Re: [Official!] Project Horizons Comment Crew Chat thread.

[Stringtheory]

Hey everyone I have something I could use a bit of assistance with.

I'm going to be DM'ing my first campaign of D&D 4e in a few weeks and I could some advice. I have a plot lined up and several encounters planned out, but I'm kind of uncertain on how to react to the various ways everything can go off the rails. Spontaneous creativity isn't my strong point.

4e...
Believe me the players can screw up your carefully crafted campaign in every way, shape, and form, and you can't plan for all of them, so unfortunately spontaneous creativity is kinda DM skill #1, which is why I'm never DMing, the only way it would work is if you did some serious railroading, but your campaign would probably suffer for that, not to mention you would have to come up with ways to keep the plot on track, which requires, you guessed it, spontaneous creativity

[Guest]

Hey everyone I have something I could use a bit of assistance with.

I'm going to be DM'ing my first campaign of D&D 4e in a few weeks and I could some advice. I have a plot lined up and several encounters planned out, but I'm kind of uncertain on how to react to the various ways everything can go off the rails. Spontaneous creativity isn't my strong point.

Hmm, well, rolling with the punches is definitely something you'll pick up, in my experience. Generally, if a player asks to do something you didn't expect, asking "Why?" can help you plan out what they're doing and organically get the campaign back into a more comfortable zone (it also gives you a second to think). Knowing your players also helps - once you know how your players tend to react, you can plan out those reactions and also distract them/lead them as necessary (for instance, if there's a recurring male NPC in one game, I know for a fact that, sooner or later, at least one of the people I tend to play with is going to try to seduce them. And I also know that they always roll 20s on those checks, dammit.). 4e, in my experience so far, is easier to deal with because you don't have druids melting stone walls in a castle to get around encounters, generally speaking. It's got fewer crazy mechanics, which people miss, but it also makes things easier to plan for until your players start getting creatively insane.

Another thing I've found helpful is to not necessarily plan things out beyond the next session you're running. Sure, you should know the world you're running, and you should know what any recurring villains/evil plots are up to, but players can do very wonky things and it sucks to have to throw out a lot of your plot because they decided to switch sides halfway through the game.

Last bit of advice I have - have a plan for if they fail utterly. Seriously. Sometimes, players are dumb. Sometimes they get their PCs killed in dumb ways, or dodge plot hooks, or give up on super simple puzzles and then start wandering the surrounding wilderness looking for caves for no damn reason. When players screw up, they should be punished for it a little (have an NPC let them know how dumb they are, perhaps; it's very cathartic), but it should also open up new opportunities for the plot to go in interesting directions. Players don't like screwing up, and if given a chance to fix things (with, say, a quest) they will generally go for it.

Oh, wait, one last thing: avoid the high health, high defenses monster archetypes - they make battles VERY boring, because they tend not to do much other than flank and soak up damage, and they also tend to be the last monster in a fight that definitely can't win but still needs to be slowly whittled down over a bunch of rounds when the players already know they've got the baddies beat. If it looks like this is happening, consider (if possible) having the bad guys surrender. It can make for plot opportunities (interrogation for details on the villains' plans, for instance) and avoids having the players who are in it for the story and roleplaying become super bored.

That's pretty much what I've learned! I'm by no means an expert DM or anything. Remember that your players are in it to have fun, too, and that it's a shared storytelling experience - they'll generally be cooperative and help make things fun if you let them. :)

[Stringtheory]

Hey everyone I have something I could use a bit of assistance with.

I'm going to be DM'ing my first campaign of D&D 4e in a few weeks and I could some advice. I have a plot lined up and several encounters planned out, but I'm kind of uncertain on how to react to the various ways everything can go off the rails. Spontaneous creativity isn't my strong point.

*snip*

Also try to avoid using minions, they're just cannon fodder seeing as they only having one hit point, which makes no sense.

[Guest]

Hey everyone I have something I could use a bit of assistance with.

I'm going to be DM'ing my first campaign of D&D 4e in a few weeks and I could some advice. I have a plot lined up and several encounters planned out, but I'm kind of uncertain on how to react to the various ways everything can go off the rails. Spontaneous creativity isn't my strong point.

*snip*

Also try to avoid using minions, they're just cannon fodder seeing as they only having one hit point, which makes no sense.

They can actually be kind of useful for some fight/monster ideas, though I definitely would only use them when it makes sense for something to be dying in one hit. (I had these crawling hand thingies that would crawl up from a pit every so often during a fight and attempt to grapple a player and then stitch themselves into their flesh, causing psychic damage as their aberrant consciousness bled into the player's... Halloween specials! Anyway, they were designed to die in one hit. Until the players get to mid/high levels, I generally would avoid making anything humanoid a 1hp monster - until it makes sense for them to be able to just slap aside something of a similar species as them, it shouldn't generally happen, IMO)

[Ketchup]

Hey everyone I have something I could use a bit of assistance with.

I'm going to be DM'ing my first campaign of D&D 4e in a few weeks and I could some advice. I have a plot lined up and several encounters planned out, but I'm kind of uncertain on how to react to the various ways everything can go off the rails. Spontaneous creativity isn't my strong point.

I suggest you read Darths and Droids if you haven't already, it gives assorted little pointers on game handling in footnotes, and it's really funny.

[Stringtheory]

Hey everyone I have something I could use a bit of assistance with.

I'm going to be DM'ing my first campaign of D&D 4e in a few weeks and I could some advice. I have a plot lined up and several encounters planned out, but I'm kind of uncertain on how to react to the various ways everything can go off the rails. Spontaneous creativity isn't my strong point.

*snip*

Also try to avoid using minions, they're just cannon fodder seeing as they only having one hit point, which makes no sense.

*snip*

It isn't just that, as one of my old DMs said "Monsters have an innate knowledge of how much health they have, just like players. So a 1hp minion would know he could be killed in one hit", plus from my time playing 4e, most battles progress very similarly, you start out killing the minions with area effect attacks, then you go after the tougher enemies

[CamoBadger]

So, one of the groups I'm in on FiMFiction just hit 500 members, so we're having a writing contest for a Fallout:Equestria OneShot that must be under 5000 words.

I wrote mine up, and was wondering if anyone here would mind pre-reading it to make sure I didn't mess it up too bad?

If nobody wants to that's fine, just thought I'd ask and see if anyone was interested.

Also, need help thinking of a name and deciding if I stopped in a good spot or if I should continue a little further...

[Ketchup]

I wrote mine up, and was wondering if anyone here would mind pre-reading it to make sure I didn't mess it up too bad?

Also, need help thinking of a name and deciding if I stopped in a good spot or if I should continue a little further...

I could pre-read it, maybe help with the name, too.

[Stringtheory]

So, one of the groups I'm in on FiMFiction just hit 500 members, so we're having a writing contest for a Fallout:Equestria OneShot that must be under 5000 words.

I wrote mine up, and was wondering if anyone here would mind pre-reading it to make sure I didn't mess it up too bad?

If nobody wants to that's fine, just thought I'd ask and see if anyone was interested.

Also, need help thinking of a name and deciding if I stopped in a good spot or if I should continue a little further...

I can help!*

*how much help I'll actually be is up for debate though...

[Downloaded Skill]

I'm wondering how to tune some of the encounters though. I'm thinking for the first serious encounter of just using basic squad tactics to force them to think about things. Guardians with polearms and marks to hamper mobility of melee with archers / casters to pin down ranged and just whittle them down. We ad lib mechanics all the time so I'm thinking of including a suppression effect like X-COM. Reducing to hit and potentially getting hit by a free attack if they move. We don't keep track of ammo anyways.

I want to include fights more creative than "Fight this big god damn thing for an hour", but I don't want to overdue things and screw them over because they couldn't figure out what to do. Any ideas would be appreciated.

[Frost]

So, one of the groups I'm in on FiMFiction just hit 500 members, so we're having a writing contest for a Fallout:Equestria OneShot that must be under 5000 words.

I wrote mine up, and was wondering if anyone here would mind pre-reading it to make sure I didn't mess it up too bad?

If nobody wants to that's fine, just thought I'd ask and see if anyone was interested.

Also, need help thinking of a name and deciding if I stopped in a good spot or if I should continue a little further...

I could take a look, for what it's worth

[Ironmonger]

"What did they say about the geniuses and retards? They're the same thing or something?” -Gavin Free

True words.

[Guest]

I'm wondering how to tune some of the encounters though. I'm thinking for the first serious encounter of just using basic squad tactics to force them to think about things. Guardians with polearms and marks to hamper mobility of melee with archers / casters to pin down ranged and just whittle them down. We ad lib mechanics all the time so I'm thinking of including a suppression effect like X-COM. Reducing to hit and potentially getting hit by a free attack if they move. We don't keep track of ammo anyways.

I want to include fights more creative than "Fight this big god damn thing for an hour", but I don't want to overdue things and screw them over because they couldn't figure out what to do. Any ideas would be appreciated.

What level are the players starting out at? Some tactics can be problematic at early levels; for instance, vampires that attempt a grapple and then perform repeated negative energy attacks. Anyway, one thing that's always interesting is caster enemies - they can be a serious threat, especially early on, and training players to deal with them quickly and efficiently can be good. Other ideas... well, the first time I killed a player was with a summoner-type dude that transferred his health pool into creating golems, making a maximum of two at a time, so that was at least slightly effective (he had some terrain advantages, too - those are also good to keep in mind, as rough terrain can be easily held by just one NPC). One tactic that can be scary but is extremely irritating to deal with is having a character be grabbed and completely immobilized by a big bad monster while continually taking damage until the players outside manage to help them free (or until they succeed at some sort of check) - this can be very threatening, but it's also no fun for the trapped player. Bad guy that teleports upon being struck is hilarious, but probably more fun for the DM than the players. Generally, fights that involve reinforcements that A) can be predicted and avoided if the players are clever, and B) present a new element of strategy when they enter the field, are fun. The reinforcements also can be removed before they arrive if the players are having too much trouble with the enemies they're already facing. In general, though, making up new mechanics and rules is pretty easy to do in 4E and definitely lets you do a lot of fun stuff, so I'd say go for it!

@Minions
For my part, I don't like the idea that monsters have an idea of their raw health as an intrinsic statistic; I like the idea of health levels as more of an abstraction. 1 HP things, once the characters are, say, level 10, would work for me for enemies up to elevated peasants - basic badguy recruits with little training, not much in the way of physical prowess, and some small levels of dumb confidence. They are people who, if given an actual HP value, would die/be incapacitated immediately once being hit by the players anyway, so it's one less thing to keep track of in a game of many, many numbers. Now, the actual value of monsters designed to be one-shottable is debatable, but I've found uses for them.

[Guest]

"What did they say about the geniuses and retards? They're the same thing or something?” -Gavin Free

True words.

What video was that from? I can't remember.

[Ironmonger]

"What did they say about the geniuses and retards? They're the same thing or something?” -Gavin Free

True words.

What video was that from? I can't remember.

Let's Play Minecraft Episode 40 - Dig Down Part 2.

[Guest]

Oh that video, it's been awhile since I watched that one it was funny

[RoboRed]

I am laughing at this far harder than I should.

[CamoBadger]

God damnit Robo I can't breathe.

[Ketchup]

I am laughing at this far harder than I should.

Spoiler:

That's what should happen when you use a bus as a submarine, spaceship, whatever...

Ugh, memories...

[Guest]

ITT One mod attempts to kill another mod in a vicious (and hilarious) power play.

[Ketchup]

I don't get it.

The Magic School Bus.

[Ironmonger]

I misread that as "Mr. Freeze" at first.

Unrelated:

I think that, once I get back into digital art, my first objective will be to ponify WWE. Always wanted to do that since I became a wrestling fan.

[Ironmonger]

[Frost]

@Raven: I'm pretty sure that's a scene from American Gods

[Harmony Ltd.]

Interesting concept on griffin armor :

http://derpiboo.ru/318877

[Frost]

Well, I'm surprised that a brony artist even knows how to draw armor that's not the pseudo-Greek nonsense I usually see

[Frost]

Nature is so fascinating

Faith in fandom restored

I can only imagine what's being said

[Harmony Ltd.]

Well, I'm surprised that a brony artist even knows how to draw armor that's not the pseudo-Greek nonsense I usually see

My only reserve as to the practicality of that design is the massive collar. It looks like it is made of one solid piece of metal, unless the fleur de lis hide some kind of lock / hinge. As for the rest, this looks adequate for a flyer armor, being light and armoring only the front, the part the most likely to need protection, and leaving the wings free of movement..

[Frost]

It does, however, seem overspecialized toward hit-and-run tactics. You'd expect front-liners to have full-body covering

[Harmony Ltd.]

From the artist's DA page, it's supposed to be "some kind of griffin royal guard thingy or whatever".

Most probably an elite unit, and not frontliners.

And, to be fair, I'd expect a species of flyer to indeed orient their warfare practices toward hit and run tactics and other strategies taking full advantage of their native command of the third dimension.

[Sponsored content]