Gallade
2016-02-15, 07:52 AM
I know this is the kind of narration people on a certain type of message boards use, but I feel it's much better to show my position quickly.
Pathfinder.
Be me. A Master playing his first "serious" campaign with three friends over MapTools. They pick an Evil party:
:smalltongue:Ethernum the Anti-Paladin
:smallamused:Etshiael the bard
:smallsmile:Arn the Warrior
But are pretty good sports. They're creative, deceitful, and make the most of every enemy they kill. And like that, they go through the first part of the campaign, which has them fight their way out of a prison island picking up an unexpected ally (a priestess of Sarenrae which they accidentally infest with a Succubus. Comedy ensued.)
And then, a fourth friend, a colleague of mine, joins in. With a private session he makes his character (A sorcerer he names Arima Kousei...yep, way to get the spotlight), gets his starting equipment, and the first thing he says is
:smallcool:"Keep the knife".
:mitd: "What? You want to start with no weapon?"
:smallcool:"Yeah, I'll wait until I get a real good weapon, like a demon staff or demon sword".
Great start, huh.
He spends the first (relatively safe) dungeon I put him in frantically looting the place. And by frantic I mean "Move all over the place asking if he can take stuff from every object even if it's just drawn on the map". With some rolls and a trap avoided by beginner's luck, he takes out the enemies inside, also with the help of a NPC (Local gang leader :smallannoyed:).
By now he has his pack stuffed with goodies. Scrolls, gems, commodities, coins, even added a couple spells to his book on virtue of stopping in front of a library and demanding to read each single book (made him stop at the fourth, it was getting ridiculous)
The gang leader takes him to her camp,where the other PCs were idle. He asked where he could buy supplies, and she directed him to their fence(:smalleek:). He asks for armor. I briefly snap into OOC to tell him casters like him are hindered by armor, he says he just wants more protection. I mentally facepalm at a caster with a d6 HD (who can summon creatures, mind you) entertaining the idea of going into melee regularly with just a knife. The fence takes out a suit of banded leather. I secretly hope that after a couple of failed spells, he'll learn the lesson. Take it from me, NEVER assume players will learn the lesson.
:smalleek:"That will be 50 gold pieces"
By now, Arima has about 20 gold pieces and a couple gems. I can hear gears grinding.
:smallcool:"I'll give you 10 silver coins for this"
The fence is briefly stunned, then repeats the price as if he was talking to a slow child.
:smalleek:"This armor is worth 50 gold pieces. You give me 50 GOLD pieces, and you get the armor."
:smallcool:"Oh, okay, I got it. Here, 20 gold pieces. It's all I have, can I have the armor now?"
:smalleek:"NO! Don't you have any other valuables to trade?"
:smallcool:"Uh...no?"
:mitd:"You still have two onyxes from the treasure.2
:smallcool:"But I want to keep my gems!"
:smalleek:"Then we're done here."
:smallcool:"But I need the armor!"
("Dammit Player, I'm a vendor not a haggler" face)
:smalleek:"If you want the armor, pay 50 Gold Pieces. Period!"
Then he stops for a few seconds.
:smallcool:"I stab him."
Reminder: they're in the middle of the bandit camp. bandits with bows and swords and their cleric leader and three PCs just sitting within earshot.
He makes the attack. Hit, damage.
:smalleek:"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
:smallcool:"Sorry, I get angry sometimes. Can I get my armor now?"
:smalleek:"NO!"
Bandit leader storms in, I resist my urge to pit him against her and the rest of the gang, and she gives him a warning to stay away from the fence, puts a guard in front of his tent and sends Arima to his own.
:smallcool:"I cast Summon Monster to summon a viper"
:mitd:(Oh no.)
:smallcool:"I tell the viper..."
:mitd:(You can't possibly be that stupid)
:smallcool:"...to attack the fence in his tent".
In the next few minutes, the fence is bitten, makes his Fort save against the poison and stabilizes. The viper is killed and poofs off. Detect Magic pinpoints him, as if there were any doubts. The bandit leader, a few of her men, and the PCs enter his tent with weapons drawn.
:smallcool:"Hey, sup."
The first attack against him misses.
:smallcool:"Hey, what the hell are you doing? I did nothing!"
:smallannoyed:"Kill him."
:smallcool:"Hey, you can't kill me! I run away."
:mitd:"It's not your turn!"
(Somehow he survives until his turn)
:smallcool:"I teleport out."
:mitd:"You don't have that spell"
:smallcool:"Okay, then I hide."
:mitd:"You are in a tent and everyone is charging at you. Hiding is pretty impossible."
:smallcool:"I run out of the tent."
:mitd:"You'll take two attacks of opportunity if you do"
:smallcool:"Great, then I attack the bard and the leader"
:mitd:"No, it means THEY attack YOU"
:smallcool:"But it's MY turn! What can I do?"
:mitd:"You can...stand there and get killed."
:smallcool:"Can I beg them not to kill me?"
:mitd:"Roll Diplomacy."
The d20 rolls, and so does his head on the ground soon after.
:smallcool:"So, I died?"
:mitd:"Yep."
:smallcool:"Where do I respawn?"
:mitd:(Screaming internally)"You don't respawn, you are dead."
:smallcool:"What do I do now?"
:mitd:"You are bleeding out your last."
:smallcool:"I come back as a ghost and kill them."
:mitd:"..."
And that's the end of part one, AKA how to die before you even meet the other players.
The star of part two is his second character, a Ninja. Makes Charisma his dump stat. Figure. I put him in a lab in a cemetery, assisting an alchemist in fending off zombies. The other players are in this time, and they come to help him. They mop up the undead, and the first thing Roncinante do Corazon (yeah, forget the name) does? Try to hijack the plot, of course!
:smallamused:"What's your deal?"
:smallcool:"Elf."
:smallamused:"What? And don't call me 'elf'."
:smallcool:"I have a message."
:smallamused:"What message?"
:smallcool:"From your brother Puapua."
:mitd: (Halts the game and tries to drill in his head that he can make his own background, but he has no say in that of the other PCs and the campaign in general, ESPECIALLY if he pulls that out of his rear without even discussing it)
:smallcool:"Ah. Sorry. Wrong elf."
So, he is pretty well set. He misses most sessions, but he still does contribute with his shuriken and tachi. Only thing is, his to-hit rolls are often poor, and he rarely takes advantage of his Sneak Attack, preferring to stand back and throw Shuriken for low damage.
Near the end of this part of the campaign (read: the last major enemy is defeated and they're pretty much on the way out), he sends me a private message. By now he's level 2, the others being level 2-3.
:smallcool:"Listen, I think I'm lagging behind. The others are leveling up and getting stuff, and I am stuck with a weak sword.(Said "weak sword" being a +1 Tachi with 19-20 critical threat. Which as I said he rarely uses.)
:smallcool:"Can you give me a private session to level up and get me a better weapon?"
Take in consideration that the party had just won a gang feud which had at stake the key to some ruins filled with goodies. I had halted the session at that part so that he also had the chance to get some loot, and specifically told him there would be some good stuff to get the next time. He declined to come.
The first part of the campaign is over, I'm drawing the maps for the second, and I just can't tell what he's going to do next. Is having a player who is constantly, either subtly or directly, begging the DM for his own personal Monty Haul, worth the hope he eventually comes to learn the gist of the game?
Pathfinder.
Be me. A Master playing his first "serious" campaign with three friends over MapTools. They pick an Evil party:
:smalltongue:Ethernum the Anti-Paladin
:smallamused:Etshiael the bard
:smallsmile:Arn the Warrior
But are pretty good sports. They're creative, deceitful, and make the most of every enemy they kill. And like that, they go through the first part of the campaign, which has them fight their way out of a prison island picking up an unexpected ally (a priestess of Sarenrae which they accidentally infest with a Succubus. Comedy ensued.)
And then, a fourth friend, a colleague of mine, joins in. With a private session he makes his character (A sorcerer he names Arima Kousei...yep, way to get the spotlight), gets his starting equipment, and the first thing he says is
:smallcool:"Keep the knife".
:mitd: "What? You want to start with no weapon?"
:smallcool:"Yeah, I'll wait until I get a real good weapon, like a demon staff or demon sword".
Great start, huh.
He spends the first (relatively safe) dungeon I put him in frantically looting the place. And by frantic I mean "Move all over the place asking if he can take stuff from every object even if it's just drawn on the map". With some rolls and a trap avoided by beginner's luck, he takes out the enemies inside, also with the help of a NPC (Local gang leader :smallannoyed:).
By now he has his pack stuffed with goodies. Scrolls, gems, commodities, coins, even added a couple spells to his book on virtue of stopping in front of a library and demanding to read each single book (made him stop at the fourth, it was getting ridiculous)
The gang leader takes him to her camp,where the other PCs were idle. He asked where he could buy supplies, and she directed him to their fence(:smalleek:). He asks for armor. I briefly snap into OOC to tell him casters like him are hindered by armor, he says he just wants more protection. I mentally facepalm at a caster with a d6 HD (who can summon creatures, mind you) entertaining the idea of going into melee regularly with just a knife. The fence takes out a suit of banded leather. I secretly hope that after a couple of failed spells, he'll learn the lesson. Take it from me, NEVER assume players will learn the lesson.
:smalleek:"That will be 50 gold pieces"
By now, Arima has about 20 gold pieces and a couple gems. I can hear gears grinding.
:smallcool:"I'll give you 10 silver coins for this"
The fence is briefly stunned, then repeats the price as if he was talking to a slow child.
:smalleek:"This armor is worth 50 gold pieces. You give me 50 GOLD pieces, and you get the armor."
:smallcool:"Oh, okay, I got it. Here, 20 gold pieces. It's all I have, can I have the armor now?"
:smalleek:"NO! Don't you have any other valuables to trade?"
:smallcool:"Uh...no?"
:mitd:"You still have two onyxes from the treasure.2
:smallcool:"But I want to keep my gems!"
:smalleek:"Then we're done here."
:smallcool:"But I need the armor!"
("Dammit Player, I'm a vendor not a haggler" face)
:smalleek:"If you want the armor, pay 50 Gold Pieces. Period!"
Then he stops for a few seconds.
:smallcool:"I stab him."
Reminder: they're in the middle of the bandit camp. bandits with bows and swords and their cleric leader and three PCs just sitting within earshot.
He makes the attack. Hit, damage.
:smalleek:"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
:smallcool:"Sorry, I get angry sometimes. Can I get my armor now?"
:smalleek:"NO!"
Bandit leader storms in, I resist my urge to pit him against her and the rest of the gang, and she gives him a warning to stay away from the fence, puts a guard in front of his tent and sends Arima to his own.
:smallcool:"I cast Summon Monster to summon a viper"
:mitd:(Oh no.)
:smallcool:"I tell the viper..."
:mitd:(You can't possibly be that stupid)
:smallcool:"...to attack the fence in his tent".
In the next few minutes, the fence is bitten, makes his Fort save against the poison and stabilizes. The viper is killed and poofs off. Detect Magic pinpoints him, as if there were any doubts. The bandit leader, a few of her men, and the PCs enter his tent with weapons drawn.
:smallcool:"Hey, sup."
The first attack against him misses.
:smallcool:"Hey, what the hell are you doing? I did nothing!"
:smallannoyed:"Kill him."
:smallcool:"Hey, you can't kill me! I run away."
:mitd:"It's not your turn!"
(Somehow he survives until his turn)
:smallcool:"I teleport out."
:mitd:"You don't have that spell"
:smallcool:"Okay, then I hide."
:mitd:"You are in a tent and everyone is charging at you. Hiding is pretty impossible."
:smallcool:"I run out of the tent."
:mitd:"You'll take two attacks of opportunity if you do"
:smallcool:"Great, then I attack the bard and the leader"
:mitd:"No, it means THEY attack YOU"
:smallcool:"But it's MY turn! What can I do?"
:mitd:"You can...stand there and get killed."
:smallcool:"Can I beg them not to kill me?"
:mitd:"Roll Diplomacy."
The d20 rolls, and so does his head on the ground soon after.
:smallcool:"So, I died?"
:mitd:"Yep."
:smallcool:"Where do I respawn?"
:mitd:(Screaming internally)"You don't respawn, you are dead."
:smallcool:"What do I do now?"
:mitd:"You are bleeding out your last."
:smallcool:"I come back as a ghost and kill them."
:mitd:"..."
And that's the end of part one, AKA how to die before you even meet the other players.
The star of part two is his second character, a Ninja. Makes Charisma his dump stat. Figure. I put him in a lab in a cemetery, assisting an alchemist in fending off zombies. The other players are in this time, and they come to help him. They mop up the undead, and the first thing Roncinante do Corazon (yeah, forget the name) does? Try to hijack the plot, of course!
:smallamused:"What's your deal?"
:smallcool:"Elf."
:smallamused:"What? And don't call me 'elf'."
:smallcool:"I have a message."
:smallamused:"What message?"
:smallcool:"From your brother Puapua."
:mitd: (Halts the game and tries to drill in his head that he can make his own background, but he has no say in that of the other PCs and the campaign in general, ESPECIALLY if he pulls that out of his rear without even discussing it)
:smallcool:"Ah. Sorry. Wrong elf."
So, he is pretty well set. He misses most sessions, but he still does contribute with his shuriken and tachi. Only thing is, his to-hit rolls are often poor, and he rarely takes advantage of his Sneak Attack, preferring to stand back and throw Shuriken for low damage.
Near the end of this part of the campaign (read: the last major enemy is defeated and they're pretty much on the way out), he sends me a private message. By now he's level 2, the others being level 2-3.
:smallcool:"Listen, I think I'm lagging behind. The others are leveling up and getting stuff, and I am stuck with a weak sword.(Said "weak sword" being a +1 Tachi with 19-20 critical threat. Which as I said he rarely uses.)
:smallcool:"Can you give me a private session to level up and get me a better weapon?"
Take in consideration that the party had just won a gang feud which had at stake the key to some ruins filled with goodies. I had halted the session at that part so that he also had the chance to get some loot, and specifically told him there would be some good stuff to get the next time. He declined to come.
The first part of the campaign is over, I'm drawing the maps for the second, and I just can't tell what he's going to do next. Is having a player who is constantly, either subtly or directly, begging the DM for his own personal Monty Haul, worth the hope he eventually comes to learn the gist of the game?