Friendship is Dragons
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Page 112 - Lost Chickens, Part 2
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78 Comments:
Loving the faces, really express the interaction of a DM and the average party.
And so it is right. Fantasy world, like any other, should obey its internal rules and follow some logic - that's what creates a suspension of disbelief in players and/or audience. I don't care if magic means 2 + 2 = fish, but don't try to use it as an argument if it comes out as frog for no real reason except sloppy thinking.
I also happen to agree with this. This is the kind of stuff that makes a setting serious or not.
Things like, "How can the ecosystem support all these apex predators?" And, "Why doesn't the economy crumble thanks to adventures constantly returning with chests full of gold?" or "If the shopkeeper has all of this expensive equipment, why can't I shank him? Level 20 huh? Why isn't he out saving the world instead?"
Consistency is what sets the tone of your game.
Using real world logic with regards to fantasy though is potentially another story. Even a Wizard is unlikely to know anything about particle physics for instance. But good luck preventing one from starting the industrial revolution and creating free energy devices.
I find one of two answers covers most of this:
1) "Good question."
2) "Is that really want you want? Because it'll cost you."
1) "Good question."
2) "Is that really want you want? Because it'll cost you."
I actually have killed a shop keeper before. He was another party member's brother, and his character hated his family. My character was a two-weapon ranger named archer, who was a member of the royal guard, but only due to his skill, not his 'honor.' So, after several plat was sent to me, I skill check'd the crap out of brother shop keep, sold everything he owned to other NPC shops, and distracted the guards by casually walking around town with my 9 speed, laughing as the party kept trying to force me back onto our airship. They only succeeded due to a fail-crit-fail skill check of me roof running next to the rope ladder...
I got a bit tied up, so the fun with the guards had to end.
Needless to say, my char was one of the several from our party who were permanently banished from town.
I still think it was a win for me, as that character still has 15+ AD...
Between me and the dragonborn sorc, who is way too efficient with those contracts, we have near 100 AD
I got a bit tied up, so the fun with the guards had to end.
Needless to say, my char was one of the several from our party who were permanently banished from town.
I still think it was a win for me, as that character still has 15+ AD...
Between me and the dragonborn sorc, who is way too efficient with those contracts, we have near 100 AD
I haven't had a chance to use it yet because I basically never DM, but my favourite idea is that a level twenty-some-odd wizard goes around setting up "no-kill zone" wards, sometimes as a civil service or low-profit philanthropic endeavor- but usually in exchange for a percentage of the profits, hence why shopkeepers in cheap inns can be slaughtered wholesale but shopkeepers with a good stock of magic items aren't targets.
Alternately, depending on the setting, there's a god that does it automatically, but I like the Wandering Izschack more than the vengeful god of shopkeepers.
Alternately, depending on the setting, there's a god that does it automatically, but I like the Wandering Izschack more than the vengeful god of shopkeepers.
Funny though, I'd have thought Twilight would be the one nerdy enough to teach them, not Fluttershy. :P
That or she's pulled the short straw / was drunk when the decision was made.
She certainly looks like she needs a drink, judging from that last panel.
...I think you've got it. Fluttershy's mother was born to the Apples.
(Wait, what do you mean there are no Apple pegasi? What about Pilot, Pixie, Red Baron? What about Surprise Apple?)
(Wait, what do you mean there are no Apple pegasi? What about Pilot, Pixie, Red Baron? What about Surprise Apple?)
On Fantasy Logic -
In D&D 3rd edition, werewolves have a resistance to damage overcome only by silver. In a recent fight with werewolves, one PCs used a magic glove that creates daggers with the "Bane" magic ability. What Bane does is give an additional +2 bonus to attack and +2d6 to damage toward a specific type of creature. In this case, his dagger was "Werewolf Bane".
But the PC incorrectly assumed that the word Bane, by classic Webster definition, should also overcome the damage reduction werewolves have. It doesn't. The fight halted for two minutes to explain that Bane and Silver are not the same thing in this game's context.
Just because silver is the "bane" of werewolves, it doesn't mean that the magic ability "Bane" on his dagger is silver.
With that out of the way combat resumed.
And the PC got blinded by the naked Nymph anyway so... hurray?
In D&D 3rd edition, werewolves have a resistance to damage overcome only by silver. In a recent fight with werewolves, one PCs used a magic glove that creates daggers with the "Bane" magic ability. What Bane does is give an additional +2 bonus to attack and +2d6 to damage toward a specific type of creature. In this case, his dagger was "Werewolf Bane".
But the PC incorrectly assumed that the word Bane, by classic Webster definition, should also overcome the damage reduction werewolves have. It doesn't. The fight halted for two minutes to explain that Bane and Silver are not the same thing in this game's context.
Just because silver is the "bane" of werewolves, it doesn't mean that the magic ability "Bane" on his dagger is silver.
With that out of the way combat resumed.
And the PC got blinded by the naked Nymph anyway so... hurray?
Maybe they got manes that cover their whole head/eyes and/or cutie marks?
Good question. I suppose covering their eyes would work. I believe the blidning ability works on sight so not looking at one would prevent it.
you'd have a lot of ponies looking at the ground though. :)
you'd have a lot of ponies looking at the ground though. :)
If a nymph took a class, druid would be the most likely choice.
Thinking Druids are all hippies is an example of that.
A better example might be how in Mage the Ascension you can make Atomic Weapons straight out of character generation.
... It's kind of a hard game to balance.
Well, yes...sort of. In mage, you have to have the pre-requitsite know-how. You can't just conjure up a working nuclear weapon... you have to already know how to make one, and then have the prerequisite spheres to create the parts and materials for it. Plus your paradigm has to allow for such things, and then there's paradox, and the trouble with making the stuff permanant... basically, while you CAN make a nuclear weapon in Mage, it's probably easier to just BUY one from some dude name One-Thumb Yuri in Kazakhstan or something
What we have here is a textbook example of the PCs not wanting to be cooperative with the GM.
Luckily for me, I haven't ever run into any of that yet. Usually my groups are pretty good about helping the GM along - I mean, after all, it's not easy to be a GM. They've definitely got the hardest part in the game - imagining encounters, preparing stats, etc.
Luckily for me, I haven't ever run into any of that yet. Usually my groups are pretty good about helping the GM along - I mean, after all, it's not easy to be a GM. They've definitely got the hardest part in the game - imagining encounters, preparing stats, etc.
Actually, considering that worshiping nature doesn't mean you're a PETA member or even vegetarian it makes perfect sense for a druid to raise chickens.
After all, sacrificing people all the time attracts too much suspicion.
And the DM's right, summons do not work that way.
After all, sacrificing people all the time attracts too much suspicion.
And the DM's right, summons do not work that way.
Yep, one of the classic kinds of druid is "nature, red in tooth and claw".
Girlfriend: Hey you can't eat that, it's meat.
Me: So?
GF: So? Aren't you like a tree huggy mage thing?
Me: You mean a druid, a nature priest?
GF: Yeah, I mean you can't respect nature if you're evil and eat animals and stuff.
Me: Well what am I supposed to eat then?
GF: Well plants duh, that way you don't hurt nature.
Me: So you're saying PLANTS aren't a part of nature, and that eating animals is evil because it doesn't happen naturally.
GF: Oh yeah, I guess you can't eat like trees or other important plants either.
Competent Female Gamer: Oh my God SHUT UP!
Ever since Eberron came out, all my D+D worlds have secretly been Eberron (in the sense that magical technology makes the effective tech level higher than medieval even if people still use medieval trappings).
It might.
It's sad that people don't learn about medieval democracies in school. Italy, for example, had an embarrassment of democratically ruled cities*; and you didn't usually have a large town without it having a certain freedom from the lords to run their own business.
* Actually, Italy tended to have towns that tried every possible kind of governmental system, every few years or so when people get bored. You could go away on business for six weeks and come back to a commune, or an oligarchy, or a democracy, or a despot. Siena went through a lot of this, IIRC.
* Actually, Italy tended to have towns that tried every possible kind of governmental system, every few years or so when people get bored. You could go away on business for six weeks and come back to a commune, or an oligarchy, or a democracy, or a despot. Siena went through a lot of this, IIRC.
Amusing, could someone tell them that the default Pathfinder setting is actually late Renaissance? And that one of the 'five Frances'[1] is from the 20th century, (Isger is Vichy France).
[1] Andoran, Chellax, Galt, Isger, and Taldor.
[1] Andoran, Chellax, Galt, Isger, and Taldor.
Damn that was quick. Session just started and its already about to be catastrophically derailed. Or the DM is going to let Fluttershy fight back, and then Rocks fall.
As for which particular dictionary definition they are using, I believe that is up for interpretation.
Yes, but it often breaks for the most arbitrary of reasons. It's a bit jarring when the sort of person that wants to play a half-celestial half-fiend kobold sorcerer/barbarian/dragon disciple with a feral template half-dragon silver dragon mount and an awakened rabbit druid for a valet doesn't bat at eye when hired to defeat the ancient (fire) half-elemental (white) half-dragon tyrannosaur that guards the "Secret" Gate to Everywhere at the northern pole quits your game because your description of the journey mentioned both polar bears and penguins.
They are polar owlbears and dire penguins. Get it right.
The more I look at your profile pic, the funnier it gets. :-D
Actually, 'logistics' is 'I don't have magic, but I do have minions to do the task. Get to work, minions!'
Point of order: the veterinarian pony in "Secret of my Excess" has never seen Spike before. It is therefore unlikely that she has any kind of close working relationship with Fluttershy - or indeed any of the mane six.
Players: "Why isn't this powerful person dealing with this problem himself?"
DM: "He is, by expending some of his gold to hire people.
DM: "He is, by expending some of his gold to hire people.
As a DM, I would to say that I am ashamed I never thought of that.
If it's just "Hey those are my source of Eggs and pillow stuffings" then yeah, hire a couple kids to go get 'em.
I just want to say that I'm really, really, enjoying this guest series. To me, it feels extremely true to the CMC's characters, and the screen captures are excellent. I'd like to suggest that the author develop this idea further and make his/her own comic strip.
In a game about fantasy heroes, creative creatures and imaginative magic, I'm surprised how often DMs haven't heard of suspension of disbelief or internal consistency.
Oh, they've heard of them. They just recognize that these things aren't often worth the effort. That's especially true if players don't offer more than complaints about what is supposed to be a cooperative process. If they're not paying for the DM's time (both at the table and in preparation), the obligation to make sense of things is the entire table's responsibility.
The Encounters program works in part because of where it encourages organizers to ignore internal consistency. When you're running three to six tables at a time, people are always coming and going, and tables change from session to session. People will show up for just one scene, or every other scene, or find themselves proceeding to the next scene with an entirely different group every week. You wind up relying on retroactive continuity more than would be good for a novel.
Fortunately, this is a game, not a novel. You have players, not an audience. As participants, they should recognize when it's in their interest to recognize that we have always been at war with Eastasia.
The Encounters program works in part because of where it encourages organizers to ignore internal consistency. When you're running three to six tables at a time, people are always coming and going, and tables change from session to session. People will show up for just one scene, or every other scene, or find themselves proceeding to the next scene with an entirely different group every week. You wind up relying on retroactive continuity more than would be good for a novel.
Fortunately, this is a game, not a novel. You have players, not an audience. As participants, they should recognize when it's in their interest to recognize that we have always been at war with Eastasia.
Scootaloo: It's funny because "flank" can mean something else in this context.
That's why we have "rump" and "plot", which you'll agree are even easier to be immature about in a DnD context.
Yeah, bronies apparently don't have very large vocabularies.
Swag.
Effiency is a good thing, though I admit I've got an outsider's view of the process.
It's still funny because even though it doesn't have a pseudo-sexual connotation saying it that way makes people think it does. ;)
To clarify, that was meant to be a comment made by the (presumably) human player of Scootaloo.
To clarify, that was meant to be a comment made by the (presumably) human player of Scootaloo.
This is now my default cry of frustration.
Give it up, girls. You aren't the first heroes who had to start out their grand quest as "Chickenchasers". ;)
The CMC's do not need the Sword of Aeons.
Dear Celestia No...they don't need that at all!
And I too miss my WoW Guild, we had soo much fun before everyone just started grinding and power leveling and it got stupid.
I have nothing but sympathy for Fluttershy...I've have to deal with players like this once...Keep your logic out of my fantasy game :D
And I too miss my WoW Guild, we had soo much fun before everyone just started grinding and power leveling and it got stupid.
I have nothing but sympathy for Fluttershy...I've have to deal with players like this once...Keep your logic out of my fantasy game :D
Ugh... What DM in his/her right mind gives a standard VIDEOGAME beginner quest to TABLETOP players?
Player: Certainly, my liege. How may we be of service?
NPC King: We have been plagued by by foul vermin, they devour our crops, infest our fields, and attack our people, and we are helpless against their numbers and might!
Player: We shall slay them. Tell us, what threatens your kingdom?
NPC King: We are beset by rats. You must aid us, brave knight.
Player: Rats? How are rats dangerous?
NPC King: They swarm by the dozens, and just the other day, Sairos here was bitten by one. He bled for nigh unto twenty minutes! Seiros, show them your wound.
A guard steps forward and looks at you pathetically as he holds up his finger. It has a small bandage wrapped around the tip.
Seiros: 'Tis a painful wound, good sir knight.
Player: Nope, I'm done here. I quit.
"In a game about fantasy heroes, creative creatures and imaginative magic, I'm surprised how often players will use logic to disbelieve certain elements of the game."