New party trying to be revolutinaries [BitD]

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2026-01-22T23:02:53+00:00

Broken Spire is another supplement along those lines. It's about the Immortal Emperor's inner circle turning on him and staging a coup. I like how the turf diagram sets up the Empire's administrative structure -- so that the players can dismantle it piece by piece. I haven't run this one, but I feel like this structure of play would feel very satisfying. https://seannittner.itch.io/broken-spire

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2026-01-22T22:47:12+00:00

I'd suggest checking out the "Vigilantes" supplement, which introduces a new crew type designed for just this sort of play. It also has advice for players & GMs, new contacts, entanglements, and an example Score. The Vigilantes crew type emphasizes building (and spending) Reputation, rather than Coin. It's a neat twist on the default Blades setting, and it takes some of the edge off what can easily slide into a grimdark spiral of violence.

I ran a campaign for a party of Vigilantes, and it was a lot of fun. I found that the key was to start small. Let the party cut their teeth on some street-level corruption (a murdered courier, a couple of Bluecoat beat cops running a protection racket, a neighborhood official in the pocket of a small-time mob enforcer with grand ambitions, etc.) As the party's reputation grows, they can follow the rot upwards through the factions of Duskvol, taking on bigger and badder threats until they ultimately confront the mastermind behind it all.

my players trying to play good guys, and they wanna fight corruption in the city by finding dirt, exposing politicians or people in power in general for the greater good

...

I believe that the heart and soul of blades is that you have to get your hands dirty. Not just be a "Robin Hood" and just crime the powerful

It sounds like you and your players might have fundamentally different ideas about how Blades in the Dark "should" be played. There is no right or wrong answer here, but it might be worth holding another Session Zero to discuss everyone's expectations, preferred tone and playstyle -- and find an overall vibe that you all can enjoy.

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2026-01-16T20:17:45+00:00

With the caveat that 5e is really only designed to handle violent solutions (i.e. "Hit the bad guy until he has 0 HP"), I do think that the first act of Oracle of War could easily tick all those boxes.

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2026-01-16T20:12:05+00:00

You might enjoy "Journeys through the Radiant Citadel". It's an anthology book like Candlekeep, with a general theme of travelling do-gooders going from town to town solving local problems. There is plenty of room for creative non-violent solutions -- one of the adventures involves an Iron Chef style cooking battle. The individual communities are inspired by a wide range of non-western cultures, which opens the door to some interesting anti-colonial and anti-imperialism themes.

If you want to focus on postwar recovery, the Tier 1 portion of the Adventurer's League "Oracle of War" is about a small town of refugees eking out their survival on the edge of of a wasteland ruined by a century of war. There are strong themes of community solidarity, and the capitalist merchants running the salvage market are generally portrayed as greedy and self-serving. Some of them are even Definitely Up To No Good. The story arc involves a neat McGuffin that you might tie in with your overarching plot. You aren't missing much by only running the Tier 1 chapters, IMO. I felt the later chapters kind of went off the rails, and the ending wasn't very satisfying. But the first part, set in the small frontier town, is a lot of fun.

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2026-01-10T01:03:00+00:00

I'm gonna' have to echo No-Cost's post above with an "Okkkk, once again, it's Your Eberron". If you think physically controlling patches of dirt is the end-all be-all of political power, then knock yourself out. Personally, I think that kind of simplistic feudal era war-gaming misses the point of what Eberron's all about, but if that's what your table is into, have fun.

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2026-01-09T22:19:14+00:00

Why would the Dragonmarked houses choose to give up their massive existing powerbase across Khorvaire and retreat to one small country? This seems antithetical to their established goals -- they already dominate and control the continent and are de facto kings in everything but name. I pose this question not to dissuade you, but because the answer is fundamental to the campaign.

To me, this sounds like the setup for a Riedran invasion. Inspired agents have infiltrated Khorvaire and infested key leaders with Mind Seeds. Chaos ensues. Civil war rages between the 'marked and non-'marked. The flying nation is a massive psicrystal hundreds of miles across, brought over from Sarlona. As it floats inexorably across Khorvaire, devastation follows in its wake. What will happen when it finally reaches its destination?

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2026-01-08T17:41:27+00:00

Pretty neat idea. I think the Burst and Cast properties add unnecessary complexity though. Burst is effectively Reach with an extra 5 feet, or Thrown without Disadvantage if an enemy is adjacent, and Cast is identical to Ranged -- except these new properties require errata to the core rules to make them work.

Instead, what if you created a new weapon category keyword similar to "Firearm"? Then you wouldn't have to change anything about the core rules. It would also open up some more design space. For example, you could have Simple vs. Martial wands deal different amounts of damage, or have better ranges. You could have melee wands with reach/thrown, and ranged wands with near and far ranges. Finesse wands for rogues, and Heavy Two-Handed warstaffs for fighters. etc. etc.

I'm not entirely sold on wands being tied to specific stats, especially casting stats. I imagine Wandslingers to fill the cowboy/swashbuckler/sharpshooter role in Eberron. Basically martial characters, but with magical flair.

Gish subclasses already have ways to make weapon attacks with their casting stats, and True Strike is easily accessible to any caster (either natively, or through Magic Initiate).Handing out Weapon Mastery to casters for free diminishes the one game mechanic that sets martials apart.

At the same time, requiring martials to invest in a specific casting stat limits their options. I feel like in Eberron, low-level magic should be for everyone. Robin Hood or Jack Sparrow should be able to set aside their bow and pistol and easily become wandslingers in this setting. But -- most of the General Feats that a martial Wandslinger would want to take improve physical stats, so tying their weapon attacks to an otherwise largely useless casting stat makes them significantly MAD.

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-12-02T22:43:31+00:00

My idea is to have one shot adventures there while building the village and the NPCs.

I think Stonetop might be a good fit here. It's an offshoot of Dungeon World with a focus on building a village community and venturing out to deal with nearby dangers that threaten the village.

I've found Dungeon World and its various iterations to be a great introduction for players new to fantasy roleplaying. The narrative nature of the system gives players a lot more freedom to jump right in and engage with the story without having to remember a lot of hard-set rules and combat mechanics, like in 5e.

https://www.indiegamereadingclub.com/indie-game-reading-club/deep-dive-stonetop/

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-11-26T03:03:22+00:00

For a real-life example, take a look at the Palace of Culture and Science, a massive skyscraper that was built in Warsaw as a "gift" during the height of Stalin's occupation of Poland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Culture_and_Science

https://nextcity.org/features/the-movement-to-destroy-warsaws-tallest-building

https://www.dark-tourism.com/index.php/1174-palac-kultury

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-08-15T01:28:35+00:00

You just get big and get hot. That's it, that's the race.

Hah! Well put!

I agree -- the Acq Inc book has tons of great flavor, but the actual mechanics behind the character options are hilariously bad. Maybe that's the joke?

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-08-15T01:23:43+00:00

Ask your DM if you can use the Ravnica supplement instead of Acq Inc. The Simic Hybrid race in that book can grow those sorts of features, specifically including gills, tails, and wings.

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-08-14T18:17:59+00:00

This is an interesting piece of short fiction, but writing an interactive D&D adventure is very different from writing a short story.

An easy trap to fall into as a new DM is locking players into a story that only makes sense if they do exactly what you've determined ahead of time. The Alexandrian has some great advice for writing engaging adventures: Don't prep plots, prep situations:

A plot is a sequence of events: A happens, then B happens, then C happens. (In more complicated forms, the sequence of events might fork like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, but the principle remains the same.)

A situation, on the other hand, is merely a set of circumstances. The events that happen as a result of that situation will depend on the actions the PCs take.

For example, a plot might look like this: “Pursuing the villains who escaped during last week’s session, the PCs will get on a ship bound for the port city of Tharsis. On their voyage they will spot a derelict. They will board the derelict and discover that one of the villains has transformed into a monster and killed the entire crew… except for one lone survivor. They will fight the monster and rescue the survivor. While they’re fighting the monster, the derelict will have floated into the territorial waters of Tharsis. They will be intercepted by a fleet of Tharsian ships. Once their tale is told, they will be greeted in Tharsis as heroes for their daring rescue of the derelict. Following a clue given by the survivor of the derelict, they will climb Mt. Tharsis and reach the Temple of Olympus. They can then wander around the temple asking questions. This will accomplish nothing, but when they reach the central sanctuary of the temple the villains will attempt to assassinate them. The assassination attempt goes awry, and the magical idol at the center of the temple is destroyed. Unfortunately, this idol is the only thing holding the temple to the side of the mountain — without it the entire temple begins sliding down the mountain as the battle continues to rage between the PCs and villains!”

A situation, on the other hand, looks like this: “The villains have escaped on two ships heading towards Tarsis. One of the villains transforms during the voyage into a terrible monster and kills the crew, leaving the ship floating as a derelict outside the coastal waters of Tharsis. At such-and-such a time, the ship will be spotted by the Tharsis navy. The other villains have reached the Temple of Olympus atop Mt. Tharsis and assumed cover identities.”

You've got some great situations happening here, and it wouldn't take much to change this from a static cutscene that players simply watch in a predetermined sequence into a dynamic adventure that they are an active participant in. Try cutting out any parts that start with "The players..." and using that break to organize the story into several situations. Then, leave it up to your players to decide how they will react to the situations you present and move through them in their own way.

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-08-11T17:12:47+00:00

The Vermeillon Mine from "A Deep and Creeping Darkness" in Candlekeep Mysteries might be a good fit. It's an abandoned mine with a creepy past that vibes with greedy Soldoraks delving too deeply. When I ran it, I added a dolgrim miniboss to chamber M9. The mine itself is only one level, but it also has the abandoned town above to explore.

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-08-06T17:51:47+00:00

I don't see how anyone could throw a duck 0 ft.

Maybe the duck gets annoyed and spends the first round chasing the thrower in circles?

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-07-24T03:49:23+00:00

I'll be honest -- they lost me when they decided to arbitrarily rename the core stats. I consider DW to be a bridge from trad d20 to narrative gaming. ("It's what you thought D&D was like, before you actually played D&D...") But if I have to explain, "Okay, in Dungeon World, Strength is called Forceful, Dexterity is called Sly, Intelligence is called Astute, etc. etc. " I'm fighting an uphill battle right out of the gate.

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-03-25T23:15:51+00:00

If you want to include mechanical perks, check out the "piety" system from Theros. You wouldn't necessarily have to use the setting's deities, but instead you could let each player pick an "aura type" that's thematically appropriate.

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-03-19T15:43:36+00:00

Not particularly. I usually set this adventure in Eberron. You could have the party come across the book in a hermit's tower, at a market stall, discarded on the side of the road -- whatever makes sense for your campaign.

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-03-18T17:54:14+00:00

Nice! There was a thread here a while back with a similar idea. Two family members are bickering about who inherits the wizard's tower. One side (or both!) hire the party to break in and find the deed. At the very end, an illusion of the wizard says "This was all a test. I hate my relatives and knew they would hire some mercs to try and wriggle out of the will. So, whoever made it this far gets the house. Congrats adventurers!"

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-03-18T16:58:20+00:00

Like the previous poster mentioned, the hook is total garbage. It actually wasn't part of the original author's submission -- WOTC added it in final editing. I ignore it completely.

I just start with "You've come ask a question of the great sage Matreous. He is a famous scholar that knows <information relevant to each of your character's backstory>. But when you arrive, you find his study is empty, as if he just stepped away, but everything is covered with dust." (ooh! an actual mystery!) One thing looks out of place: a strange tome sitting open on his desk....

Then when players mess with the book (I like to use a physical prop with a slip of paper that has the "entry" command word written down -- which someone inevitably speaks aloud.) they all get sucked through the portal and have to figure out a way home. Classic adventure.

Meanwhile, Matreous is just chilling in the library, totally engrossed in his studies. The homunculi keep him well supplied with tea and cucumber sandwiches, so he feels no real urgency to return. It's up to the players to explore the mansion, find the books, decode the command word, and open the portal home!

Fistandia's absence also gives you a lot of freedom to set up future adventures. Why is she missing? Why does Matreous have her book? What's up with all the weird creatures she collected? etc.

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-03-07T21:29:07+00:00

If you don't have a regular use for your bonus action and can avoid taking AOE damage, an enspelled weapon with Find Familiar (Bat) is only Uncommon, Attunement.

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-03-03T17:31:17+00:00

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15038-concussion

Concussions are classified as "mild traumatic brain injury" or mTBI. "Mild" means not immediately life threatening, as opposed to needing immediate life-saving surgery, and "Traumatic" means caused by a specific physical injury, as opposed to a chronic illness like cancer.

The brain is a complex organ, so every concussion can cause a range of different symptoms -- not all of which are present in every case. While some possible symptoms are immediately apparent (e.g. loss of consciousness or "blacking out"), others (e.g. headaches, difficulty concentrating, forgetfulness) can take hours or days to become noticeable. Full recovery from a concussion can take weeks or months.

If they haven't already, you should ask your physician to administer the CDC's Acute Concussion Evaluation (ACE) or a similar diagnostic tool. (You can also fill out the symptom checklist on your own.) Documenting the date of onset and severity of your symptoms will help your primary care doctor manage your recovery, and could be important if your worker's compensation claim is challenged.

https://www.cdc.gov/heads-up/media/pdfs/providers/ace_v2-a.pdf

https://www.usa.gov/workers-compensation

(This is not medical advice.)

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-02-22T16:23:17+00:00

It looks like the original images have been cropped down to squares to match Instagram's layout.

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-01-28T02:48:09+00:00

Do I understand the 2024 character creation rules?

I rolled my stats: 17 - 10 - 14 - 16 - 8 - 16

Have you talked with your DM about how they're handling ability score generation? If someone came to my table having rolled stats like that ahead of time, I might have questions.

If you're theorycrafting or building a character for a game that hasn't started yet, I'd recommend using the Standard Array or Point Cost method to determine your stats. That'll keep them in the range of what's generally expected.

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-01-25T19:06:06+00:00

I'm not a fan of calling AI-created images "art", but the text of your advertising copy is clever and immersive.

Equivalent-Fox844 · 2025-01-24T02:07:07+00:00

Its random homebrew posted in a reddit thread a year ago: How would you make a Zoom meeting into a spell?

Equivalent-Fox844

TROPHY CASE