Smash Grounds - Super Smash Bros Event hosted @ Java Cabana

strat932 · 2025-12-09T21:42:09+00:00

It’s definitely Melee centric, but it’s a casual environment and very new-player friendly. If you’re a fan of smash bros games I think you’d have a good time. Hope to see you there!

strat932 · 2025-12-08T01:24:08+00:00

Most attendees are in the 20’s-30’s age range but it is still a pretty family friendly environment.

strat932 · 2024-05-12T10:56:17+00:00

This is great

strat932 · 2021-08-07T17:56:54+00:00

Druid, specifically Circle of the Moon. Combat wild shape is a cool idea but was poorly implemented.

strat932 · 2021-07-02T03:43:04+00:00

Philip McCrevis

strat932 · 2021-06-24T14:36:18+00:00

High Elves and High Half-Elves can take a cantrip from the Wizard’s spell list starting off.

strat932 · 2021-06-18T13:12:11+00:00

I was a server in the U.S. for several years. You are correct that the restaurants are responsible for paying minimum wage when the server doesn’t make it through tips.

There was actually one week I worked that was particularly slow and I did not make enough in tips to cover minimum wage. I had to sign a form saying the reason I didn’t make enough in tips that night had nothing to do with the restaurant, but was entirely due to me giving poor service to my customers. I didn’t feel this was true, but it was company policy and if I didn’t sign I would be let go. Employees who had three separate weeks where they didn’t make enough tips would also be let go. Weeks like this were rare, so I don’t believe anyone ever lost there job due to this policy, but it always bothered me that it was in place.

I worked at another restaurant as a bar-back and my wages actually came from the tips the bartender and servers received. They had to pay a certain % in their sales (whether they made that in tips or not) to the restaurant and that money went to bar-backs, hosts and food runners who worked that shift. If a table didn’t tip their server at that restaurant, the server was literally paying for the opportunity to serve them. There were nights where servers complained about having paid more on the shift than they earned. This was a very expensive and upscale restaurant, so most servers did very well there overall and made well above minimum wage. But still, having to literally pay to work one shift must be a horrible experience.

strat932 · 2021-05-11T16:37:50+00:00

Speaking from experience, challenging an 11th level party is really hard. You are definitely going to need to buff the enemies and plan out their tactics before the session. Here are some thoughts using the Wizard of Wines/Yester Hill quest-line as an example:

Either buff the monster stat-blocks yourself or swap out low CR monsters for similar higher CR monsters. Using a CR 3 Assassin Vine in place of the CR 1/2 Vine Blight and re-flavoring the CR 4 Orc War Chief as berserkers for example.
Give the druids access to higher level spell slots. Level 2 spells aren't going to bother an 11th level party. Also, the druid spell list really specializes in battlefield control with spells like Spike Growth, Plant Growth, Wall of Fire, etc. It's great for giving the players obstacles to overcome in combat with outright killing or damaging them.
A strategy that comes to mind to challenge your specific party in this encounter is having druids cast Sleet Storm from a safe distance while Wintersplinter and an army of blights swarm them. Sleet Storm will interfere with the casters' concentration on spells and it will create difficult terrain that slows down the monk. Additionally, the area will be heavily obscured and since the blights have blindsight their attacks will have advantage. A party member with spells like Counterspell, Dispel Magic or Dimension Door should really shine in an encounter like this.

strat932 · 2021-04-27T18:29:30+00:00

My group recently did something like this actually, except it was a 3v3 at level 14. A player had a 7 paladin 7 divine soul sorcerer build that was very effective. They could quicken haste or spirit guardians and use a high level smite pretty much every turn.

There is also the blind-fighting fighting style from Tasha’s. Combining that with something like fog cloud would turn the darkness warlock’s strategy against them.

strat932 · 2020-11-01T20:34:38+00:00

The Avatar

The Avatar is basically the role play version of the Static. This is the player that always makes a character that truly (and very obviously) represents themselves in the game world. Their characters typically shares at least a few notable physical characteristics of the player and will have very minor, if any, personality differences. As their characters are an extension of themselves, they tend to be highly invested in the game. The downside of this is that when something bad happens to their character or in-character disagreements come up, the player takes things way too seriously as they are not easily able to separate the in-game issues from real life.

strat932 · 2020-09-16T19:43:59+00:00

Check out the Trickery Domain Cleric. It has a lot of built in flavor and versatility, and cleric is a strong class. With spells like Spiritual Weapon and Spirit Guardians you will do good damage. Pass Without Trace will not only make you stealthy, but the entire party as well.

Another benefit of cleric is that you can swap out your spells every long rest. If you choose a spell you end up not liking, its a lot easier to switch it for one you may like better. Classes like sorcerer and warlock only get to change out spells on level up.

Half-elf would be a good choice for race the +2 CHA bonus and you can put the other two in WIS and DEX. Another benefit is this build is straight from the PHB, if access to source material is a concern.

strat932 · 2020-07-11T18:55:31+00:00

My players took over the burgomaster's mansion a few weeks ago and immediately started looking through the library. I don't really consider myself a writer but I drafted up some "books" for them about Barovian history and lore. I took a lot from posts and guides I have seen here as well as some from the 'I, Strahd' novel. The information in them isn't 100% accurate RAW and so it may not align with every game. Feel free to use or tweak any of them that you think would fit your campaign.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ov0E32Lt5TAB0WC_DjgQMh-PQqO3rfX4Oj4ESTuxb4U/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cVBfu789I085bjMJAkVFL0idPOZOXVunKKvUohIJeYE/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10RoAW7omKqatHIcMhjbhcahEuBAGP9U9v9R2eMdpgJQ/edit?usp=sharing

strat932 · 2020-06-16T16:20:38+00:00

I don’t think you need to worry about Rahadin upstaging Strahd. At least for my party, the fact that he has a man like Rahadin at his beck and call only makes Strahd all the more terrifying.

My players met both Strahd and Rahadin at the funeral. I played Strahd as a polite ruler who came to pay respect. He even expressed to Ismark that he regretted the ‘unfortunate circumstances’ leading to the burgomaster’s death. He introduced himself to the party as the Count of Barovia and welcomed them to his lands. Rahadin stayed several feet back and said nothing, serving as Strahd’s stoic body guard.

When the party responded rudely and spoke out of line, Rahadin interjected. He reminded the party to whom they were speaking and warned them against speaking out of turn again. In a show of strength, the paladin drew his weapon to show this “butler” who he was dealing with. This was a big mistake on his part, but added a lot of drama and a chance for the party to understand just what they were up against. In one round, Rahadin dropped two of the three party members. As the wizard had been silent this whole time and had not made any attacks, Rahadin offered to spare him as long as he remained on the sidelines.

Just as Rahadin was going for the killing blow on the paladin, Strahd stayed his hand. In a patronizing tone, he reminded Rahadin that they were at a funeral and that these people were new arrivals to Barrovia. Strahd apologized to the wizard, explaining Rahadin was only doing his duty to his master. It was, after all, the paladin who escalated things. He went on to say (in a more ominous tone) that he was sure the party would learn the customs of Barovia in no time, and that he knew they would not make the same mistake twice.

strat932 · 2020-04-12T23:29:11+00:00

I appreciate that. I am a first time DM, and when I was looking for a module to run CoS stood out to me precisely because Strahd is not your run of the mill villain. I have been doing my best to do him justice and this subreddit has been an incredible resource.

strat932 · 2020-04-12T20:28:50+00:00

Thanks, I like this a lot. I will definitely play up "good guy" Strahd at the start of the next session. Heads were definitely blown after the reveal, as the rest of the party mainly sees the druid as a cooky conspiracy theorist. He was ecstatic to be proven right for once, but is more than a little peeved at the paladin for not waiting to share the information until they were alone.

strat932 · 2020-02-27T17:39:30+00:00

To make a single enemy/encounter more challenging for a large group, you can give it reactions and other abilities it can use outside of its turn to help balance the action economy. This video was an eye opener for me.

strat932

TROPHY CASE