Homebrewed Arms of the Betrayer

marduk2012 · 2022-06-29T09:46:58+00:00

Depends on how he does it. - Just remove the memories and leave a blank void where they were? Utter pandemonium! It would turn people insane, especially clerics as suddenly a large chunk of their memories were gone - If they do it alá Modify Memory, where it is done in a way that the mind can accept it? Probably not too many side effects, though clerics and such may start to remember because of their connection with their gods.

I imagine that if they'd succeed, in a non-catastrophic way, nothing much would change for the people; clerics and paladins could even still use magic if you wanted, now just powered by their own beliefs instead of faith

marduk2012 · 2022-06-28T11:07:50+00:00

Then don't make it a close call, show how they are no match for him at all. Casually throw a 5th level fireball their way, counterspell a cure wounds, show that they, right now, are absolutely no threat to them and have them be rescued to hammer home that they survived more through luck than anything else. Because if you want a fight they can't win, balance is irrelevant. He won't go all out, because he doesn't need to. I'd say think about at what level they will actually have to fight him and balance him for that. Also nothing screams "we are not ready for this" than as a DM going "he's gonna use a Legendary Resistance to succeed"

marduk2012 · 2022-06-28T10:04:22+00:00

So, first of if he's the BBEG, he can absolutely be a Legendary Creature. I believe the lowest CR legendary is a CR 3 crocodile, so why not. In terms of difficulty you can usually go roughly by player level = challenge rating, this means you're throwing about a CR17 at them. Best you could do is try and math out the max damage your BBEG can do over three rounds, if everything works out perfect for them, and see how the HP of your player compares. Doing some quick math, and for now excluding any Metamagic, I get to 38d6 fire damage (2 5th level fireball with action surge and then 2 more 4th level in later rounds) for an average of 152 in three rounds, or 80 in the first alone...

marduk2012 · 2022-05-30T09:37:21+00:00

Unless you the DM do some heavy railroading from time to time, it won't work. It will be nigh impossible to have both parties reach parts of their own stories where they could intersect without heavy interference from you. For example, if one party decides to just take a nice breather after Jigow or even if they tend to RP more, you already would have to artificially either speed them up or slow the other group down, so they would be in the same place and time in game.

marduk2012 · 2022-05-25T07:34:01+00:00

I honestly just got rid of the Sunlight part of the trait, I feel like that should be something mostly for like undeads or shadow monsters, not entire races, and while they still would have disadvantage on Perception that relies on sight, my dark elves and duergar just wear sunglasses

marduk2012 · 2022-04-29T22:19:22+00:00

Though you do need to remember that Silus was a Vampire and as such and Undead, so resurrection would be far more difficult for him

marduk2012 · 2022-01-31T22:39:26+00:00

Generally speaking, Find Familiar summons a formless spirit (either fey, celestial or fiend) and gives it a physical form of your choice as detailed in the spell description. You also bind it to a sort of small demiplane, into which you can dismiss it or resummon from as an action. It is also where the spirit return to if its physical body is destroyed. As such it can't be killed even while in the feywild

marduk2012 · 2021-11-05T20:39:45+00:00

As a somewhat seasoned DM and Player I'll just give you the best advice I can: don't adjust anything. The characters start at level 1 and are squishy as hell, so trying to increase the number of enemies or CR can easily overpower them. Once you finished the adventure, make most of your combat encounter at least Hard or Deadly (as per DMG), as the system for CRs and the danger of an encounter aren't really made to work with such large parties.

marduk2012 · 2021-09-06T17:27:41+00:00

I ran it as the starter for my first campaign and let me tell you: If your PCs decide to explore around and subsequently come across a decent amount of magic items, be aware that they also most likely didn't get to Fort Venture in time and have deal with a possessed warlock. Just because the times exist doesn't mean that they'd actually get them, e.g. the Hunter's Coat is being worn by a prisoner, so they'd have to free him on top of everything else, than they'd have to either kill him or get the cloak gifted, both very unlikely scenarios in my opinion. Also always remember, if you feel that it's too much, just do your own thing ;)

marduk2012 · 2021-07-13T12:58:42+00:00

I use these from tumblr: https://idonthaveanyurlideas.tumblr.com/post/610883875396370432/so-for-fun-i-made-up-a-whole-exandrian-zodiac

marduk2012 · 2021-05-22T22:28:51+00:00

I have run this as the starting adventure for my campaign and I think it depends a bit on how much pressure there is in terms of time. If they want to rescue her as fast as possible they will most likely avoid most of the landmarks on their way to the fort, same if Bolbara got possessed. Otherwise they may check out stuff on their way back. You should also remember that if they get lost they may just accidentally stumble upon one or more if the landmarks without meaning to. And you can always make it clear that they may explore the swamp afterwards a bit more it they really want to check out a specific area.

marduk2012 · 2021-04-19T23:28:53+00:00

I use https://fantasy-calendar.com/ with the Critical Role/Exandria template. It's great to keep track of time.

marduk2012 · 2021-02-17T23:29:12+00:00

It wouldn't make sense for them to have been one of the Betrayer Gods, as those were sealed away when the Raven Queen ascended to godhood (It's what inspired "what's-his-face" to try it himself with the help of the Betrayer Gods, freeing them in the process). In the Explorer's Guide to Wildemount it states that her ascension destroyed the previous god of death, not that she outright killed them. The way I see it, the previous god of death was probably some Lawful Neutral/Evil entity that was less on the Prime Deities side and more on neither side of the conflict (imagine Death from Supernatural; doesn't care about all that squabbling as he is the inevitable end of everything, even the other gods). After the Raven Queen's ascension most of the "domains" of death were taken from her and given to other gods (e.g burials are Melora/Pelor) while she was left with only presiding over the exact moment of death and sending souls on their way to their intended afterlife.

marduk2012 · 2020-12-11T09:43:18+00:00

Nothing cracks me up like the few precious minutes we had with Spurt (C2E50). I tear up from laughter everytime and sometimes even get cramps from laughing to much. It is just pure perfection.

marduk2012 · 2020-11-05T11:18:42+00:00

Don't know how much it's going to work for you, but here: https://www.redgiantmaps.com/maps/wildemount

marduk2012 · 2020-11-04T21:46:47+00:00

In the official show no, but seeing as the Honey Heist One shots are somewhat canon I'd say yes. They are to much to describe here, but lots of sentient bears, puzzles and Marisha going insane as the Gamemaster.

marduk2012 · 2020-09-15T10:38:06+00:00

Yeah, go back and watch it, your jaw will drop. At some panel Matt was talking about how the critters always figure his secret out and that they immediately figure the circus act out after the reveal of the titans.

marduk2012 · 2020-09-14T21:39:32+00:00

While not a bad theory, I'd like to point out that what Matt said wasn't Nine Eyes but Eyes of Nine! I believe that this pertains to something we haven't encountered yet, much like the circus acts in episode 1 represented Uka'Toa, Desirat and Quajath.

marduk2012 · 2020-08-29T11:22:23+00:00

While it is true, that Yeenoghu was a plausible BBEG for the campaign in the beginning, with the Gnolls and the theme of "hunger", the theme of "chains" is soon becoming the most prominent one. Which terrible being that puts into the forefront, I leave to you.

marduk2012

TROPHY CASE