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

[Jet Fuel Johnny]

Ive been running homebrew D&D 5th since 2019 but I have been drawing more and more inspiration lately from the Van Ritchen's guide to Ravenloft as of late and honestly I think thats the most fun setting of the 3rd Edition D&D series

You need to use AD&D 2E, not 3E, for Ravenloft. Nothing involving that faggoty ass Grand Conjunction bullshit.

 

[Overly Serious]

I'm reminded of my very hilarious Paladin player who legitimately once ordered 80 GP worth of carnival fair food. He really did not get just how much food that really was, and it made the table crack up. Thankfully the followers, the poor, and quite a few other people partook in the accidental feast. It made that cook a killing however, though it also meant he had to close his stall due to massive success early.

Many years ago in a D&D game, during a fight a player announced his character wanted to use his catapult. We all came to a stop. "Your what?" "My catapult." "...Where are you keeping a catapult?" "In my pocket?"

The GM had just let people buy whatever was listed in the blue box equipment list when we stopped off in a town, and the fact that the catapult cost 500gp had not rung any alarm bells for the player.

TL;DR: He thought he was walking around with this:


and was actually walking around with this:


Hilarity ensued.

 

[Jet Fuel Johnny]

Many years ago in a D&D game, during a fight a player announced his character wanted to use his catapult. We all came to a stop. "Your what?" "My catapult." "...Where are you keeping a catapult?" "In my pocket?"

The GM had just let people buy whatever was listed in the blue box equipment list when we stopped off in a town, and the fact that the catapult cost 500gp had not rung any alarm bells for the player.

TL;DR: He thought he was walking around with this:
View attachment 7377839

and was actually walking around with this:
View attachment 7377843

Hilarity ensued.

I would have honestly had it been some kind of cool little toy that once a week he could enlarge it and use it.

I'd also give him his wrist rocket slingshot.

 

[Overly Serious]

I would have honestly had it been some kind of cool little toy that once a week he could enlarge it and use it.

I'd also give him his wrist rocket slingshot.

Not for 500gp he doesn't get that! And only if casual high magic use is fitting for the milieu.

If you want to know how I run my games, please check my username.

 

[Corn Flakes]

That's your head canon, not the actual spell description. Besides, not like setting you on fire while stabbing you is "good."

Unspecified necrotic damage is described as "dealt by certain undead and a spell such as chill touch [sp.], withers matter and even the soul".

It's legit the "Capital E" Evil damage type in D&D. A Fire Bolt being cast might scare the crap out of villager but fire is something they familiar with, while witnessing necrotic damage being inflicted will have them running to find a paladin.

Not for 500gp he doesn't get that! And only if casual high magic use is fitting for the milieu.

If you want to know how I run my games, please check my username.

Did you give him a refund, at least?

 

[The Ugly One]

Unspecified necrotic damage is described as "dealt by certain undead and a spell such as chill touch [sp.], withers matter and even the soul".

Lawful Good wizards can take Chill Touch and Ray of Sickness, too. The horror. Have individual spells ever had alignment restrictions? Chill Touch has no restrictions I can see in my 2e PHB.

A Fire Bolt being cast might scare the crap out of villager but fire is something they familiar with

So is rotting meat.

I just don't agree that there's a "good" way to tear the living flesh from someone's bones and a "bad" way.

 

[One_True_Yuri]

You need to use AD&D 2E, not 3E, for Ravenloft. Nothing involving that faggoty ass Grand Conjunction bullshit.

Im mainly using Ravenloft for ideas of monsters and whatnot. The books I got go into really good detail about the psychology, methods and biology of em (of course along with stats and whatnot)
I think my favorite so far is the Created BUT! I will look into getting the 2nd edition books if you reccomend that

 

[2LtMashengo]

Have individual spells ever had alignment restrictions?

Yes, but only for divine casters in 3.PF. A good wizard can very well cast animate dead, but it will shift his alignment towards evil.
Outside of summoning evil outsiders and spawning undead, most of the evil spells have to do with torturing the target to death. At least from my pathfinder experience.

Edit: that said I don't see why a "necrotic" attack would carry the evil tag in itself. Vampiric touch and inflict wounds both fall under that category and neither of them have it.

 

[Dammit Mandrake!]

You need to use AD&D 2E, not 3E, for Ravenloft. Nothing involving that faggoty ass Grand Conjunction bullshit.

I would like to counter and suggest AD&D first edition rather than second edition. It's better.

 

[Glory To Arztotska]

Many years ago in a D&D game, during a fight a player announced his character wanted to use his catapult. We all came to a stop. "Your what?" "My catapult." "...Where are you keeping a catapult?" "In my pocket?"

"Is that a catapult in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

 

[AnOminous]

Here the problem becomes module-based advancement. DMs and players have to do a little less paperwork, but there are fewer incentives to do anything except bash your way through the dungeon. If your elf sneaks into a town guard's barracks, gets caught, and manages to talk his way out, there is absolutely no way to reward you.

I liked the skill system in old Chaosium games like CoC where you'd exercise specific skills by using them successfully. Of course this mainly only applies to class-free systems, where you just collect xp and eventually level up and then somehow all your skills get better, even ones you've never used.

 

[Imperial Citizen]

Tonight, Dice Scum reviews the harbinger of PbtA slop; Apocalypse World!

 

[Jet Fuel Johnny]

I would like to counter and suggest AD&D first edition rather than second edition. It's better.

By far, especially if you add the Wilderness Survival Guide to overland travel in Ravenloft.

The key thing about Ravenloft is player DISempowerment. Everything hates them and wants to eat them, fuck them, or kill them, or any mixture or order. Even the weather hates them.

Their spells don't work right. Any cool abilities don't work right. Monsters are gleefully overpowered.

The PC's are little worms on a great big hook.

 

[Dammit Mandrake!]

Wilderness Survival Guide

It is an awesome book.

 

[That Guy Who Likes The Chili]

Many years ago in a D&D game, during a fight a player announced his character wanted to use his catapult. We all came to a stop. "Your what?" "My catapult." "...Where are you keeping a catapult?" "In my pocket?"

The GM had just let people buy whatever was listed in the blue box equipment list when we stopped off in a town, and the fact that the catapult cost 500gp had not rung any alarm bells for the player.

TL;DR: He thought he was walking around with this:
View attachment 7377839

and was actually walking around with this:
View attachment 7377843

Hilarity ensued.

That reminds me of this old ass video
https://youtu.be/oSynJyq2RRo?si=G_zyw0vgeT5gY1mc

where the rogue sets up a ballista in the middle of a tavern to back-stab somebody.

 

[Brain Problems]

Wilderness Survival Guide

What's the current go-to for grabbing old books easily? I know there was the Trove and then something after...

 

[Dammit Mandrake!]

Not super related, but have any of you played Caylus? Can you tell me a bit about it?

 

[Adamska]

Tonight, Dice Scum reviews the harbinger of PbtA slop; Apocalypse World!

For those who want a very brief summary, since holy shit this book was bad:

If you ever wanted to know where the mentality of using BDSM culture items like consent lists and X cards comes from, it's probably because this book inspired them to do it. After all, it takes a pretty big pervert to read this slop and then want to borrow the system afterwards, and you've seen how many people copied it.

Apocalypse world is a seething bank of horny whose key mechanic for gaining experience is through having sex with your players. It also was inspired by the dude who wrote Sorcerer, which was a smug academic's attempt to make a game without understanding the design principles. Specifically the sequel piece which was all about fucking.

We both went into this motherfucker blind since we never read it, and by the end of it I was apologizing to Venger Satanis because at least his setting had more stuff to work with, and on top of that HE KNEW HIS NATURE. The writer kept trying to say "Oh sex makes me uncomfortable so we usually just fade to black...". One problem: if that was the case, then WHY IN THE FLIBBERING FUCK DID YOU CHOOSE TO MAKE IT A MAJOR FUCKING MECHANIC AND FOUR OF THE FIVE REASONS WHY YOU'D PLAY THIS GODDAMN GAME?!

I don't know how the fuck the dude who wrote this also wrote Dogs in the Vineyard.

 

[Anonymus Fluhre]

"Is that a catapult in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

Should nickname him "Daddy Cum Catapult" in honour of another person who can't read descriptions

 

[Adamska]

Also fun fact since that Apocalypse World stuff has some weird correlations and tieds: Ron Edwards has a lot more to answer for why you get the weird sex slop and all these piles of PbtA shit than you think, and it's a fucking weird rabbit hole.

See, he did this weird book called Sorcerer, and then did a sequel which was all about sex, called Sex and Sorcery. And he did these books and a few more with the piss poor idea of what makes a game simulationist and what makes a game roleplay based. One of the dumber takes was that the Storyteller System and the World of Darkness was simulationist. Which means that it leans more on the mechanics and design than it does the character.

He would eventually run a website known as the Forge, or indierpgs.net, and the guy who made Apocalypse world was a regular user on there. Also the archives have some pretty funny shit for those who look into them.

There were users who compared themselves to fucking Greek gods and claimed they were tapping into the same muse as Shakespeare. All really self important twaddle, and the latter's funny given that Shakespeare was the same dude who wasted pages of one of his plays on fat jokes. Since the motherfucker was a blue collar playwright. He wrote for a living and needed people to watch. He wasn't fucking highbrow. He was popular.

But anyway, this environment seemed to be a breeding ground for this wave of hating mechanics style idiots, who all collectively hate the idea of a collective game requiring a ref for simplicity sake.

So all of this was due to some academic who tried to make a different game, and got gassed up and hyped by a bunch of arrogant pseudo-intellectuals who wanted to pretend they understood the clicky clack dice rolling game where you rock your robe and wizard hat. Or put on emo make up and hissed at people for fun.

Shit's wild man.