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    D&D 5E (2024) Mike Mearls explains why your boss monsters die too easily

    He did know about it. But, he seems like a nice guy, so he doesn't want to come out and just say: "You know, if the DMs read the DM's Guide, they wouldn't have as much of a problem with boss encounters." Instead, he points to the math, which shows if people have a long rest before a boss...
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    D&D General Favorite Creepy Monster To Run?

    Perytons are indeed underrated when it comes to RP. I once had an NPC who left his many "female friends" without a note, coin, etc. after promising each he would take care of them. He struck out into the frontier for a get rich scheme. The PCs grew to really like him, as he was charming and...
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    D&D 5E (2024) Mike Mearls explains why your boss monsters die too easily

    It's interesting, because there is an entire section on this in the 2014 DM's Guide. ;)
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    Iron DM 2025 Scheduling Thread!

    I am confused. Is this the same Iron GM tournament that was at the LA gaming conventions in the early 2010's? The Strategicon events: Orccon, Gamex, Gateway? I was a player for one of those events, and my two buddies and I still feel guilty about being too tipsy and suggesting he use AD&D...
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    Your Three Desert Island RPGs

    5e (Great for general purpose fun and surprising moments) Vampire: The Masquerade (Great for RP) The Adventurer's Arts (Mine; Great for giving me a creative outlet ;)) Daggerheart (A fourth would be nice. Haven't played yet, but we start a new campaign with it in a few weeks! Read the rulebook...
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    D&D 5E (2024) Rank 5e skills from most useful (1) to least useful (18)

    Acrobatics Animal Handling Arcana Athletics Deception History Insight Intimidation Investigation Medicine Nature Perception Performance Persuasion Religion Sleight of Hand Stealth Survival It is pretty difficult to assess their usefulness, since many of them are class specific, or campaign...
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    D&D General Nolzur creates inclusive miniatures, people can't handle it.

    I would just ask that you frame that a little differently. It is malice 90% of the time, on sites you visit. Remember, you, me, and everyone here gets our own little personal world thanks to machine behind our keyboard. ;)
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    D&D General The Great Railroad Thread

    Those examples are very much a DM issue. There is a point in time when exposition occurs to minimize aimless RP, and then there is a time to expand it. It's just like a writer narrating 20 miles of a travel scene but then expanding the scene at the campfire. The same is done for skill checks...
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    D&D General The Great Railroad Thread

    Why would all inns that have a quest start have to be in the exact same context as LotR? There are hundreds of different variations - which is of course the road of fantasy and fiction; variations on the same road travelled.
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    D&D General The Great Railroad Thread

    I don't think it requires acting, but it does require playing in character; acting as your character or describing your character and their participation in the event.
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    D&D General The Great Railroad Thread

    Full disclosure: I have not read the posts after mine. I have been very busy. But the point of my post was not to attack the poster. His points afterwards I considered valid for his playstyle. The point was to say: That type of railroading rarely exists. And when it does - it is an outlier.
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    D&D General The Great Railroad Thread

    No one is doing this. I mean, maybe there is some 13-year-old new DM who is, or some cantankerous old DM who has never played another way is, but no experienced DM running a campaign right now is doing this. It is a made-up argument. Just look at all the evidence: tens of thousands of hours of...
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    D&D General The Great Railroad Thread

    Ha! Death by Enya sounds like a very slooooooooowwwwww way to go. And I hear you. I am unsure who actually believes that happens all the time, but I guess someone will always play Devil's Advocate. That is one of the reasons why I think the entire debate is silly. You will always get someone...
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    D&D General The Great Railroad Thread

    What is this? Can you please give an example? Thanks.
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    D&D General Advice for a new DM

    I am going to take a little different approach than some of the others, as I think it might work for you. Use your obsessive planning, but only for the next session. Try to learn how to use that planning to help "steer the ship." This way, your vision of the campaign continues (and you enjoy...
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    D&D General The Great Railroad Thread

    Honest question: How can you tell? Is it the specific scenario or the overall order of scenarios or is the specific action you are talking about? Sorry, I am just a little confused as to your answer. As always, thanks for responding.
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    D&D General The Great Railroad Thread

    Yes, let's grant it because it is true. Incorrect. In fact, it tells us everything we need to know about railroading - it rarely exists in its strict definition. Why? Because if you sit down to a table, the game is almost always the same, except for those rare outliers I talked about...
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    D&D General The Great Railroad Thread

    That is funny. I really do wish there was a better style of discussion when it came to playing D&D. For example, "I ran Rime of the Frostmaiden, and in the beginning of the adventure my players really took to the chwingas. So I had to create an epic side quest that involved them. Here is what I...
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    D&D General The Great Railroad Thread

    Railroading, agency, blah, blah, blah... It is amazing these conversations continue like they do. Yet, if you sit down at any convention, at any gaming store, or at most households, you see the exact same game being played: DM describes scenario, players react, DM tallies results, and then the...
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    D&D General Eberron - why don't you run it? [-]

    That is not noir, that is time. Noir is a mood that houses character motivations. Its 30's feel, is just setting. The two are very different. Perhaps noir shouldn't be used at all, which was part of my (and other's) criticism.
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