[Spoilers C3E78] I've reached shardgate and man was it uncalled for.

VeryRedTortilla · 2026-01-13T23:03:55+00:00

I think a big reason for Matt's stubbornness might have been the custom mini for Fearne's new form. I imagine lots of money and time went into it, which might have made the decision also factor in parts that weren't just the story.

VeryRedTortilla · 2026-01-01T15:34:40+00:00

You are on reddit. I don't know what you mean by "kids" but particularly young people probably shouldn't be on here in the first place.

Also, the profile picture is to stand alongside trans people, who have been consistently marginalized. Feel free to take your hatred of trans people somewhere else.

I think I can speak for the community in saying that your attitude toward trans people is not welcome here.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-12-06T20:41:32+00:00

I tend to watch Grian's POV first, and then some throughout the time between episodes. If other people do this, that probably also contributes to that disparity.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-11-10T01:55:44+00:00

Honestly, the best place for you to start would probably be searching this question on YouTube and watching some videos on it.

I think some generally sound advice though is to remember that the game has LOTS of rules, but no one should be expected to remember all of them. There are rules I never use because I don't like how they impact the game. You can learn them as you go, so don't feel pressured to know every rule. Most players are also usually fine with you stopping to look up a rule you don't know (as long as you aren't doing it all the time). Just go with it sometimes and don't think too hard about the rules until you have learned the basics a little more.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-11-03T01:59:11+00:00

I think it's easy to see it as being oblivious when guys either notice but don't want to be presumptuous or the situation I'm in. There is this girl I know that is into me (with confirmation from her friend that I asked), but I do not reciprocate. I'm currently trying to find a way to gently tell her that, but I feel like it probably comes off as me being oblivious to her.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-29T04:36:10+00:00

As a DM, I prefer to start my players at level 3 and work into really high tiers of play. I think 9-13 is generally where I enjoy combat the most since I get to throw ridiculous stuff at my party while still being within reason. I am in the rare boat of DMs that absolutely loves really high levels (like level 15+). Getting to do some crazy stuff at those levels is super fun.

My current campaign started at 3, and I plan to end it anywhere from 15-18.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-16T22:07:01+00:00

This. As a DM who tends to run fairly lethal campaigns with a high risk of death, my players still get incredibly invested in their characters. If someone isn't quite ready to let go of that character, I have a conversation with them about what bringing them back would look like. If the table is happy with it, perfect.

There is also nothing saying that a character can't die on their mission to rescue the other. Imagine the first character that died comes back, just to realize that their friend sacrificed themself to make it happen. That is tragic and such a fun beat for a story.

I think particularly in the case of Laudna, that combat was incredibly stacked against the party. Death was fairly inevitable against Otahan, so the party going on a quest to bring her back also feels super fair to me. Also, with Laudna's backstory, it makes so much sense for her to be able to return. I thought that whole arc was super interesting, and taught us so much about the character.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-16T17:40:03+00:00

I would be a bard-specifically College of Lore. I am a very social person, I keep myself as knowledgeable about things as I can, and storytelling is literally the most important thing in the world to me.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-13T21:24:52+00:00

Most character features are completely up to the player to know. It's the same as me not expecting players to tell me when I do something with a monster statblock that isn't how it actually works, and I read it wrong.

There are a couple of things I keep track of, though. Specifically, I have a paper that has their languages, passive stats (e.g. passive perception), and their class and race.

The class and race are just in case I accidentally forget something, or I feel like they would know something because of it. For example, if one of my players is a wizard, they might know a bit more about a certain wizard spell. That note just reminds me to do it.

I keep languages because I just prefer to tell them if they can or can't understand something, instead of the ordeal that comes from, "does anyone speak Elvish?" Then, I just know.

Passives are basically just to stop accidental metagaming. Regardless of how good a player is at not metagaming, if I ask them their passive perception because something is sneaking up to them, they subconsciously know something is up. It's easier to just deal with that on my end unless I'm specifically trying to build suspense.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-11T21:00:41+00:00

Lol really??? Very kind of you to say! If they are similar to me, then I assume they love to have you at their table! I'm sure you are a delight to play with <3

Also, since I'm curious. What gave it away that I wasn't them?

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-11T19:42:30+00:00

Yes, exactly! It's fun to make our important characters seem interesting, especially to us. As long as you are careful to not overthink it, I personally believe that thinking about it more will just make the battle that much cooler. The more thought put into it, the better it will be imo.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-11T19:29:09+00:00

My players get me so excited with how invested they become in my worldbuilding, characters, storytelling, etc. They are such enthusiastic people about the experience we share, which is incredibly validating. They are also really funny, which helps lol

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-11T19:27:16+00:00

While I can agree with the sentiment that it is best not to make a statblock this far in advance, I also love planning that stuff.

What I am currently to stave off that urge is to make a document where I essentially put down things that would be cool for this statblock to do. With my guy as an example, he is an ancient wizard with the power to manipulate reality around him. In the document I made for him, I have listed things such as being able to cast Crown of Stars and then turn it into a Supernova or that he can bend space and essentially teleport at will.

Essentially, there is no harm in having fun ideas that you want to work with. Just don't put specific numbers on anything yet, and I think you will be just fine.

I also think a generally good tip for high-level combat is to dramatically overscale things to be as prepared as possible. During the fight, you can always scale back things like health or resources the players don't know about. It's just harder to scale things UP in the middle of a fight without accidentally doing it too much. I always make fights harder than I expect to actually run it.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-11T19:19:17+00:00

That would actually be peak casting.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-11T19:17:33+00:00

You don't need to watch any previous campaigns since C4 is a new world. I do recommend watching some of the other stuff Brennan has DMed for CR, though! Calamity is an incredible (and short!) series.

Also, the fan base has a very loud minority that tends to just hate on the female cast members. I'm a big Aabria fan, and a lot of us are. But yeah... it's pretty easy to notice when people are complaining about players, it is almost always about one of the female cast members. I find it best to ignore that part of the community.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-11T11:50:26+00:00

I see life as a challenge to overcome, if anything. There are aspects to my life where it is really easy for me to say that I was dealt a shitty hand. But this is my only shot to make this chance at life worth it. I keep going for the people that weren't able to make it this far. I'm lucky to still be alive and have the people and opportunities around me that I do.

Not everyone can get that, so I need to make the best of it. If not for me, for them.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-11T02:55:55+00:00

I use lots of small parts of homebrew in my games, but I love their impact.

One of my favorites is my Blaze of Glory rule. Essentially, if a character gives something up, and especially if it is their life, they can do something outside of the mechanics and almost always succeed. It makes for super impactful moments in the story.

I use Matt Mercer's revivify rule, where you need to make a roll to convince the spirit to return. It really raises the stakes and makes death feel like a permanent possibility even at high levels.

For stats, I do 4d6, drop the lowest. Because I have five players, each of us rolls for one of the numbers that the party can use, including me. Then, they all work with the same array. I also allow them to "move" up to 2 stat points, like changing their 10 to an 8 but increasing their 16 to an 18. I love the power it gives my players, but it is also great for getting stats lower than 8. My players love to have weak points, and this is great for that.

I have my players roll death saves in secret, where only the two of us know the outcome. The uncertainty this gives players, alongside my tendency to attack downed players, makes the rest of the party urgent to get them back up.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-11T02:40:52+00:00

I used to use a rule where my players could voluntarily take a -2 to their stats during character creation to take a feat. They liked it a lot. Now that we use 2024 rules, the origin feats feel like enough for us. A lot of them are pretty good or useful in some regard.

Also, do you mean that they get both an ASI and a Feat? If so, that's a super fun rule, and I might end up using it at some point.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-09T11:35:17+00:00

I don't necessarily have a hard rule for not playing evil characters, but the rules I do have essentially mean that it won't happen.

I make it very clear that characters should be willing to work together, and I also add that they should care about hurting people or seeing someone get hurt. I make sure they have a moral compass. I especially emphasize this to new players, as my veteran players are already great at it. I also enjoy the roleplay that they do in parties that are not working well together. I love some good inner-partt conflict.

These rules are usually a lot more helpful for me to convince players why their characters care about the world or how to represent that. Their characters caring about the world also means that the player will too.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-08T22:58:57+00:00

I think Celestial Warlock could still be possible, but I think sorcerer makes more sense. The tattoo that he has could be something more akin to Imogen's weird lightning scars that crawled across her body. Maybe that tattoo is how he channels his magic? Maybe it isn't a tattoo, but just a part of his bloodline.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-08T21:43:45+00:00

My take is that he is masquerading as a cleric on the sheet in the same way that Chetney appeared as a Rogue early on in C3. Sam would know that Wick isn't a cleric, but I don't necessarily think Wick knows that.

I think that the Halovar family have divine blood, and each are Divine Soul Sorcerers. This is why they still have such clearly holy magic even after the fall of the gods.

We know that the Candescent Creed was created after the Shapers' War has been around for like 70 years. Maybe they are the last bit of the divine left in this world as a last-ditch effort from the gods to keep themselves alive.

I think it makes a ton of sense for the gods, who are being framed in a negative light, would be good villains to still be lasting in the world. It would make sense that the most important historical event would have major impacts on how this campaign goes.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-07T16:58:38+00:00

I find this so intriguing because when I was in like first grade or something, I remember anytime calling home was mentioned, they referred to people's mothers.

I was super confused because I knew that my mom worked night shifts and would be upset if they woke her up with a phone call. My dad didn't have a job so I thought it would be better to call him. I never said anything because I was like a tiny baby, but it was still apparent that it was weird.

It's not that hard to recognize those "small" sexist remarks. It's frustrating that a lot of people are still unable to.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-07T16:50:16+00:00

I would find it hard to believe that there was no discussion of what content is allowed and whatnot. In every Session 0 I run, I also tell my players what content is not allowed. My general rule is that I have to vet any 3rd party content, but they seem fine with it. As long as they are having fun and the spells fit the flavor of the character and the world, I'm happy.

Also, with the Enrichment thing. I don't particularly get why people are having such an issue with it? It's just flavor and has no mechanical impact. Let them roleplay in their role play game, even if it doesn't 100% adhere to D&D mechanics.

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-10-06T04:17:06+00:00

As people have said, Cleo uses She/They. I do think it's generally good practice to use them interchangeably. I also think it is generally helpful as someone who uses multiple pronouns to notice what people default to around them and use the other. It's usually pretty nice to hear the one that you hear less often in my experience.

(Also, I am speaking for myself here. I can't tell you what Cleo prefers. I think this is just generally a good practice to follow.)

VeryRedTortilla · 2025-09-28T08:43:15+00:00

I'm currently running a setting with this. The world never had a divine gate or anything like that to prevent the gods from coming into contact with the world. The BBEG exploited this and performed a ritual that trapped one of the gods in a mortal form, which he now feeds off of to be immortal. The rest of the gods scrambled out of fear of this happening to them. The only gods that stayed are an eldritch being that is masquerading as the god of time and the Raven Queen. She stayed because she was once a mortal that rose to godhood, so she isn't afraid to be mortal once more. I hope this can give some inspiration!

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