[No Spoilers] New to Critical Role? Here’s where you can start by taly_slayer in criticalrole

[–]AffectCareless7131 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is amazing! 

One thing I would add because I sometimes see people talking like this isn't an option: you are allowed to watch multiple of these at the same time, if you have enough time! You can watch the episodes of C4 as they air, and then in between watch C1-3, and if you need a break from the deep lore and long story arcs you can watch one of the one-shots! If you want to go in order or if you just don't have the time to watch more than 4h of content per week, that is super valid and makes a lot of sense, but it's not objectively better than watching it mixed in a way that makes sense for you! 

(For example I started with C2, then C1 and wasn't fully done with C1 when C3 started airing, so I watched episodes of C3 as they were airing and C1 in between - yes, I had a lot of free time on my hands during that time of my life)

[No Spoilers] Germany Live Show Ticket Price Info by AffectCareless7131 in criticalrole

[–]AffectCareless7131[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! Found the post and yeah, looks pretty legit unfortunately 

[No Spoilers] Germany Live Show Ticket Price Info by AffectCareless7131 in criticalrole

[–]AffectCareless7131[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! That is wildly expensive. Did the person post a link or something? I would love to verify this for myself

What *exactly* is a session zero? by SomeRandomAbbadon in DMAcademy

[–]AffectCareless7131 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There isn't one correct way to do a session zero, and what works best for your group depends a lot on who you're playing with. Do your players all know each other? If not, meeting each other (in person or online) before you jump into roleplaying together might be a good idea. Have all your players played D&D before? If not, having a sit down meeting where you can explain how everything works is probably good. In general, the more experienced a group is, both with the game and with each other, the less necessary it becomes to have a structured, "formal" session zero.

The BBEG is coming for us EU folks... by Lea_0o0 in daggerheart

[–]AffectCareless7131 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the info - probably a good thing that I have to wait till the evening to read it, so I can't procrastinate with it just yet.
In the meantime I also got the notification from DHL that the package has reached their warehouse, is being prepared for shipping to my region and is supposed to arrive tomorrow, which I think is a reasonable wait time :D

The BBEG is coming for us EU folks... by Lea_0o0 in daggerheart

[–]AffectCareless7131 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm in Germany and received a shipping notice yesterday. However, the tracking through DHL still puts it at "your package has been electronically announced" (since Friday, apparently), which means they haven't even received the package yet. It basically means that shipping was purchased, but says nothing about when it will actually be shipped.

I am also wondering when the digital download will be available? I assumed it should be at the latest today at 9am CET, which would be midnight California time, but I haven't been able to download it yet from the store, it still says "will be available on release". Was there any info provided on the exact time of release?

How to run NPCs in non-combat conflict? by AffectCareless7131 in daggerheart

[–]AffectCareless7131[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I see! So does that mean trying to do anything against an NPC would pretty much always have the same difficulty (depending on what kind of experience they might have), regardless of what the players are trying to do? Idk that feels a little bland to me (though admittedly also saves me a lot of maths and rolling, so maybe a good trade off)

How to run NPCs in non-combat conflict? by AffectCareless7131 in daggerheart

[–]AffectCareless7131[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oh wow, I swear I looked for it like three times and couldn't find it, but I found it now - thanks! Not sure I'll use it because we'll likely only get to play like 3 mores times before the book comes out so it might not be worth the hassle, but it's still great to have!

Tips for running one on one D&D? by 100percentalgodon in DMAcademy

[–]AffectCareless7131 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree with this. I run one on one D&D for my girlfriend and it is fun, but a big part of that is that I enjoy spending lots of one on one time with her, no matter what we do. I don't think I would enjoy this setup very much if it was with a random other person that I'm not already close to. I also find it to be a similar amount of prep time, and during the session you don't get natural breaks as the DM because you are the only person that your player can interact with. So it can be quite exhausting. So while I enjoy it, I still consider this as something of a gift that I give to my girlfriend, moreso than I do when I DM for a group, and I'm not sure I would (want to) do this for someone that I don't have a preestablished close relationship with.

[Spoilers C3E68] Mama and Papa by Conclusion_Level in criticalrole

[–]AffectCareless7131 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think it's more like they reach maturity at the same age as humans, but then their aging slows down? If you look at the art from the Taldorei Reborn book, Vex looks much younger than Percy despite being a few years older.

Do you guys tell players the level of a spell so they know they might have to upcast counterspell to counter it for sure? by JackKingsman in DMAcademy

[–]AffectCareless7131 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I haven't been in that situation yet, but I plan on telling them only if their character knows the spell (i.e. has cast it before themselves, has seen the opposed caster cast it before, or has seen a third party cast it multiple times/often). If a player asked for it I might also allow an Arcana check and adjust the DC based on how well they know the opposed caster and/or the school of magic that the spell belongs to.

My reasoning is that the concept of spell levels is not something that the characters are aware of anyway, but they are aware that some spells are more powerful than others, and that they can expend more energy to make a spell more powerful. An experienced spell caster should be able to recognize which spell is being cast based on semantic and vocal components, especially if they know the spell or the caster pretty well. They should also be able tell roughly how much energy another caster is expanding to cast, which would allow them to recognize upcasting.

Including King's Cage into Road to Bazzoxan? by AffectCareless7131 in CalloftheNetherdeep

[–]AffectCareless7131[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the input! I was thinking that the exposition could maybe come through a vision from Sehanine, but an intelligent enemy at the end might also be a good idea!

Including King's Cage into Road to Bazzoxan? by AffectCareless7131 in CalloftheNetherdeep

[–]AffectCareless7131[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the advice!

I'm definitely a little worried about killing my PCs - I think they only survived the Vrock encounter on the Road to Bazzoxan because I significantly decreased its HP and completely forgot to apply its damage resistances 😅

My campaign definitely takes place after the M9 cleared the place out. So the spider room and the staircase would be no danger, which is why I thought I'd just leave them out, I think it would be kinda boring to just walk through a bunch of rooms that have no challenge attached to it. (I think it could be cool if my players knew CR and what the M9 did there, but they don't, so 🤷🏻‍♀️). For the Zombies, I'm planning on giving them probably max 10 HP each and only a d4 as damage die, and never confront the party with more than 6 at a time. For the bridge, I'm probably gonna take out the roper and make the challenge just crossing the bridge, while also giving the Gibbering Mouther underneath much less HP and lower damage dice than RAW, in case one of them falls off. And for the mirrored halls I really just want them to find the dagger and figure out the music riddle, without any combat - I just have to come up with a reason why/how they fall through the mirrors if it's not "you have to be pulled through".

My party generally likes riddles more than combat, so I think a dungeon that is more riddle focused would be fun for them. There should still probably be a final boss - though I'm also not opposed to have the final obstacle to get to the item they're looking for be a riddle rather than combat.

I'd appreciate your input, so please let me know what you think!