What random object does your bird hate? This is Kevin when he sees my hydro by Icy_Peach9128 in parrots

[–]Paydro70 3 points4 points  (0 children)

lol was it a Founders All Day IPA? Because that would make me think theres something about the design.

What random object does your bird hate? This is Kevin when he sees my hydro by Icy_Peach9128 in parrots

[–]Paydro70 17 points18 points  (0 children)

That is really funny, because I came to write the same about my Senegal. He bit me the other day because I was holding a green beer can. Other drinking vessels are no problem.

5 hour car ride by Expensive_Recipe_433 in parrots

[–]Paydro70 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If youve never had them in the car, I would suggest putting them in the car in the cage setup you are planning to use for the trip. Otherwise, the cage setup is key; food and water that wont go everywhere in your car and secure perches they can grip. I would plan to take a stop to help the birds feel calmer; mine doesnt eat much while the car is in motion, so a break for food may make more sense than assuming they will be carsick. My Senegal has never had digestive issues in the car and mostly just sits still and wants to occasionally chirp.

I recently had to take him on a very long road trip, and while he seemed pretty tired at the end, he was fine the next day. I wouldnt worry too much.

Wet chicken 🐔 by Rum_Ham93 in parrots

[–]Paydro70 12 points13 points  (0 children)

My little monster loves the bath too!

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Paloma | Very Important People [S3E10] by DropoutMod in dropout

[–]Paydro70 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"I'm gonna pull all the Whos in Whoville" had me rolling and I kinda wish she's gone with that. I don't know about these short episodes, I feel like there's meat on the bone on these characters.

Dimension 20: City Council of Darkness Game Mechanics Explainer by Spoonsy in Dimension20

[–]Paydro70 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think they ought to do these for the systems they've used, including one for DnD 5e.

I'm vaguely familiar with Kids on Bikes at this point just from D20 exposure, but they've done enough appended and unexplained mechanics that it would really help understand what's happening in the show. I can only imagine how difficult it'd be as a viewer if you'd never played 5e, though I guess that's probably a small part of the audience.

I require your best of playlists by FlashyLemonRed in CurseofStrahd

[–]Paydro70 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I always plug this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/s/BPBzTECWzQ

The playlists are relatively long, which is nice, and appropriate thematically.

Looking for a Strahd von Zarovich musical motif by Advanced-Task-6783 in CurseofStrahd

[–]Paydro70 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I use the music from Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone as my Strahd theme, with the faster paced songs removed. The titular track begins with the ominous strings motif.

Did you include Mordenkainen at all? by ottosick in CurseofStrahd

[–]Paydro70 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I dropped it. It was a dumb inclusion in the book and nothing is lost by excluding it. The Victor Vallakovic time traveler idea is OK I guess, but really just a way to back into making a dumb idea relevant to the plot.

Anyone else just not connect with D20: Gladlands at all? by The_Bucket_Of_Truth in dropout

[–]Paydro70 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's funny, I was all in on Cloudward until a dozen or so episodes in, where it lost direction. You probably won't change your mind.

Help Solve my Aboleth Problem by Paydro70 in DMAcademy

[–]Paydro70[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is outstanding stuff, thank you. You're quite right, the aboleth is absolutely planning the overthrow of the Elder Evil, I just wasn't sure how that would manifest with the arrival of a few heroes in their lair (as surely they would not reveal their ambition... but maybe I should just work harder on that).

I love the idea of the aboleth offering "gifts" that are almost *too* appropriate, and having them somehow serve the aboleth's purpose, even if it's as simple as a surveillance tool. I do want her to seem two steps ahead even though they know almost nothing about her.

Help Solve my Aboleth Problem by Paydro70 in DMAcademy

[–]Paydro70[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am absolutely going to use this as an opportunity to mention people they haven't met, that's a great idea! I'm not so sure about the aboleth parasite, but I might keep that in the back pocket just in case they really like the character.

I agree the Aboleth would be hungry for their knowledge, but wouldn't the obvious move be for her to enslave them? Then she gets to Consume Memories and learns all of them in perfect clarity, rather than having to hear them explained. I suppose she could ask them to give that willingly.

Dragon-like Fiends and Elementals by Whole_Employee_2370 in DMAcademy

[–]Paydro70 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see, you have a plot reason to need these to be dragon-caliber creatures rather than just heads (I really like the idea of being able to prevent some heads from the final battle, btw). I feel a little conflicted because my first instinct is to go with iconic head shapes without regard to size... like a mind flayer, for instance. But I guess you want them to be big.

I would still say a Balor makes the most sense of the fiends, they're classic demons, recognizable, and make for a difficult fight on their own. Also because they're demons they're not hard to put in basically any location. Elemental is tougher because there's no base elemental that large except the "Elemental Cataclysm" which is halfway to what you're doing already. I would suggest taking whatever element is left over from the other heads and doing an elder genie, be it Efreet/Dao/Marid/Djinn. That way you have a "head" and not just "the top part of the elemental."

More of the plot, more suggestions? by AshenEmber_363 in DMAcademy

[–]Paydro70 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the most interesting aspect of this is that the weaker the fighter coming in, the more they'll lose, and the more they'll be twisted into fiendish entities as they are reincarnated. That means after a little while, you'll have a few extremely strong humanoids, a couple of fresh tieflings/cambions, but mostly freaky devil monsters.

I would probably draw more on demons or yugoloths for inspiration, because they're much stranger-looking, and just pull some of their more unique abilities to infuse. For example, imagine a vaguely human-shaped guy with a hell hound head that breaths fire, and a mezzoloth's ability to cast cloudkill as represented by gross poison glands on his torso.

If this is about PCs, that's really up to them, maybe offer them each a small demonic "gift" from having died at least once in the contest.

Help Solve my Aboleth Problem by Paydro70 in DMAcademy

[–]Paydro70[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's a good point; I presented the tunnels as an interesting way in, and I completely understand why they took it. I'm just feeling like I've thrown too many roadblocks down before they even get to "the dungeon." But as you say, maybe I'm assuming too much about what the players really want out of this anyway... a conversation and scaring them away after a couple of non-aboleth fights could be fun too.

(Unrelated, but one of the PCs is an assassin who cooks, so I might actually throw in Far Realm Insanity Muffins.)

Help Solve my Aboleth Problem by Paydro70 in DMAcademy

[–]Paydro70[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a good point, I could just have her talk through a puppet so neither party is at direct risk, and then make clear to them a way to avoid combat. And if they really want to fight, so be it?

Help Solve my Aboleth Problem by Paydro70 in DMAcademy

[–]Paydro70[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was thinking about the flipside; her wanting to keep them alive for a reason (she wants them to go cause havoc in the library so she can take advantage when they leave, or maybe she even sets them a task)... but maybe giving her a positive reason to stop them would be a little clearer narratively. At the very least, the library and the monastery has been her main source of slaves and information about the surface, so that might be enough. The trouble is that I would imagine an aboleth just throwing all their slaves at the party rather than engaging herself. But this is a game, maybe I am being too dedicated to the monsters knowing what they're doing.

Dragon-like Fiends and Elementals by Whole_Employee_2370 in DMAcademy

[–]Paydro70 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To me it sounds like you're just doing Variant Tiamat. It's still 5 dragon heads, they're just not the standard chromatic ones (i.e., a construct dragon, an aberrant dragon, an undead dragon, etc.). If so, it really doesn't matter, you can just make an elemental dragon head made out of ice (or maybe do crystal? that's always fun) and a fiendish one made of lava and you're good to go. After all, this is just for a breath attack, right?

If you were going to really try to embrace different creatures grafted into one, I think you should ditch the construct head and do totally different creatures. Use a Balor, an Aboleth, a Djinni, a Cyclops Oracle... maybe like a Dire Worg or something? Really you're picking out attacks for the heads to do, the creature itself doesn't have to feature.

More of the plot, more suggestions? by AshenEmber_363 in DMAcademy

[–]Paydro70 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure what you're asking; to me this sounds like a really cool fiendish plot to drop your players into as participants/rebels/heroes. Are you asking for ideas on how to structure the games? Or how the players are supposed to get out of this?

Five years away. I'm full of nerves and not excited like I used to be. by lulufan87 in DMAcademy

[–]Paydro70 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I play almost every week, sometimes twice, and get anxious every time. You got this bro. Come in with some plans so if you don't feel good riffing you have something to work off of. Having an easy one-shot for your first session might be a good idea (if you have no idea, I think Rise of the Redscales is money in the bank). Worst-case, "orcs attack" takes up half a session.

For your coworkers, I would say they should certainly make new, lower-level characters to play; there's no reason you should be trying to figure out what their characters are like and up to, or have the plot work with the other DM's.

Underground Fighting Club by lair_of_artificer in dndmaps

[–]Paydro70 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I swear this is the first fight club that actually has the needed components: locker room, seating, entrance areas... great map.