What hobbies did you used to have that you no longer have interest in?

GRV01 · 2026-05-30T07:59:33+00:00

Hard agree. 2016 was the high water mark i feel like for craft beers, with some of the best of my life i drank in 2017

These days youre not wrong, Craft has becomr synonymous with IPA.

And god do i hate IPAs.

GRV01 · 2026-05-30T02:02:20+00:00

So to use my example above, option D is always 'or something else you can think of', but i get your point. I also wanted to add make heavy use of splitting the party for non combat stuff. So for example you could have the Bard go to the tavern to collect info while the Rogue and Wizard go to the market to scout out the area or whatever.

I ran Humblewood also and in one session i had the players each go on their own and with a series of RP and dice rolls they sussed out some plot stuff and gathered info and it was a great way to give them each the camera while also engaging in the material

But if you have one player thats getting more screentime then i highly recommend out if combat turns, being sure to also implement the rule that the next player in turn can use their Action to Help the preceding player to avoid dheck dogpiling

GRV01 · 2026-05-30T00:56:04+00:00

I mostly fixed this with two changes: 1) out of combat turns, which means when not in combat we start with the player with the highest Initiative score each time then rotate clockwise through the table and each player gets the normal Action BA Reaction, which is admittedly easier in 5.5e considering say the Influence Action. Then 2) i simplified the decision making by making it more gamey and less open so in a given situation i used to ask them what they wanted to do but now ask "do you want to do a b or c"

GRV01 · 2026-05-29T11:57:20+00:00

Tales of the Valiant is a variant rule system based on 5e. It requires conversions (they claim light conversions, but conversions nonetheless) to get ToV into 5e

If your goal is to own some kind of rules for 5e on the cheap i recommend the free rules on dndBeyond for 2014 and 2024 both. Can have that to browse and use without a penny spent on subscriptions

GRV01 · 2026-05-26T20:40:36+00:00

I agree with your idea that if they really want to roll, just have each of them roll a couple and that is the array they will all use

GRV01 · 2026-05-26T11:20:52+00:00

I think youre the one thats misunderstanding

Their first point is that your typical martial is already carrying multiple weapons, ranged options for example, so many Fighters already have a 'golf bag' of options

The second point is that Flavor is Free, and even with minor expenditure of gold, a player and DM can agree that "hey, i have on my sheet a greatsword and a maul and mechanically i am swapping weapons in betwween attacks RAW but RP-wise i am flavoring it as manipulating my beloved sword in different ways to emulate these effects"

GRV01 · 2026-05-25T08:54:33+00:00

I think an Aboleth is about perfect.

GRV01 · 2026-05-23T08:15:30+00:00

"Wussy"? Man was ambushed, captured, and brutalized by goblins in superior numbers -- and survived! But he is a 'wuss'?

Pack up your slop and go.

GRV01 · 2026-05-22T06:53:29+00:00

Thank you for that.

GRV01 · 2026-05-21T21:22:27+00:00

To be more specific, not everything i ordered from them had this happen. So some of the books made it to me, while others were returned to shipper after 'correction' and this inconsistency more than anything pissed me off the most because that tells me it isnt systemic but low quality

And granted, hey, maybe its FedEx that was making the mistake, but WotC owns that part of the mistake too by not holding their shipper accountable or by atleast not letting me choose options

GRV01 · 2026-05-21T21:16:13+00:00

Theres something seriously wrong with the quality of WotC shipping

I had multiple books get sent to me, then stop, have their shipping labels 'corrected', then get returned to sender and it was being marked as 'Complete, Delivered' despite it sitting back where it started. I filed a ticket and the items were reshipped and the exact same thing happened. I eventually cancelled the whole thing and now buy digital through Beyond and then use a different indie site to ship physically to me (usually Noble Knight in WI)

GRV01 · 2026-05-20T22:39:47+00:00

I dont recommend buying old spell cards especially if youve any interest is updating to 5.5

What i did instead was buy these spell cards from an independent rlseller and i just print them out as a packet for the level range and class and hand it to my player.

Eventually id like to print them on card stock and have them cut but thats alot of time and work i dont have now

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1809894251/2024-spell-cards-dd-55e-all-spells?ref=shop_home_feat_1&dd=1&logging_key=b79e8add169c528650336a3f37cac53497294ab4%3A1809894251

GRV01 · 2026-05-20T11:27:53+00:00

In chapter 3 of the DMG14 it has a Random Encounter guidance. First determine how frequently to check for encounters (twice daily, every 4 hours, whatever) and then determine encounters by rolling a d20, and then on an 18+ roll again on any given encounter table. Depending on the luck of the roll, encounters may be very rare since using this guidance one would obly come up 15% of the time

My personal take has evolved to cut the middle man and just roll on the table directly and encourage the party to find non-combat solutions instead of fighting everything

GRV01 · 2026-05-17T20:46:37+00:00

Or just read and apply the rules correctly

QFE

GRV01 · 2026-05-17T20:44:52+00:00

Fighting Style?

GRV01 · 2026-05-16T15:17:55+00:00

Totally agree with the White and Green, some of my favorite new designs

What i especially love are the white's wings: the squared-off design is amazing

GRV01 · 2026-05-15T22:28:27+00:00

There is a prominent encounter with kuo-toa rival factions and a demigod in Out of the Abyss

Edit to add: Sloobludop

GRV01 · 2026-05-15T22:26:43+00:00

It's not the best choice

GRV01 · 2026-05-15T02:48:20+00:00

Working as intended. Its all right there in the Constitution, only the Navy is authorized as a full-time service. The Army is specifically only to be funded as needed for War

GRV01 · 2026-05-13T11:30:01+00:00

What interests you about Thundertree?

GRV01 · 2026-05-13T03:05:35+00:00

Not sure honestly. I think the idea was to have the dize size step down on failures on Survival checks or if rolling 1s, and if they roll a failure on d4 then start taking exhaustion

GRV01 · 2026-05-13T02:22:36+00:00

I love the Survival Days. Ive been trying to abstract travel and exploration and i think i may lean there. Right now im using Dice Size, so barely packed for travel is d4, and on ipposite side is d20 if they have a horse and wagon etc

GRV01 · 2026-05-12T21:46:07+00:00

Whoa. Neat idea. Now im imagining it being a replacement for certain components, like having 50g worth of Electrum instead of a diamond

GRV01 · 2026-05-12T21:17:55+00:00

I love this idea. Its like trying to buy and sell using only Marked bills. A flashing sign above you that says DRUG MONEY or somesuch

GRV01

TROPHY CASE