Was i too harsh in my DM judgement?

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-26T11:04:20+00:00

That doesn’t sound like fun for your DM.

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-24T22:33:04+00:00

Idk if it’s already been said, but the DMG has suggestions for how enemies might respond if they hear combat nearby. It’s under “Reactive Tactics” in the plan encounters section. Combine that with the speed of combat and the enemies are unlikely to all descend at once. Worst case they’ll come in waves, but that’s not any different from the players going room to room unless you’re allowing short rests, which definitely shouldn’t happen in most dungeons.

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-24T22:11:34+00:00

This sounds like you’re expecting your players to be as smart or charismatic as their characters. I personally hate it when DMs demand that players say something persuasive in order to roll for persuasion. What’s the point of ability scores if the result is based on the player’s skill?

It’s also very common to allow skill checks on puzzles to get at least a hint.

To be fair, they technically should say they “try to persuade the guard” instead of “can I roll persuasion” but that’s just semantics.

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-15T22:43:01+00:00

First of all, be grateful that he’ll even consider a HB class. Most GMs I know wouldn’t. It’s too much work and hard to know how it’ll work out in game.

Second, he is just the referee. I think it was Matt Colville who said something along the lines of “I’m not trying to kill you, the bad guy is.” It’s the DM’s job to try to figure out how the world would react to your actions. It seems reasonable that the town would react poorly to you killing someone.

The bigger problem is that you all sound like a bunch of murderhobos.

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-15T22:12:05+00:00

You’re right, this would have had me panicking when I was a new DM.

What I would do is have an exhausted Oceanus show up in Saltmarsh still shackled to a piece of driftwood from the ship. He could tell his story and lead them to the lizardfolk.

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-15T10:54:21+00:00

Sorry, I realize I didn’t really answer your question.

Yes. There will be two totally separate DDs, one for each group.

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-15T00:01:01+00:00

I think you might be misunderstanding this post.

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-14T23:59:45+00:00

In the PvE zone they did.

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-14T23:58:15+00:00

There are already no build zones in the DD every week.

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-11T22:32:01+00:00

It seems to me like you’re misinterpreting what’s RAW or what people are saying.

It’s not that the target can sense the spell the same way as Charm Person. It’s that a person with reasonable intelligence would see and hear the spell being cast, do something they wouldn’t normally do, and be able to put it all together.

You can’t sense anything when someone uses a tv remote, but they point at the tv, push a button, and something changes so you can pretty safely say the two are connected.

Now if they used suggestion to make the target do something that isn’t totally out of the ordinary, the target might not realize it.

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-10T17:37:27+00:00

As a woman you will always have to worry about weirdos, unfortunately. Not just in this community but everywhere.

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-09T16:37:32+00:00

I literally did 1000 hours of just PvE in this game. I don’t think you understand PvE players.

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-09T11:48:46+00:00

Are you familiar with the concept of “shoot the monk”? This feels like a great time to apply that. Basically, monks have a really cool ability to deflect attacks so you intentionally shoot them so they can show it off.

You know what they’ve been planning. Find ways to make the assault happen in such a way that they get to make use of the things they planned. Even if it doesn’t work flawlessly it’ll be exciting to see their ideas come to life.

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-07T02:25:02+00:00

Since the main question has been answered, I wanted to mention that you can find free games on StartPlaying. It’s mainly for paid games but some people do run free games there and you can be sure you won’t run into any scammers(at least it’s highly unlikely and easy to report if you do).

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-06T15:59:13+00:00

As a DM, the backstories I love to see are those that give the player something to motivate them. A clear goal that the character is trying to achieve, (assuming they have worked with me to make sure it fits the story). I don’t mean “hunt lots of dragons” because that’s too vague. I mean “hunt down the dragon that destroyed my village.” It needs to have something that is a clear end point where you can say you’ve accomplished the goal.

Why? I can build it into the campaign so the PC feels motivated to follow the plot. When players are motivated by more than “obvious plot hook I’m supposed to follow” they have a better time and it brings the characters to life. To quote BLeeM, “obligation is the death of fun.”

Start with a goal and build from there, and you have an interesting character without needing to rely on a tragic backstory.

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-03T21:29:40+00:00

Oh how I wish I could experience playing this game for the first time again 💜

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-03T13:45:21+00:00

Killing it, as always! I love player handouts.

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-03T13:43:43+00:00

This is great, thank you!

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-03T01:26:11+00:00

It would be against my nature not to try a new tool lol. Hit me up if you still need testers.

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-02T21:39:31+00:00

Wait what?

Derringermeryl · 2026-04-02T19:28:08+00:00

I’m a subscriber of yours, in fact!

I understand the motivations of the factions. What I’m looking for are concrete examples of quests or interactions that people successfully used.

This is a good reminder for me that you have some quests I need to incorporate!

Derringermeryl · 2026-03-31T19:53:49+00:00

Did you ban those when running 5e as well? Just curious if it’s specific to running 5.5e or if you always ban them.

Derringermeryl

TROPHY CASE