This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

all the other threads are also about not playing a PnP RPG, but this one is more specific

To play and or discuss games and games

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This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Ashenai » Thu Aug 06, 2020 6:30 pm

This thread is for talking about playing a PnP RPG and what everyone would like to play and maybe RPG things in general. whatever

there's not going to be an actual game I don't think, but that's okay

the safeword is "i take off my robe and wizard hat", use it if you feel like things are getting too real and maybe someone is assuming you actually want to play a game. but you don't, because it's a lot of effort and may or may not even be fun

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Rylinks » Thu Aug 06, 2020 6:31 pm

it's okay i already played one

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Ashenai » Thu Aug 06, 2020 6:32 pm

My favorite PnP campaign that I ever ran was actually a module, Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. It's a dungeon crawl, but a really damn competently made one with a lot of room for creativity and lots of factions and stuff, and exactly at the levels where 3.5 characters are fun and not too broken.

God I miss that campaign.

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Still Alive » Fri Aug 07, 2020 2:00 am

ive always been super fascinated with dungeons and dragons and i actually even got into a game once and, man, props to anybody with the ability to be able to do this sort of thing with complete strangers

in person. it actually strikes me as a sort of really good thing, easy thing to do online

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Ashenai » Fri Aug 07, 2020 7:41 am

It's easy to do online, but I've literally never played an online game that finished. PnP games do finish, because you play them with your friends, who don't just vanish!

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Ashenai » Fri Aug 07, 2020 7:45 am

Part of it is that it's more work online, because in person a player will ask something simple, like "hey, where are the orcs standing?" and I just scatter some dice or figurines around and say "they're like that". Online, you have tools for setting up this stuff and they work well but it's still clumsier and more work. And it's more work for the players too.

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Doug » Fri Aug 07, 2020 12:30 pm

RPG.png
RPG.png (31.65 KiB) Viewed 8635 times


When we were kids and playing 1st Edition, we never wanted to set up combats. So we envisioned them the way a Final Fantasy game ended up working. There was a front row, a second row, and then the back. Rows were filled in from the front i.e. in order not to be in the front row, someone would have to be in the front row in front of you.

- In the front row, you of course could melee attack and be attacked by everything
- In the second row, you couldn't be meleed, but you also couldn't melee unless you had a polearm. You could shoot arrows or cast spells from here, though
- In a third or further row, you have no line of sight and so can't shoot a bow or use a spell that requires line of sight. You could cast spells on your friends in front of you, though, or cast spells that don't require a line of sight, e.g. Light, Bless, etc.

So every combat, everybody just said where they were, and the DM just said where the monsters were.

It's funny because this is how Final Fantasy ended up working
It's your turn in Cthulhu Wars
It's your turn in Squirrel Wars
It's your turn in Demon Wars
It's your turn in Wall Street Wars

http://devilsbiscuit.com/

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Doug » Fri Aug 07, 2020 12:38 pm

OK I just caught myself thinking of the tune to the song "Fooling Yourself" by Styx in my head

And then I asked myself, wait, where the hell did that come from

It's because we used to listen to Grand Illusion (Styx's seventh album, from 1977) when we would play 1st Edition
It's your turn in Cthulhu Wars
It's your turn in Squirrel Wars
It's your turn in Demon Wars
It's your turn in Wall Street Wars

http://devilsbiscuit.com/

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by rianalnn » Fri Aug 07, 2020 12:48 pm

Doug wrote:OK I just caught myself thinking of the tune to the song "Fooling Yourself" by Styx in my head

And then I asked myself, wait, where the hell did that come from

It's because we used to listen to Grand Illusion (Styx's seventh album, from 1977) when we would play 1st Edition
wonderful
Doug wrote:
RPG.png


When we were kids and playing 1st Edition, we never wanted to set up combats. So we envisioned them the way a Final Fantasy game ended up working. There was a front row, a second row, and then the back. Rows were filled in from the front i.e. in order not to be in the front row, someone would have to be in the front row in front of you.

- In the front row, you of course could melee attack and be attacked by everything
- In the second row, you couldn't be meleed, but you also couldn't melee unless you had a polearm. You should shoot arrows or cast spells from here, though
- In a third or further row, you have no line of sight and so can't shoot a bow or use a spell that requires line of sight. You could cast spells on your friends in front of you, though, or cast spells that don't require a line of sight, e.g. Light, Bless, etc.

So every combat, everybody just said where they were, and the DM just said where the monsters were.

It's funny because this is how Final Fantasy ended up working
is this because you didn't have LEGO

because we have LEGO & setting up a scene is amazing, & an opportunity to pee & regroup the snacks

From: vicious_bastard
Subject: crippled masters

Bring on the kung-fu amputees - no arms vs. no legs anyone? A bit of high-speed underground ninja-tunneling is always good as well. I wanna see some shit like that. Crazy monks with gnarly special powers can make any film good. FACT.

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Ashenai » Fri Aug 07, 2020 12:51 pm

That is a cool system Doug!

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Ashenai » Fri Aug 07, 2020 12:53 pm

I used LEGO too sometimes, 4 blocks = 10 feet worked well (two LEGO guys can walk shoulder to shoulder in a 10' passage). But then I switched to laminated square grids and drew the map on them in sharpie, that worked even better.

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Doug » Fri Aug 07, 2020 12:53 pm

Ashenai wrote: Fri Aug 07, 2020 12:51 pm That is a cool system Doug!
tyty
It's your turn in Cthulhu Wars
It's your turn in Squirrel Wars
It's your turn in Demon Wars
It's your turn in Wall Street Wars

http://devilsbiscuit.com/

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Ashenai » Fri Aug 07, 2020 12:55 pm

Although rogues are also a thing, they're in melee but flanking and being tricky and stuff, so Doug's system probably wouldn't work perfectly in 3rd Ed (and definitely wouldn't work at all in 4e)

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Ashenai » Fri Aug 07, 2020 12:57 pm

I find polearms are very underused in general, everyone is all about the swords. I would have liked to see more weapon variety.

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by rianalnn » Fri Aug 07, 2020 12:58 pm

Our Merfolk bard insists on wielding a trident, which I appreciate.

From: vicious_bastard
Subject: crippled masters

Bring on the kung-fu amputees - no arms vs. no legs anyone? A bit of high-speed underground ninja-tunneling is always good as well. I wanna see some shit like that. Crazy monks with gnarly special powers can make any film good. FACT.

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Juri » Fri Aug 07, 2020 4:11 pm

i used to read loads of pnp rpg rules, but ive never played in one, even online

theyre really fun to imagine playing though
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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Ashenai » Fri Aug 07, 2020 4:55 pm

Sometimes they're really fun to play, too!

The best PnP games I've played or GMed were better than any other gaming experience I've had. But the worst ones were insanely boring and frustrating. So much depends on the players and the GM.

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Ashenai » Fri Aug 07, 2020 4:57 pm

I'm very curious what kind of player you'd be, though. I think you'd make a game fun, provided it clicked with you.

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Khaos » Fri Aug 07, 2020 6:16 pm


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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Juri » Fri Aug 07, 2020 6:19 pm

thats kind of you to say
i have no idea what kind of player I'd be really. it feels like ttrpgs are very different from other forms of gaming, so i can't really analogise from the approach I have to videogame or boardgame stuff
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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Rylinks » Fri Aug 07, 2020 6:19 pm

Ashenai wrote: Fri Aug 07, 2020 12:57 pm I find polearms are very underused in general, everyone is all about the swords. I would have liked to see more weapon variety.
i didn't play melee classes very much in 3.5, but i vaguely remember people carrying around backup polearms in case there was a scenario where a sword wasn't very effective

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Juri » Fri Aug 07, 2020 6:19 pm

ive never heard this phrase used in my life
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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Jeb Bush 2012 » Fri Aug 07, 2020 6:20 pm

remembering when locus had a thread titled "Superior implements, more like white supremacist implements, grand wizards of the KKKoast"

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Jeb Bush 2012 » Fri Aug 07, 2020 6:20 pm

to be fair, superior implements were a bad mechanic

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Khaos » Fri Aug 07, 2020 6:26 pm

Juri wrote:
ive never heard this phrase used in my life
me neither. i still don't know what you guys are talking about

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Crunchums » Fri Aug 07, 2020 6:28 pm

Khaos wrote: me neither. i still don't know what you guys are talking about
print 'n play (I think?)
u gotta skate

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Ashenai » Fri Aug 07, 2020 6:29 pm

Juri wrote: Fri Aug 07, 2020 6:19 pm
ive never heard this phrase used in my life
ditto

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Jeb Bush 2012 » Fri Aug 07, 2020 6:29 pm

Crunchums wrote: Fri Aug 07, 2020 6:28 pm print 'n play (I think?)
idk if y'all are doing a bit but it's "pen & paper"

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Ashenai » Fri Aug 07, 2020 6:30 pm

PnP = Pen and Paper. It refers to physical tabletop roleplaying, the actual table being optional, but the point is everyone sits around the same room and nerds out together with dice, pen and paper

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Re: This is the thread for not playing a PnP RPG

Post by Khaos » Fri Aug 07, 2020 6:32 pm

Ashenai wrote:PnP = Pen and Paper. It refers to physical tabletop roleplaying, the actual table being optional, but the point is everyone sits around the same room and nerds out together with dice, pen and paper
this sounds more and more like we're not planning on getting wasted and blowing each other

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