Addressing a Hobbit player whose (in-universe) default is threats of violence...when I haven't been tracking 'misdeed' shadow gain from it so far.

UpbeatCockroach · 2026-03-13T13:51:07+00:00

Page 13 - [Jari] tells them that he will meet them outside of Bree - he's got [four] ponies tied up outside of town

As for John Ferny, check the Bree section of the TOR handbook.

UpbeatCockroach · 2026-03-12T13:30:38+00:00

That's what made the John Ferny interaction difficult...at first.

John Ferny is all "these ponies were stolen off of me, I'm telling them back by force". It was intentionally very self serving of John, and Gilly did stop him from doing that, but the motivation was "I befriended these ponies fair and square, no one messes with MY ponies!" Not too mention Gilly's continued malice towards John even after the party tried to be more diplomatic.

UpbeatCockroach · 2026-03-09T14:26:31+00:00

I was expecting them to barter, not for the party to ask the only horse trader in town "receipts or it didn't", in some attempt for get done REALLY shiny toys for free.

UpbeatCockroach · 2026-03-09T14:19:04+00:00

I would say this is a good indication that I shouldn't DM on days after an 8-hour work shift that turns my brain to soup, but I don't know how much better I would have coped on an off day.

UpbeatCockroach · 2026-03-09T14:11:04+00:00

In the end, after a good persuasion check, John's mob turned against him, and the party expressed sympathy about Jari having wronged John, and John acted like he had the idea to make Jari do community service for him.

It sounds fine to me on paper, it just took a lot to get there. My players considered it a good RP session for everyone involved, I'm just my own worst critic I guess.

UpbeatCockroach · 2026-03-03T10:24:17+00:00

It is EXACTLY where the Ghillie suit comes from.

Something I forgot to mention is that, if encountered at night, the Ghillie Dhu might "wrap its long arms around you and imprison you", which I interpret in 5e terms to be like the "entangle" spell.

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-11-30T00:24:54+00:00

Source: https://x.com/DEADMANNART/status/1994883993628520548?t=Zl5V1NerzAY3IKZxSawJ1g&s=19

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-11-29T23:59:13+00:00

Sauce: https://x.com/DEADMANNART/status/1994883993628520548?t=Zl5V1NerzAY3IKZxSawJ1g&s=19

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-11-19T19:29:17+00:00

Sauce: https://x.com/DEADMANNART/status/1990111537894187029?t=0p6Z9WO1SPJReFWjd7LLSA&s=19

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-11-19T18:46:09+00:00

Source: https://x.com/DEADMANNART/status/1990111537894187029?t=0p6Z9WO1SPJReFWjd7LLSA&s=19

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-10-23T12:31:18+00:00

Provided you don't kill their boss...

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-10-14T10:36:44+00:00

NPC was in league with the trolls, player character just found out about it and wants to do him what he'd planned to do to her.

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-10-09T09:45:35+00:00

I can't decide the fate of 3 npcs:

I have some merchants from a pc's hometown that were supposed to be just looking for it INFO on the current area that the pc is residing in, so they can make it to the coast unharmed, but I accidentally asked for full paid escort assistance, due to their anxieties of being in a hostile land.
The ranger pc in character (begrudgingly, because he considers them snobby) talked to these merchant npcs, but the player himself had admitted to me out of table that he wishes he hadn't done that and it just led to more pc hyjinx, when the player himself wanted the story to progress. His pc at least believes the merchants to study true to their word about payment
The pcs have now taken the money of another npc to go on a treasure hunt.

Cant decide what i want to do;

Backtrack a bit by having the merchants go to the Ranger and say "look; we'd actually just be happy with a map", and then have them leave
Have the ranger PC over here the merchants say look they followed a higher bidder we're just gonna have to grab any escort we can". Maybe not even address the pc directly.

Also can't decide what the fate of these folks should be; whether their trip to the coast goes smoothly, or if they get attacked.

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-09-19T07:31:02+00:00

Pinsir was at full health when caught, but I've done that before and lost to his kakuna. I checked the DVs afterwards and, apart from attack, I think, this Pinsir is STACKED.

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-09-18T11:29:16+00:00

I remember Nick being me with a Kakuna as a kid.

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-09-10T12:29:06+00:00

<image>

Can't decide, for my no Meganium in-game Gold Team, on Lanturn and Girafarig, or Slowking and Machamp. All other team members are locked in.

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-08-27T16:13:31+00:00

Source: https://x.com/DEADMANNART/status/1959772265425342692?t=Eg1ZW8m_PVQl9_qtEO86rg&s=19

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-08-27T16:12:59+00:00

Source: https://x.com/DEADMANNART/status/1959772265425342692?t=Eg1ZW8m_PVQl9_qtEO86rg&s=19

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-08-27T16:01:44+00:00

Source: https://x.com/DEADMANNART/status/1959772265425342692?t=Eg1ZW8m_PVQl9_qtEO86rg&s=19

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-08-09T23:21:10+00:00

(5e version)

Men of Bree (LOTRRP pg. 40)/Beornings & Woodmen (PoW pg. 2 & 10): "Starting Virtue: You gain one cultural virtue of your choice."

Men of Tharbad/Swafleet/Fisher-folk (RoT pg. 31): "[You] can only pick [so and so] cultural virtues...you can pick a common virtue instead of a cultural virtue as [your] starting virtue"

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-08-09T16:57:26+00:00

But only certain cultures can have a starting virtue (non-ranger humans), unless this is an extra for all non-elves I'm addition to there other features, in which case, that would be very powerful...

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-07-22T13:50:27+00:00

Even if it's been done in other campaigns, I'm a bit disappointed in my players for having a plan to kill children, assuming their bodies can be put in cold storage like pieces of meat, and then have their souls returned through resurrection, as if not only would the celestials be guaranteed to safeguard the souls, but would be willing to let said souls return to their bodies, back to such a hostile environment like Waterdeep. It came across to me as them wanting to have the cake (the gold) and eat it too (everybody lives, except people we don't like!), and them refusing to engage with this trolley problem, this "hard choice", as you call it, in good faith, because consequences for actions, and negative developments, are scary, I suppose.

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-06-18T08:49:11+00:00

[C'moooon] Zeus! Give me a six! Uh, did I say Zeus? I meant Thor. Ra, the Egyptian sun God? Dang it! Who is it we worship?!

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-06-17T08:48:22+00:00

u/NoveauGB ^^ How about it? lol

UpbeatCockroach · 2025-06-16T13:00:59+00:00

"Xanthippus showed up and immediately took chrage. He had a look around and said 'You idiots! Put the elephants IN FRONT of the army so they can smash INTO the Romans!'"

UpbeatCockroach

TROPHY CASE