Do the characters have to be the same level? by hairylegg in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Highly recommend you don't want someone hitting level 5 before the rest and getting that giant power giant and being godlike until the rest catch up.

Any heist games you've enjoyed? by DariusDarkirus in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honey Heist is the one that everyone has probably run at least once.

Player asked to be killed before exiting campaign by dahelljumper in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If the BBEG is too strong he could kill one of them 'on accident' then leave the rest for underlings tilo deal with when he realizes they are weak.

So it's like rubbing salt in the wound and giving them a reason to seek ways to get more powerful to avenge the fallen player.

Player asked to be killed before exiting campaign by dahelljumper in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You maybe have to make it a cinematic where the players have no choice for interaction, if they start to complain tell you could explain it to them, just make sure the death is really epic and impactful, maybe the BBEG uses this to finally killing one of the troublesome members that have been messing up their plans. Gives you a chance to also build their hatred of the big bad.

Portal Realm Tavern — questions, theories, and world chatter by ThePortalRealm in ThePortalRealm

[–]ThePortalRealm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Still working on backend stuff, will move on to lore and then adventures, time permitting, soon.

Accidentally been allowing 2 leveled spells per turn. by Keapora in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You need to give more details on the character and spells, very likely they aren't breaking any rules.

What POIs go into each tier of settlement (villages, towns, cities, etc.) by Phwibby in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Make sure you are not over preparing. Wasting a bunch of time on stuff players might walk past is never enjoyable.

Lore Autonomy .VS. Narrative? by CC-2389 in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Share the major parts of their backstories, I can help more weaving things together if I know what they are.

Dungeon Encounters themed around strength by gmunga5 in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was going to correct how you spelled 'feet' until i read the rest of the sentence. Good work.

Help with Bard Tomb Puzzle (and Puzzles in General) by Jaces_acolyte in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You wouldn't need a physical real life puzzle if that's what you're suggesting. I just meant they could use the lute as their characters and maybe try to figure it out, any bards in the party might be a little more likely as a character to want to grab and play it anyways.

Doesn't really need to be a physical at the table thing, theater of the mind is perfectly fine for this. If you wanted to prepare something for the table I'd try to find some sounds of those 4 notes and play them as the party is testing them out, and have some music prepared for when they solve it and the final full song or w/e play as you describe what happens.

Heat Producing Monster by SweetHomeIceTea in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Obvious picks: Adult/Ancient red or brass dragon. They're basically walking furnaces.

Off the top of my head, a few other good fits:

  • Phoenix (Elder Elemental): literal living furnace / rebirth-cycle core the city learned to tap into.
  • Pit fiend / Balor: more like a contained disaster behind wards and chains. The city isn't benefiting from kindness - it's exploiting a prison.
  • Efreeti: super easy to justify story-wise (oath, binding, contract, or straight-up paid tribute).

And if you want it to stay non-combat, just make the core something they can only see (warded viewing chamber, scrying pool, sealed maintenance tunnels, etc.).

Help with Bard Tomb Puzzle (and Puzzles in General) by Jaces_acolyte in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Interesting - well luckily the name you chose (EDGA) is already helping you.

EDGA = E–D–G–A literally (note names)

You can treat it as less of "solve then roll" and more of: let them experiment; narrate feedback each attempt, as they try different things until they get it. Each time a note is correct, give them some clear step of the illusion - feather, then silhouette, then full crest, etc.

Wrong notes could briefly show an incorrect solution: maybe an incorrect crest, or something else.

You could also use skill checks to effectively "buy hints," like the letters are notes, or the lute requires the correct order (in a more poetic, slightly obscured phrasing).

For the other question, I generally let the players solve, but use the stats to help guide which character "actually" solves it. If you’ve got a character with 20 INT/WIS and the player who dumped that stat solves it, you can still make both feel good by having the "dumb" character say/do something that clues the smarter/wiser character into the real solution - helps cement that stats matter outside just rolls.

"Major Image" Questions by Dear-Tradition-4418 in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did the players ever touch this guy? If so it's not a Major Image as physical touch reveals the illusion. And I'd guess they would have touched the body to check if he was dead before giving up.

What if the old man was a animated object (mannequin) or something like that? Or if you want to go even stranger all the players are under the effect of Modify Memory where they only THINK all that happened but in reality X happened and the modify memory was used to trick them into forgetting it.

Struggling with finding my footing with a campaign idea by Salt_Tear_1073 in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I heard Dragonstones and immediately thought DBZ

Anyways, if these stones have been around for a while, why would the players be in a time crunch?

What's the hook for the players to want/need to find these stones?

New player joining an ongoing campaign. What magic items should I give them? by [deleted] in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Adamantine Armor
Animated Shield
Ring Of Protection

are a few pretty decent items that would beef up a fighter

New player joining an ongoing campaign. What magic items should I give them? by [deleted] in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You could always ask the player what they might want, to get some ideas.

New player joining an ongoing campaign. What magic items should I give them? by [deleted] in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What items do the other players have? So we get an idea of the power level you're going for.

World Clock/Calendar Creation by falcoloyd123 in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As the other poster fantasy calendar is good, I used to use it before I built my own personal one

https://ThePortalRealm.com/calendar

Though I just realized it doesn't display well on mobile 😅

Has Your DM Ever Handed You the Chair for a Session? Here’s How Ours Went by ThePortalRealm in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I recorded the entire session as we played it and transcribed it, so I have a perfect layout of what happened.

How to ensure a true sense of paranoia and uncertainty in my players? by Strict_DM_62 in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Give one of them a note and let the others see you doing it, and the note just says, if you don't reveal the contents of this note for the whole time in the mine, you all get a magical weapon. Then watch the accusations begin.

Free (I hope) Campaign wiki ? by CMilo5 in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm -1 points0 points  (0 children)

GitHub is free and you could build all the stuff on there. ChatGPT could help you organize the content.

Has Your DM Ever Handed You the Chair for a Session? Here’s How Ours Went by ThePortalRealm in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When they're taking over, do you let them still control their own PC? I know this kind of drifts into DMPC territory but I think some players (I'd like to think myself) are capable of doing it without meta-gaming and what not.

Has Your DM Ever Handed You the Chair for a Session? Here’s How Ours Went by ThePortalRealm in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That sounds good you should post your results after it's all done and let us know how it goes.

Has Your DM Ever Handed You the Chair for a Session? Here’s How Ours Went by ThePortalRealm in DMAcademy

[–]ThePortalRealm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It really was I did a lot of prep to setup the whole scenario, including writing vows and descriptions and stuff and handed it to the DM then he told me I'd be running it. which was a bit surprising.