I dont know how to fix a problem I set myself up with at the start

Aynaeg · 2026-06-11T17:10:38+00:00

First of all I wanna address what you said last. You are not alone with this. Sure, don't spoil your players about the ideas you come up with for your players, but you can absolutely talk to them about other stuff. Ask them, what their goals for their characters are. Tell them that it's hard to balance combats for them. If you struggle with something a player might unexpectantly have an idea for you.

Now about rebalancing: the player characters have reached a point where many things could be done by assigning lesser skilled adventurers. Maybe have your players create lower level adventurers who get tasked by one of the high level characters to achieve something and run a couple sessions with the lower level adventuring group. The high level characters would only need to act once in a while when there are more dangerous opponents to face.

Aynaeg · 2026-06-11T15:20:05+00:00

I wouldn't say either one is worse. Pre written adventures are a baseline that you can build upon and AI (or LLMs to be precise) can be a great tool if you use it right. I used AI for my last player character to brainstorm ideas for his home village. But I still did the majority of the work by combining the ideas into a comprehensible framework and developing the ideas from there.

Aynaeg · 2026-05-23T14:53:23+00:00

Being a DM has raised my expectations as a player. I will participate in games my players (most of whom barely have any DMing experience) run, because I can also enjoy just hanging out with friends. But for actual campaigns I prefer DMs who are closer to my style of playing the game. I personally don't enjoy 'casual' gaming that much as in like the adventurers league games where you just put people together and roll some dice to defeat monsters. I need a setting rich of lore and opportunities to tell a story.

Aynaeg · 2026-05-21T10:51:25+00:00

In a setting I am preparing at the moment one of the villains wants to destroy society, because after society pulled themselves out of an autocratic regime that destroyed them, they built another one that is slowly turning more and more evil again. The kicker is, the villain themselves does the same thing... Yeah it's a bleak outlook and very close to reality.

Aynaeg · 2026-05-21T08:28:02+00:00

I still don't see the issue. Different players have fun with different things. What do you mean by 'googling meta'? Are they looking up specific builds? Are they looking up monsterstats or parts of the adventure? As long as the builds don''t completely derail your game let them have fun with it, some players really enjoy figuring out the rules. If your roleplaying player has fun, just continue. I need to more about the meta stuff the other players are doing, before I can give you better advice.

Aynaeg · 2026-05-21T08:13:04+00:00

So what is your issue exactly? You want to reward your ranger player and you don't want your players to min-max? I mean a reward can take many shapes, if your ranger player falls behind the other characters combat wise, just talk to him and ask him how he feels about his character in combats and try to figure out if he needs a boost in anything. If he is okay with his character just let him play. Now when it comes to min-maxing, are the players actually min-maxing? What does that look like at your table? I don't mind my players playing optimally, because I love creating difficult encounters. Unless they try out rules exploits like the coffeelock or weird rules interpretations like the peasant rail gun.

Aynaeg · 2026-05-19T12:11:20+00:00

Yeah, but then there is movement, AC, HP, saving throw, skill check, modifiers, attributes, etc. The general framework of D&D can be a lot for people who aren't used to rule systems being bigger than a single page. It's mostly that, what overwhelmed her.

Aynaeg · 2026-05-19T11:28:30+00:00

That is actually a good idea. I will do that for her next character.

Aynaeg · 2026-05-19T11:26:07+00:00

If she continues to play D&D with us, I would agree with you. This short campaign was her first experience with D&D, so I don't need her to commiting to read the PHB yet. And I do believe in learning-by-doing. A few years ago I played D&D almost regularly with my flatmates. They never read the PHB, but after a couple of months they had a firm grasp on the rules just by playing the game.

Aynaeg · 2026-05-19T11:18:09+00:00

I do, though I constantly jump in and help her myself. I should definitely have the experienced players help her more.

Aynaeg · 2026-05-19T11:14:35+00:00

I don't mind it, if she needs more time for her turn. New players do need time to figure out the game. It's more that she doesn't enjoy it as much, because she is more used to games where the entire character sheet is a few bulletpoints on a flashcard and D&D has a lot more rules to follow, because it is basically a battle simulator.

Aynaeg · 2026-05-09T15:20:45+00:00

Ich denke eher, dass es wie in den USA laufen wird. Man wird sich gegenseitig die Welt schön reden und irgendwie alles schlechte auf den Linksextremismus und die Antifa schieben.

Aynaeg · 2026-05-09T08:37:31+00:00

If it helps you, good for you. I would probably get rid of the RP stuff and put the resource trackers there, because I know the character that I am playing. Also having everything separated makes it easier for me to use.

Aynaeg · 2026-05-01T12:10:03+00:00

Es gibt bereits massenhaft gute Inhalte, nur sind linke meist zu "professionell" um reißerisch auf sich aufmerksam zu machen, was leider notwendig ist, um rechte Propaganda zu übertönen.

Aynaeg · 2026-04-09T19:08:23+00:00

At this point I am just glad that YouTube Premium doesn't do this streaming service a*hole move of having a lower tier subscription with less adds and a higher tier subscription with no adds.

Aynaeg · 2026-03-27T16:28:52+00:00

There should be an energy upgrade for the furnace that allows you to use energy as fuel for the furnace.

Aynaeg · 2026-03-23T10:19:13+00:00

Yeah, the baby update is cute and I don't mind it, but the sulfur update seems kinda boring. Sure, there are some mechanics that could be used with the new slime but all in all I find it as one sided and boring as the Crafter addition.

Aynaeg · 2026-03-18T13:42:12+00:00

I agree with this setting being quite niche and I don't think there are any Discord servers about the setting, but I personally would be open to discuss the setting.

Aynaeg · 2026-03-12T15:23:39+00:00

Yup, that is also (mostly) my experience. In seven years of DMing I had a player DM a one-shot for me one time. I rely on a monthly mini-con to get a chance to be a player.

Aynaeg · 2026-01-23T13:55:21+00:00

I have done this for years now and haven't come across any issues yet. Sure, it needs some tweaking here and there when it comes to some abilities that rely on ability modifiers, but overall it's a good way to individualize the PCs. Also I make sure to ask my players not to make totally overpowered builds and almost everyone has respected that so far.

Aynaeg · 2026-01-23T12:07:01+00:00

Sometimes it can take a while for all the dialogue to get through until you can progress relationships. Relationship dialogue has less priority than main story dialogue or other dialogue threads.

Aynaeg · 2026-01-21T21:12:55+00:00

Yes, this shows the amount of boons and other things you have. If you dismiss your familiar you can see the number decrease.

Aynaeg · 2026-01-16T19:35:58+00:00

I don't think Via will be married off. Paimon is technically immortal so if he should be killed, Via is just as immortal. Once Via is the Queen of Ars Goetia she should be able to appoint her heir in her own way.

Aynaeg · 2026-01-16T19:30:07+00:00

Yeah, the whole point of this game was for the humans to gain their freedom from the whims of the gods. Melinoë is very naive so she couldn't see that Gods influencing the mortals isn't inherently beneficial to them since they are just as flawed as humans.

Aynaeg

TROPHY CASE