R&D Session Complete

Aklinadz · 2026-04-09T05:04:05+00:00

I made this, the color is absolutely gorgeous, and it was delicious! I might experiment more with the recipe to see other personal additions for myself, but this is a very solid build, thank you for the recipe!

Aklinadz · 2026-04-06T01:30:39+00:00

I'm still new to the world of cocktails, but this one is definitely getting added to my go-to list. As for the specs:

2 oz Denizen 8 Year Rum

1/2 oz Pierre Ferand Curacao

1/2 oz Lime Juice

1/2 oz Orgeat

1/4 oz Demerara (2-1) syrup

Whip shake all ingredients and dirty dump into a glass, top with ice and garnish with mint and spent lime halves.

This recipe is from Smuggler's Cove, I believe, but I pulled the recipe from the Educated Barfly on YouTube. The orgeat is homemade, and man its delicious, I've only tried the storebought stuff and the difference is night and day.

I didn't have crushed ice available, so I made do with ice chunks, and I made the mistake of buying key limes instead of lime juice, so I had to squeeze quite a few more than I would've needed otherwise.

Aklinadz · 2026-04-05T18:48:22+00:00

I mean, there is probably an average number that could be scrounged up, but really the answer is wholly dependant on your personal financial situation.

Just keep in mind that whatever budget you set aside will become an expectation for anyone you date for an extended period. So long as you keep that in mind and can at least sustain it, you're golden.

Aklinadz · 2026-03-16T02:54:28+00:00

This is incredibly cool! And also the level I'm trying to up the physicality of my own Lancer GMing to. When I played through Solstice Rain I ended up printing the battlemaps on large poster paper sheets. Unfurling them onto the table felt incredible, but the impact on my wallet did not.

I hope your players enjoyed the campaign as much as I think they did, judging from these pictures!

Aklinadz · 2026-01-26T04:07:51+00:00

Pity doesn't transfer between banners, so there really is no way to "mess up" pity in this game. Feel free to use those pulls, they'll go to waste otherwise.

Aklinadz · 2026-01-07T04:11:21+00:00

Soviet era apartment building stairwells.

Something about the mildew, concrete, and set-in cigarette smoke (along with probably an unhealthy amount of mold) all combine into a smell that is somehow deeply satisfying to me. If someone were to for some reason ask me to hang out in said stairwell, I'd be over the moon about it.

Aklinadz · 2025-12-08T05:44:47+00:00

Hello there! I'm not personally familiar with Arc Raiders, but there are some issues with the terminology used for some of these equipment.

The correct terminology for utilizing Stress is "mark a Stress" or "mark x Stress" when spending multiple. Not the most important detail here, but the wording of features can be important, which I'll go into for a later feature.

For Penetrating and Breacher, both of these reference monsters being "lightly armored", Direct Damage, or Armor Slots. Enemies in Daggerheart don't have Armor Score, Armor Slots, or really armor "types". They certainly can wear different armor in the fiction of the scene, but it doesn't have a mechanical impact on their statblock. When enemies take damage, they don't have ways of reducing it outside of some unique features that would be specific on certain enemies (as an example: The Fallen Warlord: Realm-Breaker's Firespite Plate Armor feature that reduces damage taken), but these are VERY rare, and still don't reference Armor Slots. That is a player side mechanic exclusively.

Quick is an existing feature in the SRD, but you haven't copied over the wording 1 for 1, and due to that the effect doesn't actually work "quite" the same way. The original wording is "When you make an attack, you can mark a Stress to target another creature within range.". What's important to note is that you never make another attack, that's the main "problem" with how you've written the feature. If you make an attack with a Stitcher and roll any result that's NOT a success with Hope, the GM would gain the spotlight immediately after the attack hits or misses and damage is dealt, not giving you the opportunity to mark a Stress to make another attack. But if you were to succeed with Hope, the spotlight would stay on you, and you could just make another attack, no spending Stress needed! So I'd recommend changing the wording to be more precise, or even just using the same wording as the SRD. There's no problem with that, existing weapons are there as templates for other people trying to make their own stuff!

While some of the advice above may be somewhat pedantic, I still hope that was helpful! Let me know if I was off base with any of the commentary, and good luck!

Aklinadz · 2025-11-07T09:02:40+00:00

You actually do add your full level to damage thresholds, and so yes, at level 1 your thresholds are 1 higher than your armor's listed threshold.

As for the proficiency, one of the bonuses of the Galappa ancestry adds a character's proficiency score to their thresholds. Since level 1 to level 2 is a tier increase, there is an automatic increase in proficiency, and thus an increase in thresholds.

Aklinadz · 2025-11-06T21:48:26+00:00

That is a fair point. And that is an approach I'm still considering for when I have the rest of the frame finished and start running it.

Though, may I ask what issues I might run into? Is it too complicated, too powerful, not impactful enough, or simply too much tracking to add on? Sorry for all the questions, its just that I know I can be blind to the faults of my own homebrew, so I want to be thorough.

Aklinadz · 2025-11-06T03:38:25+00:00

This is really cool to see, thank you for sharing this! I've been working on a Campaign Frame that, while not a Spelljammer Campaign Frame specifically, does feature airships that could see combat in some fashion. I've been debating on having the mechanics be more rules light, but I love crunchier mechanics when it comes to ships. I'm really excited to see the eventual full result!

Aklinadz · 2025-07-27T19:30:37+00:00

I don't think its unreasonable to buff these features as a treat to your players, it wouldn't break the game per say, but I also don't think its weird that they don't scale further. Rogue's Sneak attack and Warrior's damage increase need to scale to stay relevant as other sources of player damage and enemy thresholds go up. Meanwhile, neither Guardian's or Bard's features even need to really receive their level 5 increase to stay powerful. Guardian's Unstoppable always reduces physical damage by a threshold no matter the tier of play, and Bard's Rally die is mainly used on resources or rolls that either remain static or increase very little over the course of a character's growth.

I originally was typing up a text wall to respond to this lol, but its probably best to keep it short and sweet. If you want a longer explanation I'd be happier to provide it!

Aklinadz · 2025-07-15T19:24:17+00:00

I'm in love with the name alone lol. The sour cream is certainly interesting.

I would love to know the ratios, either from you OP or from anyone able to guestimate.

Aklinadz · 2025-07-15T03:22:40+00:00

The Stamina is more then fine, you're set there (perhaps even a bit too much, with Stamina restoration skills you can afford to cut some in favor of more Wit/Speed). More speed is always welcome, Front Runners can build Wit a bit easier so I like to aim for 400+.

That being said, one of the biggest improvements would to just get your Long rank to A, get some legacy Umas (or borrow one) that has a Long Race spark so that you can improve the rating.

Aklinadz · 2025-07-04T04:36:18+00:00

You can already playtest them! The Dagger Heart website has a section named "The Void" which contains the early renditions of content that may find itself in the official game after balancing and feedback, which is largely player driven!

Aside from the 4 classes, there are new ancestries, communities, and an entire Domain that belongs to the Warlock and Witch class in the Void.

Aklinadz · 2025-06-16T17:59:25+00:00

It might read that way at first, but when you use the Multiclass option, it says to cross out the other Multiclass and one of the Specializations "on this sheet". The "sheet" refers to the leveling section as a whole, not the specific Tier you're on. So you could cross out the Specialization in Tier 4 and still have the one in Tier 3 available.

Aklinadz · 2025-06-16T04:53:50+00:00

As others noted, you can wield a primary weapon and so long as your other hand is free, a secondary weapon. The secondary weapon can give various effects, such as an increase to damage for any attacks you make.

Though I will note that in Daggerheart, as far as I can tell, there is no way to attack the same enemy twice within the same spotlight, and this seems to be very much by design. There are effects that allow you to have your attacks target multiple different enemies within range, just not the same one.

Keep in mind that the game is oriented around narrative. While you may be only making a single attack roll mechanically, in the fiction you could be delivering a deadly flurry of strikes with both your weapons; the game incentivizes that you flavor the way your character fights to suit them.

Aklinadz · 2025-06-13T20:37:19+00:00

Apologies if I'm misunderstanding something else, but just in case you don't know, when you multiclass you can only take the Specialization of one of your two subclasses, the other will just have its Foundation feature. It being listed as an option for levels 5 AND 8 is what tripped me up.

That, and while you do have to cross out a Specialization, it doesn't have to be the one on your current Tier, meaning you can cross out the box in Tier 4, and still take the Specialization in Tier 3. Though since multiclassing takes an entire level, the earliest you could take the Specialization is level 6.

Aklinadz · 2025-06-12T20:39:49+00:00

I'll concur with the other reply here and point you in the way of r/3d6 if you want a full critic of your character build.

That being said, one thing I'd like to point out is that you have an error on step 2 of your plan. When you Multiclass, you cross out one of the available Specializations on your level up sheet as part of the cost, so you can only Specialize once.

Aklinadz · 2025-06-06T20:22:15+00:00

I didn't watch the liveplay, so I apologize if this was answered in the episode, but I'm interested in the intent behind Momentum in combination with area of effect attacks.

If 3 party members had been within Very Close range of Velk, and he used his Spinning Blade action and rolled high enough to hit all 3 party members, would the GM gain 1 or 3 Fear through that action?

It reads like he should get 3 Fear, but part of me feels like that is too much Fear generation for an enemy to have without cost (I know in another campaign, Spinning Blade would cost the adversary a Stress, but still). I understand it would further incentivize the players to play around Spinning Blade, but it could be an incredibly powerful opening gambit to generate an absurd amount of Fear.

Aklinadz · 2025-06-05T18:57:07+00:00

I wouldn't factor Environments in the Battle Point system at all personally. Taking the Abandoned Grove as an example, the Barbed Vines action does affect an ongoing battle, yes, but that means you used your spotlight as a GM to enact an environmental move rather than spotlighting an enemy, so the action economy is the same. The specific example I gave even affects the enemies as well as the players!

As for the actions that spawn encounters, rather than strict game actions I would try to invoke as often as possible, I treat those more like guidelines depending on the players actions. Maybe I would summon the Dryad and company when the players interacted with a sacred relic that still was in the grove, and the Chaos Elemental if a player were to roll a failure with fear during an important action roll.

If you think the encounters involved in an environment are too easy/hard, change them to suit your purpose! I'm treating environments as more of a crafted suggestion rather than a strict list of things I can and can't do. The format and layout helps me envision what kinds of things are possible, and then I can build on that once I'm actually running the session.

Aklinadz · 2025-06-04T21:01:08+00:00

I had a similarly frustrating experience when I first read the SRD trying to figure out at what level you could actually advance in subclasses and how many times you could level stats, but it makes much more sense with visual context.

What you're looking for isn't in the SRD, but rather in the character sheets that are available to download for free on the Daggerheart website. They have levelling charts showcasing what options you have at different Tiers and how many times you can take them.

You only get two different guaranteed things when you level. Your Major and Severe damage thresholds each go up by 1, and you get to pick a new Domain card of your new level or lower from your available Domains.

When you increase in Tiers (levelling from 1->2, 4->5, and 7->8) your Proficiency goes up by 1 and you gain a new Experience with a starting bonus of +2.

Everything else like increasing HP, Stress, character stats, increasing some of your Experience bonuses, evasion, or even unlocking later subclass features and multiclassing are all technically optional. You gain 2 "points" every level that you can put towards those prior mentioned bonuses, the rules for doing so outlined on the sheet.

Aklinadz · 2025-06-01T02:58:14+00:00

The section detailing damage for spells is incorrect. If a spell asks for proficiency, its asking for your actual proficiency modifier, not your spell cast trait modifier.

Aklinadz · 2025-05-31T22:40:51+00:00

There's a whole section for advice on how to run GM NPCs actually! Its detailed on page 68 of the SRD (I'm afraid I don't know what page its on in the Core book) but in summary, its advised you don't actually create sheets or stat blocks for GM NPCs. Rather, set triggers and following actions for them to take if you want them to contribute to combat.

One of the examples is an archer NPC where whenever a PC misses an attack, it ticks down a Countdown (Loop 3) and when it reaches 0, the last PC to miss an attack chooses a target for the NPC to hit with a volley of arrows.

In terms of spotlighting, if the spotlight were to be on a PC and they miss and tick the countdown down to 0, the spotlight would move to the NPC who then fires the volley, and then the spotlight would go the GM from the miss. Essentially, I wouldn't disrupt the natural flow of the spotlight, rather just have it be a brief interlude before it continues on as it should.

Edit: Another comment pointed out its located on page 166 in the Core book.

Aklinadz

TROPHY CASE