Chebucto Regional Softball Club

Anime was a breath of fresh air in the 80s and 90s. The mechs were amazing. The aesthetic was different from what we'd grown up with. The shows were more adult than kids/teens got to see at the time. I can totally understand why Maximum Mike would have done that.

I ask my players to provide names for NPCs. My Night City is filled with Steves and Daves.

Not just humans, *grimdark* humans.

> My group does weekly 2 hour sessions, so 5e combat can last weeks. By the third session of combat the players are starting to forget the stakes of the fight. I've had similar experiences with 2 hour sessions in both D&D and Cyberpunk RED. I've started aiming to have fights done in one session, usually with the opponents having some win/lose condition that will end the fight logically. For my next campaign, I think I'll give Blades in the Dark a shot. I also want to try Ten Candles, but I hear that can be tough.

The trick is to say "this is just a practice roll" where the die can hear you, but wink at the GM so they know it's the real roll. That way, the die will be a spiteful little punk and throw out the nat20 for the "practice". But don't do that too often, or the die will figure out the trick.

Wasn't the original D&D more of a war game than role playing? I dunno, I'm all for weird limits and mechanics in games so long as everyone is having fun. I'm sure I'll run dungeons again, and hopefully it'll be in a system that is designed for it.

Yeah. That's how I would look at it. I can see how a dungeon simplifies description: I wouldn't expect to see as much *stuff* in a dungeon hall, as I would in a Shadowrun street. That in turn can constrain challenges: getting over a spike pit has fewer options than convincing a bouncer to let you into the club.

I feel like that's more *how* megadungeons. Yeah, megadungeons have a history in our hobby, and they're great, but why should I prefer a megadungeon over a sandbox or linear campaign? I get a kick out of people who express non-dungeon campaigns as a megadungeon. That kind of meta is helpful for game design.

Colour me intrigued.

until the heavily armored proelium bibliothecarii finally allows the party past the warded statues of the Librarians Who Remain Everwatching, down the dark spiraling stairs of the Last Redoubt (and the 2,000 tonnes of acid that can flood the stairs at a moments notice), through the barracks of the Blind Warriors (ritually blinded at birth and trained to fight solely using their sense of hearing), and into the Reference Section

These are the natural results of their actions. This is how they *learn*.

> Not automatically pass/fail, because the consequences of that are bonkers. Agreed

For stuff that isn't story related, and if the group is in the right frame of mind, I'd ham up 1 and 20 on social roles. Nobody is selling their estate, but they might decide they take a shine to the PC or something else that's fun. Similarly, a nat-1 could get the NPC offended, so they refuse a request grumpily or only help grudgingly. Otherwise, I think what you're saying is how I'd play it.

You're right, but I don't know most of my PCs stats. If the DC on a lock is 21, I'd expect a rogue *might* make it, but another PC who has never picked a lock wouldn't.

Agreed, auto success on a skill check nerfs challenges. If the DC is so high that the PC doesn't succeed with a 20, it seems too random to give it to them. Then again, it depends on the situation: a nat 20 trying to convince the penny pinching tavern owner to give you a discount seems like fun even if the DC should be infinite; but when dealing with something story related, I'd stick a little closer to the rules.