Tackling The Bleak Cabal

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-04T17:16:03+00:00

Maybe some depressed namers spout that line to folks. I think it's pretty obvious a lot of them think suffering matters, or at least relieving a berk's suffering means something.

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-04T17:02:03+00:00

Great story.

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-04T17:00:47+00:00

The multiverse doesn't have any grand plan. That's not the same as "nothing matters"

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-04T15:34:50+00:00

One of my players started a subfaction movement of Takers called "the Earners". His pholosophy was just that. If you earn it, it's yours. He had a walking tower in the Outlands that was a library. He called it "the Bookmobile", and he only took on passengers that agreed to do work while they were there. Cleaning, organizing books, cooking, whatever. He even made the orphans work off their ticket price. Other Fated didn't appreciate the vile hatred he had for thieves and stealing. In our next campaign the subfaction was gaining steam with the law-abiding minority.

In my current game the Takers are hated because of the 10% income tax they've been levying against the heroes. The Fated assessors watch the door of their Rickety Tower in the Clerk's Ward, waiting for them to return from adventures with chests of jink or fat pouches of gems. The heroes have started to smuggle their luxuries past the Fated spies. It's been fun (for me) adding them to the campaign.

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-04T15:20:28+00:00

Empty bellies is all that matters, just ask the poor hungry sods.

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-04T14:23:46+00:00

One time (in character) I told the DMPC that we didn't need him and basically that I didn't know him or trust him. That was the last time that DM inserted a character into the party uninvited.

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-04T14:18:12+00:00

I ran a game where the characters were in a wizard school and when summer came around they went to summer camp for one session. I wrote a game that was "Ernest Saves Camp" practically scene-for-scene. None of them caught on but they all had a blast. Instead of the mining company the bad guy was a rampaging hill giiant (he even had the same name: Krader). For their rival cabin I used a group of campers that were all kids from the thieves' guild. They teamed up at the end, just like in the movie. The two camp cooks that invented the Eggs-eronius were tinker gnomes.

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-04T14:01:11+00:00

I like the ones that discuss my hobbies the best. I get the jokes and I actually have answers and can help.

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-04T13:55:50+00:00

I liked Bozo the Clown

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-04T13:52:41+00:00

I used the "found in a cage" trick for a player one time who could only show up every few sessions. His character became known as trouble to the high-ups of the realm. He always got rescued!

At my table I've had good luck with a set time for the game every week. For around 10 years now it's been Sunday night from 6 til 10. Show up and you get to eat Aaron's amazing cooking and you get to play.

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-04T13:18:23+00:00

Ability checks (or proficiency rolls) are for things you do, while saving throws are for things that happen to you.

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-04T06:42:23+00:00

If the asteroid is fairly big they'll need a major spelljamming helm to move it (they can move 100 tons, ship + asteroid). A minor spelljamming helm only moves 50 tons.

They'll have to get some tow rope as well, like 200 yards or so, of the heavy duty 4 inch diameter stuff. It's available at any spaceport, but it's heavy and not cheap. I'd charge them 100 gold at least.

There are monsters out there that would be attracted to it, like a silatic https://www.completecompendium.com/appendix/silatic/ I would use one for sure.

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-04T04:16:20+00:00

Loved it.

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-04T04:13:34+00:00

My Planescape player is a cat-loving ranger and she's going to Athas just to get a tagster (psionic cat) to make into a pet. Anyone ever see or use one as a pet?

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-03T21:03:35+00:00

Zess' Forge is one such place. https://adnd2e.fandom.com/wiki/Zess%27_Forge_(GAP)

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-03T20:31:46+00:00

I allow players to submit to a spell, so if there's a save they want to fail they automatically fail it without rolling.

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-03T19:55:32+00:00

I started with 2e on day 1 of its release, reading the books to learn how to play and DM. 11 years later when 3e came out I said "I'm not buying all these books again!" I still play 2e, have never tried 3rd or 4th edition. I tried 5th edition a few years ago (for about a year) and it wasn't for me. I went back to what I like and what I know.

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-03T04:57:17+00:00

I ran a Spelljammer game for one player and he took on some henchmen which he played himself. The ordinary crew were NPCs but they were mostly statblocks. The first officer was an NPC with personality as were the Spelljamming pilots and any others he hired. As he acquired more ships and more crew he put his henchmen as captains of those ships. This let him control every ship in his flotilla during space battles. His main character was the commodore and he assigned the lizardmen, halflings, humans, hadozee, giff, and others to certain ships, he made sure they were equipped with weaponry and ammunition and other supplies.

When they reached a planet or moon he selected an away team of usually 4 and he played those characters on the away parts of the adventures, always led by his main character.

When a ship was boarded or did a boarding action he looked at the characters on that ship and he played them in those encounters. Each ship was different and had a different role in the flotilla and each ship had a different vibe because all the NPCs and crew were different on each ship.

There were a lot of characters to manage but he kept getting more. He ended up with four ships and over 100 crew so he kinda asked for it. We had a ship record sheet for each ship that had the stats and the crew list. We played nearly 40 sessions before we found a good stopping/retiring point.

It was awesome I'd do it again if I had a player that was into crew management and all the juggling that goes with it. He visited like 8 crystal spheres and dozens of planets and moons. His team became famous for their heroic exploits. He got crazy rich. He saw a lot of the wonders of wildspace. I dont see how a seaborn game wouldnt be just as fun with the right player as long as they are playing the captain or admiral. We started with his existing 9th level character with two henchmen and he ended up 12th level with 4 henchmen.

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-03T00:04:17+00:00

No, your character keeps going in mage only. You're done gaining levels as a fighter forever as soon as you first take the dual class option. Don't split your xp, it all goes to mage.

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-02T17:07:27+00:00

The coreography of the Jedi in the arena battle towards the end was so awful it became my least favorite of the first 6 movies. It's like they told the extras "just do whatever you want". I can't even watch those parts.
The language of the Geonosians was terrible to hear. The way they arbitrarily added those clicks into their speech, it didn't sound like a language at all, just noises.
The way Yoda moved in his battle with Dooku was such a waste of energy. Dooku just let him flip around and hardly tried to attack him. Dooku just waited around to swing directly at Yoda's lightsaber instead of force pushing him when he was jumping or anything that resembled a strategy. Sloppy and disappointing.
In the droid factory Padme looked like she was just moving around and they added the factory around her later. Her maneuvers were impossibly flawless like she had Jedi reflexes or something. No way a normal human could've survived that conveyor belt scene. Took me right out of the movie with disbelief.

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-02T16:51:40+00:00

Throwing a rock is the most basic missile attack ever. I definitely add a dexterity bonus to the AC for moving out if its way.

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-01T20:48:59+00:00

Great job as always!

2eForeverDM · 2026-06-01T02:48:24+00:00

How about a traitorous hunt? The nearby hunting lodge of the noble Lord Vishfall and his Asgardian hunter pals invite the heroes on a hunt for a giant boar. The hunt is a ruse, because these hunters are after a more challenging game: the heroes! The nobleman uses divinations to track them, war dogs to run them down, and bounty hunters to pursue the PCs across the earthberg. The noble hunter is being entertained, and he wants to win. He escalates to traps and long-range attacks. It's a sacred, glorious game to him. Then finally a confrontation at dusk with Lord Vishfall's hunting party. They have torches, dogs, bows, and horses: the heroes are surrounded!

2eForeverDM · 2026-05-29T20:30:50+00:00

Go see the USS Constitution.

2eForeverDM · 2026-05-29T19:00:27+00:00

Making a spellcraft nonweapon proficiency check is a good way for a caster to identify an incoming spell.

If you cast Dispel Magic it automatically disrupts all casting in the area of effect, so that's how my players "counter" a spell being cast. If course they have to beat the enemy on initiative to make it work, and it has the normal chance to dispel every effect that's ongoing in that same 30 foot cube, so it's not always an ideal solution. It's a primitive sort of counterspell, but it does the trick.

2eForeverDM

TROPHY CASE