What is the goal of my role?

I'm seeking to provide entertainment for both you and I.

I'm building a web of stories as a story, and having my fun along the way because that's the deal: Everyone gets to be a part of the story, me especially.

(S)He who runs the game, sets the tone and plays the role of the world, but the world has to be consistent and make sense.

In short, it may be bullshit, but it's my bullshit, and it's consistent.

Polished Turds.

DM bullshit is as time honoured as player fuckery and as long as ying and yang chase one another, so to does a team of players romp upon whatever story a DM has in store.

My responsibility as DM is to provide cohesiveness, and direction. I choose to add a slew of NPCs and political stuff to make things "interesting" while some players would decry it as unnecessary or over utilized..but with less eloquence.

Likewise, the players, in their own right, get to fashion the framework provided them into a ..whatever they can come up with.

You really get the whole range of expectations and intentions if you play long enough.

From the power player who is running a numbers game to the point they're border line cheating the system, to the power player who wants the world from level 1 (I'm a savant!) with little to (usually) zero role playing (although they usually tout being the best role player evarr, in the history of role players, evarr).

Okay, so I'm ranting; but here's my point:

Titular Article Title is Titular.

I could have caged Mitch's character Helbrim.

I could have attacked him with the robo dudes, or swarmed him with insects, spiders, etc; I could have had a single giant spider chasing his bat form until he fucked a roll and was found out.

I could have.

Should I have?

Put it all on fuckery.

It's a gamble, but sometimes, you just let the players have it.

Instead of a sensible wall (the elevator was riveted shut, remember that?), I decided, fuck it, let's let Mitch through to scout the area.

Y'know why that is? I trust Mitch.

I trust Mitch to get through the tunnel, get out the other side, and go tell the party about it. That's what Mitch excels at, and knowing my players is one of the important facets of my role.

Lack of Detail.

He's a bat, bats have good vision. Better then people at night. Y'might say they have darkvision. Say to 60 feet? 120 feet? Still not going to see the bottom of the cave.

The Camp and the Metal Men.

One thing that bugged me, in reviewing the session, is the disjointed detail. I know part of it is based on character context, and me wanting to (hamfistedly) deliver the point of their existence, and making them a thing is a basic story telling strategy.

Thunder came across a pile of parts and Kale encountered a chair load of half assembled metal man parts in the smithy, and Helbrim tracked the influence they had across the camp.

Helbrim had a natural 20 and is a druid, Thunder has an insanely high perception score as a rogue, and finally Kale rolled decently, and is a decent mage who dabbles in a lot of bizarre stuff.

So why am I delivering the way I am.

Let's talk about that.

Helbrim as a druid is tracking for whatever influence, especially the magical side of things.

Thunder is tracking for the physical presence of interlopers.

Kale is looking specifically for his own interests.

There is nothing right or wrong about anyones direction, but the point is this:

Everyone, despite score, is going to encounter contextually appropriate things.

Rolling a natural 20 doesn't mean you discover ALL THE THINGS, it means you absolutely do not miss anything within your tests context. The room, the lock, the tree, the whatever.

If you're rolling to eat pussy, you're going to eat THAT pussy really well. You're not going to eat EVERY pussy really well. Likewise it doesn't mean you'll eat the same pussy really well the second time.

Pussy is organic. If it were a lock, maybe I'd let it go.

Did I mention I run an adult game?

Dooley, you're ranting.

Right, so my point in all this is that I know what I'm doing and blah blah blah?

No, I'm providing context to my decisions. I'm clunky sometimes, but I trust my players.

There's a mixed bag at play here and I loved the directions from all sides, and I mean that. If it weren't the table it is, the chemistry wouldn't be the same, and for a guy like me, the chemistry is what it's all about.

Viewership and Injections

I like the injections for what they provide, and I have not forgotten the bees.

The honey storyline has fallen to history now, along with the Brightwoods, and etc; I intend to resurrect the bee influence, but right now I want to focus on providing everyone a nice, and simple dungeon crawl.

The bees, as a tool, are Pauls to command (and remember to command for that matter). I don't want to overtake Paul and his character with injections, but everyone paid for a thing and I believe that it should be a thing.

For now, they're just makin' honey, until such time I deem that the Queen Bee needs something.

The viewership is through the floor; and as a small D&D stream, what is typically in the high teens (seriously, if I break 20 it's a red letter day) is in the low tens.

I equate that to better weather (hence why most of my Cali crowd has disappeared).

It sucks, but it is the way of it every year and it'll pick back up as it gets too damn hot to do shit outside.

I will say this: I keep wondering if injections are a thing I should even bother with or if my viewership is too jaded to use them.

The Wile E. Coyote syndrome is real. Let's consider: WEC would use every ACME product in the catalogue to catch the RoadRunner. He would only ever use each thing once. He never used anything more then once and he never mixed it up. There was never a rocket sled leading to a -- oh whatever, you get the idea.

I have to go make dinner.

Folks, don't get disheartened cause I shot down your injection. Don't get butt hurt like it's personal. If I'm being dumb, just explain it in chat and try injecting again.

Anyhow; good talk everyone.

So as the weather cools down, the game has a shuffle of chairs.

Fletcher joins the game as a player and young version of Mitch. Seriously, I'm somewhat concerned that if Mitch comes back to play, it may cause a time conflict, a phase dimensional rift, or a sequel to Primer; so maybe not all bad.

Game was a good little romp, simple and traditional.

Adventure!

Last Episode

We start off with the continuing saga of our heroes, the saviours of the Cloud Spires; now with drill, engineers, and somewhat of a plan (sic: trusting that the engineers and by extension, the DM, have a plan), they venture towards their objective, the underdark of a distant mountain range.

Previous session, the adventurers started out transported to a small shrine nested in a divut carved from a mountain in a new mountain range some mountain ranges away.

Traveling along a mountain path connecting the shrine to a nearby tower, they found another phylactery hotwired with a long stretch of cable leading down to the underdark regions within the mountain.

Following their way out the main entrance of the tower compound, they met with Svirfneblin guards, who after a brief skirmish, introduced them to their leaders at a city of Svirfneblin. Here they were confronted with a morale choice of wipe out the Svirfneblin by destroying their shield, the wiring apparatus, and resultantly, their source of power and heat. They used to rely on lava flows through which they would vent the heat to drive their engines and warm their environs.

As luck would have it, the Svirfneblins in this distant range also had a portal gate. For those who aren't aware, these are somewhat like Stargate gates, upon which runes can be inscribed to reach other gates. The process is easy, but can be messed up, and gates can be locked to prevent incoming from another gate. Being that Vane was familiar with the gate system and knows the 'address' for Royals Peak c/o Temple of Sun & Scroll (the), he subsequently phoned home.

Othello deferred to the party, who was a mixed bag of "let's help them" and "I dun give a fek." The helpers won out 2:1 and the necessities were procured through some meetings and discussions.

Vane, traveling further through the gate system to the Fire Giant city within the Cloud Spires volcano where he learned that the Svirfneblins of this area had methods for burrowing that would prove useful.

Thurrass'X used his influence as a saviour to conduct discussions with the Esquee family and establish a research group of their engineers.

Yesterdays Episode

Today we picked up a new player, Fletcher, who fills the role of Kale, an ex CoS soldier serving duty with the Esquee family as their volcano drop specialist and 'Engineer guard.'

Regrouping at the Temple of Sun & Scroll, the party consisted of Vane, Thurrass'X, Kale, two gnome engineers, three human engineers and a halfling engineer along with a large (described as Zamboni-like but was ever shrinking in description as the game proceeded) machine. Being lauded by Pograff for a brief moment, they proceeded to the portal chamber some moments later and transported away to the distant mountain range a half an hour later.

Meanwhile, Ivor, trains Ralph with a nat 20 to not be a cock up; and then receives invitation to a banquet ball being held that evening from his mother, by his mother.

Although Ivor doesn't know it, it is to be a gala affair by Lucretia fundraising for the rebuilding of the damaged city walls and to suggest a change of contract for the Ketterrogs to watch the new wall; she cites, "As we have seen the shorcomings of the military leadership in our recent tragedies, and as we continue to deliver us from dangers brought from these outside forces, we wish to take a more proactive approach to the protection of our citizens."

Now over the course of the two days that Ivor is focused on his military; Vane and Thurrass'X procure the engineers and drill from the Svirfneblins and Esquee's respectively. During this time, Lucretia's aides overhear a conversation and mother hears about the Esquee's being petitioned by one of the saviours to save a distant kingdom. She sends one of her personal aides to inform Ivor of the impending mission and implores him to join the cause so the Ketterrogs can expand their influence and position. This leaves Ivor a choice, go to a banquet ball, or join the mission which is leaving.. twenty minutes ago.

As he prepares to dash out, the sudden and unexpected birth of his baby black dragon comes about.

A short while later, Ivor wraps the psionically capable and very influenced dragon around himself and together they make their way after the would-be spelunkers.

Adventure Rising

Those headings are getting small.

Okay, so the party finally assembles after some "comical" chase, in the underdark beyond the Svirfneblin city gates.

When they arrive, the players don't inquire about Othello, and Othello after two days, is off doing who knows what; the guards send a runner to retrieve their shamans procession and the players make their way through the city streets towards the main gate.

Some of the guards escort up until the procession meets with them; the engineers inquire for a map which the shaman's already arranged for them. A brief conversation later, the Svirfneblins have informed the engineers of where all the old venting hardware is located and what they think as happened to the old flow. The engineers don't bother relaying any of this, and the adventurers dun give a fek. A guide by the name of Q'ouni (K-oh-nee) accompanies them throught the gates and into the darkness.

They travel some hours until they reach a bridge stretching across a chasm, the guide and map accurate thus. Their guide informs them that the stretch ahead is a bit of a hunting ground with various races preying on one another. Subsequently, as they cross the bridge, the rumbling of the drills treads summons giant spiders, who manage to stymie the entire session. Imagine my surprise.

Will the players successfully route the lava? Stay tuned to find out!

Good Session

The session felt a bit long in the intro, but it got things done. I was hoping to have two combats however the first combat, being the giant spiders, ended up lasting some two hours in itself. With an hour remaining, I adressed the suggestion left in Fizzy_Toes' stead, of having a scary something hit the players.

Surprisingly the players focus fired for a grand 100 points of damage, leaving the scary thing with naught but 50 points.

Given it was as late as it was, I had already decided that the engineers were going to use the drill upon the creature if the players didn't do it first.

So that brought us (much to my chagrin) to the end of the session, some five hours later.

Next session should prove interesting with the continuation of the escorting of the drill and engineers.

I'm back down to one stream a week and have been diligently working to develop the canon behind the Cloud Spire Chronicles, fleshing out the facets of my world as time permits. It's not difficult to write this stuff, given much of it has already been portrayed or hinted upon, hence has a position in my mind from which I'm pulling it.

As always, what's difficult is finding the time to do it.

What I need to focus on soon is cartography and for that I'm visiting the world building sub reddit to do some studying.

Gaming is serious biz.

I'm making the effort to create a world that makes sense. A world that people can feel, living and breathing around the characters at the centre of the story.

More GoT, less Monty Python.

Injections? What injections?

I have yet to find the time to create a menu system for the injections system and the system itself seems to have fallen to disuse.
In truth, I get so few injections despite all the mention of it that having the system on the screen seems a big joke at times.

So I looked into some economics structure and in due course, I will have this whittled to a table

https://dungeonmaster.ca/wiki/economics

Thoughts?

Don't post emojis from your phone yet, it will crash the comment form.  I am actively on that issue.

I haven't abandoned the idea of operating online games, but my Sundays have been taken up by IRL issues.

Notably, last night we had lost power in my neighborhood.

I spent some time trying to convert the site database so I could accept unicode emojis however I need a bit of help from my service provider so I'm awaiting their adjustment of the drivers I use for the mysql system.

Thought I'd just write a quick article about my experience attempting to be a good samaritan DM on the D&D Facebook group.

There's a lot of folks out there who profess to be players in need of a game to attend. A lot. I used to see their posts in the group when I was on Facebook (I've since deactivated my account as I was spending too much time on Facebook).

A month ago, I posted to the Facebook Dungeons & Dragons group and stated that I am a Dungeonmaster who would be willing to DM an online game for anyone who wished it. No commitments, no wierd requirements.

Just a webcam and a microphone so you can be part of my stream.

A lot of excited people responded and I asked their availability and made a spreadsheet of all the respondents and said I will try to organize some games.

Quite a few people! Oh how will I dungeon master for them all?

I decided to run a Thursday game and a Saturday game despite the fact I was (at the time) operating three other games. I let folks know what was going on and made an event and told folks to sign up.

Of the respondants, when it came to committing I had very little response. One fellow marked himself uhh.. 'Interested' for both games and attended neither. One fellow claimed he was available all the time and yet didn't have a webcam (didn't stop him from trying to attend the hangouts).
Two people ultimately attended the Thursday game which turned out to be a great session with a cool story. I was surprised and pleased with the end result. Another great example of what Dungeons & Dragons can be!

When Thursday concluded, I informed the players that I would not conduct any more organization and that if they wanted to continue playing they would have to organize the playership and let me know, and I would continue to operate campaign. The players followed up to tell me they had two other people ready to go!

For the following Saturday game, I had two no shows, and one disappointed player.

The following Thursday, nobody showed up, nobody messaged me, and nobody played.

The Saturday after that, I didn't receive any messages, and subsequently went about my day unabated.

I dun care.

I'm not butthurt about any of this and I'm not trying to be smug in writing this. I do want to document the effort and the result though.
There's a lot of people who profess that they would love to play, but the bottom line is the reason they're not playing is because they're either not making the time, they're being flaky, and ultimately, they don't appreciate the opportunity provided. Yet folks wonder why 'Professional DM' is a thing?

To those who would say, "But Dooley, life gets in the way sometimes!" You're right, and that's fine. If folks are busy, I get that. When folks don't remember the game, don't message me before or after, and leave me wondering, that's not "life getting in the way," that's just folks being flaky.

Would I still be willing to operate a game for any of these folks? Not for free.

Moving forward I'll be taking payments to pay for my time involved. A monetary commitment of $10USD per player should ensure that when folks say they'll attend, they attend. As a working father of two, I have better things to do then be flaked upon.

More to the point, I offered to do it for free and was met with the outcome I saw; so far as I'm concerned, those folks have forgone their opportunity to play in my games for free.

Think I'm being unfair? Sound off in the comments.

Now that there's a camera in my face, I'm getting stressed.  When they're above you, or behind you, it's one thing.  Not so personal.  When it's up your nose and everything you do makes you look like an Ace Attorney reject, it's a wierd thing to see on the monitor.

I think primarily, I gotta cover those fucking leds, they bug the shit out of me.

Good lawd.

I never consider the sense that people get when they walk into my garage and see a D&D studio, and see cameras, and then they're on the internet, and the world sees their behaviours, ticks, responses, etc.

Departure: Dorian

Gone, but not to be forgotten; Dorian will return in due course :)

'Gender' in games.

I recently filled in a survey for a study where it asked me some facts and experience/opinion of gender in tabletop role playing games.

It asks the question, is there a difference in perception and treatment of opposite genders in table top games?

The answer is yes.

Do I ever play a character of gender fluid origin?

The answer is no.

It's getting warm.

The warmer is gets, the quicker I get drunk.

Those paying attention may have noticed I slammed three red bulls within a three hour period.
Who wants to start a heart attack pool?

Fuck your arguments.

Six people plus a grumpy, hot, dungeon master.  Make it fast, make it good.

Viewer interactions were awesome.

Last night was a gong show of interactions all making for a very long combat.
Ultimately, I think fun was had by all and the game was made better so to you viewers I say give yourself a pat on the back.

I caught the conversation regarding how much power viewers have and the short of it is that it's my game.  I incorporate as much as I can remember, and work in within the span of time I have available to cogitate without interupting the flow of the game.

If I'm not smart enough to come up with a good way of incorporating your ideas, I may solicit from the viewership, and if I get no responses, the end result may be less then you hoped for.  Deal with it.  I can't run the game for six people, move story forward and pander to however many viewers without a little help so meet me half way here.

You want a reason or an outcome for the eclipse?  You offer one up.

Eg:
Viewer request: "It's a blizzard, and the characters are cold."
I describe some cold snow and blustery winds.  Incur some disadvantage on ranged attacks (maybe).  I make the players roll a con check and rule frozen fingers on melee attacks if failed.

Viewer request: "It's a blizzard."
I describe some cold snow and blustery winds.  Incur some disadvantage on ranged attacks (maybe).

With the new system there will be the opportunity for everyone to get in on interactions and it will provide a list that should be hard to miss :)

The Injection System.

The system is under way.

Spec:

!inject [thing]

If there's less then X [thing]s, writes a [thing] to a database and prints the database to a text file, that text file is displayed on the screen.
Injected line keeps the authors credit.

!inject [line] ['set'] [amount]

I and Mods set the target for that line request.

!inject [line] ['add'] [amount]

Viewers add points to the pot on that line for an effect.

• List the usernames?
• Total users in on the line?

!inject [line] ['clear'] [fullfilled]

Was the line completed or rejected/expired?  If completed, the original suggestor recieves 10xp x number of viewers who voted for their injection.

Make it better.

I incorprated the old die roller I coded for the original fairy as well, so that's in and working now.

I took the time to make some custom greetings too, so hopefully those work :D
Eventually, I'll make lists and start fleshing out the personality some more as Johnny and I have discussed over several emails.

Thanks for the cheerleading earlier today, shadowbat ;)

The PhantomBot engine is awesome.  It may take me an embarrasingly long time to get around to it, but have faith; it's happening :D

Drinking game inbound.

Going to the fair.

There's a May long weekend fair in town, so I'm taking the kids on the rides!  Should be a hoot.  If I'm back at a reasonable time, maybe I'll stream while I work on the fairy.

Maybe I'll work on my yard given it fucking needs it.

Fuck my soundboard.

Why's it gotta be a bitch!?

I'm open to suggestions for a new board.

Gotta work with wav or mp3, and work on Linux, allow me to save boards.

Always tip your mods.

Thanks again to Varonasquee for being all over the channel last night.

^#nohomo

eing a DM is fun and hard.  Not a euphemism for the DM, settle down.

When Dorian first showed up, I was personally choked; in attempting to operate a serious campaign and having everyone start on such a strong foot, soon enough the shenanigans that befall my Friday group took hold once again.  I wasn't terribly pleased.

Inter party conflict leads to PvP leads to bruised egos and ultimately 'revenge characters.'
The saving grace here is that the character brought forth is not committing meta-assault, or is even a 'revenge' character, that is, the character didn't come in carrying a players chip.  A troll character, yes, but Dorian was never brought about as a violent revenge towards Ivor.  Much to my surprise.

Ultimately, because the character was never aimed at Ivor in a malicious manner, Paul succeeded in presenting a comedic, over the top performance, winning Mitch, Mike and I, but surprisingly (or maybe not) the viewers as well.

Some other players, not so much.

Joe & Curtis, while they don't roleplay per se, they do represent their characters accurately and consistently and perform their actions within that evolving framework (characters grow, after all).

Curtis' complaint of the character, as I understand it, is that the character of Dorian is an offensive, and misplaced square peg being rubbed against a round hole.  Granted.  This echoes my concern.

While Joe would also share in Curtis' complaints, Joe also has the unfortunate circumstance of another character generated to get at him, and this time around, oddly enough, it has worked more successfully then any other revenge character ever brought about.

The thing that disappoints me most in this whole circumstance, going back to my original reason for being choked, is the goofy character in the middle of my war drama.

It'd be like Jar Jar Binks showing up in the middle of Rogue One.

Don't look away.  You know you're curious.

The penalizing of Ivor is because I truly believe his actions reflect Neutral Evil as an alignment and I'm flogging the concept of alignment as an important facet for this campaign.
I think it's an important facet of the games mechanics given that this is a roleplaying game and the alignment in this campaign serves as part of the challenge.

Players were not allowed to generate an evil character for this campaign and despite Ivor's family being Addams Family meets Darksiders, the House of Ketterrog, like any other great house of the Cloud Spires, has an honour and code, tenets that drive the motivation of those who make up its ranks.  They are not nice people, but they're not necessarily of evil alignment.  Chaotic Neutral, Neutral, and Lawful Neutral can be scary alignments depending on who's driving them.

Ivor has been raised by that house and his alignment reflects the nature of one who should hold those tenets close.  If the ends are to justify the means then we need context but without context to justify the behaviour wrought as one that fits within that alignment, we have wanton player chaos, and not roleplay.

Atonement to stay as Lawful Neutral, in my opinion, can be achieved by doing one of two things:

Hire him (sic: press gang him) into the family, and have him shipped away to be taught, thus fulfilling Dorian's dream of being a soldier, and following the tenets that his house would put forth.

Commit to killing him in some fashion and pay the gold to have his body cleaned up, let the chips fall where they may.  Honestly, I've never understood the hesitation, as anything more then a courtesy.

Comeuppance

Some viewers have expressed their interest in seeing Ivor punished for his actions, and in due course, perhaps he will face retribution of a fashion.  Fate (and the dice involved) have an odd way of making things happen but I am not about to hamfist punishment upon a player.

Sometimes bad people lead great, fulfilling lives while good people get the short end of the stick.

Will Orion's house continue to seek revenge despite the first failed attempt?  Will Ivor's house suffer an investigative eye?

Time will tell.

What is Alignment

Special Thanks to Johnny_Speed for firing me a copy of this in the middle of play.  Special mention to Paul who remembered the guidelines as written herein.

A general term describing the view and morale fiber of an individual?

A strait jacket used to rail road the behaviour of a player based on the perception of an individual, that individual being the DM?

A good way to rack (or lose) karma on reddit posting debates about alignment?

I would say it's a gameplay element and a philosophy but the debate will rage as it has since 1978.

More importantly, and hamfistedly, it is the guiding line by which I am governing and ensuring a non-evil campaign.

According to the blurb on the right, alignment is everything about a person, including how an individual carries themselves.  It's described as if it's a known concept in the world, akin to gender, race or creed.

It says that changing your alignment will result in the shifting of your entire paradigm of behaviour in the world and resultantly everyone you know.  You will alienate your closest friends and ultimately get along with a new crowd.

Alignment, however you want to define it, is kind of a big deal.

So I want it to be a big deal.  I will make it a big deal.

What is Story

Remember that despite everything, I was not digging the Dorian character being a part of the campaign.
While Paul's previous priest and boy combination was tongue in cheek, it was a legitamitely cool concept that I enjoyed and was sorry to see ended on a die roll.

Dorian, doesn't fit the mold, and although I've grown accustomed to the antics and comedy, it's disruptive of a narrative and promotes the ruination of a drama by inciting tom foolery.

I don't bear limits upon character generation, because when players bring their characters to the table, one of the first things I aim to do is establish their place in the world up front in some fashion.

Give the players an objective, a role, a round hole as a round peg should fit (presuming the player wants to be a round peg).

I can only do so much.

Interaction

I try to get to everyone.  I know, I kinda suck, especially when I get too drunken and less dungeon, master.

Johnny's been suggesting (for some time now) that I really should build a proper and simple method of making requests.  I'm going to work on getting that done this week :D

I have an idea of how it will work (based again on Johnny's suggestion) so it's a matter of seeing if there's an existing solution and if not, build it.

Costs

Just to address the concern about higher then average XP costs.

I'm not fleecing because people have them; prices were jacked at the beginning and stay that way while players are low level.

While characters are starting out, or inexperienced players are at the table, prices will go up, and require multiple viewers in some cases to satisfy me.  Remember: It's about everyone having fun and the table comes first.

Aside from that, prices have come down since they've gained levels; not to mention, you can affect the game again :D

When the players are all level 10 or over, XP will be back to 1:1.

Insofar as my menu on my website goes, I've printed them off so when folks ask, I will have it at hand.  My apologies for confusion or inconsistency there.  That's sort of what I count on Varonasquee for :D

We had a session with a remote player and it was good.

A two man game may seem like a weak start, but it's a good way to warm yourself up to a new concept.

Technical difficulties aside, I think it went over well, I've just got to figure out how to curtail my Linux handicap.

In other news, I'm adjusting the camera arrangement, yet again:)

Stay tuned; see you Wednesday!