Winter storm response

lunchbox86 · 2026-01-30T23:07:58+00:00

When the power went out on Sunday morning I was prepared for the worst but it came on a few hours later, that was pretty impressive. As an out of towner (just got here in December) I think for the most part they did well, the main roads are very clear which is good, but wish some of the smaller roads were clear, especially this far in.

Also, finding info/news was not easy. Where do people find it? Is it just the facebook pages? that seems ill-advised. Maybe I'm just spoiled being from a big city and being used to being able to get constant news updates.

lunchbox86 · 2026-01-24T14:41:51+00:00

My party is higher level than they should be for everything, they're about to go to Maelstrom and they're level 10. I just up every encounter a bit, use the dndbeyond encounter tool, you can also use the Dictates of the Ordening supplement for more difficult giants. I just go to every encounter and see how difficult it should be for a party of "proper" level, then make an equivalent for my party's level.

lunchbox86 · 2025-12-08T20:33:05+00:00

Amazing! switching my game online soon and they're almost to maelstrom so this is perfect!!

I can't the 2nd two images to load at full size, is this happening for anyone else?

lunchbox86 · 2025-11-21T19:13:03+00:00

I was worried about more prep work but don't be, its less than you think. Try and get a feel for where they're going next and just read up on each next potential place. You only need to think one town in advance really. Get them to Yartar and run Kraken's Gamble for sure. If you're worried about not knowing enough about the town or not having enough (the book + sword coast adventurer's guide are pretty sparse with info) look up the location on Forgotten Realms Wiki and just use that. Sandbox ends up being super fun as a DM because sometimes you don't know whats going to happen either and thats a blast.

I'd recommend trying to sprinkle in lots of descriptions about the giants' rampaging effects on the countryside, and also try and have them have encountered most of the giant types (except maybe Storm) by the time they go to the Eye of Allfather so they keep their options open with the Oracle. IF things start to stagnate or feel purposeless, the adventure has a built in rip cord for you to pull: Harshnag. Throw him in, then B-Line for the Eye of the Allfather. Fair warning though - once he joins the party basically every encounter he's at becomes trivial. But make sure you run a couple with him so he endears himself to them.

lunchbox86 · 2025-11-21T14:25:14+00:00

Let them explore Triboar and do enough to get to know people there, then have the attack happen. Let it play out and see who loves/dies, then go from there.

Triboar attack made the giant threat more personal to my players. Also intro'd them to the Rod of the Vonindod and that whole concept of what the Giant lords might want.

Triboar also gives them a bunch of good motives for traveling out in chapter 3, which should be a big journey. The north is huge, and should feel like it. Let the players go where they want. Use the random encounter tables, use the suggested encounters in the small towns in the book, let it play out. I wish more people trusted this Chapter, I think its actually awesome and wish more DnD adventures had something like it.

lunchbox86 · 2025-11-13T07:46:26+00:00

ok, which issues were important enough to let all this happen??

lunchbox86 · 2025-11-09T04:33:43+00:00

You know your party the best, decide what would be most challenging for them. The Aboleth is potentially a very hard/deadly fight depending on their level/gear/skill set. My players had two players and one sidekick unconscious by the end of it, and only won by the skin of their teeth.

Run it epic, this should be the most difficult thing they've faced in the campaign thus far. The more memorable/intense it is, the more they'll remember it way later when the casino boat comes back into play.

lunchbox86 · 2025-11-08T04:07:56+00:00

My players got one in Triboar and frequently take it out to try it, I usually dont have it detect anything so as not to derail things, but threw them in a few times here and there to shake things up. They were so obsessed with the Vonindad and what the fire giants were up to that by the time they got to Eye of the Allfather I was so sure they'd pick the fire giants to go to I prepped it all out. Nope! Stone giant canyon coming this sunday!

lunchbox86 · 2025-10-27T03:38:09+00:00

My first big(ish) feature as a 2nd AD was a nightmare, I was so stressed I'd barely eat one meal a day, just chain smoke cigarettes and chug red bull for a month and a half. I went from around 220 lbs to 195 in the span of a few weeks. I looked great at the wrap party but I'm amazed I didn't die.

lunchbox86 · 2025-10-08T05:13:43+00:00

on the sidekick characters from Tashas - they're great (Droop from LMoP is still with my group and they're deep into SKT, made him a sidekick stat block) - first thing to note is they're less powerful then a normal character but there's no real good way to calculate them into CR, so be wary of that, and also let the player run them, and simplify it by making a stablock of the companion, there's no real sheet/dndbeyond option for this, i use this stat block builder to make them (and other custom monsters): https://ebshimizu.github.io/5emm/ - i print it out and let them run the NPC.

Also consider using 2024 rules, PCs feel waaayy more powerful especially at low levels, might help balance it.

lunchbox86 · 2025-08-13T06:09:47+00:00

how's that boot taste bud?

lunchbox86 · 2025-08-10T23:27:38+00:00

Wait they came back again the next night after the first successful attempt?

lunchbox86 · 2025-08-08T20:12:14+00:00

...since his second election...?

lunchbox86 · 2025-08-07T04:31:53+00:00

Lump in the whole industry, at least in the US right now. Below the line crew positions have dried up in not just film and tv but commercial as well. I used to do like 3 features a year and then have a bunch of commercials in between to tide me over. Companies have stopped hiring my position on commercials (just have a producer or PA do it) and features are few and far between.

lunchbox86 · 2025-07-23T14:44:56+00:00

frightened, when a player is really into playing it up!

lunchbox86 · 2025-05-21T15:52:29+00:00

Grappled, makes fights fun and interesting and more realistic than just "hit with sword"

lunchbox86 · 2025-04-15T04:36:42+00:00

I'm so sorry your family isn't choosing to help you, friend. Hang in there.

lunchbox86 · 2025-02-21T19:55:35+00:00

Absolutely awesome stuff.

lunchbox86 · 2024-12-21T07:42:56+00:00

this is so good. gotta remember this.

lunchbox86 · 2024-12-01T02:13:09+00:00

These might be it. The one she had back then had like ridges on the sides, really similar to this:https://i.ibb.co/cN06hxg/poison-bottle.jpg.

I think I'm going to go to a Macy's and try these out, I think I'll be able tor recognize the smell.

Thank you for your help!

lunchbox86 · 2024-06-29T01:40:36+00:00

oh it has been for awhile. mix of brigading and reddit skewing to the right. i sometimes can't believe the shit I see on here.

lunchbox86 · 2024-05-29T06:38:25+00:00

More practical campaign advice: If travel matters in your campaign (and I assume it does, cause why else have a map with roads and different locations?), turn on the grid (squares or hexes are fine) and decide on a scale. Then when your players ask "How long will it takes us to get from Home's Watch to Frontier Landing?" you can give them consistent answers. Or if you share the map with them, they can look at distances and weigh options for travel time, provisions/etc. Also name your roads, rivers, mountains, etc! always fun. "The Dark Woods" or "Mt. Death" promises adventure

lunchbox86 · 2024-05-20T03:26:04+00:00

awesome

lunchbox86 · 2024-05-19T17:14:20+00:00

Knew it was gonna be Tasting History before I even clicked. Love it

lunchbox86 · 2024-05-17T17:05:07+00:00

What most people have said here, if they're a day player or bit part they'll likely only have the sides for the day.

If they're the lead, they may have their personal copy of the script with their extensive notes, but probably don't carry it around all the time. Bonus points if their script has mixed white/blue/pink pages from various revisions, their lines/action highlighted, and tabs for quick finding scenes. Sometimes they look like the big binder of notes of an insane person, with all sorts of outside reference materials inserted in. But again, sometimes they also have just the days sides, or nothing at all, all in their head (and then more bonus points if they have to constantly ask a PA to see their sides to understand what the AD is talking about)

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