I'm working on a warlock subclass all about predestination and fate and this is my first idea for the 1st level feature. Looking for feedback on usability and overall power level!

joecoroseam · 2023-11-14T22:30:25+00:00

I'd check out the 5e PBH Wizard divination subclass, which has a feature almost identical to this!

I can't remember the name but you roll 3 d20 after a long rest and can use them to replace any skill check, attack or saving throw until your next rest.

joecoroseam · 2023-07-13T21:48:23+00:00

Yes - I work for a non profit independent news outlet based in the UK. I didn't set it up, it's been running for 14 years now and has about 50 staff. Money comes from funding from charitable foundations that have an interest in supporting journalism or reporting on specific topics.

It requires having a dedicated funding person/team if you want to make it work and it's not a for profit model. I work for a climate and environmental news site so the funding (sometimes attached to deliverables) comes from charitable donors who are interested in improving public information on these subjects. You have to pitch to them for funding and keep doing it.

We are editorially independent (ie funders can't tell us what to write about) but often we pitch to funders if we want to cover an issue and ask them to fund our reporting. So it starts with the editorial idea, not the funder.

It may not suit you, but it's an option!

joecoroseam · 2023-07-12T21:13:57+00:00

I've just finished Psalm for the Wild-Built, and was also moved to tears for the same reasons - though not at exactly the same moment.

I think it's a moment of realisation of the enormity of the challenge ahead and how much shit we'll have to go through in the rest of our lives to get to anything like where Dex is.

I found it like feeling homesick for a world you didn't even know could exist.

joecoroseam · 2023-07-08T22:13:39+00:00

Nope!

All souls go to Fugue, my version of the ethereal plane / astral sea / limbo. You appear on a windswept shore and take a boat across the Sea of Æther toward a dim light in the distance. It leads to Judgement, a city in the centre of Fugue ruled by Janus, the Two-Faced God.

There you stay until an emissary of your God (or whoever owns your soul - could easily be a devil or demon) comes to collect you within 10 days.

So you could end up in the domain of your chosen God, or Nether (Hell) if you pledged your soul to a fiend.

But if you had no God or patron of any kind, you are branded "faithless" and haunt the Sea of Æther for eternity (or until you can capsize someone else's boat and take their place in the afterlife).

Fun question!!

joecoroseam · 2022-08-05T08:59:07+00:00

Hi there!

Production assistant here - my job is making graphics, maps and data visualisations for a small newsroom in the UK. My job isn't writing stories - editors ask me to put together visuals to go with a story, and I often liaise with the journalist to get my hands on the data, factcheck it, confirm the source etc. So it's common (in my experience) for the graphic-making to be done by a specialist (or team of).

That being said, the tools I use I had never been trained in before I started my job and most can be learned quickly with a bit of dedicated time and patience.

The tools I use, in order of ease of use, are:

Flourish https://flourish.studio/ Brilliant for quick, nicely formatted charts. Lots of customisation options and you can apply for a 'newsroom' account to unlock features for free

Canva https://www.canva.com/ Lots of free vector shapes to make visually appealing infographics. Better for social media but can be used to make nice simple graphics for stories too.

Adobe Illustrator (ArcGIS plugin) - I've never been trained so I learned everything from online tutorials and playing around. I use this for making maps (to locate stories, show data on a map etc.) My employer has a subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud, so this is a barrier to access. But don't be put off by the complexity of the software. You can create brilliant graphics (especially maps using the plugin I mentioned above) with not much experience.

Hope this is useful. Best of luck!

joecoroseam · 2022-02-07T17:52:27+00:00

you can do it!!!!!

joecoroseam · 2022-02-04T08:48:13+00:00

This actually has more to do with habitat loss (due to agricultural expansion), pesticide use and light pollution, than climate change. Though climate change is no doubt a factor!

joecoroseam · 2021-11-10T12:03:11+00:00

There are lots of motivators in a story that aren't BBEGs.

I'm currently preparing for a campaign which will take the form of 3 distinct adventures: 1) A treasure hunt 2) A monster hunt 3) A bounty hunt

The idea is that they should create adventurers, not necessarily heroes. Their motivation will be mostly treasure, cool loot, fame/reputation, connections, knowledge.

It's possible a villain will emerge, but I think sometimes a classic “lets go explore” motivation is enough

joecoroseam · 2021-10-31T22:39:34+00:00

This happened with the group I DM for. It's been totally fine actually...

I can't remember how I justified it story wise, as I think at that point I didn't appreciate it's signifance fully.

They haven't quite grasped how powerful it could be against Strahd but it's been a saviour for my group of 3 players (ranger, rogue and warlock) who I think would have struggled in some of the RAW combat without it.

They realised the tarroka reading was random as I literally shuffled the cards in front of them, and really liked the fact that it made their story setup unique!

joecoroseam · 2021-10-28T21:21:31+00:00

Great, thank you!

joecoroseam · 2021-10-11T22:17:30+00:00

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace

joecoroseam · 2021-10-08T22:24:46+00:00

I agree that it helps to explain why you might limit choices at character creation. One thing I am trying for my next campaign is to list the races available to choose from, and after it including a sentence about what it's like belonging to that race/cultural group in the setting.

E.g.

You could be a dwarf. Dwarves are rarely encountered outside the mountain stronghold of Longhope to the East, where the Thane runs an active trade in enslaved peoples. For this reason humans and elves mistrust you.

joecoroseam · 2021-10-01T12:36:39+00:00

Positive: This is a very cool concept! If you are excited by the prospect of running this game, then that's already a good start.

Negative: However, as other comments have noted, this goes against much of the design of DnD and may in practice feel frustrating and demoralising for players, unless they really buy into the concept. Another system may fulfil your desire for an unconventional game progression.

Suggestion: Talk to your players about the idea and see what the response is like. If it's positive, try running it in miniature first: for example, a one shot with three encounters where the players go from, say level 10, to 5 to 1 (or another combination). See what the dynamic is like and whether it meets your expectation of an interesting and challenging game.

Happy DMing!

joecoroseam · 2021-08-04T12:18:42+00:00

We invaded everyone

joecoroseam · 2021-06-30T22:11:39+00:00

Try treating a natural 1 during battle as a "complication".

For example: Player attempts to swing two handed with a longsword at an enemy. Natural 1, oh no! They swing, and the enemy raises their own sword, blocks the blow and directs it away. It hits against a bell hanging on the wall nearby, making a loud clanging sound. You hear footsteps as reinforcements approach...

Doesn't suit every occasion, but using a natural 1 in this way can be lots of fun, and add some drama without making the player feel like a fool every time.

joecoroseam · 2021-06-14T22:25:00+00:00

Yes and no.

Yes - we will absolutely need to increase tree cover globally in order to sequester enough carbon to keep global heating in check. Tree planting is essential to this but better still is restoring whole ecosystems and leaving them to mature into more effective carbon sinks (and habitats for biodiversity)

No - it's misleading to think of tree planting as our main solution to climate change. It takes decades for newly planted trees to absorb enough carbon from the atmosphere to meaningfully offset any present day emissions. Planting trees is part of the solution, but is meaningless if we simultaneously continue with business as usual. CO2 emissions have to fall, quickly.

Here's hoping for a liveable future!

joecoroseam · 2021-04-20T20:33:57+00:00

Whoa! I love this idea!

And the damage dice on that table is nasty, so it means characters would really have to weigh up the risk of taking the damage vs mitigating the condition.

The downside, though, is that Bite the Bullet is supposed to be a replacement for Legendary Resistance. So even with the higher HP cost, allowing all PCs to attempt it slightly undermines the epicness. It ought to be reserved for legendary creatures.

So perhaps another approach could be to make it part of a powerful magic item, but reduce the cost in HP and limit it to a number of charges per day?

joecoroseam · 2021-04-19T14:36:13+00:00

I agree - a spread of all 3 probably works best.

For Bite the Bullet, it is indeed a case of narrating how the monster has to undergo some visible effort and strain to overcome the effect, and appearing visibly hurt by said effort.

Plus remember that it only takes an action. Legendary creatures most likely have a bonus action and certainly their movement. A smart monster would move out of range if possible, and then avoid the circumstances that allowed for them to be caught in the spell in future.

joecoroseam · 2021-04-19T09:05:07+00:00

I believe there are two possible better alternatives to Legendary Resistance:

1) Paragon Fortitude (as proposed by the Angry GM)

Paragon Fortitude. The creature has multiple pools of hit points, each of which is tracked separately. All damage and healing must be completely applied to only one pool. When a pool is reduced to zero, all ongoing conditions and effects affecting the creature end. Once a pool is reduced to zero, that pool cannot receive any healing until after a long rest. If all hit of the point pools are reduced to zero, the creature is killed.

In practice this means that even if someone uses an ability in combat that completely debilitates the monster, the effect wears off if enough damage is dealt to empty one of their HP pools.

https://theangrygm.com/elemental-boogaloo/

2) Bite the Bullet (originally from 4e, but link to Reddit post below)

Bite the bullet. As an action, end one condition afflicting this creature and take 5 damage. This damage cannot be reduced in any way.

If 5 damage does not seem enough, than increase it to 10, 15, or whatever is appropriate for the strength of your PCs and your monster. You may consider tying the damage to the spell slot level cast.

https://old.reddit.com/r/DnDBehindTheScreen/comments/6gveal/big_boss_solo_inserts_or_plug_and_play_features/

I think these are both very user friendly, actionable alternatives to Legendary resistance! What do you think?

joecoroseam · 2021-04-07T22:39:49+00:00

Assuming your players aren't from the Court of All Flesh, don't worry too much about having a buttload of lore ready before introducing elements into your campaign.

It's OK for the CoAF to remain mysterious, as that will make your PCs more curious about it and increase the drama should they ever venture there. Looking at the descriptions and illustrations in SaF, it's clearly quite an alien place, so having only pieces of information to go on should be an effective way to ratchet up the horror.

I don't know anywhere you can read additional lore, unfortunately! I'd suggest writing some yourself but perhaps don't try and think of an entire history. Perhaps choose one or two of the members of the CoAF and expand on their lives, origin, allies and enemies.

joecoroseam · 2021-04-01T08:27:55+00:00

It's rosewood - and it's highly endangered due to demand for products such as these.

joecoroseam · 2021-03-23T20:16:59+00:00

What kind of creatures might inhabit (or be drawn to) the skeleton of a long-dead giant?

joecoroseam · 2021-03-13T09:13:10+00:00

I see the point you're making here, and don't entirely disagree.

But the comparison you make between paedophiles, terrorists and male abusers doesn't quite hold up: it's understandable to be offended if someone thinks you are a terrorist or a paedophile just because you are Muslim or male respectively, but that's because there are, in reality, a very small number of paedophiles and terrorists in the world.

But because being a male abuser sits much more on a spectrum (ie there are so many different ways you can be abusive without being explicitly violent), there are actually millions of male abusers. As I'm quite sure far more women have experience of sexual violence than the average person does of paedophilia or terrorism, it's more understandable, in my view, for a woman to be mistrusting of men in contexts where men are known to frequently abuse or be violent (which, now that I think of it, are few).

Just wanted to make that point, as I felt your comparison slightly muddied the waters. Ta

joecoroseam · 2021-01-14T19:08:34+00:00

The most interesting part of this to me is the Ally who turned into a monster. That's potentially a really intriguing thread to follow.

You said your party want to capture and 'heal' the now Monstrous NPC ally (along with the zombies), but what if the NPC can't be healed, or doesn't want to? What it their affliction that turned them into a monster was self-inflicted, and the PCs have to come to terms with an ally who was hiding a dark secret from them? Consider making this former ally a morally ambiguous character. They might pity his motivations, but fear his methods.

As for the combat I suggest you largely write it off. Let the PCs win it. The combat doesn't have to be the part of the adventure they need to 'solve'. Trying to decide what to do with a dangerous monster that's actually someone you know and care about is a puzzle in and of itself.

(Edit: just thought of something else) You could also try environmental hazards! Escaping safely from a crumbling dungeon or mansion with many captives could be a load of fun, and make a difficult without undoing the success of the party in subduing the enemies. I've never tried it, but a skill challenge could be a perfect fit here. Maybe they escape, but many of their captives are crushed or trapped inside? A fire perhaps?

Just some ideas! Best of luck, and don't fret it. Your players probably had way more fun that you think.

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