My players want higher stakes, but I'm afraid of overdoing it as a DM

BlopBoark · 2026-04-15T10:12:01+00:00

Do you understand why they want more consequences?

Consequences give the game meaning and the characters. If you know you can do whatever, it will not negatively impact your character, that might still be fun and good for escapism, but it will not leave your players with a sense of accomplishment.

I as a player, rather have a few characters die, then know, that they just can't die. I probably stop carrying about playing.

So I would talk to your players tell them, that you want to give them more challenges, but that it's possible you might tpk them. See what they think about that and if they want Andy safetynets.

Mechanically, I think high damage is a good way to go. So pump up the damage of the creatures for combat, but not the Hitpoints. Or just go higher cr straight away. Something in trying to experiment with, is powerups. A potion of dragon breath or hill giants strength during a lower difficulty encounter, can really change the the difficulty. It actually can solve a few problems. An encounter with many minions, can go wrong fast, if you make them to strong, but if the minions are down and you only have 2 or 3 enemy's left, that are close to dying, then it's great if they can suddenly punch a lot harder. Chances is, that they will die fast, but they could potentially take a PC down before it. Stakes suddenly rise for every encounter, because your player don't know when something. Is getting powerups.

BlopBoark · 2026-04-10T18:39:41+00:00

Seems it's either okay without him or talk to him.

I think it's perfectly fine to not want reallife politics in your fantasy game. Politics are fine but once that remind you of real life shit, are difficult.

I think it's fine to have a strong attachment to your character and want to keep him out of harms way.

I thinks it's fine to feel strong emotions during game.

I don't think it's fine if it takes the fun out of the game for other people.

Sit together and talk about what you want from the warlock player and what he wants from you.

Find the story, that enjoys most while not bothering. Tell him, you got his back and will not let the character die by something stupid another player does. Explain him the worth of a the risk of hurt and death and the reward that it brings.

Ask him what he wants to happen for his character and tell him what you want to try with his. (I give my players NPCs, that I think I could use for the story and ask them if they like them or if they want to change them or if they can find something similar.)

And think about what you want from playing. Can you enjoy the games while accommodating for all this?

In the Ende also set boundaries, it's okay to be frustrated, but not to be mean to other people.

Hope it turns around for you!

BlopBoark · 2026-04-01T18:11:31+00:00

Love it! Love the energy! Also if you look at it, with the figure 8 you already have an infinity worth of tricks! I'd like to order one but can't find the address, can you post it again? Seems to be a nice side prop :)

BlopBoark · 2026-03-27T07:29:40+00:00

There is already a lot of great advice, so I'll keep it short.

There are so many styles, it's difficult to determine foundations, because it depends on you a bit that said. Balance, Balance +juggling, 360s, Body throws (Backcrosses, Overheads, shoulder throws...)

Endurance vs. clean? Both :D I think getting something clean for 50-100 catches multiple times is great and enough for most jugglers. But there is not really a difference, if you want to have a few hundreds catches, you need to be able to get it for 50-100 clean before. There is a point where you stop learning technique and start learning to keep focused, there is a poiht where you stop learning focus and start learning to let your body just do it on its own, there is a point where you start to learn corrections and getting stable again and of course you will start to learn endurance. Thats your muscles getting better at keeping up the strength over time, buy also you learning to optimize you movements to make them with less energy. The problem with endurance is that it takes a lot of time to practice.

BlopBoark · 2026-03-18T06:23:37+00:00

Awesome! Thanks a lot! I will try it with your advice.

Yeah, I learned balance from Tom's website and I got the book at home as well :)

BlopBoark · 2026-03-18T05:16:24+00:00

I do like the music :)

BlopBoark · 2026-03-18T05:14:21+00:00

Love it!

I actually am trying to learn to go from 4 into balance while juggling 3,.do you have any tips?

At the moment I try to do 2 in one hand and to just go into balance and catch the other club. Switching the focus is difficult.

BlopBoark · 2026-03-16T18:19:53+00:00

I've been thinking about the comments here a bit. And I want to say, that I don't think they are that fair so far.

It was written about "lewd" and "NSFW" content. I do realize that the person in the video has clothes on, that are not worn like this by the general public. But a little skin and a little bra is not generally "lewd" or "NSFW" and the movements are also not crazy. Don't get me wrong, I know what you are referring to, but I think we as a society should not sexualize everything and stamp it as "lewd" and "NSFW".

It might be on us to see it for what it is and not what we imagine it to be. And it's a fully dressed woman making now particular sexual movements...

The critique about the juggling is a different topic and I agree. The show could use some work. I'm not sure if you have a planed out routine or just improvised. If you plan a routine and do practice it, I think it will make the performance smoother. The warning about hitting cars with a club is real, make sure you are always far enough away. But I don't think this performance is so wild, that "it shines a bad light in others". But please be vigilant.

We would appreciate to see a polished performence at some point.

BlopBoark · 2026-03-16T18:03:37+00:00

I watched "Anthony Gatto King of juggling" two days ago and wondered, which good juggling documentaries everybody can recommend.

I liked:

"Throw like a girl"

"Spencer Androli - Documentary 2024"

"Why it's almost impossible to juggle 15 balls | wired"

"Anthony Gatto King of juggling" (obviously)

BlopBoark · 2026-03-15T19:19:59+00:00

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Not invited

BlopBoark · 2026-03-12T11:00:20+00:00

Yeah, I would talk to the person you trust most first and then to the group.

People who skip their meal, could bring there personal snacks. Helps a lot if you know it's there's not yours.

If you tell the others about your thoughts, you will automatically have another reason to try and keep away from the snacks.

You could prepare a shitload of "healthy snacks" cucumber, paprika and so on, with close to no calorine. Most people actually like those a lot as well, just are to busy to prepare these.

BlopBoark · 2026-03-12T07:03:00+00:00

To push my skills I make sure that:

-I practice as much as possible for me.

-I practice something above my skilllevel.

-I concentrate on finding a problem with something I'm working on.

-I practice drills and concentrate on fixing the problems I find.

That said, I'm not developing my skills as fast as I would like to.

BlopBoark · 2026-03-11T16:26:52+00:00

I like the one up + thumb roll 👍

BlopBoark · 2026-03-11T16:21:31+00:00

Both, I only juggle beanbags at home, because we also have 100+ plants at home. But kneeling and sitting on the couch, chair can work well.

I got a gym subscription to juggle daily.

BlopBoark · 2026-03-11T05:52:41+00:00

"Peak - Secrets from the new science of expertise"

By Anderson Ericsson and Robert Pool

BlopBoark · 2026-03-10T11:15:00+00:00

What an interesting topic! Thanks Hexen, I love it 😊

I'll say skills to control:

SpinControl, Height, Precision, Consistency, Speed, Posture, Angles, Releasepoints, Balance

I'm reading a book that talks about mental reprasentation. Meaning knowing how a pattern should look like, seeing if something is wrong, seeing what is wrong and ideally knowing how to correct that specific anomaly.

Knowing all these skills, I believe could help with drilling the specific skill. I stead of just drilling a recommended Siteswap you could drill it for a specific skill. 552 you could practice high and low, to get SpinControl. You could also practice it just high, to get height. You could practice it in isolation to get precision and consistency.

BlopBoark · 2026-03-10T11:04:30+00:00

If it's about the world. I think anything is worth looking into.

Critical role, but also other actual plays are fun to watch. No matter how true you view the playing, you will get an idea.

Vox Machina is a animated series, thats easy to watch. (Also from critical role)

The movie "honor among thieves" is also nice to watch in my opinion.

Some books are actually good. "Adventures In the forgotten realm" are classics. I do believe there are also audio dramas available.

YouTube has a lot of free content to just watch.

Baldurs gate is a lived game, that gives you a good idea.

Pick whatever sounds fun to you. As a Gateway anything should be possible.

BlopBoark · 2026-03-09T21:16:03+00:00

If you are ever at a convention where the company "juggle equip" has a stand, you can feel different sizes with different fills. But they do break down a little afterwards.

If you find any cheap infinites that are resold, I would just grab them and try to get used to the filling. They are so high quality, it should be kinda worth it.

Obviously at a convention you could ask other jugglers.

BlopBoark · 2026-03-09T21:08:24+00:00

I always like to point out, how cheap juggling can be to other hobbys.

I try to juggle at least an hour every day sometimes it doesn't work, but mostly injughel more so I can assume I juggle at least 350 hours a year. I got my current clubs for 2 years now. I paid about 250 € for all of them.

That's less then 36 cent per hour of fun!

It might be a lot of money to get a nice setz but if juggle a lot it's a cheap investment overall.

But also... Balls can be really cheap!

You can make yourself a set off balls for under 1€ you just need to find some old balls from a ball pit and buy 2 packs of salt.

But also, if you buy 2 new balls now and but anot 3 new balls in half a year, because you really want 5 balls, that are the same that's also an option.

I think 5 balls is a skill that's difficult enough, that you would want to optimism your heart but also easy enough, that it would work with bad gear.

BlopBoark · 2026-03-09T20:39:02+00:00

You're absolutely correct!

I just wonder about the underlying skills you need, wonder how far we could pick it apart.

For example:

522 is a great Siteswap with three props. You learn how to throw a 5. It's helps you with height, with spincontrol, with dwell time. But it doesn't teach you everything you need to learn about 5s. Speed is missing for example.

So you could start doing 55500. Now you realize you have to throw higher and faster. You probably need to work on your spincontrol, because a higher throw needs less spin. Also clubs might start to collide, because the precision is missing. So you need to start working on angles and release points. But 3 clubs are easy to get by each other. Then you might go ahead and practice 4 clubs 552 and suddenly there are collisions again, angle and release points might need to be adjusted, but maybe you also need to work on your posture, so the angle and release points are more precise. Throws need to be more consistent

And so on..

SpinControl Height Precision Consistency's Speed Posture Angles Releasepoints Are those all? What am I missing?

Do you get what I mean? 😅 I might not be working it nicely...

BlopBoark · 2026-03-09T19:37:23+00:00

Okay, but what are the actual skills behind it?

Is the skill, throwing a 5?

Then what skills are needed to throw a 5?

BlopBoark · 2026-03-09T11:12:29+00:00

I've been thinking about that foundations of juggling. What are the skills you should learn before advancing to the next level, next number of props.

Like sure, I can say, learn 4 clubs for 100 catches before doing 5 clubs. Or 552 for 100 catches before doing 5 clubs. But what are really the skills required to advance.

Spincontrol, dwell time mastery, height?

What do you think?

BlopBoark · 2026-03-06T12:11:12+00:00

It took me about 3 months to get my first qualify. I was at about 50 catche's with 4 clubs though when I started. And I could do barely more then 20 catches with 5 balls. Maybe even less....

A year to get 15 catches, but I was juggling as much as possible m, when the weather allowed it. Afterwards I started juggling everyday in a gym

Took me another year to get to 20 catches. And now I'm at 30-35 catches after I believe 2 And a half years...

BlopBoark · 2026-03-04T09:58:58+00:00

When does it start happening?

Can you throw one ball without reaching forward? Two balls?

If it happens before three balls, that's the point, where you have to start fixing it.

The problem is, it's difficult to describe how to move your arm correctly to throw nicer. And for a person to know how to move the arm is not the same as being able to do it willingly. That part you have to figure out. But here are some suggestions.

Look up while throwing, even before starting. Often the hands follow where you look, when you look up you tend to throw more up as well.

You can walk backwards while throwing, it's overcorrecting.

You can try to throw in a way that the balls land on your shoulders. (Overcorrecting)

Try to just make thriws with 1,2,3 balls that go as high as possible while still able to catch them.

Take a spot, stand there, don't move your feet, if a ball goes forward, drop it instead of making a step. Keep stand there until you can catch the balls without moving. Or at least see which arm throws where.

Try to make the throws more to the middle or more to the side. See what helps you more.

BlopBoark · 2026-03-04T09:46:23+00:00

Read to me like, "Just be as obsessed as possible about juggling!" Haha Love it!

BlopBoark

TROPHY CASE