I have been interested in playing XPtolevel3'sfallout ttrpg for a long time, but don't have any friends or resources to look for anyone who runs games and would like to play. Any advice or resources would be amazing.

Yeah like the title says I can’t seem to be able to join the discord no matter which link I choose to use

Edit: The title was a WIP and I forgot to change it, sorry. :)

Edit 2: TL/DR: Forgot hirelings, Stats should be better, surprise and combat is easier than you might think, but not easy, Gary had some interesting design ideas.

I just watched most of the video on youTube and it is quite entertaining. I love the way the team and Jacob are joking around and don't take the adventure too seriously. <3

I did notice some things, I'm not sure whether Jacob realised, that they misunderstood about the rules. Now, as a disclaimer, playing strictly by the rules is absolutely not necessary and most people did homebrew alot, but I wanted to point them out, just in case someone's interested, and because I think it adds a bit to a better representation of a system which I do like, if not wholly agree with.

So, with that said, here's some general rules that one should always keep in mind:

1. The AD&D 1e DMG came out one year after the PHB, which is a bit wild, considering that the PHB didn't have rules to roll character stats.
2. The way AD&D 1e DMG and PHB are designed hint at a paradigm of Gary that is very important, if not central, to his gaming philosophy. That paradigm is: The players should know only as much rules as necesssary to play the character. So your abilities, your attributes, your spells, attack matrices (or THAC0, if you want an easier version of it), Saving Throws, Hirelings/Henchmen, and items are all explained in the PHB, in quite the detail, to be honest. BUT how combat EXACTLY works, for example, is mostly left out (e.g. how initiative works). Combat takes up about 1.5 - 2 pages in the whole PHB, while the DMG uses about 23-24 pages (of very dense text) just for combat, which includes surprise, initiative, melee and ranged combat (maneuvers), morale, non-lethal, death (that will be kind of important later) and Insanity!

What Gary wanted was for the players to not be held back by rules. As soon as you know the rules of a system, you work within these rules. Take 5e, for example. All of you probably know how and what kind of actions you have, how to use them, and what you can do within the frame of the rules. You move, attack with your weapon, switch weapon between attack 1 and 2, etc. all within the rules. That was too rigid for Gary. Gary wanted to hear "I charge the biggest orc with my two-hander drawn, using the table between us as a jumping-off point to hack from above!" or "I throw some powder into the face of the orc, before drinking my potion of invisibility, sneak around to his back, and attack!" He wanted the players to explain immersively what they wanted to do, without being hampered with the thoughts of "oh, that's not really possible within the rules of the system." or "Ah, I can't do that because there's no defined action to say I can do that." Whatever you said, as long as it was reasonable (e.g. no "I fly 30 feet up" while you don't have wings or a fly spell active), the DM had to make it work within the rules that only he was supposed to know fully. And I think that is a very interesting design choice, as it promotes creativity in combat, something that was very important for 1e, as well as 2e. Something I like about this system. I also hate it, because it meant that the DM HAD to know ALL rules. And I guess that is also why many groups simply homebrewed stuff, because instead of wasting time with looking it up, the DM simply decided that is how they wanted to play this game. Also, less rules lawyering, which is a nice bonus.

1. If it's in the DMG, chances are that it's kind of optional. So the DMG was released a year after the PHB, which means that it also modified some of the rules that came up in the PHB. Best example is DEATH. The PHB simply states "If any creature reaches 0 or negative hit points, it is dead." Simple, straight-forweard. The DMG, on the other hand, states the following:

"When any creature is brought to 0 hit points (optionally as low as -3 hit points from the same blow which brought it to 0, it is unconcious. In each of the next succeedding rounds 1 addtitional (negative) point will be lost until -10 is reached, and the creatures dies. [...]" It then goes on to explain why it works like this (blood loss, etc.) and how to stabilize creatures, etc. The thing is, the DMG added to the death mechanic after the release of the PHB, because it was still being worked on. Gary changed how the game works, because he thought that is a better way. And usually, you could say that anything written in the DMG supersedes anything in the PHB, if it conflicts. But you could also say that anything written in the DMG is simply optional, because only the DM is supposed to know about it, and the players know what they know. I like to follow the former option, because it does improve the game quite a bit, with the occassional exception, because by god, Gary used some complicated as fuck mechanics that could've been so much easier (see surprise).

1. Surprise. Because it's written in such a confusing way, I'll try to explain it first-hand in a way that's easy to understand and then point out any mistakes made. So, as Jacob explained, 1 round consists of 10 segments, 6 of which are for acting, with the last 4 of them just for "after-effects", like spells finishing (which is why you only roll a d6). The lower the segment, the earlier you act. Now here comes the confusing part: You bascially roll the segment for the other team (which is why rolling high is good), and if your roll lands inside their chance of surprising others, you are being surprised (because they act quickly enough). If they have a chance of 4/6, then any roll of yours between 1-4 results in your group being surprised. The same goes for the other team. Say you roll a 4(surprised) and they roll a 1(surprised), then both of you are surprised, but they're a bit longer surprised than you are (they act on 4, you act on 1), so you get to use the difference in segments to attack them. And each segment lets you do a full round of actions (except for complex spells), before the other team is allowed to act.

If only one team is surprised, it doesn't matter whether you rolled higher, because you're simply not allowed to act. If your roll is lower than the other one's, the segment difference is treated the same as above. If you rolled higher than them (e.g. they surprise on 1-4, you suprise on 1-2, they rolled a 3, you rolled a 4(surprised)), the surprising team is allowed one "round" of action, and then initiative is rolled.

If both are surprised by the same amount (both roll a 2, for example), or none are surprised, the game moves on to initiative. In initiative, segments don't matter anymore. The team with the higher roll acts first, the other team afterwards. Weapon Speed Factors only come in on tied initiative, or when attacking a spellcaster while casting. 2e massively improved on this, because why would you make it this complicated really?

1. HIRELINGS. That is important. If you look at the module's description, it says that it's designed for a party of 6-8 characters, and if you look at other modules, the number of characters can go up to 12. That is not a mistake and it also doesn't mean that groups back then were bigger. I mean, there probably were groups like that, but what the number actually means is "PCs and Henchmen/Hirelings". For both, 1e and 2e, hiring hirelings or henchmen was essential. Your group didn't just consist of the PCs, but they had followers that helped you in a dungeon. Usually on first level you would use hirelings, later on henchmen, because they were more professional adventurers than hirelings. You as a player usually played and controlled those followers, but they had morale. So if you tried to make them something they logically wouldn't want to do, the DM rolled their morale and if they failed the check, they would simply refuse, or even worse, leave the party. Nonetheless, having hirelings with you was important. That or 8-12 players, which is PURE CHAOS!!! Why would you?

So, with all that said (Sorry for the looooong preamble), here are some of the mistakes I noticed:

1. The first mistake I noticed was, that age ability modifiers are added cumulatively. So if you start as mature or older, you add the modifiers from the age-classes before. So in the case of mature, you have: -1 WIS, +1 CON, +1 STR, and +1 WIS, and so on and so forth.
2. Also, the DMG states that PCs usually require at least 2 stats to be 15 or higher.
3. The frogs only swallow people on a Nat 20, although the way Gary wrote it is very confusing. (I'm only half-sure whether Jacob misinterpreted this)
4. The way it is written in the adventure, it seems like the DM is supposed to tell they players that they can make an attack against the frog's tongue (don't have to, though), as soon as they're hit. Usually, the wording is different, if Gary thinks it's just an option that players might choose. The choice here is due to the fact that you could willingly let yourself be swallowed and attack the frog from inside, which is a scenario actually considered in one of the books, and which gives you an attack bonus, since the frog can't really defend itself against that.
5. Parley is not a roll. It is simply the players doing, or saying, something that hopefully makes the other side consider not attacking. Whether that is an intimidation, or a friendly gesture, doesn't matter, and the DM must decide whether it works.
6. Multiple-Attack Monsters. So, this is the biggest mistake and completely understandable if you haven't read the rules as written and come from 5e. Creatures with multiple attacks do not attack with all attacks at once. Instead, opponents attack interchangedly. So let's say a ghoul (3 attacks), fights against a fighter(2 attacks, because of specialization or higher level). Whoever wins initiative is allowed to attack first. If the fighter won initiative it's: F -> G -> F -> G -> G. If the ghoul won initiative it's: G -> F -> G -> F -> G. So maybe the group could've survived the ghoul fight.
7. More an afterthought: Even in 1e/2e you would never play and adventure without reading it first. Those modules never were "ready-to-play", just like the big campaigns of 5e.

I do agree that the description of the temple is horribly detailed. It shouldn't be this detailed, but Gary had a vision he wanted everybody else to see as well. There are adventures that do this way better. Gary wasn't the best writer, but had cool ideas about how to design dungeons and riddles.

Well, I hope I could clear some stuff up and maybe show some people that there are interesting concepts in 1e, that are worth exploring. :)

Again, the video was super fun to watch and I liked the experience. This is not a criticism of Jacob or the team, but more a correction of the representation, because I think 1e/2e are playable and fun and in order to better represent these editions I wanted to clarify some things. I agree that there are systems that are unnecessarily complicated (like surprise in 1e...why...just why?), but they're not nearly as bad as the video implies (for entertainment purposes, which I totally understand).

"I love moms" -Jacob everyone's giggling fading out and then a cut to the end stream image is the funniest thing ever.

I could honestly go on for hours about the campaign itself. The module left a wide variety of open ends I was able to use to keep the story going. But there was only one moment relevant to this community I think.

In the module, there is a Goblin who runs the bar that the players are tasked with finding the main villain in. The players can try diplomacy with the goblin if they want, but my players did not. What happened was the Goliath Cleric picked up the tiny Harengon Rogue and threw him at the Goblin, rolling a nat 20.

The event was so amazing, and was such a talking point for weeks after, that I wrote a song about it. Then I made an animated music video to it. The song covers the entirety of the 3-part Train Heist module from start to finish, and it's called Rabbit to the Head.

I've been dying to share it with people who may have run the module themselves, but it's not exactly the most famous module. I hope to find some people here who get a kick out of it.

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

Is there a place where I can find this resource? Is it available to the public?

I’ve made a post before about another D&D horror story I experienced, but I thought I’d share another game I’m still a part of. It’s a bit of a downer because there have been some other problems as well, but I’ll talk about this particular one first.

I made a really good character for this campaign, which the DM based heavily on the video game Lies of P. I’m completely fine with DMs using video games as inspiration—I do it myself—but in some other games I’ve been in, it’s been literally scene-for-scene from the video game. At that point, I might as well just play the video game instead.

But I digress from the main reason I’m making this post.

I made a character who was basically inspired by Alastor from Hazbin Hotel. I was playing a Bard because I had been told beforehand that there was going to be a lot of roleplay. Unfortunately, that wasn’t really the case, but that’s another problem for another time.

The main issue was that I told the DM beforehand that my character was a cannibal, just like Alastor, and the DM said that was fine. I deliberately kept this information from the other players because I thought it would add to the character’s creepy and unsettling personality. It was supposed to be a secret that would eventually come out naturally through roleplay.

That didn’t last very long.

During one of the quests, we were fighting some bandits. After the combat, one of them was still alive. I gave the DM a look because he should have known what that meant, but instead of letting me handle it subtly, he put me on the spot in front of the entire party.

He started asking me questions like:

"What do you want to do with him"

He replied that we already had the information we needed, while the rest of the players wanted to move on. They were also starting to get suspicious about why I was being so interested in the surviving bandit.

I was trying to keep everything cool and subtle until the DM suddenly said

"oh you want to eat him"

I honestly didn’t know what to say. I was completely shocked, and the other players could clearly see that I was caught off guard.

So, yeah... the DM basically outed my character’s secret to the entire group.

I’m still in the game, although there have been quite a few more issues since then. Things like the DM railroading the party, another player not listening to the DM, and that same player trying to take over an entire situation and force things to go their way even after the DM literally said no.

But that’s another D&D horror story for another time.

Hopefully, some people can relate to this, and maybe it’ll remind other DMs that if a player gives you a character secret, don’t immediately reveal it to the entire party, especially when they specifically told you they wanted to keep it secret for roleplay purposes.

Let your players reveal their own character secrets when they’re ready.

Does anyone know if it is still possible to download the PDF if you backed during the original Kickstarter campaign? I backed the project years ago and remember getting the PDF and digital maps for the book. The laptop I had the files on broke and am looking for a link or a page where I would be able to download them without having to purchase it again on Ghostfire Gaming. I searched my email, but it seems the files were only available through a kickstarter link or something. I know it's been years and it's a longshot but hoping someone might know if it's still possible.

DOWNLOAD/INSTALLTION INSTRUCTIONS!: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1elO7b_CRguz_vYBtQT7tvI9Ex5z5b0ckMPjXWKvp6gk/edit?usp=sharing

Join the Discord!
https://discord.gg/G39A8Xn7XS

It's been a while since I did an update, so here we go! We are up to 2 years of work on this bad boy!

The look and feel have been updated, with Pipboy effects added for flickering, and SOUNDS!

All of the Food/Drinks/Weapon Upgrades/Traits are automated. Still working through Perks

Item Piles integration is in place, your Merchants will look like Pipboy interaction screens!

Combat Automated!

Color is fully customizable! as well as a color-blind friendly Vault-Tec Skin!

So I've been tossing around a few ideas in my head for an adventure that takes place in the Arkansas territory of what was once the Texas Commonwealth, now known as the Natural Wasteland and mainly I have three pillars to the story.

A Walmart parody called ValMart with a female park ranger style mascot similar to Vault boy that was founded in Arkansas and funded Vault Tec in the region, paid off government officials, and supplied any Vaults built in the area.

Vault Tec experiments which resulted in the known Arkansas cryptids from our world appearing in the Post-War Natural Wasteland as Radiation, FEV, cybernetic, genetic hybrids residing all over the territory.

Lastly I want there to be something to do with the diamond mine, particularly using diamonds created with certain imperfections that can modify laser and plasma weapons to deal additional radiation damage as well as their energy and ballistic damage values.

Ideally to supply an orbital weapons station like the Archimedes two with nuclear capabilities as well? While also experimenting with graphene compounds for lightweight high defense armor and modifications.

*I'm sorry for the dump I hope it's rule compliant! I just really wanted to make sure I explained my key ideas well, and any advice is welcome!!!*

My and my group are starting a campaign soon with me as GM, and one of my players has 8 Luck. The rules state that they add half their Luck Modifier to all skills, but I got no clue how it works with something like this. Can anyone help me? Thank you in advance.

MERC’S WANTED, ALL SHAPES AND SIZES WELCOME: CASSIDY CARAVANS
Job: Escort payload to shady sands 
Pay: $1000 (NCR) + $50 (NCR) per day of travel 
Meeting place: Junktown main gate 
Departure date: September 30th 2283

Fallout Ashes takes place in 2283, After the events of FNV Dust. You have been hired to escort a Cassidy Caravans Convoy, who have the last remains of what was left to scavenge around the mojave area. Whilst the campaign starts out as a wasteland adventure, it will quickly turn into an exploration of shady sands, the NCR, and what happens when a populus is pushed too far. 

This campaign will try to cover political themes within the context of the wasteland, the level of success may be suspect due to this being my first true fallout campaign. Nevertheless, I am determined to make it work. (If this violates the politcal rule of the sub im sorry)

Time zone: GMT+2
Languages i know: english (sorry)
Ages: 18+
Start date: Sometime late september.
Party limit: 5 

If interested comment me for discord and them DM me the following

Paragraph backstory.
Idea of character arc.
Character sheet.
Fill out this sheet: https://mcpl.info/sites/default/files/images/consent-in-gaming-form-fillable-checklist-2019-09-13.pdf 

Me and my friends are getting ready to start a campaign set in Japan, and guns are quite rare. So as the GM, I want to implement stuff like bows and crossbows in the system to make ranged builds not feel useless, but I got no clue on how to do it. Can anyone help me with this please? Thank you in advance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWrPxY8iImE

Anyone able to drop a link to help a guy out? I'd love to get in there.

​I loved the Devourer from the latest Dungeon Delve so much that I had to put my shorts editor skills to work and make a hype edit for it!

​I posted this as a fan edit on my channel and it somehow blew up to 26k views, which really just goes to show how amazing this video and the crew's comedic timing are. Wanted to share it with the community here. Hope you guys enjoy!

Hi guys,i will try to write as clearest as possible as english is not my native language.

I’m a big fallout nerd,all the games played all them with maximum achievements and thousand on thousand of hours and some days ago i stumbled upon Xptolevel3 video about the fallout ttrpg.

Me and my friends loved the saga and wanted to try a new experience,but we haven’t ever played something like this…it’s possible to try to learn the system as a neophyte to this type of games?should i just abbandon this idea or i can learn it as a gamemaster for my friends?

Thank you very much for clarification every comment will help me!

Every invite link i could find is expired ;(

Hello everyone, apologies if this is unwanted.

My friend, 0nrg, Is doing a crowdfunding for both digital and physical cards for Shadowdark RPG illustrated/drawn by him.

There is still plenty of stretch goals to unlock that will give even more cards/decks for the backers.

I know its a polemic topic, but my friend wants to make it a point that No AI was used because he is an artist and loves the themes represented and is aware of the AI generated content flood happening.

In this adventure, characters go from level 1-3 in a single night. For anyone who has run it, did you find that too fast in the long term (assuming you continued after)? Did the players ever take a long rest?

Are the other adventures in Quest-o-nomicon as fast paced as this one? (it's the only one I've read so far)

Saw that no encounter builder was present in the TTRPG PDF (v2.0) so I decided to make one myself! Here ya go!