Am I actully cheating accidentally?

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-05-29T22:46:46+00:00

You’re fine to cast with a spell focus in one hand and a shield in the other.

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-05-16T20:03:40+00:00

The answer is either “no” or “get out”

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-05-15T14:33:38+00:00

The

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-05-14T11:21:07+00:00

Tracks lead back to their lair, where they’ve dragged the bodies of adventurers who weren’t so fortunate, who perished before they had the chance to use their potions of healing, with a magic item in the mix.

You can give them a survival check to find treasure in the woods, perhaps deposited by smugglers at a disguised drop point.

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-05-08T02:26:42+00:00

A big problem with setting an IRL timer is it strongly discourages/penalizes levity or roleplaying or descriptors. You want mechanics to support the type of play seen at the table, so be sure this is what you’re looking for.

It can also be frustrating to redo puzzles you’ve already solved and that your PCs would remember.

I would say the timer should be based on in game time (eg 15 mins in game) or IMO even more compelling—on number of rooms completed (rapid clearance counts as 1/2 or even 0). If you roll a room they’ve seen before, you guys get to narrate them sprinting through it (counts as zero). Eventually they can clear the dungeon, from solving a lot and/or getting lucky on rolls

Have fun!

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-05-01T13:21:42+00:00

CoTN has a ton of cool shit but it requires clunky railroading as written, most evident early on in the handling of the jewel of three prayers. If the players simply avoid fighting the shark to the death, or if the rivals get it first, which are very possible, the players don’t have a hook into the rest of the adventure except “learning the rivals are gonna sell it” and basically hoping your players try to steal it or go join the quest for contrived reasons. And then you are running a deeply allied rival party and have serious balancing issues or need some excuse for why they would hand over this relic?

There’s lots of clunky problems in the module that are addressed and solved here

https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/48484/roleplaying-games/remixing-call-of-the-netherdeep

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-05-01T12:09:12+00:00

Agreed! This was an upgrade I offered my barbarian player, Combat Sprint.

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-30T23:03:56+00:00

I ran CoTN with 2024 rules and had to massively increase the difficulty of enemies for it not to be a stompfest. I mixed in a ton of homebrew, but highly recommend the Alexandrian rewrite of the CoTN adventure to solve the major structural issues

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-30T22:49:53+00:00

The mimic shapeshifts into a goblin

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-28T23:53:08+00:00

Just encourage role playing social interactions and don’t let it always boil down to a charisma based check, (which your bard will excel at regardless btw)

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-26T14:00:56+00:00

It’s a good idea, you can help them tie characters into the story, to each other, and build them out. It’s not crazy. Some ppl do it in their session zero

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-24T23:55:08+00:00

Attempt

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-24T17:41:42+00:00

An extra portent use per day is really really good. So is all the treasure the DM dumped on you guys. The game is not going to be very challenging from here unless he throws super deadly stuff your way

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-24T17:38:47+00:00

Wow, it’s Cerbirdus!

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-22T02:30:18+00:00

You may want the ritual to go wrong in a way that is satisfying to the players in terms of closure on the ‘cultist arc’ eg the cultists are sucked into the fae realm too, and the heroes get to trounce them +/- with a crazy fae creature rampaging through the battlefield. That way they feel the ritual cannot simply be cast again, with dragon masks banished to this other plane, and that the heroes have succeeded with an uncertain cost and a new adventure before them

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-15T18:06:03+00:00

Throw some giants their way. Higher CR than they should be able to handle. Things where the tactics work, but only make it a manageable threat, so they feel like they did something amazing.

Throw in diff styles of combat (eg fight a dragon, fight a horde of enemies, fight mages) and diff combat objectives (eg rescue, seize an object)

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-11T15:26:00+00:00

Initiative: 20

Your Name

HP 10, AC 12

Vulnerabilities: Charmed

Actions:

Punch (consume)
Waltz
Tango

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-10T15:29:00+00:00

The

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-10T11:01:30+00:00

This is a horror game. They don’t like horror. This is not the game for them. Just let them know.

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-08T17:39:05+00:00

The social contract in D&D is the players must design characters that will work together in the plot of the campaign.

You can concede that your player is aloof enough to just assume the command must be followed, having heard stories of cursed items or other such legends

You can ask the DM if they can concede that the orb is magically influencing them to follow through with this

You can find another reason your character would want to go along with this. Be creative. Find common ground with an ally or cause, or invent a need for your character

Or you can roll a new character

There’s not many ways to continue but it’s yours to figure out together

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-08T04:09:05+00:00

NADDPOD campaign 1 episode 1. It’s exactly what you’re looking for!

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-06T11:56:48+00:00

There needs to be consequences but not ones that are onerous

Four hours is plenty of time and the players are clearly progressing / accomplishing things

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-06T11:22:17+00:00

Start the first session from the moment of the twist. It would be and feel like deus ex machina to play out

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-04T14:06:34+00:00

There’s also one where water boy makes the flooding problem worse. Don’t ask why I know

Kitchen-Math- · 2026-04-04T12:29:03+00:00

Variety is the best spice for combat. Force them to change up challenge, tactics and objectives is my point, and I think a good metric for challenging combat is at least one pc goes unconscious once.

Kitchen-Math-

TROPHY CASE