WhiteGhost Actually Has Goals This Time

[starpuck]

I'm here for the sausage talk.   >.>

I mean!  Handstands!

 

But I am only going to read stuff starting now and going forward lol.

 

 

[juliebarkley]

2 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

I did make it to bed on time but failed to do my toe touches again.  That has been a surprisingly difficult habit to get into.

Good thing it's still zero week so none of these misses count yet.

[WhiteGhost]

3 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

It's very similar to elk, but with a bit more depth, if that makes sense. Bison, to me, tastes like rich beef, rather than wild game.

I have only had each of those once, and they were on a burger so I couldn't really taste the meat anyway.  But like I said, people with more experience can probably differentiate, and you proved me right  

 

2 hours ago, Starpuck said:

I'm here for the sausage talk.   >.>

I mean!  Handstands!

 

But I am only going to read stuff starting now and going forward lol.

But also for the sausage talk  

 

Here we are just starting week one and already 4 pages in.  Not going to judge about not getting all the backstory

 

43 minutes ago, juliebarkley said:

Good thing it's still zero week so none of these misses count yet.

Yeah, but here's the thing:  I don't believe in Zero Week.  It's probably a hoax  

[Terinatum]

I'll put some things together and post them for you.

[Terinatum]

Okay, it's long, it's my way, it's not the only way. And likely I've forgotten lots. But should get you started.

 

One of the first things to do is ask your players what they might be interested in experiencing.

Do they want to save the world, build a kingdom, hunt monsters, solve a mystery, or search for an old item of power. Do they want a high or low magic setting? Do they want fame or would they rather drag their tired and beaten selves into a strange town to heal up, sell/buy stuff, then move on with as few conversations as possible?

 

As players: how do they want to be challenged in order to get better?

Combat tough for them? Make sessions oriented toward tactics, not just hack and slash.

Figuring things out? Use events aimed at searching their surroundings, talking to NPCs, and recalling what they've learned before. Throw them into a library!

Role-playing? Use encounters that start off easy (need to talk to 1 or 2 NPCs to get info) but get complicated as they get more comfortable. (some NPCs aren't willing to divulge info)

 

If they give you ideas, it's awesome. But don't worry if they leave it to you. Some of the campaign you will plan for and the rest you will need to fill in and detour from as you get to know the PCs and their desires.

 

------------------------------

 

Keep this in mind always.

Who is the big bad. What do they want?

How do the PCs start getting in the way?

You won't know right off, but they will show themselves as you build

 

World-building can be fairly simple or crazy-inducing detailed like I like it!

This is my method trimmed down to sanity level.

 

If they aren't going to move around much (a good idea to start), then you just want to have an idea of what's going on in the surrounding region/territory.

 

One of the easiest ways to decide is to make up a war. It puts people, towns, and travelers on one side or another of the fight, literally draw battle lines on your regional map. This gives you and the PCs a boundary to play within. You might make one adventure skirt a battle and then make them run from the front lines that they stumble into during the next adventure. Warm them up for the campaign.

 

The next piece is how does the area make their money? Pick a few resources that are in the area (ore, food, crafts), make a few guilds/people that have power currently (politicians, merchants, and thieves usually), and set a basic pricing (i.e. low wages and high prices). This will undoubtedly set the mood of the area. Is the war good for the area? Or are they starving and losing young people to the fight? Are all the law and order folks too busy to keep the usual riff raff behaving? This could be a great town adventure to start things off.

 

Decide who is the big bad. And what they want. How are the PCs getting in the way of their goal? What attention does the big bad give to the PCs at the start? Are the PCs too weak to bother with? Or do they beat the crap out of them and leave them to lick their wounds and their pride?

 

Put in several steps that the big bad has to do to get what they want. Do they need a special material? Do they need to test their contraption before its debut? Find a way for the PCs to get involved, not directly at first. Make the PCs a nuisance to start. Perhaps, they accidentally delay a caravan while looking for a thief. The BB has something in there that needs to arrive on time! Let them find the plot. If they've had a non-plot adventure to start things off, perhaps injure someone they're just getting to know or destroy something close to where they are. Don't kill NPCs right off! It raises the tension too far and could feel like too for them at their level. And there's no telling if the PCs give two poops about any of them at this point.

 

---------------------------------

 

Now decide any sandbox rules that you want to have (fewer is better) and figure out what the players need to know in order for these changes not to be a surprise for their PCs. Are there classes or races you don't want in the campaign? Be careful not to limit their choices without cause.

 

-------------------------------

 

My Level Breakdown – it's Pathfinder-oriented so not sure how accurate it is.

 

The PCs: how tough are they when the game starts?

Level 1: Will the stiff breeze off the ocean continue to knock them over for another level?

Levels 2 & 3: Perhaps, they have had a few run-ins and made it home in one piece.

Level 4: Folks are starting to ask them to help with more serious problems.

 

Monsters: how motivated are they to killing, surviving, or gaining more territory?

CR 1: ah, that hurt! I'm out! Below half? Run away if they can! (No plot)

CR 2: too stupid/stubborn to realize they can't get hit much more before they fall. (Plot clues show up)

CR 3: got tactics? Yes! (Plot thickens! Easy connections – where they baddies are maybe, if not who)

CR 4: a reason for their actions, a boss is behind the scenes. Trouble will keep coming in the form of trained harassers to make room for the boss to get what they want. (Plot is known, but surprises lurk)

CR 5: the earlier monsters failed and the next higher level is being sent in to deal with the PCs so the big-bad can do their evil/good stuff without dealing with the PCs itself. Big bad is known.

 

----------------------------

 

Near the end, but not it!

It's usually good to have the PCs run into the Big Bad before they can handle it. Let them get a sense of how dangerous this whole thing is becoming. Keep an eye on hps all around and make sure the BB leaves them, assuming they'll die or not return to bother them. No pity, just too busy for the likes of you!

The End

Then let them use new tactics, what surprise that was hidden did they find out, and let them put everything they have against the final fight. If they will have help, bring them in before the fight, don't send in a cavalry to save them.

 

----------------------------

 

Types of adventures

Throw in a mix of things. Spread out the similar events so you don't overload several adventures in a row.

Possible adventures: could be 2,3 or even 4 sessions long, but then change it up. Let them breathe a bit and then throw them the next hook/clue.

You can try: mystery, horror, city exploration, kingdom building, monster hunting, caravan misadventures, funny stuff, lots of magic or the opposite, and of course the iconic dungeon crawl.

 

Once you pick one or two of these, then you can figure out what to put in between. Like, how do ordinary folks feel about adventurers coming into their small towns and villages? Do they like the money they throw around or do they feel like PCs also bring trouble? Try to keep them immersed in the world between adventures. Nothing huge, just a reminder that they aren't alone in the wild all the time.

 

 

Aright. Have at it!

Cheers.

[WhiteGhost]

1 hour ago, Terinatum said:

Okay, it's long, it's my way, it's not the only way. And likely I've forgotten lots. But should get you started.

Oh my gosh, this is so great!   This really gives me tons of ideas to work from and I am excited to get started on this.  I know what I'm going to be doing this week  

[KB Girl]

Four pages, really? x) 

id comment, but I need to go make naan.

[starpuck]

3 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

5 hours ago, Terinatum said:

Okay, it's long, it's my way, it's not the only way. And likely I've forgotten lots. But should get you started.

Oh my gosh, this is so great!   This really gives me tons of ideas to work from and I am excited to get started on this.  I know what I'm going to be doing this week  

 

This is the way.

Seriously.   I couldn't have spoken the words any more clearly out of my own mouth.

 

The real trick is when you get a table of players that all want different things.

Player A - I like the crunchy mechanics, and fights, difficult ones! are my favorite.

Player B - I like story with interesting NPCs we can get attached to, and lots of rp dialog in towns.

Player C - I like exploration and finding new places.

Player D - I want to kick in doors, bash teeth, get loot.

 

(For the record, this is my RL table.  Thankfully, we are all friends first, and a 'gaming group' second.)    When this happens, it's important to communicate to the players, you'll get to all those things, but not all those things in every session in perfect balance.   They need to give and take to share the time with the others, and what they best enjoy from the D&D too.

 

 

[Terinatum]

https://inkarnate.com/

This is a free online mapping site.

Easy to use. And easy to fix mistakes! hehehe

 

https://donjon.bin.sh/adnd/magic/shop.html

https://donjon.bin.sh/5e/calc/enc_size.html

This site generates... everything! D&D specific things too.

 

https://rolladvantage.com/tokenstamp/

When you get things online, you can make free tokens for PCs and NPCs.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjbgkCDCW88&list=PLqhGF2nCu23n-chowLKGkn9IBsjEmztCF&index=1

Roll20 Advice, Shortcuts, etc. (may have already given you this (can't recall)

 

 

I love maps. For now I would focus on battlemaps and a general layout of the area they are playing within and how it connects to the world you choose to place it in.

Narrate a lot of scenic tidbits (season, weather, usual animals seen, usual races encountered, etc.) and include each of the senses (not all and every time though!). Once they get into a battle, you can plop them down on the battlemap and go for it.

Most taverns, shops, homes, and city cells can be done in the imagination.

 

Also, if you have times where you are (correctly) railroading, use the narrative approach. Talk them through a montage and then set them up for their next decision-making moment.

 

Okay, that's next to it.

Scream if you want more!

 

 

 

[raptron]

5 hours ago, Terinatum said:

 [ ALL THE GOOD STUFF HERE ]

And there's no telling if the PCs give two poops about any of them at this point.

 

Ahh, what a great post about D&D planning. I follow pretty similar outlines when I'm coming up with new things.

 

I do want to just emphasize again that as a DM, you might have to constantly remind yourself that you are at the will of your players and are creating FOR THEM, not for you. If you want to create cool things for yourself, write a book. 😜 

 

Sometimes you think you'll have come up with something really cool and engaging and your players are just like "lol no, we don't go in." You obviously have the power to force them along any path you want, but that's not all that fun for you or for them! 

 

Also, they DO NOT KNOW what you had "intended" to happen at any point. Which means you can take of those materials and assets and reskin them and use them in a different situation. Or maybe you give them the choice of door A or door B -- they DO NOT KNOW what the options mean, so you could plan on having the same result whichever door they choose and they still feel like they made a choice. 😁Managing the what your players know vs. what you know is one of the hardest parts but gives you a TON of flexibility that you can really leverage for both building good experiences for your players AND making life easier for you.

 

[Kishi]

Sounds like your church is in a tough situation all around.  Sorry that y'all can't be there for each other the way you want to be.

[Sloth the Enduring]

When I talk about wild game, I usually don’t get more descriptive than “kinda like venison”, “kinda like bear”, or “kinda like chicken”. My food vocabulary is basic. But bison I’d agree with kinda like beef.

Mrs. Sloth says these are Polish sausage and what I call Polish is ring bologna.

[WhiteGhost]

12 hours ago, KB Girl said:

Four pages, really? x) 

id comment, but I need to go make naan.

Do it, that naan is really the best!

 

12 hours ago, Starpuck said:

 

This is the way.

Seriously.   I couldn't have spoken the words any more clearly out of my own mouth.

 

The real trick is when you get a table of players that all want different things.

Player A - I like the crunchy mechanics, and fights, difficult ones! are my favorite.

Player B - I like story with interesting NPCs we can get attached to, and lots of rp dialog in towns.

Player C - I like exploration and finding new places.

Player D - I want to kick in doors, bash teeth, get loot.

 

(For the record, this is my RL table.  Thankfully, we are all friends first, and a 'gaming group' second.)    When this happens, it's important to communicate to the players, you'll get to all those things, but not all those things in every session in perfect balance.   They need to give and take to share the time with the others, and what they best enjoy from the D&D too.

Pretty much all of my friends are from NF, which is why I am recruiting my players from here  

 

12 hours ago, Terinatum said:

Okay, that's next to it.

Scream if you want more!

That is incredible.  I probably have more than enough to keep me going for now but I will let you know when I am ready for more

 

12 hours ago, raptron said:

I do want to just emphasize again that as a DM, you might have to constantly remind yourself that you are at the will of your players and are creating FOR THEM, not for you. If you want to create cool things for yourself, write a book. 😜 

This should be obvious but I really needed that reminder.  

 

12 hours ago, raptron said:

Also, they DO NOT KNOW what you had "intended" to happen at any point. Which means you can take of those materials and assets and reskin them and use them in a different situation. Or maybe you give them the choice of door A or door B -- they DO NOT KNOW what the options mean, so you could plan on having the same result whichever door they choose and they still feel like they made a choice. 😁

hahaha, sneaky  

 

5 hours ago, Kishi said:

Sounds like your church is in a tough situation all around.  Sorry that y'all can't be there for each other the way you want to be.

The whole world is in a tough situation.  

Spoiler

 

Not this tough situation:

 

We are doing as well as we could be and have been doing a good job of being there for each other, but it would be nice to be able to see faces each week when we have services, rather than just voices.

 

36 minutes ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

When I talk about wild game, I usually don’t get more descriptive than “kinda like venison”, “kinda like bear”, or “kinda like chicken”. My food vocabulary is basic. But bison I’d agree with kinda like beef.

Which of those do you use for things like alligator or snake?

 

38 minutes ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Mrs. Sloth says these are Polish sausage and what I call Polish is ring bologna.

There are way too many kinds of sausage for me to keep track of

 

----------------------------------------

 

Yesterday I spent a bunch of doing doing exercises, but the intensity level was so low I hesitate to call it a workout.  I was a little bit disappointed with that so I actually started working on an actual workout program, something I haven't had for more than a year now.  One thing that was kind of fun was I made up a new exercise using rings.  It is a regular ring pushup but at the bottom of the rep I push my arms out to the side as far as I can go and then bring them back to finish the rep.  It really works the upper pec and anterior delt!

 

In the afternoon I got started on some worldbuilding, trying to come up with a Big Bad that around which a potential adventure could be built.  It made me hungry so I stopped to make a Peach & Apple Crumble because we had some fruit that needed to be used up.  It was really good!

 

I made some tacos for dinner and then spent the rest of the evening playing Skyrim. 

[Sloth the Enduring]

I would say alligator is kinda like chicken, but chewy. I can’t say that I’ve had snake, but I hear it’s kinda like chicken.

[Red1263]

I came here for the Sausages, and I'm staying for the DnD advice!

[Wobbegong]

Hi! I'm here and following but I probably won't post much. But sausage talk is great, and y'all are making me double jealous with all this bread. (No oven, and T_T diagnosed with celiac last winter.) HSPUs are awesome and you are a magician.

 

8 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

I would say alligator is kinda like chicken, but chewy. I can’t say that I’ve had snake, but I hear it’s kinda like chicken.

I think of all of these animals as being "basically dinosaurs" so it stands to reason they'd all pretty much taste the same.

[Renate]

14 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

 

On 8/3/2020 at 5:57 PM, raptron said:

I do want to just emphasize again that as a DM, you might have to constantly remind yourself that you are at the will of your players and are creating FOR THEM, not for you. If you want to create cool things for yourself, write a book. 😜 

This should be obvious but I really needed that reminder.  

 

Ohhhh, good reminder indeed  I can imagine how that can be smth you get lost in.

[Mike Wazowski]

Wise tron is wise on DMing, it's oddly similar to how I have to approach teaching a dance class.

 

Here for the food talk and cool bodyweight tricks - and there's no way I'm catching up on 4 pages!

[WhiteGhost]

17 hours ago, Wobbegong said:

On 8/4/2020 at 11:41 AM, Sloth the Enduring said:

I would say alligator is kinda like chicken, but chewy. I can’t say that I’ve had snake, but I hear it’s kinda like chicken.

I think of all of these animals as being "basically dinosaurs" so it stands to reason they'd all pretty much taste the same.

I think your theory here has merit

 

17 hours ago, Wobbegong said:

Hi! I'm here and following but I probably won't post much. But sausage talk is great, and y'all are making me double jealous with all this bread. (No oven, and T_T diagnosed with celiac last winter.) HSPUs are awesome and you are a magician.

Glad to have you along, there aren't many of us Asia residents here.  I spent years without an oven, so I feel you on that; getting something bigger than a toaster oven has been wonderful    Bummer on the celiac stuff, though.  That's no fun.

 

17 hours ago, Wobbegong said:

Hi! I'm here and following but I probably won't post much. But sausage talk is great, and y'all are making me double jealous with all this bread. (No oven, and T_T diagnosed with celiac last winter.) HSPUs are awesome and you are a magician.

Glad to have you along, there aren't many of us Asia residents here.  I spent years without an oven, so I feel you on that; getting something bigger than a toaster oven has been wonderful    Bummer on the celiac stuff, though.  That's no fun.

 

On 8/4/2020 at 12:29 PM, Red1263 said:

I came here for the Sausages, and I'm staying for the DnD advice!

You and me both

 

11 hours ago, Aθena said:

 

Ohhhh, good reminder indeed  I can imagine how that can be smth you get lost in.

I have been watching a bunch of youtube videos about how to be a good DM, and one of the things everyone says is "don't over-prepare".  It is the players' story, the DM is just a facilitator.

 

10 hours ago, Mike Wazowski said:

Wise tron is wise on DMing, it's oddly similar to how I have to approach teaching a dance class.

 

Here for the food talk and cool bodyweight tricks - and there's no way I'm catching up on 4 pages!

She is wise indeed  

 

Nice to have you

 

--------------------

 

How about we all just pretend yesterday didn't happen.

 

The day started off with a trip to the hospital.  Ghostlet has developed a bit of a rash on his neck that was getting worse, so we took him in to get it checked.  Traffic was an absolute nightmare near the hospital, because apparently there were more than 300 cars waiting to get into the 40 car parking lot.  I missed the back of the line thinking it was the line for the other hospital* nearby, so I dropped off Ghostlet and Ghostess and circled around the block.  By the time I got halfway around the block, they had already finished so I turned around and met them across the street from the hospital.

*

Spoiler

 

We have two medical systems here.  We have a fully socialized medical system in which treatments are affordable and even the best doctors are available to anyone.  However, it is incredibly inefficient, and wait times are insane.  Everyone has to line up to get a number for the day in the morning, and if you don't get a number, you have to come back another day.  People start lining up for some services starting at closing time the night before.  Then, once you have been in to see the doctor, you then have to go back to the line to get assigned someone who can lab work, and then you need to get back in line to pay for it, and then you can get your lab work done, and then you can go back and talk to your doctor for prescriptions and then you get back in line to pay for the medicine and then you get in line to pick up your medicine.  This typically can't all be completed in a single day. 

We also have a second system based on the US model of outrageous prices that are paid for by insurance companies, but the service is fast and friendly.  The treatment itself ins't any better, and often the doctors are not the best in their field.  However, you can get in and out in a reasonable amount of time and get good enough treatment.  

 

The difference in cost is quite substantial.  For this particular treatment (a doctor consultation and some medication) in the public hospital would have been about $5 or so.  For the private hospital the consultation alone is about $300

 

We always use the second model because we have good insurance.  Usually the line to get into the parking lot is for the public socialized hospital and then the private one is a separate line farther on which is usually very short.  Today the lines were opposite.  I guess no one wants to go to the public hospital during the pandemic because they feel like it will be less clean/sterile than the private one (which is generally true just due to the numbers of people)

 

 

The rash was nothing serious, just something that had developed because he was sweating too much and showering too little. 

 

When I got home I was a mess.  I have no idea why, but I didn't have the energy or motivation to do anything.  I tried doing some low energy things like trying out the map maker that @Terinatum shared and then watching some youtube videos about DMing, but I just couldn't.  I ended up just playing Skrim all day long.  I finished up my previous character (the racist Nord) and now moved on to a new one.  I haven't ever played a necromancer yet, so I got one started.    The only time I got off the couch was to make dinner, which was pineapple fried rice again.  I also wolfed down a huge plate of fruit crumble and & ice cream at one point and en entire bag of spicy peanuts later on.  Some days are like that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Today will be better

 

ETA: I was ready for bed around midnight, but Ghostess said that a new draft of the wedding pictures came through and asked I wanted to through them with her.  We did that (they are looking much better now) which got me into bed around 2am again.    Luckily those few hours I slept were quality sleep

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Every time you describe Beijing I get claustrophobic. 

[starpuck]

Oof.  Glad it was nothing serious and you were able to get it taken care of in a single day's visit.  I agree with Tank.™  Sounds sooo cramped and stifling.    

 

Though, after a hectic day in the crowds, I can totally see having no energy or mood to do stuff later.    It's like, I LOVE driving, and LOVE road trips, but after a long set of hours behind the wheel, even though it doesn't FEEL brain heavy, the brain is like DONE! For. The Day!

 

[Renate]

That is interesting... Luckily, where my grandparents live is not like that. But it is NOTHING like what I am used to. Most services are not digitalised. Maybe at most to check online if smth is done. When IDs need to get renewed, you have to wait in line, which is sometimes very long, and when it is lunch time there are no numbers or anything. You either stay even if you are hungry or lose your spot to the more resilient people. People are often tired and fighting over the queue 🙄

 

I am used to having a digital method for nearly everything, health care provider (you can scan your in-voices for things you have to manually claim), making appts for the municipality... Though I have waited in queues here and I am kind of grateful for the experience. I know how to deal with more types of bureaucracy haha

 

How about that for loss of productivity? And efficiency? How can a country move forward when people lose at least double the time for personal necessities compared to Western countries? Never mind the politics and such  Let's just say, c'est la vie...

[fitnessgurl]

I'm glad everything turned out ok. Tomorrow will be better.

[Mad Hatter]

2 hours ago, Aθena said:

How about that for loss of productivity? And efficiency? How can a country move forward when people lose at least double the time for personal necessities compared to Western countries? Never mind the politics and such  Let's just say, c'est la vie...

In China you can make up for both efficiency and productivity with sheer numbers. 🤷‍♀️  
 

4 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Every time you describe Beijing I get claustrophobic. 

Same!

 

Glad it all turned out ok. 🙂

[Renate]

3 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

In China you can make up for both efficiency and productivity with sheer numbers. 🤷‍♀️  

 

Ah, I partially disagree here (with my limited knowledge of global economics hahaha). China has also made itself the main country for producing goods all over the world. (Among other things?) Which, admittedly is made possible by those high numbers, but without that export position it would alao not be able to keep up. And also a very effective marketing of its culture? Tourism income. And mostly obedient citizens.  And and and.