Be A Better Player 10 - No you can't play that.

Player one – Hey I found this really good prestige class and I was wondering if you would let me try it.

GM – Well I'm trying to just stick with the base stuff out of the core books. Not wanting to branch out into to many other sources.

Player one – Awww, c'mon it's the 'Undead Slayer' prestige class it looks like it rocks.

Player two – Undead Slayer? We haven't even seen anything undead in this entire campaign.

GM – Yeah I'm not using undead in the current campaign at all, it doesn't fit whats going on in the least.

Player one – But it's really cool, just read it and you will say yes.

Player three – So how are you going to become and undead slayer when there are no undead to slay?

Player four – That would be some trick wouldn't it.

Player one – You guys are assholes, just don't want anybody to have any fun except for yourselves!

GM – What? How do you come to that conclusion just because I won't let you use a prestige class that's not from any of the books that I said we are using?

This is something that can happen in just about any game line where they have released a pretty extensive amount of material. Any edition of Dungeons and Dragons, the World of Darkness books, Shadowrun, and many more. Sometimes there is simply to much material to keep track of in your head. But when you try to limit it down to just a few books somebody just can't stand the idea of it.

I cannot say enough in these articles that most GM's put a lot of effort into the games they run. They have plot lines, lists of things that are going to happen, time schedules, lists of NPC's. It's no small chore. So when they try to make things a bit easier to control by limiting the scope of their game it's usually because there is more than they can handle otherwise. So they aren't out to stop you from having fun by not letting you play your current flavor of the month character type, they are trying to insure themselves that they will also have fun planning out and running the game.

Many times I've been a player in games where there were limitations on what we could choose from. It just made me be more creative with my selections. Also it never hurts to ask if you can use something, especially if you have a valid reason for it, the worst they can do is say no. If they do say no don't get pissy about it and move on.

Also don't let the discussion of this halt game play or carry a simple character creation session into an hours long ordeal. Asking about it should be fine and rather quick, but trying to get a full on discussion about why you should get to play a Lasombra in a Camarilla only vampire session can get really old real fast. Not just for the GM but also for those others who are wanting to play.

Screams from the Outhouse - Wax Seals

It's been a while but now I'm ready to start back up again. So to start off I'll be putting up five uses for wax seals in fantasy like games. At the bottom of it I'll also provide a link to an online store that specialized in wax seals, stamps, writing instruments and more. Enjoy.

Wax Seals

Seal of obscuring. Popular among diplomats who can afford it as the expense goes up considering it requires a special ink, wax and stamper. The message they wish to convey is written as usual only using the specially made ink. When finished and the ink has dried the paper is folded up and the wax seal is placed on the flap. It is during the placement of the seal that an incantation is spoken by the person sealing it. Now whenever it is to be read the person opening it must repeat a second line to the incantation. If not the ink starts bleeding through the fibers of the parchment and totally obscuring the print making it unreadable.

Seals of spell containment. A spellcaster writes a spell onto a specially prepared sheet of parchment. Then while rolling it up and placing the seal on it he casts a low level spell that will actually cast the one on the paper but holding it in place until the seal is broken. This allows the scroll to be sold to anybody to use, all they have to do is break the seal and the spell is cast. Afterwords the parchment disintegrates into a pile of pulp.

Seals of passing knowledge. This particular seal is placed on documents that are usually long and require a bit of time to read. Using this seal anybody who knows the activation phrase can place their fingers on the wax and have the knowledge passed over into them. The actual transfer sounds like somebody reading the text to them (usually in the voice of the person who placed the seal), nobody else hears it and it only takes a few moments in real time although to the person getting the transfer it may seem to take quite a while. There are reports of books with multiple seals for different chapters, special sections and such.

Seals of identification. These are made ahead of time, usually by visiting diplomats and royal families. They are done using a very specifically created wax that remembers the person who used it. The person makes their seal and signs their name below it. Now anytime it is needed the person can place their thumb on the wax and say their name out loud. If it is really the person who made the seal it will glow slightly, if not it will turn black and crumble. This can help insure the identity of who you are talking to.

Seals of killing. Sometimes you have to beware of the message more than the messenger. This seal looks completely normal until it is broken. Then it activates a contact poison that is laced into it and the paper. As the person reads the message it seeps through their skin and into them thus slowly insuring their demise. It has also been used to kill thieves and the people who hired them by leaving false poisoned documents in a 'secure' place.

Nostalgic Impressions - for all your wax seals needs.

riot gear

Whenever I would work on anything cyberpunk related I always tried to capture the government control over everything. So I was always looking around for pictures of cops in riot gear in action and such. Sometimes I would see one and think "Man that would be perfect if the writing on the buildings and such was in english".

Now I have plenty of shots like that to choose from. All in english... complete with US city streets and people... It made me think differently of all the other images that I've seen from other countries. At the people in them and what they were going through. Something moved inside of me.

It's easy to hate, really it is, I've been doing it for a while now. However at this point I'm discovering just how hard it is to give a damn about something and still going after it anyways.

I can't believe how far the 'Land of the Free' has fallen. At least we are still the Home of the Brave, and I'm not referring to the ones in the riot gear.

Screams from the Outhouse: Fortune Cookies

Somebody mentioned the other day about someone using fortune cookies during character creation in a wuxia style game. Evidently the history of the fortune cooked being a Japanese invention that was made popular by Americans somehow taints the Chinese based wuxia ideas. Never mind the fact that it's Chinese restaurants that are giving out the cookies with every meal and thus making them popular in America....

Anyways, this got me thinking about using them as well. I'm not sure how the previous person used them as there was no link back to the actual statement of it. But here's what I came up with. You get your saying in the cookie and then use that to help set some sort of idea for your character. Here are a few I came up with:

“There is always a way, if you are committed.” The character never gives up on a cause no matter how much the odds are stacked against them. He is always searching for the way to succeed when facing certain failure.

“You are blessed, today is the day to bless others” The character is of a religious occupation or belief. He spends a lot of his times trying to spread that belief to others or aid them spiritually.

“Traveling more often is important for your health and happiness.” The character is always on the move and never settles down for long. He is always looking forward to what is over the next hill.

“Wisdom is on her way to you” The character is a seeker of knowledge almost to the level of obsession with gaining new sources to learn from.

These could be used in just about any sort of game as well. Not just anything of 'oriental' influence or what not. Just an extra little way to apply some twists to the characters during generation. Next time I run a game I may just try this out.

The ignore list

Well I've been on rpg.net a lot more here lately. I've realised that I do something that other are incapable of on there. When somebody says trollish or flamebait things I put them on ignore. Many of the people who get banned from there are apparently can't do this. They get banned when they finally get tired of seeing it and go off on the trolls.

Why do they do this? The person is obviously trying to get a rise out of people and is probably seeing a person getting banned from their prodding as a feather in their cap. So why in the world would they care what they have to say the rest of the time? I know I don't.

Anyways I've been adding to my little ignore list already over there. Now if only everyone else would start doing the same then the actions of the trolls would be met with silence. Then the very few who also make some decent posts would notice the silence as well. Once the fun is gone they would leave.

Say what...?

Okay now this is a pretty petty thing for somebody to get pissed off about. From the G+ page of Gareth Skarka.

Comment on Twitter about a wuxia game that uses fortune cookies for character creation.

Fortune cookies.

A Japanese invention, popularized in America.

Fucking gamers.

Yeah so he's mad about somebody using fortune cookies for character creation because they aren't a Chinese creation (which is where wuxia originated) but Japanese and made overly popular by Americans. He doesn't mention anything at all about all the Chinese restaurants ran by actual Chinese people that give away fortune cookies.

Really sometimes GMS comes off with some things that I really think are intelligent and thinking outside of the box. Then there are time, like this, where I can do nothing more than facepalm about it.

Yeah we gamers are supposed to be of a higher morale fiber than to use a Japanese creation made popular in America and given out at Chinese restaurants because it is, I don't know insulting, to the Chinese. I don't see many Chinese cuisine sellers complaining about things like this though.

His post is public for anybody on the Plus that wants to see it.

Fools who can't come up with their own topics

Y'know what I find funny? When somebody who claims to hate rpg.net with a raging huge hard-on, and yet still has to steal topics from there for their own forum. Yeah RPGdipshit is at it again.

Does it bug you when a player has been participating in a game for several sessions, and still doesn't know how to do basic things in spite of having done them multiple times, and had it explained to him multiple times?

Would it make a difference in whether it bothered you if the guy was generally dim, or if you had the sense that he just doesn't care enough about learning the rules? Or if you got a sense that he won't learn the rules specifically because he knows everyone else will tell him how to do stuff?

An amazingly obvious copycat thread starter like this one over on the old big purple.

What do you do when a player simply won't learn the rules of the game.

He lacks so much in originality that he has to lift ideas from the place that he is constantly bitching about. Well the number of threads being updated per day seems to be down so I guess it is about time for him to start doing this in an attempt to get posting back up. He did the same when rpghaven was first trying to start up.

Guess that what has to be done when your raging epeen filled with anger online persona stops attracting the folks.