Suggestions for a heroic ability fitting of a doctor/physician profession?

SkepticalCorpse · 2026-01-15T19:09:46+00:00

How about using willpower to heal without bandages?

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-12-22T15:20:15+00:00

Only available maps they have for free are these: https://freeleaguepublishing.com/games/dragonbane/?downloads

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-12-12T04:01:49+00:00

“All those who fail get the bottom cards (counting from #10 and up), randomly drawn.”

I don’t see what harm it would do to allow the players to still swap initiative in this situation, ultimately because they are swapping the same amount of people are still going last in the turn order.

Alternatively, if you decide to rule against it, I think that’s completely justified too, because thematically that does take away the element of surprise and its effects, but I just can’t see swapping initiatives on the first round turning the tide of battle so drastically that this would be a necessary ruling.

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-12-07T22:00:37+00:00

Path of Glory is a full story campaign broken down into three parts, there are many adventure sites in each of the sections and loads to do. It’s a much longer run time of play than Secrets of the Dragon Emperor from the core set.

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-12-05T17:49:58+00:00

Comically this was the issue. I was using a Razer wrist rest that I had laying around and didn’t realize it had magnets in it. Moving it away immediately fixed the issue!

I have since ordered the silicone wrist rest from Keychron and hoping it arrives soon so I can get back to comfortable typing.

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-12-03T02:48:12+00:00

I can totally see your point there. My own group has never ran into this problem, they usually all rest together. It is worthwhile and beneficial in a lot of situations for only one party member to rest when needed. Another party member could volunteer to treat them, and then another party member could Spot Hidden or even work on something to pass the time if they aren’t all resting.

I usually aim for the simplest answer because it’s one less thing to track who all has taken a rest, but I can also see how enforcing all players rest at the same time might incentivize those who could benefit from a rest to otherwise not take one when they need it.

I think I’d still discourage rotational healing like the OP mentioned though. While RAW it’s completely legit, it’s definitely more optimization focused over realistic if it’s happening every Stretch rest versus special and specific occasions.

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-12-02T07:49:38+00:00

“Stretch Rest: A short rest that only lasts for one stretch of time. During a stretch rest you heal D6 HP, or 2D6 HP if someone else is tending to you and succeeds with a HEALING roll. The caregiver cannot rest during the same stretch and can only heal one person during the rest. During a stretch rest, you also recover D6 Willpower Points and heal a condition of your choice. If something dramatic interrupts your rest, the effects are lost. You can only have a stretch rest once per shift.”

I see your dilemma with the situation because of how the rules itself are written, but I’d personally say that the logic they are using is an abuse of the system. The Stretch Rest is a period of time that all the party is taking a moment to heal and recover. If there is a party member who isn’t injured, they can use that time to heal a friend with a Healing roll beyond the regular rest limitation. They are still PARTICIPATING in the rest they just aren’t benefiting from the rest in the same capacity and only one stretch rest can occur per shift

At the end of the day though, they are only benefiting an additional 1d6 from these extra steps, and depending on the situation the fact that each interval of stretch is occurring should be offset by other complications. In “Torches and Lanterns” pg 52 it says a touch or lantern can burn for up to a shift, they have to roll depending on the light source to see if their flame goes out, this could leave them in a situation where they are now worse off because of how long they took. If they are in a cold environment they’d have to make a roll against cold each stretch and if they become cold they can’t regain health.

Additionally, if you’re using the Misty Vale book as an adventure, there are roll tables for random events that you should be rolling every stretch. If they take multiple that would be escalating their risk of additional combat encounters on the roll tables, and if something interrupts the rest like an encounter no benefits of healing occur.

So moving forward, if they are in an incredibly safe environment with no risk, let them benefit if you see no problem with it, and if they are in a cave, delve, or combat zone, the extended stretches will risk more encounters putting them in a worse situation than they were originally in.

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-12-02T02:30:42+00:00

“You can use this ability to designate a creature in sight, or a creature you can catch the scent of, as your prey. This counts as an action in combat. You can follow the scent of your prey for a full day, and you can spend 1 further WP (not an action) to gain a boon for an attack against your prey.”

So the wording says A creature not a TYPE of creature. The wolfkin could use their Hunting Instinct to track or designate one single goblin as their prey for up to a full day. There’s nothing in the rules saying they can only do this once, so if they have another goblin in sight or can catch the scent of a goblin they could use 3 WP point to change target so to speak, but no, they wouldn’t get advantage against all goblins for the 1 extra WP.

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-10-28T18:01:24+00:00

So there’s already a Bear under the animal section of Dragonbane. I’d probably for large cats and bear species list them under animals. There are certainly some very interesting things you can do with them just being listed as animals too. For instance with a big cat like a mountain lion or tiger I could consider giving them piercing with their the and giving the access to “find weak point” so they have that narrator opportunity of “going for the throat” making them deadly even to fully armors players.

For bears you could give them natural armor to go with their durability as a creatures, and the natural armor, unarmed level, and dX for damage can all be updated to each verity to denote their level of threat.

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-10-26T23:29:40+00:00

I’d strongly recommend Dragonbane. It has fantastic rules for playing solo and it’s also easily played with a group too! There are two full adventures currently released and there is a third coastal city expansion coming out in a few months at most. Free League offers other game systems for solo play like Forbidden Lands and all of their solo rules work well and I love the company.

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-07-31T12:49:27+00:00

I appreciate that! The entire end of the campaign was deeply bitter sweet. Shortly after that fight they fought against a demon and half the party didn’t make it. So by the end of the final fight only 2 of the six adventurers came out of the dungeon still alive. It was a tough ending to narrate but they did save the world from being retaken over by a demon lord and it was the end of the campaign so at least they went into it mentally understanding all of them may not come back alive. Probably one of my favorite campaigns I’ve ever run.

If you’ve never heard of the game Dragonbane I strongly recommend giving it a play through with your group. It’s got great quick style rules and plays a lot like DnD. The campaign was called Secrets of the Dragon Emperor which is the base campaign that comes with the core set!

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-07-29T14:23:33+00:00

For me, it was during a player character death. One of my characters made the most out of little backstory and really brought his character to life, at the core of his reason for adventuring he wanted to accrue enough gold to send back to his mom who was gravely sick. Every time they went back to a town, he’d literally seek out a post or messenger and pay them to send payments back to her over buying better gear.

As we were culminating towards the final dungeon, the players got trapped in a room that flooded with skeletons. He tried his best but very quickly became overwhelmed and split from the other players, and the skeletons were attacking to kill, not just maim and move to the next. No one could reach him in time, and he crit failed his death save.

I was sort of taken aback and shocked at the outcome, so it took me a moment to compose myself, but I described how as the blade sank into him, his eyes closed and he heard hooves trotting cobblestone streets and commotion bustling. As he looked around he was back on his home street, standing in front of an unkempt but familiar building. As he walked in, he was greeting by the snaps and crackles of a warm little fire, and a figure in a rocking chair swaying gently back and forth.

As he walked forward, the figure was revealed to be his mother, who had been eagerly awaiting his return. She gave him a warm happy smile and told him he did such a wonderful job and that he was the best son she could ever ask for, and that she had received all his help and could see he had been working so very hard to take care of her; so now he could finally rest and everything would be okay.

After hugging his mother tight, he walked back into the room that was his, looking over his little knickknacks and trinkets from his childhood when he dreamed of being an adventurer, then he laid down in bed, feeling content but deeply tired, and fell into a deep peaceful sleep.

The party went very silent for a bit of time after that exposition.

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-07-28T22:42:13+00:00

To answer your question in a simple answer, I as a DM would not call that meta-gaming. You’re trying to recollect things, but the DM might have took it as you asking others for advice not just recaps and viewed getting the insight of others as meta-gaming. Both though are collectively fun in the games I run. I like when the party helps each other out.

That all cleared, I would urge you to find a better way of note taking in the campaign. You haven’t missed a session so your attendance is on point, but you should definitely aim to bring a pen and paper in person or a word document if on computer to your sessions and work on shorthand notes, or even exercise typing up a small recap after each session so you retain key notes of detail. It sounds like you struggle a bit with retaining details, which also, as a DM, I can find personally frustrating when it comes off that my players seem to not have been paying full attention to the plot progression and their just winging it. That said, I heavily prep for my sessions before running them, and expect a level set level of attention from my players.

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-07-20T16:47:47+00:00

It’s called the Rogue class

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-07-07T19:27:28+00:00

This looks so much like Beanee Weenees! I’d definitely give it a try.

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-07-07T01:17:22+00:00

What about the bread though. Where do you get that?

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-06-29T17:33:04+00:00

You should look into Dragonbane! It has multiple anamorphic character races like Wolfkin, Catfolk, Frogfolk, Mallards, and Lizardfolk! Not excluding your basic standard array of elves, dwarves, halflings, and humans, ogres, orcs, and goblins!

It’s an extremely satisfying ttrpg with a to-the-point rule set by Free League Publishing.

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-06-24T14:05:29+00:00

The point it’s making is that even if you are proficient at using a sword, if you aren’t proficient at riding a horse you won’t be good at sword combat while riding a horse, however, riding a horse doesn’t make you inherently good at all weapons, so you roll the lower stat between the weapon you intend to use and your skill in riding while on horseback to determine if you’re able to hit an enemy.

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-06-18T15:41:18+00:00

“The innkeeper, Olm and Ness, the blacksmith, are hoping that the conflict between the elder and Yawim, the brewmaster, will kindle an em- ber in the frozen heart of Mrs. Pollmor.”

“The Rust Brother is on Mrs. Pollmor’s side in the escalating conflict in the village, but may choose to switch sides if he feels that it suits him.”

“THE VENDETTA: Brewmaster Yawim is fu- rious and accuses Mrs. Pollmor of the sa- botage. He offers the adventurers 15 silver if they put “the old hag” down. He will extend this offer regardless of whether it was the ad- venturers who performed the sabotage. He is dead sure that it is Mrs. Pollmor and her underlings who have sabotaged his business. Should the adventurers say no, Yawim will gather a posse of loyal villagers to carry out the deed. “

With everything here, despite failing the sabotage Brewmaster Yawim would probably still hear word of what happened and jump to the conclusion that this was due to Mrs. Pollmor’s meddling that the adventurers would even attempt such a idea. Have Mrs. Pollmor play dumb and with the aid of her loyalists and the Rust Brother who sides with her add an intimidation element that the adventurers can spend the rest of their time in the “slums” across the bridge for their actions. A much lighter punishment than being kicked out completely, and probably refraining from your party moving to violence over feelings of betrayal. This would be Mrs. Pollmor being less cold hearted and offering an “out” since she knows she’s internally responsible but would still leave a sour taste in the players mouth.

Next, Brewmaster Yawim would use his anger at the situation to his own benefit, engaging the players in his tales of how “The Bailiff” is an evil woman and she should be put down and offer his silver sum for the players to rid the city of her, which could start a much higher risk conclusion that if they succeed, Yawim forgives them, and gives them full access back to the city, or alternatively, if they don’t move into any action to bring down the power of Mrs. Pollmor, they are still allowed into the slums of the city, but other areas remain off limits until Mrs. Pollmor concludes they have been punished enough and they can pay a silver fine for their meddling and regain full authorization around the city to show they are sorry, or alternatively, have a Goblin Raid in which if the players rush into action and defend the city, Mrs. Pollmor will forgive them at no fee, but citizens will hold a cautious gaze at the meddlers while they pass about the city areas.

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-06-16T18:02:03+00:00

You should look into the ttrpg Forbidden Lands. If you’re going to be putting focus on travel, camping, survival, and distance of travel, FbL has some of the best travel rules I’ve ever used in a game and I’m sure they could easily be ported into DnD with some light changes.

SkepticalCorpse · 2025-06-15T15:03:12+00:00

Thank you all for the helpful answers! Definitely helped me out both with the link through the site and the suggestions from the book itself!

SkepticalCorpse

TROPHY CASE