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Official D&D 5E Announcement

Started by Telarus, January 09, 2012, 03:44:58 PM

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How do you feel about the announced D&D 5th Edition (SURPRISE!)?

WHAT? I NEED IT NOW!
2 (11.1%)
Ummm... don't I already have 4E, Pathfinder, and nonD&D games to play?
7 (38.9%)
Meh.
0 (0%)
Double Meh.
4 (22.2%)
Fnord.
5 (27.8%)

Total Members Voted: 18

Cramulus

#30
this has nothing to do with the thread, but I wanted to post it anyway because it sounds like one of Roger's encounters:



from http://www.d20monkey.com




also


The Good Reverend Roger

" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.


The Good Reverend Roger

Recently, I had the party in front of one of my Hideous Megatraps O' Doom.  It was basically a portcullis in front of an alcove with a chest in it, in a dungeon that regularly flooded with 6 inch deep water.  Being a fair man, I leave clues.  Being total cheating bastards, they follow up on those clues.

Frank the Bastard:  Um, could you describe the portcullis?

Me:  It's black iron.  Looks normal.

Frank:  No rust?

Me:  No, now that you mention it.  It looks new.

Frank:  In this place?  I get out my dagger and very carefully scrape it.

Me:  Paint scrapes off, revealing a glass tube which appears to have some sort of green gas in it.

Frank:  I leave the room and throw a rock at it.

Perfect trap...RUINED!  All the poison gas dissipates, and THEN the fucker finds the crushy wall trap and the mirror of opposition in the lid of the chest.

:crankey:
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Cramulus

That's awesome!  :lulz: Your players must be paranoid as fuck. One of my favorite DM voices is asking them if they're really sure they want to do that.


DM: So .... you open the chest??
PC1: Uhhh.... wait a sec. Can somebody search this thing again?
PC2: We didn't find any traps, just open it you pussy
PC1: Okay I guess I open it.
DM: ...Are you SURE you want to do that?
PC1:tinfoilhat:

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: Cramulus on January 10, 2012, 08:16:45 PM
That's awesome!  :lulz: Your players must be paranoid as fuck.

One time, I had a hook in the ceiling with a rope tied to it, which in turn held up a wagon wheel with wires tied to it, that hung down another 3 inches.

They couldn't figure it out, so they refused to go through the room.

It was just a wagon wheel.  It did nothing.

TGRR,
Not ashamed to rip off Archimedes.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Cramulus

 :lulz: :lulz: :lulz: that's fucking hysterical




okay I wasn't going to post another one of these, but it has :cramulus: Brimley in it

Don Coyote

Quote from: Cramulus on January 10, 2012, 08:16:45 PM
That's awesome!  :lulz: Your players must be paranoid as fuck. One of my favorite DM voices is asking them if they're really sure they want to do that.


DM: So .... you open the chest??
PC1: Uhhh.... wait a sec. Can somebody search this thing again?
PC2: We didn't find any traps, just open it you pussy
PC1: Okay I guess I open it.
DM: ...Are you SURE you want to do that?
PC1:tinfoilhat:

I had done a similar thing to my last group. They got so paranoid they refused to use anything they found. The best part was when the guy doing all the trap checking finally got fed up with finding no traps. he boldly ran into the one and only pit trap in the dungeon.

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: Don Coyote on January 10, 2012, 08:37:25 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 10, 2012, 08:16:45 PM
That's awesome!  :lulz: Your players must be paranoid as fuck. One of my favorite DM voices is asking them if they're really sure they want to do that.


DM: So .... you open the chest??
PC1: Uhhh.... wait a sec. Can somebody search this thing again?
PC2: We didn't find any traps, just open it you pussy
PC1: Okay I guess I open it.
DM: ...Are you SURE you want to do that?
PC1:tinfoilhat:

I had done a similar thing to my last group. They got so paranoid they refused to use anything they found. The best part was when the guy doing all the trap checking finally got fed up with finding no traps. he boldly ran into the one and only pit trap in the dungeon.

I prefer traps that scream "TRAP".  That way, they can have the Indiana Jones fun, and not bog down the entire session searching every foot of the dungeon.

So the traps are OBVIOUSLY not kosher, and the question is "how badly do they need to get through that room?"
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Don Coyote

Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 10, 2012, 08:39:04 PM
Quote from: Don Coyote on January 10, 2012, 08:37:25 PM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 10, 2012, 08:16:45 PM
That's awesome!  :lulz: Your players must be paranoid as fuck. One of my favorite DM voices is asking them if they're really sure they want to do that.


DM: So .... you open the chest??
PC1: Uhhh.... wait a sec. Can somebody search this thing again?
PC2: We didn't find any traps, just open it you pussy
PC1: Okay I guess I open it.
DM: ...Are you SURE you want to do that?
PC1:tinfoilhat:

I had done a similar thing to my last group. They got so paranoid they refused to use anything they found. The best part was when the guy doing all the trap checking finally got fed up with finding no traps. he boldly ran into the one and only pit trap in the dungeon.

I prefer traps that scream "TRAP".  That way, they can have the Indiana Jones fun, and not bog down the entire session searching every foot of the dungeon.

So the traps are OBVIOUSLY not kosher, and the question is "how badly do they need to get through that room?"

Bear in mind I did NOTHING to create their paranoia. :lulz:

The Good Reverend Roger

Once in a while, I'll use step & die traps, but only where the PCs should have an idea that things aren't right.

The best way to do that is to have the first trap malfunction, or have it already set off by some luckless schmoe earlier, so the PCs see his mangled body and know that something isn't right.

" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Scribbly

Man. That makes me want to play again.  :sad:

I have been asked to run on Wednesdays because the groups GM hasn't had a break in the last five years. And I got roped into running on Thursdays because every person in the group systematically shot down every other option.

Roughly half the people in my gaming circle simply refuse to play classically heroic characters. They get their kicks by being morally ambiguous, self-interested types. One guy has actually haughtily complained in the past that he 'Cannot comprehend the heroic mindset'.

People were talking about stupid players earlier? Yeah.  :argh!:

It takes a lot of the work off my plate because they spend a lot of time running around trying to meet their own objectives. It does limit the stories that tend to get told, though. And it means I'm going to need a whole new group if I'm ever going to run the epic heroic fantasy game I want to run.
I had an existential crisis and all I got was this stupid gender.

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: Demolition_Squid on January 10, 2012, 09:02:34 PM
They get their kicks by being morally ambiguous, self-interested types. One guy has actually haughtily complained in the past that he 'Cannot comprehend the heroic mindset'.

Great.  Tell them you'll run it, but they all have to play lawyers and hedge fund managers.

And kick that last guy in the arse.  He has to role play the CEO of Tycho.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Scribbly

Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 10, 2012, 09:04:10 PM
Quote from: Demolition_Squid on January 10, 2012, 09:02:34 PM
They get their kicks by being morally ambiguous, self-interested types. One guy has actually haughtily complained in the past that he 'Cannot comprehend the heroic mindset'.

Great.  Tell them you'll run it, but they all have to play lawyers and hedge fund managers.

And kick that last guy in the arse.  He has to role play the CEO of Tycho.

He would enjoy that far too much.

He's an accountant.
I had an existential crisis and all I got was this stupid gender.

Cramulus

I hate "gotcha" traps. The one time the rogue forgets the boilerplate "I search the door for traps", that's the time you fall into a pit of acid. It's lame, it only rewards chanting "I search for traps" over and over again throughout the dungeon. I like it when the traps are part of another encounter.

One of my favorite encounters takes place in a 10x10 room. At the start of each round, you roll 4d10. Each die indicates in which row or column an energy wall pops up. These deal flame, ice, lightning, or poison damage, and they appear in a new position at the top of each round. The room should have random boxes and statues and other things you can climb to help jump over each wall. Each energy wall has a control panel so that you can disarm the thing and get a clear shot at the monsters. There's a good chance a wall will pop up between you and the cleric, or you and the monster, at just the wrong time.


My favorite trap-room as of late is from this adventure called Crucible of the Gods. It's a situation where there is no "safe" place to stand, the encounter is an exercise in managing risk.

The room is rectangular, and has six 10 x 10 protrusions along the north and south walls, each labeled with a roman numeral. The room has four pit traps spread out in it, and there's a giant brass golem which is attacking you. (if you note where he moves, it gives clues about the pit traps).

The center part of the room (everything except the 10x10 protrusions) gets blasted by these flame jets in the ceiling. You can avoid the flame jets by ducking into one of the 10x10 cubbies.

But right after the flame jets fire, a crushing-ceiling trap slams down in a randomly-determined cubby. It deals a shitload of damage.

So the dance here is that you can take the constant light flame damage by staying in the center, or you can gamble by hiding in one of the cubbies. There's a 5/6 chance it'll miss you, and a 1/6 chance it'll flatten you like a pancake.

The other complication is that each of the crushing ceiling traps has a skull mounted on the outside -- which fires a death ray at the closet adventurer. Three hits from the death ray will kill you. Each skull only has 1 hit point, but you'd have to decide if it's worth attacking because there's only a 1/6 chance (each round) of that skull being active again.

There's a trap door in the back of each cubby. Two of the cubbies have the magic torches the party is looking for, the other four cubbies have duds. A nearby tapestry is actually a clue about which cubbies have the solution. There's a brazier on the far side of the room, and if you light it with the correct torches, the exit appears. If you light it with one of the wrong torches, it explodes as a fireball centered on you.

Really insidious room! I mean, there's five different things to worry about in there - excluding the puzzle. When we finished that encounter, the players were all out of breath. feckin awesome.