Well, it's been a while since I've been able to stop on by rpgbomb, but work is lightening up a bit, so I
finally had a moment to relax write!
Anyway, someone posted a very humorous bit that started a trend over on rpg.net about how to keep their 4E game on track for an MMO style of play.....the great fear of everyone who thought that 4E was deriving too much focus and style from MMOs. So I went ahead and put a reply in that I decided was worth immortalizing here....some useful tips for how to keep your players away from those annoying non-combat social encounters!
I have two special encounters I use when the players have gotten off-track with the gathering of orc livers (which, by the way, there is only a 1 in 6 chance that an orc
has a liver.....we do hard core, all the way!), and are spending too much time talking to things, rolling on diplomacy, and checking their Int-based skills.......geez! Assuming that they are unfazed by you reading from a three-line script for each NPC, insuring there is no interactive dialogue, I suggest the following additional options:
1 Leroy Jenkins!Leroy Jenkins appears and runs by the players during their little social engagement in the market, screaming his name. He automatically aggros all of the townsfolk and merchants in to a raging mob, but he has a speed of 8 and is very shifty; he can flee the battlefield, forcing the enraged crowd to turn and attack the -hah!- so-called diplomat
PCs.
Leeeeeroy Jenkins! "You knew this PUG was a bad idea." (Encounter; Recharge 5,6; Range 20 to all non PCs in range; +20 vs. Will; Effect: All non PCs in range go in to an immediate rage and attack Leroy or the nearest
PC; Secondary Effect: Leroy move 20 or as many squares as needed to leave battlefield
immediately)2 Chuck Norris!This scalable boss encounter will show up and kick the living crap out of anyone who even thinks about a diplomacy check. End of story. Chuck Norris has some special abilities, such as:
Fist Through Head "Everyone is a minion to Chuck Norris." (At-Will; Standard; Melee; One or two targets; +30 vs. Reflexes; Chuck may shift one after the first strike and then make a second attack; Hit: foe's head has chuck Norris's arm through it. Secondary Effect: Chuck may fling foe's body as a second attack against a target up to 5 squares away)
Boots of Death "You think you have snuck up on Chuck; but you are really dead, you just don't know it yet." (Encounter; Recharge 4-6; Melee; Trigger: Any foes with combat advantage against Chuck who move in range or attempt an attack; Effect: Chuck rams foot through chest of said foe)
These ought to help get your players back on track!
BTW: if you have whiny RPers who want a reason for why only one in six orcs have livers, let them know that most orcs know about how important their livers are, and so teleport their livers to a safer dimension as part of their death instinct. You have to get lucky and slay one fast enough that this instinctive "liver protection instinct" doesn't kick in.
Tags: D&D 4E Humor WoW Warcraft
