two new players, three long time players. we were supposed to do a new one-shot. Everyone just kinda... sucked? I feel like I was doing my normal GM stuff but they were all so dumb tonight, couldn't think of basic solutions to any problem. we got through maybe 1/3 of what was supposed to be a one-shot. what do you do when players suddenly become retarded? game was barbarians of lemuria btw.
>>97205591Depends. Are they randos?>Sorry guys, this was supposed to be a one shot. I have other things going on, so we unfortunately can't finish the adventure.Are they your friends>Get your shit together, idiots!
>>97206104they’re friends but i’m not gonna just yell at them or discourage them because the strangest thing is that they’re being very present and active and like making lots of rolls and asking lots of questions but still with all of that they’re just being… retarded. like they can’t figure out how simple clues connect or they’re asking the WRONG questions. it’s bizarre.
>>97206405Give us all the information and clues you gave them, exactly as you gave it to them. Don't give us any extra content or information. Let us be the judge of whether it's actually as obvious as you think it is.
>>97205591It's a communication issue. Either you played the part of an abysmal communicator, or they played the part of abysmal receiver. The decisive factor is the specifics of the matter, which you have not provided. Follow up on what >>97206447 requested, and provide actual details.
>>97206447When you inspect the floorboards, you see someone has carved a schematic into the wood. two squares, one labeled “ARMZ” and another labeled “BUKZ”. Two arrows are drawn between the two squares, each pointing at the other square, and between the arrows it says “NITZ”. in this dungeon below a castle, the players have already been inside a stockroom, a torture chamber, a library with a locked section that couldn’t be opened, a brewing chamber, and a stable. they are currently in an armory. there is a suit of armor holding a halberd on the wall. knocking on the wall, there’s a hollow sound. mapping the area would reveal that yes, you have already traveled in that area behind the wall (you should be able to intuit what room is behind the wall) Players couldn’t figure what the inscribed message was trying to tell them.or like: you are searching for a lost dwarf-mason’s apprentice. He’s a child, and you learned there is a mine nearby that is using child labor. after some effort, you manage to get ahold of one of the child laborers. do you ask this child-laborer if he has seen or knows anything about the missing dwarf-mason’s apprentice? yes? okay because the players didn’t.
>>97206557>>97206557>you see someone has carved a schematic into the wood. two squares, one labeled “ARMZ” and another labeled “BUKZ”. Two arrows are drawn between the two squares, each pointing at the other square, and between the arrows it says “NITZ”.Well, it's pretty obvious that the first two are for the armory and library, but I have no idea what the hell "Nitz" is meant for.>Players couldn’t figure what the inscribed message was trying to tell them.A secret passage between the library and armory? It's kind of hard to tell what you're getting at here with the way this is written and a lack of context and info the players would've probably had.
>>97206639>>97206639The locked section of the library, which, when mapped out, sits in the direction of the armory, features a similar suit-of-armor holding a halberd against the wall, which you can see through the bars of the locked section's gate. (the players have already tried to get through this gate by smashing it [failed, attracted some evil book-spirits] and picking the lock [failed, lock has a small acid-trap which melts lockpicks]. c'mon anon. sound out a word inscribed by someone who clearly doesn't know how to spell. NITZ.
>>97206676>sound out a word inscribed by someone who clearly doesn't know how to spellIf they don't know how to spell they probably wouldn't be using z in the first place. Typing like a stereotypical orc =/= how someone who can't spell would try to write.That said, the only thing my ESL ass is coming up with is knits, which doesn't really fit anything you've described.>[failed, attracted some evil book-spirits] and picking the lock [failed, lock has a small acid-trap which melts lockpicks]That sounds pretty fucking stupid. How the hell do you have an acid trap in the lock?
>>97206557>>97206676I'm with the other anon. It's pretty clear that the armory and library have the secret passage, and it's probably triggered by the suit of armor in front of that spot, but "Nitz" really isn't clear.From your other reply, the only thing I could guess based on context clues would be that it's meant to be "knights", but there's only a single suit of armor, so not only does that feel off, but like the other anon said it's going to read as knits first.That aside, I'll also say that having anti-lockpicking measures in the way of internalized acid traps comes across as rather meanspirited. Breaking a lockpick on a failed check is already pretty standard. Having it be due to a trap that specifically melts the lockpick and nothing else is just petty. At that point just put in a poison needle trap so it feels like whoever built the thing actually wanted to kill a potential thief instead of just pranking them.That has very little to do with the player's intelligence though, except for that it might indicate they've been trying to use other means to bypass puzzles, but are getting stonewalled for doing so, which has made them less eager to engage. The question I'd ask is if smashing the gate after defeating the book-spirits would have been possible, or if it'd just not work unless they did it the "correct" way.
>>97206676From what you've said I suppose NITZ is supposed to be KNIGHTS. Which suggests you're as retarded as your players, because you should have changed it to something like NYTZ to suggest the longer sound as you already did with BUKZ.
>>97206800>At that point just put in a poison needle trap so it feels like whoever built the thing actually wanted to kill a potential thief instead of just pranking them.That or have the spirits be the obstacle/punishment for trying to bypass the puzzle. BoL is lethal enough that it's not just a time waster to make the players engage in combat.Feels like the way OP described it he really wanted them to solve it in one specific way, which just ain't how games should be run.
Nitz...Neets?Nits?Kneeds?Knits? Knights?Yeah its knights I think. Took me a while. Its not really obvious how to sound the i. Theres quite a few options. Would've been easier if you spelled it nitez. Guess I inspect the suit of armor. To be fair even without the clue theres a 90% chance I fiddle with the armor anyway. As for your players.... Have you considered giving them a hint, if its so important they figure it out? Maybe when they are in the room with the armor you say it glows with a faint magical aura. Or they see something glinting here or there. Or the armor is dusty except for a the top of the halberd staff. Then they pull the halberd, yank the arm or wear the armor and whatever they do is what solves the issue.
