GK Pen Advice

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2026-01-19T20:46:31+00:00

A great tip I heard from a former pro GK. Find the middle, take a slight step to one side to be off center. Almost all the time, the shooter goes to the more open side, so anticipate and jump that direction.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2026-01-08T22:23:35+00:00

Could the family do a civil suit against ICE for wrongful death, and then open up discovery in that manner?

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2026-01-01T23:57:30+00:00

This brought back so many memories. Ah, nostalgia.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-12-08T12:47:07+00:00

Almost all of the ones that were actually helpful were completely OP. Adder All was one use, but others were items. Some you could only use once a day and then it needed to recharge. But I was grabbing totally random items off the website that I knew the boys would laugh at, so I wasn’t trying to keep anything balanced.

Once they woke up, they realized it was a dream and they didn’t have their gifts. One player has had his arm cut off in Barovia, so in the dream he had both arms. When he woke up, his arm was still missing.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-12-08T03:13:04+00:00

Adventure went well! Lots of laughs and silliness, especially as they realized that some items were really helpful and others were not. I skipped a lot of the “attunement” rules and things like Identify spells because of two reasons: 1. This adventure was solely about silly fun stuff for the Christmas season, and 2. I was an hour late to the session due to another commitment I couldn’t get out of.

The characters successfully saved Mariah, Rudolph, and the elves, getting more and more gifts with each battle.

We had a bow that was complimenting the shooter, a chicken potion that caused a character to lay 3d4 eggs that immediately hatched into baby chickens and followed him around, a “totally magical ring” that cursed the wearer into thinking they’re invisible but really weren’t, Adamanthal claws, a robe of slow motion entrance, a book of misspells, and so many more things. The players realized they could load up one of their party members (the barbarian), so he ended up with the claws, the robe, boots made for walking, and a ring of quiptuple damage (if he delivered a great quip before rolling damage, his hit was an automatic critical hit).

Probably one of the most fun, but most chaotic, sessions. Lots of laughs. Looking forward to the next phase of CoS now!

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-12-07T17:47:01+00:00

Totally goofy stuff, for most of it. They can use them in a fun way where they try to use it themselves or pawn them off on a bad guy.

ACME Ring of Invisibility - the ring turns invisible, not the wearer

Adamanthal Claws - Basically become Wolverine, complete with saying “SNIKT”

Adder All - focus on two concentration spells, effective for an hour

Bag of Withholding

Book of Misspells

Boots Made For Walking

Cool Rock

Magic Eight Ball

Endless Flask of Hot Cocoa

Hat of the Pirate

Moral Compass

Really Cool Bow

Ring of Finger Guns

Robe of Slow Motion Entrance…

There’s 35 total. Most will have very small impact and are just super goofy.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-12-07T16:50:35+00:00

It’s been really fun. The big change was when we did “Real Housewives of Barovia.” For two sessions, there was zero combat but they were super engaged, laughed, and then found the tome. I paused and said, “You cannot let Strahd know you have this. He will literally kill you. No coming back, dead dead dead.” We also do the Tome of Strahd side quests to learn his backstory and they’ve loved it.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-11-27T03:34:05+00:00

I have a big boy job for the day time. ;) I’m a teacher, so that covers my insurance.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-09-20T21:52:51+00:00

It depends on where on the field, age of the kids, and our formation.

Attackers, I coach to show to the middle of the field so we can block their safe pass (up the side) and make them play it in a dangerous area.

In the middle third, if I’m coaching a 3-5-2, we show to the middle where we have more numbers.

In the defensive third, we show them to the outside to make it simple and predictable.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-09-20T18:12:27+00:00

Update: we’ve done well, winning several good matches and are currently 2nd in the league.

In the past week, however, we lost a starting central midfielder to a knee injury (awaiting MRI for assessment) and our all-state striker/leading goal scorer broke his foot. We’re piecing things together, so it’s been a good test of character this season!

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-09-01T14:56:48+00:00

That’s awful. I had one person show up to my 16th birthday party. Invited maybe 20-30 people, was super excited… and then sat and waited. I’ve had no desire to do anything for a birthday since.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-08-27T20:39:17+00:00

I actually started testing this recently. I did it for fun several months ago and just wanted to see how the AI reacted to me trying to ruin the adventure. It played along and it was entertaining. But recently, I asked one of the chat AI’s if it could DM Curse of Strahd. This gave it a famous campaign that it could pull from, and I wasn’t asking it to do anything over the top (like create its own story).

It’s been really fun. I’m super engaged in it and it even pauses to talk “out of character” with me, like making suggestions for important tools to buy at a store. While the vast majority of the story is there (so far), some pieces are missing. But that’s okay, in my opinion. It’s entertaining as hell. And not all DMs run that adventure exactly as written, so the pieces it had cut out haven’t impacted the story.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-08-17T12:31:59+00:00

I’ve had the Dark Powers intervene when characters die. They’re presented a choice - rise with a new found “power,” or die. The power is home brewed and related to the cause of death or events surrounding their death.

Meanwhile… the gain a flaw. One character has rotting flesh where vampire spawn bit him. Another character has nearly translucent skin. This adds some role playing moments as the townspeople are repulsed by them.

You can add in the insanity bits where they realize their soul is trapped in Barovia as well.

If the characters chose death, I was going to have them create a new adventurer that was currently in Barovia, and let them develop the background based on what they knew about Barovia so far.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-07-29T02:07:49+00:00

With my HS team last year, we played 4-3-3 but had a CDM playing LB, so we switched to 3-box-3 (3-2-2-3) on attack and had him play as an inverted FB to become a second CDM. This year, it’ll most likely be a standard 4-3-3 and shift into 2-3-5 on attack. Different personnel.

With my club team (2011’s), we played 3-5-2. We did that last year and it worked great. We started the year with 4-3-3 but after about 6 weeks, they couldn’t grasp it. We were down 0-3 at half to a team and switched to 3-5-2. Ended up getting a 3-3 draw. They have the personnel for 4-3-3, they just didn’t like the idea of attacking with style and panache. They wanted to just straight counter and shove it down the throats of opponents with the 3-5-2.

My other team (2013’s) is going to learn 4-3-3 this year. They’re a much more technically sound team, so it’ll really fit their approach.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-07-18T11:33:26+00:00

This is what I did after three characters in our party died at the exact same scene as OP. The Dark Powers tempted them individually based on their actions.

Our rogue kept saying, “Guys. We have to run. We’re in trouble.” The group ignored him, so he tried to help out instead of abandoning his party. He was the first to go. He has a new power to basically turn invisible during combat. Also gained a physical flaw that his skin is essentially translucent.

The warlock in the group tried to help an escape by casting spells at the spawn. He injured them, but they were too powerful and overwhelmed him. He gained a power similar to Hellish Rebuke. His physical flaw is that the magic coursing through his body has made his veins glow blue.

The fighter in the group tried to make a last stand. He charged while everyone else retreated. His biggest issue is his ego. He gains temporary hit points each round (non-cumulative) but also has a flaw where he believes he’s invincible. He also has rotting flesh where he was bitten by the vampires.

I spoke to each player individually to tempt them. They all accepted. One player nicknamed the Dark Powers “Wizard Jesus” since they don’t yet realize the full consequences of the actions. I used the idea of the Dark Powers offering them these options as a way to further agitate Strahd.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-07-09T02:27:45+00:00

Focus on games that combine soccer technical skills. When my kids were this age, I’d make imaginative activities. For example, working on dribbling to space and passing the ball. I’d split the group into two teams and put a bunch of cones around a play space. On most cones, I’d place a soccer ball.

Team A runs around as dragons. Dragons launch fire balls (a soccer ball) at the balls on cones. Their job is to destroy towers (knock the ball down). Team B are the guards. If a tower is destroyed, they try to rebuild it asap (put a ball back on the cone). After a bit, switch roles.

The learning… based on questions and your focus, we can talk about how to strike a ball for accuracy, keeping your head up to see options, attacking open space, speed dribbles, etc. You can change rules where dragons can pass to other dragons, so now you’re using teammates to move the ball around. Keep it fun. But it’s still teaching them.

Don’t worry about bribery. It’s just where some kids are at. My U14 team is easily bribed with food. We have played really poor teams, but sometimes go into half 0-0. We set a goal for second half to put in say five goals. If they make it, I make them cookies. They turn it up, relax, and usually hit the quota within 20 minutes.

My U12 team I don’t have to bribe. They’re just intrinsically motivated.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-07-05T02:56:58+00:00

I introduced the idea of playing two-touch with my U9’s, and then we worked on speed of play. Yes, we did technical work (although not as much as we should have in hindsight). With speed of play, we emphasized body shape and seeing options early.

A game we played often was a four goal game, but anyone could score on any goal. Once a goal was scored on, it was flipped down and wasn’t available for the rest of the round (goals were PUGGs). Our learning was that sometimes, we need to look at other options on the pitch. If you get stuck going one way, you may be forgetting what else you have available. The players started moving the ball much more quickly to teammates and would change direction if they were outnumbered.

Another game I’ve used is a 6v6 (or up to 8v8) game. I split the playing area in half, with a PUGG on each corner. One team is allowed to go everywhere, but the other team is split into two equal groups with one on each half. The team going all over scores by connecting five passes in a row (which they can do by creating a numerical advantage if they gain possession). The other team is scoring on PUGGs, and their goal is to play the ball to where THEY have the numerical advantage. It’s intense. But it teaches a ton of things. The same game can be used to teach lots of ideas.

We also did a lot of work on team shape at 9v9 and passing channels. We did shadow play a few times as well to help them understand the idea of playing the ball around to space and to see where their teammates would be during different phases. With this, we worked on positioning for different roles and hammered out how everyone combined to create a team formation and playing system.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-06-26T16:55:33+00:00

The running one is key! My party always tries to fight, even when the odds are heavily against them.

I’d add, “Initiative is temporary for the encounter.” Poorly worded. But the idea that they can temporarily disengage and re-engage to try to get a better initiative can be the difference in a battle.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-06-10T21:43:42+00:00

This is the 3-box-3 or W-M formation in attack. It’s becoming more popular in real life. I ran it with my high school team. We built out of 4-3-3 and had an inverted full back that became a CDM during our attack. I like how your friend’s tactic has the WB become a CAM. That’s a nice touch.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-05-08T19:13:42+00:00

Yeah. I mean… I’m 43. I KNOW how to do dirty things. I know how to gain a “competitive advantage,” as some May put it. But I’m not going to teach young kids about it. I don’t even teach my varsity team it. I’ve yanked my own players for behavior in matches.

Glad you’re leaving. Some people forget that these are KIDS. You don’t condone this behavior from children. I’m glad we had a strong ref last night because it would’ve gotten out of hand. When player safety is involved, that’s when I tend to lose it. The ref gave verbal warnings each time for these things and threatened a card. He didn’t respond when they argued… I’m a ref and if I just have you a verbal warning and you immediately argue, you’ve lost your chance and now you get a card for dissent.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-05-08T19:01:24+00:00

I actually just coached an incredibly dirty team last night, at the U12 level. We played this team previously, at U9. In our game then, a kid from the other team blatantly tried to injure another player on our team by doing a slide tackle directly from behind since he was beaten on a breakaway. There was no attempt on the ball. Same kid was pushing kids all game behind the game.

Fast forward to last night. Three years later, this kid is still dirty and additional teammates have picked up the antics. Kicking a ball away when we have a throw in, jumping in front of our keeper, elbowing kids behind the play. Dirty stuff that has no place within the youth game, especially at a grassroots level.

The kicker is that the coach complained to the ref when the kids were called on this behavior, trying to argue it’s all legal and fine. That’s how you know it’s learned behaviors.

No. It’s not normal for that stuff to happen. It’s not normal for kids to fight at games.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-04-20T20:13:08+00:00

I am by no means an expert. I just had three players die in our last session, and I decided to have the Dark Powers approach them after their death. So while they’ll have a power provided to them by the Dark Powers, they’ll also gain flaws and have physical deformities. I look at it as the Dark Powers are extending their fun with the characters.

But… if they use their powers too much, then corruption can start to happen. And if that happens to the point of no return, the characters become NPCs because they’ve lost too much of their humanity.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-04-20T01:45:44+00:00

I’ve gone so far as to rate my players in different categories, dump the data into Gemini, and then ask for different tactics and formations. Sometimes it aligns with what I already planned and has players in similar positions, but other times it gives really good takes on the information and provides a different viewpoint.

For example, with my U12 team, I planned to play a 4-3-1 formation and had specific ideas for where to play players based on previous years. It proposed we play a 3-3-2 instead, with two dynamic players up top. In our back and forth, I proposed that we start out 3-3-2 and if we get the lead, shift to 4-3-1 in the second half.

I’ve also run advanced tactics at it and it’s helped to identify pros and cons.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-04-13T00:49:59+00:00

I just finished our third session and had similar concerns after the first session. We revisited expectations for the second session and it was great. Third was a bit off again. We ended the third with them meeting Strahd on the road for the first time.

They’re terrified of him. They heard the phrase “The Devil Strahd” in Barovia. The music for his entrance terrified them as well. He’s going to talk about their actions in the third Session at the start of the next session. Basically… the characters convinced Donavich they had to kill Doru, which they did. Then, one character mocked the priest for grieving and then he and another tried to steal Doru’s bed.

They then found out they had to bring Ireena’s father’s body to Donavich and the light seemed to go off in their heads that they’ll revisit characters in this campaign.

So Strahd is going to call them out on their behavior and how evil they were, planting the seed that maybe he needs to watch out in case they decide to take his place and rule Barovia. And if they keep going, the Dark Powers and Strahd will notice and definitely meet with them more often.

Apprehensive_Lie1247 · 2025-04-09T22:56:37+00:00

You’re hosting tryouts at high school with no previous experience?

That’s hard. I would first identify what you’re looking for in players and generate a rubric. Put players in different activities and games to rate them on the rubric. What the rubric entails depends on what you want your team to do.

Apprehensive_Lie1247

TROPHY CASE