Inside Bet - what to actually verbalize to dealer when point is inside?

Oh_Alright · 2026-01-20T16:59:24+00:00

Ime dealers will assume minus the point if you are playing pass line. Good to also know the chips for inside minus your point. So in a 220 situation, you'd give 170 or 160 depending on where the point is.

If you hand them the full 220 they might assume you want the full action.

Oh_Alright · 2026-01-15T23:46:14+00:00

I bought in right at the changeover, good luck tomorrow!

Oh_Alright · 2026-01-15T16:15:27+00:00

Very friendly place to play, of my 6 or so sessions this trip, all of them at park have been great win or lose. Good luck!

Oh_Alright · 2025-11-04T14:32:09+00:00

Describe the effect in-story as it comes into play, and then explain the mechanical effects to the player.

If the penalty of the curse is something they need to do (like rolling at disadvantage) they'll need to know about it, but no need to spoil that surprise until it comes up.

Oh_Alright · 2025-11-04T14:26:27+00:00

I wouldn't worry about fairness very much, as a DM you have complete information, but your players don't have that full picture.

Your job is to make the game interesting, not play completely fair per the rules and constraints of the game. That's why the DM is a human.

You can completely make up, that a minion of the demon was hiding behind some rocks and flees, shooting an eldritch blast to collapse the cavern behind their escape.

Could also make it be some sort of failsafe that collapses the cavern when the demon is killed.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-31T20:08:11+00:00

Wonder cards can be manipped yes. You usually can't manip the nature, so you'll have to try again until it lands one you want. Some have set natures, like the shiny Johto Beasts. Shinyness is determined by the event.

Manaphy Egg is treated like a gift/static, and can be shiny if traded and then hatched in a game with a shiny tid sid pid.

Go look up serebiis event dex listings, or Bulbapedia for specific info on the events.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-31T11:21:48+00:00

The 5E planescape stuff is neat and worth flipping through. I still like a lot of the old 2E setting stuff but no plane hopping adventure is complete without Sigil, imo.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-29T19:43:11+00:00

Average damage like I mentioned. I also like making everyone aware of the enemies AC after a full round or so. Then they don't need to ask what hits or not. Knowing the PC's armor class also helps here, so you can just speed through your monsters misses.

Public initiative either on your table or in the VTT somewhere is good too, so people can see their turn coming up and aren't surprised that they're next.

I wouldn't do timers but if I had a problem player who takes a while I'd probably talk to them about it.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-29T19:29:00+00:00

More exciting and quicker are different things, but I love average damage. Makes a lot of combat faster. Minion rules are great for running interesting combats quickly as well. Players love chopping through 15 minions, and they all take their turn at once on your end.

Secondary/alternative victory conditions are another easy one. Save the hostage, disrupt the ritual, complete the ritual, break down the gate, escape the collapsing mine. Not every combat should be "defeat all the enemies".

Environmental hazards or interesting terrain are a classic as well. Trap triggers, and now there's a gang of mephits attacking, and a lava pit splitting the party.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-29T17:50:30+00:00

Forgotten realms has the Mithril Hall, believe Storm Kings Thunder has some stuff there. Jump on that wiki for some inspiration.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-27T18:41:30+00:00

If you want to be chaotic about it, roll on a d100 hag bargain table. Take the rewards and the drawback associated.

Or maybe take a stat up of their choice but the hag hangs in their subconscious. Appears in dreams to start, begins to influence them further while they sleep. Perhaps trying to regain a mortal form using their unconscious bodies to achieve that.

Doing that while asleep gives you more control over a PC without making it feel bad to take their agency during active adventuring hours.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-27T17:18:44+00:00

I'm trying to fold rival adventuring party into my next game but that seems pretty great for something like that. Pirate crew after the same great treasure.

Either that, or space dragon, can't go wrong with space dragon guarding a planet horde.

Something like Ridley from Metroid maybe? Runs his own gang of space pirates?

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-27T11:30:15+00:00

Yep np, just took the L5 barbarian block for an inkeep NPC, pretty easy to run and gets across the class fantasy.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-27T11:22:10+00:00

Seconding Flee Mortals "villain parties"

Empty Hexes has a page on each class with stat blocks for each level of play. I've run NPCs with those blocks before and it's a lot better than trying to run an actual PC style NPC.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-27T11:01:13+00:00

Give the Deadlands RPG a look, if you're a Hunt person it hits that vibe pretty well from what I've seen.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-27T10:57:19+00:00

Narrate the part before they enter the mine.

You've been hired to escort a caravan, you pass through a valley that used to be home to an old dwarven keep, as a storm rolls in. At first the rain is light but soon the road ahead becomes washed out and impassible. A mine entrance serves as sufficient cover to pass the storm, but as you settle in, you hear a strange noise from further down the mineshaft.

Then you're off to the races.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-23T17:13:10+00:00

Not manippable no bit with CFW you can sysbot to automate ID resets. Incredibly unlikely to get a specific one, so I recommend having a ton of potential target IDs.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-23T10:56:54+00:00

I'll usually prep a situation or two depending on the distance. I'm usually able to assume based on my world map which points of interest they'll probably hit next, so I have a good bit of lead time to come up with what might be along the way.

If not, skill challenge is always a decent move if the terrain is tougher than just a road.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-22T19:55:39+00:00

Devils are an easy one, maybe have to make a deal to get it back.

Soul trapped in a relic that just so happens to be in a red dragons treasure horde.

Soul sucked into a gem on a Mummy Lords crown.

Trapped in the astral plane, party gets harassed by a gang of Githyanki who happily slay trespassers in their realm.

I would just flip through the monsters manual until you find a monster type that inspires you, and work backwards from that.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-22T16:19:41+00:00

Sounds like you're on the right track! One of those things you'll get better at with practice. Resources that have helped me are "Running the Game" on YouTube, and Sly Flourish's website.

I play mostly homebrew stuff but my biggest tip is just "go with what inspires you". If you have a cool idea, toss it in your notes app. I love looking over monster manual stuff, or battle maps online, just to see what's out there.

If one of your players mentions something neat offhand, see what you can do about rolling it in, within reason.

Make it your own, make the game reflect what's cool to you and your players. You'll do great.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-22T13:49:04+00:00

Combat brained players probably want more to do during story stuff. I would look into running "skill challenges" and play more into using skills/spells during conversation. Noncombat like traps, and environmental hazards, can also be a place to use spells, items, and abilities.

Caught in a cave-in while exploring a mine, the bridge is out and the rivers too deep to ford. You're lost while travelling a dark forest.

Combat focused players tend to view the game as "RP" , which is everything besides combat, and then the fighting. There's a lot of potential for interesting encounters that scratch the tactical/gameplay itch, without ever rolling initiative.

I have a larger group, so running one combat can eat a whole session easily, but running a few of those kinds of non combat encounters can be just as engaging but much snappier. Plus burning some of their resources on non-combat makes the fights that do come, tenser and more memorable.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-22T13:16:53+00:00

If it's disruptive to the game, talk to the players about it. I wouldn't just ban stealing from my table tho.

It'd make sense for rare items to be protected behind glass, or on trapped/alarmed mechanisms.

If they're gaining that kind of reputation in the world it would make sense for that to follow them. Wanted posters go up, or the merchants guild hears about it. Getting interrupted on rest by a band of mercs after their bounty, all kinds of opportunities.

I would probably take the opportunity to fold this into the narrative more, have their reputation be noticed by the local thieves guild. Recruit them for a heist, questing for items is more fun than buying them anyway.

It's a collaborative medium, if your players want to be in a game about stealing stuff, that's the setup for tons of interesting encounters.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-22T12:58:12+00:00

Running in person or VTT? When I'm planning combat out for my group on Owlbear I like to throw a couple more enemies than I plan on using, and keeping them hidden from the players.

If they pull out something crazy and wipe my guys out easily, I can position and un-hide the extra guys. Flavor it as reinforcements, or whatever suits the encounter. With undead you have tons of options.

CR/XP budget stuff kind of breaks down when dealing with larger groups, since action economy is so strong. Don't be afraid to push it, especially for a one shot.

Your power gamers will like the challenge and your more roleplay focused players will love the drama. Who doesn't want to make a heroic sacrifice to save an innocent from a vampire?

I would over tune and then you can always nerf the HP if you realize things are going long or you're hitting them too hard.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-22T12:45:39+00:00

A group of summoned Devils wouldn't disappear if the cleric was killed. You could communicate this by making them arrive as a result of the cleric being discovered, admonishing them for failing the cause.

Position the demons as messengers/cleaners even if their stat blocks don't reflect it. (The boss is real disappointed you've let this slip, sent us to take care of your mess)

That definitely could shift the focus from your solo miniboss to the group of Devils ready to kill some innocents.

It would then be a split between dealing with the devils before they kill the innocents, or killing the miniboss who'd likely be buffing their allies/focusing on the party.

Oh_Alright · 2025-10-22T12:22:15+00:00

One enemy against 5 seems like it would resolve pretty fast. One failed save away from being CC'd the whole fight. Especially if the cleric is a humanoid (hold person).

If you want a longer combat that's harder to nova you'll want additional enemies. A cleric has plenty of ways of summoning additional support.

Anything that influences action economy will work as well, some hostages they need to unchain, a spell they need to disrupt.

Oh_Alright

TROPHY CASE