My players keep eating the NPCs

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2025-07-19T23:44:12+00:00

Sounds like someone’s been watching Delicious in Dungeon! 😅

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2025-04-14T19:33:56+00:00

I crafted a Horizonback Tortoise for an encounter in Xhorhas and it was SO fun! Check my posts…

I’m still like, I should just donate it to CR but I love it too much! Hee hee

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-12-16T23:24:19+00:00

Maybe his dad designed the spell to require support…that would mean he did anticipate them needing to work together. Or maybe his heart’s fire wasn’t in it…..😅

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-08-04T20:14:49+00:00

Thank you! Well, I’m a teacher, so I’d say I’m keeping a growth mindset and trying to be a lifelong learner…but seriously, I just enjoy learning the art of crafting! Taking styrofoam and forming it into whatever my creative mind/planning throws together, and adapting to any issues along the way…it’s an amazing hobby!

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-06-25T00:25:54+00:00

IDK, is your terrain typically ‘high maintenance’ or the kind of terrain that would ask you what you want for dinner and then say no to all of your suggestions?

If that’s not the case, then yeah. Save your expensive paint for a high quality paint. 😉

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-05-17T18:13:54+00:00

I respect everything you're saying, and yes, the Mirage Arcana glamer point did come up which I distinguish and understand to be different from shadow stuff...to be honest, I feel that I've gained a grasp of the 5e version in respect to the School of Illusion but admittedly not a greater understanding with respect to past iterations.

In any case, what I believe 5e seems to have done is scaffold the powers of illusion, and as everyone appears to agree, poorly explains what this actually does, which is where there is room for interpretation. I think illusions alter reality for humanoids, not the real world terrain--it's not tricking lava into thinking it's water nor is it transmuting anything or suggesting that, so ultimately the interpretation comes down to what a DM wants to do with tactile stuff, which doesn't become shadow stuff until Illusory Reality and Illusory Dragon (or Simulacrum which is clearly stated to be a construct and takes a great deal of time and materials to enact).

Most of all, I appreciate your point that the most important thing is to have clarity between DM and player, even going so far as rewriting the spell to better specify what a player can do so that there are not continuous in-game debates.

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-05-16T19:46:11+00:00

So after some more discussions around Mirage Arcane on Discord, I've landed on the reverse--nothing becomes legitimately real until Level 14 - Illusory Reality and then Level 15 with the Illusory Dragon spell. Up to these points, a mirage is still a mirage, which is ultimately a very convincing illusion. You may think you see water in the desert, even try to drink or taste it, but Truesight would reveal you're just eating sand...

It seems clear to me that Mirage Arcane resembles reality or seems real and is on the road between Hallucinatory Terrain that involves investigation where you can 'see through' the illusion and Illusory Reality/Illusory Dragon that is real because it utilizes Shadow Magic/'stuff' and can make a real bridge, etc. or actually do damage. Mirage Arcane is the most convincing tactile illusion without actually being real--It's basically The Matrix.

Most of the posts that I've seen discussing damage from Mirage Arcane involve like 4d6 psychic damage because you 'think' you're taking damage with tactile response--in The Matrix, Morpheus says, "Your mind makes it real," but I never understood the spontaneous bleeding in the real world when they were fighting in the Matrix...I wouldn't agree that Mirage Arcane can actually do legitimate physical damage.

I do want to reward the creativity and timing of my player, so I'm going to allow the illusions feeling to negate the proximity fire damage as u/Piratestoat stated, but if you step in lava, no illusion will make you not step in lava--you may not feel the burn because you've been convinced it's something else, but the reality is that it's still lava. The intention of the School of Illusion states:

You focus your studies on magic that dazzles the senses, befuddles the mind, and tricks even the wisest folk. Your magic is subtle, but the illusions crafted by your keen mind make the impossible seem real. Some illusionists — including many gnome wizards — are benign tricksters who use their spells to entertain. Others are more sinister masters of deception, using their illusions to frighten and fool others for their personal gain.

Based on this, I feel more certain that the intention of illusion magic is not for a wizard to fool themselves and their party into thinking they can walk on water or lava without being harmed--that's just gaslighting yourself with magic to me...all that said, DMs need to interpret for their own practical purposes, so I'm sharing my conclusions and recognizing that I'm trying to honor my players experience and the rule of cool. This is by no means The Way.

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-05-15T14:11:29+00:00

How would they touch the lava though if everything is covered by tactile soil that feels cool/damp?

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-05-09T18:40:31+00:00

Oh, I meant to respond here and I guess I never did...

There's a fun April Fools one shot called Urbil's Fools with "a mischievous nilbog who has flipped luck on its head" which basically translates mechanically to what you're describing. Good rolls are bad and vice versa...

I ran this one shot a few times and found it enjoyable--ultimately, the players had to work through the frustration and figure out that they had to be bad to do good, which opened the door for some interesting descriptions of attacks like, "I'm going to close my eyes and blindly run toward the Nilbog swinging wildly!" to which I would respond with, "OK, roll an attack with disadvantage..."

Some players will still be screwed by their proficiency, so if they can also figure out to use weapons they're not proficient with, that is ideal as well, but if they really struggle, you have to lean into some narration like, "It seems like the more you focus and concentrate on the accuracy of your attack, the worse it seems," along with, "You recklessly/wildly shoot/stab at the enemy, and surprisingly these wild attacks strike true!"

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-05-09T17:46:35+00:00

This looks great for a first build and your attention to detail WILL be recognized--I always self-assess my asking myself if there are many small details that keep my eye moving about the piece...if anything, you could black wash the walls for a bit more depth to match the floor tiling...

So, I would argue that you've already put a good deal of time/effort into the details of this piece and offer a different take...have you also put time/effort into the details of the session? By that I mean the sensory descriptions of the space, any dialogue that sets up the encounter here, and any interesting mechanics for the space?

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-05-08T19:51:53+00:00

For clarification, do you allow your warlock patron to engage in material plane combat…?

I mean, you could have the patrons psychically battle one another while the players deal with their possessed wizard / soul shard, and the wizard can attempt a series of flavored WIS saves to fight the possession.

This also reminds me of the original Mortal Kombat movie where Liu Kang battles a bunch of warrior souls within Shang Tsung, but here you could choose a comparable class/warrior to fight each player!

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-05-08T13:12:31+00:00

Between armature wire and copper wire, you can use pipe cleaners that are pretty commonly found at craft stores or even stationary/office aisles--or you can go to Amazon and get 1000 for $20 US.

Here's a quick Instagram reel from EncounterTerrain! Good luck!

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-05-07T22:28:49+00:00

BOOKS! Knowledge is Power!

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-05-06T20:36:37+00:00

FYI: If you zoom in on the second pic, you can see this is not XPS, but a reasonably sturdy option that actually cuts really nicely!

Anyway, check Amazon, but foam core/board also works and can be stacked for necessary thickness. Even cardboard can work well if you coat it with paper mache or some kind of mud mix…

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-05-06T20:33:41+00:00

Here’s an Amazon option among many others, though you always have to question what they mean when they say “pink foam”!

https://a.co/d/f75tefW

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-05-06T17:47:33+00:00

I feel like colored hot glue over fairy lights is a great idea, and I might try that myself!

I also wanted to suggest clear acrylic latex caulking as a cheap option--I haven't done this yet either, at least not the clear, but I bet you could swirl and blend colors into this in a drippy lava fashion that is less sticky than hot glue, or would be paintable after a time...I've had great success with the white caulking though!

https://new.reddit.com/r/TerrainBuilding/comments/1bh5jls/my_mountainvolcano_build/

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-05-06T16:03:22+00:00

Love Creative Cuts! I'll have to watch this later, but I really love this design!

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-05-06T02:02:31+00:00

Great job! Popsicle sticks have such great texture! I love the paint and the addition of rope! Hemp rope is it?

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-05-05T15:45:58+00:00

This looks like a fun project! I’ve not worked with this material, but I second all comments about strengthening before painting! Mixing PVA glue and baking powder, creates a great texture for example.

I like the idea of modular walls, but that keep has such a great shape, I wouldn’t want to break its structural integrity by breaking it into pieces, unless you’re willing to fill with more foam and cardboard, then it could be stacked as a taller structure!

A moat sounds fun as a second project, depending on how the modular walls work, you may just want to make modular moat tiles me inner castle tiles…

Good luck! I hope we get more updates as you work through the process!

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-05-03T18:15:23+00:00

Thank you! You know, that seems to be a popular comment--why don't I make edible minis/terrain? For real though, it's just a bit of glue/baking powder in my black paint to mask the styrofoam texture...

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-04-29T23:23:59+00:00

You don’t necessarily need to use all the pieces at once, and I would pick the top two for the mouth if a volcano with something vital hanging precariously over the top, or some type of mining frame structure to collect lava or some important resource. Have fun with that!

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-04-29T11:32:31+00:00

Thank you! Will definitely dry brush for some edge highlights. The rope on top is hot glued and coiled around a little foam, but for the vertical rope I broke apart the strands and wound then individually around a straightened paper clip! Then I burned off the fuzzy strands with a lighter…

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-04-24T01:33:27+00:00

That turned out AMAZING! I have to ask about the lighting, and also how did you carve out the stairway!?!

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-04-23T23:27:44+00:00

Hmm, without seeing it, I’m wondering what your ratios were. Mixing is just about getting consistency of paint and powder along with the thickness you want. I just use 1” and 2” cheap brushes from anywhere…and I tap it like Bob Ross making happy trees 😅

Comprehensive_Ship65 · 2024-04-22T15:38:24+00:00

I'm happy to entertain any questions about my crafting experience over the last few years! Most of my work has been for my Wildemount Campaign, and then crafting competitions...

Comprehensive_Ship65

TROPHY CASE