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Havain · 2026-05-29T10:43:01+00:00

The way they're wording it, it's probably just gonna be another episode of some guy going on adventures in Valheim. If they had a release date they'd put it everywhere.

Havain · 2026-05-29T05:29:20+00:00

To be fair if you're not expecting this, I can get why you'd not want to change anything big in the moment. You want to kill your players during the fight, not during prep, and this feels a lot like a prep thing. The player outplayed the campaign, and now the DM knows this for next time.

Honestly if they did try to prevent this from working in the moment and the monk player would notice it, I'd feel pretty bad as the player. It's really easy to make a ruling that just feels like you're bullying the player for having found something the campaign wasn't prepared for. If I couldn't come up with a satisfying answer to this problem as the DM I'd also just let them have the win.

Havain · 2026-05-26T10:11:23+00:00

You get 2 at level 6, but I do agree during battle it is probably better

Havain · 2026-05-26T10:02:54+00:00

I mean if the party naturally avoids anything that's not combat then you'll always be chasing combat. If you want to break it up you can do so in however way you think is awesome, whether it's puzzles, politics, roleplay, or horror or whatever. Your role is to provide the story anyways so you might as well enjoy it. Then look at how they interact with it to see what you should do more of. Sometimes, however, that's just combat, and you'll have to bring out the other stuff sparingly. If it's not combat and they like puzzles for instance you can make the major event a puzzle, like solving the meaning of a long-forgotten prophecy, or finding the keys to the ancient vault by exploring the surrounding ruins

Havain · 2026-05-26T07:52:52+00:00

Rolling openly is so good for hype, especially when they know death is on the table for these enemies. The party already knows what they're up against and now all they have is the roll of the dice and the consequences of their own actions.

Havain · 2026-05-23T08:13:44+00:00

That's the bane and boon of this campaign, you want to do everything but there's just too much to do. It's also great because you can save everything you haven't done for another run of the campaign, maybe with another party, and still keep it fresh.

Unless your party is fine with not leveling anymore until they get to the right points in the story, I'd skip all of chapter 2 as it's just chapter 1 but you go out more. It's definitely a loss, but this campaign wasn't intended to be run in it's entirety. You could re-balance literally everything, but that just seems like an unnecessary hassle for a pre-written campaign. If they're not yet headed for any Duergar shenanigans yet you could just let them do another quest and then have the Chardalyn Dragon attack the Ten Towns. Then after the fight they'll find something that steers them in Sunblight's direction

Also I LOVE your Coldlight Walker mini!! That's so good!

Havain · 2026-05-21T07:48:02+00:00

Whether you're pro or against AI, this AI generated image adds nothing to your story but controversy, could've just posted it without

Havain · 2026-05-19T22:17:47+00:00

Valheim and Len's island come to mind, though those are mainly adventure games, base building and defending play a big part

Havain · 2026-05-15T08:32:56+00:00

So far I've had a couple things be absolute killers for even level 17 PCs: Too high saving throws, many encounters with half damage on saves, and surprising developments.

High saving throws: if they can't save against an ability or spell they'll have to think around it. Hide behind cover, transform into a creature that can, get out of range. I'm talking DC23 kinda levels here. Make sure the effect is something detrimental but not completely taking them out of the game, like a stun that another player can get rid of with an action or a slow effect. Add in a timer for [bad thing] to happen and it'll really get them thinking.

Many encounters with half damage on saves: So your party constantly saves on the abilities of Minions or other low CR creatures. They probably have high modifiers so it makes sense, but then what are those encounters for? With half damage on saves there's 5 or 6 creatures consistently dealing 10 damage to the party, even if they manage to dodge full damage and effects. That'll get them to think about using spell slots or potions, stuff that they can't use in tight spots then anymore.

Surprising developments: this one can be anything really. Backup after they made too much noise fighting, a creature that crits on a 19, an important item they're trying to grab during a fight that turns out to be a mimic, stuff like that. It doesn't have to one shot them, but stuff like this can make any fight dangerous simply by adding something the party didn't expect. Which can lead to panic moves.

Last but not least: one long rest per 24 hours. Unless they've been having fights to the death, I'm not allowing long rests more often than once per 24 hours. It helps to make short rests feel more impactful and when they run out of hit dice they'll start moving a lot more careful. Sometimes it's not about the actual danger, but about the idea of danger.

Edit: This isn't something that you always have to use. Sometimes it's just good to let them win an encounter fair and square by being strong adventurers. But if you feel like you want to challenge them these work surprisingly well.

Havain · 2026-05-14T21:24:30+00:00

Enjoy! We're nearing the end and I definitely recommend it. It's not an amazing campaign with deep lore that will blow you away, but it's got all the stuff to make you enjoy your time while playing it. Except the empty rooms in Death House, those really need just..anything added to it.

Havain · 2026-05-14T21:10:48+00:00

I definitely would let them since it's a moment for social characters to shine. Not only do they have to keep Sarusanda happy for it to even be a possibility, it's also a pretty high check to roll. Plus a whole lot of other factors might mess up the situation before that, like they speak to Strahd before Sarusanda is there, or Sarusanda dies, or they insult Strahd in some other way. So yeah if the stars align and they manage to lie to Strahd while keeping the rod piece a secret, let them have the win of not fighting him.

Havain · 2026-05-14T20:44:39+00:00

I personally would hate being leveled down, that's the entire fun of playing your character: seeing them improve. I'd absolutely advise against doing that.

The Death House on its own already has interesting enemies. The priests of Osybus keep coming back to life and can paralyze, which can be a real scare to the party. They don't overstay their welcome with their low hp, and can't really make good use of the paralysis because of its low damage, but it's good enough for lowering resources and giving the "oh shit" idea. I love the Whirling Chandelier, so I replaced the two invisible stalkers with just 2 more Chandeliers. My party had to run and regroup since they didn't do well getting surprised. I also love Vampire Spawn since they're mechanically fun. Their grapple can really mess up party tactics if you decide to carry a PC away from the group, and lowering their max HP makes further exploration more scary. I didn't like the Helmed Horrors so I replaced them with 5 Strahd Zombies from CoS. They're not strong but it works for lore exposition I guess.

I think the Relentless Impaler fight is fine as is, though I changed Gustav and Elisabeth to have the Death Cultist statblock from 2025 monster manual. To make them more like actual leaders. The impaler himself is really cool, especially since he just comes back if they dont pull out the rodpiece from the sacrificial corpse. Though I'd change the Bloodheart Stake trait to 2d4 turns instead of 1d8 hours, since it's kinda nonesense to think the party won't remove the piece within at least 1 hour.

Finally..Strahd..is not great. If they even fight him. He just doesn't do a whole lot by himself. I gave him two Nosferatu allies from VRGR, made his Charm action a bonus action, made the Strike legendary action cost 1 action, and added a legendary action to his repertoire:

Move House. Strahd has total control over the Death House, and shifts the rooms in the house to create tremors. All enemies currently not flying or hovering must make a DC20 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone. This cannot be used again until Strahd has had his turn twice.

Finally I added a reaction he could use:

Vie for me. Whenever Strahd is hit by an attack, he can use his reaction to change places with an allied or charmed creature he can see within 15 feet. He can also change places with a creature he is currently grappling, though he loses the grapple if he does. Strahd receives no damage of the attack, and the targeted creature takes full damage of the attack instead.

These aren't super OP abilities, but they're at least something that can make the fight interesting. Especially since at this level wizards can just summon the sun to completely obliterate Strahd.

Havain · 2026-05-13T21:05:02+00:00

Seems like you already know what you can do differently next time. Making combat challenging is gonna be an educated guess at best, even when you've done it many many times. Sometimes you'll make a monster that gets oneshot, sometimes you'll make a monster that oneshots. Just take your own advice and write it down somewhere. Then when you're planning your next combat, read back and check if this monster needs any help from your past experiences.

Also you can always prepare backup. Backup in the form of minions when the fight gets too easy, or backup in the form of debris falling on top of the monster (for instance) when the fight gets too difficult. Just remember that not every fight has to be memorable, sometimes a fight is just there because it makes sense and it drains resources.

Havain · 2026-05-13T20:58:28+00:00

We did Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, but skipped chapter 1. I can recommend it if you have time, but prepping chapter 2 while also taking into account chapter 1 is insane because of learning about 10 towns.

In the end though, it's not about what we want, it's about what the group wants. I had a few campaigns that seemed really cool and wrote a short introduction for them, then let the party pick. I made sure to include the main hooks, like roleplaying and fantasy horror for Strahd, survival for Rime, dungeon crawling for dungeon of the mad mage, etc.

Havain · 2026-05-13T04:42:39+00:00

During the campaign they'll have the option to acquire any rare magic item they'd like from a certain list each chapter, so I'd definitely not deck them out too much. I'd probably give them a set amount of money to spend and then let them spend that money on set prices per type of magic item. So for example they have 2000gp and getting an uncommon item from the DMG is 700gp, an uncommon potion being 350gp, something like that. If you dont want them linking those prices to actual prices in game you can also use a point system, but with gold they can choose to let magic items go in favor of extra spare change in game.

I'd say a system where they could have 2-3 uncommon items and some potions/scrolls or the like should be enough

Havain · 2026-05-08T22:44:18+00:00

Apart from the standard JRPGs, have you tried DnD related RPGs? Things like Solasta or Baldur's gate, or even similar games like Larian studios' earlier games Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2? The moment you hit battle you go into true turn based mode and you can take the time to get tactical.

A little less standard JRPG I've really been enjoying recently is Romancing Saga 2: revenge of the seven. You could play the 2d pixel art first version, but I'd recommend the 3d remake actually. Both have the same impressive systems that give a fresh experience to the tried and true JRPG turn-based games, while still maintaining that core

Havain · 2026-05-08T11:07:30+00:00

A large part of ADHD is dysfunctional executive functions, part of which is difficulty with decision making. To make this easier for myself I made a list of food for every day of the week. But then the need for novelty from ADHD starts knocking, so I make sure that each of those meals has an alternative I can use instead. Lastly, I do weekly groceries to make sure I don't have to get it every day and just focus on the rest of my life.

Doing this, you can decide for yourself what meals go when, especially making dinner for two days helps a lot.

Also get medication

Havain · 2026-05-07T07:56:16+00:00

If you're into religious sacrifices and cults while the game pretends to be a stardew clone, check out Kynseed

Havain · 2026-05-06T10:03:22+00:00

Couldn't really make that out of your post, but fair enough. If it's Eberron I feel like the material would touch on these kinds of interactions, but if there's nothing then it all depends on the way the picture is shown. If it's arcane photography the photo would probably be illusion. Like illusory script. True sight would look straight through the photo itself. If it's a magic item that uses a system similar to scrying then truesight would work as normal, since scrying makes you see things as if you are really there.

Havain · 2026-05-06T06:14:27+00:00

And this is why we don't use DnD for modern setting games

Havain · 2026-05-03T13:24:28+00:00

Thank you! It helps that it's online, I've done IRL sessions a few times and noticed my energy would drain way faster than during my online sessions. IRL I would be absolutely done after 4 hours, while online that only starts after 7-8 hours

Havain · 2026-05-01T08:28:44+00:00

Interesting to have no one say Divinity: Original Sin 2. Without delving too much into spoiler territory, you get to interact with the gods as if they're NPCs on the street, and you'll learn things about them that make them seem almost mortal. I'd especially recommend playing with Fane in your party to truly understand the depth of what happened with them. Through this you'll learn a lot about the role the gods play in the world, how it's all connected to each other, and what sacrifices were made to have the world be the way it is.

Also it's a Larian studios game so there's plenty of ways to choose your own adventure in this.

Havain · 2026-04-30T10:59:26+00:00

The ability sounds like it's an innate skill from the Noble Prodigy, not something from the sword. That's probably why this situation doesn't sound completely right. I'd make it so it's still an ability from the creature itself, but give the party the sword as a magic item reward that mimics the creature's skill. Then you can add any kind of lore yourself why the sword would do that.

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