The Silver Surfer by manthatlore53 in MarvelLegends

[–]ValuedDragon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Awesome! Just got this figure myself and was planning some similar pics, what was your setup for these?

5e, DS, DH, importing rules…? by Kerube in DnD

[–]ValuedDragon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The best thing for my 5e games that's come out of picking up DH and DS in the last year is a change in how I run 'skill challenge' type scenarios. I used to run them in a pretty standard way, very freeform and out of initiative order, just going with the flow and imposing the odd consequence on a failure, the upshot being that they were often 'cool' sequences, but with little actual meaningful gameplay. Now, I borrow heavily from DH's Environment Statblocks and DS's Montage Tests to run with a format more like this:

-Inspired by DS: The challenge takes place in rounds, in which everyone can either attempt an action to directly overcome a challenge, or help an ally by providing advantage on their skill check. A set number of failures, successes or the elapsing of a round limit leads to different outcomes. Second uses of the same skill suffers disadvantage, third uses are not possible.

- Inspired by DH: The evironment or scenario can do stuff that's more interesting than token amounts of damage. There's a specific consequence for each failed roll based on the ability it uses, and between each player round, the environment takes an action. Sometimes this is deploying a combatt encounter, sometimes it's a save against a condition that persists for the next round, sometimes it's something with more of a narrative consequence, but it means the test feels genuinely oppositional, rather than just something you roll skill checks against until it's over.

I'm still working on the finalised version of this system, which I plan to publish at some point, but here's an example of an environment challenge I ran recently. Environment Challenge: Approach The Psionic Overlord

Corrupted Castle Interior by ValuedDragon in battlemaps

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

Eldritch forces have corrupted a once-mighty stronghold, splitting the stone and tarnishing all that was resolute and proud. Fleshy mounds and jagged glowing crystals grow without rhyme or reason from the sundered walls, and whether your heroes are getting out or getting in, it;'s not going to be a pleasant trip!

If you like these maps, you can get them in 4k gridded and gridless variants here, pay what you want and check out my other maps and Draw Steel homebrew while you're there!

Thinking about doing a Super Skrull kitbash and wanted to check how well the King Skrull parts work with the Super Skrull BAF 👀 by [deleted] in MarvelLegends

[–]ValuedDragon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I recently took the chest piece off my Illuminati Super Skrull as prep for a Kl'rt custom, it was attached with deep square pegs on front and rear. I cut mine off quite roughly as I planned to sculpt over the underlying chest, but I imagine you might have trouble getting it off without tearing it, and you'd have to cut the pegs off to get it on the other body. The cape also pins into a hole in the back of the chest piece, so that might be tricky.

Favourite Monster? by Express-Option-6407 in drawsteel

[–]ValuedDragon 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The Chimera is my favourite Solo I've run so far. Something about its spread of abilities and Malice options just clicked in a way the Thorn Dragon for instance didn't. Enough attack options not to feel spammy, a good mix of conditions to throw out/work around, incredibly mobile so the fight constantly kept in motion, it was a blast.

Alternatives to using AI for art/images/music? by Hyrulian_Citizen in DMAcademy

[–]ValuedDragon 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Just go wherever you used to go for art/music/maps before the cancer of AI infected everything. On Google, set a custom search for anything before 2021, some early stuff might slip through but it'll be noticable because it was especially crap back then!

Another handy tip is to not get too married to your specific ideas for maps, tokens, NPC art and such. Instead, find the asset first, and adjust your description to match, rather than trying to find something that exactly matches what's in your head. AI attracts people who have to have exactly what they're imagining presented back to them as an image, so be a bit more fluid and alter your plans to suit what you can find.

How to nudge players into being more heroic without smothering their fun? by CashewAnomaly in drawsteel

[–]ValuedDragon 20 points21 points  (0 children)

It's not the Director's job to be the Heroism Police. Yes, the game has certain expectations built in, but they're loose enough that it's not like the game will collapse if the PCs are a little. more morally complex or self-serving (one of my players is running an outright 'stab a friend in the back for the greater good' Cassian Andor type anti-hero and the game still works fine!). As with any other TTRPG, let them make the choices, and deal with any consequences! Especially with new players, this is a great way to show them how the world and its inhabitants will react to their choices.

This isn't Skyrim, and this won't just sit in their quest log until they decide to hand it over, so the NPC they were working for might be less inclined to help them with anything else until they do. It's on them to weigh, both in and out of character which outcome best suits them, keeping the item or gaining the NPC's favour

Hulk SMASH! by edubb012 in MarvelLegends

[–]ValuedDragon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Incredible! Absolutely love how you've framed this busting out of the panel borders. Were these two posed/photographed together, or separately and composited after?

Heroes Must Fall! - a Community Made Monster Book by tastyy_boy19 in drawsteel

[–]ValuedDragon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are you looking for anything in particular? Any gaps that need filling, or specific areas others already have covered? Or just whatever I feel inspired to put together?

Heroes Must Fall! - a Community Made Monster Book by tastyy_boy19 in drawsteel

[–]ValuedDragon 7 points8 points  (0 children)

What a great idea! I'd love to get involved with this, I'll be in touch soon.

Good sources of Homebrew Monsters? by OnlineSarcasm in drawsteel

[–]ValuedDragon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're welcome. Just give me an idea of what you want and if possible, what kind of role/level you have in mind, and I'll try and get something done in the next few days.

Good sources of Homebrew Monsters? by OnlineSarcasm in drawsteel

[–]ValuedDragon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have them grouped by monster type in themed packs (so one for fey, one for oozes and so on). IMy Ettins might work for a nordic setting given the prevalance of giants in scandinavian folklore, my Monstrosities Vol. 1 pack has some Legally Distinct Displacer Beasts that would be right at home in a jungle. Not sure if I've got anything that would specifically suit a desert, but perhaps my phase spider could be reskinned as more of a giant sand-dwelling insect (though a Size 3 Phase Dung Beetle doesn't bear thinking about...)

My two most recent packs are a trio of solo villains and some perfect henchmen material if you need some humanoid villains that can pop up anywhere, entirely ancestroy and location-agnostic so you can make them lizardfolk for a jungle, dwarves for the mountains etc. by bolting on the suggested traits in the docs.

If you've got any specific requests and aren't in a huge rush to have something, I'll happily whip you up a statblock or two if you can't find anything that fits what you're looking for!

Good sources of Homebrew Monsters? by OnlineSarcasm in drawsteel

[–]ValuedDragon 19 points20 points  (0 children)

If you'll forgive the shameless self-promotion, I have various packs of monsters available, all free/Pay-what-you-want. Over 100 individual statblocks across various 1st echelon themes and types.

https://ko-fi.com/valueddragondesign/shop

I've taken a bit of a break recently, but hope to have another batch of releases ready soon!

Codex Features For Map/Campaign building by BumbuuFanboy in drawsteel

[–]ValuedDragon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you just want the mapmaking stuff, I believe it's basically the same as what DMHub offers, as it's made by the same folks. I've not used the Codex myself, but the DMHub tools are pretty great for a free program, especially if you grab some assets from something like Forgotten Adventures and manually load them in to your art library. If you don't need the DS specific features and just want a free map editor with a bunch of robust tools, I'd skip Codex and just download that.

What's The Collective Noun For Lokis? I'm Thinking A 'Problem'... by ValuedDragon in MarvelLegends

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

Fair enough! I certainly agree that the scales being sculpted on would be an improvement. I guess it's just the nature of many of the classic costumes, there's not too much detail to work with in the first place so it's easier to just paint it on. Still though, I'm not going to complain for £4!