Geek, gamer, whingebag (he/him) 'Dicemechanic' on Discord. Blogs rarely at dicemechanic.wordpress.com No DMs (thanks Online Safety Act) I block often. Nothing personal, but this is my walled garden.
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Yup indeedy
Agree with Mark. For ever-GMs, there is joy in running games. The reward of the con is the joy of getting access to a venue and different players
Just saw your DM pop up but couldn't read as I haven't verified
Oh yeah, setting bit for sure - unless it is a choice players need to make for chargen, then you need to at least introduce it sooner
Info on languages is great. It adds real richness to a setting. Just tell me about the setting first. And don't put it in the GM bit please. It's vital info for players.
"when you're first delving in you might occasionally find yourself lost in its terms" No shit Sherlock. Good there's a glossary. But explain words in context and make the glossary a nice to have rather than a necessity.
Ok. Now languages are annoying me. Firstly, don't tell me about languages on page 4. I don't care. It's too soon. If you do, it should build on what you've already told me. Hannic, Hasher, Hulathi, Alwainic, Mouathenic. No idea what any of these things are yet. Poor structure.
The War Road is mentioned several times. It seems to be key to the setting. It's not shown. There are many small towns scattered along the coast. Not shown. To the east there is the great Luasa Desert. On the map, it's the Luasa Sands. This is pg2. Is a bit of clarity too much to ask? /End
I have started to read Jackals It has a map It is annoying me Zaharets refers to one small part of the map AND the whole map The city states of the Melkoni are in the north (no city states shown) Then it says Melkoni are far to the west, with their colony of Kroryla (not shown) 1/
What a lovely rumour to start the day with. True or (probably) not, just thinking about it peps me up
i've been replaying a little bit of baldur's gate 3 and it's crazy how good this game is. imagine how great it could be if they had used an actually good ruleset, like 4th edition
@antporter.bsky.social
And the Romans, and Celts, the Flemish, the Welsh, Irish, Picts, Caledonii, the Huguenots, etc etc
I watched the trailer and that was enough. As a medieval fan (loaded with my ancient MA in medieval studies) that makes me sad, but I could see that watching it would make me sadder.
Leaving the ECHR is the latest iteration of the "one weird trick" politics that has served us so well in recent years. It appeals because it's simple and it won't work because it's simple.
"Pat, why do you carry that ridiculous 600mm lens on long hikes?" Buddy, I can see mountains reflected in the eyes of a trailside pika.
Good job!
I love everything about it except Johnny Silverhands, who can die in a ditch đ
We love our Skoda EV, it feels luxurious yet (being Skoda) was pretty reasonable. But the range is a killer. 180-200 miles in the summer at 55mph. In winter, on the motorway at 65mph, nearer half that.
This article misses EV key facts. For most trips there ARE enough charging points. However, you usually get less mileage than advertised and fast chargers cost MUCH more per mile than petrol or diesel. Long trips can get VERY expensive www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Shit, observed Gandalf, we could have used the eagles. Itâs a good thing youâre speaking telepathically, thought Galadriel, for if Sam heard you say that, heâd stab you in your sleep. Doo doo de doo doo, hummed Celeborn telepathically. His thoughts were never interesting.
Trickle down taxation. Idiots.
If you honestly believe the Russians hit the EU delegation in Kyiv by accident, I don't think you should be allowed to operate heavy machinery and I frankly question if letting you dress and bathe yourself is a violation of our collective duty of care.
Holiday Scorecard RPG words read: zero Castle visited: one Breakfast comas achieved: two On balance, a positive
Fair comment
Whereas I say, why the hell not? Sounds fun! (and more varied in SotWW than most RPGs)
I am THIS CLOSE to saying I need a tabletop game book club to study stuff for the column like, twice a month I just put up the batsignal & say I WANNA PLAY X FOR THE FIRST TIME & THEN ASK WEIRD AF QUESTIONS ABOUT IT ALOUD & then we meet in a tabletop simulator session and faff about for 4hrs đ€
As an optimist, I brought Daggerheart AND Jackals on holibobs So far, needy kids have allowed me to read... precisely zero words. Selfish little pricks. They can buy their own food from now on
This is why 4e encounter powers are the best invention ever đđ«Ł
I think 3-4 is still fine for novices, you just need to pick spells with 3 castings (of which there are several) One thing that bugs me is how everyone needs armour and shields, for a game with lots of build options the gear is quite one sided.
Altho @xneardark.bsky.social showed that if you don't optimise your priest, they can be very variable too đ
Can't say I've looked tbh đ It does annoy me when the game sets out clear distinction between Fun Quirky and Optimised Deadly, without an easy way for a GM to put their finger on the scales
If I remember from the Discord, people were recommending more encounters between rests than I tended to do - not least because I didn't want to run a perpetual fighting game. But the balance seems to depend on 4-5 fights between rests, not 1-2
The consensus seems to be Priests are the best class overall, especially for alpha strikes
Judge Anderson by Arthur Adams #2000AD
Mine very similar, but think it was Golden Heroes, FASA Dr Who, and Bushido
Writing a GM section is hard. So instead I wrote down every role I could imagine that a GM might play and instructed the reader to kind of figure it out themselves as they go
It's the non-spontaneous that worries me more
Yup. Annoying that.
Yup. Obvious really. That's the point at which low and mid income growth stopped, dissatisfaction rose, and the guys at the top had a small blip in their incomes and then continued to enjoy double digit portfolio growth...
This, but cards đ
You may have done, but @sashette.bsky.social didnt
Definitely seems to have a mid level sweet spot that rewards player system mastery
The excellent Shadow of the Weird Wizard which Iâm keen to run soon is Deal of the Day on @drivethrurpg.com đ: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/4...
What have Fart Starters got to do with it?
@impq.bsky.social today I learned that this is a thing. The most Maiden boardgame EVER www.board-game.co.uk/product/senj...
Grue?
He should write scifi with imagination like that!
www.gojetters.com
Good thinking. How about Star / Interplanetary / Galactic Agents?
Judging from my eBay searches, you could now pick up a virtually complete set of 5e books for a few quid each. If you so desired. Which I guess people don't. Hence the price.
You sure you're not actually dead? Like in The Sixth Sense, but with social media?
On reflection, I can imagine being sad that my kids didn't find any new friends to play with. But for me personally, solitude works fine
We'll be running a Bring and Buy throughout Ruby-Con on 6th September. Everyone donating ÂŁ5 or more to Great Ormond Street Hospital can sell games on the day. More details here: leisuregames.com/blogs/in-fin...
Hang on. For metal, you said it was about when they started. Now for authors, it's when they published their best work? Make your mind up!!
Well, in that case I'll stick with Pratchett and Iain Banks for my counter example then đ there's always something
Do you really need my answer? Meeting people? When I'm trying to relax? Are you mad?!
Yes. I'm definitely a better GM than I was 10 years ago, better at managing pace and table energy.
Heavy metal evolved from a subculture into a cultural juggernaut in the 80s
Listen, none of them are truly shit. I'm exaggerating for effect alright? đ
But also, wrong Because Quest for Fire, Sun and Steel, and To Tame a Land are shit Big Orra, Flash of the Blade, The Duellist are shit Alexander the Great is spectacular utter dog shit Maiden put shit songs on every album, but the highs don't get much higher.
Upf not UFO, thanks autocorrect
Known Space Stellar Worlds I think there's a scout society mentioned somewhere. Altho in the KH modules the PCs are explicitly part of the UFO (or are by the end)
And I agree with all this, but draw the line when a piece is explicitly celebrating the person, not their works.
Dunno about you, but in the issue of separating "art vs artist", I'd say celebrating their birthday falls very much on the artist side.
Hey, who asked me you? đ
Nah. What about just "Frontiers"
I found the font a bit small on the core rules - it was the first rulebook I had to break my reading glasses out (tho its most of them now of course)
How happy is the human soul!
I should be doing hardcore marketing for the new issue right now but this is my view for 1 mas day so Iâm going to treat you like adults who are capable of buying an incredible magazine filled with amazing art & stunning features on tabletop games without needing to be pandered to Shop.wyrd.science
Too late, but best real life WW2 operations for an RPG one shot?
We still have some spaces for players at the Owlbear and Wizard's Staff in Leamington 12th-14th September - please do come along if can and let gaming friends know! warhorn.net/events/the-o... #OBaWS
That's a great write up. Disagree with your conclusion tho, doesn't sound like it is a must buy for the Tolkien fan. A four hour adventure and badly summarised rules of a game I already own? Think I'll pass!
Decided to write my musings down www.patreon.com/posts/one-ri...
Week off. Gonna read some of my 20+ unread RPGs. Too many to know where to start tho. Maybe the Xbox will help me decide...
Isn't a perimeter a measurement of digestion?
I just tried Rallyman GT on my 13" android tablet and it wasn't great
Yeah, I wouldn't use the chart now, but the concept was good
Iâm sorry but no. Protests and demos with dozens or low hundreds of attendees are not especially newsworthy. Iâve seen larger turnouts at a Warhammer event.
Someone sent me a DM Can't read it (online safety act, y'know) Can't see who sent it Can't remove the notification Quite annoying @bsky.app
Is it? What do stats start at?
It's notable that the starter set tweaks things to make it easier for beginning PCs. Dunno why they didn't make that the standard rule, but I guess they want to build in lengthy campaign progression
Just had a look at Terraforming Mars. Never played it but it has a tutorial... But no. That's too fiddly even for a tablet screen!
No, it's a GM
Just reactivated my BGA account. Gonna get some virtual boardgames back in my life.
This. I saw the post.
Day 1 #rpgobscuria Apocalypse Prevention Inc. from Third eye Games. Electrum seller (250-499). Very much Men in Black the RPG, but better than the actual Men in Black RPG. Play a team of agents fighting to save humanity. Has a lot of character options, including demons and monsters.
Yeah, I found the conclusion of the TV series entirely satisfying in the context of the character motivations as we knew them. The pace of the conclusion was the problem and how rapidly characters seemed to change. Execution, not concept.
I wonder if a seven figure salary helped?
My favourite is GM that stands for GM and relates to the verb "to GM" đ
Concern over immigration has zero to do with any numbers. It's based on emotion, not data.
I think it's got good stuff and other things that are unnecessarily backwards. Like your stat setting the target number rather than just adding to a roll, which imo is more intuitive.
I've got a week off now, maybe I'll finally open it đ
I'm on the itch page right now đ
It has bits, but no downtime rules for non magi, gear rules only really cover armour and weapons, and I'm not sure you could call it light-to-medium crunch either! Can't remember how it does encumbrance either. Just adds up weight I think?
I was reflecting on it while walking, and I also want settlement rules, so you can build up a village around a mega dungeon. The videogame Frostpunk came to mind, as did XCom.
Thanks, I'll check it out
It's inevitable that none will be quite right, for this is how Heartbreakers are born
I don't want free play, I want specific rules and activities!