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My Lovely Horse posted:Don't wait until it does ruin people's fun. Yeah, this is a key thing to remember when you're dealing with problem players. Humans are conflict-averse people so even if it's bugging you and your friends, you're not necessarily gonna reach the point where one of your players says "I'm not having fun because of Wolf, please do something about it" -- you're far more likely to hear increasing amounts of "Eeeh, I'm really busy and I can't make tonight's session" until it's just you and Wolf left.
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May 18, 2020 10:48
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grobbo posted:My next task is to figure out how to make shopping more interesting and less dogged... if you are doing any sort of a magic item shop the most essential tip is to make the shopkeepers friendly. i am not sure where the "shopkeeper rips players off all the time" thing comes from, but it really makes no sense if you are assuming some sort of magic item shop. luxury stores take extreme care to cater to their clientele for the reason of bad customer service results in losing someone that spends thousands of dollars... and magic item shops are the most extreme luxury in fantasy worlds. make shopkeepers likable, knowledgeable, and someone players would want to go back to. this is the "good gm" answer. the truth is we all want to make some soup nazi esque shopkeeper and part of your ability to be a GM in a setting with shops is not to do that. you will fail... eventually Fumbles posted:Mixed reception. One other 'power player' doesn't mind so long as he gets a reasonably fair share, the majority of the other players are annoyed but too socially awkward to want to talk to him themselves about it. A couple complain about him scooting off to loot taking away from their roleplay interactions with NPCs after fights, others don't like him just deciding who gets how much, but it's currently at mild-ooc-grumble level. I wouldn't say it's full on ruining peoples fun but I've talked with him about it and it still seems to be his natural go-to. Roll dice at thing, thing dies, sneak off alone to search area for treasure, then go silent and barely exist whenever fighting or looting aren't happening. two things here. first, ask him how the game could be more engaging for him outside of fighting and looting. it might just be that you have not really engaged him in a story he is interested in for whatever reason. i always assume first that i did something wrong before asking what the players could have done wrong because dealing with one of my mistakes is easier. assuming that the answer is "i just am not that talkative/i am shy/whatever/awoo" (which i suspect it is?) then just follow up with that the other players do not like how he is continually going for loot and taking finders fees and etc. explain that by him taking a finders fee he is then implying some sort of race to be the first to get to the loot, which limits the options for how other players can roleplay after defeating an encounter(if they want to play as being tired, well, then the wolf just gets all the treasure again) and that the rewards should be shared equally. the reason i asked the first question is some parties legitimately want someone to sort and deal out the loot, and it seems like your party is not one of them
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May 18, 2020 17:49
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pog boyfriend posted:if you are doing any sort of a magic item shop the most essential tip is to make the shopkeepers friendly. i am not sure where the "shopkeeper rips players off all the time" thing comes from, but it really makes no sense if you are assuming some sort of magic item shop. luxury stores take extreme care to cater to their clientele for the reason of bad customer service results in losing someone that spends thousands of dollars... and magic item shops are the most extreme luxury in fantasy worlds. make shopkeepers likable, knowledgeable, and someone players would want to go back to. Pretty much this. If you're going to have a shopkeeper screw them, save that poo poo for the dodgy back alley magic shop that wasn't there three days ago, and won't be there tomorrow. If they buy something there, they should drat well know what's going to happen.
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May 18, 2020 20:30
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Just do the dodgy rug merchant looking/sounding dude but make it so he is, in fact, honest. You really do remind him of his cousin. Everything today is really 10% off, today only, for new customers. His brother can actually find you one of those for half price, maybe less. He does know a guy who can get the dents out, the guy does owe him a favour, the guy does do good work. His friend is actually selling just what you're looking for and won't rip you off. And of course, after a few visits, now he knows you...
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May 18, 2020 22:44
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Some other shopping options: -magic shops have magic poo poo going on. Think Harry Potter. I have a warlock-themed shop that sometimes looks like rubble. When its normal, it appears empty until the shop keeper steps out of a mirror that reflects a bustling shop, the door disappears when you threaten to leave without buying something (even though the shop keeper is perfectly friendly), you can make infernal bargains to buy or lease magic gear, some weird unique poo poo is there (but the shop isn't always usable) - have a list of names and a few persona for shopkeepers on hand before shipping days. Go to the bg/persona list (or adlib) when the PCs engage them, which they won't always do. My druid wanted to get heroes feast goblets from a metalsmith I named Arnando Armanci using a list of fname and lname suggestions. He ended up being a super fan and went into business with the party making collectable chalices with the party's likenesses on them to sell in Waterdeep. I attribute some of his likeability to them being able to remember him from a name and a trait. Their encounters naturally build histories around them. - have unique items for sale in various places but don't give them time or money to get to all of them. Don't put everything in shops. 5e essentially says put none at all in shops. - allow some gambling. Once a week they can pull something at random from a bargain bin for a slight discount. - Lottery tickets. Layaway. Loans. Barter. Quests for trade. Upgradable stock. - "out in the town" immersion. Interesting shops getting the party's attention with hawkers or other allure. Pickpockets, city watch interacting with civilians or other factions, other shoppers. Split the party so they can go to different shops in the deadline, give the smaller groups a context to RP alone. - do none of this and just make shopping a clerical event with the intent of getting it over as fast as possible. Give them a general list of things for sale. Give them an armory/quartermaster that stocks them with all the mostly mundane poo poo (you can ration things like special ammo this way). Allow them to ask if things are available off the sheet, but generally imply other items require looting/questing/information/special vendors and then figure something clever out between sessions. Or do what I do and give them something slightly different in the next loot stash. Just remember that if you make shopping interesting, they'll do more of it. I've found it makes for some interesting character development and gives PC a predictable in-game phase between fights and lore dumps, to talk about what they want for their character. ILL Machina fucked around with this message at 05:30 on May 19, 2020 |
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May 18, 2020 23:30
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Glory to Italia!
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in general unless my campaign is going for a specific sort of atmosphere, i am always going to make my shopkeepers for major items nicer and more interesting and comical. this is a powerful GM theory move because what it does is it doubles down on positive reinforcement for treasure and provides a tonal difference with an exaggerated example of "we are in the dungeon and we are all going to die" -> "now we have all this loot after surviving the dungeon and are rich" -> "now we can see what catthew the awakened cat that rides on a golem has to sell to us" to make the campaign have stronger high points. having a shadier merchant to contrast this however is a step above. they can go to the lovable and clearly honest merchant, or they can go to the guy who hangs out by the docks and lives on a ship that mysteriously has magic items. if the players buy the "budget" items from the other merchant, they might get themselves in trouble down the road. a fun trick you can do is as follows: lets say one of your players really wants the magic item which you think may be too powerful for now... you can then have the shopkeeper say "hm, i would need whateverite to make this. and the only place you can find it is the next place you have to go in the campaign oddly enough." but then when they get there, make it annoyingly out of the way. close enough that there is no way that trying to get the whateverite is absolutely going to come up in the planning, but just enough out of the way that it is significant detour and make things stop running smoothly.
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May 18, 2020 23:48
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I've also found a fun mechanic on accident when I tried to ad lib converting/fencing dungeon loot like gems and trinkets. I told the party they could wait in line at the bank for currency conversions (with a coin star fee) and to sell the loot for 50% value. Shops do the same unless they're thematically related to the loot and might offer slightly more in trade. But the black market dealer they know will take the loot and try to fence it over the next week (party can't use it until they return from the next adventure and get in touch with her) @80% value, the npc's cut built in on top. They can invest in low or high risk ventures for a chance at more than 80%. Low risk is 80+2d8-1d8, high risk is 80+2d20-1d20. The fourth time they tried this (first time they kept some and split the rest 50/50 for risk, second and third time they went full high risk with no reserve), she had to leave town in a hurry and left them all the original loot. ILL Machina fucked around with this message at 05:44 on May 19, 2020 |
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May 19, 2020 05:41
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I've started to plan for when my party comes out of the dream. I'm thinking whatever the guild wants, they want it as their tribute to the thieves guild of guilds, the one that coordinates and oversees underworld activity. Lately there have been some upstarts who seem to effortlessly out-tribute all the others, and the guilds are having to resort to drastic and riskier-than-usual business ventures to keep up. There is much grumbling, but the head guild obviously loves these guys. This is a plot hook for the party to figure out and I know exactly what's going on. I'm just looking for ideas for some cool thieves underguilds or other underworld organizations, and their respective tributes, though. So far I've got: - the guild the party is working for will, of course, offer whatever this endeavour gets them - the guild of professional thieves and catburglars, who specialize in cracking magic protection, will offer... something, not sure yet - the guild of assassins and poisoners will offer the head of a rival (or pesky watch official) - the guild, such as it is, of pirates will offer a treasure long thought lost - the upstarts will offer something ludicrously valuable, also not sure yet - there is any number of other underworld-themes organizations at any level of metaphysical involvement
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May 19, 2020 16:10
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Also my favourite magic shop NPC was a merchant who got around on a gold dragon. Or at least he must have, cause you only ever saw the dragon sleeping, curled up around the market stall, with a SALE banner stretched between his horns. This guy would rarely show up in cities and public places, mostly he'd set up shop in the middle of nowhere, at convenient points during adventures. My rules for this guy: - the party never sees him arrive or leave. - he can be anywhere. His shop can be in places he couldn't possibly have got to, or a dragon can't possibly fit into. You see his flag poking out of a well, the dragon and stall will be down the well, somehow. - one chance to shop when you meet him. When you revisit the spot, even just a minute after you've turned your back, he's gone. - he is not in the business of transportation or aid. He's in the business of magic items. He's also not in the business of explaining how he gets around. - he does have loyalty cards and a bonus program. - he is invariably friendly and polite towards customers no matter how they treat him. There is, however, an idea implicit in the situation that if anyone ever attempts to hurt him or steal from the shop, the dragon will wake up. - if the party does somehow pull off anything untoward, anything above "exchange money for items" at what is, ever so transparently, the contrived exchange-money-for-items-point of the game, they get a decent magic item for their trouble, and the magic shop will never appear again.
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May 19, 2020 16:25
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- guild of pickpockets offers a huge array of minor valuable/magical items, not one of them bigger than a pocketwatch. - guild of [drug dealers - can't think of a more D&D name] offers many vials of rare and potent stimulants - guild of armed robbers offers a great big sack of bloodstained cash - guild of confidence tricksters offers the deeds to large amounts of valuable property, they just need a signature here, and a small downpayment...
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May 19, 2020 16:26
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My Lovely Horse posted:I've started to plan for when my party comes out of the dream. I'm thinking whatever the guild wants, they want it as their tribute to the thieves guild of guilds, the one that coordinates and oversees underworld activity. - The Guild of Whispers offers a withered animal horn. When lifted to your ear, you can hear through nearby walls. - The Vermin-Catchers' Guild offers a deadly, wriggling centipede in a bag. It produces a daily stream of horrible venom - but may escape during a critical scene and cause havoc. - The Pit-Fighters' Guild offers you the best fight of your lives (some ludicrously OTT, fun encounter with multiple environmental elements and a good XP reward) - You're greeted by one suspiciously cheerful man who claims to be from the Guild of the Long Con, of which there is no formal record. He offers an ordinary-looking stone which he claims bestows the wearer with the gift of the gab.
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May 19, 2020 16:36
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My Lovely Horse posted:I'm just looking for ideas for some cool thieves underguilds or other underworld organizations, and their respective tributes, though. That aside, tribute from the smugglers, the prostitutes, the coin-clippers, the beggars, and the forgers have the potential to be hilarious and awesome.
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May 19, 2020 16:41
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My Lovely Horse posted:- the guild of professional thieves and catburglars, who specialize in cracking magic protection, will offer... something, not sure yet The guild of brokers offer a ring set with a single Lava Ruby. Found only on the Plane of Fire, it guarantees the wearer almost certain... Wait. The brokers' guildmaster starts to pat his pockets with a look of increasing concern. The guild of thieves and catburglars, meanwhile, offer a ring set with a single Lava Ruby.
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May 19, 2020 22:26
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Ilor posted:tribute from [...] the forgers I guess it's about as magical as we imagine it? Yeah that's a copout answer but I like to keep things nebulously defined these days. We all probably already have the shared assumption that it's like the mafia anyway. I'm thinking these are the guilds that gather in one town, and their overguild may be one among many that operate in a similar structure. Haven't really defined that, for my game all that matters is that relative to the local guilds, they're the bigwigs.
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May 20, 2020 10:29
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Bonus if the magical aura on the forged gold (plated lead) crown is caused by all the light spells making the glass "sapphires" and "rubies" sparkle in a way that seems authentic. You'll need a suitably plush velvet lined aged wood chest to present it in. Definitely not made from diftwood recovered from the sewers for that antique look. Certainly not. Why I'm offended you even asked good adventurer. Roll a sense motive at minus 5. He has an honest face. DancingShade fucked around with this message at 11:21 on May 20, 2020 |
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May 20, 2020 11:17
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Now I have a list of nine thieves guild names, their areas of expertise, their leaders and their tributes, and I am so very tempted to make it into one of those logic puzzles.
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May 20, 2020 12:04
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My Lovely Horse posted:Now I have a list of nine thieves guild names, their areas of expertise, their leaders and their tributes, and I am so very tempted to make it into one of those logic puzzles.
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May 20, 2020 12:19
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Silver Pete only drinks the finest of wines imported from the Crystal Isles and has his personal bodyguard and lover, One Eyed Lethal Lucy, handle all his financial dealings in person. Some call him a miserly wretch because nobody has seen him hand over so much as a single copper to anyone, regardless of merit. Secretly this is because he is suffering a sea witch's curse and can't physically handle currency (specifically metal coins) without breaking into painful weeping blisters immediately. If the PCs happen to find out his secret and fulfill the highly specific conditions to lift the curse Silver Pete would be very grateful and grant them that important favor they need. Or just chuck a handful of copper at him and murderhobo away, whatever.
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May 20, 2020 12:39
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The Guild of Arsonists offer a ring that makes someone immune to fire. The Guild of Political Fixers offer someone’s sibling a job working for the potentate of the party’s choice. This job may get them access to non-public information. echopapa fucked around with this message at 14:36 on May 20, 2020 |
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May 20, 2020 14:25
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Sorry if this is the wrong thread, but I've looked for a game recommendation thread and couldn't find one. So, I've been running a D&D5 game using a Final Fantasy-themed homebrew I found online. The setting is anime-as-hell high fantasy with sci-fi elements, fairly light in tone but with operatic twists and high stakes. We're still early in, but running D&D5 has given me frustration on the back end and my motivation level has dropped for various reasons. To keep the game going and lighten the prepwork involved, I've been thinking of switching over to a different, simpler and more freeform system. Which ones would you suggest? Bonus points if I can homebrew content for it quickly and headache-free. The players are all fairly comfortable with rules-light roleplay, but ideally I'd like to at least have combat and character advancement so we're not just playing Calvinball.
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May 20, 2020 18:32
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Fred is on posted:Sorry if this is the wrong thread, but I've looked for a game recommendation thread and couldn't find one. Fellowship is the best final fantasy system in existence.
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May 20, 2020 18:48
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Fred is on posted:Sorry if this is the wrong thread, but I've looked for a game recommendation thread and couldn't find one. aside from the brilliantly aforementioned fellowship, take a look at the recently released interstitial: our hearts entwined as well. it might be a little out there for your game or maybe it fits like a glove
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May 20, 2020 19:40
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It's the exact opposite of simple and freeform but D&D 4E is the best Final Fantasy Tactics system in existence.
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May 20, 2020 19:42
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Whats a good way of giving your player's magic items and equipment and how often should I be doing it? I was hoping of rolling on a random table each time after certain events but was hoping there was a better way or maybe a better source of pulling magic items from.
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May 21, 2020 01:59
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BigRed0427 posted:Whats a good way of giving your player's magic items and equipment and how often should I be doing it? I was hoping of rolling on a random table each time after certain events but was hoping there was a better way or maybe a better source of pulling magic items from. first: consider the cost of the magic items you have thus far, and how it relates to player strength. it is common to accidentally give your team too many magic items and then have them end up on one person. second: consider your world. perhaps your world is not high magic where items can be bought from shops freely. if you play this way, consider having a special rare shop near the players home base to act as their major shopping hub and give them a reason to return. there are a few main ways to do magic items, i think, but this is far from exhaustive.
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May 21, 2020 02:14
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BigRed0427 posted:Whats a good way of giving your player's magic items and equipment and how often should I be doing it? I was hoping of rolling on a random table each time after certain events but was hoping there was a better way or maybe a better source of pulling magic items from. My favorite way to hand out magic items without saying "oh it turns out there was a +2 sword in the loot" is to take a page out of D&D's origins in Tolkien; have a Powerful Mentor Figure hand them out as a thank-you to the party for whatever cool poo poo they did. Did they save a bunch of elves? Hand out some Cool Elf Stuff. Did they impress a dragon? The dragon picks out some old treasures it's tired of looking at and hands them out. Whatever. It's useful for a few reasons; for one, it lets me choose specific items and hand them to specific characters, instead of letting the party haggle over who gets what. And that can open up some neat options for me and the players - whether through filling a character's needs ("you keep getting hit, have some bracers of defense") or through not doing that in order to see how they'll respond ("you're the guy always hiding in shadows, so have an extra-awesome item that glows in the dark, so you have to choose between stealth and using the cool toy"). For another, it lets me lay groundwork for future story hooks. If the PCs are all walking around with Awesome Elf Gear, for instance, then later on when they meet the Hidden Enclave of Elves they'll be allowed inside because they're already demonstratably friends to the elves... but it might make life harder down the line when they have to try to make peace with the drow and they're all like "you're obviously allies of the people who exiled our ancestors, so you can go gently caress yourself." And thirdly, if the presentation of the magic items is interesting enough and the players actually care about the figure handing them out, it gives those magic items a degree of narrative and roleplaying importance over and above the mechanical benefits, which can itself lead to interesting choices down the road (for instance, "okay, you can have the awesome new magical cloak, but it means no longer wearing the less-awesome magical cloak that proclaims you as a Friend To The Dwarves and which was handed to you personally by the Underking that you've sworn to serve, whatcha gonna do?").
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May 21, 2020 02:31
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BigRed0427 posted:Whats a good way of giving your player's magic items and equipment and how often should I be doing it? I was hoping of rolling on a random table each time after certain events but was hoping there was a better way or maybe a better source of pulling magic items from. Not sure about the current edition since I'm antique and rusty but there used to be an exact forumla for this sort of thing. Short version: you have to figure out how appropriate a challenge your combat / diplomacy encounters are relative to the party and either drip feed them magic gear as the encounters get harder or tone down your encounters until the players can meat flesh their way through using whatever they already have. Situationally you might make encounters they honestly can't manage unless they fulfill some kind of criteria they are expected to manage. Like busting an ork dam to flood out their wooden fort (removing X defenders / barracades) or making the local tailor happy so they can attain appropriate cultural attire for that critical diplomatic thing with [ insert title here] Important NPC.
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May 21, 2020 08:17
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Give more than you think you should. Take some away. Repeat. Just be clear: Treasures are to be gained and squandered. Won and stolen and stolen back and gambled away. Found and then lost in the midnight abysses between worlds. Discovered broken, then haphazardly repaired and used up. Gifted by ethereal smiths but left lodged in the skulls of ancient evils. Regretfully traded for passage across the western sea. Used reluctantly while praying that they don't explode. Awarded by corrupt authority and petulantly flung into the ocean.
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May 21, 2020 09:03
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Elector_Nerdlingen posted:Treasures are to be gained and squandered. Won and stolen and stolen back and gambled away. Found and then lost in the midnight abysses between worlds. Discovered broken, then haphazardly repaired and used up. Gifted by ethereal smiths but left lodged in the skulls of ancient evils. Regretfully traded for passage across the western sea. Used reluctantly while praying that they don't explode. Awarded by corrupt authority and petulantly flung into the ocean.
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May 21, 2020 16:36
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NinjaDebugger posted:Fellowship is the best final fantasy system in existence. I checked out the main book and the system really seems like it slaps, but sadly it seems it'd be a pain to port my current game to. The PCs are very awkward fits at best for the playbooks presented, and they don't very well fit the conceit of each having one big chunk of the setting to hold dominion over. I could consider it, but it would effectively mean starting over with new characters. Likewise, Interstitial and 4E wouldn't really fit either though I'll agree about 4E's Tactics-ness from what I played, and Interstitial does seem rad and it seems like something I'd like to play sometime. So yes, I'm still taking suggestions if you have them.
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May 21, 2020 19:05
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What makes it Final Fantasy to you? Like, separate systems could be focused on a "steampunk fantasy with lost magic civilizations" theme, on providing synergistic effects from mixing and matching different classes' features, on a class structure where there are fighters, white mages, black mages, monks and mimes, or on tactical combat and magic effects that should be world-changing events but only cost you 1/4 of your HP (coughsupernovacough), and any of those on its own could be said to be a "Final Fantasy" experience.
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May 21, 2020 19:14
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Fred is on posted:The PCs are very awkward fits at best for the playbooks presented, and they don't very well fit the conceit of each having one big chunk of the setting to hold dominion over. There are two more books worth of playbooks you can check out, if you didn't already. Some light reskinning goes a long way.
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May 21, 2020 19:56
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Fred is on posted:
It would just help to know what problems you're dealing with. Not that I'm a 5e shill, it has faults, but it's reskinnable. What problems do you have with 5e that can't be solved with gm shenanigans and homebrew rules? The grid? Custom spells? Encounter building? RP incentives? ILL Machina fucked around with this message at 00:21 on May 22, 2020 |
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May 22, 2020 00:19
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What about strike? It's a rules light take on the 4e model. Classes are fairly flexible and easily reskinable, with a best in class skill system that acts as a record of dramatic and funny moments.
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May 22, 2020 01:11
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My Lovely Horse posted:What makes it Final Fantasy to you? That's a very good question! I'll actually submit it to my players before answering it here, because their answers may be different from mine. ILL Machina posted:It would just help to know what problems you're dealing with. Not that I'm a 5e shill, it has faults, but it's reskinnable. What problems do you have with 5e that can't be solved with gm shenanigans and homebrew rules? I'd say encounter building is the biggest one. The Final Fantasy reskin adds an extra step every time since I need to find a D&D monster to turn a into Final Fantasy one (or vice-versa), and this can be harder when we're talking about more esoteric monsters that don't translate cleanly. Monster CR (in the early levels at least) also doesn't seem to correlate very closely with their actual threat level, so fights I'd have expected to be warm-ups have turned surprisingly hairy. I'm sure a more experienced DM could easily eyeball it, but that is not what I am. Placing treasure in dungeons has also been a surprising bit of a speed bump. For some reason the game seems to want me to roll on a table (with rewards ranging from exciting to situational to "why did we come here, again?") instead of giving me clear wealth-by-level (or similar) guidelines so they don't get too rich too soon. The game also refuses to put a price tag on magic items and gives very few suggestions as to what the gang can spend gold on past the early stages. I've seen people post homebrew guidelines to address both of those issues, but I don't know how reliable they are and it's annoying that I even needed to look for those in the first place. ShineDog posted:What about strike? It's a rules light take on the 4e model. Classes are fairly flexible and easily reskinable, with a best in class skill system that acts as a record of dramatic and funny moments. Oh, I like what I'm seeing. I'll need to look into it more closely, but at a glance it might be just what I'm looking for. Thanks!
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May 22, 2020 01:48
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Fred is on posted:
When I asked questions about this, people recommended giffyglyph's book on designing monsters and encounters https://giffyglyph.com/monstermaker/ I haven't DMed much since then, but it sounds like this will give you the framework you are looking for. If you want to stick with 5e.
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May 22, 2020 03:45
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Fred is on posted:I'd say encounter building is the biggest one. The Final Fantasy reskin adds an extra step every time since I need to find a D&D monster to turn a into Final Fantasy one (or vice-versa), and this can be harder when we're talking about more esoteric monsters that don't translate cleanly. Monster CR (in the early levels at least) also doesn't seem to correlate very closely with their actual threat level, so fights I'd have expected to be warm-ups have turned surprisingly hairy. I'm sure a more experienced DM could easily eyeball it, but that is not what I am. I wholeheartedly second the Giffyglyph endorsement. Encounter building has become the EASIEST aspect of running my weekly D&D game using this system and being willing to "wing it" with custom attacks and abilities on the fly that fit with the creatures. I haven't used an "official" monster in over ten weeks and my players love it. They get mooks to mulch, tough bosses to go toe to toe with, and engaging combat mechanics that took me only a few minutes with an app to make. Once you free yourself from requiring every little thing the monster can do be on the sheet, you can make some really engaging fights for all styles of combat and there's very very good guidelines for how a less-experienced DM should eyeball things like special attacks and abilities. The PDF lays out a number of basic attacks, abilities, and powers that you could throw onto any monster to instantly make them more engaging. quote:Placing treasure in dungeons has also been a surprising bit of a speed bump. For some reason the game seems to want me to roll on a table (with rewards ranging from exciting to situational to "why did we come here, again?") instead of giving me clear wealth-by-level (or similar) guidelines so they don't get too rich too soon. The game also refuses to put a price tag on magic items and gives very few suggestions as to what the gang can spend gold on past the early stages. I've seen people post homebrew guidelines to address both of those issues, but I don't know how reliable they are and it's annoying that I even needed to look for those in the first place. As someone who's running a mishmash homebrew world that has a lot of final fantasy-isms in it by design, I'm having quite a blast with 5e. Admittedly it is heavily modified 5e, but I haven't found any other systems that give me the same open-endedness in creating designs without just turning into a freeform system and losing my less creative players, or being so heavily themed around something else I'd have to do even more hacking to make it fit my game. A couple of tips that might help you "Final Fantasy" your game up a bit: 1. Use Giffyglyph to make custom monsters based around whatever cool art you find. FF is full of crazy monsters like the Hell House so you shouldn't be limited to Gygaxian monster design. Not only does this stop people from just reading statblocks on you, you can build whole fights around multiple types of unique encounters and even implement "Boss Monsters" effectively in 5e. 2. Give everyone extra HP at level 1, like by using their Con SCORE instead of their Con MOD, so you can more safely throw dangerous stuff at them without accidentally popping a squishy. Base D&D at lower levels is very swingy so if you pad the hit points a bit you can make the players feel cooler by tanking hits that would have otherwise dropped them, without making the HP get so high you need fireballs all day to threaten them. 3. Use minions. The addition of teeny, weak, trash-mob things that the heroes effortlessly pop but could be threatening in large numbers makes people feel cool and heroic when they start cleaving through them left and right. Sometimes even throw short combats at the party made up entirely of minions and let the players enjoy just using their cool moves and feeling powerful. 4. Speaking of moves, think of cool moves you can give weapons or players. There's tons of things you can pull from stuff like Nort's Universal Martial Maneuvers or even D&D 4e to just give people abilities. Even just gutting certain spells or giving unique access to homebrew or slightly stronger spells can make people feel awesome and different, something you should want to aim for with Final Fantasy. Rikku isn't Rikku without her grenade mixing, and Cloud without Braver and Cross-Slash is just a big guy with a sword. 5. On the topic of swords- use incremental mundane upgrades if you want to have the FF feel of finding new weapons. Oh that greatsword they started the game with? Well here's a SILVER Greatsword. Not only can it hit through resistances, it gets a +1 to attack rolls (but doesn't count as magic). Oh yeah, that Silver Greatsword you've been using? It sucks compared to this Tempered Wyvernsword! It gets a +1 to attack rolls AND deals 1d6 additional damage on crits! Your really cool wooden shield? Buddy, try this Agile Steel Shield that lets you use your reaction to turn the +2 AC to +3. We're not even getting into the elemental weapons and status effect weapons you could invent. FF is all about incremental upgrades, and it's a great way to get people to spend gold if a quest is sending them into the Molten Bomb Factory and all their gear currently does Fire damage. 5e isn't GURPS but the flavor changes heavily based on what classes you allow, what equipment you use, and how you run fights. If you're having trouble eyeballing things then it'll pay countless dividends to look through a few homebrew sourcebooks about encounter design, gear modification, and setting tones. That's 5th Editions secret superpower; because everyone is playing it, everyone is writing homebrew for it, so you can find an unprecedented amount of advice and notes to crib from to make your own perfect blend of tabletop.
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May 22, 2020 06:43
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I guess it doesn't help matters that the defining characteristics of Final Fantasy itself as a series have undergone absolutely massive shifts over 33 years, 6 console generations and 15 mainline games with god knows how many spinoffs and remakes and supplemental materials. Like for my money you can give me a story that's broadly "rebels fight an evil empire that secretly has an ancient supernatural force behind it" and a system that has melee fighters, healers and blaster mages, and I'll happily call that the essence of Final Fantasy and be able to spin it further by refluffing and homebrewing stuff, but even that is mainly the IV to IX era so not even half the main series, although similar bits and themes keep popping up.
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May 22, 2020 10:14
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My Lovely Horse posted:I guess it doesn't help matters that the defining characteristics of Final Fantasy itself as a series have undergone absolutely massive shifts over 33 years, 6 console generations and 15 mainline games with god knows how many spinoffs and remakes and supplemental materials. Yeah, if I wanted to make a game with the Final Fantasy flavor, I'd lean on the FF motifs (chocobos, moogles, a guy named Cid, the various mythological figures) and I'd pick some stuff to emulate style-wise in order to flavor it. The important thing not to do is to try and jam in everything FF into your FF game, because you will get a ugly mess. You couldn't mesh FF12 and FFT's lost-pages-of-history feel with FF5 or FF9's intentionally goofy retro feel or FF6's baroque operatic vibe or FF7's 90's Cyberpunk Fight-The-Man feel. Well, maybe you could, but you certainly can't do all at once. Pick some reference points and riff off of them and ignore everything else.
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May 22, 2020 12:24
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Thanks for recommending Giffyglyph, that's an amazing resource! My party visited a zoo full of horrifying monsters last session, and got particularly terrified by one particularly nightmare thing (and half-befriended another). Now I can stat it up ready for when they inevitably decide that it needs to be freed for some nonsense reason!
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May 22, 2020 14:08
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