Posts made by AGreaterMonster

@K-O said in Gen Con:

@AGreaterMonster Yes, they are booked in advance! I did check them out before deciding maybe I should just wander (@Faye and @Hanzilla were much more organized than I was and did this much earlier), and most were already full by the time I had checked (in May or so). It's really exciting to see SO many enthusiastic people into a similar hobby as you are, all in one place. I am trying to remember in the AMA if you mentioned where you live now; I know you said you lived in Chicago at one time. If you're close enough, you should come to Gen Con next year, it was totally worth it, and with your DMing and acting/writing/art expertise, I bet you would be a hit!

That would be a blast! I would do it for sure if I can find a sponsor who wants me to DM some games.

@K-O Super cool. I think I heard that all the game sessions were completely booked in advance! But it looks like you saw some really great stuff anyway. I think the Blade Runner rpg won "Best Art" in the Ennies Awards.

@K-O I heard it was one of the biggest conventions ever. Did you get into some rpg sessions? What game systems did you play?

@SwampCreature It's very good! Dark and bloody, but with great characterizations and moral grey areas. I believe most of it was written by Warren Ellis who is an excellent comic book writer. Transmetropolitan, for example.

@SwampCreature I also started watching Blood of Zeus, which is written by the same folks who did the Castlevania anime. I like it so far! If you liked Castlevania, you'd like this I think.

@Mariano

I just started watching Uncle from Another World on Netflix. It's really fun! It's a clever satire of classic anime tropes, and it's really good at making fun of itself. I'm enjoying it.

@mianngu it does make it a lot easier for beginners! Then you can focus on the roleplaying and gameplay.

@mianngu I would have suggested letting them choose from pre-built characters instead of building them from scratch. And just let them know that once they get into it after a while, you can rebuild new ones. They can choose classes and species and that's about it. There are pre-built characters now in the D&D Beyond system to choose from.

Probably too late now from the sound of it!

@mianngu This is true. But at the same time, reading new rule systems can be really inspiring and can trigger unexpected ideas. The offer some new possibilities for how to play that aren't apparent when you only know one system. Plus, it can be just kind of refreshing. Although my team plays 90% D&D, our 3 sessions of Shadow of the Demon Lord have been a fun change of pace. SotDL is D&D adjacent so it's not a huge leap, but I'm also learning Champions 6th Edition (Hero System 6e) and it's soooo different from D&D or Pathfinder, it's like another world. There's fun in just learning a new rule system.

@mianngu Agree and thanks! There's really nothing like roleplaying games. I wish I had the time to learn how to play and run dozens of other rule systems, too!

@mianngu said in Critical Role yay or nay?:

@AGreaterMonster

I'm sure they do get tired and receive lots of stuff, but your whole business is contrived on the love of your fans. If they were having a rough day, there are still ways to convey that while still being appreciative. It can be so disappointing when people don't live up to the hype.

Agreed. I don't want to put them down too hard with my personal reactions. But after feeling brushed off multiple times, the "We love our critters" line they pushed so frequently...it just stuck in my craw. Again, I don't mean to say they are bad people, just that they are celebrities now as well as a multi-million dollar business. That combined with the lackluster campaign interstitial caused me to drop them from my schedule after the the second season. It feels like it's become more like a TV show than a D&D game.

@Ezra

I think I have a lot to get off my chest regarding Critical Role.

I love their first campaign--it was kind of anarchic and wild and anything goes. It felt like people playing D&D and having fun. I enjoyed a lot about the second campaign, but it started to become too polished for me. I started to skip forward through some of the "we're emoting now" parts. It began to feel less like people playing D&D and more like improvised theater...at times. But still a lot to love in the second season.

Then I had a couple things that put a bad taste in my mouth. I signed up to get photos with them at the Chicago comic book con C2E2, and I brought gifts for them all. I'm sure they get showered with gifts all the time, but I felt they kind of...well, didn't really thank me for the gifts so that left me a bit feeling weird afterwards. But I tried to take it just that I was the one who was expecting something and when you give a gift you shouldn't "expect anything" back. But somehow it felt...hurtful, maybe? A little?

Then a few weeks later, I tried contacting their social media manager about sponsoring one of their episodes in order to promote my second fantasy novel. First they never replied, and I had to email several times. Then they replied and didn't answer my question directly about the cost of a sponsorship. I kept trying, and they were either evasive or didn't even read my email, just skimmed it because they wouldn't give me a straight answer.

That was strike two for me. I started to feel like all their "We love our critters" baloney was just celebrity nonsense. I am sure they are nice people to their friends. But "we love you" started to feel really phony to me. They don't love their fans, they barely have time for their fans. They love the success fans have provided for them.

Okay, so i tried not to take it too hard, but it did hurt a bit. Then I tried watching their interstitial short series between Campaign 2 and 3--it was run by Aabria Iyengar as DM. And I just really didn't like it at all. I did not like her DM style in that series. It felt really awkward and contrived. So I'm like...with all this, I don't have time to invest in their series any more, I have other priorities to focus on. The End.

Hello all!

I recently signed up to be a Professional DM on Start Playing Games, to run my original (homebrew) world campaign for D&D 5e. The same campaign I've entered in the contest here on LiveTale, Heroes of Yggdrasil, the One Tree

Unlike running modules, I'll be customizing the campaign around the characters. It's a mix of horror, wacky humor, roleplaying, strategic combat, exploration and social encounters! I'm planning to be open to both experienced and beginner players.

I have a background as a fiction author and a stage actor and improvisor, so I enjoy personifying NPCs for you to play with.

Please take a look at my profile for a little bit more about me: https://bit.ly/Pr0GMddk

If you are looking for a longterm campaign, please check out the times and days that I currently have listed! I need one more person for the Thursday time to start running it!

Thursdays: https://bit.ly/YggdrasilThurs
Fridays: https://bit.ly/YggdrasilFridays
Sundays: https://bit.ly/YggdrasilSundays
Tuesdays: https://bit.ly/YggdrasilTues
Wednesdays: https://bit.ly/YggdrasilWeds

Feel free to ask any questions you have here! I will be using X, N, O safety cards and Lines & Veils.

@K-O Thank you so much!

Greetings,

I signed up to be a Pro-DM recently on StartPlaying.games. Are we allowed to post links to our campaigns and if so, which thread should I post in? If it's not permitted to promote a campaign, that's fine...just wanted to ask. Thanks!

@Kismet That would be great. But it seems like it’s so common now with contemporary anime that they only make 12 episodes in a season. The ones with 24 or more episodes in a season seem to be the exception these days.

@RavingArmy Good point. I've set up 2 beginner-focused campaigns and two regular campaigns that are open to both beginners and experienced players. I'm just starting...no bites yet in the first week. From what I hear, it's hard to get the first signups and first few games going.

@Kismet Oh yeah, nice. I added that one already, but I'm going to wait until the full season is released. I can't stand to wait! Do you know how many episodes there will be?

@Kismet That sounds interesting--I just searched for it on HULU and couldn't find it. Are you sure that's the title? Or is it on a different channel?

@joey said in Tips for Paid/Pro DMing...please share!:

@RavingArmy I think a big reason people aren't interested other systems is the lack of experience with tabletop in general. DnD is huge, complicated, clunky, and hard to learn. It's a big investment of time to get into it, but it's heavily aided by the massive amount of memes and whatnot on social media which helps to fill in the blanks in a fully passive way.

Most people don't want to learn another system because they think it's gonna be as hard as learning DnD was (not understanding that other systems can be far easier to learn and play) and because there's no social media equivalent for other systems to learn them passively.

True enough. But the opposite is also true...Pathfinder 2 is the next most popular heroic fantasy system. I've played one session of it, and I'd describe is are more complicated to learn than D&D. I'm also learning another system now which is one of the most crunchy out there! Champions--Hero System 6e. Then there are some that are probably at least equal in complexity...Vampire the Masquerade, for example. Personally, I don't like games that are too focused on storytelling without strategic combat. I find it less game-like, which appeals to some folks but not me (or my team of players). I need maps and token movement and details to feel we are not just making a story together but playing a game. So for me, it generally is a big investment to learn a new system because I'm not very interested in rules-lite games.