The Draining Caverns of the Winged Beast

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• I like the title. Winged Beast lairing in a slippery limestone cavern with an underground river and waterfall cutting through it would be a decent one session set-piece.

• “If you just put “For Use with Lasers & Feelings” on the cover then I’d be ok.”

  I think “For Use with Good Society RPG” on the cover might work better. Maybe the NG vampire gnome would hook up with the female gnome PC and live happily ever after.

  • >>>the NG vampire gnome would hook up with the female gnome PC

    Heteronormative much? Did you just assume their gender and sexuality? In 2023?

    • Yes, I think an RPG based on Jane Austin novels would actually.

      • *Austen

• I love this feedback. I have to work on avoiding the 5e "standards" because I can see how they bog it down.
  One playtester said pretty much the same thing about the vampire being NG and wanting to just stab the bad guy. Should've listened.

  • One part of the D&D fantasy is to have villains which are both worthy (their plans make sense, they put up a good fight) and dastardly (they are a menace to the world at large) with legal and moral justifications for killing or capturing them. Moral quandaries are mentally taxing - they can be interesting, but if you don't have a clear framework working them out takes time and effort, just like stuff like counting encumbrance can be interesting it's also a mental tax.

    • I don't know how many players sign up for Dungeons & Dilemmas.

      Few, I'd bet.

      • These days? Probably a lot more than you think. For those of us who played back in the halcyon days, not too many I'd imagine but modern players? I'd guess quite a few. I think a lot of today's players eat this sort of thing up with gusto.

        I can't imagine much less interesting than playing D&D this way?

      • FWIW, all players but the one said they liked the dilemma of what to do with the vampire. Most opted to take him out, since it was legally and morally justifiable, they were sent to do it, and expected to do it. Some wanted to hear him out. One group decided to set him up with offerings from the goblins, who believed the beast was some sort of divine vengeance that needed appeased.
        But yeah, plllllenty of room for improvement on the DM side of things.

  • @Jeremiah.
    Would a more interesting set up be the bad guy you really WANT to /Could/ Should stab because he's clearly an asshat in some or many ways but *maybe* choose not to because he can offer you... or XYZ will happen... etc.

    E.g give the players a dilemma, temptation or a choice. It's much more fun and leads to more emergent play than "oh you really shouldn't stab this guy, he's nice".

    Awful but trying to do better is interesting (help him? Destroy him anyway?). Nice but doing awful things for their own "right" reasons is interesting. Awful but offering something/the only way to get/do something you really want is interesting etc.

    Vampire is taking the cattle but he has told the hardest hit herder he wants a sentient being once a quarter and he'll lay off your herd (bad guy trying to be good but slowly sliding worse)... Vampire is attacking the herd but wants you to bring him the Necronomicon which he says he thinks can help him walk the right path- do you trust him and bring him said super evil tome? He'll teach you 2 magics if you do... Choice/temptation.

    That's more old school/sandboxy. Leads to more emergent play. Legitimate choices with consequences rather than a straight "what you *should* do.

• Hey, Bryce, can you review "Curse of the Blood Moon"? I've written it and would really appreciate some feedback on it. I think my dungeon is kinda "meh", but i also believe there is some good stuff to be salvaged. I'd like to know what is what.

  • Hi John. It's cool to get something published and it's even better to get feedback on it. That's why you should understand it's bad form to take up space while Jeremiah and his project have some time in the limelight. There's a whole space for requesting a review on this blog, I think we'd all appreciate it if you used it in the future.
    I'll give your adventure its first bit of feedback: Include a preview so we can take a look.

    • Oh, i did not know that! I am so very sorry!

• If ChatGPT can do it better, you're doing it wrong.

  In a fantasy setting, a strange monster wandered through a village at night and ate a sheep before leaving. Five villages heard or saw something. Please come up with an interesting, original monster that they saw or heard, and then five different and conflicting descriptions, all based on some combination of the truth of the monster, and the fear, prejudices, and superstitions of the individual villagers.

  -- ChatGPT response below --

  The monster that wandered through the village at night is called a Skreecher. It is a large, nocturnal creature with scaly skin, razor-sharp teeth, and glowing green eyes. The Skreecher is a solitary hunter that preys on livestock and occasionally, if it's hungry enough, on humanoids. Its cry is blood-curdling and can be heard from miles away.

  Here are the five different and conflicting descriptions of the Skreecher, based on truth, fear, prejudices, and superstitions:

  Villager A: "I saw the Skreecher, it was huge and had bat-like wings that flapped loudly as it flew off into the night!"
  Villager B: "The Skreecher is a vengeful spirit that possesses animals and turns them into monsters. It's a punishment for those who break the sacred covenant with nature!"
  Villager C: "I heard the Skreecher, it was like a thousand voices screaming at once. It's a demon that feeds on fear and despair, it's best to stay indoors and pray for protection."
  Villager D: "The Skreecher is a cursed creature, its flesh is rotten and diseased. It's a sign of the coming apocalypse, we need to purify the land before it's too late."
  Villager E: "The Skreecher is a wise old creature, it only attacks when provoked. If we offer it a sacrifice, it will spare us and bring us good fortune for years to come."

  • Each of those descriptions is individually pretty tepid without further development and the idea that elevates them, that of having multiple conflicting accounts, was provided by Bryce who is (I assume) a human being.

    • The rumors are mostly false as written and give you no idea of what you are facing other than a nocturnal hunting creature with a loud cry. Nothing about the glowing green eyes to identify it for example, which would be something worthwhile to add to one of the rumors. See how ChatGPT describes the creature as “large” and doesn’t adequately describe the creature in the specific description. Come on, this is the specific description! How large is large? Is it humanoid? Etc.

• Note to self:

  1) Complete a "friendly dungeon" adventure that isn't out to kill you but still is challenging and dangerous.

  2) Complete a gnome adventure that doesn't feature the loathsome "crazy incentor" trope for once.