Zelknolf DMing

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Zelknolf
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Zelknolf DMing

Post by Zelknolf »

So, for those just looking for the short of it:
I am DMing the Crew of the Queen Robin at the times listed on the wiki.


The tl;dr version of the below:
  • I am a simulationist DM. Except where ALFA rules disagree (when I will give ALFA rules priority), you'll get what's in character, even if in-character is boring or terrible screaming death.*
  • Don't roll things unless I ask you to. I need to pick a DC first. Seeing the dice before picking the DC plays bad bad mind games on your DM.
  • Pick a party face, and send tells to funnel important IC questions to the face if I miss your comments; I have trouble keeping up otherwise. Use the #dm command to send me OOC/mechanical requests.
  • If a thing has an inventory, you already get the results of your search check by opening it. I will pause the game to add stuff, or drop it into your inventory, if there's extra stuff to find.
  • Misc Loot items get resolved after the session, or your PCs have to take a break to sort through it if it's important. I don't have the mental bandwidth to do ALFA loot math in the middle of the action.
  • Seriously, don't roll a thing unless I ask you to. I need to pick a DC first.
* I've only actually killed two PCs in ALFA2, and one was by following directions from the DM actually in charge of the session. So also don't expect a meat grinder, unless you go looking for meat grinders.

General advice to take:
  • Investigate and plan. The world is knowable and predictable, and I strive to make things happen for forseeable reasons. That's much of the delight in simulationism as a philosophy.
  • Be suspicious when every question you ask gets an affirmative answer-- having every answer be "yes" is just as useless as every answer being "no" when establishing patterns, but our primitive fleshy brains are bad at noticing as much.
  • Invest in RP skills. You'll get to use them, and might even be at a disadvantage if no one has one.
The wordy version...
Firstly, style:
I am a simulationist DM. If you're not familiar with the GNS Theory, there's a link; I know there's criticism of the theory-- was once part of my job to keep up with the scholarship-- but it provides a simple-enough language to give ideas for what to expect, right? Right.

This means that I will avoid scaling content (except in the context that if NPCs are looking for you, and not the other way around, they're likely to be about the same level-- as your notoriety and their desire to not get in over their heads plays, too), and I will allow character actions to get them in over their heads or allow them to bore themselves to tears. Your level 12s can smoosh goblins all day, and I'll give you your 5 xp for it; your level 2s can challenge fire giants, and I'll be excited about your next characters. I'll find it fascinating in either case, and if players are also having fun with it, mission accomplished I say. Of course, your investments in knowledge, social, and information gathering skills will help you know what you're getting into, if the goal is a reasonable challenge. I typically give the advice that if you do not diversify skills and abilities, make friends who do-- or make friends who focus on the areas where you're weak.

Expectations:
  • Being that challenges won't scale, I should note that rewards will. Low-level characters can expect to get more XP than high-level characters. They'll be at more risk, and that's how we determine a significant portion of XP awards.
  • Pick a face for the group, and agree on it early. I'm high-functioning dyslexic, but I am still dyslexic-- this means that I will not be able to read everything everyone types. If no one acts like the face, I will pick one, and only answer that guy.
  • Communicate any special needs or sensitivities early. I can't promise that I'll be able to accommodate everyone, but if I can't, I would rather that be established early so we can go different ways on amiable terms than find out by failing to do so and hurting someone (contrary to popular belief, I don't actually like hurting people. It sucks).
  • Don't roll anything without being prompted. I will reroll it if you do. I am just as vulnerable to the human urge to bias checks by the number on the dice, instead of the result, as everyone else-- and I believe that is unfair to people who hone strengths to their characters. I, thus, accept no rolls unless they've been rolled after I've picked a DC (and I'll tell you when this is).
  • Make a text macro to ask me to pause-- mark it as OOC and send it to normal chat. My eyes will be on your characters during any fights, and I need that floaty text to say "(( pause! ))" for me to know that you've got something to say. There will never be penalties or animosity for asking for a pause-- good communication is necessary for a good time playing, and I'm happy to delay a fight to handle as much.
  • All tactics in the FRCS and Core Rulebooks are dubbed valid in play, but players should be aware that things which are not gracefully handled by the engine will be time-consuming things. You can grapple that hobgoblin or cast Animate Rope, but it'll be 30 minutes to resolve the conflict that way, and 30 seconds to just knock him over the head. Do it too much and we're more likely to have a to-be-continued breakpoint.
  • Examine the spawns. I typically include a lot of the basic information that you'll be inclined to ask about such creatures (i.e. "Is it armed?" "Is it leading the others of its kind?" "I've soiled myself; is this appropriate?") in the examined description, provided it would be visible to anyone without skill checks.
  • I will often drop items called "Miscellaneous Loot" -- in character, the examined descriptions say how to treat these; out of character, this just makes it easier on me to follow ALFA's wealth guidelines, and I'll exchange it for actual loot after session time (or before the next one) when I have opportunity to math some.
  • Anything that leaves behind or is a placeable with an inventory (cabinets, chests) or things with an in-engine avenue to provide found loot (dead monsters) are assumed to contain everything that your character could find and that said character found useful. Any addition that your character would notice will be spawned in said container, and the remainder should be treated as unusuable / not worthwhile in character (that is, yes, some bad guys wear plate armor-- and then you killed the guy and said armor became useless and dejected. You'd have to be a monster to do anything but euthanize it. Even Bane would answer anything else with "Holy crap, man. Have a heart."). No extra checks; I already know your character's perception stats and am taking those into account.
    • However, the body is still a thing that you can/should interact with, if doing so is in character. Bury 'em, hide behind them, stack them up like sand bags to hold back a flood, tie strings to their limbs and make them dance for your amusement. All totally valid to ask me about; that stuff needs a DM to run.
    • Also, things that don't normally have some kind of loot container interface (e.g. ripping up the floors of a room to see what's under the boards) still go through asking me, and area searches (e.g. ransacking a room for some particular thing, instead of just searching a chest) still go through asking me.
  • Spot and Listen are passive skills. Don't roll them or expect to roll them because you're looking around. If your actions change the potential areas of perception such that they start to include something you could notice with a spot or listen check, I will call for said check at that time, but you can't just throw spot for giggles. At best, you can stop what you're doing and hope that opportunity for a spot check comes while you know that you won't be distracted. Search, however, is an active skill, which you only get when you stop to search things (with the caveats above).
I have a couple things that I'll simply not run:
  • No detailed violence. Notice how Vonnegut expresses the horrible indirectly? I often try to emulate that style in things (I'm not Vonnegut, 'course, but we must have our aspirations if we're to improve ourselves)-- communicates what awful is going on without provoking the standard disgust response in people who've seen it firsthand. If you literally want an someone's guts for garters, you'll need a different DM.
  • No immature humor. I even think I set the bar fairly low on this one, as I can enjoy a horrible joke same as most people, but you just don't need a DM to say poop really loudly. Characters behaving this way can expect to be ignored for a bit, but the closer to Jern your behavior is, the more likely it is that I'll just ask you to leave
I'll let people in sessions know if I update this-- and, of course, if Cast finds something terribly objectionable about any of the above, it'll be getting changed and I'll let folks know.
Last edited by Zelknolf on Mon Apr 08, 2013 7:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Castano
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Re: Zelknolf DMing

Post by Castano »

Sounds good to me.
On playing together: http://www.giantitp.com/articles/tll307 ... 6efFP.html
Useful resource: http://nwn2.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

On bad governance: "I intend to bring democracy to this nation, and if anybody stands in my way I will crush him and his family."
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Zelknolf
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Re: Zelknolf DMing

Post by Zelknolf »

Updated for times and rewording for clarity: effective this Monday, April 2.
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Heero
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Re: Zelknolf DMing

Post by Heero »

FYI Zelknolf is best ever. You Euro mooks shoulda jumped on her Euro times like a pack of hungry hyenas when you had the chance.
Heero just pawn in game of life.

12.August.2013: Never forget.
15.December.2014: Never forget.

The Glorious 12.August.2015: Always Remember the Glorious 12th.
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Darkmystic
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Re: Zelknolf DMing

Post by Darkmystic »

Had fun in the thing that Zelknolf dmed but sadly dont bump into her much, lets hope that changes.
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Hyme
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Re: Zelknolf DMing

Post by Hyme »

Really looking forward to next Mon, so i can be DM by you.
Silvary
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Re: Zelknolf DMing

Post by Silvary »

Hi there!
Won't be able to attend next monday sessions or very sporadically since I work almost every thursday at 6:45 am (GMT+1) knowing that sessions end around 4 or 5 am for me.
I'd like to know if saturdays GMT evenings sessions are still held? and if so would a lvl2 PC fit to them?
GSID : Silvary 79
PCs:
Alaryk Tides, Cleric of Tempus Northman, Iron Keep, Oman Isle
Poram Earthdigger, Earth Embracer of Urogalan Strongheart Halfling, Gullykin, Western Heartlands
Zelknolf
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Re: Zelknolf DMing

Post by Zelknolf »

They are not, no; I can really only put in the one session per week, and turnout for the Euro-friendly times was extremely low-- hence moving it to Mondays, where the turnout is better.
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Darkmystic
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Re: Zelknolf DMing

Post by Darkmystic »

Well not to strangely but most try to do stuff on Saturdays around that time in most Euro countries. I thank for the try and wish I wasnt busy but it didnt work out in reality.
Zelknolf
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Re: Zelknolf DMing

Post by Zelknolf »

I need to cancel this time slot.

These last few months have been incredibly draining-- and even actively sheltering myself from the nonsense that usually burns DMs out has failed to keep the energy and good spirits needed to do a fair job as a DM or do good tech work.

Apologies to those I'm leaving without a DM; I just don't have it in me any more.
Witchdoctor
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Re: Zelknolf DMing

Post by Witchdoctor »

No apology needed. I am sure I speak for all of us when I say we enjoyed the time you spent DMing us and appreicate what you are still doing as a tech guru. Don't burn out and do whatever you need to do to keep the spark alive. ;)
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CloudDancing
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Re: Zelknolf DMing

Post by CloudDancing »

Thanks for trying. We are gonna miss your contributions.
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Heero
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Re: Zelknolf DMing

Post by Heero »

No worries, Zelk. :D
Heero just pawn in game of life.

12.August.2013: Never forget.
15.December.2014: Never forget.

The Glorious 12.August.2015: Always Remember the Glorious 12th.
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Castano
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Re: Zelknolf DMing

Post by Castano »

thanks for your contributions, we'll keep a light on for you.
On playing together: http://www.giantitp.com/articles/tll307 ... 6efFP.html
Useful resource: http://nwn2.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

On bad governance: "I intend to bring democracy to this nation, and if anybody stands in my way I will crush him and his family."
You're All a Bunch of Damn Hippies
Zelknolf
Chosen of Forumamus, God of Forums
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Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 7:04 pm

Re: Zelknolf DMing

Post by Zelknolf »

*dusts thread off*

Timeslot is not revived, as I expect to ad hoc for the time being, but information about what I do when I have a DM stick is still valid.
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