Friendship is Dragons
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Page 1478 - Dialing It Back
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i like how Cadence's player is able to see that the player characters are uncomfortable here and is able to get DM to back off so it's still a good experience for everyone- this is kind of the theme of this arc but i just really like how it's shown here
”Interesting combat encounter! May I propose an alternative that completely removes the challenge that the DM spent time planning for no other reason than to give the PCs more combat benefits, all while sounding just diplomatic enough so that you will have to respond to my interuption or you will look like the bad guy.” Cadence is quickly devolving into my least favorite type of player. I can hear that ”Hoooow aboooout” in my head; like nails on a chalk board.
Didn’t really mean for that to be a response to another comment.
I've seen some DMs crash and burn combat gimmicks they overestimated their ability to handle. It ends up not as fun for everyone.
But I think the more important point here is what Cadance is proposing. It isn't, "Players can know where each other are," it's "you can know where your character is." It isn't a perfect solution, because others can see, but it brings up two important factors in all this.
1) Your character would know where they are in this brawl.
2) What happens if the players move and use the wrong piece? Does the DM have to stop them and correct them, or did the changeling move and they just lost their own turn voluntarily? If the DM corrects them, then you end up in the same situation where the players know where they are because...well, it's the only ones they can move. (And that's assuming the DM has perfect memory and never has to check themselves.)
It's a neat idea, having to worry about whether the person near you is friend or foe, but it becomes a meta problem when you aren't sure if that's your token, or if it's one of the five identical tokens next to it.
But I think the more important point here is what Cadance is proposing. It isn't, "Players can know where each other are," it's "you can know where your character is." It isn't a perfect solution, because others can see, but it brings up two important factors in all this.
1) Your character would know where they are in this brawl.
2) What happens if the players move and use the wrong piece? Does the DM have to stop them and correct them, or did the changeling move and they just lost their own turn voluntarily? If the DM corrects them, then you end up in the same situation where the players know where they are because...well, it's the only ones they can move. (And that's assuming the DM has perfect memory and never has to check themselves.)
It's a neat idea, having to worry about whether the person near you is friend or foe, but it becomes a meta problem when you aren't sure if that's your token, or if it's one of the five identical tokens next to it.
Oh, I would totally "accidentally" move a wrong tocen if that helped me to do a nice AoE.
This is a combat encounter that seems like it would work a LOT better online than in real life, honestly. When the only token you're capable of manipulating is your own, it's much harder to lose track of which one is yours.
Especially since online services are likely to support overlays that only the token owner and GM can see, so each real PC token can be clearly marked to its respective player without ruining the gimmick.
yeah this makes a bit more sense online. if the session is in person then they can clearly see whos turn it is when they physically move a token and theres no chance of losing track of your own token because your constantly moving it each round or staying place and blasting
Or doing it online could let you do the whole thing by PM, which would solve a lot of the logistical issues. Player!Dash (for example) could PM the GM with her actions for the round (also checking which tile is hers if necessary, since the other players can't eavesdrop), and then the GM declares the actions all the "Rainbow Dashes", including the real one, take on the main thread.
Well, the fake Fluttershys will be easy to ID, any Fluttershy that looks angry or mean is obviously not the the real one.8P
The catch of not having your duplicate have the exact same alignment and personality...
Also why most of my duplicates in games ended up being easy to spot. Too different personalities.
...Of course most of the duplicates in games I have done was due to one PC saying they would make an item for future games that take place in that world.
...The PC was a duplicate of another PC by same player due to going into the mirror plane. ( https://triplecrit.fandom.com/wiki/Plane_of_Mirrors ...we 'solved' keeping both duplicate and original by just having original willingly get slain - 20th level monk with res. - and then them becoming sisters and strange BFFs) This was a high level good aligned Ponyfinder game, and the evil-by-birth duplicate was TERRIFIED of being surrounded by Good high level characters. So she became a Poke the Poodle, Card Carrying Villain - insisted she was evil but did really minor evil things most of the time.
Anyway, post campaign we decided she went on to start an orphanage, training young foals in her particular brand of villainy...also making more mirror portals to plane of mirrors, but this time with extra spells that would force the duplicates to be evil no matter the original's alignment (though other alignment factors were opposite...and we also included girly/boyish in this game). Also Poke the Poodle and Card Carrying Villain on top of that alignment shift.
One adventure we did have the characters find the mirror and a few characters got doubles. One of the doubles had a nervous breakdown after realizing the original was actually a nazi assassin and they couldn't really be more evil than a nazi. ....Especially while being a Poke the Poodle type villain. Later would go into painting anarchy signs with paint that washes off. ...The original after the breakdown starts contemplating her own morals cause she did not realize she was following evil (she was from post apocalyptic future where Hitler equivalent had become a god and ruled for a thousand years...VERY brainwashed)
Also why most of my duplicates in games ended up being easy to spot. Too different personalities.
...Of course most of the duplicates in games I have done was due to one PC saying they would make an item for future games that take place in that world.
...The PC was a duplicate of another PC by same player due to going into the mirror plane. ( https://triplecrit.fandom.com/wiki/Plane_of_Mirrors ...we 'solved' keeping both duplicate and original by just having original willingly get slain - 20th level monk with res. - and then them becoming sisters and strange BFFs) This was a high level good aligned Ponyfinder game, and the evil-by-birth duplicate was TERRIFIED of being surrounded by Good high level characters. So she became a Poke the Poodle, Card Carrying Villain - insisted she was evil but did really minor evil things most of the time.
Anyway, post campaign we decided she went on to start an orphanage, training young foals in her particular brand of villainy...also making more mirror portals to plane of mirrors, but this time with extra spells that would force the duplicates to be evil no matter the original's alignment (though other alignment factors were opposite...and we also included girly/boyish in this game). Also Poke the Poodle and Card Carrying Villain on top of that alignment shift.
One adventure we did have the characters find the mirror and a few characters got doubles. One of the doubles had a nervous breakdown after realizing the original was actually a nazi assassin and they couldn't really be more evil than a nazi. ....Especially while being a Poke the Poodle type villain. Later would go into painting anarchy signs with paint that washes off. ...The original after the breakdown starts contemplating her own morals cause she did not realize she was following evil (she was from post apocalyptic future where Hitler equivalent had become a god and ruled for a thousand years...VERY brainwashed)
Cue the scene from To Where and Back Again. So many Fluttershys...
When we had a gimmick similar to this the GM had us control both sides but didn't tell us which was which. >.<
Oh! The Doctor, where the humans and aliens had no clue which was which because of shenanigans, and the only one who knew was the one with the inhailer.
"just once I want a pc to accidentally hit another pc"
Said every GM that I've had bed experiences with. I like having occasional new combat mechanic, but pvp is a poor choice in my experience. If you are going to introduce something, ensure that it's fun, not frustrating.
Said every GM that I've had bed experiences with. I like having occasional new combat mechanic, but pvp is a poor choice in my experience. If you are going to introduce something, ensure that it's fun, not frustrating.
Anyway, our first-ever Vampire: the Masquerade session is now live!
Spudventures - The Blood Virulent, Session 1 - Slice of Life: Podcast | YouTube