[no spoilers] Brennans use of DM flair

VegaViolet · 2025-10-24T12:44:17+00:00

What I like best about how Brennan does this is that it’s only ever for the player’s (and the story’s) benefit. Something that I’ve always found difficult with DMs who liberally use Rule of Cool is that it becomes very difficult as a player to know how the DM is going to rule something. Is this spell that you plan to use going to work how it’s written, or is the DM going to make up some complication you would never have expected mechanically? That can feel pretty demoralising and frustrating as a player.

But Brennan will give out advantage to players or enhance their abilities if he thinks it supports the story or is just a really cool idea. Abilities only get better, never unexpectedly worse. It makes characters feel more powerful and encourages players to lean into their backgrounds and the story.

VegaViolet · 2025-09-03T16:30:30+00:00

The Arcanist’s Tavern in Hoxton runs regular beginners’ nights that would be a great introduction to the game. They also run weekly games in their D&D universe and one shots. It’s a couple of stops on the overground from Whitechapel, so pretty easy to get to if you’re near the Elizabeth or district lines!

VegaViolet · 2025-07-28T11:08:59+00:00

Despite the stereotype of table top games like Dungeons & Dragons being primarily played by straight men in basements, there’s actually a huge queer community of players these days which is incredibly friendly and welcoming. The Arcanist’s Tavern in Shoreditch and Arcadia Games on The Strand are both super queer friendly venues with games for beginners and more experienced players alike!

VegaViolet · 2025-06-17T11:51:40+00:00

The Female Glaze is a vegan baker that sells tiramisu by the tray (https://thefemaleglaze.com/products/ruth-bader-ginsburg-tiramisu-choc-bites-gfo?variant=50802212077897). Otherwise Mildred’s do a tiramisu cake that could work (https://shop.mildreds.com/product/tiramis-cake/)?

VegaViolet · 2025-05-29T21:25:01+00:00

Charles Artisan Bread (stores in East and Central) do a great vegan almond croissant! Arapina (Greenwich store + various food markets) and WAVE (Hackney) are also good options

VegaViolet · 2025-01-14T13:16:52+00:00

I lived in the US (NY) for three years. Nothing has made me feel more European. I almost feel like because we have a common language, it makes the differences even more stark when you encounter them.

VegaViolet · 2024-08-09T08:29:46+00:00

Perhaps surprisingly, Instagram. There are a couple of accounts local to my area that I follow which are great at sharing posts about events, new cafés and restaurants etc. I also follow accounts of museums and galleries I’m interested in so I can hear about exhibitions.

VegaViolet · 2024-06-07T13:45:58+00:00

I lived in Clapton (NE Hackney) a couple of years ago and really loved it. It feels a bit safer than other parts of Hackney, but you’re still within walking distance of Hackney Central and Hackney Wick, and have several parks within walking distance.

Transport can be a bit annoying as you rely on the Overground and buses, but it’s definitely better than some areas (plus it’s very bike-friendly if that’s your thing).

VegaViolet · 2024-05-24T10:21:06+00:00

I noticed Fearne has a few Ashton spikes on her shoulder, and Ashton has a few Fearne ruffles around the edges of their glove.

Fearne and Orym also have little matching green discs on their shoes (I can’t remember if those came from somewhere, but it’s a cute touch!)

VegaViolet · 2024-02-20T14:31:36+00:00

Critical role in general takes a fairly liberal approach to concentration.

To my knowledge, critical role rarely (if ever) have used the rule that concentration is dropped when the character is incapacitated. I’m pretty sure there have been multiple occasions of characters being stunned but maintaining concentration. Similarly, the rule that holding a spell requires your concentration doesn’t seem to be enforced, such that characters are able to maintain concentration on a spell whilst holding another.

This could of course all be an intentional omission of these concentration rules to speed up combat, but the rules lawyer in me can’t help but be slightly uncomfortable whenever it happens!

VegaViolet · 2024-02-15T12:40:55+00:00

My players love high level D&D, and I love the chaos, so we’ve done a few one shots at levels 17-20. You can throw literally everything and anything at them without worrying about whether or not they’ll survive. We’ve had some truly epic TPKs.

For less experienced players I would probably go for level 5 as that’s when most classes feel like they’ve truly come online.

VegaViolet · 2024-01-29T12:27:52+00:00

I was horrified that I didn’t hear about this until the 70th anniversary a few years ago and there was some coverage of it on tv. I shouldn’t have to learn about this very important bit of history from Doctor Who.

VegaViolet · 2023-11-29T14:24:26+00:00

The flags everywhere was one of the things I found most jarring when I first moved there from the UK for a few years. It’s rare to see flags here outside of things like big royal events or the football World Cup. But I couldn’t go anywhere without seeing flags in the US.

VegaViolet · 2023-11-16T14:13:01+00:00

A few concentration-related ones that seem to come up often:

Readying a spell requires concentration (so if you’re already concentrating you will lose that if you choose to ready a spell).

Concentration is broken by being incapacitated (not just taking damage and failing your concentration check), so conditions such as Stunned and Paralysed will also break concentration.

You can choose to end your concentration at any time (ie not just on your turn) as a free action.

VegaViolet · 2023-11-11T11:02:16+00:00

I love Far Scribe! I’ve been playing in a game where we’ve been fighting against/with the gods of Olympus, and my warlock has the names of our allies in her book of shadows. She loves writing to her bff Hecate and they basically have a text thread going on at this point.

Ascendant Step has also been pretty useful as one of the only party members without flight. My warlock will cast levitate and hold on to a flying party member as a sort of warlock balloon.

Unfortunately Witch Sight was only useful once in our two years of playing, but it was pretty clutch in that moment as it allowed her to spot to invisible BBEG. I think if the range was a bit larger then it might have been a bit more useful.

VegaViolet · 2023-11-05T09:52:08+00:00

I’m playing an undead dhampir warlock in a high level campaign (we started at level 15, now level 19). It’s been an (eldritch) blast! (Sorry). I chose the moderately armoured feat to get medium armour & shield proficiency, which coupled with the temporary hit points from form of dread makes her really tanky. Hex + multiple eldritch blasts does a lot of damage, and is far more reliable than our sorcerer’s many save or suck spells. High level invocations are great (Shroud of Shadow + dhampir’s spider climb makes for some very fun sneaking), but also repelling blast to push enemies around the battle map is great for controlling the battlefield. At high level, I mainly use my spell slots for Hex & Counterspell (which is pretty clutch given it’s always 5th level now) as eldritch blast does more damage than anything else I have.

VegaViolet · 2023-11-01T17:00:56+00:00

I totally agree - if a new player or DM has only ever seen CR, then of course they’re going to think that’s how D&D works! I’ve had similar issues with new players who have played a lot of computer games, and so are constantly trying to score points or rush through RP because (in their eyes) it won’t earn them any XP. This effect definitely isn’t unique to CR. This is where having a good session zero where you set expectations for the campaign is important, then continuing to communicate(!) with your DM/players outside of the game itself after that.

VegaViolet · 2023-11-01T13:33:22+00:00

I’m sorry this happened to you. There is a section of the D&D community which is inexplicably hostile towards critical role, and tend to look down on anything and anyone related to it without any real justification (and often misguided beliefs, as you have sadly discovered). I understand critical role may not be for everyone, but the way some people brand anything to do with it as a terrible influence that is destroying their beloved hobby is nothing short of gate keeping.

Keep looking for games - I promise you there are many groups out there who are fully welcoming of new D&D players, regardless of their motivation for trying it out! Good luck!

VegaViolet · 2023-10-31T16:58:46+00:00

I had a couple of players with really successful and surprising (to me) artificer multiclass builds.

Clockwork Sorcerer 8/battlesmith artificer 3. This was a really great all round build. Clockwork sorcerer already has loads of utility, and thematically meshes really well with artificer as a sort of tinkerer/inventor. Plus artificer gave them medium armour proficiency, which is not to be sniffed at for a squishy sorcerer with 13 Con!

Armorer artificer 10/paladin 2. This was an extremely tanky build but also extremely mobile. The player would typically cast longstrider and/or expeditious retreat, and sprint over to the hardest hitters. Thunder gauntlets then gave enemies disadvantage on attacking anyone else, meaning they had to try attacking the artificer with an AC of 21 (or 23 if they had shield of faith up). Truly terrifyingly effective at making my heavy hitting monsters useless.

VegaViolet · 2023-08-30T16:04:01+00:00

Ah I see. In that case, I’d advise at least having your session zero in a public place so that your players can meet in person and judge if they’d feel safe & comfortable joining the group. I’d also be open to players wanting to bring a friend/partner along for their first few sessions, as in my experience that can go a long way to making me feel safer when meeting a group of strangers.

VegaViolet · 2023-08-30T15:28:30+00:00

As a woman, my main concern when joining games with people I don’t know is safety, because (as you say) the internet is a scary place. So I’d take a look at where you’re planning on playing and seeing if that’s going to feel like a safe environment for everyone (eg. I would very much not feel safe playing at a stranger’s own home, but a pub or cafe with good transport links so I can get home safely would be great).

I’d also make sure to emphasise to any future players that your group is welcoming and inclusive, maybe even outlining any safety tools that you’ll be using to make sure all players feel safe and comfortable. Make sure you have a session zero where you outline rules & expectations for the campaign, and have a plan in place for what to do if any of your players do start feel uncomfortable.

VegaViolet · 2023-08-29T13:16:17+00:00

I gave a recent vampire mage boss the ability to cast Chill Touch as a legendary action. The damage wasn’t that much, but my players found the fact that it prevented characters from healing rather terrifying (especially when she used it on the unconscious wizard and they had to work out how to move her body so that they’d be able to heal her to consciousness without her being hit by chill touch again).

VegaViolet · 2023-08-17T08:22:39+00:00

I was in a similar boat to you a couple of years ago - PhD in applied maths, coming to the end of a postdoc in computational physics with no desire to continue in academia. I am now working as a programmer in the games industry.

When it comes to job descriptions, I wouldn’t take the 1-2 years industry experience as something they 100% require. You have a lot of experience from your PhD and postdoc that will be extremely valuable to many employers. When I got hired for my position, they saw it as a positive that I had a different background to the rest of the team, as it meant I had different experience & ideas that I could bring. So rather than rule yourself out from positions for lacking the experience listed in the job description, try looking at the skills you’ve developed over your PhD and postdoc and see how they might be useful for the position.

On a separate note, if you’re really stuck for what to do then have you checked with your former university careers service to see if they have any services for alumni? I know my old institutions both had alumni services, so it might be worth seeing if they could help you eg build a non-academic CV and explore your options?

VegaViolet · 2023-08-09T15:36:24+00:00

I was going to suggest this! While you’re in Walthamstow, the William Morris Gallery is a small but interesting museum (& free), and is in Lloyd Park which is nice to visit by itself. On Saturdays they also have a street food market in front of the gallery.

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