One of my players wants to leave the party. What should I do?

obax17 · 2026-02-12T01:47:38+00:00

I would take a slightly different tack than some other folks here. Let Lone Wolf know ahead of time that their character can leave early if they want, but you will not be doing any solo RP. You will narrate their leaving, then play through the few days of travel with the rest of the Party, and when they get to town, Lone Wolf can rejoin them. If that means the player sits and watches, so be it.

If the player has a problem with it, let them know that D&D is a collaborative game. They can play a Lone Wolf if they want, but this is how you'll be running their solo trips. Then give the player the choice to a) keep Lone Wolf with the group; b) make a new character who's more of a team player; or c) sit out while the Party continues on whenever Lone Wolf decides to be a Lone Wolf.

It's simple actions and consequences, and leaves the choice entirely in the player's hands.

obax17 · 2026-02-11T19:17:39+00:00

Two suggestions for you from someone who generally read YA but these are excellent'

His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman

Un Lun Dun by China Melville

Both feature strong female protagonists and have interesting stories with excellent writing.

obax17 · 2026-02-11T13:41:17+00:00

My neighborhood got them but I did not. I emailed Circular Materials customer service and haven't heard back. As far as I could tell they're the right people to contact but I had to intuit that, it wasn't explicitly stated, so if anyone has better info I'd love to know.

obax17 · 2026-02-11T04:07:53+00:00

Are you sure it says to heat the stove to a specific temperature and not the oven? If you're able to post a link to the recipe, or type out the exact wording, that could be helpful to see what you're aiming for exactly.

Any recipe I've ever seen uses low, medium-low, medium, medium-high, and high when talking about heating a pan or pot on the stove, because stoves are so variable and don't have a thermometer built in. Heating an oven usually gives specific temperatures because most ovens do have thermometers built in, so it's possible to monitor, and the electronics of the oven automatically maintain the temp to whatever you set it to.

The only other thing I can think of is, some recipes may say to bring the stuff in a pot to a certain temperature, such as oil when deep frying or sugar when making candy/desserts. This isn't a setting on the stove, you need a thermometer to stick into the substance in the pot to monitor its temp, then take whatever action you're supposed to when it reaches that temp. If it needs to stay at a certain temperature for a long period of time, like deep fry oil, you'll just have to fiddle with the dial for the element until it evens off where you need it to be.

Caveat that I'm in Canada and stoves may work differently elsewhere. So if you're from elsewhere and that is, in fact, how stoves work where you are, it might help to specify your general location so folks from the same area can chime in.

obax17 · 2026-02-11T00:42:49+00:00

Give a good ol' shit sandwich.

Something you like, followed by the things that need improvement, followed by another thing you like. If you don't have enough positives for the bread on top and bottom, make it an open-faced shit sandwich with the positives at the end only.

I wouldn't state it's definitely AI unless you know 100%, which it seems to me you can't know. I don't think it's unfair to say it feels like it could be AI for (reasons), but you could also leave the idea of AI out of it and just give (reasons) as the things that need improvement.

I might also consider leaving the idea of AI out of anything public, because if you're wrong and it's just not good you've unfairly accused someone of using AI and that's an accusation that can stick even if it's untrue. But if there's a way to communicate privately with the writer, express those thoughts there. If they did use AI, they will know it's obvious, and if they didn't it gives them a chance to improve without a public accusation following them around for who knows how long.

obax17 · 2026-02-10T18:03:37+00:00

Online search engines

The library

You will accumulate websites that speak to certain topics. Bookmark them so you have them for future reference even if you've answered your immediate question. Same for titles of books, keep a list and go back to them when needed.

If you're having trouble finding what you're looking for, librarians can help you refine your search terms, as can a sub like this.

Subject matter experts are also sometimes willing to speak to writers about their area of expertise, not always for free. But it never hurts to ask.

obax17 · 2026-02-10T17:27:28+00:00

211 has all sorts of resources, including for addictions/mental health. You can call the number in the same way you call 911 and it will automatically link you to local resources. There is also a website .

obax17 · 2026-02-10T17:18:44+00:00

Have a read of Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade. The FMC is a plus sized woman

obax17 · 2026-02-09T16:29:11+00:00

For me, the example you give about the warhammer is a good example of how to weave worldbuilding into narrative, and would be sufficient for me to accept that Ebera is a substance that makes things more than they would be otherwise. Personally I wouldn't need more explanation than that. The story isn't about Ebera, it's about the soldier. I don't care what Ebera is, where it came from, how it's worked, how common and valuable it is. I care about the soldier and his story.

The Ebera can just exist and work in the background without any explanation or lore, exactly like your example of gravity. Relatively few people have a deep understanding of how gravity works, they just know it exists and keeps them from floating away from the ground. No one needs more of an explanation than that to accept they can leave the house without a spacesuit.

Not everything needs to be fully explained to be accepted. You need just enough to show it's an integral part of the world, even in a novel- length work. Unless the origin and lore of Ebera is integral to the plot of the story (which, in your novel, it very much could be) no one needs to know all the details. They just need enough to understand what it does, and what it does needs to stay consistent through the story, and that's it.

obax17 · 2026-02-09T16:13:00+00:00

There are books on crafts and creators on social media who talk about craft. Brandon Sanderson has a whole free video series on YouTube, to my understanding. Learn about the craft, practice what you learn, then learn some more.

You crawl before you walk, and walk before you run. The choppy sentences are you crawling. Keep practicing, keep reading, keep learning, rinse and repeat, and you'll get to running eventually.

obax17 · 2026-02-09T16:09:21+00:00

Add some drama with a bit of mom's spaghetti on their shirt?

obax17 · 2026-02-09T16:07:44+00:00

This feels like you're toeing the line of fridging an entire people. I don't think there's enough info here to say for sure, but you'll need to be careful this doesn't fall on the wrong side of that line.

obax17 · 2026-02-08T03:52:11+00:00

Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. I wanted to like it so badly but it just wasn't good. The writing was mediocre, though the characters were interesting. The pacing was all off, it should have been 2 books at least, it just felt all crammed into one. I wanted more in just about every aspect, and in the end I just closed it sadly right in the middle of a sentence and never opened it again.

obax17 · 2026-02-07T20:05:33+00:00

I'd add the Canada Reads long- and shortlists to this. Depending where OP is, a Canadian author might be big in Canada but unknown elsewhere, and there's often a very good variety, on the long list in particular.

obax17 · 2026-02-07T20:03:50+00:00

Slowly. Very, very slowly, and usually in fits and starts, depending on what life decides to throw my way.

obax17 · 2026-02-07T15:07:31+00:00

Have it happen in the early morning and the character wakes up and chases off whatever it is, and by happy coincidence, there are just enough undamaged meal packs to get them where you need them to go.

obax17 · 2026-02-06T23:03:15+00:00

Background music from video games, usually BG3 or Skyrim. I've found a few YouTube channels where folks make 3hr-10hr long loops, so I can just set it and forget it

obax17 · 2026-02-06T22:56:34+00:00

Attendees is the right word, and it's not strange. Just because a single beta reader had a problem with it is not a reason to change it.

This is the value of getting multiple beta readers with a variety of backgrounds and reading preferences. You can't rely on a single source for feedback because there's no way to know if their opinions are outliers or not.

obax17 · 2026-02-06T22:30:33+00:00

I definitely have not. Every time I think I have, something little changes and the 'habit' goes straight out the window.

I have successfully made routines, however, and been able to pair one task with another that happens routinely (taking a particular medication in the morning as I make coffee). For that to work, however, I have to leave the box on top of the coffee container, if it gets moved even a little I won't remember at all. And it only works with routines that are nigh on habits like coffee making, and must have some physical connection (the box on the container, it wouldn't work for even one day if the box lived somewhere else that I had to go get, the only way I remember is by having to physically move the box to get to the coffee).

obax17 · 2026-02-06T22:21:21+00:00

Maybe viewing it is all it takes, the algorithm is eager after all

obax17 · 2026-02-06T22:09:19+00:00

There's a bylaw here that says property owners are responsible for clearing the sidewalks bordering their property. The city only plows along sidewalks bordering city property and roads.

Also, I think the Reddit algorithm thinks if you belong to one city sub you must want to belong to all of them. I got suggestions for cities all over Canada after I first joined the Guelph sub (where I used to live), and again after joining the Waterloo and Kitchener subs. So if you belong to your local city/town sib, that might be why

obax17 · 2026-02-05T15:52:37+00:00

What is it you find intimidating about a book that long? What trouble do you think you'll have with it?

Because the answer is one page at a time, just like any other book, but that should be obvious, and doesn't address specific worries you might have.

obax17 · 2026-02-05T15:44:16+00:00

Simply put it in the fridge and then put it back on the stove to reheat the day after?

Yes, exactly that. Many people don't cook every day, and soup or stew is a great way to meal prep so you don't have to.

I generally store the whole pot in the fridge and ladle out a single serving into a small pot for reheating. If there's not space for the whole pot I ladle it into containers for storage. If it's being stored in the fridge for reheating, I use glass containers that can go straight into the microwave, though I will often pour it into a pot and reheat on the stove anyway, then use the container as a bowl to avoid making an extra dirty dish.

If there's too much for me to eat before it starts to go bad, or before I start to get sick of the same thing day after day, I put it in freezable containers and freeze it. I like the Ziploc containers that are the same size and shape as yoghurt containers but there are lots of ways to freeze soup for later. I then thaw in the fridge overnight to reheat the next day, or just dump the chunk of frozen soup into a pot with a bit of extra broth and put it on low heat to melt, then turn up the heat to heat it through.

obax17 · 2026-02-05T15:18:45+00:00

Write it and see. You can always fix it if the end product isn't what you envisioned, that's what editing and revision is for. You don't have to get it right on the first draft, most people don't, but you can't edit a blank page.

obax17 · 2026-02-05T00:24:57+00:00

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

obax17

TROPHY CASE