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1500 questions
37
votes
1 answer
Who first decided that "metagaming" is bad?
My understanding of early D&D play is that there was a general expectation that players could use any and all of their own skills to overcome challenges — including knowledge that their characters may not necessarily possess in the fiction. If you…
Alex P
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7 answers
How many kobolds does it take to dig a Pit Trap?
I did some maths, based on PF SRD for both traps and crafting, and this is what I found :
a Pit Trap is a CR-1 trap (but it's a lazy kind of trap, so let's assume, as PF SRD tells us to do, that it only costs 250gp x trap's CR) so it costs 2500 sp…
Trajan
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37
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17 answers
How to handle character death in adventures with save-or-dies
I am currently running an LotFP adventure using D&D Next, the amazing Better than any man. In SevenSidedDie' s great answer to a previous post of mine he touched upon philosophical differences between OSR-inspired adventures and 4e-era ones.…
Mala
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37
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12 answers
How do I balance a very-low magic campaign?
Recently, my players and I got kind of bored with the fact that Pathfinder relies heavily on magic items than martial prowess for fighting classes. I realize and accept the fact that spellcasters are more powerful than petty sword fighters in…
Can Canbek
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37
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7 answers
Fortifying & Defending a shop in a city
When they're not adventuring, the PCs in my campaign own a magic item shop in a very large city. They have a staff, inventory, marketing, and in general it operates like you'd expect an item shop to operate (except a lot of their inventory is…
Tridus
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3 answers
What are the differences between Shadowrun 4th and 5th edition that I should know about?
A short while ago Shadowrun 5th edition was released. I've played a lot of Shadowrun a long time ago (mostly SR2 and SR3, some SR4).
So what are the main differences that someone coming from Shadowrun 4th Edition (or 20th Anniversary Edition) to…
Joachim Sauer
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37
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7 answers
How can I screen new players to make sure they are a good fit for my game?
I'm looking to start a new Savage Worlds campaign and I need a full set of players for it. I've played in games before and ran a couple of one-shots, but I've never GMed a full campaign. There's already a meetup group for RPGs in my area, so I don't…
TheEnigmaMachine
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5 answers
How to support useful Intraparty Conflict
This is a question calling for tried and tested methods for facilitating entertaining CvC intraparty conflict.
Although Player versus Player (PvP) seems to be the accepted term among a large proportion of gamers for conflict within the party, this…
Runeslinger
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5 answers
How to get players to be curious and ask questions?
I have recently noticed that my players don't really try to find out much about the world and story beyond the direct "what do we see?" I want to have them interact more with their environment and actually explore the reasons behind things without…
Antonio
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37
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12 answers
Tried all the existing advice, but players still never roleplay fear
I've read some other posts on here about how to telegraph danger to my PCs and how to make them flee. The problem is, I believe I am actively using all the strategies in both of the posts and my PCs are never afraid of anything. It takes away the…
Sheph
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4 answers
What policies should be made at the start of a campaign, to define the desired game experience and avoid bad feelings later?
My group and I work on the assumption that a game system's default assumptions are its manifesto, and that by choosing a system we are choosing to let its assumptions stand except where we institute explicit house rules to the contrary (which we…
BESW
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37
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8 answers
How can I roleplay a vulgar character without using profanity?
In my new campaign, I have an NPC who I would like to have the personality trait of being extremely and unexpectedly vulgar. However I also have a few players who prefer not to use to hear profanity on a regular basis.
How can I portray a vulgar or…
linksassin
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4 answers
Petrification at low levels
I was considering using a Medusa in my home game against a group of 4th-level characters. With a CR of 6, a Medusa is well within the proper XP range for such a group. However, I'm nervous about using one, because it looks to me like my party is one…
Darth Pseudonym
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37
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4 answers
What is the origin of the word "Soak" for avoiding damage?
If anything ever boggled my mind in role playing, then it is the term "soak", as in "soaking damage". Soaking brings pictures of wet clothes to mind, as making stuff wet is what the word is in fact used for. And it just has that annoying itchy sound…
Undreren
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4 answers
How can I help my players that are new to answering story-building questions?
It's common in Powered by the Apocalypse games, as a part of the narrative flow, to ask players questions about the world to which their character would know the answer.
For example you might say:
As you browse the wares, you notice the imposing…
Wheat Wizard
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