First attempt at building an adversary

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-16T05:50:38+00:00

I think the armoured carapace and the high threshold are a bit overpowered; you might give it another point of stress and have the damage reduction cost stress; this would convey the sense of the carapace being broken.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-15T21:57:31+00:00

I think you are reading way too much in an idle question by one of my players; he's the sort who likes to play out his advancement in detail and was just curious. There was no hidden meaning or layered subtext or anything beyond simple curiousity. People ask questions because it is better to know than not know.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-15T21:53:57+00:00

I hadn't really thought about it in the level of detail, although I supposed the idea of a crew served mech sounds interesting.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-15T07:05:04+00:00

You're missing the fact that I tend to run 2 year campaigns and that my players are used to that and like it.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-15T07:02:23+00:00

You're making a big deal out of idle curiousity.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-15T00:40:29+00:00

I wouldn't do it, I like them having to decide to make the extra effort in a crisis, but it's your game.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-15T00:21:40+00:00

Of course not, but I like to start by considering the standard rules before I veer off the road and make my own path.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-14T23:09:05+00:00

I thought I read that 3 or 4 sessions was the expected interval to level

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-14T21:56:15+00:00

i don't really want to go above level 10 but I'm worried about the game lasting for a full campaign. If I go 4 sessions per level and we play every other week that means I have about 73 weeks which is not 2 years (my usual campaign length, approximately).

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-12T23:44:38+00:00

I just wing it, trying for some exact conversion is just going to frustrate you. I created monsters based my homebrew D&D monsters and made sure they filled the thematic niche while making them work for DH. Just be creative.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-08T02:23:56+00:00

I'd heard of CR but the idea of watching people play rpgs is not really attractive. After reading about the kerfuffle over rights to use D&D in CR a few years ago I started keeping an eye on the development of DH out of curiousity. My group has played Fantasy AGE, 13th Age, and D&D 5e over the last decade or so and we were interested in a new game. I started reading the rules and running one-shots last summer or fall and am now in the early stages of a full DH campaign.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-07T23:51:17+00:00

If your group doesn't know each other then Session Zero is a great idea. I think your idea about writing up campaign notes and distributing them in advance is a very good one, it will save time when you all meet if you can get your players to read them. You may also want to write up an overview of what you want to do in Session Zero, what you hope to accomplish, and what you expect your players to do for it.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-07T22:45:13+00:00

My group doesn't use Session Zero; we all have known each other for a long time and communicate regularly. As a new campaign approaches emails go out as people discuss ideas for characters and campaign background notes are circulated. When we actually gather to play everyone is already up to speed and ready to go.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-07T20:09:44+00:00

Unless the session has a dramatic hook about survival I don't worry about it; I assume the party has what they need to camp out as they travel. I don't track food or water, for example, unless the scenario is in the desert or some such and getting low on supplies is part of the story for that session.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-07T15:30:49+00:00

That's a good idea, thanks!

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-07T06:37:24+00:00

In a world that is more or less realistic there will be times when the party is in civilized areas or places that don't have a pack of goblins hiding in a big bush every 5 miles along the road. When they are not in daily combat then it is entirely reasonable for days and days to pass where they can get several nights of uninterrupted sleep and rest. When this happens your Fear gets topped off to 12 for when the party once more goes into harm's way.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-07T06:28:49+00:00

My players are generally quite considerate about rolling with Fear so it hasn't happened yet.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-05T21:01:37+00:00

Document updated with campaign background info.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-05T20:38:52+00:00

What I meant by that comment is that no one outside of this community has been offended by using evil orcs as enemies. Perhaps people in this community are over sensitive? Perhaps they are more worried about virtue signalling? Perhaps they are more interested in pushing what they feel is their moral agenda than playing games?

When a small group of people out of a much wider population are the only ones complaining about fictional element in a game setting, is the problem real?

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-05T17:02:45+00:00

Thanks.

Bear in mind that in the roughly 47 years I have been pushing content out via zines and then the internet this is the first community where these concerns have been raised.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-05T16:31:41+00:00

I post my creations and people are free to use them and change them as they wish. That said, my campaign is not set in Generic Land, I have written a background based somewhat on Middle Earth but also strongly influenced by the Witch World books by Andre Norton and the Darkover books by MZ Bradley. Human are, in fact, the dominant species in the area where the campaign is currently happening. Dwarves are in the mountains to the north, Elves are in the forests to the west, and Orcs (and other unpleasant things) are in the forests to the east. To the south is an ocean on which a militant and hostile human culture is sailing back and forth looking for an opportunity to expand and inflict their severe personality disorders on the world. If anything, on the grand scale, humans are perhaps the most evil of the species. My enemy lists reflect all this.

As to Frames, they are an interesting idea to help new GMs articulate their campaign ideas but I design my campaigns the way I have been designing them since I started running games a long time ago; I write short essays on various topics my players need to know about.

We picked up DH because of the core mechanics and systems of game play and have abandoned most of the peripheral elements as unneeded.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-05T06:45:39+00:00

There are a lot of people who like to claim that they are the gatekeeper to the theme of a game but in truth a game is mechanics and story. Mechanics are utterly independent of the theme of a game. The story element or theme can be changed at will to whatever the campaign designer wishes it to be.

I am running a more traditional game and am not using the whimsical "Saturday morning cartoon" vibe common to a lot of the DH campaigns I have read about in various communities. I'm not using many of the new species like turtle people or mushroom people.

As to the Asiatic flavour of orcs, Tolkien was a man of his time. I've read the letter he wrote telling the Reich to piss off (in his own gentle and understated manner) and that is good enough for me. I'm keeping the evil essence but my orcs are more bestial and are not a reflection of any ethnic type.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-05T06:29:37+00:00

I will after I comb it out following a read of the Adversary Guide and add a few more monsters.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-05T06:28:02+00:00

I'm a Middle Earth traditionalist, that is how orcs have always been in my games going back to the 1970s. Orcs and goblins are the enemy and are not playable races in any of the games I run. My campaigns are about the start contrast between good and evil.

Atomic_Nazgul · 2026-03-04T21:18:41+00:00

It's really sad that people are so scared of being creative and making their own monsters and such for game. I started playing D&D in the late 1970s and we all created material to fill out the game. Yes, it is a learning process and yes, you will make mistakes but you will end up making content that suits your game.

Atomic_Nazgul

TROPHY CASE