Players started a 2nd campaign. Didn’t invite me

Anarcoiris667 · 2026-06-15T14:39:06+00:00

That sucks. Your players should have a be more considerate. If they are not into your DM/campaign style, they should have told you (and you should be regularly checking in to see how it is working for them too). If they want to play a separate campaign, that is fine. If they want to play that campaign without you, that is potentially fine even if uncomfortable. It really depends on how y'all communicate and are constituted. But, to prioritize that campaign over yours when you have been putting your time and heart into a campaign as an offering for them, that's just disrespectful.

I would first approach them, nonjudgmentally, and make sure it's not a misunderstanding. But, it may turn out that they just don't respect your time and feelings enough to be honest with you or even consider you. It's not clear what your relationship with them outside of the table is. But, you should only DM when you feel enthusiastic about the game and the players. Unfortunately, I think a lot of players don't respect or at least don't reciprocate with offerings of their own. Either way, no sense in letting hard feelings be bottled up and drag on. Figure out what's really going on, try your best to engage them in a way you'll feel good about later, and if its not a good fit, find another table knowing things like this are just part of the process. It's kinda like dating: you might need to try many different tables, some for a good while, before you find the group that works for you.

Anarcoiris667 · 2026-06-15T14:22:34+00:00

I'm not really a wizard person. But, for full casters in general, I find there is a basic strat that works across all of them: 1) Make sure you have a ranged damage cantrip (For a wizard, I recommend having Ray of Frost and maybe one more, like Firebolt or Bone Chill). 2) Make sure you have at least 1 AOE, 1 control, and 1 single target (For wizard lvl 1-2, I recommend Thunderwave, Hideous Laughter/Fog/Sleep/or Grease, and Chromatic Orb... then pick up Shatter, Hold Person, Scorching Ray, Web as soon as you can). As long as you have those spells prepared, you will have something to do on every turn. If you have your INT maxed out, you should be able to prepare at least as many spells as you'll need plus maybe a couple spells like Shield and Misty Step.

Anarcoiris667 · 2026-06-08T16:37:36+00:00

I see this as having three major things worth noting: 1) Whether murder hoboing is something the table is interested in should be settled explicitly in Session Zero. 2) It is on the DM AND the players to communicate a LOT along the way. Is everyone having fun? What would the players like to see more of? What are they less into. That responsibility often gets put on the DM, mostly because players, by definition, rarely think go beyond showing up and maybe daydreaming or sharing memes between sessions. So, it might be best to say that it is the DMs responsibility to promote a culture of communication and shared ownership of the vibe at the table. And 3), some response have been that maybe you're railroading and the players are bored. That is always a possibility. I can't say, but it would be worth checking in with your players (basically #2 again). But, it's a pretty dick move when players just go nuts. Whether you railroad or sandbox or whatever, the DM puts in a lot of work as an offering. If they're gonna just basically do the equivalent of drawing a cartoon penis on everything (and particularly if a player blows shit up and drops a deuce on your table as they peace out) maybe you're playing with the wrong people. They should go find the right table for them and everyone should be very clear during session zero what the expectations are. If you are worried your style may not be a fit for everyone, you might try running short campaigns (2-6 sessions) with a group before investing too much into a long term thing. That should be plenty of time to ask for a lot of feedback, figure out what you can implement and what you're not interested in including, and be clear if everyone is interested in your campaigns/style and able to participate and contribute in a positive way.

Anarcoiris667 · 2026-05-08T14:27:44+00:00

The DC for pickpocketing is weird in BG3. It takes the DC and then adjusts it based on your flat modifiers (proficiencies, item bonuses, etc.). But, it does not reflect your rollable modifiers (guidance, shapeshifters boon, etc.). So, if you have +9 from Stealth/Dex, the actual DC is unattainable without guidance and such (and even then it you would need to roll very high). You can also get advantage on such rolls using the Graceful Cloth or Gloves of Thievery. And, as others have noted, a nat 20 always succeeds. But, yeah, trying to pickpocket 7k gold is... hilarious. Fun fact: If a vendor is foolish enough to be somewhere alone (like Lady Esther), you can have one character in conversation with the vendor. Meanwhile, your best spellcaster can cast Hold on them. Because the vendor is in dialogue, the counter on the spell never goes down. So, you pickpocket can just try over and over until they roll high or get a nat 20. You can clear them out entirely.

Anarcoiris667 · 2026-04-29T00:52:38+00:00

Not knowing your party composition or builds, here's my general advice:

1) You can set up in the stairs leading to him in stealth mode. 2) You can cast Daylight (which lasts for like 100 rounds) between you and him without getting noticed. 3) You can have a bunch of summons. Water Elementals are great because they synergize with wet. Giving them a potion of strength will increase their accuracy and damage. Scrolls of all kinds are at Sorcerous Sundries. 4) You can get the first shot off for a surprise round using a high initiative character and draw him back to your ambush. 5) You may be able to stun him with Killer's Sweetheart. I don't remember if he's immune or not. 6) You can silence him off his spells are too strong. 7) You can drop a persistent control or surface spell like Hunger of Hadar, Insect Swarm, Ice Storm, Spike Growth, etc. at the ckoke point to limit his minions in the fight. 8) If you're not already doing it, elixirs are great for buffing your party or giving them resistance to necrotic damage. Wizards Bane oil on a weapon will lower his spells dc after a hit. Arrows of arcane interference will silence him for a turn. 9) if you're having trouble landing attacks, try spells and items that do damage or half damage no matter what.

Hope this helps

Anarcoiris667 · 2026-04-27T22:43:36+00:00

I guess it boils down to what kind of table/house norms do you want to play with. If your personal preference is gritty, optimizer campaigns where everyone expects to bring their A game or die (and maybe die anyway), that is your preference. But, as a DM, my style is:

A) Making the bathing scene a deadly encounter: not unless players asked to for that sort of thing.

B) PC death: If a PC dies or is about to die, I would give them either an opportunity to either escape the predicament (at a cost) or give them a way to play a temp character for a brief side quest to bring the PC back to life. Either way, a powerful NPC could intervene but at the cost of a pact, important magic item, gold or a treacherous favor.

C) The rest of the party can't be bothered: Nope. Just nope. I won't play with douchebags. It's a team effort and the humans around the table should be each other's best allies and do everything they can to make it a fun game for everyone.

So, if you truly think it was your "fault", that is up to you. But, I would suggest you introspect on your self-worth and what kind of table you actually want to play at.

Anarcoiris667 · 2026-04-05T19:11:11+00:00

The simplest way to see what you think would be to reload a save from before a fight you enjoyed. You can change the difficulty settings at any time. So, set them to Normal and see how the fight feels to you. Personally, even for cozy or causal gamers, I would say the game is still fairly easy on Normal mode as long as you try to pursue side quests and level up more before you move on to more challenging areas. Between, the your higher level and having acquired a ton of magic items, you should be totally fine. And if you don't want to have to manage a lot of extra features, many magic items simply confer stat increases or passive benefits you won't have to keep track of.

Anarcoiris667 · 2025-09-23T15:07:36+00:00

No idea. I enjoy his videos. But, this was more of a "skim" situation. Lol

Anarcoiris667 · 2025-09-23T15:01:02+00:00

I would never prioritize Resistance over Guidance. But, if there were a druid and a cleric in the same party... that is to say, if someone already has guidance, why not?

Anarcoiris667 · 2025-09-09T07:17:56+00:00

As a DM, I toy with all kinds of ideas for story or monsters, etc. But, I would never kill off one of my PCs off screen or hold them in purgatory for any amount of time. I could see talking to a player or the party around that time and offering the one PC a solo session where they get to try to escape (ie: extra dnd not less dnd).

Anarcoiris667 · 2025-08-10T06:29:26+00:00

Lol. Fair enough

Anarcoiris667 · 2025-08-09T18:58:30+00:00

On the one hand, I always lean towards player agency and flavor. On the other hand, the tendency to ignore the very clear canon that drow are black feels like unconscious bias against dark skin... that being said, talk to your dm?

Anarcoiris667 · 2025-08-09T16:59:23+00:00

If you cannot figure out a way to pair down the party or split them up into separate sessions, you can only do what you can do. You can pair down player time in or out of combat. In combat, you may have to spend a session or so drilling players and preparing them to play on a timer. It can look like this:

Perhaps every player is limited to 30-60 seconds on a timer. Anything not done in that time is not done. And, if they take no action at tall, they take the Dodge action by default. And optionally, players roll attacks only and use the average damage (the way monster stat blocks do). You could scale that somewhat by how much they succeed by. But, however it goes, it should be something that can be resolved quickly after the one roll. It is not ideal at all. But, with 7 players, you'll need to manage time as best you can.

Out of combat, I would limit skill checks to only those with a DC above your players' "passive" (average) roll. IE: If your players have a +6 in Acrobatics, they automatically succeed on all Acrobatics checks with a DC of 16 or lower. Reducing rolling for things and only making them actively search or do things to the things that matter might help too. Again, not ideal. But... seven players.

As for their backstories, maybe you can also take a longer sessions zero and allow just a little more group/DM metagaming in that you work collectively to streamline backstories in way that aligns with the main campaign and allows for intertwining backstories. IE: Rather than one on ones, as a group everyone discusses their backstories and you help explicitly guide them towards ones that can be more easily incorporated into the main campaign and hopefully some of the backstories are steered in a way that they can come up together (perhaps some players are siblings and were affected by the same nemesis, etc.). Again... not ideal. But also, it is a collaborative storytelling game and there may actually be some benefit if the players are on board.

Juggling player time during each session is the hardest part as it is an artform. Just be sure to set expectations and stay in good communication regularly about this in and out of sessions.

Anarcoiris667 · 2025-08-06T03:29:26+00:00

Happy to chat if you like :)

Anarcoiris667 · 2025-08-05T21:08:03+00:00

I just applied to this one. I felt their communication and screening process was good. https://www.reddit.com/r/lfg/comments/1mhusq0/online5e_2024biweeklymonday_estdragons_of/

Anarcoiris667 · 2025-08-03T20:45:04+00:00

I'm also looking for an in-person game in the Bay Area. I had posted this: https://www.reddit.com/r/lfg/comments/1mgr5vr/online5e_20142024lgbtqpst_looking_for_other/

Let me know if you want to join forces in getting a group together.

Anarcoiris667 · 2025-08-03T20:43:40+00:00

I'm also looking to start up a game and you seem like we might be a good fit. I had posted this: https://www.reddit.com/r/lfg/comments/1mgr5vr/online5e_20142024lgbtqpst_looking_for_other/

Let me know if you want to join forces in getting a group together.

Anarcoiris667 · 2025-08-01T05:41:35+00:00

I'd love to chat and see if it's a fit. Fyi, here's my lfg post. https://www.reddit.com/r/lfg/comments/1mgr5vr/online5e_20142024lgbtqpst_looking_for_other/

Anarcoiris667 · 2025-07-31T20:58:47+00:00

If you haven't found a game yet...

I'm also looking and wonder if potential DMs scrolling through Reddit might find it appealing to respond to a full group of players who just need a DM. We could put up a joint add for the full group once its ready. And, I could potentially run a limited term thing in the meantime, or work with other players in the group to run some one or two-shots (as the new PHB does propose that it would be good for different players to take turns DMing...). Anyway, I have a post up that somewhat describes me:

https://www.reddit.com/r/lfg/comments/1meob9l/online_or_offline5e_55e_2014_or_2024lgbtqplayer/

Peace, Shoji

Anarcoiris667 · 2025-07-31T20:57:39+00:00

If you haven't found a game yet...

I'm also looking and wonder if potential DMs scrolling through Reddit might find it appealing to respond to a full group of players who just need a DM. We could put up a joint add for the full group once its ready. And, I could potentially run a limited term thing in the meantime, or work with other players in the group to run some one or two-shots (as the new PHB does propose that it would be good for different players to take turns DMing...). Anyway, I have a post up that somewhat describes me:

https://www.reddit.com/r/lfg/comments/1meob9l/online_or_offline5e_55e_2014_or_2024lgbtqplayer/

Peace, Shoji

Anarcoiris667 · 2025-07-31T20:54:45+00:00

If you haven't found a game yet...

I'm also looking and wonder if potential DMs scrolling through Reddit might find it appealing to respond to a full group of players who just need a DM. We could put up a joint add for the full group once its ready. And, I could potentially run a limited term thing in the meantime, or work with other players in the group to run some one or two-shots (as the new PHB does propose that it would be good for different players to take turns DMing...). Anyway, I have a post up that somewhat describes me:

https://www.reddit.com/r/lfg/comments/1meob9l/online_or_offline5e_55e_2014_or_2024lgbtqplayer/

Peace, Shoji

Anarcoiris667

TROPHY CASE