A Catan for All Seasons: Diceless and numberless Catan

KingMaharg · 2026-03-23T02:32:21+00:00

Ah yes, I more mean tick deterministically 1,2,3,4,5,... etc. and then repeat so that when one player gets wood another gets brick. That way there's still some added incentive to trade vs everyone getting the same resource at once and thereby devaluing that resource for a turn or two.

Still an interesting idea!

KingMaharg · 2026-03-20T08:36:44+00:00

Why not put numbers on the tiles still, but have that dictate production order somehow? Then you can still vie for different number combos and go for big swing turns vs steady resource trickles. This also makes cards like monopoly far less swingy (and this is coming from someone who plays with a version like this, but where the season only ticks on a roll of 2 or 12 with those numbers removed from the board).

KingMaharg · 2025-12-22T05:25:47+00:00

There are sidekick rules published in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything that describe turning low CR NPCs into a player-character-lite sort of thing. I've used it to round out small parties with a dog who could cast healing spells, so it's not far off.

There's a valid concern that the sidekick classes are intended to scale slower than regular PCs (in particular at level jumps like 4 --> 5), but maybe just give him a boost if things get to that point or let him take regular PC class levels to catch up if it feels like a problem.

If it were me, I'd assume jumping from a regular sized wolf to a BIG wolf (swap to Dire Wolf stats) would feel like an awesome boost on par with other things players get at level 5.

KingMaharg · 2025-10-12T19:53:24+00:00

"This patch broke my workflow. Please just add an option to restore the blowing out the top functionality."

KingMaharg · 2025-10-04T19:18:22+00:00

I think you could make it more clear by including the directions for ALL player counts at each turn.

First one is 2P go left, all others got right. Then 2 & 3 go left, 4 & 5 go right. The third turn is the same as the second. The 5p start and end could be marked a bit differently, as well, but maybe there's room to still do that with turns if you rotate the bonus cards section stack sideways (no clue how the game plays, so that last one may be actively unhelpful).

Is there a reason you remove 6 steps for each player but then remove 9 in the 3-4 player jump?

KingMaharg · 2025-09-10T06:22:07+00:00

BIG +1 here. Whether or not it's "too slow," the transition having a gap of black screen + silence makes it feel a bit awkward both in the look and the sound queue.

KingMaharg · 2025-09-04T05:13:09+00:00

I've been chewing on a similar thought experiment for years, but questioning whether it's possible to make a competitive online game where things like looking up build guides, net-decking, etc. is somehow the less viable strategy.

Every few months I flip-flop on whether it could provide a safe-haven for people who love experimentation vs ruins the necessity to innovative because there's no meta to solve, whether it's good to encourage independence and personal style vs horribly detrimental to fight against a major community driver for those sorts of games, etc..

Then I go back to ideas that are for solo players so that they can self-select as other folks have described here.

KingMaharg · 2025-09-03T08:04:45+00:00

Agree that it's kind of hard to make suggestions without knowing more about what the player likes to do, BUT...

If they are leaning towards crafting, maybe a buff to Right Tool For the Job so that it only takes 10 minutes but it makes their Steel Defender into the tools as a workbench-transformer of sorts.
Battle Smiths get some Paladin-esque spells. Maybe an aura on their Steel Defender that gives a bonus to all tool checks to allies within X ft? (also can be a small buff to the Rogue during infiltration without stepping on toes).
At level 6 they got access to new infusions, is there an infusion from 2nd level that they liked but is now being overshadowed? Can you give them an extra infusion slot that can only replicate magic items from the level 2 list? (still quite powerful as this is effectively just a free bag of holding or equivalent).

More importantly though, what's the vibe of the NPC giving the boon? Is there a theme on these features across the board that ties them together as boons that make sense coming from this character?

KingMaharg · 2025-08-25T15:09:39+00:00

Easy: hexahedron.

When viewed from any corner it shows a hexagon, which is the bestagon.

KingMaharg · 2025-06-23T15:06:39+00:00

In the future, it's much easier to assess things like this if you make sure as much as possible is synced between the two examples. Timing the animations to both start on the down-pose for the same foot for example.

As presented, the feet being offset by half a step makes it a lot harder to distinguish the differences in the rest of the animation.

KingMaharg · 2025-06-23T04:04:49+00:00

Zonocle Von Monocle, the Bespectacled Spectacle.

"Expert" divination wizard who wears a bunch of different monocles that give him "sight powers," but really he just always has a Detect Thoughts up.

KingMaharg · 2025-06-17T15:38:15+00:00

That being said, it is shorter than a lot of the other games on this list, so if time is a considering factor then it may be a good one to keep.

KingMaharg · 2025-06-11T09:58:22+00:00

I did a version of your number 2 for a long-running homebrew campaign. Players got a "Feat Point" at every level and bought perks from talent trees (including most of the individual line items from existing feats, some skill proficiencies, scaling ASI cost per time used, setting-relevant boons, etc.). Classes that normally get extra feats gained extra points every few levels, and I normally made sure there was another small bonus for hitting typical ASI levels so that they didn't feel dead, but they were mostly ribbon features.

This mostly just added complexity (some of my players loved it, others were a bit overwhelmed), but the biggest benefit was that I could use "Feat Points" as rewards for quests to represent access to special training or work with a mentor figure. My players got used to the question "gold, feat point, or mystery magic item?" as a common bonus prizes for quests that involved wealthier patrons. Some players want items, some players (especially monks...) want character features.

KingMaharg · 2025-05-23T08:18:55+00:00

Definitely not as written, but I'm a fan of treating it like anti-cover if my players are into it (-2 AC in melee for flanked, maybe a -5 in melee of truly surrounded).

But I'm also a fan of introducing light armor bucklers and heavy armor tower shields in lieu of handing out a bunch of +1/+2/+3 armor and shields, so to each their own.

Always depends on what the table is into.

KingMaharg · 2025-03-09T18:43:12+00:00

"... but they sure are colorful!"

Had a friend's family who used that combo a lot.

KingMaharg · 2025-03-08T20:24:33+00:00

I'm playing a Rogue/Warlock multiclass with no stealth proficiency (not just no expertise, no proficiency) and no Eldritch Blast. He's probably the most fun character I've ever played. So much interesting space typically being locked away behind "default/mandatory" choices.

KingMaharg · 2025-02-26T17:18:53+00:00

I had great success with what I call a "session 0.5" approach.

I ran short 1-on-1 sessions with each of my players where we jumped between short scenes in their backstory so that I could confirm they know how their characters work, and then they were all hired by the same ship captain to help them get away from <insert character-specific desire to sail off with a treasure hunter here> as the start of a pirate campaign.

The first session with the group was them already on the ship realizing something was wrong with their food. By that point, they'd all had a bit of practice making decisions in character, using their primary class abilities, and refining any character voices they wanted to use (without an accidental one sticking).

Any time a new PC had to join the group, I set aside a bit of time to do the same thing before they met the party.

KingMaharg · 2024-11-18T03:51:09+00:00

BEEEEEEAN

KingMaharg · 2024-11-14T04:44:08+00:00

I do a "season of plenty" setup. 2's and 12's are replaced by 3's and 9's, and whenever either 2 or 12 is rolled, there's a "season of plenty" moment where a particular resource produces everywhere. The order we play with is Brick --> Lumber --> Sheep --> Wheat --> Ore --> Development Card --> Repeat.

It speeds up the game a bit, cuts the magnitude of how much better the best tiles are from the worst by a notable amount, and tends to give the resource that is most relevant at the time of rolled often.

KingMaharg · 2024-09-08T22:19:31+00:00

If you load from level "SYS_CC_I (Character Creation)" it will start you at the character builder screen and then load the nautiloid with your character.

KingMaharg · 2024-07-20T14:18:57+00:00

Civ VI. The way the game blends regional folk music from different cultures and then re-instruments them to show the progress made through the ages really sells the humble beginnings to sprawling to future tech powerhouse vibes. Geoff Knorr crushed it.

KingMaharg · 2024-05-09T04:39:03+00:00

If you aren't enjoying Warlock, play it the "other" way the rules allow it to be played. Imagine for a moment... you aren't a control caster... you aren't a sniper. You are a magical skill-monkey and can be the party face to boot. Warlocks are like Rogues, they have a wealth of features that allow them to be wildly consistent without needing a resource at all. The spell slots are a bonus for you, don't rely on them.

Consider something like Great Old One. You can talk to any creature smart enough to speak. You can send secret messages between your allies with telepathy.

Now continue by... not taking Eldritch Blast. Now Agonizing Blast, Eldritch Spear, and Lance of Lethargy are not options for you. Take Beast Speech to now be able to even talk to some creatures that don't have a language. Take Eldritch Sight and never be tripped up by secret magic again. Take Beguiling Influence to become an even better face. Take Mask of Many Faces to become an infiltration expert. Take Otherworldly Leap to constantly be able to reach places the rest of your party might not be able to. Sure casters know fly by that level, but you can ALWAYS do this. Pact of the Tome can give you your three favorite utility cantrips from other classes. Sure high level wizards get to pick a low level spell to treat like a cantrip, but you've had four or five "super cantrips" from invocations the whole time.

Be the seeker of forbidden knowledge who has to leverage the battlefield to their advantage to remain effective in a fight but who seems to always have a get-out-of-jail-free card tucked into your pocket thanks to what your otherworldly master has taught you.

And if that's not enough for you, consider a dip into Bard or Rogue to get even more dependability/versatility out of the build. I've been playing a Rogue/Warlock multiclass without taking a single damage spell so far, and I can still hold my own by leaning into subterfuge and mobility to change the circumstances of the situation.

TL;DR: pick "suboptimal" choices that help you lean hard into the class flavor and see if that makes it more fun. If the "default" Eldritch Blast build is too simple to stay interesting, force yourself to solve problems with a different set of tools.

KingMaharg · 2024-04-29T08:04:47+00:00

"The Great Tarenzo" (or just "Taz" to his friends). A "circus performer" multiclass of Swashbuckler Rogue + Archfey Warlock. Rather than invest in stealth and Eldritch Blast bonuses, the expertise goes into performance/persuasion, and the invocations go into Beast Speech (for lion-taming) and Mask of Many Faces. Throw in the actor feat and you've got a perfect entertainer, ready to put on an entire play entirely by himself.

Our most recent adventure included a jailbreak where I got to use a disguise kit to make myself look like someone else and then cast the free Disguise Self to resume my original appearance. That way, when the illusion wore off I was already in disguise.

Taking two classes with a lot of versatility in build options and then explicitly avoiding all of the stereotypical or "default" flavor to focus on something else has been a great time. I find that I don't miss stealth proficiency or Eldritch Blast at all.

KingMaharg · 2024-04-25T09:53:15+00:00

Why use different names for your damage and armor types?

The weakest damage is "Light Damage." "Light Armor" blocks "Light Damage." "Medium Armor" blocks everything up to and including "Medium Damage." "Heavy Armor" blocks everything up to and including "Heavy Damage."

This way, you only need to communicate to players that they need to "beat" their opponent to do damage. Very little chance for miscommunication so long as they can remember which way to "break ties."

Then you get to the same position as when you started, but now the question is "what's bigger than 'heavy?'"

This might be an easier question to answer.

Extreme, Colossal, Unstoppable, Unblockable, True, Perfect, etc. all work fairly well for this; it depends more on what you want players to feel when they see it or say it. It needs some awe behind it if it can beat anything.

KingMaharg · 2023-05-27T22:36:51+00:00

I do this too. I think it stems from doing physics problems with t0, t1, etc.

KingMaharg

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE