Home
Creators
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register Favorites Keys Review DMs Logout
Community
Telegram ThePornDude
Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

(Need your input!): The Narrative This Week - October 19th (Patreon)

Published:
2026-10-19 15:36:04
Imported:
2026-10
Tags:

Downloads

Content

I would have a summary today but I gotta get a meeting done and quickly head to the doctors! Sorry about that.But I would love to hear folk's opinions on the proposed changes said in this update. Note, nothing is guaranteed, they are just discussions for now as we prepare for 2027. But I'd like to hear your opinions so your voice is considered when we have these discussions.

Files

Comments

Lazarus

I liked things like the Rotgrind Warhams special. Maybe if you had those as exclusive Patreon content? I mean that was what got me into the Patreon.

The Great Pumpkin

For Complications and Triumphs, perhaps a less immediate effect might work. Like lasting injuries or blessings? Say the enemy critted and you've busted rib or something. Not as immediate, but could have permanent consequences. The Rot was a decent implementation of that and allowed you not to derail the ongoing combat too much.

Narrative Declaration

The intention of the system was to carry it over from Wrath & Glory and to have a system like it apply to future games. Not just Rotgrind. But we're finding more and more that we're not huge fans on using it for other systems due to it causing friction. So the proposal is to do away with it entirely for future shows.

The Great Pumpkin

That's totally fair. What I had in mind was fairly minor and character based. If every Crit grants a character +1 AC or -1 to hit, that's utterly imbalanced.

Chris Forward

I think time locking the videos for like 6 months or so might be a good idea. And pateron getting raw is good too.

Sándor Péter

I would keep the complication system in some form still, but I would agree that you guys have to have more control over it. One big rule should be that these should never be overly punishing or derailing, thus the players should be able to mitigate them at all times so they get a mixed result instead of a purely negative one. Maybe you should just rename them to be twists or someting, some extra narrative result as a consequence for extreme end rolls. Another thing you could do is to just write your own random tables or random event results based on the ones the patrons submitted over time just to have some interaction still and use the backlog of submitted complications I'm sure you have accumulated over time. Of course I understand if you get rid of them as well, but I would still propose to have some sort of viewer interaction remaining because it's a staple of your shows and it would maybe have the risk of losing some of the audience if there was none of it. Especially with the streams going away, a good chunk of viewer of interaction will be lost, but people would still expect to have it in some form.

toadbear

So on the matter of the Complications. Rather than getting rid of it entirely, consider one or more of the following. - On d20 based systems combine it and the Keely rule, and opt to give the player a +10 instead of the reroll, in exchange for taking a complication. It gives the players a decent amount of control on when to use it, so its less disruptive, and frame it as pushing their limits. Either flip a failure to a success, or in the case of PF2, pushing for a crit. Standard reroll resources (like hero points) remain unchanged. The benefits of this is more easily able to keep the session moving forward, and keeping the short term and/or narrative spice of complication. - Categorize complications with a hand full of tags, as determined by Zoran/Editors when vetting them for the spreadsheet. Major for something that implies direct mechanical impact, Flex for something thats loose enough to riff on in or out of combat, Jape for things that are silly or absurd (including things not suitable for controlled environments, but would be funny in low stakes situations), Prop for ones that explicitly involve objects. This is to help players more quickly sus out ones that work with their characters, and let them carry a larger pre-picked list. - Manually invoke a complication. This is more to help go through the list faster, and exploit opportunities where a complication matches a situation and would enhance the story telling, but not have to wait for the dice to dictate triggering it. This one demands a bit of player coaching, and what impact it would have on a situation. It runs in tandem with NarDecs to serve a similar purpose, but lets you makes more use of the list.

toadbear

For show release and schedule, I would still push for "Premieres" at least once a week for something, in addition to the usual VOD release. Even if its a pre-recorded show, stream it on Twtich and Youtube at a scheduled time so it benefits from youtube notification and live chatting for both Twitch and Youtube. You can also leverage it in a pitch for sponsored one-shots, as an event on the channel to draw attention, in addition to what the algorithm does for the usual VOD content. Chat replay may also be tempting for sponsors once it goes to VOD, because it can give a real time look at audience reactions.

clamicus

I'll throw my hat in the ring. 1) expanding the releases and getting the raw stuff to pateron as a bonus is cool. I LOVE the pre game banter cause I enjoy seeing friends and cast members be goobers and actual people. 2) complications are weird, while I'm not against removal I don't always believe it's fair. Ive seen a lot of times where it ate up time just trying to make it work. At best it's an inconvenience at worst it either does nothing or derails things a little.

James Conway

Regarding complications, you could avoid the "double whammy" (complication without a hero-point re-roll) by requiring a complication ONLY when a hero point is used. Similarly, you could say that triumphs ONLY apply for non-attack rolls, since the player already gets a good outcome (critical hit) from a nat-20 when attacking during combat. But, these are rules on top of rules. Where does it end, right? So I personally don't mind if these game mechanics are discontinued (for the record, I have not contributed any complications or triumphs). But then you lose the element of patron participation. It's a tough call.

Crab_with_a_beard

I admit, i'd be a little sad for the complications to go, but I think mostly because I just wanted mine to get used > > But if they are making it less fun, do whatever you need to keep the games rolling.

Zenet

I don't have anything to add to your video release structure, it sounds sturdy as is. As for the PDFs, I'm here exclusively for the shows and don't personally care about them. While I can't see your stats, I feel like a vast majority of the patrons feel the same way. The PDFs make for a great passion project for you but otherwise have minimal impact on your business itself, especially when most people only have enough money to contribute to the basic tiers in the first place. That being said, they should probably be placed on the lowest priority for the sake of time and workload management. Speaking on the complications; I personally love the complication system and the chaos that it brings. Most of the time it adds to the episodes with the rare moments that really don't fit in. I understand the player's perspective of it not being fun half the time too, but that was a business decision you all made for patron involvement. If you wish to change it then my option is the same as ending the streams: Keep that system going for all shows currently using it and remove it from new shows/seasons going forward. Personally, I'd hate to see it go after the years of hilarity its brought.

Squishlove

1) Glad to hear complications go. I love the highs and lows too, but sucks the momentum out of things quite often. Less so in the more slap-stick games like with Roos and them or the old warhams. *edit* (did you know enter, like, enters data?) 2) I'm not sure what more I would want to get from a membership. I had to trim back what patreons I support & you all are the only video-people I support right now. The things I think of are all stuff I get already from established patreons. 3) I do, in fact, like the 'banter' and 'how the sausage is made' parts of this. I like TTRPGs for more than just the playing of them. The interpersonal, structural, mechanical, and even the economic parts of it are interesting to hear about from people even more entrenched in this stuff than me. Also listening to people gossip is nice.

Sauce Man

1 For me personally, I was never a fan of the complication system because complicating often ruined the tone/mood for haha funny in a way that felt forced. 2 I'm not here for the pdf,s so I can't comment on that. 3 Early access for episodes is the reason I joined Patreon, so releasing them later for free but having the option to go to Patreon for early release is a good idea, I think. 4 I really enjoy hearing pre-show talk from the players in the unedited videos.

Zombie Shark

Toad bear took the words out of my mouth here. I’d love to see the complication system (and even the triumphs!) continue to exist. They’re one of the staple elements of Rotgrind, Rotgoons, Whisperwood, and similar shows too. Finding a way to tag them would definitely help seperate the funny and serious ones, and allowing them to be invoked by the GM for specific scenarios can also help make sure everyone’s triumphs or complications feel seen too.

Zombie Shark

Id love to see complications and triumphs staying for future shows that use systems where it works best. I do think that the system could be adjusted, however, as I think the primary friction it causes is the tonal dissonance; people want funny things to happen in serious scenes. There was another comment that proposed using the old tagging system, which could be helpful! Maybe linking it to crit fails in shows that use Pathfinder could also be reworked, since crit failing feels bad already. Perhaps it would work as a seperate DC 1 flat check that causes the complication? There’s a bunch of modules that run stuff for flat checks automatically that could help with it.

Zombie Shark

Complications and triumphs are also one of the primary mediums that Patreon contribute on-show, which is something that helps Narrative Declaration stand out a lot. So if it has to go, I think it would be ideal to try use something similar to allow for Patron-submitted collaboration (in a sustainable way!)

Narrative Declaration

The main issue is the workload to do that. As I would basically be the one doing it, and I'm already working 60-80 hour weeks. So we'd need to find a process that would 1. Be agreeable to the players and 2. Doesn't add a whole new job onto us. The current system is that the player's pre-select 3 complications before the show. So they decide which ones to implement when it does happen. Same for triumphs.

Melody099

I will be so happy if we see more raw VODs, I'm in an awful timezone so everything you put live is impossible for me to watch if I have work in the morning/early afternoon (but even if they are raw recordings of non-live things it's good, it's more fun things to see!)

Orange Shirt

For me the Complication system is a signature feature; when I am describing NarDec to others IRL it is one of the things I highlight as being both extremely entertaining and a way fans get to have real impact upon the content produced. I feel like removing Complications would be a great loss. More than that, I believe the process of figuring out and implementing solutions would be a significant boon in the long run; it would make you & the team more proficient at managing and problem-solving NarDec (which is definitely a big factor improving quality over time). On to suggestion! From my perspective I see frustration almost entirely coming from multiple complications in the same encounter, especially when suffered by the same PC. I would propose restraining the number of complications which can happen. The straightforward option would be a hard limit of X-per-scene or X-per-player-per-scene, but it could also be something more dynamic. Perhaps a player cannot suffer more complications than their number of triumphs that session plus one, or a hero point rerolls could dodge complications, or even have complications be something a player chooses to suffer in exchange for additional hero point(s). There are countless ways to interpret the concept, free to be discussed/decided upon by yourselves and/or get fan input : )

KismetHardy1135

I am happy with the free release idea (VODs for patreons, edited version later for free on YT). I dont know your stats of course but i would say that a good delay on the free version becoming available is important because you do want there to be a strong incentive to sign up for Patreon or YT membership! Unless you make more from ads than from YT membership? I will happily pay $$$ for the banter alone because it's fun but also interesting (as a fan and as someone who really wants to run a PF2 campaign but doesn't have any friends who are interested in playing PF2 with me ;_;) I agree with the other comments here that complications and triumphs make ND stand out so I think it is important to think about a way to allow some of that collaboration to happen still. I'm not sure I have any suggestions other than only using complications very occasionally/under very specific situations but i understand that may still not be very fun for you. I also think that anything that replaces it still has the risk of ruining momentum unless it's clearly designed system and I'm not sure it warrants that much deep thought. Perhaps have like a 1 complication per episode limit and then some rules about the specific types of situation in which they happen? If it turns out that coming up with an alternative system is way more effort and time than it's worth I am fine with getting rid of them because I want you guys to have fun. Everything else sounds very sensible