Acquisitions Inc. switching to Daggerheart

[Agamon]

Ha! When I'm trying to gauge the actual gameplay for something, doesn't help when the players and GM look like they had to audition for it.

No offense to Matt Mercer or other professionals, but they aren't representative of typical.

Not wrong there. Those are meant to be entertaining, and too many people newer to roleplaying look at it as a typical example of play.

 

[Agamon]

You think so? I think their players are unusually charismatic. Plus, they're rarely argumentative or disruptive (many are also influencers), at least not as often as groups of...more regular people.

IMO, the use of a camera coupled with the promise of being streamed changes the entire dynamic. People are more performative when they know they're on camera, especially people who ARE performers.

P.S. No, I'm not suggesting recording people without their knowledge, haha!

I've heard that there are some groups that don't really care about views, they just know that being in an actual play means players show up more often

 

[Vael]

There's a bunch of LP posted in the Daggerheart subreddit, that's the place to go to find a listing. I can't comment on quality of the various ones, but there's no shortage of them.

 

[Maxperson]

Ha! When I'm trying to gauge the actual gameplay for something, doesn't help when the players and GM look like they had to audition for it.

No offense to Matt Mercer or other professionals, but they aren't representative of typical.

Depends on where you are. Here in Los Angeles I spent 15 years playing in a game with voice actors, actors, models and other industry professionals. Heck, my DM was on one of CR's one shots. I'm certainly no voice actor or actor, but my roleplaying ability definitely improved from playing in that game.

There are a LOT of entertainment folks that play RPGs here in Los Angeles.

 

[Maxperson]

I mean, they are somewhat better at silly voices.

I mentioned above that I played with a DM who is a voice actor and other voice actors. Listening to Critical Role has made me aware of something. Voice actors use the same/similar voices for the same/similar personalities. The voices will have virtually the same cadence and wording. Maybe when they are in classes learning to be voice actors they learn deep voiced guard #3, and high nasally coward #6 or something.

 

[Parmandur]

I mentioned above that I played with a DM who is a voice actor and other voice actors. Listening to Critical Role has made me aware of something. Voice actors use the same/similar voices for the same/similar personalities. The voices will have virtually the same cadence and wording. Maybe when they are in classes learning to be voice actors they learn deep voiced guard #3, and high nasally coward #6 or something.

Performance practice, across art forms, iperates heavily om tradition and shared technique.

 

[Maxperson]

Performance practice, across art forms, iperates heavily om tradition and shared technique.

I've been listening to CR campaign 2 in my car when I go places and I'm constantly flashing back to various NPCs in my old DM's games when I hear Matt use certain voices for his NPCs.

 

[Neonchameleon]

At least from this DM's perspective, if a few books within reach, a notepad, dice, a DM screen and maybe a few loose-leaf sheets of 8-1/2 x 11" paper are insufficient for me to run a TTRPG session, something feels wrong. If it requires more than that, or even if more than that could be said to be helpful, I'll pass.

And from this DM's perspective what you want sounds heavy, slow, and clunky. And much clunkier than Daggerheart is.

"A few books". With the sole exception of a couple of monster statblocks and a map if I need books in play and this isn't my first time running it then something has gone badly wrong or the game is too clunky. Daggerheart, incidentally, passes the test. And although Daggerheart has a DM screen again that's weight and a barrier I don't need.

Instead all I need for Daggerheart are a tablet for bookmarked stat blocks and notes, and some dice - although I also like tokens for fear (I could just use a D12 and no monster in the game has more than 12hp so I use dice for monster hp and stress).

The players have their character sheet (single sided in play with the other side having background info and instructions on levelling up), between 6 and 12 active cards depending on level, dice, tokens (dice can be used), and a pencil each.

Pacing is paramount for me. Anything I have to pause for, even if it's to locate and read the description on a card in front of a player, or about which someone says, "I know it's around here somewhere..." slows me down.

So what on earth do you run? Fate? Risus? Actually it can't be either as they aren't so clunky and slow as to need the books in play.

You must despise every edition of D&D with the passion of a thousand burning suns. The standard you have set literally does not allow a character to read a spell printed on their own character sheet with the full text of the spell sitting there in front of them; it's almost always faster to find the card with the bright evocative artwork for the spell or ability in question sitting face up on the table than to flip pages and scan down to find the dry text of the spell.

As for the cards? They contain all the other character rules anyone needs already printed out. There is zero time spent being unable to read handwriting. Zero time spent flip flipping through pages of a large, heavy, and clunky rulebook to find the spell, feat, or class feature. Instead the player always has it to hand unless they have somehow lost it since the start of the session (which hasn't happened yet). And the spell or ability is written clearly and succinctly.

Based on your stated preferences you must either run something ultra rules light that somehow requires multiple rullebooks and a screen? I'm curious what it is?

Either that or you have dismissed Daggerheart without having played it despite it being actively superior at what you claim to value to any other game remotely of its complexity. (Does this make it the best at everything? No. But the cards really do help keep the pace from slowing for the rules).

 

[kermit4karate]

And from this DM's perspective what you want sounds heavy, slow, and clunky. And much clunkier than Daggerheart is.

"A few books". With the sole exception of a couple of monster statblocks and a map if I need books in play and this isn't my first time running it then something has gone badly wrong or the game is too clunky. Daggerheart, incidentally, passes the test. And although Daggerheart has a DM screen again that's weight and a barrier I don't need.

Instead all I need for Daggerheart are a tablet for bookmarked stat blocks and notes, and some dice - although I also like tokens for fear (I could just use a D12 and no monster in the game has more than 12hp so I use dice for monster hp and stress).

The players have their character sheet (single sided in play with the other side having background info and instructions on levelling up), between 6 and 12 active cards depending on level, dice, tokens (dice can be used), and a pencil each.

So what on earth do you run? Fate? Risus? Actually it can't be either as they aren't so clunky and slow as to need the books in play.

You must despise every edition of D&D with the passion of a thousand burning suns. The standard you have set literally does not allow a character to read a spell printed on their own character sheet with the full text of the spell sitting there in front of them; it's almost always faster to find the card with the bright evocative artwork for the spell or ability in question sitting face up on the table than to flip pages and scan down to find the dry text of the spell.

As for the cards? They contain all the other character rules anyone needs already printed out. There is zero time spent being unable to read handwriting. Zero time spent flip flipping through pages of a large, heavy, and clunky rulebook to find the spell, feat, or class feature. Instead the player always has it to hand unless they have somehow lost it since the start of the session (which hasn't happened yet). And the spell or ability is written clearly and succinctly.

Based on your stated preferences you must either run something ultra rules light that somehow requires multiple rullebooks and a screen? I'm curious what it is?

Either that or you have dismissed Daggerheart without having played it despite it being actively superior at what you claim to value to any other game remotely of its complexity. (Does this make it the best at everything? No. But the cards really do help keep the pace from slowing for the rules).

I think you're reading way too much into this.

 

[Seramus]

Depends on where you are. Here in Los Angeles I spent 15 years playing in a game with voice actors, actors, models and other industry professionals. Heck, my DM was on one of CR's one shots. I'm certainly no voice actor or actor, but my roleplaying ability definitely improved from playing in that game.

There are a LOT of entertainment folks that play RPGs here in Los Angeles.

Same. I'm no Matt Mercer, and can't do an accent without my players cracking up, but their table is a decent representation of how my tables play.

I mean, we're also hideous trolls compared to them, but we're all big scenery chewing hams.