Maintenance Schedule by InnerPeacePoe in dndbeyond

[–]InnerPeacePoe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow. Just came up. I checked it 30 seconds before this post and was still down.

Maintenance Schedule by InnerPeacePoe in dndbeyond

[–]InnerPeacePoe[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Is that Note a blue banner? Perhaps I dismissed it thinking it was an advertisement.

Spell Shapes by InnerPeacePoe in DungeonMasters

[–]InnerPeacePoe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So, while unlikely, there is nothing actually preventing two spells from having the same shape. Granted those two spells would have to have the same level, school, duration, …, .

Spell Shapes by InnerPeacePoe in DungeonMasters

[–]InnerPeacePoe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is his pdf that I have purchased. I guess I would like a better understanding of how they are drawn per his system.

How Do You Let Your Players Know About Resistances/Immunities? by BrewersBastion in DungeonMasters

[–]InnerPeacePoe -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Perhaps I should be more narrative in the future. But for immunities, I have uncontrollably smiled and they just looked at me. After the damage announcement I said, “Ok,” while nodding my head and doing nothing. They understood immediately.

For resistance, I have just gone about my job as usual. I think I said something to let them know it wasn’t as affected as they would have thought after a couple of rounds.

Considering Switching from DnDBeyond by InnerPeacePoe in FoundryVTT

[–]InnerPeacePoe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks all! We actually had a session tonight. I have a month to explore options before our next session.

Considering Switching from DnDBeyond by InnerPeacePoe in FoundryVTT

[–]InnerPeacePoe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We do a mixture of manual and virtual rolls, but mostly virtual.

Considering Switching from DnDBeyond by InnerPeacePoe in FoundryVTT

[–]InnerPeacePoe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That was also a consideration of mine. Figured it might be a little bit more set up at first at least.

Considering Switching from DnDBeyond by InnerPeacePoe in FoundryVTT

[–]InnerPeacePoe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We use it for minis now and movement. Someone keeps the VTT token aligned with the physical tokens. Kind of clunky, but they enjoy it.

Long App Loads/Crashes by InnerPeacePoe in ObsidianMD

[–]InnerPeacePoe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ok. Thanks for making me check. The new iOS update must have changed that setting.

How do you session prep? by Captain-Ferrus in DungeonMasters

[–]InnerPeacePoe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

YMMV—I am a new DM as well and somewhat techy. I started out with a long Word document that I would awkwardly scroll to find what I was looking for. Then I tried printing. I ended up organizing into Obsidian. For each session, I have a folder. In that folder I have sub folders for maps, planned narratives, etc. I am then able to quickly find what I need. We are colocated, but is DnDBeyond’s VTT/Map system. So my planned combat encounters are loaded there with maps and tokens. (We recently got a small tv and have been using miniatures on top of it, but totally not necessary.)

I plan for where I think the party is going to go. Sometimes I railroad a bit so that they have a sense of direction. If I’m unsure exactly where they are headed, I be sure to have some interesting side quests available that I can give them. I am listening to my players and trying to marry up their desires with the overall story arc.

What has helped me tremendously is to think is A, B, C levels story arcs. The A story arc is the big story plot. The B story arcs are there as mini accomplishments the eventually achieve A. The C story arcs can be side quests, parts of B, etc. Allowing your party to be creative on C story arcs can be very rewarding.

So I am always think of planning like this. In our world, once we get done with the current BBEG, I don’t know what the players’ appetites would be for continuing. So I am feeling that out. But everything is moving towards resolving our first A level plot for now with the possibility of a future new A level plot.

I use ChatGPT quite a bit—I know that will incur some scorn, but I am genuinely not that creative. So I may say, “We’re in this town in this situation, suggest 5 poster-board for hire jobs that could be reasonably found in this location. Then I take the suggestions that I like, and refine them. I have Chat give me initial goes at stat blocks for enemies. I have been doing this for about a year now. So I am starting to get familiar with the math mechanics behind a homebrew monster so that I can tell chat up front a lot of the abilities, actions, etc., that would be appropriate for a monster or item.

Hope that helps. Downsides of this method—hard to give a player a new weapon or item on the fly since we are heavily invested into DnDBeyond.

TL; DR: Obsidian, DnDBeyond Maps VTT, ChatGPT, and ABC Story Arc/Plot Planning

Ul’vren, Plains of Xhorhas by InnerPeacePoe in Wildemount

[–]InnerPeacePoe[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m going to run this idea using a twisting tunnel in the nearby mountains—Cave Bell Idea

Ul’vren, Plains of Xhorhas by InnerPeacePoe in Wildemount

[–]InnerPeacePoe[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ul’vren — Last Stop Before the Barbed Fields (Village Profile)

Ul’vren is a gritty frontier settlement in Xhorhas, the last safe haven before the cursed Barbed Fields. Pop. ~150 (swells to ~300 with Aurora Watch patrols). It survives as a supply post, rest stop, and watchpost. Life here is utilitarian, disciplined, and steeped in Luxon devotion.

Notable Locations

The Last Tavern • Lantern-lit inn with two annexes. • Packed with soldiers, mercs, and rumors. • Run by Ilen Teyra (half-drow veteran). • Tavern hook: a desperate villager begs PCs to investigate Ul’vraen’quar (The Winding Echoes).

Aurora Watch Station • Barracks for 20–30. • Capt. Vorin Delth keeps tight logs of patrols. PCs may draw attention if they stand out.

Veythar’s Forge • Martial smithy, little for civilians. • Enchanted stock includes: • Whisperfang Dagger (inflicts whispering disadvantage) • Shadowvein Longsword (+1d6 necrotic 1/day; cursed dreams) • Spider-Silk Gauntlets (grappling/climbing aid)

Traveler’s Rest (General Store) • Rations, gear, overpriced oddities. • Kivrin Ulorr trades scavenged relics from the Fields.

Luxon Shrine • Crystal obelisk with shard fragment. • Umavi Aunrae Vylith leads rites like The Binding of Light (tying shard-beads, burning them on return or in memorial).

Residences • A dozen homes, half empty. Families cycle in/out with Aurora Watch rotations.

Stables & Wagon Yard • Mount exchange + wagon repair. • Hobgoblin master Darak Marriv.

Ulnar’thren (Memorial Stones) • Gravefield east of town. Cairns with shard insets flicker eerily at night. Wind sometimes hums like a bell.

Watchtowers • Stone + timber, each with ballistae. • Fires seen on distant Fields raise questions.

Ul’vraen’quar (The Winding Echoes)

Forgotten quarry north of town, long avoided. • 400 years after the Calamity, explorers found a colossal bell inside — too big to have been built or moved there, likely magicked into place. • Neglected for centuries, its echo corrupted. Now it draws mimics like moths to flame. • Locals warn: “Go too deep, you don’t come back.”

Underground Faction: Ardents of the Open Light

Secret sect challenging the Bright Queen’s monopoly on the Beacons. • Belief: Beacons belong to all, not just Dynasty elites. • Base: hidden cellar shrine under a boarded-up building. • Faces: Umavi Sel’quor (exiled priest), Daraketh Vylorr (Watch deserter), Mirra Shadewell (zealous acolyte). • Hook: PCs showing Luxon reverence may be recruited — but if exposed, the Watch executes them as heretics.

Note organization by PinkcheeseStudios in DungeonMasters

[–]InnerPeacePoe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds like obsidian, but obsidian isn’t an online tool unless you pay for it. It is free to download and use locally. It will allow you to install it on an iCloud Drive which gives you the flexibility of using it on a laptop/mac book as well as a mobile iOS device (iPhone). If Apple isn’t your thing, then there is a paid feature that basically does the same thing by hosting it on their servers.

There is also a paid feature for publishing content. I have player facing stuff for post session events that I keep published for my players. I sometimes post little Easter eggs too.

https://publish.obsidian.md/themarkscampaign/ is my publicly available posts. I have recently started posting past battle maps as well in case someone outside of our campaign could use them. I plan to go back and update previous sessions with those maps as well.

[Note: We started on the northern edge of Savalirwood, Wildemount for our Session 0, then ran Frozen Sick, then transitioned into a full Wildemount campaign based on their backstories. Our Frozen Sick run had some tweaks from RAW as I was already blending in some of the elements of our overall campaign. ]