I don't play D&D, but when I tell people to make characters before a game I'm referring to the RP side of it. Backstory, motivation, etc. Then I help them translate that into whatever system we're using.

 

That's entirely different than giving a link with four rulebooks and expecting characters.

 

That was the idea, yes.

 

You can actually do this quite easily, but sending them a list of prompting questions. Some players have trouble thinking up 'a character' in advance with no clear guidance, but with 3 or 4 simple questions can end up bringing along a character that just needs some stats and skills applied, and those are obvious from everything thats been written.

 

Yeah, I try to give them a picture of how they're going to start out and enough details about the world to go by. We're going to be starting a Fallout game soon so I'm actually going to do something different and have them take a GOAT to help narrow their characters down.

 

Trying to plan my way out of a potential corner. Copy and pasting from a conversation with a friend:

At the end of the last arc, I want to put the PCs in a place where we can switch characters and DMs out, because I would like a chance to play. My issue is that I'm having a hard time figuring out a way for this stuff to end without requiring an obvious Deus Ex or some such. Ideas, help?

 

You couldn't just have the drow and the drow hunters focus on eachother, with only party level appropriate enemies attacking the party? This would give them a chance to stage a fighting retreat (or die if they don't) while a major, pitched battle is going on in their area. Later on (if you decide the Elves win) have them track down the party at a level appropriate to the encounter, or some time soon afterwards and have the elves strong-arm them into helping vs the Drow.

"I could kill you, but i'm such a nice guy that I'd rather you help me out on my quest."

They are good after all, they shouldn't be interested in taking lives unless they REALLY have to, and this is an easy way to transition in new character (establish an order of non-elves who know the secret and want to help for various reasons).

 

After all this time, I figure it's time to share some stories from my current game.

After my disastrous attempt at a play by post of Way of the Wicked, I resurrected it as a regular game with a few of the players who expressed interest. It turned out to be Me, Lexicat, ChaosGuy, Typhon, and Brukel. Brukel later had to leave the game due to time constraints, and was replaced by one of my IRL friends, who has an account here as N.Specter.

Some of the best parts:

-The party broke out of prison and made it through the forest, though there were some mishaps. Kevdak (ChaosGuy) accidently fried Uthred (Brukel) by using Shocking Grasp on a giant toad that was in the middle of eating him.

-Getting to the house of their benefactor, the evil Cardinal of Asmodeus, Adrastus Thorn. He wanted them to be an elite unit in his secret society in their goal to destroy the nation of Talingarde. Without much persuasion, the group accepted his generous offer.

-The Ogre Grumblejack followed the party to the house, and was bound by blood pact to the service of Ruby (Lexicat). This was a good move, as Grumblejack later turned into one of the best parts of the game in my opinion. Some highlights of his existence thus far:

And many more that party members can chime in with if they think of any highlights.

-Taking a boat north, arming an invading bugbear horde, taking the boat south, and then killing the captain and crew and burning it to the ground.

-There was a brief detour on the boat trip to club baby seals. I am not joking.

-Infiltrating a fortress to weaken it for the bugbear horde. During this time Ruby infiltrated the fortress as a witch hunter and turned people against each other. Kevdak sacrificed his magical powers for the ability to summon spirits and the occult, and then used his new found powers to destroy siege engines. He also discovered a drinking problem! Hadzan (Typhon) developed an affinity for fire and it became a running joke that he was going to burn everything down. Brukel left at this point and Uthred was replaced by Elliot (N.Specter), who immediately replaced the tower wizard and began scheming. Between the wanton violence, the subtle violence, and two different poisonings, not a single man was left standing out of the 100 strong guard, including the Paladin and his crew.

-Taking another boat north with Tiadora (a devil woman who serves as Thorn's right hand) and spending most of the trip dissecting the captain and feeding his limbs to Grumblejack.

-Getting to their next town, where they won over an evil aristocrat to their cause almost entirely through roleplay.

Most recently, the Knot (as they're called) has been clearing out a dungeon which they will need to run for 222 days. Why are they spending that long in one place? They have to run an elaborate ritual to summon a demon prince of pestilence, who will give them a virulent plague, which is the cornerstone of the next phase of the Cardinal's plan.

Also, both N.Specter and Typhon swapped characters recently. So Elliot was brutally slain by a boggard barbarian and was replaced by Dimitri, vaguely Russian swashbuckler. And then Hadzan was rendered comatose by a Memory Child, and they awoke Nethar, a wizard whose obsessed with forbidden knowledge.

More to come as the game progresses!

 

Here's a question: What is the weirdest/most WTF/lulzy character you or a friend of your has ever played in a PnP game?

For me, i think it was when a friend of mine created a Sapient, Psychic Cheese Wheel.

 

I once took part in a game with pre-gen characters, one of whom was a voice in another characters head. I don't think it worked quite as well as the GM thought it would, it left that particular player with very limited interaction options, and almost no ability to influence the game.

 

I once made Dirk Phenomenon, Professional Wrestler (Bard). His songs were all lengthy speeches on how his foes were going to feel the phenomenon, and every time he talked, I played his theme song from my phone.

I don't think I've ever had more fun playing a character.

 

So my PC flashbanged a moose the last time we played Shadowrun...

Just another day in Russia, I suppose.

 

I may have accidentally sent a beast spirit (all of which hate me on principle) to kill everything in a factory. A former Soviet factory. It took the order literally. On the plus side, no soldiers in there now. Or rodents. Or insects. Or bacteria.

 

My gaming group was featured in the local paper today. A journalist decided to write a bit about DnD, since its the whateverth anniversary. He came along, took part in a game and published the article. Decent piece, even if the title WE ARE NOT DEVIL WORSHIPERS maybe leaves something to be desired. We're hoping that we'll see an increased footfall after this, maybe a few gamers who didn't know we exist, or a couple of folk who've been interested, but never been able to find a group to go with.

 

Don't know if anyone is so inclined, but Game Designer Christopher J.N. Banks recently lost his only child. In order to help him pay medical bills, DriveThru have put together "The Game Masters Memorial Fund Charity Drive [BUNDLE]".

For $20 you get a whole bunch of interesting indie titles and supplements in pdf format, a copy of Shadowrun 5e in pdf format and, most importantly, the satisfaction of knowing that you're helping a stricken family through some dark shit.

 

Here's a question: Do you guys have a certain kind of character you prefer to play? Do you prefer Casters, or Rogues or Fighters, a Chaotic or Lawful character, or do your character tend to have a common theme?

For myself, I tend to favor caster classes, or sometimes something like a Swordmage/Spellsword whatever you want to call it. I also tend towards a Chaotic Neutral alignment.

For a second question: When you deviate from your normal kind of character, how fun do you find it? Do you find anything surprising with those characters and do any you've made stand out to you?

On my part, I recently made a Paladin character for the first time. It's turned out more fun then I thought and his character can be summed up by combining this:

Spoiler

With this:

Spoiler

 

I purposefully change characters for every campaign, otherwise I get bored. I tend towards talky ones more than anything, though. I prefer having more skills on the social side than in combat.

 

I try and play a different class each game, see what everything's about. I also try and play different alignments, lets me tackle problems from different perspectives.

Groups I've played with have overwhelmingly preferred casters of the True Neutral/Heroic Sociopath variety. Some of them have been very entertaining. Some have not.

 

Accidentally closed page, have to retype out reply. Yay.

My friends would say I tend towards barbarian characters, but that's really just coincidence. Whenever I'm not a barbarian, something conspires to kill the campaign. Like our DM just gives up, or people start leaving for university. I do favor the more chaotic characters, like the barbarian, but more like a wandering bard or illusionist. If I play a lawful character it's generally to balance out group dynamics. Or I do it because there's some concept character I want to make. Those games are usually the shortest.

Probably my favorite character was a Good female Wizard. In a grim world, she stood by her convictions, trying to do right by all she came across. She put herself in danger to rescue countless magical creatures, and when the tyrannical king was overthrown she attempted to save his life. I had a lot of fun roleplaying her in a serious manner. I was pretty sad when she died because of my own stupidity.

Another character of note was my 3.5 Beguiler, who lasted all of 1 hour. He was a devoutly religious man, and he died because he couldn't reach his health potions under the religious texts he had brought to give out to people. The DM didn't quite get that everyone's characters were ridiculous, and not geared for combat. Oh well. I'm just sad he didn't get the opportunity to turn into a bear.