TTRPGs & D&D

[docsilence]

I actually prefer serious games to a game full of bits. This one game I KNEW I was going to get a bunch of bits so I was ready for it and I don't actually plan on taking it seriously or putting a ton of my creative energy into it - it's an exercise in improv. If I weren't decade-long friends with this group (who are BFFs with my life partner) I wouldn't run it. I'm also running a super deadly Westmarches style game and the one person who showed up with a bit character is like: Oh. This group may not be for me. I either need to get my shit together or I won't have fun. My ongoing game that's been running for five years now, the characters CAN be VERY funny, but everyone shows up to adventure and take things seriously. The comedy happens to break the tension rather than everyone being muppets.

This is why you gotta set expectations ahead of time. Do NOT let players show up with whatever they want or you'll get shenanigans and edgelords. The Westmarches game we had a good session zero that set expectations (the bit character joined us later).

I do a LOT of matchmaking with games, knowing who has what play style. Don't be afraid to join in modern gaming - be afraid of joining a game where nobody has laid down a tone and chosen players who respect that.

 

[Damien]

Don't be afraid to join in modern gaming - be afraid of joining a game where nobody has laid down a tone and chosen players who respect that.

This is absolutely true. If you're gearing up for a game with a group, or joining an ongoing campaign, it shouldn't be difficult for them to answer for you what KIND of game it is and the general vibe they're going for.

The comedy happens to break the tension rather than everyone being muppets.

This is how I like my games. I'm even okay with having those certain characters that tend to joke a lot more, as long as it's a character and not all the PCs (or players) in the entire group. Comic relief characters can be great if the player knows how to run them and the rest of the group doesn't try to weasel in on their action.

 

[docsilence]

Yeah, it's all about expectations and respect. TBF, I am kind of over shenanigans groups, but I'll run this one every four weeks or so as a gift to my partner and her friends. I do feel bad for the human fighter because I think he wants a serious game, but he's stuck cos his wife was the one who organized/asked for it. (Although I also think she's trying to get him past his shyness to be friends with ME so I can can sneak him into a campaign he'll enjoy more. He's French and stresses out about translating his character actions in his head when playing and I reckon a few sessions with these goofballs but seeing how I run things he might feel safe to be like: got any room in that grimdark campaign you run?)

I'm the only GM for almost my entire friend circle so I find I've become kind of a matchmaker. Like I just let a campaign fade because we had two players who loved big complex fights and three who just wanted a lighthearted story so there was cognitive dissonance in the party; but I'll happily throw the two players horny for combat into a group with a few friend who love that part and the others with, hey, maybe some of the muppets. I let another group go because half of them still couldn't read their character sheets at level 6, but the other half, I'll introduce them to some of the other strays. (It'd be nice if someone would pick up the DM baton once in a while, but... y'know.)

I do have my favorite group though, who are always looking for action/combat/dungeon delves/monster fights, but somehow still have the funniest shit happen on the regular. They're the ones who found the living puppet cabaret horror show and we were laughing for hours, but it was a breath of air in a dark story vs. making it ALL a bit.

 

[TheSameIdiot]

Honestly? I'd GM a game for y'all.

I've been looking for a second table for a while now. I occasionally consider finding a local group online, but my social anxiety always wins out. That, and the horror stories I read on the D&D subreddit.

Can we get a headcount on this to see if it'd be possible? Three to five players, plus a GM, would be ideal. No pressure, obviously. I think a group meeting weekly or every other week would be great.

I own Foundry VTT, which is great for online games.

Just got roped into DMing a group for my partner's friends because her BF's husband hasn't been able to find a group that has been chill to play with in years. I set up a "fight vampire nobles in a kingdom run by bloodsuckers" allegory for... y'know, reality. The husband shows up with a low key, very efficient human fighter/vampire hunter. Perfect for the story, good to get his feet wet playing after years away. His wife shows up with a ratfolk based on pizza rat, my partner betrays me by creating an angry rabbitfolk monk, another friend shows up with an elderly gnome warlock named Ethyl who isn't sure why she's here, and his wife brought a half-vampire who gets nauseous at the sight of blood.

I think a mixture is best. In the two games I've played, one as GM and the other as a player, we had a mixture. I feel like the group needs one goofball for levity. We're play-acting imaginary characters, it can't be too strait-laced.

There is a time and place, though. One of my friends' partners forced their way into our group recently. Now we can't get through a single scene description or lore drop without an immature joke interrupting things. That person also plays the same character, a character who is basically them, in every one-shot and campaign. It's a huge pet peeve of mine. The fun of D&D is that you can be anyone.

In my campaign, one of my players was a pyromaniac rat-folk who loved cheese. He kept an ongoing cheese journal, documenting the best cheese he had across the campaign. It was silly, but he played the serious moments respectfully.

(This group I just let be idiots because I know them so well. I usually actually prefer "real characters who can be funny" over bits, myself.)

I feel the same, though I like to add a small detail to my characters for the odd laugh. A character who's a bit too old for this shit, frustratingly obstinant or obtuse, or someone who can't help but steal every trinket they come across. I think you can add fun details without derailing the campaign or becoming The Main Character.

Someone in my group that always shows up with characters perfectly designed for my story pitch, however, sent me a gift in the mail that is a "Dungeon Daddy" tee shirt. No one will admit they sent it. Did I almost accidentally wear it on a work cal today? YUP

This kinda shit makes me want to add custom user titles. (Doc's is currently Thoughtful, but how could I resist Dungeon Daddy?)

(It'd be nice if someone would pick up the DM baton once in a while, but... y'know.)

If we were to get a group together, I'd want you (or someone with as much experience) to start. I'd volunteer, but I get nervous enough for my group, and I've known them for almost 20 years. I also can't escape the impostor syndrome. I think (hope) that'd go away once we played a bit.

That said, we should plan to pass the baton regularly. It sounds like you don't get to play that often with your group.

 

[docsilence]

This kinda shit makes me want to add custom user titles. (Doc's is currently Thoughtful, but how could I resist Dungeon Daddy?)

That same group changed my handle in our group chat to Dungeon Daddy with flame emojis on either side of the name, but I can't see my own handle in that program. So whenever I say something that sounds REALLY off-color when it's said by Dungeon Daddy, they screen shot it and take a drink.

It's a mixture of love and abuse, really.

If we're doing a headcount - I usually run with six with the "if we get a quorum of four, we play" rule so that scheduling is easier, but I'm not locked into that. Just makes things easier cos people are always busy and someone will inevitably have an emergency the day of.

 

[Fletch]

What game system are we pitching? I haven't actually played anything in a decade or more, so my skills range from rusty to none.

 

[TheSameIdiot]

I think D&D 5e/5.5e are the default, but I'm game for basically anything.

 

[docsilence]

Yeah, I'm actually trying to acclimate to the Modiphius 2d20 system so I can run a game of Star Trek but if I were going to put something together to get acclimated I'd probably do 5e cos I know it backward and forward (I have a master subscription too so I can share the books I own).

 

[Fletch]

I got a bunch of Modiphius Star Trek stuff from a Humble Bundle a while back. I honestly haven't been able to understand the rules yet; it all seems a little freeform.

I like the way stats are based on the crew branches like Security and Conn, but I don't quite get how traits work. The player just decides they have a trait, like "plays trombone" and the GM decides when that trait applies?

 

[docsilence]

It's VERY freeform, partly why I'm kinda struggling a bit. I did just order the 2nd edition starter because Modiphius was having a huge warehouse moving sale and stuff was really cheap (got Kirk's sexy green tunic themed dice for five bucks, why not) but I think I'm going to listen to a few episodes of an actual play to see if hearing other people run it makes it easier to learn.

 

[Damien]

Can we get a headcount on this to see if it'd be possible? Three to five players, plus a GM, would be ideal. No pressure, obviously. I think a group meeting weekly or every other week would be great.

I'd be interested, but I'm probably a bit of a wild card. I've never used a VTT so there'd be some learning curve there. And my schedule is .. finicky. Hell, probably 2/3 of the posting I do here I do while working - but I can't play a game while working. So I'm limited to maybe two weekends a month where I can work out several hours all at once of free time. More often than that likely wouldn't be tenable for me.
But if the group lands of that kind of timetable anyway, I'd be up for it.

I'd love to get back into DMing as well eventually, but realistically I'm not sure I'd ever be able to devote the time unless it's the occasional one-off - maybe during my company's slower months.

It was silly, but he played the serious moments respectfully.

I feel like these types of characters can actually add -more- weight to serious moments, rather than detract from them. When even the goofy character is suddenly quiet and affected... some shit just went down.

This kinda shit makes me want to add custom user titles. (Doc's is currently Thoughtful, but how could I resist Dungeon Daddy?)

I literally cannot think of a -better- reason to add custom user titles.

Yeah, I'm actually trying to acclimate to the Modiphius 2d20 system

I remember these guys from that Mutant game they did and from their version of Conan. I didn't like either game. It just -feels- like a TTRPG written by board game people, if that makes sense. I remember telling a friend of mine curious about the Conan game that, after a cursory look at the rules, it felt like a game you could only learn to play if you already knew how to play it.

 

[TheSameIdiot]

Okay, so me, @Damien, and @Fletch. How about you, @altcunningham? It was your idea to start with. That's... everyone who's participated in this thread so far.

I think we leave the system, setting, and tone up to the DM.

Maybe we start with an adventure or short campaign to see how it goes? If folks are on board long-term, we can expand, go West Marches, or move into the next campaign?

I'll start organizing over PM once we have an answer from AC.

but I can't play a game while working.

Rookie.

So I'm limited to maybe two weekends a month where I can work out several hours all at once of free time. More often than that likely wouldn't be tenable for me.

If we wind up playing twice a week or just running it West Marches-style, that's fine with me.

 

[altcunningham]

Okay, so me, @Damien, and @Fletch. How about you, @altcunningham? It was your idea to start with. That's... everyone who's participated in this thread so far.

I'm down.

 

[docsilence]

As I'm brainstorming how best to do this, mind if I run how I run my games online past ya to see if it works? I'm not a VTT guy because it adds too much to my cognitive load, but I AM a maps guy, so I set up a zoom line for the group and have a second "battle cam" logged in so you can pin the map, zoom in, etc - I've got, to be honest, TOO MANY really pretty 2D maps I can throw down and improvise with on camera. I'm also one of those lunatics who will, absolutely, hand-paint your character's mini if the campaign clicks.

With a master account, you could join a campaign for free and use all the books and stuff I've got in my kit. Honor system for dice rolls (I don't really play with anyone I don't trust to trust their own rolls!) but a DNDBeyond campaign does give you the option to roll publicly too. But honestly, I trust the folks I GM for, so sling plastic dice, roll digital, all good.

I'll drop a pic of my map set up in a post below this since it's easier from Tapa.

 

[docsilence]