sleepydm's page

Tharialas wrote:

MendedWall12 wrote:

As an interesting note: I have every player that is coming into a game of mine, whether it is newly starting, or they are adding into the group, fill out an online survey about their play-style, expectations, etc. It's a good idea, because it will let you know right away what the players are looking for, and whether or not your play-style will match with theirs. If anyone's interested I'd be happy to post a link to the surveys I use.

Yes please. I would love to gaze at the survey.

I read that as dripping with sarcasm. If it wasn't, and you seriously want to look a the survey(one survey broken into two parts), let me know.

Yep, honestly I want to see that too.

But if this isn't your first merry-go-round, then I'd direct your PCs to
this.

The highest form the game can attain is collaborative storytelling, and stories are really about characters. What better characters to focus on than the PCs? I guess it might seem a little masturbatory, but having most of the drama orbit the players sounds like a good way to go; if you want characters to invest in your world, your world should invest in the characters. The above link is a really good way to flesh them out and provide story hooks all at once.

If I was playing here, I'd probably want to continue to the abyss. A side quest like this will feel like a speedbump to the main adventure.

Still, you have here a good opportunity for the PCs to show off. Perhaps he could summon a few baddies for them to butcher; if you have an acrobatic character, he could high jump clear over his head. Just a little thing for your players to strut their stuff before proceeding business as usual.

I'm starting up an online game with two newbs and two others with slightly more experience, and I'm getting the feeling that maybe we ought to quit while we're ahead.

I laid the groundwork about 3 weeks ago, and it worries that we're still waiting on a people to finish their character sheets. I remember when my older brother introduced me, then in my teens, to 3.5 and it only took two days for him to teach me the rules and for me to figure the rest out on my own. Granted, distance is a factor in addition to the fact that the two newbs had to buy the rulebook (at the time I didn't know about the PRD), but it really seems like feet are being dragged here. It's not like they couldn't have Skype'd me if they needed a hand-holding.

When I offered my little sister (16) a chance to play, I tried to make it all contractual. "Ya gotta promise that if you play, you'll understand the rules, know what your character can do, make an effort, be self-motivated, yaddayadda." I said this many times in many variations, and there were "yes"'s all around. A few days ago I was riding her like a horse trying to get her to finish, quizzing her on various things like range increments, feats, class abilities, etc. I couldn't imagine why there was all this resistance to finishing a task, expected weeks in advance, that ought to take at most an hour, tops. It wasn't even a spellcaster.

So even with the complications of distance and newbishness, this still seems to take an inordinately long time. If the players had really wanted to play, why all the reluctance to get started? Are my expectations too much for what's a really a very complex game? I can't help but wonder if I'm missing a very obvious signal that's indicating lack of player interest, like they're just indulging a friend rather than really wanting to play the game.

I'm worried that a pack mule will end up being so much cheese. While maintaining verisimilitude, how can I realistically manage the donkey as a DM? I've seen a few bits and pieces, like you can never ever make it travel through deep mud. But when it comes to stabling, what happens to it when left outside for extended periods of time, etc., I don't have a clue. I need something comprehensive when it comes to DMing beasts of burden.

Mm, yeah I might have to curb the "I can be any class I want" mentality just a bit; I'm sure two of my players don't mind switching it up. I didn't know the cavalier sucked quite so much.

What people recommending the CLW wand aren't understanding is that these guys are 1st level. 750G isn't something they'll be able to get with the starter gold. Unless I was really merciful, but eh, I play it by the book.

And I do mean any; I think all they'll be able manage right then might be long-term care for the heal check.

I ask because I'm a fairly new GM running some fairly new players through a module, and right now the party is shaping up to be healer-less. So far we have a cavalier, wizard, and a monk. Fourth is undecided, but for the sake of argument let's say she goes something else that can't heal either. I know the board's a big believer in one 4-man group being able to do something any other 4-man group can do, if needing to modify their methods a bit. Could a party with no healing magic cut it?

Second question: if the the answer to the former paragraph is "nay", is it a good idea to have a healbot DM NPC for this kind of thing? If it is, what should he/she be like roleplay wise? Obviously they don't want another character taking any spotlight; would that make him/her some variant of effectively mute yet clingy adventurer?

At least one person has some reading comprehension.

By "realistic" I meant what the PCs would naturally be able to comprehend/perform within the window of a turn; i.e. not having a bird's-eye-view of the whole battlefield, people with INT and WIS in the negative formulating complex battle strategies, etc.

Does anyone DM more plausible combat like this? How do you go about it? Does it work, or is it too difficult for PCs to go about combat with anything short of the omniscient way they usually do? Those are the kind of answers I'm looking for.

Upon reading what may be the most educational webcomic related to D&D, I came upon this comment:

Don’t forget the twenty minutes of planning and conversation that goes into each six-second sequence of events, perfect knowledge of the battlefield, perfect knowledge of the capabilities of themselves and their opponents, the ability to tell each other what to do without the opponents hearing, etc…

Aspiring to be a good DM myself, how does one conduct combat so that it's realistic and all roleplayed out, rather than a grid and luck-based strategy game? The quote has said lots of things not to do, but I'm not really sure how to do combat so "pure".

Thanks for the tips guys, I hadn't considered doing what I do for character creation same as everything else: let 'em do what they will and let the consequences be what they may. I'll be sure to let them get their characters acquainted and see if they mesh well.

Three questions, bear with me. Keep in mind I'm working with only the basic Pathfinder sourcebook.

1. What does an adventuring party absolutely need? All I know for sure is that you need some form of magical healing, and probably a rogue as they're the only ones who can find traps to my knowledge. I need to know because I'm forming a group and one member in particular always loves to play monks, even though they seem doomed to fifth wheel status.

2. What do various alignments, good-aligned in particular, think about necromancy? What about society at large? Another player wishes to be a wizard specializing in it, and is interested in summoning minions. I know the energy is described as "foul" and a few spells have the [Evil] descriptor, but I'm concerned with how that could affect party cohesion, as well as how it could throw a monkey wrench into an otherwise normal adventure.

3. The same friend likes to get his kicks. He finds griefing videos funny and I suspect his prankish humor might seep into the game too.

My problem isn't about him specifically so much as it is about how to maintain a serious atmosphere while not being a stuffy DM. I don't know what it is about D&D, but every game I've been in generates enough in-jokes to last a lifetime. But I'm not in it for the comedy, I'm in it for the fabled emergent storytelling. RPGs (actual ones) have great potential in that respect, and it seems difficult to really tap into it while someone goes on about how they urinate on their vanquished foes.