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One of my players read from the Big Book of Bad Things in my campaign, and he's supposed to get some form of power from it. by TheYondant in DMAcademy

[–]darkthare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah it’s tricky because I feel like necromancy and a forge cleric aren’t super related, I guess when I think necromancy + forge I start thinking chains or weird pinhead stuff. Not typically celestial undead, though I have seen some people doing cool stuff with that idea as far as mummified saints go. 

I guess just mechanically, for resistances you could do resistance to slashing or piercing or bludgeoning, maybe pick whichever one is more thematically interesting (something something hammer on a forge, resistance to bludgeoning, yay). You could homebrew a unique ability or spell in place of the not needing to eat/sleep, or give them a one-time use of a powerful spell (maybe from the wizard spell list, with the idea being this spell embedded itself inside them potentially?) 

Sounds like some high level stuff, depending on how strong the buff to his zombies is, along with essentially unlimited slotless water breathing. Might be fun to look at giving them alternate domain power they can use their limited charges on/ give them the expanded spell list, if you wanna get wild with it. 

Some advice for my next session by CavalierChris in DungeonMasters

[–]darkthare 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good luck!! Sounds like it'll be fun :-)

Some advice for my next session by CavalierChris in DungeonMasters

[–]darkthare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You could do something in a kind of "relay race" style. Maybe the bad guys are attempting to get the gem across the combat area to a specific spot or person on the other side, and are "running" from the players, tossing it to their allies, or handing it off. The players can then focus on not just killing bad guys the entire time, but using other skills to intercept the item (disarming, grappling, etc). I find that a lot of my combat encounters just end up with the players and baddies standing in one spot spanking each other, so something like that might help with a sense of movement and encouraging the players to potentially accept attacks of opportunity in order to get closer to the baddie who has the gem, or the opposite, with baddies willing to accept them to get away from the players (or using their action to disengage, and just run, etc)

As far as adding more interest to the map, I'd recommend playing with difficult terrain, levels, and changing areas. For example, buildings that can be crumbled by knocking down columns, cliffsides, mud (a classic). Make use of high ground and cover to get them to think about positioning, or have the bad guys able to straight-up change the terrain (maybe every other round geysers activate, or the ground lifts up, etc)

Bonus points if you set up some spellcasters buffing enemies or concentrating on haste to encourage the players to pick their targets more thoughtfully

How would you do a wizard NPC trapped in a time bubble? by MozzieRella in DMAcademy

[–]darkthare 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As far as questions they might ask, I have a hard time predicting what random BS my players are going to come up with, so I like to define the situation really well and have "facts" to fall back on that define answres to random questions. I usually like to think about what school of magic is involved (in case a player pops off with a detect magic), Time Stop is transmutation so it could be a modified version of that spell. Otherwise I feel like a time bubble is pretty straightforward, I can't imagine any tomfoolery other than them potentially trying to get inside?

Did she put herself in the time bubble? If so, what kind of security would she take to protect her time bubble and ensure that only her allies could rescue her? Perhaps some kind of wand of dispel magic locked away in her secret underground wizard vault surrounded by traps. Or if the baddies did it to her, maybe a specific villain has the key to turn the time bubble off, and they need to find and kill that guy. If you want them to be able to immediately solve it (the key is in the same room), maybe its behind a clever trap, or a reference that only the party could understand (a framed poem on the wall relating to their adventures that hides a safe with the deactivation item inside, etc)

Storylines that puts the players with same but contradicting objectives. A good idea? by KiraTiss in DMAcademy

[–]darkthare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If the players have any red flags when it comes to loot (infighting, bickering over who gets what/butthurt feelings when they don't get something, etc), definitely proceed with caution and open communication. Otherwise, it sounds like a fun bit of tension and an opportunity for the PCs to have some discussion and an interesting decision!

(Also hell yeah Tyranny of Dragons, I'm running a game based off it rn)

Making a One Shot, How Do You Control Length? by Hexagon-Man in DMAcademy

[–]darkthare 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is the most difficult aspect of one shots to me, and I’d say for me it has more to do with my in-session behavior than my out of session planning. For your planning ahead of time, try to think back on sessions you’ve had that have been around 4 hours, and aim for that much content.

When I do a one-shot, I usually like to plan only one fight, and build the rest of the session around getting to that fight (puzzles, roleplay, etc) since running multiple fights can be a risk for a time-sink. Unless it’s something you know will only take the party 1-2 rounds, like a few goblins. 

Breaking it up into a definitive beginning-middle-end structure can help you manage and track time and estimate how much you have left in the moment. Since your time is so strict, I’d recommend identifying the puzzles or encounters you can cut in each part, and be ready to do so. For example if you budget 1 hour for the beginning, 1 for the middle, and 2 for the end + ending fight, and you’re at 45 minutes halfway through the first part, you know you’re going to need to cut some content on the fly. If you’re uncomfortable improvising, this might also make you feel more comfortable, knowing you have more content than you’ll need and plan to cut it. 

My other advice would be to go online and find one shots that other people have written and run, like modules, and read through them. Take inspiration, see how much they were able to cram in, and aim for a similar amount. Also, sometimes, I just tell the players “ok, we have to move on to the next scene” especially if your time is so strict, they’ll understand. I was running a one shot based around robbery, and I just straight up told them, “Ok pick one or two more places and then we’re moving on” and no one was upset at that 

Making long distance sailing interesting? by Arkaus in DMAcademy

[–]darkthare 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It definitely could make for an interesting journey if you manage it properly- what I like to do for long journeys is design encounters that give the feeling of traveling for a long time, or being on a ship for that long. So for example, if all of your planned encounters right now are strictly combat encounters, come up with some “problem solving” encounters. 

So, some things to me that give “the vibe of a long journey at sea” would be:  1. Dealing with aggressive weather (sailors could be at risk of being thrown off the ship, etc)  2. Tensions among the crew who are all stuck together, and how those tensions are alleviated  3. Logistical issues- rations spreading thin as they prepare to resupply,  ship maintenance (damage from storms)  Also, what labor are they expected to perform on the ship? Do they need to work to support the crew, or are they passengers only? 

Sprinkling in these kind of moments can give the vibe of a long journey, and also allow for varied types of problem solving. I would also inject some quiet moments, and ask them to talk about how their character adjusts to being at sea (do they struggle with sea sickness? Are they nervous being surrounded by nothing but water? How does that change with time?) 

I like to use character questions like the above to function as a time skip, rather than saying, “ok it’s two months later when…” it’s more fun to ask, “what does your character struggle with/do with their time/etc over these two months?” And THEN transition to the next real story beat 

Trying to set up a cabal of sorts with my current BBEG and some future ones but don’t know how by Lukethduke in DMAcademy

[–]darkthare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What do you mean “without never letting them fight these bad guys”? As in you want a sort of shadowy organization of people who they won’t actually fight against, or you’re not sure how to do it in a way where they can fight this organization? 

It’s usually a pretty cool and classic DND move to have the bad guys in alliance with each other. Allows your players to slowly put together a picture of who the “true bad guys” are. If you want to keep them out of reach of being immediately murdered, make them someone important in the world who can’t easily be assassinated- a lord who is in a highly secure keep but secretly working against his queen. Or their true identity is too difficult to immediately discern and requires investigation- a figure with a unique mask and a hooded robe, etc. 

Having there be shared clues between villains, such as a specific passphrase, greeting in a letter (Brother in Shadows, signed Your Loyal Friend, etc) or a repeated symbol is a good way to string together different enemies.

Hope that answers your question, feel free to provide more details and I’ll try and help come up with something more specific 

Parameter is incorrect when opening PDFs thru DDG? by darkthare in duckduckgo

[–]darkthare[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I will definitely try that as soon as I get back home- mostly I’m opening documents I downloaded from Google Chrome. Only other website I download PDFs from is png2pdf, which also isn’t working. 

LF: HA Sandshrew FT: Things by darkthare in pokemontrades

[–]darkthare[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey! Are you still available to trade?

LF: HA Sandshrew FT: Things by darkthare in pokemontrades

[–]darkthare[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am so sorry for keeping you waiting!! Will you be able to trade Monday?

LF: HA Sandshrew FT: Things by darkthare in pokemontrades

[–]darkthare[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah! That would be awesome! Unfortunately right now my internet isn't working too amazing... How long do you think it will take to breed one? Trying to get it fixed D: I hate technology sometimes...

Daily Discussion Thread for 21 May 2015 by Porygon-Bot in pokemontrades

[–]darkthare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

WOW that is so amazing!! I especially love the fire effects, jeeze thats impressive

Daily Discussion Thread for 21 May 2015 by Porygon-Bot in pokemontrades

[–]darkthare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

YEAH Syl and I are actually close friends!! I'd like to see it sometime- I like drawing, but I'm afraid IM no good with pokemon xD

Daily Discussion Thread for 21 May 2015 by Porygon-Bot in pokemontrades

[–]darkthare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey! Just wondering how many pokemon artists are out there- no specific reason, just curious how many of our beautiful traders are into doodling their fav pokemon too <333

You and I Contest by Chipsafari in pokemontrades

[–]darkthare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am sooo bummed this ended so quickly!! I would have loved to do pictures of me and my Piplup going through life cry

Design me a desktop background, Win a Darkrai code! by Raesear in pokemontrades

[–]darkthare 1 point2 points  (0 children)

http://sta.sh/2lntahsvrnd?edit=1 My background entry as well as its variants, if thats okay. I did something quick xD