Post One-Shot Feedback.

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Jul 30, 2024 12:08 am
Knowing the boss ahead of time depends on the story behind the one-shot to me.

As you said, with this one we knew who we were fighting because we knew who kidnapped the Princess. A King would reasonably want to get his daughter back, so choosing warriors who had an advantage against the known foe makes narrative sense.

If a one-shot involves tracking down a shadowy cult-leader that no one is sure if they've ever seen (think early Season 6 of The Walking Dead -- "I'm Negan." Rick, having never seen the leader of the Saviors, honestly thought they had killed Negan because a man had claimed to be him) players should be blindsided by the boss.

I'd say let the fight play out. If, by luck or by planning, PCs are in a position to stomp out the BBEG I think letting it happen is best. If the fight is unrewarding, let that be a lesson for the players that optimizing isn't always best.
Last edited July 30, 2024 12:10 am
Jul 30, 2024 1:55 am
As with everything, knowing the BBEG at character creation is situational. It made perfect sense in this scenario, though I opted to play a character concept I've always wanted to try out instead of optimizing for an endgame medusa.
MaJunior says:
Can I just go on record as saying that we knew in advance we were taking on a Medusa Queen, so the fact no one else took blindsight (or Devil's Sight with Darkness) is wild to me. 🤣🤣🤣
I had both DS and Darkness but dropping that would have impaired most of you from also attacking, so I opted against it.
Jul 30, 2024 6:47 am
annex says:
I had both DS and Darkness but dropping that would have impaired most of you from also attacking, so I opted against it.
So... hard disagree.
You can't have double disadvantage. Most characters already were attacking with disadvantage from averting their gaze. The only thing Darkness would have impaired was Hythonia and her followers.

It would have balanced the battlefield a fair bit. 🤷

Ah well, live and learn.
Last edited July 30, 2024 6:47 am
Jul 30, 2024 6:32 pm
What do you guys think about magic items in these one shots? I feel magic items are, to a small extent, expected, but technically the designers of D&D 5e admitted that they are always a boost because the game was balanced around no magic items. Despite that, magic items are often expected by both players and DMs.

Also, I'm thinking for the next one shot that I will allow more magic items, since it will be level 15, but specifically making a distinction between "permanent" and "consumable" magic items. Also, I'm thinking of allowing everyone to have one "consumable" very rare magic item, but the party as a whole can share 1 very rare "permanent" magic item, that way the party can have one that they all feel they benefit from, or they might be able to make a strategy and agree "this strategy will work best if the barbarian has x" and if they all agree then that player get the item, but only because the party agreed it would benefit everyone.

Here is what I'm thinking for character creation
[ +- ] Character Creation Rules
Jul 30, 2024 6:57 pm
General selection guidelines PLUS an pre-approved list of items could be useful. For both the player and DM. Anything not on the list needs approval.

Instead of giving a cap on how many of each raririty you can have, maybe a homebrew point buy system.

Just brainstorming...
Jul 30, 2024 7:25 pm
Would for the flight options saying "Permanent flight" is not allowed, and consumables listed as 1 per player (maybe adding the clause "once you are affected by this potion you are not able to be affected by it again for 24hrs". That ring of flight seems like it essentially is a better potion of flying (other than the attunement but without 4-5 magic items each, that shouldn't come up).

I do like the "point system" as well, maybe you could even "standardize" it for you as a GM so it is easy to know without question. Like 2x(PB-2) magic items in a game. 0 "points" at levels 1-4. 2 points starting level 5. Then common is 1, uncommon 2, rare 3. This puts a lot of strategy for the players in how strong they want their items vs having multiple items. Then put a cap on the rarity per tier of play/level.
Jul 30, 2024 10:12 pm
The issue I have with the idea of "one super rare item for the party" is that I can see it breeding resentment. People rarely agree, and there isn't a character build out there that wouldn't strongly benefit from a SR magic item. Everyone will have an item in mind and feel they should get the one thing.

I see a lot of fighting and possible hurt feelings.
Jul 31, 2024 5:43 pm
Okay Im signing off! Thanks for the adventure and look forward to the next!
Jul 31, 2024 6:16 pm
Sounds good. I think i'll post for the next one-shot on monday. If I get a lot of interest, I'll probably go 72 hours and then let dice decide who gets invited. I've seen another person or two do that.
Jul 31, 2024 6:21 pm
I'm also not sure about the communal item idea but it's your call.

Again, thanks for the fun game, and I hope the Dice Gods will continue to be in my favour so I can play in the next one. :P

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