Flipping a sand clock from time to time, most of the time its nothing, sometimes is something.
Passing notes to players, some are "empty", as in-contains nonsense or random non-game related stuff. (had one session with over 100 "empty" notes and 0 ones with relevant stuff.)
Using a BBEG who uses luck rerolls as his main strategy, vs players who never read "Complete Scoundrel.", and whenever they complain I am cheating you say "you get to see the book his abilities are from after you beat him"
Having TWO sets of "twin party" meet you at the same time. and both are not opposite alignment.
Dungeon layout that defies the laws of physics. (turns map makers nuts. but hard to follow it yourself.) the key is to make several rooms overlap in space.
Generally defy the laws of physics from time to time. (I had a room where all walls are walkable, ceiling too. a room with no gravity, creatures with different time flow from the players, floating stones, creatures who treated the ceiling as floor and visa verca, etc etc...)
I build a minion specifically to completely screw with the party's heads. True, he could wipe the floor with all of them in a matter of 60 seconds, but he's not gonna.
Favorite Powers:
Cloud Mind, Mass (use to hide from every sense possible, even true seeing)
Telekinetic Maneuver (grapple the mages)
Death Urge (may use on the party beatstick)
Quickened Synchronicity (more than one standard action a round? yes please)
Missive, Mass + Tongues, Psionic (speak in some archaic language: "I wear the cheese, it does not wear me".)
Casual Loop (drive you around the bend, drive you around the bend...)
Dominate, Psionic ("go sit in the corner").
He has a host of other powers for offense and defense, but these can really be used to massively screw with the players. The best part of it... they are SO gullible.
__________________
Funny, I always figured I'd be killed by a paladin.
So, what you're saying is we rolled a 1 on our credit check?
My latest D&D session messed with the players' heads...
The PCs have been allied with the capital city's mage's guild for some time now. The Academy is quite staunchly anti-necromancy. Some time back, however, the party discovered an island inhabited by the undead, and heard rumors of a necromantic school on the island. Now, though, the Academy and a neighboring Pelor-worshipping theocracy believe that the headmaster of the necromancy school has raised an army to attack the theocracy. Naturally, it's in the Academy's best interests to send along some aid, which includes the PCs.
When they get there, the theocracy's warrior-priests are loading up on the anti-undead measures, such as catapults that launch 5-foot-diameter glass orbs filled with holy water, and preparing anti-undead spells and buffs. The city the party is helping to defend is quite outnumbered - it's estimated that there are three zombies for every villager, not counting the more elite undead, like the shadows, ghouls, wraiths, mohrgs, and vampires. Speaking of vampires, why is there a cloud of darkness to the north?
The scouts, however, haven't answered back for a bit yet, so the PCs offer to take a look for themselves. When they get out there, they hear marching. Zombies, of course, don't march so much as shamble. They get a good enough look at the enemy army to realize that they've been decieved with an illusion. The opposing army is composed entirely of goblinoids and their ilk, as well as a number of black dragons and half-dragons.
While searching, Simon quickly finds a cave hidden under a formidable array of overgrown plants. The mouth to the cave is wide, and there should be more than enough room for everybody...but the cave is blocked approximately two feet in, by a metal plate half-rusted and twisted with age. There is a closed door, made from what appears to be beaten-down shields fused together haphazardly; you can distinguish some obscure crests on some of them. There are letters scratched onto the door, on the oldest and most twisted portion, but you cannot read the writing; it is too faint to understand at a passing glance. The rain continues to pour, and thunder booms across the mountains. Not so far away, you hear the howl of a wolf pack on the hunt.
Simon
Spoiler
Luckily, you are able to understand the letters. In crudely scratched runes, they read A-C-E-R-E-R-A-K.
Only one person had ranks in Knowledge. After a lot of moaning in the OoC thread, one of them finally opened the door.
Spoiler
The door swings open on rusted, squeaky hinges. As you enter the cave, you notice something. Strange markings along the walls, hieroglyphs and patterns...that come to an abrupt end about 15 feet in. Apparently, there was a cave-in sometime ago, and whatever lies beyond is buried under tons of fallen rock.
There is something strange about this place. And then it hits you-memories of nighttime stories of a tomb of horrors. Tales of traps and deadly snares that killed even the mightiest heroes. Stories of an insane demilich whose power was ever so close to victory. And then along came another band of heroes more resourceful and cunning than the lich, and who slew the undead before his plans came to fruition. Whatever this cave was, whatever had happened here, now there is nothing. Only memories.
In a recent homebrew Zombiepocalypse setting I've made it difficult to tell between regular bodies and zombies playing dead. This would result into lots of double-tapping corpses but I also keep track of ammo, which is scarce. Paranoid, the player has a tendency to be super cautious when I describe any scene involving bodies.
A player recently got bitten. After the fight he asked what happens...I told him that will have to wait for next session. (bwwhahahahaa)
In a recent homebrew Zombiepocalypse setting I've made it difficult to tell between regular bodies and zombies playing dead. This would result into lots of double-tapping corpses but I also keep track of ammo, which is scarce. Paranoid, the player has a tendency to be super cautious when I describe any scene involving bodies.
A player recently got bitten. After the fight he asked what happens...I told him that will have to wait for next session. (bwwhahahahaa)
You're low on ammo?
That's why you keep a melee weapon. Free doubletap. And if a guy's bit you drop him. Basic survival rules.
__________________
Remember how I was wishing for the peace of oblivion a minute ago?
While searching, Simon quickly finds a cave hidden under a formidable array of overgrown plants. The mouth to the cave is wide, and there should be more than enough room for everybody...but the cave is blocked approximately two feet in, by a metal plate half-rusted and twisted with age. There is a closed door, made from what appears to be beaten-down shields fused together haphazardly; you can distinguish some obscure crests on some of them. There are letters scratched onto the door, on the oldest and most twisted portion, but you cannot read the writing; it is too faint to understand at a passing glance. The rain continues to pour, and thunder booms across the mountains. Not so far away, you hear the howl of a wolf pack on the hunt.
Simon
Spoiler
Luckily, you are able to understand the letters. In crudely scratched runes, they read A-C-E-R-E-R-A-K.
Only one person had ranks in Knowledge. After a lot of moaning in the OoC thread, one of them finally opened the door.
Spoiler
The door swings open on rusted, squeaky hinges. As you enter the cave, you notice something. Strange markings along the walls, hieroglyphs and patterns...that come to an abrupt end about 15 feet in. Apparently, there was a cave-in sometime ago, and whatever lies beyond is buried under tons of fallen rock.
There is something strange about this place. And then it hits you-memories of nighttime stories of a tomb of horrors. Tales of traps and deadly snares that killed even the mightiest heroes. Stories of an insane demilich whose power was ever so close to victory. And then along came another band of heroes more resourceful and cunning than the lich, and who slew the undead before his plans came to fruition. Whatever this cave was, whatever had happened here, now there is nothing. Only memories.
I'm guessing He was bringing up the tomb of horrors but he's not actually bringing it into his game.
__________________
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by AstralFire
you know you're a terrible professor when I can be unaware that I am in a class for 5 weeks due to a scheduling error (which she refused to help me transfer out of), attend 4 classes over the course of the semester, and beat the class average on everything.
"There are things in this world that annoy us. Burn them."
"Mcfarlane shows are like cockroaches. Filthy disgusting and never die."
That's why you keep a melee weapon. Free doubletap. And if a guy's bit you drop him. Basic survival rules.
Not if they haven't learned that infection is transmitted to living victims through biting. If they don't need to worry until he dies, then it would be a waste.
Red herrings... aka misleading clues... My DM is notorious for it during certain campaigns. If you're describing or listing something, throw in an extra detail and make it sound important. It's just something mundane...
In a game where I was the DM and my usual DM was the player, I finally managed to get him back for years of torment. In an oriental setting, there was a puzzle where he had to make a platform raise up to his height. He had three tiles with runes in front of him that stood for Heaven, Earth, and Hell. He naturally assumed that he had to press them in a certain order according to common belief or mythology.
He didn't. Each tile had a rotation of raising and lowering the platform in a pattern. They just happened to stand for Heaven, Earth, and Hell.
Also, Mimics. I'm at the point where I Lightning Bolt a treasure chest from twenty paces away, just to make sure
__________________ I am agile, like orange.
Last edited by Riyoukaze : 11-08-2009 at 07:40 PM.
Heh, I remember that. A joke book from Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark, right?
Quote:
Originally Posted by werling
I remember it as an episode of GI Joe...
Quote:
Originally Posted by chiasaur11
Joke from a lot of places, including an entire episode of GI Joe.
So you guys don't actually read posts huh?
Quote:
Originally Posted by lostfang
A REALLY old and funny thing I remember once was an episode of the GI.Joe.
cartoon. A phone rings and on the other end you hear "I'm the viper. I'm coming in 6 days." (maybe you could use sending in dnd)
I'm planning on starting a Ravenloft campaign, and one thing I might do is whenever the PCs pass through the mists, I take everyone's CS.
Then I erase one item that the mists snatched up. Not necessarily their best item (like their +1 sword, for example, if they have one), but something that'll make them worry (eg their silvered dagger.)
I plan to put the items somewhere nearby, but somewhat hard to find.
So, I call on all the master mess-with-players'-heads people:
a) what other items do you think will make them worry without completely screwing them when they lose them
b) what else do you think I can do to scare the players a bit? anything you think is specifically useful for ravenloft?
PCs will be level 5, if that helps.
__________________
Thelas
Alignment: Currently TN. Open to Redemption/Temptation/Axiomification/umwhateverchaoticificationis, though.
If I playing in or running a game and I don't seem to be showing up, PM me. Please.
If I'm being really stupid and you think I should edit my post and remove the stupidity, PM me. Please.
(lambda (confused) (let ((l 'l) (n 'n) (hop 'hop)) (call-with-current-continuation (lambda (skip) (set! hop skip))) (if (null? l) n (begin (set! n (+ 1 n)) (set! l (cdr l)) (hop hop)))))
I'm planning on starting a Ravenloft campaign, and one thing I might do is whenever the PCs pass through the mists, I take everyone's CS.
Then I erase one item that the mists snatched up. Not necessarily their best item (like their +1 sword, for example, if they have one), but something that'll make them worry (eg their silvered dagger.)
I plan to put the items somewhere nearby, but somewhat hard to find.
So, I call on all the master mess-with-players'-heads people:
a) what other items do you think will make them worry without completely screwing them when they lose them
b) what else do you think I can do to scare the players a bit? anything you think is specifically useful for ravenloft?
PCs will be level 5, if that helps.
Bed rolls, tent pegs, the socks they were wearing.
You could also have other, random things find their way into their equipment as well. A severed finger, a great big ball of spider-eggs that's going to hatch any second (Harmless, but creepy), Someone elses sock, a partially eaten rat, a load of garlick, or two adorable fieldmice living in a hollowed out and desicated and preserved Monkey Head.
(I actually had a fey entity leave that last thing in a players bag as a 'reward' of sorts. The thing radiated magic very strongly, but didn't apparently do anything. In actuality, the monkey skull served as both a home and a portal to a demi-plane full of stuff for the mice to eat and play with when awake. I never explained this, I just enjoyed their worried and confused expressions at trying to figure out an aparently innert item of artifact level power. ^_^)
Saying "and then the dragon rages." is also a viable tactic for scrambled brains.
... /me is confused.
Do you mean
- Actually saying that against a dragon who took barbarian levels?
- Saying that while they're fighting a dragon
- Saying that just when they're in the dungeon
- Saying that randomly when they're doing something that has nothing to do with fighting or dragons?
- Saying that once they finally think they dropped the dragon they're fighting?
- Something else?
- Making this post to confuse us GitP-forumers?
__________________
Thelas
Alignment: Currently TN. Open to Redemption/Temptation/Axiomification/umwhateverchaoticificationis, though.
If I playing in or running a game and I don't seem to be showing up, PM me. Please.
If I'm being really stupid and you think I should edit my post and remove the stupidity, PM me. Please.
(lambda (confused) (let ((l 'l) (n 'n) (hop 'hop)) (call-with-current-continuation (lambda (skip) (set! hop skip))) (if (null? l) n (begin (set! n (+ 1 n)) (set! l (cdr l)) (hop hop)))))
Use them once and every time you you describe statues after that you'll have PCs trying to do some redecoration.
you tell me about it! My bard totally seduced to female golem-statues in the gladiator-labyrynth of a evil emperor.
and by "seduced" I mean that he tried to embrace them while naked (long story, dont ask) and they crushed his ...
Spirit.
__________________ The friendly neighborhood gentleman perv is always ready to help!
also: I draw! need a character portrait?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Celesyne
oh, and looting villages is REALLY good money, if a nearby lord doesn't stop by and give you a daily dose of rape.
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Re: How to mess with your players head
Funny, I always figured I'd be killed by a paladin.
So, what you're saying is we rolled a 1 on our credit check?
Financial Advisor of the Kyrie Fan Club. Who contributes through mining and paleontology.
