Search results for tag #ttrpg
#TTRPG #worldbuilding thought: How do religious institutions in your setting finance themselves?
The most common answers seem to be "donations" and "tithes or taxes", because that's what most people today know. But looking at German history, quite a few monasteries actually specialized in some kind of trade. Brewing beer was popular, as was cultivating wine. And some even developed expertise in mining and construction, and hired themselves out as consultants!
So, what else might your temples, churches, monasteries or whatever do in order to generate some extra income?
ttrpg superhero settings [SENSITIVE CONTENT]
In the post-george-floyd, post-metro-surge, post-black-lives-matter, and post-epstein world, it is difficult to swallow the copaganda aspect of many traditional #SuperHero settings, in particular many of the #ttrpg ones.
However, superhero comics contain within themselves the seeds of an answer to this problem.
Specifically, several Batman projects, Spider-Man, Superman, and the Question have all involved fighting corrupt cops or other institutions.
The Dying Earth RPG Collection is live on Humble Bundle!
Step into a world of fading suns, strange magic, doomed scholars, petty rivalries, and magnificent bad decisions with a huge collection of Dying Earth RPG material.
https://bit.ly/4i6l6vx
#DyingEarth #TTRPG #HumbleBundle
Interview with David Megarry, creator of DUNGEON! boardgame.
Something I think is important to remember is David Megarry made the DUNGEON! boardgame before Gary even started writing up Dungeons & Dragons.
He already had Heroes, Elves, Wizards, Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Skeletons, Trolls, Vampires and many many other things, all wrapped up in a set of rules before Dave and David went over to Gary's house to demonstrate both DUNGEON! and the fantasy game that became D&D.
#QuestionOfTheDay post a screenshot/picture from a piece of media that you're into where everybody who knows the thing will know exactly what impending moment you're referring to but those who don't will not understand what is happening
#fiction #books #tv #television #movies #film #anime #manga #comics #comicbooks #videogames #gaming #ttrpg #ccgs
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screenshot from Babylon 5 showing John Sheridan looking up as a light falls onto his face and Anna Sheridan walks in the corridor behind him
I recently complained that a rather well known German #ttrpg map was modified by some AI-fueled abysmally slow route planner web app, and noted that this isn't quite respectful to the original artist (RPG maps not solely being representational).
Now I'm being told that, well, akshually, just upscaling the art and removing the labels would've been the disrespectful thing.
Great that this was cleared up.
Mittagessen! Und guten Hunger dabei!! 🍽️
Es gibt Spielbericht V.4 unserer hausgemachten #DnD -Kampagne:
https://www.tanelorn.net/index.php/topic,118203.msg135361134.html#msg135361134
😋
#pnpde #osr #ttrpg #odnd
#Avalon #ZeitDerWölfe
#CairnRPG #Cairn2e
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Porträt von Loik
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Porträt von Gwelgi
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Porträt von Islind
The moment you realize that you are a middle aged dude who is in a very good mood right now because he just borrowed his kid‘s (colour) pencils to draw a wizard‘s tower for an upcoming #ttrpg session … 😆 Elves and stuff
The more I think about it, my ideal implementation of German #folklore as a #ttrpg setting would be the aftermath of an "Alternate History" version of the Thirty Years' War.
During the war the setting would be too "GrimmDark", and there are too many other setting like that already. While I do not object to Grimness as such, I want to leave opportunities for the lighter and more humoristic parts of German folklore.
On the other hand, the aftermath of the war _does_ have plenty of devastation, chaos, and ruin - which is a perfect environment for roving adventurers (and they would hardly be the only ones).
And while any historical setting with magic and supernatural creatures is "alternate history" by default, I would lean into this to explain why magic is more common and accepted - perhaps all sides were willing to use magic in warfare, which made rulers more willing to accept magic-users as long as they did not get uppity. This could also be an opportunity to give marginalized groups more social acceptance in order to make them more viable as player characters.
Still, there would be a lot of worldbuilding required. Not just to bring the historical aspects alive - almost all German folk tales are one-off stories with little regard for "long-term continuity". There must be something to do for player characters that keeps them occupied session after session, adventure after adventure - a framework that supports entire campaigns.
What are your thoughts?
In 1998 I had my first repeatable, bumpersticker-type slogan about trust in design, and it was a direct response to that fateful taco lunch with Loyd Blankenship where I kind of grilled him about design choices in GURPS Supers. It was:
"The gamers you design for are your target audience."
Which sounds like a non-statement. Until you read it as an accusation.
By 1999 it had morphed into:
"Design for the gamers you love, not the ones you dread."
... and I still use that one today.
Issue 274 of #DnD’s Dragon magazine was released for August, 2000 - 26 years ago! It coincided with the release of #DungeonsAndDragons 3e. It includes articles by Monte Cook, Kim Mohan, Jonathan Tweet, Robin D. Laws and many more great game designers. #TTRPG
RE: https://mementomori.social/@juergen_hubert/117122354531251180
Some further thoughts on German #folklore in a #ttrpg context:
One of the most popular ways of keeping a long-term campaign going is to have an overarching villain. And not just any villain can do - you need a villain who has either minions, or else is an organization. This way, you have enemies that the PCs can defeat and make measurable progress before the big campaign finale. Some possible candidates:
- A powerful noble, merchant prince, bishop, or other largely "mundane human" NPC. This makes establishing a "hierarchy of foes" pretty easy, since all of them have henchpersons. However, this does mean that the campaign should focus on the regions where that NPC has influence.
- Wahles/Venetians: Due to their potent magical powers and sometimes-otherworldly nature, they certainly make for potent foes. In the tales, they mostly act as lone, independent agents, but there are exceptions. And given their secrecy, they might have a lot of influence behind the political scenes, and they are certainly rich enough to hire all sorts of minions.
https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/Category:Wahles
- Witches' Covens: While this is another classic, I am not too fond of it due to the associations with the historical witch panics and their killings. If I were to use a "coven" led or influenced by the Devil, then I'd use one of the more unconventional arrangements, such as this one:
https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/The_Fickle_Xaver_of_T%C3%A4gerig
- Pagan cults: This is similarly problematic. It _might_ work if I invented some kind of religion that had no real world equivalent, but pagan religion in a German folklore context is something I would need to handle with the utmost care.
- The Devil: While using physical violence against the Devil is a surprisingly common and successful tactic in many folk tales, this is best reserved for "lesser devils" in a campaign, or else the PCs will get too cocky. For campaign purposes, it's best if the Devil is either trying to ruin someone the PCs care about, or if he serves as a patron for a circle of black mages. Either way, it is important that the Devil remains defeatable - not just by combat, but by exploiting his many flaws, such as his overwhelming pride. Of course, each defeat will make the Devil more motivated to avenge himself against the PCs - and he can never be truly killed (despite what some folk tales claim).
- Sleeping Rulers: There all sorts of stories about former kings and emperors sleeping beneath some mountains with their courts and armies, and they are prophesized to rise again "in the country's hour of need" or for some "final battle". One way of handling this is some misguided cult of minor nobles trying to reawaken one of them in the hopes of "returning Germany to glory" - while the PCs want to stop them in order to prevent the prophesized arrival of the End Times.
Alternatively, the ruler could rise again - as an undead Dark Lord, complete with undead armies, if you want to turn this into a horror campaign. Or else _several_ emperors wake up again, and fight for supremacy.
https://wiki.sunkencastles.com/wiki/Category:Sleeping_Ruler
These are my ideas so far, although I need some further ideas for nonhuman, supernatural villains - there aren't a lot of good candidates for that.
What are your thoughts?
Excited. Tonight I’m a test player in #Hexcrawl / Sandbox adventure I wrote over the last months. I‘m won‘t referee the game, just explore the setting thorough the eyes of a player. Really looking forward and am super curious how someone else will utilize (make sense of) the sandbox.
Shoutout to @brian who helped me a lot improving the language of the manuscript. #osr #LiminalHorror #ttrpg
#ttrpg players and gms: what was the first non-DnD game you played or ran? Me: FASERIP Marvel Super Heroes
Here's some Tuesday Planescape art. Cover art for The Great Modron March by Randy Post.
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A person with long hair, a huge battle axe and a weird mask with antennae crouches near a couple of damaged metallic spheres with eyes and mouths.
Glimmermark Session 58. Only two players today. They decided to forego the underground, and instead decided to check out a ruined city the group had found in the southeast. On the way there they saw a dragon passing over them, and hid in a forest that turned out to be full of red-hatted gnomes that hate dwarves.
In the city they tried to negotiate with gnolls but sounded too much like spies. In the resulting fight they captured rather than killed all of them.
If you love bestiaries, you will love this #Harn one - and 50% off! It’s a must buy for me!! https://yumdm.short.gy/HarnBestiary
#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #TTRPG
Another forever D&D topic is sandbox vs railroad? I think railroad is the wrong word. I do not think anyone wants to be railroaded. Maybe freeform vs structured, but that will never get clicks!
A subtle subset of such discussions is the players are (probably) never going to be as invested in the world building a DM is. They are not as motivated to engage in abstract concepts like government, or trading, or game social constructs, or improving the world (fantasy) in some way.
I hypothesis that freeform (sandbox) play lends itself more to the players thinking of themselves as indestructible cowboys. Or maybe they know they could die, but nobody is going to hold them back or tell them what to do.
It is much less likely that the players are going to say, oh, this land is lawless, I am going to build a wood fort, and change the hearts and minds of the people to stand with me and tame this wilderness for the greater good of our kingdom. They are much more likely to say, who needs this kingdom telling us what to do.
My 14‑year‑old niece is new to making resin dice & painting minis, & she gifted me these as an early birthday gift over the weekend. I’m so proud of her: wild sparkle energy, rising talent, & our shared hobby bond gets stronger. Wanted to share with the TTRPG Community to encourage her!
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A set of pink dice with gold numbers and a painted miniature in the middle of them
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A close up of a hand painted miniature
I’ve had a go at writing a sci-fi solo journaling #TTRPG which is now available via luna greyt publishing, called ‘Marooned on Horizon’. It’s available to download via DTRPG:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/578748/marooned-on-horizon
Sad but true, #BasementDelving is no more. Well, at least not in Ye Olde Basement at my parents house. 😭 Yes yes, of course I have my own basement now. But somehow I doubt that there will be #ttrpg surprises waiting for me there. 🤣
I probably got this link from mastodon. But what the hell that was back on Tuesday and here it is Sunday.
Had a 4h long 5e dnd game today.
I think my age is showing, but after about half that time I was ready to check out.
Unlike other people I never managed those mammoth 12h sessions I was hearing about, but by now 3 hours is about my maximum.
In tune with today's WanderingDMs video.
In D&D, do you use level titles? Yes, No, or add a comment.
Here is an example from 1E AD&D, magic-user.
1 Prestidigitator
2 Evoker
3 Conjurer
4 Theurgist
5 Thaumaturgist
6 Magician
7 Enchanter
8 Warlock
9 Sorcerer
10 Necromancer
11 Wizard
Link to video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1WmYG-wN9I
| Yes: | 5 |
| No: | 20 |
Closed