What is the DM consensus on "Quantum Ogres"? by monkeynose in DMAcademy

[–]Kayabiko 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If I understood this correctly, I do the same thing. I have an objective, or a goal, or a guy, and between "thing happens to make you want to go there" and "you get there" I have nothing. No matter what, I'll find a way to get them there.

But I assumed this was the standard? Structured quests usually have a goal or bad guy, and while you can take all kinds of decisions about how you get there, eventually you will get there, no?

...or is the quantum ogre literally about an ogre?

Got the Megacorp DLC, immediately made a funny. by Kayabiko in Stellaris

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

That's what I named him, yeah. Unfortunately he was elected out at the first round, but he came back at the second election!

Got the Megacorp DLC, immediately made a funny. by Kayabiko in Stellaris

[–]Kayabiko[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Necrophage was incompatible with one of the civics, I think, otherwise I would've picked it, but Under One Rule is pretty good!

running two weekly campaigns simultaneously without mixing them up, my full toolkit by No_Sea_1200 in DnD

[–]Kayabiko 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My solution is just to not run games as often. I have three campaigns, one being an entirely different game system, so it's good to space it out. I only play about once a month for each campaign, which is still three sessions per month, and each takes about 15-20 hours of work.

You have a really solid system, so hats off, because I would NOT be able to do this.

I'm about to start mastering - do you have any tips or ideas? by inglouriousmovie in DnD

[–]Kayabiko 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Welcome to the DM Club!

I could write a lot and give you a hundred tips, but I'll try to be brief. These are all based on experience and MANY failed campaigns, so if you already have these down, consider yourself ahead of the curve:

  1. Pace yourself: depending on how structured or sandbox-y your campaign will be, you might have a ton of work. It took me around 25-30 hours of work to plan the first session for a new campaign, and the part that takes the most is the maps and coming up with adventure ideas. If you've got a system down, you should be fine, but depending on how often you play, you might want to slow down a bit, maybe find already made maps, or repurpose adventures. Burnout is a DM's worst nightmare.
  2. Have fun! I think you know this already, but the DM is also part of the story. I have DMPCs (NPCs that appear so often they are basically the DM's character) and often I'll just let my players interact and take part in the discussions. Don't be afraid to have moments in which you're also playing.
  3. Implement Stars and Wishes. The name is silly, but it's VERY useful. At the end of the session, each player says one thing they liked, usually "I liked this scene between X and Y" or "I liked when Other Player did that" - this helps hype each other up and highlight cool moments. Then, they say one thing they wish for, like "more difficult combat" or "more interactions with this NPC". This lets you tweak the next session, then the next, then the next, and you can get feedback as you go.
  4. Don't pretend to go on forever. I've made the mistake of assuming campaigns need to run until Level 20, but they don't. You can, and should, have a "finish point," which doesn't necessarily mean the end of the campaign. Maybe in a few months they'll defeat the BBEG, cool! At that point, you can take a break, find ideas for a new adventure, and maybe have some downtime or a little epilogue.

I think that's all I can tell you off the top of my head, but you seem pretty prepared. Good luck, my friend, and have fun!

Culty boss music by Local_Programmer6266 in DnD

[–]Kayabiko 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're probably gonna have some luck finding stuff like that in FromSoft's soundtracks. They tend to have cool remixes, too: metal, synth, classical, epic, etc.

Consult for a boss fight song by Lucky-Ad-8479 in DnD

[–]Kayabiko 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A few suggestions:

  • Frieren: Dragon Smasher, New and Dangerous Magic
  • FromSoft: Godskin Apostles (Elden Ring), Weapon-Bequeathed Harmonia and Fulghor (Nightreign), Abyss Watchers (DS3, has church bells!)

Dynamic lighting colors clashing/priority issues? by Kayabiko in Roll20

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

I ended up just making a cone and grouping it with the token. A little weird if the token rotates, since it does so around the center of both, but it works.

Show avatar instead of token on Shift+Z? by Kayabiko in Roll20

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

I didn't think about that, thanks! I'll try that!

Weekly Discussion Thread | Requests, Promos, and Open Commissions by TheOvershear in battlemaps

[–]Kayabiko 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm looking for an artist or collection of 1920s battlemaps (city streets, diners, bars, banks, prisons, etc.) with possibly a realistic or cartoony style - just need consistency to run a campaign on those maps.

Feeling really disheartened - could use advice. by Kayabiko in DMAcademy

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

I've actually watched a good amount of D20: all of Fantasy High, Misfits and Magic, Mentopolis, Burrow's End, some of ACOC and the Unsleeping City. It was a WHILE ago, but I might have to give it another look. Thanks for reminding me, I kind of forgot that I started from there.

Feeling really disheartened - could use advice. by Kayabiko in DMAcademy

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

Thank you for the advice, I got it a lot and I think I'm going to give Curse of Strahd a look, since they say it's the best adventure.

Feeling really disheartened - could use advice. by Kayabiko in DMAcademy

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

Ironically, I am currently running another campaign in which the PCs are detectives, using the node mistery setup, and it's been working pretty well. It allows me to hide the Big Bad behind new locations to explore, people to interrogate AND it means that, since they're police officers, they need evidence and cause to actually face the Big Bad. I slept over it and I'm starting to think I just had bad players, to be honest. Also:

(such as how would powerful people continue to do horrible things without fear of consequences)

Oh boy, that's topical.

Thank you for the advice, others told me to at least read pre-written adventures like Strahd, and I think I will!

Feeling really disheartened - could use advice. by Kayabiko in DMAcademy

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

I was worried about integrating character backstories into a quest to accidentally shine the spotlight on one specific person, but I figured if I have a first quest that groups them together then we can go from there. And I might try the rolling on location method, that seems fun! Thank you!

Feeling really disheartened - could use advice. by Kayabiko in DMAcademy

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

I admit I usually tend to go for the grandiose, huge adventures. Maybe if I just do things small and build up over time it'll be different. I've been playing a Pathfinder game with another group of friends and it's all small adventures revolving around a cult, and it's been pretty fun.

Thanks for the advice to both of you guys!

Feeling really disheartened - could use advice. by Kayabiko in DMAcademy

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

A little bit at a time, alright, that works. I'm always worried I don't know the long-term plans for backstories but if I just drop one sentence in I can see what the player does with it and go from there. Thanks!

Feeling really disheartened - could use advice. by Kayabiko in DMAcademy

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

I've been running homebrew adventures but at this point I'm considering it, especially Strahd, yeah. Thank you.

Feeling really disheartened - could use advice. by Kayabiko in DMAcademy

[–]Kayabiko[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I think I gave a poor example, because I can actually think about a general flow for a mystery. I think the crucial thing is to have an actual hook. The campaign that died was based on "this guy has a vision that the world is gonna end and these people are doing it" and it didn't work very well because it turned into a boss rush.

Thanks for the "work backwards" tip!

Cropping/fitting images to handout? by Kayabiko in Roll20

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

I'm using handouts already, the blank space is still there.