tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post1036252569495614458..comments2024-03-28T22:10:04.089+08:00Comments on Monsters and Manuals: Noisms' VerfremdungseffektUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-64396901849749859792012-08-15T06:01:11.326+08:002012-08-15T06:01:11.326+08:00Someone needs to get together those people who lov...Someone needs to get together those people who love immersion and get some good expressions of what they're up to. I'm sure they're doing something <i>else</i>, just judging by all the pointing and waving that happens when we talk about it.Josh Wnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-12312741135974387192012-07-20T03:16:42.939+08:002012-07-20T03:16:42.939+08:00People in the Third World have mobile phones now. ...People in the Third World have mobile phones now. And when they don't work, it's a serious problem; eg you don't get the latest market prices for your goats, and have to decide blind whether to trek them to town. So your lack of T-mobile coverage is a Third World Problem. >:)Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01173759805310975320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-51656033320581572892012-07-18T18:43:56.476+08:002012-07-18T18:43:56.476+08:00Well, it can be funny as a joke internet meme. But...Well, it can be funny as a joke internet meme. But people now seem to have taken to saying it or using it in any situation where anybody complains about anything, no matter how justifiable.<br /><br />And used that way it's just incredibly asinine. First world problems might be less cosmically serious than third world ones, but they're still problems. For example, my phone doesn't get a signal at the moment, and I can't even use it to call T-mobile to get it sorted. This is a first world problem. It's still fucking annoying.<br /><br />It's also got the smack of self-righteousness about it. When people say it, the insinuation seems to be "I've got a great sense of perspective about the world - you haven't." Imagine if you knew somebody who, the moment anybody complained about anything, immediately said: "At least you're not starving to death in South Sudan!" That person would not have many friends left. And yet for some reason people think it's incredibly clever to say "First World Problems" on internet forums and in daily life.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-33513786756289400712012-07-18T16:35:20.812+08:002012-07-18T16:35:20.812+08:00This was a very helpful post. I've been puttin...This was a very helpful post. I've been putting off DMing a game for a while now because somehow I've been convinced it needs to be "right" and "perfect". It might help to get this game off the ground to think of DMing more like flirting: both parties know that the other is interested, flawed, and a little bit nervous, but they pretend they don't know to keep things going.<br /><br />Incidentally, what is it about "First World Problems" that you don't like? I hate it too, but haven't yet been able to explain why.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-60656218000144326952012-07-18T06:51:11.136+08:002012-07-18T06:51:11.136+08:00I rarely conceal that information is being created...I rarely conceal that information is being created ad hoc, through dice rolls, tables etc. I see it as me discovering the world alongside the players. Who knew that orc had a +1 shield? Not me!Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01173759805310975320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-65339030008803762652012-07-18T06:14:51.934+08:002012-07-18T06:14:51.934+08:00I like to include the mineral bits because they ca...I like to include the mineral bits because they can have big, disruptive effects like <a href="http://tao-dnd.blogspot.com/2012/06/steel.html" rel="nofollow">this</a>. Coming up with my own local (literal) flavors based on their foodstuffs was probably the most fun looks-excessive bit of planning, though.Peregrine Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03511962495322344119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-76303773403673760662012-07-18T01:47:24.359+08:002012-07-18T01:47:24.359+08:00what john said (-the mineral resources). :)what john said (-the mineral resources). :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-78127382893207231232012-07-17T23:24:56.986+08:002012-07-17T23:24:56.986+08:00I'm naturally much better at having things pla...I'm naturally much better at having things planned and detailed than made up on the spot, as borne out by several examples of astonishingly shallow and dull story lines I've had to improvise through the years. However, practice does make improvement, and I'm better than I was at making the improv feel not so much like a throw-away.<br /><br />Along the way I discovered that a richly made world allows me to improvise far more easily. Leaving things open for instant filling-in is of course useful, so that when some unforseen NPC brings the PCs to their workshop, it doesn't cause trouble for established facts; but having the building already on the map makes for smooth and plausible ramifications for its location, neighbors, etc. Likewise, I know the biome/climate of the area; the crops, herbs and mineral resources to be found nearby; the cultural, culinary, economic, architectural and other implications thereof; and details such as why quality ink is easy to come by, obsidian is oddly expensive, or wineskins are considered quaint. I don't have to think about them, so they become a framework on which to improvise.<br /><br />All this to say: Having pre-planned detail allows me to go off-script without going off the rails. Yeah, things can get, as you say, quixotic, and blogs like Campaign Mastery get way deeper than I ever will on many topics, but it's rare that preparation gets in my way.Peregrine Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03511962495322344119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-67231712021685884282012-07-17T20:02:53.627+08:002012-07-17T20:02:53.627+08:00I agree.I <a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/2012/07/on-preparation.html" rel="nofollow">agree</a>.-Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-12085371174516037972012-07-17T15:43:46.376+08:002012-07-17T15:43:46.376+08:00I remember reading that MAR Barker, when his playe...I remember reading that MAR Barker, when his players encountered a situation, place, or person that he hadn't imagined yet, would close his eyes (for some time), and when he opened them he'd have 'the answer' as if it had always existed.Andy Bartletthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06683770320671028815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-60876634466852409172012-07-17T06:01:14.059+08:002012-07-17T06:01:14.059+08:00You're never really fooling the players, just ...You're never really fooling the players, just playing the neccessary role in their own en-foolment.<br /><br />I have a big folder of *stuff* on the table when I DM with charts and tables taped to every available surface. I think the Teens like it. Even though I almost never look through it, it gives the impression that there are Real Secrets somewhere in the setting, like someone spent ages sitting at home thinking of wierd stuff andt it's all just Out There somewhere, and you could actually find it.<br /><br />Thats why Vornheim and Isle of the Unknown are good things to have on the table. They have that slightly cryptic, vaguely arcane quality that good gaming materials have. As if they were vomited forth by a very particular subculture and understood only by a chosen few. If you see them you know strange shit will be happening round this table.<br /><br />Thats why when you brought out (in game) the Journal of Laxmi Ghuptra Dhal everyone round the table went 'OOoooo' and leant forward. It's because we were thinking 'he's got a sub-blog about this guy, he must be obsessed, there's probably loads of stuff knocking about in there.'<br /><br />I've gone off topic. You almost never actually fool the players the way you would fool someone playing against you in a board game. You are just playing the psychic in someones co-operative adventure-sceance. You need to sound like you know what you're doing. They will fill in most of the rest.pjamesstuarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13288777018721199748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-70745784968289522012012-07-17T05:40:48.269+08:002012-07-17T05:40:48.269+08:00Some people value immersion while sitting at the t...Some people value immersion while sitting at the table playing a RPG. Some people do not. Some DM's are better at creating adventures on the fly, some are better if they are given time to sit down and plan out what could happen.Random Wizardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16200875405900408519noreply@blogger.com