AriochQ
Member

Or could it be that they are calling for DMs because of the level of demand? Spoiler: it is. I think ONE factor is a lot of veteran DMs are turned off by the new AL system. Generally, there are lots of players wanting to play - especially new people. So, I think demand for DMs has increased because of both factors. Naturally, I have no hard data to back this up. However, the coordinators calling for DMs in my area say we have lots of new folks who want to play and a fair number of their regular DMs are giving it a pass. I suspect as AriochQ has mentioned, many veteran players are passing on it too. Clearly, I have one local impression. It may be very flawed and the new AL system may be wildly popular and doing wonders for growing the game. I have my doubts...

The DM AriochQ in the one campaign I actually play in has the players award inspiration to each other. Players award inspiration for excellent roleplay and it seems to work very well. I am thinking of using the same system in my campaigns, because it eliminates something for the DM and keeps inspiration in the game. He also allows the accumulation of inspiration, but we spend the points freely and it really does not present a problem.

Sorry, talk of whitewashing in a D&D movie is fundamentally ridiculous. As implied by AriochQ, what does it matter is a racially Mandarin Chinese plays a Oeridian or if a racial Thai does? There are no Mandarin Chinese, or any other real life races in D&D settings. Who's to say what is a better representation of someone from Calimshan or Waterdeep or any other fantasy setting? It's a fricking FANTASY setting.

It has been a very long time since I have played in a campaign. I'm nearly always on the other side of the screen. Last fall, an acquaintance of mine invited me to play in a 5th edition D&D campaign. I knew the other players, but had never played a game with them. I thought I would give it a try. At worst, I figured I could chalk it up as an experience that confirmed my view my natural position at the table was as a DM. The Dungeon Master AriochQ has done a really nice job with the campaign and I have enjoyed it very much. Having been on the other side of the screen for so many years, I endeavored to be the best player I could. Someone I would want at my table for every campaign. I have not always succeeded, but I thought we could share some tips on being a player who adds to everyone’s enjoyment of the game. Here are my thoughts: 1. Be Consistent: Make the agreed play time a priority. Show up on time. Bring all of your necessary materials. Be ready to play. 2. Be Flexible: Use a character concept that fits the DM’s campaign world vision. Play a character that lends itself to story hooks. Create PC obligations tied to the campaign world. Give the DM anchor posts to use if they wish to. Orphaned barbarians from wiped out villages are OK, but ask yourself: Is your PC background giving the DM something to work with? 3. Be Creative: Don’t be afraid to offer adventure ideas, but don’t be offended if the DM does not use t...

@AriochQ The point of backing this Kickstarter is bringing these creatures to the tabletop. The only way you are going to see any of these monsters for use in game is through Effincool Miniatures. For all of teh reasons that I have already covered, we just cant do what Reaper does. :-) That does not mean that I do not value everyones input on this project! thanks for taking the time to comment. I also would like to add, that if you pledge for $360.00 and this project unlocks all of the stretch goals, that works out to $6.00 a mini, and includes 2 dragons and several larger pieces. I know this is not near the value that Reaper is able to afford, but it is the best we can do.

AriochQ A puzzle spaced throughout different parts of the castle that require simultaneous interaction to open a vault door. Falling portcullises or even stone doors. Or mimics ;) A pit with water flowing thru it with multiple aqueduct tunnels the water flows thru. Before anyone makes checks to jump across clarify that the consequences of a low roll mean falling into the water and getting swept away...somewhere. A coffin or an iron maiden with a built in teleporter. Include with a monster that Shoves or causes forced movement. Gargoyles that grapple characters and fly off with them to perches throughout the castle. Valuable treasure in a dangerous place to lure treasure-hungry PCs away from the party. Naturally guarded by a trap separating them from the party (e.g. chute). Provide a side solo mission for a PC - if they accomplish it then the party (or just them) benefits. However, it requires them to go it alone due to (a) ethical differences with the party, (b) need for s...

This! It is almost as if they are attempting to coop all the quality GH material in the hopes that GH fans will somehow fall in love with FR. GH has a certain feel and FR has a different feel, they do both a disservice by mashing them together. I guess I can't really agree with this. I like GH fine, and I like FR fine, but within the limited scope of Princes and Tomb, you're in the hills and temples in the former, and the jungle and dungeon in the latter. Within the context of whatever "fantasy world" it takes place, it doesn't matter because it doesn't have much impact on the story. The only difference I would see is the deities a PC might worship, but that is still going to fall under the generic domains of Life, Death, War, Love, etc. Now, if one were running a full fledged open campaign or homebrew, then the feel of the game world would have a much stronger impact. Then again, I've never understood the Greyhawk/Realms love/hate thing. I like the Realms fine, but it's...

It has been many years, but I seem to recall Heinlein stating that to remain science fiction you extrapolate current science and are allowed to violate once scientific law. For example, a story with FTL would still be science fiction so long as the other details were grounded in reality. Star Wars, on the other hand, would fall into space fantasy since it violates numerous current scientific laws. Seems as good a definition as any. Here of course is where Star Trek rears it’s head, it is an extrapolation of future earth based science but then takes tangents into psychic powers, energy based life forms and of course Q. Is Q as an extra dimensional alien beyond human comprehension still sci fi Or is he a product of fantasy?

Spoiler: It isn't. My LFGS has fewer tables in season 8 than in season 7. It is due to a lack of players, not DM's. For the last three weeks we have had to combine two tables to meet 3 player minimum requirements. Imagine being a new player and walking into an AL game: Point buy PHB+1 ok, we are good so far oh, you don't get treasure...ever...you just get gold when you level ummm...ok... speaking of leveling, you level every 4 hours, or 8 later on so you out level any hardcover content pretty quick...but you can go slow...but you will still likely out level the content ummm...sure...sort of like the worst version of milestone ever Now you get it!...also, magic items are look but don't touch. If you want them, you just save up some points and them buy them. Nothing like the excitement of shopping for magic items, amiright? ummm...so I go through adventures but it doesn't really matter what I do since I level based on play time, don't get gold (or any other treasure) and have zer...

Too bad AL is being horribly managed by WotC. The recent season 8 changes are not at all welcoming to new players and many veteran AL players are becoming disgruntled. Perhaps they need to start paying attention before it bites them in the a$$. Agreed. I don't play any AL anymore so I've only heard about it second hand, but that second hand is loud about how they made things more restrictive and also killed money in ways that bork character development, plots in game that require funds, and consumables.

Too bad AL is being horribly managed by WotC. The recent season 8 changes are not at all welcoming to new players and many veteran AL players are becoming disgruntled. Perhaps they need to start paying attention before it bites them in the a$$. Agreed. I see a lot of AL events calling for DMs. I think the change in AL rules is a factor in this. New players want to find a game - AL is dropping the ball.

Inexperienced 'celebrity' players, pregenerated characters, PvP... This is starting to sound like a D&D version of "Battle of the Network Stars". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Network_Stars On one hand, BotNS was a quilty pleasure for me as a young kid. I got to see all my favorite actors doing stuff totally outside what I was used to seeing. On the other hand, this is nothing like BotNS, because that involved... y'know... activity. ;-)

Is there anyone actually looking forward to the D&D/MtG crossover?You bet! And it's long overdue, too. I'm just a bit sad they didn't just continue their series of free articles (Planeshift). It's a big advantage if they can reuse the extensive artwork that has been created for Magic. At least theoretically that means they can spend more resources on the actual development and design of the MtG settings. This is an approach that has been working extremely well for 'Fantasy Flight Games'.

Is there anyone actually looking forward to the D&D/MtG crossover? I am having a hard time even feigning interest. The MtG setting was always just a backdrop for a card game and there are a ton of other settings I would rather see converted to 5e. It just seems like a decision made by some Hasbro executive sitting in a boardroom "MtG is a game....D&D is a game..." It was something driven by James Wyatt, not an executive.

Is there anyone actually looking forward to the D&D/MtG crossover? Me! Heck, I'd look forward to any non-Forgotten Realms campaign setting. Ravnica in particular is neat. It's a city that spans an entire world, with plenty of colorful factions running things. It really pushes the limits of an "urban campaign setting," considering the entire world is one big city. I actually really admire the MtG worldbuilding department. They've came out with some crazy settings over the years. I've been thinking of converting Shards of Alara over to D&D 5e, just for fun.

Is there anyone actually looking forward to the D&D/MtG crossover? Myself as well. Played MtG in the late 90s, but never paid attention to the worlds. I'm happy to see some of the creativity in the background behind the game coming to life as a D&D setting.

Is there anyone actually looking forward to the D&D/MtG crossover? Yup. Me. I've never played M:tG, or even really seen it, but as a new setting for D&D this looks like fun.

Was there something you’d like to say? We told you WotC was not running it. Whats so funny. I don't get it. Read it as nervous laughter and it makes more sense. In the prior announcement he has multiple posts essentially stating that 'of course WotC is involved' and probably being a little to forceful going after those with dissenting opinions. Foot, meet mouth. I will only talk for myself. I don't excuse anyone's impoliteness but I find his reaction quite natural and easy to understand. To me it's incredibly naive to use a brand name unlicensed, and one that is wholly unsuited to the intended purpose at that. Having to make such a sudden course correction begs the question: what where they thinking? But again, maybe that's just me.

I could actually see this working. Total conjecture on my part, but I am guessing it won't be your average Joe playing on the teams. If they started with some well known faces on each team, they could actually build a fan base. I am thinking Critical Role players, maybe some WotC or AL personalities, or other streaming groups like Satine Phoenix etc. This. Also, there was an AL PAX session where they ran a D&D Battle Royale style game. With some rule tweaking and a proper battleground, this could be a lot of fun to watch. I certainly enjoyed the AL show.

I could actually see this working. Total conjecture on my part, but I am guessing it won't be your average Joe playing on the teams. If they started with some well known faces on each team, they could actually build a fan base. I am thinking Critical Role players, maybe some WotC or AL personalities, or other streaming groups like Satine Phoenix etc. They're certainly not going to pull in a bunch of random no name streamers.

I have played a lot of 5e, but am still hesitant to give a very deep analysis of subclasses. I have definite opinions on the ones I have a lot of experience with, but there are many I just haven't interacted with much as a DM or player to really give an worthwhile evaluation/comparison. I wonder just how useful some of that feedback is going to be on the less played subclasses. It could be that there isn't much feedback because they are viewed as inferior in some way. The feedback on the feats and spells should be more solid. that's why the option of have not played/have not seen played (not the exact wording but in that spirit) is in the survey as for the survey itself, did not put any feats/spells as overpowered, was majorly dissatisfied with ranger options (BM especially)

I have played a lot of 5e, but am still hesitant to give a very deep analysis of subclasses. I have definite opinions on the ones I have a lot of experience with, but there are many I just haven't interacted with much as a DM or player to really give an worthwhile evaluation/comparison. I wonder just how useful some of that feedback is going to be on the less played subclasses. It could be that there isn't much feedback because they are viewed as inferior in some way. The feedback on the feats and spells should be more solid.If the point of the survey is to find out which options are considered inferior, for the purpose of putting out new content that will bring those options back into line, then the public perception is probably more important than the reality. If everyone believes that valor bard is the weakest option in the book, and nobody has any direct experience because nobody wanted to play a valor bard because they all thought it was too weak, then they should work to improve ...

I also discovered Lovecraft through CoC. I was a voracious reader of Science Fiction and Fantasy in my youth but rarely ventured into horror. It wasn't until CoC that it began to interest me. Yeah, same here - but then, on a gaming board, I suspect you'll find this answer quite disproportionately. :) One of my high school English term papers in fact was about Lovecraft, using as my primary sources both S.T. Joshi's Lovecraft biography and some tidbits of information from the Call of Cthulhu RPG written by Sandy. My wife can say the same, because she was introduced to Lovecraft through me. I'd be curious how many gamers and non-gamers prior to 1990 were introduced to Lovecraft via the literature.

If he wants to get away, plane shift seems like a good option. He has multiple options. There’s basically no way a 1st level party stops him from leaving, which is what the DM is told he’s trying to do. It doesn’t matter if the PCs are dumb or bloodthirsty or whatever — they lack the ability to prevent the “villain” from leaving. So the DM had to change the encounter to get a TPK out of it — at least one involving that “villain.” His minions could still cause a TPK, in theory.

$10 for an unpainted mini? No thanks. This is fairly standard for a nicely detailed and well cast mini of that type (which the GF9 ones are). There are plenty of similar minis that are sold for much higher that that.

It appears he is a Social Psychologist who specializes in psychology of morality. Precisely my point.