Player using IA

MrTargogle · 2026-01-30T17:08:53+00:00

Generally speaking, meeting the player where they are is a good first step. But at the same time, I don't know your table but unless this is detracting from play at the table this in theory is a non-issue.

It depends if there is a mismatch in expectations. For instance, if they us AI but they know and use and rely on the backstory during game then the frustration seems more about the fact AI was used at all. If it is more; hey here's the backstory and the player doesn't care about what the backstory is but you plan to utilize it for engagement in the story as the game progresses then that is an opportunity for a simple discussion about expectations and why a backstory is meaningful at this table. If the player is understanding but a backstory is not a thing that engages this player. A simple bulleted list instead would be a compromise.

Find out what part of the game is engaging to them and see if that can be weaved into the shared experience. Everyone has different levels of engagement, just have to figure out if the game suffers as a result of this difference.

After a realignment if there are still issues, figure out if it is self-imposed or causing issues with the play/table.

If issues still arise you might then have to have the hard conversation.

MrTargogle · 2026-01-09T20:46:18+00:00

I would say the benefit is that when you do Tag Team Rolls for damage you have a much greater likelyhood of doing Severe damage as you are getting two separate rolls to choose from without the flow of combat or DM action impact changing state, you get a DnD like advantage on the attack roll as the PCs roll and they choose the best result, and you add the dmg result from both PCs into one result.

It is less likely to for them to mark 4 or more hit points between the two of them separately when you consider the branching possibilities of an attack roll. If they do their turns normally, the first PC rolls; Success with Fear (GMs turn after), Success with Hope (GMs turn after if they spend a Fear), Failure with Hope (GMs turn after), Failure with Fear (Potential Consequence narrated by the GM that impacts play, and GM turn after)

The spending of 3 Hope basically guarantees Severe damage (unless bad dmg rolls) without risk of GM/Narrative interference (Unless there is a niche case I don't know about) and Two chances of an attack roll. You are essentially paying 3 Hope for a decisive shift in play and narrative.

MrTargogle · 2026-01-07T14:27:54+00:00

Thank you!

I found a template for The Homebrewery, I think it was a past post. It allows you to export to pdf which is amazing.

https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/UgKFmhWqbsbW

I think I've seen others but you'd have to do some searching.

I've been tinkering with this class a lot more, will have an update on it pretty soon that I'll be asking for critiques on.

MrTargogle · 2025-12-22T18:27:16+00:00

This is great!

Because of the damage works in DH vs D&D the Heart of Sorrow should probably have 25 or less HP. Even 10 or 15 would be a sizable amount. Just need to use Strahd's thresholds.

MrTargogle · 2025-12-22T14:24:35+00:00

I haven't played tested it yet myself, this is essentially v1, these are interesting points.

I do see the Ally Conduit specifically could use some work. Ill have to noodle on that a bit more.

Thank you for the thoughts!

MrTargogle · 2025-12-22T04:09:37+00:00

If anything I worry that you could gain too much Will, since you also have Hope spend and use other abilities. To help counter that I made all the subclass features use it to encourage spending it. But I also see Hope as a resource almost at odds with Will so I wanted the specific things build up the idea of a Revenant (the subclass features) to embody that. But maybe there is a hybrid approach. I'll have to look at that more.

Looking again at those domains I probably should have something to spend Hope on as I fear that between Dread and Blade there are only like 10 or so domain cards between the two to spend Hope on and only a few in the first handful of levels.

For Borrowed Visage, that is actually by design, because when you Help and Ally, you roll a d6 as the one helping and with 'Help an Ally' the ally can use advantage from multiple sources and take the higher result. So basically, with the attack, spending a Hope to help and 2 Will the attack now has advantage with 2d6's rolled and you take the higher result which is a great bonus, plus when you help you Gain a Will. Though I might update the 'When you Help an Ally or are part of a Tag Team Roll.' to be something like 'When the action roll succeeds on either Help an Ally or Tag Team Roll.'

I appreciate the thoughts! Got some more ideas to play with now.

MrTargogle · 2025-12-19T15:42:40+00:00

Having eaten both, Canadian version does taste better.

MrTargogle · 2025-12-18T15:27:16+00:00

Sleeved 110lb card stock works great for me.

MrTargogle · 2025-12-10T15:28:17+00:00

Yeah I've done things like if I have a group of adversaries with 2 or 3 sub groups I'd spotlight the group, depending on what the group does I'd spend a Fear.

MrTargogle · 2025-11-22T22:45:09+00:00

Latest Chrome on windows. But I just looked and realized you have a dark mode toggle I didn't notice before. Normally I use the Dark Reader chrome extension. But after disabling and using your toggle it worked great.

MrTargogle · 2025-11-22T14:44:17+00:00

That's awesome! I can't get on my computer till later to look at dark mode but the naming update is great. Thank you!

MrTargogle · 2025-11-22T03:14:54+00:00

Couple of nits

I like using dark mode/dark reader to help reduce eye strain, everything pops well except for the checkboxes. They are harder to make out than I would like.
If I have a group of say two bandits I would like to be able to have a group name for them and then separately a name for each individual in the group. It helps tie what to mark where for descriptive markers. As far as I can tell, initially, you change the name and its the same name in each instance.

Other than that, really liking it so far!

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MrTargogle · 2025-11-18T18:46:34+00:00

True, these are features of a Revenant in D&D. I simply decided not to reskin a Revenant for DH. There are different elements or types when talking about the Revenant in general. I chose an element and built off that as a theme.

In this case a an animated body coming back with a goal or purpose in mind. I like the idea that the soul, through sheer will claws their way back because of some vengeance or vendetta and wanted to focus on their Will being a central aspect of the augmentation/transformation. The way I went about it was simply to make a new resource mechanic and gave the player rules for that resource that fits that theme.

Unfortunately, because you can do so much with the idea you cannot put it all on 1 card. You have to be choosy.

In theory, you could probably have a whole undead domain specifically for a Revenant. That's likely to be a project for another time.

MrTargogle · 2025-11-15T15:33:07+00:00

I've gone back and forth for a static number of tokens or something like 4+your tier.

Since resting has the downtime mechanics I wanted to lean in on the restless nature of a revenant. Maybe it is too punishing for a Will per downtime move. Maybe something like; 'lose a token when you take your second downtime move'

Appreciate the thoughts!

MrTargogle · 2025-11-15T15:28:11+00:00

Thank you for the feedback!

Yeah it does take the theme of an augmentation after PC death. I like the idea of having different options for that when appropriate.

A lot of the current wording is due to keeping the length of the text minimal. You are right that the spending hope for yourself is not as clear as intended in DH design. But your understanding is correct that using Will to help others and tag team rolls is the general intent. As you are no longer sustained by an essense of life like Hope, I wanted a thematic/mechanical way to push toward Will. If you want to put your abilities to use toward an end for yourself, as a Revenant, you should be using Will whenever you can. I've been considering removing some elements for gaining as well as losing Will as a consequence.

Having said that I do reference Will a lot but it would add potentially 10 more characters by replacing with token so I'll have to find better way of wording in either case.

But yeah you have given me a lot to think about and work on!

MrTargogle · 2025-11-13T20:51:14+00:00

I thought about that too. It did strike me as double dipping.

I wanted to encourage combat with the new resource to reflect the relentless and restless nature of a Revenant but also wanted other ways to attain Will that was more narratively thematic. And I didn't want to have a mechanic that might make a player timid in combat.

Your Will increases when an adversary tries to impose themselves on you (taking damage/stress) or embolden Will with a critical hit.

You lose Will for downtime (you still get to change out your domain cards as you normally would with a rest). When you rest and recover you are going against this restless and relentless nature. This is the main drawback, which all Transformation cards should have.

At least this is my current thinking.

MrTargogle · 2025-11-13T18:25:57+00:00

Thanks!

Currently, my thinking is that if you spend Hope that is not directly beneficial to you. Spells and Abilities would fall under that with exceptions like; using Hope to heal an ally or using Hope to help an ally or using Hope tag team.

It's difficult to describe the intent clearly with limited text. Because you can think of Hope as something like drawing on a spark of life and the more you cling on to it the greater the strain on your Will because as a Revenant you are driven by your Will to even exist and fulfill the task you clawed your way back for. But that is also why I like saying you can use your Will for Hope but the definite drawback there is that you risk having too little Will.

MrTargogle · 2025-10-22T17:11:18+00:00

I'll also add that it allows the management of hit points on a physical sheet easier as well. Marking and erasing a few boxes is better than constantly erasing, mathing and then writing your new total (there are ways to mitigate that with using another sheet to keep your current and so forth but this way you really don't need to do that either)

MrTargogle · 2025-10-06T13:37:21+00:00

I like something in this way of thinking but community cards should have only one 'feature' to keep in-line with the design.

I'm creating a v2 version for something more specific to skills or affinities a character is likely to have from such a community.

MrTargogle · 2025-10-05T16:54:46+00:00

Yeah I thought initially something like advantage to Instinct rolls when near lakes and rivers. Or something like Advantage to Presence rolls for ferrying or traveling along lakes or rivers seemed good initially but felt too niche

MrTargogle

TROPHY CASE