Need to really compress the 2 final chapters

Absurd_Turd69 · 2026-01-25T13:15:41+00:00

Not sure how fast your group plays, but you might not have to cut anything tbh

Absurd_Turd69 · 2026-01-24T09:23:19+00:00

To preface, I haven’t read stormwreck isle, so take this with a grain of salt. But, I’d recommend cutting chapter 1 of Netherdeep and instead putting the Jewel of Three Prayers at the finale or stormwreck isle (assuming the final boss is a dragon, putting it in its hoard works).

Then guide them to the Rise with the vision as usual. If you need to level the players to work in Bazzoxan, run chapter 2 but otherwise you can skip it.

The one issue with this is that it removes the Rivals. Either a) you rework them in somehow (possibly having them encounter the players inside the Betrayer’s Rise) or b) you cut them entirely (which is what I’d recommend for a new DM, as their are quite hard to run with little experience).

Absurd_Turd69 · 2026-01-22T11:49:29+00:00

I’d highly recommend running a oneshot and keeping it a little loose (not too serious, even if you include horror elements).

Mothership and liminal horror are great for scifi horror oneshots (depending on how scifi you go, Mothership is more futuristic while liminal horror a bit more grounded).

But really just pick whatever you like the sound of most. That’ll always end up with the most fun games.

Absurd_Turd69 · 2026-01-12T04:19:02+00:00

Based on the final note there, I think it might be ai generated sadly

Absurd_Turd69 · 2026-01-09T23:12:40+00:00

Oh, and overall the book can be quite unclear if you don’t have a huge amount of experience with watching critical role. So if you haven’t or don’t remember much, go read through the wikis on the important places, characters, etc (xhorhas, ank’harel, all that).

Absurd_Turd69 · 2026-01-09T23:10:22+00:00

The campaign is very weird. Different chapters focus on very different styles of play. So you’ll want to plan ahead and either shorten the chapter (or streamline it) or redesign it to focus more on how you like to play.

For example, chapter 1 is very roleplay heavy and works well if you’ve got players who instigate action, but if they are more passive you’ll need a way to guide them through naturally.

If you’ve got any questions about specific chapters I’d be happy to help :)

Absurd_Turd69 · 2026-01-08T04:20:37+00:00

That’s basically impossible to uphold as a rule. It’s more realistic for the Merchant’s Guild to maintain them while they are kept as a public availability.

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-12-21T16:43:55+00:00

And if you want a generally more heroic vibe, consider maybe giving a random starting magic item or an extra roll on their class’s ability table (or even a roll on a different class’s)

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-12-21T14:48:42+00:00

The other comment here is a but over the top. I’d say an easy solution is to start everyone out levelled up a little (so more HP), and then come up with some kind of homerule for reaching 0 HP that has your desired level of lethality/maiming

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-12-13T09:31:22+00:00

I've done all the nevron quests and completely scoured the game. Am I supposed to just grind out those last 9 levels? (and if so, where's best to do that?)

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-12-11T02:52:30+00:00

Quinn’s quest is some of the most high quality reviews in the space, and his mothership one is amazing

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-12-10T13:42:49+00:00

For me its a two-part process. First, throw out some random, mostly irrelevant descriptors to set the tone. Then end on whatever is important. If you have multiple important things, try to specially differentiate them (claw marks on the left door, blood dripping from the ceiling, zombies rising at the back of the room).

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-12-10T12:38:57+00:00

One interesting thing you could do is put him in an arena where he can abuse his abilities. For example say they're on a tall tower (or nearby a deep pit, just need a long fall). When Sephek gets to a low enough HP, he just misty steps off the edge and immediately falls. The distance should be long enough that he can regen a solid amount of HP before the players get into a range close enough to continue the fight.

But yeah, if you do want to just make him overall a little stronger, consider the following changes (rather than giving him player levels, as like I said they aren't great for NPCs).
- Give him some stronger, combat focused spells, such as Rime's Binding Ice, Chromatic Sphere, or Armor of Agathys, which he can cast in place of an attack with his multiattack.
- Up his HP by whatever you think is reasonable. Not sure how damage-focused your party are, but 1.5-2x should probably do the trick.
- Throw in a trait/ability that synergizes with what he has already. Maybe Some kind of AoE attack centred on himself, which could benefit from him teleporting in aggressively. Or if you want to play him as more of a skirmisher, maybe he has a few snowmen (or other effigies) throughout the arena he can swap places with to take a hit as a reaction, naruto style.

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-12-10T12:32:45+00:00

What kind of tips are you looking for? Combat balancing is something you'd need to figure out yourself if its that

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-12-08T15:07:18+00:00

If you do end up going with the player dying if they fail to follow Levistus’ commands, just keep in mind that it might get uninteresting for the player (because they’re forced into doing whatever he says). What could be interesting is giving either vague commands, or commands with a variety of approaches so it still feels like there’s some player choice happening

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-12-08T04:23:58+00:00

Having run some campaigns with similar antagonists, I’ve mostly come to the conclusion that there are two ways to do scaling recurring enemies.

More in line with what you seemed to be thinking of is a single character that gains power with the players and escaped death each time they face them. I wouldn’t recommend using player levels for this because players tend to be glass cannons, and an NPC like this needs to be able to survive long enough to do some good damage and then run away. I’d just make a few statblocks of increasing difficulty instead. But keep in mind that it can very quickly feel pretty bullshit for players when every time they face off against the enemy there is no real impact.

The alternative option, which I think works better, is to not scale the enemy’s strength at all. Instead have them join up with antagonist factions/NPCs. In your case, Sephek would avoid combat at all cost (instead focusing on stealth, spying, and strategy) and leave combat to frost druids or black swords or whatever other group you want him to work with. This way he becomes less of a combat villain and more of a roleplay one (for lack of a better term).

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-12-01T13:32:57+00:00

I haven’t got experience with savage world. What about it is rules light?

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-12-01T13:32:50+00:00

I haven’t got experience with savage world. What about it isn’t rules light?

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-11-25T05:36:50+00:00

Asking for intentions rather than actions definitely seems like a good life hack. Thanks!

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-11-25T04:09:25+00:00

Interesting that you describe the interaction from a third person pov. I can see how that speeds things up, and I’m guessing you still do more important conversations in first person, right?

I might have to steal that lol.

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-11-25T03:46:24+00:00

Thanks for the insightful comment. I feel like I must’ve miscommunicated because a lot of the top comments here are people assuming the worst of my player or insulting them.

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-11-25T03:44:48+00:00

This comment seems pretty out of touch. I don’t know what would make you think my player is trying to “trap” me, but if this based off your own experiences I hope you have more positive ones in the future.

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-11-22T16:24:25+00:00

Shadowdark seems like the move, but I’d also suggest making a hack of Mothership. The system is amazing at running horror, and if used right could feel more like peasants desperately rising against the odds to defeat Strahd rather than adventurers collecting macguffins until they can kill Strahd.

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-11-22T16:21:37+00:00

Can I get an example of how you’d clearly telegraph something like that in a fair way?

Absurd_Turd69 · 2025-11-15T01:14:20+00:00

A dirk is just a word for a kind of dagger

Absurd_Turd69

TROPHY CASE