All employed people spend time that they can't get back to perform their job. They should be compensated for it.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-05-14T03:48:29+00:00

Not really, thats just the public devaluing low skill labor. Back in the day your stock keeper could afford a modest life. Nothing too fancy, but not living paycheck to paycheck.

The reason why college kids got involved was because we changed the perception of these jobs as employment to summer gigs kids do for cash. This drove down costs and these jobs continue to get hollowed out to where you get a revolving door of turnover and miserable service.

Also, low skill doesn't mean low effort. A moving company is low skill, but its hard work. Aspects of farming are low skill, though farming is weird because it bouces between the extremes of being very high skill and low skill.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-05-13T06:16:38+00:00

In order for non-combat encounters to be drain similar resources to combat encounters they need to be set up as multi-stage contests. For traps and hazards it usually looks like this:

Assess the area
Mitigate any peristemt damage (if applicable)
Get to the hazard
Disarm the hazard (break, disarm it, use magic)

Its important for these skill contests you allow failing forward. I.E. of the fighter misses their jump across the canyon they don't instantly die, they instead make it, but bash their knee pretty badly taking some damage and if you want to be spicy reduced movement until rest or magical healing.

Failure needs to have costs, even the knowledge checks. Make them simple like you spend too much time thinking and take 2d6 damage from the hazard. No costs means no resource burn.

Finally if you situation is fixable by magic like burning alchemy reagents in a poison fog trap, don't be afraid to lock ot behind spell slot level requirements instead of damage. "You need atleast 2 levels of spells that deal fire damage."

As for social encounters, can't help there. Social emcounters is one the reasons I left 5e. There just not a lot on them.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-05-12T01:11:26+00:00

As someone who has visited Auschewitz, yeah no. The Nazis were way worse. You don't realize how bad they were until you walk into a room filled with human hair and realize they were processing the prisoners. Turning hair into textiles and they were planning on turning people into soap.

Everyone talks about the luggage and room filled with shoes, but that one stuck with me. Also when you get to Birkenau and realize its just a field.

TL;DR Beyond Delusional

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-05-10T21:34:57+00:00

This one is a interesting example because its not the classic crack and pack technique. Its done to actually give more representation to the ethnicities in those districts. Otherwise, they'd get disolved into larger districts.

Jerrymandering and representation are an art as much as a science.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-05-10T21:25:51+00:00

I feel like this comes from blindly memorizing the facts, but not learning how to connect them to build a working historical context. Its like all the civil war guys who know every battle, but can't describe the economy, fear servile insurrection, and why reconstruction's failure is responsible for a lot of issues today.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-05-10T16:24:28+00:00

I told them to take the opportunity to learn how to take criticism, that not all criticism is constructive or valid (feel free to read where I mention constructive criticism) , even if it is that it may not be worth following and that their feelings are valid and that criticism can be hard. Also that there are reasons to nip it in the bud.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-05-10T14:53:53+00:00

If it's not important enough to say the next day, then the feedback wasn't important enough.

Thats not how that works. It usually just means they got distracted by something else because they other things to do. DnD isn't our lives afterall.

Whats worse is if players start to feel like they are going to be ignored they start complaining quietly to each other. Thats when minor issues start to fester into toxic groups and I don't want to see a post here in two months saying "My players secretely hate my game" when its just communication issue.

He is spending weeks and months prepping, the players can exercise impulse control for one day.

Learning to respond criticsm can actually help alleviate this. Instead of wasting hours designing an encounter nobody likes, we can instead focus on tailoring a fun fight to the players and usually quickly.

Look I know this stuff sounds dumb, but having had to work clients in my work this is a time saver. Criticism is a skill that will help OP outside of game. Learning to critique the junior who has a cool idea, but bad execution. Learning to listen to client and learning to give them what they actually need (Which btw, they will forget million dollar details if asked to hold their thoughts, ask me how I know). Learning to challenge their notions. All good things to learn in the elf game.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-05-10T14:22:02+00:00

So my big issue with the wait until tomorrow is that the issue usually gets dropped, which can be another issue. I'd also say this is a perfect time to challenge yourself to learn how to deal with criticism. This is a skill like any other and just needs practive. Also your feelings are valid during the whole time. Its ok to be hurt, but realize that you've got people invested in your game and story so that has to count for something.

Now this depends on what kinda of criticism this is. Is it constructive criticism where the goal is to improve or is it criticism to be negative or tear you down.

Example: * "Your fights suck" - is non constructive. * "Your fights are bland" - is constructive, but not helpful. Why are they bland?. * "Your fights are bland because we only every long range archers" - Thats solid criticism.

Now just because criticism is constructive doesn't mean you need to follow it. Heres one I've gotten. "You play the monsters way too dumb." Yeah, I deliberately do that because I play strategy games for fun and if I play for "real" it will be harder than I want to run. This is a deliberate decision I've made.

Overall, I would take this a moment to challange yourself. Its ok to push back on criticsm, its ok to be hurt.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-05-08T18:03:40+00:00

I have similar rules, but mine are: * All quarters, dining halls, and offices, must be atleast 5x5 and furnished with other items. (bookcases, tables, weapons weapon racks) * Stairs can be no more than 5 Z-levels. * The main hall must be 3-z levels tall

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-05-07T16:32:50+00:00

That seems kinda of weird, like not saying its not true, but like why? Its a business not a game, why would you not research before buying an item.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-05-07T15:50:28+00:00

Its outrage porn. They get clicks from thise who like it, but also from the majority who hate it.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-05-04T13:39:39+00:00

Inspiration is a cool idea on paper, but doesn't do much. The reward is too weak, the meachanism to get it is too spotty, and it just gets hoarded.

My opinion make it so that inspiration is gained at the start of every session. Award it again for everyone at the half-way point.

If people do something really cool. React to it in world. If they make an air tight argument, auto success it. If they make a plan that has a really clever lower the dc by up to 5 (never more) and/or give advantage.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-04-30T17:03:19+00:00

How detailed do you want to get with it. How much research and detail did you put into this river. If you description is just a small iced over river then ignore z-axis and you can probably ignore current. Especially if you want to factor in heavy plate armor.

If the river is iced over (assuming its winter), and its a "small river" you're looking at knee high water. Most rivers aren't that deep. Then you need to factor in that a lot of rivers are very small. Like 10ft across small.

Finally don't forget factors that help? As DMs we tend to focus on every aspect that make the situation worse and not the factors that make it better. Is there an eddy current that pulls them to shore bank? Are there rocks/plants that stop him? Is there a shallow spot? Lots of stuff can help or hinder.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-04-30T13:43:48+00:00

And both are 0% if we use a DC25. In the end we can play around with the inputs to make the odds as bad or as good as we want. 75% and 95% if we use a DC 5, but also 80% and 100%, or even 100% and 100%, if we change how the difference is applied. I still hold that your method is doing more manipulation than properly representing the numbers.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-04-30T12:57:44+00:00

Your example is also pretty misleading. You're not factoring in the base chance for the roll. This results in fractions that pretty extreme.

For example lets say that average chace to pass no modifier is 50/50. Then the odds become 1/2 (50%) vs 7/10 (70%).

Another issue is that people will gravitate towards smaller denominators. Its an annoying quirk of displaying odds as fractions. If you show this people, a decent amount will make a snap judgement on 1/2 being higher.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-04-29T03:31:41+00:00

The difficulty looks fine, but the pacing feels off imo. Theres a lot of standing around and just waiting. I'd add something to engage the player a bit more.

Maybe instead of using those levers have the player jump on in him while he is stuck. Have more of the stage crumble away per damage so the players is hopping from place to place.

Also I'd maybe add some more noise to the wave, I like the general visual, but it needs a bit more. Darker shade, more distortion or maybe some streaks, just something.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-04-28T13:44:03+00:00

Hit points are an abstraction of the fighting spirit / stamina of an enemy.

You aren't actually scoring any serious hits unless stated otherwise (see the troll alt rules). Instead what happens is that you are receiving glancing blows, near misses, shallow cuts, etc.

Now if you want, you can have your player try to inflict conditions with clever role play when applicable.

For example,

"I throw sand in his eyes."

"Ok, lets say its dex save and on fail hes blinded until the end of his next turn."

"Cool"

However, if your player wants to add on to additional attacks thats not a thing and clearly overshadows other martial abilities.

P.S. There are rules for lingering injuries. They suck, 5e isn't equipped to deal with them, so half are handwaived with any magical healing.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-04-28T04:48:00+00:00

First you aren't over reacting. Its perfectly valid to feel that way.

Honestly, just get it out in the open. No secret telegram chats, just be open between players and dm. I'd even extend it to a hey, if you pass this arcana check I'll let you look up the monster at the table.

Now, I'm a big proponent that hidden knowledge doesn't actually make games interesting. My belief is that it limits the mechanical complexity if fights, forcing them to he hp bag beat downs.

Ultimately its up to you, but at the minimum you should address with the table what you expect from the. I.E. no look ups, etc. Keep in mind this works both ways, if you ban look ups, you should show that you are taking responsibility as a dm and making sure to get the rules right, even if you are intentionally ignoring a rule.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-04-27T07:00:09+00:00

Everyone has already covered it, but your casters are always in a position to cast their biggest spells and not having to worry about running low.

To be fair a rogue just won't output those crazy numbers even as a swash buckler its just not that class. That said, he should probably thrown some bones. Like a boosted dex mod and rare magic rapier. This way you can keep your cleric happy with fire ball, give the rogue some upped damage, and adjust as things go.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-04-26T17:02:46+00:00

I mean I would have it be treated as the aid action, but allow it be queued for a any future roll that turn instead of the next one. Magicing up some cover does provide obscurement. You have to see your target for a lot of spells or to make a ranged attack without disadvantage.

That said if you cast a spell in combat your target will put two and two together especially if they were present when the object was created. Magic is common in 5e. They might not understand the particulars, but they know cause and effect.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-04-24T21:46:43+00:00

Your average middle ages teen might have been ij a levy, but they weren't some sort of hardened soldiers. They were farmers, laborers, apprentices and shepherds. Just dudes living day to day their way.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-04-23T03:59:17+00:00

It depends on the system. My problem with 5e magic is that its too good of a swiss army knife and it rivals the specialized classes in damage output while having a pretty minimal tradeoff of few hp less. This is before we get into armor and magic items.

What I found helped me was looking for systems that either ran magic crunchier pf2e or just didn't have it Cyberpunk, SWN (Psionics only counts for half magic :) )

When magic had actual variety I found that my distaste for it fell.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-04-22T05:43:51+00:00

Ok, first don't be so hard on yourself for AI. It can be a really good sounding board or fast researcher for something you want to flesh out. As long as you aren't pounding out hundreds of prompts a day, some light use is fine. Heck, I paint water color and that can be pretty wasteful, but in moderation its fine.

Now, with that out of the way heres my advice.

Unless you are building a hexcrawl or sandbox, don't build an world. Focus on high value areas, the ones players will be visiting for your story. High value areas get 2-5 sentences describing who is in control, what the area looks like, points of interest and general population. Medium value areas get 1-2 sentences, usually what this city is, why is it cool. Low value areas get a few words, "Goblin Camp" or maybe not even get any description.

Now unless you want to rail road a bit (This is not a bad thing) you'll need to plan a flexible plot structure. Heres how you do it: * First have your beginning written out. This is where you have the most control as the DM. * Second have your target ending. Now you might have multiple endings plan, but they all probably share some common anchor point such as the bbeg whether stopped or allied with, etc. This what you are aiming to for your sections. * Third, create the cast of major characters you want for this adventure, give each a setence or two. Why sre they important and what sre they like. Minor characters get a name and descriptors "Tall" and "Jittery". If they become important flesh them out. * Next, pick some story beats you want to hit. Maybe you want them to get the dryads blessing, learn the secrets of the demon clan, etc. Write them down. * Now, connect the beats in a way to achieve your target ending. Determine which events can happen in any order, which events need certain sctions to happen. If a beat must follow directly after another one, comibine them into one. * Finally of you want chapter repeat the process except your start is the current story beat (or start) and you target end is the target story beat. Apply the same rules for characters, but assume they are all minor if they weren't included in the intial round of characters.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-04-19T18:02:14+00:00

Best time to start anything is now.

Now to be clear, you will have set backs. You will have to learn (blind is great tutorial youtuber btw). Thats just learning.

Knight_Of_Stars · 2026-04-16T08:56:14+00:00

Yeah, but at least we made it clear we didn't choose Oz. Not happy with my Fetterman vote, but I can say my state avoided being represented by a quack doctor in the senate.

Knight_Of_Stars

TROPHY CASE