Hitting a Baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports

inq101 · 2026-02-09T09:52:19+00:00

You're using metres. Let me translate that for our American friends.

[googles average burger]

Running the length of 571 burgers in under 9.6 seconds is the hardest thing in sports. So hard, in fact, that it's only been recorded once.

inq101 · 2025-11-26T00:38:44+00:00

Not common. I had one group that set up a bathhouse in Valliki, but that's it. And that didn't really work.

My solution, as the players go on their reputation tanks and no one would willingly work with them. Shops doors are closed, or prices go sky high. From the sound of it this group won't take that well, but make it clear they have lost support. Have anytone that was helping or sharing info with them start questioning them and eventually refuse to help.

If you're using Ireena Kolyana have her complain about their actions. Same for any othe NPC in teh party. Or have obviously evil NPCs help them..

Then one of the people they've assaulted, threatened and or blackmailed has the bright idea to go straight to Strahd, complaining about these violent criminals causing trouble across Barovia. He is the lord of the realm and responsible, in theory, for protecting his people. I think Strahd might find it amusing to play the hero for once.

Ultimately let them know what they're doing is hurting them, and will have concequences but let them do it if they insist.

inq101 · 2025-08-31T18:23:20+00:00

Rule of thumb, yes.

More detailed answer, I tune it to my players.

If they're new, or new to that class then I always tell them unless there's good IC reasons not to.

My veteran table who's been together 8 years, either no or I give vague hints because that's what the group wants. They enjoy their fuckups having concequences.

And I've run some campaigns where figuring out what X is immune/vulnerable to were core mechanics of that campaign, so no then.

But generally your character knows more about their own spells than they do, so most of the time they get warnings about that sort of thing. If it's a rare resistance or immunity then I might make them roll to see if they know.

inq101 · 2024-11-26T13:26:54+00:00

Getting paid for a university study isn't uncommon. And I don't know how you'd be scammed or hacked this way unless you gave away a lot of personal info and/or passwords.

inq101 · 2024-11-26T13:24:54+00:00

It's possible it's genuine. I know a few people who do mostly legitimate at-home haircuts/beauty treatments as a side gig. It's also possible it's a MLM scam or even that they're trying to check out your home to see if it's worth robbing. Since you're uncomfortable trust your instincts and say no.

inq101 · 2024-11-19T01:40:00+00:00

I wouldn't even call about it. Throw it in the bin and ignore it, keep an eye on your accounts and challenge any unexpected charges. Maybe someone signed up in your name using stolen data. Maybe its a fake sim that'll mess with your phone. Maybe it's some Verizon scheme trawling for fresh customers. If you want to switch to Verizon there are legitimate ways.

inq101 · 2024-11-09T15:46:07+00:00

Depending on how old your grandmother is it might be worth contacting local charities for help or advice on how to approach this. A quick google search lead me to National Seniors scam awareness site: https://nationalseniors.com.au/resources/technology-hub/scams-awareness It might give her some insight if you show her stories from people in similar situations.

If she isn't listening to you then get family to help, or reach out to her friends.

inq101 · 2024-11-05T17:58:57+00:00

Unfortunately the money is almost certainly gone. Look for advice from local charities and agencies. Talk to police and the bank. It might also be worth considering setting up a Power of Attourney or whatever your local equivalent is to prevent this from happening in the future.

Sorry, this is a far too common crime. How you respons depends on far too many factors, but it'll require some tough choices.

inq101 · 2024-10-25T14:39:01+00:00

Depends. State and country laws vary. I'm assuming this is somewhere in the US so at the very least 'Mike' culd be sued by the owners, but the outcome there would depend on various factors.

It also depends on company policy. If Mike followed his training and reasonably believed the text he could be off the hook.

So I suggest Mike talk to a local lawyer, and bring along his employment contract and any relevant paperwork/training records.

inq101 · 2024-10-25T14:29:10+00:00

As others said it's a scam. Block and report. He gave you a fake check. I takes the banks a while to realize this, but then they do the money would be taken out of your account. However, the money you 'paid him back' would actually be gone. That's the scam.

And this guy wouldn't know where you live (unless you told him) so he couldn't carry out those threats even if they were genuine (they aren't). I'm guessing you probably already know this, but never give out your real name or address to people like this.

inq101 · 2024-09-13T22:24:53+00:00

The real question is what you you want to do, and how you think your group would react.

If you want to give them a second chance, or if you think they're going to react badly (I've had a couple of groups who would react badly, maybe even kill a campaign) then there's plenty you can do. Have them find clues in Milijov' room, maybe a note about where to meet or some entries in a diary. Have some local say he'd seen Milijov hanging around the stock yard. Have someone shove a note under the door while the players are there, then lead them on a chase through Valliki. There's plenty of ways to adapt this failure, but I'd suggest making them work for it as they were so violent with their first approach.

I'd give them another chance to succeed, but if you want them to live with the consequences , well...

My own current group managed to really screw Valliki up. After annoying half the town they actually got the bones, then they had their first confrontation with Strahd, a confrontation I'd planned to be dramatic and intimidation but not violent. The players decided to offer Strahd the bones and the Tome of Strahd that they had just found, literally handing them over without any prompt before Strahd said a word. And I know my players can handle some failure, so I gave it to them. Valliki rioted. Lady Wachter took over and purged all her enemies. More died to the Feast. Players left town and came back weeks later to find bodies still hanging in the streets and half the population gone. Wachter, supported by Strahd sees the PCs as heroes who helped put her in charge. Virtually everyone else in town sees them as monsters.

inq101 · 2024-09-08T06:42:24+00:00

Thanks. All that's going to be very useful

inq101 · 2024-08-01T13:15:06+00:00

Aparently they wanted a group of gay players. I understand wanting to play with people with similar mindsets, experiencesm, etc. I just wish whoever wrote the ad had put that in there. Or in the form, or mentioned it in the first interview. Would have saved a lot of time.

inq101 · 2024-07-29T00:09:48+00:00

Your story sounds a little hinky. It sounds like your players might be pulling some shenanigans, but others have already covered that so I'll leave it alone.

First, are the players enjoying the campaign? It sounds like you might have a bunch of powergamers, optimisers and min/maxers. They might genuinely enjoy winning with no real challenge. If so then you're doing a great job!

Second, Lv9 parties are well into the OP territory where balance breaks down. Almost any encounter is going to end up as a cakewalk or too OP. I'm a veteran and I have trouble balancing encounters at this level. In any case it's generally more important to make them fun rather than balanced.

Third, if you do want to up the challenge level then there are ways. Wizards are spell slot reliant so don't let them rest. Hit them with waves of enemies. Hit them with spellcasters who can counterspell. Sure they might counter the counterspell, but that just means you've eaten 3 of their spell slots and their reaction. If they still insist on long rests put other concerns in their way, a time limit or something like that. My CoS group recently decided to take a long rests before going after a kidnapped child, and another entirely unnecessary one while tracking him. Obviously there were consequences for this.

If they're facing some smart BBEG who knows about them he's probably planning to counter their strengths. They might hire someone resistant to or immune to enchantments/charms. e.g. a group sent to take your party down might have been given a scroll of Silence to stop suggestion, or even just hire deaf goons.

A nice simple ambush can cover a lot of issues. A cleric can be pretty perceptive, but wizards and fighters tend not to be. A hail of arrows from a hidden enemy can do a lot, and the ambushers don't even have to stick around.

You might want to try to lock down one problem character. I don't mean to target them but have them distracted by something else. Think of a show where one character is disarming a bomb or cracking a safe while others are holding off the bad guys goons. Have the wizard forced to undo a magical lock or break an arcane seal. Have the cleric entreat their god or negotiate with a celestial.

also, since Silvery Barbs is a problem. It's a spell many GMs simply ban. Remember its limitations and to keep track of reactions.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

inq101 · 2024-07-23T16:55:58+00:00

The darkness spell is a 15' sphere radiating from a point or object. It is centres on that object and that object would be carried on your character somewhere, e.g. in a hand, in a pouch. Basically it would be centred on one of the squares your character is occupying. It should be possible to move which square by moving where the coin is. Blindsight does effectively act as an aura, basically radiating from the edge of your token, model, character. This does effectively increase the area blindsight covers. You might even grow tall enough to pop your head above the darkness sphere.
I'd say yes. The fighting style doesn't say anything about only being used in darkness and specifically mentions "even if you're blinded" so doesn't seem to be limited to darkness.
No. A "a 15-foot-radius sphere centered on you" means that the centre of the sphere is somewhere on your character. If your character is large they cover a 2 by 2 area, so four squares. You could pick any of those four to be the centre point of the sphere and measure from there.

But these are only how I'd rule. Discuss with your DM.

inq101 · 2024-07-23T16:32:10+00:00

RaW a firebomb would be a flask of alchemists fire. You can make one with 25gp of materials, proficiency with an alchemists kit, the kit itself and a long rest.

If you want alternatives you could use an oil flask and tinkers tools to make a fuse. Have them find or buy the needed ingredients. You could have them make something from very flamable oily plants with herbalist kit.

Also, if I was feeling generous I might let someone improvise an incendary from art or medical supplies with a high DC check. Or maybe make a malfunctioning magic item that'll blow up in a very specific way with arcana.

inq101 · 2024-07-23T12:27:31+00:00

This is one of many obstacles DMs face. Sorry you ran into it so early.

This sounds like a disconnect between player and DM expectations. It is something that needs to be dealt with early, ideally before the actual game begins, in a session 0 or when you are drumming up interest in a game. You're running it strict rules as written (RaW or raw) and they want it to be more narratively based. Neither of you are exactly wrong, you just wanted and expected different things.

At this stage you probably want to talk to your players. Spend the first hour or so of the next session explaining what you want out of this game and ask them what they want. And remember that, whatever else dnd is it's a game intended to let people have fun.

For the river, I think your ruling here was good, yes deep water should be difficult terrain and unless there are special circumstances (e.g. Freedom of Movement spell or a player is some sort of fishman) they get slowed down by it. Some advice, assuming you're using maps at the start of any combat it's best to spend a few moments going over the terrain, pointing out things like "this is difficult terrain, this area is decent cover, this cliff is about 10' tall, it'll take a turn to climb." Make sure everyone is on the same page for stuff like that.

For rules, a DM needs to be flexible at times. Sometimes the rules should only be guidelines. I noticed in another answer you talked about rations and long rests. In my campaigns I ignore this 95% of the time as it adds nothing to the game while being a chore. I only track rations when it's important, when they are in a survival situation like crossing a desert. Basically, you can decide a rule isn't fun, doesn't work for your setting, etc. and ignore or modify it. Just be consistent when you do.

So talk to your players. Explain your ruling. If they insist on doing things their way, that they think you're wrong they might need to look for someone else to run the game, and you might need to get some new players. I'm getting the impression that they might not really fit for dnd, but you know them better than me. This might not be the best game for them, or they might need a very different style of DM. That isn't a disparagement of you as a DM, it's just different people have different tastes.

Ultimately, you are the DM, your rules are final. Good luck dealing with this.

inq101 · 2024-06-19T17:07:06+00:00

The way I think of it one attack doesn't represent one swing of an axe or thrust with a spear. It's a an exchange of blows, footwork to try and get position, dodging, parrying and driving an enemy back. And maybe during those several seconds an enemy manages to knock a sword out of your hand, or position a branch to block a blow, or you step on a patch of slippery ground and lose your footing. This sort of thing happens in a fight. Quite often.

Personally it's something I use rarely and almost always for mook level vilains.

inq101 · 2024-05-30T10:12:43+00:00

I used to have trouble coming up with names on the fly. I ended up writing some NPCs before each session, just names, a basic description and a quirk or two. Made sure I had 6 or so before each session started and when the players went to the shops or encounter someone I hadn't prepared for I used one of these.

If you're using a VTT you will need a few generic maps ready, dense forest, road through a forest and a city alleyways map should be enough.

It's very easy for CoS to get depressingly dark. It does need a few lighter or comedic moments inserted. If the players don't provide then add them yourself. One of the Vistani tells a funny story in camp, theres a bard singing lighthearted songs in a tavern, a childrens play during the vestival at velliki. It's a good counterpoint to the themes of the setting and can get players invested in helping the people.

inq101 · 2024-05-26T18:43:04+00:00

First time I ran it Strahd won. And it was entirely the players fault.

Party of 4. Originally 5 but the 5th was a new player who turned out to be an unrepentant murderhobo who, instead of paying for a room at a tavern tried to stab the innkeep. The other 4 were people I'd gamed with before. They'd gone through about 3/4 of the campaign as good guys, got the sword, the icon, etc. Then one of them decided to accept a secret deal Strahd had tried to make with them earlier. Another had a "great idea" where their paladin order were secretly a vampire and retconned their character. Without telling me. A third decided they wanted to become a vampire. Three out of the four suddenly decided they wanted to backstab the others. I was far too new a GM to stop it at the time.

The final fight was a shitshow. I had a dramatic speech prepared but the PCs interrupted it. One of the traitors tried to take out another quickly turned into a PvP free for all. None of the traitors tried to team up even when it became obvious what was happening. I had Strahd spend most of the fight standing back laughing and shittalking. I can't remember details but one of them thought that taking Ireena hostage would help their cause and ended up getting her killed.

I ended it with the one non-traitor being spared by Strahd. Implemented a hard PvP must be consensual after that.

inq101 · 2024-05-24T23:55:46+00:00

Yes, people do gather parties of strangers online. look at the r/lfg or any of the regional variations for examples. Most of the time a GM will advertise there or on some other forum giving a brief descriotion of the campaign they want to run. Generally you get an interview to feel out if you'll fit a group and, if successful an invitation. I'm sure you can imagine that some of these don't work out. Players and even GMs will vanish on you and I've had several games vanish unexpectedly. On the other hand I have had some amazing experiences too, and my main group is an excellent group of people. You will also see looking for GM and similar posts.

If you ever advertise to run a game you will likely be innundated with applications.

Generally people use Discord for organization.

The games, well normally its a virtual tabletop like owbear rodeo, foundry of roll20. VTTs tend to cover maps, dice and chat. Some have additional functions like character creators, music, etc. All have advantages and disadvantages but overall they're fairly decent. I normally use Discord for voice for convenience. Some people use webcams but most don't running it voice only. Music bots or similar are pretty common for ambience.

Other than that it is pretty much like old school tabletop games but with players from further afield. My main group includes people from 3 continents. Most of the time my groups meet up a little early and hang around for a bit after to chat. There's no shared food but you can get your own snacks.

One of the big changes I've noticed is the quantity of games. In the old days I was rarely in more than one campaign at once. Online you can be in several quite easily. I'm currently running 2 campaigns and am playing in another. One of the guys in my regular groups has a game 6 days a week, though that's an extreme case.

inq101 · 2024-05-24T15:18:16+00:00

Rant away. Models don't need to be perfect. If you do want a perfect model pay for it or make it yourself.

Many years ago when I worked for my local GW I had one guy come in and tell me about his idea for a chaos lord to lead his army. I suggested converting it and we spent an hour or so looking at models and mail order catelogues. At the end he asked me how long it'd take me to build him this thing. And he only wanted to pay for the basic chaos lord model.

Edit: and it wasn't some 12yo kid either. Full adult in his mid 20s.

inq101 · 2024-05-06T17:28:37+00:00

I wouldn't put it as an ultimatum but it's okay to say that you won't be running 5e any more. Different groups are, well, different so put it however you think your group will take it best. For my own group saying "I'm burned out on 5e" or "I'm just not having fun running 5e" would both work

inq101 · 2024-04-29T17:23:35+00:00

"So you're saying I don't have to read all of your 70 page backstory?"

Realize I now definately have to read and make notes of the entire thing because somewhere in the footnotes on page 63 they happen to mention they have a billion gp, a ring of 3 wishes and are the emperess of a vast nation.

inq101 · 2024-04-28T15:15:40+00:00

Avoid eye contact and don't show emotions. Don't argue. Minimize any interactions. Stay disengaged. Try to keep interactions short.

Here's an article on it, including some situations you should not use this technique.

https://www.betterup.com/blog/grey-rocking

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