Uller
Adventurer
All right...so now that we're closing the first chapter time for a bit of reflection. Please feel free to share any constructive criticism. As you know by now, I was a soldier for many years. I make a living as an software engineer now. I have thick skin. I want the game to be fun for everyone and it can always be improved. So if there is something you don't like or think could be better, now's a good time. I don't like introducing house rules unless they are truly necessary to making the game fun because too many house rules can bog the game down and make it more unfun than it can fix. When I was in highschool my 1e DMG had a single sheet of paper with our hand written house rules. The first rule was that our house rules all had to fit on that one sheet. So once we filled it up, if we wanted to introduce a new rule, we had to erase one...
So if you have any suggestions for house rules or changes in the way I do things, now's a great time to suggest 'em. If something I do is really bothering you to the point it is making the game unfun for you, please let me know. I'm enjoying the game with all of you and I'd rather adjust a little if I can than lose a player. I'm pretty easy going and have fun just playing the game.
So a couple of "behind the screen" things:
Monsters/NPCs in combat: I hope you noticed that I don't run all the monsters as brilliantly as can be. Just like PCs, monsters make mistakes, make bad decisions based on partial information and often choose life over killing you. The spider in Ilvara's chamber was a young, mostly wild spider. It feared but hated the paladin. A single PC it probably would have attacked more relentlessly. The gray ooze on the other hand was driven by demonic madness. Instinctively it probably would have retreated to the depths of the pool once seriously injured. But this one was meant to be more aggressive than a typical specimen. The vrock was wounded by the fall and unable to fly. Like all demons on the material plane, self preservation is not all that important to it (it will just reappear in the Abyss if destroyed). It wandered off looking for more things to kill since it couldn't reach the outpost. Given time, it may become a problem for you or for the drow again later.
Schrodinger's D&D: Very often I have no idea what is going on "off camera". I purposely don't resolve it until you observe it. Example: I had no idea what way the vrock went until it became relevant. All I knew was it had moved off.
Inspiration Mechanic: I'm terrible at awarding inspiration. So let's try something different: p. 264 of the DMG has a hero point mechanic. I like it. Let's use it as is and replace inspiration with it. There are ways I would do it differently...but see above about house rules. I'd rather use it straight out of the book as is than write my own way of doing things that is at best marginally better.
So everyone has 6 hero points. You can use a hero point after any d20 roll to add a d6. Only one hero point per roll. Additionally you can use one hero point to turn a death save failure into a success.
Madness: Dang it...the gray ooze should have forced some madness saves. Oh well...freebie. That happens.
Party NPCs/Cohorts: For now, you can choose two of the PCs from inactive players to be active: Bertram (probably very useful for foraging, navigating in the underdark), Klep (buff spells) or Orsik (Healing and AoEs). I'll keep them the same level as you for right now, but beyond 3rd they will start lagging behind.
You may also choose 1 NPC that is active for combat. Generally, inactive NPCs will just move away to safety and won't be targeted in combat, but sometimes attacking monsters might attack the inactive NPCs...so you have to protect them too. Of course, off camera they will defend themselves as best they can.
...very long post so I'll cut it off there. Later today or tomorrow I'll detail what loot and supplies you have in the IC thread.
So if you have any suggestions for house rules or changes in the way I do things, now's a great time to suggest 'em. If something I do is really bothering you to the point it is making the game unfun for you, please let me know. I'm enjoying the game with all of you and I'd rather adjust a little if I can than lose a player. I'm pretty easy going and have fun just playing the game.
So a couple of "behind the screen" things:
Monsters/NPCs in combat: I hope you noticed that I don't run all the monsters as brilliantly as can be. Just like PCs, monsters make mistakes, make bad decisions based on partial information and often choose life over killing you. The spider in Ilvara's chamber was a young, mostly wild spider. It feared but hated the paladin. A single PC it probably would have attacked more relentlessly. The gray ooze on the other hand was driven by demonic madness. Instinctively it probably would have retreated to the depths of the pool once seriously injured. But this one was meant to be more aggressive than a typical specimen. The vrock was wounded by the fall and unable to fly. Like all demons on the material plane, self preservation is not all that important to it (it will just reappear in the Abyss if destroyed). It wandered off looking for more things to kill since it couldn't reach the outpost. Given time, it may become a problem for you or for the drow again later.
Schrodinger's D&D: Very often I have no idea what is going on "off camera". I purposely don't resolve it until you observe it. Example: I had no idea what way the vrock went until it became relevant. All I knew was it had moved off.
Inspiration Mechanic: I'm terrible at awarding inspiration. So let's try something different: p. 264 of the DMG has a hero point mechanic. I like it. Let's use it as is and replace inspiration with it. There are ways I would do it differently...but see above about house rules. I'd rather use it straight out of the book as is than write my own way of doing things that is at best marginally better.
So everyone has 6 hero points. You can use a hero point after any d20 roll to add a d6. Only one hero point per roll. Additionally you can use one hero point to turn a death save failure into a success.
Madness: Dang it...the gray ooze should have forced some madness saves. Oh well...freebie. That happens.
Party NPCs/Cohorts: For now, you can choose two of the PCs from inactive players to be active: Bertram (probably very useful for foraging, navigating in the underdark), Klep (buff spells) or Orsik (Healing and AoEs). I'll keep them the same level as you for right now, but beyond 3rd they will start lagging behind.
You may also choose 1 NPC that is active for combat. Generally, inactive NPCs will just move away to safety and won't be targeted in combat, but sometimes attacking monsters might attack the inactive NPCs...so you have to protect them too. Of course, off camera they will defend themselves as best they can.
...very long post so I'll cut it off there. Later today or tomorrow I'll detail what loot and supplies you have in the IC thread.
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