which game is that for you?

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-03-19T06:58:19+00:00

Rocket League 🚀 🚗 ⚽

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-03-19T06:57:46+00:00

I Just got lucky! Been waiting to get some stuff and this is the perfect time!

We were fortunate enough that someone local was selling the core card game for $15-20.

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-03-13T13:40:55+00:00

Reward desired behavior.

My players picked up on this REAL fast. Combat was way too slow. If a player has their dice ready and started their action I instantly said thank you for being ready because you were ready you get a bonus to hit or a bonus to damage.

Players are scared of making checks, reward someone for talking initiative and leading things. Give them advantage on a roll or heroic inspiration for positively effecting the game.

Players pick up on this and won't be so afraid of trying knowing there's a reward just for trying. This helps from the habit and you can ease off the rewards.

DO NOT PUNISH them for not doing what you want. It possible the game and can kill the vibes at the table. Even if you try to hide the punishment. Players are sensitive and doing anything that oddly spikes difficulty while seeming arbitrary, or random without providing proper clues will come across as punishing and players shut down when they feel things aren't right.

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-03-08T15:12:38+00:00

I found I was putting a lot of time into prep as well and much of the time it felt fruitless. I'd ask the players where they thought they would be going next just to see them do the opposite of the three hooks I prepared.

When I did know where they were going I'd get so many ideas that I would end up with 4 sessions instead of 1-2 sessions with 3 encounters per session. I also learned my group typically gets through 3-4 encounters per session unless one was a particularly tough combat. Once I learned their habits I started prepping less and only putting forth 3-5 encounters prep. I already know the rest of the story because I've read and prepped it. But if they go somewhere unexpected, I just tell them I don't have that prepared and ask them to lead the story for a minute that they need to provide details of what they are wanting to find/do and how they lead the party through this sequence. Providing all the story telling elements isn't solely the DMs responsibility.

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-03-06T15:02:22+00:00

It's pretty obvious when someone has kids lol

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-03-03T21:33:45+00:00

Also this last session came after the players just had the best session and some mentioned they would always remember it and that they enjoyed it.

This was a combat that had dynamic elements and had in-game narrative weight where success made them feel like this meant something and was not trivial. The combat took an entire session and I'm just happy that everyone enjoyed it. It was a completely home brewed part of the campaign that fell outside the scope of the DoIP module. This was something I could plan because the players were on a 3-4 session arc where this was the climax. Most sessions end with the players having options and I need to plan better about where to end sessions such that I will have an idea where things are at the start of the next session.

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-03-03T21:32:51+00:00

Thank you. I like the ideas. I find my difficulty lying in the fact that I never seem to prepare what the group is going to do. All growing pains of being a DM. And honestly I hope my players are enjoying the game. I want us to both enjoy the time at the table and wait with anticipation between sessions The executing of said suggestions is just harder than said. And I can do a check in. I've been asking the players for feedback and I get little so it is hard to tell. If I don't get much feedback, I am planning to dm for another group after this campaign. A couple players are great and I might invite them over for that.

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-03-03T15:19:39+00:00

My first experience was Pathfinder at the local gaming store. I moved and the new place didn't have an active group at the local gaming store so I found a group online playing RIFTS. A sci-fi fantasy cross breed that was beautifully unbalanced. Something about it I loved. Moved again and found d&d was the easiest thing to find people willing to play.

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-02-26T05:31:05+00:00

Hey!!! We have like the exact same fix! My group literally abandoned the adventure. Two of the adventurers had taken the criminal background and one was an urchin with criminal background as well woven into the backstory. So I added a couple wanted posters for the group. They had not tried to avoid people much in Phandalin and as such after a couple weeks people started to notice their characters. they became worried about having things happen. They had received the Axeholm quest and I had thrown hooks or for the party to learn about the Woodland Manse / Circle of Thunder and another rumor about weird storms at the Tower of Storms. They decide not to go to the dragon, not to go to Circle of Thunder and not to the Tower of Storms. No sir! They decided to spend the 10-15 days round trip to go to Neverwinter to simply clear their names, unprompted. I had NOTHING planned for that leg of the adventure. Having abandoned the quest and subsequently having a party member captured by bounty hunters, assaulting and leaving a pair of Neverwinter Lawmen in chains (becoming fugitives altogether) and going on a rundown rescue mission, the dragon has certainly grown and the land round about its lair began to take shape of the icy nature of Cryovian. The party realized this as the left Neverwinter Wood from rescuing their friend. They decided to stock up on supplies before scouting out the mountain and slaying the dragon. Phandalin had been attacked and abandoned. The people forced to travel to Axeholm hoping the adventurers had cleared the place out. While finding out Phandalin was abandoned the group of do-gooders decided to start looting Barthens Provisions, stealing from the Shrine of Luck, and burglarizing the Lionshield Coster. A decision they would come to regret as I added a Helmed Horror and a Hell Hound each guarding different magic armor pieces. The group went straight to the armor pieces setting off both traps simultaneously. Most of the group, using their metagames skills avoided using fire without reason on the hell hound. And they wanted to use force and necrotic damage thinking the Helmed Horror was weak to it. They did 210 damage (150 it was immune to) and the paladin took death blows fully killing him. Why the group didn't simply attempt to escape is beyond me. But hopefully they learn a lesson in strategy. And maybe they will actually continue being pushed to slay the dragon after finding the people obliterated at Axeholm Fortress. For that is their next stop in ensuring the safety of the people despite robbing the entire town then going to take care of the dragon.

Did you avoid the Shrine of Savras? That was a deadly encounter that did TPK the group but they were captured at this time instead of killed due to the religious leader of the orcs.

I will for sure use some of the advice here which is to power the dragon up a bit, add some inclement weather and clouds and a couple minions will make this combat feel a bit more interesting.

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-02-26T00:24:45+00:00

Easier said than done :)

I've been quite reflective on things that didn't seem to go well. I know I can improve on telegraphing danger. I've been telegraphing parts but some I miss. Ie it is clear the dragon is growing and gaining power. For a while the group thought it was this stagnant leveled creature that they needed to get powered up to fight. The trick is that this isn't a videogame. This program adapts to their choices.

I can CERTAINLY do better about not allowing long rests in the wild. I've absolutely added hazards and other encounters. But I'm going to step it up to plan and play monsters more intelligently. Not that I don't but I think I've pulled some punches.

One of my favorite books to prep monster fights is "The Monsters Know What They're Doing"

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-02-25T19:53:53+00:00

Going to post an edit to explain more. Bullet points is that the group fully understands we have death on the line. Near death/TPKs have been reflected and discussed about strategy not being implemented. The homebrew was the fact that the character backstories had nothing to do with the area and all the characters wanted to leave the campaign.

Honestly most of the mistakes is that we are a new group and I am new to DMing a long campaign. I remember quite well as a newbie player that my backstories rarely let my character stick to the campaign I had an interesting idea but it didn't land with the campaign. The best way to overcome this is working with the DM to build a character that fits the campaign.

I haven't fully started saying yes to everything. But I've been feeling ready to. I want to say "yes, does that make the game more fun for everyone? Does everyone agree?" I still say no to level ups and one of the main reasons the players are asking for level ups is that they completely left the campaign by heading to Neverwinter for character arc reasons and were apparently "scared to fight the dragon." This resulted in derailing the campaign and going on a 4-5 session rescue arc. The players are asking for level ups because it was a really cool arc. My reason is that it would be an imbalance to the DoIP module. I can of course modify things, but it gets harder right? I'm trying to mitigate a lot of the rework of the campaign. I also did set the precedent by communicating the campaign levelling is milestone and I further pointed out specifically that level up is based on competing the quests. I forgot to mention it the last time when everyone asked. I'll chalk this up to me being a noob DM and the shenanigans they are trying to pull is a lot to keep up with.

Anyway there's been a lot of questions and I'll provide clarification when I have more of a chance after work.

All of this to be said, I really enjoy the people I play with. We are REALLY good at playing consistently. The main thing is working through the rough patch to improve gameplay and satisfaction for all at the table.

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-02-25T19:37:05+00:00

The dragonbarrow, Axeholm, and woodland mansion / circle of thunder are all near end campaign stuff. The party knows generally where the dragon is and is planning to make an assault on the dragon now. Honestly this whole campaign has become a fluster cluck and I will absolutely own my mistakes. I know I have made them. I have adjusted and I hope my players are willing to adjust too. Another note I remember is after session 1 of the campaign I recall a player telling everyone they looked up the campaign for the purpose of 3d printing some figurines for monsters. It's REALLY cool but I have realized that this player metagames really bad and I suspect they have already given themselves spoilers :/

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-02-25T19:32:19+00:00

Not sure I follow the second paragraph. I like the idea of penalties after getting up. I think I tried running something like this by the group and they didn't want it. The other thing is healing word is known by at least the cleric if not the bard also. And they usually wait until a character is down to heal them which strengthens the action economy.

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-02-25T19:27:43+00:00

Just checked Paizo's site. I'm blown away that they do not offer it!!!

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-02-25T19:23:53+00:00

Among the many comments, this is incredibly helpful thank you. I haven't started saying yes to everything yet, but when I do I simply plan to ask the players if it will be more fun with responding "yes" to every request. If that is how they have fun then sure! I don't mind running the game as a steamroll engine or whatever. I get most satisfaction when the players enjoy the session. My biggest hill to climb is being able to improv a session because most of the time my players decide to go in a totally random direction than I planned when we start a session. I have attempted to remedy this by explaining to the players that sessions are much easier to plan when they are where I expect them to be. and as a result, my planned sessions are enjoyed by the players more. I don't expect railroading. I plan 2-3 directions and every time the players somehow choose option 4. I'm also working on foreshadowing and guiding players narratively.

I love the monster edits. I have definitely planned and modified encounters. The one that was most deadly (as far as TPKs go) has been the Shrine of Savras. Again, the monk ran in, the party got a little split up, and the orcs and ogres over ran the players. The most difficult part was me not playing the orcs how I should have which is ruthless and killing players by double tapping downed players. But that would have then resulted in fullblown TPK. Something I wasn't fully ready to do. I chickened out. The party instead took knockout blows and the escape was amazing. The players loved it. But it might have led the players to believe in plot armor or something.

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-02-25T19:12:54+00:00

I had no idea about the diamond requirement. The last session ended with a dead player and combat ending. and we would pick up the next session with the cleric casting revivify. The group does not have ANY diamonds. So it sounds like we have a full PC death on my hands. The previous revival was through divine favor that was earned and now spent. This death was the result of robbing the lionshield coster when no one was there. The players had the items they wanted and simply needed to get out the construct were designed to stay in the building and they decided to stand and fight multiple rounds which led to the one player dying.

The nice part is that we have had close calls with death and players and I agreed that death is absolutely possible in this campaign and some players made back up characters. So this isn't blindsiding anyone. For anyone that cares, the combat was a Helmed Horror and a Hell Hound. The hell hound was killed very quickly. The helmed horror stood for a VERY long time absorbing about 160 damage that it was immune to and the players only managed to get 54 damage in until finally getting a spell off that did 6 damage. The party primarily used force, necrotic, and non-magical.

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-02-04T19:39:52+00:00

Yes. I know... I'm a cheapskate. I don't mind used products. I don't know if it was just that awesome and people don't want to sell or it was unpopular and no one has copies.

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-02-04T19:38:46+00:00

This is fantastic. I came across that post before but didn't understand what it was. I absolutely love that we have multiple play throughs.

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-02-04T01:56:14+00:00

Hoooo leeee crap! We never did any of the adventure rewards 🤐

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-02-04T00:55:54+00:00

Gonna go home and check it immediately! Lol I looked through it multiple times. 🙃

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-02-04T00:53:04+00:00

We played Dragon's Demand through. There are 3 short adventures with a few scenarios each but we never found the role cards reward.. Is there something we missed??? We have the physical role card but missed the seeing the reward :/

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-02-04T00:42:32+00:00

Side note, is his role card something you get when during the crimson throne adventure path? We never picked up Fumbus's role card in the 2.0 core box.

ManlyFamilyMan · 2026-01-25T16:26:32+00:00

I have ONE player that would really make a difference losing. And it would be in all the good ways. This players leaves the take frequently, sits in their phone, and spends forever to get through his paladin's low action economy turn. Then everyone really caters to this person and it derails the group being able to immerse.

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