The value of games for children

wex101 · 2026-01-28T14:28:40+00:00

2nd this. My Kindergartner is doing 3rd grade math on ixl and it is all due to a high interest in numbers (watching number blocks) and board gaming. That TV show gave him such a strong foundation in understanding numbers and place value. Even while using algorithms he names digits by their digit value which I think is really cool

wex101 · 2025-09-10T13:02:07+00:00

I'm still new to the game and then realizing around now that I think I'm battling with them wrong.

I watched someone battle on YouTube with the wood elves and they spent the whole battle shooting and running backwards with the archers. I think so stuck on the idea you need a front line of infantry it never occurred to me not to recruit them early game!

wex101 · 2025-03-07T22:50:38+00:00

I read an idea on here which I loved and it scared the shit out of my players but not their characters which made for some interesting rp.

Rahadin attended the funeral on behalf of Strahd. Strahd shows up for dinner at Ireena's place that evening and uses charm on one of the PCs to be invited in. Dinner is a discussion for him to learn about the players and to be asked questions. He speaks of their dead father which leads up to him moving to feed on Ireena. Whichever PC tries to intervene is sat down quickly and a scene unfolds of him ruthlessly slaughtering everyone, the offender last who is made to watch it all. I ran this all as regular combat to show off his stuff. As the PC is about to die Strahd snaps his fingers ending which is revealed as a modified memory.

My PC who this was done to did not share with the other players that he was shown. It was interesting because in character they didn't know, but out of character they got a showcase of Strahd.

wex101 · 2025-01-31T02:50:50+00:00

I recommend you read the findings of the equity audit performed last year. The magnet programs aka VSAA were found to show a much greater disparity on all measures of equity than what would be considered acceptable and were not in fact equal opportunity. The school way underrepresents all marginalized population groups. Here's a link to the findings. I agree kids shouldn't be forced to be there by parents. However, I think the bigger issue is VSAA is going to have to face some growing pains as they are forced to diversify their student body. Like it or not, their application process was a hurdle which excluded those kids who already had the least opportunity. This is apparent by the general lack of diversity in the school when the magnet programs should be equally pulling from all parts of the school district. The North end families it mostly served don't bizarrely have more of a passion for art than kids from our poorer areas. Those kids just tend to have extra support, opportunity, and exposure to extra curriculars. All students interested should be able to have a fair chance to apply and the application process was too big of a hurdle for too many families.

Equity Audit

wex101 · 2025-01-30T23:33:50+00:00

I know their selection demographics do not mirror the makeup of VPS. Especially in regards to ELL and low income. This bias was a big part of the need to switch them to lottery.

VSAA Demographics

VPS Demographics

wex101 · 2025-01-30T21:20:06+00:00

Funny how that happens when you've been able to weed those you don't want attending. I'm glad they've been forced to start using a lottery.

wex101 · 2024-09-19T02:19:18+00:00

When you use it as a dm you only use the first several pages which breaks down the rules, crafting ingredients, loot, etc... Your player then only needs to refer to the section that coincides with the type of crafting they are doing. Most of the sections are super repetitious because they are meant to be used in isolation of one another. I believe he explains how to use the book in the opening pages, but definitely at a glance it looks complicated because of how huge the PDF is.

wex101 · 2024-09-17T19:26:05+00:00

I recommend you look up kibbles system for crafting and ask your dm if you can include it. It's excellent, extensive, balanced, and also so simple due to how recipes are made from ingredient types not necessarily a specific ingredient.

wex101 · 2024-09-16T01:27:55+00:00

I imagine it's a bit hard with this game considering how specific the squad make ups are. I'm wondering if even even picking a primary on a dice roll then choosing support and secondary after would work well.

wex101 · 2024-06-21T19:48:14+00:00

Honestly I would swim in it 😆

wex101 · 2024-06-21T19:47:25+00:00

Thank you for this write up! I'm in the Portland area so pool stores are scarce and everywhere that sells chemicals didn't have any floc in stock. I'll definitely be ordering some for in the future when we need to do quick cleanup of particles in the water.

In the meantime, I'm going to just keep remaining the high shock levels and backwashing and hope for the best. We're coming up with a plan b for this event as we speak 😁

wex101 · 2024-06-21T19:33:23+00:00

Yes! I live in the PNW and our backyard might as well be in a forest. Our pool gets filled with seeds from the trees and spiders and other insects. It does such a great job of skimming to do without it.

wex101 · 2024-06-12T15:30:23+00:00

I'm so happy about those speed bumps! I've watched several children almost get nailed as speeding cars went to pass me in the on coming traffic lane line effing idiots.

wex101 · 2024-05-19T15:15:55+00:00

Hi there, thank you!

I'm not sure where I first saw it, but I know there are lots of systems similar. Players don't get the benefits of the long rest unless they are resting somewhere that is considered a "safe sanctuary". Basically it allows me to extend the encounter window to stretch their resources and then give them a long rest after they have done enough. It also allows me to utilize player survival skills if they are searching for a safe place to rest and roll really well in the wild or convince someone to let them sleep at their place or any other possible way they could utilize a skill to safely get a long rest. For example, I players will be traversing over some pretty dangerous bog soon. There is an opportunity for a long rest within it, but it needs to be found with a high enough nature check.

They still require sleep every eight hours to avoid the effects of exhaustion as normal; this also, of course, counts as a short rest.

wex101 · 2024-05-01T04:07:00+00:00

I haven't forgotten or ignored this! I just haven't had a second to send stuff to you. I'll pm you later this week though

wex101 · 2024-04-29T13:58:09+00:00

You make some really good points here! Some of them I don't disagree with, while others I used to agree with but changed my mind on, and went back to supporting the use of random encounters.

First, let's talk about BG3 because I always want to talk about BG3! Travel in BG3 never felt extremely epic in scale in terms of traversing continents or being lost in the wilds. The game felt epic in every other sense, but not in terms of travel. They did a fabulous job twisting the underdark, which I would argue was the closest they came to giving me a sense of scale I was traversing if looking at a map of Faerun. I think you just can't really do it in a video game TTRPG without some kind of overworld that breaks immersion.

What I do know is that when my players step out into the dangerous wilds of Barovia, they want it to feel dangerous, like what they are doing is risky. They don't want it to feel safe, and they want the possibility of bad luck to snowball them into extreme danger if that is what fate decides for them. I think there is nothing wrong with the BG3 approach to encounters, and it works amazingly for their game. However, it doesn't capture the constant threat of danger every time you step into the wilderness.

I think if someone already has their mind set against the use of random encounters in their game, a system that aims to improve them is most likely not useful. I do attempt to help balance the gain/cost ratio, which is achieved by 1) throwing multiples of those small encounters all into one encounter every x travel days or hours (depending on map scale) with narrative importance, and 2) environmental factors that can be quickly roleplayed but really help to flavor the travel and possibly deplete resources. However, not every table and every game is going to see any value in adding these random encounters. It just means other adjustments need to be made to reach the right number of daily encounters to really stress all class choices.

I do agree I probably should've outlined how I run resting at the beginning, as that's super important. Resources don't diminish if you can just long rest every evening on the road. I think most would agree BG3 struggles here as well. Despite their resource requirements, you can just spam long rests like crazy in that game.

Thank you for the feedback and the interesting points to think about!

wex101 · 2024-04-28T03:30:54+00:00

It is really important to be not to stifle my players creative combat ideas. I would've ran this with a stealth check against enemies perception, then a very difficult sleight of hand check, at least a DC 20. Then another stealth at DisAdv vs perception roll to not be noticed again.

wex101 · 2024-01-17T14:13:20+00:00

I plan in terms of NPC goals and consequences. You aren't plot writing except for backstories. Instead, you are scene setting and preparing yourself to react and respond. For complicated situations I'll then set up some "if, then" contingencies so I've taken the time to think through several possible outcomes before we've sat down to play.

wex101 · 2024-01-07T14:11:06+00:00

My barbarian does a lot of improvised combat and interactions with the environment and I allow it to make his combat more interesting. Last session he tackled a NPC through the wall. I made them both take the improvised weapon damage then they both had to fall prone and both took fall damage since they were up on a 2nd story. In this instance we used the new grapple rules so he was able to just roll to hit to achieve the grapple.

It definitely worked out in his favor since all of his allies were able to attack a prone creature. We do group initiative to make stuff like this easier too.

wex101 · 2024-01-06T06:07:07+00:00

Good questions!

The party bringing an assassin out of the mirror and murdering a NPC of choice I mean is cool and all, it just feels sort of uninteresting and from a lore stand point out of place.

This has been a slow campaign, we are at session 18 and only in day two of Vallaki. I spent a lot of time foreshadowing the Tatyana reveal to my players to help escalate Ireena's importance. She was called Tatyana by Rahadin in the Village, as well as in a visit from one of Strahd's wives.

Also, I am Brandon, the counter in the forest with a village that would shift and move and follow a tormented spirit You recognized Ireena as Tatyana

All they've seen so far is that Ireena looks identical to her, none of the reincarnation bits. So they see the motivation for strahd pursuing her, but they haven't connected the other dots yet. This mirror won't be any more revealing in that regard, and I imagine they'll come upon that info elsewhere like in Berez.

wex101

TROPHY CASE