2 things stand out from this session: player absence and the difficulties with duergar.
Player absence is one of the trickiest things to handle in a game in my opinion. When a player is gone for just one session due to illness, etc, it's hard to justify why they disappear or fade into the background. In some games I have had characters pass through traps or mystical portals that eliminate them for a period of time, either by jumping them forward to a new space-time coordinate (conveniently near the party) or routing the party back to the recently missing member.
I find that these absences can end up being longer than expected, which may just be the universe having a sense of humor.
In this case, we had a player absent and also a prepared overlay for our stream (image that takes up the blank space outside our camera views). The solution was to have a 'stand in' for our absent player. I decided that I didn't want them removed from the game for the session. I also thought it would be best for the other players to handle the action at the table. I never really like it when a DM controls both characters and opposition. To me, it feels too artificial. If there were dice to be rolled or decisions to be made that affect the party, I wanted the players to have agency.
There was a lot of fun had with this concept. The players really just let loose and it was our silliest session to date. Players never really want to control multiple characters, especially when one belongs to another player. If something happens or gets misrepresented, they don't want to make their fellow player upset. So we had kind of an absurd, abstract version of the character this session.
Duergar. I love them. I love the myths behind them and find them fascinating. As a person who has only recently started using terrain and minis (less than a year) in games, I also find them terribly frustrating. What other 'monsters' would you use with newer (levels 1-2) players that have 2 different sizes? Trying to find enlarged duergar is ridiculous. So you have medium-sized minis that can turn into large-sized minis? Very frustrating. Even the Pathfinder Pawns, which are my fallback mini option, give you several normal-size duergar and 1 enlarged duergar, which is a lot better than most. In most fights, I imagine the duergar immediately want to enlarge and smash things. So difficult.
Best solution I've found is the wonder of 3d printing. I printed normal-sized duergar, then scaled up 2x and printed the same minis as enlarged duergar. I really liked this option not only for the utility but because I have so much trouble telling what the details are on medium-sized minis printed with supports. Large-sized minis are much easier to clean.
Player absence is one of the trickiest things to handle in a game in my opinion. When a player is gone for just one session due to illness, etc, it's hard to justify why they disappear or fade into the background. In some games I have had characters pass through traps or mystical portals that eliminate them for a period of time, either by jumping them forward to a new space-time coordinate (conveniently near the party) or routing the party back to the recently missing member.
I find that these absences can end up being longer than expected, which may just be the universe having a sense of humor.
In this case, we had a player absent and also a prepared overlay for our stream (image that takes up the blank space outside our camera views). The solution was to have a 'stand in' for our absent player. I decided that I didn't want them removed from the game for the session. I also thought it would be best for the other players to handle the action at the table. I never really like it when a DM controls both characters and opposition. To me, it feels too artificial. If there were dice to be rolled or decisions to be made that affect the party, I wanted the players to have agency.
There was a lot of fun had with this concept. The players really just let loose and it was our silliest session to date. Players never really want to control multiple characters, especially when one belongs to another player. If something happens or gets misrepresented, they don't want to make their fellow player upset. So we had kind of an absurd, abstract version of the character this session.
Duergar. I love them. I love the myths behind them and find them fascinating. As a person who has only recently started using terrain and minis (less than a year) in games, I also find them terribly frustrating. What other 'monsters' would you use with newer (levels 1-2) players that have 2 different sizes? Trying to find enlarged duergar is ridiculous. So you have medium-sized minis that can turn into large-sized minis? Very frustrating. Even the Pathfinder Pawns, which are my fallback mini option, give you several normal-size duergar and 1 enlarged duergar, which is a lot better than most. In most fights, I imagine the duergar immediately want to enlarge and smash things. So difficult.
Best solution I've found is the wonder of 3d printing. I printed normal-sized duergar, then scaled up 2x and printed the same minis as enlarged duergar. I really liked this option not only for the utility but because I have so much trouble telling what the details are on medium-sized minis printed with supports. Large-sized minis are much easier to clean.
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