positivitycritic

[positivitycritic]

This feels like a power creep issue, which is pretty common as a game goes on. 5th edition has been out a while, and WoTC wants to print new shiny abilities that will inspire more book sales. For some players, the most exciting part of the game is finding the perfect blend of skills/feats/class features to maximize their character's efficiency.

This was something I had to work with in my 3.5 campaign, and I was similarly torn on how to approach it with my player.

I tried restricting books my players could use, and that at least helped manage the complexity of what I needed to account for, but my player still managed to create PCs far stronger than the rest of the playgroup, and it made it difficult to find appropriate encounters that could challenge him without making the rest of my players feel irrelevant.

My first instinct was to view him as the problem, and that led to a lot of unproductive bickering. When he did make an effort to have a more "fair" character, it was clear he was not enjoying himself to the same degree.

Ultimately, he wasn't the problem- he was playing the game the way he wanted to, and that's just as valid as any other playstyle.

In the end, I focused on growing my own skills to the point where I could accommodate his preferred playstyle without making things boring for everyone else. For me, what has worked best was placing a much higher focus on non-combat interactions. Most of our sessions have one fight, maybe two if it's really called for.

You will probably find something else that works for you, but my main takeaway was that I had to evolve my game to match the players, not the other way around.

You aren't overreacting either, though. It's a sign of your talent as a DM that you are able to notice when things aren't working. It shows empathy on your part, which I consider the most important part of a well-functioning play group.

There’s a Chronurgist wizard PC in one of my D&D 5e campaigns. They get a feature, Temporal Awareness, that adds their Intelligence modifier to their initiative rolls. We’re about to hit level 4, and their player intends to take the Alert feat, which grants a +5 bonus to their initiative rolls.

Simply put, I dislike this. At level 4, they’ll have a +11 bonus to initiative rolls. Part of the fun of rolling initiative is how unpredictable it can be. Sometimes the enemy goes first. Sometimes a PC rolls unexpectedly well. But with such a huge advantage over both the other PCs and their foes, this PC will likely be going first consistently.

I once played in a Pathfinder campaign with a player who did this, taking every option they could to pump their initiative bonus through the roof. I found it pretty obnoxious and unsporting, always going before everyone else, removing a sense of unpredictability from the initiative order.

One thing I liked about 5e when it initially came out was that there weren’t as many options for these sorts of shenanigans. The Alert feat provided the biggest flat bonus, and a feat is a sizable investment. As initiative bonuses became more commonplace in later sourcebooks, I feared this tactic would rear its odious head once more.

I could talk to the player, express my reservations, and ask them to refrain from taking the feat. Temporal Awareness, after all, already grants them a comparable bonus. That’s probably the more mature approach. Alternatively, being an optional rule, I could simply disallow feats altogether.

How ought I handle this? Am I being irrational? I don’t think one PC having a sky-high initiative bonus is going to be much fun for the other PCs, and it’ll definitely be annoying for me as the DM.

[positivitycritic]

This photo set is the intersection between my interest in cats and my interest in eldritch abominations.

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It be like that sometimes.

DMs be like “i know a spot” and then lead you directly into the consequences of your actions 

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reminder that this blog, while not politically focused, supports BLM. bootlickers and racists aren’t welcome here, and never will be.

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Happy birthday to my good friend, and one of my main inspirations to be a writer, @negrek . I would never have come as far as I did without your support.

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Highly relatable. Especially the two on the left.

My favorite phrases as a DM.

[positivitycritic]

Novel Writing Month Revisited: Day 30

Well, it’s the last day of the NaNo review challenge I assigned myself. Overall I think it met my expectations, for better and worse. There is definitely a lot of sloppy or amateurish writing that I need to fix, only some of it I was able to address during the review process (the rest of it will require more significant structural changes to scene design before I am ready to commit the time to fix it up). On the other hand, the core of the premise and the characters I was able to create are solid, and there were still some flares of genuine good writing (if I may allow myself to speak my own praise). The paragraph I reviewed today was the beginning of my temporary descent into the curse of perfectionism. As is entirely predictable based on the paradox of how perfectionism can often impair functioning, it was actually really awkwardly written. The good news is that I was immediately able to see the changes that would turn it into a good (though still not perfect) piece of writing.

Best Bit:

The creature’s similarity with a cat began and ended with the fact that it had four legs. Its skin bristled with tongue-like spines and its head resembled a trumpet bell with eye-stalks peeking over the top

I really only chose this because it’s the best bit that wasn’t significantly edited, not necessarily because I think it is a shining example of literary brilliance, but I do think it’s an interesting image.

[positivitycritic]

Novel Writing Month Revisited: Day 29

Some sad and frustrating stuff happened today, so I was a little distracted when doing my reading. Fortunately, there were only 99 words to read in the first place, so it could have been worse. At this point in 2017, I was on the verge of moving from one apartment to another, so my production was very low for day 29 (as will be true with the section I review tomorrow). I am also on the outer edge of the content written during one of the “darkest” parts of my writing career to date. I made the mistake of watching too many “how to right like a pro” videos on youtube and became obsessed with the idea that I needed to make every piece of description unique and vivid, a task so difficult (impossible?) that it brought on a three month writing slump where I barely finished a single scene.

Best bit:  It was almost feline in nature, like a cello doing its best impression of a cat.

Speaking of unique and vivid imagery, I like this piece of description, though the main clause of the sentence could use a re-write.

[positivitycritic]

Novel Writing Month Revisited: Day 28

I had a little more to review this time, at just north of 500 words, which was enough for me to finish a single short dialogue encounter. This time Ivellos is getting himself into trouble in a scene that I am not 100% convinced will make the cut.

Best bit:

When he was finally ready, he spoke the words and a hole opened up in the floor. After a moment, a small imp shot through the hole and bounced off the upper boundary of Ivellos’ protective barrier. The hole closed up, trapping the creature inside a cylinder about two feet wide and five feet tall.

“Son of a bitch,” the imp said. “Do you realize how inconvenient it is when you people do that?  Oh no, I wasn’t busy, why would you think that? I’ve got plenty of time to help you with whatever it is you’re doing in this moldy basement.” The imp finally brought his attention around to Ivellos. “Great, it’s you again. I thought my master had a chat with you about laying off this whole summoning thing. Maybe we chalk this up to your faulty mortal memory. You let me out of this bubble and we can pretend this whole thing never happened.

No real reason for including this particular bit (though options were obviously limited), except that I made myself chuckle reading this, so at least I can confirm that I appreciate my own sense of humor.

[positivitycritic]

Novel Writing Month Revisited: Day 27

The writing fatigue was palpable in the section I read today, which I guess is understandable given that I had just typed 50k words in 26 days. I was writing through a conversation that contains necessary exposition, and the characterization and mood is just a bit off from what I want it to be. I can definitely tell I was just “putting it down on paper” so that I could actually make it good later. I can recall clearly (and someone bitterly) that I faced a massive (relatively speaking) writing breakdown after nano, and while I did eventually break out of that funk, I will have some forced writing to get through before I move on to some of the parts of the story I’m really excited to revise.

Best bit:

The Final Battle is described simply as being ‘as fearful as he is fearsome.’

I guess that will have to do as a best bit, and is my shortest by far. I thought that was kind of cool as a way to describe a powerful otherworldly creature.

[positivitycritic]

Novel Writing Month Revisited: Day 26

Big day today, as in 2017 this was the point where I officially crossed the 50k word mark and succeeded as a nanowrimo “winner.” I continued to write through the end of the month, but I definitely took my foot off the gas (and deservedly so). That also means that in the past 26 days I have reviewed over 50k words of my story (and done quite a bit of cringing, laughing, highlighting, and deleting along the way.) I’m still nervous for the next round of edits, where I plan to become a bit more savage in my cuts, because I have no idea how much I will need to cut or how hard it might be for me to do so. Still, if being nervous were a reason not to do something, I’d never get out of bed in the morning!

Best bit:

First, he made his way to the basement of the library. The poorly lit hallway was dusty with disuse. A musty smell pervaded the air, and Ivellos felt for any poor book that had been locked away in this basement to molder away. Ivellos situated himself in a small room that looked to have been a private reading area at one point. Cushioned chairs lined the edges of the room, and an unlit lantern hung over each chair. The chairs were slightly damp to the touch, and Ivellos chose to avoid them, sitting instead in a hardwood chair at a table in the room’s center.

Aeshetic is a huge thing for me in fiction, whether we’re talking about visual or print media, so it makes sense that I spend so much time focusing on the quality (or lack there of) of my descriptive writing. I did revise this paragraph a fair amount when I reviewed it, but I still really like some of the details included in the original paragraph here.

[positivitycritic]

Novel Writing Month Revisited: Day 25

Funny story- so yesterday I mentioned how I wasn’t sure I had ever gone into the background for why Mark left his home (which he declined to discuss with his companions). Literally the next paragraph after the section from Day 24 ended contains an answer to that question. It’s a decent answer, so I’ll probably go with it. Also, today’s section contains the second showdown in the dream world/curse, and I like how it turned out. My best bit today doesn’t come from there, though, because I ended up making significant revisions to the descriptions/imagery (which is funny because in my day 25 post from 2017 I wrote that I would need to revisit the material from today when I was better at descriptive writing).

Best bit:

As the trio approached, she barely glanced up from her copy of Witty Retorts for Guaranteed Snorts.

“Hello, Madam,” Ivellos said. “We’re here on important business for the Emp-”

“Library card, please,” she said, extending a hand. Her eyes were still fixed on her book.

“We don’t have cards for this library,” Ivellos said, “but as I said, we are here in an official-”

“There’s no access to the library without a library card,” said the woman.

“If you would please allow me to finish a sentence,” Ivellos said, “I was trying to explain that we are here on official imperial business. Are you quite sure you cannot make an exception?”

“I only make exceptions for exceptional people, so you’re out of luck,” she replied.

“Did you just read that from your book?” Ivellos asked.

“No,” she said, lowering the book and looking up.

Ah, as time went on and my writing style for the book became more serious/dramatic, I started to forget my earlier efforts to keep this story at least partly in the realm of comedy. The obstructive bureaucrat is by no means an original NPC archetype, but who doesn’t love a good apathetic public servant character joke?

[positivitycritic]

Novel Writing Month Revisited: Day 24

I have a theory for why I end up hating all of my “transition paragraphs” between scenes or major set-pieces. I know that I want my transitions (when I include them at all) to be brief and contain just enough establishing information to keep the reader immersed without boring them, but I think I just keep focusing on the wrong details to include. I describe the skyline of the city as they approach- fine, that works, but then I mention that they stop to ask for directions to the library? Why that detail? Do I really think my readers aren’t going to understand how one might find the location of a library without me telling them? All I can say is thank God for editing.

Best bit:

“I met Boran once, however. When I was just a <cub>, my family took me to meet the Raging Wind himself. This was fresh off his victory against War Chief <Helmaroc> of the High Ridge Orcs.”

“That must have been a memorable experience,” Scent said.

“I’ll never forget what he told me: ‘The greatest power you possess is your love for your tribe and your family. Your enemies give you a reason to fight, but your family gives you a reason to win.’”

“He spoke to you personally?” Jill asked. “Did your parents pay him or something?”

“Well, no,” Mark confessed. “He was speaking to an audience, but he was looking in my direction when he said it.”

“Where are your family now, Mark?” Sarah asked.

“I don’t know for sure, but this time of year my tribe would have journeyed West, preparing to settle into the tribe’s seaside Winter camp.”

“If family is supposed to be your greatest strength, what made you leave yours?” Jill asked, earning her a ‘what the fuck’ glare from Sarah.

“I… would rather talk about more pleasant things,” said Mark.

The best bit today also happened to be the last bit from this section of writing, but it was a nice opportunity to explore the history of one of the more “simplistic” characters in the story. I’m not sure I ever delved into the answer to Jill’s last question, but that just gives me something to do in the sequels.

[positivitycritic]

Novel Writing Month Revisited: Day 23

Day 23 became “the day that never happened” back in 2017. It was Thanksgiving, and after writing a (mercifully minimal) 186 words, I ended up making an error in copying over from my documents (the error being I didn’t do it at all), and ended up deleting the whole day’s work. I made up for it by writing an “extra” 186 words the next day, so today I reviewed the first 186 words of day 24 instead. They were fine. Not a lot happens in 186 words. I don’t even really think it’s worth including a “best bit”, but we are still in the middle of a heated conversation with the characters, and there was some nice dialogue that I think will set up some of the future events well.

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Novel Writing Month Revisited: Day 22

WHOOPS! Totally forgot to actually finish this post earlier. Well, spilled milk and omelettes and all that, right? Today’s section contains the first ever (official) look at our “villain” of the story, and I like writing villains. Then we get another fun conversation between Damien and his inner Ambition, which are always a blast for me. Then we get a very important but very in-need-of-rewriting section where the characters start to try to figure out exactly what is happening. It’s a pivotal moment where the characters take the reins and start being proactive in the story, if even a little.

Best bit:

Don���t play dumb with me, Damien thought. You’ve been lying to me from the beginning.

<You mean about me being a part of you? That was not a lie, Damien. You simply misinterpreted me. I am a part of you now. What you did not know is that I am also a part of many other people.>

You were intentionally trying to deceive me, Damien thought, That’s still a lie and you can shove your technicalities up your ass.

<Are you jealous, Damien? Did you like imagining that you were the only one graced with my gifts? I did not tell you about the others because I did not consider it relevant. My relationship with them has no impact on you. Would it help if I said that you are special? That among all my chosen you are the most important to me?>

No, it wouldn’t help, thought Damien. Those would just be more lies. I want you out of my head. You’re not welcome here any more.

Prophecies in stories have always bugged me, for many complex reasons. Some of them psychological (contemplating pre-determination or fate causes existential crises I prefer to avoid), and others more mundane. My biggest issue with them, however, is not that they are cliche. It’s that they could so easily be played with in ways that would feel (to me, at least) fresh and new. In that light, consider the above paragraph a form of literary therapy.

[positivitycritic]

This isn't so much about me being dumb - more like untalented - but the time I got brave enough to try an Irish accent was so bad it took ten minutes for the party to be able to compose themselves well enough to continue. You can also throw in forgetting NPC names to this story- I forgot to write down the "Irish" fey's name, so his new (and now official) name is O'Jeremy.

You know, I see a lot of posts out there about dumb shit that players do and while all of those posts are incredibly valid, I feel like this is dumbass DM erasure. I dearly love every story about bards who seduce the final boss and warlocks with sugar daddies and all that BUT I think DMs are greatly misunderstood to all be these serious controlling entities who just want their players to follow through with their perfectly planned scenerios. Here’s to all the dumbass DMs out there who:

- forget their NPC names and constantly make up new names for unimportant recurring NPCs when the players see them in hopes that they wont remember

- plan a whole dungeon around one (1) spongebob reference that they really wanted to fit in

- accidentally give two NPCs the same name bc you just pull from a list and you forgot to cross it off

- choose to homebrew everything bc they have an Artistic Vision but the vision is just that you want there to be three gnomes in a trench coat selling sketchy magical items somewhere in the setting

- use the same dumbass voice for every NPC but with different 90s surfer slang for different characters

- make just awful items and make their players buy them (I’m currently working on the “Ross From Friends” tramp stamp of +1 AC)

- realize they only have 28 minutes before the next session to plan and instead make text posts on tumblr.com

Anyway if any DMs want to add onto this with some dumbass shit they’ve subjected their players to feel free

[positivitycritic]

Novel Writing Month Revisited: Day 21

For whatever reason I'm having trouble figuring out how to add a title to a draft on mobile. Maybe it's impossible. No matter.

Today I got to the first "boss battle" of the central arc. I've noticed that I'm developing an instinctive ability to distinguish between well-conceived writing that is poorly written, and writing that is just conceptually bad and serves no purpose regardless of how it is revised. As a fledgling skill, I'm positive I'm still making loads of mistakes, and as an "instinctive" ability I still lack the understanding to consciously develop this skill. It's progress, though, and by continuing with this process, I believe I will only get better.

Best bit:

The creatures were all over him now, slicing at his legs or leaping up to rake his torso. He swung furiously through the pain, dispatching another three of the shades, but ultimately they were too much for him. He fell to his knees as he felt one of their claws force its way through his ribs. In the last moment of strength he held out the sword to his companions. At least they might still survive, he thought. The last thing Ivellos heard before he blacked out was a voice taunting him.

<Well fought, Ivellos. You’d make a fine addition to my cast indeed.>

The section I read today falls into the category of "well-conceived, poorly written" I discussed above. This made it hard to choose a "best bit" despite enjoying most of what I was reading, because I felt conoelled to tweak so much of it to strip away excess words, clarify the descriptions, and improve the pacing. My choice for best bit was made on the merits of good pacing as and tone, despite some messy writing.