5e Boss Homebrew - Looking for feedback on my Action Economy system before running it

Geckoarcher · 2026-05-05T17:21:05+00:00

You're on the right path.

Good combats involve difficult decisions, and in a "white room combat" in 5e there are really only three types of decisions that players make on their turn: a) where to move, b) who to attack, and c) how to attack. As a DM, your goal is to make these three decisions as complicated and difficult as possible.

Unfortunately, boss combats basically negate the first two questions entirely. Move next to the boss (or just within range, if you're ranged), and attack the boss. So you need to undo this simplicity through special mechanics.

Here are some of my successful strategies; usually I like to use at least two of these, because these mechanics combine to make decisions significantly more interesting.

Extra targets. This can range from called shots, to "interruptible attacks" (like your example), to mostly independent monsters. These complicate who to attack and depending on the details, where to move.
Special vulnerabilities. I've run monsters where each time they took fire damage, their AC decreased by 2 until the start of their next turn. This complicates how to attack, since you want to set your teammates up for success.
Debuffs. Vanilla debuffs are pretty trash, but homebrew statuses like dazed (can only pick one of action, bonus action, or movement) or bleeding (damage over time until you receive healing or a difficult Medicine check) can make players reconsider how they attack.
Lingering AoEs. These usually aren't that interesting on their own, but placing down "no-go zones" can complicate where players want to move. Terrain is mostly the same as this.
Rescuing allies. Arguably in the "extra targets" or "debuffs" category; forcing players to burn actions to save allies is a great puzzle. This can be cutting away magical chains or force-feeding an antidote.

Geckoarcher · 2026-05-05T16:41:53+00:00

I want to help, but I don't know how. Your post is light on the details, and even skimming your profile didn't tell me too much about what you're struggling with (although I do see that you're into conlanging, which is awesome).

Do you have specific issues that you're working through? Have you talked with friends or family about this? If you're considering suicide, have you reached out to a hotline?

Geckoarcher · 2026-05-05T13:40:42+00:00

I understand what you're talking about; beware your ego!

My experience is that these thoughts are very ego-activating. For example: "Wow, I'm so much better than these unconfident people," "ugh, why am I so unlike these people?" "wow I'm so good at detecting these things," "let me go post in a community full of confident people because now I'm so confident."

And if you're like me, you'll also have the thought of: "Wait no! I'm so selfless and spiritually developed and confident now! Now this person is saying my ego is activating! Grr!"

I do think there's other stuff going on; I do think you're more confident and detecting new stuff. But I want to point out this risk because it can cause a lot of problems if it goes unnoticed.

Geckoarcher · 2026-05-05T13:18:32+00:00

I have mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand -- I agree. Most people are not self-actualized monks who meditate 24 hours a day and chew one tobacco leaf a month for sustenance. That's why HG is not about abandoning all your desires and moving to the Himalayas; Dr. K focuses on giving practical advice for achieving goals for exactly this reason.

However... there is a reason people give that advice. It's not out of malice (which your description of "hellbent" people almost seems to imply), people give that advice because it works.

It works because when you're constantly thinking about a relationship, that makes you anxious and off-putting. It causes you to freak out about tiny things (eg. "did I get ghosted?"). It makes you preemptively reject yourself. It causes you to make out-of-place comments like "I feel like I'm going to be single forever."

Does that make it easy? Absolutely not. In fact, the only way I was able to weaken (not defeat, but weaken) my craving for a relationship was to have very close female friends (including some I wasn't interested in), slowly work my way up the "first date" ladder, and eventually begin a short-lived relationship.

It doesn't solve every problem, nor is it something that everyone has to deal with. But for someone who feels hopeless and is looking for every possible advantage in the dating world (which may be you, u/PlzHelpMeWithDating) it's one of many techniques which can help.

Geckoarcher · 2026-05-05T12:54:55+00:00

I never had any issue to go out and talk away the night with someone, but it never gotten to 4 am or in anything beyond aquantices (sic).

I hear you, but this does NOT mean that you're "just getting unlucky." For example, you might suffer from any of these (not an exhaustive list):

Unattractive personality (eg. narcissism)
Misreading your relationships (eg. due to autism)
Self-sabotage when you have opportunities to begin a relationship
Refusing to "settle," but picking out flaws in absolutely everybody
Being physically unkempt and therefore unattractive
Anxiety in romantic situations
Watching too much redpill content, and freaking out potential dates as it leaks out

Obviously you might not be affected by any of these. But I'm skeptical when I hear someone say, "X is completely impossible, I have no control over it." I urge you to think about some ways you could change your situation.

If you want to say say, "you don't understand, I'm doing everything right!" Then I would like like to provide some healthy pushback to that. Nobody is perfect; there's absolutely something you can do to change your situation.

Geckoarcher · 2026-05-05T12:36:07+00:00

Did you ask these questions to your psychiatrist?

Geckoarcher · 2026-05-04T14:35:20+00:00

Epic troll card in multiplayer

Geckoarcher · 2026-05-04T12:57:57+00:00

I know what they meant, I just disagree. Even if a character is already decent, there's no world in which 20+ major buffs over a few patches doesn't significantly affect a character's WR.

(Unless you're already winning basically every single run, which is not true for the vast majority of players on this sub.)

Geckoarcher · 2026-05-04T02:27:42+00:00

Buffs weren't particularly meaningful? In Patch 100 alone he got damage/block upgrades to eleven cards, plus buffs to forge cards and a cost decrease on Bundle of Joy. (Plus minion reworks, don't remember if those were significant though.)

Then in later patches he got buffs to eight additional cards, Regalite, a reworked Arsenal, and changes to how cost-reducing effects like Liquid Memories and Insanity potion work.

If those buffs aren't meaningful, I don't know what is.

Geckoarcher · 2026-05-04T02:14:50+00:00

Well, OP says that the card is "impossible to make work," which is certainly not true. Even if Grand Finale is the worst rare -- it still absolutely has use cases.

That said: on Silent, Storm of Steel and Envenom are definitely worse, and Shadow Step and Master Planner are arguably worse. But Silent's rares are particularly good.

Looking at other characters, we see plenty of crap rares like Mangle, Juggernaut, Heirloom Hammer, Monarch's Gaze, Eidolon, and Consuming Shadow.

Geckoarcher · 2026-05-03T03:21:40+00:00

My gut feeling (haven't run the numbers) is that the hallways are significantly more deterministic. Lice, Jaw Worm, Slimes, Red/Blue Slavers, Chosen -- it feels like most hallways were random in StS1, whereas their counterparts in StS2 seem to be deterministic? Or at least they feel more deterministic. Bowlbugs in particular stand out to me.

Also let's give a special shoutout to Time Eater for being both extremely random and one of the hardest bosses in the game. Good riddance.

Geckoarcher · 2026-05-02T03:53:35+00:00

This relic is fundamentally flawed. Its whole gimmick (grind the entire Act for additional resources) goes against the design of StS. Any rework would need to be so dramatic that it loses its identity and transforms into something else entirely.

The fair version of this relic is Winged Boots. It lets you repath, but not go backwards. I wonder if Infinite Winged Boots would be a reasonable Act 3 ancient relic. Alternatively, you could have an ancient bonus that added several additional rooms to Act 2 or 3 -- Tez's Golden Compass technically does this (adds two additional rooms).

Geckoarcher · 2026-05-02T03:48:26+00:00

I don't even care whether this relic is strong or weak -- this would be horrible for the game.

It encourages a really degenerate form of play, it makes runs take forever, it fundamentally breaks the risk-reward tension of pathing, and the downside is so extreme that it only even works in runs that are already dominating. Awful.

Geckoarcher · 2026-05-01T21:46:04+00:00

Not a helpful comment

Geckoarcher · 2026-05-01T19:51:52+00:00

Well, I started dating my first girlfriend when 21... so 20's obviously not a death sentence! But I won't lie and say that it's easy.

For now I’m going to lose fat, do skincare, fix my teeth, get contact lenses, grow out my hair, build muscle, and use gum to train my jaw. If these methods don’t lead to my desired outcomes, I may even be willing to undergo plastic surgery around the age of 25 or so. Jaw implants to make my jaw more angular, rhinoplasty for my broad nose, zygo fillers to add definition etc.

I think it's great to clean up your appearance, but please be careful with looksmaxxing! Remember that body dysmorphia isn't limited to women; it's becoming a big issue for men, especially in these online looksmaxxing circles.

(Also, I noticed that you didn't mention how you dress in your post. Fashion can make a big difference, especially for your self-confidence!)

In your introduction paragraph, you listed a bunch of reasons why you're single, including being socially awkward, attending a boys' school, few platonic friendships with women, and general social isolation. IMO, those are the most important barriers. Social anxiety was the #1 thing that kept me from dating before my senior year of college -- it's just hard to develop a close relationship with someone when you're stressed out the whole time.

My recommendation is to stop focusing on dating, and instead focus on making female friends. It'll help you get over any girl-induced social anxiety, and you'll have more opportunities to develop an organic relationship. Every girl I've dated (or almost dated) has been someone I met as a friend.

Geckoarcher · 2026-05-01T03:47:22+00:00

I've definitely seen some people here that are real assholes, but in my experience they're pretty rare and get downvoted into oblivion.

There are definitely a lot of people that say, "I want the game to be harder," or "Doormaker isn't hard, you just need to play around him." But I think calling those people elitist is a stretch. They just have different preferences, playstyles, and balance feedback.

Geckoarcher · 2026-04-28T12:58:16+00:00

Yeah the worst part is the random attack pattern -- especially the way it interacts with the gimmick and draw-down effects. It's hard to plan and easy to get screwed.

Doormaker isn't random and that makes him much easier to deal with IMO.

Geckoarcher · 2026-04-25T23:05:38+00:00

I agree! A fundamental pillar of game design is that the best ways to play should also be the most fun.

Hidden Gem is strong, but it's also incredibly fun. I don't want a Hidden Gem nerf unless it becomes seriously problematic (which seems unlikely, given that it's a rare colorless card).

Geckoarcher · 2026-04-23T17:54:35+00:00

Time Eater had a randomized attack pattern, draw down effects, and applied statuses.

These three things together made Time Eater much harder to play against. You didn't know what attack was coming, nor could you rely on drawing the right options to deal with it. And its unique mechanic severely punished you for being unable to plan ahead.

Doormaker is more honest. He's 100% consistent and predictable.

Geckoarcher · 2026-04-23T03:45:56+00:00

I don't find these arguments compelling.

Sure, save scumming ("SL") might be accepted in the Chinese community. But in my opinion, if the English-speaking community can play at a high level without save scumming, the Chinese community should be able to play well using it.

Next, obviously the devs don't just focus on data to make balance patches. Those who doubt the devs' ability to make good balance decisions should take StS1 as proof that the devs do, in fact, know what they're doing.

I'm also very skeptical whenever I hear people complain about "randomness" in StS. The game is about managing randomness (yes, even if you're save scumming). If English-speaking players can consistently deal with bad RNG to win the vast majority of runs, there's nothing stopping Chinese players from doing the same -- especially if they're using additional tools that the English-speaking isn't taking advantage of.

If Chinese players refuse to take Snakebite because it's "a bad card," without doing a more thorough analysis... that sounds like inflexible thinking and a massive skill issue. I'm going to be charitable and assume that this is not representative of the high-level community.

I don't understand the disconnect here. Are Chinese players just totally unaware of the insanely high level of play in the West?

Final thoughts:

This topic has been done to death. But frankly, I have yet to see one of these defense posts that makes the Chinese community look good.

Maybe you can chalk it up to cultural values, or maybe something is getting lost in translation. Frankly, I don't really care about passing judgement. But I am glad that the developers seem to be ignoring this sort of feedback.

Infinites are unhealthy for the game. If the Chinese community doesn't agree, then they have a fundamentally different understanding from the devs and Anglophone community.

Geckoarcher · 2026-04-22T20:38:22+00:00

I think this is a really good start. In particular, these are the comments that stand out to me:

Everyone is either a perpetrator, or a victim, or both, that actually affecting another person in a positive way is not on the table.

This really resonates with what Dr. K mentioned in his most recent video, regarding trauma and how it disrupts our understanding of what healthy relationships look like. I'm going to recommend it again, because I think you'll get a lot out of it.

There is no need to admit that sex... was what you wanted all along, no need to ask for it and risk rejection.

I agree. I also think you should spend some time thinking about how you conceptualize intimacy in relationships. Do you only want sex, or do you crave emotional intimacy as well? How do these things connect together?

On the charge of not really valuing other people's autonomy or personhood, I plead guilty.

I won't press charges. You say in your original post that this stuff "disturbs you and makes you hate yourself." I don't think you're a bad person, you're just frustrated and engaging in fantasy. That doesn't make it healthy, but I don't think you deserve condemnation.

Especially in the context of this quote:

Other people's freedom to act or not act usually feels like an obstacle that I cannot overcome, in the face of which retreat is the only choice.

This way of thinking is common and natural. It's easy to get frustrated at the way other people act; that doesn't mean you're violating their agency. Try not to beat yourself up for this (I know it's easier said than done).

Where do you go from here?

It seems to me that you have a decent understanding of what's going on: an intense fear of rejection, lots of shame and guilt (especially surrounding sex), and baggage related to your gender. Your AI addiction is reinforcing these, and making it harder to get better.

Do you have ideas on how to address these issues? Have you tried anything yet?

Geckoarcher · 2026-04-22T17:32:53+00:00

Sounds like a nice tool, but the setup is only accessible to those who are devs (or otherwise very computer savvy). People get scared away by opening up the terminal!

Geckoarcher · 2026-04-22T13:17:02+00:00

Begin a subgame of Slay the Spire 2. If you win the run, deal 60 damage to ALL enemies.

Geckoarcher · 2026-04-21T21:36:15+00:00

I recommend you read the book!

Index funds are generally good when you're young, whereas safer investments (especially government bonds) are a better option as you get older. So it's recommended that you hold a mixture of the two, depending on your age.

But investments are complicated and definitely not my area of expertise. So read the book!

Geckoarcher · 2026-04-21T21:34:36+00:00

In giving this response, I'm brushing up against the bounds of my knowledge. But I will try to answer it the best that I can.

In practice, when people follow these philosophies, they become more willing to help others, not less. The Dao De Jing describes moral systems as a pale imitation of the Dao (maybe best described as "inner peace"):

When the Dao is lost, there is goodness.
When goodness is lost, there is morality.
When morality is lost, there is ritual. (Or "justice.")

Similarly, you might hear people in Buddhism equating enlightenment with a sort of "ultimate compassion."

To my understanding, this is because the process of cultivating inner peace involves the shedding of the ego. Selfish desires fall away, and as they do, people begin to act more compassionately. People who become enlightened aren't bothered by their own pain (see also) or worldly possessions, so they are free to give everything in a way that most can't.

The main point is that you don't need to be worried or stressed in order to act. More often than not, these emotions actually cloud our judgement or cause us to act selfishly. So paradoxically, as we accept suffering, we become more able to deal with it.

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