tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2175768020594264444.post6902075740753999154..comments2024-01-26T06:20:22.847-08:00Comments on I Rolled A Zero: Not SUETHULHU: Marty, the PlayerUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2175768020594264444.post-20331161037642570932016-08-16T16:59:26.115-07:002016-08-16T16:59:26.115-07:00Well in all fairness I did that once (Although it ...Well in all fairness I did that once (Although it was an adult white dragon). Never considered for one moment that they would be stupid enough to try and fight it, it was just supposed to be a way to get them all travelling together. Nice and easy cave for them to pop into which is too small for it to pursue, about 2-3 hours to complete, and with clues which tie all of their backstories together. Why did they try and fight it? Why?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2175768020594264444.post-8916327424136978622016-02-18T21:13:43.121-08:002016-02-18T21:13:43.121-08:00I have a powergamer friend with whom I've play...I have a powergamer friend with whom I've played several campaigns with. The first was our first ever experience with tabletop gaming (AD&D), and so his powergaming was kind of understandable. He invented his own class (ninja) and proceeded to out-combat every other player at the table. Not just in a "this character is an asset we should be thankful for" kind of way, but in a "no other character gets to do anything" kind of way.<br /><br />What is less excusable is years later when we were playing d20 3.5, and he came up with his sorcerer/dragon disciple build, and spent the majority of the game looking for a pegasus to tame so he could ride it into battle. He ended up distracting from the quest so often to look for one that it was seriously impacting our sessions, so the DM actually had one show up and fly away just to get his goat. The meltdown that ensued was pretty funnyUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01379839241621040437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2175768020594264444.post-67737595988855374792016-02-18T21:02:48.773-08:002016-02-18T21:02:48.773-08:00It's surprising how many people don't unde...It's surprising how many people don't understand that the DM wins when the players have a good time, which usually involves a challenging yet rewarding campaign that encourages creative solutions to problems.<br /><br />Jesus, who throws a black dragon at a bunch of level 1s (especially an ancient one)? Did he expect them to even stand a chance?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01379839241621040437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2175768020594264444.post-41070801267101555892015-01-15T20:51:18.269-08:002015-01-15T20:51:18.269-08:00"My actions are good, therefore I am good. I ..."My actions are good, therefore I am good. I am good, therefore my actions my good.<br /><br />If you oppose my actions, you are opposing good, which makes you evil. It is a good thing to kill evil, so it is a good thing to kill you, so if I kill you I am good."<br /><br />Tautological Templars. Lawful Evil at its finest.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2175768020594264444.post-88964833530191195372014-08-25T22:50:24.274-07:002014-08-25T22:50:24.274-07:00My most recent PC is in fact the diametric opposit...My most recent PC is in fact the diametric opposite of Marty. He can do everything, except for fight well. Seriously, 0 DPS but with a few choice feats he's got between +5 and +8 in every skill in the game, is trained in all trained only skills except knowledge skills, which he can use untrained as a bard. In combat he's a LOT less effective, but his sheer utility outside of combat more than compensating for that.<br /><br />And yes, I happily admit that he sucks in combat and that's a serious weakness, but that doesn't mean I spend every fight scene moaning. Bardic music, intimidate checks for demoralize, tumbling into flanking positions and spamming aid another... Being a lousy combatant does not mean I have to be the load for the group.ThatWhatIshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14211937343085309747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2175768020594264444.post-83349972991203166952014-06-14T21:24:23.705-07:002014-06-14T21:24:23.705-07:00... Can I destroy Marty? I'd kill to have an i...... Can I destroy Marty? I'd kill to have an item like that hat, especially with such a fun backstory, but he uses it for one single boring thing.Nezumihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15919226245219984292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2175768020594264444.post-87640269036701764272014-04-13T12:04:35.008-07:002014-04-13T12:04:35.008-07:00Well, there's two things that I like to keep i...Well, there's two things that I like to keep in mind about it. One is that you always keep a little flex in your characters and allow them to be talked into things. Even if I'm playing a zealot paladin/priest who is a True Believer or something I'll let them get talked into avoiding dogma "for a bit" because it's for "the greater good". Not only does it make your character richer and more realistic seeming (Because who is really an inflexible monolith of absolutes in real life?) but it helps the party get along more accurately. Second is that you find reasons to create flaws in yourself that you need other people to overcome for you. <br /><br />Never played Deadlands, but looking at the scenario? It'd be easy to do with what Marty there had to work with. Rather than just flatly going "I'll burn you for suggesting that I'm maybe not in control!!!" you just treat it more calmly like "... that doesn't sound like me. I mean sure, fireballs is something I do, but I'm skilled and respectable. It couldn't have been on purpose. Maybe I just didn't see those innocents? You say I was gloating about it? Well that doesn't sound right..." And of course the whole "A demon is making me into a monster that is going to get me killed by everyone we run into" is a good reason to look towards other PCs to help find a solution, since obviously the problem is beyond your control. <br /><br />.... it's sad because something like that is very easy to "fix". Even what he did isn't necessarily "wrong" in concept, just in delivery. I mean the idea of someone who was this orphan starving thief who suddenly one day comes back to life after a "miracle" and has powers? Decent enough concept. Particularly if he didn't really realize the price of his return to life. If he was unaware of the demon and its actions on a direct level the sort of denial and slowly having to realize what a terrible being he's become, how he handles it, using his teammates to help decide how to resolve it, etc. It can be a decent subplot. Even his "Screw you, I'll burn you if you try to take my powers!" thing could have been well RP'd as sort of a contamination of his mind by the demon eroding his sanity over time, and his own fears of being reduced to what he was when he met the street magician... a starving helpless child, powerless and at the mercy of an unforgiving world.<br /><br />Like all things of this nature, it's all in the execution. So don't feel bad if you share features with it. It's very easy to take what he was doing and make it good. Just remember to make your character flawed in a way that other people can help you with, so that you need your fellow players and don't just angst in the corner by yourself, and be willing to change your image of the character, or his normal set of actions based on what happens in game.<br /><br />... the latter I cannot tell you how much it irks me when I run into a PC who declares that their character is always something "just because", even if you can point to evidence they're not. Sometimes comes up when I'm playing a more cerebral game where my bad guys are trying to corrupt the heroes rather than just kill them. Where I can look at it and go "... yeah, your cleric is fallen, you're evil now, and getting powers from an evil god. Look at what you've done, arson, genocide, assassinations, etc, etc, etc. All willingly, eager even at some points." just to have a player go "Nuh-uh! I'm always good because that's what the character is and despite clearly having done evil things he is still good!" DamonIsahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09609845368459094772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2175768020594264444.post-5553147754309243372014-03-07T11:33:53.783-08:002014-03-07T11:33:53.783-08:00Slightly unnervingly, that description of Marty re...Slightly unnervingly, that description of Marty reminded me of certain features of my own play during some dnd sessions. I don't think I'm anywhere near as bad as that (at least no one's said anything...), but I'd hope to avoid that sort of thing completely. Do you have any advice to someone trying to avoid playing like that accidentally?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2175768020594264444.post-2948206222265088762014-02-07T04:21:35.052-08:002014-02-07T04:21:35.052-08:00He slightly reminds me of a player in my regular g...He slightly reminds me of a player in my regular group. He tends to focus on one thing, and everything apart from that thing is "Bulls***" and totally not needed in the game. And it tends to be combat. If someone is better than him at it, it's "Bulls*** powergaming". If the group is not currently doing it, the game is "Boring". Every other person has always built their characters "wrong", and he'll spend endless time telling them how they should have done it. He also once threw a hissy fit for around two straight hours because someone had slightly more experience than he did.<br />He justifies this as "I like to win".<br /><br />Incidentally, he only ever ran one game. It was a D&D 3.5 Campaign starting at first level, and he'd been talking it up and bugging us to play for months. There was no introduction to the world or anything of the sort. The PCs stood around talking for a few minues before "A huge dark shape bursts out of the wilderness". Well...at least we knew we were in the wilderness, now. It turns out to be an Ancient Black Dragon. We run. It's faster. It casts high level spells (Disintegrate/Finger of Death, IIRC), on each party member until they are all dead.<br />DM has a big grin on his face because he "Won" the game. <br />I got a look at his campaign outline a few months later. It was a list of monster names, all of them above CR15, up to and including the Tarrasque. Needless to say, there's a reason i'm our resident GM nowadays.<br /><br />(I know it's not related to Marty, but he kind of reminded me.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2175768020594264444.post-89620809536724975412013-09-01T12:57:24.997-07:002013-09-01T12:57:24.997-07:00Oh I also recall I didn't trust him as a Playe...Oh I also recall I didn't trust him as a Player since he randomly killed one of my followers in another campaign to try and save his own skin, because he wasn't paying much attention and figured that a LE army would be perfectly willing to spare the Backstabbing Shit who sees my minions as disposable tools.MM&Ihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11105833574249722534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2175768020594264444.post-81513984080327003872013-08-20T08:20:48.003-07:002013-08-20T08:20:48.003-07:00Its also on an unrelated note, the rest of us didn...Its also on an unrelated note, the rest of us didn't really trust his character in character due to his constant denial of responsibility combined with irresponsible actions. And we did take away his powers, because we wouldn't let him have the cyborg thing to let him have them back, since it also made him a risk.<br /><br />To be fair some of the fault towards the end was ours, but at that point reasoning with him in and out of character was agreed to be a lost cause so we had to take things into our own hands and every battle we had to prepare for friendly fire. (Mirrors took a page from batman and had [several] plans to kill any member of the party if it became necessary, and in some cases did so, or disabled at least).MM&Ihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11105833574249722534noreply@blogger.com