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The trap is sprung, for better or worse.
Taylor = Q
Chris = Lt. Commander Oanl
Kevin = Lt. Commander Kelvek
Tracy = Commander Vegral
USS Alpha Anna
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This month’s topic comes to us courtesy of +John Marvin:
“How do you scale encounters for a smaller or larger group than you had planned on. Or than the published adventure planned on? What works, and what does not? Do different systems affect how you scale? And what about fish? They have scales.”
So once again we have a roundtable topic to discuss. The questions are all centered on the same theme, but we are going to go ahead and address each one separately to flesh out the discussion.
A while back, I promised to share some tips about how to make better characters. No, not betters that are bigger or faster or stronger. I am not a big fan of min-maxing in games because it is often done at the price of character depth, and depth is what I really believe makes a strong and memorable RPG character. Today I am going to make good on my word to share some tips with you about making sure your characters are deeper and feel more real. Now my hope is that this list will be tips that anyone can use. There are plenty of unique talents that can bring a character to life that I personally do not possess; skills like voice acting, drawing, costume design, makeup artistry, and puppeteering. I wish I had some of those skills, or all of them if I am being greedy. Oh dear. Now I’m getting much sidetracked. On to the tips!
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The officers finalize their plan to pirate the pirating pirate.
Taylor = Q
Chris = Lt. Commander Oanl
Kevin = Lt. Commander Kelvek
Tracy = Commander Vegral
USS Alpha Anna
Contact us:
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Facebook
burneverythinggaming@gmail.com
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Someone is running around pretending to be a Klingon.
Taylor = Q
Chris = Lt. Commander Oanl
Kevin = Lt. Commander Kelvek
Tracy = Commander Vegral
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burneverythinggaming@gmail.com
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When you and your friends sit down to an RPG you invariably get to the question “what characters should we choose so we can be successful?” The answer to this can often be different based on the types of players and the type of campaign you are playing.
What we would like to remind you is that at the core of playing an RPG game you are trying to tell a story. No matter the setting/world/system, a way to guarantee enjoyment in a story is to have some kind of drama. In a physical campaign like a D&D game or Pathfinder game, this drama can usually come from the fighting and the chance of death. In other systems the drama can come from a more social aspect and how the different characters interact and what happens after. No matter what kind of campaign or system you are running, we have the 4 types of characters that can guarantee you a successful campaign.
We believe, that to tell a successful story you should use these 4 character roles: stick, stone, rubber, glue. Now, the idea of having 4 different character types in a successful story is nothing new, if you are familiar with Humorism this may seem very familiar. There is even an interesting CRACKED video that covers that as well as a TV TROPES. The types of characters we are going to be talking about have different temperaments and provide a different purpose. We believe these 4 types of characters ensure a longer more successful campaign.
Below, Joshua and I have a little conversation on these 4 character types. Enjoy!
The Stick
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The ‘urwI’ is revealed at last.
Taylor = Q
Chris = Lt. Commander Oanl
Joshua = Lieutenant Canton
Kevin = Lt. Commander Kelvek
Tracy = Commander Vegral
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burneverythinggaming@gmail.com
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Some character types are easier to play than others. A fighter in old DnD is much easier than a wizard, especially for new players. Street Samurais over deckers. Minor talents over white court vampires. A big part of this difficulty curve has to do with mechanics, but another part has to do with familiarity.
Religious characters, for example, are often challenging to play. They are often played for mechanical benefits (healing, advantages versus evil, balance of magic and equipment, etc.) without consideration for their beliefs, which is much more limited when compared to the ever-popular hero that makes his own way and plays by his own rules.
Rather than rant about clerics that mechanically serve the goddess of generosity and yet steal from crippled beggars, I’d like to take a more constructive approach. Religious characters can be a lot of fun to play, and it is not hard to play them well if you have a good grasp about what their religion means to them. So with that in mind, let me share with you some tips to help play a devoted holy character.
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To steal a Klingon
Taylor = Q
Chris = Lt. Commander Oanl
Joshua = Lieutenant Canton
Kevin = Lt. Commander Kelvek
Tracy = Commander Vegral
Contact us:
Website
Facebook
burneverythinggaming@gmail.com
Twitter
So this week we have been invited to participate in a Roundtable of Doom topic with other bloggers and give our 2 credits’ worth on the big question of how tough challenges should be. Other participants will be linked at the bottom of the article. This weeks question:
Many of us probably remember the AD&D days when the DM could roll a black dragon on the random encounter table and end a low-level party’s career. The 3rd and 4th editions of the game led some newer players to believe that every encounter should be defeatable and appropriate to their level and capabilities. However, 5th edition has moved away from this structure.
We see this mirrored in other games as well. At one end of the spectrum is the style and belief that the PCs should be able to overcome any challenge that comes their way, that challenges should be “appropriate”. On the other end of the spectrum is the style and belief that the world should be realistic, that every fight shouldn’t be able to be won, and that one of the requisite skills of the game is knowing when to fight and when to run.
Where do you, as a GM, fall on this spectrum, and why? Should the PCs always be able to win?
Burn Everything Gaming 