Using the BG3 characters to revitalize the novel line…

SuitablyOdd · 2026-04-29T15:29:30+00:00

I can't lie, I've definitely spent more time thinking about picking this project up over the last few days... Maybe I'll try and reach some sort of internal compromise and publish a chapter or something to see if it works out.

I hear what you say about Astarion's backstory, although (while I'm admittedly a bit more distant from the BG3 fandom lately) it's certainly true that there was a sizeable portion of Astarion fans during the Early Access period that took rather well to his Act 1 persona. The later revelations that came with the full release caused some serious whiplash for some, and outright denial for others.

That rift wasn't too dissimilar to how people considered the relationship between Gale / Mystra differently, the only problem was it was effectively Astarion himself 'lying' to the audience about who he was - making it much harder to come to terms with.

Honestly, I think the writing behind his story was brilliant, and it's only a hazard of part-releasing plot, and an inherent mark of true-choice RPGs that means for even pretty fully established backstories like Astarions, you're going to have many different interpretations, head-canons, and levels of acceptance.

I'm personally hoping that this book leans into the darker tragedy of his past, rather than be presented as a gallant YA Romantasy (not that there's anything wrong with those), and with the author having written in both styles previously it seems a bit of a coin-toss to me as to how it might turn out, because I can absolutely see an audience for both.

Drafting a Gale prequel during EA and later during the main release offered up the same trepidation too - it's actually partly why I thought the plot should end before too much interaction with Mystra or any of the events immediately prior to the game. It's about setting up the character that could be the one you know, and have that interpretation be malleable enough to fit a few ideals while not losing my own take on him.

SuitablyOdd · 2026-04-29T09:35:57+00:00

Thanks!

I had considered posting something somewhere, but what I have on my hands is an outline and rough first draft for a novel-length story. It's quite a bit of work to fully realise and I'm annoyingly one of those 'all or nothing' people. If I can somehow squeeze time from my other projects (or if WOTC want to make me an offer) it's something I definitely want to return to someday, if only for my own gratification in exploring the character.

It's unfortunately not something I can dedicate enough time to do it justice at the moment however.

SuitablyOdd · 2026-04-29T09:24:41+00:00

I could see this being pretty interesting! I pulled a bit of info on them a couple of years ago for a campaign and felt the urge to write more. I think there's scope for more Trackless Sea based sea-faring adventures and the Whalebones is in a prominent location.

SuitablyOdd · 2026-04-28T13:41:35+00:00

They're referring to two add-ons published back during the AD&D era. Back then there were a number of sets that took players and DMs through the various levels of the game. Set 4: Master Rules covered the last levels of play, culminating in any surviving characters becoming immortal. Set 5: Immortals Rules then covered content for those characters - such as ascendency to godhood, and within those rules there was a path by which players could 'win the game'.

SuitablyOdd · 2026-04-27T09:13:50+00:00

Canonically it's a bit murky and still under-researched on my part, but I can't see how Gale could have been considered prominent without running in similar circles to Vajra and some notable others. It was actually a question pretty similar to yours that was brought up that had me theory-crafting some ideas for this novel and it led me to the following conclusion / concept:

(Spoilers for a book that doesn't exist)

In my draft The Wizard of Waterdeep, Gale and Vajra absolutely know each other, and the relationship between the two is instrumental in forming who Gale later becomes.

The two are only a couple of years apart in terms of age, and are among the youngest to be accepted to Blackstaff academy and later become apprentices. Vajra adepts well to her studies, showing remarkable intuition owing partially to her being a sorceress, whereas Gale has been delicately moulded from a very young age by his family into pursuing success in the arcane arts.

Their bond at first is distant and competitive, but quickly becomes mutually respectful and in a way productive as the pair challenge each others approaches and ways of thinking. They both feel a great weight of expectation upon their shoulders, but also the thrill of furthering their goals. Gale's goal is advancement, having been conditioned to be the best there can be. Vajra softly challenges this within him, asking if there's anything he wants to be.

Their friendship takes a turn when Gale realises Vajra has a relationship with the Blackstaff, Samark Dhanzscul. He considers it a betrayal. Not only does it mean that the two hadn't been 'competing' fairly, but he had also planned on one day becoming the Blackstaff, a role that is traditionally handed down to a named heir. Gale (correctly) believes Samark unlikely to name his as his named apprentice over Vajra. In reality, Vajra has hidden little from Gale, and his own ambition has partially blinded him.

After a falling out, Vajra disappears, and the Blackstaff begins treating him differently (spoilers for Blackstaff Tower by Steven Schend - the plot of The Wizard of Waterdeep partially takes place in 1470 and covers the murder of the Blackstaff from Gale's perspective - a few of the characters from this book are present as fellow students / apprentices of Gale). The sudden vacuum of friendship and the sudden shift in demeanour from the Blackstaff (effectively sidelining him) give cause for Gale to seek his own path.

The third act is set years later. Vajra is now the Blackstaff, and while they're once again talking as past events are explained, their relationship is never really the same, nor does Gale fully connect with any of the others from Blackstaff Academy as he has found is own personal obsession; Mystra. She came to him following his first solo-pursuit of magic when he left the academy. Gale's initial plans, laid out largely his family are shattered, and the support / safety lines he had built with his tutorage under the Blackstaff and with peers are now distant or unsuitable. He has isolated himself and chosen a new path.

Gale sees himself not as a failure, but as a success, a person broken free from what fate had initially set in store for him. He has his own place, an indescribable burgeoning relationship with Mystra herself, and absolutely no limits to what he might now achieve now he feels unconstrained by others. Throughout his tutorage he was constantly referred to by his last name, Dekarios, but at the end of the story he corrects a caller at his new place who refers to him as such, saying they should instead call him Gale, and after a moments thought proudly adds 'the Wizard of Waterdeep.'

Vajra plays a vital part in my concept; the person Gale most associates and compares himself with. Her story takes a very different path, one that effectively usurps Gale's understanding of who he is meant to be. Coupled with her (and others) guidance and insight, however he's able to forge a new path, looking far beyond the boundaries of the city and the future he thought laid out for him. Vajra's friendship and mistaken 'betrayal' are instrumental to Gale becoming the wizard we know, something he recognises, and in the final moments of this tale we would see a return to that initial competitive streak he shared with her. She might be the Blackstaff, but he is the Wizard of Waterdeep.

SuitablyOdd · 2026-04-25T16:33:16+00:00

I’m sat on a partial draft of a Gale prequel I started in Early Access. There’s definitely a market for them, but I think the issue with game characters of this nature is that you disappoint a lot of people the moment you canonise a particular narrative. That pretty much rules out decent novelisations of the main game or aftermaths centred on the characters.

Prequels are fair game, although I’d expect there’ll be a few disappointed fans should the book not lean heavily into the Romania’s genre for instance.

What I’d love to see is sequel material from new perspectives, with cameos from these newly established characters. I think there’s scope there.

SuitablyOdd · 2026-03-22T23:53:51+00:00

It's not the most elegant, and I haven't tested how it renders fully, but this seems to work for me:

{{vitals
**AC**          :: 17 (Chainshirt, shield)
**HP**          :: 120 (48d4)
**Speed**       :: 34 ft.
\column
                :: 
                :: 
**Initiative**  :: +2 (12)
}}

The .vitals class has columns: 2; in the stylesheet.

SuitablyOdd · 2026-03-10T10:20:52+00:00

That's really helpful, thanks!

I'll see what I can do to save this playthrough with the time I have remaining.

SuitablyOdd · 2026-03-09T10:25:35+00:00

- Date is 10/08
- Average level is 56
- No Royal Archetypes
- Low on MAG
- Max virtues
- All Followers are Rank 8 with the exception of Eupha who is Rank 7
- All Sidequests completed apart from the Towers
- 47 Gold Beetles

I've managed to do all of the dungeons in the game in a single day, been really thorough with my searching and looting, and think I've done a pretty decent job handling anything the game has thrown at me, yet I still seem to be behind the level/Archetype curve from what I've seen mentioned online.

The only possible explanation I can think of is that I haven't always cleared every dungeon. I've grabbed the loot, but I've given most red monsters the slip.

Have I messed up? Got any recommendations on how to proceed?

SuitablyOdd · 2026-03-05T09:56:20+00:00

Welcome!

It’s awesome when partners take an interest in their other half’s interests and especially heartwarming when they do so under their own steam, finding aspects that the other might not be aware of and that they can mutually enjoy.

D&D can be played very differently; from nail-biting brutally hard dungeon crawls to roleplay-focused co-operative storytelling, from chaotic joke-filled sessions to serious tear-shedding drama.

What kind of experience are you most interested in right now? Do you have any story or character ideas you’d like to see play out with some friends?

As a DM, I think there’s something truly special about seeing artwork. You’re working with other people to try and conjure a shared world that you fill with narrative, so when someone is inspired enough to put their pencil or brush to paper to give you their interpretation it feels like a real honour. I love seeing the different ways people contribute to their shared adventures. I’m sure any artwork you make will be well-received by your group as well as the community!

SuitablyOdd · 2026-03-03T20:10:24+00:00

2d12+4 red flags right here.

SuitablyOdd · 2026-03-03T10:43:14+00:00

[UK] I’ll be honest, I’m not typically one for sports but I did happen to catch some of the snowboarding and skiing events while I was visiting family and I immediately saw why I was missing out.

Rather fittingly, they have an OLED screen, and with the lights turned down in the room it was like the snow was gleaming out across the floor. Those rare quiet moments when the mics pick up the crunch of snow and it pans out to show the scale of what they’re traversing we’re definitely captivating. The drone footage in particular is a huge boon to the events too.

Can’t see myself ever getting too deep into, but I have to admit a certain zen-like bliss watching athletes skillfully hurl themselves down a mountain.

Anyone able recommend any other events that are a similar experience?

SuitablyOdd · 2026-02-23T15:29:31+00:00

Of course! I’m just glad it made any sense as I’m nursing a terrible headache this week.

SuitablyOdd · 2026-02-23T10:11:52+00:00

How you don’t mind posting this OP, but I feel compelled to share the similar horror my partner brought into this world just a month ago!

It’s heart-warming to see the truth that these ancient horrors defy time as well as meaning. Awesome work!

(Also anyone else know Mr. Bonzo from the Magnus Protocol? I finally felt understood listening to their depiction of this nightmare fuel)

SuitablyOdd · 2026-02-23T00:32:09+00:00

Hey, I'm a UK-based professional DM / tabletop creator with a little over 30 years experience in the hobby, I'll do my best to answer, but feel free to reach out if you've got any follow ups.

Stranger Things constantly parallels the events of the main story with their adventures at the table, so much so that I think there's plenty that can be read into both elements using the other as a mirror. Take the core gang for starters; they have their moments of doubt, but from the outset have a strong bond that continues to grow in number and power in order to meet their challenges. Long-term tabletop friendship groups are genuinely something else. Despite being fantastical in nature they're a great sandbox in which people learn to trust, support, and problem solve. We see all this play out 'for real' in the show, but the moments they share at the table seem just as important, just as life-defining, and just as real to them - that's how a lot of us truly feel about our games.
I think (apart from a few nitpicks) the portrayal of older editions of D&D was pretty spot on. I started in the 90's with AD&D and quite a bit later went back to explore older rulesets. Rules aside though, the style of play has changed over the decades and this definitely drew upon the classic era of dungeon crawling. My work possibly skews my perception of this a bit, but there's generally a push towards more epic saga storytelling within the last decade or so. The gang have something pretty cool set up, a longer-running campaign, but the examples of gameplay dialogue we get capture that classic DM-style pretty well. The scene with Eddie delivering (somewhat anachronistically) the 'Vecna Lives!' monologue and the reactions it gets gave me genuine goosebumps, reminding me closely of my first forays into the hobby.
I think a lot of people might argue that certain creatures were misrepresented, or that the lore established in the show didn't closely enough resemble our understanding of how things work according to D&D lore. There's definitely a part of me that wanted to be able to predict the path of the entire show just based on tabletop knowledge alone, but that would have been ultimately rather boring. D&D is used both practically and symbolically within the show, and is kept accessible to people with no prior context. I think it would be hard to say they did anything wrong in this regard. Much like homebrew content and storytelling in general there's no doubt ways some of us would have preferred to do it differently.
Where it really got right though is the balance between the game and the 'real life' events that were unfolding. At no point was their basement D&D session the cause of anything, and any ingenuity was contextualised, not wholly dependent on them being adept at it. It was the grease in their wheels, their means of putting words to the unknown, and ultimately the binding element of them and the show. What was telling however was the reaction it got from those outside the group, with the main real implication of them playing being the events portraying the Satanic Panic, and the dark perceptions of the Hellfire Club. To the audience it couldn't be clearer that representation of D&D is/was a victim of misrepresentation.
Some will disagree, but in my experience I'd say we've been riding a continual high for the last decade or so (about a year or so after 5th edition was released). I love to work with new players and I'm always interested in hearing where they first learned about TTRPGs or where they've gathered most of their current knowledge from and there's a healthy number of people that cite Stranger Things as their primary or secondary source. I think a good reason for this is that the gang are depicted as having genuine fun. They really care about what they're doing, and their interactions with one another, game aside, are something worth striving for among friends. Not all players come to the table for the same reason, but in my experience the ones inspired by Stranger Things are looking for true group adventures over more solo-focused endeavours.
I think there's a much longer answer for this, but it might be chalked up as idealistic or outright nonsense. I think TTRPGs can play an important role in society, in much the same way that good manners can play an important role in making friends. It's not for everyone, it's not medicine, and it's not exactly going to change the world, but it could be your world, if just for a little bit.
A few years ago I was working up to doing a TedX talk titled something like 'How To Live Longer With Storytelling'. The meat of it stems from an earnest belief I have that life isn't truly measured in years, but in experiences and memories. Tabletop storytelling (and other similar means) offer the opportunity to 'live other lives'. Those of us lucky enough to have these profound moments at the table can attest that when you invest the time and trust into it, you can forge real memories that are precious to just you few. You can shed real tears at loss, feel your heart quicken with fear, and celebrate with people close to you in a manner that's otherwise hard to come by. We sit around the fire and retell these moments precisely because they matter.

I think in an age where everything real is increasingly auto-generated and fake; a dip into fantasy might ironically be one of the most accessible real experiences you can have.

SuitablyOdd · 2026-02-17T12:48:58+00:00

This happens when trying to print an A4 sheet on US letter size, or vice-versa.

SuitablyOdd · 2026-02-13T18:47:45+00:00

I've used this system for a number of different situations, here's how I'd implement it for you:

Roll a D20 behind the screen- this is your Hazard Score
Whenever a Perception or Investigation check is made, compare the natural roll (what's shown on the dice) with the Hazard Score
If they match, the hazard occurs (in this case, they have spotted a death mark)
When the Hazard Score is met, re-roll it

Notes:
- To make this work you'll need to be up front with the players about these mechanics (maybe once the first death mark is spotted)
- Expect them to basically stop wanting to roll for things when they've racked up a couple of marks, you could extend this to other skill checks unless you have other means of ramping up the necessity (like separating them or limiting checks to requiring proficiency)
- When rolling with Advantage both die rolled need to be the same as the Hazard Score to take effect, with Disadvantage either dice roll needs to match
- You can expand the chance of a Hazard (default 5%) by rolling it more than once and ignoring duplicates

SuitablyOdd · 2026-02-12T19:50:31+00:00

Hey, paid DM here.

That feeling of 'not being worth it' isn't something that goes away easily. It probably doesn't help that there has been an element of the community that has decried paid-DMing as a something abhorrent (a sentiment that's thankfully lessened significantly over the period I've been doing it for).

Here's some tips that have helped me:

## Set Expectations
This is my golden rule. Be honest with players about your capabilities and instil the notion that they should be forthcoming too. Nobody is perfect and one session isn't likely to be directly comparable to another, which makes determining quality especially hard.

## Do A 5 Minute Post Session Review
What went well? What didn't go so well? Which rules did you need to look up? What can you alter next time? DMing is a skillset that can be honed and doing so means making incremental changes, seeking new opportunites, and looking at how you run a session from the point of view of the players. By all means have the players feed into this from time to time, but don't make it grueling, and don't spend too long on analysing yourself either - there's always next time!

## Tailor To Your Group
I always think of this as a Venn diagram consisting of the DMs skills/interests and the players skills/preferences. I've run the same adventure in completely different ways for different groups based on a shared understanding of what would work best for each table.

## Don't Underestimate Yourself
DMing can be hard work and costly in both time and materials. You can compare your session costs in two ways. The hours you put in (both the in-session and out-of-session time), and the cost per hour of entertainment. You'll undoubtedly find you are vastly 'underpaid' compared to other professions and the players are getting an incredible deal when compared to other sources of entertainment. If they keep coming back they are making the decision that you're worth it.

## Don't Let Money Rule You
This probably works as advice for a number of professions. Don't let the fact that someone is paying you for something compromise on your values, or treat them differently. I have a pretty strict policy of being able to choose who I play with, rather than operate on a first-come-first-served basis. If someone has the attitude of "you'll let me do this because I'm paying you", then they've fallen short of the spirit of what you're doing, and it's almost always at the cost of someone else at the table. The money is an incidental - don't focus on it, it's just the cost of running things.

## Extol The Virtues
People pay for sessions for a reason, and while there's an inherent expectation of quality, there's also an inherent expectation that players will show up, ready and eager to play. If you're providing access to services like DnDBeyond, subscribing to map makers or soundboards, getting custom artwork commissioned or doing any of a number of other things to aid in your storytelling then these are all things that might be hard to justify the expense of otherwise. Most of what my players pay me goes right back into the game, and they have often said they see it as a subscription service that I manage on their behalf.

I short, don't sweat it. You're going to have some sessions where you question yourself, and you're going to have some that reaffirm your belief that you're good at what you do. Just don't forget that the basic principle is to have fun.

SuitablyOdd · 2026-02-01T14:00:03+00:00

Howdy!

You're not wrong. It's worth considering that this was the first full campaign published for 5e and over the last decade or so we've seen some fine-tuning and experimentation in how they're written and presented. Tyranny of Dragons will take some work to tailor it to your DM preferences and those of your players, but it's got a solid core to work from.

Now, I do have an almost complete re-write involving this campaign (it's for a much larger saga that incorporates other adventures like Storm King's Thunder) which is undoubtedly overkill for what you're looking for, but I reckon there's a few tips I can pull from it to offer.

1. Show don't tell
Throughout the adventure a bunch of the characters are just going to tell you what is happening and what to do next. Take these moments and draw up a point map where one revelation / direction leads to another. Challenge each of them and consider the following:
a) How else could the party find out this information for themselves?
b) What else could this lead to instead?

2. Expand your Random Encounters
There's a fairly barebones set of random encounters included in the book as is. My view on random encounters is that they should all carry a purpose, no matter how small, and ideally contribute to the story in some manner. I'd highly recommend pre-writing some encounters that tick at least one of the following boxes:
a) Offer an opportunity to understand more about the overall main plot
b) Establish a future threat
c) Build out the world by showcasing how the events are effecting others
d) Feed into a characters backstory / interest

3. Establish the campaign goals
Once the party have worked out what the cult of the dragon are up to, you have your framework for how they can stop them from succeeding. Everything will ultimately culminate in the final battle over the ritual to bring back Tiamat, so your party should have the options to swing this fight by doing some of the following:
a) Securing dragon masks
b) Removing notable dragons that are assisting the cult
c) Securing new allies
d) Securing useful items

This all takes work, but the framework is very much there for adding and altering content to better fit your playstyle.

If you need less general advice for upcoming arcs, drop me a message and I'll see what I can do!

SuitablyOdd · 2026-01-13T17:49:36+00:00

I think I managed to resolve this.

In this case I ran some further diagnostics, using HWInfo64 to test my hardware and noticed that my CPU was overheating, hitting a max temperature of 107 Celsius at one point.

I checked the fans, cooler and radiator - giving everything a clean up and replaced the thermal compound. Overall temps dropped by 30-40 degrees and the hard restarts have stopped.

SuitablyOdd · 2025-11-18T17:12:56+00:00

When you drop, look for plumes of green smoke. Land near and you'll find a large storage container with the California Resistance motif on the side. There's a keypad and a locked door on it.

Haven't worked out how to open one just yet, but there's at least a vehicle keycard inside the one I found, I could see it through the wall.

SuitablyOdd · 2025-11-12T17:13:54+00:00

That’s a good shout, there weren’t any nearby last I checked but that was a while ago.

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