no spoilers rofl but I'm very excited for what's to come

not only is this gonna be a very pivotal encounter for the paladin re: her personal goal and her belief struggles

but I believe I'll get to introduce an npc that I hope is a possible support anchor for a character I havent been able to give as many hooks as I'd like

and said npc also has some very very relevant info re: the hints up above, which touches on an underlying part of multiple peoples arcs AND the central storyline

also: the most important ramification of all of this big secret

long quiet sigh

okay, maybe I need to be a little more afraid of actually bringing this big plot reveal out after all

we're Back At It Again on the "serves you right for making player backstories central to the plot and the world its in" train

most of the time dming this campaign is very exciting and rewarding but man sometimes I Want to Dead rofl

I've got a clear plan for the many ways the endgame of the main storyline can go, and I never intended rainspire to be a "all the way to level 20" campaign

I've put it off for way in the future after people have more time for development and backstory resolution, but the undermining going on OOC and the fact it just keeps on happening every time I start getting enthused again is kind of getting to make me just dread sessions

I've been kinda itching to do a one shot and a friend who dms for me has mentioned that he doesnt really get a lot of chances to be a player, so maybe I'll just give rainspire a few weeks off after tonight and see if I cant grab some folks for a one shot instead

the only question is if I wanna homebrew or do a prewritten module

putting more time into studying prewritten maps and puzzles and encounters and the like might help me develop that Instinct for balancing my own dungeons, but I admit that I'm still real partial to how much homebrew lets me try to tailor things to the players

maybe I'll just do the same shit I did for rainspire's tutorial quest and just like... basically reskin an existing oneshot

is someone pulling some shit again lmao

just lies down facedown on the floor, deceased

for what its worth i really love how things have been going- I really feel like my bird is big cherished and I appreciate that a lot

feel free to dm me if you need bb (unless its spoilers at which point i am in a glass cage, screaming)

bless you Alex you are a godsend

I GOTCHU FAM

I would die for Ondory without hesitation

my workday is beating me with a broom i could use like, other discussions HAHAH

IM REALLY INVESTED IN THESE CHARACTERS AND I WANT SO MUCH FOR LIKE

their backstories and struggles to be tied intimately into the fate of rainspire and how the party can determine it

and ideally I want those threads to intertwine with other party members and bring them closer together or introduce things to overcome side by side

its just tough when the stuff I've tried to build up keeps getting eroded or picked apart but like I promise I still want these goobers to Flourish

I just think rather than stressing that It Still Hasnt Stopped and trying to rush the conclusion to not have to deal with it anymore

it might be better to just set rainspire down for a bit and come back to it once I'm more steeled to tough it out and like... just cleanse my palette with something short and new

yeah, I don't want you to get burned out and I don't want this to be like. just murdered outright LOL

but its a lot trying to get all of this tied together properly

and like make sure people actually take your hooks LMAO

honestly I felt the campaign was going pretty well in terms of that

valna is set up for significant payoff one way or another on Suffering that shes had stacked on her for a while, ondory has a fresh "this is rapidly becoming a problem" to deal with that I think I can also target another party member with, this thing I'm hinting at would have hit a lot of the party and opened an Avenue for connection and exploration

for another one, ideally

I'm just. very wary of trying to establish and tie things and getting "hm actually fuck that, go cancel your plot for me" AGAIN

mmm im sorry hun ;o; I hope I haven't been the cause of any of that issue

not in the slightest, dear

you've been excellent about accepting when the party has to deal with a dungeon or plot obstacle and sticking to everything you told me about where ondory comes from

you haven't asked me to retcon or undo any of rainspire's storyline lmfao you're absolutely good

mmmmm yeah LOL

puts entire head on u

it's fine to call a hiatus if you're burned out!

I'm not sure what's going on but it sucks when a fun hobby starts to feel like a chore and I hope you're able to resolve it soon :c