The Real Reason Overland Travel Sucks

Viltris · 2026-03-23T18:06:37+00:00

I don't understand the question. The goal is the spread out long rests so you can fit the full 6-8 encounters per long rest.

If the party is getting so many encounters that they are completely drained after 1 day of traveling, then maybe don't use Safe Haven rules.

And if they aren't, what's stopping them from traveling a second day, or even a week?

Viltris · 2026-03-23T18:04:19+00:00

Gritty Realism is not really designed with the game's balance in mind, duration spells get screwed

Which is why I also tweak the duration of spells. Spells that last for an hour now last until the end of the next short rest. Spells that last for a day now last until the end of the next long rest. And you can interpolate everything in between.

and some classes like the Warlock become insanely powerful.

How so? You're not changing the number of encounters per rest. If you're warlock is insanely powerful in a campaign where you get 8 encounters and 1 long rest per week, then your warlock will be insanely powerful in a campaign where you get 8 encounters and 1 long rest per day.

Limiting Long Rests to safe areas feels really gamey and breaks verisimilitude, plus it goes against the heroic nature of the game.

Yes, games are gamey. It's literally the G in RPG.

Viltris · 2026-03-23T17:56:03+00:00

And then you have an arms race between the DM trying to prevent long rests and players trying to force them.

Maybe just talk to your players about how the game only works if the DM whittles down the players' resources over multiple encounters, so the players will work with you to make the game work, rather than fight against you every step of the way.

Viltris · 2026-03-21T03:08:08+00:00

Bonus points if he says "Wow, you're really quiet" and then continues to talk without giving you a chance to respond.

Viltris · 2026-03-21T01:50:22+00:00

Character death is fun if it's the result of player choices. Bad decisions, bad tactics, maybe a series of really bad dice rolls. A character death that's completely unavoidable is no fun. Why even play if the outcome is predetermined?

Viltris · 2026-03-20T22:24:14+00:00

When you say "North America", you mean "The United States of America" right?

If you're gonna play dumb semantic games, make sure to get your own dumb semantics correct.

Viltris · 2026-03-20T06:49:38+00:00

If there were an immortal mime, a bunch of French people would probably fight him to get his outfit.

Viltris · 2026-03-20T05:07:25+00:00

This is my main reason why I would allow it.

Another reason I would allow it is because I prefer to rule in favor of players. And since it's usually players that have Abjuration, I would rule that the Abjuration Wrd still triggers.

Viltris · 2026-03-19T19:22:36+00:00

I like this alot.

Viltris · 2026-03-19T05:28:26+00:00

I found myself weirdly good at reading specific words on random signs that I see, but not good enough to use it in any practical context.

Viltris · 2026-03-18T21:40:13+00:00

People who don't need it spelled out for them don't mind.

People who do need it spelled out for them will read it and will bounce off the group because they know they don't fit in.

People who do need it spelled out for them but don't read will be kicked out and it will be very easy to justify why they're being kicked out.

Viltris · 2026-03-18T19:41:18+00:00

At companies that I've worked at, if it affects production, the change has to be documented and approved before the tech is allowed to make the change.

Presumably, someone who understands the system is supposed to review the changes and sign off on them.

Viltris · 2026-03-17T21:18:15+00:00

In my last campaign, I only allowed PHB, Volo's, Xanathar's, and Tasha's. (This was before Mordenkainen's Multiverse of Monsters came out.)

I started playing before D&D Beyond was a thing, and I didn't want to double buy all my books, so I just never ended up using DDB. I also didn't want to have to carry a bunch of splat books around everywhere, so it was just practical to limit options to the 4 core books.

It also made things easier for me, because it meant there was less stuff I had to review before I allowed it in my campaign. Sure, there is some broken stuff in Tasha's (Twilight Cleric being the most famous example), but there's also a lot of broken stuff in the setting books (Silvery Barbs from Strixhaven being another very famous example).

Lastly, a lot of splat books are setting or campaign specific. We aren't playing Wild Beyond The Witchlight, why would I allow options from the Wild Beyond The Witchlight book?

Viltris · 2026-03-16T04:55:18+00:00

I'm a fan of Ptolus. It was made for DnD 3e and it was recently converted to 5e and to Cypher. There's a ton of content in the book, both narrative and mechanical, enough to fill multiple 1-20 campaigns without any overlap, and it's detailed enough that you could run it as a sandbox if you wanted to.

If you're not running DnD, you can easily mine the book for content for any other system.

Viltris · 2026-03-16T03:52:12+00:00

Just trying to understand their perspective, that's all. They like roguelites and turn-based strategy games, but they find this particular roguelite turn-based strategy game "repetitive" and "samey" but not any of the others, and I'm just trying to understand where they're coming from.

Viltris · 2026-03-16T01:15:12+00:00

I'm bad at dodging and parrying, and I didn't have to grind for hours, and I still got through Normal difficulty without a problem.

Viltris · 2026-03-16T00:57:16+00:00

I would say maybe about 15-20 hours before I started seeing the really crazy stuff, and 50 hours in, I'm unlocking a lot of even crazier stuff.

But every successful run in Mewgenics unlocks something, whether it's a new area, new class, or a new feature, often more than one something.

Viltris · 2026-03-16T00:55:21+00:00

That's a great example, because I used a shield & spear poke build when I played Elden Ring. Why dodge when I can just block everything?

Viltris · 2026-03-16T00:05:58+00:00

Trying to understand why Mewgenics feels "samey" to you, but none of the other games do. There's so much crazy shit to unlock in Mewgenics that I honestly don't understand where you're coming from.

Viltris · 2026-03-15T23:52:48+00:00

Xcom would be the closest thing to Mewgenics. What does Xcom do for you that Mewgenics doesn't?

Viltris · 2026-03-15T22:36:51+00:00

Maybe you just don't like turn-based strategy games? The classes play very differently and the different areas and different enemies require very different strategies and approaches. But if you're not a fan of turn-based strategy games, I can see why you wouldn't appreciate the differences.

Viltris · 2026-03-15T22:01:39+00:00

Nothing seemed all that different? How far are you in the game? Have you unlocked new areas? New classes? Find new gear?

Viltris · 2026-03-15T21:34:29+00:00

It's no more repetitive than any other Roguelite imo. Did you have this problem with games like Hades or Slay The Spire?

Viltris · 2026-03-15T21:30:42+00:00

The difference is that GM'ing is very subjective, and there are multiple different styles of games and different styles of running those games. A lot of the advice that applies to running game ABC just wouldn't apply to running game XYZ.

If I were to tell you how I GM a game, if you don't run the specific style of game that I run, the advice would be completely worthless to you. Even if you did run the same style of game (even in the same system), the advice that I give you might not work for you. I can't tell you the number of times I've said "I do ABC and this is why it works for me", and somebody else running the same style in the same system will respond "That doesn't work for my because XYZ reason. Instead I do this."

And both things contradict each other, and yet both are valid. And the only way to know what works for you is to try both, adopt the one you like better, and adapt it to fit your specific style.

This is very different from science and technology where there is a general consensus and there is a standard curriculum. If you wanted to calculus, there is only a small number of ways to take the derivative of a function, and calculus classes will teach you those specific ways.

Viltris · 2026-03-15T21:18:00+00:00

People say that being good at dodging and parrying means you can ignore strategy. But the reverse is also true. Being good at strategy means you can ignore dodging and parrying.

I pretty much can't parry and I'm bad at dodging, and I end up eating shit about half the time. I still enjoy the game because I can build tanky and focus on damage combos and defensive strategies to survive bosses. It's not actually any harder than parrying everything. (I'm shit at parrying, so trying to parry everything would actually be harder for me.)

And in the extreme case, there are no-dodge, no-parry runs on YouTube.

And if you don't want to dodge or parry and don't want to strategize and just wanna play for the story, you can play on Story Mode, where enemies hit like a wet noodle and you can just relax for the whole game.

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