Tabletop RPG

Playing Paranoia. Thorn just tried to renege on his 30 credit obligation to a taxi owner. Therlun offered his negotiation services to resolve the dispute, and came up with these terms: "He pays you, and you don't shoot him." Thorn tried to dissemble, but Therlun convinced him that if "you just pay us both the 50 credits, this can all go away."

Amazing.

All right, I am going to need some help from the audience for this one!

So in this weekend's D&D session, two of the five players were missing. Rather than passing on the adventure until everyone was present, those who showed up opted to split the party and leave the two PCs played by the absent players behind to guard the wagon train of refugees they all were escorting. And as luck would have it, the three heroes had absolutely no hap and managed to get captured by a dwarven crime gang and dropped into a 50' pit that was slowly filling with beetles.

The next session, everyone will be in attendance and it'll be the two non-captive PCs with three selected "henchmen" from the refugee group that have some basic combat skills.

To that end! I would like folks to volunteer from BF to have substitute NPCs based off of them! Who wants to be a (temporary) adventuring hero?

I'm very much all in!

A paranoid former town leader, with a persecution complex. With a mangy useless dog named Checkers.

Me! +10 to cooking, primary weapon is a cast-iron skillet. Secondary weapon is either a cat or a Wii controller, depending on what kind of day I'm having.

I know you'll be wantin' my help, so no use in elf-footin' around it. 'Sooner started, sooner finished,' I always say. I been at every battle you can name (in one manner or another). Reckon I could have been a knight, but who wants all that pomp and armor polishing, eh? Fighting ain't pretty. A sharp sword, a strong knife and an ac'rate crossbow'll do me wonders. I'm a strong believer in suppression fire. ' Shoot first, stab second,' I always say.

Also Nute, I'd like to point this thread out to you, HINT!

Hmm. You know, a Let's Play campaign diary of the Greyhawk campaign might be interesting. I'd have to take more copious notes during my sessions, though, to keep things smooth. Possibly when they hit 11th level...

Or . . . run a game for BFers?

Oh man. That'd take putting some serious time into. I know folks do stuff with Skype and shared mapping software and whatnot, I don't know the first thing about that. I'm in Matt Bowyer 's weekly IRC-based Final Fantasy d20 game, but that would be rather difficult to run with the tactical-wargaming combat of D&D 4e.

After NaNoWriMo, I will have an excessive amount of free time on my hands, though. This bears looking into...

Nute , have you looked at Roll20?

Well, this can't possibly be workable, it looks too good.

Apparently it's used by... a lot of gaming podcasts I follow...

It probably costs a million bucks.

...it's free?

What manner of sorcery is this?

I'm kinda pissed about it, really. It's so GOOD!

That said, I don't think it's going to replace IRC in the game I run -- I have too much custom music, too much reliance on logging all of the typing, and too many NPCs (and my acting skills are less than good). But man, look at those pretty screenshots.

Check out this awesome campaign: The Black City. A long time ago, Grey aliens, your standard short, big black-eyed type, built a city on the mythical island of Thule in the artic circle. Vikings come in the summers to explore the city, raid it's hidden treasures, and other crews. Russian elves, Gaelic and Byzantine wizards, Arabian desert warriors, Ape-Men, Berserkers and "Worm Madness".

Matt Bowyer is currently running a bizarre campaign in his game that has the characters individually living out what at first blush appears to be their dream existence -- except for that parts where it's not. We don't know, either in-game or out, why this is happening yet. One PC has escaped from his, and is now going to have to find and dig the others out. We all knew this was coming, because he actually got with us to see what lines he couldn't cross. Nate had his turn last week, so he's ready to come rescue the rest of us. Nute went last night, and the whole thing was breaking my heart and cracking me up at the same time. I'm next... and while I know what the basic setup is, I don't know everything he's going to throw at me. The question we'll all have to deal with is can our characters walk away from the illusion, though it's in many ways better? It's awesome.

It's an awesome Black Mercy/Lotus Eater Machine scenario, and I have no clue what the cause it! It's wonderful!

Nixon (half-elf tax collector): HP 48, AC 19, Fort 19, Reflex 19, Will 18
- Initiative +10, Speed 7
- Acrobatics +12, Diplomacy +10
- Get Him, Checkers!: Nixon has +1 to hit an enemy if no allies are adjacent to that enemy due to his useless dog getting underfoot.
- Grapple: +14 vs Reflex, 1d6+6 damage and target is grabbed (enemy has -2 to escape)
- Suplex: +14 vs Fortitude (against grappled opponent). Push target up to 3 squares, 2d6 damage
- Dropkick: +16 vs AC, 1d6+6 damage, target is prone.
- Baklunish Backdrop (Encounter): +14 vs Fortitude (against grappled opponent). 3d6 damage, target is dazed (save ends)
- Tenser’s Sleeper Hold (Encounter): +14 vs Fortitude (against grappled opponent). Target is stunned (save ends). On the first failed save, target is unconscious (save ends).
- Bigby’s Combination (Daily): three attacks vs. one adjacent opponent
o Bigby’s Spinning Backfist: +14 vs Reflex. 2d6 damage.
o Bigby’s Unsportsmanlike Kick: +14 vs Fortitude. 2d6 damage, target takes -2 to all defenses (save ends)
o Bigby’s Eye Poke: +16 vs AC. 2d6 damage. Target is blinded and takes 5 ongoing damage (save ends both)

Goodwife Punzie (human cook): HP 50, AC 20, Fort 17, Reflex 21, Will 20
- Initiative +8, Speed 6
- Perception +12, Nature +12
- Field Chef: Anyone who spends a healing surge during a Short or Extended rest with Goodwife Punzie in the party gains an additional 2d6 hit points per surge.
- Whack With Skillet: +15 vs AC, 1d8+3 damage.
- Throw Cat: Ranged 5, +14 vs Reflex. Target takes 5 ongoing poison damage (save ends).
- Cast-Iron Uppercut (Encounter): +15 vs AC, 2d8+3 damage. On a hit, target is Stunned (save ends)
- Field Rations (2x Encounter): Minor Action. Goodwife Punzie or an ally within 2 squares may spend a healing surge.
- Skillet Ricochet (Daily): Ranged 5, up to two targets within 5 squares. +15 vs AC, 3d8+3 damage per attack. If both attacks hit, all allies within 5 squares of Goodwife Punzie gain 5 temporary HP.

Bolo (human guard): HP 65, AC 24, Fort 22, Reflex 17, Will 18
- Initiative +5, Speed 5
- Endurance +10, History +12
- Fight Me, Ye Git!: as a free action, Bolo may Mark any enemy he attacks until the end of his next turn.
- Spear Lunge: Melee 2, +16 vs AC, 1d10+5 damage
- Spear Flurry: Melee 1, two attacks, +14 vs AC, 1d10+4 per attack
- Into The Breach (Encounter): Melee 1, +14 vs Reflex, 2d10+5 damage. This attack may be used as part of a charge. If used as part of a charge, it deals an additional 5 damage on a hit and pushes the target 1 square.
- Dragoon’s Leap (Daily): Bolo may fly up to his speed, ending his movement in an unoccupied square. He then makes an attack against every adjacent enemy he can see at +16 vs AC, 3d10+8damage.

(note: the party has already had a PC named Blue, hence the subtle renaming)

Less fun that Nute's campaign, but after a few years of off and on playing, my 4th ed campaign has finally started hitting the end of the heroic tier at which point I've decided to chuck out most of the items and go with inherent bonuses because it ends up just being too much crap on a char sheet.

Looks neat, is it easier to use than Vassal? Might almost be worth trying to do tabletop gaming in this fashion.

When I hit that point, I usually have an in-game event to balance out and upgrade PCs' items. Although it's not so much weapons I have to balance, as random Wondrous Items that pop up in treasure parcels. The goddamn rope of climbing has been the most-used item in the entire game so far, to the point where the group braved a trap 2 levels above theirs twice just to make sure it wasn't left behind.

Roll20 is awesome. Especially in a dungeon crawl where you can generate the entire damn dungeon and instantly flip from encounter to encounter.

That's awesome. I'd say we've been fortunate to avoid that, but that's part of the impetus of this - my players have been shit for telling me what they want in treasure parcels and I've been trying to stock dungeons with useful crap. It's been about a 50/50 deal and is just too much damn work and headache for too little reward. If I'm going to have to put in that much work on coming up with shit, I might as well make it narratively interesting and hide items as boons or favors or training and the like.

My favorite bits - the names on these powers are great!

Why is Half-Elf Tax Collector not an officially published class?
What? No Side Suto?

Have you ever played HackMaster 4ed? If you haven't, you should at least give it a thumb through.
The last two are "Groin Stomp" and "Eye Gouge", advanced combat skills players can train, though the former is free for Gnome Titans (short-bearded or shaven Gnomes that a badass soldiers, especially in numbers).

Lovely. Punzie obviously needs a Bag of Cat Holding, or a Cat Bandolier (or possibly a Cat Caddy: "For this shot, I need some drag and backspin, give me the Persian.)".

Lovely! (Want to like more!)

Matt Bowyer is making me cry in a session right now. Make him stop!

Knowing Matt, it's because he's being a misogynist. =)

I am a terrible person and I should feel bad.

BUT I DON'T

I'm actually kind of jealous. I've always wanted to try tabletop RPGs. They sound like fun.

Well, I started up a Temple of Elemental Evil LP in that forum...

Thanks for the posts about Roll20, guys.

That's a sign of a kick ass game!

Generally it's tricky to trigger any emotion strong enough to break through the out of game table banter.

It looks like I have a group interested in Dungeon World, so I'm pretty excited about that (other than the fact that I think I'm now the DM). I also splurged on the two new HackMaster books (core and bestiary), and they live up to their reputations. They are gorgeous, and I really like the system they put together (particularly the combat, which is a second-by-second count-up system instead of arbitrary rounds). The Hacklopdedia of Beasts is something else, too. It's the most interesting, detailed, and fun to read bestiary I've ever encountered. It puts Pathfinder's to shame.

RPG PORN!

I MUST OWN THOSE BOOKS

What did those cost? They look amazing.

I think those are $60 each.

They MSRP for $60, but you can get them from Superherogameland.com for a ridiculous $38 each. I got mine from Coolstuffinc when they had them in stock because they had a discount code that let me get them for $40 each, and I threw in a copy of the awesome Dungeon Alphabet limited edition hardcover to get free shipping.

EDIT: I see that White Dragon Enterprises dude in Boardgamegeek is selling them for $37 each (free shipping at $100). I always forget to check that guy's listings...

You know a session has been well-constructed when you, as a player, say at the end, "I'm going to work on the Let's Play so I can torment someone for a change!"

I submitted my cover shots to RPGGeek a few days ago and they were all rejected. The admin comments regarding why were so snarky that I guess I'm done with trying to contribute to that part of the site from now on.

On the upside, I now understand why there are so few images in the RPGGeek section.

So today's D&D session had fun elements of a Mafia game. The party of five PCs had been shanghaied to Ravenloft, and were being forced to take part in a twisted game to amuse their captors, solving riddles and avoiding deathtraps. All the while, they had been told that one of them had been infected with vampirism. After each encounter, I handed them all a card stating how they were personally feeling, and asked them to secretly write who they thought the vampire among them was.

There were three options that would have triggered an event: if four people all selected the fifth, if everyone selected someone different, or if everyone selected themselves. None of these happened, though, although everyone got more and more paranoid and willing to use burst attacks that would hit an ally as well ("just to see if he heals faster...")

They wound up "failing" each test by their captors' standards, choosing emotion over reason. Refusing to follow instructions, instead risking themselves to try and save someone, for instance.

In the end, though, they survived, got back to Greyhawk, and have now made their way to the small domain they have been gifted with in the nation of Blackmoor. The name translates loosely as "Shit Swamp", and its main exports seem to be peat and misery. They have decided that they are going to turn this plot of land with a population density of like a third of a person per square kilometer into a thriving center of trade. The bladesinger wizard insists he's going to start a mage college. Note: none of the populace is even literate.

So now they get a wonderful weekly challenge of managing the resources of their home base, providing for the common good, dealing with the local baron asking for taxes/conscripts, etc.

If you like story-focused games but, for some dumb reason, don't own Apocalypse World, you should probably check out this sale:
http://epimas.wordpress.com/2012/12/16/a-very-naughty-nice-epimas/

There's also a bunch of other interesting sounding games that you can bundle with it.

Following a game on that list, I found another by Ben Lehman:
Being a role-playing game on the topic of the High-Flying adventures of Beatrice Henrietta Bristol-Smythe, DBE, daring Aviatrix and accomplished Exploratrix, and her Gentleman Companion, who for a Modest Fee, accompanies Beatrice Henrietta BristolSmythe, DBE, when the Occasion warrants her an Escort.
Woof! That's a title.

And it looks like something that might well be forum-playable. The 1 page rules (and 1 page character sheet).

Has Apocalypse World not actually been talked about in length here, before? Because holy shit it is so good, story gaming actually done right.

It takes about three minutes to make an interesting character. GM prep is non-existent, as threats and themes are all emergent from the players' actions. It takes more creativity and improv' chops, but is so damn fun.