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Post by ironnikki on Aug 8, 2014 10:42:10 GMT -8
Congratulations, mook! I will hopefully be picking this up soon. I'm looking forward to reading it!
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 25, 2014 18:54:10 GMT -8
In your situation, the determining question for me would be this:
Does he bring anything to the table other than combat prowess?
If he makes an attempt to act outside of combat, has an interesting backstory you want to build upon, or hell, even if he's just really good at making people laugh, consider keeping him. If he's detracting from every moment that doesn't involve violence, then you may need to let him go.
I've got players in my games that sound similar to your potential problem player: they get suspiciously quiet whenever weapons are sheathed, and they ask about and occasionally try to talk me into player options I've previously disallowed. But, they have great one-liners, don't disrupt non-combat scenarios, and ultimately add to everyone's good time.
Give him a session or two and keep an eye on him, then do some simple cost-benefit analysis.
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 22, 2014 11:51:29 GMT -8
The future is unclear for me at this point, but I'd love to make it out for at least one day this year!
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 22, 2014 11:50:01 GMT -8
Just wanted to let The Powers That May or May Not Be that I really enjoyed listening to this AP. I like the Sage of the Inukai as well, but for one reason or another this really drew me in. I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment!
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 22, 2014 6:24:32 GMT -8
I looked at Adv/Dis and thought "well that's a cool way to do a re-roll without having a re-roll", and a cool mechanic to have instead of just having +'s or -'s on everything. It never hit me that unlike bonuses, Adv/Dis will never be obsolete. Without adding or subtracting numbers, without changing it at later levels or adding to it as you level, Adv/Dis is just as great/bad at level 1 as it is at level 30. That is a very "elegant" rule, and actually might have given me a bit more respect for the D5D team. I agree that it is an elegant mechanic. It's extremely basic, which makes it super easy to teach to new players. As SavageCheerleader pointed out previously, it's a little surprising that it hasn't made an appearance earlier given how intuitive it feels.
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 21, 2014 7:12:00 GMT -8
I played a game over G+ with a buddy who wrote his own adventure for it, so note that this is not the Starter Set. I played a rogue, and we all started at level 1. Here were my feelings:
-Success rolls were intuitive and easy to figure out. It was great not needing to figure out every little modifier to add in.
-Combat felt more dangerous than, say, Pathfinder at level 1. When I was comparing the damage we were doing to the hit points that I had, I quickly realized that it would only take one or two good hits to take me out of commission. This could easily change at higher levels, but I didn't get the chance to experience that.
-Having roleplaying hints displayed as traits, flaws etc. were helpful in reminding me about my character's motivations and such. Because these were pre-generated characters, this was particularly important for me. For example, I snuck into the cellar of a smuggler's den at one point to find a map, and happened across some valuable looking things. However, because I had an ideal that I never take from those in the trade, I chose to leave the shiny things, and just make a crude copy of the map instead of actually taking it with me.
-When I read the advantage mechanics, I thought they were a pretty cool idea and I was excited to give it a try. After actually using them, I absolutely LOVE the simplicity! Gaining advantage is something that will be valuable regardless of level (a +2 bonus quickly loses importance to higher level characters in Pathfinder) and because you can only gain it once, there's no modifier stacking to keep track of. The yes/no inspiration mechanic felt rewarding as well, and I liked being able to give myself advantage when I really needed it.
-Subraces (or whatever they're called) isn't really a new thing, but having those choices helps to differentiate between characters. Backgrounds really help there as well. We had two human fighters, but one had a folk hero background and the other was a noble, which led to very different roleplay between the two. That isn't to say that the two wouldn't have played their characters differently anyway, but it's easy to fall into the trap of describing your character simply by race and class.
Overall, I really enjoyed the game. This is the first version of DnD that I've played that feels like it mostly stayed out of the way and allowed roleplaying to take its natural course. I'm looking forward to the new Player's Handbook more and more!
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 21, 2014 6:57:40 GMT -8
In general, if one of my players is unhappy about something while the rest are perfectly okay with it, the unhappy player just has to deal. This is especially true of something that has been agreed upon before the game began, i.e: tone. I'll do my best to soften the blow or reach a compromise, but not at the expense of the other players' fun. In your situation, I don't think that I would have done anything differently than how you described it.
If this guy was a repeat player, I'd have a group talk afterwards to talk about whether the tone needed some adjustment or not. Again though, if only one player is unhappy with things and the rest of the group is liking it, he would just have to deal or wait for the next game.
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 21, 2014 6:43:38 GMT -8
I'd spend $5, and might be convinced to go up to $7 or so if I were interested enough.
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 18, 2014 7:41:25 GMT -8
Powered by the Apocalypse What he said, but to expand: games based on the Apocalypse World engine, i.e: Dungeon World, Monster of the Week, Monsterhearts, etc. Despite perhaps being less clear than just saying "AW-based games," it just feels more exciting to say it that way :-)
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 17, 2014 10:34:40 GMT -8
I got through Basic DnD not too long ago. I played a lot of 3/3.5 and Pathfinder, along with other non-d20 games, so that's what I was comparing this to as I read.
Overall, I like the direction the designers are going quite a bit. I really like the simplicity of proficiency, advantage and inspiration. That being said, I still don't foresee myself reaching for 5e when planning a new game. I'm happy with Savage Worlds, GURPS, Fate and PbtA.
However, I still plan on picking up the PHB for one particular reason: transitioning. 5e feels like a sort of intermediate between games like Fate and Pathfinder. I've previously had trouble transitioning groups straight from Pathfinder to Fate, and I think that this would be a nice stepping stone to get them to start thinking in the right mindset for these other games.
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 17, 2014 10:10:25 GMT -8
I'd be interested in picking it up, but as said above, the asking price is simply too high for me. I love to listen to APs while on road trips, and audio quality would matter enough to me to spend some money, but definitely not $10/hr.
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 10, 2014 10:13:19 GMT -8
Well, I've got a somewhat unwieldy bookshelf of games that I haven't yet played. Of those, I'm most interested in trying Burning Wheel and Shadowrun. Hopefully eventually I'll get to them all!
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 10, 2014 10:06:41 GMT -8
Very much looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of Atomic Robo. I haven't played much Fate with any groups, but I'm trying to work it into our rotation so that the system isn't too unfamiliar when Atomic Robo hits.
After seeing the $50 price tag on the 5e PHB, I decided that I would just pick up the free Basic DnD PDF to get a feel for the rules and leave it at that until I knew I was ready to give the system a try. However, after reading Basic DnD, my resolve has wavered. I generally reach for something other than d20 when planning a game, but my groups tend to prefer it over other systems. From what I've read so far, I'm excited to see where things continue to go.
Plus, I still feel the need to pay deference to the game that initiated my descent into the dark folds of the hobby.
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Post by ironnikki on Feb 25, 2014 13:29:24 GMT -8
Thanks for sharing this article! I'm not very familiar with Fate, but I know enough about the rules to understand his references and extrapolate to my own games.
While I certainly value the idea of failing forward, and strive to use it in my own games, I don't agree that failure always has to mean something other than... well, failure. It can, sometimes, simply mean that you've failed to achieve your goal. Failing your lockpicking roll might mean that your pick breaks as the door swings open, it might mean that you get the door open with a loud squeal of the hinges, or it might just mean that the door simply doesn't open. And that's okay! That can encourage your players to come up with other creative solutions to achieve their goals ("Think the halfling can fit through that hole? Let's find out!") or create more questions ("We've managed to open every other door in this castle, why the hell couldn't we open that one?") The pitfall, to me, is when failure means one thing, and one thing only. Things will be just as boring if failing to pick a lock ALWAYS means a fight as they would if failing to pick a lock ALWAYS meant the door doesn't open. Mixing things up helps to maintain tension when picking up the dice.
A proactive group of players can maintain more narrative momentum when faced with flat failure than a reactive group can. The importance of the challenge to the narrative also should be evaluated: if the players simply must have whatever is on the other side of the door for the story to progress, then either don't have them roll or have them succeed at a cost on a failure.
I agree with the author: failure should be embraced as a tool. Just make sure that you're using the right tool for the job!
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Post by ironnikki on Feb 24, 2014 14:34:32 GMT -8
Unfortunately, I don't know anything about games over in Ames or Des Moines. Should you find yourself closer to Iowa City, we have Critical Hit, which has a dismal RPG selection but friendly proprietors, and The Hobby Corner, which has a better RPG selection and still friendly proprietors. I don't know about gaming at Critical Hit, since every time I've been in there the only players I find are Magic players, but Hobby Corner has nights devoted to different kinds of gaming (RPGs, wargaming, board games, etc).
Cedar Rapids has Tempest Games, which I haven't been to in about 6 months, but it had a pretty decent selection. People there seemed friendly enough. I'm guessing that the above probably will be of little help to you, but at least if you find yourself over here, you'll have some options. Best of luck!
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