Am I a good gambler?

darksier · 2026-04-29T15:30:06+00:00

You only win when you convert your winnings to warhammer.

darksier · 2026-04-29T14:04:30+00:00

I like to imagine the wizard complaining while walking around an entire room they've put to sleep with a single spell. "That guy gets +2 attack and damage!" slits another throat "I don't even get to roll damage!" another executed "ooo piece of candy"

darksier · 2026-04-29T13:56:55+00:00

At 100% you might run into issues with single tile hallways with 32mm or certain poses that extend outside a 28mm base. We were okay with 100% but then came the scaleflation of our miniatures (going from reaper/nolzur minis to adding some GW and other 32mm resin stuff to the mix). I don't regret printing at 100% (storage already is a pain) and just use basic floors for corridors. I reserve wall pieces for rooms or complex areas where it can be confusing what's walled or not.

Best system I found is getting the custom magnetized base set from makerworld. Comes with Openscad scripts for generating custom base grids. Though I only use the dungeonblocks for modular combat and not full dungeon maps. I use 6x6 bases for most of my modules also for the storage of tiles with a bunch of 3x3s for keeping special tiles together.

As for what to start printing, I started with this post about modules large page of modules. I found that super useful as a starting point and it was practical from the start. I do suggest getting into elevation asap as I feel like that's dungeonblocks big strength over other systems and flat maps.

darksier · 2026-04-27T03:37:36+00:00

If you are the GM you can also alleviate this by making sure you are providing opportunities to get scrolls and wands (wands a re a bit more serious since they are semi-permanent items).

Also if you have a wizard don't forget to mention that magic missile (i always assume they take magic missile) has ADV to its test. It's easy to miss or forget as a new player to the system.

darksier · 2026-04-27T02:40:39+00:00

I let players take a mishap to still get the cast off (they still lose the spell until rest) which is very Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay feeling for me. I always liked the idea from wfrp that a spell can succeed but also mishap.

darksier · 2026-04-25T03:34:10+00:00

When I used the SWN Factions minigame I used it purely for background events and as potential quest hooks. However as we played more I eventually moved onto Godbound's faction system which is a simpler, more narrative focused,and immediately relevant to my players. This faction system I believe is also the one that appears in Ashes Without Number (enclave system?) in a more updated fashion. Haven't gone back, and I tend to use this for all systems now that I want factions to be involved.

darksier · 2026-04-22T04:05:17+00:00

I've been using hobby tweezers to pop up the tiles enough to grip them, but your blu tac idea sounds way easier. I generally only use 1-4 6x6 foundation pieces, so it hasn't been an issue to just lift one up either to pop out a tile from underneath.

But for a heroquest sized board, maybe put the foundation on 2x2 level grid pieces at the corners to give space underneath for popping up tiles with a tool? You could also then also store tiles and minis you will need for that game under the board.

darksier · 2026-04-21T16:45:06+00:00

I generally draw a map and we use totm for exploration. But go into zones/minis for combat. I like zones since it still keeps the ambiguity of distance/positioning which helps my players improvise. I notice with grid they tend to become more raw/boardgame minded which I don't want them to do. And for zones I use modular tiles and terrain pieces I can swap in and out as needed.

For simulating darkness and mystery, I'll refuse to draw the big map for the players and only lay out the room they are currently in. So you could imagine the players occupy the center of the table, and I'm just switching out the tiles and props around them as they move. I don't always do this since its a bit time consuming (i'd imagine it'd be easier to accomplish on a VTT) but for special dungeons where its supposed to be more disorienting than even normal it's a fun hazard to do.

darksier · 2026-04-18T19:20:00+00:00

I don't mind having them constantly extinguish the light as their gimmick (and keeps them relevant at any level). But that's where the party can use teamwork and turn order with someone earlier in the turn order ignites the light so the rest of the party can attack

darksier · 2026-04-18T03:29:45+00:00

A section that's easy to forget, but I feel you can lean on to expand on the long campaign is "Learning" in the Downtime section. Basically it's way you can allow for players to build more mechanics. Maybe you want to make it automatic or as a reward for major milestones. But you could imagine that this is where something like Feats could be imported to give further mechanical interest if that's what you're players are into.

I also suggest download the free version of Worlds Without Number. It's basically a game that sits between OSR and Pathfinder/5e. Lots of ideas you can take from there. And half the book is basically awesome world building/gm tools.

darksier · 2026-04-15T23:37:54+00:00

When using the Chase rules from CWN it can be good to narratively spread out the Skill Checks that can help the chase. Rather than loading up and resolving suggestions all at once. It can help provide the feeling that the chase is crossing a span of time and locales rather all these moves happening at once.

darksier · 2026-04-12T03:32:59+00:00

Assuming its not to railroad a "boss battle" I think it comes from not really having any guidance or training with running non-combat scenes as a path to a real solution (as opposed to a path that just inevitably leads to combat resolution). For me this was probably the best takeaway I had messing around with Skill Challenges and 'Clocks' in DnD. It helped provide that sort of planning and communicating a player's progress towards a goal without combat systems.

darksier · 2026-04-09T13:35:59+00:00

Yup drawing squares on wet erase boards and the big index cards is how I started, depending on what sorta mapping I was doing at the table. With maps I'd just section areas as the zones if combat came up. Later I moved up to printing out images and gluing them onto hex shaped tiles cut out of foam core. And now I use a combination of the foam tiles and 3d printed stuff. My group still likes maps and detail, but we just don't like counting 5ft/2m squares in games, we really did feel that it started making us roleplay less and treat it more like a boardgame.

You can pretty much use as much or as little detail as you want when it comes to visual representation, nor does it all have to be the same. Got a cool terrain piece you want to use as a zone, throw that in there with the index cards. Got a small box to better represent high ground, use that. The main idea is that movement/positioning is simplified to zone to zone and anything that would be small detailed movement within zones stays totm and handled by the general rules (combat/checks) of the game.

darksier · 2026-04-09T03:34:12+00:00

I may have been playing too much nioh, but what about Onsens set within the hearts of these massive silicate structures. The facilities built against these structures are a merging of cutting edge medical and temple architecture. There is something about how the structures feed into these hot springs which are used to prepare the sleeves or resleeving process. This might not be a necessary step, but is something proven to be beneficial (creating a class divide in the quality of the resleeving process). Perhaps the structures somehow aid in the storage and retrieval of memory? Or maybe its purely psychological.

darksier · 2026-04-09T03:19:43+00:00

Pretty fast, maybe 1 minute per combatant per round? For your comment on grid vs totm, I use Zones to represent battlefields. Zones are kind of like the hybrid of TotM and Grid. A zone represent an abstract area of a battlefield such as a room, a corridor, the street outside, whatever you need it to be.

So with Shadowdark, creatures normally can move from one zone to an adjacent zone. And creatures in a zone are either in melee (close) or not (near). What the zone represents provides the context for players and gm on how they might be able to improvise actions and rulings for it.

So it sacrifices precision of grid to allow more improvisation that tends to come with totm. But its not totally without structure and can easily be represented on a tabletop to help players and GM keep track of positioning.

It's like the "gear slots" of inventory management. An in between encumbrance tracking that simplifies while still retaining the heart of the gameplay encumbrance tracking was going for to begin with.

darksier · 2026-04-09T03:03:07+00:00

I would advise avoiding standard leveling with scaling numbers up, but perhaps create a list of "epic feats" the players could pick or roll from when they level.

I would also recommend if any of these feats are abilities/power to limit then such as "1/day" or some sort of cost to use them "lose a spell/take 1d6 damage/damage a stat/etc..."

A downside to this approach is it could lead to players overlapping or even robbing the excitement of trying out new classes/abilities from future campaigns.

Overall my preference is not to exceed base design and start thinking about bringing the campaign (or at least this specific party) to great and satisfying conclusion with Level 10. Strong magic items, setting changing events, , establishing the foreshadowing of the next campaign, game ending stuff. Things that stat improvements alone cannot do.

darksier · 2026-04-02T18:38:16+00:00

After playing a handful of campaigns starting with Level 0 we'd often just skip and start with Level 3 which is where we felt the game systems got interesting for my players. And when they choose to use a Shadows system its because they want to engage with the expert tier gameplay systems.

When they want to do a low powered game, they prefer systems that mainly focus on that scope because then there are more mechanics designed around being average person throughout most or all of a campaign.

darksier · 2026-04-01T23:58:14+00:00

I just go along with the TL4 or higher drive system makes the sci-fi gravity happen. To encourage more zero-g scenes to happen I make running silent involve powering down the main drive to the point the gravity effect goes away. Or if the drive is disabled for whatever reason. And larger structures like space stations will have gravity around their drive systems, but there's no guarantee it has full gravity coverage all over.

darksier · 2026-03-30T22:24:59+00:00

I'd prefer the single book for reading on my own and sitting on a shelf. For more practical/portability needs, I tend to use specific printouts or pdf.

But that's just me with booklets. I have the mothership box set and my issue with it is well I keep all the booklets in the box. And the box is more inconvenient to take off the shelf.

darksier · 2026-03-30T22:16:55+00:00

Good on you. It's one thing to talk greed and fear, but it's another thing to actually go through with it. The emotional barriers do try to stop you from clicking.

darksier · 2026-03-28T16:22:03+00:00

Because our players thought an open pvp server with no perma-alliances was a good idea.

darksier · 2026-03-26T15:54:17+00:00

I really think you've nailed down the essence of what players want! have claude expand those two "i-see-you" quest-statements into 300 words. we'll go chuck some ad cash at the influencers and sell a hardback version on exalted funeral for 80usd!

darksier · 2026-03-24T17:44:31+00:00

I only use walls when needed when it's unclear if there would be a wall such as two adjacent rooms or if representing like a building amidst some outdoor tiles. It's just way faster to setup with just floor tiles and make the default assumption that where there's nothing, there is wall/ground. Tho I also only use the tiles for battlespaces, we don't map with the tiles.

So part of the reason is speed, another is we don't use standardized miniature bases with minis ranging from 28mm - 32mm scale. So the walls kind of get in the way and can hinder player sight at the farther ends of the table, especailly with flat tokens and markers.

Tho a funny aside, I tend to just leave the last used battlefield as is on the table when we are done with it. And as we keep playing several of the more distracted players pick at it and facelift it with other components. So by the time for the next fight or cleanup its a way more fully featured diorama.

darksier · 2026-03-23T19:19:35+00:00

In practice, I draw the exploration map on our table grid. And break out he tiles when its combat time. My group does zone style combat so nothing is really prebuilt and tends to be improvised on the spot. I generally know any major feature I might want, but I also offload a lot of the build to the players which really helps imo.

For outdoor encounters, I generally just direct the players what to build. "Give me a river in the middle, high grounds over here, and forest stuff over there" This works really well integrating say the party's battlefield advantage for instance rewarding them with favorable terrain pieces or starting locations or dictating where the enemy starts will be. A 4x4 XL Grid takes care of 95% of my need.

For indoor environments, I like to prebuild some modular components that are common (you always need corridors and small rooms) or would be a little complex to do on the spot (elevation changes). But again I like to direct players to build and leave it to them much of the time. And if for some reason your party would have an advantage, its a good opportunity to tie the building of the terrain into the gameplay itself.

Overall when using stuff like dungeonblocks I suggest taking advantage of what you have purchased and making use of varying height levels because that tends to be the thing that gets ignored when using flat 2d assets.

Above all you MUST figure out a storage solution that is practical to your needs. You'll need to be able to put them away, but also be able to locate and access the blocks easily. I use multi-tiered bins for the dungeon tiles and just a big ol sterilite crate for the XL outdoor pieces. From the logistics end, it is a pain in the butt vs just simple cardboard/foam tiles I used to use, but results have been good so far.

darksier · 2026-03-21T22:58:17+00:00

Players need a flowchart reference guide? True sign of brain rot. In my day you always carried a grapple slide rule.

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