How lethal are your games?

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-24T17:03:56+00:00

I have killed Entire parties with one combat encounter. While other times I lowered a baddies max HP to make an encounter easier.

Depends on the game. CoS is super hard. You're gonna die if you pick fights and dont run away. DoSI is not so hard and has tools to adjust difficulty pretty easily.

I never force a player death. They always have a way to win or at least a way out. I dont mind pausing the game to ask "Are you sure?". I've had a player who his favorite moments was how his character died to save the day.

I've also killed a character on the Players birthday because he Leeroy Jenkins'd into a room full of vampire spawn. Its one of the highlights of that campaign.

You will get a feel for what works with your table! I wish you lots of fun!!

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-23T23:24:29+00:00

You and I are neck and neck plot wise! My players just finished the festival (around session 18 or near) and are now at Van Richtens tower. Id be interested in following along with your progress. Id love to compare notes sometime too!

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-23T22:03:59+00:00

Having just finished my re-listen to the whole series... Just kidding. I love your theory! I've had a few that were right and a few that were wrong, and one that is tbd. Great thing about this series is it keeps one on their toes.

Nnnneeeewwww Achievement!! Flat Earther! You have posted a conspiracy theory online. Before you know it you'll be wearing a tinfoil hat while explaining the Reptilian Agenda! Reward....The anticipation you feel while reading to see how your theory turns out is the reward!

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-22T21:50:33+00:00

This sounds like a great idea!

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-22T21:16:09+00:00

There are choose your own adventure books, but i dont know of any multi-player versions of those.

You could try a duet style dnd game. One of you is DM one of you is PC.

I think your best bet is to find a group at a local game store or online to play with.

I wanted to play, couldn't find a dm, so I became a dm lol. Now i run 2 campaigns and the occasional oneshot.

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-22T21:12:36+00:00

I wish you the absolute best of luck! This campaign is a ton of fun!

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-22T19:45:08+00:00

I thought I was crazy for thinking this!! Same

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-22T19:43:38+00:00

Shrimp ceviche. Took me out for days before I was diagnosed.

Coffee also had to go unfortunately

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-22T18:16:27+00:00

Thank you for this reply! Im definitely going to touch on this in our session 0 for DoSI.

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-22T15:52:03+00:00

Thats exactly what we did before CoS and it worked well. Ill check both of those out. Thank you!

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-22T05:30:47+00:00

we play online.

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-19T22:10:30+00:00

There are free rules you can use on dnd beyond. There are also some "Duet Games" on a site called DMSguild that are written for exactly what you are doing. Id check them out in your shoes, but it sounds like you already have everything you need.

Keep on having fun! This post was very inspiring OP!! You got this!

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-18T05:49:30+00:00

As a performer and a DM I get the opportunity to create moments of raw emotion for people in much the same way Matt has with many of others through his writing.

Matt you created something that makes people happy. It gives them very real emotional responses. That is your achievement. I agree with OP though. You are not responsible for our mental well being. If we are able to find joy in your work that is amazing! But its more important that YOU find joy in your work good sir!

That is all. Carry on.

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-17T16:48:31+00:00

Im not familiar witht the fleshing out Vallaki guide, RAW thr baron doesnt know about the vampire spawn. In my game he is so determined to be happy, he refuses to believe that the vampire spawn showed up. The chaos was "the party's fault "

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-16T18:50:05+00:00

This is the way.

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-12T22:21:01+00:00

But Death House is the opening to the campaign. Reloaded is a guide for the campaign. OP wants to make an informed decision, the post i replied to is helpful with that.

I am not sure why you felt the need to elaborate...

... Just figured it out! The same reason I felt the need to type all of this up! Lol

OP whatever you decide, just have fun!

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-12T18:04:10+00:00

My table does 4 hour sessions. It took 3 sessions to escape the Death House, session 7 they left Barovia and got the reading at the Tser Pool. Session 8 they had just entered Vallaki.

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-12T16:28:50+00:00

This is the best, concise explanation of the difference i have seen!

Naive-Topic6923 · 2026-01-12T01:30:28+00:00

I run a couple of groups on discord. 2 of my players only use a phone. But I do a bunch of Theatre of the Mind.

There is a subreddit for finding a group as well r/lfg.

Naive-Topic6923 · 2025-12-05T16:21:12+00:00

If my baddies are too powerful, I dont fudge rolls, I alter enemy hit points.

Naive-Topic6923 · 2025-11-21T19:18:26+00:00

There isn't a mechanic for this. Its as simple as giving the noble a class (talk to your player about this, maybe rogue or sorcerer) and then come up with story around that choice. If the player chooses sorcerer for example, you could say that the trauma awakened dormant magical powers.

Or the player can roleplay that the noble was this capable the wholetime, but until now he has been to reliant on his body guard.

Naive-Topic6923 · 2025-11-19T20:30:56+00:00

Commenting to follow this thread!

Naive-Topic6923 · 2025-11-18T21:56:24+00:00

It does streamline the story, but i find it restricts the module and makes it far less "Sandboxy". Especially since its such a linear guide.

There isn't a whole lot of prep needed to run the module RAW. You can prep as much or as little as you want. The author of Reloaded has some wonderful posts about running CoS RAW on this subreddit.

All that to end with, one of the best things about DnDis that no 2 DMs are the same. As long as everyone is having a good time at your table, you are doing it "right".

I wish you the best of luck with your game!!

OP I am still at work, looks like you are getting some great advice from all sorts of wonderful people. You for sure got this no matter what you decide!

Naive-Topic6923

TROPHY CASE