u/HJWalsh

So... I was working bag check at a convention.

This guy came up, someone I would consider conventionally attractive, and complimented my beard. He kept hanging around, talking to me, and kept offering to help. He seemed pretty nice. After about two hours, he asked if I'd like to go get drinks after my shift ended. I told him I couldn't, and after a few minutes of being quiet, he awkwardly said he had to go and walked away.

It wasn't until I was on my way home that I thought, "Wait, was that guy flirting with me? Did he try to ask me out?"

I've never had someone flirt with me before. I'm both unattractive and asexual. I have absolutely zero social awareness. My partner seems to think he was flirting with me. I don't know, though?

Did I shoot him down? I didn't mean to. I have no experience with this. I'm nerdy and chunky, and I'm aware that I'm not attractive. Is my partner right? I'm so confused.

A lot of people complain about balance. If you scream, "Why can't fighters have nice things?" You'll get a cacophony of mating calls. That, however, is not what this is about.

This is about how ignoring "the details" can cause some balance issues and why enforcing some of them can ultimately help you and why.

* Quantum Spell Components

This is a big one. It's probably the second biggest one. When the DM just allows players to just pay for their spell components out of nowhere

Now, I'm not saying that you can't buy 10 gp worth of incense in pretty much any settlement, but... Did you? If your group runs off into the wilderness and your familiar gets popped and you want to resummon... Did you buy spare incense?

Many DMs will say, "Nah, just spend 10 gold." And I'll tell you that's a mistake. You, as a Wizard, are supposed to plan ahead for consumed spell components, which means preparing how many times you will be able to cast your big spells.

How many 300+ gp diamonds did you bring for revivify? If you run out, you can't just convert 300 gp into a diamond magically. You're going to need to visit a jeweler *and* you may not be able to do that if you're near a small settlement.

The same is true regarding Raise Dead's 500 gp diamond. You need to plan accordingly. This helps make your wizard or cleric think about what they might need before they leave for the Labyrinth of the Really Unpleasant Bad Guy.

"Well," you might say. "I don't want to worry about that."

This can cause balance issues because you're making wizards even more powerful. Then you complain on Reddit that wizards are too powerful. Make your players track expensive spell components. It ultimately is better for the game.

* Encumbrance and Carry Capacity

I'll harp on this one. Tracking carrying capacity helps balance strength martials vs. dex god-stat-ers. In settings where bags of holding are a dime a dozen. It's not an issue. If your party went into Flametomgue the Dragon's lair, knowing how much gold the party can haul out can stop your economy from going out of control.

* Not enough encounters or short rests

D&D is based on resource management.

1. HP

2. HD

3. Long rest resources

4. Short rest resources

5. Ammunition

6. Consumables

Most DMs, even me, will hand wave ammunition. The rest? In older editions of D&D, this was a balance issue. In 2e AD&D movement was abstract, ranged attacks were easier to do, and you usually got to make more attacks than melee: see "Elven machine gunner." In 3.x it had to do with being easier to full attack. In 4th ed... We don't talk about Bruno. In 5.x? This is not really an issue.

HP and HD are all about how far you can go in an adventuring day. In a 1 or 2 encounter day, HD is useless.

The game generally assumes that you'll have 2 short rests per day. This is really minimum 3 encounters. I won't do less than 5 usually. Though your table may vary.

A healthy number of encounters and two short rests are essential to maintaining balance in a campaign. Too few encounters and apellcasters can drop slots like candy. Too few short rests and martials can't use their class abilities often enough and feel weaker.

Managing these encounters and short rests allow for healers to effectively add extra HD by way of healing. Inspiring speeches add phantom hit points. Without short rests or multiple encounters, those things are useless to have or to take.

The number one complaint about balance can be solved through having more encounters and more short rests. Try it before you knock it.

* Athletics or Acrobatics

This is a big one for exploration. The number of times that I've seen an obstacle that requires athletics to bypass where someone says, "Can I use acrobatics?"

The answer should be, "No. Maybe next time, don't dump strength."

Skills matter. Ability scores matter. These are choices, and choices have consequences. They make characters unique, and they make characters get creative. If you can't climb up that wall, you need to either work with your teammates, burn spell slots, or use equipment appropriately to accomplish getting to the top.

Let your weak rogue feel weak. Let your buff fighter feel buff. Let your PCs find ways to overcome their weaknesses. But don't just give success out because you're afraid of adversity.

Anyway, those are my tips for the day, try them, see how they feel.

Hey all,

I'm going way far back, but I'm looking for whatever happened to Casey Kinmont.

She was Doctor Strange's apprentice in the 2009 "Strange: The Doctor is Out" which ended in a cliffhanger with Strange having her soul as she was pulled away. Strange had her soul and said she was still alive and that he would find her

In 2010, she appeared again, this time as a brainwashed minion of Baron Mordo for 2 issues. Her soul was still missing with no clue where it went. Strange had forgotten her because her memory was distracting him (which is a lame excuse) but in order to stop her, Strange collected pieces of his allies' souls to temporarily restore hers. He offered to help her find her true soul, but she refused, stating she could sense it, but Strange needed to focus on a looming threat. She claimed that she could sense it and would travel to it on her own.

Then... Nothing. I can't find any reference to her anywhere past that. Does anyone know what happened to her?