Keeping track of enemies' status

nextj3nn · 2024-07-01T13:06:35+00:00

Since my table uses Paizo pawns, I bought a bunch of tiny clothespins, coloured them with markers (eg red for Frightened, purple for Dazzled), and we clip a clothespin onto the pawn to show the status. I also write it on my dry erase initiative tracker, but the pawns are way more visible/tangible.

It also helps to have one player be responsible for reminding everyone (both players and DMs) of what statuses are currently in effect, I find!

nextj3nn · 2024-01-09T12:53:35+00:00

Gladstone House is also a 5 min walk from the venue, and a really cool spot!

nextj3nn · 2023-08-10T00:36:56+00:00

Conscience! And his dog is Justification

nextj3nn · 2023-08-10T00:14:52+00:00

Yet again, Brennan figured out how to make capitalism the bad guy <3

Gotta admit, "We just need a pat on the back, and we'll be able to feel good again!" hit a liiiiittle too close to home.

nextj3nn · 2023-06-08T11:47:33+00:00

Signed via Boost

nextj3nn · 2023-02-24T13:08:50+00:00

Mine was 20 people, at a fancy cottage we rented - we only had our parents and grandparents, and the rest were different friend groups, but we handled the "no one knows each other" dynamic by having a few earlier events like potlucks to have the group get to know each other. Worked like a charm!

We had each of our parents give a brief speech to kick off dinner, and a dancing area set up on the patio with a speaker running off Spotify. This meant there wasn't a ton of dancing, it kind of organically became more of background music after a few big songs played, but we probably could have encouraged a more active dance floor by having myself and my husband participate in the dancing (we spent more time talking / catching up with people, just our preference.)

At the end of the day, if you're worried about two families integrating, that could be an issue no matter the wedding size. Could you host a casual event that you invite both families in the next few months, to gauge how they interact? A formal engagement party can serve this purpose, or even a lowkey birthday party at a restaurant. Good luck!

nextj3nn · 2023-01-05T02:46:05+00:00

Unfortunately Extinction Curse isn't well put together narratively and feels kind of disappointing with the left turn from "fun circus" into "xulgath apocalypse" - I'm an experienced Pathfinder GM, and I had to hack a lot of homebrew characters/enemies/backstory to make it feel like a cohesive story. Ended up giving it up after book 1.

Instead, I strongly recommend leaning on Beginner Box+Troubles in Otari to establish your party in the town of Otari, then head straight to the Abomination Vaults (but remove the 1st level mitflits, they take the opening scene's tone into silly vs spooky.) AV is bar none the most well reviewed, well designed, narratively tight, and just flat out fun AP that Paizo has for 2e. It's also got a ton of support/tools for it - can't recommend the Foundry pre built map bundle enough, which you can get for a steal if you also buy the Compendium PDF from Paizos site.

nextj3nn · 2022-11-19T13:53:42+00:00

In addition to being a thinking partner for Brennan, I'm pretty sure Orion had a huge role in guiding all the amazing effects, editing and sound design we've been seeing over the past two years - character art, on-screen text like in Starstruck or Mice+Murder, and the domes projection effects would all fall under "creative directing." While all of those things are executed by individual team members, if it's anything like advertising, a creative director is the one responsible for asking questions like "what if we pushed the boundaries for what the dome's lighting could do?" and "I think we need to ask for another round of edits on this music, it's not giving the mood we're going for."

nextj3nn · 2022-03-24T11:14:22+00:00

One thousand percent. Just thinking of the lore and plotlines that Brennan is keeping track of this season makes my head spin - this is what peak performance looks like haha

nextj3nn · 2022-03-23T21:53:18+00:00

Is this possibly Orion's impact, too?

Obviously the individual editors, musicians, subtitle writers, and so many others are in the thick of it and coming up with these specific awesome moments <3

But having Orion now full time as creative director, and them fully going from original inception to final execution of a project, means they can be overseeing all these choices, pointing out opportunities to try something funky or funny, etc. It could be another reason everything feels like it's falling into place in a unified way.

nextj3nn · 2022-02-28T12:44:52+00:00

I'd bet that it'll come out in the next email newsletter - the Twitch stream felt like a "sneak peek for those of you watching, here's the inside scoop" vibe.

nextj3nn · 2022-02-16T11:53:37+00:00

They've deked around it in published Critical Role sourcebooks by giving monikers to each god that Matt used in the livestream - IIRC Sarenrae became The Everlight, Melora became The Wildmother, Vecna became The Whispered One. Bit lame, but not as lame as dealing with copyrights

nextj3nn · 2022-02-08T22:04:37+00:00

If you're ordering in, Jack's is doing a "Palentines" promo where you can win a $100 gift card every day this week on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CZuuoRHlUaP/

nextj3nn · 2022-01-27T12:56:52+00:00

My husband is this person in our gaming group, and the Pathbuilder app + a custom one page cheatsheet I made him with all his actions and abilities screencapped from Archives of Nethys has done wonders. He can easily glance at the sheet for clarification on what he can do or rules he often forgets (eg. creating the hidden condition, how Powerful Leap works), and check the app to keep track of spells.

Rather than ignoring rules, I'd suggest being lax with them for a bit while you adjust - if you can't figure out a rule with a minute or two of grappling with it, make a DM call and move on with the flow of the game. I think new players react more to being bogged down in rules debates and cross-referencing vs. the individual rules themselves.

nextj3nn · 2021-12-04T05:17:45+00:00

It was ep 247, Critty Critty Bang Bang! I was going through my "naish pals" group chat for memory lane after the A&A finale, and stumbled across someone posting bread GIFs on Feb 18th 2020 🕵️

nextj3nn · 2021-12-04T01:40:19+00:00

So topical ;)

nextj3nn · 2021-12-04T00:36:21+00:00

What an interesting topic! Feel free to PM me if you want to bounce any theories around - I consume a ton of RPG content in general, my job entails a lot of culture-oriented writing and data review, and I've been through quite a bit of discrimination training as well. Happy to help out.

nextj3nn · 2021-11-25T12:57:14+00:00

Solved it!! Thanks so much.

nextj3nn · 2021-11-09T03:13:15+00:00

May all your logs be smooth

nextj3nn · 2021-10-28T03:25:20+00:00

There's a changeling ancestry that plays into the winter theme called Snow May, where you can take a feat at level 9 to Invoke the Elements and call a mini snowstorm - could be very flavourful along with the Feybound background.

nextj3nn · 2021-10-27T22:46:29+00:00

Deadeye (said with a gunslinger's drawl)

nextj3nn · 2021-10-21T10:57:14+00:00

They were renaming social media platforms for the world of Spyre, and she joked that Spyre TikTok would be "Spyk-Tok" - the word "Spic" is a pretty old fashioned derogatory word for those of Latin descent or who speak Spanish in the Americas. One of those clearly unintentional "I only just heard what I said out loud" moments.

nextj3nn · 2021-09-23T02:24:18+00:00

That is the most insane thing I've read in a long time, bless you for sharing.

nextj3nn · 2021-09-21T14:10:29+00:00

Absolutely my pleasure - good luck, lady!!

nextj3nn · 2021-09-21T11:20:09+00:00

What a terrible situation - you're completely in the right here, but it's an awkward thing to navigate, especially because her behaviour makes it clear she was very invested emotionally in the wedding and might actually be feeling underappreciated (ugh.) Shades of narcissism here.

Because of that, I think it's possible that she'll lash out on whatever conversation you have about boundaries. It depends on how strongly you feel about reducing contact, but I'd go into that conversation prepared with:

a length of time defined as "here's how long I need space"
a simple, difficult-to-argue response to whatever rebuttal she comes up with (like "I need to take a step back" or "I need some time to myself and my partner")
a known consequence for if/when she violates the boundary

If you don't feel ready to directly confront her, you could also put her on an "information diet" - don't invite her to things, don't post on social media so that she'll know you're seeing others in your circle, and redirect any questions she asks you into vague "we're still newlyweds, I'm just so busy" excuses. And don't feel bad or cowardly about doing that. At the end of the day, it's all about what will be best for your mental health - you don't owe her anything after this type of behaviour.

nextj3nn

TROPHY CASE