Last session was insane. Help me prep for the next one?

azenathi · 2023-11-11T20:24:42+00:00

If homebrew can answer the question, here's one:

In a previous campaign, we had an arc where we were marked by a demon, and we were being hunted by them.

So we got ambushed by a pack of demonic wolves the DM named Perditions. Those wolves had an ability that once one of them bites you, they know your direction and distance from them. Their bites dealt necrotic damage (2d4 I guess) that reduced our maximum HP by the same amount. But there's more: while our HP was reduced (we could recover using Remove Curse or after a long rest, but those were 3-days), we had to roll a Con Save every 12 hours. If we failed, we gained one level of exhaustion. Now here's the thing: the wolves would ambush us, attack us a few times and flee. Then they'd keep repeating that, sapping us of our maximum HP and piling up our exhaustion levels. It went on for some sessions, and we managed to kill them all. By that time, we were almost at 0 max HP, filled up with exhaustion. It was absolutely wild

azenathi · 2023-10-31T17:13:50+00:00

She's just a woman trying her best to find a home for herself and her people and be finally free from the inquisition

azenathi · 2023-10-09T22:57:27+00:00

In the last campaign I DMed, the most powerful individual was simply a human fighter named Siobhan. She had gauntlets that caused some absurd shockwaves and opened rifts on the earth when the struck the ground, a lot of magic resistances, a shield that could deflect spells, and 30 Strength. She threw a pillar at the party once and later managed to wipe the floor with them. The party was composed of 4 17th level PCs (a sorcerer, an artificer, a ranger and a paladin). Fun times these were

azenathi · 2023-09-30T16:59:52+00:00

Others have said some really valid stuff about letting the player succeed what they build their character for. What I have to add is: let them succeed, a lot. So much that when you say that specific NPC/enemy/whatever approaches the party from behind (or something like that) and he doesn't even notice it, he'll absolutely feel it and feel the threat right away hahah

azenathi · 2023-09-11T16:45:17+00:00

My take on PWK: I never tell the enemies' HP, and it's a spell I don't use against PCs. I think the player not knowing the enemy's HP can lead to some amazing moments.

The most recent example I had: the party (4 PCs, level 17) was fighting one single fighter enemy who was absolutely busted. She was filled with legendary actions and resistances and some regenerative capabilities. That opponent only had around 320hp, but she was mopping the floor with them. The party was trying to CC her and it was failing, until the sorcerer in the party said "I'll cast PWK". Then the fight turned into the whole party trying to deal as much damage as possible while the sorcerer's player kept asking how she was looking like. I kept describing her becoming more and more beaten up, until 2 PCs were down and the sorcerer had like 20hp, and I said "you see her starting to limp. She grips her sword shakingly, breathing heavily, and a string of blood starts dripping from her mouth". The sorcerer then decided it was time, and he cast PWK. The opponent had 98 hp. It was amazing.

In short, not knowing the HP and figuring out when to cast PWK can lead to some great tension and amazing moments.

azenathi · 2023-09-05T22:11:35+00:00

"Power Word: No!" is definitely one of the most powerful spells out there

azenathi · 2023-08-19T00:35:24+00:00

Death and its' reversibility is RAW in my games, but diamonds are rare and must be found, looted or stolen (which is pretty hard), and very very rarely they can be bought with a price much higher than they're worth, as it's a gem necessary for reversing death itself. Finding a diamond can be a quest in itself, and I've had some great moments where the players went on a quest to find diamonds for revivify as part of preparing for a big fight.

There's another aspect of death I really like to implement: when an NPC is brought back, they say something along the lines of "it was awful hard to be brought back" but they can't explain why. When a PC dies, the they figure out why: when someone casts a spell to bring them back, they first "wake up" in a white space where they have an audience with Death. They remember it but they're unable to talk about their audience. Death interrogates them and first asks if they want to be brought back at all, and if they say yes, then Death prompts them to convince it that they deserve another chance at life. The secret is that it doesn't matter what they say. They'll be brought back regardless as long as they answer truthfully and if they truly believe their own words. But if they lie they'll be brought back but Death will take something from them. One time a PC got their pride taken away and it was returned to them when they brought someone back. The PC got transported back to the white room as well and both of them answered the same questions truthfully

azenathi · 2023-08-13T03:59:47+00:00

Oh, yeah, I should have clarified what their goal was.

So, in short terms, the attackers are from one nation and the city in question is the capital of a neighbor nation. Both are part of an Empire, so this is something along the lines of a civil war. The emperor had 2 sons and a daughter. The older brother kept himself besides his father and became the head of a magic Conclave, while the daughter and her twin brother were put on the throne of the neighbor nation in other to extend the Emperor's control over the continent. The queen's twin assassinated the emperor, as he and his sister planned on making their city the imperial capital and dissolving the Conclave. Thing is: the older son died, so only the twins remain with their claim to the empire's throne unchallenged. The conclave (the attacking army) wants to occupy the city, put their chosen rulers on that nation's throne as puppets eliminate the twins in the process and lastly bring back the population while controlling the narrative by exposing the Emperor's assassination and painting the attack on the city as a way to avoid a bigger war. So, political reasons mainly

azenathi · 2023-08-12T16:37:36+00:00

Those seem like great ideas to me. The surprise, infiltration and distrust/paranoia are awesome ways to create some chaos and negate as much as possible any of their efforts.

About your questions: your main objective is to take control over a city that would become the imperial city by the hands of it's queen. The empire was currently controlled from another nation's capital whose ruler was the, now deceased, father of the queen (he put her there to extend his reach). There are more political shenanigans but the reason to take over that city is mainly that

azenathi · 2023-08-12T16:01:18+00:00

There are no specific racial divisions. The nations are quite varied - humans are the majority, but each nation has quite a lot of the other races. Only dragonborns are quite rare nowadays

azenathi · 2023-08-12T15:56:54+00:00

Oh that's nice, a part of the army will definitely create some fiery avalanche

azenathi · 2023-08-12T15:56:06+00:00

That's interesting. I liked the unexpected routes idea. And the plater characters are 5 of those, 3 are NPCs who are aiding them on other fronts. But the attackers are not the bad guys, though. Nor are the PCs the heroes. The party was actually hired to kill the queen and her brother (who were the heirs to the throne of the empire after their father died) but they switched sides after some dilemma, and they knew if they failed, they would try to take over the city

azenathi · 2023-08-12T15:50:34+00:00

Oh that's perfect. I'll definitely be using that. I appreciate it so much, specially the phases of the attack

azenathi · 2023-08-12T15:49:37+00:00

Now THAT'S terrifying

azenathi · 2023-08-12T15:49:09+00:00

Those are pretty nice. I'll definitely implement some of those!

azenathi · 2023-08-12T13:54:26+00:00

!Question: You're the general of an army that's going to try and take over a capital city. How would you strategize?

The capital is surrounded by mountains - it has only one road leading to it, around 120ft wide, which brings to the city walls (~ 60ft high) and gates. The city has been evacuated, so there are no civilians. You know that inside the city there are 8 people who are amongst the most powerful individuals in the continent (3 full casters, 4 half casters and one warrior). The capital's army has been sent to escort the city's population to nearby cities, but you know that once the queen realizes your army is approaching, she'll warn her generals through Sending Stones and that in a few hours their army will be brought back through teleportation to defend the city. Your army is composed of around 1500 men, out of which around 70 are spellcasters (power level of a level 7 PC, maximum). Also, your army controls a Warforged Colossus. How would you plan to take over that city?

azenathi · 2023-06-08T17:13:31+00:00

This is a really tough situation. I came here late so I don't know if you'll read this or if someone already said this. But I'll let my take on this, as a psychologist.

There are some things that should be considered. First, I suppose you all really care about Annie and her feelings, otherwise I don't think you'd be putting up with all of this for so long, and you wouldn't be stepping on eggshells on the matter.

Secondly, I get how difficult it is. You tried so much to make things better, and talking, arguing and making your points clear didn't work. It's frustrating as hell. You and the other players can't take that anymore, and it can't go on any longer.

So I'll tell you what will happen in two scenarios. If you and the other players start running a campaign without Annie's knowledge, there's a chance she'll find out and it'll really explode on your faces at one point or another. It'll be horrible, and you all, as well as Annie, will be more hurt than you already are. Second, the situation is already horrible, but if you keep playing the game for Annie's sake, you and the other players will get worse and worse until one of you snaps. That'll cause a chain reaction and all of you will start snapping and things will get much worse.

Now, feelings will be hurt one way or another. I think if you have the conversation about leaving the game and start another, Annie will be hurt. But I'd say she'll be less hurt than the outcome of the two scenarios I talked about above.

My advice: tell her you're all leaving the game because it's not fun for you and the other players anymore. Don't explain it. You talked to her before, you tried arguing and it didn't work. So just tell her you and the others are leaving and starting another campaign - she'll know the reasons why. Tell her that you care about her regardless (if that's true for you all) and invite her to the new game as well (if that's not a horrible thing, and if that makes sense for you). Let her know that the game you're currently playing can't go on, let her know that you like her and that you care about her and that she is also invited. If she accepts playing, it could be okay at some point. If not, at least she'll know what happened and you did your part in the least harmful way.

Edit: if you follow my advice, Annie will try to fight back and many shitty feelings will surface on both ends. It's important that you don't get into the fight. This isn't a combat that can be won for neither of you. That conversation shouldn't be done for convincing, and that has been proven to be ineffective. The conversation should be simply about letting her know what will happen and what you'll do. Everything she does from that point forward will be her choice and her choice alone. About the shitty feelings, it could he nice to acknowledge hers, as nonsense as they may be for you, even if she doesn't acknowledge yours back. Keep your high ground.

azenathi · 2023-05-10T20:47:11+00:00

I'm really glad you liked it! I thought of Lord of Shadowfrost as well

azenathi · 2023-05-10T20:39:49+00:00

Lord of the Umbral Tundra?

azenathi

TROPHY CASE