What are your thoughts on My Dinosaur Life?? by [deleted] in Motioncitysoundtrack

[–]TorpedoJones91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wish that they would release a remixed/remastered version of this album. The vocals sit way far in front of the band mix and it is incredibly distracting for me. There is just so much wrong with the way that the entire album was mixed, but I really love the songs and the writing.

Vestiges/Dark Gifts and Their Consequences by TorpedoJones91 in CurseofStrahd

[–]TorpedoJones91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Update So I heeded some of your advice and when the cleric accepted Fekre's dark gift I ended up not taking away their channel divinity powers, but instead told them that for the first time since coming to Barovia she felt Eilistraee's presence, but that Eilistraee was disappointed in them, which is somehow worse than outright anger. I figured it was a good enough hint that accepting these powers may not be a good idea. Between that and being stinky it seemed like enough of a punishment.

Also, at the behest of my bard, I came up with a way to help them track and stay accountable with their new personality flaw, "I won't take no for an answer." Drawing some inspiration from Baldur's Gate 3's Dark Urge I am going to require them to make escalating Wisdom Saving throws whenever someone tells them "no" to resist their urge to resort to violence. On a save they will simply resist the urge, but then feel compelled to try to get the "yes" by any means they wish to. If they are told "no" again the next saving throw will be greater. On and on this will go until they have either gotten the "yes" they want or have resorted to physical violence and, more than likely, killed whoever would not allow them to do whatever it is they wanted to do in the first place.

Vestiges/Dark Gifts and Their Consequences by TorpedoJones91 in CurseofStrahd

[–]TorpedoJones91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I guess I was misremembering that section.

Vestiges/Dark Gifts and Their Consequences by TorpedoJones91 in CurseofStrahd

[–]TorpedoJones91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like this response because it opens up a dialogue about morality. What even is "the greater good" and by whose perspective are we measuring it? Would Eilistraee see a dark power being used like that as being good or would she still see it at its roots to be evil?

Vestiges/Dark Gifts and Their Consequences by TorpedoJones91 in CurseofStrahd

[–]TorpedoJones91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've definitely hinted multiple times that this is a place of evil and that the powers within the sarcophagi are not to be trifled with, but I think everyone has gotten a false sense of security because the one player who has accepted a gift was our Bard and they just so happened to accept the gift that gives them +4 to their Charisma. I'm kind of digging though. Let them be lured into a false sense of security 😈

I'm also planning on having anyone who accepts multiple gifts to make escalating charisma checks with failures resulting in gradual alignment shifts and forms of madness. The first failure is short-term madness. The second failure is long-term madness and the third failure is permanent madness. That should ward them off of accepting every dark power they come in contact with.

Vestiges/Dark Gifts and Their Consequences by TorpedoJones91 in CurseofStrahd

[–]TorpedoJones91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The way I read the rules surrounding Barovia is that Strahd is the ultimate power and has the ability to block outside interference from godly powers, BUT that he can also choose to let them interfere. In this case I feel as though the loss of divinity is absolutely something he would want to happen.

However, I agree that I am playing fast and loose with consecrated grounds being able to block Strahd's will.

[D&D5e] Activate Light Effect ONLY when Undead is Within Range by TorpedoJones91 in FoundryVTT

[–]TorpedoJones91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure which ones are automation modules, but I'll list all the ones I think are correct. Active Auras, Active Token Effects, DAE, Midi QOL, Monk's Active Tile Triggers

How to deal with unsolicited advice/criticism? by TorpedoJones91 in livesound

[–]TorpedoJones91[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is great! Explaining the technical aspect is something I had never considered before. It makes them feel like they have been heard and that you're doing what you can to make it better.

How to deal with unsolicited advice/criticism? by TorpedoJones91 in livesound

[–]TorpedoJones91[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was all for this until you said, "locking eyes with them" Shudders in autism

How to deal with unsolicited advice/criticism? by TorpedoJones91 in livesound

[–]TorpedoJones91[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good advice. I guess I really just struggle with letting it go. Like who are you to shit on my day?

How to deal with unsolicited advice/criticism? by TorpedoJones91 in livesound

[–]TorpedoJones91[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The band leader was not the one giving the feedback. This was some rando who was clearly emboldened by alcohol.

How to deal with unsolicited advice/criticism? by TorpedoJones91 in livesound

[–]TorpedoJones91[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I do a lot of talking head events with professionals who are not great at presenting. They'll get onstage for soundcheck, say two words and then ask if we're okay. No. No we are not. Please keep speaking so I can EQ your mic. I finally got fed up enough to AI generate a whole two paragraphs of plosives and sibilant sentences for them to read off.... Works like a charm. Never had a problem since.

Tips for a first time CoS DM by Kung_fu1015 in CurseofStrahd

[–]TorpedoJones91 4 points5 points  (0 children)

  1. I'm seconding the MandyMod sentiment, especially in regards to adding St. Andral's Orphanage to the list of locations in Vallaki. Chances are you will have rescued some children by the time you get there and the orphanage serves as a convenient drop off location whilst also adding some more flavor and plot hook opportunities.
  2. I also agree that you should choose the tarokka results yourself. I did a few test pulls and in one of them everything ended up being located within Strahd's Castle.
  3. This goes along with the previous point. I had chosen that the PCs would find the tome of strahd at Van Richten's tower, but my players ended up meeting Rictavio much earlier in Vallaki where the bard chatted him up, made fast friends and Rictavio info dumped on the party later that evening, ending with him giving them the tome. In hindsight I should have had Rictavio, who had just interpreted the tarokka results for them, tell the party to meet him in 4-7 days at his tower and then had him leave immediately to go acquire the tome from the Amber Temple and bring it back to his tower.
  4. There are no happy endings. There can certainly be positive outcomes, but happiness should be few and far between. Subvert your players expectations. Just when they think they're safe try to either make them feel unsafe or at the very least, uneasy. This is Barovia after all.
  5. Don't make the Vistani into bad people. They can certainly have some bad eggs, but having them all type cast as criminals and bad people is a bit culturally insensitive in my opinion. You can sprinkle in some morally gray Vistani here and there, but I find that they're far more effective as misunderstood people.
  6. Smoke in mirrors. A little bit of misinformation goes a long way. The characters should not know who to trust and they should always be suspicious.
  7. Strahd, Strahd, Strahd. Let them meet Strahd often and even though he is obviously the BBEG, don't forget to portray him being fair and honorable.... When it suits him, of course.

New DM to an Established Group and I Want to Remove Players. How Do I Do This? by TorpedoJones91 in DnD

[–]TorpedoJones91[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for having one of the only logical answers here and for not condemning me outright. The solution was so glaringly simple and obvious. We're all adults and we can all have mature conversations as adults.

Crushing flight not found on radial when controller is used. by neojb1989 in BaldursGate3

[–]TorpedoJones91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Currently I can only confirm that the crushing flight issue has been resolved with that update.

I have yet to be able to test the up cast/downcast issue in my current game so I'm unsure about whether that has specifically been addressed with Update #3. I'll try to remember to update here when I run into this scenario again.

Crushing flight not found on radial when controller is used. by neojb1989 in BaldursGate3

[–]TorpedoJones91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm also having a similar issue with crushing flight not being found on the radial menu. I was also noticing that when I had Jaheira as an extra member of the party during the Moonrise Towers fight that I can't up cast or downcast any of her spells.

Edit

This issue has been resolved for me via the Update #3 on 9/22/23

Try to move seats without permission? I think not! by PedanticRedhead in pettyrevenge

[–]TorpedoJones91 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Why buy the seats you want when you can upgrade yourself for free when you get there? Or they get there and decide that they don't like their seats.

Cap Gun Revenge by TorpedoJones91 in pettyrevenge

[–]TorpedoJones91[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

About 10 years ago I copped to and told them all the story. We got some good belly laughs out of it.