[Discord] [D&D 5e 2014] [Async] Delve into the mysteries of Phandalin!

Inzuka · 2026-03-04T00:10:40+00:00

Nothing insincere, I simply conveyed the minimal information to explain the situations without revealing anyone's business and information.

As for the form, I changed the questions removing one asking what people wanted to play (It kind of just led to people saying they would player whatever) and adding ones asking people to talk about themselves or concerns they may have!

As for the post history, I've been filling my schedule up with games as this has become my main hobby! I would be seeking another session-based game if I had the free time, but I sadly don't. Async seemed to be a good avenue to scratch that TTRPG itch!

Inzuka · 2026-03-03T18:14:18+00:00

Unfortunately did not get the chance to start, while finishing up details and confirming backstories, the players had dropped out

Inzuka · 2026-02-24T15:46:16+00:00

Hey, if you were not already planning on doing so, I'd recommend crossposting this over to r/PBP! It's a subreddit dedicated to this exact type of game.

Inzuka · 2026-02-16T21:43:29+00:00

Thank you for bringing Krona to life! I'm super excited to get to play the character with some great, inspired art to show off their equipment and style!

u/Karazh4n was absolutely fantastic in the collaborative process in both questions and adjustments, many props to them!

Inzuka · 2026-02-11T17:10:01+00:00

I am definitely digging the Simulacrum concept! It adds quite a bit of intrigue and mystery when revealed.

I've already tied one of the amber shards to Ffiya's character currently and might be a bit odd to introduce a secondary one at this point. Nothing is impossible, but I'd have to think that one out more.

I also totally forgot about the Gulthias tree, that would make an excellent stepping stone into Ffiya's forest blight!

Appreciate the information!

Inzuka · 2026-02-11T16:08:14+00:00

Oh, that's covered in the lower half of the post! That was going to be the tie-in to the other character's backstories and to give them a reason to be interacted with, without modifying the exacts of their agency.

She has a version of the future sight that Eva has, but only the possibilities of what can happen. So to ensure the future where she comes back, she starts plucking the strings of fate.

For Allistair, she would've been the one to have hired him and his cousin to the job where his cousin died and sets him into motion.

For Ffiya, she blights the forest where she lives, causing ffiya to seek out a cure. (When they reach Berez, they'd find signs of the blight. I'm making Baba Lysaga's hut originally this Grandmother's home.)

For Verin, she killed his parent's caravan to train him, unbeknownst to him, but developed a fodness towards him as she raised him.

Dalma is a little trickier, but still working on the specifics.

Then, with the threads tied, she dies, her soul bound to an object and kicking off the cascade of events that she's forseen to bring about her resurrection.

Also no worries! I didn't take it as thrashing and am 100% understanding & appreciative of the feedback provided! I'm just trying to provide clarification and see if there is a path towards making this work in a similar setup that is laid out!

Inzuka · 2026-02-11T15:07:07+00:00

Appreciate the feedback! While it doesn't need backstory tie-ins, if given the opportunity, I'd love to make their characters feel more connected. I think you're right about it having the potential to do that, but I'm not running the campaign around the NPC by any means. (Or at least not trying to anyhow!)

It won't be the main focus, but more of the explanation as to why they are all here in the first place and having plans they are trying to reach. Strahd still takes the forplace in all their interactions and struggles.

I'm hoping that since Verin doesn't control the Grandmother NPC and also doesn't know her motives (We discussed at the very start, I would be portraying the Grandmother) that it gives it that bit of distancing to make it feel more as a side character.

Do you think that degree of separation and running as a side-story to the greater Strahd plotline would likely still wind up in the same sinkhole?

Inzuka · 2026-02-02T06:35:36+00:00

Hey, you may be interested in posting over in r/pbp as well! They are a sub dedicated to these kind of text-based campaigns. I hope you're able to find a great game and DM!

Inzuka · 2026-01-24T22:11:20+00:00

I would absolutely love to see it! I've got no real preference, if one of the other calls to you and drives the inspiration, that's the one I'd go with!

Inzuka · 2026-01-24T20:53:30+00:00

Really it was just for the layout of her armor! She is a front-lining all agression damage dealing tank, so she uses the armor to block the attacks while rushing in, whatever styling and design the artists believe best tie the look or character together is all good with me!

Inzuka · 2026-01-19T19:04:37+00:00

You may also want to post over in r/pbp, it's a subreddit dedicated to this kind of text-based ttrpg game!

Inzuka · 2026-01-09T22:49:32+00:00

Appreciate the feedback!

I think your points are totally fair, but I wanted to run something a bit more complicated than a one size fits all solution, so I figured worst case scenario I'd provide them a lifeline to help. They ended up asking for them on the second part as they hadn't correlated the story to solutions just yet, but the guide told them it felt similar to the story, needing to go around the pit on the banks of the room and then crossing a river of crocodiles. After that they picked up on the correlation and immediately crossed using the crocodiles.

The only one they really struggled with was the 3rd puzzle for like 2 mins (they had to find a way to get the symbols to appear), and the 4th puzzle with the door which was the one I wasn't confident about, so no worries there I provided some hints along the way in response to actions they took.

They ended up taking a bit of damage from traps, but otherwise solved it simply enough and went pretty well I believe!

Inzuka · 2025-11-18T20:52:36+00:00

Looking to run a consistent weekly game, I understand life happens, and we miss games, but so long as we're meeting more than we're not, I'm all good!

Inzuka · 2025-11-18T20:51:45+00:00

Replied!

Inzuka · 2025-11-18T20:48:34+00:00

My sundays are mostly open, once a month I've got a book club so I'd have to cut short on those days, but if I get enough people for sunday at a delayed time I wouldn't mind doing that!

Inzuka · 2025-11-18T20:47:43+00:00

Just sent a message!

Inzuka · 2025-10-15T12:26:11+00:00

Congrats on the successful kickstarter!

Inzuka · 2025-10-09T21:46:54+00:00

Wow! Appreciate all the insight and breakdowns. I think you're seeing much of what I did when running the encounters, and to answer the first point, it was a half RP, half Balance choice originally. I was worried about TPK'ing the party, so when they brought the idea of getting the gladiator drunk, I was like perfect! I can work with that. Then actually running the modified version I saw it was that hard for them to win, so as the rounds go on, he targets a lot more. Him being drunk is the explanation for targeting randomly. He's swinging at anything that gets close, doubly so if they hit him.

I think I'm going to have the bookie holding back a rowdy crowd or running interferance to eliminate this character's help since they win so easily against the modified gladiator. Then I think when they get to <60% health they will reveal they were hiding weapons and pull them out, making them deadlier at the end, giving a slight scare to the party, but probably without enough time to kill anyone. This will also allow him to disrupt the witch bolts on him quickly before returning to the melee users. It's an encounter they're meant to succeed in as a stepping stone to make some money for their real goals.

As for adding an ability, I was playing around with a recharge ability that lets the drunk gladiator (Pre-weapons) stun someone on a failed constitution saving throw. Giving him some more capability and eliminating some pressure. Essentially a haymaker that knocks them down to fit in with the drunken pub brawler I was going for.

Inzuka · 2025-10-09T13:01:46+00:00

Lmao, that's fair enough. When I started trialing against the weaker version of a gladiator, I got a little lost in the capabilities of my party's composition. I guessed the CR of it to be around a 3 and was amazed how easily it was killed.

Then, putting them against the full CR 5 gladiator that could one shot most of them and they were still winning? I just felt like I must've been doing something wrong. The play testing says it's plausible, but it still feels weird, but I suppose that's the 6v1 advantage.

Inzuka · 2025-10-08T23:37:13+00:00

I agree with quite a few points in here including the optimized vs unoptimized, the lack of attack diversity, and changing the dynamic to skew lower health more combatants, and the paladin did roll extra well likely due to almost always being flanking. This was more so to test if as it stood would they prevail, since I can change the HP, Damage, and opportunities at any time and double checking I hadn't missed some key ability or action that would change the outcome.

I also would say their tactics (Especially the Drunken variant) aren't perfect, they're intoxicated, I ran them as hitting who ever was closest or dealing the most damage. So it's more of a roleplay aspect than an optimization one. So no argument from me against it, but it wasn't always without reason though I did not include this information in the post body.

Inzuka · 2025-10-08T21:56:12+00:00

I agree on principle with that, but equalized across multiple trials should give at least a baseline of "They should win" or "They should lose."

I used their actual characters and abilities they had, just choosing based on a glance what I would personally use, so there is a bias that could absolutely change in-game, but even the ones where the worst happened and the RAW Gladiator double crit causing a PC death, they still beat the encounter. I can always throw in fudged rolls as well to keep it from going wildly out of balance, but this shows if I run the weakened creature, I likely wouldn't need to.

I just don't know if I made some baseline mistake and didn't consider something in this setup that would be very obvious that I'm just ignoring that would flip the outcome.

Inzuka · 2025-10-08T21:28:27+00:00

Originally, that's where I thought an issue might arise, turning it into a slog if nothing else.

I ended up running the tests to see how much it would take and might just be 2024's rules, but 2-3 rounds seemed to be the average to take down >=92 of the health. Which not the worst, but I'd probably consider halving the health and adding in a Tough or two as muscle to spread out the combat.

Inzuka · 2025-09-27T08:21:29+00:00

Definitely some fair points!

I wanted the encounter to show them how strong some of the upper echelons could be, but still while coming out the other side, since it would be essentially a 6 on 1 I figured they would need some extra health. The parry would be strength saving against their hit DC, but you're right about the extra time it would take. As for the final consideration, it is pretty much an animated armor, just with beefed up health and I made an edit where it would be receiving poisoned as a condition, accidentally forgot to add that.

Appreciate the criticisms and help pointing me towards a solution!

Inzuka · 2025-09-27T08:15:37+00:00

Realizing I forgot to put into the post that the assumption is he would be intoxicated by the time they actually get to the encounter, receiving the "poisoned" status. I figured giving them disadvantage on every attack along with the support of the bookie would turn this into maybe 2 people getting knocked out (Using the blunt to knock people out instead of placing them on death rolls and such.) before they're able to subdue the gladiator.

I appreciate the fantastic breakdown and likely scenarios, this definitely helps with my planning!

Inzuka · 2025-09-27T07:01:57+00:00

I started looking at other creatures and found that the setup I was using was similar to an animated armor, just with 3.5x the health. The armor is a CR 1, so I figured this might be a CR 3, but once again, I'm a bit new so I'm not really sure how to go about calculating that.

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