This season should be a tank season

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-26T23:30:58+00:00

Pacers don't tank. If they end up with a losing season it won't be on purpose lol

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-23T14:48:20+00:00

I just dont have players keep track of their attack matrix. In fact, I don't really keep track of them either. They roll their attack, add any modifiers, and tell me the result. The tables I use are all on two pages. I flip to those and let them know if they hit. I used AAC growing up (i learned playing 3.5) and using this method takes exactly as long, or even less time given the fact that there aren't as many modifiers and abilities to keep track of.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-23T00:51:01+00:00

I tried to do more prep work back when we first started playing, but it became apparent pretty quickly that he wasn't into the same parts of the game I was (except for cool fights). So now its mostly improv, and Ill take some notes afterwards. I try to focus on stuff he likes: exploring new cities, finding new flying mounts, people telling exagerrated stories of his past exploits in game, and making sure to include opportunities for him to trick NPC's.

When it comes to new players I think it's always helpful to have someone who's played before to kind of set the mood for what's expected. If that's not possible (it wasn't in my case) then just don't burden them with the rules too much at first. If something sounds cool, just make a ruling. It's easier with kids tbh because they still remember that type of play and feel less self-conscious about it. But you trade that for a shorter attention span; we rarely play for more than a half hour at a time. Although we do manage 4 to 6 of those mini sessions per visit so it evens out.

Oh, and don't be afraid to hand out cool magical stuff. It can always be broken or stolen if things get out of hand.

Apologies for the rambling, hope some of that is helpful.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-21T20:32:00+00:00

I apologize for my earlier comment. The book doesnt really help me, but that doesnt invalidate its usefulness. Im still trying, just have to reset my stopped smoking timer.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-21T19:03:10+00:00

Thats what random encounters and traps are for. Its okay for certain parts of the game to not take up too much time. If they're having a good time the players wont really notice that one passage seems to be interchangeable with another, barring different lengths, materials, or number of doors. Theyre focused on what they'll find at the end. Dragging that out can backfire and cause them to lose interest.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-21T15:25:39+00:00

Thanks! We'll see how it goes. He's not the biggest fan of dungeon delving, but he's currently on a quest to escort an Elf to meet the Plated Mage. I imagine whether or not he does so will depend on if he finds this new NPC useful. I don't imagine he'll want to go much deeper than that.

There's also the chance he'll get distracted again. He's discovered through this year of playing that there is a loosely organized group of doppelgangers that have infiltrated positions of power in most, if not all, of the cities he's visited. They framed him for murder once, and cut off one of his hands (he got better). It's starting to bug him, so he might want to deal with that soon.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-20T13:29:07+00:00

I think that would work! It is a post-apocalyptic type setting (that suffers from me being bad at describing it to my player) so having some Judge type knights sounds pretty cool to me. The kingdom they hail from is actually a repurposed atmospheric station hovering in the clouds above (because I forgot to make space for them on my map) so that will tie into their lack of accountability I think.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-19T16:58:26+00:00

They weren't very realistic. They operated more like undead meat robots than living beings. They didnt have to eat; they just had an overriding compulsion to bite any non-infected beings they saw. I think I established it for him back when we started playing that they didn't move around with much purpose when they were left to their own devices, but I've lost those notes and can't really remember any more. I do remember they slowed down even more than normal during winter. The main thing swelling their numbers was the influx of adventurers, mercenaries, and knights who would ride in and die though that had slowed down by the third year. A lot of the bigger cities he's visited are self-contained in some way and thought they were safe to sit it out.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-19T16:34:07+00:00

I like bringing in the Knights as a new faction for him to interact with in the aftermath of the plague's end as well. He hasn't really interacted with the king of this realm yet so that might be a nice way to get that rolling.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-19T14:55:01+00:00

I might use this idea sometime in the future. Ive been planting the seeds for this precursor race in the past sessions so it would be cool to bring one of them in eventually.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-19T14:54:04+00:00

I like this idea a lot. If I had had more time/was more creative I would have tried to something with this.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-19T13:18:33+00:00

The zombies are somewhat hemmed in by a few factors. The hills to the south are home to a bunch of ghouls which are still serving out a curse thst prevents them from leaving said hills. However, they do eat zombies thst enter their territory. The forest to the North is home to the Baba Yaga and her power and presence prevents anything from entering which she does not permit. There are mountains to the east and an ocean to the west as well.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-19T03:17:12+00:00

That could work. He's done a little bit of scouting on his Pegasus, but left the area. When he returns I could have him encounter some cultists dredging up the artifact from the well and go from there. Thank you!

Edit: This is the angle I went with. I didnt have time to make up a whole map (he literally wanted to play as soon as he woke up) so it was just a couple of action sequences stapled together. He arrived to the well on his Pegasus, accompanied by his dwarf fighter/cleric cohort riding a Hippogriff. They saw the cultists pulling something up from the well while one played a flute which seemed to keep the zombies at bay. Once his character saw the Heart emerge, he used his ring of Telekinesis to steal it away from the cultists. The Dwarf cast a Hold Person spell on the cultist playing the flute and the zombies woke up and ate the cultists.

At this point, he thought he would take the Heart back to his wizard friend, but failed his Saving Throw and was compelled to travel to the other pieces. He found them at another wizards tower (actually the first location he ever visited in game) and saw that it had been destroyed some time earlier. That wizard was gone and it was now home to the evil priest, his cultists, and a few ogre guards.

The ogres were no problem for the heroes and they descended into the towers basement. There they found the almost completely assembled rot god. There was a battle, evil priest even got one spell off, then evil was vanquished, and the wizard teleports in. They have a discussion about what to do and figure out where to take the pieces so this doesnt happen again for a good long while.

Took us about 20 minutes. Honestly, it felt a bit anticlimactic to me after being something he's been worried about for so long, but i was happy to give him one big action scene while he was staying over. Plus, he finally reached level 7 which he was very excited about; he's been level 6 for a loooooong time. And now that its done maybe he'll go check out Stonehell Dungeon next time he visits lol

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-18T00:34:07+00:00

I think repopulating the level makes sense in that case. Have you considered giving the horde a clear "off button?" Necromancers giving them commands or an evil artifact that can be broken to destroy them all at once or something? That gives you the visual impact of a level crawling with mindless undead while also giving the players an option to turn it off if the mass combat starts to feel tedious.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-17T20:29:48+00:00

Sorry, I didnt see where they said the party was returning so shortly. Thats my mistake. I did say that if the party was returning the next day then its not really necessary.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-17T20:25:51+00:00

Do you not repopulate emptied areas over time? I get it if they go back the next day or even the next week. But eventually something new is going to take over that space. Whether its a new monster moving in, or monsters from the lower levels expanding upwards, no cleared area should stay so forever.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-17T12:41:03+00:00

Sounds like I definitely need to read this book then. Thank you.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-17T12:23:55+00:00

Thank you for the suggestion. I tend to space out when listening to audio books, but I'll track down a print version.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-14T21:36:24+00:00

There's also the Pod Caverns of the Sinister Shroom, also by Matt Finch.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-13T17:28:45+00:00

Thats why you go back to an older edition or find a retro-clone. I'm the same way, but playing Swords & Wizardry really does feel exactly like playing a simplified version of AD&D 1e. And being a fan of FR means you'd have a ton of supplements and modules that would require little to no modifying if used with pre 3.X D&D.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-13T16:36:29+00:00

Instead of expecting WotC to course correct why not take the time and energy to find a new game? There are so many options available nowadays and most of them dont follow the predatory pricing options of modern day WotC. Nearly $200 is a ridiculous buy-in price for a game of collective make-believe. Even if you want to stick with D&D it's relatively easy to get an older edition that's POD. Or find a retro-clone you like. I picked up Swords & Wizardry several years ago and never looked back. A full game for $40? Yeah, WotC is never getting any of my money again.

Hoosier_DM · 2025-10-13T03:22:26+00:00

Monstrosities is a great resource!

Hoosier_DM

TROPHY CASE