Applejack: So how do the townsfolk react to us changin' and havin' different jobs?
DM: They don't seem to think anything is wrong. They're just going about their day, as if no one remembers you doing anything different.
Fluttershy: But we remember, right?
DM: Yes. The memory is a little foggy and you have to reach for it, but once you all meet up and compare notes, it becomes obvious that your lives have been thrown into chaos.
Fluttershy: So *I* know that I'm not supposed to be a party pony... but everyone else in town is looking at me, expecting me to put smiles on their faces... ^Great...^
DM: Now that you mention it, that's probably the worst part about all this. The societal pressure to stay in your lane, even if it doesn't suit you.
Fluttershy: At least I can kind of step back and laugh about this, because this is a game and it's temporary.
Twilight Sparkle: Yeah, because otherwise this is stage-fright purgatory.
I don't mind telling you all that this whole scenario carries some existential horror for me, especially Fluttershy's perspective, as an introvert with social anxiety who nonetheless feels compelled to uplift and entertain.
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I sometimes have this wibbly feeling when I am hanging out with an introvert friend in a stream that I should take the brunt of the anxiety to be entertaining so they don't feel the pressure. Like, I'm fairly extroverted once I warm up but I worry I'll just annoy everyone when I try being entertaining. ^^;
That happens to me sometimes in conversations with other introverts! I feel like I have to become the extrovert to keep conversation going. I can do it, but I always feel like I end up sounding obnoxious & pushy. :(
I have a question... Should they throw a dice with a penalization to see how good (or bad) they do their new jobs? I just can think them doing a big 1 group
I am a tad confused. THey must do, because if they have the exact same skills and stats as the PCs had under other players, nothing will change. The only issue would be challenging players with tasks or knowledge inherent to the character class but that can't be determined with dice - and there are few of those in a game like DnD.
You might have to go back to the 1974 version, where you didn't have a search-for-traps skill, you literally had to tell the DM "I'm looking at the sides of this box for buttons and panels, and checking for needle traps in the keyhole."
You might, of course, pick up some of this knowledge from the other players (Fluttershy seems good at that), but there will still be things you forget. Make the Wizard be a Fighter? He'll forget to clean, oil and repair his gear, and it'll fail him at the worst possible moment. He will also, even though he has the stats for it, not know the best maneuver to kill an orc and will take longer to accomplish the task. While the Fighter in the character sheet of the wizard now knows how to read and cast cantrips, but forgets that a fireball isn't a good thing to throw in an enclosed space.
In other words, they now have the skills; but they don't have the education and experience that got the other player to that point.
I remember a very nice comic bout this episode, wherein the shuffled5 reinterpreted their cutiemarks meanings, and Ded up fairly happy with the result... Applejack took to Mining gems, and rarity used the weather powers to do light shows... And Fluttershy's did balloon animals... Tho I honestly think that was not trying hard enough... Considering the entertaining things one can do with animals, I would picture Fluttershy's instead having a troop of performing animals... Which has the bonus of taking eyes off of HER.
Wish I saved the comic, I forgot how Dash and Pinkie twisted it...
I think Dash designed sports gear, and Pinkie just made Apple Pie(no get that Cupcakes nonsense out if here, shoo!)?
...As a failed Pinkie Pie turned “Pinkamena” turned Fluttershy... I feel like I can relate to this. Somehow. Not quite sure... But yes, that is me. Somewhat. Ish. Extrovert-turned-introvert-turned... Really introvert. That’s part of why I don’t like Pinkie very much, she’s successful where I failed. I can’t hate her, but that doesn’t mean I like her.
Sometimes it feels like the DM is walking on eggshells when they interact with the group tbh.
Maybe it's just me but it feels like ever since Discord the DM can't do anything that might push the players a little outside their comfort zones or else they'll quit playing.
I don't know, that's just the vibe I've been getting for a while. Still a good comic though.
I think it's kind of a weird side effect of webcomic time. For us, Discord was quite a long time ago, but for them, it was fairly recent (like, two sessions previous). And when things get that bad, it doesn't exactly get better quick.
Oh my gosh! This is my youngest sister to a T! She's got such bad social anxiety, she barely leaves the house, but feels compelled to keep everyone happy and entertained at family get-togethers, especially the younger cousins. I found her in a corner within a hair's breath of a panic attack at our other sister's wedding reception, completely burned out from trying to be the life of the party to *two* families. Thing is, the reception went on fine without her. I know that a lot of the family expects her to be at gatherings and she *is* the somewhat-unofficial babysitter, but I'm also pretty sure that if she just *told* someone (who's not me) that she's feeling overwhelmed, they'd let her take a break and come up with alternatives. I mean, we managed fine before her, she doesn't *have* to put so much on herself.