Role-playing Games Stack Exchange
Role-playing Games Stack Exchange

Most Popular

more tags
1500 questions
65
votes
7 answers

As an unreliable player, how can I lessen the burden on my group?

I'm often unreliable, in the sense that something always seems to turn up at the last minute that draws me away from our current regular game. (It's happened before as well.) Given that the reasons for this unreliability are unlikely to go away, and…
AncientSwordRage
  • 13,455
  • 8
  • 110
  • 291
65
votes
12 answers

How can I show-not-tell my players that they are The Bad Guys?

My players have an interesting habit of changing their behavior on a dime. Between objectives, they'll be trying to fix problems at small towns they pass through and helping the locals, but once they have an objective, they're fine with taking…
N. A.
  • 1,057
  • 1
  • 9
  • 9
64
votes
4 answers

How to play when you have little experience and speech difficulties?

I can't talk, not a word, but I am really interested in getting into tabletop RPGs. But from my understanding of the game, this is difficult to do when you can't talk. I am learning sign language but I'm far from fluent and so even if another player…
Bertie
  • 401
  • 4
  • 5
64
votes
2 answers

Weapon attacks compared with damaging cantrips?

Cantrips scale automatically with character level. Weapon attacks only scale with ability score and any extra attack features you might get. How could the damage of weapon attacks keep up?
András
  • 64,090
  • 38
  • 198
  • 422
64
votes
34 answers

Looking for solo (one person) RPGs - do they exist?

I am looking to find out if solo RPGs exist, and which you'd recommend. I do not mean "one-on-one" 1 player + 1 GM games. I really mean "1 person." Update: After receiving two (fine, up-voted) answers that indicate Choose Your Own Adventure…
Tobiasopdenbrouw
  • 4,316
  • 4
  • 30
  • 40
64
votes
9 answers

What is 'railroading', and what are its pros and cons?

What does the term 'railroading' mean? When some people use the term it seems to be considered to be something negative. Is it purely negative or does it have pros and cons, and if so, what are they?
Tobiasopdenbrouw
  • 4,316
  • 4
  • 30
  • 40
64
votes
3 answers

How does extra damage work for critical hits?

I'm a bit confused on how extra damage works for critical hits. Let's take the following example: A thief with sneak attack rolls a crit. I'm under the impression he rolls double his normal attack damage dice AND double his Sneak Attack damage dice.…
K.Niemczyk
  • 1,381
  • 2
  • 13
  • 15
64
votes
11 answers

Overview of D&D retro-clones

I'm getting more and more interested in the D&D retro-clones. I keep seeing various names thrown around, like Labyrinth Lords, Swords and Wizardry, Lycanthropes &… something else starting with an L. There must be dozens of these floating around the…
olajostein
  • 1,510
  • 1
  • 13
  • 16
64
votes
6 answers

My players like to search everything. What do they find?

I am currently running a D&D 4e campaign. Every time my players defeat/subdue the monsters in a room, they decide to search the room. However, I never have anything interesting for them to find. I realize that sometimes the answer is just, "You find…
mprogrammer
  • 1,836
  • 2
  • 14
  • 29
64
votes
10 answers

How can I engage players with melee monsters when players keep their distance?

So I am running a campaign as a DM, and one session my players were in a dungeon and spotted a Chuul in a water-filled area. The Chuul stayed deep in the pool, so the characters decided to drain the pool over time using a series of spells to over…
Juicetin
  • 4,125
  • 3
  • 19
  • 41
64
votes
16 answers

How can I play dumb?

I have a half-ogre character at my local larp group, and one of the roleplay-enforced restrictions for half-ogres is that they have low intelligence. I often find myself biting my tongue not to say 'smart' witty things, or reason with others to work…
AncientSwordRage
  • 13,455
  • 8
  • 110
  • 291
64
votes
6 answers

Does forcing a Vampire indoors count as an invitation?

On page 297 of the Monster Manual under the Vampire's Vampire Weaknesses section, it says: Forbiddance. The vampire can't enter a residence without an invitation from one of the occupants. If a player were to force a vampire into a residence…
bubbajake00
  • 3,170
  • 4
  • 24
  • 49
64
votes
11 answers

Is it OK for me to give my players' characters punitive backstories when they don't provide their own?

As a GM I have a rule where I write a players background for the player in a way that will affect them badly if they say the are amnesiacs in order to get out of writing a backstory. I tend to require at least half a page as background (I estimate…
Maiko Chikyu
  • 20,821
  • 9
  • 56
  • 172
63
votes
7 answers

A player was bucking my style and I lost my temper. What can I do from here?

New DM here. Under a year of experience, but I have learned alot from my friend who has helped guide me through the basics of DMing. Basically the only games that I have run have been with my close friends, none of them public, except for one. That…
user27022
63
votes
7 answers

How can I handle a player who pre-plans arguments about my rulings on RAW?

When playing D&D, I have always taken the following approach: I will do my best to adhere to Rules As Written (RAW) If I don't know a rule off the top of my head I will look it up If something I say conflicts with RAW, I will look at the rule and…
SaggingRufus
  • 4,313
  • 3
  • 27
  • 36
1 2 3
…
99 100