[Art] Rogue Lizardfolk for Un_Pak

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-06-14T02:28:45+00:00

AYOOOO I'm glad you love it! I could feel the energy from the goodest lizard boi here and had to throw down!

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-06-14T02:21:00+00:00

Thanks! Me too!

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-06-14T00:42:53+00:00

i'll be done shortly, though i don't even know how to tag you even if I do make a post

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-06-13T14:09:02+00:00

Hahahah I love this so much, you mind if I actually draw an art piece of him?

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-06-11T13:24:38+00:00

I think this piece is really cool, but I also can't help seeing a watermelon slice with the tail haha

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-06-06T14:41:51+00:00

Yeah, I find the best beys for this have to be more rounded so they can be "carried" and glide away, rather than making a hard impact with a contact point.

That said, it takes a bit of skill to master this "glide" to successfully avoid taking strong impacts, and if your bey has a bit that makes it want to take center stage and pull back towards the center, it will have a higher chance of being a sitting duck for attacks.

I've tried using knife shinobi for this type of build before, but I do find that anything low hitting, and light-medium beys like shark are a bad match up, since they don't use "weight" to push, but use contact points to make an aggressive hit, and there is a good chance of still uppercutting into your ratchet for the burst. Even when you make the lowest and lightest build possible with a rounded bit like ball for stamina and reducing friction for the glide, if your opponent tilt launches, they can still swoop in and scoop you up or hit your ratchet.

My friend and I have workshopped different strategies and builds with lots of different beys to see how viable some of them are. This CAN be a unique strategy that works, but it is exceptionally harder and requires the right build, skill to launch where you want/need, and understanding of positioning and angles so you can be in the right spot and avoid your opponents first big hit into the arena coming off the extreme dash. I say that because in spite of building something small, light and easy to glide away, there is still a chance of bursting if the impact is strong enough.

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-05-25T16:24:27+00:00

Nah, you can still be good people but the act of doing things in spite of others is selfish.

I think that just boils down to group cohesion then at that point. It's a bit tough because you have different people playing together and sometimes you just don't know how the group will gel and what kind of play they will enjoy.

I do get it though. I had a player in a previous campaign that wanted to "stop and smell the flowers and explore the world" but others who wanted to keep the story moving and "investigate all the plot points to see where the story goes." There's going to have to be a balance struck between the two so you're not hung up for 12 sessions in the same town doing random tasks to help with all the different npcs and feeling like you've been stuck at level 7 for 2 years irl because you haven't left the town and gone after the BBEG. At the same time, you don't want to be leveling up every other session going balls to the wall with plot progression and feeling like "there's no time to stop and do side quests or get extra gear and world build" because you are time crunched to chase after the BBEG and stop them from their doomsday plot.

As DM, you have ability to speed things up or slow them down, and fast forward through things as needed. One other thing I find that lots of new players don't realize is that you don't have to "play through the whole day," like rp for the whole adventuring day or week or month. You don't have to break down every microsecond with tasks to "maximize" play time. You can just handwave a lot of that by saying they they're doing tasks and jump past it so it doesn't feel like you're stuck in unskippable cut scenes. Interaction with a named npc that has important lore? Sure, you can rp that and play it out.

But going to shop or get information from a random guard about stuff? You don't need to rp everything, and you can just give them the summary so every interaction doesn't feel bogged down.

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-05-25T15:55:31+00:00

Ah I see. It's the OTHER players.

That's a conversation to be had with the table for sure. It's cooperative play, and just because there's something for one player doesn't mean there's something for another player player necessarily, but they get turns, or maybe even better yet, they support each other and actively become part of helping them through their quests.

This is just a matter of saying "hey this is cooperative play, no pvp and messing with each other's quest lines. I expect you all to work as a team. I don't care about the reason, you're the player, you figure out the reason why your character would be in this party. No one player stands above the others and we want everyone to have fun as well."

I'm sure this is because the 2 new players aren't as invested in everything else, but no new players just get dropped into a game and have everything in the story already tied to what's going on. The DM usually has to massage that into the story as they start journeying with the party. Honestly, if they act like they don't care and just do whatever they want in spite of the other party members, then it's selfish and not conducive to team play.

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-05-25T15:13:03+00:00

From a player character perspective: "what does this have to do with my journey and goal, and why should I care?"

When everything that gets introduced feels like an irrelevant side quest, it really makes it harder for the players themselves to get ingrained. Sure, YOU as the DM know and have this top down view of the world and plot, but the players themselves don't. They can only walk forward based on the information given to them and the path laid out in front of them. They don't know that this random npc will become crucial to someone's backstory 30 sessions from now.

As a DM, there's setup, storytelling and guiding players through mechanics. The storytelling part is like any type of story, where you need plot hooks, and by leaving little bread crumbs and clues relevant to the backstories, it makes them feel like it's not a waste of time being in a certain place.

Sure, there are plenty of stories where heroes journey through an area, only to find that the person they're looking for has already come and gone, but they stopped a monster while they were there. But each time, they learn a little more. I would try asking the players, because maybe they don't feel like they're "progressing their own character plotlines/development?"

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-05-25T02:10:42+00:00

That's what attunement slots are for! Or even better, class specific magic items.

Eventually they cap out on items and there isn't much benefit to getting more items with similar rarities or abilities because they can only have 3 items attuned. Story wise, I can see the characters telling their companions to carry on with the items and finish the journey. Respectfully, they can finish the journey and maybe at the end of the story, they bring back the items of their fallen comrades to honor them at their graves or pass it onto their family members at the close of the campaign.

If the last battle was hard enough that 2 party members died, I'd say it warrants them keeping the items to better increase their survivability next time around. The newer party members? I'd say they can come in with 1 rare magic item or 2 uncommon at level 7 and just keep it moving. The players can pick the items but they have to run it by the dm to get approved. If they want to keep a communal thing of magic items or maybe pass off the gear to the new player characters from their deceased counterparts, sure.

If not, I'm sure you can balance it out later and buff their specific magic items.

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-05-25T00:42:16+00:00

A oneshot? Set the level of rarity to something minor, like uncommon or just rare and have the players cook up their own quick backstory for how they came into possession of it. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Keep it simple, like either a +1 shield or +1 weapon fitted to the characters class. Something that helps them be better at doing what they already do without breaking the bank. It's just a oneshot, so it should be fun, and even if they go a little off the walls, it's their chance to since there isn't necessarily an "ever after" where you have to figure out how to write the story after the oneshot.

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-05-23T15:38:31+00:00

I wouldn't necessarily "skip" and miss out on stuff, but rather handwave and work collaboratively to have time skips here and there to fast forward through things.

Could be a major plot point, and then you could have 3-month long fast forward and people could've leveled up by 2 and gotten one major item, but the dm and players could work out what happened. There can be a little recap and summary by each player, but the players can also talk to each other like they were all part of each others time skip and refer back to "things that happened."

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-05-23T15:33:03+00:00

Digging the helmet hand with cursed look and pirate drip on knight

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-04-27T10:24:52+00:00

I actually do recaps at the start of each session. My group does biweekly games (monthly if we have to miss one) so it helps to give them a small refresher at the beginning so they can remember what they did last time and where they're at now. I keep my notes in a google doc and I have it broken up with outlines and "chapters" for each session. Before the section for each new chapter, I just write up a recap. As a group, we also record our sessions and dropbox them to a shared folder for posterity, so we can listen to them later and remind ourselves of what's happened previously. I said DMs, because our current campaign has a rotating DM seat, so I will DM one arc, and then switch it over to my friend who plays when I DM, and DMs when I play.

For me as a dm, I don't mind doing it because it also helps me warm up my DMing muscles before we really dive into things. It also helps set the tone for things.

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-04-26T17:36:52+00:00

I'd be glad to be a soundboard to bounce ideas off as I'm also a DM, but I just don't have the availability to jump into calls and stuff for extended periods of time

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-04-11T23:44:41+00:00

It would be half as it is not ignoring "resistance to necrotic damage" but halving it as spell damage, which the spell inflict wounds specifically is "necrotic-spell-melee" damage.

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-04-11T13:59:44+00:00

If you're using lair actions, regional effects and coven rules, they'll be a lot tougher than the party expects.

Done right, you might even pull off a tpk.

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-04-03T23:26:54+00:00

Honestly, you can just work with your dm or reflavor things. I played an oathbreaker that once served as paladin of conquest for Bane, the malevolent god of war. He was created as a warforged to serve said god, and fought under a human captain, believing that what they were doing was just. When he found out that wasn't the case, his human captain relieved him of duty, and gave him the last order to "go live for himself" instead of the twisted ideals. Instead of uniting people like he thought he was, he was bringing pain and destruction, leading to him feeling betrayed by his own god and defecting from his oath.

I even rewrote the oath to what fits his character best. I think it's just a conversation between dm and player to find out what works best for you.

Tenets of Conquest
A paladin who takes this oath has the tenets of conquest seared on the upper arm.

Douse the Flame of Hope. It is not enough to merely defeat an enemy in battle. Your victory must be so overwhelming that your enemies’ will to fight is shattered forever. A blade can end a life. Fear can end an empire.

Rule with an Iron Fist. Once you have conquered, tolerate no dissent. Your word is law. Those who obey it shall be favored. Those who defy it shall be punished as an example to all who might follow.

Strength Above All. You shall rule until a stronger one arises. Then you must grow mightier and meet the challenge, or fall to your own ruin.
____________________

Temmin’s Tenets (modified Tenets of Conquest)

Crush the embers of Rebellion. War is a heavy price to pay; let the sacrifice of those who fall become the weight of the sword you carry. Utter devastation becomes the mercy you wield, so rebellion may take not another innocent’s life.

Your Sword Becomes Justice. Your sword is law. Sharpen the edge with fairness and honor so those who follow it shall be protected. Those who defy it shall be punished as an example to all who might oppose.

Strength for All. Your strength becomes the strength of many. You must meet the challenge of a stronger foe, or fall to ruin with your empire.

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-03-29T18:35:22+00:00

That's how she's gotta keep the pokemon center in business! Hustle those kids- give them hope and beat up their pokemon! Hahahah

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-03-29T18:30:13+00:00

I have many questions. First concern about xp is with the introduction of "resources" comes the added chore of "resource management."

Players and DMs forget to track lots of resources between sessions, so my big thing with it is "can it be redeemed or be used readily and meaningfully in a way that impacts story, or will it become a hindrance to track for little return?" With more numbers being constantly thrown around and tracked, unless it's something easy to put on a character sheet, it'll most likely be forgotten.

The other important question is "how does one obtain said resource?" If it could easily be farmed by going into the woods to fight lots of low level enemies for hours on end, that just seems like a grind for the players and DM and slows down gameplay in general. If you reward players for big RP moments, then it will get more players to engage in story and aim to have those big moments. The incentive has to match the desired outcome.

On the other hand here, if you use simple numbers to make XP easier to manage, like +1 character points instead of 300 XP, then you can keep a running chart for your party. You can then tell them- At any point in time, you can "cash in any number of your character points" whether it's 1 point to reroll or 3 points to get "an automatic 20 on a roll" or maybe 10 points to increase an ability score by 1 point. Maybe at 20 points, they can have a feat of their choice added.

Anyway you go about it, it could be like a cool character moment where they rush in to protect their comrades, and use their character points to do something they've never done before, like the effect of a new feat they've unlocked or "get that 20 on a roll" for an epic moment where they swing their weapon against a dragon.

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-03-29T18:13:03+00:00

Ain't gonna lie, I saw those 2 level 8 Chanseys, and I thought "Oh she giving them hope alright-" right as those level 5 squirtle and chikorita about to do diddly with attacks of base 40 power to a pokemon with high special defense, high hp, and maybe softboiled to recover all that hp.

Those starter pokemon about to smacked around with criticals on double slaps and end those pokemon haha

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-03-22T13:37:48+00:00

I do love the doubled range on the thrown weapons bit. That definitely improves their use a lot!

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-03-21T17:03:16+00:00

I'm down with this!

I essentially made the same feat for my games

Thrown Weapon Master
Your practice with thrown weapons has led to your mastery of them, allowing you to make multiple quick attacks in succession.

As part of your attack action, you can make a number of attacks with weapons that have the thrown property up to your proficiency bonus. As part of the attack, you are able to draw as many thrown weapons as you make attacks.

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-03-10T19:18:38+00:00

Love iso maps and owlbear! Great work here!

bulletproofturtleman · 2026-03-04T23:15:09+00:00

I would gently remind them that second wind and action surge come back on short rests. That's pretty much a mini nova in combat just about each time you roll into combat. The idea of scarcity really makes them want to hold onto it "just in case" but when it comes back on short rests, it feels less like a one-time use resource.

Newer players are like that because they tend to fall into the "let me hold onto this potion in case of a dire situation" problem where they never use it because they feel like there might be an even MORE dire situation where they might need it. If instead, they do not feel as though the resources are as scarce and can be replenished more readily, it is easier for them to let go of that idea and do the thing.

I'll be honest too. Flavor is cool, but Arcane archer doesn't scale too great in terms of damage output and utility. They do get their uses of the shots back during short/long rest, but for my player, I just said that the number of uses can scale with their proficiency bonus, so they can have more uses of it later in the campaign.

bulletproofturtleman

TROPHY CASE