While attending PAX this past weekend my over 60 year old father revealed a secret about him and his dice use I've missed over the years.
My father was reluctant to hop into an open D&D game becasue he didn't have his briefcase of doom which holds his game stuff and most importantly his dice. It seems he has over the years determined which dice roll well (and evenly) and to prevent polluting any of them with bad luck he has seven of each on hand and makes sure not to roll one again in sequence before rolling a die he has yet to use if he can help it. I giggled insanely when he disclosed that and assured him that would be showing up on this blog.
I shouldn't laugh too much however as the players try to keep their dice away from me because a number of times in the past I've looked a player in the eye , said "jinx" and tapped one of their dice and it has rolled poorly the rest of the session...bwahahahaha
Showing posts with label SillyPlayerTricks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SillyPlayerTricks. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The Dreaded Door [actual game play]
[warning this post may not be work safe or an example of mature sanity, sensitive people probably shouldn't read this]
Last night an awful lot of play involved a door. A horrible dreaded door. The type of door that gets so much more attention in a dungeon delving game then anyone ever gives a door in real life.
this door sent the party fleeing from this dungeon months back and they just recently returned to it (and the dungeon).
Recap:
In the expedition months earlier in real world time the party lost an underling "Jimmy the Shimmy" to the dread door. This door is very elaborate and has exquisite handles that look like snakes , poor Jimmy the Shimmy was bitten and poisoned to death dying in but moments when the handles animated as he was trying to open the door. The PCs being the veteran adventurers that they were looted the corpse, left the remains in the hall for a while and then dragged it along to throw at doors and other suspicious spots as a trap triggering device (not that there were many at all ,but one set of animating poisonous door handles was enough for them to reveal their "heroic" natures). they abandoned the abused corpse in the dungeon before moving on to other adventures. Jimmy the shimmy has been seemingly haunting his former master for a few weeks now and for other reasons the players imagined it was essential to get to the chamber beyond those doors the past two sessions.
back to last night:
On the way to the dungeon one party member was mauled by a bear in the woods and the party expended three healing potions to get him back on his feet (never a good sign at the beginning of an adventure). One member of the group actually remembered what the dungeon looked like and could navigate to the dread door by memory and the party got there with little trouble. We spent the next hour and a half dealing with the door.
The PCs poked and prodded at the door. They did everything they could to avoid the handles. Mysterious compulsions were compleling them to move beyond the door so they sure weren't leaving it alone. After extensive examination the players decided they needed to secure the door handles by covering them with something, but what ?
Why the answer was obvious said the player of the Druid in the party..."Let's use my Ettin scrotum and drape it over the handles"...
Yup, an Ettin scrotum ...
Now as a DM I have to say this is the most novel use of a bizarre battle trophy I recall. Even more bizarre is everyone (but me) at the table thought it was a good idea...
after much backslapping and discussing the size and nature of an ettin scrotum (which involved one player of 42 years in age putting a plastic supermarket bag over his head) the party all confirms they are all behind the idea.
Now I could have slapped this down in the name of good taste but I fear good taste has left this group a long time ago (they did nickname themselves the Flatulent Desperadoes in our last Mutant Future campaign). I figured if they wanted to hang their fate on this I'd let them.
Following the revelation of the tool at hand it was decided they party would add some alterations to draw the ettin scrotum tightly around the door handles.
(This whole time I'm rolling wandering monster checks resisting the urge to simply kill all the PCs via DM fiat.)
With the device in hand the magician in the party spiderclimbs up and over the door with the ettin scrotum in hand. So there he is hanging there as a PC on each side grabs a line attached to the scrotum, the scrotum is lowered over the handles and drawn tight with the tied lines. The handles animate but don't rip through the bag...it worked!
So after a few moments the players realize they've just tied the doors shut, with the ettin scrotum. So they set to prying the sealed chamber doors out of the frame with a pry bar and simply succeed in bending one of their prybars. Oh darn...it isn't working.
(still rolling those wandering monster checks resisting the urge to simply kill all the PCs via DM fiat.)
The players realized they weren't getting in that way. this caused the players to flounder in anguish or confusion for a while.
(still rolling those wandering monster checks )
The druid decides to retrieve his Ettin scrotum and is frustrated to discover they have tied it securely to the door handles (you know the animated snake biting door handles) so he decides to fetch the bag heedless of the risk and surprise surprise get's himself poisoned. The druid manages not to die as he is a good bit tougher then Jimmy the Shimmy was. The party still isn't past the door.
(still rolling those wandering monster checks )
After the party helped the druid recover a little the barbarian in the party begins hacking away at the door from the side out of reach of the snake handles. Lo and behold he slowly but surely is making way through the very tough but wooden doors. I of course am rolling even more wandering monster checks the some nearby goblins now know where the party is and is spying on them from a distance, the players don't know this. The barbarian manages to hack through the door...what followed was all very exciting and fantastical a bit significant for the campaign but pretty humdrum in the world of fantasy RPG and nowhere near as time consuming as a door and an ettin scrotum.
Last night an awful lot of play involved a door. A horrible dreaded door. The type of door that gets so much more attention in a dungeon delving game then anyone ever gives a door in real life.
this door sent the party fleeing from this dungeon months back and they just recently returned to it (and the dungeon).
Recap:
In the expedition months earlier in real world time the party lost an underling "Jimmy the Shimmy" to the dread door. This door is very elaborate and has exquisite handles that look like snakes , poor Jimmy the Shimmy was bitten and poisoned to death dying in but moments when the handles animated as he was trying to open the door. The PCs being the veteran adventurers that they were looted the corpse, left the remains in the hall for a while and then dragged it along to throw at doors and other suspicious spots as a trap triggering device (not that there were many at all ,but one set of animating poisonous door handles was enough for them to reveal their "heroic" natures). they abandoned the abused corpse in the dungeon before moving on to other adventures. Jimmy the shimmy has been seemingly haunting his former master for a few weeks now and for other reasons the players imagined it was essential to get to the chamber beyond those doors the past two sessions.
back to last night:
On the way to the dungeon one party member was mauled by a bear in the woods and the party expended three healing potions to get him back on his feet (never a good sign at the beginning of an adventure). One member of the group actually remembered what the dungeon looked like and could navigate to the dread door by memory and the party got there with little trouble. We spent the next hour and a half dealing with the door.
The PCs poked and prodded at the door. They did everything they could to avoid the handles. Mysterious compulsions were compleling them to move beyond the door so they sure weren't leaving it alone. After extensive examination the players decided they needed to secure the door handles by covering them with something, but what ?
Why the answer was obvious said the player of the Druid in the party..."Let's use my Ettin scrotum and drape it over the handles"...
Yup, an Ettin scrotum ...
Now as a DM I have to say this is the most novel use of a bizarre battle trophy I recall. Even more bizarre is everyone (but me) at the table thought it was a good idea...
after much backslapping and discussing the size and nature of an ettin scrotum (which involved one player of 42 years in age putting a plastic supermarket bag over his head) the party all confirms they are all behind the idea.
Now I could have slapped this down in the name of good taste but I fear good taste has left this group a long time ago (they did nickname themselves the Flatulent Desperadoes in our last Mutant Future campaign). I figured if they wanted to hang their fate on this I'd let them.
Following the revelation of the tool at hand it was decided they party would add some alterations to draw the ettin scrotum tightly around the door handles.
(This whole time I'm rolling wandering monster checks resisting the urge to simply kill all the PCs via DM fiat.)
With the device in hand the magician in the party spiderclimbs up and over the door with the ettin scrotum in hand. So there he is hanging there as a PC on each side grabs a line attached to the scrotum, the scrotum is lowered over the handles and drawn tight with the tied lines. The handles animate but don't rip through the bag...it worked!
So after a few moments the players realize they've just tied the doors shut, with the ettin scrotum. So they set to prying the sealed chamber doors out of the frame with a pry bar and simply succeed in bending one of their prybars. Oh darn...it isn't working.
(still rolling those wandering monster checks resisting the urge to simply kill all the PCs via DM fiat.)
The players realized they weren't getting in that way. this caused the players to flounder in anguish or confusion for a while.
(still rolling those wandering monster checks )
The druid decides to retrieve his Ettin scrotum and is frustrated to discover they have tied it securely to the door handles (you know the animated snake biting door handles) so he decides to fetch the bag heedless of the risk and surprise surprise get's himself poisoned. The druid manages not to die as he is a good bit tougher then Jimmy the Shimmy was. The party still isn't past the door.
(still rolling those wandering monster checks )
After the party helped the druid recover a little the barbarian in the party begins hacking away at the door from the side out of reach of the snake handles. Lo and behold he slowly but surely is making way through the very tough but wooden doors. I of course am rolling even more wandering monster checks the some nearby goblins now know where the party is and is spying on them from a distance, the players don't know this. The barbarian manages to hack through the door...what followed was all very exciting and fantastical a bit significant for the campaign but pretty humdrum in the world of fantasy RPG and nowhere near as time consuming as a door and an ettin scrotum.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Halloween Horror Averted
My Halloween adventure slotted for tonight has been averted due to head colds.
Pity too as I the PCs were stumbling into a cluster $%#! of a situation.
Towards the end of last session the players scoped out sources and bills posted in taverns to find a "job". The Barbarian in the party spent three days at searching out posted bills until he realized...he can't read, and the players thought I was just being obstinate when I kept informing the barbarian he wasn't' finding anything of note in the posted bills for three whole days.
Eventually the party scouted up a request and potential monster clearing bounty at a vllage not too far away. So with notions of G.P.s and slaughter dancing in their eyes they set off for the sleepy ville and didn't get there until just about sundown three days later.
The party was stuck on the far side of a river and could not hail attention from the other side river. There were still some boats tied up but no one in view paying attention to activity riverside. Only a fraction of the homes had smoke coming from their chimneys and there were a large number of crows in the as of yet harvested crops (it's harvest time in the campaign). Through their amazingly powerful (x 3) spy glass they spied there were a number of people patrolling the low walls of the stronghold on the far edge of town on a small hill and a crowd of people by the gate.
The players attempted a few gimmicks to get attention and decided to build up a big fire to camp and draw attention and warmth in the growing darkness. Shortly afterward they heard some cries, some were certainly those of people facing death, someone in the village on the opposite shore jumped into the river and was swept away by the current and lost in the darkness. Shortly after that there were more cries and a building on the edge of the village burst into flame...
I have to wait at least another week to spring the reveal on the players.
Pity too as I the PCs were stumbling into a cluster $%#! of a situation.
Towards the end of last session the players scoped out sources and bills posted in taverns to find a "job". The Barbarian in the party spent three days at searching out posted bills until he realized...he can't read, and the players thought I was just being obstinate when I kept informing the barbarian he wasn't' finding anything of note in the posted bills for three whole days.
Eventually the party scouted up a request and potential monster clearing bounty at a vllage not too far away. So with notions of G.P.s and slaughter dancing in their eyes they set off for the sleepy ville and didn't get there until just about sundown three days later.
The party was stuck on the far side of a river and could not hail attention from the other side river. There were still some boats tied up but no one in view paying attention to activity riverside. Only a fraction of the homes had smoke coming from their chimneys and there were a large number of crows in the as of yet harvested crops (it's harvest time in the campaign). Through their amazingly powerful (x 3) spy glass they spied there were a number of people patrolling the low walls of the stronghold on the far edge of town on a small hill and a crowd of people by the gate.
The players attempted a few gimmicks to get attention and decided to build up a big fire to camp and draw attention and warmth in the growing darkness. Shortly afterward they heard some cries, some were certainly those of people facing death, someone in the village on the opposite shore jumped into the river and was swept away by the current and lost in the darkness. Shortly after that there were more cries and a building on the edge of the village burst into flame...
I have to wait at least another week to spring the reveal on the players.
Friday, October 22, 2010
The Captured PC
A few sessions back (as mentioned in this post) a plight that horrifies many players, a fate that is often reacted to worse then death of a character befell my teen son's PC in my regular game: Capture.
I've seen mature adults freak out rip their character sheet into shreds and sputter and curse when their character is captured. Gladly my son took it a little better then that he is however a little resistant and annoyed at having his character captured.
My son has rolled up a new character to adventure with the other PCs but is also getting a little while each session to play his captured character. He's having a little trouble with this as he isn't used to solo play and is clearly used to the protection of the rest of the party.
In one escape attempt he was being chased by a horde of ice gnomes and managed to get up onto thte outer wall of the palace and leaped off ... he may have been trying to escape or kill off the PC , unfortunately for him he survived to find himself chained to a wall in a cell. In that cell with him was a yeti chained to the opposite wall (yetis are pretty much mountain wookies in my campaign and this is the first appearance of one). My sons attempted escape with his PCs spell casting abilities and screwed up timing and revealed he was a spell caster so the ice gnomes zapped him again and secured him more then they had and he's destined to end his days in the arena where his death agonies will entertain the Ice Queen.
My son is floundering a little with the solo PC but the other players are enjoying the interludes that have been dressign up the shopping trips and planning segments that crop up all the time with that group. I feel I'm being fair giving him plenty of reasonable chances to make his escape but it also is serving a campaign purpose as I'm showing the other players it isn't the end of the world to have a character captured as more adventure can follow.
I've seen mature adults freak out rip their character sheet into shreds and sputter and curse when their character is captured. Gladly my son took it a little better then that he is however a little resistant and annoyed at having his character captured.
My son has rolled up a new character to adventure with the other PCs but is also getting a little while each session to play his captured character. He's having a little trouble with this as he isn't used to solo play and is clearly used to the protection of the rest of the party.
In one escape attempt he was being chased by a horde of ice gnomes and managed to get up onto thte outer wall of the palace and leaped off ... he may have been trying to escape or kill off the PC , unfortunately for him he survived to find himself chained to a wall in a cell. In that cell with him was a yeti chained to the opposite wall (yetis are pretty much mountain wookies in my campaign and this is the first appearance of one). My sons attempted escape with his PCs spell casting abilities and screwed up timing and revealed he was a spell caster so the ice gnomes zapped him again and secured him more then they had and he's destined to end his days in the arena where his death agonies will entertain the Ice Queen.
My son is floundering a little with the solo PC but the other players are enjoying the interludes that have been dressign up the shopping trips and planning segments that crop up all the time with that group. I feel I'm being fair giving him plenty of reasonable chances to make his escape but it also is serving a campaign purpose as I'm showing the other players it isn't the end of the world to have a character captured as more adventure can follow.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Silly Player Tricks
Every now and then Players in RPG games try to trick or manipulate the system to their advantage with what I call "Silly Player Tricks", here is how one played out last game session:
In my current campaign every PC starts at 2nd level with a generous amount of cash (3d20x20 + 200 g.p.) and a chance to have even more with some background events, the only stipulation is the character must start play with less then 100 g.p. on hand, the rest must be spent. Not too hard to do really as I let players buy silver weapons, a couple of potions and some scrolls with those funds (this is at creation only, I have to explain this every now and then that every town doesn't have a potions and scroll shop).
So my Father an RPG player with over 30 years of experience (just like his son), created his new character to replace the one stoned last session. He couldn't figure out how to spend all the gp's to reach the less then 100 in cash threshold so he pulled a Silly Player Trick by cunningly buying a pound of gold. He sure tricked his DM. Sure he violated the spirit of the guidelines but not the letter of the guidelines so I let him get away with it.
Later on in the game session...
He discovered he hadn't bought any healing potions
or rations
Bwahahahahaha, I love Silly Player Tricks.
In my current campaign every PC starts at 2nd level with a generous amount of cash (3d20x20 + 200 g.p.) and a chance to have even more with some background events, the only stipulation is the character must start play with less then 100 g.p. on hand, the rest must be spent. Not too hard to do really as I let players buy silver weapons, a couple of potions and some scrolls with those funds (this is at creation only, I have to explain this every now and then that every town doesn't have a potions and scroll shop).
So my Father an RPG player with over 30 years of experience (just like his son), created his new character to replace the one stoned last session. He couldn't figure out how to spend all the gp's to reach the less then 100 in cash threshold so he pulled a Silly Player Trick by cunningly buying a pound of gold. He sure tricked his DM. Sure he violated the spirit of the guidelines but not the letter of the guidelines so I let him get away with it.
Later on in the game session...
He discovered he hadn't bought any healing potions
or rations
Bwahahahahaha, I love Silly Player Tricks.
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