Friendship is Dragons
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Author Notes:
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26 Comments:
If she checked it in the first place instead of letting it ring, it wouldn't have been a problem!
Sure! Twilight should've been more mindful of being in company, and Sunset should've kept a better handle on her temper.
Not quite "Rocks fall, everyone dies," but it's a pretty jerk move.
Now the question is whether any of the players will point out that swinging a sledgehammer into a portal will just make it poke into Equestria. Or that breaking the portal strands Sunset in this world as well. Or...
Hmm. How does attacking objects work in 4e? Because Sunset may not be able to overcome the statue's hardness.
Now the question is whether any of the players will point out that swinging a sledgehammer into a portal will just make it poke into Equestria. Or that breaking the portal strands Sunset in this world as well. Or...
Hmm. How does attacking objects work in 4e? Because Sunset may not be able to overcome the statue's hardness.
Aaaaaaaaand just like that this dm has lost all respect from me. Granted its fictional but still, angrily punishing your players because they got a lot of texts is really bad
I was reading it as more panic than anger. At her possibly losing interest, or perhaps knowing about the signal. Maybe she overheard the conversation with DM during the break?
Nah, I think the dog thing was planned before the texts. She just has her brain set to "give exposition" and Twi's texts aren't allowing her to do that, so she blurts out the speech anyway. Socially awkward rather than hostile.
Maybe a bit of both? Like, I see it as an angry outburst, like a "Shut up and let me talk" kind of snap. Not strictly hostile, but also a bit more than what is usually called for at a table. Not judging on whether or not it was merited.
I could see it working that way too. One of those "you really need to hear the tone of voice" situations I suppose.
I figured GM was yelling, so as to be heard through the phone...
I totally understand Sunset DM. I was a terrible DM when I first started being a DM. It has taken 5 years for me to take the role again because I know how bad I was. So rembering my time as I first time DM I totally understand Sunset DM, she's doing far better then I did.
So... Something I don't understand from the movie... Could the sledgehammer really destroy a magical portal? Not to say it could be hard to destroy the magic that connect the portal or maybe the statue, but the portal is open so the sledgehammer could be sucked by it, right?
Maybe the edges are fragile or something, such that it would be destroyed if hit from the "side" instead of entered from the "front".
Or perhaps its magic is vulnerable to intent, such that it only really matter that Sunset is trying to destroy it while doing something that vaguely can destroy things.
Neither is really stated but sounds like something that could be true.
Or perhaps its magic is vulnerable to intent, such that it only really matter that Sunset is trying to destroy it while doing something that vaguely can destroy things.
Neither is really stated but sounds like something that could be true.
Sunset presumably could have smashed up the statue pedestal that held the portal, I guess. But it's still a moot point.
In the movie, Sunset was bluffing about smashing the portal - As Twilight points out, Sunset's whole plan was to take over Equestria once she got the Element, so of course she wouldn't destroy her only means of getting back there! Whether or not she actually COULD have destroyed the portal never mattered, as long as Twi and friends thought she could.
She also never intended to actually harm Spike in any way; she might steal magical artifacts in order to take over the world, turn students into zombie servants, and attempt to KILL people with her stolen magic, but apparently harming a puppy is still beneath her...
In the movie, Sunset was bluffing about smashing the portal - As Twilight points out, Sunset's whole plan was to take over Equestria once she got the Element, so of course she wouldn't destroy her only means of getting back there! Whether or not she actually COULD have destroyed the portal never mattered, as long as Twi and friends thought she could.
She also never intended to actually harm Spike in any way; she might steal magical artifacts in order to take over the world, turn students into zombie servants, and attempt to KILL people with her stolen magic, but apparently harming a puppy is still beneath her...
Movie-wise, I still don't think any part of Sunset's original plan involved Twilight following her through, and that as soon as she saw that had happened she completely scrapped whatever plans she had and was on defense, improvising, and panicking on the inside from the early movie on. She just had so much better a poker face than Twilight it wasn't clear, especially since we were empathizing with a Twilight temporarily lacking her circle of friends.
Granted, I also think Sunset wasn't turning the student body into zombies, but my reasoning there gets a bit intricate to just dump into a comment here.
Granted, I also think Sunset wasn't turning the student body into zombies, but my reasoning there gets a bit intricate to just dump into a comment here.
Uh-oh. The villain of the campaign did something villainous #worstDMever
She's tried for probably, like, 15 minutes to describe the outcome of the group's successful rolls leading up to the Fall Formal and winning the crown as a "Here's what you accomplished, good job!" before moving on to the villain's response to her original plan being thwarted, only to be interrupted multiple times during her set up. Everyone is even lampshading they are FULLY expecting reprisal, *in-game* from the *in-game antagonist*. Of course Shim Sham isn't going to just give up if she can't win in a somewhat legit way! They know this!
The girl that's been glued to her phone for part of the game did not actually *silence* her phone when she said she put it away and is continuing to interrupt a major turn in the narrative. Now, one could excuse this, I suppose; I would absolutely check my phone if it kept going off, because it might be an emergency if someone's being so insistent, but obviously we know that isn't the case here. I'm not happy to see that phone come back either, personally. Also, just what is DM *doing*? "Hey, lemme just go ahead and spoil another DM's plans by giving you a heads up!" That's a shocking moment of poor etiquette!
She's tried for probably, like, 15 minutes to describe the outcome of the group's successful rolls leading up to the Fall Formal and winning the crown as a "Here's what you accomplished, good job!" before moving on to the villain's response to her original plan being thwarted, only to be interrupted multiple times during her set up. Everyone is even lampshading they are FULLY expecting reprisal, *in-game* from the *in-game antagonist*. Of course Shim Sham isn't going to just give up if she can't win in a somewhat legit way! They know this!
The girl that's been glued to her phone for part of the game did not actually *silence* her phone when she said she put it away and is continuing to interrupt a major turn in the narrative. Now, one could excuse this, I suppose; I would absolutely check my phone if it kept going off, because it might be an emergency if someone's being so insistent, but obviously we know that isn't the case here. I'm not happy to see that phone come back either, personally. Also, just what is DM *doing*? "Hey, lemme just go ahead and spoil another DM's plans by giving you a heads up!" That's a shocking moment of poor etiquette!
In fairness to the main DM, Twilight had already warned them that the situation was not ideal, potentially volatile. The DM had been offering an escape hatch if it came to that. Sunset DM deciding to threaten a GM npc out of nowhere, regardless of actual intent/willingness to harm them is a major escalation, and arguably one the DM could interpret as a personal attack given what they already knew about the game. This call/text from the GM is just part of the same pattern, checking to see things haven't exploded.
I don't think OG!DM was trying to give away Sunset!DM's plans. Based on their text here, it seems like OG!DM has gotten a bunch of texts from one of the other players or Sunset!DM (my money's on Sunset) that has made them concerned about how things are going.
Also, when was Twi glued to her phone? We only saw her spend a significant amount of time texting during a break, and the last time was just to shoot off a quick text letting OG!DM know everything was going okay.
Also, when was Twi glued to her phone? We only saw her spend a significant amount of time texting during a break, and the last time was just to shoot off a quick text letting OG!DM know everything was going okay.
So, here's my problem with this scene. Spike is Twilight's familiar, but setting aside the advantages of that specific detail, Spike is her close friend/talking dog. At no point was Twilight given a chance to notice Spike was being taken.
Now I understand passive perceptions, and secret rolls. I also understand narrative license. BUT. The scene was not adequately set for either. Sunset DM literally skipped through almost any description of the dance, vote, etc. When the party rolled their perceptions, Sunset DM answered in a way that suggested her and her cronies just weren't anywhere in the areas they were looking. There was no positioning except that Twilight was receiving the crown. Even that was only implied. How did they get Spike? Was there nothing that could be done? How did they get so far so fast? Sunset DM is skipping all necessary setup to skip to what they want, which is likely to be a dramatic combat or tense social showdown. This is something that irritates a lot of players, especially new players or players protective of their character: moving the game by fiat to a drastically different place.
Now I understand passive perceptions, and secret rolls. I also understand narrative license. BUT. The scene was not adequately set for either. Sunset DM literally skipped through almost any description of the dance, vote, etc. When the party rolled their perceptions, Sunset DM answered in a way that suggested her and her cronies just weren't anywhere in the areas they were looking. There was no positioning except that Twilight was receiving the crown. Even that was only implied. How did they get Spike? Was there nothing that could be done? How did they get so far so fast? Sunset DM is skipping all necessary setup to skip to what they want, which is likely to be a dramatic combat or tense social showdown. This is something that irritates a lot of players, especially new players or players protective of their character: moving the game by fiat to a drastically different place.
Guest Author's Note: "(Author's Notes from Dinn will resume when things are a bit less tense.)"