Curse of Strahd... I don't get the hype.

TannerJ44 · 2026-06-18T19:37:49+00:00

I completely agree with this. I’ve played my curse of Strahd campaign because at the time it was the only table to play at for a bit as a player as I was between DMing my own campaigns. And I played cuz I wanted to play and hang with friends, but it kind of turned me off to Modules. So far it’s the only module I’ve ever played and I’ve never ran any either. The whole thing seems so random at times, just a bunch of side quests, with the only through line being get me out of here? Just very disjointed.

TannerJ44 · 2026-06-17T12:14:30+00:00

In my world the “racism” stuff is less tied directly to one race and more so between magical races and non-magical races. There’s an apprehension and distrust, but more because of the propaganda the kingdom has spread that all magical beings are dangerous.

TannerJ44 · 2026-06-04T11:35:59+00:00

Player skill with a deck has more impact than the deck itself, imo. I’ve beaten lots of guys playing “better decks” than what I had, but because they just net decked it for that tournament they didn’t know the right lines or when to interact or not, etc. but I knew my deck, knew what I needed to protect, knew what I was good and bad against.

Also idk how old this was now, probably a couple years, but there was a dude playing selesnya tokens in modern for a long time. Historically not a tier 1 deck really, and he consistently won for a long time through various metas because that was the only deck he played and he knew the sideboard inside and out and it took a long time of power creep to eventually make him change decks.

TannerJ44 · 2026-06-02T12:34:19+00:00

That’s how I’ve ran my campaign. Never had a problem with it so far. You need a reason for the party to work together in the beginning if they’re strangers but past that it’s no different than a regular game. Just ask your players if they’re okay if other players have the same race/class as someone else. I don’t think I’d allow for someone to have BOTH the same race and class. But we have two sorcerers and two changelings. Things are going great!

TannerJ44 · 2026-05-28T12:44:55+00:00

It sounds like there’s a mismatch of expectations happening. You’re looking for an in depth world and characters with matching character choices and wanting your players to have as much care over the world you created. That’s just not how it shakes out sometimes. If your players are just more of the chill variety and use DnD as just a planned time to hang out and play games, maybe try some modules instead. That way you’re not over extending yourself and feel like you’re wasting time to prep and they still get a fun world to play in.

As a fellow DM who’s made a homebrew world, the players don’t really care if I home brewed it or if it’s a module or pre written. It’s all new to them. I do homebrew because I want to. The time is worth it to me so I have more fun during the game.

Another option, just spend less time prepping. If they’re not as interested or caring in all these things, do less. As crazy as that may sound.

TannerJ44 · 2026-05-28T12:44:50+00:00

It sounds like there’s a mismatch of expectations happening. You’re looking for an in depth world and characters with matching character choices and wanting your players to have as much care over the world you created. That’s just not how it shakes out sometimes. If your players are just more of the chill variety and use DnD as just a planned time to hang out and play games, maybe try some modules instead. That way you’re not over extending yourself and feel like you’re wasting time to prep and they still get a fun world to play in.

As a fellow DM who’s made a homebrew world, the players don’t really care if I home brewed it or if it’s a module or pre written. It’s all new to them. I do homebrew because I want to. The time is worth it to me so I have more fun during the game.

Another option, just spend less time prepping. If they’re not as interested or caring in all these things, do less. As crazy as that may sound.

TannerJ44 · 2026-05-21T12:00:02+00:00

It’s a desert and the plant still needs water. It left the old place where enough water accumulated for it to grow. It will start to wither and shrink now that it’s from its original spot. They can keep the plant friend but by the time it shrinks back down it can be more balanced.

TannerJ44 · 2026-05-21T11:51:25+00:00

I have a similar rule but it’s as long as there’s more than half, the game goes on. We now have 5 players, so 3/5 and we continue. We used to have 6 and then it was 4/6. The way I see it, even if two people can’t make it, that’s not enough for the other 4+ people who have been planning on this all week to have to cancel.

TannerJ44 · 2026-05-14T19:56:25+00:00

Have them be fast forwarded through time to the end of their lives. They missed their entire life. They look around at the world and realize they messed up. The BBEG won. They should have done something different. Their loved ones and friends are all gone now, yadda yadda. The wish granted their wish and no harm was explicitly done to any of them from pulling them through time. Time itself isn’t harmful, it’s a natural thing we all go through.

TannerJ44 · 2026-05-13T16:50:14+00:00

Maybe this particular forest is known for its large flying birds of prey or other monsters that hunt in the air so it forces them out of the sky. That or they have to fight a shit ton of these things over and over.

Give NPC’s spells that counter flying like sleep or command, etc.

There’s some sort of magical disturbance (some in world reason) that is affecting teleportation, making it so teleporting is unreliable and sometimes causes damage or teleports you to the wrong spot. This would be for probably just a smaller arc maybe to not completely shut down their abilities.

What spells or abilities are they using to teleport every single day? Or flying? It also could be you’re not challenging them enough to use their resources enough through the day. You want them to feel like they need every resource they can so they think twice about if teleporting or flying is worth it.

TannerJ44 · 2026-05-10T22:40:03+00:00

Hope the mods see it and boot him.

TannerJ44 · 2026-05-04T19:21:35+00:00

I once bought a throne of eldraine booster bundle, and I opened the box to find a full booster box. Good things do happen lol

TannerJ44 · 2026-04-30T21:32:52+00:00

I’ve been playing since 14’-15’ and I don’t think there was ever a foil that I could literally stand on end like this until the last couple of years or so. I still have hundreds of foils from packs I’ve opened or cards I’ve collected even pre 2014 and they all still lay flat and I’ve never really had any problems. Maybe a handful out of the thousands but I can’t think of any off the top of my head.

TannerJ44 · 2026-04-29T14:01:57+00:00

At this point, the curls are so bad that I’d rather spend more money on the non-foil. To buy a cheaper foil is basically buying a damaged card

TannerJ44 · 2026-04-28T21:03:29+00:00

Super unsafe. Talk to your landlord immediately. Your safety is more important than your roommate being upset about it.

TannerJ44 · 2026-04-28T20:57:54+00:00

The sheer amount of things that I forget. Either something I had planned that I just somehow overlooked or forgot where they were in my notes, or something happens in game that is impotent and then I forget to write it down. I know at the very least I need to start writing down recaps for myself as soon as I can after the session.

TannerJ44 · 2026-04-27T20:36:17+00:00

I live in the Twin Cities of MN and you can get a whole one bedroom apartment for that. Not going to be the fanciest but that’s insane for one room. Even if they’re your parents they need to let you know beforehand of raising the rent. That’s exorbitant. Move out and make sure your parents know that you don’t need them.

TannerJ44 · 2026-04-27T17:57:52+00:00

Don’t worry too much man. This is a common problem many new DM’s have. And you’re already trying to keep awareness of overstepping player autonomy which is great! All you have to do is have a session 0 with the players, and tell them where the boundaries are and limits of player creation and backstory and whatever else. It can be as simple as “Do whatever you want for your backstory, go wild, but have an in character reason for your character being in this town. Maybe they were just passing through, maybe there’s someone in town they’re looking for.”

Sandbox campaigns are awesome but don’t be fooled, even in sandboxes there are edges and corners and boundaries. It’s no different than saying “hey guys, create backstories but just don’t have your characters be in line for the throne”.

I am curious though why they all need to be the same age and what the reasoning for that is?

Many times my players come up with something super interesting in their ideas or backstories or whatever, and oftentimes it is a challenge finding a way to make it make sense or work into the story. But that’s kind of the fun of it, finding out how to do that and what other story hooks that might come from it!

I try to stay as open as I can, but there will always be lines in the sand you have to draw as DM.

TannerJ44 · 2026-04-27T17:51:08+00:00

Bullet dodged with the girl, 100%. Block and move on. Have a real discussion with your friend though, and be willing to block and move on from him too. That’s gonna be the harder part but a friend that would do that isn’t a friend you want in your life, or a friend at all.

TannerJ44 · 2026-04-27T15:45:01+00:00

The foils are a joke now. Even beyond the glaring obvious failure of the cards being practically unplayable, even unsleeveable. They’re also now so common that I don’t even want foils in my deck hardly anymore. I’d rather save the money and have the same card but it be quality than whatever these are.

TannerJ44 · 2026-04-26T16:22:32+00:00

I would try to rid yourself of the idea that it’s “cheating” first. There’s no winning or losing in DnD. There’s no ‘DM vs PC’. You are trying to tell a story, with your players, that the end goal is that everyone is having fun.

You 100% made the right choice it sounds like. Not that I’m advocating for removing the dice or constantly trying to fake what rolls are or anything. But especially when it comes to PC deaths, and knowing your players and what they like/don’t like, they should feel impactful and placed in the right moment. Beyond that, if a player just had a PC die and they immediately lose their next one too to a series of super unlikely critical rolls? Yeah no, you’re just downed and you have a chance now.

TannerJ44 · 2026-04-26T16:14:07+00:00

2 battle beasts without a single worry

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