this post was submitted on 12 Apr 2026
10 points (100.0% liked)
rpg
4758 readers
36 users here now
This community is for meaningful discussions of tabletop/pen & paper RPGs
Rules (wip):
- Do not distribute pirate content
- Do not incite arguments/flamewars/gatekeeping.
- Do not submit video game content unless the game is based on a tabletop RPG property and is newsworthy.
- Image and video links MUST be TTRPG related and should be shared as self posts/text with context or discussion unless they fall under our specific case rules.
- Do not submit posts looking for players, groups or games.
- Do not advertise for livestreams
- Limit Self-promotions. Active members may promote their own content once per week. Crowdfunding posts are limited to one announcement and one reminder across all users.
- Comment respectfully. Refrain from personal attacks and discriminatory (racist, homophobic, transphobic, etc.) comments. Comments deemed abusive may be removed by moderators.
- No Zak S content.
- Off-Topic: Book trade, Boardgames, wargames, video games are generally off-topic.
- No AI-generated content. Discussion of AI generation pertaining to RPGs is explicitly allowed.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I've run a couple games in D&D 5e with mutating cultists. The party fought a bunch of cultists, and most of them had pretty pathetic stat blocks, but sometimes after the party killed one I'd change it out for a tougher monster's stat block and describe how it violently mutated.
Behind the curtain, this is pretty useful because you can always decide when an encounter needs more oomph. The players can never be sure if a weak enemy is really a weak enemy or if they'll become more powerful as a result of trauma. Just like Resident Evil. It's also a technique that's broadly applicable to any RPG system.
I lean on Resident Evil a fair bit when I'm designing games. They've got a lot to teach about dungeon design, like how to use backtracking instead of simply branching paths. I also like how puzzles aren't too clever for the average player, or how they signal that locked doors might be opened not by a key but a key item.