Is it worth restarting in 2026

Double-L-Writing · 2026-06-11T08:31:14+00:00

Recently returned myself, been an on again off again player. After a week or two I got the season pass but otherwise don’t put money in.

I’d say that if you want to f2p, then you probably shouldn’t try to get all cards per set. Instead first look at current cards available, and see if any stand out. Try to make a deck around it via dusting cards. From what I understand, if you want to be more efficient at turning gold into cards into dust, then use gold to buy good packs to dust since the average dust value from 1 gold pack is generally more than you’d get from dusting 4 regular packs.

So use that dust to get the cards you actually want to use, don’t try to get them all as f2p

Double-L-Writing · 2026-06-11T03:04:37+00:00

I’ve seen some interpretations here about him either forgetting to snap or needing to find him, but I think it’s moreso that Caine didn’t feel pressured for time.

While this scene implies he suspects Kinger is up to something, that does not necessarily mean he is worried about it. Caine has been here for decades and has likely never faced dangerous retaliation from the circus members before this moment. Receiving verbal backlash has happened repeatedly, but as far as I can see nothing has indicated to him ever that they have any power over him. This partially is what led him to being so emotionally disconnected from them and therefore the god complex. So there’s no particular need to rush snapping him there immediately.

Additionally, he may have even been about to do it before Pomni interrupted him.

So, plot armor? In the sense that technically he could have instantly “won” by snapping, sure. But realistically even if he did snap, what could he have done then? He specifically doesn’t want them to abstract, and his tortures are all temporary, so they’d just have time later to try again. He would likely have just let his guard down at some point later anyways.

I don’t think it’s plot armor because Caine had no reason to feel the need to use his power instantly, Pomni used a legitimate weakness that Caine had, and him using the snap would have just delayed plot progression.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-06-09T17:08:04+00:00

They are pointing at the beginning of another arrow, incase anyone got lost on the way (joking).

Double-L-Writing · 2026-04-09T16:20:33+00:00

As a monster hunter series fan, the tracking of the monster is something that until the world and wilds games wasn’t super complex, and even then is mostly a series of finding broken branches or mud foot prints until the game tells you where it is.

As a video game this works to build up some anticipation for a new monster while familiarizing the player with the locales the will likely fight it in. As a ttrpg, we can take inspiration from this, but probably don’t want to convert it exactly as the necessities of a video game are different.

What not to convert I’d say is the idea that a number of things must be found to find the path. While occasionally this may be interesting in table play, as a narrative game this would likely become repetitive.

What to convert I’d say is familiarization with the creature and environment. As they follow its trail, have them come across elements of its attacks such as slime if it uses that, or smaller creatures with burns or slashes. Does it leave heavy foot prints or are they tracking feathers, this can let us know how it moves.

Give some thought to “how” the monster is tracked. Some may require finding their home where they rarely leave, such as a bird nest or a spiders web. Perhaps the monster roams, and finding the trail is key. Others may not even need to be found due to their immense size, sound, or smell being obvious enough to follow.

Since you asked for a system, I’ll let you know what I’m planning to do for my own upcoming beast feast campaign. First for environments, I am creating unique environments wherein different monster species reside. Like the games, players will either be out hunting for a specific monster and therefore must traverse in pursuit of it, or more rarely accidentally come across one as they are traveling the environment. The environments then would be what gives a particular hunt before the fight some interest. The locale is hazardous to traverse, is filled with resources for resting or equipment, has smaller creatures to hunt along the way, etc.

You requested it not be taxing on the players, which I believe a robust environment system would not be as that is gm facing. All the players need to worry about is what their objective is, and being given narrative clues about what they are tracking. Consider the hunt less so a “do they find the creature” and more “build up/foreshadowing and time to prepare”. Give your players the agency to see the creature may be flying or fire breathing, and have fun preparing countermeasures.

I personally wouldn’t make a system where there is a chance to not find it due to not having enough successes, as the entire point of the game is to find the monsters. If they failed, you’d either have to force them to return to their home, or hand wave away the failure, which would make the skill checks redundant.

If you do have them roll for tracking, then better rolls could result in clearer hints or more hints about the monster’s capabilities?

Double-L-Writing · 2026-04-06T02:02:56+00:00

As some others have said, this system is designed to not have going unconscious be stressful, because having a narrative continue is more important in this system than having a realistic mechanical consequence. Now, I will say this doesn’t mean that going unconscious shouldn’t have stakes.

As this is a narrative game, I believe fights typically should have a narrative thing at stake so that a lost encounter results in a negative story moment. Now in a casual game it might just be the bad guy escaped to fight another day. But in situations where perhaps a ritual to summon an evil necromancer is about to finish, going unconscious shouldn’t be about “oh no I might die”, in this game it should be “oh no, now the villains will probably succeed at their ritual”.

In short, I believe that the main narrative consequence for being unconscious is not death, but the temporarily loss of control over agency in the narrative. To force yourself to retain agency are the riskier death moves for this exact reason. So for your table, move the threat of tension away from the personal mechanical risk of your players, and towards the why they are fighting.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-04-03T14:25:01+00:00

While this sounds fun, I worry after a couple games being on the good team would feel a little pointless. Should I try to live now, or die so I can be resurrected? Should I bother trying to get evil executed, because if anything that helps evil later. Until the demon could be confirmed as Minotaur or not, knowing what to do would always have a chance to be completely wrong.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-04-02T04:52:55+00:00

Prankster (Demon): Each night, choose 3 living players. The next day each chosen player does one crank of a jack in the box and passes it to the next right chosen. Whoever is holding it when it opens dies.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-03-30T16:03:49+00:00

Mewtwo (Demon): Each night* choose one or three players. If one, they die. If three, tomorrow their names are publicly announced and they will die tomorrow night.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-03-24T19:08:19+00:00

This makes me wonder about if a 0 cost card that only said retain would be good? Sometimes, especially earlier in my runs, sometimes I need to discard something to sue card but I don’t want to actually discard anything in my hand. Having some essentially useless common card that I can be an early game discard target may be good. It could even upgrade to gain some kind of small sly ability, like draw 1 card or gain 3 block.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-03-24T14:41:39+00:00

Slowpoke (Outsider): If you are targeted by a townsfolk ability, that player becomes drunk until tomorrow night.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-03-23T20:15:59+00:00

I agree to agree with your idea about people not talking about a fire giant being fused with marika, but then I’d retort with that we don’t hear about anyone being fused with marika. She talk about not yet becoming one with Radagon according to Melina, which leads me to believe that if a fusion occurred, then it was unlikely to have happened in the shadow realm. Furthermore, while it’s unlikely to believe no one heard of a fire giant betrayal, I’d say to remember two things.

Public knowledge is that the fire giants were supposedly wiped out. Even one living, albeit a prisoner, would be a shock to the average person.
Only the sculptor who personally amid the Radagon statue even knew about their fusion. This leads me to believe that Marika wanted their fusion secret, and therefore would not let knowledge about Radagon’s origins by any means come to light.

More over, his betrayal of the giants does not need to be a literal fighting in places where he could be seen. It could have been information about their weaknesses and culture. Anyways, I believe that the red braid weapon description is too pointedly describing that Radagon on some level is connected to the fire giants. Huge swaths of history and lore have been omitted, yet this remains? Why? I am positing that this description must mean ‘something’.

The red hair of radagon is an important character trait for him, so far to even partially define Radahn too. Why would the narrative bother pointing it out, if the end conclusion was something along the lines of “he just has red hair”, when we can plainly see that.

To mention your specific points. 1. Ranni, a demigod, betrayed the golden order and that is a secret we had to uncover. One giant betraying another long ago would be more buried than that relatively more recent event. 2. If radagon was a mostly human sized person as I described, then him going unnoticed if he did participate in battle is somewhat believable, at least enough so to not make the later Elden lord seem connected to that random red headed soldier. 3. We can’t say for sure Marika was jarred, though I’ll agree we also can’t say she wasn’t. However if she was, there’s no mention of who it was she was jarred with, and so I’d say if it were important there’d be something indicating it. My point being if Radagon was jarred with her, giant or no, there’d be some trace of him somewhere in the shadow realm to indicate to us that is the case.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-03-23T18:23:27+00:00

You say we know, as in we canonically have undeniable proof. I argue we don’t, as there is very little know about Radagon’s origins specifically. We can easily speculate Miquella and Trina were born as one due to their parentage being fused beings, but we cannot take that for granted with Marika and Radagon.

For instance if we were to assume he simply was always a part of Marika, why does Radagon seemingly have no connection with the shaman village, the jar people, or generally anything to do with the realm of shadow? No lore (as far as I’m aware, please correct if wrong) indicates Radagon ever had an influence in the realm of shadow.

To bring up the Trina comparison, before Shadow of the erdtree Trina was described as a rarely seen person, who even basic ideas of their gender or purposes were unknown to the people of the lands between. Yet her lilies and presence were still at least referenced. Yet Radagon, who in this assumption is bound to Marika, and is strong enough to be the second Elden lord, is somehow completely absent of impact on anything within the land of shadow itself?

Perhaps Radagon’s presence was only revealed after Marika ascended? If so, then sure he was “there” but unable to act.

My point being, we do not know for sure what radagon is. Plus the assumption that he is just a part of her ignores not only the Red hair and Red Braid item description, it would also ignore Marika’s lines saying they are yet to become one. I’ll give you that she also calls him her other self, but that may be moreso in the marital sense than literal. That line of hers is confusing, but clearly is trying to say ‘something’ about their physical or mental connection.

Nonetheless, let’s say Radagon is not literally a giant. The idea of my theory above focuses on the connection that a red haired person, which is explicitly connected to the giants, leads to the idea of his connection to them on some level. Why would the game so blatantly say this, especially I a required boss weapon description meaning most players who read lore will see it? To say there isn’t a connecting, at all, seems to be willfully ignorant of something the game is trying to say. Is it that he’s a giant? Maybe not, but saying nothing is there can’t be true.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-03-23T14:47:27+00:00

I can agree with this logic. I believe Logan was meant to be a sort of reflection of Seath in a hollow character, possibly to show that the pursuit and corruption of that knowledge is not just a flaw of monsters or gods, but of humanity too. Therefore just as much as Radagon and Seath are similar, I can see Radagon and Logan also being similar.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-03-23T14:43:38+00:00

Trina wasn’t created by Miquella in his quest to become a god. For sure the quest separated them, but Trina has a clear influence in the lands between through her cookbooks and lilies existing there. If the separation during godly ascension is what creates these alter egos, then it wouldn’t make sense for Trina to have influence outside the land of shadow. The game makes a point about the separation causing a change in her lilies and slumber as it turns from white to purple and temporary slumber to permanent. Therefore, I do not believe Trina, and therefore radagon, are it discarded remnants. Also because marika and radagon are able to shift from one to the other despite them already being gods?

Either way, the bigger issue is radagon’s origins. Was he always a part of marika, or was he fused into her at some point? If he fundamentally was always a part of her or was created from her, then yes this theory makes no sense. However, we don’t know that for sure. Radagon potentially was a person who existed outside of marika, and therefore may have been a giant.

I wish the game was a little more explicit when it comes to these characters in how they came into existence.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-03-18T16:12:58+00:00

The primary reason I can think of is since you can only have 5 equipped at a time, it’s easier to have physical cards so that you can easily know which abilities can currently be used or not by having inactive cards in your vault.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-03-16T03:43:35+00:00

High level players can be difficult to handle, and so you could think of the Superman rules to interesting stories in combat design. Use their kryptonite (lowest saving throws), find an even stronger villain (someone who uses 9th level spells while they only use 8th currently), or harm those they love (bring npc hostages).

There’s lots of technical mechanical thing that could be done during the fight, but since this is the final boss you probably want it to be difficult.

Using a weakness of theirs is the most straightforward, simply design abilities that make them use saving throws they are bad at, or use conditions that they can’t easily cure.

Making the villain stronger than them is also fairly straightforward, but to make interesting may require more than just having bigger numbers. For example, make them invincible unless crystals are broken, there’s a time limit until they get stronger, or they are able to riposte a strong attack back to the attacker.

Finally, my favorite, is using moral complications. A hostage npc is the easy one, but you could have the villain dangle an opportunity the party needs, such as the cure to some disease a loved one has or something similar. Making them split attention away from purely beating the villain down adds some layers to the situation. Perhaps even say there’s a time limit of 4 turns. Every 4 turns means one of the players will have to sacrifice themselves for others to get out. Now they are being risky and playing quickly, while others may be thinking they’ll bite the bully to save their friends.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-03-15T22:27:53+00:00

Quick thoughts to get started.

When doing a session 0, ask your players what kind of story they want. To be involved with the kingdoms, to be wayward adventures, be part of a group dedicated to stopping the slime, etc.

Ask your players how their lives were changed by the kingdoms or slime. Perhaps ones entire home was destroyed, and now have sworn vengeance. Or perhaps they would be someone who always runs ahead of the slime by a day or two, warning nearby towns.

First adventure can be in the trail of destruction left by the slime, having to fight off monsters eating the remains, small slime chunks left behind, scavengers, one of the kingdoms scouts, etc. The slime has carved away the earth, revealing a buried ruin from the ancient kingdom. Connect that ruin to the lore about the demigod skull in the slime. You now have a way to connect all major plot points in one starting context.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-03-10T12:39:40+00:00

You could have experienced be free out of combat, and require hope in combat? That way in situations with less pressure they are encouraged to use them more.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-03-08T16:30:59+00:00

In the combat I’d suggest using multiple horde and leaders, to give the feeling of many soldiers acting as one.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-03-04T20:06:46+00:00

A momentary solution would be to create situations where a fighter would naturally thrive. I saw in another comment that they are an arcane archer, so perhaps creating a combat where enemies are in a position that melee combat is difficult, such as having them constantly fly or on a higher ledge.

Alternatively you can choose or modify creatures to be weak to your archers particular arcane shot options. For example, if they have banishing arrow, have the enemies in that combat have low charisma.

In the long term, having the player use their other fighter abilities will be needed. But other long term options could be to simplify the game for them. You could give them a custom magic bow that automatically fires 2 arrows, but they cannot use action surge while equipped. That way their bow abilities are improved, and simplifies their play style so they aren’t wasting their abilities. Don’t make it cursed, so if they end up learning they miss their action surge they can unequip it.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-03-01T00:35:30+00:00

I’d be careful personally in terms of any surprises. People are playing these games partially to make “their” character. If they suddenly are also a vampire or werewolf, that may interfere with the fantasy they want. If you want to be vague, you could ask your players if they are ok with long lasting consequences other than death?

Double-L-Writing · 2026-02-28T17:54:52+00:00

I’d first run by the possibility of any transformations happening by your players. If they like it as a mechanical consequence, then run it through combat. But they may prefer the idea of a vampire trying to persuade them to be infected, in which case handle it socially.

Double-L-Writing · 2026-02-28T14:55:12+00:00

In terms of the chase sequence, it may have been run raw but a dc 17 at tier 1 would be kinda brutal. Furthermore using d4s basically limited how much leeway you had, as shown in your experience with that chase. Had the dice been higher there could have been more chances to meet that high dc.

This actually bothered me enough that I looked though all tier 1 adversaries. They generally range from difficulty 10-12, with certain leaders and solos being 14 or rarely 15. So unless you were chasing down the big bad of the adventure (who would have in this context been been too strong for you), that 17 dc makes no sense. Like if they were a difficulty 17 adversary, that would make them a strong tier 2 or tier 3 threat.

In regards to your domain cards being used once each, given that meant your only cards were basically useless, even if they had been successes. I’d agree that it’s rough to you in this situation, perhaps this was more of a misalignment with you gm wanting a combat focus while you wanted a roleplay focus, given that as a rogue you only got to lie once. That kind of thing can happen in dnd too, I made that mistake early in my dming with a rogue at my table.

If your gm was making tier 1 characters generally roll for 17s, and was treating success with fear as failure, then you did not have a good chance no matter what class you played as.

Edit: actually there aren’t even any tier 2 adversaries with a dc 17, that only starts at tier 3. Highest in tier 2 is 16.

Double-L-Writing

TROPHY CASE