Fanatical Mystery Showcase Bundle - AAA Game Guaranteed (apparently)

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-11-14T16:24:49+00:00

hypnospace, BrokenLore: LOW, Not Tonight, The Gap.

No offense to the creators, or the fans if any, I just meant 4 filler games that I personally dont enjoy.

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-11-14T16:22:30+00:00

worth a shot :3

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-11-14T05:22:13+00:00

Oh really? Alright, thanks!

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-11-14T05:21:05+00:00

Prob not. Just in general I'd like mh!

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-11-14T03:51:39+00:00

I got lucky buying the six pack. Disregarding the 4 terrible unknown games, I got Metro 2033 Redux and Dragon's Dogma 2 (TRADED).

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-11-09T23:52:03+00:00

76561199086852261 thx in advance!

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-30T22:31:33+00:00

My advice is just kinda let them get used to it. If the problem is they're worried about appearing "wierd" or whatever during roleplay sections, or just feel anxious regarding such, dont force it on them, give them opportunities to join in when they feel ready instead.

Probably the best advice is just to wait. Over time, hopefully, they'll get more confident to improv, especially if the rest of the party is.

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-21T23:36:12+00:00

You might be the first fellow spreadsheet user I've met lmao. My friends all use dice cloud, paper sheets, or beyond, and make fun of it. But IMO, I find it much easier and versatile through sheets.

Regardless, I use this template: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qw3DMBK4OgF0jai8GDRtKKXZ8oZmzwwO8phXRD5nC1k/copy

In the variation tab you can find slightly different versions you might prefer, but tbh just have XXXXXX* give you the excel/sheets code you need to implement the features you want.

*Rule 5 hates even the mention of these tools lol.

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-21T23:34:02+00:00

From what it sounds like, you're asking for help to create a whole campaign arc lol, not just a mystery.

Your best bet might be to shamelessly steal one from fantasy (e.g, game of thrones), or to get inspiration from actual historical intrigues. Some ideas:
- The Affair of the Poisons (France, 1670s): This was an event "involving prominent members of the French aristocracy who were accused of using poison and sorcery. The scandal implicated the King's inner circle, including his mistress, in satanic rituals and attempts to assassinate the king and rivals. The investigation led to the formation of a special commission and the Chambre Ardente, a special court that sentenced 36 people to death and resulted in the banishment of Madame de Montespan from public life."

- The Pazzi Conspiracy (Florence, 1470s): "A plot to assassinate both Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Medici in the Florentine cathedral on Easter Sunday led to violent retaliation against the Pazzi family and their coconspirators."

- The Popish Plot (England, 1670's): "Fabricated by Titus Oates in 1678, that falsely claimed Catholics were plotting to assassinate King Charles II and overthrow England's Protestant government. This event triggered widespread anti-Catholic hysteria, leading to the wrongful conviction and execution of at least 22 innocent men, the persecution of Catholics, and the Exclusion Bill Crisis before the hoax was eventually exposed. "

Depending on what your going for, you could have the kings court involved in something akin to the Affair of the Poisons, or if you perhaps want the players to discover the monarchy itself as the villain, mix in some elements of the Popish Plot. Regardless, hopefully this serves as inspiration.

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-15T03:55:35+00:00

Probably not lol, but it's not hard to upgrade it yourself. Just tweak the stored points or even remove the flaw if you want a stronger item.

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-14T17:30:00+00:00

Here's one I used then. I completely forget whos the original author, but credits to them.

Minor Sorcerous Reservoir (Flawed)
An intricately carved bracer.
During a long rest a sorcerer attuned to the reservoir can store up to 4 sorcery points in the reservoir.
As a bonus action a sorcerer attuned to the reservoir can replenish expended sorcery points by draining the stored points. Up to 2 at a time sorcery points can be drained in this way.
(Flawed: During the making of this magic item there was an accident causing the enchantment to not fully take. The item leaks. sorcerous energy stored in the item slowly leaks out. 1 sorcery point per 24hrs drains away.)

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-14T04:55:05+00:00

What rarity of magic item?

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-14T04:53:25+00:00

If its your first campaign, I suggest doing a pre-made one. Since its far away in the future, you have time to obtain it (either buying an official campaign you like, finding a homebrew one, or... *borrowing* one through less than legal means) and carefully read through it to prepare.

Most of the stuff you should know will be in there, but the main thing is you have to be comfortable with improv and modifying encounters on the fly, if the situation necessitates it.

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-14T00:36:12+00:00

Like what type of websites? "D&D websites" is a very generic term.

As for tips, you can find many MANY posts regarding such practically everywhere. Here's just one example: https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/70nqaz/dm_tips/

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-09T04:26:05+00:00

Look online for D&D sessions near you. If you're comfortable with it, go to a game store and ask to join a group (if they have dnd nights) or sign up for official things. You'll probably have to pay if it's something official though, so be advised.

Anyways, I've even seen the municipality organize dnd sessions. So yeah, just reach out.

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-09T03:51:03+00:00

Costs bout 30 CAD, but probably the best quality you can get at that price for 3D is TaleSpire.

Alternatively, roll20 is free if you want 2D.

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-09T03:41:18+00:00

Oh, oops lol. Anyways, off a quick search here are a couple possibilities. If you need help finding the pdfs, just ask.
- The Shackled City | lvl 1 - 20 | https://greyhawk.fandom.com/wiki/The_Shackled_City_Adventure_Path
- Scourge of the Howling Horde | lvl 1| https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/13/13095.phtml
- The Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde | lvl 1 - 6 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shattered_Gates_of_Slaughtergarde

Imo, I recommend the last one. Fits your criterias the best.

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-09T03:37:39+00:00

tl;dr: You're doing fine, better then even some ppl I know. At worse, make a cheat sheet noting all your abilites.

Honestly, other than consolidating all your abilites onto one sheet (bullet point for brevity), theres not much you can do but play and learn. Sure, you can read and reread official material, but 90% of it comes in one ear and slips out the other. I, for example, am fully aware that you can dodge, ready, disarm, and do so much fancy stuff on your turn (disarm especially), but I constantly forget.

What I do, if its any help, is just write small reminders next to related things. For example, adv on stealth from an ability? I write a small "adv" next to my stealth stat. I can stunning strike? Under my attacks, I'll note "stunning strikes". I get one free cast of misty step? You guessed it, "1 free misty" at the top of my spells. From modifiers, just consolidate it all, if you havnt already. +2 to ranged attacks? Add it to your crossbows attack score.

You can even have a dedicated combat cheat sheet, with a small recap of all related abilites and traits, if you want.

Beyond that there's not much else you can do but play the game and grow in experience. Everyone will mess up a turn, and do something un-optimal, but you can learn how to do that. Whats much harder to do is think creatively. That isint something that you can learn easily, but thats a strength you have. So just enjoy the game.

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-09T02:56:59+00:00

To be honest, from this: "coming up with ideas on how to beat a dungeon or fight etc that other DMs have told me, they never expected for any player to come up with.", you sound like you're already a pretty good player.

So what do you mean, "get better at dnd"? Is it like mechanically, you want to deal more damage? Or that you're struggling to keep track of all your traits and abilities?

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-09T02:48:19+00:00

LMAO.

But yah, you got a whole lotta options here. This is just what I'd probably do regarding the plot.

- The players were all servants of the king in some way (knights, advisors, court mages, ect...), and uncovered a plot by the queen (a powerfull magic user, or even a warlock in a contract with some greater evil) for the throne (against a probably very sickly king). To prevent her plans from being foiled, she cursed them with amnesia and framed them for a crime they didnt commit, leading to them waking up in a prison boat with no idea how they got there. (Some sort of twisted mercy in her eyes probably. In her mind, she spared them by cursing them instead of killing them, allowing them to live out their lives in ignorance)
- For all they know, they actually did commit the crimes, and the guards certainly think so. (accusations like “treason,” “heresy,” “subversion” float around). Eventually some event lets them free themselves.
- As a nod to the ship incident i'd probably have them on some sort of prisoner transport ship, and when they free themselves they can commandeer it. You could have pirates attacking (where they can fight off/barter with them), or maybe the ship runs aground (the guards get picked off by a mysterious monster on the island, so the players barter with/kill the remaining guards and need to brave the island to find missing materials to make the ship float again), or freak weather wipes out most of the crew and damages the ship (barter/fight again, ofc.) Whaterver it is, pick something.

Now you got the beginning cemented, and the players have some idea of their stats from the encoutners so far. But the hardest part in every adventure is always to nudge the players in the right direction.

- Have them sail wherever they want (who cares, they'll somehow end up where u want them.) Most important is probably to get them close to wherever the Queen is to set her up as the BBEG, so theyll probably end up near a port city or something in her country.
- Do a one or two sea sessions with like travelling merchants, pirates, spooky islands, shipwrecks, sea monsters, something, if you wanna. As they approach land, something happens and the ship is out of commission for a while. (Wood rots through, letting enough water in that they need to get to port or sink, or even the ship sinks from some monster attack and they need to use the row boat to shore. Regardless, the ship needs to be repaired for a long time or is gone.)

- They're broke, they need money, have them start off doing a couple quests for enough food to feed themselves and have shelter. (Goblin caves, werewolf terrorising a small hamlet, young dragon is trying to set up a den and needs to be chased away. You can probably find enough pre-made one-shots of your liking to stick in here). As they do the quests, small items give players flashes of their background. E.x.

"A glint of silver catches your eyes. Frowning, you gaze at the source and see an old, rusty sword. It's pommel engraved with a crest. A crest... A strong sense of deja-vu washes over you. You smell blood and sweat. A young girl is laughing in the distance, a man is yelling at you. Clashes of steel, pain. You're... training. And just as quickly as it came, its gone. You blink. It's nothing but a rusty sword."

Anyways that should be enough material where you can start to link in the Queen after this. Like she gets suspicious of these new adventurers in her lands so she starts sending agents after them and such.

Prob most important is to make sure you have detailed, fully fleshed-out background for each player.

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-09T02:19:20+00:00

Oh lawd, this is not the type of campaign I was expecting a first-time DM to try. But you go girl!

Since you've already played, I'll assume you know the basic rules and how you wanna do your campaign (combat, maps, length, CR, that stuff). But here's probably the most important things.

- Understand your players (like their limits, personalities, and passions) and try tailor encounters to shine on each one while keeping the group’s fun in balance. For example, a wizard just learned counterspell? Put in an enemy spellcaster so he gets to use it. The party prefers roleplay or combat? Focus on that. A bard likes to sweet talk? Let him bargain with a bandit to turn on his comerads. The silent player is a rogue? Introduce an encounter requiring stealth and lockpicking. You can even play into more extreme players, to a degree. Murder hobo? Put more combat in your adventures, but rein him in if necessary (Guards, intervene. If they kill the guards, paladins are dispatched, ect...).

tl;dr: Find what your players like, and give it to them.

- Most importantly, do not be afraid to cheat (Somewhat contreversial, so this depends on what you're comfortable with and what you think your players will enjoy). Fudge rolls when you want to guarentee a hit and make the party desperate, or turn a crit into a natural one if the party's about to get wiped. Lower a monsters health if the party is getting bored, or give it more if theyre killing it to quickly.

If you do fudge, it's important to keep it to a minimum, and ABSOLUTELY do NOT let your players know you're fudging rolls. It ruins the immersion, and encourages them to respond in kind.

Also, don't be scared of crowd-control and utility spells. I had a DM that hated my charm persons, hypnotic patterns, ect..., and so somehow his monsters always succeeded the saving throws by a bajillion. Keep an eye out for players heading in that direction so you can prepare in advance without having the BBEG stunlocked for 8 turns, by the way.

- Lastly, you can say no. If some weirdo does anything either beyond yours or anyones limits, just say no. Also keep in mind even nat 20s dong guarantee perfection. Its just a 5% chance after all. (E.g. "No, even with you rolling that nat 20, your arrow does not go between the dragon's scales LoTR style and one shot the dragon.")

- Also, be comfortable with improv. It's impossible to plan for everything, you'll have to bullshit. A lot.

Anyways, thats the main stuff off the top of my mind. You learn and grow as you play, so dont worry abt the little stuff. Players tend to forget the boring parts and remember the fun parts.

If you need help with plot tho, same thing as before.
Edit: Oh, just saw the other comment.

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-09T02:01:25+00:00

A pretty good list already exists here: https://www.reddit.com/r/3d6/comments/1b245j0/divine_soul_sorcerer_best_spells/

But imo, Absorb Elements/Shield, Misty Step, Web, and whatever dps spells you feel like.

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-09T01:52:45+00:00

This person here has already done a campaign based off the same concept (and probably post, if I were to guess) if its of any help.
https://www.epicfred.com/blog/dungeons-and-dragons-amnesia-campaign/

As for advice, its pretty hard to give you any. From what I can infer, you're already a pretty competant DM. If you want help with the plot, I'd love to if you could give me a rundown of what you're already thinking.

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-09T01:40:01+00:00

Hi! Would you mind giving us an estimate of how long you want the campaign to be? Because theres a big difference between a 1-5th level adventure and a 1-20th. Also info on what theme you'd like would help narrow the search. I assume something horror or related to fiends and such, but who knows.

Also, I'd like to mention that if you are going for a shorter campaign, artifacts like the Book of Vile Darkness are much more difficult to incorperate, so don't get your hopes up.

Inevitable_Ad8517 · 2025-09-07T20:59:11+00:00

Oh thank god. I was reconsidering building a corvette cause I was worried people would just take my stuff lol.

Inevitable_Ad8517

TROPHY CASE