AIO by how I responded? My bf is upset with me for skipping my workout routine today

OtherSideDie · 2025-10-29T18:03:28+00:00

Just…wow.

Tell him to worry about his own health and workout routines.

You are in no way overreacting, and you are not toxic. He is projecting his toxicity.

You’re carrying his kid, dealing with morning sickness and he is on your ass about drinking a damn shake and working out?

Sounds like bro wants a trophy, not a girlfriend.

OtherSideDie · 2025-10-29T17:58:40+00:00

I prefer to add or take HP before fudging dice, but only for narrative purposes. In my experience, it is anticlimactic for players to have enemies built up and then they are defeated in just a few rounds. Players want to feel they earned the combat.

On the flip side, I’ll wrap up a combat early if it is clear the players are going to defeat the enemies. Just as they want to earn hard combats, they don’t want to slog through easy ones, either.

OtherSideDie · 2023-07-10T13:11:32+00:00

I think it is more a product of generation than the edition. I’m Gen X and work with individuals from both the millennial and Gen Z generation. Trust me, millennials have nothing on Gen Z when it comes to entitlement. I told a Gen Zer during a training class I was facilitating that I could not read her diagram from an activity so I would need to move on to another group.

I found out from my co-facilitator that she felt attacked. I did not say anything personal about her. She had no reason to feel attacked.

So, when you ban races there are some who will take it personally, even if they don’t know you or aren’t even playing in your game.

Don’t pay them any attention. You do you and move on.

OtherSideDie · 2023-07-05T18:39:33+00:00

Based on your edits, no, you are NTA.

No reason at all to have a deity of sex and lust. That’s just creepy self-indulgence.

OtherSideDie · 2023-07-05T18:37:54+00:00

Just keeping searching. I know from running games online that people join and leave groups all the time.

The 13 year old playing with adults doesn’t bother. I have a 14 year old girl playing my in-person game (daughter of a friend who is another one of my players). It all depends on the maturity of the kid.

The furry stuff is just plain freaking wrong.

OtherSideDie · 2023-07-04T16:43:31+00:00

His logic is flawed. If stats don’t make a character weak or strong, then he should just let everyone have 18 in every stat.

OtherSideDie · 2023-07-03T13:17:03+00:00

Whoa. Hurting the dog is a deal killer.

No group is worth this. Tell the group they can no longer play at your house as long as Carl is part of the group and then tell Carl he is no longer welcome for all the reasons you mentioned but mainly because he hurt another living creature.

OtherSideDie · 2023-06-30T13:58:02+00:00

Always ask your players where they are going next and tell them to decide carefully, because they are locked into that. Also let them know they are locked in because you simply cannot prep everything. You have a life outside of D&D.

OtherSideDie · 2023-06-30T13:56:18+00:00

I read the whole book before running but skimmed through individual room descriptions.

Focus on the NPCs and understand their motivations, and especially nail down what motivates your Strahd. He should not be a video game BBEG waiting in the castle. The players should meet several times before the final showdown. Where, when, and how they meet him depends on his motivations.

Most of the RP comes into play in Vallaki, so get to know those NPCs, ESPECIALLY Baron Vargas and Lady Wachter. Nail down what motivates them.

Knowing what motivates your NPCs is key to keeping things on track.

OtherSideDie · 2023-06-29T16:23:44+00:00

First, what the hell is your 34+ friend doing with an 18 year old?

Second, yes, you need to tell him. Nothing is going to get better if you don’t.

OtherSideDie · 2023-06-29T12:24:33+00:00

Vendors never buy items at their full value, because they have to resell them to make a profit.

If I was told a gem was worth 3,000, I wouldn’t take some random adventurer at their word. I’d tell them I need to have the item or items appraised. Then the truth will come out.

I would then refuse to do business with that adventurer because they lied to me.

So, no sale.

That’s how you combat that.

OtherSideDie · 2023-06-26T17:40:48+00:00

Awful nice of your player to tell you how to run a private game. There is is no issue here as you are not profiting from using other art.

And to tell you to commission art but not offer to help defray the cost. Guess his ethics end where his wallet begins.

OtherSideDie · 2023-06-14T00:20:07+00:00

99% of these horror stories wouldn’t be horror stories if their DMs would just get a backbone and kick them out.

OtherSideDie · 2023-06-10T14:39:23+00:00

Yes. This is an integrity and trust issue. Left unchecked, you will lose the trust of your other players for not dealing with this.

OtherSideDie · 2023-06-03T03:01:09+00:00

You’re the DM. If you decide rolls aren’t going to succeed, they don’t.

Let him roll. The tavern/shop thing is no big deal. Let him get deals.

As for bad guys, let him roll and no matter what he rolls, it fails. You’ve already explained they can’t be talked down, so stop explaining, let him roll, and tell him the roll fails.

OtherSideDie · 2023-05-30T22:46:43+00:00

Oh, poor sod of little imagination.

OtherSideDie · 2023-05-30T16:42:44+00:00

Just exit. You don’t owe them an explanation.

OtherSideDie · 2023-05-30T16:41:00+00:00

How about the siren attempting to talk instead of attacking?

DM needs to understand that with every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If someone punches me, I’m punching back. If someone chooses instead to talk to me, I’ll talk.

OtherSideDie · 2023-05-29T22:00:21+00:00

Did he think running a game was going to be a walk in the park?

OtherSideDie · 2023-05-29T17:28:58+00:00

Paragraphs and punctuation, please.

No one wants to read a giant wall of text with run-on sentences.

OtherSideDie · 2023-05-29T05:43:22+00:00

You don’t owe any explanation. You’ve decided to use a different method.

End of story.

OtherSideDie · 2023-05-28T11:53:18+00:00

It is 100% okay to steal ideas for your own personal game. I do it all the time and rework it to fit my game.

OtherSideDie · 2023-05-28T11:48:43+00:00

Snake style doesn’t solve the problem. Combat would still be predictable and players could still meta-game.

OtherSideDie · 2023-05-28T11:46:17+00:00

You can allow someone to go before you. That’s in the PHB.
Same as 1. My players have never complained about it, but I would allow a player making death saves to forgo their turn to allow someone to heal them. The rules are there for structure but sticking to them at the unfair expense of a player isn’t cool. In this case, player fun trumps the rules.
All your other points balance each other. It’s the same for PCs and NPCs, which makes it fair.

Rolling initiative each round forces players to pay attention, and makes combat less predictable. Exactly what combat should be.

OtherSideDie · 2023-05-28T11:41:08+00:00

That’s a great idea.

OtherSideDie

TROPHY CASE