New answers tagged system-agnostic
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Okay, lets start point for point.
I see your initial problem and encountered it myselve often before i started to develop open plots that use that wealth to their benefit (needs some time of experience as a GM i must admit).
The given answers of now are very good. Still its nearly impossible getting PCs from grow wealthy. Most of the time i think, thats a ...
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If I correctly understand the question being asked, you are asking us for effective techniquest to use in describing combat against multiple oponents.
I could answer this in an system-agnostic manner, as Im not very familiar with 7th sea, but Im sure you will be able to relate my advice to this system.
What is important for mass combat, I dont think you ...
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Is it even safe to teleport a bomb? Most teleportation messes with time and space. If it is a timed bomb, it could explode on the way. If the bomb is radio-triggered, it could also explode on the way as it could receive many waves at different frequencies during transit.
My science is quite rusty, but I wouldn't bet on it being safe to teleport a bomb.
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There is one great explanation for why it doesn't happen in Call of Cthulhu in particular and one great explanation for narratively why it doesn't happen that often.
But you asked the question regarding any game system where teleporting is feasible, and seem to want an in universe answer. That is a bit hard since each universe is a bit different, but I can ...
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Two reasons.
First, the various horrors and Things Man is Not Meant to Know that populate the universe in a Lovecraft Mythos game are not organised enough (against us, at least) to pull this kind of thing off as a regular tactic—if they were, the world would already be consumed, enslaved, or worse. Since we're playing a game where we investigate and try to ...
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In my own games most bad guys use dimension locks etc to keep dimensional travel into their lairs from being possible, and/or employ a kind of redirect the puts anyone crossing dimensional barriers into a specific place within their domains and have the manpower to deal with intruders at that place.
I also have most of my player groups that have detect ...
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Here's why these kinds of attacks don't happen more often:
Unless they are specific to the plot and you're interested in investigating this kind of attack, they are incredibly uninteresting and often don't suit the kinds of villains we tend to use in RPGs.
Let's handle the second one. Most RPG villains (hell most villains in general) are egoists and enjoy ...
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As discussed in the comments on your question, there are two broad ways to answer this question. The equally broad answer to both is to examine how ensemble cast stories in TV, movie, and book series handle character backstories. Then decide which of the two methods you want to use.
Option 1: Integrate all the characters' backstories into a single ...
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Its difficult to actually say "how to" on such a broad and subjective subject, so I want to try to answer the question the other way around - "how not to".
First of all, dont use short meaningless background. Ive had a lot of players for whom creating their background story was just a chore, and trying to tie those "stories" to my capmpaigns was a pain and ...
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First three years of my campaign were similar to what you ask for - a baron of a frontline barony, his brother (a mage) and his soldiers. Here is some experience from this (in addition to what others have written):
GURPS mass combat system did worth it. The 3rd and 4th edition systems are quite different - 3rd ed. Mass Combat means more mathematics and ...
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What I have done when I running games that don't have this built in is to introduce the concept of tags. In other games, they're called different things, and it's a fairly common technique, though perhaps presented in a different manner.
Each PC when writing his background, tags it with the most important parts of the background from his perspective. ...
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Find the interesting or salient points of each background story and put them in your campaign / adventure. These could be people, places, or things. If it makes sense, the same person, place, or thing could be matched to more than one PC's background info point, or points from multiple PC backgrounds could be combined into a single setting. For instance, ...
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This is obviously a great question and has attracted a lot of great answers. Most of these have concentrated on behavior modification through a combination of:
Creating empathy with NPC
In-game consequences
Meta-game consequences
While these are sensible steps, they do not go to the heart of the issue.
We sit at a very privileged time in human history ...
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You need to determine what kind of players you are playing with. Some enjoy story lines, pursue growing their characters, most just like to kill stuff. Its' best to play with like-minded players.
Always have game chat before the game starts. The best thing to do is chat about what you would like to see from the game with each other while the GM is setting ...
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I've encountered the same dilemma. @Sardathrion's point about honest communication is right on the money. Discussing what's working and what's not working will solve most problems. That said, sometimes it's difficult for players to pinpoint what they are missing, or why they are distracted. You may want to suggest to the GM that opening each session with a ...
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In teaching, we are taught that there are 6 C's to motivation. These are: choice, challenge, control, collaboration, constructing meaning, and consequences. I would suggest that to motivate players in ways other than those already mentioned (recaps, social times, frequent breaks, etc) I would try to focus on helping the DM/GM provide more of the 6 C's.
...
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Likely the issue is one of the following:
Why are we here?
As has been addressed in other threads both here and across the internet, we game for different reasons. Some people like to engage their inner-thespian, while others have a very stressful job and only want to picture those annoying people when they "HULK SMASH!!!" Still others are there because ...
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Props and Cues: To echo what Sardathrion said, gaming props (like the single article of clothing the Penny Arcade Guys wore) can pull players into character much like how costumes help actors assume a role. Music can also be a big way to draw people in. This can be really overdone to the point where the GM spends as much time crafting the perfect playlist ...
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Communication is Key
As I am the DM I usually worry about motivating my group from my side of the DM screen and as a DM it can be very disheartening to see you players lose interest but your question entails quite a different dilemma but in my opinion is a very interesting and important one. As always communication seems to be the key.
I would ask them ...
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Meta: Do the grown up thing: Ask them up front that you perceive them losing their enthusiasm for the game and that you would like to know if it's true (or just your perception) and if so, why this is happening? Then, you can resolve things so that everyone is happy.
In game: If the problem is one of distraction, then set aside time to drink coffee and ...
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If you have personal plots, try to involve characters on them. Not as a whole, but individually. If a PC has criminal contacts, try to use them in your plans. If one is good at forgery, involve him in the creation of false documents. Seek their help and make them feel special.
This is what I do when I see a PC is getting outside the story.
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Players are very willing to break into most anything without regard for what might be sealed up in there. I see no need for anything more convoluted. The warders of course put dire warnings but they don't say what it is because they don't want to let anyone who is seeking to free it know where it is.
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Abstract away the unnecessary
Are your players generals, in charge of an army? Fine. Let them have large numbers of soldiers. However, if they're not interested in managing the logistics and other maintenance required for handling the army, don't bother making them a (significantly time consuming) part of the game.
For example, say that your players each ...
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A rather simple answer, and one that is not foolproof, but just allow the players to be somewhere they shouldn't be.
Maybe an area they are exploring for an unrelated reason has a wall that crumbled due to natural (or supernatural) phenomena, behind this wall is an area that has been untouched for centuries with all sorts of nick-knacks, unpressed buttons, ...
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Accidentally
Do something innocuous - eat the wrong thing, say the wrong thing, unknowingly open pandora's box, trip over the wrong wire, press a red button, mispronounce a magic word, etc...
Intentionally
Raise a demon with every intent to kill it. Try to strike a bargain. Make a wish with side effects.
Under deception
Possessed by a demon, sent in by ...
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I think you should seriously consider dropping the barter system idea. Why?
Definition
First, lets define what do we mean by "barter system" - for the use of this answer, a barter system is one where you pay for some goods with other goods of any choosing agreed upon by the seller and customer. So, a setting where everything would be priced in water is ...
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Cars have a number of uses without infrastructure, but not all of them are as good as others.
For one, it is essentially the same as any other wheeled cart in terms of the fact that they can be drawn by horses (so long as the tires stay intact, and even then it wouldn't be impossible to replace the rubber with other things. The resulting vehicle would not ...
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War novels and movies I've read/seen don't focus on the whole war. They focus on small events. All's Quiet on the Western Front was about small ventures undertaken by small groups for the bigger picture. The war was the backdrop for their great undertaking. Take a hint from those: Generals concern themselves with the huge picture but often times the people ...
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I'm restarting a campaign right now that is almost identical to this. It used and will be using Savage Worlds, with PCs being members of a fantasy frontier law enforcement paramilitary group.
Savage Worlds was designed from the ground up to do all four of your points. Have you looked at it? There's a free Test Drive PDF on the publisher's site. It's not ...
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Writing a game with a military structure focus is somewhat difficult, but something that I've had to tackle several times with my players. Here are some things I've gleaned.
Military units tend to be symmetrical. This is because commanders typically appreciate it when every member of a fireteam is capable of serving as a rifleman, and any specialization ...
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There are good answers already, but none mentioned the last option :
get a humorous and not serious game, and play it from time to time. Your friends may enjoy it. I could recommend paranoia.
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This is entirely setting dependent. It is entirely possible for a setting to be structured so that magical healing is relatively common and strictly better than mundane methods. In that case, there would be very litle reason for nonmagical healing, other than first-aid to stabilize someone until they get to a healer or for the very poor who may rely on ...
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The more healing/bigger healing dilemma
Sure, with this first point, your non-magical healer won't have many moments in the spotlight however, there are times where a non-magical healer will totally outclass a magical healer. The magical healer will get the vast majority of the healing work. Period. Yet, most systems I'm aware of have limits on magic ...
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This is system dependent, but what I would do is create a "normal" healing character and reflavor the abilities to have a natural source rather than divine/magical/etc.
For a D&D example, I'd roll up the traditional cleric but leave out all the deity-specific stuff. All of my healing "spells" would actually be mundane treatments wielded by an expert to ...
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Make healing limited
Similar to what @DuckTapeal has suggested, but limit what magic can do in scope to simply speeding up what the body can achieve; ie simply faster healing.
What this would mean is that magic could be able to (for example) fix splinted bones and bind skin together, but it it couldn't put those things back into place - the bones would ...
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The best way to make healers fun to play is to make their profession matter in the culture of the setting and in the conflicts the group faces.
Is the character merely "Joe, with a Great-level Healing skill and a Good Herbalism skill"? If yes, why? Wouldn't it be more interesting to have the character be "Joe, an Adept of the Scarlet Order", with contacts ...
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Your question can be generalized to the form of "Why are there mundane versions of healing/crafting/transportation/whatever", a question that comes up whenever the logistics, economics and day to day realities of a fantasy world are considered.
The answers can be any of the ones mentioned in the other answers: make magic rare, make magic costly, or make ...
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The biggest advantage I can offer for "mundane" healers is Preparation. In quite a few games, you can make all of the items that effectively heal ahead of time. Having the (let's call it) alchemical knowledge means you know what to bottle or powder and keep on hand. Not only this, but in some game, characters must use less expendable resources to generate ...
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In Shadowrun, there's explicitly a rule that each wound can be healed once by magic or by first-aid; the question then immediately comes up as to which is better; some characters may have a passive resistance to magical healing due to cyberware, but it can also be favorable because First Aid is quicker for most wounds, and doesn't come with drain.
Again, ...
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There's a few different things you can do here, from either the game system side or the game master side.
Systems: Give natural healers more potent long-term healing. The idea here is that you may be able to bring someone from near death to fighting fit in a few seconds with magic, but that kind of healing reduces long-term viability. Maybe magical ...
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In some settings:
Magic is rare enough to make non-magical healing the only available option. This is doubly true in games where the amount of healing mojo a spellcaster can spit out is limited to a certain amount each day.
Magic may be mistrusted, either due to groundless superstition or because it's actually got some potentially nasty side effects and ...
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Some settings make magic unpredictable and/or dangerous to cast. This implicitly makes natural healing safer and more reliable than healing that uses magic.
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