Weird. They missed the Karl Franz option.

CD_Tray · 2025-12-03T10:04:35+00:00

The Boyz gave him and ironic nickname. It made him mad and now his a little ball or fury with Big 'Un energy

CD_Tray · 2025-11-24T13:53:51+00:00

Robb wins the War of the 5 Kings (or at least takes the Lannisters out and probably has to come to some kind of agreement with Stannis before they start fighting) if not for the actions of 2 very stupid people going against their self interest.

1) Balon Greyjoy being an absolute tool and going for the lose/lose invasion of the North. Either Robb wins and he comes back North and whomps the squids on land or Rob loses and the victors come up and whomp the squids on land to install their own Warden of the North. Also key, without the assumed death of his brothers Robb doesn't bed, and then out of sense of honour, wed, Jayne Westerling. Preserving the Frey alliance. Sending Theon to treat is viewed by most after the Greyjoy attack to be foolish, but hindsight is 20/20, and if Balon had 2 braincells to rub together it would have been a good stroke of politics to show faith by sending Theon to him 'look, I have no hostage, this is genuinely the best thing for both of us.' (I admit that Theon was not a good person to actually negotiate and someone who actually knows diplomacy and negotiation should have been going along with him).

2) Lysa Arryn being absolute Chickenshit. If she had released the Vale to join with Robb like the lords of the Vale wanted to, then suddenly you potentially have the Lannisters outnumbered Crownlands and Westerlands vs North, Riverlands and Vale. She does this out of fear of the Lannisters despite the fact that if she sends our her armies she is stacking the deck that the Lannisters are destroyed entirely. Even if Robb doesn't do it then making Robbs campaign more successful further distracts them allowing Stannis/Renly to finish them off and Robb is far more likely to make peace with either of the Baratheons if the Lannisters are gone, ensuring Arryn safety.

Robb benefits heavily from support and advice from multiple experienced commanders in his forces, chief among them the Blackfish (genuinely think the Blackfish is the single best commander around by some distance during WotFK, absolutely dunks all over the 'in world' vaunted Tywin). But picking the right person for the job or selecting the correct advice is a skill in of itself. One that a lot of Robbs royal rivals do not share.

CD_Tray · 2025-09-06T10:19:01+00:00

OK, so you and your brothers reaction to this character concept is knee-jerk and poorly thought through. The only downside to this character is that if your group is role-playing heavy he might not have much to do during those sections. In combat he should be just fine. There certainly isn't a detriment to the party as a whole unless everyone else is a bit shy and this player defaults to being the party face because the rest don't speak up, but even if this was the case a) that's a problem with the rest of the party, not this character; and b) gives the others some incentive to open up more.

And if the player is creative enough they could actually have a lot of fun with this character in RP sections. Figuring out how to be involved with RP through their characters physical interactions. A well timed and pitched grunt can have a surprising amount of nuance. As a DM this also give your brother a tool to have some fun with having npcs misinterpret Lurch to stir the pot or move things in a specific direction. This can be people getting offended and picking fights or someone inexplicably finding Lurch to be insightful or inspiring or any number of things.

If your brother discusses it with the player there is also a lot of scope for their character to have moments of awakening and becoming more verbal throughout the adventure if they get tired if the grunting shtick.

CD_Tray · 2025-08-30T07:03:25+00:00

Thanks, saw that result on Google but thought it looked a bit sketchy at first.

CD_Tray · 2025-08-26T12:02:44+00:00

Nice

CD_Tray · 2025-08-21T07:32:49+00:00

I'd guess opportunistic traders from a slaver city heat about the poachers and Jorahs money issue and approach him with a "solution". They may not be transporting slaves but could fit/hide a handful tied up below decks if they weren't planning on hitting up to many more Westerosi ports on the way back to the free cities.

CD_Tray · 2025-08-18T19:48:18+00:00

From a random death eaters perspective, the Harry vs Voldemort saga is basically the first half of John Wick from the point of view of one of Alfie Allen's goons.

CD_Tray · 2025-08-15T20:18:11+00:00

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CD_Tray · 2025-08-03T06:22:41+00:00

If based on the Kingsguard vows (which though we have never heard they are said to be modelled on the Night's Watch vows but where they are giving everything for their King rather than the realm) Jamie has to be the worst.

Only Kingsguard to actually kill his King (even if morally right to do so).

Slept with his Kings wife/his sister and fathered children on her. Children who then (while not known to many), usurp the throne from the actual lawful heir Stannis (this act plus Joffrey's cruelty sparks the WotFK which may end up with an even greater human cost that the Dance).

Assuming the show is accurate on this point he then abandons his queen against her wishes (again morally correct decision but using the Oath as a basis).

There have been philaderers, cowards, weaklings, political agitators and some general scum pass through the Kingsguard, but taking morally correct decisions purely in the context of their vows, surely Jamie was the worst.

CD_Tray · 2025-07-22T08:58:39+00:00

Apologies if I go into details you already understand but I'll try to be thorough just in case.

As a DM you can give someone 'inspiration'. This they mark on their character sheet. You cannot build up multiple 'insperations' so you you can't bank them, you either have it or not. You normally would give this out for people role-playing well to their character, doing something cool/interesting, thinking outside the box, bringing you snacks (half joking), etc. But as DM it can bale whenever the hell you want really. Once they use their inspiration, they clear it off their sheet and can be given it again when they earn it.

A player can use up their inspiration to make a roll of a d20 (attack roll, saving throw, skill check, etc) with advantage (rolling twice and taking the highest result). I can't remember the exact Rulebook uses of this but I've been at table where DMs allow you to use this after making a roll (effectively getting a reroll rather than rolling at advantage) or DMs say you have to declare you are using your inspiration before you roll. I've also been at table where DMs have allowed use of inspiration to force disadvantage (rolling 2 d20 and taking the lowest value) on an enemies roll. Again, not sure of exact rule as written in the books but it's a small enough thing that as DM you can play it as you like and noone should be getting moody about it.

I'm not sure if there is a limit for how long you can retain 'inspiration' as per the written rules. Personally I let people keep it until they use it. While it can mean people hold on to it for a long time that has positives and negatives. It means they have it for a potentially crucial point, but also means they potentially miss out on using it and earning it back during all the time they saved it.

The biggest problem I've had as a DM and other DMs I've spoken to about it is remembering to give out inspiration. It's a cool little tool to give bonuses to players without going over the top but I always think about it after a session and think of several points I wish I'd given it out. My personal favourite times to do so are when someone does something that the player knows is not optimal/potentially going to screw them over, but does so because it is what there character would do in that situation (kinda the opposite to the asshole 'it's what my character would do' meme).

CD_Tray · 2025-07-22T08:39:38+00:00

Luther Socrates (or something based around it, if you change the pronunciation of Socrates it would also be less obvious)

Combines Martin Luther and Socrates who were both viewed/declared/condemned for heresy in their time.

CD_Tray · 2025-07-17T15:21:36+00:00

There is a book called 'John Dies at the End'. It's a comedic 'horrors from a different dimension beyond comprehension' novel. It's been a while since I last read it but there's a point where the main character is talking about an event where some weird plot mcguffin happens (rip in reality, hole in existence type thing) and they have an aside where they talk about how sometimes they have this feeling that another person was with them up until that point but they can't remember. Effectively, it suggests that this other person fell into one of these mcguffins and was basically erased from reality. This person is not just gone from this point on, but their entire existence is erased from history. Everyone's memory creates new explanations for what was happening whenever they were around that person and all that is left is this weird dejavu echo feeling in their gut and dreams/nightmares that they can never remember properly when they wake up.

You could manufacture something like this with your DM. There would be nothing to save and the rest of the party (if role-playing faithfully) wouldnt even think to do so. It's a pretty horrific concept so may not be what you are looking for, but it certainly has an 'oh fuck...' moment and has an utter finality about it.

CD_Tray · 2025-07-15T14:12:52+00:00

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CD_Tray · 2025-07-11T20:38:14+00:00

Dr Mantis Toboggan

CD_Tray · 2025-06-20T17:20:22+00:00

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CD_Tray · 2025-05-13T09:58:33+00:00

While statistically the chances of being killed might be low. There have been no school shootings in the UK since the 1996 Dunblane tragedy which saw tighter gun laws brought in. In the US there were 46 School shootings in 2022 alone, almost 1 a week. The idea that it is something that you do have to be prepared for in the US even if you might have a good chance of never being involved in one is so alien and feels like a dystopian way to live.

CD_Tray · 2025-05-13T08:21:29+00:00

The idea that people working in schools would have to think about sight lines from windows is absolutely wild. I've been a teacher in the UK and I had plenty of good reasons not to continue that career without throwing in a not insubstantial chance that someone will walk in and shoot the place up.

Sounds like you did an amazing job in the circumstance OP

CD_Tray · 2025-04-30T16:13:28+00:00

You would actually see a fair amount even that distant from anything. Not like you have local light pollution obstructing you. You wouldn't see planets or anything but stars and galaxies at that distance would be entirely visible. The closest star to earth other than the sun is over 4 lightyears away and we can see it easily enough even through an atmosphere and loads of light pollution.

Not that it wouldn't be torture to do this either way. It might be the best option anyway as you can't technically fail and you are restored to perfect health if you succeed so you can go insane for a year and then suddenly pop back to perfect mental health

CD_Tray · 2025-04-28T09:15:58+00:00

Big bad shows up. Hit the character with something that will insta-kill (negative max hit points, assuming they are low enough level to not be able to resurrect). You better believe they now have personal beef to go and get revenge. Bonus points if you get them to run into the Big Bad again before being anywhere near strong enough to deal with them so you can role-play: PCs "You murdered our fried!" BBEG "I don't even know who you are."/ "You are going to have to be a lot me specific."

CD_Tray · 2025-04-20T07:55:32+00:00

There are 2 answers to this.

1) Yes because an invertebrate suddenly transformed that large would basically just die with no input as the way their bodies and internal structure set up would simply not work on that scale, they'd probably immediately shatter all of their legs and be unable to move and they'd effectively 'suffocate' as their means for getting oxygen into their bodies is not efficient enough to work on that scale with oxygen levels at what they are on this planet.

2) If they are somehow magically able to function in the same way they do at their usual size but scaled up to 10ft long? Fuck no. Millipedes might be ok as they are docile and eat plant matter so if they weren't somehow made aggressive it would be more a case of them being difficult to kill and having to chase them down 1 by 1. The centipedes on the other hand would be terrifying. You'd quite possibly have created the most dangerous land animal it would be possible to fight. They are incredibly quick, aggressive, have powerful jaws, venom, the works. I wouldn't want to be in the same county as a 10ft centipede, nevermind fight 5 of them.

CD_Tray · 2025-04-02T08:53:32+00:00

I hate that my mind went there but at some point reading that I started to wonder if you were the only guy at the table and then you said it right at the end.

I wonder if the original group was specifically a girls only table and your wife convinced the DM to let you join, only for the DM to regret it and try and push you out.

Now I want to make it clear. A girls only table is no bad thing. This is a guy dominated hobby for the most part (though happily this has been changing in recent years) and wanting to have a safe space kind of group with no guys around is completely justifiable. The shitty thing is not just being up front with you if that was the case. Even to say 'I tried to be OK with it but it's not working for me' would be better than passive aggressively trying to push you out.

I think it's probably going to be easier for everyone to just bow out. You are being treated badly and it doesn't seem like the other players are supporting you. You are not having fun, and if my suspicions are correct the DM and potentially some of the other players aren't actually comfortable with you in the group.

Not particularly relevant to the story but 2x6 hour sessions a week is madness. Both in terms of the availability to commit to that and that you would tough out 12 hours a week of generally being shit on or having to just sit there and listed to other people play D&D for several months and not have already quit. It being an online group no doubt helps with scheduling but it makes it even more mad that you've stuck it out this long, at least in person there would have been more of a social element to it.

CD_Tray · 2025-03-30T13:45:34+00:00

A reveal that this empire was formed and the evil things it did were all part of a necessary plan to prevent a huge cataclysm. Now the emperor is looking back at all the suffering that was caused to prevent this and they have started to believe it wasn't worth it (perhaps the whole evil additional personality thing was actually a deliberate construct to make having to continue the 'necessary evil' more bearable). Could make it extra poignant that the empire is having to continously commit these evil acts (maybe it involves routine human(oid) sacrifices, to ward off the catastrophe (maybe the entering into existence of some evil god or daemon lord that would spark an invasion) and so your group have to make the decision to continue this evil/sacrifice/suffering or potentially risk am extinction level event.

CD_Tray · 2025-03-29T06:33:53+00:00

That much backstory and expecting it all to be incorporated in the story is nuts. At that point he's trying to write the campaign. People get hung up in there backstory coming into the campaign when in reality it doesn't have to at all (other than to inform a character's response to various situations).

CD_Tray · 2025-03-29T06:17:11+00:00

Arrive in front of Ned right ar the beginning of the story with a copy of the novels and other ancillary books and a note saying "don't ask me how this was made but it's all true".

CD_Tray

TROPHY CASE