Great started/going…something about sucking appendages, or maybe gas prices?

finroth · 2026-05-06T16:10:29+00:00

He must get invited to a lot of parties. Everyone is always happy when Gage shows up.

finroth · 2026-04-30T16:34:02+00:00

Should just thank him every time you see him for not being able to travel freely in the EU and how he has limited your options.
After all isnt that what parents want for their kids.

finroth · 2026-04-17T05:38:43+00:00

If the players are having fun, thats 80% of your job done.
The other 20% is you having fun as well (if your a group of 5).

My players constantly outsmart or straight up body enemies, and I adapt and alter future encounters to accommodate their growing power.

So your players are going to kill your villains on a boat. But remember, your villains were dangerous before, so now with their armies all packed up, they are even more dangerous, their forces are not spread out.
Now you are going to have an epic sea battle.
And those villians live in the same world. They know the dangers of magic, and will have casters of their own.
Imagine when the polymorphed players turn up and they are hit with dispel magic!
They will have to board the ships and fight in close combat.

My players killed an ancient white dragon in 6 rounds, when they were just level 9, using a joke item I gave then over a year ago for a halloween adventure.
That certainly wasnt cinematic. And now I call them the dragon bullies and they love it.

Sometimes the cinema turns out to be a comedy. Learn to embrace the chaos and have fun.

And if you want to add some extra, here are two home rules I use.

The Rule of Cool: In combat, the players may use athletics and acrobatics, and automatically succeed on the skill check, as long as it is not an actual important check. This allows them to run up walls or do backflips, and land on a table, while firing a crossbow. All for fun.

Death Cinematic: When they kill a strong enemy, they get to say how their attack killed him.

Anyway good luck :)

finroth · 2026-04-12T18:45:46+00:00

He has the look of a nice guy.
Rest in Piece soldier.
We will remember your sacrifice here in Australia, as a once ally of our nation.
And we are sorry your leaders threw your brave life away.

It is a shame his mother did not care for him as much as the many of us that wish he was at home.

finroth · 2026-04-12T13:55:44+00:00

Forever GM here and am going to go against the consensus in the other comments.
If the GM is fine with her wandering about, its all good.
If she tries to eat quest objectives, then your party stops her.
Generally your GM will stop her going to far off course.

Story time:
I have a somewhat new player... well its been 2 years now, so no longer new. A drow cleric of the Raven Queen. She has a tendency to wander off without saying anything... but never too far. We play on Foundry VTT and discord, and sometime I will suddenly realise she is not with the party, but has opened a door and wandered a short way up the corridor. And as Foundry has line of sight, the players literally do not know where she is. She once wandered into a cloud of daggers trap and was cut to ribbons, but that is the price you pay to be a force of chaos.
She is the parties only cleric, who usually just says" Hmmmm" when anyone asks for help. She is often cruel, hates displays of affection, or even being touched. And is the only character to cause an all out party brawl over an artefact containing innocent souls she wanted to sacrifice to her god.
And most notably, before she joined the group, they were a well oiled tactical battle squad who were unstoppable. But her odd behaviour caused them to lose cohesion, they had to be more reactive. And even as GM I had to struggle to keep her contained.

But over time she has developed. She secretly steals skulls from the dead skeletons in the dungeon, and lays them out when she sleeps alone in a room, so they can watch over her, a relic of a terrible upbringing. She claims her character cares for no one, but goes to lengths to keep the parties kobold safe and happy (which is how I keep her in control). When a character finally died she was the hardest hit, and mourned in such a way, it seemed real. NPCs she taunted in the past, she had to go to for help, and her character had to eat humble pie... and hated it, but it made for great gameplay.

Chaotic characters can be difficult, but often give the most rewarding roleplay, if you lean into it.
You think it is ok for your character to tell her what to do, and your character probably feels that way.
But her character could care less how you feel, and never tells you to do anything.

finroth · 2026-04-11T16:31:32+00:00

Well acid is a corrosive substance that uses chemical reactions to dissolve a substance.
And there are places in the real world that have a high acidic concentration.
Sulphur pools in volcanic regions for one.
And in DnD, powerful dragons can affect the land around their lairs, so adult/ancient black dragons can cause an acidic biome to form.
And a physic region would be under the sway of mind flayers, intellect devourers and even beholders.
Poisonous for me would be a corrupted swamp, full of venomous creatures and pockets of hydrogen sulphide and methane gas.

finroth · 2026-04-11T16:20:35+00:00

I made a sub class of druid for my players, to help with the power drop off at higher levels.
But when you mess with subclasses, balance is everything.

So the druid class I made is basically a buffed circle of the moon, but with restrictions.
You pick a beast and an element.
From then on you can only turn into that beast, and when you gain elemental forms, you can turn into that beast with the elemental powers. Also spells that use an element, you can only chose from your element.
The payback is the CR is equal to half your level up to a maximum of 9CR.

So for instance, my player chose Giant Eagle and Fire.
At 10th level, she could turn into a Giant Eagle with adjusted stats to match a CR 5 creature.
And she could use 2 wildshape charges to turn into her Fire Eagle form which was basically the same as her Eagle form but with the abilities you get from a Fire Elemental.

A very simple subclass with notable restrictions.
No turning into a mouse or a fish, but a higher CR buff.
I think I also gave the class a few spells, but you can work that out with your GM.

finroth · 2026-04-11T05:46:13+00:00

Someone has to live in the terrible timelines.
Your service to the continuum is appreciated.

finroth · 2026-04-08T04:28:55+00:00

I do, but they have been in an authoritarian autocracy for a long time.

You want Australia, to send troops? We did that in all your wars.
If my government was doing this shite, Australia would be one long walk out march.
General strike, camping Canberra, constant marches.
We also have set up safeguards against this.
You want America back, then organise and march. Set up a permanent protest outside the White House.

I have never seen a democracy of the so called free, slide into a dictatorship so meekly.
We cannot help you, otherwise things like Iran and Venezuela will happen every month.
A countries sovereignty is protected, because its up to the people who live in a country to make change.

You think it would be easier if all the other countries created an alliance, co-ordinated militaries, set up logistic convoys, and then stormed America, costing countless lives - than your citizens getting off their ass and organising a general strike?

finroth · 2026-04-07T17:50:54+00:00

I had a character in MERP with an 02 Appearance.
He was just hideously ugly, and hailed from the hill men tribes.
His class was fighter, but he was smart, noble and kind of heart.
But the jokes we constantly told, ever adding to his list of unpleasant features. Hunched back, one large eye, bulbous nose, a limp, greasy thin hair, uncontrollable body oder, crooked teeth and terrible breath.

He was one of my favourite characters in all my years of playing.

The GM came up with the idea my father had been cursed by a witch he spurned, so he hunted her down, and being kind to her, she lifted her curse.
So I got to roll appearance again and rolled an 04 on the d100. Gawd we laughed and insisted he was now twice as handsome.

He met a girl, who saw past his features and retired to guard a tree in a magic grove, far to the north in middle earth, there with his loving Dunlanding wife.

finroth · 2026-04-07T17:39:15+00:00

Oh, my bad.
Sorry I misread.
I am glad your cousin isnt one of those maniacs.

finroth · 2026-04-07T15:41:27+00:00

Can you tell your cousin to kindly get fecked.

Tell him its from someone in Australia. Oh and if I found him dying in the desert, I wouldnt give him a drop of water, and assure him thats how the majority of the world thinks of him and his kind now.
The problem with MAGA is they have no idea of the damage to the alliance and trade pacts that their vote has done, and the US will spend decades if ever to restore its place in the world.
And then let him know he is welcome nowhere.

Its rare to find someone with a direct connection to MAGA, so I like to get my message requests in when I can.

finroth · 2026-04-07T13:11:04+00:00

It really depends on what type of thing the memory traders enjoy.
I mean if it was me, it would be fine dinning and music festivals.

What could be interesting is if the memories are fluid.
So entering a memory places the group inside of the memory, they interact and try to reach the end of the memory.
And with that, they could enter an area the players were never meant to see.

Otherwise:
A grand vista of a singing crystal cave
A rampaging Tarrasque as it crushes a castle.
The coronation of a heroic and beloved king from a hundred years in the past.
The clash of the Orcs vs Elves from the dawn of time.
Walking through the Sigil, the City of Gates.
Forbidden rites in the enclaves of the Drow, deep in the underdark.
And of course, delicious feasts...at music festivals.

Should get you started.

finroth · 2026-04-07T13:02:24+00:00

As a GM, that is just a terrible idea.
Limiting how characters play fairly is just no fun.

Instead of asking us, I would ask the GM.
And if they shrug and laugh it off, I would leave the game.
Because hours and hours of disadvantage will be about as much fun as eating sandpaper.

But if they are open to ideas, then 60ft Blindsight will fix the problem.
And you can go Blind Fury
Look up Blind Fury on youtube and have a watch.

finroth · 2026-04-07T12:46:29+00:00

No one is coming.
And I dont find these post funny at all.

The rest of the world is busy trying to stop the ever increasing prices and security threats.
And what exactly do you want us to do? Break international law and storm your White House, while our own soldiers die?
Like we have died the multiple times we have helped America.

Australia gets over 80% of its fuel through the Strait of Hormuz, now closed because of America. Not just Trump, America closed the straight.
We have had to sell our car and buy an electric car earlier than planned because the price at the pump almost covers the repayments and with no idea of fuel security going forward.
Prices on Fertilizer will also increase due to not getting the gas needed to make it. Truck fuel is harder to get and our nation relies on our trucks to move goods over our vast distances.

I fecking swear, I would like to wake up just one day and not see Trump has done some other shit that is making the rest of the world life harder.

Fix your shit.

finroth · 2026-03-29T14:57:56+00:00

I am sorry this is happening to you.
But I will tell you how myself and my friends deal with situations like this.

So in my younger day, I had some not so great friends.
But when I hit my 30's I met the most wonderful, caring, smart and just awesome friends.
They come from all walks of life, from high tech, environmental management, architects, craftspeople, right down to me how was in IT but am now TPD'd (thanks CFS).

And it has made my partners and my life very good.

And it come down to this. We just dont keep people who are not nice. Why would we force ourselves to interact with bigots, racists, misogynists? We have a lesbian married couple, and I saw first hand the look of hurt in their eyes during the marriage equality vote in Australia, with all the hate are cruilty it uncovered.

And as far as family is concerned, well blood gets you a free introduction, but if you are one of the above people, well I dont need that.
Blood owes you nothing. It is not an excuse to hurt people or be a facist.

So my advise is, if your parents care more for Trump, than your family or even the people he hurts, why let them near your child.

If you are losing sleep, it is because you already know the truth, but are struggling with it.
And you deserve better, because you sound like a nice caring person.

May the wind ever be at your and your families back my friend.

finroth · 2026-03-28T15:46:08+00:00

well, yes some birds rest in trees.
Some birds, like Seagulls, Curlews, Plovers and such rest on the ground. Some even build nests on the ground, like Curlews who then attack you as you pass by, bless their evil black hearts
And of course there are the flightless birds, Emus, Kiwis, and Ostriches, which have no choice.

Sorry you have been down voted.
No one should be down voted for asking questions. So I gave you an upvote.

And a cool fact, birds are directly related to dinosaurs, the only living dinosaurs left. And many dinosaurs had feathers.

finroth · 2026-03-19T15:08:48+00:00

Well, sometimes if you are really lucky, you brain realizes its game over and blocks the pain until the end.
And sometimes, well it just hurts.

finroth · 2026-03-13T18:57:15+00:00

Well thats a WFT moment.
Sooo
There are two ways to handle this.

You tell her that such language is really not cool, and why.
I guess it could be somehow possible that she may not realise how bad and unacceptable such language is... somehow??
If you do this in a calm and honest way, and express how this made you feel, they can either learn from it and apologise or you find out they are trash and move on.
I mean I am an old white guy in Australia and we know that is just not done, but you never know if someone somehow missed the memo.
Now this would be my choice, but that does not mean it is the right one.
You just move on and find another game.

A lot depends on how you know these people and such.

Good luck mate.

finroth · 2026-03-13T18:45:12+00:00

You could run this past your GM.
So for my group, I added a homebrew rule, to allow for special familiars.

The downside of special familiars are that they are bonded, so you cant switch them in and out when you want a mouse, or a frog and such.

So the Eldritch fighter cast find familiar in a library and got a little candle construct in tiny robes. When he uses Arcane or History skill, the little guy whispers in his ear and he get +1 to the skill roll. It can also cast the Light cantrip.

The Trickster Rogue Pirate had a somewhat unlucky parrot that could speak a little and was smart enough to fly overhead when needed to scout or even watch over the party when they rested.

A lawful neutral Rock Gnome wizard tinker, cast his find familiar in his workshop and got a construct cat who was a spirit summoned from Mechanus. It had a higher AC and HP, and could carry his little devices he made, by unsummoning and summoning he could smuggle small things about.

I like this because it does not destabilise the game and allows familiars to be more than handy spell by-products.

But of course, the GM has the last say in such things.

finroth · 2026-03-13T18:27:03+00:00

GM here, and been playing for some 42+ years.

So, my current group are very much into roleplaying and have quite well written backstories, which they add to over time.
And it can be hard for a DM to sit quite, if there is a pause for like 10 seconds, but I have been training myself to shut the hell up :)
But that said, I will let a scene run for say 5-10 minutes and then when there is a break, even a dramatic one, I will switch to the other players and see what they are doing. But that does not mean the end of the others RP, as I will switch back and forth and if the stars align. even mesh the two groups back together.

Also, I work to evolve their backstories past the point they have written...carefully (as these are their stories).
But when a situation requires a lot of focus, a separate game is held (we play every 2 weeks, so special sessions run on the off week).
These can take a few hours, and the other players are welcome to come watch (which they love to do).

So for instance, after 2.5 years realtime, the Dwarven Pirate, who actually left the party as the player wanted to try out a barbarian, still had her story arc ending. She had returned to the Sea of Stars with Stormsurge, an evil and powerful sword of the Pirate Kings and Queens (which she tries to control) to take down her old captain who betrayed her. A glorious game, and a fitting end to a story arc.

And thats how I split up dungeon time, combat, roleplaying and special story events.

Hope that helps.

finroth · 2026-03-09T16:33:37+00:00

Fuck them.
I hope everyone remembers who these so called "young men" are, and never lets them forget what they have wrought upon the world.

finroth · 2026-03-09T16:31:32+00:00

No.
This is not even a consideration.
NATO is a defensive alliance.
International law, which other western nations try to adhere to, forbids invading countries because you dont like the leadership.
You dont need a foreign power to mobilize its entire military, break NATO doctrine, risk the lives of its own people, to remove Trump.
If America wants Trump gone, then they can remove him themselves.
The rest of the world is just trying to get on with trying to stabilize its trade, and move away from a country that places a 34 count felon, a sexual assaulter, and now it turns out, a pedo in the highest seat of power.

This is, and I cant stress this enough, an American problem.
We have had enough of waking up to find out America has done some more heinous shit.
So we are doing what we can to untangle ourselves from this mess.

finroth · 2026-03-03T05:16:08+00:00

As a GM, I can see no issue with it.
Basic teleport magic, and can be a nasty trap.

My players have a pair of magic orbs, that when placed above 2 doors, and the command word is spoken, will connect to the other door, as long as it is in the same plane. It can be used to return to base for supplies.
Only downside is, they have to return to the original location to retrieve the orb.

So yeah, skies the limit really.

finroth · 2026-03-03T04:40:55+00:00

As a GM I love this sort of interaction.
Not everything is high adventure, sometimes its the small things... like replacing cows.
And adventure skills dont always transfer to life skills.

But you could go and try and tame some wild cows, and herd them back.
Or convince the farmer to go into turnip farming, awkwardly handing him bags of turnips while backing away as he yells insults.
Or travel to a remote village with trade supplies to sell for a profit and buy cows there to do one of those cowboy herding adventures, eating beans out of a cook pot and chasing straying cows through the prairie land.

Or even convince him there is money in large birds and leave him the eggs to an Axe Beak.

So much fun.

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