jack

GM: OK, so while Vapourwave's reconstituting himself and Rusty's repairing the mech and riding herd on the security system, you two...
Dr Weird: So I can just misty step through the forcefield into the cell with the interdimensional portal?
GM: Oh yes, I'd forgotten you can do that.
Dr Weird: Is there a control to turn the forcefield off?
GM: No...
Ninja: Not on the INSIDE
Ninja: There's a keypad next to it here on the outside, could he just have used that?
GM: Yes, that's what I was expecting.
GM: Although it's not just an on/off, you'd need to make sure you figure it out.
Rusty: But I could make sure he doesn't accidentally turn off all the forcefields at the same time?
GM: Indeed.
( Read more... )

Crossposts: https://cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com/1093265.html

Rusty: I check the computers. Can I access a general layout of the facility?
GM: Sure.
GM: Here's the main rooms, as I planned them.
GM: The basement is marked SECRET
Vapourwave: What's the most direct way there?
Vapourwave: As I'm effectively invulnerable in intangible form, I'll turn into gas and float straight there.
GM: OK.
GM: Also *rolls* *rolls*
GM: Previously unbeknownst to you all, a roaming blob monster from the extradimensional plane of custard was lurking on the ceiling and drops on Rusty as he pokes at the computer.[2]
GM: Rusty, fail a dex save.
Rusty: Don't you mean, "make a dex save"?
Rusty: Damn. Never mind.
( Read more... )

Crossposts: https://cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com/1092543.html

Preface: As with most of my roleplaying transcripts, it is moderately fictionalised. Many of the cool ideas came from my players, and we really did get ourselves into the sort of binds described here -- but I've played stuff up and changed it around to make it fun to read.

GM: Blah blah superhero city blah blah blah
GM: Your mentors, and all of the other top tier superheroes and supervillains have mysteriously vanished overnight.
GM: No offence for what this implies about the tier of YOUR characters.
Nova Ninja: I have ninja powers, but 'm not so much a superhero, as I play one on TV.
Ninja: I arrive at the TV studio. No-one is there today.
Ninja: I adjust my name higher in the billing.
GM: Superhero dispatch calls you and says there's an urgent situation developing and of all the superheroes available, you're the one best placed to deal with it.
GM: She doesn't sound happy about it.
Ninja: I'm on my way!
GM: You drive off in your low-rent actor-mobile. It is full of discarded coffee cups and anachronistic cigarettes.
( Read more... )

Crossposts: https://cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com/1091944.html

Team non-overthink, don't read this :)

Fellow players and GM, thank you for bringing this to life! The write up is moderately fictionalised, as what's fun to play doesn't always correspond to what's fun to read, but I hopefully covered most of the key plot points. I may have some details wrong, point out anything you think should be corrected.

The setting: 1920s Berlin. Reeling from war, economy devastated, but glamour and social exuberance riding high. Fascists and communists clashing in the streets, and in the cover story of the mysterious mover-and-shaker Karl.

A mismatched band of opportunists in over their heads are orchestrating a heist from an aristocratic estate with an unpleasant reputation, on behalf of the suspicious and enigmatic owner of the Moka Efti nightclub, of several items which it seems more dangerous to posses than not.

Several vignettes play out.

Coiffurist

American girl-about-town Virginia disappeared with her 'coiffurist' for more than 48 hours, but is widely expected to turn up to the heist fashionable late with something the rest of the team forgot just in the nick of time.

Jermiah and Jackie

Small time conman and expectant father Jackie and young, unworldly but insightful mormon missionary Elder Jeremiah drop in to visit a chemist of questionable ethics in search of reliable dog-knockout-juice.

Elder Jeremiah: We're not going to kill any dogs, are we?
Jackie: Well, putting people to sleep temporarily is a dicey art, but I'd say we have a reasonable chance.
Elder Jeremiah:

Stopped by the police on the way back:

Police: Who are you?
Jackie: Jackie. Small time street hustler. I mean, respectable businesshuman.
Elder Jeremiah: Well, that's a very ecumenical question.
Jackie: It's ok. He's innocent. He's an american.
Jackie: Casually takes hold of the bottle of volatile chemicals
Jackie: I ROLLED DOUBLE ONE ON MY HIDE ROLL? DID YOU HEAR ME? I SAID I ROLLED SNAKEYES.
Police: What's this?
Elder (thinking fast): Sleeping draft for his wife.
Jackie: Whew.
Police: And can we see your bribes?
Police: I mean papers.
Elder: Here you are.
Police: That's a nice decorated cane you have there.
Elder: Oh yes, it is, isn't it!
Police: Are you looking to get rid of it?
Elder: Not really. Why?
Jackie: Oh, except that you were just saying, maybe it would make a good charitable gift.
Police: I could find someone who wants it.
Elder: Oh? Oh! Yes, right. Thank you. Indeed.
Police: And can we see the boot.
Jackie: Good job we're finally out of corpses.
Jackie: I mean, bribes.
Police: And don't let us catch you doing...
Police: Uh, whatever it was we stopped you for again.

( Read more... )

Crossposts: https://cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com/1058839.html

Recap

GM: ...and thank you for recapping last session.
GM: 1xp and 1gp to everyone for remembering (a) they were tracking the mutineers (b) to try to get the Plot Artifacts of Ancient and Mysterious Power before them.
GM: Not really.
GM: OK, are we all set? Have we all stocked up on quarterstaffs?
GM: And 10" poles? Or not, seriously, how does anyone carry those things??
GM: And forked sticks?
GM: This is a very useful forest.
GM: Anything else?
Princess: I still have the mysterious figurines I latched onto last session, right?
Princess: They're going to be important, right?
GM: I can neither confirm nor deny.
Kitty: We could talk to the toad-seals! Maybe they'd help.
Players: Can kitty talk to other animals?
GM: Duh. That's obviously much more interesting.
Players: But...
Players: In the last session, we trampled their eggs, roasted a bunch of them, and took their meat for provisions.
Animal-loving princess: Sorry!
Players: They may not want to talk to us.
GM: Yes, that.
GM: It's always worth asking. But also, they're in a different place where you're not.
Kitty: We could talk to the goats!
Players: But they're also not here.
Players: And also, see, killed, roasted, provisions.
Players: :(
GM: I'm sorry. Keep trying! You can absolutely talk to animals and it's absolutely relevant.
GM: It's just the first um all the things you tried happened not to work specifically. But it's still good!
GM: When I *planned* this island, I didn't expect the animals to be *able* to talk (I did plan for them to be dealt with by non combat if you approached it right).
GM: I'm working on it, ok?
Players: Anything else?
GM: Oh right yes, perception checks. Everyone add roll d20 and add your perception.
GM: Kitty, add, um, +5. Smell is good.
GM: Anyway, the general gist is that you remember to watch out for the menacing pair of eyes the foraging parties reported in the forest.
GM: It's tailing you, obviously.
Kitty: Is it a cat?
GM: I can neither confirm nor deny it being retconned into the obviously narratively appropriate species.
Party: We could... split up. To um, see if we can get close enough to it.
GM: Or you could not do that.
Party: Ok, *sigh*. If it's not attacking as a group, we'll just press on.
GM: Good call.

( Read more... )

Crossposts: http://cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com/1022164.html

Liv: I was thinking a ranger fit my character in most ways, but I'm a sailor not a tracker.
Liv: I'm not sure what skills to take.
Me: It's ok. Take survival, that deals with "wilderness-type-stuff" including a lot of appropriate things and some others like tracking. We'll switch out "wilderness-type" for "ship-related".
Me: It's not like there's going to be a lot of tracking.
Me: (sotto voice) Except in the first session. I didn't really think this through.
Liv: What?
Me: Nothing.
Me; (sotto voice) Maybe someone will spontaneously volunteer to play the ship's cat.
Liv: What?
Me: Nothing.

Cleric: We don't have a proper tracker, but it looks like the footprints go that way.
Fighter: My rating is about the same as yours, but that sounds right to me.
Cleric: OK, now... I'm not sure.
Fighter: Me neither.
Wizard: I don't have survival or a wisdom score worth mentioning, but I roll high.
Wizard: I'm not expect, but maybe we should look for footprints in the soft mud by the stream, about 2 yards that way?

Cleric: Whew, that was an eventful stream-crossing
Cleric: Maybe I should have cast "detect traps"
Cleric: Wait, or does that only count if someone put an unpleasant surprise there? If it just happened, it doesn't find it? Would it have worked?
Me: That's a very philosophical question.
Cleric: I mean, someone like an NPC. "God" doesn't count.
Cleric: Nor "GM".
Me: Oh. Then no.

Crossposts: http://cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com/1016429.html

Previous session http://cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com/951049.html

I have fictionalised the write-up somewhat, because different things are fun to read than to play, and in case any of you come when I run this scenario again.

Prep

GM: ... and that's why levelling up in 5e is simpler than most previous editions.
GM: In theory.
GM: So, anyway, the captain,
GM: The ship's captain, not army Captain Amelficus, veteran of the elf wars, one semi-successful diplomatic mission, and the adventure of the lightly-crispy fried toad-seals.
GM: Summons you to a meeting of the captain, a few trusted passengers, the first mate, and the heretofore unmentioned second mate, played by Liv.
Second mate: I'm friends with the ships cat.
Second mate: I'm a lot like Bel Thorn, but I use "they" pronouns not "it" pronouns.
GM: She thanks you for help before.
GM: And lobs some simple hooks to draw you into the conversation
GM: And says, in a SHOCKING TWIST, the journals you found hint at the location of POWERFUL MAGICAL ARTIFACTS. On this VERY ISLAND.
Ship's Captain: And, um, I don't want to impose on you further, but since (a) you've already proven your trustworthiness (b) TREASURE (c) you're the PCs, how would you feel about, tracking it down and bringing it back?
GM: I warn you, there may be a a variety of level-appropriate encounters, probably just enough to bring you to level 3.
GM: And take the first mate, because she knows about it. And I don't trust her.
First mate: Blah blah blah I am untrustworthy blah.
GM: Or leave her behind, because I don't trust her. I haven't decided.
GM: First mate: I will leave the room now. Absolutely definitely.
GM: First mate: And not ambiguously leave the room in a fashion which leaves most players uncertain about who is actually present for the next scene.
Ship's Captain: And if you wouldn't mind, maybe just once sleep in the store room where the journals, treasure, etc are stored, just in case first mate tries to abscond with them.
GM: In the actual session, I did quite well remembering which NPC was which, but I'm using titled in this write up for your convenience.
GM: And if you could all just debate this question amongst yourselves for a bit to get invested in the adventure, that would be good too.
Party: OK, sounds good. We bed down.
GM: Whew. OK, thank goodness. When I told you to prepare your character sheets assuming you'd recovered max health, I really hoped we wouldn't get any combats with your hitpoints still where they were um last year.

( Read more... )

Crossposts: http://cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com/1015838.html

Immense thanks to ghoti, cjwatson, and B for helping playtest my 5e one-shot! It definitely needed some polishing, but it went fairly smoothly considering I've never used 5e before and none of them had played DnD before at all.

I might have another write-up with more specifics about what I thought went well and what I think I need to practice on, but I couldn't resist posting a dramatised account of the first half of the adventure. (I hope that's ok?)

Cpt: I'm Captain Amelfica. I'm a trained elf battlemage, veteran of the elf wars. We carried the whole continent then, I don't trust humans or dwarves not to bungle anything, or to just steal it. I'm playing a hardened veteran who's seen it all before, more so than I actually am. (B)
Princess: I'm the swashbuckling princess Miranda, daughter of the Duke. I'm kind-hearted and well meaning but always getting into trouble. (ghoti)
Priest: I'm Miranda's court chaplain, ex-army-chaplain. I think she should stop charging headfirst into caves full of-- come back! (cjwatson)
GM: Your ship is blown off course in a storm, and a threatening spectral visage appeared in the wind, sabotaging the rigging and driving the ship ashore. (Me)
GM: The captains asks for brave volunteers to try to track the spirit and try to drive it off so they can launch the ship again.
GM: Or you're foraging for supplies.
GM: Um, let me check my notes, I can't remember how this bit was meant to go.
GM: If I run this again, I need to make it clearer.
GM: OK, You scramble along the bottom of the cliffs.
GM: Who's going first?
Party: The wizard!
( Read more... )

Crossposts: http://cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com/951049.html

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A roleplaying session in 1920s Berlin

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