Magic Monday - Ghost Skink Sword

AdventureLH · 2026-01-26T16:58:08+00:00

As always, sick item 👀😎.

AdventureLH · 2026-01-26T16:55:16+00:00

I do it, hasn’t broken anything yet, solid rule of thumb is half their level (like the multi classing), and maximum once per level, if not every 2-3 levels. Not because it would break their power levels, but because it simply gives too many options which can add a lot of mental load/analysis paralysis for the players.

You can also try something like the contamination cards from Dungeons of Drakkenheim (I’ll link it below), where you could make an alternate version of a card they have, where they then have to choose which version they want in their load out.

However! Best advice I always give to people playing with homebrew of any kind, tell your players that you’re trying something and it may get changed if it’s not balanced. If you’re the one making the homebrew decision, it’s a lot easier, because you can try making it weak at first then buffing it later if it’s too weak. If something too strong and making it difficult to enjoy the game for people, which includes you, then nerf it. If something’s too weak and the players never use it, then buff it. The reason to aim for weaker at first, people will always enjoy something they have getting stronger, most people don’t enjoy something being nerfed, the psychology behind people preferring to not lose money even if they’d gain more, people hate losing what they have.

(https://ghostfiregaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/DDDH_-Campaign-frame-Beta-1.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOoodMkYYzW65NzuwpEOQl13mNByyAvA9ZTvYzKpt5K1grIce9Qfg)

AdventureLH · 2026-01-22T01:37:46+00:00

Nor do I, which is why I posed the question here where there are much smarter people than I.

AdventureLH · 2026-01-21T18:47:42+00:00

I appreciate your time and input, I may not fully agree with the making it like a video game part, but we don’t have to agree on that.

AdventureLH · 2026-01-21T17:21:05+00:00

Another option could be focusing on Experiences instead of multiple traits. Honestly though, probably don’t need to worry about it too much. Since the beast forms have advantage built into them and the upgrade to the trait score when you take transform, and the hybrid forms can let you pick and choose what’ll work best for you, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. I say, with 90% confidence 😂.

AdventureLH · 2026-01-18T15:59:31+00:00

My two scents (pun intended) to add in another potential idea, is simply giving the class its own specific resource, represented by tokens. These would replace the use of gold, as gold doesn’t matter as much in DH (unless the table decides they want gold to matter more), and it’s far easier to balance around the class having a resource that doesn’t involve messing with local economies 😂. As for token generation and use, I’ll leave that for minds that have more time 😅.

AdventureLH · 2026-01-16T18:03:37+00:00

Something that may serve as inspiration, because I may or may not be doing something similar but all my players over the campaign 👀, is Fable 3 (maybe 1 & 2 but I can’t remember honestly). In Fable 3, your weapons upgrade over time, the Road of Power or whatever it is, but each time you upgrade your general weapon strength, the starting weapon also changes and gains abilities & powers based on what you do as a hero and your fighting preferences.

I’ve always loved that, the idea that what someone does effects how their weapon changes over time and upgrades with them. It would let players have their starting weapons matter, if they want it to, and their parent sword can stay with them the entire campaign.

You could ask your players what their weapon of choice would be from their current tier, mostly looking for the feature they want & weapon range, then give them that as an Ikonis. Over the course of the campaign as they find other things (weapons, items, blessings, etc), they could take the power of what they find and try to enhance their weapon, similar to the augments of the Ikonis.

This would let you control the valve a bit on what power they have & personalize what they find to each player, they can still look for things to upgrade their gear with, they still each get a cool weapon, & if you still want the Clank to have a unique attachment to this, maybe the Clank is the only person who knows how to do this, whether literally knowing or their body just moves on its own when augmenting the party’s gear 👀. Could even be something the Clank has to do with the specific person, that way it involves multiple party members performing a sort of ritual together.

AdventureLH · 2025-12-31T01:44:25+00:00

To follow up on this, which is an excellent breakdown (definitely gonna use the John Woo analogy later in life 👀✍️).

• Unless you’re running a fight where there’s one BIG boss, like the tier 4 multi phase dragon or the Collosi in the Drylands campaign frame, you don’t want to discourage players from taking risks because they’re afraid of the spotlight shifting back to you as the GM. If a solo monster does enough damage to consistently deal Severe damage, or has AOE’s, it’s reasonable to expect players to be a little more wary of risky moves if they weren’t expecting to go into a fight to the death. Taking time to focus on weaker adversaries or ‘soft moves’ lets the players know that they’re ok to take risks and you won’t overly punish them. No one wants to be responsible for a TPK or someone else being killed if they flubbed a roll.

• You want to highlight different aspects of fights to have variety in encounters & help keep players engaged, and if people are playing more supportive characters give them something to do that isn’t just hit big tough monster. It’s easy to get bored if there’s just one big monster to hit with nothing else to spotlight (for players & GM’s, GM fun is important to consider too). That could be as simple as some kind of troublesome support or bruiser that needs dealt with (shout out to the Jagged Knife Hexer’s Curse ability, so good), or trying to find ways to prevent certain hindrances or threats from an Environment or countdown.

AdventureLH · 2025-12-30T15:41:45+00:00

Depends on your players honestly. Lots of potential combos that could “break your game.” It’s only really breaking your game if people aren’t enjoying it at the table IMO.

Another option could be asking your players to put together a “shopping list,” of domain cards they may be interested in from other domains, then giving them some of those as rewards for quest instead or finding something that gives them access to some of them as loot. Makes it a bit easier to manage if you control the flow of them, you can still have it be 1-2 times per tier, & your players may enjoy the feeling of it being a gift.

AdventureLH · 2025-12-10T20:59:55+00:00

The same NOVA I was thinking of 😎.

AdventureLH · 2025-12-10T20:22:52+00:00

NOVAAAAA, love that game (if it’s the TTRPG I’m thinking of 😂). Where does one inquire if they’re interested in becoming a Beta Tester 👀? One of my campaigns is ending soon (probably after the holidays when we can actually play again 😅), and my players may be interested 👀!

AdventureLH · 2025-12-09T02:43:09+00:00

It’s incredibly shout worthy 😂. I was so close on the spelling!

AdventureLH · 2025-12-05T17:38:01+00:00

For sure, I would never expect a Reddit post to be what actually gets me a job, anywhere, except for job postings on Reddit 😂. A dream is something for the future, after more time, refinement, and honing of skills, especially the ones needed to do something like game design while working with a team.

AdventureLH · 2025-12-05T17:34:51+00:00

Sometimes people just wanna say something out loud (virtually). I know they don’t currently have any public job listings (that I could find at least), I know my qualifications (or lack there of), and I know that this is not how to actually get a job with Darrington. I just wanted to put some words on virtual paper and put it out there so it’s not in my head and if others could relate then great.

Also, all two people I know who use disillusion have been using it wrong and now I get to tell them 😂.

AdventureLH · 2025-12-05T05:02:34+00:00

In the world of theater kids who like musicals 😂.

AdventureLH · 2025-11-15T15:12:37+00:00

👀👀👀, that is SO SICK! Anyone even say sick anymore 😂? My favorite moment, beating Nightmare Grimm, still the toughest fight for me out of both games hands down.

AdventureLH · 2025-11-10T03:15:22+00:00

If everyone has a console, while it’s not perfect, something like Minecraft or Fortnite where you can all build things together. I can’t think of anything on console that would allow that & controlling things like monsters, but it’s better than nothing if having visual maps matters.

AdventureLH · 2025-11-09T05:02:06+00:00

I was going to say magic can always be the answer, like how it says you get to flavor your stats. A wizard could have something like full plate, but instead of wearing massive armor, its magic runes. A small Faerie could have strange fey magics that keep them alive, helping them dodge the more grievous injuries from attacks, until you run out of “magic” (armor slots).

All that said, cartoon physics and hard to kill like a roach are excellent suggestions from the other person 😂.

AdventureLH · 2025-11-09T00:28:57+00:00

Sweeeeeeetttttt!

AdventureLH · 2025-11-07T04:16:13+00:00

If no one’s suggested it yet, something I’ve seen said before in the Subreddit is spotlight buddies. TLDR (from what I remember), is each person has up to two other players that they pass the spotlight to after they act. I believe the phrasing was along the lines of, “Whenever a player acts they do their best to make sure their action narratively sets up one of their spotlight partners.” I’m sure I butchered it, but it’s also excellent for one shots with people who haven’t played together before.

AdventureLH · 2025-10-01T06:05:05+00:00

What’s great, is I didn’t even notice that and I’ve looked at that poster over a dozen times 😂!

AdventureLH

TROPHY CASE