Tabletop Roleplaying Games (D&D, Pathfinder, CoC, ETC.)

The RAW is stupid. Being worn or carried shouldn't save an item. Either everything burns or nothing burns.
One of the many reasons I hate 5e.
It's because in AD&D you'd have to roll saves for literally every piece of equipment on a character in some circumstances to see what got destroyed. It was something of a fun-killer to put a combat on hold to spend five minutes going down someone's character sheet making saving throws for everything in their inventory.
 
It's because in AD&D you'd have to roll saves for literally every piece of equipment on a character in some circumstances to see what got destroyed. It was something of a fun-killer to put a combat on hold to spend five minutes going down someone's character sheet making saving throws for everything in their inventory.

Teaches them to only carry the essentials.
 
DM suddenly said "you're playing as a fighter, your character would never think of this."
That's just bad DMing. That type of shit should never come up unless your character is actually that freaking stupid. Like, their stats say they have below average intelligence. And even then, I'd still allow you to roll to have a chance to figure it out in character, just with large negatives.
 
"Grab troll and suplex him..." just make a strength/dex check.

"try to MacGyver a bomb..." rule that they need to do that BEFORE going in the dungeon because they don't have enough time now.

"Crush his head!" -- Strength check, with advantage or penalty based on the creature.

This is actually another thing that didn't get with me about TTRPGs.... sometimes they are "whatever you could do in real life if you were actually there," other times you'll be barred from something basic because of the rules.
These were mostly just examples I pulled out of my ass. I was just using it for the framing of *This is the only way this person ever plays he will never take a basic action or use a spell or use a RAW ability they just want to invent everything they do out of whole cloth* which I said yeah can be a lot of fun in a lot of different scenarios, but when you are stalling the game every turn so I have to come up with custom rolls and rules for nearly every action you take it starts to wear on my nerves.
 
That's just bad DMing. That type of shit should never come up unless your character is actually that freaking stupid. Like, their stats say they have below average intelligence. And even then, I'd still allow you to roll to have a chance to figure it out in character, just with large negatives.

Depends; I had player who - when being smart/tactful would benefit the party - would claim that he was a dumb half orc barbarian, and nothing better could be expected him, he just swings his axe. When it was time to go fight the Gnolls, he would suddenly come up with dumb ideas about trying to bait the gelatinous cube to attack the enemies instead of swinging his axe until the party peer pressured him into playing the game.

His only consistent position was "what will annoy the DM?" so eventually when he tried to get clever I just told him he just said he was too stupid after several weeks with the party to understand stealing was bad, he was too dumb to do advanced calculus.

So that response sounds more like the result of several months of a player being an annoying shit and the DM being tired of it.
 
Depends; I had player who - when being smart/tactful would benefit the party - would claim that he was a dumb half orc barbarian, and nothing better could be expected him, he just swings his axe. When it was time to go fight the Gnolls, he would suddenly come up with dumb ideas about trying to bait the gelatinous cube to attack the enemies instead of swinging his axe until the party peer pressured him into playing the game.

His only consistent position was "what will annoy the DM?" so eventually when he tried to get clever I just told him he just said he was too stupid after several weeks with the party to understand stealing was bad, he was too dumb to do advanced calculus.

So that response sounds more like the result of several months of a player being an annoying shit and the DM being tired of it.
If the player is doing stupid shit like that, its the DM's job to take them to the side and tell him to knock it off, and if he doesn't, tell him to either cut it out or leave the game. Otherwise, I would expect a person to simply play a character consistently, and if the character isn't stupid "in-character" I don't expect him to act habitually stupid.
 
If the player is doing stupid shit like that, its the DM's job to take them to the side and tell him to knock it off, and if he doesn't, tell him to either cut it out or leave the game. Otherwise, I would expect a person to simply play a character consistently, and if the character isn't stupid "in-character" I don't expect him to act habitually stupid.

It wasn't all the time, but about two sessions of every three he'd get bored and shit stir, to the point I could look at his face when I call his name and know he's about to do something "interesting".
I think he wanted to keep being a dumb half-orc because he didn't want to do anything in town or keep track of quests, but forgot that when you make a dumb character, its sort of boring.
I had him in a one-shot and an a megadungeon, and both times he came up with a wacky (but still could fit in the setting) character concept. Which was fine, except second session he'd get bored and go back to playing himself, and only remember the concept when it could be used to annoy people and derail the session
Before bringing him into a campaign, I told him "I like to have fun and make OOC jokes. You can make a fun or quirky character, but no matter their personality quirks they are going to be expected to behave like a rational person. Your megadungeon character was really pissing people off at the end and that shit will not fly in campaign, and not in the fun way."
Additionally stats didn't reflect him being a moron in town. 10 INT and I think 14 WIS (for saves).
There's a bit more to the story, moral of the story he did end up getting fired as a player.

And maybe thats just a case of bad DMing and I'm projecting because the only time I use that is when the player is being a little shit.
 
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It wasn't all the time, but about two sessions of every three he'd get bored and shit stir, to the point I could look at his face when I call his name and know he's about to do something "interesting".
I think he wanted to keep being a dumb half-orc because he didn't want to do anything in town or keep track of quests, but forgot that when you make a dumb character, its sort of boring.
I had him in a one-shot and an a megadungeon, and both times he came up with a wacky (but still could fit in the setting) character concept. Which was fine, except second session he'd get bored and go back to playing himself, and only remember the concept when it could be used to annoy people and derail the session
Before bringing him into a campaign, I told him "I like to have fun and make OOC jokes. You can make a fun or quirky character, but no matter their personality quirks they are going to be expected to behave like a rational person. Your megadungeon character was really pissing people off at the end and that shit will not fly in campaign, and not in the fun way."
Additionally stats didn't reflect him being a moron in town. 10 INT and I think 14 WIS (for saves).
There's a bit more to the story, moral of the story he did end up getting fired as a player.

And maybe thats just a case of bad DMing and I'm projecting because the only time I use that is when the player is being a little shit.
Sounds like that guy was just an ass. The only way to deal with a player like that is to give him the boot, preferably sooner rather than later.
 
Sounds like that guy was just an ass. The only way to deal with a player like that is to give him the boot, preferably sooner rather than later.

Like I said, there's some missing context, and 70-80% of the time he was good player. Just occasionally he'd be bored and act out like a bored child, or be butthurt & sulky when his wacky shennanigans had mudanely bad consequences when I wouldn't feed his trolling.
He wasn't a bad person, and I hate to call him a bad player because he'd probably fit in to @Jet Fuel Johnny 's Rifts squad.

I fired him as a player but we're still friends and hang out once a month or so.
 
I love seeing all the 5e DMs come out of the woodwork asking about other systems to run while saying they've never played other games. Anyone who enjoys this hobby and plays it for any amount of time will have atleast heard of and should have tried other systems. Ive even run some weird Japanese ttrpgs before. Its not hard to find DnD alternatives.
There's also the travesty that was 4E and thinking WoTC was trustworthy after that and its DMCApalooza.
 
Depends; I had player who - when being smart/tactful would benefit the party - would claim that he was a dumb half orc barbarian, and nothing better could be expected him, he just swings his axe. When it was time to go fight the Gnolls, he would suddenly come up with dumb ideas about trying to bait the gelatinous cube to attack the enemies instead of swinging his axe until the party peer pressured him into playing the game.

His only consistent position was "what will annoy the DM?" so eventually when he tried to get clever I just told him he just said he was too stupid after several weeks with the party to understand stealing was bad, he was too dumb to do advanced calculus.

So that response sounds more like the result of several months of a player being an annoying shit and the DM being tired of it.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who's noticed this - I've had a few characters do similar things. I've also noticed a huge uptick in 'teehee I'm a retard' characters, but always framed in very PC terms. I think Critical Role and Fallout 3 are a lot to blame for this, because everyone and their mother I know has some story about the 'dumb Barbarian who doesn't understand things', when what they mean is 'I have Intelligence 10, because this is 5e and Intelligence is fucking useless for anyone but Wizards, so I play average Intelligence as 'hurrdurr, me wear frying pan on head to protects from da shooty shoot beams'.

Out of all the concepts I've allowed, 'I'm a retard with a different view of the world' is one I ban instantly in any permutation. Outside of maybe MUHAHAHA MAD SCIENCE! in my Savage Worlds games. Because crazy Doc Browns tend not to crossover with the 'I wanna play Grug!' or whatever his name is from that fucking show.
 
I love seeing all the 5e DMs come out of the woodwork asking about other systems to run while saying they've never played other games. Anyone who enjoys this hobby and plays it for any amount of time will have atleast heard of and should have tried other systems. Ive even run some weird Japanese ttrpgs before. Its not hard to find DnD alternatives.
It floors me that people don’t try different gamers and systems. My friends and I like Tensha Bansho Zero.
 
I'm not sure where to ask but me and my friends want to play a TES Dungeons and Dragons campaign, but the thing is I don't know how to find downloadable pdfs of the 5e system or even a secondhand rulebook for less than $100. If it weren't for the OGL bullshit I'd gladly buy a physical book in a store but at this point I'll take jpegs and some old board game dice if it means not giving to the megacorp.
 
I'm not sure where to ask but me and my friends want to play a TES Dungeons and Dragons campaign, but the thing is I don't know how to find downloadable pdfs of the 5e system or even a secondhand rulebook for less than $100. If it weren't for the OGL bullshit I'd gladly buy a physical book in a store but at this point I'll take jpegs and some old board game dice if it means not giving to the megacorp.
TES? The Elder Scrolls?
 
I'm not sure where to ask but me and my friends want to play a TES Dungeons and Dragons campaign, but the thing is I don't know how to find downloadable pdfs of the 5e system or even a secondhand rulebook for less than $100. If it weren't for the OGL bullshit I'd gladly buy a physical book in a store but at this point I'll take jpegs and some old board game dice if it means not giving to the megacorp.
Go to /tg/ on 4chan, look for the 5e general, you're looking for the link to the trove and it should be in the OP

Also https://5e.tools/ is the best way to look for and find most published rules although not that great if you just want to read the base books since it strips most of the formatting.
 
I'm not sure where to ask but me and my friends want to play a TES Dungeons and Dragons campaign, but the thing is I don't know how to find downloadable pdfs of the 5e system or even a secondhand rulebook for less than $100. If it weren't for the OGL bullshit I'd gladly buy a physical book in a store but at this point I'll take jpegs and some old board game dice if it means not giving to the megacorp.
If you want access to the 5e SRD (including third party resources), just go to 5esrd.com (the same guys who have the Pathfinder SRD). They have the entirety of the SRD on their site, so you can look up whatever you want and don't have to worry about buying multiple books.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's noticed this - I've had a few characters do similar things. I've also noticed a huge uptick in 'teehee I'm a retard' characters, but always framed in very PC terms. I think Critical Role and Fallout 3 are a lot to blame for this, because everyone and their mother I know has some story about the 'dumb Barbarian who doesn't understand things', when what they mean is 'I have Intelligence 10, because this is 5e and Intelligence is fucking useless for anyone but Wizards, so I play average Intelligence as 'hurrdurr, me wear frying pan on head to protects from da shooty shoot beams'.

Out of all the concepts I've allowed, 'I'm a retard with a different view of the world' is one I ban instantly in any permutation. Outside of maybe MUHAHAHA MAD SCIENCE! in my Savage Worlds games. Because crazy Doc Browns tend not to crossover with the 'I wanna play Grug!' or whatever his name is from that fucking show.
Just another case of people not understanding the rules, and that having a 10 in any ability score does not make you an idiot or incapable, it just makes you average. As in a 10 in intelligence is average intelligence, not an idiot or pant-on-head retard. The only way to deal with that is to explain the rules and if they still act like morons, just drop them from the game.
 
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It floors me that people don’t try different gamers and systems. My friends and I like Tensha Bansho Zero.
Yeah, especially in this day and age where finding pdfs of every tabletop game is easy. I have a hard rule that i don't buy physical books until after reading it and liking it.
 
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The absolute fucking state of WotC right now.
 
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