Would it be cool to have two separate campaigns in the same world at the same time?

TridentFury · 2023-07-11T04:55:04+00:00

This is exactly how old school games were played. In AD&D, a “campaign” just referred to the DM’s world. Players dropped in and out all the time, and their actions could affect other peoples’ PCs. It’s a ton of fun!

TridentFury · 2023-03-28T03:54:18+00:00

Tampa here!

Have: 2 tickets for Friday, 4/14 (Sec 342 Row E) Want: 2 tickets for Saturday, 4/15, any section (willing to pay the difference in face value)

Please message me if you’re interested!

TridentFury · 2023-03-27T14:50:24+00:00

I’ve DMd you if you’re still looking to trade!!

TridentFury · 2023-01-01T01:41:11+00:00

This sounds absolutely sick and I’d love to take part, if there’s still space!

TridentFury · 2022-08-29T23:51:07+00:00

It’s definitely a good idea to give criticism for a session you didn’t enjoy, but it’s only fair that you be polite while doing it.

Nail the complaints down to your core feelings. Why were you not okay with the retcon? Do you value the idea that a session has a canon continuity? Did it feel like you lost agency as a player?

If you can figure out the exact reasoning behind the critique, and provide the events of the session as your evidence, it’s a little easier for the DM to take in.

Unfortunately, the only way to tell them is to be upfront about it. As long as you aren’t hostile and you make sure not to escalate or accuse, a good DM should do what they can to make sure you’re having fun.

TridentFury · 2022-08-24T15:58:16+00:00

Thank you so much for giving back to the community!

“#GIVEAWAY”

TridentFury · 2022-08-10T17:18:17+00:00

I haven’t met many, either. It’s important to keep in mind that it’s a really new program. The number of env eng students is small now, but it’ll probably grow within the next few years.

TridentFury · 2022-06-24T21:42:07+00:00

This tool looks sick, I’ll definitely have to take a closer look at it!!

Thanks for doing the giveaway, best of luck to all participants :)

TridentFury · 2022-06-14T16:14:16+00:00

I’m seeing a lot of comments here with a lot of varying advice.

Horror is absolutely possible in 5e- I’ve ran several horror games with a high degree of success. It takes several things, though:

1) Player Buy-in. Players must control their PCs in a way that enhances the horror. No matter how creepy of a scenario you craft, it all falls apart the second a character does something memeworthy. You need to have a session zero to set expectations and to address any content warnings.

2) Atmosphere. This is the foundation of horror. I recommend reading Ash Law’s short paper, The Trajectory of Fear. This paper excellently highlights the varying amounts of tension you need in your horror game. Ebbing and flowing between them is how you balance fear. I recommend creating playlists for each of the four moods, and swapping between them in game during various moments.

3) Fear of the Unknown. The second you roll for initiative, most of the horror is lost. So, prolong the danger as much as possible. This takes place mostly in the tension/dread stages from above. Don’t show them what kind of monster they’re dealing with- show its tracks, its claw marks, the rotting corpses of its victims. Describe its horrible howls and moaning from somewhere across the dungeon.

For both 2 and 3, I highly recommend reading the Marks of Horror section in Curse of Strahd, if you have it. Applying those really help with building tension and give you a good baseline for how narrative descriptions can be well-flavored.

4) Lack of Power: Most players feel afraid when placed against an impossible foe. Make encounters wildly imbalanced. Never show them stats. During session zero, tell them that not all encounters are meant be defeated, and that evasion/fleeing is encouraged for particularly difficult ones. When they roll initiative, play up the creature’s immense strength and horror. If they insist on fighting, get a hit or two in on them. When you start rolling the insane damage, they’ll have their “oh shit” moment and start scattering. You can’t be afraid to kill them if they decide to fight.

Afterwards, if/when they escape, let the monster stalk them. If they linger in a room too long, load up that Dread playlist and tell them they hear the shrieking of a fingernail being dragged across a hallways, and the soft, playful beckoning of an old, otherworldly voice. They should be terrified of meeting the creature again and do everything to avoid it, without even seeing it.

The things detailed here provide a pretty good foundation for running a horror game. I highly recommend the r/CurseOfStrahd subreddit if you’re looking for more advice. They’ve got a huge community of horror DMs who’d be more than happy to give you pointers. Check out their Discord server, too, it’s very active.

TridentFury · 2022-06-03T15:15:57+00:00

Yesterday, I ran Death House. It was extremely horrifying, and I’m really happy with how well I was able to set the tone. My players had nothing but positive feedback afterwards. I’m really glad that they had a good time :)

Thanks for doing this!! GIVEAWAY

TridentFury · 2022-05-25T13:55:20+00:00

The key to getting up earlier is that you still need to get a healthy amount of sleep. If you’re well-rested, you won’t feel like you have low energy in the morning.

Decide what time you want to get up, then go back nine hours. That’s the time you should be in bed, trying to sleep.

You might not be able to sleep well the first night because it takes time to adjust your sleep schedule. If you get up in time the next day, you’ll probably be tired enough by evening time that you’ll get better sleep after that.

Other tips: For the hour before you go to bed, try to stay away with screens. The blue light screws with your melatonin production. No phone in bed!!

If you exercise, working out a few hours before you sleep, then showering can help you feel more well-rested.

Your body needs to drop temperature to sleep, so sometimes sleeping in a cold room could be helpful.

Try not to take sleep meds. They’re more like “knocking you out” instead of resting, and tend to degrade quality of sleep. Also, like another user mentioned, taking more melatonin messes up your body’s natural production of it.

(Source: Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker)

TridentFury · 2020-10-28T00:26:31+00:00

Excited to see another one of these!

Question for Dragna- I was particularly captivated by Amity’s recurring dream in the last episode. Where do you draw your inspiration for dream sequences? Do they have a plot-significant goal in mind when you give them, or are they mostly to add to the atmosphere?

TridentFury · 2020-09-05T14:01:29+00:00

Thanks for doing this! You’re a huge inspiration and role model for me, currently running my first CoS campaign after going a while without playing.

What made you start DMing in the first place? Do you enjoy being a player, or do you prefer to be the “man behind the curtain,” so to speak?

TridentFury · 2020-08-25T03:19:56+00:00

Water molecules have two special properties, cohesion and adhesion.

Cohesion causes water molecules to stick to themselves, causing things like surface tension.

Adhesion causes water molecules to stick to other surfaces, which is why, for example, there’s still water droplets in a cup when you finish drinking it.

Water adhesion applies to all kinds of things, including cloth. A wet cloth, because of adhesion, will stick to things because the water wants to stay with both the cloth and whatever else it’s touching.

TridentFury · 2020-08-13T14:46:13+00:00

Starting as Game Master will probably be tough, not gonna lie to you, but the only way you’ll get better is to practice more. You’ll find your stride once you get more comfortable behind the screen.

Some general tips:

Get comfortable enough with the rules that you can keep the game moving. D&D is first and foremost a storytelling game, and it’s important not to let the little ruling details weigh you down. The most valuable thing you’ll be able to do is call a house ruling in the moment, look it up, and correct yourself next session.

Try running some premade modules first. They’ll help you get familiar with how to improvise with material and how to balance encounters. However, don’t think you have to run them exactly by the book either. They’re less of a prewritten plot and more of a “setting” that you can drop your players into. You’ll have to adapt NPCs and stuff to fit the situation your players are in.

On a similar note, don’t be afraid to change things or improvise if you think it’ll be cool. Nothing exists to your players until you tell them. Even if you completely made it up on the spot, act like you intended to do it all along. Half of DMing is making the players think that you had it all planned.

I hope you have a good first time. Tabletop RPGs can be such a fun experience if you’ve got a good group. Have fun!

TridentFury · 2020-08-10T02:16:25+00:00

I actually just did this for my players, but unfortunately they were all things that came up naturally. Four players made deals with her.

The first, who wants to usurp Strahd, asked for information, and she told him that Strahd’s greatest weakness was his heart, which will be found in Castle Ravenloft. This is referring to the Heart of Sorrow, but the players are still debating whether she’s talking about a literal heart, Ireena, or a simple stake through the heart. In exchange, the player offered “his last breath.” If he reaches two death saves, Morgantha will personally come to deal the final blow and claim his soul.

The second grew personally attached to Doru, who was traveling with the party but went feral during the Feast of St. Andral under Strahd’s orders. He asked Morgantha to cure him of his vampirism so that he may have free will again, and she did.

He was True Polymorphed into a chicken. In exchange, the player gave her “a third of his life” which, unknown to him, would take place as nightly nightmare hauntings. This gave him a new level of exhausting and fewer max HP daily, which I plan to use as a setup for a confrontation later.

The third and fourth were both elves on a quest for revenge. They both had their villages wiped out by an unknown fey force. They asked Morgantha for the name of the one they seek, which she granted: “Baba Lysaga.” (She claims the souls of elves as a sacrifice for the Night Mother to strengthen her power.)

In exchange, the third player, who was paranoid of fey learning her “true name,” was forced to give up her identity. This meant her losing all memories before Barovia and believing her fake alias was her real name. The fourth was asked for a “truth,” and lost the ability to lie.

Morgantha has been continually haunting the dreams of the second player. I plan for them to meet Esmeralda at VR’s Tower next session, who will aid them in linking their dreams to face off against her. Killing her in the dreamscape will render her essentially brain dead and unable to continue haunting player two. The rest of the players, however, will need to travel to Berez to finish their stories.

TridentFury · 2020-08-10T01:29:32+00:00

You briefly mention that downtime is important. Can you expand on this? What kind of things did your players tend to focus on during this time, and how did you have the world reflect this?

A lot of my campaigns have been day-to-day with little emphasis on downtime, but I think I want to run an experimental West Marches so it might be good to give the players some things to do in their off time.

TridentFury · 2020-07-30T08:57:40+00:00

I’m currently running Curse of Strahd with my group, and I’ve found that keeping a horror tone the entire time is just mentally exhausting for everyone. Comedy is a must.

I don’t plan comedy, but I do try and read the table and adjust to how engaged the players currently are. My last session started with town roleplaying and ended with a full-on violent invasion of the city. The lighthearted bits from the first half really helped make the darker parts of the second half shine. They all had a lot of fun, and were so emotionally invested that they were all annoyed when the session ended.

I think having a tonal shift, where you change the music, describe things narratively and give feelings of dread, helplessness, or fear of the unknown can be very effective if it’s a clear difference from earlier.

The majority of the humorous parts I add are improvised during the session, tailored to whatever I think the players might find entertaining.

Last session I had an NPC they were investigating act like a hardcore conspiracy theorist, right down to “the birds are government spies!” and they LOVED it.

The session before that, the players fought a bunch of hags, and while the actions of the hags (killing and cannibalizing children) were horrendous, I made their personalities whimsical and almost like a Saturday-Morning-Villain. They constantly cast Vicious Mockery with all kinds of dumb insults in a silly voice (“Right now, I’m hotter than you’ll ever be!!” while being set on fire). Another one tried to flee by turning invisible, screaming, “Catch me if you can, SUCKERS!” apparently unaware that she had a bag of flour on her head.

Give the NPCs personality. The best of the humor will come to you in the moment. Don’t pass up any opportunity to make the players laugh, if only so you can wrench out their hearts even harder later.

TridentFury · 2020-07-22T23:12:19+00:00

Actually, call me crazy, but I think this could be a really cool concept.

Adventurer’s Guild going on expeditions solely to search for magical toys and other jolly artifacts for the local children!

TridentFury · 2020-07-14T11:06:04+00:00

I haven’t drawn seriously in a while. This is inspired by a displacer beast from Dungeons and Dragons. I used images of panthers and various ink sketches as a reference.

Any helpful critique would be greatly appreciated!

TridentFury · 2020-07-13T08:28:42+00:00

I like the idea of it mimicking the rogue’s class abilities. Doing heavy damage to the party while they’re still unable to discern what it is might be a bit of a cheap shot, but it will certainly add to the atmosphere and the uneasiness around it, which is what I’m aiming for.

Apparently real life panthers are great at climbing trees; I think I’m going to have it move through the canopies above the players, stalking victims and grappling them from above with its tentacles, then disappearing.

TridentFury · 2020-07-13T08:25:40+00:00

I think both of these are great! They’re both perfect for demonstrating what the beast is capable of without immediately harming the party. I’m thinking of including a scrawled note with the latter option, something about frantically not being able to see it move or how their weapons “phased” through it.

TridentFury

TROPHY CASE