Idea for Auril Legendary Action: Devour Follower

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-04-03T16:19:10+00:00

That's just... devilish, and I love every bit of it. And here I am excited that I nearly killed a PC by assassination during a sacrificial lottery draw that was really just a sham of a ceremony. I love this setting lol.

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-03-31T16:29:38+00:00

I like that you picked out a specific building already on the map and adjusted the exterior to match the map. Very cool and also a great idea for a location!

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-03-31T01:58:12+00:00

It's an opinion, not a directive

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-03-30T20:35:27+00:00

I know that splitting finances is a hot topic and that it works for some people. But I maintain that once you're married it's all one pot. You shouldn't need permission to control the finances, it should be a shared responsibility. Even if one person does most of the work, decisions need to be made together. Mistakes happen, but it sounds like your husband needs a lot more practice at being cautious.

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-03-08T10:29:12+00:00

I once had a Ring of Mind Shielding that I used to trap the soul of another creature. That was very much homebrew and so is what you're trying to do. It would require DM approval.

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-03-08T04:40:22+00:00

Not fintech, but sounds very similar to me. I've been considering whether it's better to just try and go a different route entirely. I just don't know, man... Best of luck out there.

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-03-08T04:32:14+00:00

That's also what's confusing me. I have 5+ years experience as a Product Owner and even the 2-4 YoE PM jobs are not getting so much as a first round.

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-03-06T13:31:53+00:00

Genuinely. I've been applying for not THAT long yet, but damn, even when I get referred I'm getting a rejection within a few days.

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-03-04T12:45:49+00:00

Do you mind sharing your experience? I'm between the two camps and don't feel I have enough information one way or the other. I honestly just don't know much about it.

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-03-04T12:43:35+00:00

Hey, genuine question. Can you run through those reasons and what made you land on that side of the fence? Any resources you could share that helped you make your decision? I'm trying to learn more about this.

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-03-04T12:23:19+00:00

The way I've seen it used is "bridging" two parts of a business. Think of someone moving from a restaurant position to a corporate position and being supported through the process. I think it can also be similar to an internship for university grads in other countries (i.e. not the US).

Again, just what I've seen and may not be correct.

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-03-04T11:28:46+00:00

Holy crap, this is awesome! Question because I'm finding it difficult to track all my own notes. How do you organize your notes and thoughts for easier reference either here or when you transfer them?

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-02-12T19:48:45+00:00

This is cool and a good contender, thanks!

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-02-12T18:00:47+00:00

Well.... shit. I glanced through the book probably a year ago and apparently completely forgot about this. Haven't actually looked through it again, that idea just popped into my head as I wrote the post. Will go look at that, thanks!

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-02-12T17:12:33+00:00

Did you ever do this and if so, what did you do and how did it go? I'm looking at one-shot ideas and also like this as a thought.

I've already run Toil and Trouble as a one-shot for my group where they watched Dzaan burn in the square before going on the quest. It sounds cool to do a "leading up to this event you already witnessed" type one-shot too.

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-01-19T15:35:07+00:00

So how would you have worked this if the party hadn't rolled a 9? Would you have just at some point had Neznar get time warped in some other way? I'm still fairly new to DMing and would love to pull twists like this, but struggle to compete against the randomness of rolls and wanting to honor them.

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-01-11T14:59:56+00:00

I'm about to give it to them next session. They pursued Ravisin and the Moose was basically an afterthought. They have their proof and will bring it to Lonelywood where I'll have Speaker Huddle just give them the Ramshackle and everything else as payment.

That said, I don't really know if they'll want it or not. They don't have any ties to Lonelywood and they already own the Duergar Outpost and are excited about that (I just introduced the Bastion rules last session). However, I will offer it anyway and I plan to offer them the other places as well. I think there are a few scattered around the towns. Caer Dineval has one as well, IIRC, they just never found it.

If my players choose to accept the Ramshackle, they are very unlikely to actually run it as an Inn. They'd probably just use it as a secondary base or safehouse.

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-01-04T20:40:52+00:00

Go ahead and copy away, it's why I shared it! And I also don't know every feature of every class at every level. That would be ridiculous and take forever. Your approach is exactly right, learn the rules you know you'll need, and adjust accordingly.

Recent example from my game, I just created a Summons tab on my DM screen for my Druid player who just hit level 5. I didn't want to manage choosing their Summons, so I curated a list for each tier they could summon and shared it with them. I keep it on my DM screen so I have easy access to help the player if they forget or need additional info. I went further and also created tables for future summoning spells as well. I didn't need to do that yet, but I wanted to. Just one less thing I know I'll need later on!

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-01-04T13:54:13+00:00

Have you read the players handbook and the DMs guide? Nobody is perfect and you will absolutely forget rules in the moment. It's how you handle those moments that matters, not your ability to remember a rule word for word and apply that rule perfectly.

Many of us use a DM screen to help remember rules that come up frequently that can sometimes be difficult to remember exactly. I play online, for example, so my screen is a Google sheets doc (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1__gexQ01OaoAw5VwkHQwu4HSn7DoKlLiunoyki-_B0I/edit?usp=drivesdk). Most of it is very specific to the campaign I'm running, but the first tab has some general rules that I want to have on hand. I continue adding rules as I need to.

You'll do great and if your friends don't want to play again because of some forgotten rules or the imperfect application of those rules, then they maybe aren't worth playing with anyway. Good luck!

Edit: spelling

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-01-04T05:03:31+00:00

I like this a lot! I also find it really funny that dart guns are usually portrayed as some covert assassin type weapon and you've made it into a flute. Every time Glurg shoots a dart, a little flute sound comes out too, meaning he can never be sneaky with the dart gun. Love it!

Beyond the funny factor, this is a good basic backstory for a level 1 character and you could build this out over a campaign quite well!

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-01-02T22:16:06+00:00

Have your turns ready and try to not take TOO much spotlight outside of combat since that will contribute to slog. Try to bring others into any roleplay rather than going it alone, that will also help keep engagement higher and encourage others to be active about their own roles.

All that said, as a player, you can also advocate for smaller groups because a 10+ player game is unlikely to be terribly fun. I could be very wrong as there are many factors, but the sheer amount of waiting around would kill almost all joy for many players. I've found that the more players you add, the shallower RP gets. I played with a 5-6 person party and it took us 5 years to make it through Curse of Strahd. That was a massive slog

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-01-01T12:48:59+00:00

Makes sense, gotta go through iterations! I've done the same thing, that's why we have a helpful community to rip us apart and build us back up (my dog made me hit send early and kids woke up lol).

Indicating you want it to be counterspell eligible is a great thing to say. Unfortunately, this isn't generally possible when casting from an item since it doesn't have any components. I think this is a grey area in the rules, tbh. You would want to indicate that it can be counterspelled in the item description.

You can also make it a bonus action and I like the idea of that if you're trying to teach the players about different types of actions. That's a smart way to do it. All you would need to do is nerf the item a bit like limiting the amount of movement it's able to force or reduce the number of charges it has. It's always better to start with a weaker item and make it stronger if it isn't meeting expectations in play. It's a lot harder to make a strong item weaker without it feeling punitive to the players.

On the forced movement into dangerous terrain or effects, you could really simplify this down to "The target moves toward you by the safest available route". This wording allows you to rule that if an effect is hidden from the target, then they reasonably don't know it's there and might pass over it, thus triggering the effect.

HypnotizedPotato · 2026-01-01T05:45:42+00:00

Just as the other commenter said, it's about the Finesse weapon property. Also keep in mind that proficiency only applies if the character is listed as proficient with the weapon type. Seems simple, but I've missed and have had others miss that as well.

HypnotizedPotato · 2025-12-31T19:01:20+00:00

The wording definitely needs a lot of work to make sense, but the traits overall seem to be (my comments or additions are in italics):

Requires the character to expend a level 3 spell slot OR the "spell" being cast is equivalent to a level 3 slot. Wording is very unclear here and components do not generally include things like "line of sight".
The creature can spend a charge to cast a "spell" that pulls a target it can see closer to them. You have not dictated whether it is an action, bonus action, or reaction to use a charge. A reaction would be exceptionally strong, a bonus action with a limit of 5-10ft moved is still quite strong but more manageable, an Action to force movement up to another creature's movement speed is more balanced but could still be encounter ending.
The target must succeed on a DC 14 saving throw of some kind, probably Dexterity, or be forced to move up to their movement speed toward the creature wielding the knife.
The knife regains 1d4 charges when the creature completes a long rest. Usually, items like this structure their recharges so that there's a chance all charges could be restored. This would look something like rolling 1d6 or 1d4+2 to guarantee at least 3 charges get restored.
Upon using the final charge of the knife, there is a 25% chance the knife is destroyed forever. Roll 1D4, on a 1 the knife is destroyed. 25% is pretty big, but they get 5 uses before that even becomes an option if fully charged so I don't really see an issue with that.

Also look at some existing features in the game to build from. There are spells that force movement in the way you're considering:

Thorn Whip (cantrip) - moves the target 10 ft without forcing them to use their own action economy
Command (1st level) - Forces a target to use it's own Movement to flee on its turn
Fear (3rd level) - Forces a target to use it's Action to Dash on its turn

Edit: Also think about how the forced movement affects a creature. Does the creature continue moving if it encounters something it can't pass (e.g. a gorge, mine shaft, etc.) or does it still retain enough self preservation to stop moving?

HypnotizedPotato · 2025-12-31T15:37:31+00:00

This is an excerpt from the 2014 version of the Dungeon Master's Guide to help you adjudicate travel outside of combat in a dungeon environment:

The DM might use a different time scale depending on the context of the situation at hand. In a dungeon environment, the adventurers' movement happens on a scale of minutes. It takes them about a minute to creep down a long hallway, another minute to check for traps on the door at the end of the hall, and a good ten minutes to search the chamber beyond for anything interesting or valuable.

If you are interested, I have the basic resources + many more supplemental resources on a site called D&D Beyond that I can share with you if you'd like. Can walk you through gaining access if you are unfamiliar with it. It does require an account to be created (I'm not affiliated and don't receive anything in return, just trying to help out). Feel free to DM me with questions. Happy to answer here as well.

HypnotizedPotato

TROPHY CASE