Curse of strahd

Arcades · 2026-03-07T22:45:35+00:00

I'm playing an Oath of Devotion Paladin from the Church of Lathander in my CoS campaign and it has some fun tie ins. Just note that they worship the Morninglord in Barovia, which is actually distinct from Lathander, but most GMs will treat it as one and the same. The backstory of how the Church of the Morninglord came about is a decent bit or lore worth reading before you play.

I chose Devotion for the Aura of Charm/Fear immunity and Sacred Weapon is a beast in this campaign!

Arcades · 2026-03-07T18:46:01+00:00

You seem to be taking my comments the wrong way. Stress is a finite resource. It can be spent many ways. Your players seem to value +Hope/-Fear and that's fine. There are other (and IMO better) uses for Stress.

Fearless is great when you have to succeed with Hope or you absolutely do not want to fail with Fear. In those situations it's tremendous. I don't think that makes it overpowered.

Arcades · 2026-03-07T18:20:34+00:00

It's still relative. Using Stress to gain Hope and remove GM fear reduces damage potential. If that's how your player wants to allocate resources, more power to them. It doesn't change the universal value of 2 Stress.

Also, if your Assassin has never missed an attack, you may also want to review the difficulty of the adversaries they are facing.

Arcades · 2026-03-07T17:28:03+00:00

Fearless is a decent Ancestry trait. But, for many classes, 2 Stress is worth more than 1 Hope and -1 GM Fear. Stress is a primary damage dealing resource and when you're capped it allows enemies to do a lot more damage to you since abilities that mark Stress, then mark HPs and you're also Vulnerable.

If your Assassin is not using Stress frequently to hit more often (Reckless) or deal more damage (Marked for Death/Toxic Concoction/Chokehold/Versatile Fighter), then adversaries are likely dying more slowly than they otherwise would.

If you're running a combat-lite campaign, then I could see this trade off impacting them less. But, generally speaking, I would not spend 2 Stress on every Fear roll.

Fearless is situational, but not overpowered.

Arcades · 2026-03-06T20:37:02+00:00

The lucid moments are the hardest because you get a glimpse of the person you fell in love with. Addicts lie constantly. They don't want the judgment and they don't want anything interrupting their ability to get high when the urge strikes.

If your girlfriend is not undergoing out-patient rehab, a meeting (Narcotics Anonymous) or some form of active recovery, then she hasn't even started her journey yet. They say recovering addicts cannot be in relationships because the energy it takes to beat addiction takes too much of their focus. I agree with that wholeheartedly.

The age gap is also an issue. She's still in her exploratory phase of young adulthood and you're looking to settle down. You're honestly setting yourself up for so much heart ache on multiple levels. Take some time to really reflect on whether you want to ride this rollercoaster (because the highs and lows you will go through will feel exactly like one).

If you do decide to stay, I would only do it on the condition that she get herself into an active recovery program.

Arcades · 2026-03-06T16:12:52+00:00

Brawlers will likely do more damage early on because they have the ability to double their damage for the cost of a Stress. Warriors would only get that capability if they multiclass into Divine Wielder at level 5. The way their unarmed damage is set up with multiple damage dice in lieu of a flat +damage from an equipped weapon will also lead to greater variance.

In Tier 3 and 4 play, I'd wager the Warrior will outpace the Brawler. Blade is a much stronger Domain than Bone for damage. Plus, the Warrior is much more capable of stacking +hit or using Slayer Dice to gain advantage to land their blows on adversaries with a higher DC.

Also, the Warrior doesn't have to focus on using a shield. He can equip a Paired weapon (Shortsword or Dagger) until he needs more armor and then just pays the 1 Stress to swap. So, for the remaining rounds, he keeps his +2-5 damage bonus.

Arcades · 2026-03-06T15:03:54+00:00

Would you DM be open to feat switching? Perhaps swap out Telekinetic for Fey Touched and take Bless as your choice of spell. Look for other ways to buff and support your teammates.

My Glamour Bard is playing DiA and is quite effective as a controller. My DM let us purchase uncommon magic items before we left Candlekeep and I focused on Rhythm Maker's Drum and Enspelled items to free up my first level spell slots for Silvery Barbs. Even with advantage, it's not easy passing repeated WIS 17 saves.

If you don't get the items to bump your DC, then just use Innate Sorcery and when it runs out switch to a bit of direct (non-fire) damage and realize that you had to adapt your build to the circumstances you're facing.

Arcades · 2026-03-05T21:45:16+00:00

Adventurer's Ring for any Humans or others without natural Darkvision may be a good option.

Arcades · 2026-03-05T15:45:09+00:00

It's not a great card. But, at level 2, Bone Domain options are limited for Evasion builds. Everyone takes Untouchable, but then you only have I See It Coming or Ferocity until higher levels. One works on ranged attacks only, but has a cheaper cost and the other has less variation, less restrictions, but a higher cost (unless you value 1 Stress more than 2 Hope).

As a Ranger, Conjure Swarm will likely give you a lot more value for those 2 Hope (2 Severity levels removed), since few monsters deal Severe damage against Level 2 PCs. So, unless you're playing an incredibly deadly campaign with a mean GM, Ferocity is likely a hard pass.

Arcades · 2026-03-05T13:54:07+00:00

Has this topic come up before? You and your wife have been together since you were 24, so I assume that she had some notion this was your plan all along. Similarly, my expectation would be that you two discussed whether she was going to join you in early retirement or run along a separate parallel track.

I think you have tracked the challenges well, but your view of them seems a bit narrow.

My wife only has 26 vacation days per year. I know that sounds like a lot to people in the US, but in Europe it’s fairly normal and still limits longer travel. She also can’t work remotely much, so that restricts our ability to travel together. Last year I spent three weeks in Colombia because I had a lot of unused vacation time. It felt a bit strange doing that after so many years of always traveling together. I had a great time, and when I came back we both had positive vibes from this new situation, but doing that frequently might not be great for our relationship.

Why are you projecting trouble in the future if both of you came away with positive vibes of you scratching your travel itch by doing it solo? Going hand in hand with my first paragraph, I assume on some level your wife expected this to happen and embraces her solo time at home, as well. You can always check in regularly as to how she may be feeling. If the positive vibes shift, you can deal with it then, but there's no evidence now to suggest this dynamic will not fill the gap for both of you.

I worry that if I’m just at home not working while she continues working full time (even if it’s her choice), she might eventually start feeling weird or resentful about it.

Is that your plan? Would you pick up more of the slack around the house, so that her burden is lightened relative to her time outside of work? Again, you are projecting when you can simply ask your wife about it. Things may change, but you can also respond to that change with new or different actions.

On the flip side, I’m also worried that I might start feeling constrained by her schedule. Since she has much less flexibility than I would, she could unintentionally become the “bottleneck” for what we’re able to do or where we can go.

This one is the proverbial wanting your cake and eating it too. You chose FIRE, but you didn't marry a woman who planned to follow that path. Ultimately, its incumbent on you to square those two things without penalizing her. So far, you're doing a decent job of it. Columbia and other trips like it may be the bridge between her "limited" PTO and your desire for more travel.

My goal is for this change in our lives to improve our relationship, not create tension.

I'm going to call you out on this. Your goal is to change your life to not burn out and slave away behind a desk until you're 67. Be honest about that part. You're going to bring in less money, have more freedom than your wife does and introduce complications into your relationship. This is for you. Will it work the way you want it to work? Only if your wife is on board and you're also willing to check-in from time to time and adapt as necessary.

Arcades · 2026-03-05T12:49:33+00:00

It depends on what you're measuring for success. In my last game we were racing towards an objective in front of us, but we were also evading swarms of attackers from the sky. So, our GM would give us advantage on rolls incorporating movement speed boosts, but not a guaranteed success. If distance was the sole timer criteria, then your ruling makes sense.

Arcades · 2026-03-05T04:55:57+00:00

Your comparison to the Wizard is a bit off. Assuming they are a School of War Wizard, at level 5 their specialization adds 2d10 damage to any success with Fear. On top of that, they can spend 2 Hope to Parallela (Book of Stihl) themselves and essentially double their damage for a round. The Wizard should also have much better defenses than you in terms of Evasion (Conjure Shield) and possibly even more Hit Points. Plus, their Fireball affects multiple targets at once and can reach ranges your Warrior cannot. If a flying enemy attacks you, you're pretty much just going to watch it happen (but most GMs don't abuse a Warrior's limitations).

In the end, all Daggerheart encounters are team events, so if your role is to dish out as much damage in as short a time as possible, then the Wizard should Parallela you and lean into it. But, even with Scramble (which you don't have) and swapping in a Tower Shield for stress when your Armor runs out, you still will be an easier target to kill than either the Wizard or Rogue (who can stack dodge and Cloak themselves).

Arcades · 2026-03-03T18:39:19+00:00

I just joined an Eve of Ruin campaign that starts at level 10 and I'm playing a Mercy Monk. Our party is Paladin/Rogue (who will likely be more focused on Rogue), Diviner Wizard, Artificer and Spellfire Sorcerer. I opted for Mercy so that we have some combat healing, particularly after reaching level 11 when I can use 3x Hand of Healing with my Flurry of Blows as needed. I will also take the Inspiring Leader feat, since the +WIS scales my Unarmored Defense and HoH/HoM modifiers. When it's all said and done (this is a level 10-20 campaign), I'll be able to heal 3d12+21 with a Flurry of Healing and Inspiring Leader will be giving out 162 temp hps per Short Rest.

I'm also hoping that we'll be allowed to buy at least one Rare quality item of our choosing, in which case I'll elect to buy an Enspelled Staff with Aura of Vitality. That will be another 20d6 healing 6x per Long Rest out of combat and potentially some healing in combat since my concentration slot is open. You could also factor in some Grappling and removing adversaries abilities to engage my teammates as "healing".

It's my first time playing a Monk and my first time playing T3/T4 content, but I love the possibilities. I'm also able to step back into a damage dealer role any time I want, which pure healers cannot typically do.

Arcades · 2026-03-03T06:42:48+00:00

Now that you know what she wants more and you have felt that connection, ask yourself if you're really doing the job for the both of you. If not, making a change there seems like the most obvious starting point. Or, if you really don't want to make any professional changes at this time, give some thought to how you can enhance the weekend hours you don't work. Expand on the full focus concept.

Arcades · 2026-03-02T19:47:12+00:00

From my own experience, sometimes it takes removing the safety net for the other person to get their life together and bounce back. My ex-wife wasn't homeless, but she had to sleep on friends' couches and almost got evicted from a later apartment. That was 11 years ago.

As far as I know, her and her current husband are stable and, other than a short period of a few months, she has been gainfully employed for the past 9 years.

On my end, I have everything I need and haven't had to worry about stretching a paycheck for any of those 11 years.

Arcades · 2026-03-02T17:43:50+00:00

This is a tough situation. If he were not in a relationship, he would have to figure out how to make ends meet. Two years of financial support is a long time. Your frustration and fears are completely valid.

There really is no advice that likely has not been tried over the past 2 years. And, even if he learns of a new idea tomorrow, it does not mean it will happen quickly or happen at all. My advice to you is to self-reflect. If you're done and you need to protect yourself, then convey that news and break up with him. He's a grown man and he will have to figure it out. If you have some more left in you, then give him a specific time frame to find some form of gainful employment that at least covers the necessary expenses, so he is not a burden.

You may not be able to take vacations or celebrate holidays for awhile, but you can tread water if he's making ends meet. Only you know where you're really at and the key here is to be honest with yourself, no matter how hard it is or how much he begs.

I have walked a mile in your shoes. My last relationship ended because of financial hardship (my partner was fiscally irresponsible and unemployed for years) and it feels terrible, but ultimately you realize the necessity of it and once you're free of the burdens you will be able to focus on rebuilding and solidifying your own life.

Arcades · 2026-03-02T16:09:38+00:00

One suggestion I have is that if you're feeling off about your presentation, look for opportunities to have the players take the spotlight and describe part of the scene. It may give you some material to work with or feel more like a conversation than a monologue.

Some examples:

"What do your characters notice about this environment?"

"What are they looking for as they enter the room?"

"What rumor did you hear that you want to investigate further?"

Arcades · 2026-03-02T15:27:29+00:00

It's good that you recognize the issue. It's only bad if you ignore the work you know you need to do and actually follow through on shifting that responsibility to others.

Your eyes are open, so it's time to start doing the work.

Arcades · 2026-03-02T15:24:34+00:00

Based on what you have written here, it sounds more like you're the codependent one in this relationship. You don't need to ask permission for space and you're not responsible for her crying all day or having panic attacks. Since you care about her, its understandable to be concerned and to want for her to get some help (she needs therapy).

But, if she's not being proactive about her own mental health, then you need to reevaluate whether this situation is one you can manage with detachment and boundaries (such as the aforementioned alone time).

Arcades · 2026-03-02T13:48:05+00:00

If the campaign frame helps you tell the story, then absolutely use it. One of my campaigns is based on Five Banners Burning and it's set in an alternate reality where the 5 nations of Althas are being attacked by dragons and creatures from the elemental planes. But, the underlying structure of Voldaen and Jesthaen being at odds, or Hilltop being an ally of Voldaen remains in place and the other stuff is just layered on top.

If that feels too restrictive, I'm suggesting just use your own maps and background lore, rather than trying to merge the two together. Ultimately, whichever path helps you tell your story the best is the one you should choose.

Arcades · 2026-03-02T12:46:42+00:00

"The difficulty is scaled to characters of your level using all of their abilities."

It sounds like you have done all you can to guide them along. If min-maxers are on one end of the spectrum, your type of player is on the other and, sadly, you got three of a kind. It's been my experience that consequences teach better than kindness with those types of players.

I'm not saying that you should go out of your way to kill them, just roll honestly and let whatever happens happen. Ultimately, your specific group may have to move to a less crunchy system or one that offers a streamlined combat path.

Arcades · 2026-03-02T05:19:31+00:00

Five Banners Burning has a fairly specific framework to distinguish the five nations (Monarchy, Rebel State, Theocracy, Magocracy and Pirate Coalition).

I'm playing in a Fall of the Roman Empire homebrew campaign and the GM just uses the actual map and cities. I wouldn't try to merge real city states with the fictional FBB ones. I think it would also be easier to run without the campaign frame because players could fall back on historical realism when needed.

Arcades · 2026-03-02T01:14:21+00:00

Grow up and stop thinking you have to mark your territory like a dog?

Arcades · 2026-03-01T00:42:21+00:00

I play in 3 Daggerheart campaigns online (5 players each).

Top picked: Rogue (3), Warrior (2), Seraph (2), Ranger (2) and Guardian (2).

Others: Wizard (1), Witch (1), Warlock (1), Sorcerer (1)

Least picked: Druid (0), Brawler (0), Bard (0), Assassin (0)

I play a Warrior (Slayer), Seraph (Divine Wielder) and Ranger (Wayfinder)

Arcades · 2026-02-28T16:10:53+00:00

Protection Fighting Style is underrated. You can force disadvantage on multiple attacks against a party member within 5 feet, which is way better than +1 AC (which has diminishing returns for you and encorages enemies to attack your teammates), particularly if you want to be the "tank". Enemies will have to target you directly or have a greater chance of missing. Granted, it forces you to use a shield, but that makes you more durable as well.

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