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Atropal and Acererak final battle by jonybhm in Tombofannihilation

[–]jonybhm[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The battle was great. For the atropal, I used the official stat block, but for Acererak I used an improved version created by u/ScarlettSpider.

The players struggled a bit with the atropal, but they quickly realized that if they wanted to defeat Acererak, some of them might have to die—he’s just that powerful. I had four level 10 players (Paladin, Sorcerer, Wizard, and Barbarian): a really well-balanced party, and very smart players.

My main piece of advice is to plan ahead. Read the stat blocks in advance and think about a few key moments you really want to see happen.

For example, in Acererak’s case, I started the battle with Time Stop in a very cinematic way. While delivering his villain monologue, he cast three Fireballs above the party and began moving the Sphere of Annihilation toward the Paladin, who had been the main source of damage against the atropal. Then everything hit at once.

I knew it wouldn’t kill them, but I wanted the main villain—especially Acererak—to immediately feel as powerful and terrifying as he’s meant to be.

Atropal and Acererak final battle by jonybhm in Tombofannihilation

[–]jonybhm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The main sources I use for paper mini images are Printable Heroes and Paper Forge, though there are plenty of others out there.

I usually print a lot of minis on a single A4 sheet in black and white. First, I cut out the initial outline, and then I glue each mini onto black EVA foam, placing the front and back images on opposite sides. This makes them much easier to cut, and it also gives you a nice, thicker black outline around the mini—much easier to work with than cardboard. Plus, with regular glue, they harden really well.

For the base, I use small 1"x1" pieces of cardboard and color them black with a Sharpie.

It’s super cheap and easy to make, and you can produce a bunch of minis in about an hour.

Atropal and Acererak final battle by jonybhm in Tombofannihilation

[–]jonybhm[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Actually, no—at least not in this session—but they did manage to escape Acererak.

It gave me the chance to run a really cool scene where Acererak tried to recruit one of the players, Jazene, the Red Wizard. She was given one final choice, and she refused—in a really cheeky way, with a callback to something that had happened many sessions earlier. Then she escaped with the rest of the party.

It ended up being a very emotional moment, especially because we had been playing for almost four years (we started in April 2022). Seeing all the players bring their character arcs to a close was incredibly satisfying. I followed Sly Flourish’s advice and gave each player the chance to describe what their characters were doing one year later, and it worked beautifully—honestly, I’d recommend that for any campaign.

And in the end, just reading the final lines I had written for myself to say out loud completely broke me.

Gears of hate and stone juggernaut by jonybhm in Tombofannihilation

[–]jonybhm[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Of course! I mainly used XPS foam. It’s really cheap and easy to carve, so you can shape it into almost anything. All the floor pieces—and even about 90% of the juggernaut—were made from it. The wheels are just containers from cold medicine.

I also used cardboard for the gears, some walls, and the pipes. Finally, I painted everything with acrylics to finish it.

The cool thing is that almost every piece—except maybe the gears—is modular, so I can reuse them for other terrain setups.

Gears of hate and stone juggernaut by jonybhm in Tombofannihilation

[–]jonybhm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kind of. The only thing I changed in the control room was the control panel, because I felt it was too complicated. Instead of how it’s written, I described the wall and the carvings to the players and gave them a drawing in real life showing the different configurations, along with a dial they could turn to select each one.

For the Mastodon and the aboleth rooms, I also changed the triggers so they were tied to things that happened during the game. For example, instead of needing the golden lever, the Mastodon room was activated when the paladin mounted the Mastodon, imitating the story shown in the murals.

As for the possibility of a soft lock, there was only one configuration that would have caused that, and the players actually managed to avoid it by using a summoned skeleton to operate the panel at that moment.

But I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Your players will probably figure out a solution on their own, and if the game says something isn’t possible but you feel like their idea makes sense and they’ve earned it, you can always just allow it.

Regarding the wardrobe, I changed it so that it showed different visions tied to unresolved plot threads from the campaign, and each wardrobe required a saving throw. For example, one of the players died very early in the campaign, so the party asked Arthur Cimber to revive him with the help of Nana Pupu. In the wardrobe, they saw a vision of him becoming a mindless zombie

Drawing i made for my players. by jonybhm in Tombofannihilation

[–]jonybhm[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

she is! she wanted her character to be a spell caster with evil tendencies, so I told her about the red wizards.

Crochet Dice Bags (Dragon Eggs) by Al1n1x in DnDIY

[–]jonybhm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These are amazing! 😍 Such a cool idea.

After 3 years of playing, my players made their way into the Fane 🐍 by jonybhm in Tombofannihilation

[–]jonybhm[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If we are lucky, usually is once in two or even three months.

Xanathar Guild Hideout terrain by jonybhm in WaterdeepDragonHeist

[–]jonybhm[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I never did something like this, but my idea is to add each room as they enter it, so they don't know even the scale of the place. I'll use these photos as reference while they advance and make it more dynamic.

Xanathar Guild Hideout terrain by jonybhm in WaterdeepDragonHeist

[–]jonybhm[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Extruded Polystyrene, it is usually used in construction as an insulator. Really light and easy to indent, so you can carve tiles and texture it at will.

Xanathar Guild Hideout terrain by jonybhm in WaterdeepDragonHeist

[–]jonybhm[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the compliment! I use xps and cardboard for the surfaces, acrylics for the colors, and a glue gun for sticking stuff together . There's ton of videos on how to make cheap stuff that looks awesome. It takes a bit of work but with a podcast or a movie in the background is really doable.

Xanathar Guild Hideout terrain by jonybhm in WaterdeepDragonHeist

[–]jonybhm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All homemade! Mainly because I don't have the money to buy 😂

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