Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

Any D&D/D20

Shadowrun

World of Darkness

Palladium

Other (feel free to post about it)

[Loud Whispers]

Been ruminating on how to describe looking at an eldritch being as a GM, I have a few plot ideas that involve Lovecraftian things-beyond-comprehension, and the key to them is always presentation, and presentation can require forethought.

I'm thinking avoiding the usual imagery, tentacles and eyes and so on, might be a good idea. I'm thinking instead focusing on more abstract ideas and the way it makes the person looking at it feel.

Two ways about it imo

Gothic sublime, or Empirical cosmic

Gothic sublime, things are bright when it's dark and dark when it's bright. If you have a greebly, you reveal very little about the greebly until the time is right for everyone to get greebled.
Empirical cosmic, things are observed plainly and in great detail. Whereas horror usually keeps the monster hidden in great detail, empirical cosmic observes the greebly in such detail that the players know how many toes the elder one has.

Lovecraftian cosmic horror has kinda been diluted down to an "aesthetic" of tentacles and fishmen, but basically all of his main characters observe the weird things without going insane. Usually them going "insane" is not them going insane at all; the innsmouth detective is not going insane because fishmen are so terrifying, he's unnerved by them because they are familiar and remind him that he is himself a fishman feeling the call to the sea. He's not mad, he's acting on proper instincts. I like the video game adaptation of Call of Cthulhu where looking at statues of Cthulhu or Dagon make you go "insane," only you're not going insane because OH NO IT'S KALAMARI I'M GONNA GO INSAAAAAAAAAAANE, you're being reminded that you are an extradimensional sleeper agent.

Then there are the dream cycle ones. I like those ones because they skirt the line between gothic sublime and gothic mad science. Hobos and travelers being whisked off to dream Kingdoms and mad terrains where they know they should feel all sorts of things, but instead feel a surprise sense of belonging.

Something along the lines of the following.

You lift your head to look at it. Sharp pain blossoms in your eyes, blood trickles from your nose across your lips, you taste it. Harsh, metallic. Your teeth itch. For an endless moment you see it, wood rots to mulch and then dries to dust, life bursts forth and cascades into decay, impossible geometries fold in upon themselves as time and space recoil. The moment ends, you are looking at the floor again, drops of your blood dripping from your nose and chin to spatter the ground with crimson red.

Perhaps then you could twist it a bit, so instead of focusing on a rational, biblical "be not afraid" response to witnessing something arcane and terrifying, it is described as the players feeling things entirely at odds with the stimuli. So you get the physical description of something which provokes fear for life, but instead it engenders a sense of warmth and familiarity for example


Also what are some good ideas for "high technology of the Imperium" that would fit in to a feudal ocean world? It's got to be stuff that the locals could use, that also would come up with a good description that could bait you into seeing it fit at home in a fantasy setting. Something like a solar-powered light source, that the local priest says "will carry the light of the sun with you" or a pencil and paper that can be used underwater

[Rolan7]

Embercatch box:  Feed it by placing it in a fire, and for days it will release a comfortable warmth when worn under clothes.  It can also light wet firewood when manipulated.  Rumored to be bring poor health with overuse.

[Grim Portent]

The Food of the Angels, a bland, nutritious and filling paste, which is mildly addictive, said to be eaten by the greatest warriors of the Sky People. It is lightweight, can be eaten straight from the container, stays edible for years and takes up less space than conventional food. It is in fact guardsmen grade corpse-starch paste rations with some mild chemical enhancements to encourage guardsmen to actually eat the stuff.


The Sun-Sailers, rare ships gifted from the sky-people, that move without sails, giving their helmsmen the ability to sail against the currents of the world sea. Solar powered watercraft, mostly on the small side. Not particularly fast, but made of tougher materials than the local vessels and driven by an electric motor rather than the wind. Biggest I'd shoot for is the size of a small yacht, room for about 8 people to stay in cramped conditions.

Windspeakers, arcane devices that foretell the weather, warning of storms or the deadly absence of wind that can leave ships adrift and lost. A form of auspex, mostly designed to predict the weather up to a few days in advance. Not always accurate, but will always manage to predict weather anomalies, such as rains of fish or amphibians, or the arrival of a crotalid migration, successfully for some reason.

Similarly, the Deepseers, rare and coveted items that can find and track schools of fish, whale-like creatures and other valuable sea creatures so that fishermen can find them more easily, as well as warning them of perilous features of the ocean such as coral reefs or sunken ice floats. Usually kept in well secured places when not in use, like the fortresses of nobles, because of how vital they can be to feeding a large community. It's a sonar device, capable of detecting large groups of small sea life, or individual large sea creatures as well as detecting things like reefs or large seaweed floats. Some are self powered, others need external power sources to function.

[scriver]

Storm Callers: On a planet that's mostly flat and water, lightning would be a Big Issue for anything that sticks out of the surface. These lightning rods range from stationary to semi-portable, will protect anything near them from being struck by lightning during storms. Only the wisest of sages can control them -- the locals fear them, misunderstanding their purpose and believing they bring lightning to them.

God Waker Towers: Attached to certain, tower-sized Storm Callers are these black complexes. When enough lightning strikes them, they churn to life with strange sounds and lights, as the spirits within are woken and brought back to life. Nobody with their wits about them goes near these cursed places, but tales are told of foolhardy folks who've ventured into these fortresses when the spirits were sleeping and found strange treasures within.
In actuality, they're ancient automated industrial complexes powered by the lightning strikes. Between storms, their batteries lose power and the machinery go back to sleep. Maybe they don't produce anything any more, having run out of materials long ago. But the machinery still churn and the lights still go on.

The Food of the Angels, a bland, nutritious and filling paste, which is mildly addictive, said to be eaten by the greatest warriors of the Sky People. It is lightweight, can be eaten straight from the container, stays edible for years and takes up less space than conventional food. It is in fact guardsmen grade corpse-starch paste rations with some mild chemical enhancements to encourage guardsmen to actually eat the stuff.

What is it children
That fall from the sky?
Tayi tayay, tayayay
Manna from Heaven
From the Most High
Food from the Father
Tayi Tayay

[Scoops Novel]

What's something obvious you don't see in D&D?

[Rolan7]

Spoiler: Oh oh!  I know this one! (click to show/hide)

A gelatinous cube!

wait does that mean- ah, crap.  *rolls next character*

[King Zultan]

A mimic disguised as a chest?

[Loud Whispers]

What's something obvious you don't see in D&D?

Player deaths. I've played with 3 DMs who played DnD exclusively, and without exception all of them were incredibly loath to actually kill players. This was especially painful with one DM who was incredibly murderous but never followed through - so we'd be cornered by beezelboss the infinite mega death uzumaki ouroboros muffin seller who'd clearly have us all dead to rights, and just before they killed any one of us they'd just walk away. The other one only let my character die after they got one-shot by a disintegration beam after I insisted my char be allowed to die, but then brought my char back to life anyways despite the death being a balls to the walls awesome heroic sacrifice. The third one actively hates Dwarf Fortress players because every DF player she has ever met has insisted on letting the dice fall and taking the story that follows, whereas she prefers to make the story that the dice follows. I was honestly surprised that I was not even the first DF player she had played with tbh, so there are more of us out there in the wilds

So yeah. There's no need to go out of your way to kill your player chars but if you make them immortal it robs the game of tension & consequence immediately
Unless you play a game where the player char is explicitly an immortal, in which case it gets different kings of !!Fun!!

[MrRoboto75]

Yeah, modern D&D editions practically give players plot armor.

1st edition, 0 hit points your dead.  Resurrection isn't guaranteed and is limited to your con.  Polymorph can just fail and off you.  Literally every poison in the game is lethal.  Roll a new character.

nowadays, 0 hit points your downed, get three saving throws to survive, get healing at any point before then you survive.  Resurrection just works so long as you can pay the material cost.

I think part of it is a cultural shift towards more telling a story with the PCs as actual main characters, rather than a simulation of a fantasy dungeon crawl.

[Telgin]

...so we'd be cornered by beezelboss the infinite mega death uzumaki ouroboros muffin seller who'd clearly have us all dead to rights, and just before they killed any one of us they'd just walk away...

Man, this describes me as a GM way too well.  It's something that I hate that I do but it's been so hard to break myself of the habit.  I'm very much a storyteller GM instead of the sort that lets the dice land where they will, which I'm pretty sure is at odds with the way most of my gaming group likes to play.

I actually committed a sin similar to this very recently in a GURPS horror game I'm running.  I ended up with the singular monster in a cramped corridor with the two PCs, where one of them had a laser pistol.  Either party could kill the other in a turn or two because of how deadly GURPS is, so I was afraid to get to this point too early in the game.  The armed PC was on the ground next to it, which is really bad in GURPS in this situation, so the monster really should have tried to kill her.  But... if I let the fight keep going either the monster or both PCs were going to end up dead and the game would be over.  So... I had it run away since they shot it in the face for some minor damage the previous turn.

I guess it could be worse.  It at least had some excuse to run once it realized what it was up against, but a psycho killer robot probably should have taken the risk of clobbering its victims even at its own peril.

[Grim Portent]

Mmm, I'm much more the 'let the dice fall' kind of person when I get into the GM mindspace. Probably something to do with my first RPGs being Warhammer ones.

Dick around when there's a sniper that can see you? Pretty good odds they'll manage to shoot you, possibly in the head, and that shot is likely to put you down or kill you outright.

Daemon attacks you? Run like hell or get ready for a last stand.

Marine shows up? Stay the hell out of their way.

Pack of wild dogs decide to chew on you? Climb a tree, because a pack of dogs is dangerous even when you have a gun.



In D&D this generally translates to enemies finishing people off or taking them hostage and demanding the others surrender, but them also not always wanting to do the whole fight to the death until only one side remains thing.

Bandits want people to rob or ransom, preferably without getting hurt in the process. You kill one of them, they're not going to be in a mood to be nice to you if they start winning, the dead guy was one of their friends or even family. Look to dangerous to rob? They'll just avoid you, run or negotiate.

Enemy soldiers mostly don't want a fight, but they're plenty vindictive if you hurt them or even just make things difficult for them.

Animals want to kill someone, secure the body and eat it, with a side order of vindictiveness if you hurt them badly but don't kill them. If one of you goes down while fighting wolves, they'll finish off the fallen and then focus on trying to keep the body rather than killing more people. Hurt a tiger without killing it and it will stalk you for miles because it is angry.

Be willing to kill PCs who are stupid or even just unlucky, it's how narratives form. The tale of the party is something that grows organically and can and should include unexpected tragedies, them being sudden makes them more meaningful for both the players and the GM.

[Egan_BW]

For parties which include Small characters, or perhaps are forced to escort a convoy of gnomes or something, why not put in some predators who will just grab one of the little guys and then run?

[Loud Whispers]

Gnone with the wind

[JoshuaFH]

I've only ever DM'd a short oneshot. I've been considering DM'ing more, but I'm just running through possible interactions and situations in my head, and I'm not sure if I could just kill my hypothetical player-characters without seeming like an asshole. There definitely does feel like there's two ways to go about DM'ing: as a narrator, and as a wargamer. A narrator wants to collaboratively tell a story with his players, and obviously that story ends if he kills the characters; whereas a wargamer is expected to seriously try to kill his player's characters, that's his whole job.

To be both feels antithetical, but the task of DM'ing feels like it demands a perfect balance between the two. It really does feel like an impossible, contradictory compromise; so I'm not surprised to hear that people will simply shy away from one to embrace the other.

[Kagus]

Player deaths. I've played with 3 DMs who played DnD exclusively, and without exception all of them were incredibly loath to actually kill players.

This might have something to do with murder being considered illegal in many countries.