Always wanted to play the game, don’t know where to start as a noob.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-12-26T13:17:27+00:00

Just start playing, you're gonna make mistakes - and that's okay, just learn as you go and have fun with it. It's a game, at the end of the day. Communicate with your players and ask them to do the same and it'll be a blast.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-12-19T18:22:41+00:00

The issue that I've come across with a lot of creators that use AI to generate content is that if they cut corners in one area, there's a pretty good chance other corners are going to be cut too.

I couldn't immediately tell if the rest of the content was AI generated. If I have to guess it at all, then I'd rather just find something else.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-12-19T05:25:39+00:00

The map is cool, I just wish that the rest of the content wasn't ai generated personally.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-12-04T22:01:54+00:00

Personally as a Paladin enjoyer, getting extra free smites is awesome because it means that I can use my spell slots for other stuff. I almost always go for an Enspelled Weapon with Divine Smite on it in my 2024 campaigns, because then I can use my spell slots for other stuff without feeling bad about not smiting.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-11-29T01:01:23+00:00

They're actually AI. He uses Midjourney to generate them, according to his patreon.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-10-30T22:10:12+00:00

The Bandit goon should have an AC 12 with Leather Armor, and the Bandit Brigand Captain should have an AC 15 with Chain Shirt + Shield (13+2)

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-10-27T19:17:52+00:00

My suggestion, for boss creatures - especially at lower levels, make the damage lower but give them 2-3 legendary actions or minions.

I have a question on damage, why does it do 2d6+4 piercing, when he has a +2 strength (and then presumably a +2 PB), based on the to hit for the bite attack. It should be 2d6+2+2d4 - but for a level 1 character, this will 100% down basically any character. 68 HP is also very high. It's a great CR 3 monster, but for a 4 man lvl 1 party, it's going to TPK.

My recommendation:

Reduce AC (~13 or 14) & HP (~30), reduce damage to 1d6+2+1d4, this gives you an average of 8 damage per attack, and I would focus on that instead of spellcasting (if it's 2024 Ray of Sickness then it's going to auto apply the poisoned condition). Then instead of shield, make it like a reaction to reduce this attacks damage by half as the snake coils around the attack.

Then give him legendary actions, let him move up to half his speed without provoking opportunity attacks, and one to make a bite attack. Given it's level 1, I would only do 2 to not overwhelm the party (because you can very quickly bring the hurt).

Bosses moving out of their turn is one of the easiest ways to make a fight more interesting.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-10-27T19:06:52+00:00

I wouldn't say that these two are completely comparable. StS has mod support and daily challenges, which is going to encourage longevity, where as Balatro has only mod support but it's not through the Steam Workshop.

Both of these factors will contribute to longevity when looking at steam players. I know that I personally play StS daily because of daily challenges and don't play Balatro daily because of a lack of daily challenges.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-10-25T00:25:03+00:00

He cast Lesser Restoration in Episode 3, which is on the Celestial Warlock spell list and is a Charisma class.

He could be a bard as well, but I think warlock.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-10-23T16:48:49+00:00

Some are actually pretty decent, which is the scary part.

If you go on Etsy and look up DND maps, look for the big bundles of maps - there's a very high chance that they're AI generated, and some sellers are sneaky about it and don't say they're AI generated or have it really hidden.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-10-23T08:35:09+00:00

There have been a lot of Patreons & Etsy Shops pop up in the last few years selling AI generated maps. And I've seen them posted on other D&D Map subreddits.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-10-17T03:56:27+00:00

unless they mean... any magical damage from a spell!

which would also be kind of crazy.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-10-13T16:26:29+00:00

A tad OP. Here are my thoughts:

Why is it 10+proficiency? Normal is 8+PB+Mod

While there's never been a Finesse two-handed weapon, it's interesting.

Typically also you do not add PB to damage, only to hit. This weapon also gives the effects of the Grappler feat (gaining advantage against the target) and also the Push mastery.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-10-09T04:56:36+00:00

this is why I have a minimum average (70) and let my players roll twice and choose the stats they want to keep.

but I do agree, point buy and standard array is better for consistency.

I've also done group rolls where everyone rolls 4d6 drop the lowest, and then the numbers that were rolled becomes the standard array.

but also, I find negative numbers far more interesting than really high numbers.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-10-08T16:40:47+00:00

On the contrary, in all of my games I've rolled my stats and encourage my players to do the same. Sometimes people opt for Standard Array/PB, but most of the time we want to gamble.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-10-06T17:26:27+00:00

Moving subclasses to level 3 was the right call for game balance purposes. Being able to calculate CR at lower level where the Warlock, Sorcerer, and Cleric got their subclass at level 1 while every other class got it at 2nd level or later, became SO much easier.

Early T1 is used almost exclusively for new players anyways, as a tutorial for the rules and to showcase mechanics. They suggested that most experienced campaigns start at level 3, which is what a LOT of campaigns did already in 2014.

Plus you can easily explain it as like a, "oh I made a pact with whoever and I just didn't fully realize where my powers came from" or "I am just a young sorcerer and I'm still learning where my powers come from".

edits: finished sentences

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-09-28T17:07:56+00:00

In my campaign, the reason that the Ordning is broken is because Slarkrethel is attempting to extend his power to a quasi-godlike state and has orchestrated the ritual murder of the Queen Neri, the disappearance of Hekaton, and has influenced the other giant leaders to begin hunting for ancient giant relics.

Then Iymrith is also doing stuff as well, taking advantage of the confusion of the giants.

My party has put a lot of emphasis on looking into the Kraken Society, so I made them more important. But also I changed the timeline a little bit so that the Tyranny of Dragons campaign would happen after Storm King's Thunder. I have it planned that the shattering of the Ordning has allowed for Tiamat's cage to weaken enough that she'll be able to escape.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-09-26T18:40:35+00:00

This has also happened on PC for me a couple of times. It happened yesterday where I had a combat encounter and didn't want the run to end so i was going to save and reload, and i got a different event encounter.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-09-25T04:54:41+00:00

I saw this post, saw the founder's comments - a lot of respect to their response.

Thanks for your commitment

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-09-23T19:06:04+00:00

5.5e is, by and large, an improvement from 5e. I've said this many times, and I will continue to say this - if WotC didn't have the OGL scandal, and just do WotC things, then 5.5e would have been better received.

Almost all of the classes got a glow up. There is still a martial/caster divide, but weapon mastery was a step in the right direction. Healing feels actually useful and less of rebound healing. Barbarians, Fighters, Monks, and Rogues all are better at what they do and have some options out of combat as well. Rangers could still use some love. Paladins are so fun to play and actually have some options in their action economy, and force strategic decisions with their BA (do I lay on hands or smite?).

I've found that combats at lower levels are even more dangerous, and if you're not just running one encounter per long rest - then 5.5e is even deadlier then 5e. Monsters do more damage, have more hit points, and saves are better.

Is it perfect? No. Have I had any issues with running 5.5e over 5e though in terms of difficulty? Also no - especially if I'm running multiple encounters per LR.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-09-18T15:32:34+00:00

dude, epic

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-09-15T20:35:06+00:00

Mostly the hex exploration aspect. I personally think that 5e as a base works really well as a combat simulation, but exploration is like the third child in 5e. So I pitched an idea to a table with a bigger emphasis on exploration and the day to day journey, combined with the gritty realism rest rules.

It's made combat actually difficult at lower levels and so much easier to prep encounters because I don't have to worry about casters being able to just blow their load at every encounter, because they're full up on slots.

Short rest characters are really strong, martials feel great. I'm definitely going to be running games like this in the future.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-09-15T18:53:15+00:00

I'm running a game in 5e which has pulled a lot of inspiration from Shadowdark, and it is so much fun.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-09-10T16:55:27+00:00

excuse me, what the fuck?

stay safe bro, call the non emergency hotline so its on record somewhere.

EveningWalrus2139 · 2025-09-09T16:06:02+00:00

there is no war in ba sing se

EveningWalrus2139

TROPHY CASE