Recent Posts

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 10
1
Worldbuilding Discussion / Re: Chicken Riding Murder Hobos III+2
« Last post by jrnewton on September 18, 2018, 07:55:50 am »
I just released a new newspaper to my players. This one is from another town (compared to the first one).

The Daily Breeze: https://www.dropbox.com/s/r6jjx8gyi7en06e/Daily_Breeze_v1.pdf?dl=0

One thing that the players figured out from these is that the Bad Guys are using the articles "Students of Quin Lan Discussion" to pass coded messages to subordinates, etc. They were able to recover a code book from an NPC sub-boss that they defeated. It had 61 entries in it, each a random string of 55 numbers (from 1-55). They figured out that this corresponds to the word order in the Quin Lan articles posted in the papers. The months alternate between 30 and 31 days, so that gives 61 rotating codes. If you look up the number code list for the date of the news paper, you can decode the message in the article.

The first coded message gave them info on a supply drop, which they intercepted. They followed up on the airship that made the drop, learning that it was a contracted drop paid for by a local fixer that is known to work for the Shinra Corp (one of the major companies in the world). This same fixer has been behind a lot of the goings on that have personally effected the party. The middle man "Todd Binders" has become a personal love-to-hate NPC of the party. They haven't killed him yet, but he always turns up having paid someone off or done something to mess with the party.

They did not follow up on who placed the first article in the paper, but now that they have found a second one, they seem more interested in looking into that.

The second coded message they intercepted, which is in this newspaper, gave commands to kidnap the local mayor's kid, for which they are coincidentally on a rescue mission for. They also learned of orders for another operative but they are unsure of what it means (it relates to their next adventure).

On a side note, the first message was easy. I wrote the article and picked out the words I wanted for the message, and it became the cipher key. Well, after that (in order to be consistent, in case the PCs ask), I put together the full list of 61 cipher codes. This made the more recent message a little more difficult to encode. I ended up creating a spreadsheet that helps me define the message I want sent, and then fill in the missing words to make a Quin Lan article. I specifically made the backstory on the Quin Lan articles be hokey metaphysical jibberish to aid hiding messages in it. The basic story is that Quin Lan was an ancient scholar who published writings similar to the Tao de Ching & the I Ching, so publishing weird rambling articles in the local paper is not considered super strange to locals.
2
Non-RPG Nerd Culture Discussion / Re: Habitable Planets in Binary Systems
« Last post by Lex on May 05, 2018, 06:30:42 pm »
Yeah, interesting video, although I can't imagine solar masses coming up in an RPG. :) Both of  Primordia's suns are much larger than our sun.
3
GMJ Episode Discussion / Re: Spring Newsletter
« Last post by Lex on May 05, 2018, 06:27:37 pm »
My site uses Stripe, which has excellent security. You can use most major credit/debit cards.
4
GMJ Episode Discussion / Re: Spring Newsletter
« Last post by Chris B on May 05, 2018, 06:34:44 am »
Hey Lex!  Didn't know where to ask this question so I thought I'd just land it here.

I'd like to get your "Relics" supplement but I usually do all my online purchases through PayPal.  I didn't see that option in the payment screen.  Did I miss something or are you not processing PayPal for a reason?

Thanks,

-Chris
5
Non-RPG Nerd Culture Discussion / Re: Habitable Planets in Binary Systems
« Last post by DragonHellfire on May 05, 2018, 02:01:29 am »
Cool videos. Good find.
6
The games are set after the books.  I highly recommend the books and all 3 games.  I am also looking forward to the show because i think its based on the books.

CD Projeck REDs next game, CyberPunk 2077, looks promising too and is based on the RPG CyberPunk 2020!
7
Great ideas! Thank you! :)
8
D&D Discussion / D&D Encounter Helping Websites
« Last post by jrnewton on April 16, 2018, 01:42:54 pm »
I came across these two websites this last weekend as I was planning for my game, and I thought I would share them with you:

Kobold Fight Club: The first rule of KFC is "Yip yip!" - http://kobold.club/ - This is an online implementation of the DMG encounter builder. I found this SUPER helpful, because it does all the math for you. Add in your characters, and either randomly generate an encounter, or build one, being able to zero in on an encounter toughness with a mix of monsters. This made my encounter building for my upcoming game way easier as I compared options, etc. It also has options to save encounters and parties, and even run them, but they also pointed me to....

Improved Initiative Combat Tracker for 5E - http://improved-initiative.com/ - This site is a great tool for tracking combat, reminding me of my old "Turnwatcher" app for 3.0 or "Combat Manager" app for Pathfinder. It has the ability to input your own monsters, or expand existing ones, and then download and save all your edits. Be aware, however, that if you input items or save encounters or parties and then log into the app using a patreon account, your saved data will "disappear." You can get it back and merge it by simply logging out downloading, and then logging in and uploading. Just either use it always without a login or always logged in. The author it actively developing and seems to have great ideas on how to improve the site.

Hope this is helpful to everyone.

9
Worldbuilding Discussion / Re: Faroth/Sing'jar World
« Last post by jed_reynolds on April 09, 2018, 12:02:59 pm »
More backstory about the mountains where my next season's campaign will take place:
https://blog.bitratchet.com/2018/04/08/dd-singjar-mountains-and-their-mysteries/

Distorted dwarves, purple worms, and the remains of hill giants. Should I throw in some myconids?
10
1.  I don't think it is possible to have too many how to DM/GM resources!  I feel like there is always something to learn.  There are a lot of handy ideas in your 200+ episodes and if you could condense them into a searchable resource then that would be pretty valuable.

2.  System neutral sounds ok to me.  I haven't GMed anything but D&D but they all have a lot in common.  The actually mechanics of how many dice you roll etc is an unnecessary discussion point. Can always make a D&D supplement for your GMing supplement  ;)

3. I am personally most interested in topics around running the game (at the moment) like:
      - Improvisation
      - Preparation
      - Player engagement
      - Adapting to player choices

4. The Game Master's Journey to Success
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 10