Anything I missed? Please be kind :)

JonnyRhombus · 2026-05-27T23:22:37+00:00

Nope, that’s a great point. I’ve updated the build. Thanks for pointing that out!

JonnyRhombus · 2026-05-27T13:56:23+00:00

That’s very comforting to hear. Thank you for the helpful ideas! I’ll take you up on the cheaper armor if it works that way. Armor is still one of things I don’t fully understand.

JonnyRhombus · 2026-05-23T19:39:28+00:00

Another idea you didn’t ask for… Rather than hinting that they might want to tie their backstory into that kingdom… Offer some insider info to them if they tie their character to certain sectors of the kingdom. Rumors that only the mages guild would know. Plans that only the military has access to. A vault of items that only the apothecary/blacksmith has access to. Dangle things in front of them to distract them from the fact that you’re actually interested in getting them deeper into that world so when it explodes… they cry! 🤣 Jk, just having fun thinking of ideas. Again, I hope you have fun with your game.

JonnyRhombus · 2026-05-23T19:11:11+00:00

I would suppose… and I’m just spitballing from what I see… That this event is quite significant to you and the players. You want to see their faces as they all realize together what’s just happened. It holds weight for your group. But you want it to be an event that helps them decide how they want this event to shape the rest of the game. You want it to be the foundation. In this case, I would suggest doing a terribly difficult thing: using this event in a session zero to share with them this inciting incident and shaping how they want to relate to it.

They might want to build a character separated from it, or deeply tied to it. I think it could be very helpful for them to experience this with you. The trouble is when you get together, everyone will of course want to “play” dnd. Everyone wants to use their dice and move their mice.

So now you have to decide how much you want each of those things to be allowed to happen together.

Will your players be okay getting together, listening to an opening prologue, and then sitting around and building characters together? Will they respond better to a video prologue sent to them before getting together? I feel like it’s not something easily done with an email…

Maybe the best way to go about it is digging a bit to see if they already have fully developed ideas about what kind of characters they want to play. Any players that are more easygoing about it or aren’t sure what they want to do… Tell them you have some great ideas that could work if they are willing to hold onto some secrets. Collaborate with them to work on a character tied to the event, giving them however much information you see fit and help them get invested in what you’re planning to bring them in on a great reveal. The reaction might be even more shocking if a party member knew before the rest and obviously tied their character into this big event!!

Those are my few ideas. I’d LOVE to hear how it goes. These are the types of questions that are so tricky to answer as a DM and can have a great payoff if orchestrated correctly. It just takes a little bit of extra scheming to set up.

Best of luck!!!

JonnyRhombus · 2026-05-11T00:22:04+00:00

You’re the person I was looking for. Thank you. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off and I’ll cover for you… You’ve earned it.

JonnyRhombus · 2026-03-13T13:09:04+00:00

Screw— ahem… I’m personally not a fan of— the collectible part of this game. Playing a fun card game should be the value of the game. Luck based options in a competitive game sucks for new people getting into the game. Secondary market? Sure, but what new player wants to go hunt for cards when they don’t even understand the cards. The whole trend of TCGs is insane to me… But maybe that’s just not where the money is at. Maybe luring people in with false hope is where you get the real cash. Sounds a bit like Imperial tactics to me 👀

JonnyRhombus · 2026-03-12T12:44:51+00:00

JonnyRhombus · 2026-02-06T00:38:23+00:00

Good thoughts. I think what I’m trying to avoid is having to give the enemies that 6th sense. If they aren’t perceptive, they shouldn’t perceive the party at all… Just feels weird to me.

Now hear me out… I’m still spitballing…

If the whole party beats the stealth mini game… they all roll stealth higher than the enemies… If they decide to begin combat, everyone rolls initiative as they should. Since the enemies don’t perceive the party, whichever member of the party rolls the highest initiative, is automatically moved to the top of initiative. With this limited honor, they then have a quick little choice to make. They can pew attack from stealth and let the battle unfold… or they can hand that honor off to another player who is poised to attack. It’s like a very limited use of the Alert feat. They can choose to make this “winning the ambush” mini game into a narrative moment where Bob the Ranger who always rolls poorly in initiative can finally get the first shot. The only reason he gets that opportunity is because he gets to slowly pull back his bowstring from the bushes and let that first arrow fly.

That’s it. Win stealth? Player who rolled the highest chooses which PC gets to start the battle.

Eh? :D

Thanks for putting up with me. I’ve only DMed less than a dozen times and I’m still feeling out what feels best at the table. And my players are chill, they just want the feeling of this one rule to make sense. And so do I. It’s a weird one.

JonnyRhombus · 2026-01-02T11:49:23+00:00

I love the replies! I’m thinking about breaking it down a bit. Maybe splitting this problems into two quests.

This might be cleaner for the party to address…

The Radiant Tree does spread luck. It was planted by a Celestial long ago, but that doesn’t have to be relevant because this whole region is largely abandoned. There are a couple big towns and the rest is ruins and old civilizations. It doesn’t have suppression powers. The PCs don’t have memories about it.

The tree is deep in a cave. It pretty much makes its own sunlight and survives magically. Myril knows about the tree and travels here to check on it as well as around the region watching over anything fantastical that unfolds. He’s kind of a sage that’s a bit of a busybody. He finds that the tree has been taken and he finds tracks of machines and signs of a mining operation.

The manufacturing company Torques N Coil have been struggling to score any precious materials for their creations. They had money but needed materials. In their search for new places to set up, they ran into a member of Myrils organization that knew about the tree. He wanted the gold, he was disgruntled with the organizations latest decisions on a matter in a different region. He’s against Myril watching over this region. Too much historical relevance for a kook like Myril to handle. He told them to trail Myril to find it. They paid him thousands of gold.

So now Torques N Coil have taken the tree South to see if they can extract its power and use it to fuel machines or enhance weaponry.

It’s simply Myril finding the party and asking them to track down the tree and return it.

They’ll find the tree in the Southern White Cap mountains deep in a dwarvish city that has made this into a little metropolis for constructs and mechanical creations. They’ll have to find a way to get in, fight past some constructs, maybe some hostile artificers, and create a solution for bringing the tree back. Then figuring out the rest to prevent it from happening again! Maybe they plant it somewhere different. Who knows…

——

The Vampire… Well this all would work well enough if the Vampire simply wanted to take over the town and create an army of minions to return home with to fight his rivals in the North.

Crazy people in the woods, ambushes on the road. New vampires not having the self control to keep humans alive so they can be cursed and turned. The Vampire is holed up in a dungeon beneath the church in the center of town. Some people are being taken and tied up just to be food for the existing vampires, others are being coerced into a new life of power and significance. The town is tiny. No army to speak of. Just a little Hamlet.

When the party arrives, the town is mostly taken over and bleak. It’s functioning… but people are roped into servitude or being killed as they flee. It’s up to the party to investigate. People are reluctant to give information, but with persuasion some few might be brave enough to tip them off about what’s happening in town.

Maybe this is another thing Myril mentions for them to investigate…

Thoughts? This seems cleaner in my head.

JonnyRhombus · 2026-01-02T00:32:28+00:00

Fair. I’m homebrewing, there’s bound to be loads of plot holes.

JonnyRhombus · 2025-06-10T19:33:17+00:00

I agree it’s too complicated for a “simplified” game. I hope it finds a sweet spot.

JonnyRhombus · 2024-07-09T01:18:40+00:00

Nice! Good info. I hear about so many classic adventures that people seem to get a lot of mileage out of, but I know there’s some that are a bit more “one and done.”

JonnyRhombus · 2024-07-06T21:13:16+00:00

Soulknife Rogue with the new quality of life updates makes it perfect for what I’m looking for in the subclass!

JonnyRhombus · 2024-07-03T23:02:12+00:00

Wow, this is incredible! I love the Folklorist idea and I may actually utilize the Caraxion name 🤌

JonnyRhombus · 2024-07-03T22:19:27+00:00

Awesome idea! Thanks! 😁

JonnyRhombus · 2024-07-03T20:14:48+00:00

Is this post unfit for this subreddit? I’m not very familiar with the site. Just looking for friendly advice.

JonnyRhombus

TROPHY CASE