dnd-discussion

[snow agate]

are the gods landlocked???

[old sluice]

Yet people still pray

[valid geyser]

I mean isn’t st cuthbert based on a real dude

[snow agate]

"sorry i know im a god but i cant leave my town and also i wont answer your prayers, my temples and organizations also don't change the world, but you should care about me though for some reason"

[glad barn]

0th Edition Clerics could walk on water man, they tried a lot of weird stuff back in the day

[snow zephyr]

Clerics also get divine intervention

[lavish flame]

We dealt with a bunch of temples in our Tyranny of Dragons game. That might've just been because we were all religious PCs tho

[valid geyser]

I do also think that since for gameplay purposes any god is equally as capable of bestowing clerics power, it does make minor gods seem less limited

As compared to 3.5 where less powerful gods could only have clerics up to a certain level

[old sluice]

I do not remember that in the 3.5 rules. Perhaps in the 2nd edition rules?

[snow zephyr]

That and a sufficiently powerful cleric should be converting people either intentionally or unintentionally as they go

[snow zephyr]

I think it's 2e, they had a lot of that sort of thing in there

[snow agate]

if all it takes to worship someone is for them to have followers that actually do something, that is a strong discredit to all the others

thats like a bare minimum, though you're totally right

[valid geyser]

yeah i mightve confused one of those two.

[clear lark]

Probably 2e, because in 1e Clerics got their prayers through meditation up to 4th level and after that they were given directly by their god

[valid geyser]

yeah its probably somewhere in the priest handbook

[snow zephyr]

Someone who's able to give rain to a drought-choked region on command, someone who can revive someone even from death, these are things that will convince someone very well. And yes, the whole point is to either get someone invested in a single god or pantheon. Your purpose as a cleric is to your God and getting them worshippers, which also happens to grow their power because ao decided that he was tired of the gods ignoring their worshippers

[old sluice]

Moreover, people worship every god relevant to the situation

[snow zephyr]

Your goal is to discredit all other religions

[snow agate]

this logic means that people will worship anyone with power. this means that, in effect, the other gods and their followers are either absent or weak, and thus (irrelevant). otherwise they'd be going off of other standards than just "doing something"

[old sluice]

Everyone gives an offering to Umberlee before sea travel. Everyone gives praise to Lathander on the summer solstice. Everyone prays to Talona to spare their sick child

[crimson gulch]

i mean, some one may have that goal, but thats not going to be universal

[old sluice]

And yeah, everyone prays Auril to have mercy. Everyone prays to calm Talos during storms.

[glad barn]

I think 3.x did that with monster gods.

But I might just be thinking of 2e revised >_>

[lethal otter]

Good eavening. How are yall

[snow zephyr]

There's also the matter of getting a guaranteed afterlife when you die (barring liches and the sort)

[snow agate]

you mean like all gods offer?

[snow zephyr]

Base 2e

[snow agate]

im just saying, the bar for worship is below the floorboards

[glad barn]

I mean what was the last iteration of it before it wasnt a thing anymore.

I dont think 4e had gods vary the cleric power cap.

[snow zephyr]

Yes, but the god of soggy mops isn't gonna save your dying child

[tranquil mango]

Good day fellow adventures! Hope you are all well today 😀 which channel would I be able to find more information on playing or running a campaign? Specifically with the fact that I have no vision in mind. I currently use DND beyond and I am curious as to what accessibility features are available.

[old sluice]

Yes. The bar for worship is low. What's your point?

[snow agate]

why not? all gods can offer raise dead to their followers

[snow zephyr]

#dm-discussion

[old sluice]

No, clerics do that.

[glad barn]

Im more curious how one became the god of soggy mops.

[tranquil mango]

I worded that improperly, 🤷 I am in fact Blind, 🕶️ so everything has to be run using screen readers and voiceover

[snow agate]

and all gods have clerics

[glad barn]

Are dry mops anathema?

[old sluice]

Not necessarily actually

[snow zephyr]

A drunk bet with AO and a lot of paperwork

[snow agate]

irrelevant god if it has no clerics tbh

[glad barn]

All gods have worshippers. They could be druids or warlocks or clerics or even martials.

[old sluice]

Irrelevant to what?

[snow agate]

the world.

[snow zephyr]

That's how we get goolocks

[glad barn]

Like, there's feywild gods with mostly druids, dryads and naiads as 'powerful worshippers'

[clear lark]

They do if they want to use some of the Cleric's Class abilities.

[glad barn]

They can still crush a Helm party.

[old sluice]

Very few things are relevant to the world. The gods of romantic love and family are irrelevant to the world for example

[glad barn]

Aphrodite about to curse someone.

[old sluice]

Yet they still are likely the most popular

[snow agate]

thats not a good thing 😭 idk why you're defending that

[snow zephyr]

The elven pantheon and mystra are the big gods for plot relevance

[old sluice]

It's not a bad thing either. It's a neutral thing. And I don't "defend" anything

[glad barn]

Rise of the Dark Seldarine, Corellon is a Trash Fire. -This message paid for by the Araushnee League.

[clear lark]

Aphrodite is the weakest of the gods. She was wounded by a mortal and went running to Ares

[snow agate]

arguing not because you think it has value but just to argue, ok nevermind then ill move on

[glad barn]

Aphrodite caused like 8 wars.

[snow zephyr]

The fall of lolth, the drow deserved it-this message paid for by the golden elves

[old sluice]

No? I am trying to understand your point. You are under a vast amount of misconceptions about divinity and religion, both in the context of D&D and real life

[glad barn]

Corellon? More like Supplementllon.

[snow zephyr]

Lolth? more like lol.

[astral stone]

How do I get into this game and like well start playing ? Idk where to start

[snow zephyr]

#dnd-newcomers

[glad barn]

Makes sense why they call them high elves

You gotta be.

[snow zephyr]

Imagine being named traitor-o and wanting people to take you seriously

[old sluice]

So: Why do people worship? Community is the main reason. Because it gives them an impression of control. So yes, the bar for worship is low.

[crimson gulch]

we have channels here where folks are looking for players https://discord.com/channels/516367331358801950/1070720656917938227 best thing is to find a game that accepts new players

[old sluice]

That is the point. The bar for worship has always been low.

[snow agate]

sure. i would worship a god if their actions matter, they are relevant in my life, and their followers are people i care about. I have no reason to worship a god otherwise. The prior statements of "the gods of X are irrelevant to the world" or "a sufficiently powerful cleric will convert people intentionally or unintentionally", inherently imply that the gods are so absent from peoples actual lives that when a priest shows up and actually does something, its a huge event, because the gods never cared or affected their lives until such a moment

[glad barn]

Yeah, it'd be much better to be called The People lol >_>

[crimson gulch]

i mean in dnd, the gods and their miracles are a fact of life

[snow zephyr]

That and the whole demon magic thing

[glad barn]

Hey, anything is better than giving up the Sword Coast to humans after clearing out the Orcs >_>

If Corellon had a mini it'd be the only one with knees that bend.

[old sluice]

You would. Have you considered the possibility that, to quote Fred Rogers, you are the only person who is like you?

[snow zephyr]

Hey, don't miss the forest for the trees. I know it's been a few millennia since they've seen one, but still

[glad barn]

Meanwhile, from the Moonshae Isles "What is their problem.."

[old sluice]

And yes actually. For example, D&D fiction tells us that it is relatively common for a divine avatar to appear in a temple to bless a festival or stuff like that

[snow agate]

thats true, im the only person who worships based on if I care about what the religion does. im the only one. never has it happened before

[valid geyser]

I'll also say that for published settings, the settings don't exist to tell one story, they exist to tell a near infinite number, so i think that's why there are so many specific gods
i think it's reasonable to complain about it feeling disconnected from real religion or feeling unfocused. But it is just part of being a kitchen sink
also its for the players, too. But I mentioned that already

[snow zephyr]

Oh no steppes druid, my coin purse alerted the centaurs to my vast wealth and now I'm being chased by bandits

[old sluice]

Sarcasm is unbecoming of you. Try to understand that it is not about what it does. It is about the community, the rituals, the belonging, the identity. And yes, also the miracles

[snow agate]

sorry! im the only one who thinks like me! I'm just agreeing with your statement about it

[snow zephyr]

In a world where gods are real and perform documentable miracles, it's foolish to be an atheist

[glad barn]

Meanwhile the Avariel "You think anyone remembers us?" "C'aawww" "Shut up, Ladriel"

[crimson gulch]

thats one reason why i like the Exandria Setting, 20 gods and thats your lot, it hasent gotten bloated like Forgotten realms

[snow zephyr]

Unless it's dark sun, then you're praying they don't see you

[valid geyser]

like, i think comparing the pathfinder setting. That is the biggest kitchen sink to ever kitchen sink. There's gunslinging cowboy country inbetween the warring arcane-ocracy and the undead ruled country.
That setting has just a billion gods for player options, The most popular I've seen clerics and paladins pick isnt one of the "main 20" gods, but rather ragathiel, a niche archangel whose tenets are pretty basic revenge and destroying evil

[old sluice]

Not necessarily. One can simply not really care about the gods. The gods exist, so what? My neighbour also does and I ignore him

[snow zephyr]

I may be conflating agnostic with atheist

[old sluice]

Or we may have used to different definitions of atheism. Agnosticism is actually the impossible position

There is no doubt that gods exist. But to be an atheist, in the relatively old sense of the word, does not require denying their existence

[snow zephyr]

"I don't know if the interstate freeway system exists"

[crimson gulch]

there is a notable faction in planescape the Athar Null who dont think the gods are gods, but they are real and just powerfull wizards and other spellcasters but the titel of god is not warrented, thats fun

[snow agate]

I agree with this observation, though I'll also lend some credence to PF, in that the gods at least affect the area they're in. Asmodeus and Zon-Kuthon, most notably, have their own entire species of divine minions and entire theocracies

[astral stone]

Is there any faster way too know if they accept new players or do I just gotta read through every one ?

[snow zephyr]

Dude and/or dudette, devils exist within the material plane. They're rare, but they do operate at fairly high levels

[crimson gulch]

yeah you pretty much gotta read every one, there are other places to find games to play in too such as roll 20, reddit, facebook groups and Start Playing

[glad barn]

Yeah, I do like having creatures that are as powerful as the gods.

[valid geyser]

yeah i think it at least tries to deal with god-bloat by just outright saying which gods are the big boy important ones, and the rest are usually just demon lords, archangels, or other planar beings.
At least if we focus on the inner sea area, go to the other side of the world and there's a pretty different pantheon

[snow agate]

yeah agreed

[old sluice]

I honestly don't understand this. They just don't use the word "god"? That's strange. The gods are gods because the definition of the word is that it's them. You can deny they're as powerful as they claim, but you can't deny they're gods. It's like denying that you are Urizt

[glad barn]

Like my Leviathan or my Jormungandr don't need to be 'gods' or 'worshipped' to be able to crack Toril in half.

[crimson gulch]

yeah its super fun, planescape has a lot of weird philosophy

[marble lion]

unless they believe in a being above them who they do view as gods. then i could see that working. i get your point though

[valid geyser]

and i think what urizt said about exandria is in my mind because iirc the exandria pantheon is semi-inspired from when they played pf1e. I'm pretty sure one of them is just sarenrae

[old sluice]

I would argue that it's stupid philosophy but I kinda hate Planescape

[snow zephyr]

Tyranids brain engaged

[glad barn]

Yeah. Titans too. I also love having at least one God Machine

[crimson gulch]

yeah its the 4e dawn war panthion plus some Pathfinder

[glad barn]

Not to mention the Mother Ooze.

[snow zephyr]

There used to be a canon golem that was colossal

[crimson gulch]

still is, the collosus

[glad barn]

Yeah. I think there was also a living moon.

[snow zephyr]

Seige golem, had a defensive anti-magic zone

Sorry, offensive anti-magic zone

[snow agate]

oh! the gods also generally promote specific causes. abadar is nationbuilding and prosperity, asmodeus is law and authority, cayden is freedom and revelry, iomedae is honor and purity, erastil is humility and traditionalism, etc etc

[glad barn]

My favorite play in the NFL

[snow agate]

and they have factions and minions that actually do stuff to engage with this, which i really like

[glad barn]

Hm. I should make something like Bloodbowl for my 5e.

I reaaally like Blood Bowl. Lol.

[snow zephyr]

You're thinking the NBA, but they never really figured out how to stop magic

[glad barn]

That's a joke upgrade, cheers, lol.

[old sluice]

That was actually how they made their core pantheon for Golarion. One god for every alignment, and a philosophy and dogma about that alignment

[valid geyser]

yeah i think just as a setting pathfinder's is one i don't particularly love but I understand the reasons they choose to do specific things, and I can respect that it's a kitchen sink in order to have the biggest possibility of stuff for players to do/be

[snow agate]

valid

[valid geyser]

and i just think the adventures they make are good, which helps

[glad barn]

PF 1 had a lot of really awful lore.

[crimson gulch]

kitchen sink is a valid choice, its worked great for dnd (i have never picked up anything pathfinder)

[glad barn]

But it also had a lot of neat stuff, and the APs were dope.

[snow agate]

i dont feel much about the setting as a whole, i just think they handled theology and planes pretty well

[snow zephyr]

There's also a draconic pantheon that's directly responsible for a bunch of stuff on toril. And also mystra let someone make a desert

[old sluice]

To anyone curious: Do not read the origin story of dragons in PF1.

[valid geyser]

yeah kitchen sink settings are often the default for a reason, there's just the widest variety of stuff

[glad barn]

Also dont read the original Rise of the Runelords lol

[valid geyser]

whereas a smaller and more focused setting usually has a story to tell

[snow zephyr]

Take 40k, there's only about a dozen or so planets

[glad barn]

I think MMOs are an interesting case study in this.

Just listing the zones in Warcraft is like a 15 page document.

[snow zephyr]

The blood plague

[glad barn]

Don't ask me how I know >_>

[valid geyser]

my mind is thinking about star wars during the expanded universe days versus modern star wars

lots of people complain that the star wars galaxy feels a lot smaller since we see the same people and planets a lot. It's hard to feel like the story is in the middle of a larger galaxy of stories when thrawn is in all of them

[glad barn]

SWTOR actually feels like Mass Effect in that it has the sense of being a massive galaxy as opposed to what it actually is which is a mall of corridors

[snow zephyr]

Modern star wars is about retaining Disney copyright more focused stories

[valid geyser]

it is also just a thing that happens when fictional universes last a long time and have a big continuity thats hard to break from

[old sluice]

It's simpler than that. The Star Wars galaxy is small because those are not planets. When Luke is told "go to Dagobah and meet Yoda", he finds Yoda immediately. In 40k, finding one person on a planet would require years, if not decades. Because 40k planets are written to be planets. Star Wars planets are cities. Dagobah is not a planet. It can be replaced with one swamp in Florida.

[glad barn]

Star Wars is an amusement park. 40k is a safari.

[old sluice]

The entire story of Star Wars could be scaled down to take place on the continental US and nothing would change

[glad barn]

But thats the difference in my mind between Space Opera and just straight up Sci Fi

[snow zephyr]

Star wars is a trailer park saga, and 40k is a drunken ramble, D&D is an Adderall fugue spent in a pile of magic the gathering cards

[glad barn]

World of Darkness in a straight to TV detective movie.

That comes on at 3 AM. On the shopping network.

[ripe pilot]

Hello!

[snow zephyr]

World of darkness is Supernatural fanfic

[glad barn]

Supernatural is WoD fanfic >(

[ripe pilot]

Can someone help me make a great hexblade warlock build?

[snow zephyr]

And then there's wraith the oblivion a.k.a. depression the roleplaying

[glad barn]

#optimization is a decent place to ask for build advice if that's what you mean by great build.

[old sluice]

#optimization

Now I have one big problem with the gods of D&D. What do they do? Mystra does maintenance work on the Weave, sure. Talos causes storms, alright. But what does Lathander actually do?

He's the god of the sun, but what does it mean? He doesn't drive the sun chariot, the sun in FR is like ours. A ball of gases the planets orbit around

[glad barn]

Uses the believers to make change in the path they believe to be for the better.

Which clashes with other gods, etc.

[valid geyser]

maybe he helps people give birth safely

I dont know if gods inherently need a job to do, besides possibly answering prayers

[uncut zenith]

Technically Amaunthor is the god of the sun. Lathander is the god of the dawn and renewal.

(Hence my previous point about some gods having too much overlap)

[old sluice]

OK so what does the god of the dawn do?

Dawn doesn't require a god to happen. The planet orbits the sun.

[valid geyser]

i mean hes more than just the god of the dawn. His portfolio is more philosophical than anything. Mostly stuff related to beginnings and renewal

[glad barn]

Apollo pulls the sun. Remember, this isnt a heliocentric gravitational model. Its either a tree, a bunch of spheres or this wonky hourglass

[old sluice]

OK. So what does he do?

[uncut zenith]

When the folk of Faerûn gaze at the pastel hues of the morning sky, they thank Lathander. He is a god of dawn and the potential that comes with new beginnings. Spring, birth, youth, creativity, and renewal fall under his domain.

[old sluice]

I get Mystra. The Weave requires constant supervision and maintenance

[old sluice]

Ok so what does he actually do?

[glad barn]

Inspiration. Like the greek muses. Along with fertility, good birth, growth among the young, fertility of the land.

Like a passive druid.

Deities have magic that resonates at a regional or planar level.

[valid geyser]

do gods need a thing to do?

[old sluice]

So he... Sends magical vibes to inspire people and give energy to plants? Okay, sure, I can accept that

[marble lion]

isnt he also defending this?

[glad barn]

It isn't "I make 3 tons of wheat a week" He can cause an entire ecosystem to bloom though

Lathander is actually a trashfire, but he does have a domain.

[marble lion]

if there was something to go against his domains, he would be involved in its protection

[glad barn]

Lathander lost a war trying to make everything his domain lol. >_>

[old sluice]

Yes and no. You can certainly have an unemployed god, the trust fund baby of another god, who does nothing all day. But that guy wouldn't be called the god "of" something

[marble lion]

gods have a lot to do with granting power and upholding concepts

its not so much about doing something themselves although iirc they are incredibly powerful spellcasters so if they ever had to, they could

[valid geyser]

yeah i think especially if the gods portfolio is more conceptual in nature, they dont really need to have a part of the world to keep running.

[marble lion]

stuff like "patron of births" is not just a symbolical thing

it would mean to me that the entire fortune of births is partially supported by him

[valid geyser]

Like, what does athena do?

[glad barn]

Makes Odysseus do increasingly dumber shit

[rough basalt]

Ye there's just a lot of overlap when it comes to faerun deities

And that's after killing a crapload of them.

[glad barn]

But also was a war goddess, worship including things like military discipline, sacrifice and martial training.

And often guided generals and warriors to victory through tactical advice

[valid geyser]

pretty much, yeah. Their role is more about either getting people to do stuff or guiding/assisting people who may ask for their help in some way

[glad barn]

If you look at things like the Iliad and the Odyssey, you see gods of overlapping domains at odds with each other.

Like Wind and Ocean and Sky and War.

Same with rivalries in norse myth. From memory, I think egyptian myth they usually just stick to their own domain.

[rough basalt]

Like Selunes portfolios covers so many broad things from stars, navigating, to wifemaxxing.

[glad barn]

But I dont know that much about Egyptian myth beyond the top level stuff.

Planeshift had a few Egypt inspired things though, in Amon-Khet

Like a half-Jackal race and hawk avens and whatnot.

I think that how much deities are at odds with each other or the world is a dial. You only turn it up if its a focus of the story, otherwise it just kind of exists in the background noise.

[rough basalt]

Ye some deities despise each other but doesn't really mean they're always battling

[glad barn]

Like half the Feywild courts.

Though I usually have the Summer court and Winter court at each other's throats for some reason.

[rough basalt]

Lolth takes breaks from arguing with her ex-husband to torture her people as a vacation relaxation.

[glad barn]

If he'd just let one assassination take this whole thing could be smoothed over.

For a high eladrin, kind of a baby about dying.

[rough basalt]

Like Bane probably spends more time screwing around with authority circles than he does battling Torm or dealing with Cyric.

Since Cyric is usually in detention

[glad barn]

Yeah, and its like playing a multiplayer chess game with 50,000 pieces against 200 people.

There's so much going on in the domain of a deity. It's meant to be kind of... mystical I guess in scope

[rough basalt]

Yeah Faerun gods rarely upfront duke it out.

[glad barn]

Not since Hasbro took over >_>

Err, I mean, Spellplague cough

[rough basalt]

Well I'd imagine it's like a MAD situation for a lot of them

[glad barn]

I actually think if they just tried a tiny tiny little new setting, they'd have so much more freedom to make cool stuff.

Without having to dance around all these weird damned if you do damned if you don't lore scenarios

[rough basalt]

I've been enjoying running in my own setting

Tho I'm looking forward to running an FR game at some point.

[glad barn]

Yeah, I love running my own stuff for sure.

But its also neat to see players who havent been to Faerun proper experiencing it?

[valid geyser]

yeah i think that's why i like ravnica and theros. They are relatively small settings in scope. They feel like a complete package

[glad barn]

Like, its one thing to look at a map of the Sword Coast, but to actually go from Baldur's Gate, towards Waterdeep and the Zhentarim and beholder mafia and the boats and the commerce through to Neverwinter, the evergreen with the mage towers and into the myre of dead men north towards Luskan, pirate heaven, gateway to Icewind Dale, the last bastion before the frozen north, ten towns by the spine of the world. Just like. It's fun

That's just a few cities on a coast, really. But it's a familiar thing to a lot of people.

Or if someone hasnt been to the Moonshae Isles, or dealt with a desert D&D with purple worms and thri kreen and red wizards, or hasn't been to the wild lands, or explored the demiplanes and elementals, or gone to the Beastlands or Mechanus or Sigil or whatever.

[rough basalt]

I've rarely gone to other planes

[glad barn]

I always loved the transitional planes because they felt so alien. Plane of Salt and Plane of Mud in particular.

[flint ledge]

Okay so I have a question, why can you attack invisible enemies? While I suppose I get smell or something similar but strictly speaking someone could just attack someone they don't even see? That's at least what I found in the rulebooks on it.

[glad barn]

Plus running the four elemental planes gives you a chance for some Zelda-level dungeon theming >_>

[rough basalt]

Cause if you couldn't that'd make invisibility unstoppable.

[glad barn]

Youre at a disadvantage to do so, but a full sweep with a battle axe is still going to catch you most of th etime.

[lavish flame]

You mostly can't

You have to choose where you want to hit, whether or not the enemy is actually there

[glad barn]

Its a 6 second time shift each turn from where you where invisible to where you werent, so its not like you can cover a huge distance in the same time

[clear lark]

You can attack an unseen target with disadvantage, while they get advantage on you. But if it is the invisible spell, then they are visible after they attack anyway.

[glad barn]

Its like that game where one person gets a blindfold and a pillow and everyone else tries to avoid getting hit

[lavish flame]

You have disadvantage when trying to hit, but you also just don't know where they enemy is. The disadvantage assumes your swipe could land and hurt the enemy

If you attack where an enemy isn't, you just miss

[flint ledge]

Yes I know that but in the scenario where for example someone tries to shoot someone invisible with like a bow it seems a little ridiculous to just have disadvantage given the target could move about anywhere with their movement

And I said bow twice nvm

[clear lark]

Your miss is part of the disadvantage. It's all included

[lavish flame]

A person with a bow would have to choose the space they think the enemy is in, then roll with disadvantage to see if they hit. If they don't target where the enemy is, then they miss. If they guess where the enemy is, but don't hit, they miss. Its not easy to hit invisible enemies.

[flint ledge]

Okay so you need to target the space where you think an enemy is and then make an attack with disadvantage?

[umbral girder]

Changing that tomorrow it seems

[lavish flame]

yeah

[rough basalt]

Yep

[still plover]

If they're hidden, which an invisible creature can be in the open.

If they haven't taken the Hide action you can still locate them "on the map". Either way, disadvantage.

[rough basalt]

Barovias the only place I've gone outside the material as a player

[flint ledge]

I mean I don't quite get the point of an invisible creature taking the hide action on top of going invisible that seems redundant to me

[inner silo]

Two shields war caster cleric

[clear lark]

It doesn't matter if you use a bow or sword, if you miss an invisible target, then they weren't in the spot you thought they were.

[flint ledge]

Yes I got that, thank you.

[clear lark]

np

Also if you have someone who can see invisible targets, they can take the hide action to further conceal themselves.

provided the cover is there

[old sluice]

Imagine taking the hide action as taking a few seconds to be immobile and making no noise and leaving no footprints through which you may be found or your position extrapolated.

[nova trellis]

A topic I wanna talk about: I feel players and even DMs often times write characters defined by trauma as opposed to being shaped by it. People have a full spectrum of emotions and folks I noticed very much linger on the worst parts of a characters life. And all decisions are based on that.

[rose wedge]

Yeah that's a bit of a trap. Not every player is a writer.

My rogue isn't traumatized. She's pissed.

[old sluice]

Yes. But characters are naturally less complex than people. All fiction, to different degree, ignores the nuances of a person

[marble lion]

if someone wants to make a character concept, they wont spend half the session showing you just how normal and a regular person someone is. they will show you the parts that are different.
not everyone of course

but it is definitely a natural reaction to the limited exposure dnd offers at most tables

[nova trellis]

Which is TOTALLY fine. I dont expect everyone to have characters with all nuances stapled onto them. BUT, theres a point in which a character becomes a bit too one note that RP with them is a bit stagnant or even worse. When that character has their character arc and they overcome that trauma. They then fade into the background like some Dragon Ball character

[marble lion]

i fully agree

[still plover]

The most interesting part of a character's life should be the adventure ahead, not their backstory.

[keen idol]

Look at Batman or the Punisher. Their origins are defined by their trauma. It obsessed them. Even when they get vengeance against the original villain, they are dedicated to preventing trauma to other victims. The story goes on.

[glad barn]

Romeo and Juliet were pretty one note.

The setup was just "Last name different, thats bad" and youre off to the races.

Thing is what you do with that once the scene starts.

Do you say "Hey what's up fellas, anyone seen any montagues" or do you say "Deny thy father and refuse thy name"

[jagged vigil]

I believe in this pretty thoroughly. D&D takes place in a medieval fantasy, look at medieval backgrounds. You lived on X person's land. You twisted rope for a living. You started showing talent in Y. Eventually, you hit level one when Z dangerous thing happened and you bravely were present. Now you travel for a living, stripping tombs of their gold and monsters of their lives

[uncut zenith]

D&D isn’t all that medieval

[marble lion]

selling is forbidden here

[glad barn]

Closer to Renaissance since 3rd, yeah

Since 2nd really. Musketeers being all the rage. And every Rapier wielding Bard.

Though cannons have been a thing since Chainmail

[still plover]

Ah, they had rope in the Renaissance.

[jagged vigil]

Yes, the Guild did not permit this sale. Be prepared for the weight of the law!

[lavish flame]

I think the principle still applies tho. "You did something mostly mundane until adventure called"

[glad barn]

I dont even like the idea of commoners having coins much lol

[nova trellis]

"No, no, I almost died! This all too much for me!" The player was happily curbstomping enemy guards and even banished one of them. Was a tiny bit bloodied.

[proven plume]

Yo, one of the campaigns I’m in is meant to be roleplay heavy, and we have the occasional good moments but usually it’s when we’ve completely stopped what we’re doing just to talk to each other. How do you guys generally like incorporate roleplay into like the actual game

[still plover]

It's theme park medievalism, but anyway.

[glad barn]

Usually try to squeeze in conversations during lulls as you can when there's no action going, but a party debate is a big scene in the game too.

[uncut zenith]

Yeah it’s medieval via verisimilitude

[jagged vigil]

My players get PISSED when common folk or even smaller merchant class don't have change for a gold

[glad barn]

"And my axe" type moments come up during those, and are worth having.

[uncut zenith]

Meaning it’s not actually medieval, it’s just what people generally think medieval means

[glad barn]

Whats funny is how many people go to Ren Faire and think Medieval. The Renaissance Festival.

[still plover]

Yes? Sometimes it's talking, sometimes it's throwing dice. Be a bit boring if it was all rolling numbers until bad monster fall down, take loot.

[uncut zenith]

Mind you, I may just be leaning into semantics. Which isn’t my intent, but I’m running off of 2 hours of sleep, so please bear with me

[proven plume]

Yeah I agree with this, what I’m saying is outside of the moments where we literally stop and talk we don’t really roleplay, it’s a lot more video-gameesquey which I don’t think is what we’re going for

[still plover]

You made a fair point.

[proven plume]

Alr I’ll keep this in mind

[glad barn]

One thing we do at my table is make a hand signal when we're out of character? It helps to kind of be mindful of meta-talking

But that's just some LARP techniques that may not fit every table

[vale sage]

can someone help me create banjo and kazooie as characters?

[proven plume]

Yeah, I haven’t been able to find in person games so I play online

[still plover]

#character-discussion might.

[nova trellis]

I know my character and I simply talk normally with occasional references or topics from character sheet.

[glad barn]

Or #homebrew depending on how wild youre getting with it

[still plover]

Yell at each other during a combat. Act like you're passing instructions for things you're doing anyway, congratulate good hits, taunt the enemy.

[proven plume]

Ic, ngl getting more in character and reacting and acting and talking as my character would might be a good one

[lavish flame]

Whilst traveling (doing exploration) your characters can chat about anything. We usually talk about whatever we are worried about in the journey going forward. In combat, you can communicate with your allies. We like to coordinate actions in combat, we ask questions to each other and talk about what we want to do. This is all roleplaying.

[proven plume]

Ic ic

[vale sage]

thank you

[harsh hollow]

Out of curiosity, did people who ordered the bundle get the Lorwyn book already?

[vapid berry]

Hello!

[pliant crow]

guys, can i ask a question about high level paladins? ^^:
can high level paladins get drunk or do their special features prevent alcohol poisoning? :v

[lavish flame]

Nah, Lorwyn is out in a week or something

[keen idol]

Most straightforward answer: Improv your character in the current situation. There are whole college courses on this, and many ways to do it. So no simple answers but practice to see what works?

[harsh hollow]

It releases on the 18th I thought.

[lavish flame]

Oh shoot, time keeps on slippin

[sonic quiver]

ye, lorwyn releases tomorrrow

[lavish flame]

regardless, I don't have it yet so I assume it isn't live yet

[nova trellis]

My character likes stories and just learned the fly spell. Its me and one other character, we need to go somewhere fast. She has a bit of a naive stint but is practical in how to use her spells. I cast flight on my team member and go on there back. My character then spouts "Forward mighty steed!" It'll be cost effective just casting the spell on them while they carrying me(that pragmatic side) while that naive and story loving personality has my character treating the situation like a storybook.

[vapid berry]

What is lorwyn? I think I've hear it before but I'm not sure

[harsh hollow]

Gotcha. I'm not even sure if we're supposed to ask when it's in pre release but I was curious what the other species in it was.

[uncut zenith]

Lorwyn-Shadowmoor is a MTG fey setting that’s being adapted for 5E

[sonic quiver]

This article explains it better than I actually can as far as the product is concerned

[vapid berry]

Ahhhhhhhh

[harsh hollow]

I've heard it's a MTG setting.

[vapid berry]

Thanks! I haven't had the money to buy more books so I haven't kepted up

[lavish flame]

Do we know the hour its going live? Safe to assume Midnight PST?

[uncut zenith]

I’d assume around noon EST, given their track record

[obsidian plume]

Why is it impossible to find a group to play with

[rough basalt]

Supply and demand

[glass granite]

Beautifully put

[hollow stone]

hey what's the most healing warlock subclass? i was gonna go celestial but that was a bit too flashy for the character's ball

[rough basalt]

Celestial is the healing Warlock subclass

[lavish flame]

its Celestial

[hollow stone]

ah

[lavish flame]

Celestial is the only Warlock sub that gets healing at all iirc

[glass granite]

Celestial definitely

[rose wedge]

There's always like one little problem on every ad posting. Time, theme, restrictions.

[fossil frigate]

is there any short campaign for a newbie ?

[lavish flame]

maybe Archfey and maybe Genie?

[hollow stone]

well it looks like the spooky medic is gonna be launching spheres of terrifying flames at people i guess

[rough basalt]

Nah

[lavish flame]

I dont think those guys heal tho

[rough basalt]

They don't

[obsidian plume]

Trueeeee

[lavish flame]

Chrck out #find-a-game for info on our "Looking for Game" portion of the server. Thats like an FAQ.

[glass granite]

The flames of life and death

[hollow stone]

i was going for a more "always watching" and "oh it's like a magician but unsettling on purpose" scary and yet my only left with is the one that casts "hey look it's like fireball but it's chasing you"

[rough basalt]

?

[buoyant oar]

Lorwyn being the third DLC for the realms books is one of the stranger choices WotC could have made. Not calling it bad. But it feels like a decision Nintendo would have made. Just puzzling.

[hollow stone]

the ball is going to be that it hides wounds from the healed one's sight and then the wound is just gone, but i guess we also have fire

[rough basalt]

Probably why it's not a major release

[uncut zenith]

Yeah, it’s only like… 30ish pages long

[buoyant oar]

Yeah it just feels weird to shoehorn it in with the major release when it could have been like an extra life thing.

[uncut zenith]

It was intended to be a preorder bonus first and foremost

[rough basalt]

Lorwyn, Netheril and whiney baby crybabys book of whines are more like little magazines than books.

That being said I do appreciate them as extra goodies

[hollow stone]

"whiney baby crybabys book of whines"???????

[buoyant oar]

Oh yeah I am not like upset the content is short. But like I would personally have preferred the third option being like a monster compendium for the realms like we got for spell jammer, dragonlance, and... Mine ...craft

[rough basalt]

Astarions book of hungers

[lavish flame]

I lowkey wish we got a Heroes of the Feywild(4e) book that included Lorwyn as a sample setting. Like how the 2024 DMG has a Greyhawk primer, I would've hoped for a Feywild book with a Lorwyn-Shadowmoor primer.

[rough basalt]

Astarion from BG3 is very whiney

[harsh hollow]

It's a weird choice but I won't complain about more species options especially since the main product didn't have any.

[rough basalt]

I do wonder why they haven't done a dedicated feywild book for 5e

[buoyant oar]

We uhh do

[lavish flame]

Witchlight is our Feywild book

[halcyon forum]

there is domains of delight and witchlight

[buoyant oar]

Wild Beyond the Witchlight and the Domains of Delight supplement

[harsh hollow]

I think I heard Lorwyn is introducing the 2024 version of playable fairies.

[rough basalt]

I thought domains of delight was 3rd party mb

[uncut zenith]

I think the real issue is that none of the MTG settings have enough lore to justify making a full setting guide anymore. Especially now that WOTC is doubling down on Lorwyn just being a “Domain of Delight” and not its own full setting.

[lavish flame]

That checks out

I figure we'll probably get Fairies and maybe Satyr updates in Lorwyn

[halcyon forum]

its wotc published but dmsguild only

[buoyant oar]

Also on DDB I think

[lavish flame]

It is

[halcyon forum]

is domains of delight on DDB?

[rough basalt]

Witchlight being the "feywild" book gives me the same vibe of "we have a Forgotten Realms guide, it's the 16 adventure books and SCAG" /j

[lavish flame]

Its honestly a really nice supplement

[buoyant oar]

Yea. WotC is hella inconsistent on its DMsGUILD products making it to DDB

[halcyon forum]

og it is

[harsh hollow]

Can't imagine fairy will be that different. I think they officially announced the other species though, some kind of ice elemental?

[lavish flame]

For a long while, our FR book was Storm King's Thunder

[rough basalt]

Storm King's Blunder

[lavish flame]

Yeah, SCAG was out, but it sucked

[buoyant oar]

And that was just "The North"

[lavish flame]

I really don't think Fairies will be changed much

[rough basalt]

Wanna do a campaign stretching from the south coast of west faerun to the icewind Dale? Alright you need 8 modules and SCAG

[buoyant oar]

Well

A module kinda exists for that lol. Tyranny of Dragons

[uncut zenith]

Yeah, they were fine when they were first published. I can’t imagine them getting much changes. Similar to how Dhampir wasn’t changed much from VRGTR.

[rough basalt]

Ye dhampir just got mechanically buffed, but kept the same theme.

[lavish flame]

Yeah, the Dhampir change is fine

[uncut zenith]

Minimally, but yeah

[lavish flame]

"Not needing to breathe" to "Necrotic Resistance" is nothing crazy, I expect Fairies will look similar

[rough basalt]

I'd say close to mildly
Necrotic damage is pretty common so having resistance is pretty decent

[harsh hollow]

The new version of 5e seems to love fly speed and that's literally their main thing.

[rough basalt]

Well almost all enemies have ranged attacks and/or auto-conditions now so flight is pretty irrelevant compared to how it was in 2014-2015

[lavish flame]

Fairy is just Small Fey, Druidcraft+Faerie Fire+Enlarge/Reduce, and Flight

So like... what needs to get changed to feel more 2024-y

[harsh hollow]

Not much, really.

[lavish flame]

Praying for a Harengon update too, but thats prob not happening

[rough basalt]

Advantage against charmed condition maybe idk

[lavish flame]

The MTG books usually limit species to what fits within that MTG set

[harsh hollow]

I'm more curious about about the Rimekin, which articles say is one of the two species being added. (With Fairy presumably being the other.)

[lavish flame]

Isn't there like 7 Species getting added?

[uncut zenith]

It’s hard to tell cuz a lot of the MotM fey species still hold up and need minor changes

[harsh hollow]

Articles are only saying two as far as I can find.

Supposedly eight were being added to the Astarion book and there was only one, so I'm not sure where all those others are coming from.

[rough basalt]

Ye stuff made after Tashas don't really need big changes

[lavish flame]

Oh, I'm thinking of Subclasses

[rough basalt]

Cause the current design foundation is off of Tashas

[harsh hollow]

From what I looked up Rimekin seem to basically be some kind of minor ice elemental? Not really sure, but I'm curious

[wraith kelp]

yo guys does anyone know how to do G sheet for a homebrwe character on excel?

[harsh hollow]

Because I think they'd be the first completely brand new species of 2024.

[uncut zenith]

I imagine they’ll add all 3 goblinoids, changeling, and satyr at least as playable species, but that’s just speculation

[lavish flame]

Like how to convert a Google Sheet into an Excel Spreadsheet?

[spring glen]

hey guys whats going on in this plane?

[wraith kelp]

no like how to fill it in

[harsh hollow]

Changeling is being added in the Ebberon book.

[spring glen]

oooo new changeling

[uncut zenith]

True. So nix changeling

The 3 goblinoids, satyr, and fairy

[harsh hollow]

Can't wait for the Ebberon book too, a lot of new toys to play with. Even if most, if not all, of the new feats are dragon marks.

[lavish flame]

2 New Species + 8 Additional Fey Realm species. Thats probably Changeling, 3 Goblinoids, Satyr, Harengon, maybe Centaurs

[spring glen]

I just want some more artificer subclasses

[uncut zenith]

Oh I forgot about Centaurs

[timber drift]

If only I could understand a quarter of what the lot of yous are saying

[harsh hollow]

The way they phrased it is "suggestions for fey realm species", so I'm not sure what that means.

[uncut zenith]

But as someone else already mentioned, Changeling looks like it’s gonna be in Eberron

[lavish flame]

oh, yeah "guidance for 8 additional fey realm species"

which is... less than strong wording

[harsh hollow]

That's a weird way to put it, it sounds like they won't be included in the actual character creator as species and will probably just be lore? Weird.

[uncut zenith]

Sounds like they might be giving guidance on how to change species like Elf to “Fey”? But again, we’re all just guessing at this point.

[harsh hollow]

I mean lore is sort of on the face of it the entire point of this product but I need player options to horde like a dragon, come on.

[lavish flame]

Do you think that like the FR book's Species information? Where it was informative paragraphs, but not game options

[harsh hollow]

That's what I'm assuming, yeah.

[valid geyser]

yeah just from a glance i can see it going the path of "Wotc not learning their lesson about strixhaven" to a lesser extent because this is a cheaper minibook

[rough basalt]

Reminds me, there's only 1 PC in my Monday game that can be affected by Humanoid spells

Cause 2 of them are species that are a different creature type in my world.

[valid geyser]

it was servicable. Nothing too amazing, but didn't feel super lacking

[harsh hollow]

Sounds like you gotta give people fighting them Hold Monster.

[valid geyser]

like, i think setting books like this needed lore since the PHB didn't provide much, and it gives me a clue on what the deal with new goliaths are, which im happy enough about

I still dont like the lore change of common being a magical language from sigil though, i find that dumb

[lavish flame]

Crack theory: It is 8 updates and 2 new species. The updates are Bugbear, Centaur, Eladrin, Fairy, Goblin, Harengon, Hobgoblin, and Satyr

[harsh hollow]

I do think it's neat they're trying to balance options and lore more, I remember they had a bit of an issue of just giving new species with no lore and it not feeling super great.

[rough basalt]

That'll happen eventually

[harsh hollow]

(Like there was basically nothing on the Thri-Kreen in Spelljammer from what I remember.)

[rough basalt]

As they gain strong enemies

[orchid sleet]

Hey guys I’m very new to dnd so I would like to do a 1 round just to get the basics I’ve done some research

[west timber]

So reading through the Adventures in Faerun book and I got to the section about grand destinies and such and I was wondering do y'all think Sora from Kingdom hearts fits into that?

Like Kingdom Hearts certainly has grand adventure feelings but a bit part of Sora's whole deal is that he wasn't born with a special destiny, he wasn't trained by an ancient order or anything. He's just a Kind Boy who'll do anything to save his friends and that lets him connect with everyone which gives him more strength in turn and lets him win against the impossible odds of the games.

But I'm unsure if it fits in that kind of grand destiny setting

[valid geyser]

yeah and for stuff like orcs and new goliaths which sort of had retcons, it was hard to latch onto them since there wasnt lore to replace stuff, making it less appealing at least to me

[lavish flame]

In some fairness, Thri-Kreen have a Monster Manual entry that gives some solid information about them

[harsh hollow]

That's fair, but their playable species section should still have something, even if it's just copy-pasting that.

[valid geyser]

and on a similar topic, i really dont think that setting books are gonna expand upon much of the slim info that the 2025 monster manual put on creatures

[lavish flame]

Yeah, that does worry me somewhat. We aren't ever gonna get a "Bestiary of the Forgotten Realms" book that details setting-specific info on the Monsters. The FR books don't touch on MM Monster lore, really.

[valid geyser]

yeah, i doubt we'll get anything like an elemental planes deepdive to understand what the elemental aarakocra are up to, or what the deal with the lizardfolk are.

[spring glen]

I would really like to see other realms expanded into like the new book

[cosmic roost]

Ready to play Dungeons & Dragons?

Visit #find-a-game for everything you need to start your search, including:

• Instructions for finding a game here on the server (including how to post in our #looking-for channels).
• Suggestions for finding a game outside of this server.
• Basic advice to help you in your hunt.

[lavish flame]

Same. Obv I'm biased, but it saddens me that Eberron's 2024 update isn't a 2-book spectaculathon

[valid geyser]

the most we could get for stuff like merfolk would be like, an aquatic adventure

merfolk have like two sentences total

[lavish flame]

I liked the Volo's/Mordenkainen's opening chapters with a huge writeup on various monster groups

We will never get that again, but I wish we did. I want them.

And yes, the Halfling and Elf writeups are still Monster Groups.

[spring glen]

I want more fish monsters

[harsh hollow]

I'm sure we'll get an Of/To Everything book eventually that might give us more.

[lavish flame]

Same, I've got a team adventuring at sea rn and I am quickly running out of stuff to throw at them

Well, unique stuff at least. I'd rather not prep 10 Sahuagin encounters

[spring glen]

I guess its time to make lovecraftian horrors of the deep to throw at them

[harsh hollow]

I wonder if they plan on fully remaking every single pre-2024 subclass or if they'll start focusing more on their own. Honestly considering it's supposed to be backwards compatible I'd rather they try new things.

[valid geyser]

it's so weird we havent gotten a 2026 roadmap yet

[lavish flame]

I don't think those books really will. Tasha's and Xanathar's aren't really lore primers, they're game option expansions. They both provide subclasses, but Xanathar's gave Tools Revisited and Downtime Revisited. Tasha's codified Group Patrons outside of Eberron, and provided a whole host of natural phenomenon to use. There wasn't really lore information in them tho.

[harsh hollow]

I somewhat understand that they want to give the new system time to breathe but it's hard not to notice that some of the 3rd party subclasses they're platforming are really creative in comparison.

[lavish flame]

Yeah, I think we should've gotten one by now

[valid geyser]

i definitely think wotc is averse to putting lore in any books that aren't setting themed which i think is sad. I feel you can be setting agnostic while providing suggestions and things for a DM to place in most/any world.

[harsh hollow]

Yeah, it's not as if lore is completely binding, anything can be used setting agnostic if you use a little creativity. It's just nice to have something to work from.

[lavish flame]

I'm surprised we are still waiting for a roadmap. We have Lorwyn tomorrow, then Forge of the Artificer Dec 9. The year is almost over.

Thats 1 book release and 1 minor expansion, what is going on in 2026

[valid geyser]

like, of course someone will have a world where elves are blue four armed celestials with cryokinesis, but you can still write stuff for the majority of home game worlds where elves are more akin to other settings

[uncut zenith]

I think they’re kinda relying on their shitty marketplace as a “roadmap” for new releases

[harsh hollow]

We can at least loosely assume the Psion and horror subclass testing for some of the releases, I think they offhandedly mentioned a Ravenloft book coming out next year recently.

[lavish flame]

Praying for the Venger adventure they've been talking about for forever

[valid geyser]

it almost makes me think that wotc doesnt even know if they will be pumping out d&d stuff through all of 2026

[lavish flame]

Psion+Apocalypse Subclasses obviously make me think Dark Sun, but an official statement would be nice.

[spring glen]

there are quite a few people that struggle with imagination that want to DM having the lore come from an official source is always great

[sleek cloud]

Well you know what they say, the years start coming and they don’t stop coming

[valid geyser]

i think stuff like jcraw and perkins leaving have shaken up wotc, and the all but guaranteed christmas layoffs will have wotc in this uncertain state during 2026, so whos to say

[harsh hollow]

I'd honestly be surprised if they didn't have some kind of Strixhaven update in the works as well.

[valid geyser]

man, i feel like the d&d side of wotc has been in this uncertain state for months now

[uncut zenith]

Well with the very recent change in leadership, I’m sure they’re still figuring out what their own secret roadmap looks like.

I think things are very much still up in the air over at WOTC.

[harsh hollow]

I hope an overhaul of the app is somewhere on the roadmap, it's in dire need of replacement.

[spring glen]

I would love to see strixhaven expanded upon my players love it

[uncut zenith]

Ugh. Strixhaven

[lavish flame]

Hate to tell you this but there is literally nothing else with Strixhaven

the D&D book added new stuff to the setting cuz there really wasn't much there

[valid geyser]

i think my guess is that were gonna have the d&dbeyond minibooks be super common

[harsh hollow]

It opens external webpages to edit your sheets and each book is it's own self-contained store listing instead of there being an overall store. It's literally more useful to open the website in a mobile browser in most cases than it is to use the app.

[lavish flame]

Yeah probably. I think they're gonna make the smaller books like Netheril's Fall and Lorwyn more often

Any chance to bring back old Module design is fine by me tbh

[valid geyser]

i guess its a safe bet, although i could see it being an issue if wotc wanted to appeal to people who buy physical books

[lavish flame]

I want to plug in small adventures to create a campaign

[spring glen]

Im someone who only buys physical books

[crimson gulch]

this is the way, dnd beyond wont be around forever

[lavish flame]

This. It is baffling to me that the DDB app is strictly worse than opening your browser on your phone and just using the website.

[crimson gulch]

thats just every app imo

[spring glen]

the art is why I buy physical

[viscid lichen]

The art is cool

[harsh hollow]

(Plus I feel like a truly great app would just let you shake the phone to move the dice around. x3)

[valid geyser]

i did hear netherils fall has a lot of stuff from the 2e netheril empire of magic book
not a bad thing, it's definitely gonna get the info to be more out there and accessible, also the ddb book is only 5 bucks more than the book on dmsguild

[spring glen]

im moving soon and planning on framing all my physical book maps

[viscid lichen]

Sounds like a plan 😎

[lavish flame]

cook. I love the poster maps

[spring glen]

I think im going to frame them around in a circle then have the Planes of Existence in the middle

[lavish flame]

We've been talking about for legitimately a decade, but I really want a Manual of the Planes 5e

In a perfect world, it might be like the FR 2-book situation, with 1 being the Inner Planes and the other being the Outer Planes.

[tame estuary]

The FR planes right?

[lavish flame]

Yeah, FR uses the Great Wheel cosmology system. I want a Great Wheel book

[minor cargo]

Great Wheel?

The people have spoke-n.

[sleek cloud]

This guy

[cinder timber]

Hello people

Im doing great!

How are you?

[rough coral]

hi

[old sluice]

How would that work? There are a lot more outer planes than inner

[tame estuary]

Just Calimshan itself feels like a setting

[lavish flame]

Probably in a similar way to the FR duology that just dropped. The Heroes book contains a larger overview of Faerun, while Adventures puts a spotlight onto 5 locations within the Realms.

[tame estuary]

Is this what Volo's guide to the Multiverse looks like actually?

[old sluice]

I suppose that works

[lean lark]

Just discovered that the mindflayer nautiloid in bg3's opening comes from the original spelljammer books back in 1989

[lavish flame]

But also, the Outer Planes have this issue where only like 6 of them are relevant

Who has ever gone to Ysgard or The Beastlands, yknow

[rough basalt]

Time to make a game in the beastlands so it can see some love.

[old sluice]

6 is rather generous. I have only been to three.

[tough flame]

Hai

[old sluice]

Though the thing is... What kind of stories do you tell in the good planes, you know?

[rose wedge]

Ahoy

[lavish flame]

I always think of Mechanus, Nine Hells, Abyss, Limbo, and Mt Celestia. I've only ever gone to/run for Nine Hells and Abyss tho.

Well, besides the Material Plane, yknow.

[old sluice]

Escape from hell, rescue a prisoner from Carceri, steal from a demon in the abyss... All that, fine. But why go to mount Celestia?

[raw ocean]

Im worried, a bud of mine wants to DM and they are giving every player a legendary item or below to pick from. It would be one thing if it was just a DM not understanding how the game works but they really know how the game works...

[old sluice]

Ok I had to go once but I had to testify on an angel's trial

[lavish flame]

Tbh I don't know. I mostly think of "get a cool item" type quests or "secure an ally" or something

[crimson gulch]

i havent ran Games in Carceri or acheron, or arcadia or bitopia but i have gone to all the other upper and lower realms in my games

[tame estuary]

The idea of running a game that goes across all of the outer planes sound exciting

[lavish flame]

Oh shoot, I have gone to Mt Celestia actually!

[tame estuary]

But I can't do that without it being a pacing nightmare, there's just so many stuff to see and roses to smell. They'll be level 20 by the 4th plane

Unless I'm doing a weired fd up thing and reset their level to 3 every plane

[lavish flame]

Basically every plane has multiple layers to it as well, so a game exploring all of the planes gets big quick

[old sluice]

You don't even have enough time in a life to explore your own planet, and all the planes are basically infinite

[cerulean monolith]

I’ve ran stuff in the Astral, Material, Hells, Abyss, Celestia, Faewild, Shwdowfell, and a large Demiplane.

[raw ocean]

Maybe something where they do odd jobs across multiple planes, like smiling friends?

[sleek cloud]

But why

[raw ocean]

That's what im thinking

What could possibly be the catch where we can pick out almost any item

[cerulean monolith]

Depends on what level. Tier 3 or 4 I could understand

[tame estuary]

But tier 2 is where all the fun creatures are in

[old sluice]

If it's a level 20 one shot I almost expect everyone to have a legendary.

[cerulean monolith]

Tier 4 is where you get to have them fight tier 2 creatures en masse

[tame estuary]

Ough

[raw ocean]

There's tiers to realms?

[crimson gulch]

in general when i run level 20 one shots theres 3 very rares and 3 rare items(or less) per player

[cerulean monolith]

Levels; Tier 1 is 1-5, Tier 2 is 6-11, Tier 3 is 12-16, Tier 4 is 17-20 iirc

[raw ocean]

And it get's worse the more you go down

[sleek cloud]

You know what would be funny

[raw ocean]

Is tier 20 like a realm of just straight hell fire

[cerulean monolith]

No

[lavish flame]

I suppose Barovia stuff is Shadowfell, isn't it. Trying to think of a complete list of the planes I've explored in my time. Material Plane, Feywild, Shadowfell, Nine Hells, Mt Celestia, Abyss... and I think thats it

[cerulean monolith]

Tiers are for levels, that’s what I’m saying

[raw ocean]

Ohhh, I see

[old sluice]

Those are called tiers of play. It's a way of... Approximating the level of influence the PCs wield and the threats they are likely to face.

[sleek cloud]

Asking to start with a luck blade, and using your first wish to wish that nobody in the party started off with legendary magic items

[raw ocean]

I was thinking of playing a pixie and getting a belt of storm giant strength lmao

[sleek cloud]

For what class

[raw ocean]

Undecided

[sleek cloud]

Barbarian

[raw ocean]

It was mostly a shit and giggles idea of a tiny creature being stronger than most people

[sleek cloud]

Tiny rage filled ridiculously strong pixie

[raw ocean]

Tbh it would be more scary trying to deal with a ball of axe swinging energy that's invisible than a giant

[tame estuary]

They made a movie about this with Paul Rudd

[sleek cloud]

Good ol ant man

[inner silo]

Stacking magic weapon and elemental weapon on a ranger🔥

[lavish flame]

Elemental Weapon is pretty sweet

[inner silo]

Also great flavour, like suddenly your weapon becomes imbued with fire or ice

[rough basalt]

After my Monday game concludes I wanna run something in the other planes

Or spelljammer

[tame estuary]

Just run the spelljammer, open your book

[lavish flame]

My party currently has plans on going to The Feywild and The Shadowfell. I think I'll include an Elemental Plane and round out this game as an Inner Plane spectaculathon

[inner silo]

A game in the clockwork robot plane (forgot the name)

[rough basalt]

Mechanus

[inner silo]

Goated

[rough basalt]

Spelljammer doesn't have anything in the books on how to run spelljammer

[old sluice]

Dual wield two longswords. Imbue one with flame, the other with ice.

[inner silo]

Yeah, i think a game there could be fun

[old sluice]

Depends: Why are the PCs on Mechanus?

[rough basalt]

Took a wrong turn at Albuquerque

[inner silo]

Could be like a plane glitch (I'm not sure how it works) where they got blinked into the Mechanus plane from the material plane or from different planes and now have to try and find a way to go back to their home planes while exploring this strange world

[lavish flame]

Now that my players are higher level, I get to make more reference to other planes without it feeling weird. My party recently met a Githzerai and a couple of Modrons, they got a Modron to drink. I love that stuff.

[old sluice]

Can't they just cast a spell or ask the nearest modron for the nearest portal?

[rough basalt]

Spelljammer is a bit awkward cause some important tools for it are only on its dm screen iirc

[inner silo]

Aren't modrons hostile to creatures which are "out of order"? Also spells that let you to switch planes are pretty high level, no?

[rough basalt]

To intentionally go places yeah

[lavish flame]

Nah, those are in the Adventurer's Guide

[rough basalt]

Most of it is spelljammer statblocks and art so I forgot

[lavish flame]

They got added shortly after release, there's a section labelled "Additional Spelljammer Tables"

[rough basalt]

Ah I might have an old print then

[old sluice]

Not really hostile no.

[inner silo]

Could have the campaign go up to that level, or make a reason these spells can't be used and have the journey to the portal be the adventure

[lavish flame]

Afaik, Modrons are mostly pretty chill

[rough basalt]

Well you can end up in other planes through other means

[inner silo]

I see. I learned about it from a youtube short so my knowledge isn't the best, but it seemed really really cool

[lavish flame]

If they were hostile to others, there wouldn't be many Modrons, as they aren't very powerful

[rough basalt]

Like walking into an outhouse and you end up in the Infinite Staircase (a listed option for how a character ended up there)

[inner silo]

I see

Could also have the campaign go on in the nine circles of hell

[rough basalt]

Best answer for a tpk in an FR game is all the PCs get dragged into avernus to participate in the blood war

Cause then you can experience Dantes Inferno in reverse, mad max style

[lavish flame]

real

[inner silo]

And then the party can decide if they go to slaughter some devil and rise in the demon hierarchy or just try to escape

[rough basalt]

Well, you're better off working for the devils

Best case scenario, you can become Zariels favorite blunt instruments which means you get all the carnage you want

[lavish flame]

One day I'll make a flock of Modrons interrupt my party to ask them a bunch of questions and then leave. The Great Modron March my beloved

[inner silo]

Aren't all devils lawful good always?

[rough basalt]

Lawful Evil

[old sluice]

Actually in our game Zariel is... Indisposed

[inner silo]

Mb, typo

[rough basalt]

They have a set of "laws" they're beholden too

Of course they do anything and everything to work around them, but they do have laws

[inner silo]

Couldn't working with them be considered…immoral?

[rough basalt]

Demons are worse, and have no laws.

[old sluice]

There's one letter too many I think

[inner silo]

Yeah but you could try to choose neither

[lavish flame]

Real as freak. In my current Forgotten Realms, Zariel is dead and the current ruler of the first hell is back to being Bel.

[rough basalt]

Devils are the lesser of two evils if you're trying to survive Avernus

[old sluice]

And I always thought devils were worse

[rough basalt]

Arguably, I'm moreso talking from a survival pov

[inner silo]

Also the devils and demons alignments are locked in and cannot be changed by any means, correct?

[old sluice]

Not correct. It can change.

[rough basalt]

If you're cunning enough, you can put a devil in a situation where it's hard for them to backstab you without breaking a law.
Demons can and will just do it at any given moment.

[rough basalt]

It depends on the fiend

[inner silo]

I see

[rough basalt]

The powerful and/or intelligent Fiends can choose to be different, but they do have an inherent calling to it, most embrace who they are though.

[old sluice]

Demons are not random. They will follow their goals and ambitions. Working with a demon is like working with anyone else. Know who you're dealing with and what they want

[inner silo]

A devotion paladin who died and went to hell trying to heal devils and convert them to doing good would be pretty funny imo

[rough basalt]

But some Fiends are basically just animals and such act like animals

[old sluice]

That... actually is close to a prestige class in 3.5.

[inner silo]

Go on

[old sluice]

I don't remember the name. But good people who went to the hells to redeem and save the souls there.

[inner silo]

Animal handling?

[rough basalt]

Well think of a rabid animal

[lavish flame]

Same. A Demon is basically just an aggressive animal with some extra abilities. A Devil is gonna manipluate and scheme and figure out how to screw You Specifically over.

[inner silo]

Ngl pretty fire

[old sluice]

It was in Fiendish Codex 2: Tyrants if the Nine Hell

[inner silo]

There are some spells for this i think

[old sluice]

? Demons are just as smart and manipulative, aren't they?

[rough basalt]

The intelligent ones

[lavish flame]

For the most part, they aren't

[old sluice]

I don't remember any dumb demon in the monster manual or other material

[rough basalt]

But most intelligent ones don't care enough to do all that

[lavish flame]

The powerful ones are pretty intelligent and manipulative, but like Chasmes and Dretches and stuff are mostly just "dangerous creature"

[inner silo]

An imp with 18 intelligence

[rough basalt]

A lot of Demon Lord's and their Balors would rather just kick your butt than spend the time beating around the bush

Then you have ones like Lolth who if you're lucky, she just kills you

[inner silo]

Btw aren't devils technically good since their general goal is to protect the other planes from demons?

[old sluice]

Chasmes and dretches, sure. But the same can be said about devils, the lemures and nuperibos

[rough basalt]

Nope

Devils and Demons keep each other in check.

[old sluice]

Goals don't make someone good or bad. Methods do. Devils practice torture and all manners of brutality

[inner silo]

I see

[rough basalt]

Demons wanna destroy the multiverse, Devils wanna dominate it.
So they kill each other to keep them in check

[inner silo]

That is true, definitely. They aren't good as in good people, but their existence is a positive for the world

[old sluice]

Actually all demons kinda want a different thing. Some want to destroy the multiverse, some want to drag it in the abyss, some want to have fun, some just want to drink and eat souls

[rough basalt]

Not really, more of a necessary evil

Devils will manipulate people into selling their souls then burning their souls alive to fuel mad max vehicles

[lavish flame]

Devils are almost literally a necessary evil, given their job in the Blood War

[old sluice]

No. Pretty sure the multiverse would be a better place without them. Celestials can pick up the demon-containing duties.

[inner silo]

Would they though?

[rough basalt]

Yep

[old sluice]

Or most likely, lacking their old enemies, the demons would just default to infighting rather than mount a strong organised assault on the other planes

[inner silo]

Can souls feel pain?

[rough basalt]

Iirc yeah

[old sluice]

Yes. More than bodies

[lavish flame]

Unfortunately signs point to yes

[inner silo]

Ah, then big sad, no fiend warlocking

I'd rather trust my soul to a celestial or an arch fey. Idk about the great old guys

[rough basalt]

Like when soul coins are used to power infernal engines those souls are subjected to the sensation of being scorched alive until the soul itself dies

Revving your engine in neutral to hear the single father who sold his soul to feed his kids scream

[inner silo]

Naah, fiend warlocks are cooked

[lavish flame]

Usually you can hear the wails of pain from souls being tormented

[old sluice]

That's actually most of what you hear in hell. Like cars when living next to a freeway, you get used to it

[lavish flame]

Hell has speakers that play the sound, its a lot like a gas station in that way

[sleek cloud]

As someone in an avernus campaign right now, yeah.

[inner silo]

So hell has modern tech?

[rough basalt]

Avernus is basically mad max

[lavish flame]

nah but kinda

[inner silo]

I see

[lavish flame]

the speakers are a joke. but Hell has Mad Max vehicles

[inner silo]

Artificers going to hell to learn how to car

[rough basalt]

And they're powered by soul coins

[lavish flame]

Admittedly, using the vehicles anywhere but Avernus (layer 1) pretty fraught

Most other layers have very uneven terrain or are entirely untraversable by walking/driving

[old sluice]

At least one layer is basically the arctic

[inner silo]

Material plane?

[lavish flame]

One is literally a lake of fire with small chunks of rock serving as "islands"

[lavish flame]

I mean, the Material Plane should be mostly fine, just depends on where you are

[old sluice]

Remember: Most of the material plane is actually space.

[lavish flame]

You prob can't drive in mud or sand, so deserts and jungles are mostly out. Your car probably won't scale a mountain

[sleek cloud]

We had a Mario kart-esque race when we first drove ours

[inner silo]

A artificer going to hell, stealing one of the cars, redisigning it to be fueled by motor oil and renaming it to "Iron Stead" or something

[old sluice]

And another non-negligeable part of it is stars. Don't drive cars on the sun!

[inner silo]

Were the souls loud?

[somber mesa]

in 5e, isn't (wild)space just a mix of the Material Plane and the Astral Plane?

[sleek cloud]

Not louder than my party members raging over getting their butts handed to them

[somber mesa]

or do you mean all of the unoccupied space on the planets?

[inner silo]

Lmao

Btw do devils take souls from creatures of every plane or only material?

[cerulean monolith]

Wildspace is literally just irl space in terms of general composition. Each Wildspace system is equivalent to a solar system

[lavish flame]

Yeah, you bleed through The Material Plane, The Astral Plane, and Wildspace when Spelljamming

[inner silo]

Like with contracts

[old sluice]

Sure, but even low orbit is technically space.

[old sluice]

They take all the souls they can find. It includes people in Sigil, corrupting celestials and many other things

[inner silo]

Dam

[inner silo]

What about the fey?

[lavish flame]

So most denizens of the Outer Planes can't have their soul taken without just also dying, as they are literal manifestations of the soul. Beings like Elementals and Fey can make deals with devils, and their souls are still valuable to devils.

[inner silo]

I see

Thanks for explaining!

I gtg sleep properly, it's 1:30 am. Cyall!

[raw ocean]

Anyone know the best item for speed in D&D?

[old sluice]

Boots of striding?

Or boots of haste

[raw ocean]

Thanks

[narrow moss]

man i am getting tired of trying to order two books online

[old sluice]

Well you also can't take the soul of someone without killing them. That is why you wait until after they are dead to claim the soul if they sold it

[lavish flame]

You know what was meant, though

[old sluice]

D&D souls are not like, say, 40k souls where someone can live a perfectly good life while souless. People are their souls

I actually do not.

I thought I did but now I am confused

[lavish flame]

I didn't mean to confuse you, sorry dawg

[sleek cloud]

So to this point, devils can still make a contract with someone that’s alive to claim the soul to go to them when they die

[old sluice]

Yes. That is how it works

You cannot be "souless". Well, some things are but they are things, not people.

[marble lion]

i really liked playing a soulless human in homebrew

[fossil hollow]

I live

[sleek cloud]

But at what cost

[fossil hollow]

Everything

[sleek cloud]

Was it worth it

[old sluice]

For so short a while

[fossil hollow]

no dnd today, i cri

[lavish flame]

happens to the best of us

[sleek cloud]

My groups going from every week to every other week, pain

[lavish flame]

our group didn't do our Eberron game yesterday. I'm cryin here

[old sluice]

It happens. Anyways I've been thinking: Do you guys think you can invent one original idea for a short campaign themed around each plane? For Carceri I got "Silence of the Lambs, but with a locked-up god as Hannibal Lecter"

[narrow moss]

i dunno

[old sluice]

Mount Celestia... The PCs are invited to testify at an angel's trial but there is a conspiracy to sabotage the usual courtroom drama?

[narrow moss]

though I think it'd be cool to bring Circe and her island from The Odyssey

possibly mix it with the lotus eaters too

[marble lion]

there there its okay youll play soon

i wonder if mine is cancelled this friday

[lavish flame]

For the Feywild, I have a ball/gala prepped, any Archfey of renown would kill to attend. For The Shadowfell, I've basically got a "Steal a long-dead prophet's memories from Letherna"

[narrow moss]

i finally gave up on dndbeyond and jsut got the books i need off amazon. So in other words i may have a satyr bard by tomorrow lol

And he would love to attend a ball/gala for sure.

[dreamy orchid]

Hey yall I’m just getting into dnd and was wondering how I should start this?

[old sluice]

For the astral maybe... Corpse of an ancient elder brain killed during the Gith revolt targetted by a cabal of necromancers?

[narrow moss]

wuh oh

[lavish flame]

You're in luck, mon frere. We have a few channels for helping out new prospective players. Check out the stuff in #learn-to-play to get your bearings, then check out #dnd-newcomers for any questions you have, or clarification you need. After that, I'd look at #find-a-game to actually get you into a game.

Fair warning, there's a lot of reading involved.

[old sluice]

Now the Upper Planes are really the tricky ones

[lavish flame]

I've got one you could probably throw anywhere in the upper planes. "Acquire a Talisman of Ultimate Good" or whatever the item is called. Maybe you need to fight for it in Ysgard, maybe you need to make a bargain for it in Mt Celestia, maybe you need to live as animals do in The Beastlands. IDK

[old sluice]

Good for Elysium!

[lavish flame]

I've always liked Eberron's Thelanis due to a descriptor featured in Exploring Eberron. They describe a massive mountain in the distance before it becomes apparent to the characters that they are staring at a massive and ancient wolf, called a Totem Animal. Maybe you could do something with that for Arborea or The Beastlands

Maybe thats some ancient knowledgeable being who the party needs to interview for info

[old sluice]

It's a bit close to the Carceri idea

[hidden bobcat]

so im wondering what 1 fire damage is or what 1 damage is specifically

[lavish flame]

it varies. Thats either 1/4 of an adult person's vitality, or like nothing at all

"either" isn't actually right, these are just extremes

[hasty gale]

I'm sad, my dm cancelled

[lavish flame]

You can't post gifs here

[brittle beacon]

That's rough buddy

[hasty gale]

Thanks, I was wondering what was going on

[lavish flame]

I kinda wish the Themberchaud message was a little more straightforward with its meaning

[idle oar]

I mean "Read the dang server rules" just doesn't have the right charm...

[strange rivet]

Hey, tonight's my first time DMing, lol and I saw most people use modules, any tips for running your own story? ill still use my homemade ideas tonight but for future should i just try to find a free module? (also i just joined the discord pls lmk if this is right spot to ask)

[quartz temple]

Its a good idea to run a module first. Helps you get structure, prep, and a feel of things

[narrow moss]

helps you see how other people balanced their adventures in a way, is my guess

though sometimes people just don't have the time to make something super custom you know?

[strange rivet]

gotcha, ill keep that in mind for next time

[viscid lichen]

Hope you have a fun dming experience

[narrow moss]

i hope so too

[tidal bloom]

I thought so too but in that obe description I saw it said something against it. Let le get the sentence

[lavish flame]

Start small. Start local. Early game is a precious time for the party. I'd make a small town have small town problems, goblins blocking trade routes, bandits harassing townsfolk, gnolls eating livestock.

Keeping it local is great for cutting down of prep time and it can help your party care about NPCs.

[fossil hollow]

It says you cant make the Nick attack more than once

[tidal bloom]

@tame estuary
"The Nick property allows you to make an additional attack as part of your attack action whenever you wield a light weapon in both your main and off-hand. But be warned, according to the 2024 Players Handbook, this does not mean you can make a third attack as a bonus action. Instead, this property allows you to free up your bonus action for more tactical moves like spells or whatever else you might have up your sleeve. "

[lavish flame]

Later on, when the party is a bit tougher, they can start dealing with other locations

[fossil hollow]

yeah, the Nick attack is normally a Bonus Action without the mastery. All the mastery does is move it from BA to part of your action. You can still use your BA to make other attacks if something lets you do so

[tidal bloom]

Ah ok I see

Thanks

[raw ocean]

DM gave me the good to go on being a pixie

I can finally be a tiny fellow

[narrow moss]

so smol

[raw ocean]

Somehow every kobold I have played has been burned to death

I don't know how, it could be a wish spell or a firebolt

[fossil hollow]

context?

[keen valve]

Does your dm hate kobolds?

Or are you like running into death traps a lot?

[sterile rose]

hai

[vale sage]

Hi

[sterile rose]

anyone wanna vc while i make my character

[vale sage]

I would but I'm very awkward on calls

[sterile rose]

awh

[limpid plaza]

DID SOMEONE SAY FIREBALL?

[raw ocean]

multiple campaigns, different DM's

All my kobolds died to fire...

[stuck shuttle]

If you have character ideas you could try discussing them in #character-discussion

[stuck shuttle]

Has... has your DM actually used a Wish spell against your party?

[limpid plaza]

Nah, I'd counterspell

[earnest sleet]

Counterspell Wish with 3rd level spell slot

[crimson gulch]

I have

I have used most 9th level spells against Players, I keep a mug with 20d6 for meteor swarm

[fossil hollow]

Thats a counterspell on sight

[woeful stirrup]

I need to ask some of yall oldheads. How long have you been playing dnd. For me its only been 8 years

[earnest sleet]

15 seconds

[crimson gulch]

I have been playing dnd since 2022, but I do it full time and in that time have ran so many sucessful campaigns

[glass granite]

2 years, if not a lil lower

[tough cedar]

It's odd that this server has a lot of CR and anyone I've talked to from here dont know Chris Perkins or Jeremy Crawford

[narrow moss]

the server has a challenge rating?

[glad barn]

I heard those guys make some neat homebrew.

[brittle beacon]

the daggerheart designers?

[glad barn]

Um, actually, C. Perk wrote the first Pathfinder Society in Dragon # I dont actually remember

[crimson gulch]

The vast majority of dnd players just play the game and don't actually know the people behind it at al

[glad barn]

I've always liked Perkins. He made Acq Inc really pop too.

[narrow moss]

idk who either of these names are regardless

[tough cedar]

They did a lot more than just that

[narrow moss]

did i miss the pamphlet about required reading lol

[glad barn]

Well, J. Craw is lead designer for 5e. Chris Perkins has been around since 3rd edition.

Perkins also was the DM for Acquisitions Incorporated, which started as a 4e Podcast and is now a bi-yearly PAX event.

[narrow moss]

if i ever read those names it was in passing tbh. doesn't ring a bell.

[crimson gulch]

I have about 60 active players and a solid 3 of them know those names I would say

[glad barn]

Well, Crawford -was- lead designer for 5e. Right now the lead designer is a mop with a backwards cap on and a coat.

[tough cedar]

Yeah they left i guess they're actually helping on Cr idk

[crimson gulch]

Yeah the critical role players have been leaning on them for stuff for campaign 4, it's pretty cool

[glad barn]

Theyre working for Derrington Press, which the CR folks kind of started and then Mercer is focusing on the Actual Play thing I believe

So Crawford and Perkins are just going to nuts and bolts Daggerheart, I imagine.

[crimson gulch]

I bet we are gonna see some more 5e books from DP

[glad barn]

Probably on DDB at that.

[narrow moss]

i mean daggerheart would be neato

[crimson gulch]

Daggerheart is like, the first edition of what will be a great game I feel

[glad barn]

I haven't had the chance to give it much of a chance.

[crimson gulch]

I have ran a whole campaign with it allreafy and there are issues

[glad barn]

We tried it, it fell flat, we decided lets wait for the revised. Lol.

[uncut zenith]

A lot of people who casually enjoy the game don’t know who designed it

[narrow moss]

my eyes just kinda glaze over seeing a list of names, sorry to say

[glad barn]

I'd bet money most people can't name most of the editors for most of the editions of D&D too, and they do some work man lol

[narrow moss]

i do not retain the info

[glad barn]

Gygax might as well have written his notes on a concrete wall with a scalpel.

And Skip and Monte and Holmes and Moldvay and Mearls all played their part too.

But at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. Best to not associate the game with the maker, for good or ill, unless you want to lol.

[tough cedar]

No no i just made an observation. Theyre big names idk and run banger campaigns not just designers or playtesting

Pretty badass DMs

[crimson gulch]

Oh yeah I would love to be invited to their table

[glad barn]

I like Perkins a lot.

Although Kris Straub and Jeremy Holkins and Mike Krahulik are all dope DMs too

Kris Straub is also just an amazing player.

Because ultimately the PAX games were just marketing for their latest modules. But they did them really well.

For anyone curious: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLDeyEYi5xo-RrqkvFs5eH4kM5D-5OQVv Includes players like Patrick Rothfuss, Wil Wheaton, Xavier Woods. Just a good time.

[tough cedar]

Haha yeah. If i could galders tower someone...i think id have to leave the table. I wouldn't be able to top that

Think he kissed his clone as a free action and slipped the pebble in his mouth ...SMH

[glad barn]

The fun part is that because theyre playing with the lead designers, you can see the purest application of the rules, or lack thereof lol.

Perkins is definitely more my style of running, but Crawford manages to do just as much crazy shit but sticks to the rules much more rigidly.

[tough cedar]

I agrre with you for sure. still cant see how kissing mid battle is a free action with the environment 🤣

[meager fractal]

Auril is coming

[fossil hollow]

ill beat up all three phases

[narrow moss]

makes note: kissing is a free action

[trim jetty]

i can only kiss once per long rest ✊ 😔

[narrow moss]

understandable

[uncut zenith]

To me, Perkins has always seemed like the more “rule of cool” DM and Crawford seemed like the “rules as written” DM. Both are fun, but they definitely embodied two different styles of DMing to me.

[undone fable]

hi there hows dnd

[glad barn]

For sure.

But they're both -good- at it, and that's a really good way to showcase the role.

[uncut zenith]

Exactly. Two great DMs, regardless of how they utilize the rules.

[marble lion]

i dont know how but i have never thought of that and that is insane

a DM using wish is insane

[fossil hollow]

if i ever use wish, its gonna be a climatic moment

[knotty pasture]

Use Wish to punish the party for deliberately dumb choices

[tough cedar]

I feel like most dms would just do that without wish. But using wish from the big baddie to do some over the top thing would be cool.

With that said i plan on make a ton of dumb choices on this upcoming campaign...and hope my dm won't use wish as a punishment. _.

[stuck shuttle]

Yeah that's definitely something to do for something climactic

[umbral girder]

"Shoot where are my keys? I wish to know the direction of my keys!" /jk

[narrow moss]

'i wish i was wanted by everyone' is a particular wish i remember from a certain cartoon.

he was wanted alright. Even by the FBI etc.

[umbral girder]

Now there is a bounty on you from every nation /jk

I'm just thinking using Wish for the most silly of things

[narrow moss]

you may certainly try.

[humble cairn]

Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.

[umbral girder]

"Hey your shoe is untied."
"I CAST UPON MY WISH MYSTRA!!!!"

"I wish for my food to be done cooking 5 minutes earlier"

[narrow moss]

now the floor's all greasy

not joking my dad cooks like that.

[umbral girder]

Tbh I'd love to make that a magic item. "This item is sentient and can cast wish. It will not grant a wish to anything that is important in anyway."

[narrow moss]

good burgers tho

idk if i'd ever use wish tbh. sounds like it'd backfire somehow.

and trying the patience of the powers that be sounds... not good.

[umbral girder]

Just use it to replicate spells

Those are explicitly the safe uses of Wish.

Basically lets you cast something without the components or having it prepared or be a spell you can cast (so long as it isn't 9th level)

[narrow moss]

i'd hvae to do more research if i were to play someone who could get that

[humble cairn]

Ooh campaign idea: There is a powerful, but childlike NPC that the party is tasked with protecting and raising. At a certain time this NPC will be granted a Wish and they must decide that wish themselves, they cannot use a script. The party must adventure but also keep in mind what kind of example they are setting for this child who will have the power to reshape the world.

[umbral girder]

"I cast wish to replicate the spell Prestidigitation."

[narrow moss]

hm

[hidden spindle]

Rock Gnome's creating a toy with Wish's Prestidigition

[strange rivet]

big preesh, just saw this and made some changes we ran a session 0 today and it went pretty smooth

[marble silo]

that's pretty interesting ngl

[simple sphinx]

im looking for a dm and players to run The crooked moon, if you are interested, dm me 🙂

[fossil hollow]

#find-a-game

[glad barn]

Who needs Wish when you have Legendary Reactions, Legendary Actions, Lair Effects and can make up Spell-Like Abilities >_>

[fossil hollow]

wish though is just. Wish

[glad barn]

I guess 5e Wish is pretty structured.

As opposed to the test-the-limits-of-friendship AD&D school of design

[rough basalt]

"I wish for a hamburger"
"Done"

[red steppe]

A wish to make a piece of wood taste like slow cooked beef brisket

[marble lion]

tbf i feel like if someone cast that spell, the authorities would get involved for coercion

[hidden spindle]

Prestidigition's got this covered

[red steppe]

Aww man

[umbral girder]

That reminds me kinda of a podcast I listened too

Players were in a competition in Sigil trying to get a Ring of Three Wishes

When it became time for the winner to get the ring the Lady of Pain herself appeared. Watching.

Anyway, now I'm wondering how I want to handle "The King in Yellow" in D&D.

[cinder timber]

Hello. People

[rough basalt]

Lady of Pain, Sigils number 1 aura farmer permanently.

[umbral girder]

The sheer panic of the NPCs, the Players, and PCs was very fun when she appeared

[dusky venture]

Whats The Crooked Moon?

[umbral girder]

It’s a third party adventure

[rough basalt]

A third party adventure.
It's a rather interesting Folk Horror sort of thing.

[dusky venture]

That is pretty interesting

[rough basalt]

Has a creepy trailer theme that I've heard a few times in ads

Or well off-putting

Fitting of what it's supposed to be.

[tough flame]

Guys!!! I have a cool character idea but I kinda need help finishing it ):

[timber turtle]

Is sorcerer the only caster that doesn't have a melee niche?

[tough flame]

So basically it's a possessed doll thing like a war forged warlock but idk what a good subclass thingy should be

[tough flame]

I don't think so
not sure though

[humble cairn]

Yes, though Clerics don't really gish all that well, either.

[timber turtle]

Make IT pact of the chain and summon robots from Mechanus

[woven flint]

Pretty much..

Unless you count quickening Truestrike as a Gish thing lol

[humble cairn]

Sorcerers can kinda mimic a gish with Quickened True Strike, but that really falls off after like the middle of Tier 2.

Clerics can frontline, but generally they do it with spells and not weapons.

[woven flint]

Yeah, Nakato learned that the hard way

[knotty pasture]

You can go shadow sorcerer > Cast darkness at someone's face > Run in with your Mastiff and rush them down

[pearl hedge]

true strike is useless anyways

[humble cairn]

Not 2024 True Strike, it isn't.

[woven flint]

Too bad I can't use True Strike with Shadow Blade 😔

Oops, wrong ping

[tough flame]

Oh! What about archetypes? :D

[umbral girder]

Yeah 2024 True strike is one of the best Gish cantrips in the game now

[humble cairn]

Really do want Hextra Attack with it, though.

[woven flint]

Agreeable

I think it's pretty fun if you can get it It on a War Cleric in one way or another, I'm baffled I didn't get it on mine for Nealens lich oneshot

[fossil hollow]

cant wait for my waterdeep game

[woven flint]

Can't wait to die

[umbral girder]

Thats both of you tomorrow /jk

[lofty bobcat]

Okay, social media exclusively for DnD and fantasy themed stuff

[storm magnet]

What’s a bonus action

[fossil hollow]

its a special action you can take on your turn if you have something that lets you use it as a ba

[storm magnet]

Can pulling someone out of the way be a bonus action

[fossil hollow]

if something gives you it as a bonus action

[umbral girder]

If not that it is probably the attack action to forcibly move another creature

[lavish flame]

You'd need to convince your DM for that. Read up on the Actions section of the rules to get an idea of what you can do with your turn.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/br-2024/playing-the-game#Actions

[burnt valley]

Lady of Pain being true to her title/name, a pain in the neck

[burnt valley]

Same ngl, I built my character trash unintentionally for a campaign since that was my very first campaign i had in a long while

[past blaze]

a specific resource that is very conditional on if you even have the opportunity to spend it on anything.

Wait, you've been here since march 2023?

[limber trail]

if you kill me in one session you get a prize!

[fossil hollow]

... what is it?

[limber trail]

...vitriol

[fossil hollow]

i gladly accep

[limber trail]

oh no

[fossil hollow]

got a kill yesterday, my bloodthirst isnt over

[limber trail]

hell yeah

[onyx flicker]

Please explain me how it is about in new 2024 rules. I mean for example Specter and it skill Life Drain.

Life Drain. Melee Attack Roll: +4, reach 5 ft. Hit: 7 (2d6) Necrotic damage. If the target is a creature, its Hit Point maximum decreases by an amount equal to the damage taken.

There is no saving throw like in 2014 edition and what about that loosing maximum HP? is it now perament?

[fossil hollow]

its restored on a long rest (its moved to the general long rest rules). its no save yes

[lavish flame]

Unironically could happen, low level is real rough

[limber trail]

oh I know, I've seen it happen before

[fossil hollow]

they are level 1

and the yawning portal leads directly to undermountain

[lavish flame]

No save for this effect, it happens if the hit happens.

Long Rests got updated in 2024, Long Resting now resets HP alterations.

[fossil hollow]

and stat reductions (unless something says otherwise)

[lavish flame]

oh sweet!

[fossil hollow]

yeah, shadows dont have that wording because they also reset on a long rest

[onyx flicker]

Ok thank You very much. 😉

[lavish flame]

Woah, Intellect Devourers don't reduce ur int anymore, neat. Shadows still drain strength

something something martial/caster disparity