Special 4/1 update of "The Essential Guide to a GM's Notebook"

Nightcloak

First Post
In World War 1 the fighter plane made its debut on the world stage and forever changed the scope of warfare. Nations rushed to control the new founded frontier, the sky. Air supremacy is a must to this very day, but not so easily achieved during those glory days of WWI. The fighter planes of those days were a mere shadow of the jet fighters that scream across the skies today. Those bi-planes were engines, cords, and levers with your only weapon a mounted machine gun and goggles between you and the open sky.

The pilot of those days had to fly a difficult craft with expert care just to line up the boogie. When lined up in the crosshairs he had to fire away until he either tore apart the other plane or got a lucky shot into the pilot or fuel tank. This required the pilot to keep the boogie in his sites for a length of time and repeatedly Swiss cheese the mark. No mean trick considering the other pilot had something to say about it.

Ah... The endless dance of death at 3000 feet, the dogfight of one-on-one skill. The days of swashbuckling adventure were the new hero was the man they called the Ace. In order to be an Ace, you had to have shot down a specific number of craft. Surviving encounters with the enemy was hard, but continually returning to the skies and putting down the enemy was a feat to behold! The Baron von Richthofen of Germany (the Red Baron) is to this day the most famous Ace for his record number of kills. Snoopy is probably a close second in folk lore. Read and hear the legend of the Ace known as Snoopy here

You knew the Ace’s plane from when you saw it. Etched into the side was a mark for each confirmed kill the Ace achieved. 20 marks, 20 kills. Imagine the prestige for those veterans who racked up countless marks on their planes (The Red Baron had over 80). Now that was bragging rights!

Now, thanks to Nightcloak Studio ProductionsTM, GMs everywhere can achieve the same level of prestige as the mighty Aces of the World Wars! The Aces have got nothing on you! You have to know all the nuts and bolts to make the game fly. You have to keep it moving and keep the players on target. You put the players in your sites, pull the trigger, and bam (!) they go down. Sure, they stray into the sites themselves usually, but it is still your maneuvering that’s placing the encounters and challenges. Just when was the last time you heard of an Ace shooting down a group of fighters with one shot anyway?

Never.

But do you get the recognition?

Nooo…

That is until now! Now you can enjoy the same prestige as the Aces by tracking kills and displaying them proudly.

Introducing the ultimate attachment for you Game Master's Screen:

The DM Score Card​

That’s right, with this little gem you just follow the instructions and fold it over the screen. Make sure it faces outward so the players get to watch the score too. Paperclip it in place and start racking in the confirmed kills baby!

When a character dies, is killed, has bought the farm, kicked the bucket, bought the big one, met his maker, gone west, left the building, cashed out, taken a dirt nap, game over man, gone to his happy place, found Elvis, reached judgment day, checked into Davy Jones’ locker, and assumed room temperature. The ship doctor turns to the captain and says “Jim. He’s dead!” while you look at the player and say, “Roll 4d6 six times”.

I digress, when those characters die, just take the sheet and add a little stick figure to one of the boxes. Make sure you leave the top row open. That is for the prestigious skull symbol – a Total Party Kill. Collect a few skulls and a lot of stick figures and you will be the envy of every GM and the fear of every player.

But that’s now all! The GM Score Card also is a great enforcer. Next time some unruly player start disrupting the game, just point to a stick figure and say “You’re real funny man, but you know, this guy use to do the same thing”. Or, if everyone is just talking away and not giving you the proper respect, just grab the sheet and the Monster Manual. When they ask what you’re doing, just say “It’ll be quicker if I keep it here”. That’ll teach them some respect.

But don’t stop there! Take artistic privileges with the stick figures you draw:

Player: “Why is that figure smaller than the rest and in several pieces?”
GM: “That was a mouthy halfling who thought he was funny. Sadly, two cloud giants thought differently and played a game of hacky sack with him.”



Player: “Why is the third figure smeared?”
GM: “That was a rogue who continually bragged about evasion and bad mouthed my Big Bad Evil Evoker.”
Player: “What happened?”
GM: “He failed his save.”



Player: “Who’s the figure with the brief case?”
GM: “A rules lawyer”



Player: “ Now why are the 4 figures in the third row numbered 1 to 4?”
GM: “That was a player who learned the hard way to stop gabbing while I was running the game.”



As you can see, the possibilities are endless.

The player’s track their favorite kills and so should you.

Why? Because D&D is the game you can win!
 

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** All comments and paid for commercials are the opinion of Nightcloak and only Nightcloak. The GMF does not condone or indorse all comments made by Nightcloak during these episodes. Really, we’re sorry. He hasn’t been the same since Madmorgan made him play a game of Tarroka. We’d vote him off the island but he’s worth some killer tax credits, so just ignore him **
 


What the heck? I know this is off topic, but why does it say "28405 less than Crothian" under my number of posts? I was just looking at it, and for some reason thats what's written. It's some weird number on Nightcloak's also.
 

Blade of Desecration said:
What the heck? I know this is off topic, but why does it say "28405 less than Crothian" under my number of posts? I was just looking at it, and for some reason thats what's written. It's some weird number on Nightcloak's also.

Enworld has a long tradition of shnanagans on April 1st. That is why I created this "Post".

I would expect some fun today on the boards.

If you get the chance, go through the archives forum and see some of the fun they pulled in the past several years. You won't be dissapointed.

Last year, the moderator forums were "accidently" opened so everyone got to see "what was really being discussed. They even got Gary Gygax (Col_Pladoh) to participate as if he actually owned the site!

Oh, and if you have never noticed. Crothian is our resident "super poster" who has some 28,000 + posts! They are obviously having some fun with the fact no one will ever catch him. Heck, it could even be a joke on him too.
 

Oh, that makes sense. It was just kinda surreal there for a moment. And yes, despite your post obviously being a joke (heck what do WW1 aces have to do with gaming?) I'm still making a kill card.
 

Nightcloak
(Ahh, I'm just gonna snip all that quote stuff....)

Too. Much. Time. On. Your. Hands.

And I loved it! My score card is printing out as I type. :D

(Oh, I think I'm gonna take the day off and post as many times as I can. Think I'll catch Crothian before the mods shut me down? Muwaa Ha Ha Ha! :]
 

Having that much fun with a post should be illegal.
One kill card coming up. It looks like an awesome idea, April Fools or no. :D
And if players ever ask me why I keep score...

Me: "Well, one time in the old days of the GMF, I knew this crazy guy named Nightcloak. He would make up stuff like this on April Fools Day...but it was such a cool idea that everyone wanted to use it!"
Player: "So what happened to him?"
Me: "Oh, he ticked off the wrong player and they killed him. Something about drawing his character in seventeen pieces just set the guy off..."


(J/K)
 

derbacher said:
Too. Much. Time. On. Your. Hands.

Actually, I was up pretty late on this one. When I get an idea I just can't let go...



And I loved it!

LilMissKittyn said:
Having that much fun with a post should be illegal.

And that's why it's worth it :)

Somedays, it's just nice to put a smile on someones face.




Postcount = Postcount + 1 step closer to Crothian
 

LilMissKittyn said:
Me: "Oh, he ticked off the wrong player and they killed him. Something about drawing his character in seventeen pieces just set the guy off..."[/I]

I'm sure he had it comming.









Postcount = Postcount + 2 steps closer to Crothian
 

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