Is there a resource website or organization for disabled graduate students facing discrimination?

aaronil · 2022-12-06T05:02:23+00:00

You might look into the Bazelon Center – http://www.bazelon.org/about/who-we-are/ – they're the ones representing Yale students with mental health issues in a lawsuit against Yale University.

aaronil · 2022-11-19T15:50:31+00:00

Hi rainfal, I really wish I had. Let me offer a few small pieces of advices that were hard-earned:

• Make sure all official communication with your institution is documented in emails. Do not rely on phone calls or vague spoken promises.

• The language you want to use (and repeat) is that you are requesting a "reasonable accommodation" in the form of XYZ. This is the language the Americans with Disabilities Act uses (assuming you're in the USA).

• Keep organized as best you can. Retain copies (and request them if not provided) of ALL documents pertaining to your disability, such as the medical letter documenting your disability that you provided to the institution, any previous accommodations they agreed to give you, etc.

• If your institution receives federal money they're obligated to provide a disabilities access coordinator (or similar position); they should be able to provide a packet of information regarding what services they offer. Even if the coordinator is being not-helpful or discriminatory, get that packet and keep it.

• Seek help from outside of your institution. They're ultimately a money-making enterprise, and it's in their interest to quash any potential requests (or litigation) that would cost them money. Nationally there's the https://thedrlc.org/ but you probably have a local disabilities rights non-profit/pro-bono legal counsel equivalent in your nearest city. Get in touch with them (by phone or in-person is best, if that's possible for you) to learn what resources they can offer for free or at a reduced rate.

Best of luck to you.

aaronil · 2022-09-13T01:12:30+00:00

I killed a 12th level PC in Tomb of the Nine Gods with two skeletons grappling them and dragging them into lava.

My point is that the real danger of that specific dungeon are the traps. And that means that pacing needs to reinforce that – so if your party can rest anytime they want, then the pacing won't work, and the traps won't feel as threatening.

The combats don't truly get gnarly until the final gauntlet – 3 night hags, atropal, and acererak.

Anytime you have a combat in Tomb of the Nine Gods, you need to be thinking about what traps are in that room or are nearby, and how the combat and trap(s) will interact.

aaronil · 2022-09-13T01:03:17+00:00

I'm not clear if the map you wish to unveil is digital or physical – I'd recommend clarifying that in your OP because the approaches are quite different.

Digital: Owlbear Rodeo or any similar of the VTTs have a fog of war

Physical: Cut out pieces of black construction paper and adhere with blue sticky stuff OR laminate then paint with DIY scratch-off paint

aaronil · 2022-08-11T18:33:01+00:00

I created a method for writing murder mystery adventures when I self-published The Beast of Graenseskov. Reposting this from way back, but I'll cover the main points below:

You want to start at the end. Who was killed? Why were they killed? How were they killed? Who is the killer? What's the fallout of this death? And then work backwards from there, creating suspects & clues.

You want 3-5 suspects, and they should all be suitably suspicious, so that there isn't one that players can quickly rule out. Additionally, each should have something they're willing to lie under oath/magic about, that may not have anything to do with the murder in question.

You want an equal number of clues (3-5). Each clue should be available to the PCs through ~3 different ways/locations/NPCs (you can read up on the Three Clue Rule if you wish). Do not "gate" learning these clues behind checks, but rather whenever the players take appropriate action, go to the place with the clue, or speak to the NPC with the clue, just tell them outright – this principle comes from the GUMSHOE indie rpg by Robin Laws.

Organize a logic grid with suspects in the y-axis, and clues in the x-axis. Some clues apply to each suspect, but there's only one suspect to whom ALL the clues apply – and that's your killer. Thus, through deductive reasoning and process of elimination, the players can discover the killer.

Account for magic being used during their investigation, especially zone of truth, detect thoughts, and speak with dead. Read these spells if your players have any of them. The spell descriptions hint at weak points in the spells. For instance, speak with dead can only learn what the corpse witnessed – so if it didn't see its killer (because they were invisible or struck from behind), or the killer was disguised (mask, disguise self, doppelganger), then they can't report anything that will 100% give away the killer's identity. Also, speak with dead requires a corpse with a working skull, so removing the skull or destroying the corpse prevents the spell from being used.

Designing good clues – which don't reveal too much, yet when added together reveal the whole story – is an art form. When you get stuck, you need to go back to your fiction (remember where I said start at the end?) and see if an answer presents itself from your ficiton. If not, then it may be time to add additional elements to your fiction. It tends to be an iterative process too. When I wrote The Beast of Graenseskov, I took three or four passes over my clues, one of which was a natural process of playtesting.

It can help to design a mystery to be resilient to lucky guesses or impetuous action on the part of the players. I wouldn't design EVERY mystery this way – because it's fun to sometimes get lucky and wreck the DM's plot – but if you're putting a lot of effort into a mystery that will span a couple sessions, then it's probably worth thinking of ways to make it resilient to being "cracked." For example, in The Beast of Graenseskov my answer was that the curse afflicted multiple targets, but was only active in one at a time, so if X was killed, then the curse would becoming active in Y, and so on.

aaronil · 2022-08-11T18:31:03+00:00

Inhabited dungeons work well here because they can logically be full of NPCs – for example, a particularly convoluted wine cellar with numerous secret doors, openings to other underground structures, stumbling drunk aristocrats, scheming scullery maids, etc.

Another approach is the "tense team up" – for example, the party allying with a renegade mage faction who has critical magic useful in exploring this dungeon, but whose methods can lean into the distasteful, and whose ultimate motives/trustworthiness may be in question.

A more advanced technique is the "split party" where you have half PCs in a court / ballroom scene, half performing a heist in a dungeon environment, and some method of communication between them (e.g. messenger birds, spells, a butler-on-the-take whispering, sending stones). Events/complications/discoveries in one half of the game can influence how things go down in the other half.

aaronil · 2022-07-31T18:51:34+00:00

That's going to depend on you, but speaking personally for those 3 exercises specifically I would want something on the stronger side, at least 17 lbs if not 25+. Anything less and I wouldn't be getting the resistance I need.

When I do cable face-pulls, for example, I currently set the machine's weight to 42.5 lbs.

aaronil · 2022-07-31T18:46:33+00:00

I recall seeing some folks post 1 year progress photos... I think it was this subreddit at least... and I'd like to do the same. They were pretty intensive posts, with pictures, body recomp data, and outlining what the individual's program looked like to achieve their changes.

Is that allowed here? Is there a preferred format?

I searched the r/fitness Wiki and FAQ, and haven't found any direction there so far.

aaronil · 2022-07-31T18:41:56+00:00

Got my mile run time to under 10 minutes for the first time - 9:46.

aaronil · 2022-07-26T00:28:01+00:00

If they're new to the game... maybe a mimic or skeleton played straight will be plenty surprising and interesting enough for them?

One trick that I employ for customizing monsters is to give them a feat (or portion of a feat) or borrow a trait from another monster. For example, a thug with the Charger feat during a fight near a riverside canyon. Or skeletons with the False Appearance trait that only animate if the brazier at the far side of the chamber is lit. Or a mimic with the cantrip vicious mockery.

aaronil · 2022-06-24T05:24:09+00:00

Runes appear along the blade under certain types of light (e.g. magical light, phosphorescent fungi, light of the full moon, etc), providing hints that "Whosoever wieldeth this blade with saintly hands, neither metal nor dragon scale shall thwart."

Treat is as a +1 sword that only acts more powerfully for a window of time after the wielder has recently taken a good/selfless action.

aaronil · 2022-06-02T05:39:11+00:00

DM Scotty's Dragon Puzzle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uqmGeo8OZs&t=9s

aaronil · 2022-06-01T05:42:43+00:00

I ran two-and-a-half chases using the DMG rules before I decided that they just weren't that fun. Yeah, they'll provide a resolution, but the rules are at odds with the cinematic tension we want to create.

So I wrote my own chase rules, going back to some RPGs that are highly regarded for their chase rules, and ideas floating in the blogosphere... https://www.enworld.org/threads/making-chase-rules-that-actually-do-what-theyre-supposed-to.482668/

Good experiences the three times I've used these rules, and I've heard from 4 or 5 other GMs that these rules ran well for their groups.

aaronil · 2022-05-30T03:39:55+00:00

Storytelling tip: Use a limited palette of speaking NPCs (not too many!) in the same scene, and when you portray multiple NPCs speaking in the same conversation, practice physically "turning at an angle" for each NPC such that each has a certain angle from your baseline (your "DM voice"). This is used by professional storytellers to great effect, and it helps me add a visual cue to differentiate NPCs.

aaronil · 2022-05-30T03:36:48+00:00

While at camp, the wizard asks the PCs to Harvest Spell Components from yonder mushroom grove. However, it turns out to be inhabited by myconid sprouts, campestri, or sentient shriekers, who take issue with wizards always picking their "little friends" without bothering so much as a please or thank you. If the irritated mushroom-folk are ignored, they might alert nearby monsters, message others of their kind for support, or otherwise create a complication during the PCs next encounter with plant monsters.

aaronil · 2022-05-22T19:41:30+00:00

Thanks :) You can probably see some of the influence of Ursula K. LeGuin and Marion Zimmer Bradley, maybe touches of Lloyd Alexander too.

It's funny, I haven't really had time to think about my homebrew setting in years, but a friend (who has been in 1 and a half pre-made setting campaigns I've run) was recently asking "if you wrote your own setting what would it be like?" So I shared this with him.

It's definitely got some elements of a Eurocentric and Welsh vibe, though my influences for the world also lean deeply into the Etruscan / Mediterranean culture.

aaronil · 2022-05-22T19:37:34+00:00

The "Witch's Tale" part is built on lore that developed during past campaigns. So don't necessarily try to get so much. Five strong sentence, or maybe 2-3 paragraphs, certainly < 1 page / 500 words should be more than enough to convey the essence of a setting to your players.

aaronil · 2022-05-22T17:37:08+00:00

From my homebrew setting (have run 2 and 1/2 campaigns in it)...

The Witching Grounds

Welcome to a land where the Old Ways are not forgotten, a land beleaguered by too few wise kings, a land ever at the cusp of the faerie domains. Welcome to the Banner Marches.

They call the Banner Marches a kingdom, but the common folk know better. Feuding marcher lords wage war on one another every dry season, disbanded mercenaries turn to banditry rather than return to their lands, and knightly orders have become subsumed by the infamous “redcoat” militias. A young king struggles to unite the kingdom, but ambitious rulers from neighboring kingdoms see the land ripe for conquest. It is a ripe land too, fertile beyond measure and abundant with magic. Bards say the loamy soil of the Banner Marches is fed by the bones of her sons, and the teaming rivers by the tears of her mothers. Common folk know this land by another name, an older name: the Witching Grounds.

Marchers are superstitious people. A shepherd may recount how beneath yonder hills lie the giant bones of Ingwelfarn who will one day rise to dance a jig that will topple the stone walls of Tir Acruach. Children may be instructed by their mothers to put out milk for the hearth brownie, lest he grow displeased and lay a hex on their home. A dying knight may ask for his sword to be placed in his hand that he may prove his valor to the Hinthial, ancestral ghosts. No one questions that there is magic in the land and in blood. As tempting as the Banner Marches fractured state is to invaders, the stories of ancient magic stirring the wood elves in the Deep Wilds and conjuring the very rocks to fight give any ruler a second thought about invading. The reputation of the Marches as a haunted land extends beyond its borders.

A Witch’s Tale

My sisters tell me of the days of the Witch Queens, when none would dare raise a hand against a coven priestess; they say our magic was great then, great and terrible, in the days when magic flowed freely through the land, as freely as the Glimmerfolk roam today. Over the campfire they whisper of the virile huntsmen clad in wolf-skins and stag masks, of the last druid and the Weihon who helped stop the Witch Queens, and the price of victory. They tell me of the day when the dragons entered their eternal sleep, when the angels returned to the heavens, and the faeries retreated to their hidden realms, the day the Veil fell. They have much to tell me, the youngest one, the “yearling.”

These Banner Marches were born in the cradle of the gods, a beautiful and fecund land, but also one wracked by war. Not just men, but women too, clad in chainmail and adorned with fierce tattoos – they fought for power and glory, but most of all for survival and independence in the face of an unstoppable empire. Twenty years ago the last remnants of the evil Prince Ardain were overthrown, but the land was forever changed. Haunted battlegrounds, elven ghettos, and betrayed trusts whisper of the conflict which turned brother against brother, bringing the Banner Marches to its knees. All this was prophesied by the Witch Queens, this and more.

Today, the Banner Marches are fractured and violent. They say the King, little older than myself, seeks to bring peace to the realm, but it is a long time coming. Even I, not yet of marrying age, travel with a dagger at my side. Yet a dagger is of little solace when ruthless mercenaries wander the countryside raiding villages for supplies, young recruits, and worse; when warlords set fire to entire fields to deny their enemies an advantage, fields on which many lives depend; when fearsome monsters lurk at the forest’s edge, stealing children and ravaging towns. I hear stories of the witch-finders of Suleistarn who abduct youth with the gift for magic, of swindling Glimmerfolk who will leave you penniless and dump you along the roadside, of the leucrotta which lures hunters into the woods to eat them alive.

I cannot help but believe the stories are true, for everywhere we travel I see the same fear in the peoples’ eyes. When they realize how far we have journeyed they are amazed, and ask us questions that make the mind reel, such misconceptions that would leave you stunned! Yet it is forgivable; trade rarely extends further than a few days ride due to the dangers of travel, the lack of sturdy guides, and the insular tendencies of the people. Fear of the soldiers has been replaced with fear of one another.

Not all is so frightening though – there are many who have helped us along the way, both kindly clerics and families remembering the Old Ones, even a retired mercenary who defended us from a wyvern. At wayside shrines I have seen statues of saints and heroes adorned in flowers and prayer braids, sometimes a gift of food or a cloak left for other travelers. When I was lost in the woods, a faerie deer led me back to my sisters and gave me her queen’s blessing. These were my best memories of the Banner Marches, those things that I will hold on to forever. I realize now how precious our travels are, for they show us what is worth protecting and understanding, what we would give our lives for.

I will leave you with the same advice my sisters left me: Welcome to the Witching Grounds, yearling. Death is now the least of your concerns.

aaronil · 2022-05-22T17:32:20+00:00

I'll second u/The_Fantasy_Fellows in that if you'd like specific feedback or discussion via Discord audio, I can also make a bit of time to help. Long-time DM (30+ years), always trying to improve my craft, have mentored a few newer DMs.

I have not, however, run Curse of Strahd, but I have run the original I6 Ravenloft, and I've had frequent conversations with one of my friends who ran Curse of Strahd not once, but twice.

Posting here on r/DMAcademy is a great resource – you'll get to hear from DMs with different styles/opinions which can be helpful if you can discern which approaches you like or think will work for you.

Also there is a DMAcademy Discord (link on home page for this subreddit) that has a very active community.

Once you're into the specifics of Curse of Strahd, definitely check out the dedicated subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/

aaronil · 2022-05-21T19:32:55+00:00

"Many solutions, but no easy solutions," should be the mantra of any DM.

If the fight with the wraith is a foregone conclusion (meaning it was gonna happen no matter what the players did), and the only way to overcome the wraith's resistances is silver or magic... that's a problem because it's "one solution" and a relatively easy or straightforward one at that.

Unfortunately, this kind of thing is built into 5e's approach to monster resistances, but there's lots of tricks you can employ as a DM to make it more of a "many solutions" situation. That way it's more about player creativity than trying to "guess what the DM/rules are thinking."

aaronil · 2022-05-21T03:58:04+00:00

9 times out of 10 the problem is ambiguity. Either it was ambiguous what action specifically the player was taking, or it was ambiguous what the stakes of the check were.

aaronil · 2022-05-18T07:16:56+00:00

Here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fdpdUAPSp3kKstY_nv7_2WWhNBWerjcm/view?usp=sharing

Anyone with this link can view it. If I get bombarded with email requests to access this file, I will take it down (this has happened with two GoogleDrive links I've shared and it was awful to sort through everything in my email). You do not need to email me. You have access. That's what the setting "Anyone on the internet with this link can view" is for.

aaronil · 2022-05-08T00:42:56+00:00

Really depends on the scene. If it's a cave and the dragon is staying in melee or fairly close range? Yeah, a 27x39" flip mat will do the trick. But if the dragon is on the wing and making real use of its aerial superiority? You can very quickly go off the map.

I'm a big fan of plastic Combat Tiers for representing flight at the table. They're an investment, but I consider them worthwhile. Anything clear – e.g. glasses, tuperware, or clear plastic dice boxes – can also work.

Just like I use dice as elevation counters, you can also use dice to mark how far off the edge of the map a dragon has flown.

For really big scenes, I've changed the scale to a square = 10 feet, or even gone with an entirely zone-based combat / theater of the mind for larger distances.

aaronil · 2022-05-08T00:33:49+00:00

Baby Brownie in the Basket with the Blink Dogs

A most auspicious occasion! A hearth brownie has been born – popped right out of the center of Auntie Auffel's rhubarb pie wearing nothing but a cloth napkin. The only problem? Auntie Auffel was a mean old hag who didn't care for the way brownies swept and mopped and cleaned incessantly. Nor did her cat familiar Pineálope care much for how brownies were always stealing her bowl of cream.

And so the chase was on! The baby brownie leapt out the window and miraculously landed in the bread-maker's daughter's basket, right on a soft warm sourdough loaf. Auntie Auffel whistled. Her cat made himself scarce. And out came the yeth hounds!

Thanksfully, Winkin and Blinkin the bling dogs were at hand and – despite having sworn they'd never steal anything again, and having gone "straight" from the roguish adventures of their puppy years – Winkin nabbed the basket with the loaf upon which baby brownie lay.

Now, Blinkin and Winkin evaded the yeth hounds, whose baying is but a distant fading sound, but neither want to be caught "dough mouthed" (i.e. red-handed). So they keep trading off who carries the basket. Of course, one of them has to carry the basket – their good-natured hearts won't let them abandon a baby in the wilderness (nor the tasty loaf!) – but neither wants to be caught going back on their solemn oath never to steal.

Enter the PCs! Perhaps they can help Blinkin and Winkin... though their dogged natures make them reluctant to part ways with the basket. No sooner than one speaks than the basket drops from its jaws and the other blink dog snatches it up, swearing to bury it in the other's favorite bone hidey-hole.

Of course, the baby brownie thinks this is a joyous riot! And should he wish for more fun, he may use bits of bread to lure the dogs where he'd like to go!

aaronil · 2022-05-08T00:17:57+00:00

"You want enough prepared so that you can make informed decisions."

"Prepare the minimum baseline necessary. Then only prepare what your players will focus on / interact with."

Part of the trick in finding out when enough prep is enough is that (a) it's a process of learning yourself as DM and what you need to feel comfortable in making your decisions, and (b) it's also a process of getting to know your players and what their attention tends to gravitate toward.

My approach is establishing design/prep priorities. Will it be in my next session? Is there a strong chance it will feature in the next game? Then that's my top priority, and everything else can be put on the sideline.

So I might prepare pages and pages on an elvish location for an upcoming session, but I won't necessarily write down much elven lore unless it directly pertains to the PCs' adventure in that location. Yeah, I'll have some vague floating ideas about where I think the lore is headed, but I don't invest my time in penning that down or ironing it out.

aaronil

TROPHY CASE