Apprentices

Cohorts and Apprentices.  Useful in so many situations.  You just need to use your imagination and suspend your code of morality.
LooneyDM out

Modern Demons

I need to get away from fantasy RPGing at some point.  I do enjoy the experience of other settings but I just haven't had the gaming time to run or participate.  The urban fantasy setting strikes me as one with lots of possibilities to get away from the murder hobo style of play that dominates the fantasy settings.
LooneyDM out

Gaming Awesome

 Childhood toys and cartoons do not need to make sense.  In many cases they're better off if they don't.  Unconstrained by logic they can sail to new heights of awesome.  Like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Street Sharks, and Dino Riders.

Art from GIS for "Dinoriders"
LooneyDM out

Expectations

Expectations are meant to be changed.  It's always fun when what one culture in RPGs calls something other cultures use the same word idea for something else.  The monk being one of those.
Art from here
LooneyDM out

Innocence

Oh who are we kidding.  Your players have always been that way.  There wasn't a transition period they just started out that way

Art from here 
LooneyDM out

Prose Descriptive Qualities (Again)

There are days that your players just don't have the attention for your serious campaign.  Those are the days you should keep a silly one on the back burner so their inner child can escape and run around the room flinging whatever comes to hand.

LooneyDM out

Twin Spell

Metamagic is fun.  Just plain fun.  Even if all you're doing is firing off a blasting spell, metamagic is fun.  After all,  how else are you going to fire off multiple lightning bolts on your turn?
Art from WIN
LooneyDM out

Reward Choices

It's always good to give your players choices.  The tougher they are for the players to resolve the better.  Of course not all players are going to be aligned in such a way that moral quandaries will give them any pause at all.  These players require a different sort of tact and motivational technique, but this does not mean you can't give them difficult decisions. Anyone who wants more than one thing can be given a difficult decision.  You just have to find the two things they want most and you have the choice.
Art from here
LooneyDM out

On another unrelated note some of you may have notice that I've been rather remiss in updating on the schedule I set for myself.  This is because I have had another project in the works.  If you enjoy gaming or gaming music or just watching someone perform like a trained monkey for your amusement you may find it to your liking. 

See it here http://youtu.be/aA3dOlgPxhM

I would also like to announce that due to this new project I will eventually stop posting posters.  Eventually.  I still have quite a few months worth of posters even if I stick to schedule.  After I run out of posters I will continue to post game quotes as they accumulate in sufficient numbers to be worthy of a post.

Normal

Your PCs are not normal.  Never forget that.  Of course this has both pros and cons.  The pro is that your players know their characters are a cut above the rest.  Uncanny heroes destined for greatness.  The downside is they may have a lot of trouble interacting with the regular citizens of the setting who aren't quite a crazy as they are.

Art from here
LooneyDM out

Necromancy

Necromancy lends itself so much more to humor and revenge than other spell schools.  Especially when you realize that you can command the resulting animated corpse to do anything.  Making your enemies dance for your amusement is just the beginning.

Art from WotC art gallery
LooneyDM out

LARPing

Who would have thought sports fans would be in to LARPing.  I guess it is just a matter of finding the right thing to LARP about to get them involved.  Welcome to Foosball larp!

LooneyDM out

Obesity

Obesity is a touchy subject.  More so for people like gamers whom have it as a stereotype of their chosen form of entertainment.  Best not to bring it up, especially not in game.

Art from WotC art gallery
LooneyDM out

Has it been a week already?

I've been so busy with other stuff I didn't realize it had been a week since I posted.  And by other stuff I mean game prep and video games.  So here's a little bit of a reminder that will hopefully jolt me into updating on a more regular basis.

LooneyDM out

Trophy Collectors

There's one in every starting D&D group.  You know the type.  The one who decides that their character's quirk will be harvesting body parts off their dead enemies and displaying them in all manner of ways.  Of course the important part is not taking a unique body part, but in finding a unique way to display said pieces so everyone knows how much of a badass you are.

Art from here
LooneyDM out

Innuendo

Innuendo is quite the staple of many a roleplaying group.  It's all in the positioning.  Or in how dirty minded you are.  Or in your intellectually humor level.  Either way, it's all fun.

Art from WotC Art Gallery
LooneyDM out

Nymph's Kiss

This one will require a little explanation.  In 3.5 D&D there is a feat that grants you skill points and a few other sundry bonuses for taking the feat.  However you must maintain "intimate relations" with a fey creature or lose all the bonuses.  Hence the commentary.  It's quite a nice feat if you can pull it off.
LooneyDM out

Pulp

Pulp adventure!  Crazy actions that lead to more adventure!  I have a soft spot in my heart for the pulp action genre because it allows for so many crazy hijinks and ridiculous enemies.  All in all a genre that I wish I could run more games in.
Art from here

Inspiration

As a DM you should try to hide your inspiration.  Especially if your inspiration is why you don't have anything prepped for this session.  Darn my nostalgia for those Godzilla movies.  
LooneyDM out

Arcane Power

It's amazing what players will trade away as long as it doesn't affect their mechanical in game performance.  Soul?  Who needs one of those?  It's not going to make a difference to me the player.  Of course this is when you have the powers that your player made a deal with call in other favors besides a soul.  After all if the player doesn't think the soul is worth much, then how much do you think the powers in question value it?
LooneyDM out

Sharing Loot

Alignment debates aside, the biggest conflict you're going to see in character from your characters is when they have to share something.  Especially if they have to share something they all want.  Like treasure.
Art from WotC art gallery
LooneyDM out

On Backstories

Backstories are a tricky beast.  Some DMs want goodly amounts, others want none.  You may run into the DM who mines your back story for "plot hooks" aka people to kill to motivate you.  Or they may leave it alone completely.  Your backstory may not come up in a game, or it may be a defining feature of the campaign.  You never know how it will pan out so the amount of effort to put in is always up in the air.
Art from Hijinks Ensue
LooneyDM out

Confidence

Confidence.  A trait that is highly praised in our society.  Maybe it shouldn't be.  Especially when you consider what it might mean if you look closely.  I know that my players definitely have the 90% down.  The other 10% they try to avoid like the plague.

Art from GIS for "tina fey quotes"
LooneyDM out

Dump Stat Intelligence

There's always one in the party.  Sometimes several.  But no matter how you might try to hide it the truth always comes out.  Someone always dumps int.  Sometimes the dumping happens at the player level and not the character level.  Though that's usually wis instead of int.

LooneyDM out

AD&D

I admit I'm not a fan of the "old school" style of play.  A lot of it seems to hinge heavily on metagaming.  If one of your characters died because of brown mold, how do the other ones magically know how to avoid it?  How does one of your characters who is on their first trip out of their home town know to check a long abandoned crypt for live traps on the door handles?  If no one in the group survives the Beholder fight, how does the next group know to be wary of it?  So many questions, not nearly enough answers.

Art from GIS for "Tomb of Horrors"
LooneyDM out

The PCs take a night on the town

The PCs take a night on the town.  As you might expect, the town does not survive.  This is the case with most things the PCs encounter.  For DMs this can become frustrating.  This is where you learn to let go.  Everything you create will likely end up destroyed by the PCs.  Letting go is easier when you don't spend overly long creating any of it.  So learn to be a lazy DM.

LooneyDM out

PC quotes, in honor of the topic.

Wibble: (( we should go back to the main city and buy a ton of airhorns ))
Wibble: (( sonic attack them to death ))

Pliny: (( Holy shit! Nothing saved! ))
Pliny: (( I think this is the first time this has ever happened to me! ))
* Pliny cries tears of joy!

Sora Katra: "Your attack on the khyberspawn allowed us to drive off their army. We should be able to retake The Great Crag today."
I'kishaeila: (( I misread that as kittyspawn. ))

Thransil: (( Screaming Thundering Bow of Songs? ))
Pliny: (( It is the epicest thing ever! ))

Thransil: (( Thransil's amazing diplomacy check wins the day...even though dicekhan is a little bitch ))

Pliny: (( Zombears! ))

Wibble: (( Victoria's Secret Amazon Warriors ))

* Drogun rolls: 1d20 => 3
Drogun: (( where did my feet go!?!? ))
* Iki rolls: d20+19 => 19 + 19 = 38
Iki: (( I found them! ))

Pliny: (( You're logicking it down from panicking? ))
Pliny: (( Man, it's like the opposite of those shows where robots are destroyed by sending them into logic loops ))

Wibble: (( only we can start forest fires! ))

Pliny: (( Are we going to fight zombie trees?!?! ))
Wibble: (( zombie redneck trees! D: ))

I'kishaeila: (( reasoning with the trees... negotiations would go in rings... ))

Animal Companions

There are few options that transfer well between fantasy and more "modern" settings.  The animal companion happens to be one of them.  Of course the type of animal companion tends to vary more in fantasy settings.

 Picture from WIN!
LooneyDM out

Hell Freezes Over

Every DM has a player who they feel will never take certain actions.  Like the player who enjoys their smashy barbarians and fighters who you'd never expect to play a pacifist cleric.  Or the one person who doesn't want to roleplay.  Or the one who doesn't want to participate in combat encounters.  And then one day, hell freezes over.  They change their mind or something shifts in their brain and they're off to the races trying out ideas you never thought they'd even touch.  And you cry tiny tears of joy as a DM that you can never let them see.

LooneyDM out

Prose Descriptive Qualities

There are days when you are in the mood for serious epic adventure, be it fantasy, science fiction, or modern day setting.  Then there are the days when you just want to play the silliest character you can imagine.  Prose Descriptive Qualities is for the latter.  PDQ is one of my favorite RPGs for comedy and other light hearted roleplaying pursuits.  It gets out of the way of your silliness easily.  You can also get it free here
Art from here
LooneyDM out

No Rest

There are always signs your DM is evil.  Sleepiness can be one of them.  Of course there are other signs.  And sleepiness can simply mean they've worked too late prepping the game.  Either way, keep and eye on them.

LooneyDM out

Psionic Mind Blade

Have you ever wanted to play a jedi in D&D?  I know I haven't, but lots of other people have.  Thus goes the many ways of trying to create jedi.  Brilliant energy weapons, mind blades, telekinesis, and suggestion.  All wonderful things to create your jedi.  All on completely different classes.  Sometimes D&D is frustrating like that.  Keeping you from building concepts that don't match the setting.
Art from WotC art gallery
LooneyDM out

Character Traits

Some characters are different, and that's okay.  Some are lumberjacks, and that's okay too.  Some prefer to do different things with their swords.  By all means you should encourage character traits from your players.  That's how you get the really crazy stories, plans, etc.  Which of course is why I DM.
Art from WotC art gallery
LooneyDM out

Thranish Inquisition

I'm sure everyone on the continent of Khorvaire has caught on to the Thranish tricks by now.  Not that they're particularly tricky.  I'm returning to the Eberron theme because, well because I had ideas for it.  That's how the creative juices flow sometimes.  Likely caused by the fact that I'm running two campaigns in Eberron currently so it's on the brain.

Art from WotC Art Gallery
LooneyDM out

Masterwork Tools

Justification is half the battle.  The other half is getting the DM to agree to it.
Art from GIS for "webbed gloves"
LooneyDM out

Parade

Necromancy has so many every day uses.  House cleaning.  Water fetching.  Parades.  Who wouldn't want to be in a parade with loyal followers carrying you on a litter?

LooneyDM out

Hallucinogens

Wizards.  Is there any good reason ever to let them have anything more mind altering than caffeine?  I would postulate that the answer is no.  Drunk wizards, high wizards, next thing you know you've got all sorts of crazy monsters loose on the country side wrecking everyone's shit.   
Art from WotC art gallery
LooneyDM out

Exercise

Exercise.  Stereotypically a foreign concept to geeks.  However I find that this stereotype does not hold up.  I know several quite fit geeks.  Or geeks who are paying attention to what they eat and how often they get out of the house.

Art from here
LooneyDM out

Ancient Ruins

There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity.  PCs have a tendency to cross it frequently in both directions.  This is of course what makes the roleplaying game an adventure instead of a simulator of tedious peasant life.
LooneyDM out

Optimizing

Optimizing is one of those things you can't talk about with RPGs unless you know them well.  It's like RPG politics.  If you optimize in ways people don't approve they tend to get upset.  It's even worse when you optimize in ways that offend their sensibilities.  I mean who really optimizes their character for most luxurious mustache?
Art from WINs
LooneyDM out

Frustrations in gaming

I'd tell you my players are crazy, but that would be redundant at this point.  On one hand the wizard in the 4e game has found the clockwork bombs in the Player's Guide to Eberron.  On the other hand we don't play in any modern settings so nuclear weaponry is currently out of their reach.  Not that I expect that to stop them from creating massive explosions.

Art by JollyJack (Warning links to deviantart gallery that contains NSFW)
LooneyDM out

Alternative Magic

If I have to explain this joke to you then you're not old enough to have it explained to you.  Also don't google 'hentai' unless you already know what it is.  You have been warned.

LooneyDM out

Guns Blazing

Yup.  This is my RP group.  At least most of the time.  There is some planning involved in some of their entrances but usually it's full speed ahead.

Art from here
LooneyDM out

Gaming Awesome

There are some days that you can't let pesky little things like logic or seriousness get in the way of awesome gaming.  When dinosaurs with lasers are involved that is most days.  Katanas and trenchcoats sometimes but dinos with lasers always.  This is how it should be.  If there isn't a katanas and trench coats RPG out there someone needs to make one.
Art from here
LooneyDM out

Expectations

Players are a creative bunch.  Especially when it comes to crazy plans.  At least mine are.  I'm sure you could tell by all the quotes I drop here.  I try not to plan too much in advance because I know they'll continue to surprise me with their new and inventive ways to show me just how crazy they really are.  I love it!
Art from WotC Art Gallery
LooneDM out

Explosives

I have to say I enjoy using explosives as a player.  Even as a DM they can be amusing.  However it's nice when you don't have to deal with prodigious amounts of explodey death.  But moving to a fantasy system just won't cut it with all the magical explodiness.  Skull Bombs away!
Art from WotC art gallery
LooneyDM out

New Players

New players are a joy to have.  Especially when they want to try things your regular veterans don't want to try because they feel conventional wisdom would be against them.  New players simply don't know what the rules don't allow so they try the oddball stuff.  Of course if you roll with it it can lead you into places you never new your game could go.

Picture from GIS for "Wile E Coyote"
LooneyDM out

Corners

Early in my DMing career I made some decisions to slack off on my prep.  This was not the best idea.  I paid for it later when the players took an unexpected turn which left me in a corner DMing wise.  I tried to take out a wall to make up for it but it didn't go over so well.

Picture from GIS for "painting yourself into a corner"
LooneyDM out

Lazy

Lazy day

art from GIS for "lazy D&D map"
LooneyDM out

Insanity

I have two things to say on the subject of insanity.  If you think about it in most D&D or D&D like settings the actions of the players is fairly crazy, bordering on psychosis.  Of course this is what makes the game enjoyable for everyone.  Though it can lead to players feeling they deserve certain immunities for their actions.  The other I am going to say is my players are crazy. :)

Art from GIS for "crazy D&D"
LooneyDM out

Quotes

Pliny: (( You clear out a den of cultists, and then a new bunch crops up ))
Iki: (( like weeds, they are! ))

LooneyDM: (( why are you trying to tie the cultist up? ))
Thransil: (( because we are into that sort of thing? ))

Thransil: (( I didn't think that "Iki" and "sneaky" were ever to be used in the same sentence?))

warforged 2: "What sort of compensation are you offering?"
Iki: (( hawt chicks. ))
Iki: (( of the metal persuasion. ))
Thransil: (( lol...cyberwomen? ))

Pliny: (( Pliny is not always the most sensible ))
Iki: (( pliny is an ARTIST, and has EMOTIONS. ))

Pliny: (( He is a storyteller, and is therefore hypersensitve to people who carry around big signs that say 'I am the campain's main villain!' ))

LooneyDM: The double doors lead to a luxurious cabin.
Pliny: "Can this be my room?"

I'kishaeila: So how do we convince the warforged to take us back? Money? Female robots?

Pliny: (( They LOVE us! We saved them from things, like, three times! ))

LooneyDM: (( no word yet on what he's going to do with those forces ))
I'kishaeila: (( they're just gonna get drive through at taco bell. ))

LooneyGM: (( at least they didn't buy you a catapult or giant slingshot ))
Pliny: (( Don't be silly, you can't catapult me! ))
Pliny: (( You catapult one of the tanks. So they can hit the enemy with that much more force! ))

Pliny: (( Are we sure they're army? Maybe they're just a summer camp ))
LooneyGM: (( because gnolls are known for their summer camping trips ))
Pliny: (( They might. ))
LooneyGM: (( where they violently murder anything that gets in their way and then practice arts and crafts on their remains ))
LooneyGM: (( true, this is eberron where stranger things have happened ))
Pliny: (( Yeah! Pelts for leatherworking, and they make friendship bracelets out of the fangs of their enemies ))

Pliny: (( Can I use my firebreath as an AoO? ))
LooneyGM: (( no, but you can use your heatbutt ))

Pliny: (( CRITICAL GRAPPLE ))
Pliny: (( Did we walk into a Gnoll Wrestling league? ))

Thransil: (( apparently...GWL! ))

* I'kishaeila slices and dices and makes fries for all!
LooneyGM: (( gnoll fries ))
Pliny: (( Dear god we are awesome ))
Thransil: (( See! I told you she could fucking slice the shit out of shit! ))

Thransil: (( we should think of whatever the DM expects us to do, and then do something COMPLETELY opposite. ))
LooneyGM: (( I expect you to spend the next 30 - 45 minutes trying to make up your minds on what to do ))

* Iki does not relax, but does not kill Thransil.

Iki: No more mind-talks. I will beat you with your brain next time you do that.

Thransil(drow): (( uncommon? wtf? ))
Thransil(drow): (( undercommon... ))

Drogun: (( plus the more we wander the more we have chances to run into killables ))

Iki: (( I misread that as kibbles. ))

Iki: (( and we shall fly over this Grimstone and tickle its feet to make it Happystone. ))

Iki: (( I appreciate violence. ))
Thransil: (( lol you do, or Iki does? ))
Iki: (( yes ))

Thransil: (( split party soup? ))
Pliny: (( I can't tell if that's a delicious idea, or if we're the main ingredient in that soup ))

Pliny: (( My tombstone: "His sleep song finally worked! Too bad about all of the fire." ))

Iki: (( did i just give my soul to the dark? ))
Thransil: (( again? ))

Pliny: (( Skill is where my strength is ))
Pliny: (( And strength is where my weakness is ))
Pliny: (( What I'm trying to say is, I need help moving a couch ))

Pliny: (( So many things... ))
Pliny: (( Pliny has ALL the things! ))

Pliny: (( I dunno what kind of parking we can get in the Great Crag ))
LooneyGM: (( the usual parking of leaving it whereever ))

Pliny: (( But it could get stolen! Not unlike how we stole it ))
I'kishaeila: (( we need the Club for Ships. ))

Pliny: (( If we got a parrot-sized dragon, we would be REQUIRED to become Sky Pirates. ))

Drogun: (( come to me! I have healing hugs! ))

LooneyDM: (( goblins are good industrious city folk here ))
Iki: (( we could hire them to work on our ship ))
Iki: (( and to dance for our entertainment. ))

Tzaryan Rrac: "Don't approach any closer. We can talk at this distance."
Pliny: "WHAT? YOU'RE GOING TO NEED TO SPEAK UP."

Tzaryan Rrac: "So I ask you. What do you want?"
I'kishaeila: (( I WANT A PONY. ))

Pliny: "Bards tend not to make five year plans. We must be free to travel as we please."

Thransil: (( but cleavage is nice, why would you want to claw it? ))
I'kishaeila: (( clawing cleavage? ))
I'kishaeila: (( sounds uncomfortable   ))
Drogun: (( I get excited... ))

LooneyGM: Four unusually hairly goblins patrol the room in addition to the caged creatures
Thransil: (( unusually hairy goblins...too much Rogaine? ))
Thransil: (( do they make Rogaine for goblins? ))

* Thransil fires a line of cone at the goblin

LooneyGM: (( Does anyone want to do anything before or during the trip? ))
I'kishaeila: (( I want to spit off the side. ))

Pliny: "Our last attempt to beat up a country didn't go so well, Iki."

I'kishaeila: "But I have a telepathic puff of light now!"

I'kishaeila: (( Her name will be Tits hence forth. Tits the advisor. ))

Pliny: (( Why would we walk anywhere now that we have an airship? ))
Pliny: (( I probably take that thing to the Farmer's market on weekends! ))

* Pliny is way to excited about the prospect of legally parking an airship
I'kishaeila: (( because we are tottally inconspicuous at the docks? ))
Pliny: (( For us, 'not killing everyone' is inconspicuous ))
aeridus: (( wait, so firebombing a city during an airship landing is illegal? ))
Pliny: (( Yeah. It counts as littering. ))

* Pliny just looks at Iki to see if this is a good idea
Pliny: (( Iki is in charge of potentially violent capers ))

Pliny: (( We stole the bad guy's ship ))
Pliny: (( He can totally track that thing ))
I'kishaeila: (( shoot, we forgot to reset the gps locator ))

LooneyGM: (( sasquatch? ))
Pliny: (( Very important to remain on guard for sasquatches ))

Pliny: "...We should keep it."
I'kishaeila: "For science? Or dinner?"

* Iki rolls: d20+17 => 20 + 17 = 37
LooneyGM: Iki pushes back against the rock
Pliny: (( CRITICAL ROCK N' ROLL! ))

Pliny: (( The nice thing about the directions is that we can backtrace them at need. And then use your spell to get out when we need to! ))
Wibble: (( for instance, we may wish to visit the nearest pub when we leave ))

* Wibble glares at Iki
I'kishaeila: (( YOU HAVE NO EYES ))

Wibble: (( I AM DIGESTING EYES ))

Wibble: (( I will use them as proxies ))

* Wibble drools at the thought of bunnies

* Wibble makes the skeleton give the ghost the middle finger and quickly walks back

Pliny: (( Where can we find a pint of blood? We've only seen skeletons! ))

Pliny: (( Yes, sadly I lack the 'whittle human bone into convincing epaulet' skill ))

Wibble: (( would the ghost object if you took all of them? you could use the non-magic ones as shotglasses ))

LooneyGM: Thransil makes off with 20 chalices.
Pliny: (( We can test them on our way back to town, and sell the ones that we're sure aren't the real deal ))
Pliny: (( you guys we are opening a chalice store! ))
I'kishaeila: (( you seem to be well in to your cups. ))

Pliny: (( Dang, you're rolling like me today, Iki. Complete with the screaming numbers ))

Wibble: (( quick, someone cup her ))

Iki: (( I am not a people person.  My charisma says so. ))

I'kishaeila: (( Looney has been very map-happy tonight. ))
Pliny: (( It's because we've been making decisions at an unusual rate. Normally it takes us an hour to move from one map to another! ))

LooneyGM: In addition to all their traveling they returned the chalice to First Warlock Adal
Wibble: (( and he now uses it to store his D+D dice ))

Thransil: (( keeping our pimp hand strong? ))
Pliny: (( For charity. ))