tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post7891355821887777114..comments2024-03-19T16:24:23.777-07:00Comments on Playing D&D With Porn Stars: We Will Indulge In Your MeatpiesZak Sabbathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-81862111145522463732013-07-15T17:17:43.712-07:002013-07-15T17:17:43.712-07:00Alright I REALLY enjoyed reading this. As a fellow...Alright I REALLY enjoyed reading this. As a fellow GM you did a great job of pointing out the things Mike does that tend to go unnoticed(especially if you are GMing well). Additionally, you are incredibly astute in picking up on Rodney's playing, I didn't notice at first but you are totally dead on. Thanks for this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-73901611119556331292013-07-07T23:39:38.580-07:002013-07-07T23:39:38.580-07:00Damn it, where's my +1 button for this reply?
...Damn it, where's my +1 button for this reply?<br />The whole video was good, too. And I notice happily that I used the "tell some shit on a fumble" trick a couple weeks ago, which worked fine for the group.AsenRGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17548696815567190696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-24140293400126386222013-07-05T20:51:50.613-07:002013-07-05T20:51:50.613-07:00I enjoyed reading your take on this video after ha...I enjoyed reading your take on this video after having slogged through the forum-bile concerning it. It was refreshing. I felt roughly the same way (although I think it would have been just great to watch the dev team go through their repertoire of funny voices).<br /><br />I liked his (apparently) disciplined approach to running a playtest session that kept things quick and moving, and the way in which he seemed prepared to deal not only with their clever shenanigans, but with the contiguity of background noise.<br /><br />Kudos to Mr. Mearls. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01094023074437527674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-6323806815613616502013-07-03T13:14:12.075-07:002013-07-03T13:14:12.075-07:00Yes, I am Wil McKinnee, also.
Thanks for the cons...Yes, I am Wil McKinnee, also.<br /><br />Thanks for the consideration. Saved me a lot of anxiety towards this coming Saturday.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-16437294885373755912013-07-03T13:05:09.471-07:002013-07-03T13:05:09.471-07:00Wait, are you also WIll McKinnee?
if so:
Whether y...Wait, are you also WIll McKinnee?<br />if so:<br />Whether you explain the subplot situation in or out of game and whether you do it fast or slow is up to you depending on what your group wants.<br /><br />The "discarded" subplots should keep playing out as they normally would, possibly with emergent consequences for the players.<br /><br />I sometimes reveal what's going on on the "paths not taken" to PCs in dreams while they're knocked unconscious during fights or resting.Zak Sabbathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-66788906237354126122013-07-03T13:00:18.693-07:002013-07-03T13:00:18.693-07:00No, I'd say you understood the questions quite...No, I'd say you understood the questions quite well. Now let me see if I understand the lead up and resulting conclusion(s) of your response. <br /><br />I present a (contextual or at least reasonable?) situation in which all of my current, indulgent little subplots are offered up as playable options (or, like, possible Adventure-Lines) and the party is required to choose a couple of these. Should I go ahead and railroad them into this encounter from where they are at the game's start? Or maybe take a session to slowly shove them towards some locale with hostile occurrences?<br /><br />Or is this more like: Sit my friends down, tell them their options, make a decision, start the game, zapp! that Djinn Kibitzer who loves to play practical jokes on the party from great distances has just teleported all the members to blah blah blah. Like fast travelling after selecting a quest.<br /><br />Regardless, what I'm really impressed with is the resolve that I think follows in how you explained the session should be conducted. I mean, if we're talking about how to 'rebirth' a campaign then my impulse would be, "explain more. create more. don't let shit be flat," or whatever. But that's a dumb way of going about it.<br /><br />Your solution is like a real good use of entropy.<br /><br />Last question, promise: What do I do about the way that the discarded stories effect the way my players understand their environment? Like, what if one of my shitty subplots just subsumed the imaginative identity and meaning of a, let's say, temple of cycloptic priests and all its occupants and that it would be rather strange for me to ignore this later in the game? <br /><br />Though, I must say, it seems quite unfair of me to ask you to reorient the particular semiotics of my game. That's probably my responsibility. <br /><br />Hope this came across somewhat clearly. I got some bad writing happens.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-90873023408055650002013-07-03T11:50:26.140-07:002013-07-03T11:50:26.140-07:00If I understand your question (big "if")...If I understand your question (big "if") then I would recommend:<br /><br />get all your emerging story cards on the table and give the players a set-up where they get to choose which ones they want to do something with. Then run that one session real open. Then close down to a narrow, deep focus once they've gone a significant distance down that rabbit hole next session.Zak Sabbathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-36464363746773254672013-07-03T11:45:18.248-07:002013-07-03T11:45:18.248-07:00On the subject of 'DM pacing', which (as I...On the subject of 'DM pacing', which (as I am a relatively inexperienced Game Master)tends to oscillate, at times quite radically, from session to session. Now, I'll say that the particular individuals, which I GM, have never failed to require of me that 'substantial narrative possibility' be adhered to all contextual game activity. <br /><br />My issue being, I'm worried that I occasionally find myself stuck gaming in the shadow of some other, rather excellent get-togethers that we've had. Times where, you know, shit just clicks extranormally. In this case, all of the hacked up tables I've appropriated, weird personal mechanics and in-game content sum up to produce a genuinely, if not remarkably, good time. And this can happen two-three nights a week for a couple of months, but inevitably there will arise a session in which, due to mine and the players expectations regarding performance and general experience, I fumble in my attempts at cognitive dexterity. Yet, instead of taking the time to pause/manage/continue, I Want to keep pace (partly due to way in which my company conducts itself(ves) during 'play')and I'll remain confident in my ability to work through a situation, usually a narrative dilemma, from scratch. <br /><br />This always works for the single session. I mean, I can keep the pace and I know that my at-times-temperamental players respond well to this. But the narrative-based and ecounter-based decisions that I make tend to always force me to continue making them and then things get haphazard. So, two weeks later, for example, I'll find myself engaged in this uncanny sort of story-or-setting-or-occurrence that has taken on its own life. Which is good, right? Well, I'd say so but in this case it all seems to get fairly contrived and chocked full of empty requirements and meanings that the players soon lose interest in.<br /><br />I guess my question for you would be:<br /><br />How do I, as a GM, retain the game's quality after I've already buried myself in all of this false significance? <br /><br />How do I redirect their attention back to a far more open world of interactive potential, as opposed to this fake-ass Fantasy-Novella I got going on that I don't even want to write?<br /><br />I see where I've made mistakes in this. I'm just not sure how to save the campaign from my writerly tendencies when DMing, which I depend upon for pacing.<br /><br />Thanks for your time.<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02966926932711251353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-76344667037137283002013-07-03T10:41:34.386-07:002013-07-03T10:41:34.386-07:00Rodney Thomson did a lot of 3rd party stuff for D&...Rodney Thomson did a lot of 3rd party stuff for D&D before taking over the Star wars line; he's one of the few guys whose material I trust when buying.gerardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03583223899088388752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-78689816112569984082013-07-03T10:23:58.975-07:002013-07-03T10:23:58.975-07:00Isn't Rodney Thompson Mr Star Wars Saga Editio...Isn't Rodney Thompson Mr Star Wars Saga Edition Everything Guy?Viktorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04867648528753994863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-82805271141886524822013-07-03T10:19:37.060-07:002013-07-03T10:19:37.060-07:00Thanks for pointing the video out. It was enterta...Thanks for pointing the video out. It was entertaining and learnative.<br /><br />- ArkArkheinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04197738947435750745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-83234132586022447982013-07-03T06:58:08.819-07:002013-07-03T06:58:08.819-07:00I found the ambush scene/mechanics very instructio...I found the ambush scene/mechanics very instructional. how great when the targets don't show up and the players have to roll for mental and/or physical fatigue and wind up not paying attention or falling asleep. Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06177538062716782298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-20057015212479694552013-07-03T06:27:06.999-07:002013-07-03T06:27:06.999-07:00Great video and accurate commentary. It's nic...Great video and accurate commentary. It's nice to know I;m doing something similar to a "professional" when I DM. I never liked the voices. <br /><br />Also:I had difficulty taking my eyes off of Mearl's disembodied head floating above the DM screen. Doomsdavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00235585177028383618noreply@blogger.com