April 2024 Sly Flourish Patreon Q&A
Welcome to the Sly Flourish Patreon Questions and Answers thread for April 2024!
Ask your monthly RPG-related question in the comments below!
Every Friday morning I answer every question on this post. Some questions make it to the Lazy RPG Talk Show or fuel an RPG Tip video or Sly Flourish article. Don't be upset if your question doesn't make it to the show – only a handful do.
As you consider your question for the month, please
search the SF Patreon Q&A database, the Lazy RPG Talk Show Topic Database, the Sly Flourish website, and the Sly Flourish YouTube Channel to see if I've done an article or video on your topic previously.
focus your question on tabletop RPGs.
ask only one question each month.
keep your question brief. I love your stories but I get overwhelmed.
Thank you so much for helping me do what I do.
Now bring on the questions!!
Comments (115)
How long do you actually take to make up your 10 secrets for the next game session? I hear you rattle off five quick secrets in barely the time it takes the words to tumble past your lips. I know you spend a lot of time thinking about your game in idle moments. I wonder if you've already planted the seeds beforehand and are just now recording them on paper or if you have mastered your craft so thoroughly they just spill forth like hit points from twilight sanctuary.
Mike, what are your thoughts on using generative AI to create maps for gaming? My experience has been that the maps that can be created can be stunning and certainly very quick, but I also know there's an entire industry of highly trained artists that spend time making their living creating these Maps, and it takes a long time to create maps on your own. Pragmatically I have found it easier to generate Maps using general AI tools, but I wanted to put it out there for larger discussion. I appreciate your thoughts on this. When I say generating Maps I'm not talking about maps that would be sold, just used in games among friends. Thank you!
Hi Craig! I answered a similar question back in February which you can find here: https://slyflourish.com/sf_patreon_files_898123050001223/qa/?id=1890 We each get to decide what tools we want to use but there are a lot of tools and free or low-priced assets we can use that didn't harvest them from existing artists without compensation. Lots of people like cze and Pku and I personally love Dyson Logo maps but there are many other sources.
Good morning, I am a user of virtual tabletops when I run my games and in the past I have found myself creating highly detailed maps from my games. As I thought about it I'm wondering if the use of more highly detailed maps has made running the game harder for game masters? Does all that additional detail take away from running a game? Certainly using beautiful Maps has been something that I have found enjoyable as a game master, but sometimes those Maps create a bright shiny object from my players and they get hung up on things. I'm wondering your thoughts on this and the use of highly detailed maps for gaming versus more simplified Maps that allow the Mind's Eye to tell the story after getting the description from the game master.
I think I talked a little about it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jIaBmKy9JA&t=2069s I definitely think some GMs spend too much time on the glitzy displays of VTTs, dynamic shadows and other effects and what not, and not enough time focused on the characters and the situation in the game. I think that the more effort we put into building maps and setups, the less freedom the game has to go whatever direction it goes. Use a mix would be my advice.
Good morning. I’ve been listening a lot to you talking about a5e and other systems always thought it would be cool to get into another system. My wife picked me up the core rulebook for Avatar Legends (a PBtA game set for Avatar). I’m struggling to understand what things I should really look at to be able to run a game. More so, what do you look at when getting into a new system? I can’t imagine you read all the systems you’ve run cover to cover prior to running. I also feel like I need to know the system myself before I can push my playgroup to learn it, especially with the cost of books. I’ve been trying to learn two new systems (not at the same time), A5e and Avatar Legends. The question really breaks down to two questions. Where do you start when getting into a new system? What information should I be intimately familiar with when approaching a new system?
I'll read what I can of the main book to at least see how it goes. Most of these huge rulebooks are mostly references to things like spells or magic items or other things you don't need to know. The core rules for 5e, for example, are like 16 pages. But also, I enlist the help of my players. I recognize that I'm as new to the system as they are and ask them to help me navigate the rules together. I did this with Blades in the Dark and Numenera and Shadow of the Demon Lord when I ran those systems. Just like a board game, you're all sitting around the table getting ready to play and can learn from each other in how to play. The game master need not be a master of the game.
Greetings and salutations, fellow human! I know you are working with Obsidian a lot these days and I know there is a template on GitHub. Have you shared anywhere an actual working copy from one of your games, similar to the notion workbooks? If not, are there plans to do so eventually?
Hello! I have not. I'm still getting my own hands around how I'm using it. I expect to write a Sly Flourish article about it in the future.
Mostly due to scheduling issues, I'm considering putting my icewind Dale campaign on hold indefinitely. The players were about to really start chapter 2 and go on their personal arcs so it definitely feels like we'd be stopping before the real meat of the adventure. Seeing as it's a published adventure and I've kept great notes thus far thanks to your notion advice I'm fairly confident I'd be able to pick it back up whenever my players can be more available again. Do you have any advice for dropping and picking back up a campaign? I know this is campaign graveyard territory so I'd really want to avoid it if I can
When a fair bit of real-world time passes, I like to sort of "reset" the campaign, letting the new part start as an almost new campaign of its own. New elevator pitch, reintroducing the characters, dropping in something new to get players excited for the campaign again. Have a session zero to get everyone back on board again.
How can you make a trial more interesting to run? Is there a way to “gamify” it to be more than just RP and cha rolls? I just had to kill a PC last night. The party had made a lot of really, really stupid and reckless decisions. Their luck just happened to run out. They’re on trial next session and they already know a lost costs them much needed time, so there are real stakes and the PCs know it.
If you mean like a court trial, I think you're best off letting the situation roll out in the game itself and using ability checks. You can use something like a Blades in the Dark style countdown clock: https://slyflourish.com/progress_clocks_in_dnd.html This can be for the judge or the jury. As good things happen, the clock swings in their favor. As bad things happen, it swings against them. You can keep it in the open so the players know how well or poorly they're doing depending on their actions and ability checks. Not everything requires a check either. Sometimes the right things said just plain work. Good luck!
I have been consistently running my sessions of our time limit lately. How do you plan a session to fit within time constraints? At least better than I?
Hi Alexander! I talked about this on a previous talk show here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM1MdKNm2eA&t=2858s Here are a couple of articles that can help too: https://slyflourish.com/watch_the_time.html https://slyflourish.com/pacing.html Summary: * Run lower level sessions if you can. * Run with fewer players. * Be prepared to kill stuff in the middle. * Focus on the beginning and the end and leave the middle flexible.
I am running Wild Beyond the Witchlight with my group, and it's been going well. My players are leaning into the creativity of attempting to avoid combat where possible while also finding a few fights to get into along the way. I'm filling some space with the helpful expansions on the DM guild. We are in Hither. In the last session, we began the second Harengon Brigand encounter. They meet Agdon, who attempts to steal their stuff while running circles. Two boats full of brigands also engage. You may recall there's a quick way out by grabbing the scarf, but my barbarian tried that once and failed. We ended the last session with the barbarian going unconscious under Agdon's assault, the moon druid dire wolf form wearing down, and I'm not sure my party will make it through the encounter without all being knocked out. So I need to go in prepped for whether they make it through and scare the brigands off or the brigands win. If my whole party becomes unconscious, I'm faced with tough choices. Do I leave them in the swamp? Or do I send them to Bavlorna's cages as written? There's also the option of placing them in the Harengon hideout in the stump (expansion pack). Do I take their stuff? All of it? How hard should it be to get back? These are thieves, after all. I'd love a specific and more general answer on your thoughts on capturing players and taking their stuff. Thanks!
Good questions! Start first with what makes sense and then with what would be the most fun. Players *hate* to get captured and lose all their stuff so I wouldn't stay that way for very long. The idea that the brigands are fighting over the loot they picked up nearby seems reasonable to me. Or the brigands are bringing them to Bavlorna with their loot in tow. Give them good options to get their stuff back quickly so they don't feel like they lost ground. Also, it's good that this is just how the battle ended up rather than a way you forced it. Agdon definitely hits too hard for his CR. I think it's good to have a few options in your back pocket and be ready to move them towards the fun part of the game quickly. Give them the opportunities soon to get the drop on their captors and get their stuff back.
I got back into D&D with 5e. I never played 3, 3.5, or 4th editions. The warlock confuses me simply because I am not sure how to handle the pact. The rules are all about what the player gets. What does their patron get in return? It seems to me that imposing requirements on the warlock is a little unfair because the other classes don't pay for their abilities?
That's a good question and I agree that imposing requirements on the warlock isn't a great way to do it. Instead, ensure that there's a reason the patron wants the warlock to be doing the things they're doing. Think of a patron as sort of an intelligent magic item in the back of the characters' mind. They're an always-on NPC the characters can talk to. Keep the agenda of the patrons loose so the characters have agency. Patrons can be a fantastic way to keep interesting directions in front of the characters and feed them secrets and clues.
I'm reading through the Midgard worldbook and wow it is impressive in breadth and depth! What are ways to convey this level of detail in lore and history to players? I feel like even if I could dispense a full ten secrets and clues every session it wouldn't be enough, especially given players seem to retain a fraction of that. At a more general level, how do you make the best use of a world book? It's been a great source of inspiration and lore, but maybe there are other creative uses? PS Thank you for all you do, your work has been immensely helpful to me and by proxy our group!
Great question! Focus small and around the area where the characters are going to start. I liked starting my Empire of the Ghouls game around Zobeck (there's a whole book on Zobeck if you want it but you can probably get away with just what's in the Worldbook). You don't have to have a handle on the entire worldbook to enjoy it. I don't know hardly anything about the dragon empire, for example, or much of what is west. You only need to be one step ahead of the characters. Focus on the region you think you're going to run your games in and go one horizon out from there. Then let yourself just enjoy learning more about the world as you find ideas and bring them to your group. Always keep that lens on the characters and what's directly around them.
Hi Mike, I'm working on a sandbox nautical/pirate game. I plan to do a lot of short adventures but I would like to make sure there's plenty of ship activities otherwise I feel like it's just the same thing as doing a regular land based game. I was wondering (especially after running so much ghosts of saltmarsh), what lazy gm mechanics do you find the best for doing ship v ship, ship v monster, chases etc?
I don't like having a lot of separate mechanics for ship battles because often a single spell can disrupt the whole thing. The water shaping spell (whose name escapes me at the moment) can probably crack the hull of the ship in combat. So I run ship to ship combat more in the narrative than I do with new ship-fighting mechanics. Otherwise I fall back to ability checks for different things they can do. It might help to make a list ahead of time of particular activities and what skills and abilities they tie to so you have that list you can drop in front of the players when it comes time for some careful ship work.
Hi Mike, first time DMing here and I have been asked how I plan to handle the inevitable 'mini-horde' of PC controlled monsters during combat, and could use some help. Example: I have a necromancer PC who intends to use Animate Dead a fair amount. Eventually they'll have ever increasing numbers of undead constructs running around (1-3-5-7 etc)... should i treat them like 'minions' in MCDM's Flee, Mortals? Or should I keep individual initiative counts for each monster? The Player has stated that they don't want to detract or slow down the play for everyone. So what's the most fun and efficient way to run a PC controlled group of monsters doing their bidding during combat? Thank you in advance and keep on keeping on; love the brand & content! **originally posted on the SF discord thread sf-patron-hangout**
Congratulations! Welcome to the hobby and thank you for your support! Oh boy, the mini-horde of summoned monsters. First off, I definitely like the new ways those spells are handled in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything and in Level Up Advanced 5e. A5e has a group monster attack ability for their summoned hordes you might look at. https://a5e.tools/rules/controlling-summons-and-multiple-creatures Another way to do it is to use one of the many different horde rules I have. Group up attacks into two or four rolls and roll for each group. If someone is rolling for eight wolves and they all have advantage for pack-tactics, have them roll twice with advantage and multiply the damage by the number of wolves for each group (in this case four wolves per group). This speeds up die rolling. Most important – talk to your players. Explain why having them run eight monsters bogs the whole game down and takes time away from the other players. Work with them outside of the game to come up with a good fast way for them to use so many monsters in combat.
Hey, I'm loving the Forge of Foes, so first off thank you for that! One way that I would like to use it is to level monsters in published adventures either up or down, based on the level of the characters. For instance, I want to run Ghosts of Saltmarsh in no specific order, but each adventure has levels. Would you recommend keeping the same monsters, but scaling them up or down based on the pc level; or would that run the risk of breaking the immersion? (I could see players saying "Why are these goblins unnaturally hard?" or something like that)
Yeah, I think monster flavor matches CRs so if you're upping or lowering the CR, try to have a good in-world reason to do so. Ghouls (CR 1) become Darakhul (CR3) become Darakhul Knights (CR 4) become Grim Harvest Legionaries (CR 5) and so on. I would scale adventures by the number and type of monsters before just increasing or decreasing their CRs. But you can do it if you can think of a reason why one goblin is CR 1/8 and another is CR 4 if you think hard enough.
I am looking to run a low-magic fantasy game. Would you recommend bootstrapping a 5e game or using a more OSR game like Knave? (I may be misremembering though I thought you mentioned that you created a super slimmed-down 5e variant; a 1 page version).
Yeah! I have lighting 5e but it isn't exactly low magic. You might take a look at Ironsworn. I'd probably try out a system built around that idea before changing 5e too much. 5e is really a high-magic high-power system at its heart. You can play it low magic and low power but that really means taking a lot of things away. Instead, I'd probably try another system. I don't know which system I'd try, though. I tend not to play low-magic systems. Knave and Cairn are both available for free to look at so you can definitely check them out. Ironsworn is too and you can try it solo to see if you like it before inflicting it on your players. Good luck!
Hi Mike, Originally I was going to ask about how to ensure a satisfying end to a campaign, but you covered that a few weeks ago so I feel like I'm getting two questions for one haha. I'm just about to finish a 2 year campaign after which we plan on having some board game nights while I get some prep done for our next campaign. However, I'd love to get a few sessions in as a player beforehand and do have both starter sets so my question is, have you any experience in how to go about engaging with my players about one of them possibly running either of the starter sets. Thank you :)
Honestly, I'd just ask if anyone wants to run a short adventure or campaign and see what comes back. If you know of a particular player who you think might be interested, reach out to them and ask. I think I'd just bring it up at the table and see what happens or ask in an email thread or something like that so people have some time to think about it.
Hi Mike, when you talk about the 8 steps you often emphasize that you just briefly describe your scenes in your prep, sometimes just with a few words. But how do you setup the objects, toys or interaction points within this scene the character can use? When or how do you define (maybe together with your players?) what is part of the scene? Let's take "Face skeleton army in the woods" as an example scene. We can place whatever object or individual makes sense in there. But how/when do you fill you scenes with life? Thank you in advance 🙏🏻!
This is where we look into how we broke up the eight steps. The scene is just a one sentence brief description but the *locations* in a scene are listed under locations and have their own doodads and geegaws the characters can mess with listed in them when we have them. Same with NPCs and monsters and treasure and secrets. They're separated out so we can grab what we need when we need it. More on that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1751s&v=GXlH15ut9x4&feature=youtu.be&themeRefresh=1
Hi Mike, I'm new to rpgs, dd and DMing : so first of all, thank you!! Without your book, I would not have known what to prep for a session. We just just finished the 10th session of our first campaign (~2/3) and I'm looking for a new setting. I discovered Fateforged, an RPG based on 5e that has a whole world setting (and it also exists in french which is a big plus). The books are beautiful but we are just beginning to understand the DD5 rules and I'm not so sure it's a good idea to change rules. If you know these books, what do you think of them ? Are the rules very different from WOTC 5e ? Would you recommend them to a group of beginners?
Welcome to the hobby and thank you so much for your support! I've gone through Fateforged and I think they look really excellent. I really liked how they have different modes of play around various themes. I wouldn't worry too much about not using the D&D 5e rules instead of Fateforged. The basics are all the same. Give it a try – maybe as a short campaign and extend it if you and your players dig it. So yeah, I wouldn't be intimidated by Fateforged as a new DM. I don't think D&D 5e is any easier and there's a lot in there to enjoy. Good luck!
Hi Mike, I thought I asked this question already but I can't find it on the feed. I am hopeless at designing and formatting documents. Do you by any chance have a Word-compatible Lazy GM Prep document that matches the formatting I've seen in your Workbooks? If so, would you make that file downloadable?
I've found a PDF version on DriveThruRPG made by a fan, but it is a form-fillable PDF and it doesn't seem to let me add new information when I try to reopen a previously made document.
Hey Mike, Have you or your player's every got emotional or cried during a session my perception and hopes might be unrealistic. Because of of shows like critical role and dimension 20, and while I don't expect that level of emotional commitment to characters I feel my current game as a player is closer to playing monopoly then anything more serious. Leaving me unsatisfied in playing. Thanks I'm sure it's not that big of a deal and I need to get over it.
I've had tears a couple of times – one good and one bad. The bad was pretty bad, a crossing of a line we hadn't defined online and no one knew how it hit one of the players until it was too late. That was the experience that pushed me heavily towards well-defined safety tools and "pause for a minute". The good one was when a player was really invested in their character's background – a warlock connected to the Companion (the sphere hanging over Eltruel) and then saw it get corrupted. They really fell into their character and remembered what it was like to lose one's connection to something so important. That was a good deal on them having that connection. I don't think you can make that sort of thing happen. Sometimes it just does and sometimes your players just want to laugh, have a drink, and enjoy a game. Sometimes a game of D&D monopoly is just fine. You can do a little bit of mentioning or asking how characters feel about a situation. Do your best to focus on the narrative of the game. Ask players to describe their characters' feelings at key moments of the game like during a long rest before a big battle. More on that here: https://slyflourish.com/campfire_talk.html
I just pulled the trigger on the 13th Age Bundle of Holding. Reading commentary online, it appears to be regarded by many as a 4e "spinoff." In your opinion, how does it compare to 4th edition D&D? How would you sell it to players who may have some 4e aversion? Also, thanks for the answer on the economy question. It made a lot of sense.
I think 13th Age is an excellent 4e spinoff. I love it. It has the same high power super-heroic feel that 4e had and one of its two designers was a big designer of 4e – Rob Heinsoo. If people are adverse to 4e, I wouldn't mention the fact that it can feel like 4e. Instead, I'd focus on the storytelling aspects like the Icon relationships, flexible backgrounds, narrative combat elements, and the high heroic fantasy. Play a one-shot and see how they like it. The adventure in the core book is excellent.
Hi Mike! I’m really loving running empire of the ghouls, and my players love the Shadow Realm. Do you have any resources for random tables for shadow realm landscapes? How did you describe these places in your game? Thanks again!
The Land of the Fey tables on page 40 of the Lazy DM's Companion includes Fey-themed stuff where half of it is "unseelie" fey which works well for a shadow realm. The Book of Ebon Tides also has some good inspiration and you can dig into Raging Swan's stuff for further ideas.
Hey Mike, do you have thoughts on leaving a game group (as a player)?
I'd leave with as little drama as possible. Just tell them other things have come up in your life and you're not going to make it regularly. I don't think its important to leave criticizing a game, the GM, or the players. We don't have to fix the world. Just moving on is fine. The likelihood you're able to *fix* a situation is low and the likelihood you'll leave with bad feelings is *high* if you try to be too critical of the game, the GM, or its players. I suggest just saying that it's time to move on. Goodbye stranger, it's been nice. Hope you find your paradise!
Hi Mike, when discussing combat scene/encounter building you often advocate for 'what makes sense for the story'. I completely see where you're coming from and in some ways this makes the DMs job easier and makes the world feel more real. But since the ultimate aim of the game is fun, where does this logical approach end and 'what would be the most fun' begin? I'm not asking to be pedantic but because I often find myself spending prep time and brain space on what makes sense for a situation, when it probably makes no difference whatsoever to a player, and there might be less logical but more fun options. Basically would you be able to elaborate a little on priorities when encounter building? Thanks!
It's a great question and one I've talked about before. First, we start with what makes sense for the story and world and *then* we evaluate it to make sure that's still fun – tweaking as necessary: https://slyflourish.com/realism_vs_fun.html
Hey Mike! I'm prepping for my new Theros campaign still and struggling on how to instruct the players to write their backstory. The campaign will start with the Iroan (Olympic) games and when they finish that they'll all die in an apocalyptic attack by the BBG. We'll then move 300 years into the future with the world completely changed. The players will play descendants of their characters as they work to liberate the people from the BBG who took over the land 300 years ago, killing their forefathers. Now obviously I can't spoil the start for them as it should make a killer first session with the whole reveal. What I'm trying to figure out is, how should I tell them to prepare their characters? I can't be too direct to avoid spoiling things, but if they come up with a bunch of ties and people their PC knows, how can I include those 300 years later? For the PCs themselves it's pretty straightforward - the characters the players make will be the same as the forefather characters, which will be the same as their new characters 300 years later (stat and class-wise). I'm just thinking I might be missing some cool ideas/connections/instructions I could use for their backstories. Or maybe I'm also missing some obvious issues with the whole idea. Sorry for the lengthy question - hopefully it makes sense :) Cheers
Not Mike here, but I suggest you run your session 0 after the first characters die. Instruct your players to create a character without a detailed backstory (or even without a backstory at all), but don't tell them why. You fill in the gaps. You don't want them to get attached to these characters. You might even tell them that you are going to run some sessions in the past, but you don't need to tell them how much in the past or what is going to happen. It's very important that you think about some meaningful way that the player's actions during the olympic games and apocalyptic attack affects the world in the future. Otherwise you could just describe them the past events instead of playing without consequences.
Hi Mike, I'm planning on running a modern campaign. I'm having trouble getting my head around a way to get my characters to go on a long-term adventure. I don't think my players care as much, but verisimilitude is important for my own enjoyment. Can you help me get my head around getting these characters to leave their jobs and homes to go on a big globetrotting adventure. I can see them taking a sick day or vacation, but anything more than that and I start to worry about income, job loss, and family obligations.
That's really hard and I don't have any fantastic advice. I don't really play modern RPGs and haven't given much thought to how to get normal modern folk out on a big long adventure. My best recommendation is to find other modern RPG settings and see what sorts of hooks they include. You can also keep a larger story going on in your own head while leading them on smaller focused adventures that tie together into a major arc down the road.
Hi Mike, I strongly admire your dedication to the City of Arches. I remember I became a patreon sub right before you released the first doc. Seeing it evolve all this time has been pretty cool. How do you stay motivated through one singular theme/world and not deviate or start something else? What can aspiring world builders learn from your process? May you enjoy a basket full of cheese, bread and soaps, with an invitation to the City of Arches’ famous sauna.
I think one of my talents or strengths is that I can remain focused on a single project and not get pulled away for long periods of time. I've had various hobbies throughout my life. Some have stuck around for a long time (like TTRPGs) but even short ones last for a few years. I've never been tempted to steer away from the City of Arches over the past couple of years. I've really enjoyed working on it slowly over a long period of time, releasing it in small bites, and getting feedback on those bites. It's been a fun world to just live in for a few years and I hope that comes out in the final product. I want it to be a product I'm not only proud of for the rest of my life but one still useful after I'm gone and I think working on it over this long period of time has helped. I heard a fun anacdote yesterday that talks about this idea in art with the value of just sticking to whatever you're doing and keeping on at it instead of switching all the time: https://kottke.org/24/04/helsinki-bus-station-theory-of-creativity
On this week’s RPG talk show you mentioned having a huge storage drive of digital books and resources. I, too, have a huge google drive of digital ttrpg books and content. I have been thinking a lot about what happens to that not-insignificant investment when I die. My kids are not much into the hobby and I would hate to see that content just disappear into the void after I am dead. As a publisher and techie yourself, how would you handle that situation? Are there any laws or common clauses in all these copyrights and digital licenses (that we all read every word of) that prohibits or allows transfer of the content upon death like any other physical asset? Could I bequeath my digital library to a school or boys and girls club type organization? Just pondering what I can do aside from printing everything out on paper which I don’t really want to do which is why I have digital copies in the first place.
Digital stuff is definitely more temporary than physical books and, to my knowledge, there isn't a way to donate them to places like digital libraries or what not. If you have a younger friend in the hobby, you can maybe try to find a way to give it to them on your passing (hopefully a long while from now). For me, my concerns have focused on the company itself and my own works moreso than my collections of RPG material. I have no idea what the laws are for transferring our digital collections. I expect mine will likely go into the digital gutter on my death but that's ok – it isn't up to me to archive the future of TTRPGs.
Hi Mike In my next game, my party (5 LVL3 players) will be headed into an evil swamp forest (Dreadwood in Ghost of Saltmarsh). Do you have any recommendations for good monsters from Kobold press books to use for an encounter in this terrain? I already have a Green hag boss and have been considering some satyr thralls.
The Tome of Beast books have good monsters by terrain. I'd go through those lists and see what grabs you. Give yourself some time to explore those monsters and see which ones resonate with you. You can build a nice big list of monsters for a particular region and let your mind build interesting connections and what-not.
Point Crawls! Tomb of Annihilation is a giant hexcrawl and I want to run it as a point crawl. Are there any lazy dm tips you have for point crawls covering large areas and abundant locations? I want to give my players options without creating a convoluted spiderweb. Thanks!
I think Justin Alexander's information about point crawls probably does a better job than I could. I think you can basically break the hex crawl of TOA into three paths they can choose from, with some optional branches. Focus each "node" of the pointcrawl with a notable location (maybe a miniature adventure of some sort). Build branches, secret paths, loop backs or connections to the other branches. Draw it all out with Port Nyanzaru at the top and Omu at the bottom and see how it goes! I wrote more about running Tomb of Annihilation here which may help: https://slyflourish.com/exploring_chult.html
Do you have any tips for DMs for avoiding any inter-player drama, specifically for those of us who are playing with friends and family? I really don’t have interest in playing with strangers, but I’m starting a new group with my friends and my girlfriend, and after reading horror stories online (I need to stay off reddit), I’m nervous that things like scheduling conflicts or even in-game conflicts like party disagreements could lead to drama beyond the table. Not that I anticipate anything major, but just wondering if you had any tips for mitigating potential issues. (The closest I’ve gotten was taking it personally when friends would repeatedly cancel the day-of on a game that I’d been spending a lot of time prepping)
Hi Alex. This is a really hard problem. GMs find themselves in the position as a leader and facilitator for the group of people. I think we have to do the best we can to manage interpersonal conflicts. If you already know it's going to be a problem because you know the people involved, you might want to run more one-shot games and maybe build separate groups with those who might conflict. Otherwise, use your safety tools and session zero tools to do your best: - Run a session zero and make it clear how the characters behave with one another -- what's allowed, what isn't. - Clarify the bond the characters have to one another and to the story of the game. - Ensure you describe "pause for a minute" and use it often to normalize its use. - When there is a conflict, do your best to talk to participants independently when you can or handle it quickly at the table itself. - Talk about the situation, not the participants. Fix the problem, not the people. Hope that helps!
Great episode on Empire of the Ghouls. As someone who is looking to make 5e more my own, I wanted to get your take on modifying spells via a spell I think you love: shield. Do you modify spells in your game? I for instance have toyed with making shield a D6 bonus to AC rather than a static number to make it a little less certain. I know you’ve talked about banning certain spells, but I wanted to ask if you modify or homebrew them yourself. Cheers.
These days I don't really modify any spells outside of what's written. I've even included spells from Kobold Press in my games and we all just figure it out. Only in one or two cases have they been broken enough that something needs to be done. I think the D6 for Shield can work. That's a fun way to do it. Make sure to talk to your players first!
Hi Mike, love the show and all the great resources you create. I would love to hear more about your thoughts on the hobby that can loosely be classified as "miniatures and terrain". I know your thoughts, generally, are that it's a very expensive black hole and doesn't serve gameplay particularly well given the huge investment of money and time required. As somebody who really loves painting, sculpting, 3d printing, and creating terrain and minis (often just for myself), I don't mind the cost and I enjoy the time I spend on the hobby. I would love for you to do a show highlighting creators who specialize in that tactile side of our hobby. Black Magic Craft, Squidmar, Zumikito, Hero Forge, Lyla Mev, Ninjon, Doctor Faust, Geek Gaming Scenics, Fauhammer, etc. There are lots I'm forgetting, and maybe this is out of scope, but I do feel there is value in the tactile process of creating physical manifestations of our game - even just for key set pieces or for characters we love. Thanks again!
I think minis and terrain are a fine secondary or parallel hobby to RPGs. As you say, I have my own collection of miniatures and terrain I love to use at the table. I'm really not in tune with the larger painting and crafting hobby, though, and don't have a lot of time to really dive in and do it justice. Maybe someday!
Hi Mike, my Strahd group from a few years back never got to really fight the Ancient. Life interfered just after they had gotten a taste of his power (well he did the tasting) in Ravenloft, stealing the sword and tome and fleeing from him, but before they could go back and confront him. We might now get back together to do the final fight. I‘m thinking about updating Strahd with more modern design, with your Count Rhodar von Glauer in mind. I also heard you lamenting that you did not make Count Rhodar CR 15 to have that nice Strahd alternative. So I‘m wondering how you would change your Count to make him a CR 15 Strahd replacement. Forge-of-foeing him to get the numbers right is a first good step, I assume. But I‘m particularly interested if you anticipate any pitfalls when dialing down your Count’s abilities and what you would recommend when designing him with the goal to maintain that feel of Strahd as a mobile predator, given your experience with the original Strahd. I hope this isn’t too big a question, any advice is appreciated! Thanks
A lot is going to depend on your players and their characters. You can build your own Strahd hack based on what they have. I like Von Glaur a lot but I don't know that his mechanics are a good fit for Strahd. Instead, I'd work on Strahd himself and see what you can add to him using Forge of Foes as a good baseline. There's a lot of tricky bits of Strahd which I wrote about here: https://slyflourish.com/running_strahd.html Hope that helps!
I am going to try out the "one year later" (OYL, for short) montage idea at the end of my current campaign. This got my wondering about the specifics of how I might implement it. I know that I need to tell my players to focus on wrapping up plot arcs they'd like to ser resolved or moved forward, and to keep the results within the realm of what their characters are actually capable of doing. I can't decide whether to let them tell their stories at the table, post their stories to our list, or send them to me privately and let me present the final montage for them. I will definitely encourage them to talk things out with any other Player if they seek to involve thst Player's character in their OYL story. I'm wondering if theirs anything I haven't considered, so my question is simple: what rules, guidance or instructions do you give your players regarding their OYL character wrapups to get the results you are looking for?
I like to tell the players that it's coming so they have time to think about it. Then, I let them describe it at the table. Generally I don't change any part of their output except for maybe a touch of "yes, and". You don't want to negate what they offer. I'd also make sure it comes from them. This is the one moment you can hand the whole game over to them so don't take it away from them. Don't overcomplicate it. Let them know it's coming a session or so ahead and then just let it rip at the end of the campaign. It's great to write down what they say so you can pass it around later as a remembrance but I wouldn't ask for it ahead of time.
Hi Mike - You have talked about "One Year Later" epilogues for ending campaigns. I was also wondering if you had any thoughts on a Campaign Ending "Awards Show" with categories like "Favorite NPC", "Best Use of a Magic Item", etc. What would be some of the categories you would recommend and do you have any great anecdotes to share?
As long as everything is about the NPCs, or that every player has a chance to win in some category, I'd say go for it. If it's about NPCs, it might give you clues about what they liked an why. If it's about PCs, it's celebrating their antics. You might also want to do a hidden vote system, so that there's less chance of fights among players because of it.
Hello Mike, I've got a question regarding unit conversion and theatre of the mind. Do have any advise on using 5e with metric units or should I switch to different system? Especially for quick encounters, I love to run theatre of the mind combat. But the way 5e rules measure distance and, to a lesser extend, mass has always been bothering me. Non of my players grew up in the USA or any other place where people might still be using feet or pounds for these. So, non of us has an inherent feeling what something like 30 feet might look like. This quickly leads to a point where any theatre in anyone's mind falls apart because people compare abstract numbers void of any meaning to them. I know that there are metric versions of, at least, DnD which simply convert 5 feet to 1.5 metres (and pounds to 450 grams). But this becomes unwieldy for anyone struggling with calculations that suddenly have twice the amount of significant digits. My solution was to house rule 5 feet to 1 metre, 10 feet to 3 metres and 30 feet to 10 metres (and any other length to something common). This helps with the imagination of my players and works as a game system but makes it harder for them to use any tools that I didn't convert. The yards used in Shadow of the Weird Wizard or Warhammer Fantasy are better suited for simple conversions. Likewise the near/far system in Shadowdark works great with metric units in mind. But in 5e I really feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Not Mike here, but I ran into the same issue. We are from Brazil. At first I tried to convert every distance to meters in room descriptions before describing to my players. I became good at it with time, but eventually switched to describing in terms of "squares" (even for things like how tall a building or ceiling is). It's easier for me to convert feet to square, and they can translate to meters (if they want) by adding half of the value.
Hey, Mike! I'll run a 5e/Tales of the Valiant in a brand-new, collectively created campaign world, something I haven't done in 20-odd years. I'm stuck on selecting non-human races that are available for PCs in the campaign. I'm going for a low magic, gritty "realistic" fantasy feel, I'm sure I want at least 2 or 3 lineages, but each of them must have its own culture/lands. Do you have any recommendations for a minimum or maximum number of humanoid races/lineages?
You can have as many as you want, but you can also put a limit on the options available to players as non-human races. That way you can develop the ones for the players and later on flesh out the others, as they are not needed at character creation time. About the specific number, that depends on the world and how many you can flesh out before character creation, and how much time do you want to spend explaining it all to the players so that they can decide.
Re: Party/team abilities and skills? Hi Mike, my table and I have been discussing ways they can use their downtime to roleplay training together and learning from each other. Ideas they've had include developing hand signals to communicate to each other non-verbally, or gaining additional skills to help them survive/treck through different environments (arctic/swamp). Any suggestions for a suitable mechanic for this? Advantage, or adding a d4 to relevant rolls, perhaps? I'm conscious of things like the 'help action', 'guidance' and 'pass without trace' already provide huge buffs, but I really love the idea of team skills so I want to encourage it. Thanks, Emily
I would say to give the one time advantage is too little and to give it always is too much. Perhaps you can take a hint from Fate Core and limite it some way. Like 3 time per short rest, 2 times per long rest, or even 1 time per session, or something like that. and if you want another idea of what to do with it, let them use those gestures to convey tactics without using any type of action for it in combat. So what they get is something that works without affecting the action economy.
I'm not 100% sure what my question is here, so apologies up top. I find that after descriptions my players sometimes have questions. This is great but the problem is the questions are almost always things I said in my description! Or they immediately try to do something I've said wasn't possible (e.g. "There's a fountain, but it's dry and not running" -> "Can I drink some water from the fountain?") We play online, which doesn't help. I've tried to keep descriptions vivid and using at least 3 senses, but I'm wondering if I actually need to be less descriptive? Or put them on notice before giving key information? Is this even my problem, or is it something they need to change? What's up with that? Thanks Mike : )
In online play it happens sometimes that a certain player doesn't hear a specific part. It happened in my group that a player decided to attack a harpy while it was flying while they were on a crevice, so I tell her it's out her reach and can't attack unless she risks a jump. She agrees, and makes her attack and then I make her roll to take a hold of the harpy to avoid a long drop, and she does. In all that action the player never thought the harpy being away form the crevice, making passes to attack and retreating. All the other players had understood that was the the case, and were trying to rescue her while killing the harpy. So this kind of situations can come from players somehow not hearing the key word of our description, and we don't know if if it's the connection, a notification that made a beep on their side, somebody specking besides, them doing anything other on the same computer and becoming absorbed and losing the word. So, as we can't tell, we do what's in our power. In the case of the fountain I would say in an amicable way,"As I just described, the fountain is dry, as there no water you can't possibly drink from it". This has the effect of delivering in the result the same information they just missed. And if they ask for clarification, just do it. They need it and you can provide it, so go for it.
You spoke about how shadowdark and crown and skull have mechanics that fit with the setting and game type. What do you think makes for a good level of this type of design philosophy? Is something generic better in your opinion that fits many styles, or is it better to have mechanics that allows for a game to specialize to the story?
I don't think its one or the other. Sometimes the mechanics fits well with the story and sometimes the mechanics can be abstracted to fit a lot of different stories. There's been a lot of talk this past week about Brennan Lee Mulligan saying that he's fine with 5e for more story-focused games: https://www.polygon.com/24105875/worlds-beyond-number-narrative-style-adventure I don't think we should hang on too tightly worrying about whether the mechanics fit the system or not. We can enjoy games lots of different ways and choose the approach that works best for us and our groups.
Aloha Mike, I'm running an extremely modified Rise of Tiamat campaign adapted to the Wildemount continent. Currently my six players are level 13 and are quite powerful. Last session my players were working for the city watch and supposed to investigate a ship that has been illegally docking in front of an abandoned house outside of the harbor and possibly up to some shady business. The individuals were supposed to be neutralized and the ship was then to be impounded by the city watch. The ship has been only sighted every 2-3 days and only docks at night. In return they were told they could borrow the ship to voyage to an island that possessed an item one of the PCs were after (it should be noted that the island is a place that the pirates stash their loot, etc.) The PCs investigated the house (before the ship arrived) and found some individuals acting as lookouts. One of the PCs interrogated and roughed up one of them for info. It turns out the operation is a bunch of pirates that freeing some slaves in the nearby city (but there's a catch, they want the slaves to join them). After finding this out the PCs asked the lookout if they could speak with the captain of the ship, which they succeeded in securing that meeting. I really don't know how the captain should realistically react to the PCs who roughed up one of theirs and works for the city watch (whom they despise), on top of the fact that the PCs now know about their operation. The captain and crew pose a decent threat to the PCs but the PCs are fairly powerful. I know offering the PCs a "ride" is an option but I can't see that the captain would be okay just letting the PCs just walk away without any retaliation or even just letting them walk away with the knowledge of their operation. Any advice on how to handle this situation?
I think it would be really cool for the captain to *recognize* what a threat they are and realize he's not in a position to stop them. It becomes *his* job to convince them to follow through with his goal of freeing the prisoners and having them join his ship. What if the captain offers to work for *them*! Also, it's probably worth including some powerful foes who are the ones enslaving the prisoners. Maybe a Great Old One or a big hunk of dragon cultists along with a dragon. When characters have hit levels like these, their reputation precedes them and NPCs aren't going to throw themselves into destruction unless their backs are really to the wall.
Why didn't the 4E Warlord survive into 5th edition? Too hard to design a sub-class for it? A few friends and I really liked the mechanics and the built-in roleplaying that came with the Warlord class. I am surprised that no one has published a 5E version of it.
I think when they were designing 5e, they wanted the more "classic" feel but I have good news! The Warlord *did* survive in 5th edition! It's in the Level Up Advanced 5e classes! https://a5e.tools/rules/marshal Just because WOTC didn't publish it doesn't mean it's not good. Give A5e a try!
Hey, my first q&a as a patron, yay! I’m currently running Dungeon of the Mad Mage for a group that meets almost every week, but only for a few hours, using a VTT. I’ve been letting the players explore as they will but this is taking forever and I don’t want to run this adventure for another two calendar years. I want to condense things to the engaging bits, but I don’t want it to feel like a railroad to the end. Do you have any advice for abbreviating enormous levels in a way that maintains decent player agency?
That's going to be a tough one given the adventure you're running. It has lots of levels and lots of rooms in each level. You can attempt to focus it down to specific goals and, when the time is right, let one of those goals be the *last* one when you or the players have tired of the campaign. Other tricks might be collapsing hallways to cut off boring parts of a level or removing encounters that take too long. Fewer monsters, more rooms that don't involve combat, and a more streamlined goal or plot are probably my best pieces of advice. Good luck!
Hi Mike! Loved episode 637 on challenge ratings. You’ve put a lot of content out around CRs –building monsters, balancing encounters, spells/abilitys that have significant impact on CRs. I feel like we are missing the second half of the equation, which is determining the parties APL. The DMG would have you add the PCs level and divide it by the number of players, but I see a significant disparity between players depending on their character focus. What are you thoughts on how I can measure the functional APL of two very different parties when trying to balance encounters using the CR guidelines you’ve already laid out? For example, in one campaign I’m running, I have a newish player with AC14 doing an average of 20 damage per round, and another min max player with AC19 doing 50 damage per round. Both are level 6 with limited magic items using WOTC content, but one is 25% harder to hit and does 2.5x the damage. Its easy to see that a party of min maxers will stand up differently than a party of new players to the same CR encounter, but have the same APL according to the DMG. I expect a greater disparity as we incorporate the 2024 edition into play. Sorry if this is a repeat question - I used “APL” as a search term in your Episode and Patreon Q&A DB and nothing came up. Thank you for those DBs, by the way. I've avoided having to ask you questions on several occasions.
Hi Chris! We've covered this a lot in Forge of Foes. My rule of thumb is to recognize that any hard math system falls apart when you apply it to specific characters. Instead, you'll be more experienced with your players and have a better idea how to tune things around them when needed. For example, in my 14th level group, the cleric is super-powerful against undead. The CR of the undead I throw at them isn't going to matter. If it's undead, they're going to wreck them. I can just account for that by both including other types of monsters and knowing how disadvantaged undead are going to be against them. For the Lazy Encounter Benchmark (https://slyflourish.com/the_lazy_encounter_benchmark.html) you can adjust the benchmark by pretending the group has more characters. So if you have a really powerful level 6 character, pretend they count as two level 6 characters. This increases the benchmark for potential deadliness without the hard jumps at the tiers.
I'm wondering what your advice is for managing the discrepancy between shy players playing charismatic characters and vice versa. One of the things I've observed in my groups is that characters who dumped their charisma stat (fighters, wizards etc.) are sometimes extremely charismatic speech-givers, or have magnetic force of personality. Likewise, many players who are supposedly Charisma-based struggle to project confidence, eloquence, or command, despite their high scores. Should "relying on the roll result" be the law? If the Player with an 8 Charisma, non-proficient Fighter gives a rousing St. Crispin's day speech but rolls a 4, does this mean it fails? Do I have a player roll first and then try to "act out" the equivalent result? If the player first gives an amazing speech, or has a creative deception tactic do I confer advantage, or does this unfairly benefit naturally charming/cunning players?
I like to let the player's own charisma or the skills of their character act as the "floor" of an encounter. For example, a charismatic player with a low CHA character can still convince a lot of people if the player's approach is done well. You don't have to ask for a roll. Likewise, a more quiet player or one who doesn't understand the nuances of roleplaying, can still be effective if they roll well with their CHA (or even as a passive check). So you don't always have to roll unless there's chance involved in the world – you can just have them succeed if the approach is good or if a charismatic character could reasonably just do it. I don't think having hard rules helps. I think it helps to know your players and know their characters and go with the flow of the game. Hope that helps!
I tend to be big on character development and nuance. Any tips or experiences (from you Mike or anyone) for working with Players who develop characters that challenge or outright go against accepted game norms? As an example, I’m about to hold my first session zero as a DM and I asked as a part of the campaign for two of the characters to be related somehow. Two of the players developed sisters that love one another and are close but are quite different from one another; one is a Druid circle of the moon, the other a Necromancer Wizard. I asked how the Druid sister has reconciled their druidic-nature and defense of all things natural with the Necromancer sister’s percent for the undead and zombie legions, and apparently the thought had never occurred to them. In the PHB it even says that Druids “…hate that which is unnatural, including aberrations and the undead…”. Unfortunately, one of the Players got mildly defensive and thought I was trying to tell them how to build their characters. I made it clear that I won’t stand in the way of the fun, but asked for an explanation as to why they were different so that they could think it all thru and it wouldn’t be weird in game when the Druid is fighting alongside the legion of the walking dead. They asked why it mattered… Does it? Does the lore of old and the framework of player classes, backgrounds, and the like matter if a Player just wants what they want? Sorry so long, thank you for reading. 😊
I think it's always fair to let the players decide how they think of each other's characters. I have a similar setup in my Shadowed Keep game with two royal elves, a rogue and a necromancer, and the necromancer is beginning to touch the darkness at the edges of their art. I wouldn't push them to feel a certain way even if the book says "druids hate the unnatural". They get to decide if that's true for them or not. I think it could be worth discussing as a group how the necromancer's art is accepted by "good" characters. I think there's a way to do so, perhaps drawing on the animation of the dead as less of a sacrilegious attack on souls but just the animation of the larger biology of the planet around them. Is a zombie worse than a an animated shambling mound? You can also work with the players to reskin the necromancer's work into something more like that if it works out. But otherwise, I'd let the players figure out how they want to approach it.
Will you tell us either here on Patreon or in a video how your Empire of the Ghouls campaign ended? And perhaps go a little deeper in how your storyline diverged from the module.
I just had a video published today on this topic! https://youtu.be/F71gGGPsjYQ It'll be up today at noon if you're coming in before then. It also hasn't ended yet so I may do another video with my final conclusions. It's been a great time.
Hi Mike! I'm approaching the final sessions of quite a long running campaign. The characters have a goal to achieve - the enactment of a ritual which will prevent global doom! I want it to feel like they can fail but ensure that some unlucky rolls can't ruin their big moment. Any good tips?
I just answered a similar question to this on the last Talk Show! Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jIaBmKy9JA&t=2455
A character in my 9th level party has a passive perception of 27 (expertize, observant feat and +2 WIS). In my games, I usually ask for perception checks instead of using passives whenever someone looks for traps/enemies/secrets, and he rarely exceeds his passive score (need 15+ on d20). He was frustrated for that. However, if I do use his passive perception score, the threat of hidden enemies or traps would be almost none. I'm thinking about giving the observant bonus to active checks as well, but +5 seems too much. Any suggestions?
I can't get my head around how someone can get a 27. That's bananas. One thing to consider is *what* passive Perception shows them: https://slyflourish.com/passive_perception.html I think its fair to turn traps into more of a story or flavor element when they've specialized so much on that. Being able to *see* a trap doesn't always mean *understanding* what it can do or being able to disarm it. I think its fair to say that they're pretty aware when something is off using passive perception but that doesn't show them everything everywhere all at once =)
Hi Mike. What rules do you and others use for bringing snacks to a session?
they must be well thought thru, have a backstory, and are required to be delicious.
Hey Mike! I'm running Curse of Strahd and (spoilers for others) he's absolutely going to Scry on the party throughout. The way I see it, I have two options. I can simply decide what information he's able to gather during scrying that would be most dramatic for the story or I can spend a tiny bit of time between sessions rolling on the odds that he was scrying when X happened. For example, when they find the Tome, he may or may not be scrying at that moment in time based on what time of day it is. And, if he does happen to know they've found the Tome, things will go sideways for the party. Any thoughts on these approaches? One is less work and guaranteed to be more dramatic as I'm in total control but the other is more fair and keeps me surprised and on my toes.
I like the idea of building a 1d20 list (or smaller if you want) of things Strahd might be doing when they're scrying. You can use this with your list of secrets to see what they discover while scrying on him. Also, it isn't like he's not aware of what scrying can do. Is he giving *them* information he wants them to see? Or maybe it starts with him not knowing and then learning that they're scrying on him. Fun times!
As someone who already owns Tome of Beasts 1 in pdf, I wasn’t going to buy it on Beyond. I was however delighted to discover that Beyond will allow me to search for monsters from ToB1, in searches by CR/Type etc and even add them when building encounters (though when running the encounter only the initiative order is editable if you don’t own a monster). I’ll still need to reference the pdf for stats, but it is a lazy trick for when I need to see if ToB1 or any of the other non-WotC stuff I own on pdf has what I need if I’m looking for “CR 5 undead” etc. To make this into a question for you, do you have any odd usages of Beyond you’d like to highlight?
I like the maps when I'm running WOTC adventures, although I've never actually used them for a real campaign. Just a quick pitch for the Artisanal Monster Database – this is a feature you get as a patron of Sly Flourish and it now has all the TOB1 monsters along with the other Kobold Press monsters and monsters from the Level Up 5e Monstrous Menagerie. It also has page numbers in the stat blocks so you can look them up in your book. https://slyflourish.com/5e_monsters/ You can search for "Undead" and either search for 5 or sort to find the CR 5s.
I recently realized while running the module “Odyssey of the Dragonlords” I find running more linear modules like this unexciting because I am never really surprised about what happens or what will happen in future sessions because it is written so tightly around specific player actions. How would you recommend shifting a game from a more linear module-driven style to a more player-driven/sandbox style?
Just wanted to say I'm running both Curse of Strahd and Odyssey of the Dragonlords simultaneously and totally agree with your thoughts here. Odyssey is really cool and I love how it integrates character backgrounds into it but Strahd is just a lot more fun as a GM
I have quite a lot of published campaigns for which I love the story and the setting but most of the people I know are scared to commit to a 20+ session campaign. Ideally I want to have mini campaigns which would span 6 to 8 sessions but it feels like there is less of a market for those types of campaigns. I see mainly one shots and full campaigns. How would you tackle converting a published 20+ session campaign into a shorter mini campaign? And other than changing the content, are there any other tips on having an immersive narrative build up in a short campaign like that?
I think its important to look at the adventure and see which beats of the adventure really grab you. Then focus down on those beats. Build your own outline, know what you'd toss out, figure out how to get the characters from point A to point D while skipping point B and C. A lot of it is taking an adventure and turning it into your own sourcebook within which to build *your* adventure. It will, of course, depend on the adventure on how easy or hard this is but I think one can get there. Good luck!
Do you have a favourite type of adventure as DM?
I like sandbox-style "yam shaped" adventures that have a good clear start, a clear goal, and lots of room in the middle for the characters to make interesting choices, visit interesting locations, and expand the story. I think Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands, which I recently reviewed, is an excellent model, for example. https://youtu.be/23Xm4DpxS0c Others include Tomb of Annihilation and Curse of Strahd – a couple of favorites of mine.
You talk a lot about lightning rods, what's a good lightning rod for spirit guardians?
Lots of small dudes with an average of about 10 to 15 hit points running into the spirit guardians like a lawnmower. Maybe after two or three waves, they start to get wise to it and only send in half the number.
Have you considered creating adventure content for Shadowdark? Do you have any thoughts on how you might approach developing Shadowdark adventures vs 5e adventures?
Hi Jason! Not really. My hope is to make material that can be played with lots of different RPGs. I don't have a specific Shadowdark section of the City of Arches but I do talk about how to run systems *like* Shadowdark in the City of Arches. I'm hoping to dance the line between systems and see how it goes!