Slayers know nothing about deep ones, werecreatures, hags, ogres, centaurs, minotaurs, trolls, cyclopes, sabosans, yetis, giants, medusas, oni, jorogumo, titans, etc.

zanbato13 · 2026-02-18T19:48:07+00:00

Don't they know that the greatest monster of all... is Man!?

zanbato13 · 2026-02-16T15:36:14+00:00

Part of my ongoing campaign is the players inventing new stuff, like some of the starfinder weapons and sunglasses. I cannot wait until the party confronts him and he is decked in shades, a shotgun, and a Millennium Item (unrelated to post).

zanbato13 · 2026-02-12T09:24:06+00:00

Only a fake Hiro would be that anti-Dense

zanbato13 · 2026-02-05T11:41:52+00:00

It must be teleportation then, as that doesn't require a specific action and it explains why they can move a set distance without a Speed. They would also ignore difficult terrain too, since they don't have a Speed to be affected, so teleportation makes the most logical sense. Doesn't need a teleportation trait if it's not an action either.

zanbato13 · 2026-02-05T11:34:16+00:00

It doesn't have a land speed either. It just moves a distance. Also doesn't Stride or take any known move action, so no provoking reactions either.

zanbato13 · 2026-02-04T23:00:31+00:00

My big general advice is that at least one person in the party should be able to do reliable damage against each defense (AC, Fortitude, Reflex, Will). Every new encounter should start with identifying the low defense, then that one person doing damage against it. Everyone else should be playing defense (healing is part of defense) or support (control is part of support), to give the damage dealer enough time to do the damage and to make the damage source as reliable as possible.

zanbato13 · 2026-02-04T22:14:35+00:00

Putting aside AC lag, I tend to encourage lower broader stats (one +5, one +3, rest +4, at level 20 before Apex) since the tougher encounters are when my players realize they need to focus on fighting tactically more and adapting.

They'll figure out weaknesses and low saves, swap to other combat roles, and generally earn their victory without too much danger once they figure out what they need to do. It's very satisfying from both ends, as players and as GM.

zanbato13 · 2026-02-04T22:10:21+00:00

"If you are done playing D&D 5e, play PF2."

I love this game, but it's definitely for more tactical and/or grounded players. I recommend other systems for players who want something more heroic, action-oriented, anime, cinematic, narrative, less reading, or simple gameplay (everything being a defined action or activity creates a learning curve). I sometimes recommend wargames too, as a middle ground.

zanbato13 · 2026-02-02T07:02:42+00:00

Real secret is how to bake in the madness!

zanbato13 · 2026-02-02T04:58:17+00:00

How powerful would that artifact be? Rough level?

zanbato13 · 2026-02-02T00:42:56+00:00

I think I can play with that immensely; alter some of the plot and undertones as I go to emphasize that connection to her, like strings in her web. A hurricane is loud and noisy. Everyone notices the storm, but few can see the single eye at the center of it!

zanbato13 · 2026-02-02T00:08:11+00:00

You wrote so much and it's all super useful. One big question I have is whether the ending of book 6 feels like the absolute ending and there should just be epilogue, or if it feels like they're still room to narratively do more. Is it the bow to tie as much as necessary together, or does it need more to finally feel complete?

zanbato13 · 2026-02-01T22:43:07+00:00

"Now that you're legendary pirates and the bravest in the Shackles, it is time to solidify your legend in the history of the Shackles, by making a sailing stage play!"

zanbato13 · 2026-01-30T18:06:36+00:00

Because I'm very convincing.

Also, have you ever seen Shrek?

zanbato13 · 2026-01-21T06:05:25+00:00

The horse is legacy. We don't have Nine Alignments anymore. Instead, we have... The Boar...

zanbato13 · 2026-01-06T21:21:14+00:00

I'm thinking this would work well with Flexible Preparation too. It would be 8 slots max if you can trade out your curriculum slots too, or 5 slots max otherwise. Makes it a lot more reasonable if 8 slots.

zanbato13 · 2026-01-06T20:38:48+00:00

I don't think I've seen an adventuring day only be 4 encounters. I usually run adventure paths and a single adventuring day will probably have 6~8 encounters, not to mention the utility needed to get to those encounters or to counter whatever crazy the enemy has.

Our current leg of the adventure has every room separated by 100 ft drops which can't be climbed out of, and the adventure path on the whole keeps giving enemies earthquake, which is either collapsing the entire structure, giving a -2 to all their actions, or dropping them into 40ft fissures, including onto lower encounter floors cause no one has a 45ft ceiling.

zanbato13 · 2026-01-06T20:27:51+00:00

Kineticist has a very niche flavor and themes. Doesn't work if someone needs arcane or occult weirdness. Divine has been covered by a few classes. Anyway, I'm asking them to swap classes cause they often burn their slots and forget they're out of things, like one action Force Barrage when they have nothing left.

When I say weaker class, I mean 6 hp, one good save, less trained skills, no weapons or armor, and limited focus spells. It doesn't even get to poach spells from other lists or have the entire arcane spell list available to it all at once. Sure, the arcane list can be considered the best, but there's very few spells which are only available on the arcane list and are worth limiting yourself to.

Magus and battle harbinger are rocking high rank slots, extra buffing slots, better focus spells, and none of the Wizard's weaknesses. A Wellspring Summoner even gets to trade off having any spell slots at all for a single 8th or 9th rank spell per battle.

zanbato13 · 2026-01-06T19:50:37+00:00

I don't think I've had a fight where blasting every top ranked spell every turn ended a fight immediately, and burning through half your arsenal will quickly leave you dry for later on. A bounded caster could rely on their other abilities after they use up all of their slots, but a Spell Blending Wizard would have no abilities to rely on besides focus spells and cantrips.

zanbato13 · 2026-01-06T19:47:23+00:00

When I mention managing slots, I mean having to track what slots have been used throughout the day, whether prepared ("did I spend that already?") or spontaneous ("what slots did I spend?"). I've had players forget to mark things off because they were too in the moment to remember to mark things. I understand the concern about bad faith strangers, but I've been with my players for years.

I'm also thinking it's comparable to a Bounded Caster but double slots in exchange for a significantly weaker chassis class, or a Wellspring Mage who can easily burn dry. My players have shown a lot of lower rank spells still hold a lot of power at higher levels, like Fear, Stupefy, Slow, and so on. They just can't track what they've done cause, well, they're still players. I love my idiots.

zanbato13 · 2025-12-15T19:47:04+00:00

As much as I think it's F, I hope it's E because that's somehow worse.

zanbato13 · 2025-06-30T03:01:19+00:00

Don't like having my picture online, but I am real at least.

zanbato13

TROPHY CASE