Quote from: Omega;1007040Where you need X to get Y to get Z. A wizard wanting to wear heavy armour for example would normally have to pick up the light armour feat, then the medium, and then the heavy. He cant skip steps without some other feature like being a mountain dwarf who get proficiency in light and medium armour so a mountain dwarf wizard could skip the first two links in the chain and go straight to picking up the heavy armour feat.

Oh, gotcha. Thanks!

Thank you all for explaining feat chains. I know what feats are from my very brief brush with 3.x and d20 CoC but none of the mysteries of chains etc.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;1007025Very cool, and we'll see what happens.

And thank you as well for the explanation.

Well, I was unable to come down and visit/join/help/shake hands, but perhaps the next event. How did it go?

Quote from: Willie the Duck;1007400Well, I was unable to come down and visit/join/help/shake hands, but perhaps the next event. How did it go?

Understood, and thank you for the kind thoughts!

It actually went very well, I thought, and this was confirmed by several of the players. I just jumped in at the deep end and played the session like I always do, and it seemed to go very well. The players did have to make some perception and intelligence rolls, but this went fine as I just had them roll d20 for these. %d for other rolls as situations came up, and this also seemed to work fine. The players were very good, and thought before they did; the situation favored thinking tactically - they were being hired as mercenaries to impress some diplomats (i. e., scare the crap out of the visiting dignitaries) in the hope of preventing a war from breaking out. This they did, at least so far (we have a big feast to get through) and the people who might have been a problem weren't - they were just to impressed / terrified by the party, who are all first to third level in Blackmoor but who rate as Mighty Demons And Sorcerors hereabouts. There is a Druid who can shape-change, a High Elf, a Drow, and two Tieflings; everybody who saw them were utterly convinced that they were in the presence of Powerful Beings From Beyond Time And Space, and we didn't disabuse anyone of that notion.

The next game session will be on Sunday, December 3rd, at The Source and I'll be running the big feast then. I will be drawing up the floor plans for the feasting hall - I already have it all mapped out for the model I'm building - and will be bringing more figures; people seemed to like the idea of seeing the old place on the table, and meeting some of the folks that they met today. It was also, for the players, the first time that they'd seen 'open sandbox' / 'free Kriegspiel' being done on the table in an RPG, and it all seemed to go over well with them. I will admit that I was just s happy that the 'rules lawyer' from the previous session wasn't there; it was one of my big worries going into this session that I'd have to deal with him. The players did use the 5e rules and information to concoct their well-done plan, using their PCs' abilities and skills to accomplish their objectives.

Me, I'm just happy that it all went well; I'd been very worried about this ever since I agreed to do it, but it all went well.

And thank you, everyone who added to this thread, for all your help!!! I was going into this with no confidence whatsoever, and all of you gave me the hep and advice that I needed to make this happen.

Well that warms my heart.

Quote from: Willie the Duck;1007501Well that warms my heart.

I'm pleased that you're pleased! I had been very worried about this game; I've been having a pretty miserable time of it in gaming over the past few years, and this was the 'make-or-break' session. I think the next session will go a lot better, and a lot easier.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;1007867I'm pleased that you're pleased! I had been very worried about this game; I've been having a pretty miserable time of it in gaming over the past few years, and this was the 'make-or-break' session. I think the next session will go a lot better, and a lot easier.

And we're pleased that your session went well enough to keep you enthused.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;1007867I'm pleased that you're pleased!

And I'm pleased that you're pleased that he's pleased!

Beyond the mechanical stuff, how did the players do with the EPT setting oddities (names, customs, etc) that showed up in the session?

Very happy to hear that it went well for you, Uncle.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;1007439Understood, and thank you for the kind thoughts!

It actually went very well, I thought, and this was confirmed by several of the players. I just jumped in at the deep end and played the session like I always do, and it seemed to go very well. The players did have to make some perception and intelligence rolls, but this went fine as I just had them roll d20 for these. %d for other rolls as situations came up, and this also seemed to work fine. The players were very good, and thought before they did; the situation favored thinking tactically - they were being hired as mercenaries to impress some diplomats (i. e., scare the crap out of the visiting dignitaries) in the hope of preventing a war from breaking out. This they did, at least so far (we have a big feast to get through) and the people who might have been a problem weren't - they were just to impressed / terrified by the party, who are all first to third level in Blackmoor but who rate as Mighty Demons And Sorcerors hereabouts. There is a Druid who can shape-change, a High Elf, a Drow, and two Tieflings; everybody who saw them were utterly convinced that they were in the presence of Powerful Beings From Beyond Time And Space, and we didn't disabuse anyone of that notion.

The next game session will be on Sunday, December 3rd, at The Source and I'll be running the big feast then. I will be drawing up the floor plans for the feasting hall - I already have it all mapped out for the model I'm building - and will be bringing more figures; people seemed to like the idea of seeing the old place on the table, and meeting some of the folks that they met today. It was also, for the players, the first time that they'd seen 'open sandbox' / 'free Kriegspiel' being done on the table in an RPG, and it all seemed to go over well with them. I will admit that I was just s happy that the 'rules lawyer' from the previous session wasn't there; it was one of my big worries going into this session that I'd have to deal with him. The players did use the 5e rules and information to concoct their well-done plan, using their PCs' abilities and skills to accomplish their objectives.

Me, I'm just happy that it all went well; I'd been very worried about this ever since I agreed to do it, but it all went well.

And thank you, everyone who added to this thread, for all your help!!! I was going into this with no confidence whatsoever, and all of you gave me the hep and advice that I needed to make this happen.

Glad it went well, Uncle!

Quote from: Spinachcat;1007918And I'm pleased that you're pleased that he's pleased!

Beyond the mechanical stuff, how did the players do with the EPT setting oddities (names, customs, etc) that showed up in the session?

Well, from what I could tell they didn't have any trouble with them; the rolled with it, and had a good time. I did have some copies of EPT on the table, and these got consulted from time to time to fill in some details, but mostly they just went with the flow.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;1007986Well, from what I could tell they didn't have any trouble with them; the rolled with it, and had a good time. I did have some copies of EPT on the table, and these got consulted from time to time to fill in some details, but mostly they just went with the flow.

And did they keep looking at their character sheets for clues to how to solve the problems, or asking if they could roll persuasion checks to convince the guards, or whatever else we might have feared?

Quote from: Willie the Duck;1007993And did they keep looking at their character sheets for clues to how to solve the problems, or asking if they could roll persuasion checks to convince the guards, or whatever else we might have feared?

No, I am delighted to report. THey used their character sheets as inspiration, working out how to use their skills and talents as ways to solve the problems they faced. I was quite pleased, actually; not a bit of number-crunching in sight, as near as I could tell. The sheets were springboards, not straitjackets.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;1007999No, I am delighted to report. THey used their character sheets as inspiration, working out how to use their skills and talents as ways to solve the problems they faced. I was quite pleased, actually; not a bit of number-crunching in sight, as near as I could tell. The sheets were springboards, not straitjackets.

I keep saying that rumors of a vast gulf between gamers of yore and of today are greatly exaggerated. It is nice to see evidence thereof.

Quote from: Willie the Duck;1008060I keep saying that rumors of a vast gulf between gamers of yore and of today are greatly exaggerated. It is nice to see evidence thereof.

People seem to react well when they are in familiar situations.
If things can be presented in ways that are not too strange, there is a higher comfort level for players.
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