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I just want to find one group of people who:
A) Aren't asshats.
B) Aren't flakes.
C) Are punctual.I don't care if we play f!@&ing checkers with that group.
Of course, finding four other people who are gamers and fit in those categories...I might as well be asking to find a group of unicorns.
That's the triangle of gaming. Pick two. You must have one.
I just want to find one group of people who:
A) Aren't asshats.
B) Aren't flakes.
C) Are punctual.I don't care if we play f#~~ing checkers with that group.
Of course, finding four other people who are gamers and fit in those categories...I might as well be asking to find a group of unicorns.
I'm apparently a flake in PbPs (though I really struggle not to be), and I'm rarely punctual (regardless of my best attempts). I blame the latter on being raised in Eastern Europe... buuuuuu~uuuuuut that's also probably just an excuse.
Sorry Redbeard! :)
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Have you tried putting them on pause after one of the books, storing the characters, and then finishing later while another GM runs substitute games?
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Ugh. Maybe you guys should not run APs, and pick something shorter, like module chains or homebrew.
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Have you tried putting them on pause after one of the books, storing the characters, and then finishing later while another GM runs substitute games?Yes to disastrous effect....Once we stop, even if the GM says "just a break" it means campaign over :(
This has been my experience for the last 30 years. I've learned to just roll with it.
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Ugh. Maybe you guys should not run APs, and pick something shorter, like module chains or homebrew.
Yeah I think I am going to suggest that for everyone else from here on out. Ill run the APs because ill get them done. Ill let them do what they like. My suspicion is the current GM would do better with a homebrew sandbox despite his disagreement.
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Just get him to talk about the plot or his homebrew world a little and act like you're totally enamored with it.
Positive reinforcement and operant conditioning aren't just for teaching pets tricks. They're great for subtlety brainwashing folks over time.
Most GMs get burned out because they don't feel appreciated by their players for all their work. I know that was my primary reason. I bust my hump all week writing, building stat blocks, custom tweaks designed just for you, and such, and you can't level up one stinking character during a week of off time and have the nerve to argue with me about a ruling for thirty minutes? F*** you, I'm done.
Appreciation goes a long way to stave off burn out.
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Just get him to talk about the plot or his homebrew world a little and act like you're totally enamored with it.
Positive reinforcement and operant conditioning aren't just for teaching pets tricks. They're great for subtlety brainwashing folks over time.
Most GMs get burned out because they don't feel appreciated by their players for all their work. I know that was my primary reason. I bust my hump all week writing, building stat blocks, custom tweaks designed just for you, and such, and you can't level up one stinking character during a week of off time and have the nerve to argue with me about a ruling for thirty minutes? F*** you, I'm done.
Appreciation goes a long way to stave off burn out.
I can appreciate that. I'm currently ending a campaign early, and one of the reason is because the players have 0 engagement. In my other campaigns, the players where motivated, would give me ideas about what they wanted, what they where like. THey gave me most of my inspiration for the game. Here... seriously disappointed.
Which is also (oddly) a reason I stopped a lot of games; since they played at night (and I was always tired, I'm a day person), I was never fully engaged and was not great fun. I've found a sunday game and I am infinitely more engaged and interested.
So yeah, love your GM and your GM will love ya back. They are a player too, and showing them you want to play (both in play and without) is hugely motivating.
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I so envy your friendI really enjoy painting miniatures for my characters. I'm not a great mini painter, but it's a hobby I like. But right now our living situation doesn't give me anywhere to keep my paints handy, or a good area to paint in. Everything had to go into storage. One of my friends keeps suggesting having a painting night at his place, but he's playing in a game almost every night of the week so he never has any free time for a painting night.
I miss mini painting.
Me, too.
The Mirror image spell now looks like a melting column of ugly crayons.
If anyone has already said it, I'm saying it again for emphasis!
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Overreaction may be the answer to the last question.
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Here's a story from a game I was in recently:
The party encounters a group of monsters that were going to be an encounter, but it turns out the monsters are intelligent and one of the PCs starts talking to them, makes some good social checks, and it looks like things might resolve without a fight.
Then the paladin says "Detect evil?"
They detect as evil.
"I smite."
Combat ensues, most (every?) PC is injured. Paladin's player says "Hey, it's what my character would do. I warned you from the beginning he was an a!*!$!@ and prone to rash decisions. Besides, we had to either kill them or set them free in the countryside, and they're evil, so I'm a hero! If you want to be in bed with monsters, that's fine, but don't be mad that I don't."
Classic, right? The kind of thing you hear about and wonder if people truly encounter stuff like that or if they're exaggerating because they don't like paladins or something. Completely textbook, right?
Except it wasn't a paladin, it was a sorcerer. And it wasn't Detect Evil, it was the player recognizing the creature type. And it wasn't Smite Evil, it was an attack spell.
And everybody but me just kinda shrugged and went along with it.
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Ugh...that would've gotten under my skin.
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Can I take a moment and state how frustrating rolling your first Pathfinder Society character is?
Aha! A Tiefling rogue
*SMACK* no Tieflings!
Aha! A Fetchling Ranger!
*SMACK* No Fetchlings!
Aha! A Ratfolk Fighter!
*SMACK* No Ratfolk!
Before I get smacked again..what classes are allowed?
All of them.
And how many races?
About a third
*HEADDESK*
Can't we just errata some of these? Did Paizo really screw up generating the rules for that many races?
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I wouldn't enjoy Society play, I'm afraid.
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Can't we just errata some of these? Did Paizo really screw up generating the rules for that many races?
You sound like the guy who complains about GMs banning races. Because that's all this really is.
Also, two of the three races you have mentioned have been allowed in PFS. So organized play is more open than the aforementioned GM.
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Non-core races are opened for play on a limited rotating basis. Review the current Guide to Organized Play and it will tell you which races are open for play this season. And once you start a character the character is usually grandfathered in for later play. In addition, GM boons are given out for running games at conventions. Many of those are race boons used to reward players for stepping up and running games at those conventions.
So really, most races are available to play if you put some effort into the system for a while. Admittedly it is more effort than a lot of players want to put in, but it is one of the few ways Paizo can afford to reward GMs. Check the forums and see if anybody is willing to trade for a boon. You might get lucky.
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...of course, technically you could just show up and say you already created it a while ago, and that it was grandfathered in. I mean, nobody is forcing you to actually keep everything tracked online, official-like, if all you want to do is occasionally play in a pick-up game when you can't find a group.
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Can't we just errata some of these? Did Paizo really screw up generating the rules for that many races?You sound like the guy who complains about GMs banning races. Because that's all this really is.
Also, two of the three races you have mentioned have been allowed in PFS. So organized play is more open than the aforementioned GM.
Not to mince points, but what are the odds of a new player having GM'd a convention game in order to earn the rare races boon to earn access to the two races mentioned? I don't want to get on too huge of a tangent, but it does create a negative experience when you generate characters using the Races Guide or the SRD only to find out you need a special 'boon' or aren't allowed at all. I mean compare it to D&D's adventurer's league - there's nowhere near that level of restriction. Also, why races and not classes? Why are occultists more common than tieflings, which the primer I received with my humble bundle states is the 4-5th most common race in Cheliax?
I wouldn't mind finding out that one or two of the characters I generated was illegal, but it got silly until someone pointed me to the Additional Resources page. It didn't run me off the game, but it was a frustrating part of the game experience, which as I've talked to other people that have done/do PFS have told me was a pain point for them too.
The thread was about weird things that made us rage a little inside and the expansiveness of the race restrictions are mine. I'm certain not everyone found it terrible or that it necessarily demands fixing, but that's not what the thread is about.
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...of course, technically you could just show up and say you already created it a while ago, and that it was grandfathered in. I mean, nobody is forcing you to actually keep everything tracked online, official-like, if all you want to do is occasionally play in a pick-up game when you can't find a group.
Fair point - although I'm doing the online thing so it's always new GMs. We have a tiefling in the party come to think of it and I doubt anyone demanded a scan of the boon sheet before they played (at least I hope not). It was just the thing that's made me Nerd-Rage inside as I get into the game - at least classes are wide open. I can play an occultist once I figure out what the hell the rules are saying about the class :p
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The PFS guide is free, required, and lists the allowed races, you can't fault the society if you can't be bothered to at least browse it beforehand.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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The thread was about weird things that made us rage a little inside and the expansiveness of the race restrictions are mine. I'm certain not everyone found it terrible or that it necessarily demands fixing, but that's not what the thread is about.
In that case, here's a "weird thing that makes me rage a little inside": when people apparently would show up to a new acquaintance's home game with a character they made without ever asking the GM what's allowed in the campaign, and then blame the GM for the ensuing negative experience.
I just... I have no words for this.
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The thread was about weird things that made us rage a little inside and the expansiveness of the race restrictions are mine. I'm certain not everyone found it terrible or that it necessarily demands fixing, but that's not what the thread is about.
By all means rage, but don't expect everyone to find it justified. The world is the way it is for often very understandable reasons.
...of course, technically you could just show up and say you already created it a while ago, and that it was grandfathered in. I mean, nobody is forcing you to actually keep everything tracked online, official-like, if all you want to do is occasionally play in a pick-up game when you can't find a group.
In other words, backstory, backstory, backstory!
Your tiefling needs a compelling reason for becoming an adventurer when the rest of the family is hard at work trying to open the planar gates and bring the fiends to the world.|
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Here's a story from a game I was in recently:
The party encounters a group of monsters that were going to be an encounter, but it turns out the monsters are intelligent and one of the PCs starts talking to them, makes some good social checks, and it looks like things might resolve without a fight.
Then the paladin says "Detect evil?"
They detect as evil.
"I smite."
Combat ensues, most (every?) PC is injured. Paladin's player says "Hey, it's what my character would do. I warned you from the beginning he was an a%+!~~* and prone to rash decisions. Besides, we had to either kill them or set them free in the countryside, and they're evil, so I'm a hero! If you want to be in bed with monsters, that's fine, but don't be mad that I don't."
Classic, right? The kind of thing you hear about and wonder if people truly encounter stuff like that or if they're exaggerating because they don't like paladins or something. Completely textbook, right?
Except it wasn't a paladin, it was a sorcerer. And it wasn't Detect Evil, it was the player recognizing the creature type. And it wasn't Smite Evil, it was an attack spell.
And everybody but me just kinda shrugged and went along with it.
This gets even better!
So, that part where he was keeping innocent people safe by preventing the monsters from roaming free?* Well, the monsters were undead, created by an artifact in that room. He then takes said undead-creating artifact and sells it on the black market.
Yeah, obviously has the good of the people at heart there. Nobody will come to harm as a result of pawning a dangerous artifact to a black market dealer.
I'm glad that game is done.
He also demonized me, as my having spoken to the monsters for nearly a minute without drawing a weapon clearly meant I intended to just set them loose on the townsfolk.
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And, what black market did he sell this necromantic doomsday device at, pray tell.
There's so many black markets these days, it's hard to keep up.
This has been my experience for the last 30 years. I've learned to just roll with it.Have you tried putting them on pause after one of the books, storing the characters, and then finishing later while another GM runs substitute games?Yes to disastrous effect....Once we stop, even if the GM says "just a break" it means campaign over :(
I hate to quote myself, but just by way of follow up; we put the campaign I was dming on "break" to play shadowrun for two sessions. That fizzled so now we are doing mutants and masterminds again with me dming.
I'm 100% certain we will never get back to the campaign on break. And I'm fine with that and so are the players.
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This has been my experience for the last 30 years. I've learned to just roll with it.Have you tried putting them on pause after one of the books, storing the characters, and then finishing later while another GM runs substitute games?Yes to disastrous effect....Once we stop, even if the GM says "just a break" it means campaign over :(I hate to quote myself, but just by way of follow up; we put the campaign I was dming on "break" to play shadowrun for two sessions. That fizzled so now we are doing mutants and masterminds again with me dming.
I'm 100% certain we will never get back to the campaign on break. And I'm fine with that and so are the players.
It didnt bother me so much in the past, however, since picking up the APs it bothers me greatly. I want to see the story all the way through now! Guess I learned my lesson no APs for my other GMs. Sadly, that means I dont get to play any :(
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The GM sent a reminder email for an irregularly scheduled game, but he sent it out two weeks ago. So we forgot that it was scheduled for tonight. He texted us while we were in the midst of having dinner. It would have taken us at least half an hour to drive to his house, which would have got us there around 7:00 pm. Our sessions typically only run until 9:00 or 9:30 because several of us have to rise quite early on weekdays.
So we have to wait two more weeks for another session. I hope he sends a reminder before the game day next time.
All but one person in my gaming group are people that I have been gaming with at a minimum of 10 years, 15+ for 2 of them. We are all at least in our late 20's (most in 30's).
The following is not directed at any of them, but at those we have lost or suggested not to come back.
All of us made a commitment to get together Friday night around 8:00 pm. We all have lives and could be doing more productive things.
Show that you respect the others time commitment by showing up. Full stop. You not showing up not only means we are down you and any interactions you were part of, but also your character.
Yes, life happens, sometimes you can't make it. Let us know asap, doing so the day of with a "not going to make it" text is disrespectful. A quick addition of the reason at least shows you aren't wasting our time.
Also:
Get your own ride. Yes, you are freshly moved out/just graduated/whatever. Doesn't matter. Learn the bus schedule or pay for a ride from someone who is close to your home. Yes, we have people that need a ride and don't even have to ask or pay for it. They earned that, don't ask what they did to earn that and you didn't.
Additionally:
Be a hero. I don't care what alignment you have so long as you are a hero. Be a jerk (to NPC's), Steal (from NPC's). Make the game fun for everyone, not just you.
Finally:
Don't interject your "funny" joke, random meme, or (and this is the biggest) start singing for no reason while I or someone else is talking. This isn't Lord of the Flies, we don't need a speaking stick.
Show that you respect the others time commitment by showing up. Full stop. You not showing up not only means we are down you and any interactions you were part of, but also your character.
This was always the bane of my f2f games. Once I moved to online, I haven't had any issues.
In my typical f2f game, we always had a few people who were really into gaming, and a few who were only there because they were talked into it.
Not surprisingly, those that were talked into playing were usually the players that missed sessions, didn't give reasonable notice, etc.
I guess the takeaway is that even though there may be some players who are good friends, they aren't necessary great gamers. Save yourself the headache - drop them from your TTRPG groups but still invite them to more casual hangout sessions.
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That I suffer from Forever DM syndrome. It doesn't matter what goes on if I don't DM then my group will either not play any table tops for weeks on end or I can expect a string of one night "campaigns" as everyone else runs something for maybe a week or 2 and then it falls apart.
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Except it wasn't a paladin, it was a sorcerer. And it wasn't Detect Evil, it was the player recognizing the creature type. And it wasn't Smite Evil, it was an attack spell.
And it wasn't a chicken, it was a baby!
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I would really love to play through a whole AP. I started Carrion Crown, GM quit after 1 module. I ran Legacy of Fire, but the players weren't that into the story so I quit at Ch5. I joined a FLGS Serpent Skull game 1/2 way into the 1st module, but had to quit between the 3rd and 4th because of schedule conflicts when I started taking classes. I ran a couple modules of Council of Thieves, but that was never intended to go its full course, I was just taking over GM'ing when the regular GM had to take a break (and they never forgave me for it).
Currently working 1st level PCs up to Slumbering Tsar. We'll see how that goes. This is the first time the GM is allowing me to play something I made up.
The GM sent a reminder email for an irregularly scheduled game, but he sent it out two weeks ago. So we forgot that it was scheduled for tonight. He texted us while we were in the midst of having dinner. It would have taken us at least half an hour to drive to his house, which would have got us there around 7:00 pm. Our sessions typically only run until 9:00 or 9:30 because several of us have to rise quite early on weekdays.
So we have to wait two more weeks for another session. I hope he sends a reminder before the game day next time.
Just 1 reminder? You should chat about the game all the time on social media.
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I hate it when people play classes and races stereotypically. A paladin doesn't have to be a self righteous douche, a barbarian doesn't have to be a moron,wizards and alchemists don't have to be eccentrics, elves don't have to be tree huggers, and dwarves don't have to be drunkards.
Please be original!
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I hate it when people play classes and races stereotypically.
Yeah, that used to bug me, then I figured that maybe I've seen it hundreds of times, but they haven't gotten to play it hundreds of times, so, I just smile and nod. I haven't seen a clichéd character type that didn't have some individual expression come through in it.
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Just 1 reminder? You should chat about the game all the time on social media.The GM sent a reminder email for an irregularly scheduled game, but he sent it out two weeks ago. So we forgot that it was scheduled for tonight. He texted us while we were in the midst of having dinner. It would have taken us at least half an hour to drive to his house, which would have got us there around 7:00 pm. Our sessions typically only run until 9:00 or 9:30 because several of us have to rise quite early on weekdays.
So we have to wait two more weeks for another session. I hope he sends a reminder before the game day next time.
We don't do that much. The GM is a writer, and most of his social media presence is devoted to that.
In our other gaming group, we play weekly, and each week we talk about whether there's any reason we won't be able to play the following week. But this game is supposed to be every other week, and usually ends up being once a month or less because the GM and his wife have other life things. It needs reminders.
Yes, life happens, sometimes you can't make it. Let us know asap, doing so the day of with a "not going to make it" text is disrespectful. A quick addition of the reason at least shows you aren't wasting our time.
Also:
Get your own ride. Yes, you are freshly moved out/just graduated/whatever. Doesn't matter. Learn the bus schedule or pay for a ride from someone who is close to your home. Yes, we have people that need a ride and don't even have to ask or pay for it. They earned that, don't ask what they did to earn that and you didn't.
The annoying one to me is the person who doesn't show, doesn't notify anyone that he's not going to show, and then a week later says, "Sorry I couldn't make it last week," with no explanation of the cause. We had one of those in our group, briefly. He's the only person I can recall who's ever been formally asked to leave. Yes, we knew he worked at a restaurant and sometimes got called in to work on our game day. Yes, we knew he had a wife and kids. He still had a phone, and email. How hard is it to call the GM and say, "I can't make it because work/sick kid?"
We used to give one of our regular members a ride every week. He didn't own a car and lived in a distant suburb with poor weekend public transit service, and no one else lived near him. Our group is always up for making sure players can get to the game, no matter how inconvenient it is for us - though we might balk at driving for an hour or more to pick someone up.
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I hate it when people play classes and races stereotypically.Yeah, that used to bug me, then I figured that maybe I've seen it hundreds of times, but they haven't gotten to play it hundreds of times, so, I just smile and nod. I haven't seen a clichéd character type that didn't have some individual expression come through in it.
+1 The only characters I hate at the table are absolutists. You know the type that must murder on site their favored enemy even to the point of suicidal odds, or the guy playing a "pharasmin follower" so he must destroy all undead immediately despite any assistance or leads say a ghost might provide the party, also the paladin that detects evil 24/7 and kills immediately once ping'd no matter the context. Those folks need not apply at my table.
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+1 The only characters I hate at the table are absolutists. You know the type that must murder on site their favored enemy even to the point of suicidal odds, or the guy playing a "pharasmin follower" so he must destroy all undead immediately despite any assistance or leads say a ghost might provide the party, also the paladin that detects evil 24/7 and kills immediately once ping'd no matter the context. Those folks need not apply at my table.I hate it when people play classes and races stereotypically.Yeah, that used to bug me, then I figured that maybe I've seen it hundreds of times, but they haven't gotten to play it hundreds of times, so, I just smile and nod. I haven't seen a clichéd character type that didn't have some individual expression come through in it.
They're probably all Siths, as only Siths deal in absolutes. But for me, the two that are worse than absolutists (they can be done quite comically, if they'll back down when the party hits them on the nose with a newspaper) are players that willfully attack the other PCs (and get angry when they get snapped in half like a twig) and players that don't focus on the game while they are at the table. Getting everyone into the same room at the same time is bad enough, let's not ruin the session by running off to another room or pegging the (now testy) GM with dice. Even if the overhead vantage point is perfect for it.
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+1 The only characters I hate at the table are absolutists. You know the type that must murder on site their favored enemy even to the point of suicidal odds, or the guy playing a "pharasmin follower" so he must destroy all undead immediately despite any assistance or leads say a ghost might provide the party, also the paladin that detects evil 24/7 and kills immediately once ping'd no matter the context. Those folks need not apply at my table.I hate it when people play classes and races stereotypically.Yeah, that used to bug me, then I figured that maybe I've seen it hundreds of times, but they haven't gotten to play it hundreds of times, so, I just smile and nod. I haven't seen a clichéd character type that didn't have some individual expression come through in it.
SO in agreement here. I would so pone a paladin that automatically attacked all evil characters on sight. What happened to the lawful part of lawful good? What gives you a right to attack another character in game? This of course depends on the situation; but if you're playing an urban campaign and you meet the BBEG at the King's ball you don't whip out your holy avenger and cut him down. The King, who can't detect evil, might not like you cutting the head off his adviser. Players that can't understand that basic idea need to take a step back and check themselves.
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SO in agreement here. I would so pone a paladin that automatically attacked all evil characters on sight. What happened to the lawful part of lawful good? What gives you a right to attack another character in game? This of course depends on the situation; but if you're playing an urban campaign and you meet the BBEG at the King's ball you don't whip out your holy avenger and cut him down. The King, who can't detect evil, might not like you cutting the head off his adviser. Players that can't understand that basic idea need to take a step back and check themselves.+1 The only characters I hate at the table are absolutists. You know the type that must murder on site their favored enemy even to the point of suicidal odds, or the guy playing a "pharasmin follower" so he must destroy all undead immediately despite any assistance or leads say a ghost might provide the party, also the paladin that detects evil 24/7 and kills immediately once ping'd no matter the context. Those folks need not apply at my table.I hate it when people play classes and races stereotypically.Yeah, that used to bug me, then I figured that maybe I've seen it hundreds of times, but they haven't gotten to play it hundreds of times, so, I just smile and nod. I haven't seen a clichéd character type that didn't have some individual expression come through in it.
I once played a paladin who I modeled after Shepherd book. I wasn't overbearing, and while disapproving of questionable acts I never got indignant. I figured that he would not hold others to his extremely high standard. There was another player who threw a fit, saying that I wasn't playing him like I should. He said that paladin's should be played lawful stupid.
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Can't we just errata some of these? Did Paizo really screw up generating the rules for that many races?You sound like the guy who complains about GMs banning races. Because that's all this really is.
Well, this is a thread about grievances...as for me, I hate races/classes being banned as well. I can't stand playing anything that could be considered "traditional fantasy". My rule of thumb is, if I've seen it in Lord of the Rings, or it existed back in 2nd Edition D&D, I refuse to play it. Not because I hate LOTR, I quite enjoyed it actually, but because all that old stuff is totally unoriginal and completely played out. Oh, another Elven archer Ranger, like I never saw that before!
However, a Grippli archer Hunter with a T-Rex animal companion? Yeah, I'm reasonably sure I didn't see one of those in LOTR.
The current campaign I'm playing in is Core+APG only, and it's been very challenging for me to come up with anything remotely interesting. Best I could do is a Half-Orc Inquisitor. Yeah I know "snarling half Orc tough guy" isn't original, but when lemons are all I have to work with, lemonade will be the end product.
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I've recently been journaling about my history with role-playing games because I wanted to reflect on what I'd been through. I came to this conclusion about thirty-six years of gaming experience:
Come to think of it, much of my role-playing game experience has been a disgusting and dirty one with demanding players and abusive referees right from the start in 1981. So why do I keep doing it? It’s a creative outlet and I’ve become skilled at it.