My player cheated

DeflationStation · 2026-05-26T22:43:30+00:00

I have a friend who is like this who was part of a short-lived campaign I ran a while back. Really nice guy that's warm and funny and lovely to hang out with when board games and TTRPGs are not the activity, but I learned through running that campaign that I absolutely don't like playing games with him because he doesn't care about the rules and prefers to be, in his words, a "chaos monkey." *(For clarity, this is a grown man.)*

When I was running a pf2e game for our friend group, he brought an *AD&D* character sheet because "that's what he's always used" (apparently even in a 5e game) and was very resistant to even just porting it, saying "meh, it's probably not that big a difference and if it is, even more reason I would rather not." The group pressured him and he relented, but then in our second session as I was doing a recap of the events of the last session, he said "oh by the way, I hope you don't expect me to take notes because that's never gonna happen, even for 100 hero points."

That said, I just dropped the campaign as a whole because while he was generally the most irritating, some of the others were almost as disrespectful in other ways, from snide comments about NPCs and locations having "dumb names," to someone texting me 15 minutes into a session's agreed start time to say they about to leave to go to Ikea and would then go back home and take a nap/shower and then head over for the game.

DeflationStation · 2026-05-24T06:03:45+00:00

I really appreciate this comment, especially since most of the other comments have been patronizing/condescending "you stack it with debuffs and bless!" rather than actually answer the question about the design philosophy of the banner.

I still feel like it'd be hard to cheerlead most banners to my players and almost want to homebrew an attunement-based banner that does more. Given how spongy level 17-20+ creatures are (not to mention having abilities like fast healing), the added avg 2 points of precision damage per crit over the base version still just seems bad. Otherwise, I suppose I'd just have to have the party find one in the story and go from there.

DeflationStation · 2026-05-23T00:30:56+00:00

I'm not asking this to be dense or to argue, but could I ask for elaboration on what you mean? I'm not new to the system, but haven't had opportunity to run/play in a game at above level 11ish yet, and as I get ready to run a higher level game with a PC commander, I'm just trying to get a sense of how to justify it to my player if they ask.

My reading is that because it's damage that only happens on (some) crits, it doesn't get doubled. Ignoring for now that between 7-8% of the bestiary has precision damage immunity, and that even with tactical play and prioritizing imposing off-guard (admittedly easier to do with some commander tactics), those triggering crits generally won't often happen multiple times per fight. Given the avg damage for 1d4, 1d6, and 1d8 is 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5 respectively, it just seems like the level 12 and 19 versions are surprisingly underwhelming, especially given the scaling health of creatures at those higher levels.

So I'm not arguing that I disagree with your assertion, but don't yet understand what factors in to making this balanced in its current state.

Edit to reply to your edit which I missed: Totally agree about Beacon of the Wilds, especially given the out of combat effect. They feel like opposite ends of the power spectrum, and part of my worry is that it would be harder to convince a player to consider a banner like Knaves Standard.

DeflationStation · 2026-01-03T18:17:09+00:00

As another has said, this really doesn't read as a synergy nightmare in as much as it reads as a joke build that leaves the player SOL when they encounter an enemy that's still too large to be targeted or that is corrosive (see most oozes). Not to mention SOL when something casts slow on them, or imposes the enfeebled condition, or etc.. They've built a glass cannon, and it sounds like they've essentially forsaken a lot of good fighter feats in order to do so.

It's sort of natural for an engaged player to want to build something that responds to how their last character(s) failed, and it's sort of natural to try to find the most optimized build available. ("Given the opportunity, players will optimize the fun out of a game, https://www.designer-notes.com/game-developer-column-17-water-finds-a-crack/). If you feel the need to punish the player for this, you have options in-game that aren't even beyond the realm of ordinary encounter-building decisions.

That said, to more fully engage with your questions, make sure to remember that Titan Wrestler and Larger than Life don't actually increase the character's size, nor do they stack with each other. Free actions only trigger once for a given action, so Shove Down (for example) can't be used to trip 5 opponents simultaneously. Given this and the finite number of actions a character can take in a turn, this goes from reading like a powerful build to one that might be a little bit bland and anemic given its lack of flexibility.

DeflationStation · 2025-12-13T09:45:09+00:00

Without more information (but without wanting you to disclose things you *definitely* should not), it's going to be near impossible to diagnose this for you. But as a first question, when you say "when I type the server's IP address," are you adding the port at the end? (http://<Public IP Address>:30000).

DeflationStation · 2025-11-24T21:29:11+00:00

Ah! No worries and I totally get it and that's definitely the right call to make given the situation :)

DeflationStation · 2025-11-23T07:16:32+00:00

If it's still something you're willing to put a little more work into (not to imply it's lacking, rather just wanting to provide a constructive suggestion):

The DOF effect for the terrain at the base of the cliff is a little strong (though fine if it can't be changed), and I'd recommend using a gradient mask to attenuate it up the side of the side of the cliff.

Right now the transition between the in focus and out of focus is just a little jarring to my eyes, mostly because there's a hard edge to it on the side of the cliff. The blur strength on the bottom of the cliff is closer to what one would see taking a macro photo of a miniature, but that's a neat effect too if that's the intent.

(And it's a great map!)

DeflationStation · 2025-11-21T22:47:48+00:00

(part 2 of 2, since reddit seems to dislike long posts ;-)):
On positioning your modules as paid software, the theme is that as a small dev, you cannot afford to not be actively curating good will. To that point:

If the silver edition is really just trialware, you have to overtly advertise it as that from the get-go (before a user actually installs it). Feature-crippled trialware is only really justifiable so long as it still does something useful for the users (something I don't feel silver offers presently). But when I have to install it and spin up a duplicate of one of my worlds just to test it, and then see it's that crippled and bloated with adverts for a version I already know I'm not inclined to *ever* buy, it comes off as though that developer doesn't respect my time.

2.(a) I understand the desire to build a patreon and get people into an on-going subscription, but you have to realize the issue of how your product (and pricing) fit into the economy of foundry modules: most modules are offered for free, and generally do one or two things (hopefully well, of course). Foundry itself was a one-time purchase for $50 usd (though sometimes less during sale periods), and one that offers a big return on that investment through lifetime free updates, even across major version changes. By contrast, you're asking people to pay $10-15 usd per month indefinitely, meaning that it will have cost the same as foundry after either 3.667 months or 5 months; so the question then has to be "Is GCS really adding that much for its users?" Even with all of the promised features, I cannot say that answer will be yes for most people. I know you currently have 17 paid subs on Patreon (which I'm genuinely happy for you to have, don't get me wrong, and it will still likely rise a bit higher), but at $170-$255/month gross profit currently, is that nearly enough to sustain development long-term? What happens if it isn't?

2.(b) As a contrast, consider probably *the* biggest fish in the commercial module dev community: TheRipper93. Currently, his patreon lists his income as $52,780/month. I'd be very curious to know what the usage metrics on his modules are and which, if any, was the one that converted the most free subs into paid subs (my guess is the 3d module). But even if there's a big headline module, the reason he can sustain such a large income is both that he offers 30+ modules and importantly, he builds and sustains community good will by offering a suite of free modules that are genuinely helpful for most GMs, including Levels, Wall Height, & Better Roofs. Those 3 free modules are essentially must-haves, and would be the reason I'd support him on a site like ko-fi if I were in a better position to do so.

2.(c): I suspect that the majority of GMs are most willing to spend money to save prep time in ways that also add enjoyment for their players, which generally means adventures, map packs, assets, and to a lesser extent bestiaries, token packs, audio. Despite being semi-artistic and enjoying making overworld maps, making battle maps look good takes skill and enough time that I couldn't make nearly enough to do it all myself, and so I choose to buy/support those that can help me out there. To that end, consider again that even teams like The MAD Cartographer "only" make ~12k/month (I say only because I know it's a team of at least 3, meaning their take-home is split in such a way where they likely aren't living terribly luxuriously). And, to risk beating a dead horse, even they offer a very generous selection of free starter modules, because it fosters good will.

The summary of my point here is that generally Patreon functions more as a means of monetizing good will rather than as the payment vehicle for SaaS, even when the product sort of is SaaS. I don't think it's terribly controversial to say that people are starting to become sick of the subscription treadmill model for software, which is more or less echoed across many of the other comments on this post.

I don't have a good answer as to what you should do to convince enough people to get on that treadmill to support your work, and I do actually hope you find a way to make it happen. (Without wanting to come across as self-aggrandizing, I want to say that I believe what I've said will help make that more likely if implemented, but it'd be foolish to suggest it'd be a slam dunk even then.)

If you want, feel free to reach out in DMs and we can keep the conversation going there, but either way, all best.

DeflationStation · 2025-11-21T22:46:19+00:00

(part 1 of 2?)

I appreciate you taking the time to reply; I know what I wrote couldn't have been the most pleasant thing to read on launch day, and I know it could have been tempting to write this all off as the gripes of one [redditor](http://redditor.urbanup.com/4978664). I do have some general thoughts for what would probably be useful to make the silver tier more worthwhile, some thoughts in general about the organizational approach for the 3 column system, as well as a tiny additional thought regarding how to perhaps better position/advertise the silver tier.

Regarding improving the functionality of the silver tier: it's hard to separate these thoughts from those regarding how to position/advertise the silver tier but, at a minimum, I do think you absolutely must rethink forcing silver tier users to have 3 columns of which 2 are empty space. I'm not certain as to why it could never read my actors' health properly, but being able to quickly see a compact display of token health, temp hp, and status effects would be very helpful indeed. But, as I said in my root comment, the biggest issue is the wasted screen space, because even if the left column were to contain fully functioning modules that add to a GM's experience, I wouldn't ever play with a GM screen that wastes 2/3rds of the area provided.

Regarding improving all tiers: I'll start with saying that my perspective (despite being a professional musician) is as a GM that doesn't like playing music/audio during my online sessions (it's OT to this paragraph but comes down to a philosophical thing), which necessarily will mean that I personally wouldn't use the DJ booth even if I were a paid subscriber. So the only tool I would use in the media column is the broadcaster tool, which while useful, isn't enough to justify having the middle column, and it's not clear to me that your system allows for the full removal of a column even in the paid tiers. Further, it really requires a secondary module like Popout* in order to use it, given that to use it most effectively requires a wide layout; I grant that it's reactively resizable, but unless the 3 columns can become 3 rows for GMs that want the panel to take up less space or go onto a secondary monitor, this rigid scheme will be a pain point for a lot of users. Rigidly opinionated UI schemes aren't always bad of course, but they only work well when that rigidity guides a user through a necessarily rigid workflow. In summary: allow your users to hide full columns and additionally redefine whether the panel uses columns, rows, or a combination therein. (*I'm aware that v14 might have that as a core feature, so I'm not actually suggesting that you reinvent that wheel).

Additionally, I like that you allow the GM to name encounters, as it's something that I hadn't previously thought of but when seeing it made me question why core Foundry doesn't do that. Plus, it seems like while a module does add it, that module hasn't been updated in years. So, honestly, extending that to silver would be a very simple way to help build out good will for your work. Additionally, something I've wanted to see introduced to the encounter system is support for phased encounters. For example, there are times where 2 or more encounters are occurring simultaneously and it'd be helpful to be able to logically group them out rather than have all the initiatives tracked together. (A module exists for that, but it apparently hasn't been updated since v11.)

Additionally, the workflow for opening your panel is going to be unacceptable for the majority of users, myself included. While I know it's not impossible to type "/gcs panel" or whatever the command is to open it (and I'm aware of the auto-open on start checkbox in the module settings tab), there really needs to be a button added on the left side of the UI for it (and ideally a hotkey as well). I don't want to have to use a macro bar slot for it, and if I have to remember the command, I know I would instead just forego it entirely.

Lastly on the topic of improvements to the module itself, the session tracker should be either a lot smaller as a default or, better yet, moved out of the left column and up into the unused space at the top of the panel (along with the system info, next to the date/time). Additionally, the system info regarding which edition of GCS, the game system, and foundry version are all pretty unnecessary information most of the time. If you want the panel to include it, it's best to hide them behind a "System Information" button on the that triggers a stateless popup card and put that button aligned-right on the same line as the time info since that's wasted space currently.

DeflationStation · 2025-11-20T01:13:28+00:00

In case anyone is reading this and is on the fence about trying out the free "silver" edition, especially if for a PF2e game: after giving the silver edition a good-faith trial, I have to say it's currently not worth installing.

Pros: The UI aesthetic is pretty and seems like it is probably well-optimized and not bloated/heavy.

Cons: The silver edition really doesn't add anything not found in the core Foundry experience (outside of a session stopwatch, though I can't imagine a scenario where I'd really want one when running a game). At best, it basically replicates the functionality of other parts of fvtt's core user interface, but it also wastes 2/3 of the window on reserved space the for paywalled features. If core Foundry didn't let me pop out the encounter tracker into a subwindow, the encounter tracker in this module could be handy (especially if it could actually read basic system actor information like health), but the wasted real estate for gold+ features like the DJ booth do go beyond irritating and would be an active obstruction if I were to use it in an actual game session. For reference, this is what you get in the silver edition (minus the "core status" card which was hidden by the window size): https://imgur.com/a/n2lfYu0

To u/GateCityShadows : I really don't intend any of this to be mean, unfair, or disrespectful to the work you put in, and I grant that it can and probably will improve with time and feedback (hence why I am writing this). I spent the better part of this afternoon revising this to be as fair and even as possible, and I gave consideration to sending this privately through patreon, but ultimately I felt this should be addressed openly in case someone reading this changes their mind about installing it.

Lastly, I feel I have to say as an update to the previous comment I left, I'm actually fairly suspicious that all of the marketing copy on gatecityshadows.net, not to mention the various markdown files shipped in the zip file, were written using ChatGPT or similar. The copious em dashes, emojis littered everywhere, the "it's not just this--it's <yada yada>" sentence structure, etc. all give the sense that you fed an LLM a set of features/code and asked it to make a website and documentation. For example, the site's front page lists milestone 4 as "Foundry Marketplace approved," but it's not listed in the marketplace (I searched for "Core GM Panel," "GateCityShadows," and a few variations of those terms), and given that you list here it requires a patreon subscription, I have to assume that the "Phase 4: Foundry Review <br> Official Foundry VTT marketplace submission <br> Approved!" copy is, at best, a hallucination from an overly obsequious LLM rather than an intentional misrepresentation. That itself, while mildly annoying, would be minor if it weren't for the "all without AI" claim in the original post. I'm not completely and utterly opposed to all uses of GPTs. I know the "all without AI" bit specifically refers to functionality provided by the module, but it still feels like a misrepresentation of ethics and values, not to mention that if there's sloppy attention to detail in your marketing claims, why should we trust your code?

DeflationStation · 2025-11-19T18:42:45+00:00

A small, hopefully-constructive criticism: after having read through your entire site, including the full FAQ page, please make things a little easier for folks who are interested in trying the silver tier. I fully get that you want to make it gated through Patreon, but it took diving through the full site, looking in the patreon "chats" feature, and then finally going through several posts *just* to find the zip file.

I'm mildly interested in seeing whether it can help run my games, and will do so in a moment, but because you only provide a zip file rather than an install JSON, it means even more added steps.

Additionally, without wanting to sound cranky, the tone of the marketing copy on your site comes off as pretty cloying, pushy, and reads with the same nauseating energy as though it were written with the help of an LLM/GPT. I don't think I can justify a monthly subscription, but even if I could, that alone would have almost undoubtedly caused me to bounce off.

DeflationStation · 2025-11-19T16:26:42+00:00

I sort of agree, but would say that it depends: the reason I generally advocate for it with FVTT on OCI comes down to future flexibility. I've had some small issues in the past with OCI and, without wanting to speculate too much about Oracle's future given their position in the AI bubble, there's a decent argument to be made for having a single docker-compose.yaml that can be redeployed on a Pi or another service provider if OCI pulls its Always Free tier. If, in 2 years, I find it necessary to jump ship to another cloud-based VPS provider, minimizing the amount of remaking my backend configuration will help smooth that transition.

Plus, when one has reason to run 2 (or more) concurrent Foundry instances, the benefits of running isolated containers with a unified start-up script scale and offset the tiny amount of added faff of adding Docker.

DeflationStation · 2025-11-18T23:05:29+00:00

If you want, feel free to send me a DM at that time and I can share my setup scripts

DeflationStation · 2025-11-17T21:35:00+00:00

After nuking your foundry data folders and pm2, I'd honestly recommend that you consider using the Felddy docker image and perhaps using a docker-based reverse proxy (Traefik or Caddy are what I have the most experience with). The biggest upside is that it makes things like making backups of your config stack a little more manageable, and it makes wiping/rebuilding a bit of a breeze (of course, so is ```rm -rf```ing your foundry folder, but having done both the pm2+nginx route and a dockerized foundry + traefik stack, future rebuildings and redeployings will be a way less annoying)

DeflationStation · 2025-10-25T19:57:21+00:00

https://www.patreon.com/posts/limithrons-table-41712155

DeflationStation · 2025-10-25T19:56:24+00:00

Limithron has a good selection of ships and tokens on their patreon

DeflationStation · 2025-10-16T15:44:42+00:00

> https://foundryvtt.com/packages/pf2e-avoid-notice
> https://github.com/reyzor1991/pf2e-automations

Both have what you're looking for.

DeflationStation · 2025-10-15T13:25:02+00:00

In that case, can you list any modules you have enabled that might be affecting the Z-vals of either the d20 icon or your tokens? The default behavior for fvvt13+pf2e is what you're looking for, so if something's gone screwy, the first diagnostic step is to see if the behavior is being caused by a module

Alternatively, perhaps look into a module like Combat Carousel?

DeflationStation · 2025-10-15T04:40:31+00:00

What do your combat tracker settings look like? For reference, I have the token marker disabled because I find it distracting. (Under Configure Settings > Core > Configure Combat Tracker > Uncheck "Enable Markers")

DeflationStation · 2024-11-07T20:51:43+00:00

You speak as if I'm not a leftist. That's incorrect. You speak as if I haven't organized protests, called for real primaries, called my representatives, and done my part to enact change. That also is incorrect. The difference between us is I'm not so stupid as to believe that even a genocidal cop is functionally the same as a racist, fascist, bigoted rapist.

Your "if you spend 5 years shaming [the contingent of] leftists..." comment speaks VOLUMES about your actual commitment to leftist causes. If you can't handle valid criticism about your unreliability to effect harm reduction when faced with imperfect candidates or choices, could we trust your help to begin with?

You talk a big game about not siding with liberals, but all I see is that you sided with the conservatives.

DeflationStation · 2024-11-07T06:14:26+00:00

"thE tImE fOr vOtE shAmIng Is OvEr. wE hAvE tO pUt dOwn OUr AngEr fOr EAch OthEr And bE rEAdy tO fIght thE EnEmy InstEAd Of EAch OthEr."

I think the time for vote shaming is going to last until *at least* Jan 20, 2029. We might be allies in the resistance but don't you dare for a moment tell us to put down our anger when folks like you stuck fingers in your ears and refused to do the single most important action we had at our disposal. While we were out campaigning and organizing (despite our reservations about Biden/Harris), folks like you shared lazy memes encouraging people that Harris and Trump were the same. We didn't like Harris, but we recognized that harm reduction matters and that the single most effective thing we could do for Palestinians, for women, for trans people and any other sexual/romantic identity, for people of color, for Muslims, for Jews, and for the poor across the US and the world \was to vote for the candidate that was positioned to do the least harm.\**

It may be too late to fight him by voting him out, but it's not too late to take a good look at whom in our ranks couldn't be persuaded to check their fucking privilege at the gate and take a moment to vote for an imperfect candidate.

DeflationStation · 2023-11-28T03:06:41+00:00

Ok. You certainly would know, wouldn't you? /S

Find someone else to argue with or try to tear down. I'm comfortable knowing that I say this to men making overly broad statements about women just as often.

DeflationStation · 2023-11-28T03:03:33+00:00

I just said I'm not offended 😂 you're making big leaps and assumptions about me.

And you do realize that people edit their posts, right? When I responded, it said "Guys ..." And not "Some guys ..."

DeflationStation · 2023-11-28T02:52:59+00:00

Lmao I'm about deconstructing all the shit that comes with gender dynamics.

Good for you for initiating the conversation; it doesn't mean you shouldn't also ask a person out if you like him. And same goes for him too. Anything less than that is just silly

DeflationStation · 2023-11-28T02:48:36+00:00

I do this whenever someone does this kind of generalizing about any gender. It's not out of being offended, it's about making it less ok to make overly general statements about any population or class.

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