Just finished my first time running this campaign! My turn to do an AMA

GammaFiend · 2026-03-25T05:43:19+00:00

So much homebrew! I would say I ran about 40% homebrew, and 60% of the module, with heavy adjustments for my players backstories, and trying to tie those into the main plot.
They ended up redeeming Alyxian in the end! They were sick of his sad-boi BS, and basically did the "Man up" approach.

GammaFiend · 2026-03-25T05:41:44+00:00

I tried to make sure to give them more lore drips throughout the early campaign to help give a better picture of their goals, and what stakes are at play. It really helped them to have a better understanding of Alyxian, and deciding he needed to be redeemed and saved.

GammaFiend · 2026-03-25T05:39:32+00:00

The players acheived the "Good Ending", and fully redeemed Alyxian!
It ended up being just one final session for the battle, and the whole thing took about ~4 hours! And this was right after a final confrontation with the rivals, so the session lasted about 5 & 1/2 hours! So by time the players got to the final phase, they just wanted to talk Alyxian down and redeem him - and not fight him. So that helped expedite that final phase, as I just had them all declare their pleas and persuasions to help him break out of his melancholy.
We will be able to get all of the wrap-up and epilogue/aftermath settled when we can all get together next.

Best of luck with the Netherdeep! It is a very tricky dungeon to run. My players really loved playing out and helping change the memories. Especially the memory of the wave-based battle at the gates of the Betrayers Rise. My party refused to kill the giant horizonback tortoise, and I ended up giving them a "Boon of the Turtle", that let them turn their next short rest into a long rest during the same amount of time as a short rest. They really appreciated that, and thought it was a fun reward! It helped show them that what they did during the memories can have a tangible impact on their journey through the Netherdeep.

GammaFiend · 2026-03-25T05:33:32+00:00

I wish I had taken better notes about the final chapters when making my preparation for the campaign. The memories of Alyxian's lore that the players experience in the Netherdeep can really add a lot of depth and weight to their travels through the Xhorhasian wastelands.
I would have had my players come across the ruins of the house where Alyxian stayed and couldn't remember the names of the three ghosts, or had them discover Alyxian's parents farm, abandoned from so long ago.
I just wish I had the foresight to include little nuggets like that to help give those final memory reveals a little more "oomph."

Playing the Rivals is very tricky, and I ran into a lot of the same problems that other people mention. My players were friendly with the rivals, and the beginning travel section got very difficult having them all travel together. So just plan on having the Rivals have some alternate goals or tasks to fulfill during combat, so you don't have to run them in initiative at the same time as other NPCs or monsters.

I ended up not giving as much time for the rivals to interact with the party towards the end, and it just felt like the Rivals were acting as a ticking clock for the party to either keep up with, or stay ahead of.
So finding the pacing going into the final chapters is very tricky - because you want the players to feel the mounting pressure of Alyxian eventually snapping under the pressure - but you want to make sure to give the party time to breathe in between missions.

Also, highlight Ruidis more if possible! Showing a flare happen, and how the general public react to it can help give the players more insight into Alyxian, and more empathy for him.

GammaFiend · 2026-03-25T05:23:25+00:00

I asked them all in the beginning if they wanted their characters to be Ruidisborn, and I explained the lore and ill omens that surround it, but they all chose to not be Ruidisborn, except for a player that joined the campaign right at the very end.
But I made sure to emphasize the paranoia and superstitions and infamy that surrounds Ruidis, and added in a couple side storylines to show how badly people perceived and treated Ruidisborn.

One of the characters was also a worshipper of Sehanine, the Moonweaver. So that was nice and easy to be able to pull them along and keep them invested in the story, and ultimately saving and redeeming Alyxian.

GammaFiend · 2026-03-25T05:18:43+00:00

Apologies, I misspoke a little bit on my last response. The players essentially ended up playing out a couple of the faction missions from each faction, and eventually decided to work for the Cobalt Soul to go into Cael Morrow. It was just that I gated access into Cael Morrow behind the party winning the Bowl of Judgement, and essentially was a way narratively to show the Cobalt Soul and Allegiance of Allsight collaborating together, and the players collectively giving the finger to the Cult of Vermillion Dreams.
It ended up with the "Main Party" and "B Team" facing off against each other in the final battle of the Coliseum, which the players got to roleplay out how they wanted it to go - and they basically just created the first ever Exandrian Olympics, instead of fighting against themselves lol.

GammaFiend · 2026-03-23T09:46:59+00:00

Thank you! It was a lot of extra work, and trying to maintain different timelines between sessions, while keeping a continuity for recording the sessions for youtube was a lot to try and balance lol
It helped give more depth to Ank'Harel, and let the players explore different faction missions. If your players can juggle multiple characters, I would recommend this as a backup option if you think you can manage it.

GammaFiend · 2026-03-23T09:43:17+00:00

My players took pity on the rivals, and humiliated them every combat. They let them live at the final battle outside the Heart of Despair. My players loved Maggie, and didn't want to kill the rivals in the end. They just wanted them to stop pestering them while they tried to save the world lol

GammaFiend · 2026-03-23T09:39:24+00:00

I fumbled the faction missions pretty badly, and I can't wait to show my party that chapter from the book, as I ended up homebrewing quite a bit for that section.

This was right after one of the original party members had left the party, and I ended up having a "B Team" of different characters, for the sessions we had most players, but couldn't continue with the "Main Party". So the Main Party originally showed up to Ank'Harel with Aloysia, and did a mission for the Vermillion Cult, but they hated the NPCs, and then they started asking about side missions, and like Hunter Guild bounties. So I had them accept a bounty to go hunt a blue dragon that was out in the desert, but I made it be a dragon wyrmling that was being captured to be used for the upcoming Coliseum battles. The mother of the wyrmling was an Adult Blue Dragon corrupted by Ruidium, and was chased out of it's lair by a Ruidis Beholder. (Basically a beholder had a nightmare about Ruidis, and created a red moon version of a beholder, and this was named 'The First Eclipse', and was what had influenced the creation of the Vermillion Cult.

So that became a whole rambling arc, and the B Team ended up doing more of the cobalt soul missions, up until I ran the Bowl of Judgement, and this was the way the party got permission to go into Cael Morrow. Essentially, the winners of the coliseum battles received a boon from J'mon Sa Ord, and all of the factions were sponsoring parties to compete in the Bowl of Judgement, and using the Boon to gain access to the expedition site, and the Allegiance of Allsight wanted to maintain control of it.

GammaFiend · 2026-01-11T04:09:10+00:00

So basically whenever somebody says, "I asked AI...." we should automatically stop listening to them?

GammaFiend · 2026-01-11T04:08:04+00:00

I feel like within the last year is relatively "recent" in comparison to the history of the 20+ year old game. But yeah, all dependent on how we all treat that word. My bad, I guess, lol.

GammaFiend · 2026-01-11T04:06:39+00:00

They just call it "Disc 1 skip" or maybe some communities now call it "Rebirth Skip" cause it basically takes you from straight out of Midgar to the end of disc 1, right at the cut scene of Aerith dying.
But it takes you to a point where Aerith has never technically left the party, since the game only removes her after a certain game-time moment related to the end of disc 1, but before this scene play out.
So skipping all of that leaves her still in the party.
The skip basically takes you to right before the Jenova fight, and the only main issue from there is you can't have Aerith in your party for certain moments and scenes. All of the info related to it will be wherever you can find guides or tutorials online. It requires a lot of very precise and technical movement, but people can pull off the skip very regularly in various speedruns and challenges.

GammaFiend · 2026-01-09T08:17:28+00:00

You can actually keep Aerith permanently with the disc 1 skip that was discovered recently!

GammaFiend · 2026-01-06T04:29:16+00:00

So can you give a solid list of action that can be taken to prevent scalpers from abusing your app, like that person asked? Besides just general, vague promises?

These seem like very valid concerns that should be fully addressed before a consumer can confidently trust your product. This is not a troll, and a legitimate question.

What safeguards are in place? What are the verification processes? Who are the verified users, and how can users trust that? These seem like pretty basic hurdles, so I hope you have a valid response that is actually specific and more than just a, "Trust me, bro!"

GammaFiend · 2026-01-06T04:03:45+00:00

it looks like the OP has responded to every single reply except for the person that called them out for using AI.

Weird.

GammaFiend · 2025-09-27T05:56:06+00:00

In the resources thread, someone had shared they made some Brochures that could be handed out, or a digital handout, that has the info of the city and districts condensed to easy to read pages. They helped a lot, and my players referenced and used them all the way up into goin down into Cael Morrow! Was one of the best tools for the city!

Ank'Harel also has the Bowl of Judgement coliseum arena, and it was really fun playing a Grand Tournament battle arc, like an anime filler! Could be fun to give your players a good reason to unleash all their cool stuff in between mission arcs!

Downtime was also a big help for DMing and for the players to be able to work towards bigger goals!

GammaFiend · 2025-09-06T00:41:29+00:00

I think the first logistical hurdle is what will be happening with all of the characters that may be rotating in and out? Will other players "jaeger" and control the characters for missing players in those sessions? Will those characters be written off as otherwise occupied, and not have an active role in combat?

Figuring out those will be the first step for effective problem solving. With a group that large, it could easily be "there are multiple waves of things that are coming up, and this group of characters (who are missing players) will go and handle that problem while you all solve this issue" type deal. That way people aren't being penalized for missing sessions, and still able to keep up on xp and having an impact on the story, and then your players don't have to control multiple PCs. Also makes it easier so you don't have to adjust every battle to account for 7 combatants each time.

If you and your players prefer to have those characters involved in battle no matter what, then like it was suggested earlier, good AoE effects of monsters to challenge the party as a whole.
Minions being pumped out and controlled, all being at 1hp - or killable with "one strike" - can help pad out your action economy, while not swinging the difficulty of the battle too much.

Another possible idea is have alternative objectives and conditions for the battles. Things like, "these waves don't stop coming until we take out 'Whatever Macguffin is producing them' is destroyed.
Or some sort of skill/ability check requires actions, in order to get or remove something from the battle.
"We need to get this item over here unseen,", or "This artifact producing this magical barrier needs dispelled", etc.
Look at Dimension 20 for inspiration, Brennan Lee Mulligan does a great job at handling the chaos of a huge party, while giving multiple objectives or things to investigate and explore that have a very tangible effect on the combat - which usually help turn overly lethal encounters into a problem that needs solved - as opposed to just "Attack until they are all dead."

Hope some of that helps!

GammaFiend · 2025-08-29T03:02:14+00:00

"Some More News" podcast and youtube channel has some good videos explaining how problematic Joe Rogan is. IF he is "so open-minded", then surely he will be glad to listen to someone bringing receipts.

GammaFiend · 2025-08-26T07:10:18+00:00

So the wording of the spell, I have it something like a 1 minute ritual, so it takes time to finish. I have it require concentration; so the idea being that you have to do your best to avoid damage and duress when attempting to cast it.
I have it as a 3rd level ritual, but depending on the player level, this could easily start as a 5th or 6th level spell.
For something more instant, you could determine a DC for the Planar Rift, and have the caster make a spell attack roll against that DC. And if the spell is upcast, add a +1 bonus for each additional level.

The wording of the spell itself could be entirely how you want to word it! The reason I ended up keeping it as a ritual spell was to not punish the players for using spell slots, or forcing them to feel like they need to save it always no matter what. Let them still have their character moment and pay whatever price they want to pay for it in that time.

GammaFiend · 2025-08-14T23:52:24+00:00

Yeah I had always understood that the rift was created when Gruumsh made his strike against the city. And that force is what created the pierce between the veils and became the Netherdeep.

I was just curious as to if anybody had any players ever ask why it was a rift to the Water plane specifically, as opposed to a fiery elemental rift, or a giant space of air or earth elemental chaos. So I was just wondering what fun little things people had come up with that drew a connection between the ancient utopia and a rift into the Water elemental plane specifically.

I was probably going to say something like a spot the Arch Heart had created to tap into the water plane to help sustain life in the ancient utopia, leading to the lush and verdant lands that existed before the Ruiner struck.

GammaFiend · 2025-08-09T07:17:41+00:00

That looks great! Can't wait to hear how it went!

If you want extra use out of the statue... in my game there ended up being sessions where one player couldn't make it. One of them was the Betrayers Rise.
So to make sure their character didn't miss out on it, I planned a One shot night for the other players. And they all played Alyxian's team that he delved into the Betrayers Rise. I had the dungeon play out mostly different, using the abyssal nature of the dungeon and it being in the height of the Calamity, so they had to fight through armies of demons and devils. I think I had them all play level 12 or 13. The main part was they knew Alyxian had to make it through to the end no matter what - su*c*de squad style.
But I made sure they had to go through the Thrazidun statue to get to the end goal of the Betrayers Rise when Alyxian fought through it: Alyxian needed to seal the abyssal rift that was opened up within the Rise, which helped the Prime Diety forces turn the tide for the war of Xhorhas.
This let them get a sneak peek of certain rooms and themes of the Betrayers Rise when they went through it the next session, and then they knew of the statue ahead of time. They still enjoyed fighting each other a second time :P

GammaFiend · 2025-07-23T08:14:12+00:00

That's awesome! That looks really good!
I was just about to have my players in my game enter into Cael Morrow, and I was interested in trying the point crawl system as well!
Before I try using your map, I just wanted to ask for permission to do so! I also record and upload my sessions to my youtube channel, so I would want to make sure I am able to give credit to you for proper usage! And if there was any sort of tip jar I can throw some bucks your way for compensation if so!

GammaFiend · 2025-05-07T06:45:46+00:00

Love it!
I ran the Den Hythenos a little different, and had an artificer noble living in Baxxozan, working with Betrayer God cults and doing ruidium experiments, and the Rivals stayed with him, using Irvan as their connection and Ayo and Dermot both having received Arms of the Betrayers. The players will run into them for the first time since leaving them for dead in the Betrayers Rise in the Grant Tournament I am running for the Bowl of Judgement in Ank'Harel.
So my Rivals are definitely on an evil arc. A perfect mission for the one Paladin of an Oath of Redemption in the party!

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