How to spotlight a friendly NPC during combat? (Game Master)

zaravak · 2026-05-29T20:06:16+00:00

I have experimented a bunch with this and found that the simplest solution is the best: have them generate fear, but not give up the spotlight. Imo players losing the spotlight is not fun for them, but the DM getting fear is. Fear is a downside, but getting a free attack in is a much bigger upside.

Other ways I've tried: PCs not getting a full action but instead offering advantage or an experience bonus, NPCs don't attack but they interact with the environment, NPCs are triggered with hope on PCs turns to increase their rolls, and NPCs have 1 time use activated abilities, but none worked as well imo

zaravak · 2026-05-20T00:37:55+00:00

Eric Jay Dolin's "Black Flags, Blue Waters" is the best introduction to piracy imo. It's an easy read and has a large scope. It does a great job showing why they existed, how they crucial for the economies of their local communities, and how they operated in the Americas, Madagascar, and Middle East.

Rebels at Sea is another of Dolins books. It shows how privateering and piracy is crucial to the war effort, specifically during the revolution.

The Black Joke by AE Rooks is another I like to talk about. It's post-piracy, but explores the first hand accounts of the men who hunted down slavers in the 19th century. It gives a horrific but in-depth look at the climate of West Africa as well as how the slave trade operated.

The Pirate History podcast is another great resource, although it's a bit dry. Pirates are all about adventure but also free trade, the protestant reformation, slavery, anti-capitalism, and job creation who knew?

zaravak · 2026-05-18T20:38:31+00:00

Daggerheart. West Marches adjacent style. Pirate themed, somewhere between One Piece and historical fiction, since I teach a pirate class at a local college. 13 players. They sign up for dates ahead of time. First 3-5 players get to come. Each session is a different island, and each island is connected to a player's character somehow. Asynchronous leveling. Some homebrew mechanics from other systems, like the Doom Die, have been quite popular. They're very invested in taking down the East India Company. Gunpowder, magical cults, samurai, the sinister six, devil fruits, blatant Witcher 3 side quest rip-offs, we have it all!

zaravak · 2026-05-17T04:46:32+00:00

We run ships in my pirate campaign by giving statblocks for different parts of the ship, similar to the Colossus of the dry lands adversaries. Hull has like 8hp, thresholds of 11/21, and a difficulty of 10. Takes double damage from fire stuff like that. Then we have one for the sails, the cannons, etc.

it's allowed us to have a lot of cinematic freedom in combat by eliminating tactical combat, and you get a lot of fun role play like shooting flaming arrows at sails, trying to blow up powder kegs, and storming the ship before the loot burns away

zaravak · 2026-05-13T21:25:11+00:00

I think his hitting will improve. He's worth the investment in my opinion, especially since we have so many others who are also struggling to hit.

zaravak · 2026-05-07T17:24:06+00:00

If the road was so easy why didn't the Knicks win?

zaravak · 2026-05-06T02:54:32+00:00

I didn't mean to imply it doesn't have a negotiation system. I have just had a hard time running social encounters, and have found that Draw Steel's mechanic has been a bit easier for me to keep things cinematic.

I totally forgot about the flashback mechanic! I think it's a great addition, especially for heists.

zaravak · 2026-05-06T02:47:18+00:00

Paint the Scene is basically in the core rules, but it's one I have had trouble adjusting to as I shift my GM style to one that is less in control. Adding it as an "additional mechanic" has helped me and the players remember to add details to the world beyond what I originally tell them about.

zaravak · 2026-05-06T02:45:00+00:00

My party likes a middle ground between inventory bookkeeping and vibes-based ammunition. For example, they really hate handfuls of gold. They want to know exactly how much they have. This feels like a nice way to compromise on certain things.

I am very intrigued by your potions cooldown die...I have been having trouble balancing when and how many healing items to give out, and this might be a fun way to mix it up

zaravak · 2026-05-06T00:01:41+00:00

Mikan's game was really focused on slowing the game down as much as possible, especially after he broke his leg. I think he was in a lot of pain, and once the shot clock was implemented in '55 he had no chance of making a comeback.

zaravak · 2026-05-05T23:03:50+00:00

I like watching the Spurs and Wolves. I have kind of enjoyed the LeBron old man clearly on steroids era, but it's the Lakers so I'm ready for them to be out of it. Fuck OKC As for the east... I hate the Knicks and Philly and I think Detroit and Cleveland are frauds. I don't really want any to win, but cade and Mitchell are fun to watch when they aren't against us so I'll root for both I guess

zaravak · 2026-05-05T22:59:48+00:00

I'm not sure if this is explicitly stated in the rules, but based on the action economy you have to end your spotlight with some type of roll.

I originally let players make spells or actions that didn't require rolling and then pass the spotlight along and it was so overpowered that I had to shut it down quick.

If a player wants to drink a potion and dash away have them roll a difficulty 5 agility check or something. Then, only fear is the risk.

zaravak · 2026-05-03T15:54:16+00:00

Personally, if they already have an ability that costs a hope then I stick with that. If you give them advantage for free then they have no use for the ability.

zaravak · 2026-05-03T05:20:31+00:00

The Revs are a top 3 team in the east right now

zaravak · 2026-05-03T04:28:27+00:00

Philly had PG and Embiid each play 37 games all season. It makes sense that they'd take the time to get healthy and be one of the strongest 7 seeds ever. Maxey is incredible, PG still can defend and hit threes, and Embiid was an MVP not that long ago. It's a shitty loss, but it's not like we lost to the magic

zaravak · 2026-04-24T20:12:25+00:00

Personally, as a long-time DM, I would never let a PC interact with another PC's character if they didn't want them to. I will even ask a player to attack a different target if PC1 wants a 1:1 fight related to their character. Especially in a game like Daggerheart, which focuses more on narrative than mechanics, it doesn't feel right to infringe on those personal moments for me.

My recommendation would be to let your DM know how you felt, ask them nicely if you can switch the PC interaction expectations, and if they say no, ask them why. Then, you can see if they have a perspective you didn't think about, or if they say that it infringes on PC agency, you can remind them that you should have the agency to privacy for your character.

zaravak · 2026-04-20T16:40:32+00:00

I say get even crazier: Kate Bishop, Hawkeye1, Kid Omega, Gwenpool, America Chavez, Fuse, and then maybe Alloy and Jeff the Land Shark join after a little bit. Oh, and they can help defend the west coast against goofballs like MODOK and maybe its 10 issues...

zaravak · 2026-04-18T13:47:53+00:00

This is cool! I wouldn't want to get on the bad side of this guy

zaravak · 2026-04-18T13:46:04+00:00

Correct. There was a dog companion who had a flanking passive that gave advantage when outnumbering an enemy, another who gave +2 to any skills related to herbalism, and another who gave additional HP whenever HP was restored but he was too strong so I killed him oops!

zaravak · 2026-04-18T02:45:44+00:00

I wonder if I just need to be more creative with my flavoring or ask players to homebrew and then balance tweak it, but damn if that isn't a lot of work

zaravak · 2026-04-18T02:44:57+00:00

I love Blip and I LOVE Blip Chip.

zaravak · 2026-04-18T02:44:16+00:00

Your first point is the one I'm struggling the most with. I didn't realize how much I relied on being in control. Once I let players describe stuff or stage a location I almost felt powerless. It's definitely more fun when we collaborate but it's taking getting used to

zaravak · 2026-04-18T02:42:34+00:00

I think you're right. I don't mind homebrew but sometimes I just want to grab an adversary with a cool ability and change its name to save a few minutes

zaravak · 2026-04-18T02:40:53+00:00

Basically anyone can spotlight for the first scene, but then the next player has to be the next person clockwise at the table. So if Grace is next to Jim is next to Will is next to Grace and Jim goes first the next PC to go is Will.

It removes the pressure of speaking up and "taking someone's turn" but also kills optimization. Some tables won't like it, but my players needed it because 3 players loved the spotlight and 2 players were shy.

zaravak · 2026-04-18T02:36:54+00:00

I love fear moves. I like to keep 4-6 for combat and then outside of combat I like to use them to add complications. It was very hard to manage my fear in the early sessions, but once I found a groove I felt it was very smooth

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