A few question's.. [Archive] - Wizards Community

A few question's.. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Oompa
10-04-06, 08:29 AM So.. I've got a few questions..

- I want my pc's to roleplay a bit more and i would like to give out a small bonus to the best role-player of that night.. Would a 65 xp bonus be sufficient?

- What are good methods to keep players from meta gaming to much?? except giving a role play xp bonus?

- How do you roll criticals? If you got 1d8+3 X3, do you just roll 1d8 and +9 or do you roll 3d8 and +9? I know its my choice how to roll.. but well.. if you roll 8 on 1d8 and multiply it by 3 the score will be much higher then a 3d8.. But you roll an 1 or 2.. then score is most likely to be lower then an 3d8..

- I've got an sorcerer, a wizard and a druid in my party, how do you handle it when they wanna do a spell you don't know? You readt the whole spell or do you trust youre players.. cause i have a player that only reads the good stuff.. and one can't read english so good.. but if they do a spell i dont know.. the other 3 will have to wait..

- Any dm's got any good house rules for these kinda questions??

Thanks :D
oxybe
10-04-06, 08:46 AM So.. I've got a few questions..

- I want my pc's to roleplay a bit more and i would like to give out a small bonus to the best role-player of that night.. Would a 65 xp bonus be sufficient?

- What are good methods to keep players from meta gaming to much?? except giving a role play xp bonus?

- How do you roll criticals? If you got 1d8+3 X3, do you just roll 1d8 and +9 or do you roll 3d8 and +9? I know its my choice how to roll.. but well.. if you roll 8 on 1d8 and multiply it by 3 the score will be much higher then a 3d8.. But you roll an 1 or 2.. then score is most likely to be lower then an 3d8..

- I've got an sorcerer, a wizard and a druid in my party, how do you handle it when they wanna do a spell you don't know? You readt the whole spell or do you trust youre players.. cause i have a player that only reads the good stuff.. and one can't read english so good.. but if they do a spell i dont know.. the other 3 will have to wait..

- Any dm's got any good house rules for these kinda questions??

level x (i think between 20-50) is a good bonus.

stop metagaming? ask them "would [char name] know that?" if not, then the player should not take that action. if yes, explain why he would have that information.

when i DM a x3 crit on a 1d8+2 str weapon would deal, using normal math (1d8+2)x3. when i play, my dm would have us roll 3d8+6. pick one, stick to it. it's not something that happends too often and both work fine. the multiply tends to deals damage completely random, while the roll more dice is a bell curve of damage.

read the spell & make sure you know what it does. like any material, go over it before letting it in.
White_Wizard
10-04-06, 09:18 AM So.. I've got a few questions..

- I want my pc's to roleplay a bit more and i would like to give out a small bonus to the best role-player of that night.. Would a 65 xp bonus be sufficient?
65 xp isn't that much of a prize. Even at 2nd level wouldn't be a real advancement toward next level. 65 xp per level would be much better (so a 1st lvl PC would get 65 xp, a 2nd lvl PC would get 130 xp, 10th would get 650 xp and so on: it is not a huge push up, but it is significant enough to make the players think about how useful roleplay is)
- What are good methods to keep players from meta gaming to much?? except giving a role play xp bonus?
in this case an award doesn't do the job. It has to be done the hard way: punish them. If they think, say, that the crypt will be full of skeleton just because every crypt in a fantasy game tends to be full of undead monsters, put them against a nest of giant spiders or, which would be much more interesting to investigate, maybe a tribe of goblins fought back the undead monsters and now lives within the crypt, using it as both a haven and a storage for their plunders.
If they think outside the game, make them see that the game itself can be as complex as it is the real world.
Another tip: sometimes this way of reasoning from players comes out because the DM himself tends to play too much classical characters or situations, in which everything is at it would be esxpected to be. Try to show something unexpected or strange even in non-combat situations (maybe a character who seems stupid turns out to give a precious hint -whether he knows what he's doing or not). Or the bartender who is usually kind reacts rudely because his wife just escaped with another man (this the PC will know only if they investigate: if not they will only know that the bartender just sent them to... you know... :P )
- How do you roll criticals? If you got 1d8+3 X3, do you just roll 1d8 and +9 or do you roll 3d8 and +9? I know its my choice how to roll.. but well.. if you roll 8 on 1d8 and multiply it by 3 the score will be much higher then a 3d8.. But you roll an 1 or 2.. then score is most likely to be lower then an 3d8..
rule from PHB is normal hit 1d8+3, critical hit x3 3d8+9. Nonetheless I use the (1d8+3)x3. It's just a matter of tastes.
- I've got an sorcerer, a wizard and a druid in my party, how do you handle it when they wanna do a spell you don't know? You readt the whole spell or do you trust youre players.. cause i have a player that only reads the good stuff.. and one can't read english so good.. but if they do a spell i dont know.. the other 3 will have to wait..
Well, as a DM you should really know most of the spells avaliable in the game (it's the hard part of our job). But you should also state which handbook are to be taken as source of spells (which, I strongly recommend, should be handbook you possess, so you can take a look at them whenever you need). If a player owns a handbook you don't it's not a problem: ask the player if you can borrow his handbook for a while and decide on your own whether the material fits your campaign or not.
If during a game a player names a spell you don't know, take your time to read it: no DM is asked to be perfect, after all. You will soon become fast at it and spell-searching will soon become a matter of seconds when you will be confident with your handbooks.
- Any dm's got any good house rules for these kinda questions??

Thanks :D
There's no rule to be a DM: one can just learn it by doing it, even because there no group of players like another group of players. Different people means different ways of doing different things.
Remember that before any rule, fun is what matters around a table of D&D. And I don't mean that just players have to take all the fun of it: even the DM must have fun with his job. If he doesn't, nor the players do.
aristotle91
10-04-06, 11:14 AM My campaign uses action points. When someone meta-games too much, I penalize them by removing an action point.
kelvinaw273
10-04-06, 02:17 PM I give awards in varying XP, nominated for and voted on by the players so that it is fair. So they get:

Best RP for the session
(who roleplayed consistently the best for the session?)

Best Class & Style of doing something
(who pulled something off with real IC style?)

Best Line delivered
(who made us laugh, who made us cry?)

Man of the Moment Award
(which character was 'in there' at just the right moment with an idea, an action, a move, or was just generally the star of the show?)

etc.
Oompa
10-04-06, 06:11 PM Nice idea's.. i like the awards.. Think ill stick with level x 65 xp for the roleplay..

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Oompa 10-04-06, 08:29 AM	So.. I've got a few questions.. - I want my pc's to roleplay a bit more and i would like to give out a small bonus to the best role-player of that night.. Would a 65 xp bonus be sufficient? - What are good methods to keep players from meta gaming to much?? except giving a role play xp bonus? - How do you roll criticals? If you got 1d8+3 X3, do you just roll 1d8 and +9 or do you roll 3d8 and +9? I know its my choice how to roll.. but well.. if you roll 8 on 1d8 and multiply it by 3 the score will be much higher then a 3d8.. But you roll an 1 or 2.. then score is most likely to be lower then an 3d8.. - I've got an sorcerer, a wizard and a druid in my party, how do you handle it when they wanna do a spell you don't know? You readt the whole spell or do you trust youre players.. cause i have a player that only reads the good stuff.. and one can't read english so good.. but if they do a spell i dont know.. the other 3 will have to wait.. - Any dm's got any good house rules for these kinda questions?? Thanks :D
oxybe 10-04-06, 08:46 AM	So.. I've got a few questions.. - I want my pc's to roleplay a bit more and i would like to give out a small bonus to the best role-player of that night.. Would a 65 xp bonus be sufficient? - What are good methods to keep players from meta gaming to much?? except giving a role play xp bonus? - How do you roll criticals? If you got 1d8+3 X3, do you just roll 1d8 and +9 or do you roll 3d8 and +9? I know its my choice how to roll.. but well.. if you roll 8 on 1d8 and multiply it by 3 the score will be much higher then a 3d8.. But you roll an 1 or 2.. then score is most likely to be lower then an 3d8.. - I've got an sorcerer, a wizard and a druid in my party, how do you handle it when they wanna do a spell you don't know? You readt the whole spell or do you trust youre players.. cause i have a player that only reads the good stuff.. and one can't read english so good.. but if they do a spell i dont know.. the other 3 will have to wait.. - Any dm's got any good house rules for these kinda questions?? level x (i think between 20-50) is a good bonus. stop metagaming? ask them "would [char name] know that?" if not, then the player should not take that action. if yes, explain why he would have that information. when i DM a x3 crit on a 1d8+2 str weapon would deal, using normal math (1d8+2)x3. when i play, my dm would have us roll 3d8+6. pick one, stick to it. it's not something that happends too often and both work fine. the multiply tends to deals damage completely random, while the roll more dice is a bell curve of damage. read the spell & make sure you know what it does. like any material, go over it before letting it in.
White_Wizard 10-04-06, 09:18 AM	So.. I've got a few questions.. - I want my pc's to roleplay a bit more and i would like to give out a small bonus to the best role-player of that night.. Would a 65 xp bonus be sufficient? 65 xp isn't that much of a prize. Even at 2nd level wouldn't be a real advancement toward next level. 65 xp per level would be much better (so a 1st lvl PC would get 65 xp, a 2nd lvl PC would get 130 xp, 10th would get 650 xp and so on: it is not a huge push up, but it is significant enough to make the players think about how useful roleplay is) - What are good methods to keep players from meta gaming to much?? except giving a role play xp bonus? in this case an award doesn't do the job. It has to be done the hard way: punish them. If they think, say, that the crypt will be full of skeleton just because every crypt in a fantasy game tends to be full of undead monsters, put them against a nest of giant spiders or, which would be much more interesting to investigate, maybe a tribe of goblins fought back the undead monsters and now lives within the crypt, using it as both a haven and a storage for their plunders. If they think outside the game, make them see that the game itself can be as complex as it is the real world. Another tip: sometimes this way of reasoning from players comes out because the DM himself tends to play too much classical characters or situations, in which everything is at it would be esxpected to be. Try to show something unexpected or strange even in non-combat situations (maybe a character who seems stupid turns out to give a precious hint -whether he knows what he's doing or not). Or the bartender who is usually kind reacts rudely because his wife just escaped with another man (this the PC will know only if they investigate: if not they will only know that the bartender just sent them to... you know... :P ) - How do you roll criticals? If you got 1d8+3 X3, do you just roll 1d8 and +9 or do you roll 3d8 and +9? I know its my choice how to roll.. but well.. if you roll 8 on 1d8 and multiply it by 3 the score will be much higher then a 3d8.. But you roll an 1 or 2.. then score is most likely to be lower then an 3d8.. rule from PHB is normal hit 1d8+3, critical hit x3 3d8+9. Nonetheless I use the (1d8+3)x3. It's just a matter of tastes. - I've got an sorcerer, a wizard and a druid in my party, how do you handle it when they wanna do a spell you don't know? You readt the whole spell or do you trust youre players.. cause i have a player that only reads the good stuff.. and one can't read english so good.. but if they do a spell i dont know.. the other 3 will have to wait.. Well, as a DM you should really know most of the spells avaliable in the game (it's the hard part of our job). But you should also state which handbook are to be taken as source of spells (which, I strongly recommend, should be handbook you possess, so you can take a look at them whenever you need). If a player owns a handbook you don't it's not a problem: ask the player if you can borrow his handbook for a while and decide on your own whether the material fits your campaign or not. If during a game a player names a spell you don't know, take your time to read it: no DM is asked to be perfect, after all. You will soon become fast at it and spell-searching will soon become a matter of seconds when you will be confident with your handbooks. - Any dm's got any good house rules for these kinda questions?? Thanks :D There's no rule to be a DM: one can just learn it by doing it, even because there no group of players like another group of players. Different people means different ways of doing different things. Remember that before any rule, fun is what matters around a table of D&D. And I don't mean that just players have to take all the fun of it: even the DM must have fun with his job. If he doesn't, nor the players do.
aristotle91 10-04-06, 11:14 AM	My campaign uses action points. When someone meta-games too much, I penalize them by removing an action point.
kelvinaw273 10-04-06, 02:17 PM	I give awards in varying XP, nominated for and voted on by the players so that it is fair. So they get: Best RP for the session (who roleplayed consistently the best for the session?) Best Class & Style of doing something (who pulled something off with real IC style?) Best Line delivered (who made us laugh, who made us cry?) Man of the Moment Award (which character was 'in there' at just the right moment with an idea, an action, a move, or was just generally the star of the show?) etc.
Oompa 10-04-06, 06:11 PM	Nice idea's.. i like the awards.. Think ill stick with level x 65 xp for the roleplay..