| Both sides previous revisionPrevious revisionNext revision | Previous revision |
| user:restless [2018/07/20 19:13] – [What you can expect from the game, content-wise] restless | user:restless [2025/05/05 23:41] (current) – restless |
|---|
| ====== Restless, your humble Dungeon Master ====== | ====== Restless, your humble Dungeon Master ====== |
| |
| {{:user:restless.gif?nolink&120 |This is me... if I were an Android device.}} | {{user:restless.gif?nolink&120 |This is me... if I were an Android device.}} |
| |
| Your humble dungeon master. I'm not really a [[reference:meta:definitions#killer_dm|killer DM]]. | Your humble dungeon master. I'm not really a [[dict>killer_dm|killer DM]]. |
| |
| //(Am I?)// | //(Am I?)// |
| | |
| | |
| |
| ===== About me ===== | ===== About me ===== |
| |
| I'm a forty-something married computer nerd who hasn't gamed since the early 1990s except for a couple sessions here and there. I am trying to get back in the swing of things. I always DMed when I was younger, I guess I'm going to end up DMing again. | I'm a middle-aged, married computer nerd who hasn't gamed since the early 1990s except for a couple sessions here and there. I am trying to get back in the swing of things. I always DMed when I was younger, I guess I'm going to end up DMing again. |
| |
| That's okay. I like it. | That's okay. I like it. |
| |
| My game of choice is, surprise-surprise, old-school //D&D//. We used to play a weird mish-mash of [[reference:meta:definitions#red_box_d_d|Red Box B/X]] and //AD&D//, but once I started college in the late eighties and //AD&D 2e// began hitting its stride I was already moving out of gaming. | My game of choice is, surprise-surprise, old-school //D&D//. We used to play a weird mish-mash of [[dict>red_box_d_d|Red Box B/X]] and //AD&D//, but once I started college in the late eighties and //AD&D 2e// began hitting its stride I was already moving out of gaming. |
| |
| Now I'm back after I ran across [[http://games.slashdot.org/story/07/08/16/2334255/dungeons-dragons-4th-edition-announced|this article]] late one night in 2007 while browsing [[http://www.slashdot.org|Slashdot]] in the summer of 2007. I couldn't believe there was a fourth edition coming -- I didn't even know there had been a //third//! It broke my brain... I wondered if anybody even remembered the stuff we used to play, so I began to investigate and found the humble early rumblings of the OSR. | Now I'm back after I ran across [[http://games.slashdot.org/story/07/08/16/2334255/dungeons-dragons-4th-edition-announced|this article]] late one night in 2007 while browsing [[http://www.slashdot.org|Slashdot]] in the summer of 2007. I couldn't believe there was a fourth edition coming -- I didn't even know there had been a //third!// It broke my brain... I wondered if anybody even remembered the stuff we used to play, so I began to investigate and found the humble early rumblings of the OSR. |
| |
| This whole time I've meant to start a game but never got my act together. Now, after years of thinking about it it's finally coming to fruition. | This whole time I've meant to start a game but never got my act together. Now, after years of thinking about it it's finally coming to fruition. |
| | |
| | ==== Influences ==== |
| | |
| | * Old-school D&D and AD&D through |
| | * '60s through early '80s Saturday morning TV adventure shows |
| | * '80s through early '90s fantasy and horror movies and TV shows |
| | * Computer games, especially [[wp>interactive fiction]], '80s fantasy RPGs and [[wp>roguelikes]] |
| | * Copious amounts of science fiction |
| | |
| | |
| |
| |
| ==== Let's get this out of the way first ==== | ==== Let's get this out of the way first ==== |
| |
| == This is a beer and pretzels game == | == Don't be a dick == |
| |
| {{:gmmeritbadges:meritbadge_beerandpretzels.jpg?nolink&50 |This is a beer and pretzels game}} | {{:gmmeritbadges:asshole.png?nolink&50 |Don't be an asshole, either.}} |
| Most people play the game to have fun. We're here to have a good time and keep it lighthearted, but we all know the gamer that took the game Way Too Seriously™. Please, don't be [[reference:meta:definitions#stereotypes|that guy]]. | A table rule that I want to throw out there, and it might as well be first. |
| |
| (I guess this is as good as any time to throw down a table rule: **//don't be a dick//**. Nobody likes gaming with a dick.) | <WRAP indent> |
| | **//<fs 1.4em>Don’t be a dick.</fs>//** |
| | </WRAP> |
| |
| | Nobody likes gaming with a dick. //Nobody.// |
| | |
| | I've gamed with enough dicks that there's actually a [[gameinfo:table_etiquette|document for table etiquette]] for games. |
| | |
| | |
| | == This is a beer and pretzels game == |
| | |
| | {{:gmmeritbadges:meritbadge_beerandpretzels.jpg?nolink&50 |This is a beer and pretzels game}} |
| | Most people play the game to have fun. We're here to have a good time and keep it lighthearted, but we all know the gamer that took the game Way Too Seriously™. Please, don't be [[dict>stereotypes_gamer|that guy]]. |
| |
| |
| |
| {{:gmmeritbadges:meritbadge_gmincharge.jpg?nolink&50 |The DM is in charge}} | {{:gmmeritbadges:meritbadge_gmincharge.jpg?nolink&50 |The DM is in charge}} |
| [[reference:meta:definitions#rule_zero|Rule zero]] is in effect: the DM is the final arbiter in the game. I want to keep it fun, keep it light and keep it fair, so it's my my goal to be a dick. It's my goal to have fun and have a good game. | [[dict>rule_zero|Rule zero]] is in effect: the DM is the final arbiter in the game. I want to keep it fun, keep it light and keep it fair, so it's my goal to be equitable and unbiased. It's also my goal to have fun and have a good game. |
| |
| Let's keep the game moving by not bickering about rules or rulings. If you don't like a decision, we'll make an on-the-spot ruling and then go into it //after the session is done.// We can see what we can do to address it after the fact (if anything, and without [[reference:meta:definitions#retcon|retconning]]). | Let's keep the game moving by not bickering about rules or rulings. If you don't like a decision, we'll make an on-the-spot ruling and then go into it //after the session is done.// We can see what we can do to address it after the fact (if anything, and without [[dict>retcon|retconning]]). |
| |
| As a corollary to rule zero, [[reference:meta:definitions#rules_lawyer|rules lawyering]] by players is //right out.// Rules laywers are likely to meet untimely ends. | As a corollary to rule zero, [[dict>rules_lawyer|rules lawyering]] by players is //right out.// Rules laywers are likely to meet untimely ends. |
| |
| |
| |
| {{:gmmeritbadges:meritbadge_pcdeath.jpg?nolink&50 |Death lurks around every corner}} | {{:gmmeritbadges:meritbadge_pcdeath.jpg?nolink&50 |Death lurks around every corner}} |
| Character death is a real possibility. Plot immunity __does__ __not__ __happen__ for PCs or NPCs. Your [[reference:meta:prospective_players_faq#backstories_dramastics_natural_larpers_and_barfing_on_the_table|precious snowflake character concept]] might not make it past the first room of the dungeon, but know that if he does you did it on your own! Your characters are operating without a safety net. | Character death is a real possibility. Plot immunity __does__ __not__ __happen__ for PCs or NPCs. Your [[gameinfo:faq_prospective_players#backstories_dramastics_natural_larpers_and_barfing_on_the_table|precious snowflake character concept]] might not make it past the first room of the dungeon, but know that if he does you did it on your own! Your characters are operating without a safety net. |
| |
| |
| |
| {{:gmmeritbadges:meritbadge_run.jpg?nolink&50 |Be prepared to run!}} | {{:gmmeritbadges:meritbadge_run.jpg?nolink&50 |Be prepared to run!}} |
| Sometimes you have to be ready to haul ass! Not every monster can be defeated, and not everything is "level appropriate." If you live by the phrase "death before dishonor," be ready to roll up a lot of [[reference:rules:part_2_player_character_information:character_death#hi_i_m_the_new_party_member|fresh first-level characters]]... I think a more apt phrase may be "live by the sword, die by the sword." | Sometimes you have to be ready to haul ass! Not every monster can be defeated, and not everything is "level appropriate." If you live by the phrase "death before dishonor," be ready to roll up a lot of [[gameinfo:rules:part_2_player_character_information:character_death#hi_i_m_the_new_party_member|fresh first-level characters]]... I think a more apt phrase may be "live by the sword, die by the sword." |
| |
| \\ | \\ |
| This game is similar in concept to the fabled [[http://arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/78/grand-experiments-west-marches/|"West Marches"]] game where players are presented with a wide-open area to explore and uncover its secrets to find fame and fortune. However, as you get further out into the unexplored things may get a little wilder and woolier than you expect... | This game is similar in concept to the fabled [[http://arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/78/grand-experiments-west-marches/|"West Marches"]] game where players are presented with a wide-open area to explore and uncover its secrets to find fame and fortune. However, as you get further out into the unexplored things may get a little wilder and woolier than you expect... |
| |
| Also, like old computer RPGs from the '80s, town is somewhat abstracted in that there's not really adventure to be had there. Rather, it's just a place to rest and resupply. Adventure is //out there// and not in town, so let's agree to find adventure out there.((As a side note: I like [[reference:meta:definitions#sandbox|sandboxy]] games where players explore and find their own adventure; however, I don't like the "let's wander around town and start shit" game where the players burn down the tavern just to make stuff happen. That drives me //batshit crazy,// not to mention it's the perfect way to make sure you don't get invited back. | Also, like old computer RPGs from the '80s, town is somewhat abstracted in that there's not really adventure to be had there. Rather, it's just a place to rest and resupply. Adventure is //out there// and not in town, so let's agree to find adventure out there.((As a side note: I like [[dict>sandbox|sandboxy]] games where players explore and find their own adventure; however, I don't like the "let's wander around town and start shit" game where the players burn down the tavern just to make stuff happen. That drives me //batshit crazy,// not to mention it's the perfect way to make sure you don't get invited back. |
| |
| \\ \\ | \\ \\ |
| I think of fantasy and science fiction as chocolate and peanut butter in that each is great but when you get them together they're even better. If you don't like them together or you're allergic to one of them... well, that's unfortunate. | I think of fantasy and science fiction as chocolate and peanut butter in that each is great but when you get them together they're even better. If you don't like them together or you're allergic to one of them... well, that's unfortunate. |
| |
| Also, falling in with gonzo is the fact that not everything makes sense, or at least sense that you can make of it. If every trap has to be thoughtfully designed, if every dungeon space has to be ecologically-based, if every room that has an orc and a pie ruins your fun... then you will find things that will make you unhappy. Sorry, story-gamer, this isn't for you. | Also, falling in with gonzo is the fact that not everything makes sense, or at least sense that you can make of it. If every trap has to be thoughtfully designed, if every dungeon space has to be ecologically-based, if every room that has an [[dict>orc_and_pie|orc and a pie]] ruins your fun... then you will find things that will make you unhappy. |
| |
| |
| |
| {{:gmmeritbadges:meritbadge_disturbingcontent.jpg?nolink&50 |Content may be disturbing to some players; player discretion advised}} | {{:gmmeritbadges:meritbadge_disturbingcontent.jpg?nolink&50 |Content may be disturbing to some players; player discretion advised}} |
| Sometimes stuff is just... wrong. Sometimes things make you wince and feel a touch squeamish. In short, some content may or may not be disturbing to some players, although I suspect most players won't be bothered by most of it. | Sometimes things are just... wrong. There might be things make you wince and feel a touch squeamish. In short, some content may or may not be disturbing to some players, although I suspect most players won't be bothered by most of it. |
| |
| I mean "disturbing content" in more of a Lovecraftian sense, but it could also be in a "Saw" or Manson gratuitous gore or violence sense, too. In general, graphic sex and sexual violence are off the table (I'm not talking about boobies; who doesn't like boobies?), but other taboos like slave trade, human sacrifice, genocide, violence against women and children, etc., are fair game. | I mean "disturbing content" in more of a Lovecraftian sense, but it could also be in a "Saw" or Manson gratuitous gore or violence sense, too. In general, graphic sex and sexual violence are off the table (I'm not talking about boobies; who doesn't like boobies?), but other taboos like slave trade, human sacrifice, genocide, violence against women and children, etc., are fair game. |
| |
| {{:gmmeritbadges:meritbadge_improvisation.jpg?nolink&50 |I like to riff and improvise at the table}} | {{:gmmeritbadges:meritbadge_improvisation.jpg?nolink&50 |I like to riff and improvise at the table}} |
| I can't think of everything. I mean, really, we all have limits to our creativity and we often fall back on a small number of tried-and-true ideas. This means that with the amount of content that has to be made for a [[reference:meta:definitions#sandbox|sandbox]] game there may be a bit of a rut that develops. This means that often times during games I will try to make some things up on the spot (for good or ill). | I can't think of everything. I mean, really, we all have limits to our creativity and we often fall back on a small number of tried-and-true ideas. This means that with the amount of content that has to be made for a [[dict>sandbox|sandbox]] game there may be a bit of a rut that develops. This means that often times during games I will try to make some things up on the spot (for good or ill). |
| |
| |
