#i will not rest until all of the ttrpg scene stops saying 'a dice' when they mean 'a die'

[pagesofkenna]

no shade intended but it's honestly very hot that, despite Schaubach misusing the die(singular)/dice(plural) noun form in the game system bts earlier, 5 minutes into the episode Brennan is using the correct form

[redjennies]

I 100% agree that PCs shouldn't be dying like this to further another character's development. I wouldn't like it for any character but I'm already lukewarm bordering on uninterested in Imogen, no flack to Laura, so not my cup of tea.

Credit to Matt where credit is due, he does a lot for these stories and elements that seem rough or odd can turn around, but oh boy. If he can turn this around I'll be impressed because this was so railroaded (derogatory). Otohan was designed to jump around the map and had no trouble reading the Hells' minds so any attempt at negotiating could just become: I'm going to steal the information from your head and continue killing because Imogen still hasn't done what I wanted. Once they entered that encounter, barring miracle rolls, they weren't getting out until they were let out.

Then there's the final wisdom save which felt like an "oh shit if I don't do something the whole party is going to die" decision. Because yes it made sense for the character but it took the decision to not let go out of Laura's hands because killing her friends apparently wasn't motivating Imogen to pick the "right answer" and if she didn't let go the rest of the party would be taken down because Otohan is just Like That apparently.

It was just frustrating.

was kinda holding onto this one because it is honestly summing up everything I feel about the situation once I put my emotions aside.

the one thing I'll extrapolate on is as you touched on, I don't think Matt is a bad DM. I think Matt is normally a very good DM but this was bad DMing and I think these almost rookie-ieh cheap tactics are beneath his ability. this was bad DMing regardless of anything else. there were ways to up the stakes, there are ways to kill player characters, without doing -- *gestures broadly* that. I saw someone describe this combat as "feeling like a cut scene where you're supposed to lose" and I fully agree. this was some Kai Leng from Mass Effect 3 bullshit and that is one of the worst insults I can give a RPG, even more so to a TTRPG. it stops being D&D and starts being just a show when you start doing stuff like this and if people like that, then that's fine for them, but I'm not watching if that's the direction the series is going in. I'm not wasting hours of my life listening to other people argue about what to do next just so combat can become essentially cutscenes. I'm not getting invested in characters who are considered secondary.

like as it dragged on even Laura couldn't stop it and what is the point of roleplay or combat or player choice if we're doing that? I can't get into the whole Poetic Dice Rolls when bad dice rolls are the only way to end it. what should have been a beautiful moment in Imogen and Laudna's relationship, regardless of your read on it, is undercut by Matt making it all feel so forced. Laudna's decisions didn't matter, Chetney's decisions didn't matter, and Imogen's decisions didn't matter. Orym wasn't even given a choice. the only people you can even remotely argue had any agency were Fearne who kept wandering back into the fray and Ashton who successfully ran away. in my book, that's bad DMing no matter how you slice it, and my semi-sincere, semi-passive aggressive apologies for thinking Matt is so much better than that. he made a series of decisions that someone with his experience had to know would piss a bunch of veteran D&D players off and so long as I'm not harassing him over it, it's not really my fault as a viewer for hating it when it's breaking every common sense rule of how to be a DM. it doesn't make him a bad person or the Worst DM Ever, but he really should have thought better than to do something so tacky.

anyway this really is the last of what I have to say about it. I really appreciate everyone thanking me and sending me well wishes in the inbox. 💕 the good has truly outweighed the bad both in the past 24 hours and in the past two years, but this is my stop and I have to get off now.

[dungeons-and-drangons-my-dudes]

So, what is D&D?

Perhaps the biggest cultural phenomenon in years, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D, DND, dnd - depending on how formal you want to get) is a Table Top Role Playing Game (TTRPG). A group of friends (or strangers, sometimes) sits down together (or virtually) to tell a fantasy story set up in a world that has defined rules. Sort of like making up a story when you’re bored with your siblings in the car, except this time when your sister yells “The queen likes me better so she’s making me the heir!” there are rules to stop her. 

For the purposes of this explanation, I’ll be using 5th edition dungeons and dragons. 

There are some key vocabulary pieces you need to know in order to understand how D&D works: 

Dungeon Master (DM) - one player is designated as the dungeon master, who, instead of playing a single character, is in charge of mediating the rules, playing every other character in the game who isn’t a player character, and in general deciding what happens when your wizard says “I cast fireball, centered on myself!”. The DM has final say on any rules questions, and is tasked with creating the general plot thread. 

Player - any member of the group (including the DM) but generally used to describe the rest of the group ‘excluding’ the DM. Oftentimes, DMs will say things like “my players”, and it’s not uncommon for anyone to reference others in the group as “the other players”. 

Player Character - Each player (aside from the DM) has one single character that they play as until that character dies or leaves the group for some other reason. 

Non-Player Character (NPC) - each other sentient being in the world of the story that is not controlled by a player. These characters may make frequent appearances, or they may only be in the story for a few minutes. If you consider the Player Characters to be the main characters, then the NPCs are everyone else, from the supporting roles to the extras. 

Stats - the numerical representation of each character’s strength (STR), dexterity (DEX), constitution (CON), intelligence (INT), wisdom (WIS), and charisma (CHA). Also referred to as your ability scores. Typically, these stats are somewhere from 8 to 20, but they can be as low as 3 at character creation. 10 is considered perfectly average. 

Ability Score Modifier - a number (taken from a table) that is smaller than your ability score but calculated based off of it. Generally, when you make a roll, you add your ability score modifier, not your ability score. 

Session - actually getting together to play D&D. Generally, sessions are at the same time each week, but there are groups that meet only a few times a year or as frequently as each day. It all comes down to the players’ availability. 

Dice - the tools of the game! D&D uses a variety of various polyhedral dice. A standard set has seven different kinds; d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, d%. A d4 has four sides, a d6 has six sides, and so on. A d% looks like a d10, but it has 00, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 printed on its sides. A d% (usually called a percentile dice) is rolled with a d10 to create a d100.  

Skill - the various abilities your character possess that the DM may ask you to roll to complete a task. Each skill is associated with a specific stat. Additionally, skills are something you can have proficiency in. 

Proficiency - if your character is proficient in something, they get to add their proficiency bonus to that thing when they attempt to use that ability. You can be proficient in skills, weapons, languages, and tool sets (anything from an instrument to a loom). Your proficiency bonus goes up as you level up

Feature - a feature is any “unique” ability that a character possesses that not every character possesses. For example, not all characters have darkvision, so darkvision is a feature. 

Hit Points (HP) - how much health your character has. When this number drops to zero, you start dying. 

Hit Dice - the dice you roll each time you level up to calculate your HP. This is calculated cumulatively, so you are always increasing your HP. What dice you roll for HP is determined by your class. 

Enough chatter, how do I play!? 

Generally, when a group of people want to play D&D, they settle on who is the dungeon master and when they want to meet. Once that has been established, it’s go time. 

The first session, typically called session zero, is when you create your character. This has a number of steps: 

First, roll your stats. In 5th edition D&D (5e) there are many ways to do this - your DM will tell you what method you should use. Perhaps the most common is to roll 4d6 and drop the lowest, adding the remaining three dice together to form a number from 3 to 18. You do this six times, coming up with six numbers. Once you have these numbers, you can begin to assign things to your character - you can do these next steps in any order. 

Choose a class - a class is a stand in for your profession. In 5e you can choose from cleric, paladin, fighter, bard, barbarian, artificer, ranger, rogue, wizard, sorcerer, druid, or warlock. Your class will provide you with various features as you level up by playing the game. A class also provides you with various skills, features, and proficiencies at the beginning of the game, during character creation. 

Choose a race - a race dictates what kind of creature you are. In 5e there are many, many options due to the expansion source books, but the central races are human, elf, dwarf, tiefling, dragonborn, halfling, half-elf, half-orc, and gnome. Your race provides you with stat bonuses and additional skills, features, and proficiencies. 

Choose a background - your background is what you did in life before you became an adventurer. There are many to choose from, and they typically provide you with additional features and proficiencies. 

Once you have selected all three of these things, apply them to the stats you rolled earlier to generate your character. You will also calculate your health (your hit die’s maximum number + your CON modifier) and recieve your starting equipment from your class and background. Fill in the details; personality, appearance, and a light backstory, and you’re all good to go! 

When you’re done making your character, make sure to check with your DM so they know what your plan is. Constant and friendly conversation between the players and the DM is what makes D&D work out the best! 

After you’ve had your session zero, you’ll have your session one. Make sure to bring your character sheet, a pencil, and your dice. Some groups also encourage communal snacks, might have rules about phones, or may want you to even dress up a little. Check with your group to make sure you understand your group’s norms and make sure that everyone is on the same page. 

Session one will probably go down something like this: 

Your dungeon master sets the scene, describing where you are and what is around you. They might go into a lot of detail, or they might be more vague. Either way, once you have all been told where you are, the DM will say something along the lines of “what would you like to do?” - at this point, the story falls into the player’s hands for the first time. 

Once you’ve been asked what you’d like to do, you describe what you’d like your character to do, and depending on the difficulty level, the DM may ask you to roll a skill check. A skill check is when you roll a d20 and add any modifiers you might have. You always get to add the modifier for whatever stat the skill is tied to, and if you’re proficient, you also get to add your proficiency bonus. 

Typically, players act differently when they are in character vs when they are out of character. A shy player may play a particularly outgoing character, or vice versa. Either way, you want to come up with a way to signal when you are acting in character vs when you are out of character. A lot of players use a character voice for this, but any number of things - including simply saying “okay out of character” work just as well. 

So, you say what your character does, and you say anything they might say. The DM moderates this - you ask the bartender a question, the DM puts on an accent and replies. They might be truthful or they might lie, it is up to you as the player to determine that. If you want to do something, you describe what you want to do, and the DM determines what kind of roll you should make. If you say “I stab the goblin” then the DM will ask you to “roll to hit” - roll a d20, add your proficiency bonus if you’re proficient, and your attack modifier - which can be any number of things depending on what kind of attack it is - but that’s a conversation for another time. 

If you get into a fight, the DM will probably ask you to roll initiative (a d20 + your initiative (your DEX) modifier - although there are other things in game that can increase your initiative modifier, just not at level one) and then you will proceed from there in descending order of initiative. Once everyone has gone, the “round” is over and it starts over, which repeats until one side has won. 

Combat can be staged on a grid with miniatures, or it may be done using theater of the mind. All attacks and spells have a “range” in D&D, and so using a grid assists with measuring out those distances. The standard is that each square of the grid is 5ft. 

The game goes on like this. You’re encouraged to stay in character as much as possible, discuss things with your fellow adventurers, and make decisions and react as a group. The DM will present you with mystery, intrigue, and a story, which you will have as much of a part in telling as everyone else.