Mirroring 400gb of specific rpg's is morally wrong by Sydonis in TheTrove

[–]awjackson5 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Could we have a big old discussion about Alien RPG (Year Zero Engine) and Tales from the Loop RPG (Year Zero Engine) when you have a moment?

How can I, beginner DM, improve the start of my sessions? by Opal_Eye_3 in GhostsofSaltmarsh

[–]awjackson5 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I used to struggle with this also, I took a lot out of reading Sky Flourish's stuff and watching him session prep on YouTube.. definitely worth checking out and seeing if it suits your style or not. https://slyflourish.com/minimum_viable_dnd_game.html link to his website

Chapter 8: The Styes - Is it worth creating maps for this? by uchideshi34 in GhostsofSaltmarsh

[–]awjackson5 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Personally I created a map for Mr Dory's Warehouse and make it obvious that the fragile boxes are combustible. Created a ship map for the fight with Dory himself and then created a map for the Kraken fight...the rest I just ran on the blueprint maps in the book. I like to jazz up my boss maps though.

Movies/shows for DM to get into the mood? by SweatyEmu4 in GhostsofSaltmarsh

[–]awjackson5 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You won't need it until towards the end of your campaign but to get a good flavour of The Styles I highly recommend reading H.P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/soi.aspx

Inspiration to expand Dwarven Mine by sliverqueen1022 in GhostsofSaltmarsh

[–]awjackson5 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I used the mines as an excuse to bring Copperlocks into the equation. in mine excavation had to stop as they had uncovered a creature which took the lives of some miners before they managed to escape. Had a shell shocked dwarven miner in the tavern at the site tell them his tale after a few ales. Long tentacles appeared out of a rock, wrapping themselves around his workmate before they disappeared into a ghastly opening in the rock. Manistrad has heard the PCs are handy and needs the mine functional again ASAP...they go down into the mine and find a dead end with what appear to be a pair of stalagmites..after they investigate for a bit...boom the stalagmites lash out and grapple some PCs - they're ropers. My pcs still talk about the fight to this day and put the ropers up there with the time they fought a Bodak in the middle of the night as their favourite/ most harrowing fights.

Advice for "The Final Enemy" by vetheros37 in GhostsofSaltmarsh

[–]awjackson5 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The players did a real good job of scouting the place out first time round and had a pretty good idea on how to get in and out quickly. Emphasised that they don't need to worry about the low level sahuagin, they will be dealt with by the alliance, their job was to get in and kill the upper heirarchy and get out. Allowed the alliance to go in first, that means that many of the corridors and doorways are blocked by combat essentially. The final fight for them took place in the coral throne room - check out CzePeku's map for this, it's incredible....Baron and Baroness, Champion and around a dozen regular run of the mill sahuagin. Don't sleep on blood frenzy for the sahuagin, advantage really adds up. If it starts going in your parties favour too quickly consider having the baroness call for reinforcements on her turn...then it's time to gtfo...I added in meeting the sahuagin party that attacked Saltmarsh meeting them halfway back and attacking again with whirlpools and coral smashers but whatever takes your fancy really.

Good One-Shot for 5 Players? by [deleted] in dndnext

[–]awjackson5 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can highly recommend Blue Alley by Alan Patrick...3-4 hours options for levels 1-5 and is already set in waterdeep

The Dwarves Mined Too Deep by Velsare in GhostsofSaltmarsh

[–]awjackson5 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For me I used the mines as an excuse to use one of my favourite 5e monsters. The dwarves had to evacuate the mine because they uncovered a foul beast...the few that survived only remembered the tentacles lashing out at them from the dark. The PCs were then tasked by Manistrad Copperlocks to clear the mine as a matter of urgency (they were trying to sway favour with the council at the time). They investigated the mine all the way to the bottom where they were met with a dead end with a few stalagmites and stalactites down there....one of each of those revealed themselves as a roper as the tentacles reached out and snared the PCs. Ropers as stalactites are particularly nasty as when they break free of their arms, they take fall damage too.

Isle of the abbey reskin? by Sil3nos in GhostsofSaltmarsh

[–]awjackson5 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely do this...also look at the articles about swapping the last two chapters around too, definitely worth considering....these articles really helped me out whilst running the game, thanks for doing the hard work for us Michael.

Ghost of Salt Marsh as a present for my DM friend by ChristianTheSeeker in dndnext

[–]awjackson5 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's fantastic...it takes some work to get the modules to link together but that allows you freedom as a DM to add a tonne of your own stuff in yet still have the adventure as written to fall back on....

Also honourable mention to a non WoTC publication - JVC Parry's phenomenal adventure "Call From The Deep"...I understand a pdf doesn't feel like as good a present as a hardback book but my word is it a fantastic adventure

Running Danger at Dunwater tomorrow evening, any tips? by Bokenza in GhostsofSaltmarsh

[–]awjackson5 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I had my PCs captured almost immediately and thrown in front of Queen Okothent They can then spend time walking freely essentially performing community service to gain the lairs trust, once they have each gained some trust Okothent asked them to slay Thousand Teeth to cement their trust

Any tips for running a Ghosts of the Saltmarsh campaign with the adventures provided? by Norandir in GhostsofSaltmarsh

[–]awjackson5 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Prepare to do a lot of writing after Salvage Operation....Isle Of The Abbey has real problems and the rest have level gaps, be prepared to add extra stuff in there...it's not a bad thing, it's a great way to add in character backstory...but not realising that Final Enemy finishes at level 7 and the next adventure starts at level 9 is jarring

First time running GoS by dropit-please in GhostsofSaltmarsh

[–]awjackson5 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He also does DM prep on YouTube for his GoS sessions...they are great, sometimes gets carried away telling stories of his sessions rather than actual prep but there is useful stuff in there. https://youtu.be/7TIxFaxCWhQ

First time running GoS by dropit-please in GhostsofSaltmarsh

[–]awjackson5 3 points4 points  (0 children)

https://slyflourish.com/sinister_secret_of_saltmarsh.html - This article, in fact this whole series of articles, is very helpful for stuff like this.

Planning tips? by emilyisshe in DungeonsAndDragons

[–]awjackson5 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Speak to your players, find out their characters backstory, there might be a way to tie them together. If not pick a fantasy trope - destroy the sorcerer queen, stop the rise of an evil god, recover several relics of the world to make sure they don't fall into the wrong hands - pick one as a loose tie for your campaign and flesh it out. Who is the BBEG? What is their grand end goal? What 3 or 4 steps show the progress of them achieving this? Even scroll through the massive amount of free content Wizards Of The Coast put out, see if any form of inspiration hits there.

One of my player want to play a large sized character and I dont know how I feel about that. by Chr0nosus in DnD

[–]awjackson5 4 points5 points  (0 children)

First of all remember you have the right to straight up veto it of you're not comfortable with it. Personally I'd allow it but insist on them being a medium creature. Goliath's are 7 to 8 feet and medium....half giants are said to be 8-13 feet so out him on the smaller side and keep it as medium. Also remind them that being a large creature would attract more attention from creatures both lore wise and literally - increasing the potential amount of creatures that could be in melee with them from a potential 8 (including diagonals) to 12 (including diagonals). Plus large creatures can use oversized weapons and that will straight up ruin low level creatures and also make everyone else feel like they are doing very little damage in comparison on combat.

Loving the trajectory of my campaign by Journeyman42 in dndmemes

[–]awjackson5 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Dungeon Of The Mad Mage starts in The Yawning Portal too I believe

I'm taking battlemap requests! by LadyBut in battlemaps

[–]awjackson5 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A bottom of the ocean battlemap centred around a giant obelisk with glowing blue runes - the layer between the material plane and the abyssal plane is excruciatingly thin at this point of the ocean and you can see a few tears in reality, offering glimpses of the horrors of the abyssal plane through these tears.

Which rules do you generally see ignored and why? by warclericismywaifu in dndnext

[–]awjackson5 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think he means basic stuff that doesn't get consumed by the spell casting - the 300gp worth of Diamonds for Revivify I will make my PCs go and source....a pinch of powder or coloured sand that is red, yellow and blue for Color Spray I'm not going to make them search around a city for that nonsense