I was Right: Newest D&D "Adventure" Makes you a Seattle Barista

jeff37923 · January 11, 2022, 04:23:39 PM

Quote from: THE_Leopold on January 11, 2022, 09:49:23 AM
Quote from: jeff37923 on January 10, 2022, 03:38:54 PM

I watched a guy in all seriousness, post that he was creating a Traveller campaign based on Season 1 of The Golden Girls. Players told him that it was a dumb idea, people just aren't going to be interested.

My group would seriously play the hell out of this as I've already incorporated Blanche and Dorothy into my previous TTRPG games. Who doesn't love the golden girls?

Your group would absolutely love Exit Visa!

THE_Leopold · January 11, 2022, 04:31:26 PM

Quote from: jeff37923 on January 11, 2022, 04:23:39 PM
Quote from: THE_Leopold on January 11, 2022, 09:49:23 AM
Quote from: jeff37923 on January 10, 2022, 03:38:54 PM

I watched a guy in all seriousness, post that he was creating a Traveller campaign based on Season 1 of The Golden Girls. Players told him that it was a dumb idea, people just aren't going to be interested.

My group would seriously play the hell out of this as I've already incorporated Blanche and Dorothy into my previous TTRPG games. Who doesn't love the golden girls?

Your group would absolutely love Exit Visa!

I can't find much in the way of information on that adventure sans it's an Introductory Traveller adventure.

Quote
"Exit Visa" is a short largely table-driven "programmed" adventure that could become a hopelessly boring drag if played too literally, but has a lot of potential. The basic setup is this - your ship has been denied the right to depart because of some unspecified anomaly in the ship's log. The captain has been involved in some shady dealings, so this problem isn't going away on its own. You have 1 week to sort things out through admin/bribery/violence or whatever. The adventure's text takes the form of a series of contacts that can help or hinder your access to the Exit Visa. Each contact usually leads to one or more other contacts, and you can only meet one contact at a time, and at certain times of day, etc. The "programming" of Exit Visa is very clever, but to make a memorable role playing experience might prove challenging.

that's about all I've found

Wulfhelm · January 11, 2022, 04:32:20 PM

@ jhkim
@ moonsweeper

Thanks. I don't go back as far as 1e I'm afraid.

But I guess whoever programmed Simon the Sorcerer 2 (pretty sure it was the 2nd part) did...

Omega · January 11, 2022, 09:41:25 PM

Quote from: jhkim on January 10, 2022, 06:02:23 PM
Quote from: RandyB on January 10, 2022, 04:04:54 PM
Quote from: Armchair Gamer on January 10, 2022, 03:49:49 PM
I can see the high concept as working for a Teenagers from Outer Space or East Texas University game, but D&D?

A single TFOS adventure, maybe. If the campaign is TFOS: The College Years. I'd play that.

Yeah, I don't know about the specific adventure, but I'd play a silly concept like that - even in D&D. I've had a blast playing a drunken journalist in my friend Russell's games. Those used a niche system (the SFX RPG) -- but it really didn't matter much what system we were using. When I was a kid, Dragon magazine would regularly have all sorts of silly stuff in their April issues. Plenty of that material seemed terrible to actually play through, but I didn't see anything wrong with it existing.

For more silliness, check out the licensed Wendy's RPG Feast of Legends where you can play fast food adventures.

It seems like the implication is "Hey, someone made a silly free mini-adventure" -- to "This is the new future of D&D".

No less weird than Rat on a Stick for AD&D where the players are trying to create their own fast food franchise feeding monsters. By Judges Guild.

Stuff like this has popped up fairly regularly as some folk find it bemusing for a one-off gag.

No different from regular business running mechanics in any given RPG. Some players like that. I had one in my group who every campaign would try to start up a business. Others find it boring or just not what they want.

jeff37923 · January 11, 2022, 11:05:45 PM

Quote from: THE_Leopold on January 11, 2022, 04:31:26 PM
Quote from: jeff37923 on January 11, 2022, 04:23:39 PM
Quote from: THE_Leopold on January 11, 2022, 09:49:23 AM
Quote from: jeff37923 on January 10, 2022, 03:38:54 PM

I watched a guy in all seriousness, post that he was creating a Traveller campaign based on Season 1 of The Golden Girls. Players told him that it was a dumb idea, people just aren't going to be interested.

My group would seriously play the hell out of this as I've already incorporated Blanche and Dorothy into my previous TTRPG games. Who doesn't love the golden girls?

Your group would absolutely love Exit Visa!

I can't find much in the way of information on that adventure sans it's an Introductory Traveller adventure.

Quote
"Exit Visa" is a short largely table-driven "programmed" adventure that could become a hopelessly boring drag if played too literally, but has a lot of potential. The basic setup is this - your ship has been denied the right to depart because of some unspecified anomaly in the ship's log. The captain has been involved in some shady dealings, so this problem isn't going away on its own. You have 1 week to sort things out through admin/bribery/violence or whatever. The adventure's text takes the form of a series of contacts that can help or hinder your access to the Exit Visa. Each contact usually leads to one or more other contacts, and you can only meet one contact at a time, and at certain times of day, etc. The "programming" of Exit Visa is very clever, but to make a memorable role playing experience might prove challenging.

that's about all I've found

Exit Visa is the one adventure that I will never inflict on a player character group. The entire adventure is about working your way through a mindless bureaucracy in order to get clearance for your ship to leave planet. It is annoying. It is an unadventurous adventure. Should I ever run it, I fully expect to have the players blast out of the starport with guns blazing and chased by law enforcement for reckless endangerment and multiple traffic violations. Afterwards, I would probably never get a group to play Traveller again.

It sounds like your group would love it.

Heavy Josh · January 11, 2022, 11:44:46 PM

Huh. Look, free map of a large cafe. Yoink!

Also, this would be funny for a Paranoia or heck, even Traveller odd-job: the sort of weird nonsense your players get up to when they have to go undercover for whatever actual job they're pulling.

I just hope that the actual adventure has the baristas trying to unionize, given the demand for service sector workers these days...

jhkim · January 12, 2022, 12:51:05 AM

Quote from: Heavy Josh on January 11, 2022, 11:44:46 PM
I just hope that the actual adventure has the baristas trying to unionize, given the demand for service sector workers these days...

OK, I've looked over the adventure now, and it's very short. It does have two combats (against two mephits and against a young mimic), plus a few skill checks, one larger skill challenge, and then closing time. There isn't any involved or extended task system for the job. It's clearly intended to be humorous, but there aren't a lot of jokes past the concept.

It doesn't have unions, but it does have them fighting with the media - which I suppose is topical. :-)

Opaopajr · January 12, 2022, 01:05:54 AM

My work here is done. /acsends

/returns

... waaaait, they didn't have a shopping excursion or a fashion gala.

Nonbinary-lings, am Disappoint.

Just crib Wendy's RPG and. do. better.

(/sarcasm. Of course they already did the best they could. I am browsing Etsy for participation trophies as we speak. I am thinking something upcycled and compostable.

And I enjoy a joke adventure like others, like CoC Blood Brothers books. RPGs are serious business! )

Opaopajr · January 12, 2022, 01:15:15 AM

Quote from: Spinachcat on January 10, 2022, 07:33:17 PM
This adventure will be awesome when I run it...

...using Paranoia as the ruleset.

Honestly, this sounds fun and 'triggering'.

I can already rattle off the bad customers NPCs and could easily imagine an arbitrary Computer supervisor. One part Kafka, another part zombie flick Romero, a third sassy Joss Whedon-speak.

... I am already scared!

jeff37923 · January 12, 2022, 04:03:21 AM

Quote from: Heavy Josh on January 11, 2022, 11:44:46 PM

Also, this would be funny for a Paranoia or heck, even Traveller odd-job: the sort of weird nonsense your players get up to when they have to go undercover for whatever actual job they're pulling.

I can see it as something done in a Traveller game to achieve the goal of the main adventure, but not as an adventure in and of itself.

Jam The MF · January 12, 2022, 04:27:44 AM

I remember how awesome it was many years back, to find a couple of coffee houses I enjoyed visiting. Good coffee, good friendly environment, and a fun time in my life. But, I don't have any desire to role play that in D&D. Perhaps another game would be a better fit?

DM_Curt · January 12, 2022, 07:49:58 AM

Quote from: jhkim on January 12, 2022, 12:51:05 AM

OK, I've looked over the adventure now, and it's very short. It does have two combats (against two mephits and against a young mimic), plus a few skill checks, one larger skill challenge, and then closing time. There isn't any involved or extended task system for the job. It's clearly intended to be humorous, but there aren't a lot of jokes past the concept.

It doesn't have unions, but it does have them fighting with the media - which I suppose is topical. :-)

2 combats, some skill checks/challenges and a map?

Sounds like pretty much a short lowbie adventure, and appropriate for the setting.
That settles half the problem.

The rest being the setting itself. I can shrug and say that Strixhaven isn't something that I'd want to run (I'd skin it, strip half the meat off of the bones and rewrite over the top of it from the Harry Potter wiki and run it for the Potter fans in my house.) But it's at least of partial use, in theory. Ebberon or Ravnica is of zero use to me.

THE_Leopold · January 12, 2022, 09:23:17 AM

Quote from: jeff37923 on January 11, 2022, 11:05:45 PM

Exit Visa is the one adventure that I will never inflict on a player character group. The entire adventure is about working your way through a mindless bureaucracy in order to get clearance for your ship to leave planet. It is annoying. It is an unadventurous adventure. Should I ever run it, I fully expect to have the players blast out of the starport with guns blazing and chased by law enforcement for reckless endangerment and multiple traffic violations. Afterwards, I would probably never get a group to play Traveller again.

It sounds like your group would love it.

This sounds as if you are trying to teach the traveller mechanics to new players and give them a bunch of scenarios to test out their abilities with.

As written it sound absolutely terrible, BUT! if you as the GM allow all sorts of out of the box ways for players to cheat, scam, hijack, hustle, and maneuver their way through the various beaureocratic machinations could be interesting.

Sitting around going from kiosk to kiosk asking to have paperwork filled out in triplicate and then stamped accordingly no sane group can find that interesting not even a party of accountants.

Rob Necronomicon · January 12, 2022, 09:47:28 AM

In fairness to this concept, with a few tweaks it could be fun.

Your players open a 'pie shop'. They are cultists trying to sacrifice, the human low lives of the city, to their dark gods. And feeding the remains to the patrons to dispose of the evidence.

Everything goes exceedingly well until one of the patrons realizes they are chewing on a finger.

Abraxus · January 12, 2022, 10:14:20 AM

If it's an evil catholic cult the Wokescolds would be fine with it. If it's any other religion they would claim discrimination or some other imagined offensive.

Still a twisted scenario and I may run it with the right group.