar poised at my neck. Sure it proved I was human, but I'd hardly call it a bonding experience.
Long ago we had a player who was just hell bent on playing his mage like Raistlin Majere as he was a big fan of the Dragonlance series. Anyway his Raistlin clone was causing all sorts of table disruptions and it invariably lead to players attacking players. My character got involved and after a back & forth battle (and a potion I purchase as an insurance policy should he go full Raistlin) my character stool battered yet victorious. My character spared his characters life with the promise that he would leave and never been seen again. At that point the GM snatched up the character sheet and declared his character and NPC. A wise move by the GM and that details my first experience with "the token evil teammate" Since then I do not allow evil player characters in the heroic fantasy games I run. It's disruptive.
Shadowrun does such a good job of creating that melting pot of cultures that all reside in the same cramped smelly space. My favorite world building book series is Dune (obviously). But for fantasy I think Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age is consistent in it's grim depiction. It's filled with all sorts of scoundrels, toothless rogues and pirate women. As far as TV/movies Firefly is a no brainer. So much diversity between characters and cultures.
Great work Belabras! Here is mine.
I posted more on this similarly titled thread. http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2q7kd?Character-Portrait-Gallery#9
Hey, I'm just posting here so I don't get fined.
We are defiantly not playing the same game. I aspire to run and play in games that are akin to a good book or movie. Having a healthy emotional response to a hobby is not a bad thing despite what houstonderek says.
|
