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    NeoTrad/OC Play, & the treatment of friendly NPCs (++)

    Thinking about this, with the most recent case. I definitely didn't see myself as running an OC style campaign. To me it was a Gamist/Sim sandbox where effectively navigating the political goals and the emotions/feelings of your (Mastermind Rogue) wife was just as important as navigating dungeon...
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    NeoTrad/OC Play, & the treatment of friendly NPCs (++)

    I think you have a strong grasp of the play style and the issues around it. Thanks! It definitely helps me understand issues I've had. My friend Kimberly is a very OC type GM. I think maybe I'm not a very OC player, because sometimes I find it a bit frustrating when the universe seems to keep...
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    NeoTrad/OC Play, & the treatment of friendly NPCs (++)

    Re the wife NPCs, I think a player subverting the personality of a major campaign NPC is as bad form as the GM doing the same, or otherwise disrespecting the NPC, eg having her arbitrarily murdered* to motivate revenge. It would be different if the player created the NPC as an appendage to their...
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    NeoTrad/OC Play, & the treatment of friendly NPCs (++)

    Maybe one reason the Bugbear-capturing OC player in my sandbox Forgotten Realms game was so pissed off, was that we were also playing Odyssey of the Dragonlords at the same time. Odyssey is set up for OC type play, the world very much revolves around the PCs and their relationships, including...
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    NeoTrad/OC Play, & the treatment of friendly NPCs (++)

    Yeah, I find that really painful to contemplate. The player is subverting the character of the NPC wife, the very personality that made the PC-player fall in love with her in the first place! Players tend to fall in love with the strong smart independent thinkers, not the ones who just validate...
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    NeoTrad/OC Play, & the treatment of friendly NPCs (++)

    I just had a thought re treatment of NPCs - re evil monsters that surrender. I've seen OC-style players be furious when it turns out that having bugbears surrender to the PC does not give the player control over the behaviour and moral outlook of those bugbears. OC oriented players often hate...
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    D&D 1E Edition Experience: Did/Do you Play 1E AD&D? How Was/Is It?

    I went from OSRIC and Labyrinth Lord to 5e with grognard players online in early 2015 and it definitely felt comfortable, to them and to me. We weren't using Feats or multiclassing, PHB classes. Players who would never play 3e or 4e were happy with 5e.
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    NeoTrad/OC Play, & the treatment of friendly NPCs (++)

    I definitely think turning PC's wife into a hostile vampire would be considered to be breaking the social contract in most OC groups. Turning her into a friendly vampire with superpowers might be ok 😄
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    What Games do you think are Neotrad?

    I remember a discussion possibly here about Critical Role. I think the view I agreed with was that Mercer was a regular Trad GM at least initially, but his players like Mulligan were very much OC. I watched the first couple episodes of the cartoon and it was striking how the prologue first...
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    NeoTrad/OC Play, & the treatment of friendly NPCs (++)

    In terms of games I'm actually running, my D&D/OSR Wilderlands games often tend somewhat to to this style. Any game with my published female author friend playing tends to develop in this style :) And most notably, running Cyberpunk Red for several months at the start of this year, I found it...
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    NeoTrad/OC Play, & the treatment of friendly NPCs (++)

    So in this post What Games do you think are Neotrad? I got to thinking a bit about what's called NeoTrad or OC (Original Character) type play style, which is defined by a focus on the PCs, their freedom of action, their self development. It is not primarily about exploring the world (as in...
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    What Games do you think are Neotrad?

    A big challenge in OC play is effective player-GM communication. Because OC is primarily Sim not Nar. The player probably does have an idea of how they want their character to develop, but in play they want to be immersed in their character, not thinking in terms of story creation. Some OC...
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    What Games do you think are Neotrad?

    I've only started reading this thread so apologies if this has been covered extensively. One feature of NeoTrad/OC play to my mind is that the OC player typically has a strong desire to immerse in their character. They want the experience of being their OC, they don't want to be thinking in...
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    What Games do you think are Neotrad?

    4e D&D and 5.5/2024 D&D both seem like good examples to me, although some 4e advice assumptions still seem stuck more in a Trad pre-scripted storyline sort of paradigm. The actual mechanical design and stuff like the Epic Destinies, if treated as more than fluff, are highly supportive of OC play...
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    New review critical of DUNE: PART TWO based on the depiction of Chani

    Wow, I've not even seen the film, and the book is a distant memory coloured by the David Lynch film, but that was a brilliant piece of writing!
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    Shadowdark looks so good!

    I've added rules for level 11+; only 11 sessions in but the system seems extremely robust and I happily anticipate a really epic long term sandbox campaign. The shallower power gradient is perfect for not outgrowing the local environment and with so much good OSR material out there I have stuff...
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    D&D General Would you buy an AI-generated Castle Greyhawk "by" Gary Gygax?" Should you?

    I would think the benefit of the AI is in the interactivity. An AI written book is at best a much worse version of work the author already created. One thing I've noticed re RPGs though is that AI makes a terrible GM, but a pretty decent player! It's not capable of the originality to run a...
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    Shadowdark looks so good!

    The idea that 46/47 sessions is a long campaign... I used to run Pathfinder APs and think like that. :D In more sandbox campaigns I think it's long when it goes over about 130 sessions.
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    D&D General How early is too early for flight?

    Not in a standard/typical campaign. I allowed a Windrider (Aarakocra) PC in my Wilderlands campaign, as the setting has a bit of a Sword & Planet vibe and is pretty gonzo. I wouldn't allow it in my fairly gritty Grey Box Forgotten Realms Damara campaign. It would have fitted ok in my Odyssey of...
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