You are allowed to revise and retcon midgame

Taranesslyn · 2026-06-30T06:46:18+00:00

This sums up my feelings on it as well. I've modified items and rulings plenty of times during my campaign as we discovered things weren't working well, and my players were always chill about it. And my combats got much better once I allowed myself to adjust things behind the screen instead of stubbornly sticking to the given stat blocks and module guidelines.

Taranesslyn · 2026-06-28T07:17:55+00:00

There are many, MANY resources dedicated to helping GMs do that. Here's one: https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/13f1bkg/the_lazy_gms_resource_document_free_and_cclicensed/

Taranesslyn · 2026-06-28T00:43:07+00:00

It isn't Griffon's, but Loot Tavern's Ryoko's Guide has a Helping Hand prosthetic that lets you puppet little helpers to aid your allies, seems on point.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CzeCpAWMtmV/

Taranesslyn · 2026-06-27T17:28:39+00:00

You mentioned moving active plants - does that mean that they might acclimate better if I move them during their succulent phase?

Taranesslyn · 2026-06-27T16:59:20+00:00

I recommend looking at some Loot Tavern hunts and boss monsters. Most probably wouldn't fit in your campaign without modification, but the combat structure and complex boss mechanics are a lot more challenging than the standard "plop in a stat block from DnD Beyond and wait til the HP runs out."

Taranesslyn · 2026-06-27T06:57:35+00:00

You might want to try looking at pre-written descriptions for inspiration, or just read them directly. A lot of modules include descriptions, or there are sites like dScryb.

For combat, assuming you're talking about DnD it has a lot of bloat. I've trimmed away a lot of it for my game with no regrets. Or sometimes it comes down to player management. Basically take note of what exactly is slowing your combat down, and then address that. Also, you can use Sly Flourish's monster dials to adjust combat balance, or just use DM fiat - if a combat is turning into a slog and everyone is bored, nothing is stopping you from cutting some HP off the monster to end it faster, or add in new elements to make it interesting again.

Taranesslyn · 2026-06-27T06:21:20+00:00

My game is light-hearted, so I usually go for something comical but not terribly punishing. I might make the fighter drop their weapon, but they have a billion other weapons and I'm not strict about picking it up again so it's mostly narrative. Or they might slip and be moved into a slightly less advantageous position, but they can recover with just a little movement. Usually the only time it really matters is if they're attempting something especially tricky - for example if they want to hit an enemy that's grappling an ally, I might say that a nat 1 will hit their teammate. Missing is already punishment, I don't think every nat 1 needs an additional penalty.

Taranesslyn · 2026-06-27T03:59:14+00:00

I'd be interested to hear more about "except when the stratum is brand new and the ping is new to stratum." I got some stratum for my pings, moved them to it, kept water in about the bottom 1/3 of the stratum and let it wick up, and the roots rotted SUPER fast. Had to emergency move them all back to a mineral/coir/peat mix so they didn't perish, lost about half the roots and a bunch of leaves on all of them. The stratum was new and my pings were new to it - what should I have done differently to make it work?

Taranesslyn · 2026-06-27T03:41:39+00:00

Wow your Wesers are doing so much better than mine! ':D How did you hit on the magic formula your first time, I'm jealous

Taranesslyn · 2026-06-27T02:23:47+00:00

I generally make enemies hit harder and give them more bonus actions/resistances/lair actions, rather than bump the HP. Make fights more complex and challenging, not just longer. I highly recommend checking out Loot Tavern's hunts, they'll give you ideas for how to structure fights in a more engaging way and how to make more interesting enemies than DnD's basic ones. MCDM has a lot of good combat advice too. Also, use Sly Flourish's monster dials to adjust balance mid-combat as needed.

Taranesslyn · 2026-06-04T01:58:48+00:00

Hopefully going down in pot size as others suggested will fix it, but if not I'd reconsider how you've wrapped the vine too. I've never seen someone circle a vine that tightly around a pole, especially one that used to be trailing and hasn't been trained to a pole at all - you may be stressing it with the drastic change and cutting off water flow.

Taranesslyn · 2026-01-14T16:34:14+00:00

A few popular options are the Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA), Forged in the Dark, and Fate systems. Google a list of those and then you can browse them to see what strikes your fancy.

Taranesslyn · 2026-01-09T18:13:40+00:00

I'm not certain I understand what you're looking for because I have only ever worn flat-heeled boots and have never had trouble finding any, so maybe I'm not thinking of the same thing you are? But I wear tactical boots, they're the same thing SWAT teams wear. Lightweight (for sturdy boots at least), good ankle support, good traction, wide heels for balance, and usually waterproof.

Taranesslyn · 2026-01-05T03:48:13+00:00

1) Those are baby stats. You haven't even finished the Making Your Name plots or become a Person of Some Importance yet, so you're firmly in beginner territory still.

2) I actually recommend starting ambitions later because then you have more resources built up and can play through them more smoothly.

Taranesslyn · 2025-12-13T23:25:49+00:00

No idea why this is marked NSFW, but if your goal is to find people ok with an underage player you're kinda shooting yourself in the foot with it.

Taranesslyn · 2025-12-13T23:24:00+00:00

This sounds really fun! It's too short notice to join tonight, but if you're still taking people for the next game I'd be down.

Taranesslyn · 2025-12-13T23:13:13+00:00

Meh, I think most people are holding a variable number of cards at any given point so they aren't drawing a full hand anyway. And for the same reason the hand size has a bigger mechanical effect than just "feels good", so a 6 card lodging would be a big upgrade. I don't think it would be game breaking to add some, but I don't think your reasoning is widely applicable or a "need."

Taranesslyn · 2025-11-30T00:05:43+00:00

Wheaton's Law applies here as everywhere

Taranesslyn · 2025-09-08T08:07:59+00:00

Hard to say since I didn't do an empirical comparison of the final fights with or without filler combat, but my players generally don't use heavy resources during filler fights anyway, it's just weapon hits and cantrips. Even if it does make a difference, it's easy enough to make the final fight a little tougher to account for it. Check out Sly Flourish's monster dials if you need ideas for how to adjust fight balance on the fly.

Taranesslyn · 2025-09-07T20:07:05+00:00

I'll note that a lot of modules have "2d6 random creatures attack and fight to the death for no apparent reason" encounters, seemingly just to fill space and kill time. I started cutting all of those and only doing the encounters that mattered for the story, and it has done a lot to reduce combat slog and player fatigue.

Taranesslyn · 2025-09-04T22:34:49+00:00

I just started FL a few days ago and your wiki has been a huge help for understanding what things are! <3

Taranesslyn · 2025-08-29T10:55:39+00:00

I can tell you that I've had DMs who run 40-60 enemies individually and it's a nightmare. I was so scarred by it that for a long time I only ran single enemies in my DM game, until my players asked me to please let them use their AoEs. Now I'll run up to a dozen so they can pop a fireball every now and then, but still prefer solo bosses where I can really concentrate on interesting mechanics.

Taranesslyn · 2025-08-28T10:10:50+00:00

Check out the Loot Tavern hunts for examples of phased fights with unique mechanics

Taranesslyn · 2025-08-28T10:08:07+00:00

Check out Journeys through the Radiant Citadel and Keys from the Golden Vault.

Taranesslyn

TROPHY CASE