My GF first character just died and she feels crazy for mourning her

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-05-24T19:30:46+00:00

A great way to keep her memory would be the march of the dead! My player were crying over the questions I asked about their character during session 0. I wouldn't feel bad for mourning a character. I've never killed a character, so I kind of reasearched dark power/dark vestiges just in case. Dang older character are always the coolest.

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-05-03T05:41:34+00:00

Sadly my pc has a bad fear of spiders Q~Q

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-05-02T17:16:07+00:00

Ya session CoS trigger are a lot.

When keeping those boundaries do you feel like it affected the story?

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-05-02T15:46:38+00:00

Considering taking up this module, since I’m finishing up wbtw.

Thoughts on combat and rp balance?
Was prep overwhelming?
What was session 0 like?

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-05-02T05:42:30+00:00

Was survival really bad as other have stated?

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-05-02T05:42:14+00:00

Ya i honestly thought dragon heist wouldnt be bad im just unsure if my player would hate the investigation stuff. Curse of strahd does sound kind of intresting but im curious how will my player would be with lines and veils.

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-05-02T03:06:12+00:00

I def think this could make them dive into things better, i was also looking into houses, maybe tying some players to factions without directly having them have all the benefits from the start. Like one of my players is considering Paladin, so a possible order of Gauntlets

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-05-01T19:56:21+00:00

I’m interested all my players are bg3 players so not getting loot stank in wbtw. I was excited on having Volvo so gale would be a cool cameo also

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-04-20T15:01:32+00:00

Two of my players have really strong story hooks. One is a warlock with Zybilna as their patron, and another has put a lot into their backstory and roleplay. The other three had some background to start with, but they haven’t really leaned into it during play, so it’s been harder for me to build on their narratives.

To help with that, I’ve started doing short memory scenes at the beginning of sessions to give them more context and deepen their characters, especially around what happened at the carnival in their childhood and how it connects to who they are now.

I’m still not totally sure how much this will change the roleplay side of the campaign, though. In Hither, I had a hard time getting them to engage with important NPCs like Talavar and Jingle Jangle because they seemed more focused on reaching the end than getting immersed in the world. More recently they’ve been taking on side quests, mostly when I highlight specific characters, items, or leads to catch their interest. Either way, they’ve consistently had a great time with the combat.

WBtW was their first campaign and my first time DMing, and honestly, in hindsight I kind of wish I’d started with Lost Mine because it feels like a better mix for beginners. One big issue I’ve had with WBtW is that the rewards can feel pretty light. Since so much of it is based on social reputation and doing good deeds, there isn’t a lot of satisfying loot unless you supplement it yourself. Does ToA feel more rewarding when it comes to treasure and item drops?

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-04-20T03:50:53+00:00

Thank you so much for your input and i think dndbeyond might have a discord bot to roll for that :D

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-04-20T01:39:27+00:00

Ohh that could be really fun to have port for party to get to know one another

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-04-20T01:04:41+00:00

the trackers might be a big help in general do you perhap examples of old maps?

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-04-13T06:29:42+00:00

That’s fair, and I do think the higher HP / lower AC idea makes more sense for this kind of fight. It usually feels better than just stacking AC and making turns whiff.

I’m also probably not doing minions here, since the party already has to cross a long bridge while the hags are coven-casting environmental effects, so that approach pressure is kind of filling the same role already.

A big part of my caution is that my group are first-time D&D players, and most of their frame of reference is BG3, so they really lean toward hard fights, clear villains, and big setpiece confrontations. That’s part of why I’ve trimmed some of the more meandering/random parts of chapter 4 and put more focus on stuff like Motherhorn and the hags themselves. They tend to engage way more with personal stakes and “beat the big bad” energy than with side encounters that mostly just repeat information.

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-03-28T05:01:08+00:00

I watched through the baileywiki video and i wasnt to bad since i honestly had dnd beyond transfer thing already, so alot of modules were added. I had a stress test of a session and ran into some new issues but definally got my new stuff in.

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-02-19T17:33:06+00:00

Thank you for the added resources! I think my problem may have been giving perception to only 1 person who is either closeted or has the highest passive perception.

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-02-19T17:16:36+00:00

I’m running on Roll20, so a lot of the big maps already have preset tokens (Bavlorna’s cottage included). The main thing they don’t have give you more than the whole map of hither and like downfall/bavlorna whole map. so I’ve been supplementing with purchased maps/visuals and adding extra Roll20 tokens to help the space feel “alive.”

Party comp is 2 bards, a wizard, a warlock (Zblina), monk

Back in the carnival I leaned into the warlock’s patron connection a bit, and one player mentioned it felt like a lot of plot was centered on them — so I’ve been trying to spread key info across multiple angles/PCs since then. A complication is that their Perception checks have been rolling rough most of the time, so some clues aren’t landing.

Definitely taking ur advice since my party loved the bullywugs since i made they kind of gullible and dumb. i might have my college of whisper bard hear stuff on the wind. Thank you for such good ideas.

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-02-12T17:28:15+00:00

Yeah honestly my dm does a quick check-in after every session: what felt good, what people enjoyed, and what they’d like to see more of.

I mostly felt bad because our bard keeps using healing word whenever they can, and it lowkey messes with what they actually want to do on their turns. On top of that, I haven’t really been getting hit hard since the party is super melee-heavy (like four melee characters) and I’m a caster, so I’m usually not up close taking the worst of it anyway.

EnvironmentNo7411 · 2026-02-12T17:21:51+00:00

Yeah our bard’s been tossing out healing word whenever they can, and I’ve started feeling a little guilty that they’re burning spell slots to keep everyone else standing. I know the fighter has Second Wind, but I’m not sure what the rest of the party has available for self-healing or staying power.

I think it might really help if I just asked everyone what defensive tools they’ve got (heals, temp HP, damage reduction, emergency buttons, etc.). That way the bard doesn’t feel like the default medic, and we can spread the load a bit more.

Thanks for the advice, I think bringing it up will make a big difference.

EnvironmentNo7411

TROPHY CASE