teardropper:

Ratcatchers: Especially in an urban campaign, this term is chosen specifically to disrespect and belittle adventurers. It comes from a more literal place, people who catch and dispose of rats and other vermin. It implies that adventuring is dirty work, unprofitable, undeserving of praise or respect.

Mercenaries: This one is more matter-of-fact. It’s still not a respectful term by any means, but there is a sort of professionalism to it. It also implies greed, that the PCs aren’t willing to do anything without the promise of pay. Also, there is the assumption that they are going to choose the violent solution to any problem, unless 

Mercs: You might think this would be the same as mercenaries, but there is a wholly different intent behind the shortened version. This term assumes that the PCs are aggressive, that they only solve problems with violence. Not only that, this term implies that the violence isn’t just a means to an end, but something they actually enjoy.

Rogues: Not in the same context as the class. This is used to describe people who are likable despite their lawlessness. There is an implied charisma or charm, but also the assumption of greed as primary motivation.

Scoundrels: Like rogues in almost all ways, but without the requirement of likability. Still charm and charisma, just often more sleazy than actually likable.

Madcaps: Again, similar to rogue, but with a heavy implication of madness. Villagers who live near a haunted forest might call adventurers who go in there “madcaps.”

Bounders: Like scoundrels, but even without an implied charm. These are people without any sense of honor, motivated purely by greed.

Fixers: This one is straightforward. It doesn’t actively disrespect the PCs, but it also doesn’t elevate them above others. They are simply here to fix a problem, and after the problem is fixed, they’re useless.

Dungeoneers: This one is certainly more specific. It is similar to mercenaries, in that it doesn’t carry any respect, but it does have a professional air. Unlike mercenaries, there is an implied intelligence; a dungeoneer is an expert at dungeon-crawling. There isn’t as much of an emphasis on violence, instead there is an implied sneakiness. However, there is still an implication that greed is the primary motivator.

Explorers: This term may not be used for most PCs, but when it does apply, it is used in a respectful manner. It assumes even more intelligence, and it implies a scholarly bent, that the PCs are motivated by knowledge, not greed.

Wanderers: Like explorers, but without motivation.

Vagabonds: Like wanderers, but with the implication of being problematic to the community. Or, a sort of wandering scoundrel.

Pathfinders: Like explorers, but with the implication that they are clearing the way for the spread of civilization. There is an honor to this word, but also more implication of risk or danger.

Adventurers: There is more of an air of respect in this. The use of the word “adventure” implies a sort of storybookishness, there’s less of an implication of dirt and greed. 

Heroes: This is a word chosen specifically to praise the PCs. It implies selflessness, a need to help others, and a certain level of competence.

Champions: Heroes, but tied to a specific place or group. The pinnacle of a community.

(I made this because it gets boring listening to NPCs saying the word “adventurers” all the time.)

prokopetz:

prokopetz:

Okay, let’s be serious for a moment: like 80% of the whole “being a GM is like herding cats” thing is because you didn’t bother to communicate to your players what the game was going to be about and expected them to figure it out by reading your mind.

I promise you, if you’ve written up a fancy new dungeon and ask your players “hey, want to play a game about exploring a dungeon?”, it’s quite likely that they’ll be more than happy to go to the dungeon.

Hell, save them the trouble and just start the game with them already in the dungeon – as long as you clear it with your group in advance and don’t abuse the privilege to drop them into a pit full of rust monsters on turn one, they’ll probably just go with it. In medias res is your friend!

And on the off chance that they say “no, we don’t want to go to a dungeon today”? At least you found out up front instead of pissing around for a couple of hours first – there’s literally no downside to opening that channel of communication.

(There are admittedly a small minority of players who this won’t work for because they actively and deliberately obstruct whatever they think the GM is trying to do, but they’re contrarian assholes and you shouldn’t be gaming with them in the first place.)

And most of the remaining 20%? Is because you tried to plan for your players taking a specific set of actions.

Here’s a secret: don’t plan for any player actions whatsoever. Plan what’s going to happen if the players never showed up at all.

It’s easier to let go of a plan that’s designed to be disrupted, and coming up with a good answer to “what would happen here if the player characters didn’t interfere?” forces you to think carefully about the needs, resources and and motivations of everyone involved, which is far better preparation for responding to player shenanigans than any amount of what-if speculation.

somethingdnd:

sepulchritude:

imagine a rosario vampire kind of setting, where a human winds up at a monster school. except the monsters all know they’re a human. maybe they’re part of a new “monster/human friendly relations” project. everyone is pretty cautious about causing an incident, so they’re treading lightly around the human. but the human doesn’t even bat an eye at the strange stuff that goes on, so the monster kids gradually become more relaxed around them.

here’s the thing. the human doesn’t actually realize they’re at a monster school. they’re basically the living embodiment of “staying in their lane”. they see strange monster things happening and they’re like “huh. well that’s none of my business” and just go about their day

so the monsters think the human knows what’s up and doesn’t care. the human thinks they’re at a weird but ultimately normal human school. then the human sees something so explicit that they can’t help but connect the dots, like a werewolf transforming right in front of them. the human screams, the werewolf yelps, everyone else starts screaming too. there’s lots of confusion all around. 

eventually they all figure out what happened. then the human’s friends start quizzing them on how the hell they never noticed.

“the werewolves literally walk around with their ears and tails out.” “I thought they were just furries okay?!”

“but the vampires drink blood at lunch! only blood! they don’t eat!” “listen, even goths can be insecure about their weight. it’s not my business if they want to go on a weird tomato juice diet.” “I guess that explains why you hugged Travis and told him he was beautiful the way he is that one time.”

“there are fairies in our math class. they have wings.” “*shrug* theater kids are weird.”

“Ynolk’ku is the offspring of an eldritch abomination. the whispers of the dead follow xem wherever xe go. are you saying you never heard that?” “I figured it was just really loud creepy music playing from xer headphones.”

“centaurs. harpies. nagas.” “okay I know I already said furries, but really committed furries.”

“Cindy is a sasquatch and she’s covered in fur.” “who am I to tell a girl to shave?”

“the dryads wear clothes made out of living plants.” “aesthetic or death.”

a D&D setting there the sole human rolls nothing but 1s to notice the rest of the world

probablybanerpgideas:

probablygoodrpgideas:

probablygoodrpgideas:

Sure, having a king/queen is simple, but have you ever tried:

• Democracy
• Multiple nobles and they all have the same amount of power (lot of conflict potential)
• You can become ruler by defeating the current ruler in a fight
• The merchants run everything
• A noble and a parliament rule
• The most intelligent people rule
• …

There are thousands of possibilities, be creative!

Older post, but I highly encourage it! Try out the weirdest stuff! Try things you think would never work in the real world because this is your world and if you say (insert political system believed to not work) works then it does

Here’s a list of Society and Government types I’ve stolen directly from the worldbuilding section of some rulebooks:

Anarchy: the social conscience maintains order, but there are no laws

Athenian Democracy: Every citizen can vote on every new law

Representative Democracy: Elected representatives form a congress or government

Clan: Pretty much whoever is older is in charge, traditions are strongly adhered to, and society as a whole is split cross many tribes that are generally similar (and usually allied) but with their own quirks and traditions

Caste: A lot like a Clan structure, but each clan has a set role in society that usually renders them co-dependent. These Castes usually follow a social heirarchy

Dictatorship: One person controls everything, and they will later pass the right to rule to someone else, whether by inheritance, election, duelling, or some other method. Not all dictatorships are bad, especially if they are formed in times of crisis or rebellion, but even those started with the best intentions may quickly corrupt.

Plutocracy: Whoever has money is in charge.

Technocracy: A group of scientists and engineers have complete control and do everything they can to run the country at maximum efficiency. The more competent they are, the more likely this is to be viewed as a good thing.

Thaumocracy: Like a technocracy, but run by a science-like form of magic (like wizards and arcanists rather than shamans and witches)

Theocracy: The Church controls everything, and their religious law is civil law. Whether this religion is real, is fake but knows it, or believes its own lies is up to you.

Corporate State: Powerful mercantile organisations have taken control of entire regions. This is a lot like a Technocracy, but with a corporate structure and a focus on maximum profitability (and no-one else is going to set them a minimum wage)

Feudal: A lot like a dictatorship, but subsidiary lords are assigned their own local power and can enforce their own law without notifying the larger state.

***VARIATIONS***

Bureaucracy: Government runs very slowly and the public has effectively no control. There is a lot of red tape and taxation is high.

Colony: Government is dependent on a mother society

Cybercracy: A computer system is the state administrator. Hopefully the programmers did a good job…

Matriarchy: Positions of authority are female-exclusive.

Meritocracy: Positions of authority require rigorous testing to qualify for.

Military Government: The Military control everything, usually but not always totalitarian

Monarchy: The person in charge may call themselves king or queen, but fundamentally this is either a dictatorship or a feudal society.

Oligarchy: A small organisation is in control, and it elects its own members.

Patriarchy: like a matriarchy, but for guys. what a novel idea

Sanctuary: A society that protects the people other societies hunt (that may be considered criminals or terrorists by other nations)

Socialist: The government directly manages the economy, education is easy to get, the government intervenes to get everyone possible a job. This is likely to collapse quickly without good technology or magic to assist it.

Subjugated: The society as a whole is completely controlled by an outside force.

Utopia: A perfect society where everyone is satisfied and nothing sinister is happening behind the scenes we swear.