I like to break down ship combat even further. I separate it into above and below deck. I separate them because the overall environment is as different as fighting in a cave and fighting in a forest is.
With regards to the map review (which was great), a river running into the desert, emptying into a small lake that has no outflow, and having the water evaporate away is another option. Real world examples of this are the Dead Sea and the Caspian Sea. Another thing with rivers is that they almost never split in 2 as they head downstream (there are real-world examples of it happening, but it's super niche). When drawing rivers, either start from the sea and draw "up" to the sources (mountains or aquafers), and draw branches going "up" to other sources, or draw small rivers starting from their sources and have them join together as they all flow "down" to the sea. A really big river can fan out into a bunch of streams where it empties into the sea (a river delta), but that happens relatively close to the coastline. Otherwise, don't split one river into two as it flows downstream. Unless you have a fantastical reason for doing so, of course.
Regarding the spell book submerged in water, there is a Spellbook magic item that is okay with water and fire. I'd say go ahead and say that's what the wizard has, yeah. Unless you're playing a gritty game and penalizing everyone's equipment, just let it be.
side kick / apprentices / hangers on tied to the main pcs to fill skill gaps ... my apprentice is controlled by your player, so can even split the party. Needs fairly experienced players though.
Small groups may do better with shorter sessions, because they will potentially chew through content way faster than a big party. As the GM, you're going to have a lot less of the downtime you'd normally get while a big party discusses plans.
Fill the party out with NPCs with their own storylines. Make the NPCs interesting characters that the players can interact with multiple times a session. Then, allow the players to control each NPC in combat. This will cause them to grow more attached to the NPCs and cut down on them sitting around while you do everything in combat. If you don't use follower NPCs, make sure enemies never outnumber your players in combat. It becomes much harder for smaller parties to dig themselves out of holes when they have fewer actions. Finally, shift your mindset. The smaller a group gets, the more the PCs become "the main characters." Usually we're telling the story of the adventuring group. Now, with only 2 PCs, we're telling the story of these 2 characters. Since we're only passing the spotlight between 2 characters, the group can focus on each one more deeply. The entire campaign can pivot around those characters without others feeling left out or overshadowed. Make the characters feel important because it is their story now. Your group isn't the Beatles any more. Now they're John Lennon and Paul McCartney . No, that's still probably a bad example. They're Simon and Garfunkel. Everyone is showing up to see them and nobody else. Personally, I love smaller campaigns. It allows us all to focus deeply on the PCs, NPCs, and the world without much distraction. My advice would still be though to get an additional player, if possible, to further insulate against scheduling issues. Otherwise, good luck with your campaign!
Your hot take was hot garbage. Thinking 1E wasn't great might've been fine until you say 2E was great. Now it just sounds stupid & you don't know what you're talking about. There's almost no difference between the 2. Sounds like you're just trying to be edgy
I love the unedited bits 🤣🤣 Great video though 💪
Um, except the belchhhhh 🤮 lol
I like to break down ship combat even further. I separate it into above and below deck. I separate them because the overall environment is as different as fighting in a cave and fighting in a forest is.
Everytime I am coming up with a new campaign idea, you post one of these GM 911 videos that has exactly what I'm thinking about🤣
literally been working on my nautical campaign when this dropped
With regards to the map review (which was great), a river running into the desert, emptying into a small lake that has no outflow, and having the water evaporate away is another option. Real world examples of this are the Dead Sea and the Caspian Sea.
Another thing with rivers is that they almost never split in 2 as they head downstream (there are real-world examples of it happening, but it's super niche). When drawing rivers, either start from the sea and draw "up" to the sources (mountains or aquafers), and draw branches going "up" to other sources, or draw small rivers starting from their sources and have them join together as they all flow "down" to the sea. A really big river can fan out into a bunch of streams where it empties into the sea (a river delta), but that happens relatively close to the coastline. Otherwise, don't split one river into two as it flows downstream.
Unless you have a fantastical reason for doing so, of course.
Thank you for answering my question, great advice and very helpful!
Great content thank you for the long-form talk, the whiteboard is a great tool!
Thank you for answering my question! Loved the video!
Brazil mentioned 🇧🇷
This was an excellent video. ❤
Thxx for responding me !!!!
Great tips, i hope it helps me
city states can have names from different languages because they were settled by different groups of people.
Regarding the spell book submerged in water, there is a Spellbook magic item that is okay with water and fire. I'd say go ahead and say that's what the wizard has, yeah. Unless you're playing a gritty game and penalizing everyone's equipment, just let it be.
the money section will stick with me forever, i now see 1000gp as 10years wages, a lifes savings
You mentioned playing something other than 5e. What other TTRPGs do you enjoy?
More west marches content please
Super video
Hey,
My dnd group just boiled down to 2 Players (plus me as dm) due to scheduling. Any Tips for really small groups?
side kick / apprentices / hangers on tied to the main pcs to fill skill gaps ... my apprentice is controlled by your player, so can even split the party. Needs fairly experienced players though.
Small groups may do better with shorter sessions, because they will potentially chew through content way faster than a big party. As the GM, you're going to have a lot less of the downtime you'd normally get while a big party discusses plans.
Fill the party out with NPCs with their own storylines. Make the NPCs interesting characters that the players can interact with multiple times a session. Then, allow the players to control each NPC in combat. This will cause them to grow more attached to the NPCs and cut down on them sitting around while you do everything in combat.
If you don't use follower NPCs, make sure enemies never outnumber your players in combat. It becomes much harder for smaller parties to dig themselves out of holes when they have fewer actions.
Finally, shift your mindset. The smaller a group gets, the more the PCs become "the main characters." Usually we're telling the story of the adventuring group. Now, with only 2 PCs, we're telling the story of these 2 characters. Since we're only passing the spotlight between 2 characters, the group can focus on each one more deeply. The entire campaign can pivot around those characters without others feeling left out or overshadowed. Make the characters feel important because it is their story now. Your group isn't the Beatles any more. Now they're John Lennon and Paul McCartney . No, that's still probably a bad example. They're Simon and Garfunkel. Everyone is showing up to see them and nobody else.
Personally, I love smaller campaigns. It allows us all to focus deeply on the PCs, NPCs, and the world without much distraction. My advice would still be though to get an additional player, if possible, to further insulate against scheduling issues. Otherwise, good luck with your campaign!
I don’t know why it’s never suggested, but maybe the two players could run 2 pc’s?
Your hot take was hot garbage.
Thinking 1E wasn't great might've been fine until you say 2E was great.
Now it just sounds stupid & you don't know what you're talking about.
There's almost no difference between the 2. Sounds like you're just trying to be edgy