Nov 29 2019
Shade-Of-the-Candle’s Player Credo
Posted by The Gneech
You Are a Swashbuckler
- Zorro was always grinning. Robin was a Merry Man.
- When the Pirate King flubs a step, he makes it part of the show.
- Nobody likes a grouch!
Killing is a Failure State
- Trickery and incapacitation is winning. “Massive damage” is for clods.
- Accept surrender. Send bandits running off humiliated—or better yet, recruit them!
- Capture, tie up, and rob your foes if they’re intelligent, or avoid/ward them off if not.
- Won’t work on things like zombies, obviously, but would work on owlbears.
- There’s a zombie AND a mimic? Get the mimic to eat the zombie and die of indigestion.
What Would Jack Sparrow Do?
- A great entrance goes a long way.
- Cunning is “finding the path the enemy has chosen, then digging holes along that path.”
- The only rules are what a person can do, and what they can’t.
- Lie by telling the truth in the most unbelievable way.
- An overturned dinghy makes a great bathysphere.
- Enter forbidden places dressed in enemy uniforms.
- The enemies are giants? Time for three rogues in a trenchcoat!
- Lean in to environmental effects. Sneak Attack with a yard-arm!
- There’s probably more stuff around than the DM has mentioned. Always ask if there’s a chandelier/tapestry/rug/pulley on a rope.
Make Your Own Luck
- Find a way that doesn’t roll dice—or makes the NPC roll the dice.
- Does jumping require a skill check? Throw a grapnel and swing across!
- A well-equipped utility belt is your second-best friend.
- Stack the odds in your favor, then figure out a way to roll with advantage.
- Go after what you really want; ignore what you really don’t.
Lead Without Being Boss
- Learn the other players’ abilities and incorporate them into your harebrained schemes.
- Get people to tell you their backstories.
- Make other people’s goals somehow contingent on achieving your own.
- Set up the other players to be awesome.
- CAROUSE. Go to taverns and chat up the barmaids for rumors.