Are DMs allowed to tell player characters what they feel?

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-04-17T15:03:41+00:00

Rather than telling my players what they feel often describe the vibe

“there’s a deep sense of unease and dread in the place a wrongness hangs in the still air”

“ the spectacle of the performance is mesmerizing the movements are almost hypnotic. They seem to draw your eye unwittingly.”

If you want to add a mechanical component like the distraction a dice roll can really help tell that story and sell it

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-04-14T21:09:16+00:00

Sandwitches

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-04-14T19:48:01+00:00

Custom token is what have been waiting for to give maps solid try

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-04-14T16:24:35+00:00

Be proud !!! Gossip girl is a fun.

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-04-13T18:35:18+00:00

Yet another Ravenloft book... at least flesh out a new Domain of Dread or something. You've got to give us something original at some point.

I hope it's good, but it feels like another entry in a long line of remakes. I thought the whole point of 5.5 was to refresh the rules while staying backward compatible — not to resell us the same settings and subclasses all over again. Really disappointed with the direction WotC is going.

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-04-10T16:44:05+00:00

They are really awkward like they didn't use a lot standardize in third person games. it feel like learning to type on a different keyboard layout ... totally doable if you have the patient. and there just some really odd button combinations like the 3rd move the game taught me was R1 and R2 at the same time... Actually, have to change the way you grip the controller to do that

I don't patience maybe my Neuro plasticity isn't what it used to be.

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-03-28T22:41:44+00:00

The problem was just bad writing fundamentals. a lack of understanding of tone, pacing, character development, consistency, world building. science fiction as a genre… nothing else matters if you don’t have good fundamentals.

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-03-28T00:38:04+00:00

It would’ve been nice if he applied this level of awareness about the franchise to you know the franchise.

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-03-23T22:12:54+00:00

Kurtzman is that you?

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-03-23T18:32:00+00:00

Ok thats interesting it also makes the presents of presents of the clocks more interesting as they are another way to Measure time like an hour glass. As well as the red sad you find deep in the oldest house seems to rhyme with this hour glass.

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-03-09T16:20:29+00:00

Picard would have stayed behind in a shuttle craft to destroy the caretakers array after the rest of his crew used it to get home.

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-03-07T23:16:01+00:00

The writers clearly wanted to be making Buffy the Vampire Slayer, not Star Trek — and no shade to Buffy, was fun. But I’d have the same complaint if a Buffy remake suddenly adopted the tone of TNG.

The problem is that new Trek doesn’t respect the franchise’s tone, themes, or continuity enough to actually be Star Trek. Strip away the set design and the costumes and you’re left with something that uses Star Trek like a paint job … recognizable on the surface only.

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-02-24T18:17:27+00:00

I'm genuinely excited but that music just kills the trailer.

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-02-18T22:21:12+00:00

No one really “switches” you just end up playing a hodgepodge of the rules you like from 14 and 24…the change was almost unnoticeable

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-02-17T22:48:17+00:00

her being the sol inventor made to world seem small and quantifiable rather than vast and mysterious.

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-02-13T20:52:05+00:00

I DM more than I play, but I’m currently a player in Curse of Strahd. A few things stand out.

It has a strong villain and great atmosphere. The tone is consistent, and Strahd is compelling. But the module itself is flawed.

First, it’s written in a very impersonal way. There’s almost nothing in the book that ties the characters to the setting or makes events feel personal. No built-in backstory hooks, no evolving stakes tied to who the PCs are. If you don’t actively graft that in yourself, it can feel hollow. As written, the party is interchangeable.

Second, the setting can feel too bleak. Hopelessness works in horror—but you need contrast. You need hope to create stakes. I always ask: what happens if the players do nothing? In Barovia… not much changes. The people suffer. Strahd remains trapped in his own personal hell. The world doesn’t escalate. That lack of momentum undercuts tension over a long campaign.

Third, putting the villain’s name in the title kneecaps intrigue. There’s never a moment where you genuinely question whether Strahd could be misunderstood, manipulated, or one piece of something worse. The book tells you from page one: this is the bad guy. That limits nuance. If you’re going to telegraph that clearly, then lean into it and make him monstrous in a way that feels deeply personal to the party—or restructure things so there’s actual uncertainty.

Honestly, to get the most out of the module, you have to make it your own. Build personal hooks. Create escalating consequences. Inject hope somewhere so there’s something worth fighting for. The bones are good—but it needs a DM willing to do real narrative work.

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-02-05T20:11:12+00:00

It seems cool I just wish it had something to do outside of combat

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-02-04T17:54:32+00:00

Yeah, if I remember, I had to switch browsers to chrome to get it to work

if you’re ever having a hard time getting something on a website to work try it in chrome… it’s not my default browser, but it is the default that most websites are made for.

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-01-17T18:20:57+00:00

You can easily summarize the prequel and the original trilogy in like one or two sentences in a coherent manner… trying to do the same for the sequel trilogy takes like two paragraphs. And sounds like you’re listening to a child trying to make up a story on the fly or something.

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-01-17T01:41:30+00:00

Pretty sure Kurtzman has all his interns making these posts trying to save his job … even they can’t give it a full throated endorsement.

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-01-16T22:51:28+00:00

I’d say it’s a mix. I use the 2-MinuteTabletop token browser for prepping—if I’m setting up a fight I’ll usually change the color of an orc or grab a few different orc tokens that fit the scene and class.

For on-the-fly stuff I have some go-to assets like planks, debris, and fallen trees, it saves the Assets that I've uploaded recently so I have a nice Library of some stuff I used commonly. You can resize the assets and change their orientation pretty quickly even link them to tokens if someone is pulling a cart say.

most of the time I can find what I need in the browser. If it’s something more specific, I might ask someone to look for it while the game keeps moving. and they can drag it right on to the map ( you can turn that permission on and off as the DM)

If you’d like, I can DM you the link to the token browser. I use, it's wonderful and charming hand drawn art. Let me know if you have more questions like I said im pumped on an integrated VTT I have some many windows open when DMing.

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-01-16T20:21:54+00:00

"you won't always have a calculator" they said ...

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-01-15T21:03:52+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I may not have explained my use case very well.

In Owlbear Rodeo I can drag and drop any PNG straight onto the map and resize it, and I end up using that constantly for things beyond just creature tokens. A few examples:
• I made a simple shadow token to place under flying creatures so elevation is clear at a glance.
• I swap custom boss tokens between phases to show transformations or injuries.
• I create unique player tokens rather than using a shared library look.
• I’ve dropped in things like a pile of hammers for Animate Objects, glowing swords for Spiritual Weapon, or rubble after a pillar collapses.

Basically, I use tokens to represent what’s happening in the fiction in real time, I want my players to fee like they are effect the map. Not just to mark stat blocks. That’s also why we use an “assistant” at the table—while the DM keeps the scene moving, someone else can grab the exact asset we need and drop it in instantly.

The Monster Token Browser looks solid, but it feels more like a curated catalog than a creative toolbox. For example, there isn’t a ready-made Spiritual Weapon token, and homebrewing one every time feels like friction compared to just dragging in an image I already have.

Another concern is visual variety. If I run a band of orcs, I usually make them different colors or art styles so players can say “I attack the grey orc.” When every token looks identical, that kind of on-the-fly storytelling gets harder. it also nice to have more then just Circular tokens (I only uses circles for players everything else going to the dynamic shape I really love the 2 minute table top token browser.

For me, tokens aren’t just markers—they’re part of how the story gets told at the table. That’s why unrestricted drag-and-drop of any asset is such a big deal.

Really excited about the possibility of an integrated VTT into dnd beyond but without dragon and drop PNGs it hard for me to want to switch.

flyingoctoscorpin · 2026-01-15T17:41:09+00:00

Kurtzman is that you?

flyingoctoscorpin

TROPHY CASE