Recent content by bloodtide

If they work for you, that is great. They don't work for everyone. I agree, just from the other side. The vast majority of players are unable, or sometimes just unwilling, to play a character concept. I just flat out tell such players that it is impossible and have them pick something else...

Games like D&D don't have any rules like that, but it is common advice. It is always best NPCs be characters, not just stat blocks. At least some players should be able to figure out such things, like if they see the Orc has a bow and quiver they might catch on that he is an archer...

The early low level 2E adventures were made to be simple and easy. Part of that was very little loot. New adventurers were meant to be kept in the poor house as a reason for them to go on more adventures. You also get the Realms more Practical Loot . So, not every foe has a pile of...

Assuming you don't have a hostile game with hostile players hiding things..... Most intelligent DMs will just about always know if a PC is lying, as the DM does know everything about the PC and player and most players will "play themselves as their character". The problem here is this is not...

Rübendorf is a busy town, where someone is generally always working. Most accept a little help and are glad the chat a bit. The talk of the town does not mention much trouble, except some wolf and troll attacks out in the wilds. Two hours later Gromm BigBottle is at the south gate, now all...

Having the characters be immortal demigods can fill the DM with apathy. Why even have game play if it will always be "well, your characters already won" right from the start. Just different gameplays

It is very common in Old School style Games and Deep Immersion games and Real Role Play (the acting kind) type games. Or more so games of all those three types combined. I count my game as one. Once game play starts players will only speak Out of Character during breaks. Though my game also...

It does. Most new players to my game have a lot of characters die at first. It can take a long time for players to grasp the concept of character death.

My best tip for Real Fear is run an Old School Style Hard Fun Unfair Unbalanced Game. Just Random Meaningless Character Death at any time fills many players with fear. They worry the whole game that the DM might say something like "well, that is 11 damage, your character is dead".

The problem here is what about the great many tyrant players that are writing their own novel? The DM says the character gets possessed. Then the player just says "whatever DM my character just acts like normal, anyway I want!" Well, okay, then you don't have a game....

I agree, though a great many players want a game like this where the attributes don't matter. Unless, of course, the player wants them to in a positive way. I love this myself. I've made plenty of "Hulk Smash" characters.

Gromm BigBottle "I'm almost ready. Just need to hammer a few things out. Gather up my stuff. Get my furs. Close out my room at the Inn. Give me two hours. I'll meet you at the south gate." Gromm BigBottle finishes his drink, pays his tavern tab and heads off.

Intelligence is the hardest to role play, as it is nearly impossible to do so in any way. As a player you can take notes to have a perfect memory, but you can't 'use that information intelligently'. No matter what the number is on the sheet, the player still has their mind. Wisdom is second...

No. But I would guess at least 50% of all players would think so. After all, I run into this all the time. As soon as a player encounters anything they don't like: they cry "railroad". I don't really. I find the whole idea useless. Though I'd point out the DMs that are just mean do stand out.

Gromm BigBottle "I've been here three rides. I can say not much is running around here. By the Rocks, not to many potion sales. Dry as a desert. For personal combat I have a good strong axe arm. By the Rocks, I got a couple of alchemist booms I can throw. I can handle myself in a fight...