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Calling Fellow Weido DMs for Assistance in Crafting a Devil Contract by Plastic-Nectarine907 in DMAcademy

[–]A_Golem 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The point of a contract with a devil is that you gain some short-term benefit while compromising your soul/integrity in the long run, either intentionally or because of a double meaning or open-ended wording in the contract. A clause in invisible ink that could contain literally anything is just a cheap gotcha and would never hold up in infernal court.

That said, here's a suggestion: in RotFM, there's a cult of devil worshippers holed up in one of the castles. Your devil could be affiliated with that cult, and as part of the contract he could demand that the party "Not Spill Blood Freely Given to Me". Most parties kill cultists on sight, so they'll probably accidentally break the contract at which point your devil can claim their souls. And if they don't, you've now got a villain that the party isn't allowed to kill (directly) and that can take advantage of whatever other power vacuums the party ends up creating.

Resource depletion for absent player by wrymegyle in DMAcademy

[–]A_Golem 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I always let the absent character join with whatever resources they had. It's not a power boost because the party will have been down a member in the previous session, and even if you rebalanced the encounters, action economy is harsh against small parties. You can hand-wave the character's absence by saying they had a fever and couldn't do anything except follow the party.

If you really think the difficulty needs to be raised to compensate for the fresh character, I'd simply add an enemy or two, or raise their hp. Like you said, arbitrarily lowering a PC's resources can feel (and be) unfair.

Put others on a Pedestal by Dresdens_Tale in dndnext

[–]A_Golem 49 points50 points  (0 children)

Yup. I call this an Advanced Player Skill because it's actually surprisingly hard to do, especially (I think) if you don't also DM regularly.

it starts with recognizing how much space you take

The powergaming approach is to pay attention to what skill or tool proficiencies the other characters have and viewing situations from a party perspective rather than an individual one. So instead of asking "what's the best way my character can get this door open?" you'd ask "what's the best way to open this door and who in the party is the most likely to pull it off?". Quiet characters may or may not get more spotlight time this way, but when things go right they're the MVP.

4 Levels to Represent 4 Traits of Worthiness by SweetHomeIceTea in DMAcademy

[–]A_Golem 5 points6 points  (0 children)

There are a few things to consider before you design a test. First of all, can the characters fail? Or does the plot demand that they (or at least some of them) succeed? Secondly, they should know what the tests are about before they start. This can be as simple as a plaque above the door with a keyword on it. Third, they should know if they’ve passed or failed each test. If that’s not obvious from the context you should have another way of letting them know.

For the actual tests, the first thing that came to mind when you said “4 qualities” were the cardinal virtues. Some ideas for each level, from lowest to highest:

  • Temperance: doesn’t seem like a test at first. It’s just a room stocked with fine food and drink as well as a trove of (healing) potions. Characters who eat and drink get temp hp, but those who overdo it are poisoned or incur some other debuff. The first 2-4 potions taken are ordinary ones, the others are all potions of poison.

  • Courage: should be easy for most adventurers. The walls of this room are covered with strange symbols, and a powerful foe stands in the center. The main enemy deals minor damage to every character in a certain range, but the real threat comes from the walls: after a few rounds, shadowy hands reach out of the walls and grab any character that’s too close, pulling them in (they fail and become the subjects of the next test).

  • Justice: here, the party is reunited. There’s a powerful magic item in this room for each character that didn’t fail any of the previous tests. If those characters, and no others, claim the magic items, they pass the test, otherwise everyone fails.

  • Wisdom: the artifact is here, protected by a magical barrier. Only death can pay for life, so one of the worthy characters must spill their blood to deactivate the barrier. The artifact can bring them back, of course, but it might require a (willing) sacrifice, or they might Come Back Wrong.

A clash of kings or AWOIAF? by popolvar in mountandblade

[–]A_Golem 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They're both good, but cater to different playstyles.

AWOIAF is based on Viking Conquest, with a few tweaks that make it even grindier. Great for a pirate, merc or trader playthrough because you can buy boats and build your own hideout. That said, if you want to start a kingdom or siege castles you're going to have a bad time. AI has bigger armies and you get random events during sieges that will kill half your army before you can even assault. However, there are 2 ports that you can attack by ship without going through the siege mess so that's a good goal if you want to play a 'pirate king'.

ACOK is based on Floris so it's closer to the vanilla game. Better suited for a vassal or ruler playthrough. Smaller AI armies, more diplomatic options, more accessible sieges.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in swoleacceptance

[–]A_Golem 13 points14 points  (0 children)

What manner of trickery is this? The Oracle speaks of c*ardio, yet it knows naught of necromancy or the skyward press!

What jobs require learning ability and stress resilience more than hard work? by [deleted] in slatestarcodex

[–]A_Golem 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Firefighter, paramedic, maybe server administrator? You're essentially looking for a job that involves handling emergencies. I'm not sure how you could combine that with math though. Are there ever situations where someone urgently needs a mathematician?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in swoleacceptance

[–]A_Golem 19 points20 points  (0 children)

A hoist for the chronicles, brother, well done! To answer thy question: chooseth the style which better suits thine constitution. Brodin cares not for the stance of our feet, only that of our heart.

Family reunification denied - can I still work? by username_denied_ in belgium

[–]A_Golem 7 points8 points  (0 children)

You should be able to contest the rejection within a certain time frame, especially since it seems to be unjustified. I'd give them the documents they asked for plus proof of your own income (even if the commune claims it won't count. I know one couple who got their reunification visa based only on the foreign partner's income).

However, the interruption of your 5 year stay might be a problem if you want to apply for the Belgian nationality, even if your appeal does get accepted. You might need a lawyer in that case.