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Roll 1d20-6 to determine the quality of each card from The Deck of Encounters Set One Part 44: The Deck of Ropers, Rust Monsters, and Selkies 264: A Sticky Situation Not to be confused with #255: A Sticky Situation. This is a different situation. The PCs are in a natural cavern, and there’s a rockfall blocking their way, but one of the boulders is actually a roper. In fact, as they enter, the roper will pull aside a carefully placed small boulder and cause a small cave-in that blocks they way they came in, too. Then they It’s just a combat encounter, but there’s some staging to make it a little interesting. Keep. 265: Strangers in the Night Late at night in a forest "near a cliff face or rocky outcropping." Three ropers attack, because the PCs are in between them and the cave entrance they're trying to get to. That's pretty much it, though it means that if PCs figure out what the monsters are trying to do, they can just get out of the monsters’ way, and let them finish their migration in peace. These things have a 15-16 Intelligence… could they have… gone around or something? It's a pretty awkward setup. I mean, it's a random encounter that declares that the PCs are camping near a "network of caves." As soon as that comes out, it's going to be all "woah, we're near caves? We would have checked that poo poo out." "Uh, no, you just didn't notice them before." "Like hell I didn't! I'm a dwarf, I’m always keeping an eye out for caves and stuff! And we would have scouted the area before we set up camp!" Not worth it. Pass. 266: Dogged Pursuit In a dungeon or whatever, the PCs notice a rust monster scuttling and “trilling” behind them. It’s been digging out ore but is now following them like a lost puppy, or perhaps an aggressive, hungry squirrel at a tourist spot. It’s more than happy to eat whatever metal they feed it, and will stick around if fed. The card suggests that the “simplest and safest” method is to leave it with a big shield or something and then make an escape, but I’m sure 99% of PCs are going to try to befriend it and have a rust monster pet. Which is kind of awesome. Keep. 267: Armor, What Armor? “This encounter takes place in the chamber of a ruined castle or underground fortress.” Like, perhaps, in its... dungeons?!? The PCs find a pressure plate on the wall that opens a secret door. Two starved rust monsters rush out - they accidentally trapped themselves inside, and have long since eaten all the metal there. Attacking them won’t deter them, but throwing them a decently-sized meal will stave them off or, given 75 pounds of metal each (!), satiate them. On the floor of the room is 250 gp worth or small opals. Assuming I’m willing to use rust monsters at all (one of many creatures designed as a gently caress-you to players in the weird power-creep arms race that was early D&D), I kind of like this encounter. What was in the room in the first place? We will never know. Keep. 268: Pick-Up Line A young selkie named Elykre approaches the PCs in a tavern or whatever and asks to dine with them. She’s pushy about it but will also order a round of fine wine and expensive but odd food (oysters, fish with strawberry preserves, and chocolate cake, all foods that seals are well-known for eating in the wild). She’s trying to butter them up to ask for a favor - this was her first time out the sea, she stayed out too long, and now she’s got to rush back to her “home waters” (“a half-day’s hard ride”) before she’s stranded. She’ll only tell them what they need to know about her nature, and has a 1,000 gp pearl as thanks or payment. She’s also wearing bracers of defense AC 6 for some reason. I like some things about this, but if the PCs accept her offer (which they probably will), I can’t think of any particularly interesting ways to complicate the fetch-quest. I mean, I could have someone get in their way, and make them fight, but I’m not too interested in that. Honestly, it probably would have been more fun if the PCs encountered an extremely agitated seal honking about town, and had to piece things together from there. Maybe I’ll just go with that and keep it. 269: Accused at Sea The PCs are traveling across a sea or large lake, and their boat is accosted by a dozen selkies. Two of them were killed and two captured by adventurers recently, and they didn’t get a good look at the culprits. They’ll interrogate the PCs aggressively and demand to search the ship. If they’re allowed to, they’ll eventually apologize and let the PCs go, but if resisted they’ll overturn the boat. The card says Elkyre will show up and save them if they did the previous card, though. Is this… specifically her group of selkies? Because the PCs know whereabouts they lived - they dropped her off in her “home waters.” Well, whatever. “If the PCs can avoid combat, the selkies will give the party a small medallion allowing the them to ask for aid or shelter from anv selkie community.” But... they didn’t actually help the selkies. At all. That should be the reward for actually tracking down the murderers/kidnappers. Well, it’s not great, but I guess it’s fine. Keep. Dallbun fucked around with this message at 16:17 on Dec 1, 2017 |
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Dec 1, 2017 14:50
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JackMann posted:The boards put a red border around any image in timg tags. If you look closely, you can see the green border just inside the red. Mr. Rope Burn, you might want to make this border more obvious if you want it to actually do its job.
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Dec 1, 2017 15:09
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Dallbun posted:266: Dogged Pursuit It's funny how the Rust Monster has morphed over time from a horrible menace to a kind of adorable, albeit still a pest, quasi-mascot. At least insofar as the general D&D playing populace views them.
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Dec 1, 2017 15:14
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I don't care if it has acid for blood, or tries to hump my head: if it scuttles and trills, it's getting pets. 
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Dec 1, 2017 15:45
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Obligatum VII posted:It's funny how the Rust Monster has morphed over time from a horrible menace to a kind of adorable, albeit still a pest, quasi-mascot. At least insofar as the general D&D playing populace views them. Probably has a lot to do with how much fun it is to befriend a Rust Monster and get a tame one which can be used for all sorts of interesting shenanigans, speaking from experience.
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Dec 1, 2017 16:03
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Leraika posted:Kinda looks like the real-life flying snake. They do in fact suggest it might be a relative of that, though it also might not be.
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Dec 1, 2017 16:10
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Cythereal posted:Probably has a lot to do with how much fun it is to befriend a Rust Monster and get a tame one which can be used for all sorts of interesting shenanigans, speaking from experience. so long as your children don't have any metal on them they can play together in that cute wooden cage.
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Dec 1, 2017 16:33
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Horrible Lurkbeast posted:so long as your children don't have any metal on them they can play together in that cute wooden cage. Our ranger was barred from using metal equipment anyway due to his kit. We used his pet rust monster to help with a prison break (useful for eating both the portcullis protecting the only way in, then the bars of the cells), then sabotage the bridge connecting the prison to the mainland among other things.
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Dec 1, 2017 16:36
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Or it can go on comedic adventures with the barstool mimic, like that Rusty and Co webcomic.
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Dec 1, 2017 16:38
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Zereth posted:Mr. Rope Burn, you might want to make this border more obvious if you want it to actually do its job. Yeah, I didn't realize that until posting, but I don't think it's a big deal and the timg effect will go away when it's archived. It'd be a lot of work for a rather slight reward.
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Dec 1, 2017 16:39
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Dallbun posted:Roll 1d20-6 to determine the quality of each card from Thanks to your reviews, I've decided to write up some encounters for Pathfinder, with the hope that they'll actually be useable by a GM to plop into his games. Here's the first one.
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Dec 1, 2017 17:17
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FMguru posted:My recollection of the GC was that it was...OK? And not especially Black Dog-ish. It was interesting in that it took place across multiple centuries and the conceit of the campaign was that you played the same character from medieval to modern times, dropping into a scenario every century or two (and with rules to cover what you got up to during the down time between adventures). The whole thing was released in four books across five years (1995, 1996, 1998, 1999) and I think one edition change. Desiden posted:I vaguely recall that at least some of the writers of the line preferred to keep the Inconnu as the one faction that was deliberately undefined, so it could be filled in by whatever a particular ST wanted to do. I'm not sure if that was an overarching policy at some point at WW, or just various writers takes, though. SirPhoebos posted:Apologies if you've just yet to cover this Maxwell Lord, but I think there are a couple of things I would add to Kayfabe that would elevate it for me: quote:First, a table of poo poo Happens. These are a list of possible (non-wrestling) current events that are going to inform one or more story arcs, either for the short term or the long term "Your sister's tragic death is all over the news and one of the writers thinks talking about it on air will help sell your character." "The owner just got done binge-watching Curb Your Enthusiasm and won't shut up about how our promotion should be more like it." "The U.S. has invaded Greenland. We're changing your gimmick to 'Evil Eskimo'." I think if I were running any kind of wrestling game, I'd want to set it in a world where WWF and WCW both crapped out before the Attitude Era got a chance to happen--WWF never got Steve Austin, Hogan never went to WCW.
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Dec 1, 2017 17:34
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Halloween Jack posted:I don't remember which edition, but a Giovanni clanbook really wallowed in rape and incest and pretty much everything awful you can imagine. There was even a sample ghoul NPC whose background said she got a disease you can only get from bestiality. It was just incredibly gross. The gently caress!? Did the writers race each other to MT.Edgelord?
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Dec 1, 2017 17:46
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Horrible Lurkbeast posted:The gently caress!? Did the writers race each other to MT.Edgelord?
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Dec 1, 2017 17:58
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Horrible Lurkbeast posted:The gently caress!? Did the writers race each other to MT.Edgelord? Yes.
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Dec 1, 2017 18:01
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Halloween Jack posted:I respect that, but Vampire has no shortage of entire cadres of powerful elders that the PCs can never match. Unless your campaign is all about diablerie, that is.
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Dec 1, 2017 18:05
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Incidentally, on the note of racing to the bottom and Giovanni, there was also a Mafia book, about the Mafia. It tied into Giovanni the way Gypsies tied into the Ravnos.
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Dec 1, 2017 18:17
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Terrible Opinions posted:They put the rules in the book and made it impossible to progress past a certain point in power without using them. So the writers purposely or not made diablerie the games' natural player goal. I honestly can't think of many vampire games that didn't devolve into assassination plots with the intention of eating their elders, and the game as written indicates that is what you should do.
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Dec 1, 2017 18:32
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You know what's a better WoD?Foglet posted:All of Their Strengths has just rolled out another holiday expansion - Christmas this time, with some scenarios and two new Hybrids, Elves and Reindeer (the latter, I quote, "hopefully not in a gross way").
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Dec 1, 2017 18:34
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Every uber NPC makes me think in terms of how my high school group would have handled it. Both Vampire and Cthulhutech really tripped my trigger. They are both straight up daring you to murder their NPCs with all their mediculously detailed and limited super powers. Like all those Cthulhutech dudes with the "you can't kill me for X amount of time" shields. How is that not incentivizing the players to get really good at wacking them once, running away, and then tracking those baddies until the spell wares off? It seems like something people would have gotten good at if that spell was a known part of the setting, but for some reason the book seems to think the players will just give up.
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Dec 1, 2017 18:37
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Horrible Lurkbeast posted:The gently caress!? Did the writers race each other to MT.Edgelord? 1st edition World of Darkness was basically "our world but worse, no worse than that, even worse, make everyone a petty shitlord, also can their backstories include rape? Well make sure they include rape. That'd be great. I don't care if they're historical people. This is the gothic punk world, everything is terrible because that's PUNK baby!" Most of the writers got it out of their systems by late 2nd edition but you'll find the occasional throwback in Revised.
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Dec 1, 2017 18:40
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I recall that the Shadow Court book suggested their satyrs were just as apt to gently caress animals as they were people. Also their sample satyr had contracted something terminal from her proclivities, and isn't that just lovely.
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Dec 1, 2017 18:41
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Halloween Jack posted:There was even a sample ghoul NPC whose background said she got a disease you can only get from bestiality. It was just incredibly gross. AmiYumi fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Dec 1, 2017 |
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Dec 1, 2017 19:23
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I had forgotten that both clans had ghoul families that were edgy tryhard gross. I do recall that the Giovanni had a sample PC whose background is "you're big and ugly and mean and by the age of 16 you'd already raped all your cousins." Another clanbook suggested a pedophile schoolmaster. Can't wait to have those guys in my game!
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Dec 1, 2017 19:29
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*Ignoring all the Pedo rape* “Sitcom Vampire Dad”? E: my phone fixed it to Pedro rape. By popular demand fucked around with this message at 19:36 on Dec 1, 2017 |
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Dec 1, 2017 19:32
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I thought ghouls didn't age? Wouldn't that 80-year old ghoul still be whatever age she was frozen at when she got turned into a vampire?
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Dec 1, 2017 19:35
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I don't remember every detail, but the Giovanni have a thing where everyone who is going to be Embraced does an internship as a ghoul first. (A big part of the gross rape poo poo in the book is related to the "Proxy Kiss," where Kindred give blood to their ghouls in the most humiliating manner they can think of.) So she was probably old and embittered before she even became a ghoul.
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Dec 1, 2017 19:39
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Halloween Jack posted:I don't remember every detail, but the Giovanni have a thing where everyone who is going to be Embraced does an internship as a ghoul first. (A big part of the gross rape poo poo in the book is related to the "Proxy Kiss," where Kindred give blood to their ghouls in the most humiliating manner they can think of.) So she was probably old and embittered before she even became a ghoul. RE: Vampire Dad, it was a thin blood whose only real talent is Dominate, used liberally to pretend EVERYTHING IS FINE and cover up all the hijinx that occur trying to continue living a normal life as a suburban vampire. Oh, Vampire Dad. AmiYumi fucked around with this message at 20:20 on Dec 1, 2017 |
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Dec 1, 2017 20:17
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That sounds hilarious to watch but not to play.
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Dec 1, 2017 20:21
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Kill me now! Go on now, go into the crypt, and take the stake and stab me, here, here, now, please! It would hurt me less than what you just said!
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Dec 1, 2017 20:25
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*Canned laughter*
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Dec 1, 2017 20:32
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Horrible Lurkbeast posted:*Canned laughter* "Oh no, somebody staked Vampire Dad. How are we going to wake him up?" "Don't worry, I've got this." *Adjusts thermostat up one degree* *Floorboards erupt in a shower of splinters and dirt*
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Dec 1, 2017 20:35
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Kurieg posted:"Oh no, somebody staked Vampire Dad. How are we going to wake him up?" As spell, Cone of Cold.
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Dec 1, 2017 20:50
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Do any RPG books feature bestiality and incest in ah, ugh, OK way? Like, I wouldn't care about them unless a book was harping on them suspiciously often or presented them in a positive light.
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Dec 1, 2017 21:11
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JcDent posted:Do any RPG books feature bestiality and incest in ah, ugh, OK way? Like, I wouldn't care about them unless a book was harping on them suspiciously often or presented them in a positive light. I'm not sure how that's actually possible.
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Dec 1, 2017 21:25
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The real question is "can you actually come up with a game where those kinds of things are absolutely necessary?" I mean, if you're going include stuff like that, it's less "can you do this properly?" and more "why would you need to do this properly?" first.
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Dec 1, 2017 21:31
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Alien Rope Burn posted:The real question is "can you actually come up with a game where those kinds of things are absolutely necessary?"
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Dec 1, 2017 21:39
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JcDent posted:Do any RPG books feature bestiality and incest in ah, ugh, OK way? Like, I wouldn't care about them unless a book was harping on them suspiciously often or presented them in a positive light. Incest? No, not really, ew, why are you asking this question? Bestiality? I mean, half-dragons and stuff exist. In a world where you've got tons of magically intelligent shapeshifting animals the definition starts to get a little blurry. Unless you're asking "is there a game where people are loving their 100% not magical pet dog" in which case "Ew, why are you asking this question?"
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Dec 1, 2017 21:40
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Do dragons count as animals for the purpose of bestiality
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Dec 1, 2017 21:40
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Kurieg posted:Incest? No, not really, ew, why are you asking this question? Has internet made you incapable of imagining that someone can insert <sex thing> in a book without having a <sex thing> fetish? Like, Habsburgs and Zeus are things, why can't stuff like that be a thing in fictional settings?
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Dec 1, 2017 21:48
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