D&D and the rising pandemic

[MarkB]

England going into lockdown, just as Wales emerges from theirs. Feels like the government finally giving in to the inevitable given how cases have been rising. Can't help feeling it'd have been a lot more effective if they'd pulled their finger out and actually coordinated a lockdown strategy with Scotland and Wales.

Covid-19: English lockdown may last beyond 2 Dec, says Gove

 

[Deset Gled]

For those of you in the US, we included some COVID pumpkins in our socially distanced Halloween display this year. Note how the masked pumpkin is happy, but the unmasked pumpkin is sick/dead.

 

[Bagpuss]

Haven't played face to face since the national lockdown in March. Moved online and have been playing using Roll20. Actually gaming more now than before the lockdown as I am running an additional game for friends from work.

Considering another national lockdown has started I don't see us playing face to face for the foreseeable future, being realistic I doubt it will be before spring next year or the vaccine is available.

Legally the area I'm in went into Tier 3 before the national lock down, I think there was one weekend where we could have met under the (stupid pointless) rule of six, before the Tier 3 restrictions meant we couldn't.

So far as a Player we have been doing Curse of the Crimson Throne using Pathfinder, the GM isn't as up to speed with Roll20 as I am, doesn't use many macros, hasn't put NPCs/Monsters in a proper linked tokens, but manages just rolling the dice and adding the modifiers he has on the book in front of him. Works okay if not as smooth as having everything ready.

Me on the other hand...

I've run Lost Mine of Phandelver (5E D&D), for the new group, the Lightless Beacon (CoC), and Sunless Citadel and Forge of Fury (5E D&D) for my existing group, using modules that were available for free. Modules are great as they have a lot of stuff already done for you, but it is still worth watching some Youtube tutorials and sorting out some macros of your own to speed stuff up.

I then converted The Vanishing Conjurer for Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed, for my new group, might run it for my old group when we stop Curse of the Crimson Throne for a bit. Here's the Corkboard towards the end of the scenario.

I'm currently setting up my existing Pendragon Campaign, and the new CoC Children of Fear scenario, ready to run them at some point. I think the range of games Roll20 supports is what keeps me with it, I'm certain other Virtual Tabletops are probably better if you are just focused on 5E, but I know Roll20 now and it has character sheets for a load of games where as other VTs are more limited.

 

[Nilbog]

Yep as we move into another national lockdown I've come to the realisation that it'll be 8 months at best before we can game face to face.

I'm trying to get my pf2e campaign up and running in foundry, but I can't decide if I'd be better off starting from scratch as it's been such a long time since we played it. Either way I need to get something ready as I think our current DM is due a break. I find prepping online games a lot more arduous than the normal stuff, it feels like you have to have far more stuff ready in advance whereas face to face it was easier to wing it

 

[Bagpuss]

I find prepping online games a lot more arduous than the normal stuff, it feels like you have to have far more stuff ready in advance whereas face to face it was easier to wing it

Yeah if your use to just being able to open an NPC/Monster sheet or click on a macro to do attacks, it becomes a pain if you haven't already got that critter available, so you need to do stuff manually. Worse if you need to load a token in first as well.

The more you create the more you have available (at least so long as you can import and export between your games), but from games with a rapid levelling mechanic like D&D/Pathfinder, monsters you've prepared at level 1 aren't much good against a level 5 party, and a useless when they get double figures. Flatter games like CoC, you can keep reusing Cultists, Deep Ones and the like.

 

[Azuresun]

England going into lockdown, just as Wales emerges from theirs. Feels like the government finally giving in to the inevitable given how cases have been rising. Can't help feeling it'd have been a lot more effective if they'd pulled their finger out and actually coordinated a lockdown strategy with Scotland and Wales.

Covid-19: English lockdown may last beyond 2 Dec, says Gove

The actual scientists were telling them to do this a month and a half earlier, but Johnson ridiculed the idea. Schools and universities (where the virus is spreading fastest) stay open, because why the hell not?

In the UK, it's probably vaccine or nothing, people just can't behave themselves.

 

[Bagpuss]

In the UK, it's probably vaccine or nothing, people just can't behave themselves.

Might help if they had some clear guidance, rather than a series of half measures, and a government that ignores it's own guidance.

 

[Azuresun]

Might help if they had some clear guidance, rather than a series of half measures, and a government that ignores it's own guidance.

I kind of despair of everyone at this point. You don't need detailed government guidelines to know that "throw a street party the night before restrictions increase" is a dumb idea, but the government handling has indeed been deeply inept, lurching between inactivity and confusing, exception-riddled guidelines based on a strategy of "don't do anything that might make us unpopular until it becomes unavoidable (and some other European country has already done it)". Heck, a month and a half ago, Johnson was mocking the opposition leader for calling for a lockdown across the school half-term, which would have been much less disruptive than what's coming up.

 

[MarkB]

I kind of despair of everyone at this point. You don't need detailed government guidelines to know that "throw a street party the night before restrictions increase" is a dumb idea, but the government handling has indeed been deeply inept, lurching between inactivity and confusing, exception-riddled guidelines based on a strategy of "don't do anything that might make us unpopular until it becomes unavoidable (and some other European country has already done it)". Heck, a month and a half ago, Johnson was mocking the opposition leader for calling for a lockdown across the school half-term, which would have been much less disruptive than what's coming up.

What's scary is that he keeps pushing the message of "if we can get through this you'll all be able to see your friends and families at Christmas" even as the situation worsens. I fear that whatever good may be done this month through the lockdown will be thoroughly undone next month.

 

[Azuresun]

What's scary is that he keeps pushing the message of "if we can get through this you'll all be able to see your friends and families at Christmas" even as the situation worsens. I fear that whatever good may be done this month through the lockdown will be thoroughly undone next month.

Yeah, we're basically doomed to be treading water until a vaccine comes along.

Funny tangent--I read Danse Macabre recently, Stephen King's non-fiction book about the horror genre, and I remember that either he or somebody he was quoting described horror as "a force that destroys the bonds between people". And that really sums up this virus, doesn't it?