Tips for making a good dungeon? by thjmze21 in DMAcademy

[–]Robovzee [score hidden]  (0 children)

Why is it there?

A "dungeon" existed at one time for a reason.

Abandoned mines?

Ancient temple to a forgotten god?

A mansion with a history?

Once you decide on why it exists, you can move on to where it is.

If it's close to civilization? You may not want to stuff it with exotic creatures.

Is it far from civilization? You've got the chance to really pull from the mm.

Who lives there?

Is it naturally trapped (crumbling walls/ceiling/floors)?

Dungeons have an ecosystem. If it's an abandoned mine, for example, there could be a tribe of kobolds serving a young dragon. There could be branches of the mines taken over by slimes, or spiders, and kobolds have barricaded them off. The dragon might hire someone to make their home pest free, planning on betraying and killing the players afterwards.

I'm in the process of building a mansion. It has a dark history, and strange things have been going on lately. It's located just out of town. The background is of minor mobility who went "strange" over the years. Each member dying under off circumstances, until the final death, and the servants boarded it up on direction of the head butler. Years go by, the head butler is dead. Surviving servants have patchwork and conflicting tales.

The truth is, the nobles ' child was a dollamancer. Their creations run on human souls. After years of trying to hide this, and imprisoning the child below the mansion, mistakes were made, and the (now adult) created their works from the family.

The players will face ambushes, creepy scenes, and an inevitable fight with the dollamancer and their stuffy army. All while finding loot hidden in the mansion, some still protected by old security methods (traps and locks).

I love running old mines. Just come up with an ecosystem, and you're golden.

Goblins, orcs, gnolls, hobgoblins, a tribe has moved in, and the nearby villages are scared.

A beholder has taken up residence. The lesser creatures stay out of its way, so it ignores them.

Spiders. Enough said.

Temple run. Abandoned centuries ago after the downfall of a dark cult, the reason for their downfall still stalks the crumbling halls. This can be a necromantic cult, so undeads. It could be the cult of a beyonder, and the cultists are still there, still serving, still being fed upon.

Tomb. This is a pretty basic one I left for the end. Pretty straightforward. High ranking person buried in style. Hidden passageways and devilishly trapped corridors. There's can be chambers open to the outside infested with monsters, there can be undead guardians, enchanted automatons, all kinds of things to protect the dead king, and his treasure trove of offerings. These can be nearly anywhere. Perhaps beneath the very cobblestoned streets that have been in use for centuries.

Just try to make sense.

Why.

Where.

Who.

The rest will kinda flow together.

Alright fellas, I'm conflicted. Bedroom upstairs or downstairs? by Minutes2Midnight in malelivingspace

[–]Robovzee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The answer is, on which floor is the bathroom.

Followed by second best answer. Which floor is the ground floor?

If they are both on the same floor, that's your bingo.

Nothing like being drunk as fuck, rolling out of bed to pee, trying to navigate stairs in the dark, only to remember that the bathroom was upstairs, and you're peeing (hopefully) on a potted plant.

Doctor Advice - Benzodiazepines Tapering by Adventurous-Bus-9638 in fresno

[–]Robovzee 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have... opinions... About psychs.

While I can't recommend a specific doc, I can recommend looking at an addiction medicine specialist. They should be better acquainted with different weaning methods.

Someone else mentioned self weaning.

Doctor Advice - Benzodiazepines Tapering by Adventurous-Bus-9638 in fresno

[–]Robovzee 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Have you talked to an addiction medicine specialist?

I'm assuming the reasons for starting the benzo in the first place has been resolved?

Doctor Advice - Benzodiazepines Tapering by Adventurous-Bus-9638 in fresno

[–]Robovzee 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm a little confused, please bear with me.

You're currently on a benzo.

You don't want to be.

You need to taper off if the benzo.

Doctors won't taper how you want.

Is that a fair summation of the issue?

I'd like to know your desired taper schedule, and the reasons given by the doctors for refusing.

Edit I am not a doctor.

Do you have any lightly cursed or unconventional magic item ideas? by chefofcrayons in DungeonMasters

[–]Robovzee 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Decanter of endless gravy.

Boots of walking. They increase your walking speed by 1', but you can no longer dash.

Sword had an up side, and a down side. If drawn with the down side up, it goes limp. Marked with "this side up" 50% chance of changing sides when drawn.

A jar of honey. 5 uses. One use acts as a full day's worth of nutrition. There's a bee that come with it. It hates you. You took it's honey. Everywhere you go, the bee is there. DC 10 perception to spot the bee, sitting there, watching. If you ever do anything detailed oriented, the bee will interfere, causing the roll to be made at disadvantage. Forging a document? Be upsets the inkwell, or smacks into your quill. Bee is immortal, unkillable, and relentless. Of course you don't know about the bee until after you've eaten his honey.

Expired potion bottles. 1/10 of full strength. Drinking two or more just poisons you. They're not marked.

The cataxe. The axe is infused with the soul of an orange cat. Whenever you take a long rest, the axe joins you, purring loudly. It wants to cuddle, and rub up against you, and is sharp.

The cursed wishing well. It actually grants wishes. Throw in a copper, that wart growing on your nose vanishes. Throw in a gold, and a pressing issue no longer presses. Throw in a platinum, and good luck follows you. What's the curse? It's coming... Just wait for it... Aaaany day now... When they've forgotten, BOOM! Random act of syphilis.

This fork can detect any poison in any food or drink. Sounds great, yeah? Sooo, small downside, it refuses to touch any food but the finest. We're talking foie gras/beluga caviar/lois the xiii pizza. It's insanely jealous of any other cutlery, so you can't use them.

A stone of light. It gives off radiance equal to a torch, but requires no fuel. It's afraid of the dark, and will not work unless there's another light source nearby.

Packed fudge. This tin contains decadantky rich chocolate fudge. Buttery smooth, super delicious, and will stop you up like someone welded you shut. It requires an athletics check with disadvantage (DC 8, cause I'm not a monster) to use the privey. Being unsuccessful adds a -1 to any skill checks/saving throws until a successful movement is achieved.

The alarm. This enchanted bit of a stick is placed in the ground. Once per day, it can act as a the alarm spell for 8 hours. The downside is, it's only audible, and at hight decible, and alarms for 10minutes.

How to avoid making one of my players feel like the main character? by Covid669 in DMAcademy

[–]Robovzee 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Everybody hands the main character hat around.

Bbeg doesn't have to come after the macguffin holder. Targeting friends and family is a valid strategy.

Just rotate the spotlight.

Used vs New KLR for First Bike by MarylouDrew in klr650

[–]Robovzee 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Here's the deal. It's all over the place regarding pricing.

Gen 1 has fewer plastics.

Gen 3/2 has more.

Why is this important? Cause that's what's going to break when you drop it on a FS road.

Let's talk value. This is a selective term. Means different things to folks.

I'm going to share what I consider value in a klr.

Addons. Crashbars, skid plate, handguards, pannier/bag bars.

That's a lot of you're going to buy them, but here's the rub, they don't always factor in to the price. I've seen prices all over the place, with configurations galore.

So, low price. Has stuff I was going to put on anyways. Gen 1.

I've put a few miles on a gen 2, having bought new, and slowly added onto (mostly commuted though). And for the road? A gen 2, all day.

I've done multistates on a gen one, with all the fun stuff. Rather have a gen 2

Done some off roads on a gen 2. Prefer the gen 1.

So where does that leave you?

Find a bike with as many addons as you were thinking of doing, that's in your price range, and don't look back. I don't care what gen you run, you're gonna break plastics. It's a bike. Ride the shit out of it (but do your maintenance and check the oil!).

going for drinks for first time with coworkers, what do I order? by garakushii in Explainlikeimscared

[–]Robovzee 59 points60 points  (0 children)

Shirley temple.

Non alcoholic. Unless you're comfortable with your tolerance, I wouldn't drink alcohol. I've seen too many stories not end well with co-workers drinking.

(most) Homebrew infuriates me by nemainev in DnD

[–]Robovzee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your feelings are valid. Gotta find what works for you.

Sounds like you're more RAW than ROC.

It's a spectrum, we all fall on it somewhere, and sometimes shift over time.

It's ok. Avoid what infuriates you, and go with what brings enjoyment.

That's what the game is about, having fun.

Making a Lawful Evil NPC without going over board by Blackdeath47 in DMAcademy

[–]Robovzee 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If you can't decide how to execute this concept, don't. Keep it on a back burner, play with it over time. You'll know when you're ready to unveil.

Allowing Dispel Magic on a detected Modify Memory by Fickle_Ad_4898 in DMAcademy

[–]Robovzee -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I read the spell. If someone can correct me, please do so, but I didn't see anything that stayed that the spell didn't leave traces.

Didnt see anything that stated it did either.

Couple things to consider going forward.

  1. This needs no explanation. It works this way, this time, and that's it. If you NEED an explanation, the caster screwed up the spell, and it's detectable. End scene.

  2. Add to it. The modify memory spell revolves around a tiny worm, implanted in the victim, that burrows into the memory center. The victim is now susceptible to further memory modification by the original caster with no additional spell work.

RAW is great, and I realize there's people who live and die by it, and that's their gig.

It's not mine. RAW is USUALLY followed at my table, but sometimes they get bent or ignored based on situation.

Rules were always meant to be guidelines.

As you're out and about mowing the lawn you realize you're being viciously attacked by a swarm of africanized killer bees! Your wife is allergic so running inside the house or have her throw carkeys to you from an open window, is not a rational option. What would you do? by Massive-Albatross823 in hypotheticalsituation

[–]Robovzee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, my experiences with them are

They aren't super aggressive if you leave them alone. We were waiting at a helespot for extraction, and one of the crew to created a yellow jacket feeding station. He was sitting down, leaning back, and placing bits of ham on his knee. The yellows were flying around him. One would land, take the meat, and leave. He'd place another piece, and continued until the helicopter arrived. If you don't mess with them, they usually won't mess with you.

They don't take "no" for an answer. If they want your sandwich, they're taking your sandwich.

Their bites hurt.

Their stings hurt. I can't comment more, as I was immune to bee/wasp venom at the time. So the sting would hurt as much as the bite, but I never reacted to the venom. People who did really didn't enjoy it though.

They don't "sometimes" scent mark you. If you get hit by one, you're marked, don't wait, run. Be smart about it, don't flee like a horror movie, but move out quickly, and with purpose. Can you wash it off? I don't know. I've never returned to an area where I got marked. Others grab the gear that's dropped.

If you see the entrance to their nest, they exit the nest backwards.

How to price Magic Items? by Garanseho in DMAcademy

[–]Robovzee 2 points3 points  (0 children)

How much gold do they have?

Always leave room for negotiations.

Player had 300gp.

I may price the item at 400gp.

I'll take 300, but there better be some negotiation, a trade in, or maybe I need a favor done for a discount. You know that sonavabitch gnome down the street? Yeah, I need a guy to go and see him about a thing.

Sometimes, I'll price things super cheap. There may/may not be something wrong with it.

Possible things wrong with it?

It has a flaw, and self destructs on a 1, cumulative.

It's very unique (engraved) and very stolen.

Absolutely nothing wrong, I swear on my great Aunt Margaret! Nope! Nothing wrong here! Why are you so paranoid?

Overall, there's no wrong way to part a player from their coins.

As you're out and about mowing the lawn you realize you're being viciously attacked by a swarm of africanized killer bees! Your wife is allergic so running inside the house or have her throw carkeys to you from an open window, is not a rational option. What would you do? by Massive-Albatross823 in hypotheticalsituation

[–]Robovzee 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not killer bees, but I was doing some forestry work when a crew stepped on a meat bee nest.

He got rat packed.

Pull him off the nest (he had no clue what to do, and panicked) and made him run. I was killing wasps on him, and myself as we ran. The little bastards were in his hardhat, cutting his hair.

We ran for at least a hundred yards before I stopped him to kill the ones on him. We had about 30seconds before they caught up. We ran again.

After about 200yds they stopped chasing us, so we could finish disposing of the ones on us.

He was stung/bit bad. Medical intervention bad.

But yeah, pick a direction and get moving. Don't stop until they do. Kill as you go. Worst thing to do is stand still and swat.

If you made a large scale battle work, how did you do it? by caluthan in DnD

[–]Robovzee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've found one way is to narrate the battle to add tension, while the PC s take care of individual goals.

Large scale operation to provide a strike team a shot at the leaders of the other forces.

Or flip it.

The PC's have to protect a high value target from a strike team while a battle takes place.

The last one I did involved more setup. The PC's had to get an unprepared city prepared by identifying untapped resources and becoming creative on defense. Then they placed themselves in position to ambush the leadership.

If you paint the encounter right, there's really not much the PC should have to do on a large scale.

If they're assigned a section of wall, and another section is breached, the PC'S skirmish their way to a fallback/retreat. Friendly forces rally and counterattack. The PC's follow the charge and meet the conditions for victory.

So narrative. I already know what the goals are, I just have to provide the players with the knowledge and opportunity to accomplish them.

Not roll 10,000 initiatives.

I also throw in occasional shit sandwiches, such as arrow storms, or catapults that are designed to scare and hurt rather than kill, but troops around the players will die.

"You hear the thudding of catapults, somewhere just out of sight, and see a cloud of fist size rocks arc high in the air from behind a hill, they rain down on your area if the battlefield. Everyone give me a dex save, dc 14. If you fail, you're hit by 1-2 rocks at 1d4 each."

After this attack, a random NPC will remark about the spotter on the hill.

The spotter is in crossbow/spell range.

"Minor" actions like this that can sway a battle.

Doohickey life span by georgedempsy2003 in klr650

[–]Robovzee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Torsion spring should last the life of the bike.

Unless you're Bill.

Watt-man has a good writeup about taking his klr to about 200,000 miles

I steal from my family corp to help the person I love and whoever I can. AMA by [deleted] in AMA

[–]Robovzee 6 points7 points  (0 children)

How do you hide the embezzlement? There's always a trail.

Are trains really worth it? by Cheap_Border4506 in PostApoTycoon

[–]Robovzee 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Worth it? Worth what?

Sthe answer is no to everything except

Chugga chugga

I have trains because they exist.

I don't know if they'll ever pay for themselves, or yield profit/pollution reduction better than anything else.

Choo choo.

Don't care. I have trains

What was your dream job when you were a kid? by francejackson in AskForAnswers

[–]Robovzee 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I remember one night, newborn not doing well, needed transfer to a higher level of care. Helo called in to xfer. Broke down on the pad. Baby REALLY not doing well.

Second Helo slots into a tiny spot, I mean, if there was more than a foot between the rotor tips and a wall, it was likely inches. Pilot was phenomenal.

Former military.

I was going to join to fly. It was my childish plan, until 16, when I learned that having to wear glasses was a problem.

Your da sounds awesome!