DMs are players too
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I feel like you gotta know the party a little bit… If they aren’t the type to talk their way out of a problem, then the monologue has to happen from some relative safety instead of within arms reach of the not-paralyzed barbarian. Hold person exists. Magic Mouth. Message. Hell, a big ol’ balcony above the party.
Else you gotta have a back-up plan like fallout where the players get the information from a journal or something - maybe it isn’t as clearly laid out and it’s harder to follow the breadcrumbs but the party isn’t just lost in the wind looking for the next guy to punch.
Second campaign I ran had an underling of the BBEG who was going to tell the players some info about where to go next and hint at who is the BBEG. Once their health was brought to 0 I had them fall to the ground “seemingly dead” as a little push to show them they should go over and check, maybe interrogate. He had talked earlier and a few of them were curious about what he was saying so I expected them to ask questions.
While most of them wanted to ask questions, one ran over and shot him in the head with his crossbow. I did the characteristic “are you sure?” And he said yes and the rest of the players just relented. So the guy who was going to tell them this info had a bolt pierce his skull pinning it to the ground while blood leaked out.
So instead I did what you’re saying, all of a sudden when they searched him they found a note with less specific info than he would have told them but still some info. It sucks when players just do that shit but yeah you always have to have a backup plan.
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I feel like you gotta know the party a little bit… If they aren’t the type to talk their way out of a problem, then the monologue has to happen from some relative safety instead of within arms reach of the not-paralyzed barbarian. Hold person exists. Magic Mouth. Message. Hell, a big ol’ balcony above the party.
Else you gotta have a back-up plan like fallout where the players get the information from a journal or something - maybe it isn’t as clearly laid out and it’s harder to follow the breadcrumbs but the party isn’t just lost in the wind looking for the next guy to punch.
Hell, a big ol’ balcony above the party.
My DM understood this. As a bonus, by the end of the battle, everyone had taken so much fall damage.
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Monologue through a stone of farspeech or a ward-tripped illusion spell. Hell, have the villain’s illusion disintegrate only for it to trip 18 other wards that all seamlessly continue the monologue in a deafening cacophany of voices, like the BBEG knows alllll the tricks. I feel like a good DM can get creative on the spot, even if it trips them up a bit.
Monologue through a stone of farspeech or a ward-tripped illusion spell.
I’m convinced this was the primary reason D&D3E had so many ways to speak through an animal companion or construct.
When I DM-ed, I used them to (attempt to) deliver foolishly informative villainous monologues.
Mostly I just lost villain companions to fireball, of course.
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PC’s really are the worst
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I like this. I mean, the fact that the rules assist the narrative, but they’re not the narrative themselves.
For the desintegrate situation, I’d love for the GM to go something like:
“As you speak the final words of your incantation, Wizard, a thin green ray begins to form on your fingertip. The villain merely smirks, clicking his fingers. A wave of crimson energy smothers your hand, and your spell snuffs out like a candle. He brushes a piece of dust from his shoulder. 'Impatience. Such a childish trait. As I was saying…'”
The GM wouldn’t even explain what happened, just continue his narrative, and at some point the party would find that one of the nearby minions in hiding had a counterspell ready, for example.
I would make them learned a lesson instead, if you interrupt the villain then you can’t learn a important piece of information about one of the other enemies or about a puzzle.
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but the party isn’t just lost in the wind looking for the next guy to punch.
Eh, there is merit in letting them suffer the consequences of their actions
Sounds good in theory, but imo it is SO much harder (and/or so much less fun) to run a campaign when you have less than no idea what the fuck the party is going to be doing next session…
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Sounds good in theory, but imo it is SO much harder (and/or so much less fun) to run a campaign when you have less than no idea what the fuck the party is going to be doing next session…
If it falls apart, then the party will learn to not interrupt
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If it falls apart, then the party will learn to not interrupt
That is unlikely to be the lesson the players learn… More likely they get frustrated and decide either TTRPGs are not for them, or that the DM “sucks”.
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Talking is (not) a free action sounds like it could be a fun mechanic if everyone agrees to it.
Let the big bad talk, but players get to write down an attempted action and roll for successful sneak for as long as he’s yapping.
