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  • No. Louis works for greyjay. There is some billionaire behind it all.

  • Top EU Court Says There’s No Right To Online Anonymity, Because Copyright Is More Important
  • GDPR has plenty provisions where other laws or considerations may be more relevant than it, negating it in such cases.

    I still do think the GDPR is extremely important, but it is no silver bullet,sadly.

  • Patrick Breyer and Pirate Party lose EU Parliament seats
  • Tagesschau has a graph showing AFD being the highest % voted party all over eastern Germany and second highest voted nearly everywhere else, following CDU/CSU. You really only see green or red in the larger cities.

  • My RuneScape-inspired fitness RPG, WalkScape, has a new Closed Beta wave starting one June 1st!
  • That's amazing - Would it be fine if I covered this on my (very, very small) YouTube channel? My content isn't really related to anything fitness, but I am in the process of getting a bit fitter at the moment, so this could be a very fun thing to do and talk about for me, as I do have a weak spot for both RPGs and privacy respecting apps!

  • Feedback from all moderators
  • Alright, neat! Always happy to go for some FOSS experiments :)

  • Feedback from all moderators
  • So if someone has a community on lemmy.world, would they need to move to sublinks at some point? Where and how would one do that? Asking for myself.

    Thanks for all your work here.

  • [Seeking Advice] DM changing style
  • Yeah, alright. Can you provide an example of how you present the choice during a session? Maybe it's really as simple as being far more on the nose with how you say it?

    I've found my players often really do not grasp implied information and it just leads nowhere. But I get the feeling you're already really clear with how you approach it.

  • [Seeking Advice] DM changing style
  • You said in another comment that you enjoy DMing a game that has unpredictable results for the DM as well. A lot of good advice has already been given, but might I suggest giving your players more agency that you'd most likely see falling into the realm of the DM usually, so they create unexpected events for you as well?

    Say you have the character of your friend destroy said Annis Hag, but blast! she had a curse prepared to fall upon anyone who would dare defy her to the point of death. Now instead of throwing your idea of a punishing burden on the player, you could instead go: "You can feel an evil magic engulfing your very being. It muddles your senses and try as you might, you are incapable of escaping its grasp. As it burns itself into your very bones and soul, you feel one of your abilities weaken. Which ability is affected?"

    That way the player retains agency, can pick the least punishing option (in their opinion), have consequences but it doesn't feel like they just got punished for doing well or making a choice just as much as you simply deciding "That's how it is now. Enjoy!". Could also add an element of chance and put it down to a roll of the dice, but that might again feel too arbitrarily punishing to that character.

    The curse then mightn't just have that main effect, mind you. But at least the worst one is more down to what the character feels and fears rather than what the DM wants to dish out. It will also give you something to ponder and think about in how to work with whatever the player chose or came up with. You could let them describe how the curse alters their appearance, do they suddenly have a mark on their skin? If so where, what size, shape and color? Now you have a PC with an odd mark of their own imagination and you can build on that. Or the player might come up with horns sprouting from their head, etc. Using this, you can have NPCs react to these changes and really play into them.

    Player Agency might help alleviate the feeling of it being a punishing campaign, by giving them some room to breathe in all the pressure and stress.

  • [Imperor] Mother of Loam – A single quest spooky/halloween-y adventure TTRPG Module

    Hello everyone!

    After finishing up The Everfog - Field of Spears I got to work on the next single quest module named Mother of Loam

    In this one you and your table are going to try and help the town of Brockenbrook reclaim their sleep and venture into the haunted Brockenbrack swamps.

    The art prompt and additional illustrations in the PDF were generously supplied by ZebraFeatherAH over on Mastodon. Do give them a look and say hi, if you like their work.

    The quick adventure / quest comes as a full PDF and audio transcript.

    Hope you enjoy!

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    [Imperor] A single (spooky) quest module: The Everfog - Field of Spears
  • Hm, that's odd. I tested it on Chrome and Firefox right now, Firefox being pretty locked down as far as settings go, and it's working fine. Got any plugins that might be blocking opening new tabs or something?

    EDIT: I switched it out for a different way of displaying it, so it's now embedded and has a different link at the bottom, if you could try again and let me know, I'd appreciate it.

  • [Imperor] A single (spooky) quest module: The Everfog - Field of Spears
  • Darn, the post changed the link to just the image, I'm updating it now, sorry. Thanks for letting me know!

    Also, here's the link as well: https://impheim.com/2023/10/the-everfog-field-of-spears-a-single-quest-ttrpg-module/

  • [Imperor] A single (spooky) quest module: The Everfog - Field of Spears

    Hello everyone!

    A few weeks ago I had an idea for a bit of a creative challenge and collaboration to create single quest modules for ttrpgs. I approached some lovely artists over on Mastodon and some agreed to give this a go. Since I mainly play DND, it's d20 compatible, but can be adopted into (probably) anything.

    The idea is simple: An artist creates or gives me a piece they've made already without any context or further information. I take what I can see and write a single quest module inspired by the artwork.

    The Everfog - Field of Spears is the very first one and it's slightly spooky, halloween-y. Another one (with a similar atmosphere) will be released in the next two weeks.

    https://impheim.com/2023/10/the-everfog-field-of-spears-a-single-quest-ttrpg-module/

    Here's the first paragraph from the (free) 4-page PDF:

    >A mysterious and ancient sickly green pyramid sits at the center of the crater atop the mountain Kaal. The crater is eternally covered in a thick and impenetrable fog that seeps over its edges into the surrounding lowlands. Those that are caught in the fog never return and their bodies are never found. The people living near the phenomenon call it “The Everfog”, as it never seems to dissipate. The people are weary and keep away from the fog, crater and pyramid, saying they are cursed or worse.

    You can find the full PDF in the blogpost this post links to, as well as a complete audio transcript of the PDF on the blog or over on YouTube.

    Please also consider checking out the artist and giving them some support: https://mastodon.social/@trizadella

    This is free for you to use in your (non-commercial) campaign. All we ask is that, if you like it - or want more of it, go and give everyone involved some love and help share it around!

    6
    [Imperor] A possible solution for running sessions with missing players - The Woven Dream
  • Little One Shots sound like a good idea as well, yeah. I like to take a step back during those sessions and really allow the players to bring out their own ideas and let the main dreamer basically Co-DM the session. I've yet to be disappointed with the results!

    Did it turn out to be a good session in your case?

  • [Imperor] A possible solution for running sessions with missing players - The Woven Dream

    Good day everyone, hope you're doing well!

    I've made a new video and blog post on the topic of how to deal with sessions where people can't make it.

    My solution is fairly simple but effective: The Woven Dream, a state of dreaming where party members experience shared dreams. Besides allowing the group to play instead of skipping a session, it also allows you to really dig into the background of any (or all) of the present characters.

    It's not something that'll work every time, but it's served me really well, and I wanted to share the idea with you.

    I've also taken the feedback from this and other communities around here and my stuff isn't just videos anymore, but blog posts as well and the blog posts have a full audio narration of the blog post for those that prefer podcasts or to account for accessibility.

    Hope it gives you some inspiration!

    Blog post: https://impheim.com/2023/09/skip-or-play-a-solution-to-sessions-with-missing-players/

    YT Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol-8-P3YSBY

    6
    Any tipps for soon-to-be DM with very little experience
  • Heya!

    You seem well prepared!

    Something that is talked about a lot but rarely accompanied by practical advice on how to is the very crucial point of remembering:

    The story you are co-creating as a DM is the story of the characters.

    Want to lore dump? Tie it to one or more of your characters backgrounds. Maybe they are from the bloodline of that ancient king you want them to know about.

    Not sure how to fill in the details like what does the place smell like? Ask a player "You smell something odd, describe the smell"

    I am currently in the process of making some guide like posts and videos on certain topics aimed at both players and videos. Some are meant to be shared with players that are new, like the basics of tactical combat to help reduce your workload, especially with new players.

    Don't try and do everything great all at once.

    You will be just fine!

  • [Imperor] Magic Items in TTRPGs (including DnD)
  • Hey! Thanks for saying that. One thing about my stuff so far is that I barely get any feedback from beyond my friend and extended friend circles. And that tends to be positive, so it's good to hear different perspectives. I already had the blog posts and all planned, but procrastinated on them. Your comment gave me the push to sit down with it again and get it going.

    I'll keep on iterating over how I present my ideas. And you're absolutely right, especially in this hobby, there's plenty of people who would rather read than watch yet another video (especially in the chosen style - I had hoped the CRPG style of quest dialogue might be a good enough bridge there). Honestly, I am pretty psyched about anyone who engages with what I make. I find it utterly mind blowing that people care enough to do so.

    I think the system could work! Maybe even in conjunction with a little crafting thing I put together a few months ago for my own campaigns, if your player absolutely wants to go the route of crafting the item. You can see that over here https://mastodon.social/@Imperor/110867336560022638 - just off your description you could join both systems. Let them gather the materials and go through the crafting process and then throw in some extra positive results tied into the story with maybe some god of Smithing seeing their sincere wish to create the shield but blundering through the process. So for their persistence and dedication to their craft, the god imbues the shield with yet another effect on top of what they might get out of the crafting process.

  • [Imperor] Magic Items in TTRPGs (including DnD)
  • Thanks so much! I appreciate it greatly <3

  • [Imperor] Magic Items in TTRPGs (including DnD)
  • If you got ads, I do apologize. My channel isn't even capable of monetization as far as YouTube is concerned. I make no money off of my videos at all on any platform at the moment (or the past three years).

  • [Imperor] Magic Items in TTRPGs (including DnD)
  • I appreciate the feedback.

    I'm having fun fiddling with concepts of how to convey my thoughts on my hobby in a format that I find enjoyable. Given the age of my channel and the amount of subscribers or viewers, I am well aware that what I enjoy doing/watching just isn't for everyone, or even a lot of people.

    As for the blog posts, I am actually working on that, but it'll take some more time since this isn't my job. It still takes time, money and effort to do. Some of which I cannot expand on this particular bit of my hobby at all times.

    EDIT: Here's the relevant blog post :) https://impheim.com/2023/09/magic-items-in-ttrpgs-embrace-enchantments/

  • Are sub counts instance-specific?
  • I have noticed the same and have come to the conclusion that, yes. The subscriber and follower counts are instance specific.

  • DMacademy @lemmy.world Imperor @lemmy.world
    [Question] How do you deal with your players romancing your NPCs?

    I'm really interested to hear some opinions and ideas on how you deal with romance between NPCs and PCs.

    I have barely any issues with RPing most anything, but approaching the more intimate bits like flirting runs into some mental blocks of mine.

    Any input would be appreciated!

    Note: Yes, talking to players and establishing expectations, etc. is always the answer. However, I am mainly looking to hear some ideas on how I might change my approach to it, because I'd very much like to be comfortable with all that.

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    CR 0 - Knucklebiter Gnat [OC]

    Based on a true story:

    The Knucklebiter Gnat must be defeated before attempting to go to sleep. If the character fails to destroy it, it will harass them all night and instead of getting the benefits of a long rest, they will gain one point of exhaustion.

    It's a fun little thing, I think. Everytime the characters find it (investigation/perception vs. its Stealth) they get to make 1 attack against it. If it is not killed, the character may try again.

    Add more Gnats until the characters give up and simply don't care.

    Next day hit them with the exhaustion. From now on, you can force your party to have to fight Knucklebiter Gnats now and again because it'll be horribly annoying not to and, as people in real life, they'll get increasingly irritated and extreme in their measures to try and hunt those little monsters down.

    Ideal for swamp, temperate and desert climates.

    Bonus for storytelling: After a night with one of those around, narrate every failed skill check or attack with "You cannot concentrate due to the horribly itchy bites left by the Knucklebiter Gnat. Being this distracted, you fail to spot the trap."

    0
    [Question] Where to best upload and share full resolution, uncompressed battle maps?

    I shared one of my battle-maps in some places just now (first time for that, really) and got the request to maybe share the full uncompressed version.

    My battle-maps tend to be on the larger side and can easily go beyond 15-20mb at times.

    I have two issues, mainly where I could use some pointers and input:

    1. I don't want to lose all my rights (not even implicitly due to some vague TOS or EULA shenanigans) where I upload to and I am not willing to use any Google or Microsoft related services (nor any of the other large IT related companies, really - hence why I use the fediverse).
    2. I'd like to be sure I'm not just clogging someones server up with huge files like lemmy for example. Feels wrong to upload such huge files to a free service.

    Got any advice? Should I use something like a (free) Patreon maybe?

    Thanks in advance!

    0
    Three ships battle map [OC]

    Hi everyone!

    First time I'm sharing one of my maps. Figured, I'd give it a shot, since I am very pleased with the outcome on this one and I made all ships from scratch in Dungeondraft using Forgotten Adventure Assets.

    You get the grid version (very light grid).

    Hope it's good for someone and useful as such!

    0
    Imperor Imperor @lemmy.world

    I stream on https://twitch.tv/imperorthefirst and run https://www.youtube.com/@Imperor dedicated to longform gameplay of grand strategy, 4X and TTRPG games. My main goal is helping people get into more complex games!

    Check out the website: https://impheim.com/

    Posts 9
    Comments 20