Morrus
Frazzled

...ery real science. Postulating completely unverifiable elements to make your equations work is not good science. Now, at the moment, it's the best we've got, so, there's that. In any case, I was trying to be a bit tongue in cheek and poking a bit of fun at astronomers. But, I would point out, "isn't really science" is not what I said. What I said was that astronomy gets a bit more latitude than other sciences when it comes time to actually prove their hypotheses. Being able to make up stuff just so your equations work doesn't work in other sciences. And, unfortunately, people who get into sciences can be just as dogmatic as anyone else. I mean, you're apparently absolutely sure that your model of the universe is correct despite the fact that it hasn't actually been proven and remains largely theoretical. I mean, heck, NASA says you're wrong: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/review/dr-marc-space/dark-sky.html I'm a little more comfortable believing NASA than you, Morrus.

I don't know if this is a sad though but if its 1 light year or 100 right now functionally its the same thing in terms of interstellar travel. Its to far for us. Morrus theres a lot of things that scientists are still fuzzy on. For example is space infinite. Another one is the Big Bang Theory. OK there is a big ball of mass, energy or whatever and it explodes 13 billion years ago. Who or what created it? How did it get their to explode in the 1st place? Would that who or what in effect be God? Note I am not religious was just wondering. I thought the "is space infinite" question was largely resolved. If space was truly infinite, then the night sky would be solid white with stars. In an infinite universe, you would have infinite stars, therefore, from our point of view, there would be almost no space between the stars in the night sky. At least, that's the way it was explained to me. But, Morrus, I'm certainly no anti-scientist campaigner. Just pointing out that in one branch of science, the rules get... err... relaxed somewhat.

That looks like great fun Morrus. Cool beans. Just as a thought though, would it not be easier to make the map mostly the full size of the page and then include the text of the encounters right in the rooms? Would seem like a more efficient use of space. And, just a nitpick, you forgot to label area 1 - the Entrance.

Hi Morrus, is this experiment still going on? I'd like to post something about an imminent kickstarter for Low Fantasy Gaming Deluxe Edition if so... :)

Morrus- the third one seems much too big in scope for a one page adventure IMHO, this is getting to the point where the DM is going to either have to do a lot of planning (to flesh out the city in their mind enough to be comfortable running the adventure) or have to be really quick on their feet. Either way this looks really intimidating, and, while there are stat blocks, it reminds me of the encounter book (I mentioned earlier) that I had hopes for but couldn’t use because the barrier to running was too high. Going back to my earlier post, I think these 1 pagers should have a focus on either social interaction (the balance has been upset, a murder, a disappearance, etc) or an exploration with combats providing challenge where necessary. The third adventure lacks this focus and is too big in scope IMHO.

Morrus, if I can offer a suggestion: please indicate (where applicable) what challenge level each encounter is expected to present. Easy, Medium, Hard or Deadly. This really helps people who need to recalibrate to suit their groups (and means it doesn't have to be reverse engineered!) It can just be a single character at the end of the encounter title.

Hunh. Turns out there is a toggle switch at the bottom of the page that I didn't see previously that switches to desktop mode via the site itself rather than via Chrome's toggle. Problem solved! (Do note, Morrus, that the interface is slightly different depending on how desktop mode is applied.)

Morrus, that’s good and certainly runnable as is. If we think about this in terms of the pillars then the best format is determined by whether exploration or social interaction is the leading pillar (combat always being involved in some form or other). Your distillation is perfectly good for a social interaction driven adventure. Some NPC has upset the general order and the PCs have to put things right. The were-rat adventure described earlier would also fall into this category. For an exploration driven adventure, such as a dungeon, castle, cave system, a map has to lead the way and then the interesting locations within the structure are called out in labels around the map. Here treasure is commonly the motivator. Just choose the right format for your 1-page adventure and you’re set.

@Sadras I’d call that an encounter rather than adventure. For these kind of things you’ve really got to empower the DM to fill in the blanks rather than provide the full details. So for your Wererat adventure you should provide the motivation and situation for the were-rat girl. And let the DM fill in the blanks. So I’d say: The girl has fallen in love with the son of the inn-keeper and taken a position there despite really being betrothed to the son of the chief of the were-rat tribe nearby. A search party has been hunting for her and tracks her down to the inn. If the PCs choose to intervene then adventure is helping her to resolve her conflict. I don’t think it needs much more than that. Names and relationships of the primary NPCs, some ancillary monster references (some guardians to the lair, perhaps some mutant “boss rat”, the location (and numbers) of the were-rat lair etc, etc). As noted above, go for more theater of mind. It’s more A-Team adventure of the week stuff... @Morrus I imagine you’ve seen this? Eureka: 501 Adventure Plots to Inspire Game Masters, EGP42001 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0615321860/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_U51.BbHA9A5PW While I found it disappointing because the adventures were too vague/big, I think that something similar (but more tightly focused) would be good.

It’s open Tomorrow Nov 20th! Morrus https://twitter.com/dms_guild/status/1064688359258423296?s=21

...en if the game has been at a standstill for twenty excruciating minutes. Be gentle about it, and be encouraging, but you gotta be firm. You have to drive the point home that learning (and using) the rules is non-negotiable, for all players. I hope it doesn't come to that, because when people get frustrated their tempers get short, and things can get heated quickly. Be ready to calm people down, remind them it's a game and everyone is there to have fun, maybe call a break every now and then. The last thing you can do is adapt your game. Maybe those four players aren't looking for a strict, by-the-rules style of game. Perhaps they are more interested in a looser, storytelling kind of experience. The rules should support the framework of the story, not the other way around, so if all the focus and detail on the rules is tripping up two-thirds of your players, maybe you should get rid of some of the rules. EDIT: I was a little more short than I should have been earlier. Morrus is right: people play this game for any number of reasons, and there is no "wrong" way to play it. The point is to have fun, always.

First, please allow me to say "Awesome job with WotBS". I recently learned about this adventure when a group of players approached me to be their DM for the series. I'm planning on running 5e, BTW. I read the Player's Guide and the Campaign Guide, and the first adventure. Top Notch! I was mildly surprised to see/learn the 3.5e and 4e versions. Our first session will be 9 Dec. I went ahead and purchased all the 5e content from DriveThruRPG. My question: What's the best way to keep abreast of latest releases? Welcome! I am happy to hear that you are enjoying my adaptation of this amazing campaign saga to 5e. The 5e version primarily adapts the 3.5 version while incorporating some of the 4e content where it builds on the core story while doing things in as "5e a way as possible". I am wrapping up the finishing touches on the fourth adventure, and it should be out in the next day or so. :) Each adventure's release will be announced on this website as well as @ancrisit and Morrus on twitter. You can also go to one of the book's pages and click the "follow your favorites" link on the left which will send you an email whenever anything is released. https://www.rpgnow.com/product/242808/War-of-the-Burning-Sky-5E-1-The-Scouring-of-Gate-Pass If you are enjoying it, please consider leaving a rating or review for the adventures and guides. Thanks!

Morrus: *Ahem* Does this adventure actually have stats for Kwalish?It just says to use the evoker statblock, which doesn't make much sense to me.

Morrus The 2nd and 8th bullet points are the exact same article.

Morrus Who is this vampire Strand you speak of? ;)

Morrus Cthulhu Dark - thematically and trope-wise it's CoC, but with a much better (and lighter - the name is a play on words) system. There's also a free PDF version available. The whole system in 3 columns of text.

Morrus No Slasher Flick by Spectrum Games? http://www.spectrum-games.com/slasher-flick.html

Knightfall I don't see why not Morrus?

That also makes it super easy for us when we play Our Favourite Game In All The World: Guess The Kickstarter From Just The Name each week on the podcast. :) Well, that does make it my favorite podcast! :-) https://morrus.podbean.com

I like that idea, but I don't think that phrasing is easy to parse. I wonder if it's better just to put it in your own words? Maybe something like: MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $65 for two hardcover core rulebooks Perfect! David, Barantor, thank you for suggesting this. I think that'll be a great addition. :-) Morrus, thank you for the formatting, it's a clearer vision. :-)

I agree with those that feel that advantage is too big a bonus and too easy to get while flanking. It creates a weird dynamic where the DM is left trying to figure out how to ensure everybody doesn't always have advantage on all attacks. I just don't understand this. It literally has never come up in over a year of playing with this rule. We started as a group with it and as the DM I have never had to try and figure this out. It just isn't an issue. I think most people forget that to flank using this rule the flankers have to be exactly opposite from each other. That means one of those characters is going to be more exposed to an enemy with the commensurate increase in risk. As the DM, there are much more difficult problems than this. Making sure that you don't over coordinate the opposition forces to an unfair advantage against the party. As the DM you have perfect knowledge of where every combatant is located which means it is very easy to out maneuver the party if you aren't...

You won’t like it. And hows that?

Even the kids who liked the prequels don't rank them as classics in the way we did the originals. When they're our age, they won't be reminiscing about the Star Wars prequels with rose-covered glasses in the way we do the OT. They'll be reminiscing about something, but it won't be the Star Wars prequels. Those three films never had that cultural zeitgeist. My guess for that "something else" would be Harry Potter - the first film in that series hit in 2001, between TPM and AotC. Of course, JKR is now running into trouble with her own set of prequels. Maybe in twenty years Disney will buy that IP, too?

Literally not what I said. Read it again, please. at The author or the first link ranks Revenge of the Sith as their favourite, I do think that in 20 years the 25yo who were introduced to Star Wars via the prequels might view them with the same nostalgia. And right now they might well enjoy those films like I enjoyed A New Hope prior to the prequels. Because ANH isn't that good. Not on paper. It has terrible dialogue, poor pacing, flat characters, and is tropey as :):):):). It uses plots from radio and film serials that were already three decades old that point. It's good largely because or nostalgia. And you can see how well Star Wars does in places with out that nostalgia by looking at China, where it is crushed at the box office.

Even the kids who liked the prequels don't rank them as classics in the way we did the originals. When they're our age, they won't be reminiscing about the Star Wars prequels with rose-covered glasses in the way we do the OT. They'll be reminiscing about something, but it won't be the Star Wars prequels. Those three films never had that cultural zeitgeist. I'm a child of the nineties. I look fondly towards stuff like Friends, Seinfield, Sky Dancers, the Dreamstone, and the like. Granted, I'm not that fond of the prequels, but being that fond of Star Wars after the 80's is not really feasible. The OT was groundbreaking and highly influential, but that is the problem, everything made after the OT is heavily influenced by it, where once it was a fresh new thing, it barely stands apart by now. By the time the original trilogy was re-released in the mid nineties, I had been bombarded by countless parodies, shot outs and homages of it to really care. -And lets not go into the empire strikes...

Please, no show bashing, lest ye mods of Mount Olympus throw down the YE GREAT AND TERRIBLE hammer of banning upon thy cranium. No spoilers for the Elseworlds crossover please. This isn’t a spoiler thread. It doesn’t show here for a couple of weeks. You can start a new thread for that. :) A reiteration of the rules of this thread, for posterity.

Even the kids who liked the prequels don't rank them as classics in the way we did the originals. When they're our age, they won't be reminiscing about the Star Wars prequels with rose-covered glasses in the way we do the OT. They'll be reminiscing about something, but it won't be the Star Wars prequels. Those three films never had that cultural zeitgeist. Fans of the prequels very much do exist: https://www.digitaltrends.com/features/star-wars-youre-all-crazy/ https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/4qhrq7/i_like_the_prequels_more_than_the_original/ https://metro.co.uk/2017/05/18/why-the-star-wars-prequels-are-much-better-than-everyone-thinks-6605636/ https://www.thedailybeast.com/actually-the-star-wars-prequels-dont-suck https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2015/12/02/star-wars-prequel-trilogy-defense/76628934/ https://screenrant.com/star-wars-prequel-trilogy-good-popular-underrated/

No spoilers for the Elseworlds crossover please. This isn’t a spoiler thread. It doesn’t show here for a couple of weeks. You can start a new thread for that. :) Got it, el jefe. I didn't think I gave anything away in my post. I'll keep it in mind for the future.

That does not contradict anything I said. What a weirdly aggressive thing to say. Huh? You just got through telling me that the universe is infinite. That link directly contradicts that. I'm confused.

Presumably then they were that when she arrived? Her actions didn’t have anything to do with it? Her actions in the season premiere put Tim Shaw into the position of being able to kill planets, and provided him the motivation to do so.

The five planets were saved and returned home. That was that while wiring the TARDIS into the telepathic aliens thing. The planets were saved, but the Doctor mentions when she first realises what they are that their inhabitants would have been crushed to death by the compression process. There's no indication that anything other than barren husks of worlds were restored back to their original places in space.

So in retrospect, I think Capaldi's last two years were better than Whitaker's first, but this was better than Capaldi's first. I think overall for me, this series was enjoyable, but never wowed me. Still appointment viewing for me. New Year's Special -- the DNA of the most dangers creature in the universe, eh? Gotta be a Dalek, right? Then that's it until 2020. Ugh. Another year off. 2020? That is ugh. I bet it is a Dalek as well, and there has been speculation in the news that is what it is. I like Capaldi, I would watch his last seasons, though every time I see a marathon with them, it's like Dr Who saves Christmas, which I know is sort of traditional at this point, but it bores me. It's a new tradition. I think I still need to see the season 10 finale again, and more, because I remember the whole Bill getting turned into a Cyberman, but then she flies off with the oil person pilot, etc. and the masters ... I'd have to watch it over, the whole season, as I lost the plot some...

New Year's Special -- the DNA of the most dangers creature in the universe, eh? Gotta be a Dalek, right? Could be the Doctor herself. After all, she's wiped out the Daleks on a few occasions, so surely she's got to be in the running.

Theoretical physics is a thing. You can choose to disbelieve in it, I guess, but as Neil deGrass Tyson once said (unfortunate choice of scientist at the present time, sadly, but the quote is relevant) -- "The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you." One of my favorite things that doesn't make sense to us right now is the zombie star. https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/08/us/zombie-star-survives-supernova/index.html

...ery real science. Postulating completely unverifiable elements to make your equations work is not good science. Now, at the moment, it's the best we've got, so, there's that. In any case, I was trying to be a bit tongue in cheek and poking a bit of fun at astronomers. But, I would point out, "isn't really science" is not what I said. What I said was that astronomy gets a bit more latitude than other sciences when it comes time to actually prove their hypotheses. Being able to make up stuff just so your equations work doesn't work in other sciences. And, unfortunately, people who get into sciences can be just as dogmatic as anyone else. I mean, you're apparently absolutely sure that your model of the universe is correct despite the fact that it hasn't actually been proven and remains largely theoretical. I mean, heck, NASA says you're wrong: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/review/dr-marc-space/dark-sky.html I'm a little more comfortable believing NASA than you, Morrus.

I think the issue here is a fundamental misunderstanding of the amount of work that goes into serious science, and a frankly insulting trivialization of that work into soundbytes like "magic particles" and implications that scientists just “make stuff up”. It's the traditional weapons of the psuedoscientist and the anti-science campaigners. I understand that a lot of work and match goes into these theories. And I'm certainly not an anti-science person. However, at the root of these theories are ideas that are put forth to explain things that we don't understand, and even with all that work, are often wrong. I love reading about science. Especially astronomy. Dark matter/energy just doesn't seem to me to be any less of a "hack"(To use Umbran's term) than the theory that negative matter is being created. I'm sure work went into that theory as well.

Nope. The universe is 14B years old. Space is more than 14B light years in diameter. If light moved at infinite speed, then yes, it would all reach us at the same time and it would all be white. But it doesn't - the light further than 14B light years away from us hasn't reached us yet. If space was *infinite* then the light from stars an infinite distance away would take an infinite amount of time to reach us, so we'd never see it. What rules? And again, I ask, what is this "leeway" they're being granted, and by whom? They're just people doing science and publishing their findings. They produce solid mathematics-filled peer-reviewed papers. What one reads in the popular press isn't scientific papers, and when one argues against what one read in the popular press, one isn't arguing against anything other than journalist's poor explanations and simplistic interpretations of 40 pages of equations and bad analogies. But, the thing is, because of the Big Bang, all the stars in the uni...

Gotham is my favourite. Followed by Daredevil, then Supergirl, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist got much better this year. Arrow once was, then I went off it for a few years, but it's picked up again. Arrow and Flash both had a dip in quality, but are doing much better. Supergirl, too, from what I've heard. I didn't love the second season, especially after the first, but Ive been told repeatedly that it's really good again.