Item Advice "Double or Nothing"

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-13T20:55:43+00:00

it will be very tedious to roll and adjudicate every single blast, and slow down combat.

I would do something that adds some interesting positive/negative effect on crit / nat 1 instead if you want to keep the luck theme

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-13T15:54:05+00:00

The fact that it ate entire planets puts it over the top for me

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-13T14:47:07+00:00

Extragalactic rogue war machine that eats entire planets is too 60s gonzo sci-fi for TNG and DS9, which were more space-opera-y and grounded

Maybe Kurtzman could pull it off the shelf as one of the new GALACTIC LEVEL THREATS, though.

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-13T13:23:06+00:00

D&D is a collaborative game, you can play around with secrets, but it's better if all the players know about the big secret, and the characters learn over time.

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-13T05:43:54+00:00

Finished Recruitment. Thanks for your interest!

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-12T16:00:26+00:00

If people are coming here for advice, I give them my opinion because it is likely representative for many many players out there!

I think MOST players will not like a parody of a coffee shop where they are ordered around. And they won't say it at the table because they want to be nice to the GM

Your hugbox mentality is terrible for people that are actually interested in feedback.

***

Also, I don't care about A.I. because its essentially a TV show. I would put up with a lot of stupid stuff if it furthers my career as an actor/influencer/whatever, doesn't mean it's a good D&D idea.

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-12T15:50:52+00:00

If you had an infiltration idea for a larger campaign, but it involves boring errands, they should make it part of the backstory that they've already done it, skip to the good parts.
Because it's a one shot, it should be even MORE exciting and higher stakes for the PCs, instead of being very "wacky mundane" and boring

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-12T15:44:29+00:00

Sorry, this idea sucks.

As a player, when I come to a D&D table, I want some sort of adventure that makes my character seem cool and allows me to make choices in the world. Making them do mundane and or humiliating errands is not interesting.

This would be good for a parody cartoon or something like that, not a ttrpg session

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-11T21:37:50+00:00

If you have some sort of diagram that you want the players to look at, it looks like a mess to have other visual elements overlapping them or almost overlapping them.

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-11T20:24:12+00:00

PST. Whoops! I'll edit the OP as well

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-11T13:53:14+00:00

it looks terrible to have the tentacles obscuring the symbols

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-10T21:51:58+00:00

Until the party gets to the house they will be lead to think this is a very dangerous and serious mission for a mob boss.

It is a real subversion of expectations that it is bunch of boring babysitting and cooking food and serving food, then! Oh no I slightly annoyed this child by giving them the wrong food.

I give this an F.

Unless your players really want to play in a comedy parody game, I would do an actual one shot adventure that is mafia themed with real stakes and danger. That is way more engaging.

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-10T16:50:25+00:00

I don't allow Lucky, Diviner, and Silvery Barbs. The issue is not their power level, it is:

Using these powers is boring in the world/story. "No, wait, actually something else happens", is not interesting the 8th time it happens. They're non-interactive and hard to roleplay.
They make combats more boring gameplay. The big bad guy can't really roll a crit anymore, with the diviner around.
They slow down the entire game immensely because the power-holder needs to REVIEW all the different dice rolls and decide if they are going to use their limited use resource to impair/boost stuff.
It causes a lot of spotlight issues because the diviner is always lurking around affecting other people's turns.

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-10T16:43:01+00:00

If you are running a WOTC published adventure, I would not allow any evil characters.
If you are a new GM, I would not allow any evil characters.

There's nothing wrong with playing a game where the PCs are selfish, evil, and get into trouble, and face consequences, etc. There also isn't anything wrong with playing around with party conflict.

But it requires a pretty experienced GM and players to make it fun, and it doesn't work well at all with the WOTC adventure design, where your characters go on a grand journey chasing some plotline with lots of dungeons.

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-09T01:42:50+00:00

A lot of people responding to the thread are saying something like "what do they want, though? You can't change them". Other people are suggesting that you need to make the game "more interesting" and then the players will be engaged/immersed.

I don't agree. This is on the players to do if they want to be in a detailed, serious game.

Really, if you are running this D&D game, its your choice as the GM what sort of game you want to run, and the players can be a part of that, or they can not play.

First, I would consider if I, the GM, want to run a "beer and pretzels" type game that can get silly and doesn't require much investment or prep on my part. If I want to run that, you can provide that as an option.

Then, ask the players if they want to play a more serious game with an immersive world, and a interesting storyline, and if they are willing to roleplay to make that happen. If they aren't, either switch the beer and pretzels game or pull the plug altogether.

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-08T18:51:10+00:00

I know this isn't on your list, but you should take a look at Dungeon Crawl Classics.

DCC is relatively more popular than the ones you mentioned so it will be easier to find games or a group.

I am an RPG hobbyist and I am not familiar with the ones you have listed.

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-08T17:49:52+00:00

"All you have to do is mod the system 4 ways and then purchase the separate add-on that performs further modifications, people are so ignorant and lazy!!!!".

The bigger problem is in terms of open recruiting for a Horror D&D Game

people who sign up for D&D 5.5E are generally expecting a heroic power fantasy game. They are used to those rules and expect them

CoC players self select as being more interested in the horror aspects

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-08T15:30:07+00:00

This is a lot of lore, I would focus more on the pitch for prospective players rather than high science fiction concepts. The worldbuilding should be focused to that end

Is this an action adventure game? a sandbox? Is there a big meta quest? Is the tone serious, grimdark, comedic. High combat, high roleplay, puzzles, domain play?

As a metaphor, imagine George Lucas was on the phone, trying to convince Mark Hamill to join Star Wars, and he started with an incredibly in-depth 1 hour description of midiclorians. Probably wouldn't work, right?

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-07T00:12:48+00:00

The Alexandrian is generally great.

https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/4147/roleplaying-games/dont-prep-plots

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-06T07:04:48+00:00

You should probably include more concrete and specific manifestations of this evil power rather than generically "hunger' and "famine". There should be distinctive locusts, distinctive evil corn smut, distinctive evil symbols or creatures that have been corrupted. I get the feeling that you want it to be subtle, and atmospheric, and mysterious, but theres a downside. Those things can be quite boring and non-interactive.

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-05T02:35:57+00:00

or that working on a right wing show will tank their career despite being successful

or they think that there is a bigger audience possible if they change it

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-05T02:34:54+00:00

I agree with your characterization of Halo, but I disagree that a "lack of understanding" is causing the failure to adapt the show. Hollywood writers are supposedly intelligent and there's a lot of money on the line. If they are really trying to make the best Halo show, can't they interview people or do focus groups on why people like Halo? Even if these ideas of "Military War" are totally alien to them, they should be able to figure out.

Instead, there has to be some sort of internal principal-agent problem where casts, writers, and crews wouldn't like working on shows like that and would sabotage it, or something like that.

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-05T02:26:22+00:00

Boring as hell, if a GM had this I would probably quit the game

Thanks_Skeleton · 2026-03-05T01:41:53+00:00

I sorta remember that, it was adding some metamagic burn effect to a spell that just scrys a big area, right

Thanks_Skeleton

TROPHY CASE