[B/X] Coming Soon(??): World of the Remedial DM

Summary:

an upcoming googleplus one shot series with ideas for campaign expansion.

[B/X] Coming Soon(??): World of the Remedial DM

Ridiculossus 25 Sep 2011 20:51

Hook: Do you dream of adventuring elsewhere, not wishing your hours of rest to lose you an opportunity for further riches?

You need only sleep and wish it to awaken in the Dreaming City, a sprawling, infinite expanse. Hovering close to your home planet, Earth swallows most of the night sky with it's glow, a constant reminder to dreamers of the world they have left. Wizards discovered and named the trans-planar shadow planet housing the city Layman-Dunn B-4, and have left numerous dimensional portals, skyships and chutes of return throughout the city. A month in the Dreaming City is only an hour of slumber in your world, you miss nothing, you gain—-everything!

Plan: I want feedback on my DMing, revealing where I need improvement and where I might be stepping on player options or not properly facilitating them.

I'm aiming to run a gonzo setting for my remedial DMing skills using B/X (to heighten allure of trying this out), so I'm looking for a few players to get some XP as I either run a dungeon or let you explore the infinite expanse of the city online as you carouse, or maybe PBP, depending on my tolerance.

I will post when I have something prepared/ready, then solicit requests for the specific session. You will not be RPing the 'getting there' (unless you want to).

1 day/week— start times will be 9pm, going no further than 10:30-11pm, on googleplus, using a whiteboard and a dieroller. I will post requests for availability as content is generated/found/stolen.

In the unlikely event that you wish to start fresh with new characters, we can set up a quick mutual googleplus session with a dieroller and have you roll a quick 18d6.
I'm also entertaining the idea that slain PCs can play in this world, but it's a one way trip for them, your realm is forever the world of LD B-4. In this regard, all manner of heroes can be present and create new legends.

Re: [B/X] Coming Soon(??): World of the Remedial DM

James_Nostack 25 Sep 2011 21:31

YES PLEASE

Now I can listen to Lady Gaga, roll dice, and eat unappetizing foods from the comfort of my own home!

Re: [B/X] Coming Soon(??): World of the Remedial DM

Invincible Overlord 25 Sep 2011 21:38

Neato! Can i jump in and try to persuade you to use some other rules, like say your own? the B/X set has gotten more than enough love from this city.

Re: [B/X] Coming Soon(??): World of the Remedial DM

Ridiculossus 25 Sep 2011 21:46

Can i jump in and try to persuade you to use some other rules, like say your own? the B/X set has gotten more than enough love from this city.

a key perk of this world is being able to use your own XP reservoirs and move them back and forth for character-centric people like myself, also to uncomplicate transitions back and forth between campaign worlds. I want this game to be a perfect fit to accomodate both Glantri and Whitebox. I'm not trying to make better rules here, just DM some, learning how to get out of the players way as they find a great time and give some extra XP for that week.

One thing which didn't occur to me until now: the opposite of the time shift means the city residents will likely all be dead and buried as you hop between worlds, since time is moving very fast in the Dream-City. Rulers will likely pass away—unless they keep their time short in the city.

Last edited on 25 Sep 2011 21:47 by Ridiculossus Show more

Re: [B/X] Coming Soon(??): World of the Remedial DM

James_Nostack 25 Sep 2011 22:28

the opposite of the time shift means the city residents will likely all be dead and buried as you hop between worlds, since time is moving very fast in the Dream-City.

I like this, but what about those dead PC's who can't go back to the "real" world? Do they age a zillion years and die?

Re: [B/X] L-D B4 : Adventures in the Dreaming City

Ridiculossus 25 Sep 2011 22:34

I like this, but what about those dead PC's who can't go back to the "real" world? Do they age a zillion years and die?

One possibility: Stasis tubes, a super-science market, will likely cost parties a large share of their treasure, as the captive market means desperate clients. You go in, unfreeze your comrades, and adventure again. This is assuming you don't discover an ancient super-science lab of your own (and figure it out).

What options do you like?

Last edited on 25 Sep 2011 22:42 by Ridiculossus Show more

Re: [B/X] Coming Soon(??): World of the Remedial DM

James_Nostack 26 Sep 2011 00:40

That works for me: maybe 50 gold per session? 100? Enough that missing a session imposes a cost if you're a crazed maximizer, but if you don't care that much, it just means you're poor and need to adventure. (Instead of looting tombs to pay for whores, you beat up prostitutes to fund your crazy science-tomb.)

More relevantly: Ska-Tay, what do you want to focus on in this remedial stuff? What do you think you need practice at? When we did Tower of the Stargazer I thought you did great!

Re: [B/X] Coming Soon(??): World of the Remedial DM

Ridiculossus 26 Sep 2011 01:22

Not panicking. And (glances at James' notes for kids) brainstorming two options on the fly, being receptive to the third option. Coming up with stuff that will seem fun for guys here so for a moment they step out of the "he's doing okay, I guess.." into "Wow, I actually had fun there." There's also a lot of good GMs here, and getting them to be players means I hope they will be honest enough to tell me where I fall flat and encouraged enough to spread their wings and make the game their own. Basically, all the stuff you work with the kids on.

I guess you don't remember the mad paper flipping and the player falling asleep! I sure do!

Re: [B/X] Coming Soon(??): World of the Remedial DM

James_Nostack 26 Sep 2011 02:39

I flip through a zillion papers too, and I spent a large chunk of Wednesday night's Sorcerer game telling my players how much they would hate it, until one of them told me to shut up and roll dice. Which is what I needed to hear.

GM'ing takes a whole bunch of skills, and there's never been a point where I've said, "I do this as well as I would like." There is always something to work on.

Here's what I see as the bare minimum baseline, sort of what I was aiming to do with the kids class:

• Being gracious, polite, and respectful to your players as human beings - and making sure they're respectful to each other
• Being able to imagine at least some degree of fantasy flavor - share that enthusiasm with others - and incorporate others' contributions
• Being able to create a fantasy situation that engages the fictional characters and can be resolved entertainingly in at least two ways
• Being able to execute the basic rules of the game for recurring tasks like combat

Note that all of this starts at the player level, passes through the fiction, and then gets to pushing dice around. I don't think you can GM without that stuff at minimum. If gaming were cooking, this is like boiling up some Top Ramen. I am really confident you've got these down.

there's other stuff, like scenario design, which you can totally shortcut by using published modules. Same for settings, too. There's other stuff, like making judgment calls or designing house rules, which are really rich areas, which a lot of stuff written about it specifically in the context of early-edition D&D thanks to the OSR. I also think that there's a lot of good principles from "story games" that can be lifted too.

But if it's just a question of overcoming anxiety, I have that problem too - it pretty much ruined the 2010 Marvel Supers game I tried to run. But running more often helps you get used to it and push through.

Re: [B/X] Coming Soon(??): World of the Remedial DM

Ridiculossus 01 Oct 2011 05:07

In an effort to erase the memories of the last ruler, the present ruler of the Dream city has made these desktop wallpapers available to you!
Ruler of Dream City desktop wallpaper

There are several NPCs around with hooks for adventure. Ask in character and get responses (maybe), questioning does not mean you are committing to a game, merely that your character may be curious and is pursuing leads during his sleep. I may reply in a day or two, or maybe 2 minutes later, you never know.

Calm-Handy, Lost Boy O'North, is currently favored by the titans, so he has to run around in powered 30' tall armor to adventure with them. This means he has little time for attending to some of his other duties. He has a deed to a manor house that he just inherited, but he's not terribly interested in checking it out himself. He might need an unusual thing or two from wherever else you're going so check in with him before you leave, he could make it worth your while! (Long adventure)

Beauteous Beauregard, a local steward, has had an earful of complaints about kidnapped virgins! This is ruining his orgy time, he's desperate and offering a reward to get this fixed one way or another. (short adventure)

A strange fish man wants you to free his brethren who are held in the thrall of the Bone Sorcerer (Long adventure). This strange being calls himself Chadex Toward, and is known to be a flunky of the sorcerer Joseph Curwen, who is probably bad news… Curwen has an astronomical reward offered for the intact corpse of a certain famous sword-slinging Cimmerian (who is presently buried- somewhere else???).

Last edited on 01 Oct 2011 05:46 by Ridiculossus Show more