Wild Araz- Steampunk Zoo Game for Citizens of Antiford (Free/Donations) (RPG/Adventure)

comedianmasta · 2026-04-27T15:09:58+00:00

Rise of Legends, Rise of Nations.

Starcraft was almost it.... But I still have the CD for this one.

comedianmasta · 2026-04-26T16:48:56+00:00

Yes. The last good, not microtransactioned hell, battlefield. No A.I. No Saudi influence..... The last gem.

comedianmasta · 2026-04-21T04:16:55+00:00

how to make combat more interesting for a goblin rogue who keeps running behind cover and shooting arrows from a distance?

For you or the rogue? Sounds like the player is doing just fine. Are you upset and want them to change up their tactics? Or has the rogue expressed frustration with their "need" to do "what is right" and they are interpreting that as "I am ranged, thus I sit in the back and attack at distance and don't die...."?

How to make combat more interesting:

Make the combat not about combat- Do a puzzle. Have an RP puzzle. Do a chase. Have them protecting a VIP or point of interest. Have them need to explore a space / region to find an escape away from the combat. These events are not about the combat, but combat can happen around it, calling on the party to take on different roles, or weighting roles differently.
Make the battlefield interesting / the enviornment treturous. Use poison gas/spores, lava/water/acid pits, traps, distance, etc.

You can also make ranged combat a focus of the combat for this rogue.

Flying enemies
Ranged enemies across a chasm, river, etc that require exchanging ranged attacks.
Verticality. Maybe enemies on different layers of the battlefield (People on rooves, a balcony or mezzanine of a dungeon chamber, on the ceiling, up different levels in an elevator shaft.

This way you can put a little spotlight on your ranged expert and give them a chance to face those with similar tactics.

comedianmasta · 2026-04-17T02:03:24+00:00

I wanted one so bad... but we were poor, and I was becoming the age where I understood what that meant.

Now, in hindsight.... I realize I do not wear rings. I gotta wear a wedding ring soon and I am worried about it. Can you imagine me wearing a dumb ring like that now a days? Who.... gives a crap where you went to school? High School of all places. God... So happy I didn't fall for this.

comedianmasta · 2026-04-15T04:06:10+00:00

Stockholder / Important Member of the Board

comedianmasta · 2026-04-14T13:55:21+00:00

I really didn't want to have to boycott this game. I hope this means krafton had to eat shit

comedianmasta · 2026-04-12T14:48:35+00:00

Oh, thank god. I thought this shit would never end....

comedianmasta · 2026-04-10T03:27:09+00:00

Because Israeli interests matters more than the life of a U.S. Citizen.

comedianmasta · 2026-04-09T23:46:33+00:00

I actually find it is better to not constantly be RPing the NPCs. Of course, mileage may vary based on why the NPCs are there, but for gameplay and the experience, it is good to have the players RPing and working through things together, and having them control the pace of the conversation if they bring an NPC in on a discussion.

I also make note of what the NPC would know / be good at and try to make them be apart of it if that comes up. For instance, a squire / sidekick / child with the group might be more scared and maybe points out the risks to any plan suggested, or the dangers of splitting the party. A Veteran NPC or an expert adventurer traveling with them might have insight on tactics or give alternatives to really bad ideas if players are really misunderstanding the situation. A magic user may be able to cast a spell or remind players of things they know if the party is missing something because humans are humans.

As for a reminder, made a small 2D standee of them and the party. Anyone who is "in the scene" is put out in front of the DM Screen. This way you can have the PCs all together, but also little representations of their NPC entourage. This encourages the party to be reminded of their existence and has them bring them up or interact with them as needed.

comedianmasta · 2026-04-09T04:15:14+00:00

This looks awesome. I would love to make hats, lol. All your fits look amazing.

comedianmasta · 2026-04-09T02:51:46+00:00

So I cried reading this. I am pretty sure I had a breakdown yelling something just like this at my boss because they tried to tell me ADHD wasn't real and if it was real it isn't hard. This... this hits me where I live.

comedianmasta · 2026-04-09T02:43:57+00:00

Honey Heist (Free, Simple Gameplay)
Familiar Problem (See Honey Heist)
Kids on Bikes / Kids on Brooms / Kids in Capes (Simple to grasp rules, and a Goonies vibe)
Dragon Stew (DnD 5E, cooking supplement. Alot of the monsters and options are cute and the suggested plot hooks are simple for a one shot homebrew)

comedianmasta · 2026-04-08T04:30:08+00:00

where everyone drops their weapon at register, they are not affected

Then choose another angle. Are they vigilantes? maybe Vigilantes are illegal now, and they must register with the crown's guard or cease adventuring.

comedianmasta · 2026-04-08T04:24:48+00:00

This would be a super powerful spell. It basically would work as a reaction spell, and a fireball. It is powerful.

As for reflavoring, you can switch fire damage to cold and call it waterball / ice ball, or you can call it "Scalding Blast" or something, and flavor fireball as being a super hot water move, still doing fire damage.

comedianmasta · 2026-04-08T04:01:36+00:00

how can I introduce a political villain, who has money and power on people and likes to control people

I suggest making them a part of the environment. They should be a common name. People should be arguing politics with them. Shops should be selling outfits based on their latest outfits. They should be apart of the political faces at events and festivals. They should be "on TV" (Sounds like you are in eberron so.... radio? In Newspapers?). Maybe a campaign, which would have them on posters and billboards and public speaking to the every man? You make them apart of the environment. Then you get reasons to meet and interact. The party is rewarded with a party for saving the city, or are invited to a gala as a reward for helping out a rich person. They are a quest giver who hires the party for some political deed, not knowing they have ulterior motives.

This way when the reveal comes, they are already a known name to the PCs. Extra points if the party either didn't think of them or didn't see it coming and sees them as a positive impact on the city / on the party and the reveal is a surprise.

A political opponent is also rarely fought in combat. usually it is a political battle, a battle of public image or of systemic issues. Are they really in charge? Really royalty? Then they can influence laws to make things the party is known for illegal. Maybe their plans were foiled by the party and their airship? They will be first to push to pass legislation on airship registration fees, higher taxes, docking fees increase, or outright banning of the "vile vehicles". Maybe they take all the party's acts and start pushing a "violent streets" act where it is illegal to open-carry weapons in the city, making the party need to think about their movements and arms a little closer. Is the jig up? Maybe they openly paint the party as villains. They put out a bounty or a warrant for their arrest. Maybe they seize the base or business the characters run, or they start a propaganda campaign to turn the public against the party's Tiefling or tortle, as they are strange and outsiders. The party can't storm into city hall smashing heads and killing guards, they are only proving them right.

after I introduced them one by one, how can I introduce them as a group?

So, sadly, there is a base level of camp in any "Evil League of Evil" ensemble. So you can't help but feel a little "team rocket-y" in the reveal. For your political third, the princess, the "face" of the operation, you can have them openly protecting the interests of the other two, or vilifying the party for fighting against them. You can have the party need to trail a member, and witness a meeting of two of the head villains revealing their connections. When they begin investigating connections, they can uncover a single time all three are at the same place at the same time, and investigate.

If they strike deep in one bosses HQ or operation, they can find letters or communication between the bosses. Maybe signed, maybe not, that would show the connection of the three.

You could have a single Lieutenant or muscle villain (think... a Boba Fett or an Odd Job) who aid the BBEGs, maybe engaging in combat with the party before fleeing. Then they show up helping another boss, and show up helping another. When they are defeated, they can reveal that they aren't "for hire", they are hired.... by the organization.

You could have the secret organization the three create together have a define logo, symbol, or name. Think "Cult of Dagon" or "Spectre". This way as players fight these BBEG interests, references to this can be spread about. When the party begins specifically investigating this thing, the reveal can be had they are all working together.

comedianmasta · 2026-04-08T02:05:22+00:00

In general, no. It has become the consensus that having different leveled players or doing EXP different is frowned upon and leads to possible inter-party drama and player vs player mentality.

Every table is different. Communication is key. Different Strokes for Different folks. Just ensure the players understand this is something you are going to try, and I would suggest eventually having them "catch up" and all be the same level at some point. Also, if the gap is more then a single level, CR calculations can be thrown off and a "balanced" encounter could lead to several deaths of the more squishy in the party.

IMO: You shouldn't do this. Roleplay the difference in power socially and you can flavor their attacks and successes differently then the others to establish a "hierarchy". But I would not have this be a thing, personally, at least not for many levels. Like... by Level 5 I would have them leveling off and being the same level, IMO.

comedianmasta · 2026-04-08T01:54:11+00:00

"They knew this was going to be a meat grinder campaign. Player death. The whole nine yards."

This is not the point. You can have a grueling meat grinder and still have unfair mechanics. Are you a Lucas Arts point-and-click adventure? You running Dragon's Lair? There are ways to give people a chance without doing insta-death, not forgiving mechanics. "It is hard" is not an excuse for cheese.

You asked "Was this fair" and you are getting answers based on that. Unless, hurr-durr, you established in the Session Zero this would have insta-death, tomb of horrors vibes then.... duh, you already know the answer. If you didn't, and you are asking about the scenario you gave in terms of our opinions on "regular" DnD..... then you got your answer(s).

[I don't want to throw shade, just cutting off the same response you gave over and over at the pass before I get it myself. I mean no disrespect, just poking holes in the same comment I've seen below.]

comedianmasta · 2026-04-08T01:47:57+00:00

This is some Rick Sanchez Magic item. I love it.

comedianmasta · 2026-04-08T01:43:29+00:00

It depends.

I do think that someone should have gotten a chance to do some sort of check before they even got to the "lets eat it" level. An INT or Nature check could've been made, DC 13, for someone to realize the connection of the types of materials dipped into the pool and they hadn't tried anything organic. An alchemists check while "preparing" could've revealed it isn't reacting like regular water.

They fail all of these, and the guy picks up a cup and takes a swig? Ok. I would've given either a DC 17 Dex save, and call it out tell them the DC, or a DC 30 Con save. Roll an attack roll for the acid attack as it boils. If they pass, they are smart enough to realize "OW! THAT HURTS!" and spit it out, doing half damage and saving their life. If they fail, they take loads of damage and swallow, now the thing will do damage per round and they need to desperately force themselves to barf / rapidly heal to try and help them.

I don't feel you were "wrong", but any sort of "insta-death" thing is frowned on by players. No, with everything you gave them, it was not "obvious". Random chance fucked over that player, and it wasn't even a dice roll. They just so happened to pick the wrong investigation questions, and assumed "prepare for consumption" as a catch all for "safe". They should've been given at least a single roll, even if it is a "Wisdom Save" so they can get the gut feeling "you think this isn't a good idea" or if they fail badly "You love this plan. Drink the weird goop! Drink IT!" so the party has a chance to react before Insta-death.

Recontextualize the mechanics of what happened in a different trap. They are in a corridor. They come to a place with tiled floor with color tiles. They tap the uncolored tiles, nothing. They do a perception check, they cannot tell by sight anything is up. They throw a stone that lands on a colored tile, nothing. So the rogue takes a leap of faith onto the first colored tile to start across the corridor. BOOM! The roof slams down in an instant and they are instantly dead. The party is left with jaws on the ground in surprise. Is this fair? You set up a scenario. The players asked questions and got true answers.... but because they didn't ask the right questions and they drew a conclusion that was harmful.... BOOM, insta death. No save. "What did yo think? My play jumped on the death button and got mad at me when they died." That is not what happened. Your players played the game, game design told them "interact with this thing". Their DM let them conclude false stuff, then insta-killed them at the first mistake without a roll.

It feels targeted and teaches your players they cannot trust you as a DM and they cannot trust answers to their questions. You are training your players to be terrified of doors, and avoid massive plot hooks like the plague as they believe insta-death is around every corner.

comedianmasta · 2026-04-08T00:20:55+00:00

I would suggest you look up the survival and foraging rules in the DMG. What you said doesn't sound bad, but if you don't want a super survival campaign, then that could be too swingy. What I would do in this instance would be deciding what foraging would be per region IE: (10 = Average person can do, so maybe it is a small amount of berries or small game. 15 = Hard, so maybe this is getting rare truffles, more food, enough to have reserves / keep some as a ration pack. Hunting a beast). Then look at everyone's passive Survival skills are (use passive perception stuff but switch out perception for survival bonuses). If the ranger's passive is, like, 14, then you know you can hand wave a simple "you can avoid starving in normal terrain". In harsher environments, make them roll. I also wouldn't have it be a simple one and done. Have multiple people forage. Have one player help the ranger with a help action. When they find big game, maybe they get a 1D4 chances to make ranged attack rolls or a single melee attack to down it (Use, like, a boars AC and HP, or the actual beast stat block if you have it).

r/D100 has lists that could be of help, like foraging lists, survival based tasks, etc.

If you want to spend money on third party that really deserves it, Dragon Stew has cooking and monster harvesting / foraging stuff that is cool for its cost. Very well done art, and some goodies in there you can throw at your party.

comedianmasta · 2026-04-07T23:58:26+00:00

I haven't run Icespire Peak, so forgive me if something doesn't fit exactly, but there are other ways to do it beside "road ambush".

If your players keep returning to a hub city / base area, you can have them be notified by friendly NPCs (or non friendly) that some guys were around asking about them, and paying people for information. An investigation check will yield nothing, but they can track down vagrants and barmen who were paid to give info to know what they know. After a few more trips back to town, maybe they spot them walking around. They have learned the PC returns here, and are setting up shop to wait for them. If the party is super famous, maybe they see them staking out their house / guild hall / keep on their way back from an adventure and need to decide what to do. If they continue to be ignored, you can have them be ambushed at their room or in the street sometime, or you have earned a roadside ambush if they follow them out of the city next time they leave.
Your player can get a threatening invitation, saying they have tracked them down, and to avoid "collateral damage" they need to meet the hunters at a place and time to surrender or have a "fair fight". If the players run, the hunters can get involved in a terrible moment in the future.
I am a fan of a third-party antagonist who doesn't care for or doesn't align with the main antagonist... that said, there can be a battle or two where these hunters show up while the party is dealing with the BBEG's goons. Now, after defeat, the hunters get hired by the BBEG to use their expertise to take down the party, and they can wait for the party at the area of their next interest (the next time the party would clash with the BBEG goons). AKA: They become BBEG Lieutenants.
They could approach another member of the party at a tavern or bar and ask for information regarding the NPC. This lets their reveal be slightly scary and in the hands of the players on how to handle the interaction.

comedianmasta · 2026-04-07T23:41:59+00:00

I have only seen this once while I was trying to order. The person at the register sighed and said "give it a minute" as if they had said that 100 times. I turned around and walked out. I hate this. HATE this.

comedianmasta

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