Sólveig
Well-known member
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Ok, so it's going to be a rest day. The dungeon stretched for far too long, and I guess it was because I put too many encounters. Of course, that's not my issue only. My players got stuck into the most stupid things, such as many different ways to open a door, up to the point of wasting an Alchemist's Fire on a stone door that was soaking wet. They did heed my warning about the first level of the dungeon being heavily populated by Sahuagin, and tried some things to not fight them, but gloriously failed at them because they forget V components make sound. Of course, the Rogue was the MVP, and managed to do what the Bard failed to do at first: lock the doors behind them, thus avoiding every single encounter against wandering Sahuagin that could come from behind.
When it cames with puzzles, though... even with the clue, they needed to have the help with an NPC that's with them (the Sorcerer's Ritual Book has the spirit of a Wizard from the early days of history trapped inside). Again, the Rogue player ended up figuring the puzzle out, but I do commend the Sorcerer for using rituals creatively, as well as the Rogue for confusing the hell out of a Sahuagin party by casting Darkness as a racial, and those Sahuagin failing at any attempt to get out of the sphere as the Sorcerer created a sphere to protect the party from a lightning spell that would've electrocuted them because they were all underwater. He did the same to protect the party from a dart trap that triggered whenever they got the lever combination wrong.
It was fun. I was at my best as a DM. It's a shame that 90% of the session took place on that level, while the second and third level I had to rush them because it was getting late. Man, I was looking forward for the third level; that's when they got to control the golems, and I wanted them to fight as golems! They did get spell scrolls that are spells imported from other systems. Pathfinder 2e's Biting Words is there, as well as DCC's Magic Missile (renamed as Unstable Magic Missile); both experimental spells written by, you guessed it, the Wizard trapped in the Sorcerer's Ritual Book. Someone managed to find her old office very recently, and continued with her experiments. They liked the hook, they liked the spells, so now the spellcasting is about to get crazy.
The Bard player already announced that he won't be coming next session. I'm going to carry on without him in this campaign, as he already told me what his character plans to do in the place where we are going. I don't mind letting my Paladin go for the session either, leaving a session for the Sorcerer and the Rogue to cause mischief around the new area.
The Sorcerer player also noticed one thing about our party: we are all CHA casters. We have an Oath of Vengeance Paladin (who is the total complete opposite of my Cleric, and that I didn't notice until today), a Phantom Rogue, a Divine Soul Sorcerer, and a Lore Bard / Artificer. The Rogue would've been the INT caster if he went for Arcane Trickster, but instead he only has the racial spells, which happen to be CHA based too. Yes, love me some Tieflings.
I also did a change of the rules because I don't want to track XP points anymore, and make sure that everyone is on the same page. No, instead, I took one from The Elder Scrolls, and have them level up by using their abilities. This means that, whenever they roll a Nat 20 on an Attack Roll, Ability Check, or Saving Throw, they get a Mastery point as a group, and a Mastery point as an individual. The group Mastery is only for me to track their progress, while the individual Mastery is for them to spend one of those points and roll an additional D20 to add to their first D20. I feel this is a better way to level up their characters, as they are rewarded for excelling with the use of their skills. Seriously, a Critical Success means they excelled in their task, thus rewarding a Mastery point makes sense. There's a video about it by Dungeon Craft, which is why I got inspired to add this mechanic on top of the Hero Points that I've imported and modified from Pathfinder 2e's. That's one reason I call it Mastery; the other reason being is because I took ICRPG's Mastery mechanic as a framework for it. Speaking of ICRPG, I also incorporated Battlefury to all characters, with the shift being that they'll only activate Battlefury on a Nat 1, and they'll accumulate Battlefury with each Nat 1. Everytime they fail, and even with the bonus from Battlefury they won't succeed, the number will not increase. It will only be increased with Nat 1s. Battlefury is a good mechanic that saved our Fighter's life in Planescape more than once, and it got him into becoming a Barbarian when his rage about failing so bad was only supposed to be a flavor for the extra bonus. In the case of our all-Tiefling party, the Battlefury increase will represent their frustrations as the number goes up.
Does adding this with the Hero Points break the game? Absolutely, and I like it. Remember: what's good for the players is also good for the GM. That's why I brought Pathfinder 2e's Critical Rules at the table, so that there are Critical Failures and Critical Successes, and I also added the requirement that there has to be a difference of at least 10 between the total rolled and the AC/DC, meaning one can be thunderstruck or the baddies are the ones thunderstruck. These rules also count for my baddies. If they get a Nat 20, they also get Mastery, and can use Mastery to increase their rolls, thus making it challenging for the Lore Bard to use her Cutting Words feature. The Critical Rules changes also affect me. Is it fun, though? Of course! Combat becomes more deadly, thus it runs faster. With spells imported from other systems (like DCC's Magic Missile, to which the Sorcerer fell in love with), this Campaign ended up being more fun to run.
Too bad it drained all my concentration juices today. I couldn't draw. I didn't do Burpees because I got distracted. And, you know what? I'm not beating myself to it. After doing Burpees non-stop for more than two months, I earned my rest. And if I can't focus, then I shouldn't draw. I actually deleted what I sketched because I knew I could do better.
So yes, a rest day. Not really physical, but mental rest. With two less characters for next session, I can focus more on finishing the place we're going to, and do a session that is less focused on combat and exploration, yet they won't be forgotten. Social interaction is my main goal for next session, but it will be the players who will do things... unless, like today, they feel a need into being slightly railroaded.
March 3rd, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 158
Morning Routine:
The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
20-Seconds Legs
Daily Dare: 60 Seconds Toe Tap Hops +EC
Count: 1403 - 1399 +EC
Night Routine:
Mani Salutation - 1 Set
Five Rites
Virasana Meditation
Daily Gratitude
Counting Victories
Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound
Cardio & Abs
Workouts:
150 Burpees +EC
30 Seconds Side Splits
Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
100/50 Strength
Pole Dance Stretches
DAREdice: 20 Push-ups
1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
2-Minute Elbow Plank
Daily Walk
Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 21
Challenges:
Indoor Cardio: Day 3
Drawing Pin-up Girls Every Day for a Year: Day 28/365
Bucket List:
Lower Body Blast
Writing progress:
Nope
1500 Get!
Daily 1500
Reading progress:
Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself - 0%
Other Victories:
When it cames with puzzles, though... even with the clue, they needed to have the help with an NPC that's with them (the Sorcerer's Ritual Book has the spirit of a Wizard from the early days of history trapped inside). Again, the Rogue player ended up figuring the puzzle out, but I do commend the Sorcerer for using rituals creatively, as well as the Rogue for confusing the hell out of a Sahuagin party by casting Darkness as a racial, and those Sahuagin failing at any attempt to get out of the sphere as the Sorcerer created a sphere to protect the party from a lightning spell that would've electrocuted them because they were all underwater. He did the same to protect the party from a dart trap that triggered whenever they got the lever combination wrong.
It was fun. I was at my best as a DM. It's a shame that 90% of the session took place on that level, while the second and third level I had to rush them because it was getting late. Man, I was looking forward for the third level; that's when they got to control the golems, and I wanted them to fight as golems! They did get spell scrolls that are spells imported from other systems. Pathfinder 2e's Biting Words is there, as well as DCC's Magic Missile (renamed as Unstable Magic Missile); both experimental spells written by, you guessed it, the Wizard trapped in the Sorcerer's Ritual Book. Someone managed to find her old office very recently, and continued with her experiments. They liked the hook, they liked the spells, so now the spellcasting is about to get crazy.
The Bard player already announced that he won't be coming next session. I'm going to carry on without him in this campaign, as he already told me what his character plans to do in the place where we are going. I don't mind letting my Paladin go for the session either, leaving a session for the Sorcerer and the Rogue to cause mischief around the new area.
The Sorcerer player also noticed one thing about our party: we are all CHA casters. We have an Oath of Vengeance Paladin (who is the total complete opposite of my Cleric, and that I didn't notice until today), a Phantom Rogue, a Divine Soul Sorcerer, and a Lore Bard / Artificer. The Rogue would've been the INT caster if he went for Arcane Trickster, but instead he only has the racial spells, which happen to be CHA based too. Yes, love me some Tieflings.
I also did a change of the rules because I don't want to track XP points anymore, and make sure that everyone is on the same page. No, instead, I took one from The Elder Scrolls, and have them level up by using their abilities. This means that, whenever they roll a Nat 20 on an Attack Roll, Ability Check, or Saving Throw, they get a Mastery point as a group, and a Mastery point as an individual. The group Mastery is only for me to track their progress, while the individual Mastery is for them to spend one of those points and roll an additional D20 to add to their first D20. I feel this is a better way to level up their characters, as they are rewarded for excelling with the use of their skills. Seriously, a Critical Success means they excelled in their task, thus rewarding a Mastery point makes sense. There's a video about it by Dungeon Craft, which is why I got inspired to add this mechanic on top of the Hero Points that I've imported and modified from Pathfinder 2e's. That's one reason I call it Mastery; the other reason being is because I took ICRPG's Mastery mechanic as a framework for it. Speaking of ICRPG, I also incorporated Battlefury to all characters, with the shift being that they'll only activate Battlefury on a Nat 1, and they'll accumulate Battlefury with each Nat 1. Everytime they fail, and even with the bonus from Battlefury they won't succeed, the number will not increase. It will only be increased with Nat 1s. Battlefury is a good mechanic that saved our Fighter's life in Planescape more than once, and it got him into becoming a Barbarian when his rage about failing so bad was only supposed to be a flavor for the extra bonus. In the case of our all-Tiefling party, the Battlefury increase will represent their frustrations as the number goes up.
Does adding this with the Hero Points break the game? Absolutely, and I like it. Remember: what's good for the players is also good for the GM. That's why I brought Pathfinder 2e's Critical Rules at the table, so that there are Critical Failures and Critical Successes, and I also added the requirement that there has to be a difference of at least 10 between the total rolled and the AC/DC, meaning one can be thunderstruck or the baddies are the ones thunderstruck. These rules also count for my baddies. If they get a Nat 20, they also get Mastery, and can use Mastery to increase their rolls, thus making it challenging for the Lore Bard to use her Cutting Words feature. The Critical Rules changes also affect me. Is it fun, though? Of course! Combat becomes more deadly, thus it runs faster. With spells imported from other systems (like DCC's Magic Missile, to which the Sorcerer fell in love with), this Campaign ended up being more fun to run.
Too bad it drained all my concentration juices today. I couldn't draw. I didn't do Burpees because I got distracted. And, you know what? I'm not beating myself to it. After doing Burpees non-stop for more than two months, I earned my rest. And if I can't focus, then I shouldn't draw. I actually deleted what I sketched because I knew I could do better.
So yes, a rest day. Not really physical, but mental rest. With two less characters for next session, I can focus more on finishing the place we're going to, and do a session that is less focused on combat and exploration, yet they won't be forgotten. Social interaction is my main goal for next session, but it will be the players who will do things... unless, like today, they feel a need into being slightly railroaded.
March 3rd, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 158
Morning Routine:
The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC 20-Seconds Legs Daily Dare: 60 Seconds Toe Tap Hops +ECCount: 1403 - 1399 +EC
Night Routine:
Mani Salutation - 1 Set Five Rites Virasana Meditation Daily Gratitude Counting VictoriesPrograms:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound
Cardio & Abs
Workouts:
150 Burpees +EC 30 Seconds Side Splits Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves 100/50 Strength Pole Dance Stretches DAREdice: 20 Push-ups 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach 2-Minute Elbow Plank Daily Walk Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.) Belly DanceDancing Days: 21
Challenges:
Indoor Cardio: Day 3 Drawing Pin-up Girls Every Day for a Year: Day 28/365Bucket List:
Lower Body Blast
Writing progress:
Nope 1500 Get! Daily 1500Reading progress:
Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself - 0%Other Victories:
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