Honestly, until last night. It never occurred to me to look inside the bodies I'm looting.
Oh, wow. This place looks great. Oh, I feel like a witch in a magic shop.
Willow ,'Help'
Gaming 1: You are likely to be eaten by a grue
A thread for the discussion of games: board, LARP, MMORPG, video, tabletop RPG, game theory etc. etc. and all attendant news, developments and ancillary subjects thereof, as well as coordinating/scheduling games either online or IRL. All are welcome to chime in, talk about their favorite games or learn about gaming of any sort.
PLEASE TO WHITEFONT SPOILERS for video games, RPG modules or anything for which foreknowledge of events might lessen one's enjoyment of whatever gaming experience.
Laga - Mar 06, 2017 2:15:22 am PST #25356 of 26133
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.
Kalshane - Mar 06, 2017 4:31:41 am PST #25357 of 26133
GS: If you had to choose between kicking evil in the head or the behind, which would you choose, and why?
Minsc: I'm not sure I understand the question. I have two feet, do I not? You do not take a small plate when the feast of evil welcomes seconds.
Yeah, I don't think I'd think to do that either unless there was some previous indication that creature in question had eaten treasure (Critical Role, for example, had the party hunting for an artifact that was known to be inside the belly of a specific demon.) or the DM dropped some kind of hint during the fight.
Connie Neil - Mar 06, 2017 4:45:25 am PST #25358 of 26133
brillig
Gems are small and easily swallowed. That kind of search is kind of time consuming though and generally requires probably cause.
Or so I've heard.
Kalshane - Mar 06, 2017 10:27:13 am PST #25359 of 26133
GS: If you had to choose between kicking evil in the head or the behind, which would you choose, and why?
Minsc: I'm not sure I understand the question. I have two feet, do I not? You do not take a small plate when the feast of evil welcomes seconds.
Yeah, no. I'd rather not try to get into the mindset of someone who felt digging around their slain opponent's innards on the off-chance they swallowed something valuable was an acceptable use of their time.
Of course the very concept of looting in D&D in general is kind of disturbing. I mean grabbing the dead guy's nifty flaming sword is one thing. Stripping him of his magic boots and spending 30 minutes pulling off his plate armor is another.
I imagine Dorothy would have been much less sympathetic if her reaction to dropping the house on the witch was "Ooh, loot!" followed by an a couple minutes of her tearing the slippers off and then awkwardly replacing her own footwear.
billytea - Mar 06, 2017 2:40:15 pm PST #25360 of 26133
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.
One time I was in a group doing a Living Greyhawk adventure, where we had to escort a VIP that was being targeted by a local crime ring. When we come pick him up, just to set the tone, a crim shoots at him through the window.
And the GM rolls a crit. Triple damage. Our employer is dead on the floor in front of us and the adventure's done before it even started.
GM: "Soooo... What do you do now?"
Player: "We............ Loot the body?"
Kalshane - Mar 06, 2017 6:31:37 pm PST #25361 of 26133
GS: If you had to choose between kicking evil in the head or the behind, which would you choose, and why?
Minsc: I'm not sure I understand the question. I have two feet, do I not? You do not take a small plate when the feast of evil welcomes seconds.
Nice.
That's something I learned as I got more experienced as a DM. You don't have to roll for everything. If something is directly affecting the PCs, by all means roll for it (no player likes things to happen to them by DM fiat) but if it's just to get/keep the story moving, just have it happen.
Kalshane - Mar 07, 2017 5:01:22 am PST #25362 of 26133
GS: If you had to choose between kicking evil in the head or the behind, which would you choose, and why?
Minsc: I'm not sure I understand the question. I have two feet, do I not? You do not take a small plate when the feast of evil welcomes seconds.
I will say there's a darkly comedic aspect to the way the belongings of the dead are handled in D&D.
In fiction a fallen ally's loss is mourned and they're buried with their prized possessions. In D&D it tends to be "Shit, Bob's dead... I call dibs on his armor!"
billytea - Mar 09, 2017 6:30:57 pm PST #25363 of 26133
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.
RftG
O my players, thank you all for your patience. We are now good to go! Everyone has made their choice for their starting world and discards, not to mention their choice of action card for Round 1. So let's see where we begin:
Round 0
Goals
Research Leader - Most Explore Powers
Greatest Infrastructure - Most Developments
Expansion Leader - First to 8 cards in layout
Innovation Leader - First to have a power in each phase
Galactic Standard of Living - First to 5 VPs
Uplift Knowledge - First to 3 Uplift cards
omnis
Layout
Galactic Developers (Non-Military World)
Cards in Hand:
4
Military Strength:
0
Victory Points:
0
Layout Value:
1
6-Cost Developments:
0
Goals:
0
chrismg
Layout
Rebel Cantina (Non-Military World)
Cards in Hand:
4
Military Strength:
0
Victory Points:
0
Layout Value:
0
6-Cost Developments:
0
Goals:
0
Connie Neil
Layout
Separatist Colony (Non-Military World)
Cards in Hand:
4
Military Strength:
1
Victory Points:
0
Layout Value:
1
6-Cost Developments:
0
Goals:
0
Ryan
Layout
Epsilon Eridani (Non-Military World)
Cards in Hand:
4
Military Strength:
1
Victory Points:
0
Layout Value:
1
6-Cost Developments:
0
Goals:
0
-t
Layout
Alpha Centauri (Non-Military Brown Windfall World) + good
Cards in Hand:
4
Military Strength:
0
Victory Points:
0
Layout Value:
0
6-Cost Developments:
0
Goals:
0
Laga
Layout
Ancient Race (Non-Military Green Windfall World) + good
Cards in Hand:
3
Military Strength:
0
Victory Points:
0
Layout Value:
1
6-Cost Developments:
0
Goals:
0
VP Pool: 72
Most players have a hand of 4 cards, with the exception of Laga. Her starting world, Ancient Race, is a cut above the average; that gets balanced out by requiring one more discard at game start. She starts with 3 cards.
Orders for Round 1 will follow shortly.
billytea - Mar 09, 2017 6:46:30 pm PST #25364 of 26133
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.
RftG
Here they are, orders:
omnis: Phase II - Develop
chrismg: Phase III - Settle
Connie Neil: Phase II - Develop
Ryan: Phase II - Develop
-t: Phase IV ($) - Consume (Trade)
Laga: Phase IV ($) - Consume (Trade)
We're starting with three phases: Phase II (Develop), Phase III (Settle) and Phase IV (Consume). Phase II is first. I have orders from some but not all. Everyone who hasn't sent me COs for Phase II, please do so. Anyone who hasn't put in COs for Phase III, let's hear them. (And that probably covers everyone.)
billytea - Mar 10, 2017 1:23:14 pm PST #25365 of 26133
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.
RftG
I don't have all the orders for Phase III yet, but I do have all of Phase II. Here's what's happening:
omnis draws 1 card from Galactic Developers, then plays Public Works. He chose this phase, so it's -1 cost and costs him nothing. This card can consume 1 good for 1 VP, and whenever he plays a development, he draws 1 card afterwards.
chrismg passes.
Connie plays Mining Robots for 1 discard. This gives her -1 cost on playing Brown worlds, and lets her produce on 1 Brown windfall world in Phase V. (She does not as yet have any Brown worlds in her layout.)
Ryan plays Investment Credits. This gives -1 cost on all future developments.
-t plays Space marines for 2 discards. This gives her +2 military strength (this being her total).
Laga plays Expedition Force for 1 discard. This lets her look at 1 extra card when exploring and gives her +1 military strength.
If you haven't got your orders in for Phase III (Settle) yet, do so now.