>What's the shopkeep's name? >I don't fucking

>What's the shopkeep's name?
>Why don't you ask him?

>>54322914

The GM not having a name for every single background NPC isn't 'That GMing'. There's improvising, and then there's trying to keep up with players prying into every little irrelevant detail, especially if, from the sound of it, you didn't give them any time to stop and think about things.

Entitled fucking players.

>>54322943
>I don't fucking know

>>54322914

This isn't that big of a deal. Most NPCs are going to be nameless. If the shopkeeper ends up being relevant the the story, then the DM should give him a name, some character, etc.

Pressuring GMs to focus on stuff like this is what leads to railroading.

>>54322946
Why can't he just say a name? It doesn't have to be a fantastic, grandiose name steeped in hundreds of years in tradition.

Just say Pete instead of getting all pissy.

>See a door
>Roll 20 for perception
>DM tells me it's save
>Open door
>Get trapped and ambushed
>?????

>>54323138

Because names say something about a location, about its culture and the person who has it, as well as being things you need to note down for if they become relevant in future. It's a lot more complex than it seems.

>>54323175
As A GM, your not wrong, but you should also maybe have a bunch of relevant rando names ready, just in case you need to create an npc on the fly.

>what's the name of our king?
>Uh... I don't know... it's not important.
This happened to me in an one shot at a con, the worst GM I ever played with.

>>54323232
this
I have https://www.behindthename.com/random/random.php?number=1&gender=both&surname=&randomsurname=yes&norare=yes&all=yes
open at all times

>>54323232
This. It's part improvization, and half just being ready with random shit you can put in where it's needed. If an NPC is asked their name, and the GM is completely unable to deal with this likely turn of events, they didn't do their homework.

>>54323160
Clearly the DC to find the trap was 21.

>>54322914
>Address player by character name
>They have no idea who I'm talking to until I outright say it
Fuck players in general.

>>54323160
Not every DM has 20 be auto-success on skill checks. The rulebook doesn't even say you have to do it that way.

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>>54323310
>Address player by character name
>They have no idea who I'm talking to

>>54322946
Yeah players are eternal cunts.

Like I took the name advice. Named all my npcs. Even random combat mooks. Those mooks would announce there names and make some threat before combat began.

>hey gm why do all these mooks announce their names before they attack us that's shit lol lol
Fuck me gms cannot win.

>>54322914
>Have player in group, let's call him Dingus
>Dingus thinks he is a veritable tactical genius.
>Dingus's plans sometimes, but not always rise to the level of coherence. I can't think of any I'd call "good". They usually involve mutilating corpses somehow to achieve the desired effect, no matter how piss-poor the logic is.
>GM will then have NPCs and such act in a more or less normal manner, often disregarding Dingus's "tactical genius".
>Dingus will then whine and throw tantrums.
>Inevitably, DM will give into Dignus's tantruming and retcon the scene to the beginning so they're suitable impressed/afraid/conciliatory/surprised/whatever.
>Absolutely refuses to ban him for his shit, and I have no idea why, he's not a lifelong friend or anything, just a guy we met at the LGS.

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>>54323310
>Address player by characters name
>No response
>Do it again
>Still nothing
>Say their real name
>Nope
>Again, only slightly louder this time
>Still silence
>REALLY LOUD NAME OF PLAYER
>"Huh? Ooh, yeah I attack or whatever."

GMing an online session was a mistake

>was told a lie about our motivation for doing our quest, my character doesn't know it's a lie
>try to enlist the help of an npc
>tell the npc the motivation in an attempt to sway them
>dm: roll deception
>me: but my character doesn't know that it isn't the truth
>dm: it's still a lie

>>54323160
>thinking a 20 is an auto success on skill checks
Read the fucking rulebook.

>>54323331
>>54323987
Then why let them roll off it? Just tell them that they don't find anything.

>>54324240
Considering the example given was a perception check, which is presumably an opposed roll against a stealth check of some sort , A 20 might have been good enough, if not for the fact that the GM also rolled very high. It's of course easily possible for the monsters to have as good or better skills in a particular area than the PCs.

>>54323781
>players complain about not being able to carry all the loot
>i abandon realism, tell them from now on they can carry whatever their carry weight is
>when they ask me where they carry their stuff i tell them they put it up their ass
>one guy after the session gives me a fucking list of things to improve their immersion
>he wants a house where things are kept
>he wants me to remember every simple small piece of the house
>he also wants immersive housebuilding and people who follow them around and carry their stuff
>in a campaign about solitary wanderers
I can't win with my players

>>54322946
A list of names by region, culture or race is like literally one of the only things you actually need as a tool as a GM. If you don't have that absolute basic most braindead level of prep (which takes all of 30 seconds and two mouse clicks; thanks, internet!) then you really don't deserve to be running a game.

Improvising =/= coming to the table with absolutely nothing either tool- or reference-wise.

>>54322946
>>54323088
>>54323781
I've never met a good DM who a) couldn't think up a stupid name on the spot or b) couldn't admit that he forgot to think up a name and was open to suggestions in a brief tangent.

It's always the shitty ones who get defensive whenever they get caught with their pants down and they're usually the ones who waste the most time.

> "Hey man, remember that character idea you had, I really liked it, you should play it in my campaign."

> "Oh I guess I didn't realize my campaign was filled with enemies who are practically designed to counter you. You can bail on the character if you want, I didn't realize their build sucked."

OR YOU COULD JUST NOT SEND MAGIC IMMUNE, MONSTERS. OR JUST GIVE ME LITERALLY ANYTHING TO DO. GIVE ME A BOX I CAN ROLL TO UNLOCK, I DON'T FUCKING CARE IF IT'S EMPTY, GIVE ME SOMETHING TO DO

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DM: Yo, the session you missed was fucking hilarious, your character was kidnapped and raped by a dragon and the party had to save you!

yes, my character was actually anally raped because I missed a session.

>>54326481
That'lll teach you

>>54326481
You deserved it

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>>54326481

>>54326481
that's actually hilarious, and kinda hot

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>>54322914
>What's the shopkeep's name
>I don't know, You tell me.
Seems to work, and gives players a clear example of having agency in the game from the get-go. I just have to keep track with decent note-taking.

>>54326833
That's not the kind of agency anyone wants.

>>54322914
Shops have names now?

Isn't it just "Mary's shop" "Julius' shop" "Mark's shop" ????

legit asking

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>I want to compliment the innkeeper on his fine establishment, I ask him his name
>Uh he tells you it's....Bob Mcfinnigan

>>54323175
>Because names say something about a location, about its culture and the person who has it,
This is autism in text form.

>>54323887
This one made me laugh though. This is the best example of modern /tg/ gaming

>>54323887
I'm guilty of this some times, my attention just kinda drifts off every once in a while. I'm sorry

>>54322914
Amusingly, I find that this situation is actually something that never happens. Players are usually so focused on getting what they want or reacting to threats that in 95% of all conversations they never ask the NPC's name, or even give their own.

>>54326992
He's right though

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>>54324473
I like your players though, like he literally wants to immerse himself in the world. That's good my man.

Also
>players are too retarded to craft a transportation bed for their stuff
>literally 2 sticks together with a blanket
They deserve everything they get

>>54323781
Why must it be one extreme or the other? Is this bait?

>>54324473
Never give into your players on shit like that. They can't carry all the loot: they have to make choices and think about things. If they want a building for storage they have to build one, that or search for and take or buy one. If they want servants to carry their bags they better find and hire them or kidnap and enslave them, and at that point they ought to just get a cart and either pull it themselves or get a tame animal to pull it.

Rolled 15 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>54322914
Looks like stealthy That Guy thread. Let's check it.

>>54326805
It started a continuing trend, by the end of the campaign he had been raped by a Dragon, an orc chief, and the paladins Griffon

Eventually he decapitated the griffon, fucked the paladin ( consentually) and raped a drow, who fell in love with him after... It was at this point I had to question what the actual fuck I was doing and if I had unknowingly been taking part in an ERP without knowing it

>>54327796
Lots of grammar errors but I'm too tired and pissed at my dm from like 7 years ago to fix them

>>54327796
So when are you going to bring vengeance to the dragon and the orc chief?

Role-playing out shopping scenes is a waste of time. It always ends with one player spending 20 minutes trying to get a better price on something minor while everyone else waits around.

The player should say what they're looking for, and the DM should decide if it's available, roll dice for whatever skill represents haggling, and say "The best price you can get is X. Take it or leave it."

>>54327845
While I agree I still disagree with you. Really made me think

But what if the shopkeep's name is "Idon't Fuckingknow"?

>>54327885
What's his brother's name?
Does he have any children?
Where do they all live?

>>54327951
Brother's name is "Ididn't."
Three kids but one passed away last winter.
Above the shop.

>>54322946
I usually do what >>54323138 the first few times. If it keeps happening for reasons none other than for the sake of that-player-ing, the names start getting more and more silly. Before you know, you're in a medieval fantasy town or village, and all the background npcs are either memes or anime characters. Either they get the point and stop, or laugh about it.

>>54328185
What's the cultural basis for this naming scheme?
How did the child die?
Why does his brother lives with his children?

>>54322914
I have a list of random names on my screen so if I need to, I can just assign people names if need be.

>>54323781

But what you said is the most retarded thing ever.

Imagine getting carjacked

>STOP YOUR CAR AND RENDER IT UNTO ME, THE GREAT DEREK, STEALER OF CARS!

Like, if it makes sense for them to know a character's name, then roll with it. Take a fucking improv class or something.

>>54328481
Your example is great though, I would like to be in the table where that happened.

>>54322946
Marcassus Throd
Orik Ironbrow
Pennula D'Qubery
Daven "2 coppers" Jegar
Tas Ro'Lysus, of the guild of steambreathers

Im just making this shit up. Its fucking midnight here and I just stepped out of the bedroom because I forgot to take my pills.

Step your game up. If you cant improv names, you cant improv.

>>54328401
Gypsy curse long ago
Goblin attack
He's a deadbeat

>>54323967

This and shit where players make choices that clearly make no sense in the gameworld context because they are Metagaming too hard pisses me off to no end.

Like I literally DM'd this guy

>Lawful Good Cleric
>Absolutely by the book on everything, a boyscout about everything
>Completely diplomatic, always tried to solve problems before being forced into a fight
>Another PC pilfered a holy symbol (not the reason for their delve) of the Cleric's god in another room (non magical) and bluffed his way out of admitting it
>Other PC wanted to sell it when they got back into town
>Had to camp for the night.
>Cleric takes first watch
>"I want to search his things"
>DM "Why?"
>"I just don't trust him, there was something in there."
>DM "Why do you think that? There was nothing special about the room, you got your intel."
>"I just think he's lying."
>DM "Oh you do? Well your roll says different."
>"But he's a rogue..."
>DM "Who has always been by your side and never given you reason to mistrust him."
>"But he's always doing illegal shit"
>DM "Have you seen any of it?"
>"No"
>DM "Have you heard about it, or has there been any reason you feel like he's been untrustworthy?"
>"No, I just don't trust him, I think he stole something."
>DM "No, you actually fucking don't think that."

This shit went on for like 45 minutes, he made everyone so fucking mad.

>>54323160
Could you see THROUGH the door?

>>54323245
Thats just unforgivable. When in doubt, the kings name is Rex Regis

>>54323845
>>54323967
>>54324473
Find either a new group, or a new GM

>>54323887
Always a mistake.

>>54322914
Considering there are probably quite a few GMs actually ITT, I figured Id field an idea:

Some of the groups Ive been running for have had a consistent problem thats bogged things down: planning everything OOC, then relaying it IC, then executing. This obviously makes everything take at least 50% longer, if not more. In future, Im planning to issue a rule that you can only talk OOC if you're talking to me, the GM if we're at the table. Do you think this is reasonable, and do you think it will help?

>>54328612
Who exactly made everyone so mad? The DM, the cleric, or the thief?

>>54328666

Well satan, the thief made the cleric player mad because it was sacrilege to do that with his holy symbol. But since the actual ingame cleric couldn't know the item was even in the room and was stolen the player had to bite his tongue. Then When I (DM) finally put my foot down and said, he could not search his bag without justification, it made the player mad, which then pissed off the other players who were saying he had no reason to search the bag.

He wanted to roll for everything to try and justify his suspicions, but I wouldn't let him make any checks until he had a cause; which is how he had been playing the character in the entire campaign, he never did anything unless he had a purpose for it.

If he were just another dick-ass rogue I would have been fine with it.

>>54328612
At that point the GM should've rolled behind the screen and tell the player that he didn't find anything incriminating. He's metagaming and shouldn't be rewarded for it.

>>54328722
But was the thief in the right or in the wrong?

>>54328897
He stole something, so in terms of moral code? No, he was not. Why does that matter?

>>54323310
>>54323374
>>54323887
I've always found this to be weird as hell. Addressing the character directly just feels wrong.
>(Anon's name) you're up, what does (Character name) do?
Just flows better for me. Maybe I'm just autistic. I am on /tg/ after all, would explain a couple things.

>>54329014
He is the catalyst.

Its always the thief for some reason

>>54323987
Natural 20 let's you do amazing things, including gaining control of the campaign and becoming the new GM.

>>54322914

>"Al Souq"
>"OK"
>DM uses name three times when we ask after shopkeepers
>Get suspicious
>Look it up when I get home
>Arabic for "The marketplace"

Not even mad.

>>54329058
There's a reason they're called dick-ass rouges, anon.

>>54329348
Allah snackbar

>>54329348
>you know realize there is a secret arab merchant ring in your setting
When are you exposing them?

>>54329348
>not google translating appropriate words for character names

>not having your exotic animal dealers be named shit like Cage, Prod, and Trap in greek

>>54328796

Best solution.

>DM: Okay, you search the bag. You find nothing.
>Cleric: What? He said he put it in there.
>DM: Yeah, but I decided he just didn't trust you not to search him, and hid it later. You okay with that, Thief?
>Thief: Yeah, I like the sound of that. I had a sudden burst of paranoia that the Cleric was going to do that.

Or else the Thief can just declare his character happens to get up for a piss break while the Cleric was elbow deep in his worldly possessions. If the Cleric's PC can decide when his character feels suspicious based on metaknowledge, the Thief can decide he needs to take a leak based on metaknowledge.

I keep seeing anons talking about playing/GMing online. Where/how does this happen? I assumes its not with people you know IRL, but with randoms.

>>54330422
Roll20 is probably the most common form of this. It has a lot of drawbacks, but it'll work if you're really desperate for a game.

>>54330772
I'll be honest, I mostly just want to see how bad a trainwreck I can find.

>>54327845
At this point I only RP out big purchase items, like trying to get magic items, mounts, or real estate. If its shit like rations and ammo I just let my players stock up on their own. We don't need to role play buying sandwiches.

>>54330422
I've run games over Roll20, but typically with old college friends who moved out of state or gaming budies who live all over the country.

I can't imagine DMing for randos unless it was just some pre-packaged stuff.

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>>54326805
>kinda hot

>>54328481
>>54328553
>It's not actually Derek, it's Jamal.
>Derek hires the PC to clear his name.

>>54330422
>>54330772
>>54330823
>>54330859
Works great if you're playing anything but D&D and WoD, I've found.

>>54323887
>players mic breaks during session
>instead of typing stuff in the roll20 chat he fumbles for a mic for 20 minutes disrupting the session immensely
>doesn't have the brain power or the mindfulness to check his microphone before the session

Fuck players

>>54330246
Stealing this so hard.

>>54330969
I've found some great WoD groups on Roll20, but I know that I've won the game lottery.

>>54331420
Oh I don't doubt it's possible, but finding that would be time consuming.
More likely, you'd have to join/create/run a bunch of groups before you can find a couple decent people and put them together.

>>54330859

I always make sure my groups are predominantly my friends who play the way I like to. My current group is three players, two are long-time gaming buddies I've known for three or four years, and the other's a complete random. I find that tends to take the pressure of trying to figure out if you're running the right game for someone if you know you're running it for 2/3's of the party. The only bad experience I had with a random (Beyond no-shows, which whilst irritating are easily dealt with) was when one was intentionally disruptive and I was too dumb to tell him to just leave.

>>54326992
It's really not.

If you're running a game, do you just use shitty mismatched names based on whatever comes to your head first? Do you have five NPCs named George, John, James, Hitashi, and Mohammad? If you heard those five names, would you assume two of them came from somewhere else?

Names of people, places, and things can be a wonderful way to outline a change in setting or make a foreign character stand out. It's not that hard, there are many ethnic or regional name generators out there that categorize names from different regions or ethnicities. It helps make a setting feel consistent.

>>54327025
I mean, to be fair, that's how it works IRL too.

Can you name the cashier of the last store you went to? If you can, could you if they didn't wear a name tag (such as in a historical setting where literacy isn't the norm)?

Most couldn't. Why should PCs? Why should they stop and chat and get the life story of some NPC who probably has his own shit to do, as does the party?

>>54332383
Because PCs are expected to haggle and socialize with the shopkeeper directly, this isn't a supermarket made to deal with as many customers as possible.

>>54322943
This. Don't ask the GM for information like that. Ask the goddamn NPC.

>>54332383
I worked as a cashier at a gas station for about three years, and all my regulars knew me by name. I could never remember any of their names, though. But then again, I'd forget my own birthday if I didn't have to use it all the time.

>>54323331
>auto-success on skill checks
Yeah I've never played where this was the case. Usually, though, if rolling a 20 won't do it, a GM will simply tell you not to roll because there's no chance you'll be able to succeed, it'll just autofail.

And it makes sense. It's like if some guy without a high school education and no experience and he's blind and deaf tried to perform brain transplants. Pretty sure he'd just fail all the times and not succeed 1 out of 20 times.

>>54328653
No, not really. Frankly, I consider planning OOC to be gameplay. It's a legitimate part of the game and if the players enjoy it, then the golden rule of GMing applies - never interrupt players if they're all having fun.

If the players are getting frustrated because OOC planning is taking too long or something, or some players enjoy it and others don't, then work with them OOC to find ways to streamline. Don't just make up a sudden rule out of nowhere, it'll only leave the players who obviously want to plan things out OOC feeling shut down.

>>54330400
>>54328796
No, the GM should've just explained that the player was using meta knowledge. Being able to come up with a flimsy excuse that is technically in-character does not excuse blatant metagaming and it should've been called out for what it is.

finding some "cute" workaround just turns the game into a frustrating metagame for all the other players.

>>54330772
It'll work if you have a good group, because it's the group that makes the game, not the tech. I actually have grown to like it, but I don't join random public games, I play with people I know and get along with.

>>54332402
Says who? In some cultures, a traditional market transaction is a sit down, have coffee, talk for an hour affair, and in others it isn't.

>>54332413
Adventuring parties are typically not regulars, since they're, you know, out adventuring.

>>54332413
You were wearing a name tag you fucking dope.

>>54323138
That's a fucking lie.
If he started naming every generic one-scene NPC "Pete", the players would complain and you know it.

>>54324240
Because if you open with that you're going to come off as one hell of a cunt when something is there and biting them.

Same reason you always roll bluff too. A failed roll means the players much like their characters just don't have any real idea. Maybe they rolled to low to hear something, maybe there isn't anything there, and they know that they don't know and that's good.

You are the arbiter of the world, your words need to be absolute even if they are that a player absolutely doesn't know. If you lie to the players the trust necessary to function in a world literally made of your words can break. This is bad.

>>54332523
But didn't?
The closest thing to a "uniform" we had was the "store shirt" the owners kept trying to force on us which was always end up being a size too small because they were cheap assholes.

>>54323160
>DM introduces what is likely to a be a recurring quest giver
>'Oh, you were told to collect X McGuffin for the local authority which one of you is a part of? Sorry, but I got here first and looted it. Go and do Y thing for me and I'll give it to you'
>Guy and his gang look pretty sketchy and likely to give us the run-around so we demand the item
>A fight breaks out
>DM expected us all to just go with it despite being Mean Good so just drops an encounter severely out of proportion to the otherwise regular looking bandits
>Somehow we're winning despite the giant CR difference, lucky rolls and the DM being otherwise just plain bad at combat
>'Uhh roll perception'
>Rogue gets nat 20 and proficient
>'Well uhh you manage to SEE a trapdoor but just as the boss disengages and jumps down it, and it disappears'

>>54332577
Pete is obviously just an example.

>>54332577
>disrespecting the mighty Pete clan

>>54332577
Thats why you go with Tim when you're out of petes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZJZK6rzjns

>>54332678
Did they ask the GM why they rolled and what would have been different if they didn't roll?

Never subvert a roll.

>>54332867
Its just a bad habit of his - if he didnt let us roll at all, we would've complained about an asspull (which it was already). I think he was just hoping for us to roll low enough to justify it, otherwise tough shit because he's That GM and hates seeing his named characters look anything less than the superior, unflappable badasses he thinks they are.
We were just lucky to full party wipe some time soon after a similar event so that character didn't come back to bite us in the ass

>>54330246
Change a few letter around to make them more namey and to prevent players from google translater to predict your entire plot.

>>54330400
Fuck yeah being passive aggressive is always the best option.

>>54322914
>Sneed. The name's Sneed

>>54322943
fpbp

>>54330246
>>not having your exotic animal dealers be named shit like Cage, Prod, and Trap in greek
Just give them nicknames. Like, "John the Cage" for instance. Give everyone in a setting nicknames depending on what they do or what they're famous for or something in their past.

>>54323331
>>54323987
normally i'd agree since the nat 20 rule is fucking memery and i hate it, but this isn't one of those cases - why make a player even roll if the only outcome is failure? it's like making a player roll if the only outcome is success, it just bogs everything down.
if a player rolls a 20 and their score is still not enough to beat it, that implies either the party's specialist in that area is dicking around and not taking part (or just not present), or that the party's specialist IS taking part and physically can't do it.
the former is an understandable issue with the players, whereas the latter is just a failure of the DM.

of course, there's going to be some obstacles you just can't overcome with a skill check - but in that case, again, why roll?

also, the issue with 'nat 20 is an auto success' meme isn't acing ordinary obstacles, it's people taking it to the extreme and thinking that they can do literally anything 5% of the time, or that the same 5% chance also means you do a task in an absurd way with results often unintended by the player.

>>54333223
You don't roll for something the player will auto succeed because it's pretty fucking obvious that a success is a success. Nobody has ever thought that they unlocked a door, walked to the other side, and whoops smashed their face into a door because it turns out they didn't actually succeed and the gm flat out lied

If you don't hear something on the other side you have fuck all idea if anything is there. If you roll to hear something and you fail, you have fuck all idea if there is anything there. If you ask to hear something and your gm says nah, just outright nah. You've been given an absolute. You don't hear shit. You don't hear shit so hard that it constitutes the no chance of failure rule any system worth it's salt has. Oh way the gm lied, that rule lied, the entire fucking game is now arbitrary gm fuckwankery time

A gm can tell you that you can't seduce the king with your funny hat trick. Nothing is obscure there is no doubt created on a failed roll. You outright fucking know. Just like you outright fucking know that the sword you didn't know how to made turned out into a lump of shitty iron. There is no ambiguity. You always roll if there is ambiguity. Imagine trying to lie to a guard and the gm responding with "don't bother rolling bluff". Imagine that. FUCKING IMAGINE IT. Not only is your action invalidated, but you're outright being told that this mother fucker is a lie detector. There is no guard pretends to buy it, there is no tension in trying to figure out if he bought it. There is only you failed don't even fucking bother trying again next time

Oh and if 20's aren't auto successes which we all agree on, the gm would only know when to swat your ideas down like the shitty little flies they are, if they also completely memorized all of your modifiers. So yeah, just in the middle of a session, tons of stuff to keep track of, I better not let bill roll perception because I know UNEQUIVOCALLY that he could never beat a 23.

>>54332465
Thats a difference of opinion. Im playing fairly rules-light games, so its not like they have to plan out an attack on a grid. IMO it just slows things down. Furthermore Id say its counterproductive because it allows the introduction of concerns that may not matter to any of the charcters, but to the players.

>>54328612
>huhuhu i'll take my party member's spellcasting item that's worth like 5 gold because im a rogue lmao

>>54322946
It's not hard to keep a list of names on hand for when you need one. I mean, c'mon, this is GMing 101.

I can't think of a single thing.
Really I WISH I had a shitty GM, or a horrible GM, or a "this story can't be real" GM.
But no, my GM is just so serviceable and bland. I got nothing. He doesn't do Monty Haul and he doesn't do Obvious Curbstomps. Middle of the road as fuck.

>>54334322
Sounds like you have a story, tell us how your GM does the GMing. In what situation was he serviceable and bland where he could have been better?

>>54334370
He has no idea how to engage people so most of the time we just bumble through the game until a fight happens. He throws "puzzles" at us but doesn't elaborate on the room or the pieces, it's like trying to solve a math problem where every operation is a mystery until we ask (at which point he goes 'oh it's a plus sign duh'). Sessions are pretty short so you can't even get incensed over the boredom.
See, that story wasn't nearly as exciting as "I missed a session so he raped me and my character".

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>go into McDonahugh's General wares
>whats the name of the shop keep?

>>54334487
Is he a new GM?

>>54334533
No we've been gaming for about 8 years now.

>>54334542
the fuck

>>54334487
I have this problem as well.

>>54329055
I find addressing characters instead of players keeps them more in the moment. Also, if they killed whatever they'd been fighting, I try to summarize the situation the next time it gets to them. Something like "Ratfuck Kinglsey, your sister's getting stabbed by gangsters and your partner's fighting some sort of tree man, what do want to you do?"

>>54334695
>"Ratfuck Kinglsey, your sister's getting stabbed by gangsters and your partner's fighting some sort of tree man, what do want to you do?"
How does your group graps the concept of turn based combat? My group and I can't grasp it. For us it feels very static in a "you successfully attack him" "he dodged it", my group never goes beyond that sort of description, and I'm 100% sure its because we don't understand turn based combat

>>54322943
I came in here to post something resembling this post, so thanks for saving me the time it would have taken to type it out!

>>54323781
>Mooks announce their names before a fight
Do they call their attacks too? Don't get me wrong, that's fun if you're running a game of Toon, but otherwise... people don't do that.

If you want to keep your mooks distinct, so players know what's going on in battle, give them distinguishing features.
>The tall bandit. The small bandit. The scrawny bandit. The fat bandit. The small bandit. The scarred bandit. The tattooed bandit. The hooded bandit. The bald bandit.
Feel free to reuse relative heights and body types, although scars and tattoos should be used sparingly, IMO.

If you want to name one of your mooks, there are better, more natural ways to do it.
>The tall bandit avoids the attack with ease. He looks at his buddy and says "Hespen, focus on the cleric!". [PC Cleric], Hespen lunges at you!

good GMs have a list of names to pick from prepared, it's one of those things that can stump you otherwise.

>>54334818
Each round of combat is allegedly 10 seconds long so that's the LOGICAL approach. I prefer the cinematic kinda "dive for cover, one liner, THEN shoot at the guy". Include people getting knocked back by the hits, "you fight like a farmer" "how appropriate, you fight like a cow" taunts, etc.

>>54335397
>I prefer the cinematic kinda "dive for cover, one liner, THEN shoot at the guy".
But how do you keep the flow going without the PCs going the next round
>"hey, but I'm in cover remember? :^) , do I get a bonus for that?"

>>54333960
Really, the question is - do the players enjoy it?

Honestly, that's all that matters at the end of the day.

>Why don't you ask him?
>Frantically opens up a random name generator

>>54335432
Shot in the hand while in cover or something.

>>54328653
Planning is good, and I consider it a player's mental link within the party. Like how in a football game you don't hear the player going "Number 8, move forward, I will pass you the ball!", its like they are all mentally connected and the player just moves forward by himself, trusting his partner to pass him the ball, and he does. This sort of tactical reflexes has to be translated in-game too, because they are a real thing.

Sometimes I do intervene though and say "Sorry but you would have to yell at him that", other times since the enemy isn't human or understand the common language I don't even mention they have to yell and just let them plan it out and execute it. Not worth my intervention.

Plus, just because they plan something doesn't mean it will work, a lot of times the die fucks them over and the whole setup falls apart. Or they don't consider the terrain well enough and I fuck them over.

>>54335343
Oh so something I don't do is what good GMs do? Classic. Fuck names, they are not important.

Give me one reason why a name should be relevant. One.

>>54326895
Says who? People will generally take a more active role in something if they feel as though their input actually matters.

Besides, a mild tangent to figure out who someone is generally isn't something that most people won't object to, assuming they aren't NOFUNALLOWED tryhards.

>>54335562
Wow, someone got triggered by the concept of random NPCs having names. I feel like I won That GM Thread bingo.

>>54335581
Picking the name of some irrelevant shopkeeper doesn't equate to input mattering.

>>54335562
It creates immersion in the world, helps with the suspension of disbelief. Unless you're actually trying to display a society in which people do not have individual names, that shopkeep or other "irrelevant" character does in fact have one. If the DM cannot provide one, it shakes my immersion that this is an actual, proper setting and not just a facade for me to roll dice in, kill monsters, and take their shit (all of which is fake).

>>54335712
It does when the players gain in interest in the shopkeeper and turn him into a recurring NPC.

Hell, most of the most memorable NPC's in my games started off as random encounters until I gave them lines and a basic personality.

>>54335757
>Hell, most of the most memorable NPC's in my games started off as random encounters until I gave them lines and a basic personality.
You did this as a player?

>>54335757
>Hell, most of the most memorable NPC's in my games started off as random encounters until I gave them lines and a basic personality.

This 100%. I had a minor skirmish planned against this Half-Orc that wound up becoming a friend of the PC's and helped them out from time to time.

It's always worth investing even just a little energy into every NPC because you just never know where things will wind up.

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>>54323232
Steve, joe, frank, Don and jake.

These are the random go to names I always default to. Mostly Steve.

If I actually want a npc to be colorful I'll give him a proper name and have some fun with him but if I don't give a shit I'll use any of the above.
If I've forgotten a important npcs name I'll quickly ask 2 pcs to come up with a first and last name.

I find my players actually rarely ask for names if I just describe the npc a bit.

>>54326992
I mean, you are on 4chan on saturday talking about D&D.
At least 75% of the people you talk to are going to be autism.

>>54335867
Not him but that post literally says Friday, like literally, right there.

>>54335808
>You did this as a player?
Well yes, whenever I was a player as opposed to the GM and GM told us "crap, I'm sorry guys, I completely spaced out on the name."

We generally didn't mind since, y'know, it's a recreational game first and foremost and a lot of NPC's that we ended up naming became pretty fucking cool as we proceeded through the campaign.

>>54335880
found one

>"hey gm what's this random wizard's name"
>uh
>fuck
>uh
>"zork"

fast forward a week and through player antics the focus of what was meant to be a intense, dramatic session ended up being a dude named fucking zork.

>>54336071
>not rolling with it and playing him up like Tim the enchanter.

Come on anon. That situation was begging for it

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>>54322914
>what's your fantasy realm's tax policy
>I don't fucking know

>>54334110
Uh... The dude found a holy symbol of that god that wasn't the cleric's in a room of some dungeon. Kept it and didn't tell the cleric because he likely wanted to sell it.

Reading comprehension, do you have it?

>I once sailed with a geezer that lost both of his arms and one of his eyes
>And what did you call him?
>...Larry.

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>>54335862
So you end up with a lot of Steves, huh?

>>54335436
They enjoy the game, but they're constantly irritated that they dont get more done. I would propose a solution to a nonexistent problem.

Shopkeeps are all just one big changeling hivemind in my game.

>>54337601
Yes. Sometimes I catch myself and realize I've use the name like 5 time in a row. Most of the time though it's just random banter between npcs or something so it's whatever

>>54339379
One thing I notice in my games is that, really, 80% of the plan is made in 20% of the planning time, with further discussion after the first few minutes generally only marginally improving or suggesting alternatives that aren't taken. So what worked for me is working on being more decisive, having the ability to cut in and say "Okay, it seems like you have a plan in place..." and not worry too much if there are minor details that haven't been 100% hashed out.

How many of you know the name of the shopkeeper at the last gas station or convenience you went to irl?