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Musings: Low Dice Rolls

Apr08
by verycutegm on April 8, 2013 at 8:43 pm
Posted In: Blog, Roleplaying Games

“Insert the foulest language possible”

“What did you roll?”

“A 2! This proves there is no god.”

That is what my last Tuesday Dungeon Crawl Classics was like. I wasn’t the only one with crap rolls. It seemed as if every player was infected with some type of viral low rolling disease and our gamemaster was vaccinated before the game.

download

However though we can all agree that low dice rolls suck and they are trying to kill us, low rolls sometimes provide the tension that is needed in a game. Often this forces players to think outside the box or be even more careful. Call me an optimist and me, Tuesday night, would call a bloody filthy liar who deserves all the death and would’ve punched all the blood out of you.

Who benefits most? The immediate answer I imagine I would receive is the game master, but low dice rolls also introduce another problem. If you are an impatient person with a long term campaign like myself then prolonged battles keep players from the story you had plan for that day. The other thing is I don’t like it when my players get so frustrated there is dead silence. This means no one is having fun and the reason we do this is to have fun. Other reasons why we all hate the low rolls is pcs may die or be horribly level drained to the point of uselessness and etc.

So why am I repeating the obvious?

└ Tags: dice, Rage, Roleplaying Games
2 Comments

Musings of Silly Games

Apr01
by verycutegm on April 1, 2013 at 9:50 pm
Posted In: Advice, Blog, Roleplaying Games

My favorite adventures to write are silly ones. I mean sure, a serious and terrifying adventure where the odds are against you are, great once in a while, but I love laughing more. I enjoy throwing my players in a very comedic situation. One time I created a dungeon with fours wings. The head of the wizard wing put on a sock puppet show about weapon safety, but not before he send clowns and mimes to attack them. T’was a silly game. Those were the good days where puppies and kittens fell from the sky and grandpa snorted some thumbtacks.

Every game whether it be serious or light hearted should have at least a couple of laughs during the game. I know it doesn’t make sense, but laughing is great distressing. You scoff when I say that because the act of playing an rpg is distress itself. I get real tense and followed by a bit frustrated when I’m in danger for too long.

My work week is fine for the most part but it’s still a job. It’s kind of dull and boring and I wish I was writing something. I look forward to those funny sessions with my players. It gives me something to look forward to.

└ Tags: game, rpg, silly, Tabletop
 Comment 

And Now My Favorite PAX East Memory

Mar28
by verycutegm on March 28, 2013 at 2:53 pm
Posted In: Advice, Blog, Dungeons and Dragons, Roleplaying Games

I ran DnDNext games at PAX East this year and, as always, had a blast. Though one would think I got my kicks from running the Mines of Madness, which were pretty fun and I nearly TPK’d one party twice, I would have to say my favorite session was my second Danger at Darkshelf Quarry group. They were fresh faces that hadn’t had too much exposure to Dungeons and Dragons.

I ask you to picture the following scenario:

Me: Blah blah blah backstory blah ventilation shaft etc etc. What do you guys do now?

Group: *Blank faces*

Me: *Thinks* Time to work some magic.

Challenges are great and this group forced me to bring my A game. I started off with a simple search roll to find the shaft. Shaft is a funny word! From there I had them roll more skill checks and encouraged people to do their own thing.

What eventually happened was that the party went down the shaft and encountered some goblins. The commotion caused the human guards that had been stationed in the mines to come running to engage the party. However the adventurers were able to “trick” the guards into pretending that they were here to conduct business with the elf that was in charge of the mines. While one guard went to get the elf the cleric began to entertain the other guard left in charged by singing some hymns. The performance was so good that the guards began to spill the beans about what real operation was taking place in the mines. Said guard vowed that he would put in his notice and become a brother to the order.

It was then the guard, elf, and a truck load of troops came back to arrest the party. The adventurers decided on a tactical retreat. Their wizard conjured up a wall of illusionary fire to block the guards. The rogue failed his will save and proceeded to “dive through the flames” and became caught on fire while everyone (in character) looked at him weird.

Anyways the group found the spy that was sent by their boss and brought him safe back to town. That wasn’t until they fought an evil elemental cleric who summoned several elemental creatures that breathed lightning.

I love new groups.

└ Tags: Convention, Dungeon Master, Dungeons and Dragons, Newbies, PAX East
 Comment 

Changes It May Work…Or So They Say!

Feb25
by verycutegm on February 25, 2013 at 12:02 am
Posted In: Blog

First of all I am not stranded in Somalia on a ship besieged with pirates and then running swords through said pirates. As much as I would kind of want that to be true alas it is not. I can come up with the excuses telling you I’ve been really busy and that’s why I haven’t been writing, but that the case may be I’m not saying that’s because not true, it’s because I’ve been busy and not inspired. Being given a swift kick to the posterior by your cats (I’m pathetic) really gets a person into gear.

So I am introducing the redesigned site now with 150% more cat pictures and the occasional blog post. GM Tails (comic) will update, starting next week, on Wednesdays. I have lots of little things to say but it can only be expressed in cat pictures attached with speech bubbles. They would be drawings if I had an ounce of artistic talent. I know the saying, if you practice for ten thousand hours you will become a professional at it. 10,000hr/24hr= 416.66666 etc days. I’m afraid that I am too much of a fan of sleep to accomplish such thing, but I shall start with stick figures and work my way up. For now the comics will be kitty pictures. I love you all. My cats want to be fed. I feel their eyes on me and French Fry’s teeth on my leg.

└ Tags: Cats, Change, comic
 Comment 

Colleen’s World…What a Crock of…

Oct08
by verycutegm on October 8, 2012 at 6:21 pm
Posted In: Politics, Video Games

Recently I have come across something very disturbing that I think all gamers, regardless of media, should be aware of. Colleen Lachowicz, demoncratic candidate for the Maine Sentate seat has come under scrutiny because she plays the popular mmorpg World of Warcraft. The website known as “Colleen’s World” which is paid for and authorized by the Maine Republican Party attempts to illustrate how unfit a candidate Ms. Lachowicz is because she escapes the real world for a fantasy one. Also on said site are numerous comments she has made on forums and other places about what she does in game and etc.

When I first visited this site it made very upset and concerned as it should you. A person is being attacked because of what she does in her spare time to have fun. Let me throw some numbers at you, according statistics provided by the Nielson Company, the average American in 2010 watches 34 hours of television a week. A poll on mmo-champion a popular site for WoW players, 25% of participants say that they play the game between 36-40 hours a week. Granted the latter is not an official poll, but what I am trying to illustrate is the following… Why? Why attack someone who plays video games as a form of entertain and not those who watch television? It is almost the same thing, a person sitting on their behind entertaining themselves in their choice of media.

It is the stigma that is attached to video gamers that we are nothing but lazy violent individuals. This is beginning to change with the average video gamer now in their late twenties. Video games are rapidly becoming a major form of entertainment and it’s very good that it is, but there are still people who view video games as childish and a waste of time. Unfortunately these types of people are promoting the Colleen’s World site and I am genuinely sad about how ignorant these people can be. No one should be dismissed just because they do something like this. It would be the akin of saying, “Don’t vote for candidate x because he watches zombie films to escape reality”.

For the record I am an independent. I believe people should vote for what candidates believe in and what policies they will try to push forward. However these people for this site are something else. I am not telling you to vote for this woman just because she plays WoW unless you believe in what she stands for. I am asking you to let these people know how you feel about them doing this and how wrong it is. All of us have been stereotyped in someway whether in video games or tabletop gaming. Why should we let it perpetuate any further?

└ Tags: Colleen Lachowicz, Colleen's World, Maine, World of Warcraft
4 Comments
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