Pen and Paper and Roll20.net Games

[Mythalore]

Dear Woob,

I'd also be absolutely down for some dungeon delving. I would say I'm only really free from 7 on weekday evenings, don't finish work till 6 but I don't mind joining a bit late if it comes to it. I've used roll20 in the past and I'm more than happy to voice.

Best,

Myth

[SuperBiasedMan]

PS Also yes I finish work at 6, so a 7pm or later start works for me too. I like, work 5 minutes from home but that gives me time to finish slightly late, eat etc.

[Wooben]

yeah i was thinkin 7:30 start

[Gwardinen]

Certainly! I probably can't do Mondays or Thursdays, but otherwise that sounds like a good time could be had by all. I have never used Roll20 before, but I hear good things.

[SuperBiasedMan]

It might depend on how in depth woob wants to go, but what I've seen is mostly that it allows a shared map space, dice roller and character sheets.

 

On the topic of Dungeon World, I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out how to organise fronts for my brother's game. I originally thought that maybe the zombie town religion would be a front because they'd be a force with multiple machinations running against the player. But maybe it makes more sense to have the weakened interdimensional boundary as a front, because that's a thing different dangers could act on. I think I'm just not quite getting what a front itself should be, though I understand the dangers themselves.

[Gormongous]

Does anyone in or near the CST want to try running a game? I'd do it, but I've literally had to run every RPG I've ever played, so I'm mostly interested in this thing as a way to be a player for once.

 

  On 8/31/2016 at 8:52 PM, SuperBiasedMan said:

It might depend on how in depth woob wants to go, but what I've seen is mostly that it allows a shared map space, dice roller and character sheets.

 

On the topic of Dungeon World, I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out how to organise fronts for my brother's game. I originally thought that maybe the zombie town religion would be a front because they'd be a force with multiple machinations running against the player. But maybe it makes more sense to have the weakened interdimensional boundary as a front, because that's a thing different dangers could act on. I think I'm just not quite getting what a front itself should be, though I understand the dangers themselves.

 

Here's a guide on Fronts: http://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/srd/dungeonworld/14-Fronts.html

 

I'll say, Corps are easier to conceptualize in The Sprawl than Fronts in Dungeon World, but they seem to be mechanically similar things.

[Vulpes Absurda]

I could play in a CST game on the weekends but I don't have time to work out DMing right now.

 

Also this might be diving off the deep end a bit but there's a add on for Dungeon World that re does the class system and is really cool. It's a little pricey but it's 500+ pages and if you like reading RPG books it's a lot of fun: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/137634/Class-Warfare

[Vulpes Absurda]

Bad news, I've looked and there does not appear to be a Persona themed Apocalypse World hack. *Creates new Google docs folder called BABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABY*

[Apelsin]

  On 9/4/2016 at 6:37 AM, Vulpes Absurda said:

Bad news, I've looked and there does not appear to be a Persona themed Apocalypse World hack. *Creates new Google docs folder called BABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABY*

 

I wholeheartedly support this endeavour! 

The "Monsters" section of "Persona World" would make for some great reading

 

 

EDIT: It should also contain a "Soundtrack" section that lists all the music you need to play during the session.

[Vulpes Absurda]

Monster one: That dream you had where you went to school naked. And liked it.

Monster two: That dog the neighbors had to tried to bite you as a child.

So on and so forth.

[Apelsin]

The shame felt over friends and dead relatives whose faces you're starting to forget.

 

This is of course some kind of humanoid with a framed, faded photograph for a face.

[SuperBiasedMan]

Does anyone have good links for random name generators, or tips for inventing NPC names?

I set up a naming convention for my zombie town that was just Verb Adverb, which made naming really easy. But I don't want to just have weird variations of word template naming conventions for the rest.

[pkirkner]

I use this name generator. Typically, I'll run it a bunch of times before a campaign, add the ones I like to a text file, and then have a few dozen of them at hand anytime I need to name an NPC.

[SuperBiasedMan]

Ah looks great, thanks! Shame there's no android app, but as you say it makes more sense to make a bunch in advance to have ready.

EDIT: Coincidentally just found this:

https://donjon.bin.sh

[pkirkner]

Donjon's great. It's my go-to for generating D&D 5e loot, the encounter generators are really useful when I can't immediately think up a hook, and I love the Inn generator for coming up with menu items and patron descriptions. I've never had much luck with the name generators on there, but I'm sure that just comes down to personal preference.

[Mythalore]

I'd absolutely second Donjon.bin.sh/ it's an awesome site, even has pretty good dungeon and world gen.

 

For NPCs in general I tend to just focus on three things, Personality, Wants and Fears and think them through, keeping the character in mind.

Then for names recently I've just been making them up but if I need inspiration I tend to use seventhsanctum.com/index-name.php

Seventh Sanctum as some great generators for all sorts of names, although they do tend to need tweaking.

[Lechimp]

I wouldn't mind joining in for some games too. Maybe not a whole campaign, at least at first, but one-shot sessions would be fun. I've really only played Pathfinder and D&D but would be open to other stuff too.

[tberton]

  On 8/30/2016 at 9:00 AM, SuperBiasedMan said:

I think I fumbled a bit with rules though, I didn't always know what 'move' his actions should be, or if I should be sticking to them always being moves. A few times I felt like something should be a roll, I'd glance over the moves list and then just ask him to roll a stat either ignoring moves or suggesting a move that seemed a bit off. Likewise I didn't pay enough attention to my DM move list, so I want to be more attentive to that for next time, because I did have to pause and think about consequences a few times and it broke up flow a bit.

 

This is a couple of pages late, but I thought I'd offer some advice here. For determining what move a player should make: read the fictional trigger carefully and think about whether or not the described action fits that trigger or not. If you're not sure, you or the player may not have described the action clearly enough, so go back and make sure you're clear on what's going on. That should help. Also, sometimes players will want to do things that don't require rolls and that's fine. If the potential for failure or complication doesn't seem interesting, just let them do it.

 

In terms of GM moves, don't be afraid to pause and think about consequences. In fact, the book explicitly says that before decided on a move to make, you should take a second to consider whether or not it fits with your Principles and Agenda. Obviously don't take too long at this, but there's nothing wrong with taking a second to stop and think - it can even add drama. Remember, you're playing a game not directing a movie and playing a game well usually requires considered choices.

 

  On 8/31/2016 at 11:58 PM, Gormongous said:

Does anyone in or near the CST want to try running a game? I'd do it, but I've literally had to run every RPG I've ever played, so I'm mostly interested in this thing as a way to be a player for once.

 

  On 9/1/2016 at 6:43 AM, Vulpes Absurda said:

I could play in a CST game on the weekends but I don't have time to work out DMing right now.

 

I'm on EDT, but I would be able to swing a CST game and would be willing to GM. What game do you guys want to play.

[Vulpes Absurda]

I lean toward Dungeon World but would be down for The Sprawl. But I'll try just about anything once.

[Twig]

I'd love to run a game but I'm absolutely terrified of doing so. So it probably won't happen!

 

I'm not picky on what we play, although I do trend toward preferring not-typical-fantasy, as that's what I've played most.

[SuperBiasedMan]

  On 9/8/2016 at 10:48 PM, tberton said:

This is a couple of pages late, but I thought I'd offer some advice here. For determining what move a player should make: read the fictional trigger carefully and think about whether or not the described action fits that trigger or not. If you're not sure, you or the player may not have described the action clearly enough, so go back and make sure you're clear on what's going on. That should help. Also, sometimes players will want to do things that don't require rolls and that's fine. If the potential for failure or complication doesn't seem interesting, just let them do it.

 

In terms of GM moves, don't be afraid to pause and think about consequences. In fact, the book explicitly says that before decided on a move to make, you should take a second to consider whether or not it fits with your Principles and Agenda. Obviously don't take too long at this, but there's nothing wrong with taking a second to stop and think - it can even add drama. Remember, you're playing a game not directing a movie and playing a game well usually requires considered choices.

 

Thanks! We haven't played again yet, so this is really good for me to think about in our 2nd session.

[tberton]

So would Gorm, Vulpes, Twig and maybe MechaTofuPirate be interested in a one-shot of The Sprawl with the possibility of it turning into something bigger?

[Vulpes Absurda]

Sure!

[Gormongous]

Yep!

[Twig]

yarp!