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    1. Spill your RPG character's secrets that the other party members don't know!

      I'll start: the party knows my character is a veteran of the war between the elves and the humans, but they don't know that she was duped into helping develop a type of biological warfare and...

      I'll start: the party knows my character is a veteran of the war between the elves and the humans, but they don't know that she was duped into helping develop a type of biological warfare and becoming an accessory to war crimes.

      What are you hiding?

      18 votes
    2. [SOLVED] Looking for the name of a specific board game, recommended on tildes

      As the title suggests, I am lookimg for the name of an existing boardgame. Some time ago (months), there was a discussion about boardgame recommendations. One person described a very interesting...

      As the title suggests, I am lookimg for the name of an existing boardgame.
      Some time ago (months), there was a discussion about boardgame recommendations. One person described a very interesting boardgame, which I wanted to gift my family for christmas, but I sadly closed the tab with it and I can't find the original post anymore.

      The game goes as follows:
      One player builds a construct with different shapes and colours according to certain guidelines. The other players now have to find the rules, which the presentated construct follows, by building their own construct and getting feedback from the gamemaster, if it fulfills their guidelines.

      According to the poster, this game was originally a game a group of friends played in college, it became so popular that they created a sellable version. Recently they revamped it.

      P.S. I am not really familiar with this kind of post, so if I did anything wrong, some feedback would be nice.

      P.P.S. Is there some kind of function (maybe through tags?) to mark this post as solved, if hopefully someone managed to recognise the game?

      8 votes
    3. esoteric board game rules templating review, please

      I'm working on a card game that would arrive to your home without a rulebook, but I'm having a comprehensibility problem. Below is some basic rules text for this game. If you had enough time to...

      I'm working on a card game that would arrive to your home without a rulebook, but I'm having a comprehensibility problem. Below is some basic rules text for this game. If you had enough time to decipher the below, do you believe you could understand its meaning? Are there any words which are too obscure?

      Join a game by selecting a central objective from among its currently apparent contests. Catch a turn from wherever to start playing then describe your plan aloud to the group. If anyone agrees that your plan is valid (legal?) then they can accept you into the game as their second. Anyone else who wants to join at this point may also join/rejoin as your teammate.

      Contests are tensions between two scales which can be described by consensus. For example, imagine I'm 1v1 with Ah while you are on a team with Bo and Ci against Du. Imagine Du sees that the tide is not in their favor, and decides to jump ship to the other game. They may do so at any time by admitting they want out of their losing position and describing which team in the other game they would like to swing over to join (My team or Ah's.). Bo, Ci, and you are left in the boat without an opponent. This may cause a crisis (see "Crisis Card").

      Farewell, I am off to prepare lunch for a child.

      4 votes
    4. DnD 5e's Newest Rulebook (Tasha's Cauldron of Everything) is out tomorrow

      For people new to tabletop RPGs, this is the equivalent of a DLC expansion. It's new content, new rules, new classes, and so forth to augment your 5e game. Notable contents include: Racial Traits...

      For people new to tabletop RPGs, this is the equivalent of a DLC expansion. It's new content, new rules, new classes, and so forth to augment your 5e game.

      Notable contents include:

      Racial Traits

      1. Racial stat bonuses can be moved around at will (i.e you can change a Half Elf's +2 Charisma to a +2 Strength)

      2. Races with negative stat bonuses no longer have negative stat bonuses

      3. A new "custom lineage" race exists, which allows to pick any race, and replace their features with a +2 to any stat of your choice, a feat, and darkvision.

      Class Variants

      These modify class features. Unfortunately, many of them are somewhat controversial in the community because people do not believe that they fixed many of the classes that are considered to have poor design, notably rangers and sorcerers.

      For the spellcasters, spell versatility (a feature which allows you to change spells you know on a long rest) was not implemented, disappointing many

      New Subclasses

      A few subclasses from other books are reprinted so you don't have to buy them (example: Eloquence Bard, from Mythical Odyssey of Theros), and a few are new, like Order Cleric, Wildfire Druid, and so forth.

      In particular, the Clockwork Soul Sorcerer is one piece of good news for Sorcerer players.

      14 votes
    5. Board games with unique mechanics?

      Currently, I've been playing board games which always have the same kind of (standard) mechanics (worker placement, card drafting, etc), which after a while, starts to feel kind of the same but...

      Currently, I've been playing board games which always have the same kind of (standard) mechanics (worker placement, card drafting, etc), which after a while, starts to feel kind of the same but what changes is the theme.

      I'm looking for recommendations on board games which have unique mechanics. It could a completely new mechanic or simply a mechanic which already exists but then the game uses it with a twist.

      For example:

      • Trickerion use of worker placement but the workers have actually different values.

      • Tzolk'in and the use of gears.

      12 votes
    6. My first DnD character died. What should I do next?

      I've been playing a Tomb of Annihilation campaign with some friends the past few months, and we are all relatively new players (each of us having played about one campaign before). As far as I...

      I've been playing a Tomb of Annihilation campaign with some friends the past few months, and we are all relatively new players (each of us having played about one campaign before). As far as I know this is the first time any of us have been in a campaign where a PC dies. My level 4 wizard was suddenly and violently killed by a flesh golem.

      None of us are exactly sure how to proceed, and there's some disagreement. A few of the people in my party think that any new character should be a level or two behind the party in order to further dis-incentivize dying. I personally think that is too harsh, and luckily it seems like we are reaching a consensus that my new character should be the same level, but I shouldn't be able to play as the same race and class.

      This seems more or less reasonable to me, although to be honest I really enjoyed playing as a wizard so I wouldn't have minded doing so again. I'm mainly curious to hear how you all handle character deaths, and any tips you might have for making a new character mid-campaign.

      10 votes
    7. How do you feel board games have changed in the last twenty-five years?

      Everyone always refers to the coming of Eurogames a long time back, but I'm wondering about modern games. Where have they come? Where will they go? I'd say the art has gotten better, more...

      Everyone always refers to the coming of Eurogames a long time back, but I'm wondering about modern games. Where have they come? Where will they go? I'd say the art has gotten better, more eye-catching, but I'm more ambivalent about very recent (last five years) game mechanics.

      11 votes
    8. As a DM, I kinda hate Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

      I hate that enemies have so low armor class. In earlier editions, you had to be tactical, use flanking manoeuvres and charge attacks, prepare the right support spells, maybe even pick the Weapon...

      I hate that enemies have so low armor class. In earlier editions, you had to be tactical, use flanking manoeuvres and charge attacks, prepare the right support spells, maybe even pick the Weapon Specialization feat for your favourite weapon. In 5e, no need; just stand wherever, roll an attack, you'll probably hit. In addition to removing much of the tactics from the game, this makes it basically impossible for enemy spellcasters to use duration spells. Good luck succeeding on 4 concentration checks per turn.

      I hate that enemies' proficiency bonus is based on their challenge rating. No high-attack low-damage monsters here. Don't worry; the tank in your party will never need healing, any level-appropriate monster needs to roll ridiculously high on the dice to hit them! Everyone else just stay in the back and lob your bloody cantrips, and the battle will be over in 3 turns.

      I hate that attack cantrips do as much damage as a weapon attack (or more). Why even have weapons at all, when your cantrips do more damage than a longsword, with better range than a crossbow.

      I hate that cantrips scale with character level. No need to learn anything new for the rest of the game, your trusty Eldritch Blast will be your most powerful attack throughout. Especially when you get access to Greater Invisibility and don't need to rely on your bloody familiar for advantage on attack rolls.

      I hate that familiars can do help actions in combat. Advantage every turn! And since they're no longer a class feature but a spell, they're also available to fighters and rogues, no multi-classing necessary. And unlike in earlier editions there are no real consequences of losing your familiar. All you lose is 10 gp worth of incense to get them back, a pittance at higher levels.

      I hate that a long rest fully restores hit points. No need to ever stay in one place for longer than 8 hours, no need to conserve spell slots to do end-of-the-day healing, heck; no need for a healer at all really! And it gets worse when they reach 3rd level and get access to Leomund's Tiny Hut, and don't even need to find a safe spot to camp.

      I hate that wild shape is basically useless in combat, due to challenge rating restrictions and the lousy selection of beasts in the Monster Manual.

      I hate that the only logical combat use of Polymorph is turning into a dinosaur. Prepare for the inevitable discussion around the table: Can my character turn into a tyrannosaurus rex, even if they've never seen one? No? But, uuuuuh, they saw a picture of one in a book at the library!

      I hate that you can use Counterspell to counterspell someone else's attempt at counterspelling your own spell.

      I hate that any character can use any skill. No need for a rogue, just hand those Thieves' Tools to the character with the highest Dexterity, they'll get that door open.

      The worst thing is that this game went through lots and lots of play-testing before it was released. The developers must have known about all of these issues and chosen not to change them, meaning that none of these are bugs; they're all features! This is how the developers intended the game to be!

      Did I forget any of your peeves about the game? Add them in the comments. Alternatively, comment with what you love about 5e, let's add some positivity to this rant.

      13 votes
    9. Tips for making a first DnD character?

      I'm starting a virtual campaign with some friends soon, and this is my first time making a DnD character (I have DMed once in the past when we were all starting out). I'm super excited and just...

      I'm starting a virtual campaign with some friends soon, and this is my first time making a DnD character (I have DMed once in the past when we were all starting out). I'm super excited and just kind of delving in now and finding all of it very fun.

      We're going to be playing the Tombs of Annihilation campaign which I understand can be a difficult one for beginners. I am right now leaning towards making a Wizard character since I think that is most in line with my irl personality and would be easiest to roleplay, but I'm kind of overwhelmed by the options available to me!

      Does anyone have tips on ways to stay organized and make sure I'm building a balanced character? Common pitfalls to avoid for a beginner? Tips for playing a wizard? I'm open to any and all suggestions, both about character design and newbie tips in general.

      11 votes