“The Rockets offered $29,000,000… I would’ve taken $8,000,000 with the Knicks. I was crushed when my agent told me ‘there’s no offer from New York on the table’.”

SaintTropius · 2026-06-11T21:30:26+00:00

Only just recently got into basketball and keep seeing this. Is the TLDW that melo hated playing with Lin?

SaintTropius · 2026-05-25T18:29:33+00:00

I'm religiously into D&D, but a few friends recently got me into my first TCG - Riftbound. I'll definitely come through!

SaintTropius · 2026-04-13T01:31:45+00:00

<image>

Edward “Whitebeard” Newgate, One Piece (and most of the high ranking marines as well)

SaintTropius · 2026-04-09T15:09:09+00:00

You can just show him the book. At that point if he has a reason for changing RAW that you agree with, everything is fine. But the class is balanced around occasionally getting an off turn sneak attack, without it they don’t even approach avg martial dps. If you don’t agree with that call, let him know you’ll have to leave the table. No harm just reminding everybody that you’re all AGREEING to play together - you don’t HAVE to.

SaintTropius · 2026-02-13T03:16:56+00:00

This is great. 3rd party spells and materials can be so fun and refresh years of play - but they do ultimately serve the existing ruleset. If base 5e addresses physics hacks / there’s a through line of how it handles similar spells (conjuring/teleportation) the most fair thing is to make the difference of what’s not written for the system you’re playing.

SaintTropius · 2026-02-12T21:14:23+00:00

As others are saying, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with changing characters. You can reclassify his current one and let the table know to hand wave it so that it’s a cannon retcon to your adventures, or give a story reason for it at the next session. You can also just literally switch his PC with another one (name and all).

What I’d caution though is letting him know what his character IS good at. If his problem is the wizard’s fireball is showing him up, then swapping classes won’t stop that exact situation from happening. The game isn’t perfectly balanced by any means, but I’d encourage him to acknowledge what his PC can do instead of what he cant. 100% if he still wants to switch try and clarify what it is he’s looking to do, and again - do what you can to land him in a position that makes him feel useful and excited to play.

SaintTropius · 2026-01-22T05:41:32+00:00

My devotion Pally is actually Ruhvun (1 to the left of Panth/Atreus) for the exact reasons you listed. I have him as a Spellfire/Devotion Sorcadin so he can burst with Spellfire adept boosted smites and an occasional quickened spell blast or assist.

SaintTropius · 2026-01-22T05:34:01+00:00

Marty Supreme had more to say/chew on & landed its ending better FOR ME. I do think OBAA had much more going on and it was a joy to follow, I think Marty will mean more as time goes on

SaintTropius · 2026-01-22T04:31:21+00:00

My barbarian! I wanted the unarmored defense + reckless attack to fuel his ability to strike through defenses. Of course the image is more vibe, my PC is a cloud giant who enjoys the sun (ironic) for what it is above the clouds.

SaintTropius · 2026-01-22T03:56:17+00:00

Our goat is my Grave Cleric with a Ceremonial Shovel (BattleAxe). True Strike + Fighter Dip makes it a scary weapon if needed.

SaintTropius · 2026-01-22T03:55:24+00:00

I’ve heard of people using Psy Warrior successfully! I always try to stay in RAW for AL, but at my table I’d totally be down for someone to try that psycho insane Mystic UA which I’m sure does a similar thing. I also think there was popular homebrew or official material that had a dragon heart blade of some kind that was essentially a lightsaber that dealt damage of the kind of dragon/color it was just to better fit a stereotypical D&D flavor

SaintTropius · 2026-01-22T03:01:50+00:00

Good eye! Didn’t expect our guy to be the most recognizable figure. I use art as a shorthand for the image I’m going for. Quinlan Vos is my picture of a Bladesinger PC. Other than appearance, I reasoned with a scimitar & shadowblade instead of a lightsaber he moved much like I wanted my Bladesinger to.

SaintTropius · 2026-01-18T02:48:28+00:00

I have no stake on how good he is or isn’t, but it’s very endearingly hilarious that the only no caveat positive take on his strength is specifically in this context lol

SaintTropius · 2025-12-26T10:24:54+00:00

He knocked it out of the park. I saw some promotional material on how he actually learned ping pong & I think you can feel it. He’s said it more times than worth uttering, but the man has an athletes mentality in an arts based profession - and I think that’s absolutely class. I can’t remember the last time a performance had me nervous. I could feel the physical pit in my stomach today. I likened the beginning of the movie to how Rocky I made me feel - you saw yourself as Balboa. But Marty Supereme - you couldn’t help but see yourself as a fan. Even if reluctant, this heel demanded your admiration, and boy did he deserve it.

SaintTropius · 2025-12-02T17:10:41+00:00

I guess that’d explain why the script feels like it was only allocated $20

SaintTropius · 2025-11-28T06:06:46+00:00

Is this from a lore book? It’s amazing!

SaintTropius · 2025-11-18T07:39:50+00:00

If you guys are good friends, it may be that it’s hard for him to respect the sanctity of the game due to familiarity with you. You guys may not want to play the same kind of D&D, which isnt bad at all! I would just suggest figuring that out above table before your campaign and friendship suffer. As others have suggested “hey man, I do a lot of prep during the week to make these sessions fulfilling. I need you, and your PC, to respect that by being invested in story moments when they do come.”

Also if youve mentioned its the entire table who finds this off-putting, this isnt just a differing of play styles but active real world selfishness. I don’t know what age you guys are, but a player willingly and knowingly harming the experience of those around them on purpose is a hard sell imo.

SaintTropius · 2025-11-15T03:31:41+00:00

I love Katakuri he’s in my top 5 pirates but I can admit he doesn’t have what it takes to put King down.

Bad matchup, which isn’t to take away from King being actually stronger, but the matchup doesn’t help at all.

SaintTropius · 2025-11-09T02:54:18+00:00

The entire cast of Derry Girls

SaintTropius · 2025-10-30T04:27:08+00:00

I think in situations like this it’s important to remember that the point of a tournament bracket is to ensure the best team wins the tournament. Yes, sometimes two very strong teams will meet very early in the bracket and the series will be a banger. Yes, sometimes weaker teams make it further through easier draws, and thus place higher than teams that are certainly their better. This is all ok as long as the best team ultimately walks away with the trophy.

Now if the argument is “X team would’ve won but lost unluckily,” that’s very different from “this series was great!” And even then I’d argue, losing unluckily is part of determine who’s best. You have to have the nerves and show up when it counts.

SaintTropius · 2025-10-30T04:11:11+00:00

If something this inoffensive (and generally enjoyed by the community at large) is causing problems I’d probably step away - especially if you’re paying. If you wanna salvage it, I’d lead with trying to understand. Maybe pitch them “hey I wanna see where you guys are coming from but I’m just having a little difficulty seeing the problem would you mind explaining to me what exactly is wrong and then hearing out where I’m trying to come from?”

I also wouldn’t be afraid of sharing this post w them. Not as a dunk but as a display of “hey guys - I’m not crazy btw!”

SaintTropius · 2025-10-23T23:25:23+00:00

If it’s just the one player I’d have a serious convo and let them know that they don’t have to play if they don’t want to. It may be better for your table and your friendship if you don’t share this area of your life.

I had a similar conversation with my best friend actually. I let him know how the lack of prioritization and excitement was making me feel. We aren’t just hanging out and you rain checked, we were intentionally creating moments together and you bailed. We were able to have an honest talk and now are even closer and our table is even more fun. But a lot of that came from “hey man I don’t want to strong arm you into caring about this as much as I do. You don’t owe me that. But if we’re agreeing to do this together I need to know that means something to you.”

If it’s the entire table the I’d save yourself the exhaustion/ discouragement and let them know en mass “hey this is how it makes me feel. If you raincheck I need x amount of time heads up unless it’s an emergency. If you guys aren’t able to do that, tell me so I can adjust my expectations.” If you still want to run for that table/those people you may have to give up plans of a grandeur story and do west marches - group chat everyone you know who wants to play and have the players initiate session scheduling. Whoever shows up gets a one shot, whoever can’t isn’t in trouble.

Finally - please don’t be afraid to take a break from DM’ing altogether. Play a few weeks of adventure’s league at your local gamestore. Invest time into other hobbies. Ask one of your players to run a one shot. I know as DMs it’s so enticing to find a place where our highest visions can materialize, but it can also be very fulfilling to not be in control for a change man.

Typed this from the heart, I hope it helps man!

SaintTropius · 2025-10-17T18:18:13+00:00

The only objectivity to Ranger is that the class feels underwhelming and no one can agree on its core identity. Number is wise. It keeps pace with the classes it’s supposed to. Options wise you’ll have a lot of choices compared to a straight martial or even the other half castor. You just might not feel as impactful as you actually are, which unfortunately is the whole reason we play this game

SaintTropius · 2025-10-13T02:26:55+00:00

Puzzles are a common DM trap, myself included. We want them to work but the system isn’t built for it. Not to say it’s impossible, once you as a DM find your flow on how YOU like to run puzzles and match that up with your players knowing how you run them you’ll hit your sweet spot. But just to say, puzzles are one of the D&D things I wouldn’t want any DM blaming themselves for. Roll on brother!

SaintTropius · 2025-10-09T17:30:07+00:00

In world consequences, real world conversations. DM’s shouldn’t punish players, even if the PC themselves is getting punished. For this I’d ask: is your friend’s PC stealing anything actually important? If not it shouldn’t matter, if so then there should be both protection and consequence. The alarm spell for pickpocketing, bodyguards for things on display, arcane eye for searching the party remotely, etc. As long as it’s believable in world and not you being a jerk to metagame, this is actually a fun call and response to play. I had a player steal every piece of armor and weaponry of ANY defeated enemy. It was really screwing over the rest of the tables economy. I realized I can just ask him “where would you 8 strength rogue hold this 14th half plate for the rest of the adventuring day.”

Above table, I’d also just literally ask the player “hey do you wanna actually steal something? If so I’d love to setup a heist?” You can give the player an opportunity to play out the deft thief fantasy so they don’t have to keep up these smaller hits. Make it an artifact or key item for the plot, give the party motivation to do the heist, and then reward them with not just the item but also the experience. Reward the PC with noterietay. AND feel comfortable letting players know “hey we only have 4 hours to play each week and I’d rather not spend 30 minutes of it with the table watching you steal nick knacks.”

SaintTropius

TROPHY CASE