The D&D thread

Hatorade

A nice asshole.
8,175
6,575
this is a question for experienced DM's... i've often thought about outright lying to players in certain circumstances... it would have to be done with players where everyone is very comfortable with each other and adult enough to be able to separate in game stuff with real life, and i think it would have to be brought up in a session 0 so that the players are aware of the possibility of it.

so let me explain... we play dnd with a virtual tabletop since we are all irl friends that live all over the country. we use fantasy grounds, i don't know if other vtt's have this option, but players can roll their dice "in the tower" which makes the result only visible to the DM. we've messed around with how much we've used the tower in several campaigns, but we've kind of settled on only using the tower for high stakes dramatic moments. the kind of moments where you're all tense about what the results will be. maybe counterspelling the lich right as he's about to cast disintegrate on the cleric with 20 hp left.

i've gone back and forth multiple times on the idea of lying to the players if they roll a nat 1 on an insight check or something similar. normally, if that kind of thing happens, the player knows to ignore any response they get because they know they just rolled a 1. even if they are good at not metagaming, it's hard to take the response the dm gives you seriously. so now, let's say in conjunction with rolling insight checks in the tower, the cleric (who is normally very good at insight checks with their high wisdom stat) rolls a nat 1 but can't see the result, they just have to trust their own proficiency.

they are being told some information by the quest giver, and they are kind of unsure if they are being set up or if the person is just uncomfortable asking outsiders for help. the cleric does an insight check (in the tower) and rolls a 1. the DM then says, "you look at his posture, the way he's fidgeting, his eyes that dart here and there... it's EXTREMELY subtle, and if it weren't for how insightful that you KNOW you are, you would have missed it... but you know a liar when you see one."

in reality, you, as the dm, know that he was nervous because he didn't want his neighbors or guards to see him conversing with the group of hardened mercenaries. they live in a simple town and don't want to invite "those kind of people" in because the only consistent thing adventurers bring is dead bodies.

so it's not that you just outright make things up (though failing a perception check with a nat 1 could result in this?) but the character's nat 1 resulted in a completely failed interpretation of the events.

alright... i've gone back and forth on this because while i like the idea of it in theory, it'd have to be done very carefully because it could easily come across as biased or antagonistic... like i said at the beginning, it could only really be done with friends that have known each other for a long time and are comfortable with it

thoughts?
Only do this if you roll hidden dice for them. If they know you rolled a 1 or 20 then it changes everything and they can meta their way out of it.
 

bigmark268

Vyemm Raider
594
1,820
Does anyone have any experience getting stuff printed onto cards? Like size of an MTG card, want to get some printed up for different spells, features, etc. Looking for a good place to do it at a reasonable price
That would be so fun handing out real nice looking cards for items to players. I did that over 10yrs ago. But just like on printer paper. Did it maybe 3 times in a row. Even put them in some old deck protectors. And my moron friends would just lose them or sit there and destroy them. I was like nah I'm good. But we were also like 20 lol.
 
Last edited:

Talos

Silver Baronet of the Realm
3,299
10,498
Curse of Strahd session went well for the most part. One of the players is roleplaying his dwarf as a greedy Jew, getting into arguments over loot and trying to steal things from other players. It was funny at first but started to get annoying as everyone else just wanted to move along and keep exploring.

They are kind of stuck though. They did not explore the wall or nursemaid's bedroom for the secret doors to the attic. Not sure how to nudge them to go back and check those things without railroading.

I had Gertrude's dog hiding under the harpsichord on the 2nd floor. A small gray terrier that they instantly fell in love with, except the dwarf. I am sure he'll try to sacrifice it in the dungeon and force a fight with the rest of the party lol
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

Arbitrary

Tranny Chaser
27,112
71,773
That might end up happening for some things, but if I can make some cool cards at a reasonable cost I'll probably do that

There's almost certainly a local printer that can do what you want. The kind of place that does signs, blueprints, etc.
 
  • 1Worf
Reactions: 1 user

Hoss

Make America's Team Great Again
<Gold Donor>
25,538
12,024
Does anyone have any experience getting stuff printed onto cards? Like size of an MTG card, want to get some printed up for different spells, features, etc. Looking for a good place to do it at a reasonable price

How fancy do you want to get? If you have a printer you can buy some card stock and print your own.
 

Indyocracy

Stock Pals Participant
<Gold Donor>
1,056
4,986
Curse of Strahd session went well for the most part. One of the players is roleplaying his dwarf as a greedy Jew, getting into arguments over loot and trying to steal things from other players. It was funny at first but started to get annoying as everyone else just wanted to move along and keep exploring.

They are kind of stuck though. They did not explore the wall or nursemaid's bedroom for the secret doors to the attic. Not sure how to nudge them to go back and check those things without railroading.

I had Gertrude's dog hiding under the harpsichord on the 2nd floor. A small gray terrier that they instantly fell in love with, except the dwarf. I am sure he'll try to sacrifice it in the dungeon and force a fight with the rest of the party lol
So instances like this are when I tend to use passive checks. The game really stalls if they don't find the door so why let the dice put you in a bind when your best investigator/perceiver can just notice a draft or something to clue them in. Otherwise spooky noises in those rooms to draw attention; have a kids toy make noise or just have child's voices in the walls of the house to make then think to search.

In general I let the dice decide when the outcome should be uncertain (combat, do you know about a random plant, ect) but if something is integral to the story and the consequences to failure are basically everyone has a worse time as I duct tape a solution then just don't roll and use passives or just give the players the info.
,
That is my style your mileage may vary.

If your Dwarf player continues down this road I wish you luck, all my experiences with pvp have led to hurt feelings. Mostly due to it always being a blindside.
 
Last edited:
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

slippery

<Bronze Donator>
7,892
7,704
How fancy do you want to get? If you have a printer you can buy some card stock and print your own.
I found a place that is going to do them for like 30 cents each, we'll see how they come out.

I'm pretty tempted to buy a decent printer and start fucking around with them myself though

Worth it from a money perspective? Definitely not. But money isn't really an issue these days, so if it's fun and neat, maybe.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

bigmark268

Vyemm Raider
594
1,820
I found a place that is going to do them for like 30 cents each, we'll see how they come out.

I'm pretty tempted to buy a decent printer and start fucking around with them myself though

Worth it from a money perspective? Definitely not. But money isn't really an issue these days, so if it's fun and neat, maybe.
That's fucking awesome dude. Post pics when you can
 

Hateyou

Not Great, Not Terrible
<Bronze Donator>
16,289
42,321
Hello nerds. Anyone have some recommendations on a set of nice dice for a new dnd player? Christmas gift for someone.

I think I bought some stuff from here in the past.


And these guys seem like they have some cool sets.


But I figured you guys might have some brands you know sell some quality stuff.

Grabbit Allworth Grabbit Allworth you buy a lot of shit, you have a recommendation for me?
 
  • 1Like
  • 1Worf
Reactions: 1 users

Kriptini

Vyemm Raider
3,640
3,538
Hello nerds. Anyone have some recommendations on a set of nice dice for a new dnd player? Christmas gift for someone.

I think I bought some stuff from here in the past.


And these guys seem like they have some cool sets.


But I figured you guys might have some brands you know sell some quality stuff.

Grabbit Allworth Grabbit Allworth you buy a lot of shit, you have a recommendation for me?

I like FanRoll, they have some liquid core dice that are really neat and also tons of metallic dice. The misfit dice bags are pretty reasonable and you can get some really neat stuff in those. https://fanrolldice.com/
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

Hoss

Make America's Team Great Again
<Gold Donor>
25,538
12,024
I like my metal dice. You can find them on amazon. I recently bought my wife some gemstone dice and some acrylic aquatic themed dice cause she likes that stuff. Etsy has some good cheap stuff.

Tiger eye is a cool looking gem stone too.





 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Guurn

<Bronze Donator>
5,965
30,673
2 things of note. Metal dice can damage things, like wood. Gemstone dice break pretty easily depending on the stone used. That being said my favorite dice are Hematite. Super legible and roll well.
 

Hoss

Make America's Team Great Again
<Gold Donor>
25,538
12,024
2 things of note. Metal dice can damage things, like wood. Gemstone dice break pretty easily depending on the stone used. That being said my favorite dice are Hematite. Super legible and roll well.

3rd thing to note, dice trays exist. It's like a portable arena where your dice can fight.

Speaking of dice damaging things, I have a set of spiky metal dice. I looked for the link yesterday but I can't remember where I bought them. After a couple of session I started noticing little dents in my character sheets and on my books. Had me baffled for a little bit. That's when I broke down and bought a dice tray.
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

Guurn

<Bronze Donator>
5,965
30,673
3rd thing to note, dice trays exist. It's like a portable arena where your dice can fight.

Speaking of dice damaging things, I have a set of spiky metal dice. I looked for the link yesterday but I can't remember where I bought them. After a couple of session I started noticing little dents in my character sheets and on my books. Had me baffled for a little bit. That's when I broke down and bought a dice tray.
I've got way too many dice trays. Once you try one and come upon one that seems better it's tough to resist, they don't cost much generally.
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

Kovaks

Mr. Poopybutthole
2,354
3,142
Went to Ren fair this weekend and some dude was selling 3d printed dice towers, they were cool and my kid wanted one but he had them for 90 - 120. Well looks like the files are free online so time to dust off my printer.
 

Grabbit Allworth

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
1,373
5,805
Grabbit Allworth Grabbit Allworth you buy a lot of shit, you have a recommendation for me?
I apologize for the slow response, but it's not because I was ignoring you. I just haven't visited the forum in a bit. I'm not much help anyway because 'special' or premium dice have never had any appeal to me.

I literally have nearly $25k in physical D&D/Pathfinder material, but I've spent less than $50 on dice throughout my entire life.
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

bigmark268

Vyemm Raider
594
1,820
Dice. I've bought those cheap ass Amazon packs of like 12 sets for 20 bucks. That way I can put them out for my players or the kids. I've got myself a set of gencon dice from 07 that I've used since. But even that was a $10 set.

ive never liked the idea of metal, stone, glass dice. Shits either gunna break or scuff my table and books.

But for minis. Omfg I have like over 2000 of the wizards and wizkjds ones. Then I have boxes and boxes of reaper minis from kickstarters.
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

Grabbit Allworth

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
1,373
5,805
Tonight's session was a fuck ton of fun, but it ended right as initiative was rolled.

The group is facing a named Beholder (significantly more powerful than a standard one), a Brass Golem, and an 11th level Duergar Cleric. The Cleric is off-screen because the file with him in it was too large to upload and it's not worth a second screen.

Anyway, it's going to be rough.


P.S. The screen doesn't do the art any justice at all. It looks like pixelated trash, but it's crisp as fuck.
RnH.png
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user