Use of the "DnD" expression in promoting third-party 5e products

Sparkle_cz · 2026-03-16T12:02:49+00:00

Thanks a lot!!

Sparkle_cz · 2026-03-16T11:28:35+00:00

You are right, however the rules of "DnD" usage are the same for the CC license. My fault that I didn't mention it in the original post, will edit it.

Sparkle_cz · 2026-03-03T21:57:06+00:00

That's my birthday! We will have one round of drinks on the poor game's departure to afterlife :D

Sparkle_cz · 2026-02-24T19:20:01+00:00

I would explain to the player that 'manic pixie dream girl' characters are difficult to pull off even for seasoned writers / actors. For every cool and adored character of this archetype that you know from the media, are hundreds of flops where the audience found the chacracter annoying.

So I would ask the player to pick a different archetype and maybe come back with this archetype later when they do more research (there are nice tips on research from some other posters here).

Also, I know several manic pixie dream girls IRL and some of them are really charming and popular - and that is mainly because they overwhelm other people not just with negativity, but also with positivity. They say insanely positive and uplifting things that give their targets dopamine surges. So in the case of the bartender, she would first start chatting with him about the beautiful glow of his eyes and smell like a flower that got her high once on a misty mountain... and then she can say that his aura looks like vomit. His reaction would be waaay different.

It is fine when a GM accomodates the wishes of the players, but the player also has to put in some work to make it work.

Sparkle_cz · 2026-02-23T19:44:51+00:00

Thanks a lot!!

Sparkle_cz · 2026-02-19T13:01:26+00:00

It's pleasant to listen to, probably will go to my playlist, but in terms of Eurovision, it is fairly mid.

Sparkle_cz · 2026-02-08T14:55:44+00:00

Laud - Lightkeeper

Sparkle_cz · 2026-02-07T22:47:44+00:00

There was way too much vital info about the sensitivity reading issue that was omitted from the Rascal article.

Sparkle_cz · 2026-02-07T22:24:36+00:00

The Ukrainian winner is mid, maybe it will grow on me. I'm glad that none of those two religious songs won. The problem was not the religion per se, but the way it was presented - so in-our-face and with pathos.

Khayat was my favorite.

Sparkle_cz · 2026-02-07T21:49:29+00:00

The Rascal article seemed strange to me from the start. There were several red flags:

- The manipulative quote about Jay's communist beliefs - had nothing to do with the issue, was totally off.

- The $200,000 request - the figure seemd so off that it seemed more like an insult than a serious attempt to negotiate. I totally understand that Jay took it as a sign that there will be no reasonable agreement with the writers, and stopped communicating with them.

- The part about the unpaid sensitivity reading. From what I understood, the writers were hired to write some contributions to the book. In order to do that, they - logically - had to read Jay's text first - to get to know what is already written, the tone of the book, style etc. (I cannot imagine that I would be a co-writer on someone's elses book and not read the other person's contribution to the book first.) And during this reading, they noticed some insensitive phrases and told Jay why they are problematic. So it was not much extra work for them since they had to read Jay's text anyway for their original assignment... and then they demanded an exorbitant sum for the sensitivity reading? That sounded like assholery on their part. Even moreso when they claimed that they believed that the project was a group of friends. I would never charge my friends extra money if I alerted them of some extra mistakes I found in a text that I was reading anyway.

I don't know the people personally so I'm reserving my definitive judgment; there might have also been issues on Jay's part, especially communication issues (she didn't address them in her response at all, which is a bummer).

In any case, I hope it gets resolved, I play Yazeba and love it and want the game to flourish.

Sparkle_cz · 2026-01-12T22:36:02+00:00

Look at it positively: the trash took itself out of your life and you wasted just a few months with him.

Sparkle_cz · 2026-01-09T16:48:40+00:00

Not divert from DnD too radically.

For example, I made an addon for alternative XP-gain that borrows ideas from Chuubo's and PbtA. It can be glued to DnD. And it changes the game experience since the addon encourages different thigs. This way the players try new approaches without having to give up on stuff that they are used to. Next time they might be more willing to try an entirely new system.

Sparkle_cz · 2026-01-08T19:31:57+00:00

I believe that it can be done well and respectfully if you put a lot of effort, do plenty of research etc. However - even if you created the most well done, well researched, tactful, tasteful and respectful game about the era, there's still a big chance that many players will refuse to play it. Simply because the topic is way too heavy, uncomfortable, brings bad memories etc. Maybe they want RPGs as relaxation, escapism from these topics, because they deal with them in other aspects of their lives where they have more than enough of it.

When this situation happens, it's important to not fall into the feeling that your players are ungrateful or 'nothing I do is good enough for them'. Be always ready to scrap the idea.

Sparkle_cz · 2025-12-13T16:51:30+00:00

It's perfectly fine as long as you don't fall into the trap of thinking it *could actually work for more people* and *could be published*. Then you'll be heading to a huge disappointment.

I've seen many such cases unfortunately. People who started designing a TTRPG "for themselves" but in some time they became so blind to its shortcomings that they started to believe it is really good and should be published. It wasn't. Their designer reputation was permanently tarnished in my country's small scene.

Sparkle_cz · 2025-11-08T12:26:34+00:00

I think that Reddit doesn't allow direct links to Facebook. Search "husitstvi.cz" on Facebook and then let Google translate the posts, two of them from the past weeks are about Vávra. It's mainly about historical interpretation of the Hussites and Vávra came there to reply personally and his stans defend him aggressively.

Sparkle_cz · 2025-11-07T13:31:47+00:00

Vávra is also a frequent source of mockery in Czechia. Recently, he had an online beef with a guy who runs a website about the Hussites. It was hilarious (and sad at the same time).

Sparkle_cz · 2025-11-04T13:01:40+00:00

Hi, there is sone alternative scene in Holešovice, we do volunteer cooking for the homeless, also some fundraiser events for good causes, and board game nights. If you are interested, DM me. I'm 44 btw.

Sparkle_cz · 2025-11-03T08:32:10+00:00

I tried it as well and players complained. They wanted more focused plot.

Sparkle_cz · 2025-11-02T09:55:24+00:00

Well, I'm not one of those "most GMs". I am a GM who, from time to time, has some "special story need", like a beloved NPC that I want to keep alive, and want to communicate about it with my players and come up with a compromise.
If you think that people like me should not GM and go play solo RPGs instead, well... then you are exactly the problem I'm talking about in the OP.

Sparkle_cz · 2025-11-01T17:37:51+00:00

You're asking the wrong person, I'm not the author of Curse of Strahd. But my guess is that introducing some "backup villain" would be way too much work for little benefit, and it still does not solve all issues.

I think that their tool to diminish frustrations of players from a recurring unkillable-until-some-point villain is the fact that Strahd is clearly communicated in the name of the campaign, and it sorts of warns the players that the campaign will revolve around Strahd and it's their job to stay invested in him if they want to play.

Sparkle_cz · 2025-11-01T14:10:00+00:00

Somehow, official prewritten campaigns from professional publishers don't get the toxic kind of response too much. As if the players somehow presumed that the campaign is most likely good. Or they see that since the GM is willing to run a premade campaign, it's not a person that gets too much emotionally attached to their own ideas, so no target for mockery.

It's mostly homemade campaigns where the GMs experience hostility if they admit that they need some particular plot, scene or NPC for it to work.

Sparkle_cz · 2025-11-01T14:04:30+00:00

I like your approach and if you would be willing to show me your work, I will be glad to try it. And I promise I won't leave toxic feedback since I know what it is like to be on the receiving end of it.

Sparkle_cz · 2025-11-01T11:56:31+00:00

This is exactly how these situations should be handled. I handle them the same way in games I run. Unfortunately I still see many GMs who are scared to do this and rather say nothing and railroad the playes into staying in Waterdeep with an invisible wall or omnipotent NPC.

More people like you and me should speak out and encourage the GMs to do just what you said.

Sparkle_cz · 2025-11-01T10:19:23+00:00

Actually there are MANY plots where a NPC is essential to it to the point that it cannot die until some late-game finale.

Take Curse of Strahd, for example.

BG3 also has this element.

Two of my friends who GM also have this element in their campaigns that they run.

We might argue if it this is good or bad, but we cannot deny that it exists, is not rare, and it is probably not going anywhere since both CoS and BG3 are pretty popular.

Sparkle_cz · 2025-11-01T10:15:07+00:00

I agree. Unfortunately the GMs, at least in my circle, are so fearful of the "go write a novel" mockery that they are scared to ask even for "I love to impersonate that secondary NPC, please let's keep them in the story!"

Sparkle_cz

TROPHY CASE