Sean Merwin

Next question from DT Norris via our Patreon Discord. I've got a GM scenario creation question about the following. My Rime of the Frostmaiden game is just finishing, pilling their way into taking over the... Spoilers for Chapter 2 of Rime of the Frostmaiden. Give us 10 seconds. Okay, we're talking about taking over the Illithid ship here in Chapter 2 from the It Ascendant. Okay, spoilers off.

Next question from DT Norris via our Patreon Discord. I've got a GM scenario creation question about the following. My Rime of the Frostmaiden game is just finishing, pilling their way into taking over the... Spoilers for Chapter 2 of Rime of the Frostmaiden. Give us 10 seconds. Okay, we're talking about taking over the Illithid ship here in Chapter 2 from the It Ascendant. Okay, spoilers off.

I'd like a time-bounded challenge to get this ship repaired and airborne. With mechanics where there is an overwhelming cold light walker horde approaching, these would overwhelm the ship if they can't get the ship airborne in time. As I'm happy to give them the ship as a feature of the campaign going forward.

I'd like a time-bounded challenge to get this ship repaired and airborne. With mechanics where there is an overwhelming cold light walker horde approaching, these would overwhelm the ship if they can't get the ship airborne in time. As I'm happy to give them the ship as a feature of the campaign going forward.

Any suggestions for adventure templates or gameplay mechanics that would allow for this kind of, quote, get the ship off the ground now, fun and challenging scenario? Unless, of course, the party decides to bail on the ship because they could just run away. Yes. So this is a very astute, very good question that a whole show would not be able to answer if we do it justice. I will start with this.

Any suggestions for adventure templates or gameplay mechanics that would allow for this kind of, quote, get the ship off the ground now, fun and challenging scenario? Unless, of course, the party decides to bail on the ship because they could just run away. Yes. So this is a very astute, very good question that a whole show would not be able to answer if we do it justice. I will start with this.

If you want to do something like that just in an encounter, you're going to want to do lots of playtesting. Let me step back even further. Do you want this or do we want this as we create this encounter to seem like a threat?

If you want to do something like that just in an encounter, you're going to want to do lots of playtesting. Let me step back even further. Do you want this or do we want this as we create this encounter to seem like a threat?

have it be on in the background as you are doing what is a sort of normal encounter, because that's very different than making it an actual threat with mechanics that work in enhancing the threat. So in other words, you could just take a die and you could set it to one. And you could say, you're trying to do blank, and it could be ships, it could be defuse a bomb, it could be whatever.

have it be on in the background as you are doing what is a sort of normal encounter, because that's very different than making it an actual threat with mechanics that work in enhancing the threat. So in other words, you could just take a die and you could set it to one. And you could say, you're trying to do blank, and it could be ships, it could be defuse a bomb, it could be whatever.

And every round you go to two, every three. That gives them the feeling of the threat. But you don't actually have to have any mechanics behind it. And that can get that feeling across beautifully. The players never know that you don't have a set thing in mind. So that's the, I was going to say cheating way, but that's not cheating. That's just good storytelling. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right?

And every round you go to two, every three. That gives them the feeling of the threat. But you don't actually have to have any mechanics behind it. And that can get that feeling across beautifully. The players never know that you don't have a set thing in mind. So that's the, I was going to say cheating way, but that's not cheating. That's just good storytelling. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right?

It's using a prop to get a reaction out of your players. It's the experience. Now, if you actually want to make it a challenge that they could easily lose, that takes balance, that takes time. And usually we call these things clocks or timers. And they can be great. But if they're used in a specific combat encounter, where as the clock ticks, more enemies come, that is much more difficult to do.

It's using a prop to get a reaction out of your players. It's the experience. Now, if you actually want to make it a challenge that they could easily lose, that takes balance, that takes time. And usually we call these things clocks or timers. And they can be great. But if they're used in a specific combat encounter, where as the clock ticks, more enemies come, that is much more difficult to do.

So here's an example. Every tick of this clock, the characters take 1d6 cold damage as it gets colder and colder. Okay. That's very easy to think about. You know that every other, every third, whatever, a set amount of damage is going to be done. Easy to quantify, easy to qualify.

So here's an example. Every tick of this clock, the characters take 1d6 cold damage as it gets colder and colder. Okay. That's very easy to think about. You know that every other, every third, whatever, a set amount of damage is going to be done. Easy to quantify, easy to qualify.

If you say that four zombies arrive every three rounds, that can get much more complicated based on what the characters are having to do because there is big swings in made or missed checks. And adding a monster is much different than adding 1d6 damage. So that's where the sort of playtesting, thinking it through happens.

If you say that four zombies arrive every three rounds, that can get much more complicated based on what the characters are having to do because there is big swings in made or missed checks. And adding a monster is much different than adding 1d6 damage. So that's where the sort of playtesting, thinking it through happens.

And I want to talk about those checks, but I want to give Teos a moment to step in here.

And I want to talk about those checks, but I want to give Teos a moment to step in here.