Daily Link: Describing a Scene. (from Roleplaying Tips)
Some discussion at the 20×20 room.
Bonus Link: Forward Momentum
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Author: Scott
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Gameday 1/21/2005 (Friday)
Does anyone have a problem showing up this week? 6:30 is still the planned start time. Chime in if you’re going to have any problem making it, or even if you’re sure that you’ll be there.
Let’s discuss food. What do we want to eat– Pizza again sound good, or are you all craving something different?
Update: Good news– Zack will join us for Friday.
Also, due to comment spam, I’ve restricted comments to registered people. Registering takes less than a minute– go here: http://www.typekey.com/t/typekey/
If you have any problems (or if this greatly annoys you), let me know.
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Death and Hit Points
Before we get there, I thought I’d bring up the only random part of leveling up– hit points. There are a lot of campaigns out there, and they’ve each got a take on how to solve it. I think we’d all prefer not to have too many ones… especially for the first few levels when it really matters.
a) Three-quarters of max each level. This is the most generous guaranteed hit points that I’ve seen. [I have seen a few “just give max at each level”, but really, why make it a die type at that point?]
b) Use WOTC’s Monster design rules- average hit points per level (so 4.5 per d8 for example).
c) Roll the die. If it comes up a one, reroll it. Still pretty variable, but at least you’re not stuck with ones.
d) Roll two dice & keep the better one. While there’s still a chance of a low number (even a one), it’s pretty slim.
e) Roll three dice and keep the middle one. This cuts back on the extremes- both high and low are unlikely, so you’ll often have a mid range roll.
f) High minimum old school For the first ten levels, characters are guaranteed high hit points (reroll anything falling in the bottom half). From 10 on, the con bonus is eliminated, and it returns to +1,+2, or +3 per level, like old 2nd edition. (It’s an interesting tradeoff, but it doesn’t reflect 3e’s assumptions very well.)
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Gameday 01/14/2005 (Friday)
Does anyone have a problem showing up this week? Is there anything that we need to do before Friday? [Dad: What would you like for us to do? Is there any information you need us to bring or email before the session?]
I’m thinking another 6:30 start is the plan. Hopefully we’ll be ready to roll– I enjoyed last week and am already eager for another.
Bookmark this https://www.scottrpg.com/llamafodder/roleplaying/dnd_group/index.htm and check in each week to keep everyone informed. Thanks.
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DnD ideas
Most of this I found on Monte Cook’s site, under his DMing advice. There’s some good thought– and the serendipity of his group being large (7 vs. our 6) made some of his articles very appropriate.
Dealing with large groups (his is a 7 person group)– it’s a three parter. Part One, Part Two, Part Three
50 magic items, detailed. A short history and some game stats for each; should be cool. A free download on RPGNow.
Treasure Cards is an interesting idea. Instead of having equipment written on a sheet, keep index cards instead. It makes it easier to loan (just hand over the card), and other useful benefits. (Like it’s especially good for single use items that you otherwise forget.)
Damage reduction, a house rule to solve some problems he has with “boring plusses” and “golf-bag of weapons” issues.
An article on equipping NPCs w/ Magic Items. Mostly demonstrates the flexibility of the system, and how tinkering’s quite reasonable.
Hope they prove useful.
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Gameday 01/07/2005
So, it looks like we’ll be playing on Friday nights for a few weeks. So far, it looks like everyone can make it Friday night. We’ll start around 6:30pm.
Does anyone have any questions or things to straighten out before Friday? Anyone have problems with showing up Friday? Please respond in thread.
Thanks.
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Populations and other research
Some recent finds:
Building Prestige Classes (Part 1)
Building Prestige Classes (Part 2)
Population Demographics A tighter method of stating out towns
3d6.org A Forgotten Realms (Harper) campaign
Complete Domain Spellbook
6 person party experience forum discussion
Magic Item Reference
The articles are thorough and generally good. (Not so sure about the last; I snagged it to peruse later.)
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Get together coordination
Right now, it sounds like we’re thinking hard about getting together for the first session on Saturday, January 8th. The big questions are: can everyone make it, and what time do we want to meet? Does anyone have to leave at a specific time?
Update: Steve has trouble with Saturday nights for at least a few weeks. How does Friday nights, 6:30 to 11 pm (or so) work for everyone?
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Top Ten for 2004
Edward Underscore of Obsidian Wings (under political blogs) started a thread Stan LS Memorial Top 10 Lists for 2004: Open Thread that asks a general question:
Yes, it’s that time of year again, when everyone gets to pretend they write for David Letterman and offer their Top Ten lists on their favorite topics. Rather than limit it to movies or events, however, I’m opening up the concept to anything that strikes your fancy. What were your favorite “things” about the past year?
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Defining moments as a GM
Over on The Master’s Council, MtFierce asked a huge question:
What were your defining moments as a GM? What have you seen other GMs struggle with? Have you got answers, solutions, a rule-of-thumb system?
That’s quite a question. I’ll try answering it in pieces, but if I fail… it’s quite a question.