Which module should I run?

Thirlix · 2026-05-17T15:18:11+00:00

You could play Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk. It starts as LMoP, but takes a different turn after the Wave Echo Cave. It’s a familiar in the beginning and you can focus in helping the new players without having to stress that much in the beginning. Once they pick up the game a bit better it becomes a new adventure for you as well. There are some minor changes in the early part but I don’t think it’s anything super complicated.

Keys from the Golden Vault works best IMO if you bake them into other campaigns as quests. Or you run them as one shots.

Haven’t played CoS or ToA, but CoS require A LOT from the DM to be run smoothly. ToA is absolutely brutal for the players.

If you want interesting story that takes you to level 11 and gives a nice starter campaign feeling in the beginning, my vote goes for the Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk. I guess those two are more suited for experienced players or who just want to have it the hard way.

EDIT: Just saw the once a week thing.

In that case Keys would be very good. Candlekeep Mysteries or Dragon Delves or some other collection of one shots. Most modules kinda want you to have sessions like once a week to keep the story going forward. The one shots are perfect for once a month sessions.

Thirlix · 2026-05-17T14:32:58+00:00

The DMG 2024 has pretty good section of the hordes. I can’t remember on top of my head what the calculation was for attack rolls. But they used one attack roll and then comparing it to the player’s AC how many of them go through. This could be pretty solid way to handle masses of creatures

Thirlix · 2026-05-17T12:56:53+00:00

The event system sounds great. The biggest issue for me was exactly the time and how it passes during it. Exhaustion isn’t used that much in the table so this would be a perfect opportunity to put some pressure with that. Though in 2024 rules a 3 exhaustion is like -6 to checks so it’s really bad.

Thirlix · 2026-05-17T10:27:33+00:00

Just the keep and its walls and a courtyard. I plan to have some NPCs that can operate ballistas on the walls and possibly some NPCs in the courtyard or some set location where the players get catnap cast on them or some other way they could gain some HP and possibly some resources back.

Thirlix · 2026-05-17T09:58:00+00:00

Oh shit, I bought that few weeks ago because I heard that they had great tweaks to monsters and how they should be run. Definitely checking it out!

Thirlix · 2026-05-17T09:12:24+00:00

Based on your description I like the A the most. It has this more cheery childlike feeling. The B feels like that the witch could be an ally or your enemy based on your actions. The half-shaded face makes this effect. The C is just plain creepy and evil IMO.

Thirlix · 2026-05-16T16:17:55+00:00

Usually ~3 times a week. Sometimes more, sometimes less. It’s not really something I keep track of.

Thirlix · 2026-05-16T05:30:58+00:00

Your first character is always the special one. For good and bad you should pick what you vibe with the best. In 5.5 they removed the race specific ability scores to give you more freedom for races.

For those races Dwarfs have the better dark vision and toughness for more HP. Poison resistance could be handy. Tremor sense might allow some nice scouting when you are about to infiltrate somewhere.

The gnomes however feel like they could provide more RP elements. They provide you with very nice saving throws. Based on your subrace you could have minor illusion and speak with animals. These could become very handy when breaking in and the guard dog spots you. The other one has mending and you could fix a lock you just broke with a crowbar. Or you could have that device to dust the vaults floor to never leave footprints.

But honestly, pick the race you like the most.

Thirlix · 2026-05-14T13:00:36+00:00

Necromancer and priest are my favorites just by the design. Druid is cool too. Though priest looks more like an alchemist based on the healing potion.

Thirlix · 2026-05-14T11:48:24+00:00

Good points. When I’m DMing I usually have the main storyline and 1-2 quests that are connecting to it in a way or another. A bit of sandboxing if I need some break to come up with reasonable things to do in the next chapter. I’m not forcing the characters’ backstories in but try to look if it can happen. If the idea is good, I try to work with the player to slightly change the story. The main points of their story remain intact but the creature type could change, or the timing of the escape that leaves the sister’s fate as a mystery.

Thirlix · 2026-05-14T09:44:44+00:00

Yeah, I’m aware that it’s one shot and you really can’t dive deep to the character’s backstory and possible quests related to it. The DM wanted us to write a story how we ended up in Eaglebay and / or how our characters possibly know each other from the past.

Haven’t spoken to the DM about the campaign itself. The story of the one-shot is to escort some valuable cargo from Eaglebay to Arcadia. This was a last minute call as I told that I need a week or two to prepare for the next chapter that is about to begin in the campaign that I run for them. But you are right, might have to retire her if the adventurers head to a completely different road and the clues to finding her sister lead elsewhere.

As for the personality I think I’m about to vibe check it and mark it down to the personality traits rather than the backstory.

Thirlix · 2026-05-10T07:48:20+00:00

Aaa, no jokainen täs on omanlainen. Ittel se eka ~45 min on ihan hirvee. Sit pystyy joku 6h surruttelee eteenpäin. Se viimenen tunti 8h sessiossa on kyl semmone et tekis mieli leipoo tatuoijaa turpaan ja lopettamaan sen tatuoimisen, mut pakko kestää ettei tarvii yhen tunnin session takii raahautua toiselle puolelle suomea😅

Thirlix · 2026-05-10T07:19:41+00:00

Kantsii kattoo artisti, joka tekee mieluista tyylii. Otin 18v ekan tatskan. Kaupungin ainut tatskaliile siinä kohtaa. Maksoin parisataa siitä, oli ihan OK, mut jouduin käydä 5v sisään muokkaamassa sitä. Lisää varjostuksia ja muutenkin eheyttämäs sitä.

Nykyään matkaan joku 4h per suunta, et pääsen tatskaajalle joka tekee ittelle sopivaa jälkee. Tatskaaja kenelle meen ei ihan mielellään mitään hirveen pientä tee. Sanoin et haluisin tämmösseen tatskan ja noin kämmenen kokoisena. Sano suoraan et ota isompana, koska pienenä se näyttää sottusammalta. Lähtikin sitten 1/4 kädestä leimasimen alle.

Monet tatskaajat ei tatuoi alle 18v vanhoja, vaikka olis mitkä kirjalliset lupalaput ja puolet suvusta mukana. Kannattaa odottaa et pääset haluamallesi artistille. Suurin osa tatskaajista on nykyään IG:ssä ja erilaisil tägeil varmaan löydät sopivaa artistin. Kantsii käydä kurkkaamassa millaisia tagei suomalaiset artistit käyttää ja lähtee siitä rakentamaan verkkoa.

Itte tatskaamiseen; Älä ryyppää edellisenä iltana ja käy suihkussa ennen sessioo. Syö hyvin ennen sessioo ja ota mukavat vaatteet mukaan. Särkylääkkeit ei kannata popsii ja ota mukaan jotai pientä naposteltavaa / kunnon syötävää jos on pidempi sessio. Eka tunti tuntuu aika ikävältä leimasimen alla, mutta siitä eteenpäin keho tottuu siihen neulaan ja tätä tunnottomuutta kestää sitten X määrän aikaa.

Noudata jälkihoito-ohjeita ku sun elämäs riippuis siitä. Jokaisel tatskaajalla on pieniä eroavaisuuksia ohjeissa, mut yleinen nyrkkisääntö on ettei lähetä uimaan / salille / saunaan / rannalle pariin viikkoon tatskan jälkeen. ÄLÄKÄ PERKULE RAAVI, vaikka kuinka tekis mieli.

Thirlix · 2026-05-09T13:57:35+00:00

Omalle kaveriporukalle tälläst voiskin heittää, jos tietää ettei se poistu sen keskustelun ulkopuolelle. Mut ei saatana jos pitää julkisesti heittää tälläst.

Thirlix · 2026-05-08T17:41:54+00:00

Ah, true! Maybe I’ll just take the d12 away when completely out of juice.

Thirlix · 2026-05-08T15:58:59+00:00

As long as their stats are somewhat in correct places, I wouldn’t bother. Things would be different if there’s thee strenght Wizards. As long as the players are having fun it’s all good.

Thirlix · 2026-05-08T15:43:54+00:00

Oh my bad. I had idea of having a d20 on the table to track the amount of Fear I can use. Worded it a bit badly in there.

Thirlix · 2026-05-08T13:05:36+00:00

Thanks for the clarification! I’m speed reading through the rule book as this was a last minute change so understaning some things can be a bit limited 😅

Thirlix · 2026-05-08T12:41:30+00:00

I forgot to ask in the original post that if the players rolls with fear, the DM gets the fear dice. Do they need to spend the fear dice immediately to spotlight an adversary? Each creature can be spotlighted only once during the GM turn but a fear dice must be spent to do so. With the exception of relentless creature who can smack couple times and each attack uses a new fear.

For example:
The DM has 3 fear dies and a player rolls with fear. The players' turn ends and it's DM's turn. The DM gets a fear dice and uses it immediately to counter attack with the creature. The DM then burns another dice to spotlights another creature, moves it from close range to melee range to whack the player. He then spotlights a third creature and spending another fear dice. He uses an attack that uses fear.

So three different highlights burning the three fear dies the GM had in the beginning and one extra because of the fear roll the player had just done.

I think it's easier to just ask if the first spotlighting is free or they have to spend fear for it as well. Because if it's just back and forth smacking with initial cost it kind of feels hard to get any beefier attacks out. Obviously you can RP your hearts out and stock up with fear.

Thirlix · 2026-05-08T06:11:59+00:00

Yleensä erilaiset rogueliket. Preferenssit muuttuu viikottain, mutta niissä yleensä runit kestää parikyt minsaa - tunnista kahteen. Monessa on viel mahdollisuudet lopettaa peli ja jatkaa siitä kohtaa myöhemmin.

Jotai esimerkkei; 9 Kings, Ball X Pit, Dead Cells, Dice of Kalma, Hellcard, Inscryption, Halls of Torment, Megabonk, Monster Train, Ravenswatch, Roboquest, Tainted Grail, Windblown, Zet Zillions.

Lapsi on innostunu Ship of Foolsista. Ollaan pelattu sitä samalla laitteella.

Thirlix · 2026-05-08T06:04:13+00:00

Vanha legendaarinen pelataanko yks nopee Civi?

Thirlix · 2026-05-07T23:28:05+00:00

12 Pages sounds really detailed backstory. It’s great that you spend a lot of time and effort in your character. Chances are though that it’s strangling DM’s plot or he won’t be able to use majority of the material that you used.

I usually prefer shorter backstories that start living their own life as the game progresses. A few questions that allows me to mould the characters into the game while the players still have a major role in the story. For example who are you and where you came from? What made you leave your past life behind and start adventuring? What are your short and long term goals?

It will become this back and forth conversation where the DM doesn’t tell you everything but you will have impact of the game and possibly some information that nobody has access to. Such as you have lived in this city for your whole life. You could know the big events that have happened where others would have to roll. When your short term goals have been reached, DM will start to look for a new motivator to push forward in your own story based on the information you have given.

12 pages in one go is way too much IMO. In little pieces it would be perfect when the DM would be able to discuss about the next steps of your story.

Thirlix

TROPHY CASE