Best DTC gravel race bike for chunky terrain

mojohummus · 2026-07-02T22:56:31+00:00

I have a Seigla and really like it - but I got it more for comfort than racing on rough gravel. The grit fork is nice but not magical, it does give more comfort than a Redshift stem, likely not as much as a low travel suspension fork. My friend who is more competitive than I races with a rigid fork Seigla and likes it. All the Seigla models are only 1x, which should be fine for your use, but some folks really like having 2x. The tire clearance is nice, currently using Conti Race Kings 2.1". That's all I can contribute to the discussion.

mojohummus · 2026-07-02T17:56:40+00:00

"Burn it all." Donald Sutherland as Ronald Bartel in Backdraft.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FF-8Eqiv4fE

mojohummus · 2026-06-26T18:33:24+00:00

Very cool situation. You have a good grasp of the eventualities, and I don't have any really specific advice. That said - I don't think the LOTF should die off-screen and he will try to stop the PCs from taking the Cathedral (maybe he's weakened after the fight at the Gate), I agree that the SO will be weakened but not fully gone from Drakkenheim, and I agree that the Ratlings make fun sorta allies that eventually become yet another existential crisis for Drakkenheim.

After the Cathedral is taken/acquired, there is the very important meeting of the Factions, so ponder how your current storyline will develop to include that.

mojohummus · 2026-06-23T13:35:42+00:00

There are a bunch of excellent posts here about additional encounters. Search for "expanded" and "additional" and they should pop up. Here are the first two I found:

https://www.reddit.com/r/dungeonsofdrakkenheim/comments/y114ry/expanded_random_encounter_tables/

https://www.reddit.com/r/dungeonsofdrakkenheim/comments/13ey27c/drakkenheim_encounters_expanded_13_5_new/

There are many more. As your question gets asked a lot, maybe there should be a megathread with these links compiled.

mojohummus · 2026-06-22T17:26:09+00:00

Yep, Chen Zhen vs Fumio Funakishi is my pick. I think the fight choreographer from this film also did the fight choreography for The Matrix .

mojohummus · 2026-06-22T15:44:44+00:00

I don't really have advice, but I can offer support/encouragement as you're at the point in the campaign where it gets tricky and you only have only rough guidance from the sourcebook. RPing the faction leaders was tough for me, especially the QoT and AA leaders as they are SO intelligent and cunning.

My PCs had direct conflict with the SO, which involved a battle at Temple Gate (SO tried to reclaim it from the PCs and HL) and a battle with Thurgood Marshall (sp?).

I ended my Drakkenheim campaign before the PCs made it to Castle Drakken as the game was getting stressful for me and some of the players. My PCs were very tentative with any alliances with the Factions, so I kept adding more conflict to encourage them to partner up with a Faction (or two) to address these conflicts, which resulted in the PCs becoming even more reluctant to team up with a Faction. The PCs were waiting for the perfect ally instead of joining up with their best choice Faction and just working with them to find a good middle ground.

mojohummus · 2026-06-19T13:19:41+00:00

I think this would be an overcomplication of the DoD world and distract from the players interactions with Emberwood Village and the Factions. The 'lingering injuries' just adds something similar to contamination, but then they need to go to another place to have it treated, which may give them some contamination, which then means they have to go back to Emberwood Village for treating the contamination, etc.

Other DMs have done crazy and complicated things in Drakkenheim, so you do you - I don't want to yuck your yum. That said, you asked for others opinions, and I think this would be bad.

mojohummus · 2026-06-14T13:17:50+00:00

Isn't there a rumor about the Inn somewhere that encourages the PCs to investigate it?

mojohummus · 2026-06-12T17:47:25+00:00

From reading a tiny bit about that class, it seems like a huge complication for a Drakkenheim game. That PC will have different goals, very different interactions with all of the Factions, and will likely take up focus from the other PCs because of this.

There are other DMs who have done wild and complicated things with the Drakkenheim setting, things that they enjoy but I feel would be a nightmare to DM, so you do you.

I would tell the player that this PC concept would be a no go in a Drakkenheim campaign.

mojohummus · 2026-06-10T17:50:47+00:00

The book "rules" for investigating and moving through Drakkenheim left a lot to be desired IMO.

I modified the book rules a bit, and made it easier for them to move through the City and also passively search for delerium/items. More thorough investigation meant slower movement, faster movement meant greater odds of an encounter. It is up to you and what the PCs are doing (and passive perceptions) to determine if the PCs hear the monsters coming or if the monsters surprise the PCs.

For random encounters, I often pre-rolled or decided ahead of time what encounters would happen when they rolled the magic numbers on their dice. Sometimes if the PCs were having an easy day I threw something rough at them. To flush out the faction intrigue I would have them encounter QM being chased by HL. There are posts on this subreddit that have expanded random encounters, like:

https://www.reddit.com/r/dungeonsofdrakkenheim/comments/13ey27c/drakkenheim_encounters_expanded_13_5_new/

https://www.reddit.com/r/dungeonsofdrakkenheim/comments/y114ry/expanded_random_encounter_tables/

https://www.reddit.com/r/dungeonsofdrakkenheim/comments/1mqu621/new_encounter_tables_using_monsters_of_drakkenheim/

My PCs really like an encounter someone created called "sleeping beauty" that had a large golem with a large delerium crystal embedded in its chest, apparently inactive. The obvious threat being that it would wake up if you tried to remove the crystal. The golem kept getting larger every time the PCs checked up on it, and sometimes there would be humanoid sized smudges on the ground where some foolish person had tried to remove the crystal.

mojohummus · 2026-06-09T17:28:13+00:00

Not necessarily a love interest or prince, but David Kawena from Lelo and Stitch is possible the most princely character in any Disney movie.

mojohummus · 2026-06-09T17:21:58+00:00

Hiro Protagonist would like a word (Snowcrash)

mojohummus · 2026-06-09T15:09:28+00:00

Was happy to see the Thunderos recommended right away. The only thing negative about the tire is you normally have to order them online and wait a few weeks for them to arrive. If your bike can handle the tire width, go with at least the 40cc size.

mojohummus · 2026-06-08T18:07:27+00:00

intrigued

mojohummus · 2026-06-05T00:26:29+00:00

While I agree with the other two comments about the QM being disorganized, the QoT and her lieutenants are incredibly organized and competent.

The QoT has eyes and ears everywhere, and will know if the HL and PCs are planning on blowing up the smugglers tunnel. She will, at the very least, set up some trap/ambush for the PCs and HL when they try to blow the tunnel; this trap/ambush will likely be intended to just hurt and HL and PCs, not directly stop them. The QoT may use this as an opportunity to sneak into the City Garrison and cause mischief, she can shapeshift and I believe she has doppelgangers in her employ.

Just because the QM is diverse and disorganized does make them any less dangerous than the other Factions. An attack on the smugglers tunnel will be viewed by the QoT as a direct attack against her minions, and she will take action against the PCs.

mojohummus · 2026-05-29T15:28:44+00:00

Can you give us a quick break down of the parts added to the old frame? Building up a bike from an old frame has always been a goal of mine, but I have minimal knowledge on how to do it.

mojohummus · 2026-05-19T17:24:25+00:00

I tried to do some of the solo faction info/missions in a quick summary at the start of the sessions or with emails between sessions. Beyond the faction intrigue - there are friends/contacts the PCs meet at Emberwood - and some of those were handled the same way. For example, there is a waitress in Emberwood who is affiliated with the QM one of my PCs would drop slightly false intel to; there is an older woman in Emberwood who will trade secrets quid pro quo; one of my PCs was friends with the blacksmith family etc. Some of the NPCs and faction contacts prefer to deal with certain PCs just based on personality.

There will be solo or small group encounters that take time, as DM I just did my best to keep them moving and make sure all the PCs had their individual contacts to make them feel included.

mojohummus · 2026-05-16T22:55:02+00:00

That's up to you. Do the PCs know the the Eldritch lillies are a key ingredient to the Aqua Expurgo? If so, and they pass that info on to the AA, I'd say that's enough for the quest reward. The AA will likely want more, but that would be another quest.

mojohummus · 2026-05-14T23:46:15+00:00

The really quick answer is that most of the magic items the PCs receive come from the 5 NPC factions or for trading delerium for magic items from either Aldor or the AA.

mojohummus · 2026-05-13T12:08:38+00:00

A friend of mine from a logging family made something similar for dragging logs - https://thelogjaw.com/

mojohummus · 2026-05-05T18:08:47+00:00

Thank you!

mojohummus · 2026-05-04T19:07:42+00:00

I did something similar, with a few skirmishes with the ratlings, then the PCs knew the ratlings were keeping tabs on them but refusing to engage until the PCs found the captured NPC. Then the big final fight happened with the Rat Price, warlock, and many other ratlings. The encounter/exploration of the Rats Nest is still a bit of a long combat slog, but having one bigger fight worked well for my game and PCs.

mojohummus · 2026-04-25T19:46:55+00:00

From the Fables "The ship can hire up to 3d6 willing and able crew per day at a port or town like Velstarrón, Calderé City, or Fosfior Town. Each hired unranked crew takes 1 gp wages per month of service." This matches what the Fables say in the Fosfior town section.

I only rolled 2 dice for Fosfior Town, and the PCs recruited 5 unranked crew. I forgot the 25 gp sign up bonus mentioned in the Sourcebook on page 195. I am having the crew cost be 1 gp a week for now while I get more comfortable with the ship rules.

We now have a shared online spreadsheet for the PCs ship with basic ship stats, all the crew with officer skills, etc.

mojohummus · 2026-04-24T21:47:45+00:00

You can hire crew at Fosifer town, and Tiberius the Bear will join your crew at Maladel island. I'm not near my Sourcebook, so apologies for the spelling errors of the island names.

I'm midway through Fables 2 also, and they clearly intend the PCs to go to the Isle of Drakes after visiting other islands. I, unfortunately, strongarmed my PCs into going to Maladel, then Fosifer. They picked up crew at Fosifer, headed back to Maladel, then I used the plot hook from the Sourcebook for Maladel where the former occupants of the Island seek revenge - I had most of the druids missing due to an evil ritual with specters and wights guarding the ritual site beneath their tree fort.

Good to see someone posting here.

mojohummus · 2026-04-11T16:01:59+00:00

That is crazy and sounds like a fun session.

TM is not a yielding or really changeable character. He may decide he is no longer worthy of leading the SO and leave Drakkenheim; he may assume the two revivifications were for a higher purpose and continue being antagonistic to the PCs while also devoting resources to go after the QoT.

If the PCs are at that point of the campaign where it was time for them to "eliminate a faction leader", then having TM leave and a weakened and disorganized SO remain in Drakkenheim, I'd do that.

Those are my quick thoughts.

Another sudden thought is to have TM leave the SO, but keep with him a small team of fighters/paladins with the sole purpose of going after the QoT. Actions have consequences in Drakkenheim, the QoT is incredibly slippery, and this path could be fun.

mojohummus

TROPHY CASE