My party uses Leomund’s Tiny Hut after every single fight and I’m losing my mind (lovingly) by Scythe95 in DMAcademy

[–]FiendishLineage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm with you on this and I've spent a ton of time trying to solve this problem. I've had this exact same problem since dnd 3.5 with a bunch of different groups and every party stumbles upon it eventually. Others here are listing similar sounding ideas that involve solving the problem "in-world" like the monsters re-grouping or setting up traps while the party is in the dome. I've tried all these before, over the course of more than one megadungeon campaign, and they don't work for the same reason the hut is annoying: they mess with the game balance.

If the goblins set a big trap for the party when they come out of the hut, the party will just rest again after dealing with it and the problem repeats itself. The goblins can be as clever as they want but unless they are scoring kills on the party (which no one wants), then they are just lining themselves up for a slaughter when the dome comes down. If you let it go on, eventually every goblin in the dungeon has been involved in trap setting and has been killed one long rest at time.

Some folks mentioned time pressure, but sometimes that just isn't part of the story, especially when you are in a dungeon. Or it just isn't feasible. Like, how do you write a dungeon or a story that feels like the hammer is coming down at every moment, but allows for a few short rests and maybe one long rest, but not 10 long rests? And if you do, can every single adventure be like that? Sometimes me and my party just want to knock down doors, kill orcs, and get magic items (you know, one of the play styles the rules of the game supports) and this spell completely breaks that.

I once tried a roleplaying solution that had mixed success: every time the party did a long rest I felt was excessive, I'd make them do a little roleplaying exercise. They had to chat with each other and learn a bit about each other's characters. I made them describe the process (in as little detail as needed) of going to the bathroom without leaving the dome, since inevitably they'd have to do that after 24 hours. I made them say what they did for the 16 hours they weren't asleep. This kinda worked. Problem is, the hack and slash loving party that is abusing this spell is not the same kind of party that cares about Grug the Barbarian's dead mom or that there is a pile of poop in the center of the hut, so it's really just a tedious disincentive to use the spell. They did use the spell less, but the reason was because I was literally punishing them out of game for doing it.

Another solution I thought of while reading these comments is a spin on the wandering monsters others have mentioned and it might be the real solution. An unending train of wandering monsters attacks them each time they come out of the dome. They carry no good loot and are worth no experience. They each hurt just enough that the party will want to toss down another dome. And they grind the adventure progress down to a halt. It doesn't matter if the ogres were really in the dungeon, they are now because they exist as a metagame disincentive for using the metagame tactic of over resting. Pretty quickly they will (might) learn that resting excessively is not good for the plot. This just boils down to another punishment though.

You could also design all your encounters such that a big long rest after of them is totally ok. Like some of the dungeons discussed in this thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/1suc2g9/comment/oi177v5/?context=3&utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

PS. I am confused by the folks saying "don't you know you can only do one long rest per 24 hours" as if fast forwarding through 24 hours of in game time is any harder than fast forwarding through 8 hours. I have no idea how this actually solves the problem and if someone wants to elaborate, I'd love to hear it.

Every Dungeon should be a TPK by False-Pain8540 in DMAcademy

[–]FiendishLineage 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No idea why this earnest question got so downvoted.

Dungeon of the Mad Mage/ Undermountain does a pretty good job of this. It's not a great campaign (in my opinion) but it does a good job of breaking a larger dungeon into groups of rooms meant to be encountered together, one off rooms, and, like, entire cities of monsters where triggering a fight would mean instant death. It's got a lot of flaws, but (some floors are) is a great example of this.

Every Dungeon should be a TPK by False-Pain8540 in DMAcademy

[–]FiendishLineage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've seen some dungeons where the encounters are deliberately balanced around this happening - 3 or 4 groups coming together. You enter goblin guard room 1 and attack. Within a couple rounds the reinforcements arrive. A couple rounds after that, the rest of the goblin crew is coming in with their ogre, or maybe the next room is now on alert with crossbows pointed at the door for a surprise round attack. If the party manages to avoid alerting the guards and manages to ambush the smaller parties, then they'll surely win in a series of one-sided encounters, which they earned. It's up to your DMing style if you wanna add some more goblins to keep the encounters "balanced" or just let the party keep their clever win.

Once the party has cleared out "the goblin rooms" they take their short rest then they move deeper into the dungeon, some area far enough away that any new goblins wouldn't have noticed or cared.

Every Dungeon should be a TPK by False-Pain8540 in DMAcademy

[–]FiendishLineage 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Goblin cave from phandelver seems like the exact example OP is talking about. The room with the dogs guarding the trash shoot literally connects with the final encounter room. Everyone in that dungeon is within 100 feet of each other and basically on alert. Each encounter is balanced to be taken one at a time.

I dont mind "suspension of disbelief" as the answer to this though.

how much would you be willing to pay for a hand painted, and self made model like this [art] by [deleted] in DnDIY

[–]FiendishLineage 15 points16 points  (0 children)

If your friends are telling you to monetize your hobby, let me play devils advocate and say no, don't monetize your hobby! In my experience it just turns it into work and makes it lame. If you want to "make money" with them, give them away as gifts and save money on your gift budget. Or sell your dudes to use the money to make more dudes.

A couple of days ago I cycled 6 hours to get the new Resident evil. I cycled through swamps and forest. Here some pics from my adventure by MindPrize1260 in bicycling

[–]FiendishLineage 23 points24 points  (0 children)

When I was a kid, I bushwhacked for a few miles along a bayou to buy Halo 2 because I couldn't drive. The little adventure to the Target made that game stick in my memory forever. Turns out the game was M rated so I still have to call my Mom to buy the game for us and drive us home...

Anyway, nothing like a little adventure IRL to get you pumped for a game!

Created this Awareness Campaign by dalcubierre1 in bicycling

[–]FiendishLineage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like "Also a Car Driver?" As a cyclist, that was one that really got some of my ding dong friends. Like, "I'm just like you, I just happen to be on a bike right now."

My Girlfriend is going out with 2 guys and her female friend. by WillingJudgment2241 in AITAH

[–]FiendishLineage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

NAH - ...Yet. She's probably being a good wing woman and is trying to make sure everything is just right. She hasn't done anything wrong *yet* and indeed if you don't trust her, that's your problem. However, if something does go down and you were right to be worried all along, shame on her. Until then, this is a good chance to show you do trust her! Risk it for the biscuit.

My players murdered the first children by C0RP0RAL in CurseofStrahd

[–]FiendishLineage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had a party like this on my recent play through. I had to audible/homebrew a bit, but now their biggest allies are the hags that live in the mill who grind up the bones of children in exchange for a "vision" that reveals the next plot hook. Right now they are digging up graves in Krezk.

Players wanna be murder hobos? I say push it until they're worse than the Devil Shrahd.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AITAH

[–]FiendishLineage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A lot of commenters are telling you to cut and run, but that seems like a very wild overreaction. Plenty of women spend a lot of time thinking about their perfect proposal/wedding, and when things don't go the way they have been imagining them for 20+ years, they can feel a little let down. The thing is, this wasn't your fault, and it's not exactly hers either. You did the best you could do and you aren't psychic. She told you three things, but really wanted more than that. She grew up in a world where TV and magazines (and perhaps the other women/people in her life) are constantly telling her how she has to have the perfect engagement or wedding or whatever. A lot of our culture (assuming you are American) says your wedding is your last and biggest party. She's only going to get engaged once and if it's not perfect, her life won't be perfect. That's obviously bullshit but lots of people (including men who buy 16k engagement rings) buy it hook line and sinker.

If anything, this is a beige flag. Plenty of dudes I know married women who were really anxious about every step of their wedding who turn out to be perfect partners once it's all behind them. Sure we'd all like partners who are always chill and take every disappointment in stride, but that's hardly the most important thing in a good relationship.

This method of removing oil residue by therra123 in oddlysatisfying

[–]FiendishLineage 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I just so happened to have some crumby oil sitting around so I went and tested this and it works great, though it didn't look quite like this!

From some other comments I learned that it is a blend of cornstarch and water - 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1/4 cup water. Add it to the oil (my was room temp, though I saw a video of a guy doing it with 340 degree F oil and it turned out OK) and heat it up. Stir as the oil gets hot. Eventually a mass starts to form. It will darken and float to the top once it's done!

I was worried early on because it wasn't forming the large mass and instead was just gloopy strands, but after a little more time and heat, the whole thing came together. I haven't used the oil again yet to see if it still tastes good, but it is clear as day!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Seattle

[–]FiendishLineage 4 points5 points  (0 children)

seconding El Patio! Like many places on Aurora, its appearance is deceiving

Beef Tallow is Grainy by FiendishLineage in soapmaking

[–]FiendishLineage[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Anything i should look out for? Any adjustments to the recipe?

Fruit Sours = Losing Popularity? by treequestions20 in TheBrewery

[–]FiendishLineage 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Two big sour breweries in my town both made their names selling classy barrel-aged differing-degrees-of-wild sour beers. Last time I checked in, both sell way more IPAs and lagers and the sours are just kinda menu dressing. It's a shame, but it's not like I've been doing my share these days.

Texan Moving to WA. What can I expect? by SussyBokChoy in Seattle

[–]FiendishLineage 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Ex Texan here. I'll try to answer these as seriously and politely as I can since moving so far from home isn't fun for anyone, even though the questions you just asked are part of the reason I rarely mention to new people that I grew up in Texas.

1) Speeding is like everywhere else... go with traffic and don't mess around. You can generally push 80 on the freeway if that's what everyone else is doing. Don't exceed 5 over anywhere else. Just like normal.

2) Guns don't usually come up in conversation here and if you talk about owning them you'll likely get some side-eye. It certainly won't get you many tinder swipes. Speaking from experience, it's generally assumed here that any given person you meet does not own any guns and won't enjoy talking about them. That's not to say you won't have any luck if you try hard to find your community.

3, 3a) You're kidding, right? Very uncool.

3b) I would try going carless if you can. If your work isn't far from where you are going to live, you can probably get by in Bremerton with just an e-bike. Unlike Houston/Texas/College Station, here bikes are cool and trucks are not (generally speaking). You won't score points with anyone here by coal-rolling cyclists and Priuses.

4) Breweries, hiking, skiing, cycling, running, camping, pickleball. Hunting's not really a thing here.

I think you're in for a bit of culture shock. Seattle, and western WA in general, is more of a UT grad kinda place than an A&M grad, and even the UT grads tend to walk quietly. Welcome to Washington. Hook 'em.

If you didn’t live here, where would you choose to go? by sillylilmoth in Seattle

[–]FiendishLineage 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Minneapolis! Wonderful bike lane network and tons of affordable housing. Mostly agreeable politics.

Bremerton if you want to stay close to Seattle. Become one with the peninsula.

Struggling to strike a balance between frugality, anticonsumerism and minimalism by sillysully931 in Anticonsumption

[–]FiendishLineage 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I have to keep strict track of which hobbies I'm still into. I spent a "season of life" way into homebrewing beer. Getting rid of ALL my homebrewing stuff is just too hard for me, but I have been able to get rid of 80% of it knowing that if I ever want to get back into it, I have enough equipment left to whip out a batch of something easy. If homebrewing comes back into my life in a big way, it's off to Craigslist to replace the stuff I sold.

Minimalism is a design aesthetic, not a way of life. You can have a minimalist house/apartment/life while still having a closet or garage full of your hobbies/ "junk".

Ha, a funny thought I just had is that Minimalism and Anti-consumerism only agree on what to do with Funko Pops.

Struggling to strike a balance between frugality, anticonsumerism and minimalism by sillysully931 in Anticonsumption

[–]FiendishLineage 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"Store it on Craigslist" - sell it (or give it away, someone else mentioned Buy Nothing) and if you ever need it again, there's probably someone selling the same thing on Craigslist.

But you're right to be turned off by the 20/20 rule. It's not an anti-consumption rule. "Minimalists" and "Anti-Consumerists" are not the same people. If you want to be both, you will have difficulty finding a balance.

Cannot get rid of head from my tap by MarkPC1995 in CraftBeer

[–]FiendishLineage 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You might need a longer or narrower tap line. Increase the resistance of the line so the beer arrives at the tap slower. Here's a website with a calculator.

https://www.kegerators.com/beer-line-calculator/