#encounter building

[dungeonmalcontent]

Dear elder forces, I'm trying to plan out how to make a stat block for Tharizdun as my final boss for my campaign. I know gods aren't meant to be "fought" per say, but my plays with have divine blessings and be at level twenty most likely so I'm not worried about their power level. How do I make a good godly stat block? My first thought is phases, something like a good video game boss (like bloodborne) with abilities that build on each other. I just don't want him to feel flat and boring :(

Thanks for the help! I love your stuff :)

*cough, switching to Hermaeus Mora voice, cough*

Yes. Good question young darkling. You were right to bring this matter before the midnight council.

We are of the opinion that true god stat blocks should not be utilized in gameplay. Even at high player level. Ideologically, threatening the mortality of a hypothetically immortal entity goes against the balance of power of a setting, where mortal creatures allow gods to draw power from belief. Your rules for how gods work may alter this.

We have devised two strategies.

1) Tharizdun as the environment rather than a proper opponent. Gods, or their presence or aspects of them, can be brought into the world through rituals and powerful belief. Those that call a god's power into the world act as anchors for that power. Powerful ritual implements can also be used as anchors. Players can be tasked with quickly subduing powerful followers or corrupt angels or dismantling ritual circles while the power of Tharizdun works against them. You can treat Tharizdun as a sort of interactive lair; you have a table of effects that happen to players, and players can do certain things to mitigate or prevent those effects. Like, an eldritch viewing eye of the god stands in as the physical form, following the players and causing anomalies to disrupt them. Every round on the eyes initiative it rolls to cast a spell or alter the terrain unless it has been dealt a certain baseline if damage or a special condition has been met. This causes the players to split priorities. They must deal with the influence of Tharizdun while accomplishing special objectives potentially in a certain order. Like this: the eye follows the players until Tharizdun's anchors are dismantled in a certain order, first the deacon that cast the summoning ritual, then the ritual circle (and potentially acolytes), and then the artifact through which the ritual was enacted. The deacon's power prevents players from harming the circle and the circle protects the artifact. This way you get stages without necessarily changing forms or derailing combat and worrying about players being discouraged by not being done yet or not feeling like they were rewarded for early effort.

2) An avatar of Tharizdun. Whoever brought Tharizdun's power into the world becomes the god's avatar. Draw from an archfiend's stat block for inspiration. But to make the battle interesting without bogging it down with minions, be sure to make the lair interesting. The lair is not just some pseudo monster, it is a place. Being in certain positions benefits the avatar in certain ways (close to the ritual circle allows them to draw more power, killing an acolyte restores health, coming too close to mundane objects imbues them with chaos and causes them to lunge out towards players with random magic, etc.). This method can also use phases of combat, though the council has discovered that phases can be daunting if your players are not prepared for a slog. Rather than phases, the council recommends periods of invulnerability. When the avatar hits certain hit point milestones (quarters, thirds, or halves generally) the avatar enters a state where they cannot be damaged (starting on their next turn in combat) and remain invulnerable until a specific condition is met (usually clearly evident in the directly visible environment, like the destruction of newly conjured icons of godly influence).

The midnight council hopes this advice is satisfactory and helpful. The council also hopes that Amy typos are ignored, as it is hard for several entities to type a coherent message concurrently with various non-ui friendly appendages (tentacle suckers stick to the touch screen and rip off keyboard keys if care is not taken).

[petitprincess1]

Striker's losing his goddamn mind! Also, Blitzo fixes a past mistake 🥲

[emapmaker]

Have any of you all written a tough encounter for a party of 2? or a player + NPC VS. monster/another NPC?

If so how did you go about it

[coquelicoq]

it's about...longevity? stability? it's about natsume believing he'll be somewhere long enough to plant flowers and see them bloom. it's about him taking touko seriously when she asks him to tell her what flowers he wants to plant. it's about making something with his own hands, building a future with the fujiwaras. it's about him repairing a rundown home for someone else, restoring it because it's beloved to them, because it's the home of someone they love. it's about him seeing touko's joy and thinking about the youkai saying we'd like to look upon her happy face forever. it's about the box garden making him think of the fujiwaras' garden and his parents' garden, about the flowers being both the memory of flowers that bloomed there before, and the flowers that he and the youkai planted earlier that day. it's about him waking up in both worlds with sensei. it's about touko finding the petal in his hair. it's about him feeling how he falls short and the youkai saying, but you have such gentle hands...

[2minutetabletop]

World Map Hex Tiles

Have you mapped your world yet? If not, these hex tiles are for you! Oh, and let us know what to add to Part 2. ;)

→ Download them here!

[bethanydelleman]

When it comes to Fanny Price, the difference between me and the general public (at least online) is that they are all, "She's so weak and pretentious and annoying, why can't she just stand up for herself?" and I'm like, "She's so scared and beaten down and sad. I want to stand in front of her as a shield and wrap her in blankets. Is six enough to make her feel sufficiently snuggled and warm?"

And honestly, I can barely even understand the other side. How did you read Mansfield Park all the way through and decide that Fanny Price was the character to hate? There are so many other choices!

[journey-to-the-attic]

au where this was how ik and diavolo met for the first time when she was like seven

[elliegoose]

the fucked up thing about lancer is that one of the most fun parts is making cool player character mech builds, but unless you manage to infect someone else with enough of the lancer virus that they volunteer to GM, your best bet for playing a game of lancer is to GM one yourself, which does not involve getting to actually use your cool player character builds

[whitherwanderer]

"I think..."

"...you have followed me..."

"...far enough."

Incident Report: Witness came to my office in Wailer custody. He (elezen, 45, Hyrstmill) was quite shaken and claimed to have been followed on through the forest. He described a hyuran woman (late twenties to mid thirties, long, ashen hair and skin, dirty gray tunic; no eye color given—he reported that her eyes were naught but whites) staring at him from behind a tree on the roadside, smiling unnaturally. As he approached the tree where the woman hid, she ran around it and, per his claim, disappeared. He had little cause for concern until she saw the same woman hiding behind another tree just a few hundred yalms up the road. Witness claims not to have seen the woman pass him on the roadside, nor did he see any usual movement in the trees. He called out, but she deigned to neither respond nor to move. He carried on down the road, keeping an eye upon the woman as he passed, then turned to check the road ahead when she was out of sight once again. He then saw her a third time, some fifteen yalms ahead, now peeking from behind Galvanth's Spire. Witness then began to run from the authorities, which prompted them to give chase and arrest him for suspicious behavior. Wailers report seeing no woman approach and new footsteps could be found.

Investigator's note: Woman loosely fits the description of a missing person report filed last autumn that the Wailers were charged with investigating. They neither found the woman nor recovered remains (attributed to wildlife; she disappeared during the peak of annual funguar activity). I'll need to confirm her identity, which means I'll have to get close, and that presents a problem if she slips away whenever someone draws near. I have a hunch she is simply a pawn for a much larger threat that will only reveal itself once a potential victim follows her deeper into the wood. Wonderful. I leave in the morning.

[gece-misin-nesin]

honestly? himiko and ochako's climax and ending (aside from himiko dying obvs) was written great. like genuinely that fight is amazing. i DO think their dynamic wasn't set up anywhere near well enough though. the lines are good and all, but they don't have any buildup, they just come out of nowhere. i don't think their dynamic was established very well at first at all, so even though the later parts of it are brilliant, it has a very weak beginning.

for example, ochako saying "im jealous of your smile"? great. why though. where is the buildup. show me HOW this happened.

[feelingtheaster99]

After the fakeout from Lou, I do NOT trust the intrepid heroes when they say “I passed” after reading those fucking cards

[katerinaaqu]

EPIC THE MUSICAL ODYSSEUS: Yelling his name to Polyphemus because he grieves his friend and out of spite when Athena triggers him with an order while grieving

ODYSSEY ODYSSEUS: Yelling his name to Polyphemus after having spent almost a week in a cave with a few of his comrades, trapped like rats, probably without food or water and without any gods for help or support, having witnessed half a dozen of his friends being smashed to the ground and eaten by a giant monster who didn't wish to give them a warm bed for the night and the customary Xenia gifts, grieving for the friends he lost in a traumatizing way and being triggered when that said giant monster who could destroy them with a flick of hand calls him a coward for not fighting head on

[sableeira]

I wish we knew more about how bsd characters figured out they have abilities. The fact that transferring an ability is confirmed to be rare implies that most characters just randomly figured out their abilities. Like did Kunikida one day write in his planner “I need to buy new glasses” and suddenly glasses spawned in his hand? Did Tanizaki play tag on the playground and just matrix-ed into thin air? Did Fyodor just randomly touch another person and see them drop dead in a pool of blood in front of him?

[taz-writes]

here's a hot take for today

the narrative function of sex is the same as the narrative function of fight scenes is the same as the narrative function of songs in a musical

no i will not explain

[2minutetabletop]

The Artist Atelier Battle Map

An art class is quietly taking place – but this is a BATTLE MAP, not a peaceful backdrop! What horrible fantasy creature appears next??

→ Download it here!

[blossom23]

I genuinely needed to scream about this where it would be appreciated but wen I met jeffrey combs at a Star Trek con i cosplayed as a bride w my friend and we looked so insanely good and the cosplay was bonkers sexy and gorey but anyway wen we met him he literally fw us so hard and said ‘2 brides 1 groom☝️😏’ ‼️