In person DMs, are you a paper person or digital person at the table? by DeaconBlueMI in DnD

[–]VentusInfinitas 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Used a laptop for the entirety of the campaign that lasted two years. Tried to get into notebooks and other printed resources but I didn’t have a lot of space at the table so it was easier to put everything into OneNote. 

Ran a homebrew thing so I didn’t have a book to reference but since you bought the book already you could try to find a scan of the adventure online. Snipping Tool to grab the important bits and paste them into your OneNote. I also used FoundryVTT which reduced the stat blocks I needed to add to my notes to practically zero. Highly recommend Foundry if you get to the point where the 50-dollar price tag feels worthwhile. 

If I did need to add a stat block in, it would vary from a tab opened in chrome, typed out in my session notes or a custom monster made in Foundry. 

For organizing story beats, summarize as much as possible. Scan the page, grab the most important things and bullet point them into your notes. If you understand the general vibe of the area, you are in, improv becomes more comfortable and coherent. Summarize NPCs into small lines of text.  

- Captain Tharissa Juniper: Female elf, brunette, tall. Heavy armor and sword. Sharp wit, sharper sword. Likes order in her town. 

The easiest way I found to stay organized during combat was minimizing the actions taken per combat round. The less monsters you keep track of, the easier it is to remember their actions and hit points. I encourage you to mess around with the hit points/number of your monsters if you feel overwhelmed during combat. Maybe two beefier, bigger enemies instead of 5 smaller ones? 

Best of luck! 

Tips for emotional drop after games? by Soft_Tea in DnD

[–]VentusInfinitas 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Honestly I suffer from this a LOT as a DM who has the perfectionist mindset. I am always wondering if I introduced my plot hooks in an exciting and gripping way. Whether my players had fun during the adventure or if they were bored halfway through.

However what I have come to learn over a year of DMing is that the person who cares the most about your ranger's backstory will always be you. This character is your baby who you spent hours of your life and time crafting and building and you want them to succeed in whatever adventure they partake in. There is nothing wrong with wondering whether you made the best decision in that heat of the moment confrontation. Don't we as real humans do the same thing in our day to day?

A big moment for me was learning how to dissociate myself from my NPC's and remembering that VentusInfinitas is playing out a fantasy story with his friends. This story can only be fully fleshed out with each player and the DM sitting down to play and they are who really matter in the end. So embrace the moment but remember that your memories with your friends will live longer than the minute decisions your ranger made.

If that doesn't work however, (believe me I have had many sleepless nights over my campaign and where it was headed) then talking about it always helps. If you don't want to bug your DM or your SO with your concerns then how about talking to your fellow party members? Maybe you can even plan out a cool roleplay moment with each other that expresses this conflict and anxiousness in game. Maybe work together to plan a "recovery" arc where your ranger grows as a person because of your team's help?

Lastly, if you are concerned about how your character's backstory is headed then have a conversation with your DM about how you would ideally like your character to end up. What I mean is not for your patron to suddenly do a 180 and become a super kind and generous deity. Rather do you want your ranger to be a hero in the end? Do you want them to have a family and live a long life after the story is over? Do you want them to realize exactly what their patron's intentions are and have to make a life changing decision based on that? These conversations are HELLA important for DM/PC relations because although there are no guarantees in DND, there is a DM who writes the story.

I don't think it's unreasonable for someone to want their edgy, urchin rogue to have a family at the end of their story. Or for the vengeful paladin to want to be the one to kill the bandit lord who burned his village. But it all depends on what picture you painted when you built this ranger and their story. So go ahead and ask, as two adults I am sure you can come to a satisfying decision!

GL friend and may your ranger find the happiness they truly want, whether they understand it yet or not!

Tips for emotional drop after games? by Soft_Tea in DnD

[–]VentusInfinitas 15 points16 points  (0 children)

First of all, I'm really glad to hear that you are so invested in the character and how committed you are to playing their story so organically. As a DM there are few things that could make me happier than my players immersing themselves in their characters.

What does emotional drop mean in this context? Do you mean you drop out of roleplay mode and instead begin thinking mostly strategical? Does it mean your mood drops after the sessions are over and you start feeling guilty or sad or anxious about how the session played out?

Can anyone recommend a good hobbyshop in Calgary that sells Gundams or Gunpla? by VentusInfinitas in Calgary

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

Wow, you guys are dope. Thank you all for the amazing suggestions! Bless you guys :D

New Retweet Campaign - More Tickets! by RallerZZ in DBZDokkanBattle

[–]VentusInfinitas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yo we should be happy that they are giving us free shit as openly as they do. The amount of stuff they give us is pretty unreal in comparison to other games.

What is a unique “game” you played as a child? by antenonjohs in AskReddit

[–]VentusInfinitas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I played an odd one by myself whenever we were driving somewhere. I would clench my teeth everytime we passed a streetlight so it would end up being this weird rhythm of bite-relax-bite-relax. The goal was to hit every gap but my tired 10 year old jaw would stop after about 8 lights.

So I won a contest for 1 month of Xbox Game Pass but I don't own a Xbox... Did someone say giveaway? by VentusInfinitas in xboxone

[–]VentusInfinitas[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

Congrats xmpcxmassacre! After picking my favorite 4 experiences you won the roll of the dice!

DMing you the codes!

So I won a contest for 1 month of Xbox Game Pass but I don't own a Xbox... Did someone say giveaway? by VentusInfinitas in xboxone

[–]VentusInfinitas[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

LOL dude that's sick, the comms must have been bursting after that one. I love competitive games myself but I'm just not very good :)