sirblastalot

joined 2 years ago
MODERATOR OF
rpg

They've all programmed their replicator profiles to include "Ethanol, 22.5ml, Chilled" in all orders they place containing the word "synthehol"

[–] sirblastalot@ttrpg.network 3 points 4 days ago

Definitely the worst thing that happened during those years.

[–] sirblastalot@ttrpg.network 17 points 4 days ago (2 children)

What's more fun, demoting pluto or announcing the discovery of a new planet every week for a couple years?

[–] sirblastalot@ttrpg.network 13 points 5 days ago

brb, converting my 401k to gold to attract an adorable baby dragon

[–] sirblastalot@ttrpg.network 1 points 5 days ago

I see, thank you. That sounds like the kind of common-sense thing that I will never be able to convince a manager of XD

[–] sirblastalot@ttrpg.network 1 points 6 days ago (7 children)
[–] sirblastalot@ttrpg.network 3 points 1 week ago

I'm not one of them, but I empathize with all the GMs that are just sick of dealing with those particular kinds of misconduct that crop up with new players.

[–] sirblastalot@ttrpg.network 18 points 1 week ago

Cover your phb in spray adhesive and leave it sitting on the table. As soon as someone touches it, shout "ROLL INITIATIVE!"

Actually, apply this to other random objects at the game table. A bag of chips, 1 can of soda in the fridge, every 3rd pencil, whatever.

[–] sirblastalot@ttrpg.network 2 points 3 weeks ago

I'm not confident I'm remembering correctly, but didn't she have a line to the effect of "They can courtmarshall me if we make back"

[–] sirblastalot@ttrpg.network 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Not a very high quality article. Makes constant reference to "faction and domain play" without adequately defining the terms for someone that didn't grow up with them. (Presumably, the target of the article.) And a lot of typos.

[–] sirblastalot@ttrpg.network 18 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Addl wisdom: some people make jokes when they're uncomfortable, as a defense mechanism. If you have a player or players constantly trying to lighten the mood, consider that the atmosphere you're trying to create may not be a good fit for your party, and/or parts of your party may not be a good fit for your game.

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submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by sirblastalot@ttrpg.network to c/rpg@ttrpg.network
 

I recently started a new campaign. Two players (one who has played in my games before and their SO, who has been begging me for a spot for years) unexpectedly dropped out, moments before our first session. Their reason was somewhat baffling; they said they didn't want to spend "all day" on this, despite the game only going from noon to 3PM. They seemed to think this was a totally unreasonable expectation on my part, despite them previously having stated they were available during that time. This puzzled me.

I've been musing on this, and the strange paradox of people that say they want to play D&D but don't actually want to play D&D, and I've had an epiphany.

A lot of people blame Critical Role or other popular D&D shows for giving prospective players misplaced perceptions, often related to things like your DM's voice acting ability or prop budget, but I don't think that's what's going on here. My realization is that, encoded in the medium of podcasts and play videos, is another expectation: New players unconsciously expect to receive D&D the way they receive D&D shows: on-demand, at their house, able to be paused and restarted at their whim, and possibly on a second-screen while they focus on something else!

I don't know as this suggests anything we as DMs could do differently to set expectations, but it did go a long ways to helping me understand my friends, and I thought it might help someone here to share.

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