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Post by CreativeCowboy on Aug 26, 2012 7:57:53 GMT -8
Fray, I have an opponents' grid. My sheet has place for 20 opponents, giving the very basics needed for combat (and looting). I include the leaders and overleaders on this sheet. So let's say I have place for 17 followers on an A4 paper with details contained in a one inch square. I will also have a sheet for secondary opponents - Goblins' Worgs, or Kobolds' Weasels, or a magic users' summoned monsters for example. I declare what is facing the player based upon their attendance, as I have the same trouble as you express: not knowing how many people will attend any one game. (I do have a minimum quorum requirement to run a game because I am not running a game for 2 players in one session and re-telling the session for the other 8 in the backpack during the next session.) NOW, that said, IF I have a LAIR and a set schedule of interaction (i.e. tables indicating sleeping, sentry duty, etc., based on time) I do not do this. These become my set piece battles - well, "set" according to the mechanic specified according to time. I hope this helps. ps. I won't mention my argument for the GM = System because I think the first segment of the podcast on "cheating" (throughout but especially Stu at 100:11 ) was quite affirming. ;D
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Post by Kainguru on Aug 27, 2012 7:10:55 GMT -8
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Post by bloodsparrow on Aug 27, 2012 8:11:28 GMT -8
I want to know what these ribbons are, because I'm going to Dragon*Con.
The point of cons is to feel safe among your people.
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Post by malifer on Aug 27, 2012 8:34:12 GMT -8
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Post by CreativeCowboy on Aug 27, 2012 9:43:51 GMT -8
From there you can find some links that are NSFW, you deviants. Not So Freaking Weird?
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Post by bloodsparrow on Aug 27, 2012 9:53:25 GMT -8
In the subject of "Somebody has to be the decider"...
I have been in groups that have used the idea of a "party caller" before. It's not that they make the decisions, but is the person who makes the official declarations as directed by the other players.
It was to avoid situations where somebody says they do something but then takes it back, or more then one person wanted to take a crack at a lock or something. It was okay.
On the subject of telling your girlfriend you play RPGs... Just fucking do it. I have a friend who used to be afraid the women he was dating would ask his friends how we knew him. (I had accidentally outed a friend to his Ex that way.) His suggestion was that we tell her we were all part of a white slavery ring. I was all ready to tell his latest girlfriend that I'm an international arms dealer and he occasionally makes deliveries in his Prius for me.
But when he introduced her to me, he said to her, "Michelle is in my D&D group." and I gave him a hug.
Re Boggard music You guys have way more then one song about whores. As an alumn of The Bell, I know this.
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joegun
Journeyman Douchebag
Posts: 249
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds
Currently Playing: Just GM'ing right now.
Currently Running: Rippers Resurrected, and Savage RIFTS!
Favorite Species of Monkey: Baboon
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Post by joegun on Aug 27, 2012 10:39:13 GMT -8
Hey all - Regarding Cheating: I've always found that even as a GM I can't bring myself to fudge rolls ( even to move the story forward ). I guess I'm too much of a "the reason the dice are there, are to shake things up!" That is why I love that GM's get bennies in Savage Worlds. It gives me an excuse to reroll under the mechanics of the game. It never says I need to take the higher roll. And using that mechanic is no different than a player, deciding to spend a benny so he doesn't accidently kill the guy he is trying to get info from ON adjusting difficulty on the fly: I don't change the stats of guys the players are fighting, but they might resort to better tactics, call for reinforcements or run away. If it is proving to difficult for my players, I pretty much always give them a way to escape (or attempt to escape) a situation. If they want to stand toe to toe with a hill giant with a rusty dagger, that is their own deal Telling your GF about RPGs: I'm of the crowd of just tell her, the next time you have a game coming up. Tell her it the same way you would say you are going to play poker at a friends house, or play a board game with a group of buddies. Because realistically it isn't any different. When I explained it to my wife I told her it was like a descriptive board game, where the rules were defined, but the actions were more open. Note: my wife still calls it "nerd dice" and gave me crap for taking her to a game store on my birthday, but it's all in good fun.
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freyki
Apprentice Douchebag
Posts: 86
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Post by freyki on Aug 27, 2012 10:40:46 GMT -8
Re: playing in the car. I remember dm' ing as a teenager for my younger sibs in the back of our 76 olds station wagon during a drive across Michigan to grandma's house. I think it was the drow module, iirc.
Made a 5 hour drive go by pretty quickly.
Btw, I'm still running games for my little brothers and sister to this day!
-Freyki-
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Post by henryhankovitch on Aug 27, 2012 15:22:14 GMT -8
I would argue that some games already institute systems for the players to cheat to improve the narrative: bennies, hero points, artha, and so on. Technically speaking, they stop becoming "cheating" once they're enshrined in the game rules; but the intent is the same as the GM exercising Rule Zero to keep the narrative flowing. They give a player a way to ignore or reverse a mechanical result in order to influence the narrative in a way they find desirable.
Now, unlike a GM fudging dice to keep the players in the game, bennies are generally used for a single players' mechanical benefit--just as a cheating player is trying to serve his character rather than the game as a whole. But also consider how they're often used as insurance against failing at a risky and improbable action which the player might otherwise choose not to attempt. In that sense, even though the player is using the bennie to act for his character's selfish benefit, the result is that he's influencing the narrative as a whole to be more colorful and dangerous.
The fact that these resources are limited maintains the narrative balance between the individual players at the table, and between the players as a group and the GM.
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HyveMynd
Supporter
Dirty hippie, PbtA, Fate, & Cortex Prime <3er
Posts: 2,273
Preferred Game Systems: PbtA, Cortex Plus, Fate, Ubiquity
Currently Playing: Monsterhearts 2
Currently Running: The Sprawl
Favorite Species of Monkey: None
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Post by HyveMynd on Aug 27, 2012 16:15:49 GMT -8
LOL. I thought the Turisas cover was the *only* version for a while. Because, well, Turisas is Ah-MAY-zhing! ;D
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Post by Kainguru on Aug 27, 2012 17:09:29 GMT -8
LOL. I thought the Turisas cover was the *only* version for a while. Because, well, Turisas is Ah-MAY-zhing! ;D They're double plus good ah-may-zhing
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Post by mook on Aug 28, 2012 9:48:49 GMT -8
... Btw, I'm still running games for my little brothers and sister to this day! ... Ah, this is why I read the internet. I love that. I know for a fact most/some of the rest of our group read here, so I shan't declare whether I fudge dice as a GM. Mystery! :: finger wiggles ::
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Post by Forresst on Aug 28, 2012 10:08:56 GMT -8
Somehow I can see the next couple contests coming out of this episode: An index of artifacts, cursed or uncursed, a big bag of shopkeepers (pre-named for convenience), friends for the party, and maybe even campaign settings.
By the time all the contests run through, you could make a big Happy Jacks GM resource omnibus out of them all.
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Post by malifer on Aug 28, 2012 13:12:04 GMT -8
Dear Anyone who knows CADave,
Please have CADave post his Fried Bacon Peanut butter Banana Sandwhich recreation recipe.
I have made these before but I'm always on the look out for different recipes.
Thanks Mal
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Post by BrashFink on Sept 1, 2012 0:32:14 GMT -8
Hey first off I would like to say, I JUST found you guys... and you are freakin' awesome. My buddies are just like you all we drink, play loose but hard. Our CORE group has been playing FOREVER (2nd Edition) and most of us go back to old 80s boxed sets).
I would like to say, I am posting, not reading posts... just reacting to the content of GM "fudging". I am generally the GM of most everything we play... my campaign went from 2nd ed, to 3rd and onto Pathfinder. We also have played various other things like Sidewider, Gamma World, D6 Star Wars. My point is... a LOT of different systems.
The point is that my players... know and TRUST me with the story. The ENTIRE thing is the story they are participating in. They know... that the dice mean nearly nothing to me as a GM. As a GM i look at the dice as a Guideline. I do not care, i will fudge, cheat, change or manipulate whatever I need.
My players know that I will NOT kill them unless they do A) something incredibly stupid or B) it is a plot point. If it is B... I have worked out with the charater why... and usually would have an NCP that they party knows... that was created with this in mind.. and had spoke to the player... you GET this character... and of course THEY created the character anyway.
I have ALWAYS felt this is a story. The characters are Bilbo... etc. and are NOT MEANT to die. that is why i have always dislike systems that seem... ummm "character killy".
I just thought I would preset something different. I do not feel as I am GM that the rules are anything but a frame work for storytelling and giveing my friends a good ride. They ALL know how this works.
Now the flipside... do I allow them the same leighway... NOT AT ALL.
This is because as MY PROTAGONISTS... I have no idea how they will react... or what they will do. THEY have freewill. most of mine do not. The have story reasons on what they do. They must roll to influence the story.
Anyway, you guys gave great arguments on each side. Bottom line is in my campaigns. I truly rule and screw up all rules ALL THE TIME on purpose... on the fly for story... and fun.
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