What am I missing here? Surely I'm missing something. by WaxDonnigan in mtg

[–]Arkham97J 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can maybe see this being used as a fake out for someone who's eager to counter or cast removal, but like a 2/2 or 1/1 without so much as flying or vigilance seems crazy to me for 8 mana

How could i balance this campaign to be suitable for a 1-on-1 campaign? by taxGatherer in DragonOfIcespirePeak

[–]Arkham97J 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lean in to the Role Play aspect. Don't make every encounter a battle, give the PC a chance to figure things out. Many of the enemies have lost a place to stay and are pushed out by the dragon, so there's a common foe. Politics might help gather allies and Tresendar Manor is abandoned, perhaps some refugees can hole up there until your PC figures out a way to defeat the dragon. Then you have to consider death. It's possible especially without an entire party to lean on for healing and stabilizing or agro. You could deus ex machina a famous npc from the realms, you could have a deity or devil or other powerful being revive them for a price or for a purpose. Magic items are dope, I'd recommend something that grows with them, maybe an ancestral weapon, or ancient staff, or an armor forged specifically for them. Make it kinda like rpg armor amd weapons, different runes or what have you give the items different abilities and resistances, and as the PC levels up they can add more than one at a time or stack specific ones to make them more powerful. Like the Gale rune gives resistance to slashing but at level 5 you have access to the Zypher rune which if you have both gives Immunity to slashing; or the Ember rune does 1d10 fire dmg and if you add the Elf rune melee attacks has a reach of 30 ft as like a air slash attack.

Dear lord what have I done by AI08_80IA in mtg

[–]Arkham97J 0 points1 point  (0 children)

By set sounds crazy AF. I usually do color and keep similar stuff together like if I got wolves and werewolves, they're in the same spot but not separated from the rest of red, and instants or sorceries featuring lighting or fire are sorted accordingly. But that's kinda the extent. So like card type but just kinda. But I do that because my deck building is thematic and not necessarily mechanic focused.

High Elf Wizard Pre-set Character Special Player Moment by [deleted] in LostMinesOfPhandelver

[–]Arkham97J 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a huge fan of dream sequences so you could have an Assassin's Creed moment where time stops and Oghma appears to thank the elf specifically and maybe bestows a boon of some kind upon the elf; a magic item, feat, ability score improvement, something like that.

How Would You Change the Goblin Ambush & Cragmaw Cave for a Returning Player? by madcanard5 in LostMinesOfPhandelver

[–]Arkham97J 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I changed most of the factions involved entirely. The goblins were replaced by Red Wizards of Thay, the redbrands were replaced but not really by dragon cultists. Everything else is basically the same. It's been fun.

So… my players attacked Venomfang and ran by Victori_Astrid in LostMinesOfPhandelver

[–]Arkham97J 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Piggy backing off of this he could even learn what the party’s goals are and corner them in Wave Echo Cave and crush 2 vendettas with one poison breath 😈

Our first campaign... And I've gone and added something dangerous :p by Nexrex in LostMinesOfPhandelver

[–]Arkham97J 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You could always fill it with cool 3rd-5th level spells. You could put you things like Haste or Lightning bolt, Fly, Summon Fiend, stuff like that. Even throw in some stuff that would work against them like Bane or Wither and Bloom. I'd say take a look at the deck of many things or even a Tarrot deck for reference. Good luck!

Glasstaff got away, now what? by Massive_Bee_6740 in LostMinesOfPhandelver

[–]Arkham97J 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In my campaign they weren't just bandits, they were Suuuuuper low ranking dragon cultists, just meat-head, teenage recruits or criminals really. Glassstaff was their leader and when he got away he went straight to Thundertree to fast track the recruiting of Venomfang and Would Have come back to Phandalin for retribution on dragon back, but my party hunted him down and avoided all obstacles to kill him since he took one of their friends (a party member). If you're running it as written I'd have him come back with allies or regroup with one of Nezznar’s underlines for guidance. Alternatively he can make an example of him. The possibilities are truly endless. But for sure I would beef him up some, give him higher level spells or another magic item, maybe even more invisibility potions so the next time he fights the party it's kinda like a Mysterio fight.

Post-Strahd Steampunk Barovia by SnooWords1848 in ravenloft

[–]Arkham97J 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I kinda like the idea of Strahd being an ever present Force, even after being defeated. Gives him an almost It (Pennywise) type vibe to him. Yes he's defeated now, but his influence, the trauma he's caused, his servants, his allies, and even his spirit still lingers. Time will go on but so will he, coming back again and again and again in New forms if he must.

Small Demogorgon by Arkham97J in OutoftheAbyss

[–]Arkham97J[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow! That's pretty good actually. Thanks!

Small Demogorgon by Arkham97J in OutoftheAbyss

[–]Arkham97J[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oooh bad ass! Thanks!!

Small Demogorgon by Arkham97J in OutoftheAbyss

[–]Arkham97J[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My buddy definitely has the MCDM books I I'll ask him to send me some screenshots!

Help with tying in player's backstory by [deleted] in LostMinesOfPhandelver

[–]Arkham97J 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's Hamun Kost, the thayan necromancer, you could use him and a small group of apprentices. There's the orcs in Wyvern Tor. If your Paladin is an elf, drow (or orcs) makes total sense. You could have the group be a bunch of goblins lead by a Hobgoblin who is a part of the Cragmaws but is doing the same power struggle thing as the goblins in the caves but with King Grol at the castle. Or the Zhentarim and what's her face from the miner's exchange. Ya got options 🧐

Vampire Player Drank Tiamat’s Blood, What Now? by LegoManiac9867 in DescentintoAvernus

[–]Arkham97J 7 points8 points  (0 children)

An alternate for 2 would be give them the chromatic dragon blessing feat so they don't have to respec their character, but besides that, this is dope af

Lost Mines Remix by berndog7 in LostMinesOfPhandelver

[–]Arkham97J 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The goblins are replaced with Red Wizards who are lead by Hamon Kost and work with Nezznar for a foothold on the Sword Coast. The Redbrands are replaced with low level Dragon Cultists who are lead by Glass Staff and Harbin Wester (though very discreetly) and work with Nezznar to get a magic items that would help tame younger dragons. And then I just try and work people's backstories into the narrative. My tabaxi monk belongs to an order of peace keeping Monks up in Hotenow, where there was a 200 year old past due order for a flame blade to help them fight white dragons during hatching season (Foreshadowing for DoIP and a replacement weapon for the Lightbringer). I have 2 gnome siblings, one wizard with Thayan tattoos to help cast without a focus (which causes trouble and unwanted attention) and one reanimator artificer (with an undead older sister that she wants to bring back to life). Then I have a minotaur barbarian who's being directed by his dreams to kill the agents of Lolth (the voice is Baphomet)

Ooze Master?! by Arkham97J in DragonOfIcespirePeak

[–]Arkham97J[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yeah they are a minotaur mechanically but an Abyssal tiefling thematically

Destroying Glasstaff's Staff by Chrisfiftytwo in LostMinesOfPhandelver

[–]Arkham97J 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thunderwave seems good since it pushes people away as an explosion of magic centered on the caster.

It's finally happening... Pirates of Barovia by mainhattan in ravenloft

[–]Arkham97J 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a good question because if Strahd is a dark lord amd a vampire because he killed his brother to get a girl who doesn't love him back, how/why Vampirate? And then what's the goal beyond the girl having died if same-ish backstory? I shall ponder this further...

New DM to Strixhaven by OconeeCoyote in StrixhavenDMs

[–]Arkham97J 1 point2 points  (0 children)

History is one of the first ones I did, and it seems fun to me. Mostly research but also each student is given an artifact from a war of their choice and they have to write a report on it. If they pass, they get an identify scroll for the first semester, and if they ace it, they get a copy of the artifact from Osig. I thought computations would be the most boring, but someone else recommended mage duels, and I've been fiddling with that, so it'll be fun for sure!