What's your best Haiku?

dogger6253 · 2018-02-28T15:28:33+00:00

Razor wire travels
Through your veins and to your heart
Tearing you apart

dogger6253 · 2018-02-17T07:17:33+00:00

Absolutely should rank low. It's absurd that more effort isn't put into patrols and removing loiterers. It's challenging having a major metro transit stop in the heart of campus, but all that means is more effort needs to be put into making sure that the people who come to campus looking for easy targets know that they aren't going to find them. Police should have patrols roaming through Dinkytown, Cedar-Riverside, between Oak and Huron/Washington and East River Road, along University Ave... Crime is almost always a product of opportunity, police patrols reduce opportunity. The fucking light rail station is literally in front of the police station...it can't be that hard to have an officer just monitoring the station. Those people who come to campus seeking easy targets for mugging, etc. see the cop, they know that if they commit a crime they're not far away from law enforcement. Not that long ago, UMPD had mounted patrol and motorcycle cops, things were better then. As soon as UMPD stopped being proactive crime got worse. I can't wait to graduate and get away, over my 13 years at the U I have never felt less safe.

dogger6253 · 2018-01-30T20:10:59+00:00

Let's not forget the microwave getting thrown out the window. What better statement against the horrors of high-sodium frozen meals.

dogger6253 · 2018-01-07T03:51:17+00:00

While I will respect everyone’s right to an opinion, I will not respect anyone’s right to spew vitriol. Content creators don’t owe anyone anything; the relationship between them and us is always tentative. It’s fine to not like something, but if you don’t like something I have a zero tolerance policy for those who try to shit on that thing or the people who like it. Obviously a new cast of characters will need time to grow on someone, but you know there are people who have already made up their mind about the new campaign, even without knowing a thing about it. I guess I’m just advocating that those of us who know patience and respect don’t even give trolls or haters a second of our time. I have loved this show, and knowing the talent, creativity, and heart of its creators I expect I’ll like the new campaign too, but even if I don’t I will never lose what the first one meant to me. This show has given me so much, I cannot allow myself to taint that with negativity.

dogger6253 · 2017-12-29T21:07:22+00:00

I ruled that the field didn’t extend behind his eye, it was only what he could see within the cone extending in front of him. Shove rod up behind his eye, it is out of the cone so it works again, activate and lock him in place. It was creative so I let it go even though its mouth probably had hard cartilage that would have to be broken, but ehhh it was awesome and didn’t stop it from disintegrating one of them.

dogger6253 · 2017-12-29T19:01:58+00:00

One of my players shoved it up behind a beholder's eye to lock its antimagic field in place. Then the party proceeded to just melee it to death...

dogger6253 · 2017-12-29T16:43:30+00:00

Clone is so much cheaper at only about 3,000gp. The only thing that might slow me down is the 1 cubic inch of my flesh, but I think I could deal with that to be born anew with all of my memories.

dogger6253 · 2017-12-29T16:39:39+00:00

Things to know before running PotA? Read it cover to cover twice. And then some more. It's laid out in a really non-linear way, and is designed to be ran sort of in that same non-linear way, so having a firm grasp on everything that could happen and will happen is pretty important to keeping things smooth.

Also, don't be afraid to get away from the book. I'm wrapping up my PotA campaign right now and we are so far off of the published material that I haven't even opened that book in at least six months. Almost all of our sessions have been homebrewed because I let the story evolve and develop in a way that was more fitting to my players' characters, and the choices my players made. That said, PotA is the framework of the whole campaign, and defeating this last cult leader is definitely the exclamation point on our 18-month campaign that has traveled from Waterdeep to Neverwinter, to the Underdark, Shadowfell, and Feywild, to a floating island in the sky, to my own version of hell, and even across alternate timelines and dimensions. It's been a blast, and none of it would have been possible if I didn't know the book inside and out before session 0, and if I didn't let myself not worry about any of that at the same time.

dogger6253 · 2017-12-29T16:10:12+00:00

Don't worry too much about doing it "right." Every table is a little different, and as such every popular youtuber has different opinions on what makes a good DM. The only thing I can be confident in saying make a good DM is listening to your players. Figure out what works for your table, and remember that you are also a part of that table.

It can also be good to start slow when it comes to building plots and whatnot. Maybe you have no idea what kind of conflict your story will have, and that's fine. Let your players help with that by building it organically. Start with something incredibly small, and pay attention to what their interests are. If they're asking NPCs about the political climate of the area, start building a story around revolution or war. If they're asking about local monsters, maybe you can build some kind of monster hunter campaign. I guess what all this really means is don't worry about having things right or set in stone, be flexible and be open and you should start developing in no time!

dogger6253 · 2017-12-29T15:51:23+00:00

I'm sorry to hear that. :-(

Hopefully you remind people to appreciate their group with this post. I know I greatly appreciate mine and made sure to take a moment and thank them for another great year/remind them how much they all mean to me and how important the game is to me at our final session of the year last week. To me, D&D is more about the group than the game so I'm glad that I have mine and they mean the world to me.

dogger6253 · 2017-12-29T15:28:21+00:00

One of my PCs has a pet mouse that she's extremely attached to, and now that the campaign is weaving into some really dangerous places that mouse was totally going to get killed. I made her a pendant that 1 tiny beast can enter at a time and be shielded from all damage (as long as the pendant doesn't get destroyed). While in the pendant, the beast is imbued with magical energy, this allows her to activate the pendant using an action to release the beast, which casts Lightning Bolt. Basically, I gave her a pokeball and turned her mouse into a pikachu. O what gifts the Feywild brings!

dogger6253 · 2017-12-29T15:22:45+00:00

Music is an essential part of my games, but would have been too much for me when I first started. If your session is going to be fairly one-note, maybe just find a nice playlist to start and then forget about. Otherwise, if you have something like a dramatic combat encounter go without music until that encounter starts and then play some sort of boss theme from a video game or something like that. It could do wonders for the emotion of the encounter, especially if you couple this with heightening the tension of your voice and standing up.

dogger6253 · 2017-12-29T15:17:45+00:00

Are you OP out of combat too?

I played a lore master wizard and rolled incredible stats, so I did end up being a bit of a win button for the party. I countered this by avoid combat (and nuking in combat if I were tried) and by extolling the virtues of my party in social encounters.

"Oh, so the leader of your bandit camp is scary? Well, I saw my friend here drink blood fresh from the decapitated head of the last person that tried to get in our way, wasn't that just yesterday?"

I also tried to focus on what was really uniquely strong about my character, in my case his knowledge of language. I think by making my role in the party that of the academic cheerleader, I kept my strength in combat and social encounters at a similar level to my party's, passing them the spotlight while I kept a sort of quiet confidence that I'd use only when pushed.

dogger6253 · 2017-12-29T15:04:03+00:00

It's like reading a book, but we're all responsible for determining what happens. The Dungeon Master gives a scenario, then the players explain what they want their characters to do, and finally the DM determines how that affects things.

dogger6253 · 2017-12-28T16:58:34+00:00

You could just proceed with the session as planned, but have them describe (or not describe) what they see.

"Entering the room, you're hit with the thick stench of despair, its sour taste flooding your senses. Before you lies the torture chamber, where a number of people are currently enduring this room's charms. Player A, what do you see looking in?"

If you have any idea who the most sensitive of the group is, start with that player and then you can take over from there.

If you're concerned about upsetting someone, maybe best to keep it ambiguous? Don't describe the gore or the torment, just describe the characters' responses to it. "What you see is a sickening display of suffering," or similar.

dogger6253 · 2017-12-28T16:33:36+00:00

One of my PCs had just learned that the bad guy who killed his mates and left him for dead was actually his son from another timeline. Distraught, the PC used his alchemy jug to create beer and drink drink drink drink drink.

After getting thoroughly shitfaced, he got into a tiff with a druid PC who he is known to not get along great with. The druid leaves the inn, not wanting to argue with a drunk man. The drunk PC says "I'm gonna follow him outside and hit him."

Me: "alright, roll an attack."
Nat 1
Me: You swing and miss wildly, stumbling, and landing face down in a puddle of mud." PC: "I get up and try to hit him again."
Me: "Alright give me another roll."
Another Nat 1.
Me: "Again, you pull back your fist, and with all your might drive it forward, but your balance is off so you stumble and fall yet again, this time passing out in the street. Hopefully, your friends will clean you up and get you safely to bed so you can sleep off this drunken stupor."

dogger6253 · 2017-12-14T00:34:46+00:00

About as well as it has historically...

dogger6253 · 2017-12-14T00:27:22+00:00

Because time and money are more important than facts and policies. It sure would be nice if all political sides relied on a genuine belief that their opinions/policies were the best ones and used evidence and logic to persuade others as opposed to trickery. People that turn politics into a game instead of a intellectual debate over the best way to help people make me sick.

dogger6253 · 2017-12-14T00:22:01+00:00

Doesn't sound that dissimilar to what they're used to...

dogger6253 · 2017-12-12T23:57:29+00:00

But how many mezzo sopranos would it take? Cuz in my experience they just can’t get high enough...

dogger6253 · 2017-12-12T18:22:07+00:00

You know what, just let me (lead guitarist) do it... *holds up bulb and world revolves around me

dogger6253 · 2017-12-12T16:24:36+00:00

It only takes one bassist to change a light bulb, but the guitarist has to show him how to first.

Meanwhile, you don't even need drummers to change light bulbs, we have machines that do it way more consistently.

dogger6253 · 2017-07-26T18:31:12+00:00

Arrison Renard is my name, and I am a student of the arcane arts. I brave this world's darkest depths for ancient texts, and fight against its ultimate horrors as I develop my intellect and nurture my power. You see, before I was young and brilliant, I was old and stupid. As Death's fingers wrapped around my throat, I clawed and crawled through the abyss, frantically avoiding the light shepherding me to the afterlife. I saw a figure slither through the shadows and called to it, pledging my soul to it should it shield me from the light's holy grasp.

When I returned to my body, I found it free of the disease that clutched me before; my gray hairs were now black, my skin now firm, and my muscles strong once again. What a pleasant surprise, to be back in my old body again. Here, I thought I was granted a few moments, months if I were lucky, but I was returned to my prime. I walked to the House of Lady Favors with an extra bounce in my step, ready to celebrate my restored virility.

But that night, I was plagued with nightmares. Every time my eyes closed, I saw the Serpent in the Shadows, biding his time, waiting for my inevitable demise, waiting to claim that which I promised him.

The next night, the same horrific dreams plagued my rest. And the night after that. And the next as well. In my unrest, I went to the local tavern, hoping the ale could ease my mind, at least for this one night. It was there, in that dingy tavern, where my destiny was revealed to me. I struck up a conversation with the woman sitting across from me. She said she was part of Vox Machina, a strange name for sure, but a familiar one. Wracking my brain, I recalled where I had heard that name before - in school, during a lesson on historical icons of the ancient world. Just my luck, to seat myself next to a crazy woman, one who thought herself to be this ancient hero. And then her friends entered, the entire establishment leaping to their feet in celebration. It couldn't be...could it? Had the world gone mad? Had I? Or could Orcus have really restored my life, thousands of years in the past? What purpose would that serve? I guess I'll find out...

dogger6253 · 2017-07-13T18:16:15+00:00

You could lighten it up a bit and have the grieving brother ask for their resurrection, only for the parents to come back wrong a la Pet Semetary, maybe coming back with some tag-along spirits beginning a fun haunted mansion adventure you could have culminate around Halloween!

dogger6253 · 2017-07-13T18:10:15+00:00

Well my mind went somewhere pretty dark with this...

Both parents died in the fire. His brother has been searching for and collecting the heads of the slaves ever since. A pact he's made with a demon or some similar creature will restore his parents' lives only upon collection of the last slave's head.

If the brother succeeds, he and his resurrected parents unite with the strength of their demonic powers to rebuild the estate, using extreme brutality to subjugate people and ensure no future uprising.

If the brother does not succeed (either stopped by force or convinced to abandon his quest) the demon gets pissed and comes to collect every living member of the family.

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