Sunday, I got to run another session of my #Pathfinder #RiseOfTheRunelords campaign for my party. I got to run a full haunted house section that felt like it had the players really invested in the horror of it all. That was a trick, considering it was a sunny Sunday afternoon when we hit that part of the session and the birds were singing out in the yard.

I really love the haunt rules and mechanics in Pathfinder. I'll look to see if there are ways to integrate something like that into the original #Ravenloft module, when I finally get to run it.

It had a very Evil Dead feel for me. I really enjoy getting to really get into the descriptions of all the creepy things and getting to do some eerie voices.

#TTRPG #GMLife

Assuming there are no surprise hiccups tomorrow, I will be starting the last module of my #Pathfinder #RiseOfTheRunelords campaign. I have players who are invested in the story and game, which is fantastic.

But...

my players are also DEEPLY focused on all the mechanical bits, baubles, and toys in the system. All the parts I deeply dislike. I really dislike tons of crunch in my #TTRPG experience.

The campaign was a gift for my wife. She likes high skill rogues. And I have enjoyed running for everyone. I never thought I would ever get this far along.

But all the optimization and research my players love so much means that I'm constantly having to recalibrate encounters to keep them from becoming trivial and boring. It's also a pain to have to remember all the new player powers. One character has a permanent 60' Detect Magic ability up. Another senses traps. Another senses undead.

It can kill the surprise and it's a drain on my motivation, even though we're so close.

Next campaign will be a low magic adventure at lower level for my sanity's sake.

#GMLife

We finished the fifth module in my #Pathfinder #RiseOfTheRunelords game yesterday. I had thought the party would take two weeks to get finished, but instead of fighting their way through the Iron Cages of Lust, they bargained their way through and sent the succubus and her daughters back to the abyss where they belonged... and wanted to go anyway.

That means that next week will be #SessionZero for the original #Ravenloft module using #LightFantasy that emulates #DnD Basic/BX. We'll also be introducing new players to the group as a trial.

It'll be a nice break from dealing with feats and lengthy stat blocks in Pathfinder and act as a tryout for expanding the group for games after we finish our Pathfinder adventure path.

#GMLife #TTRPG

I just finished another #Pathfinder #RiseOfTheRunelords session with the gang. It was hella fun. The players finished exploring the Festering Maze of Sloth and I really got to pull out all the stops about how disgusting it was down in the bathhouse turned sewer. I also managed to get some good rolls in landing damage against my players, which I almost never get to do.

The only thing I don't like about Pathfinder is that there is so much going on with the NPC character sheets that it's easy to miss things. All the extra powers and feats bore me to tears. I'm really looking forward to running a lighter game again. I'm definitely not a fan of crunch. It gets in the way of running a fast, smooth combat as I have to flip between multiple pages of creatures, spells, and the PHB for rules.

It doesn't look like we'll get to #Ravenloft before Halloween this year, which is disappointing but fine. With luck, my players will be okay with an #OSR game, but at this point, I'd settle for #13thAge since it's lighter than Pathfinder and the monster descriptions are tight and powers are well described in easy to find places. It's a much easier game for me to run.

#TTRPG #GMLife

I've been running through #RiseOfTheRunelords with my #Pathfinder group. I feel like they really made a mistake in not giving bosses and sub-bosses more minions to aid them in combat. I've had to learn to make adjustments because my players keep whomping my villains.

Also, the whole ogre module was just... pretty awful. I think someone was working through some things with that one.

I've also reinforced that I prefer lighter, less crunchy systems. It's hard to keep track of all of the feats, powers, and whatnot that players and NPCs have. It makes things a real chore.

Oh, what I wouldn't do for a good #OSR campaign next time.

#TTRPG #GMLife

Another fun #Pathfinder #RiseOfTheRunelords #TTRPG session today. We're making progress running through the dungeons in the Runeforge.

I think we'll be taking a brief break after this to make characters for some #OSR fun with the original #Ravenloft game using #Gurbintroll Games #LightFantasyRPG.

I think we'll have a couple of new players who have only played a little (if any!) TTRPGs. Should be a ton of fun!

#GMLife

Weekend #TTRPG report: we had another great #Pathfinder #RiseOfTheRunelords session. The party found a creative use for the Carrion Compass spell that I let them use as a floating mummy hand that operated like a quest pointer, so they speed ran through yet another dungeon section.

At least they're good about going back through and cleaning up the dregs.

#GMLife

I just finished running my #Pathfinder #TTRPG session. It was a pretty straight forward combat with a dozen relatively low level minions and took pretty much the entire session, around 3 hours or so.

And it was one of the most enjoyable sessions for everyone across the board.

Things were tactically more interesting with more pieces in play. I was able to actually damage everyone and I got to use some spells and I didn't get whomped in 2 rounds, like usual.

The lesson to take is that #RiseOfTheRunelords may have some interesting moments, but I really need to give bosses (more) minions instead of having one big battle against the BBEG. Too often, the module only has you fight one big enemy at the end, and my players work so well together and have such good equipment (most of which they made), they can run roughshod over the adventure. Everyone agreed that this was more challenging and more satisfying for being tougher.

Good lesson to learn.

#GMLife