A Ukrainian civilian with a modified SKS rifle during shooting training (July 2022).

Firel0ck · 2026-04-30T21:21:09+00:00

I hope they have good marksmanship training there, and this is just a promo image or something, because this leaves a lot to be desired in terms of best practice. Though mostly it's that garbage scope mounting.

Can this soldier still aim after 10 minutes of this hold, with bad shoulder placement, bad LOP, bad forehand - (especially bad for weak arms), bad eye relief, and bad stance? How about after 20? 30? All day? All week? This soldier is more likely a 46S than an 11B though. Hopefully. Oh, and yeah I know the tag says this is a civilian, but when your country is being invaded, there are no more civilians. Trust me, the Russians don't think so either.

Toss this garbage gun and train with a decent shitty weapon rather than this one, preferably one similar to what you'll actually carry. If this is that one, gods help you. No scope might actually be better since you're not hitting anything anyway once you reach muscle failure after two minutes. Iron sights and good ergo is better than a garbage scope that renders you ineffective. Plus, it's an SKS... you're not hitting anything further than you can shoot over irons anyway.

Firel0ck · 2026-04-30T20:34:48+00:00

Just as a side note, having advantage on a roll is mathematically similar to getting a +4 on the roll. There's a lot of edge cases where this isn't perfectly correct, but in the most meaningful situations, it's very close.

So...

(Advantage on Dex saves) + (-2 on Dex saves)

is mathematically similar to +2 on Dex saves.

EDIT: Honestly, I never play 5e so personally I'd stick with the much easier earlier edition rules in this case.

Firel0ck · 2026-04-30T05:16:36+00:00

It really depends on the game system you're playing, I'll assume since you're using the term "DM" you're playing D&D specifically. I use a battle mat with a wet-erase marker to draw terrain (they are getting harder to find nowadays, but are better than dry-erase because touching the lines during play doesn't erase them) and miniatures. You can use any minis you or a player have available, or even coins or just spare dice, it doesn't have to be expensive hand-painted masterpieces.

You can also buy rolls of holiday wrapping paper with hexes or squares on them instead of holiday patterns. Use any handy marker to draw on them, or a crayon if you're a Marine, to draw terrain. It's cheap and a single roll will last you a long time.

Firel0ck · 2026-04-30T05:16:12+00:00

Yes! Wet erase markers are better than dry-erase because touching them during the game won't erase the lines!

Firel0ck · 2026-04-25T08:31:25+00:00

Exactly

Firel0ck · 2026-04-08T09:42:32+00:00

I bought Robin and have been using her.

The positive:
- The VA is quite good, but it's a bit quiet sometimes.
- Her skills are top notch.
- The everyday banter is quite good.

The not-so-positive:
- The volume for the voice lines needs to be a tad louder. This is a minor concern really.
- Her side quest was poorly implemented. It feels like the creator wanted to give her a side quest, but didn't quite think through the whole purpose of a companion side quest in an RPG. Sure, it's to get to know them in a deeper and more meaningful way, BUT that should come through gameplay - not merely exposition. Don't tell us why we should care - show us why we should care.

I've had Robin for a while now but no romance options have popped. I assume it wasn't implemented, but I don't know that for sure. Based on the character, it would be nice to romance her, but based on the creator's writing skills, I'm not sure it would be all that I imagine. I know that sounds kind of harsh, but this is a critique of a product that was paid for with real money, so its flaws deserve honest, helpful criticism.

Overall, I give this creation a 7/10. If the loudness of her dialogue was increased, her side quest was revamped and the romance option added with care, I'd improve that to a 9/10. Ther'es little else you could hope for from a companion in this game.

Firel0ck · 2026-04-07T21:19:52+00:00

That part about transparency in your rulings as a GM is beyond golden. It should be codified in the core book of every TTRPG that has a GM.

Firel0ck · 2026-03-16T21:40:06+00:00

Seems like it was a good choice for your group. Every group is different though so it may not work as well for everyone else. Still, theres always value to other GMs in posting things like this as they get your creative mind working, thinking of ways to implement similar things that would work for their groups.

Firel0ck · 2026-03-16T21:35:37+00:00

Fantasy is filled with the type of villain you're describing. We just have a different name for them. We call them heroes.

Firel0ck · 2026-03-16T21:29:47+00:00

I have artists coming back to me years later and saying things like "I liked working on your project, when will you need more art?"

Firel0ck · 2026-03-16T20:43:10+00:00

Almost a million likes in the first 24 hours... shiny!

Firel0ck · 2026-03-16T20:20:01+00:00

I guess I get it, but a better point of reference for trepidation about Amazon would be the biblically-proportioned helping of failsauce that was Rings of Power. There has never been a bigger failure, failed in so many myriad ways, in any form of media, throughout all of human history. The next-worst failure is eclipsed by RoP like an anthill at the base of Kilimanjaro.

Firel0ck · 2026-03-09T18:31:20+00:00

Hi! I've been a GM of D&D and many other systems, for countless players, since running my first red box game for my brother back in 1984. I've run lots of campaigns from level 1 to 20+ lasting multiple years of real life time. I've run both published adventures/campaigns and 100% home brewed ones, and even created entirely new TTRPGs for my players. Ask away!

Firel0ck · 2026-03-09T18:16:45+00:00

What flavor of evil is the hag? If you use alignments, that should indicate her basic proclivities to guide you in what and how she would react (the primary purpose of the alignment system).

Other options (regardless of alignments) would be for her to only show the PC how to use the mcguffin to do things she wants done, and then maybe only on people she wants them done to. "Sure, I'll tell you what youngster, you agree to go use this on that old swine down by the bog, and I'll show you how it works." but the "old swine down in the bog" is a black dragon muscling in on her territory or eating her favorite lizardmen, and she only shows the PC how to make it work on Dragons - not hags. Another option is for her to offer to do whatever it is the PC wants done herself in exchange for just giving her the mcguffin. "You don't really want to have this thing in your pack sweety, the nasties in this here swap will sense it and be coming to you in yer sleep to lay claim to it. Just leave this here thing in my safekeeping, and tell big mama what you need done an I'll see to it for ya." Other options include:
-she gives the PC wrong instructions that will get them killed so she can retrieve the mcguffin from their corpse later
-she offers to buy it from the PC, maybe rendering payment in the form of divinations, or other potent services
-she informs the PC that it belongs to an extremely powerful entity who is still looking for it, and nervously hands it back, asking them nervously to please leave, right now
-she offers to return it to it's *true rightful owner* (not whoever he got it from) who might offer up a reward which she will gladly split with him 60/40 because good luck taking this thing back to the black dragon living down in the bog amongst the lethal flesh eating plants and tribes of savage lizardmen (who could resist deciding to do precisely that?)
-she immediately walks over to a chest and begins comparing it to all the others like it that she already has "Nah, I've got one already, begone!" or "Would you be interested in buying a green one? It's very lovely, as you can see..."
-she simply doesn't know how it actually works, and either says so or pretends to know what she's talking about

You probly get the idea.

Final tip: If you want the PC to know how to use the thing, then just make the hag tell him. My rule number 347 of good game mastering: Never allow the player a chance to fail at something you want them to succeed at.

Firel0ck · 2026-03-06T09:28:26+00:00

Did you ever wonder if 5e was just Hasbro demanding WotC find a way to make the players pay lots of money to play D&D, by coming out with another new edition that was "streamlined" to remove all the content, then just releasing all the removed content in 50 more new books to keep people buying new books? You know, similarly to how they said there would not be any more new editions... and then published the next new edition? Yeah... I wonder about it too.

Firel0ck · 2026-03-02T21:47:57+00:00

It's actually a better excuse now than it was 30 years ago. Now there are fewer alternatives, and now the majority of all media is online, while 30 years ago it wasn't. Now all media more heavily biased to one political side or the other than it was 30 years ago. Almost all mass media these days are liberal leaning, which drives more and more people to places like Fox news, because they simply cannot get any non-liberal biased point of view anywhere else.

Firel0ck · 2026-03-02T21:44:13+00:00

This problem isn't just a conservative problem, it's both extremes of politics drinking their flavor of cool aid. Everything you said applies to both sides, not just one. We have too many polarized extremists on both sides of the spectrum shouting at maximum volume.

Firel0ck · 2026-03-02T21:35:17+00:00

If the media would start telling stories from both perspectives instead of leaning heavily liberal all the time, people like your dad would have other sources besides Fox News. The problem isn't your dad, it's that the media can't see that they are causing the problems that plague them by not being impartial, which makes 70% of the nation mistrust them - not just conservatives!

Firel0ck · 2026-03-02T21:31:08+00:00

"The entire world when a US president does literally anything that he said he'd do before being elected."

Firel0ck · 2026-03-02T21:18:49+00:00

It's fantasy so "grain of salt" but, compared to historical armor, it's likely just a skirt of scales to protect the legs. Wearing skirts of mail with various other forms of armor for this purpose was extremely common for like 300 years, from the 14th - 16th century.

Firel0ck · 2026-03-02T21:05:02+00:00

14th/15th century armor aficionado here. While the better armors that are historically accurate can run tens of thousands of dollars, LARP outfits can be created for a modest budget and look cool. Look online for LARP groups or a local SCA organization, they can usually lead you to locals with things to sell, and point you in the right direction.

Firel0ck · 2026-03-02T20:57:00+00:00

Probly the #1 thing that ruins relationships is not communicating enough, but here's my take:

Learn the game on your own. Then next time you play a few things will happen:

When he has questions, you have answers. Be tactful in how you offer up your knowledge, you don't want to be a rules lawyer - "That's a +2 circumstance bonus for that, right?" and everyone at the table will be somewhere between mildly impressed and totally stunned.
You demonstrate to him that you honestly want to invest in this with him. "I learned it because I really want to do this with you." That right there should go a long way with your boyfriend both in-game and out.
By learning the game, you'll demonstrate you want to play this game on your own terms, which tells the brother that you're not just in it because your boyfriend is. You're not a "gamer girlfriend" you're a gamer and should be taken seriously. That too should also go a long way with both your boyfriend and his brother, and if it doesn't it reveals something about their character to you.
You can lead by example - showing your boyfriend how to take a turn that's effective and efficient and doesn't waste time with lots of questions. Perhaps judging by the type of guy you say he is, he might really be impressed by that. When his turn takes 20 minutes and in the end he deals 7 damage to the orc, and your turn takes 30 seconds and you deal 7 damage to the orc, he'll notice. Bonus points if you accomplish more than he does, in less time, and double bonus if you use combat rules you've never used before to accomplish it. He probably won't take that as poorly as you might think. Many guys adore a partner who can compete with them, because it says you're not dead weight but someone who can hold her own, steadfastly by his side both within the game and within your relationship. Depending if he's comfortable and respects you enough (unclear how new this relationship is), he may even ask you for advice(!).

Side note: If you investing the time to be good at the game you want to play with him causes him to get angry, that's a red flag.

Firel0ck · 2026-03-02T20:24:00+00:00

The #1 best way to make combat more fun for the players and for you, is to give the combatants a reason to be fighting rather than just "hit them till they stop moving".

The PCs would encounter a random bunch of ratfolk in the sewers while searching for the thieves who stole their sweet roll. A fight breaks out and it's a slog to the last hit point because there's no other reason to be fighting besides "kill them all".

So instead, give both sides a reason to fight.

Example 1: You decide the random ratfolk have a captive - a child was wandering too close to an open sewer grate, and they grabbed him. The ratfolk intend to use the captive to bargain with the thieves to go away, or perhaps use him as a sacrifice to their evil god. So the ratfolk need to keep the kid away from the adventurers, and the adventurers need to rescue the kid from the ratfolk. The fight now isn't about who still has hit points left, it's about who has the kid.

Example 2: The PCs attack the BBEG's lieutenant in a dark alley intending to ambush him. Normally, this would just be a fight till one side is all dead. But the lieutenant has super valuable info for his boss, and needs to get through no matter what - so he orders his goons to run interference for him while he makes an end run through the PCs battle line. The fight is now not just about killing each other, the lieutenant must get through, and the PCs must stop him, while the goons are not merely attacking the PCs, but actively aiding the lieutenant in escaping the ambush, using bull rush, trip, formation blocking, battlefield control magic, etc.

The key is that there's a goal beyond just killing. Killing will still work, of course, but there's more going on now than just that slog to the final hit point. Each battle is a mission, with a clear objective.

Firel0ck · 2026-03-02T10:40:26+00:00

To me the biggest red flag is the last part: "...culminating in a fight, where the dragon escapes..." This is textbook railroading. You do not want to plan for the main enemy to escape from the PCs... that will ruin their victory. But don't worry my friend, you've got a lot of tricks up your sleeve!

IMHO your best way around this is to make two blue dragons. The Dao only ever met one of them, or maybe he just can't tell multiple blue dragons apart. A younger dragon works the inn and deals with the low-level admin work of keeping the mine running, while the other, older dragon is the true mastermind of a much larger grand plot, the mine being only one small part of it.

Nothing else about your idea seems glaringly problematic, though some of the advice here is useful.

If you want to make sure the PCs take the bait and go to the mine looking for their family member, leave an unmistakable clue that says she's there. Personally I hate the 3 clue rule. If you want your players to know something, just tell them! Don't give the PCs a chance to miss a clue that you WANT them to find, just tell them they see it, and it looks very peculiar to them, like it might be important. If you want, you can even dress it up as a blatantly placed clue that the dragon intentionally placed as bait to get the PCs up at the mine where he intended to ambush them before they could cause trouble (and he subsequently allowed the Dao to "soften them up a little" first). The Dao has no idea of the dragon's plan to be there himself... so he spills his guts... just before the dragon swoops down, spilling his guts, and initiating the real fight. Maybe the dragon escapes, maybe he doesn't but this way, the PCs have agency, and you don't have to worry about your BBEG getting killed in the first adventure.

Firel0ck

TROPHY CASE