Jared Rascher (He/Him)
@whatdoiknowjr.bsky.social
Indigenous People are still here. Genocide is not self-defence. Black lives matter. Protect trans kids, and adults.
WhatDoIKnowJR.com
GnomeStew.com
WhatDoIKnowJR.com
GnomeStew.com
. . . and that's why we never saw another Batman movie after The Dark Knight Rises. Wait . . .
November 11, 2025 at 10:28 PM
. . . and that's why we never saw another Batman movie after The Dark Knight Rises. Wait . . .
"Let try surrendering even harder" has to be the stupedist tactic to ever be repeated more than once.
November 10, 2025 at 5:13 AM
"Let try surrendering even harder" has to be the stupedist tactic to ever be repeated more than once.
This is what sucks. Tuesday should be something to celebrate. I was afraid this was exactly what would happen. "Well, it looks like we have a good chance in the midterms, we can stop fighting now." Actively doing things is dangerous, they want to go back to campaigning on not being the other party.
November 9, 2025 at 11:16 PM
This is what sucks. Tuesday should be something to celebrate. I was afraid this was exactly what would happen. "Well, it looks like we have a good chance in the midterms, we can stop fighting now." Actively doing things is dangerous, they want to go back to campaigning on not being the other party.
Is that the thing where you have the paddle that you turn the dial on to make the little line move back and forth on the screen?
November 8, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Is that the thing where you have the paddle that you turn the dial on to make the little line move back and forth on the screen?
The shop I set up for Bense has common goods, minor magic items like potions and charms, and illicit goods, like poisons. For things like potions, charms, or sneaky stuff, you need to have a contact that knows where to find that material, or makes it themselves.
November 8, 2025 at 8:27 PM
The shop I set up for Bense has common goods, minor magic items like potions and charms, and illicit goods, like poisons. For things like potions, charms, or sneaky stuff, you need to have a contact that knows where to find that material, or makes it themselves.
And before I forget, I really enjoy being able to use @shardtabletop.bsky.social to build out shops, so I can do that as part of my prep, instead of dreading the PCs wanting to buy something and trying to decide every time they ask if something is available or not.
November 8, 2025 at 8:26 PM
And before I forget, I really enjoy being able to use @shardtabletop.bsky.social to build out shops, so I can do that as part of my prep, instead of dreading the PCs wanting to buy something and trying to decide every time they ask if something is available or not.
We didn't get too far, but the encounters and scenes we played through had a lot of texture for the PCs to latch on to, and some solid NPCs to provide part of the backdrop, and I can't wait for them to take a long rest, so I can drop a nice bit of folk horror on them specified in the adventure.
November 8, 2025 at 8:24 PM
We didn't get too far, but the encounters and scenes we played through had a lot of texture for the PCs to latch on to, and some solid NPCs to provide part of the backdrop, and I can't wait for them to take a long rest, so I can drop a nice bit of folk horror on them specified in the adventure.
Once we took care of the usual between adventures interweaving of backgrounds, we got going on the adventure proper. There is a great, thematic Nordic horror setup to the adventure that makes the start very creepy and mysterious and sets a great horror tone to the entire thing right from the get go.
November 8, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Once we took care of the usual between adventures interweaving of backgrounds, we got going on the adventure proper. There is a great, thematic Nordic horror setup to the adventure that makes the start very creepy and mysterious and sets a great horror tone to the entire thing right from the get go.
It was fun being able to work in Pernilla trying to get the details about her meeting with the mysterious, rugged ranger out of our paladin monster hunter, for example. I've made up a few of my own NPCs, but I was always dancing around staff in case we did get some official details on them.
November 8, 2025 at 8:24 PM
It was fun being able to work in Pernilla trying to get the details about her meeting with the mysterious, rugged ranger out of our paladin monster hunter, for example. I've made up a few of my own NPCs, but I was always dancing around staff in case we did get some official details on them.
I also used The City of Bense & Stolki's Meand Hall product from @shardtabletop.bsky.social. While I had most of the information on Bense from other products, the PCs have spent enough time in Stolki's that I was happy to have some defined NPCs associated with the place that I could work in.
Shard Tabletop
Marketplace to buy or get free content to enhance your D&D, Black Flag Roleplaying, and Tales of the Valiant games
marketplace.shardtabletop.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:24 PM
I also used The City of Bense & Stolki's Meand Hall product from @shardtabletop.bsky.social. While I had most of the information on Bense from other products, the PCs have spent enough time in Stolki's that I was happy to have some defined NPCs associated with the place that I could work in.
As much as Norrongard is a very traditional Norse inspired setting, things like the slight changes to gods with various portfolios make for intriging elements to work into descriptions when people are expecting a more 1:1 Aesir/Vanir parallel.
November 8, 2025 at 8:24 PM
As much as Norrongard is a very traditional Norse inspired setting, things like the slight changes to gods with various portfolios make for intriging elements to work into descriptions when people are expecting a more 1:1 Aesir/Vanir parallel.
Let's just say, I don't like gods showing up and solving problems or doing an info dump, but I love gods showing up to say something cryptic that tells the PCs, at the very least, they probably should be taking the job that their about to be offered.
November 8, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Let's just say, I don't like gods showing up and solving problems or doing an info dump, but I love gods showing up to say something cryptic that tells the PCs, at the very least, they probably should be taking the job that their about to be offered.
We did take a while to play through some scenes of the character's backstories weaving into and in some cases connecting with the adventure's setup. Its so much fun to come up with weird ominous supernatural events that hint about upcoming plot points when you have a Volva priestess in the group.
November 8, 2025 at 8:24 PM
We did take a while to play through some scenes of the character's backstories weaving into and in some cases connecting with the adventure's setup. Its so much fun to come up with weird ominous supernatural events that hint about upcoming plot points when you have a Volva priestess in the group.
I also like that it gives you the flexibility to do things like saying "no, there aren't any magic shops where you can buy magic items, but if you have a contact that's an alchemist, you can check in with them if you want to buy potions." Or "you know a witch that makes charms and talismans."
November 8, 2025 at 8:24 PM
I also like that it gives you the flexibility to do things like saying "no, there aren't any magic shops where you can buy magic items, but if you have a contact that's an alchemist, you can check in with them if you want to buy potions." Or "you know a witch that makes charms and talismans."
I appreciate that its less nebulous than, for example, the Xanathar's downtime carousing rules. It does mean you have to spend a little bit of time when you make a contact providing some context, but I like that it opens up the opportunity to ask what the PC wants the contact to be connected to.
November 8, 2025 at 8:24 PM
I appreciate that its less nebulous than, for example, the Xanathar's downtime carousing rules. It does mean you have to spend a little bit of time when you make a contact providing some context, but I like that it opens up the opportunity to ask what the PC wants the contact to be connected to.
I also like having a more quantified way of tracking contacts. When you carouse, you can either gain contacts or create favors, but you need contacts to call in favors, so when you create a contact, you're creating someone that has an area of expertise that may provide useful favors.
November 8, 2025 at 8:24 PM
I also like having a more quantified way of tracking contacts. When you carouse, you can either gain contacts or create favors, but you need contacts to call in favors, so when you create a contact, you're creating someone that has an area of expertise that may provide useful favors.
The core mechanic still works. Ability score result compared to a table to see how many clues you gather. If people are playing into their strengths, they may end up with a better chance to get clues, but they're never fully breaking the ceiling of three clues, regardless.
November 8, 2025 at 8:24 PM
The core mechanic still works. Ability score result compared to a table to see how many clues you gather. If people are playing into their strengths, they may end up with a better chance to get clues, but they're never fully breaking the ceiling of three clues, regardless.
I've also been a little more flexible on what ability checks I allow for research. If someone is asking around town, I'll allow a Charisma (Investigation) combination. If someone is performing divinations, I'll allow for a tool check with a divination method like runestones or star charts.
November 8, 2025 at 8:24 PM
I've also been a little more flexible on what ability checks I allow for research. If someone is asking around town, I'll allow a Charisma (Investigation) combination. If someone is performing divinations, I'll allow for a tool check with a divination method like runestones or star charts.
Clues have been very popular. When you use the downtime option to research, you gain clues, which you can trade in to ask questions about what you're researching, or you can bank to give yourself advantage on Int checks for information during a game session.
November 8, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Clues have been very popular. When you use the downtime option to research, you gain clues, which you can trade in to ask questions about what you're researching, or you can bank to give yourself advantage on Int checks for information during a game session.
We're using @koboldpress.com's Tales of the Valiant system for this, and between published adventures, we're using the downtime events provided in the core rules of that game. They provide a pretty solid and easy to grasp set of things to do between adventures.
November 8, 2025 at 8:24 PM
We're using @koboldpress.com's Tales of the Valiant system for this, and between published adventures, we're using the downtime events provided in the core rules of that game. They provide a pretty solid and easy to grasp set of things to do between adventures.