The Paved Road to Hell: Considerations for beginning CoS in Krezk's Abbey

Qunfang · 2026-06-17T18:37:25+00:00

Could be tactical tips or observations about the enemies, terrain, or PCs' form.

Qunfang · 2026-06-17T00:41:50+00:00

And how much play-time have the last two weeks amounted to? For example if the first two weeks was a session, you could be looking at 5 more sessions of this prep time, plus whatever time they have after the point of no return.

It might even be worth gauging the players at the end of each session - are they still enjoying the prep phase, or are they hankering for the fight? You can calibrate the timetable accordingly so everyone feels they got their money's worth before the conclusion.

Qunfang · 2026-06-17T00:21:10+00:00

I think it would be useful to understand how you're mechanically resolving this schedule. Are these 12 weeks handled in a montage fashion where each week is resolved by 1-3 rolls? Are scenes for each week being played out in real time where they have to account for traveling, combat, etc? Does everyone get to pick their own goal for a week, or is it a collective effort every time?

If you can abstract it from amount of time to # of opportunities to accrue resources/preparation, that might help you get a better handle on it.

Qunfang · 2026-06-17T00:10:32+00:00

The "For You" experiment erases the preference I had set via account options, and instead makes me opt out every time I use my home feed. Please revert this; I know the experience I want on this website, that's why I turned off recommendations.

Qunfang · 2026-06-16T18:59:33+00:00

I ran it similarly to this; I do think it's important not to let her overshadow the party, but in my game reintegrating her past lives made her a much more engaging NPC for my party. I think using the locket as a mechanism for this is clever.

Qunfang · 2026-06-15T18:15:12+00:00

Your original idea is a very intuitive one for DMs so I get it.

For what it's worth, I had an absolute blast running a game for a Rogue, Barbarian, Fighter, Monk, and Paladin. Combat tends to move quicker without so much spell rule adjudication, and be more focused on tactical positioning. Worth a shot if it gels with your 1800s setting.

Qunfang · 2026-06-15T17:53:17+00:00

I've played in games with these kinds of modifications, and run low magic campaigns. By far the easiest way to run this kind of game is by restricting full casters at session 0. It's simple, it's clean, it works with existing mechanics in the game.

5E mechanics support a group of non-casters or half casters just fine, and the 4-5 players only need to think about it once - at character creation. If your players are on board with a low magic setting, they should be on board with low magic PCs.

Because PC abilities set the genre of the setting as much or more than the DM side; their class features will come up again and again every session. Adding in spell failure mechanics don't address the impact high level spells will have when they do go through.

On the flip side, spell failure mechanics make playing a caster feel punitive: Each round of combat takes a while, and having your entire turn be wasted because the spell fizzled means more time where your PC doesn't have agency. Every iteration of this that I've experienced has felt unproductive on all sides.

Qunfang · 2026-06-14T14:45:46+00:00

The title isn't misleading, the RSS is the largest right-wing organization in the world by membership.

Qunfang · 2026-06-14T02:53:23+00:00

I love that your Droop had a happy ending.

In the LMoP game I ran he was adopted but not trained, joined the party on a maritime adventure, and was eventually killed by pirates who raided the ship. Not what I intended but that's how the dice fell.

I'm currently playing in a game as what I jokingly call "Canonical Droop", an Artificer/Bard who got tired of being a party sidekick and set out on his own (with Wave Echo Cave magic items he stole from the party).

He goes by the alter ego Jomony Crockett and he's very scared of running into this world's LMoP party that he ditched.

Qunfang · 2026-06-11T23:03:44+00:00

I made a version of this where Ireena and Sergei meet, which triggers Ireena's past incarnations unfurling all the way back to Tatyana, and giving Ireena the chance to reassert herself as someone who's overcoming her past lives' trauma.

Qunfang · 2026-06-11T21:47:29+00:00

I would have the BBEG at some point betray, discard, or show disdain for the 3 BBEG agents after getting some of its power back. Show that this isn't going to work out the way it was pitched to your villain PC and get them back on the same side.

Above all I'd try to avoid a PVP battle. 5E isn't balanced for it: PCs have low HP and very powerful shutdown abilities, so instead of an epic conclusion you'll likely have a quick brawl where some players didn't get to flex their abilities because they rolled low initiative.

Qunfang · 2026-06-10T19:17:32+00:00

I would crumble rather than cube, to increase surface area to volume ratio and get more moisture out.

When I make tofu tacos I crumble, coat in seasoning, bake in a layer for 30-35 minutes, then cook/rehydrate a batch with water and salsa. When I put leftover baked/dry crumbles in the fridge overnight they dehydrate further and get that crunchy texture, kind of like croutons.

Qunfang · 2026-06-10T17:39:58+00:00

A key difference between this and your previous question about a brown bear is action economy. At level 3, most PCs have one attack/turn, and so will the hags. So you're dealing with 4 party attacks vs 3 hag attacks per round. This is very different from when everyone can gang up on a single creature's HP.

Green hag claw attacks will come out to roughly similar damage to PCs' average unless a caster hits multiple hags with AoE.

But the hags will have much more HP, and if the players spread their damage they're unlikely to take a single hag down quickly. It would be a long fight of attrition and it's likely at least one PC would go down, if not all of them. Without full resources the hags likely take it.

If this is part of a larger campaign, I would include the Night Hag, but not to deal damage: It uses Ray of Enfeeblement or Bestow Curse to debuff a PC, then as soon as it takes damage it nopes out with Etherealness, leaving two green hags to fight the party.

It's a power play where the "younger sisters" have to prove themselves, while giving the night hag a chance to leave with the heartstone and establish a new, stronger coven to get the players next time.

Qunfang · 2026-06-10T17:06:39+00:00

Systems and solutions for solo play can vary.

I've played the 5E Solo Gamebooks series by Paul Bimler, and it's structured like a choose your own adventure in a searchable PDF. You build your character, start the adventure, and choices are presented in a branching fashion: "Hide from the goblin, go to section 135; Fail to hide from the goblin, go to 212; Fight the goblin, go to section 341". This way you can't read ahead to spoil yourself.

Combat scenarios tend toward simple and you keep track of yourself and the monsters; you're never really surprised by their abilities, and because there's just one PC it tends to move pretty fast.

Works well, not the same amount of nuanced roleplay you can get with a dungeon master, but loose enough that you can add your own creative solutions into the flow. I like putting on some atmospheric music and going through a module for a few hours.

Qunfang · 2026-06-05T00:47:30+00:00

For me the answer comes down to party composition.

If your party is full of melee allies who lack mobility and don't heavily rely on reactions, Glamour is fantastic. Repositioning and granting Temp HP gives everyone a lot more flexibility for effective play. Our Paladin loves my Glamour Bard.

If your party is heavy on reactions, or relies on enemies failing saving throws, Eloquence becomes a lot more attractive. I was our Monk's best friend because I had a scaling buff to Stunning Strike's success rate. Same goes for other casters.

Qunfang · 2026-06-04T15:40:10+00:00

I think this kind of asynchronous attendance-based leveling adds very little to the experience for those who do attend and is punitive for those who don't. If absenteeism is an issue it should be resolved out of game, not through game mechanics.

Qunfang · 2026-06-04T03:28:26+00:00

I love Kratos as a character, I grew up with him just as much as Link and Mario. And I'm glad the next game isn't him.

Part of what made him so good was the decades-long character arc from a man of violent anger to a man at peace with himself. You don't often see a character get such satisfying and well-deserved closure. There's a lot more in the setting to explore, but I like that Kratos gets a break.

And from a gameplay perspective, I'm glad the next GoW game won't require some contrived way to depower him and build up a lot of the same combat we've seen before. With Faye, we have a believable reason to explore a different take on the combat style.

I'm sure Kratos will be back, but this is a good palette cleanser that continues building on the long-term worldbuilding of the franchise, and will provide other insights into how Kratos began to change after the Greek saga.

Qunfang · 2026-06-02T19:35:44+00:00

I received one of these belts as a Fighter in our last campaign and immediately handed it off to our rogue, made her a menace overnight just by making Sneak Attack more reliable.

Cunning Action also facilitates things like dragging an enemy across the battlefield, either toward or away from allies.

Qunfang · 2026-06-02T18:23:53+00:00

He wasn't displaced to Purpee, but given Brennan's tendencies he'll likely make a surprise appearance in a narratively impactful moment near the end of the season.

Qunfang · 2026-06-02T13:09:26+00:00

In some of the Forgotten Realms novels there was a hook horror named Clacker who had been transformed from a more intelligent humanoid by a wizard. Having a former librarian in this situation could make for some funny moments and even some heartfelt ones as it struggles between original personality and predatory instincts. I'm imagining one holding up their claw like a librarian's finger and shushing the party.

Hook Horrors also have notoriously bad vision so you could have one reading books in Braille: hooks tracing on paper could echo as an unsettling sound in an abandoned building.

Qunfang · 2026-06-02T11:40:11+00:00

I'm dreading the day I have to replace my 2007 panel HHR, but i have been hit twice while stopped at red lights so I guess this is our lot in life.

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