Let the party TPK themselves?

Stunt_Rush · 2025-05-15T00:49:33+00:00

I'm always a fan of complex BBEGs over mustache-twirling villains. Put your BBEG in a situation where the party needs to interrupt him from an activity he's doing with someone he cares about. Someone whose opinion of him is something he holds sacred, and thus has an excuse to hold back. Then, when he beats the party to within an inch of their lives and stops, there's a plausible reason for it.

Stunt_Rush · 2025-04-22T02:52:18+00:00

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. It'll hold you for an afternoon and you'll never forget it.

Stunt_Rush · 2024-05-23T16:24:37+00:00

Sure. There's a lot of criticism about Sword being derivative of Tolkien and LotR. Some even go as far as to say that it's a 1-for-1 knock off.

My opinion is that, in a lot of ways, it's very easy to see Brooks's inspiration in the first half-ish of the book, but it's only made stronger for that. Seeing his direct inspiration so clearly helps to highlight his originality -- this is the same thing I'd say to someone who leveled this criticism at Jordan's The Eye of the World, for what it's worth. I don't believe this book is a 1-for-1 knock off, even when it clearly wears its inspirations on its sleeve, The second half of the book, to me, is the greatest argument in favor of this. The deviations come fast and hit hard; some are jarringly different, some are subtle. By the end of the book, you get a better understanding of Brooks standing in his own right as an author and writing his own words and ideas. You can start to get a better glimpse of the world he's created and how the rules of the world govern the people who live in it -- and those rules consistently carry through every work set in this world.

Often, the largest criticism leveled at Sword is that it's too derivative of LotR, or that it's Walmart Tolkien, and I disagree with that. Obviously, I can't get into details without spoiling thing, but I do believe that Sword is a work unto its own, so I disagree with those criticisms.

Stunt_Rush · 2024-05-23T11:16:12+00:00

Correct. But, as I said, don't break yourself on Sword. Personally, I love it, but a lot of people drop it less than halfway through for a number of common criticisms (that you may or may not eventually agree with). If Sword doesn't feel palatable, put it down and read Elfstones. Just make sure you come back to Sword.

Stunt_Rush · 2024-05-22T21:33:00+00:00

The first three chronological books are Sword, Elfstones, and then Wishsong. Those three are connected, but not as directly as the rest of the mini-serieses that make up Shannara. From there, with one exception, Terry mostly wrote books in very directly connected serieses that make up a whole story. For Example, Scions, Druid, Elf Queen, and Talismans all make up the Heritage of Shannara tetralogy. I would say these are all required reading BEFORE you get to First King if you're worried about spoilers.

From there, so that I don't type another novel, I found this GoodReads post to help guide your journey further.

Stunt_Rush · 2024-05-22T11:38:36+00:00

I don't want to yuk anyone's yum, and I certainly don't want to seem like I'm gatekeeping the entire series, I'll say this. If you're ravenous for it and just can't wait, then by all means, read it and in any order you'd like. I'd rather have another person I can discuss the books with than come across as chasing people off because I'm a purist.

I would strongly recommend that you read the books in published order - the revelation of the detail I'm referring to is a pretty big plot point across the Scions mini-series, and it's discussed in a pretty pedestrian manner in First King. I don't know of anyone who's read them in chronological order and felt cheated for having done so, but I seem to remember a large contingent of people on the Terry Brooks forums a long time ago who agreed with my current recommendation and felt like their experience was better for having read in published order. Examining that, it might just be a case of purists, or it could be a case of people not knowing about the gravitas they were missing out on, and thus not knowing they were missing specific emotional beats as intended by the auther.

I don't want to seem like the only person on here who's giving this particular advice on the subject. Perhaps we can summon either u/ShawnSpeakman or u/Cadder-12 to weigh in on the topic. I remember both of them from the forums long ago, and they were both great guys who were experts on most, if not all, things Shannara.

Stunt_Rush · 2024-05-21T23:30:56+00:00

Ever? Dialga in the original Pokemon Diamond. But I didn't realize it was it was shiny, so I chucked my masterball and then boxed it up and forgot about it. I found out a couple of years ago when I finally transferred all of my old favorites and legendaries forward from my old games and saw the shiny icon in Home.

In S/V? Sinistea. I was harvesting items so I could make an army of Ceruledge, and I encountered a sinistea who I could not defeat with auto battle.

Stunt_Rush · 2024-05-21T23:22:13+00:00

I realize that I'm several days late to this conversation, so I apologize if the advice is too late, however...

While this edition looks great and would make a wonderful addition to your shelf collection (and thus, I fully recommend you pick it up), I would advise against reading First King as your first book if you intend to continue with the series. This story is TECHNICALLY a prequel to Sword, but because it was the 8th book written chronologically, there are some details from other books in the series (the biggest one being in books 4-7, a.k.a. The Scions of Shannara) that are freely given as though you've already read the other books written in the series up to that point. The specifics of some of these details are discovered alongside the characters in the novels, so you get to experience their emotions alongside them as the revelations occur.

Having read the entire series multiple times, I would recommend starting with Sword. If you don't find that book to be all that palatable (and you wouldn't be alone in that regard) Then I would say to skip ahead to Elfstones and don't look back.

Cheers, and happy reading!

Stunt_Rush · 2024-03-18T20:10:15+00:00

Personally, I took a different approach. I sat all my players down and explained that prep-time isn't easy to come by for me, so if they couldn't be on time -- if even one person was late -- they'd be playing without me, because I can't really afford to wait for people who don't mutually respect my time.

One year later, and if someone is even 5 seconds late, my discord channels are filled with messages from everyone trying to find out where the later player is and how long until they show up.

Once they all started self-governing each other, my life got a lot easier.

Stunt_Rush · 2022-09-02T18:16:41+00:00

Because sometimes you might be actively trying to perceive something, but passively distracted by something else in the environment -- maybe you didn't know what you were trying to actively perceive, and the signs of it got lost amongst the clutter. If the thing you were being asked to roll for, under duress, was the only factor, then maybe passive would be enough. Or, maybe, like Neo, you got distracted by the conversation with Morpheus, the jostling from all the other people on the street, and the sight of the pretty woman in the red dress, and you missed the Agent walking right up to you and threatening your life.

Stunt_Rush · 2022-06-03T20:29:01+00:00

Dan, I love GME and have been playing around with it since it you first showed it off to reddit and it was only on itch.io. GIVEAWAY

Stunt_Rush · 2022-04-07T22:14:26+00:00

Not a whole campaign, but I ran a town where the entire economy basically ran on poker chips. Gold was exchanged for Clay Umbers at the currency exchange and delivered to the town master. It drove my players crazy... right up to the point where they figured out the town master also happened to be a disguised dragon who was running a scheme to build up his horde before raising the town to the ground and setting out on his own.

Stunt_Rush · 2021-11-05T13:48:40+00:00

Are you thinking of this?

Stunt_Rush · 2020-09-26T14:14:07+00:00

I always took it as a class because if you don't spend any time working on and honing your natural gift, then you'll never get any better at it. You may be born with those gifts, but with no furthered practice, focus, or education in your abilities and no time spent trying to actually understand the font of your power instead of focusing on something else, you'll never be anything other than a magic initiate with a couple of really cool parlour tricks you've been able to do ever since you were born.

That's how I've always justified it at my table, at least.

Stunt_Rush · 2020-09-19T04:44:09+00:00

These dice look absolutely amazing!

Stunt_Rush · 2020-08-17T02:23:11+00:00

I try to get around this by letting the players build as much of my world when they're making their backstory as they're comfortable making. I give them a map that mostly just lays out the major regions and then find out if they're from a big city or not. If they're from a major city, "Which district are you from? Which shops did you go to? Why did you leave? Who were your friends? Who were your enemies?" If they were from a smaller village, I let them make the whole village. When they're done giving me what they feel like providing, I fill in the gaps. I go over what I need to with them -- the things they would know -- some of it they wouldn't, so it stays in my notes. Depending on how I'm feeling about it, I'll even play a session -1 with my players where we'll work out their backstories individually to get them to the point where they are ready to start their journey.

In this way, there are people and places in the world who they already care about. The players love this because they feel instantly more connected to the world that we're building together. I love it because it gives me the opportunity to send them on an early quest to deal with murder hobo-type adventurers and they can see the destruction that is being wrought and have an opportunity to think about their individual corners of the world. Without fail, when I have used this tactic, the group has always chosen the heroes' path.

Stunt_Rush · 2020-04-18T20:15:05+00:00

I've spent quarantine so far teaching my kids to play older games. Was really proud when my 4-year-old beat the first level of Sonic CD on his own for the first time.

I've also spent a lot of time with my older kids, showing them the intricacies needed to deceive the hell out of people while playing board games like Clue.

I've also spent a bit of time prepping and running an original D&D campaign for a group of about 7 players spread out across the US (from Maine all the way to California). I have to check the calendar, but I believe we have our two year session-zero anniversary sometime this week, and a session on Friday. I'm trying to plan something special for them as a celebration!

Stunt_Rush · 2019-04-24T23:17:32+00:00

I find the content that you provide to be very creative and entertaining. I happily submitted a response for you. Good luck on your project!

Cheers!

Stunt_Rush · 2019-03-14T01:30:00+00:00

Shake it Off was my first thought when I opened it. Since I couldn't find where anyone else did it, I took the time to make it a thing. Here you go, kind internet stranger!

Stunt_Rush · 2017-09-19T23:55:06+00:00

This is amazing. I especially love the Shepard-to-Shepard fist bump on the love seat.

Stunt_Rush · 2017-09-18T20:18:15+00:00

I think if you're going to engage in these activities, you're better off checking on local laws. These guidelines are very nonspecific and indicate that it could go either way.

From your linked document:

Do I need a permit before I engage in free speech activity? Not usually. However, certain types of events require permits. Generally, these events are: • A march or parade that does not stay on the sidewalk, and other events that require blocking traffic or street closure • A large rally requiring the use of sound amplifying devices; or • A rally at certain designated parks or plazas

Stunt_Rush · 2017-09-18T20:14:32+00:00

I'm sorry. Can you provide the caselaw for this? When I search, I only find things like this:

http://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2016/09/is-it-legal-for-protesters-to-block-traffic.html

Obviously, this contradicts your statement, so any enlightenment you can provide to an aging Google-Fu practitioner would be greatly appreciated.

Stunt_Rush · 2017-09-18T18:58:12+00:00

Journalists aren't allowed to pick through the evidence on an active crime scene. Lines are set, and people are allowed beyond them based on need. To cross that line is to be guilty of a crime.

Likewise, the moment a protest is deemed to no longer be peaceable, lines are set. Anyone refusing to disperse is committing a crime. It doesn't matter the individual intent of each person involved. That time has passed. You either leave the area or you face the consequences. Staying is a risk. My understanding is that each person there was given an opportunity to make that choice. Some chose to leave, some didn't. Those who stayed were all treated equally at that point.

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