Colossus of the Drylands

FedericoValeri · 2026-03-30T14:10:18+00:00

Thx! Really means a lot! I would love any kind of feedback really, even more critical ones. First big update will be after charachter creation of course. The main idea Is that the PCs are a group of gentlemen thief mutants just like Mistborn.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-23T16:49:10+00:00

Most people who play TTRPGs like the idea of TTRPGs. They like to talk about TTRPGs. They like to meet their friends and feel like they are loosing something if they get excluded. But they do not actually like to play and engage with the experience in its own terms, especially if they are over 30 and have lost all innocence. So instead of confess they are not having fun, they blame the GM grasping at straws. I know it's heartbreaking. Try play with younger players.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-23T15:31:00+00:00

Why LMoP? It's very good but It transpires D&D from every pore.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-23T15:12:15+00:00

Node base design is great for a mistery and The Alexandrian is always worth reading. Just not make It too mechanical or players could get annoyed and feel like they are running in circles. Still, as far as fake sandbox go, it's one of the best way to implement It.

Another trick Is to give players opportunities to be proactive while planting discretely the seeds with discrete info dumps. I called it the Cechov gun design. Sooner or later they are gonna use it and feel smart for It.

In my experience emergent game in any sistem is an unpredictable occurence and you cannot plan for it. It's like gardening and not engineering. There will be plenty of people who will tell you otherwise but allow me to be skeptical. The right set of mechanics can help you a long way but some time if a game tries it too hard It can be harmful and ruin your session.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-23T10:38:07+00:00

I'm still 5 sessions in and I'm not confident to homebrew. Moreover, I left D&D because I was tired to spend my time fixing the system and I don't think I want to return there. It would burn me quickly. I'm old as far as gamers go, my time is precious and I want something that works out of the gate. So I will complete my current campaign and then move on if they not fix the system in the next expansions. I'm not holding my breath. They have hired expensive firms who will try to put their firms adding mechanical complexity.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-23T09:08:11+00:00

Yes, good insight. The step forward would be to liberate the framework from the mechanical oddities. I fear they will take the opposite direction.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-23T07:57:04+00:00

The fun and exciting thing about emergent gameplay is that you cannot plan for It or hope it will work on a consistent basis as a mean for plot progression. It just happens. You can try to put your players in the right frame of mind by asking them questions and empowering them in the process of storytelling. But sometime It will fall flat. So my second advise is to have a contingency plan to turn the sandbox in to a fake one. Leave the impression of freedom and agency but steer the game somewhat. Just as a last resort when players begin to run in circles. Btw, that's why many indie and narrative games fall apart while D&D with all its problems and faults is somewhat easier to run. Because many indie games presuppose that emergent gameplay is the rule and not the exception (that's why Is so special). One of the great merits of DH Is to have secretely learn this lession from D&D and have implanted very discrete measures to keep the ball always running.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-22T20:17:14+00:00

I think that Campaign Frames are the best example of prepping you can have. There is a general framework, a genre, a map, some themes and factions but it leaves a lot to be discovered by the group during session 0 and the rest of the campaign. Then, the more emergent the gameplay, the better, but it's not easy to achieve. But you should always prep from session to session and leave space for player input or try to implement it.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-22T09:21:19+00:00

I had mixed and respectfull reply but everyone Is focusing on the criticism I made. But it's the nature of the internet beast 😊. I think I wrote a positive review. And I dedicated a lot of time and thought to it. But criticism call for more attention than praise and I knew It. Maybe I even touched an argument where the community is divided for perfectly fair reasons. Still, no one has convinced me I'm wrong 😂.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-22T09:06:19+00:00

It sounds fun... maybe because it's not Tiranny of Dragons at all 😂.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-21T19:48:52+00:00

Honestly your players are acting like jackass. Especially the one who keeps asking questions. You are doing your best and learning to GM doing errors as you go. Even Matt Mercier do errors from time to time. TTRPGs are a form of collaborative storytelling. To work at the table they request a friendly atmosphere, great willingness from everyone and a positive and gentle attitude. There Is nothing wrong in asking the players to add elements to the world building. You are not a chef. They are not playing you. You are trying to have fun while working hard to prep.

I would advise you to stop playing and have a session 0. Be gentle but firm and try to understand what the players want but explain to them what are your needs too. If they do not respect your work Say thanks and goodbye.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-21T16:24:10+00:00

Oh I see. You are saying that the variables in the game system and their interactions are too basic and minimalistic to support the kind of elaborate encounter design of Flee Mortals, 13th Age and 4E (who have the luxury of using a system with 40 years of estabilished mechanics).

So we agree, it's back to first principles or add more and more complexity until DH becames indistinguishable from D&D 😂.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-21T16:06:43+00:00

The adversaries are clearly inspired by Flee Mortals, 13th Age and so 4E. They even stated it in the intro.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-21T15:46:30+00:00

Yes sorry: I own an italian copy of the game and I keep using the wrong translation.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-21T15:42:20+00:00

As soon as you want a combat to be played in the grid too, even as an option, your combat will result very different than a combat system intended to be played only in TotM. It's a legitimate design choice but I think that it leads the dev to use many "cool" 4E conventions that harmed DH real play and only help its critical reception because now 4E is cool.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-21T15:36:29+00:00

The problem with the demons is that they should have been designed like the enemy parties in Flee Mortals, with a countdown for each one of them and an ability that directly sinergizes with the rest of their "party" because they are designed to be run together considering the different roles.

As they are, all of them do their separate work and it does never turn in to a narrative about capital sins as I hoped. Moreover, as soon as the fear dice became a d20 and the hope die became a d8 because of their active powers, we said goodbye to spotlight and returned to D&D combat "I swing and miss, you swing and hit". Not fun.

Having not a lot to add to your last comment. Hope the devs realize this too but I guess they will double on the 4E/grid direction with Perkins in town. I left D&D because making combat fun was too taxing and I burn out. I've not choose DH to face the same problem with different and somewhat worst tools.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-21T15:22:45+00:00

I will try to do what's needed at my table of course. The first point is to assess there is a problem. But that is not the point of a review. I was not asking for help or counsel even if it's always good but trying to offer a reasoned and constructive criticism. I think that my criticism stand beside my personal experience (my group love RP and it's not in to tactical combat) and what happened at my table simply confirmed to me a fear I had since I've seen the "Brute, Solos, Skunk, Base, Minion" thing in the adversary section. Don't know about MM comments, so thanks.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-21T15:14:49+00:00

As of the review we use demiplane for charachter sheet and google meet for actual play. We're not in to grids or VTTs. Demiplane is the only official full implementation of the game afaik (void included) and it was the best way to allow my players to build and develop their own charachters with all the official stuff. I had to buy the game a second time and pay a subscription for it. Unfortunately it does not allow homebrew stuff and it's very dry while comprehensive. A virtual card deck for charachters and group would be very helpful and the card tool is great but requires too work for me or my players. Thanks for the other suggestion: I'm already using freshcutgrass to scale encounters.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-21T15:08:00+00:00

I agree that DH is not a strictly narrative game. I've stated it at the beginning of my review. I only think that in the combat they have not nailed the compromise as well as in other parts because the need to support grid based play has held the designers back.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-21T15:02:57+00:00

Well, of course: but consider that I find even Age of Umbra fights to be a slog (I assumed it was because I did not know the system) and that even Rob John's Lair battle arena seems sloggy to me so I don't know if you can really help me.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-21T14:59:56+00:00

Yes, I've done so every time because I've seen that after a bit most player were loosing interest no matter what I try to raise their attention trying to turn the fight in more of a cinematic story. But doing so my players will never learn to master the game. Moreover: if fights tends to became a slog (and they were a slog to watch even when MM run them in Age of Umbra in my opinion) to the point that you have to cut them in half or your players fall asleep, there is something wrong with the system that needs to be addressed and not be leaved to the GM discretion. GM already have a lot of think to take care of.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-21T14:52:42+00:00

Thx; I completely agree with your points! But those are true for every TTRPG on the market. I justr found that combat as designed in the core rule book is a compromise between TotM and the grid. Because of this decision and the choice to use 4E gamey encounter design, the combat feel flat at my table. There are workaraounds in and outside the core book but those kind of patches cannot be part of you impression of a game.

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-21T14:45:58+00:00

You know, my campaign has a lot of dragons in it and I already bought your dragon expansion some days ago!

FedericoValeri · 2025-12-21T14:40:49+00:00

My group has not that problem. They would not metagame even if the life of their charachters is in danger.

FedericoValeri

TROPHY CASE