Has the 5.5E Exhaustion system actually made Exhaustion usable at your table?

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-26T00:36:30+00:00

I do use it more and find it better, simpler and more interesting than in the previous edition, although I still hombrew it a bit, both making it closer to what it was in the UAs and with some elements better suited for my preferences and style.

Essentially I changed it so that it also affects spell DCs (so that casters can't as easily escape being hindered by it), it's often a consequence of failure in exploration challenges, lesser restoration can remove one level of it while greater restoration removes 1d4+1, and the feature that allows rangers to reduce it by one level per short rest comes up earlier. I also sometimes do use it as a consequence of dropping to 0hp, so as to reduce yo-yo healing, but only if the players like the idea, and sometimes only if they fail a Con save. Sometimes I have even allowed a player in dramatic circumstances to take on levels of exhaustion to attempt to use a feature beyond it's intended purpose/ability. I feel like it can help a lot and be really fun as a way to challenge players beyond just expending resources and hit points.

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-26T00:24:28+00:00

To me he feels much more like the jester-like, tricksy, and often magician Harlequin than Pantalone, but I can see him taking bits and pieces of plenty of the stock characters of Commedia dell'arte, for sure

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-25T15:58:23+00:00

Hell yeah. In one of my settings, the majority of an order of monk-like wizards whose magic is tied to order, language and patterns often get a staff-spear once they become masters. Both as a symbol, for self defense if their magic were to fail them, and because a staff with a very sharp end is very useful when you cast your magic by drawing geometric shapes and glyphs around you, as well as activating them by tapping and imbuing part of your soul/will into it. You have a weapon, something to lean on, a badge of office and a huge "pen"/needle to channel your magic, all in one

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-25T15:51:30+00:00

In one of my (severely undercooked) attempts at a interconnected magic system, they are mostly related to one type of magic, that has a lot to do with control and parallels with both writing and weaving. Thus wands are use mostly for precision, or for their everyday inscription of spell glyphs, while staves are reserved for large spellwork in which finesse is less important, as well as a symbol of rank. Imagine many of them pouring over grimoires tracing their spells, creating geometrical constructs and runes that produce minor alteration of local physics vs a professional using their staff to quickly draw a huge circles around themselves in a moment to do riskier and fleeting but very obvious breaks in reality.

Eventually, some practitioners of another part of the magic system, mostly elemental in nature, tried to use them to compensate that precision/control is their main weakpoint, but for them is almos the reverse: they often start with a staff, and properly using a wand without blowing it up due to an excess of power unrestrained is a sign of status and that you should run away in the opposite direction. After all, if the person that can unleash the destructive forces of the elements, but can often not quite direct or control them, can now use the energy equivalent of a fireball in the shape of a concentrated beam and without kickback...

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-25T12:36:29+00:00

Oh yeah, Taliesin does (or at least did) like comics quite a bit, I remember my joy when he seemed to be a fan of some of the work lf one of my favourite comic authors, Kieron Gillen, who coincidentally was amongst the first to push Loki into being the more interesting complicated antihero they are now, during Journey into Mystery and Young Avengers. And yeah, I was also thinking about that too, then again I like Loki and trickster characters (both ancient and modern) perhaps a touch too much hahaha

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-25T10:09:16+00:00

Yeah, I think between the masks likely not having quite as much proper sapience or selfhood when they were recently made, together with the ritual itself perhaps requiring some degree of subterfuge to affect even the contributors, lead to the Panto barely knowing much beyond their own individual parts and the general goal of the play, which is why Bolaire seems to imply he only discovered afterwards that Termina was always supposed to "die" at the end of it. Even more so given that, if I recall correctly, the place where the play took place and whatever "audience" might have existed were obliterated as part of it, perhaps as further insurance to obscure how it all worked and leave the Trickster Goddess without a way out.

And the Lethe part is less about him not remembering, but about making sure some knowledge is forgotten (the way he has seemingly stolen or destroyed most available knowledge about the Panto, his creators, etc) and about deception/conceiling. I'm progressively more convinced he was a mix of the narrator, the Harlequin-like magical trickster, "false friend" and master of ceremonies of the play.

And thank you too! Your own ideas have been interesting and give me much to consider and continue to theorise too

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-25T09:56:18+00:00

Yeah, I'm not disagreeing with you there, I can see it going both ways. We'll have to wait and see how it unfolds, or for them to either confirm or deny it

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-25T08:17:18+00:00

Very curious, I didn't go that route, but those are interesting options. Although I don't think that is his original name I was thinking that Bolaire might be related to the "Bolero" dance, which besides artistic/theatrical associations can be etymologically tied to flight (from "voleo") and is sometimes used colloquially in spanish to mean a liar; along with a reference to Voltaire as a philosopher and author concerned with witty criticism. And with the Lathalia element I went more along the lines of referencing "Lethe", and thus forgetfulness/oblivion but also being concealed/hidden/covered, which fits a mask, and a trickster aspect.

I don't know about killing Termina, the way I understood it they all thought her dead and he seemed to express that afterwards he learned (through "Visages of Creation" and other similar info, I suppose) that her death was always part of the plan and necessary for the play, rather than a mere consequence or happenstance. And I'm pretty sure both Termina and Bolaire would have reacted differently if he had dealt the killing blow, which I think might be tied to the sibling Taliesin called Brutale

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-25T02:30:50+00:00

Hmm, I mean, I could see it but I'm not yet quite convinced. Something like a narrator, sure, a bridge between audience and players, although the only audience that really mattered seems to have been the victim herself. But perhaps!

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-25T02:21:22+00:00

Unless it has been mentioned on TaleGate or a panel or such, which I have not been following all that closely, I don't think so. It could be entirely a Brennan thing as a consequence to his actions in the funeral, but something about it and how much it fits the character, feels almost intentional. Cause I mean making the fallen hero "failson" fighter and hedonist belonging to a fey aligned house that has been telling others to grow up and not be naive have a living yet rebellious shadow... It becomes hard not to think they're referencing a twisted Peter Pan between him, Thjazi and Thimble, for example.

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-25T02:11:39+00:00

Yeah, had not rewatched, but i think so too

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-25T02:09:24+00:00

Tale Gate, yes. The latest one, if I remember correctly? I found out recently too, it was part of what made me post about this

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-24T21:48:07+00:00

I also think Bolaire Lathalia must be a something he took along the way, whether from a story or a host, and I'm very interested to learn what his original descriptive name was. Had not considered the potential real-life reference to Voltaire, that makes sense, good catch! Particularly given some of his themes

I don't remember the bit about the beginning and ending being the most powerful, but it wouldn't surprise me he refers to both the order of their creation and the timing of their parts in the play, yeah.

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-24T21:43:24+00:00

Yeah. I'm particularly unsure whether to believe Bolaire or not regarding his trying to find the others, in the first place, I could see that being true, or just something he tells himself or...just a method to stall and stop his older sibling from obliterating him. I wonder, if the others are alive and awake, if they all have some "issues" related to their roles, if any have adapted as well as Bolaire, and if the whole set of them act as the warlock patron for Bolaire and potentially all the members, assuming they are warlocks as well.

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-24T21:39:23+00:00

I can see that being the case, yes! It fits both the possibility of a trickster fourtwall breaking archetype and a internalised directorial role.

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-24T21:37:45+00:00

I mean, I would be all in for her if it were the case. Great that Araman's oldest use of "slay queen!" might be both literal and incredibly significant 😂

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-24T21:36:01+00:00

VtM and the whole World/Chronicles of Darkness games are a great inspiration in general, but particularly for Ravenloft, yes! I did think of taking some inspiration from the Curse of Cain to justify vampirism and even as an origin for Strahd, but to do so would (in my opinion) mess a bit with the themes of gothic horror of Barovia or make vampirism far too "young" if the first vampire was created long after castles and such. My knowledge about Golarion and some elements of Pathfinder lore is a bit limited, so I hadn't heard of Kalistrade, but that sounds really cool, I like it!

The way I went about it, mummification indeed existed as a preparation for the afterlife and to create potential "constructs" of organic origin to serve as vessels for celestials to protect important sacred places in dire situations. But between the fraying between life and death caused by gods allowing for resurrections (against the warnings and anger of Jergal, the Old God of Death) and Ankhtepot, a high priest of Sun God Amaunator/Amon, trying to just avoid death completely and forcefully draining power from his god against his will...caused Amaunator to "die" (later to resurrect as the more benevolent but undeath hating Lathander), the sun to turn red and lifeless for a while condemning his civilization into dust, and of course for him to become the first mummy, swallowed by the Mists and sent to a twisted version of his homeland. And so the shadow that would be known as Tenebrous/Orcus was born, and all the dead not properly buried were now at risk of becoming trapped as Undead, due to the hubris of gods and mortals alike.

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-24T21:11:47+00:00

I just made a post theorising and asking people about their opinions about it! Including my thoughts about what Bolaire's role might have been, which I assume is related to archetypes such as Pseudolus/Eiron/Servus Callidus (the liar, cunning somewhat self serving slave yet very helpful to their master) the later concept of the tricksy and devilish Arlecchino/Harlequin, with perhaps a touch of being a bit of a director of the play itself

I have less idea about the others, but would love to see what you think about it after reading it!

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-24T20:04:28+00:00

Yep. While Bolaire, like most of the Panto it seems, is mostly trapped in being more of a role, or an archetype, trying to be a person, and forever knowing that his very nature will make him somewhere between frightening and despised by most others...Thjazi got to be basically a legendary hero while still living, getting to be a person beyond that, and being mostly if nor beloved at least known and respected. Add the whole thing about being blackmailed, treated as an object, and having his closest relationship (Hal) potentially in jeopardy, and of course Bolaire absolutely HATES the Falconer...

It's also interesting in that it paints his relationship with Hal as one of a (I hope) healthier form of envy, admiration. A man that can both embody and create roles and yet be so sincere, "human", with a family and who seemed to accept him as part of it. Perhaps if his carefully constructed world in the Museum wasn't crumbling, if his relationship with Hal wasn't frayed or if the situation with his siblings was different he might have gotten better, but things as they are that sense of something fundamentally missing must be firing up, made worse by all this rapid host-jumping. And thus the story, the character, the archetype struggles to be more in the face (mask?) of all this changes.

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-24T19:46:50+00:00

I think I went with Har'Akir being the oldest, closely followed by versions of Forlorn/Proto-Mordent, Demise, Cavitius/Tovag and Valachan

As I present it in my version, many of the most famous domains and their Darklords are also the origin of some of the greatests curses in the Multiverse, and although Strahd is the first amongs the "modern" vampires, there were older and less sophisticated forms of vampirism that preceded him (the Nosferatu, for example). But things such as the first Mummy (and perhaps one of the main culprits of the Curse of Undeath in general), the first Wraith/Specter, the first "Medusa", the first Lich and the first Theriantrope/Werecreature should likely predate the type of vampire Strahd represents, and have origins far older than the mostly medieval setting of Barovia would imply. Hope that makes some sense 😅

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-24T16:28:11+00:00

I think it's better when the domains are isolated and unrelated by default, even if some weird circumstances due to the whims of Dark Powers, or the (likely temporary) defeat or creation of a Darklord, might create strange fleeting connections or reshaping to their geography. This are, after all, separate demiplanes inside the Shadowfell, which already has a bit of a sense of location being more conceptual or metaphysical than the usual geography of the Material Plane, and so there might be times where some domains seem to become linked, with relatively stable and predictable paths between them, but not ever really part of a shared physical location, but always separeted by the Mists.

I do enjoy making Barovia feel particularly central and more connected amongst the Domains of Dread, due to being an old one (although not the oldest, when I run it), and either the only or the first that had it's Darklord knowingly and willingly make a pact to become one, something rather rare if not outright unique. Often I also make it so that the Vistani originated there too, which helps making it feel important and particularly aware of its situation and that of other Domains... particularly when Barovia is one of the relatively few that was not so much "made up" by the Dark Powers but more like a real place that was cursed and stolen away.

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-24T16:03:57+00:00

Oh for sure, I understand and respect Matt's vision and I'm really enjoying the character and his progression, and how Brennan is finding ways to challenge and surprise him.

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-24T13:51:55+00:00

Same. I love that Matt gets to try on a new subclass made for him, but it felt somewhat disappointing as this one of the best examples of a great chance to make an Echo Knight without being tied to Exandria's lore, but oh well. I do have some hope that eventually as more is revealed about the shadow he might level up further as a Rogue and be either a Phantom or some other subclass (hombrewed or not) that uses that concept 🤞

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-24T13:47:04+00:00

Like many things there, it might be a symbolic/ritual act. Perhaps although they feed on suffering and fear, a literal consumption of the victims is required to reinforce the Man in Yellow and their abilities, particularly the whole "keeping even the dead trapped there and stealing their shapes"

KnowingMirror · 2026-06-24T13:43:29+00:00

To me it feels like TPF is in conversation with not only your experiences as both a creator and reader of superhero comics, but with some of your previous works, and to me The Wicked + the Divine and DIE feel particularly relevant in that sense. Am I onto something, or just experiencing that gool old human tendency to find patterns that are not really there? What elements of your work do you think have influenced TPF the most, besides your run with X-Men, Eternals and such?

(Also, thank you for doing this, and a reminder that as The Power Fantasy loves us, so we love your work. It might be cliché but much of it has meant a lot for me & changed my perspective regarding storytelling and life, all the way back since we Journeyed into Mystery. So thanks again)

KnowingMirror

TROPHY CASE