dnd-discussion

[fossil hollow]

dunno, shadows scare casters more

theyre the ones closer to death meeting them. at least the barb can take more reductions

[burnt valley]

Tier 1 moment

[hot gate]

The new 2024 monsters are great for tier 1 moments in higher tiers. I crit a level 8 warlock for their entire health bar with a stone golem last session.

[fossil hollow]

noice

[narrow moss]

poor sugar baby

[burnt valley]

Welp time to ask #optimization for help to deal with Tier 1s as a full caster

[keen valve]

They can scare anyone if you play them smart.

[tawdry sentinel]

When you're actually fighting the shadows sure, when you walk into the next room and the barbarian can't actually do anything to the shambling mound except for limply flail in it's general direction it's a sad time.

[south tendon]

Question? When a Shifter shifts into hybrid form, could they get like animal ears and claws?

My thoughts are they get the ears to represent their senses becoming more acute, and the claws because they’re a wildhunt shifter.

Would this make sense, or is it too crazy for a shifter?

[humble cairn]

Not too crazy at all. It's basically flavor, go crazy.

[reef tundra]

Is there anyone who’s played Trickery domain cleric? If so, how was it?

The only experience I have with it is BG3 where I really didn’t like it and I suppose Jester Lavorre from Critical Role, but it never seemed like anything special and mid at most

[flat steeple]

As long as you play cleric you'll play a capable character haha

[narrow moss]

i haven't played one but it knida seemed like a thing that's hard to translate into a video game format anyway to me

[rotund shell]

I've theorycrafted a trickery cleric, but I've not yet played one

[dusky venture]

interesting

[keen valve]

I'll dumb down everything I was gonna type out:

It's great for roleplay and is very fun to do tactical trickery with. It's not terrible for combat, but that's because Clerics aren't terrible for combat either. I just would not personally prioritize it for a heavy combat game unless you know it's gonna be one where you can get the upperhand enough for 1 minute of fake-me to be useful. The level 6 ability is great---so is all teleportation---but I think the 17th level ability is pathetic tbh.

[noble basin]

2024 version is pretty cool me thinks

[keen valve]

I was referring to 2024 one. Unless you mean D&D in general. It's not too bad, but I will always have my criticisms.

[keen valve]

I forgot to say it gives you advantage if it's within 5 ft of an enemy with you also within 5ft of it, but it seems kind of like a thing that might only work temporarily to me? It's not that hard for an allied enemies to figure out which is which and then take out the illusion.

[noble basin]

level 17 ability is cool but its def not capstone worthy

The illusion is intangible

[keen valve]

It is cool, and I like it, but it's just that by that point, enemies have multi-attack, and dispel magic, and do crazy crap like "Uh oh, you've been de-magic'd temporarily, no more spells right now for you!"

I think it would've been more cool to have instead make it actually powerful by having it interact with the world. Moving stuff, mimicking noise, activating things. Not just "Oh let's enhance this one thing about it."

Healing illusion is great though, but I wish it wasn't called that, makes me feel like my DM would pull some sick joke and go "The healing was an illusion the ENTIRE TIME!" (And it should've just come in an earlier part of the subclass.)

[noble basin]

i think the strength comes from the casting spell int he illusions space cause you can just hide safely while still casting spells

[keen valve]

One big thing! The spell list? Delicious, delectable. Impeccable.

I think it's the abilities that make a subclass unique though, not it's spells.

[noble basin]

and infinite teleportation

well i guess still channel dviinity limited but

[keen valve]

Just ask god for more "Pleasee shar pleasee more channel divinity!!!"

[dusky venture]

Interesting

[reef tundra]

I am here. Hmmm, that actually sounds pretty cool

Maybe a less combat-centred cleric subclass was a good idea

I'll have to try it one day. Perhaps I've been too harsh on it

[glass granite]

Hi here, I’m Nugget

[reef tundra]

You're lucky I can't use the megatron gif on you here >:( /j

[narrow moss]

lol

[glass granite]

Your magic doesn’t work here!

[keen valve]

It's not a bad class overall, but be around me long enough and you'll find that I think all classes are mildly ok and probably worth playing for a little bit depending on the game.

[reef tundra]

"You have no power here"

[keen valve]

I wish I could be a mole named nugget in a dnd game. I'd kill everyone.

[glass granite]

Jokes on you, my dad joke spells aren’t affected by this server’s anti-gif/barrier!

[reef tundra]

I once played a demomaniac halfling named Alexander kaboom. He lived in a hole

[keen valve]

Is that a fallout new vegas reference?

[glass granite]

I’ll have you know that it is a Niffler, not a mole.

[reef tundra]

You're too powerful here

[keen valve]

Yeah I've seen harry potter's prequels, don't worry.

[glass granite]

No, I’m Nugget. “You’re too powerful here” sounds like a nice guy tho

[reef tundra]

If it was it's accidental

[narrow moss]

the mole was a mole go figure.

[keen valve]

Oh that's funny, I like that.

[narrow moss]

does he have a bloody mole too

[keen valve]

I'm running a redwall-inspired game so I'll have to steal that for a character.

[narrow moss]

has ptsd of molespeech

i understood them but my god i will never ever try to replicate it.

[keen valve]

What were they saying? "Worms, dirt, dirt, dirt, root, worm, dirt, dirt, dirt... dirt dirt."

[narrow moss]

it was the accents that Jacques likes to do

[keen valve]

Oh no, that sounds awful.

[narrow moss]

every I was like 'oi' or something.

Oi'm not sure etc.

it's been some time since i've read Redwall lol

there are two things Jacques likes to do. Accents in text, and descriptions of food.

i'm giving him a pass on the epic battles

[keen valve]

"Oi baint arsken boi moi own deloight, soo goo n'doo yon wurse."
It is some insane stuff, and you barely understand it, but it is so fun.

[narrow moss]

i relied mostly on context and my brain actually working as a child.

and even that example makes me wanna throw things lol

but good times.

[keen valve]

I mean he's what's got me into voice acting for D&D. His accents and reading them were great fun.

[narrow moss]

they were very fun. Also Eulalia!

[keen valve]

Eulalia!

[narrow moss]

lol

[reef tundra]

I've been a drama student for years so dnd has been very good practice for both my acting and writing

[narrow moss]

that is good

[reef tundra]

Absolutely shocked one of my groups the other night when they got the villain mad

One of the players tried to play the "I have more trauma" game with the villain

[narrow moss]

oh. oh no.

[reef tundra]

They lost the argument

[narrow moss]

i mean rightfully so.

like even if they were right they're gonna lose that argument.

you don't tell someone that you have it harder than they do when they're the villain.

-# actually just never do that.

[reef tundra]

Also the villain's lore is... tragic

In usual villain fashion

[glass granite]

One of my players immediately killed someone in an abandonedtemple on sight.
They ended up killing a war veteran’s granddaughter. The veteran was an Aasimar paladin that was a former bodyguard of the emperor.

So that was fun

[reef tundra]

Think before you... brutally murder

A valuable lesson

[glass granite]

Well, the murdered 8 year old girl was cursed

[narrow moss]

why do people murderhobo

cursed or not you don't just do that as the first thing ever

[glass granite]

So they probably thought she was a monster and killed without checking first

She had a cursed root through her chest

[narrow moss]

i mean the temple's abandoned i guess but stillllll

what if you aggro'd something really bad doing that?

it's an abandoned temple.

[hearty osprey]

Just opened the chat, what are you feller talking about?

[glass granite]

Story from my game
Maybe I should post that in the correct channel

[hearty osprey]

Intresting

[glass granite]

And they were a really new player, so they probably didn’t know much better

[narrow moss]

we're just mentioning it in passing anyway

[glass granite]

Yeah

[narrow moss]

i guess i can see how they came to the conclusions they did though.

[glass granite]

I had to improvise the entire one shot after that, cuz I didn’t plan for them to slice first before even getting a good look

Gotta love dnd players. The session was a blast tbf, so that was good.

[hearty osprey]

I gotta start a campaign (when i finnish putting all the stuff in the pdf)

[dusky venture]

Murder first questions later

[reef tundra]

Classic player behaviour

[dusky venture]

Never played 😭

[lavish flame]

The behavior a game encourages is the behavior the game rewards

[narrow moss]

i mean you say that but i've heard setups that didn't encourage it at all

people are just weird i guess.

[dusky venture]

Intrusive thoughts maybe

[narrow moss]

oh i've had intrusive thoughts, these people had no thoughts at all.

[dusky venture]

I see

[reef tundra]

I haven’t faced proper murderhobos yet but I did break a player that was close to being one

[hearty osprey]

With most of my oneshots the "planning" is generalized cause i know my players will pull out something from their bag of holding

[narrow moss]

i mean actions have consequences kind of breaking?

[reef tundra]

I introduced them to my best friend and tormentor - Senõr Consequences

[narrow moss]

lol

I like him already.

[reef tundra]

I may or may not have a faction of metallic dragons who disguise themselves as humans to look out for evil

[dusky venture]

I do wanna play dnd one day but I'm just to busy

[reef tundra]

That sounds like it could be fixed by the power of Play-by-post

[narrow moss]

that's just evil, and I'm a fan of the retired adventurer living his life trope

[dusky venture]

Interesting

[reef tundra]

Evil is my thing

[narrow moss]

you're a dm so obviously.

It's a compliment not a criticism

[reef tundra]

It’s perfect for busy players as everyone doesn’t need to be on at the same time, they just need to make a post each day before the DM makes theirs

[glass granite]

Play by post possibly?

[reef tundra]

Oh don’t worry I know it’s a compliment 💅

[narrow moss]

lol

[dusky venture]

Very interesting

[reef tundra]

My players fear me

[lavish flame]

Thats not what that means. If killing offered a reward (information, loot, allies) sooner than another solution would have, then killing is what the game encourages. It is very easy to accidently encourage this behavior

[hearty osprey]

I did, i think they regret every life choice when the consequences arrived

[reef tundra]

Perfection

[narrow moss]

okay gwyn

[glass granite]

Gotta love cause and effect

[narrow moss]

yeah

[dusky venture]

Welp maybe one day I'll sit down look for a group

[reef tundra]

One Dragonborn sorcerer play I let them have the lore that they were born from a magic scale of the dragon king. I didn’t know that they would start using that as leverage for trying to assert power over other dragonborns because “I am a pure blood dragon”

[reef tundra]

Then one session they had their ass Godzilla beamed by a Dragonborn priest

[glass granite]

-# that ain’t ending well

[hearty osprey]

Effect: a cathedral fell
Cause: explosives

[narrow moss]

yeah i never like the supremacist route

[reef tundra]

Neither

[narrow moss]

scales are shed anyway, you are literally dust my guy.

get bent.

[reef tundra]

Even the evil Dragonborn faction I have lectured him on it

[narrow moss]

that is kind of funny tbh

but totally understandable.

[reef tundra]

Idk how on earth you can get lectured by arsonist dragon worshippers but he did it

[narrow moss]

because they may be bad guys, but they are not bad guys

[reef tundra]

Exactly

[narrow moss]

-# probs should stop that whole arsonist thing though

[reef tundra]

Yeah. Send them to rehab

Maybe the secret metallic dragons can rehabilitate them

[narrow moss]

maybe

i'm not sure what it means to be a fey tbh

feels like imma have more reading to do than I think

[lavish flame]

For Creature Type stuff, it mostly means you Are Not a Humanoid. For character story stuff, it might have some implications

[narrow moss]

i figured

[lavish flame]

There's like a series of courts in the Feywild and some legit politics going on between them and people who serve under a given Fey Lord

[narrow moss]

yeah i definitely know that one

just not in a dnd setting lol

but that's fine my guy's just not interested in 'the drama' anyway

mmm just was thinking if that fey thing meant other things though. but maybe not. random thought i know.

[lavish flame]

besides that, it might mean minor characterization things. Your character might bevery emotionally expressive or have a greater semse of taste than usual. Maybe they have childhood stories that are twisted, like a Brothers Grimm tale.

[narrow moss]

true

[solar perch]

Hello

[lavish flame]

howdy!

[north hollow]

the campaign I was in, War Crimes Inc, has officially ended

it ended because we ran out of war crimes and horrible things to do!

[shy hound]

guys is it correct that like humans and orcs are basically the same species but orcs are green correct?

[burnt valley]

which war crimes your character had in their bucket list?

[north hollow]

the entire premise was the following: the DM didn't want to have only good characters in her campaign again, so the idea was the most vile people you could think of doing good things by force - and I introduced something so bad I quite literally CANT say it here :D

[burnt valley]

Lmao, now I'm more curious, is it alright if you tell me via dms?

[limber trail]

not at all. Orcs culturally tend to be, (but aren't necessarily entirely) more communal & independent. Typically orcs wander from place to place with their tribe/community. Biologically they tend to be taller and broader, with tusks and pointed ears and grey skin. They also tend to live for shorter timespans.

[north hollow]

yeyeye ofc!

[shy hound]

ah

[lavish flame]

not really

they are both bipeds, and they're usually of similar height, but thats about where the comparisons stop for physique

[uncut zenith]

Most of the people whining online about humans and orcs being basically the same are people who complain about them not being “mechanically different enough”. Which is also untrue.

[lavish flame]

tusks, different skin pigmentations, different abilities, they tend to make different kinds of societies

[shy hound]

hm sooo if halflife from both race would end up like a mule?

[rotund shell]

not necessarily. Genetics like that don't really exist in DnD

it depends on the setting.

[old sluice]

Actually "mule" was a derogatory term used in universe for half dwarves half humans in Dark Dun

Mul, I think.

[rotund shell]

Mul, yes.

[minor cargo]

Since it’s D&D, yeah, you can totally write it like that.

That said, since humans and orcs are (in a lot of settings) people, calling mixes people a mule can kind of give a specific kind of vibe to your game that you might not intend. ✌🏼

[humble cairn]

Silver Dragons were known for doing this, I think.

[old sluice]

Fun fact: Mules are not actually as sterile as pop culture would have you believe!

[shy hound]

ah

[reef tundra]

I was inspired by their lore. I made the leader of these metallic dragons a silver one

[old sluice]

That said, that vibe may be what you would be going for to portray anti-mixed people sentiment in-universe

[rotund shell]

but the main point is: It entirely depends on the setting whether half-orcs, half-elves, and other "half-" species are true breeding or not. and how that is handled can inform or offer implications beyond what you intend.

[minor cargo]

That’s true! In either case, I think it’s worthwhile being intentional.

[idle oar]

Gently taps the server rules - please be careful with this topic folks.

[rotund shell]

I personally have them be true breeding in all cases. They're people. They can, and should, have their own culture (whether they adopt their parents' or forge their own), and so on

[old sluice]

Now personally, I just removed half-species from my setting because I just dislike the idea that things from completely unrelated different species can interbreed.

Raises too many questions

[humble cairn]

Yes let's do remember that, while fictional, orcs and elves are portrayed as people and we should take care in the way we talk about people.

[still plover]

I might think about using species feats as a jumping-off point for cultures as some point. If all your type of people can do this thing or have this ability, what does that look like in daily life?

[rotund shell]

here's an answer to those questions: Magic pervades the world and leads to circumstances where this happens. It's not a matter of "a wizard did it," but "the natural magicks of the world did it."

[old sluice]

That does not actually answer those questions.

The questions are sociological more than biological

[rotund shell]

Look to Eberron then for ways to implement them. Half-elves have "those who are trying to stay unnoticed within human society" and "we are our own people, we will have our own culture. Do not judge us by our parentage!"

While half-orcs are fully integrated into the society of their orcish and human parentage, serving as members of society just as much as the next person. Especially when they're dragonmarked.

[old sluice]

I've been thinking of that with elves. All of them trained in different weapons that are considered "elite" weapons in humans, all of them perceptive to their environment, all wood elves faster than humans, all wood elves capable of hiding even in the rain...

[rotund shell]

It's really not that hard to answer these questions when they've already been handled by existing works.

[still plover]

Yeah. What effect does having a people that can do that have on a world?

[humble cairn]

Slightly different with the '24 rules.

[old sluice]

Well, first off, I think "Never attack a wood elves nation" would be a common saying

[lavish flame]

My party recently interacted with Pallid Elves in the Wildemount setting. It was a lot of fun when the party called out to a group of them and then those Elves all just dissappeared (turned Invisible, due to a Species feature). I love stuff like that.

[uncut zenith]

I’m personally not the biggest fan of monolithic cultures to begin with, so I have no issue with saying not all members of a species share the same cultural values, customs, etc.

[humble cairn]

Same

[old sluice]

I would agree but I am also not a fan of multi-species civilisations.

[humble cairn]

I am

[uncut zenith]

I way prefer multi-species civilizations and cultures over monolithic

[marble lion]

i like the approach that players can just pick a different race, then flavour it as theirs, to show that while belonging to a race physically they grew up differently

[lavish flame]

Yeah to me thats basically the point of a D&D city

[rotund shell]

Which is perfectly valid, and again handled in such a good manner of Eberron.

You have House Medani who are half-elves trying to blend in with human society and not call undue attention to themselves.

House Lyrandar who are trying to forge their destiny as "Khoravar" rather than half-elves.

[old sluice]

I prefer when both are absent honestly.

[marble lion]

it sometimes leads to homebrew where they keep a trait from another race because it wouldnt make sense in lore otherwise like an elf always having trance etc

[old sluice]

Unless there is like a specific lore and political explanation for a given multi species civilisation

[uncut zenith]

Not every civilization needs to be a metropolis where all species are present in equal parts, but civilizations that are primarily if not entirely of a single species was always dumb to me

[old sluice]

Like "The dwarves of this land opened their borders to human refugees a century ago. Now humans live on the surface, dwarves below it, and there's a common government"

[humble cairn]

I like this, too. Flavor is free.

[lavish flame]

I mean "civilizations carry economic opportunity" is fairly reasonable for anybody to want to go to a civilization, right?

[still plover]

Sure! But history starts somewhere and carries on. Look at the Witcher, where so many human settlements are literally built over the elven cities of the past. The elves once had the power, humans overtook them, the legacy remains in the remains.

[uncut zenith]

You can do the same without the civilizations being species/race based

[old sluice]

Sure. But there's the fact that those people simply live differently and their bodies are different. Creating a common set of laws for dwarves, gnomes, goliaths and elves is an exercise in futility due to their wildly diverging aging patterns, diet, size... Architecture needs to adapt.

[uncut zenith]

In general, fantasy species were always designed to be a way to simplify representing different cultures anyways.

[old sluice]

At the end of the day, people are their bodies first. Culture, values, and the rest is secondary. If not tertiary

[proven nacelle]

hmmm wasnt lorwynn first light supposed to be released today?

[rotund shell]

okay? and? again, you seem to forget that magic exists and can help with the infrastructure to support a multi-species civilization. Sure, outright laws might be different and hard to manage, but so are laws in the real world, and we only have humans to worry about.

[uncut zenith]

Yes, but WOTC works off of west coast time zone

[old sluice]

Not quite true. Tolkien never treated the elves as a "different culture" for example. They are drastically different from humans, metaphysically even

[rotund shell]

It reads to me like you just don't like thinking through the logistics required to have a multi-species civilization, which WOULD be resolved (to varying degrees of success) by the people existing in the world.

Again, just look at Eberron

[uncut zenith]

Tolkien actually did portray different fantasy races as metaphors for different real-world cultures and religions

[old sluice]

In part. But the elves of Tolkien are simply not comparable. They are immortal semi-divine people who reincarnate after death.

They do not build civilisations with men or dwarves. They can trade and have alliances, certainly.

[still plover]

Yes, but: these folks didn't start in an integrated multi-species society. Back in the mists of time the elves were here, the dwarves were there and the humans were wherever. The first things the first peoples would do would seem to be focused by the efforts of each species.

You can sure say this city was the first built by elves and orcs together, but I feel it's missing something to ignore that both species grew to that point individually.

[old sluice]

Now of course I can accept a multi-species civilisation if the worldbuilding addresses those issues.

[humble cairn]

That .. is certainly a take.

[old sluice]

You disagree?

[rotund shell]

Yes.

[serene garnet]

Do paladins need to were like knight armor orr?

[karmic pendant]

No

[rotund shell]

No.

[serene garnet]

So it can be like samurai armor?

[karmic pendant]

They don't even have to wear armor it's up to you

[humble cairn]

There's a lot more there than I think you have the authority to declare so absolutely. It really sounds like a take that comes from someone whose knowledge of the topic is uhh .. limited. This really feels like Dunning Kruger talking.

[rotund shell]

It can be however you want it to be

[serene garnet]

Oh right fantasy

[old sluice]

Nobody has unlimited knowledge on anything. All I know is that, when I was born, I had no culture yet and no values. I was naked and screaming. I had my body. Literally the first thing

[rotund shell]

heck, one of my paladins wears Light Armor (So leather and stuff) over medium or "knight" armor. So yeah, go nuts.

[serene garnet]

I'ma go with a oni theme!

[old sluice]

Everything else came after. Secondary. Tertiary even. We change our values to adapt to our environment.

We can very drastically change our values and culture. But there is a hard limit to how much we can change our bodies

[lavish flame]

IDK how crazy different a society would actually need to be to accomodate Halflings, Goliaths, Elves, and Humans with the same rigour we accomodate people irl. Same diet, roughly the same height and weight. Abilities get tricky, but I feel like most civilizations would have laws governing hurting people mundanely and magically. The tricky part is lifespan stuff, but that seems pretty reasonably doable. Crime and punishment might just be "X% of average lifespan" instead of "X Number of Years."

[old sluice]

Good point. Though not the same size at all. Something built to accomodate goliaths would be hell for halflings. But otherwise yes

[rotund shell]

And like. Preexisting works already exist that (broadly) handle these issues.

Eberron is RIGHT THERE.

It really sounds like to me that you just don't want to put in the effort to make a world where it's possible. You don't want to think about how the legal system might work. Or how accomodations might need to be.

[lavish flame]

Shaquille O'Neal opens the same doors that toddlers do, so I don't think height is a crazy factor

Plus, I sorta figure most stuff would be sized for Humans, Elves, and Orcs. Sized for a 5-6 foot tall user.

[woven flint]

Morning Folks, it's me, the scrimblo (derogatory)

[limber trail]

oh no

[old sluice]

True! In that case taking the average just results in... Mild annoyance at worst

[woven flint]

Oh yes.

[lavish flame]

Yeah, but yknow. This is life for a considerable portion of people

[lean sail]

I just rolled 8 nat 20's out of 40 dice I rolled for setting up my combat encounter

[marble lion]

i feel like there would be districts with different housing

i cant imagine the smallfolk perspective but as a tall person with short grandparents, i can say that a goliath would probably get very annoyed after a while

imagine knowing that your entire life you will have to deal with "short people architecture"

a full lifetime of compromise instead of just having houses built for goliaths?

[muted prairie]

#looking-for-players sorry i couldnt find the channel dont mind this message

[lavish flame]

This is disability. You're describing living with a disability.

A whole lifetime of dealing with staircases instead of just having ramps

[marble lion]

no im describing being a goliath in a society of humans and halflings

you can draw parallels if you want of course

[still plover]

Shadowrun mentions it from time to time. Public transport accommodations for trolls? They're a minority being discriminated against by restricted access to services.

[humble cairn]

Yeah this sounds like an argument from ontology that's supposed to be deep but is actually reductivist and ignores how culture and psychology actually do have deep effects on physiology and also tends to lead to people trying to justify bioessentialist arguments about how different races are just inherently better or worse at certain things so I think I'm not going to engage in it further.

[still plover]

Shadowrun trolls would be your goliath equivalent, for the gallery.

[marble lion]

its fantasy races

their bodies are way more different than human varieties

[old sluice]

? Different does not mean better or worse. It just means different. You're doing that thing where you imagine something that isn't there and getting offended by it

[swift star]

is there a chat to discuss deals on the marketplace?

[lavish flame]

There isn't really one here, how do you mean "discuss deals"?

[still plover]

On Beyond? There are a couple, #ddb-support might be an option.

[swift star]

essentially like whenever deals go live at all

[uncut zenith]

DDB doesn’t typically announce their sales ahead of time, you just have to keep a watchful eye for them

[opal wharf]

Keep an eye on #dnd-announcements or #dnd-social-feeds

[swift star]

more like a chat of players letting others know when deals go live not necessarily a official chat, like here on this place this is on sale kind of thing

[uncut zenith]

That said, the holidays are right around the corner, so they’re more than likely going to be dropping something within the next few weeks. At least if they’re continuing to do what they do the past few years.

[uncut zenith]

We don’t typically do that here

Everybody’s kinda responsible for keeping an eye out for sales

[inner silo]

How do shellilaugh ranger builds work? (Sorry for butchering the name)

[marble lion]

at that point, just check the website

youd be checking the discord chat to find out if there are sales when you can just check the website instead

[woven flint]

Pump Wisdon, then use stick

Bonk til your hearts content

[still plover]

Dexterity for armour, Wisdom for hitting.

[inner silo]

Alrighty

[knotty pasture]

You only need 14 dex for medium armor, but it is bonking

[marble lion]

i like that idea 14dex ranger with max wis for casting and attacks

[knotty pasture]

Better weapon flexibility than dex ranger but you're extremely reliant on shillelagh

[inner silo]

Can it work with the fighter multiclass for dueling?

[knotty pasture]

Wouldn't suggest fighter

[woven flint]

On the Topic of Rangers... I had a concept for a Leonin Ranger that hunts with his bare hands,
His names Atlas Salvador and he's a very boastful hunter 🧐
Hopefully I'll get to play him one day.

[inner silo]

Ranger monk?

[humble cairn]

Oh that's what I'm playing right now! https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/85983023/YImvHo

[marble lion]

since youre maxing wisdom, i feel like you might get a lot of benefit from not multiclassing into a martial

[woven flint]

No, just using natural unarmed strikes lol
Or choosing the Unarmed Fighting style

[humble cairn]

I use Wisdom for Shillelagh, for Magic Stone, for spells, and for the attacks of my Primal Companion and Summon Beast.

[marble lion]

you want your ranger spells up

[humble cairn]

In fact I dipped Druid for the extra spell slots.

[inner silo]

1 level dip

[marble lion]

1 level?

[inner silo]

Interesting

[humble cairn]

1 level of Druid gives me higher level spell slots earlier and even a 6th level spell slot eventually that a Ranger would never usually get.

[marble lion]

does multiclassing get you saves still?

or would you be starting as fighter and then go ranger after?

[woven flint]

I actually didn't know you dipped Druid, but that should've been expected with how high your wisdom is in that game lol

[humble cairn]

No, you only get the save profs of your first class.

[inner silo]

Yeah

[marble lion]

thats how i know it

[knotty pasture]

Seems very wasteful to go Ranger Monk

[limber trail]

Anything you want from this dip?

[knotty pasture]

That poor armor proficiency going to waste

[inner silo]

Dueling fighting style and con saves

[humble cairn]

Only just recently because the benefits of level 12 Ranger were not as tempting as a 4th level spell slot and bonuses to Arcana+Nature.

[woven flint]

Armor schnarmor

[marble lion]

my monk fighter wore armour

i just didnt get my monk stuff rip

[humble cairn]

I mean dipping 1 level for HM and Nick Mastery is pretty beneficial.

[marble lion]

the plan was to throw off my armour and bust out my magic tattoo if i ever had to go tryhard

[opal wharf]

#dnd-announcements message this was the last sale during Halloween

[woven flint]

I say that, but I have two heavily armored characters lol

My Twilight Cleric and my Cavalier Fighter

[marble lion]

that character was great. the DM would have let me take the armour off for free which is homebrew

[woven flint]

I have 3 Unarmored Characters atm though
My Noble Genies Paladin, Bladesinger Wizard and a Tortle fella
I just love having an excuse not to wear armor 🧐

[knotty pasture]

Hmm fair point

[humble cairn]

Does Malaketh even use Mage Armor?

[woven flint]

Nope

[humble cairn]

But y?

You certainly have the spell slots for it.

[woven flint]

I'm built different /j
Eh, I feel his 23 AC is Good enough for the most part
If he really needed a Boost he's got Tashas Otherworldly Guise on occasion (+2) and Shield (+5)
That's 30 AC for a round lol

If he used mage armor that could be pumped up to 33

[inner silo]

Ranger monk multiclass with unarmoured defence from Dex and wis

[knotty pasture]

And here I thought 25+ AC is already disgusting, 33 AC...

[woven flint]

But I'm not that fiending for AC because song of Defense can just negate some huge damage if I really needed it

[woven flint]

Oh, Ophid!
Remember that time Malaketh completely negated a crit?

[inner silo]

Time for the dm to switch to saves. How's your intelligence?

[woven flint]

He's a Bladesinger Wizard

[inner silo]

Ah. Wisdom?

[humble cairn]

lol

[woven flint]

Also pretty good
His stats are pretty well rounded for a Wizard

[inner silo]

Strength?

[humble cairn]

Don't you have a curse on your mental saves?

[woven flint]

He does! But I took the Lucky feat specifically for that

[woven flint]

Shrug
Honestly, Strength saves aren't the scariest

[inner silo]

a strong gust of wind carries you away

[woven flint]

Oh no!
I'm knocked prone
Or I'm pushed
Or I'm thrown

[marble lion]

strength saves are scary when saving against a firegiant brand

[knotty pasture]

Btw typically speaking, so campaigns are usually designed for 4-6 players right?

[humble cairn]

Restrained is no fun

[knotty pasture]

On the event that the table is 5-6 players, do you guys try to make the campaign harder or do you keep it the same

[woven flint]

Misty Step 🧐

[inner silo]

Strength saves against a monk with spike growth druid ally

[woven flint]

I think Malaketh is pretty well rounded defensively, but with the way I play..
I'm surprised that Harengon is still alive lmao

[inner silo]

Btw is there such thing as too many charisma characters?

[knotty pasture]

No

[inner silo]

I see, good

[knotty pasture]

Paladin Bard Sorc Warlock doesn't seem like a terrible party comp

[inner silo]

Would be funny if the three patrons of our warlocks showed up at the same time

[inner silo]

What if you were to replace paladin and bard with warlock and warlock?

[knotty pasture]

It'd still work out

Pure optimization is basically controlling an area and zoning the enemy out and Warlocks have plenty of tools for this

[woven flint]

Then again, I saw that Dracolich/Aspect of Oroboros spewing necrotic energy and just Otherworldy Guised almost immediately the turn after lmao
(6th level spell that does a whole lot of crap: +2 AC, Flying Speed, depending on what plane you choose Upper: Immunity to; Necrotic, Radiant and Charmed
Lower: Immunity to; Fire, Poison, Poisoned)

[marble lion]

i think a party of cha characters could be a problem technically

[inner silo]

One of them has cloud of daggers, so that counts ig

[woven flint]

Tasha's spells are nasty sometimes

[marble lion]

thats assuming that the players picked charisma classes to be the face of the party

[knotty pasture]

Hunger of Hadar + Wall of Fire + Hypnotic Pattern lololol

[woven flint]

Especially if you lack skills or it's not a social intrigued campaign

[marble lion]

if they all wanted to play the main talker, they will possibly feel bad

[knotty pasture]

It is an art to lock down an area like this

[inner silo]

Only two of us kind of

[marble lion]

if the paladin just picked it to hit hard and the sorcerer just wanted metamagic

then it should work

[knotty pasture]

The fight is also heavily skewed towards your side the moment you dump darkness or anything of the sort on yourself

[inner silo]

We're only level three so they probably can't cast these spells yet, for the most part it's been armour of aghatis and hex

[knotty pasture]

Cuz your Warlocks can all pick Devil's Sight and just harass people that way unless they have their own darkvision that sees through darkness type spells

[woven flint]

Hmmm, I should play a Celestial Warlock eventually 🤔

[steady quarry]

Hi

[inner silo]

Celestial warlock, divine sprcerer, devotion paladin, life cleric team

[humble cairn]

That was a great play. I do think we need to make a bit more use of the Alert Feat we have on the team. A better use of the first turn might have been to blast that whole group while they were clumped up. Either that or control them.

[woven flint]

Hello, jolly fellow

[inner silo]

Hello !

[knotty pasture]

I also just noticed that 4 of the 9 subclasses for Fighter all end in -knight

[inner silo]

Can a sorcerer pick something like that?

[limber trail]

Warlocks are pretty malleable classes. Might be tough but it’s doable.

[knotty pasture]

No but Shadow Sorcerers have immunity to their own darkness spell so they can be the darkness guy

[inner silo]

I see. So far that's how we've been surviving because our fighter is busy

[humble cairn]

Eldritch, Rune, and Echo. Which one am I missing?

[knotty pasture]

Purple Dragon Knight

[humble cairn]

Ahh, but it's Banneret now.

[knotty pasture]

Maybe we need to split Fighter into Fighter and Knight respectively

[inner silo]

I see. I'm wild magic so can't do that sadly. I can surge though

[limber trail]

Your paladin substitute is probably operating the weakest and even then they’re fine. Lessons of the first ones for tough and hexblade for medium armour and you’re off.

[knotty pasture]

A shame, we were this close to a full knight party

[woven flint]

Honestly?
I should've attempted to Lucky my Initiative roll lol
Malaketh doesn't have that many blasting spells atm because I typically leave that to Sideryus and Nakato (the latter you know we've been lacking lol)

[inner silo]

We're playing with the 2024 phb so none of us has access to hexblade

[crimson gulch]

ahh epic session last night, my party just hit level 1 after 2 sessions at level zero

[inner silo]

Nice!

[crimson gulch]

first time i ever did a level zero start where the party did not have their full class yet

[inner silo]

How did it go? Was magic initiate op?

[crimson gulch]

nope, one player took that for mage hand elementalzm and find familiar. and the elf player had prestidigitation

[inner silo]

Ah i see. How did fights go?

[crimson gulch]

pretty much 100% imrovised weapons

impovreshed start so they dident even have full eqipment sets

[inner silo]

Interesting. Having magic initiate with a cantrip could be too strong

[crimson gulch]

nah it would have been fine

[inner silo]

I mean, 1d10 ranged damage vs 1d4 melee damage

[crimson gulch]

it was mostly RP and puzzles with one combat at the end

[inner silo]

Ahh, good

[crimson gulch]

a damage cantrip would not have added much overall to the session

[inner silo]

Unless using fire bolt to set something on fire

[crimson gulch]

they could set fires with elementalism or presty

or a shovel full of coals from the heater

[inner silo]

Ah right

[fossil hollow]

the secnario ws about fighting them??

[flint ledge]

Question, has there been any sort of announcement or such about Mordenkainen's monsters of the multiverse getting an update or new book version to fit the 2024 ruleset?

[crimson gulch]

None whatsoever

But everything in that book works great Still so there's no need imo

[slow island]

yes im using it in my campaigns and adventures without any problems

[crimson gulch]

None of the races have a built in asi so it's ready for the backround asi feature of the new rules

And the monsters are allready extra spicy compared to the old monster manual

[slow island]

even if, i would just not use species asi 😄

[crimson gulch]

Of all the old books motm is the easiest to just use with 2024

[flint ledge]

Do they not? I could have sworn they did

[slow island]

we starting saltmarsh soon and can play with 2024. my species will be lizardfolk from multiverse book tho

[crimson gulch]

Correct they do not

[flint ledge]

Actually I might be thinking of the Volo versions.

[crimson gulch]

Yes, volo s had racial asi

[old sluice]

Racial attribute adjustment disappeared after Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes.

[slow island]

The Multiverse Book says:
Ability Score Increases
When determining your character’s ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1.

What im doing is using new backgrounds or create new backgrounds with ASI

[crimson gulch]

Even then you can still use the volos versions too

[umbral girder]

Nope. Tbh it is already very close to 2024’s design already.

[crimson gulch]

All the 5e books work togeather

[old sluice]

There are some things you can't really combo between 2014 and 2024

[uncut zenith]

If you want to use a MotM species with a 2024 background, you can just take the background ASI

[umbral girder]

Yeah Racial ASIs aren’t a thing in 2024 (good riddance) as your ASIs are background only

[uncut zenith]

Idk that DDB will allow you to on their character builder though, so you may have to use a paper sheet or some other program to make your character sheet

[crimson gulch]

You can still customize your origin on dnd beyond

[uncut zenith]

Very true

[spring light]

level 0? what, did you start them as npc classes?

[crimson gulch]

They had their backround proficiency, their species abilities and 2 peices of scavenged equipment

And a d6 all round for a hit die

[spring light]

no spell casting among them?

[umbral girder]

There are backgrounds with spellcasting

[crimson gulch]

One player took magic initiate wizard as their feat from being human

[umbral girder]

And some races too

[crimson gulch]

And one more had presty from being an elf

[spring light]

awesome

that sounds like a really novel way to kick things off, bet your players had fun

[crimson gulch]

they had a blast

they came to a dwarven fortress 5 years ago as refugees to escape a war, and now that they have come of age their restlessness and the deteriorating conditions made them want to get out

Fantasy-Fallout vibes in the time of the Calamity of Exandria

[hollow stone]

does magic initiate give you spell slots or free expenditures? i never knew

[crimson gulch]

One free cast of a leveled spell

[vast pelican]

Two cantrips and a 1/day of a level 1 spell.

[blissful dragon]

When every volo comes up in a campaign my brain adds Jason de before the volo

[hollow stone]

i see

[vast pelican]

If you have spell slots, you can use them to cast that spell as well, but you still get a free use.

[tawdry sentinel]

I've been entertaining the idea of doing a game based around Divinity, which basically starts with you having an anti magic collar fitted on the way to a prison island, being shipwrecked, and conveniently washing up on the prison island you were going to anyway.

I do like that you're not yet a capable hero start.

[merry drum]

any fun blade singer multiclass builds ?

[reef tundra]

I heard that wizard is not very good with multiclassing

[woven depot]

Is there a channel here I can like ask if people wanna join ts campaign thing

[eager marsh]

after the rebalances in 2024 pretty much every class prefers to not multiclass

[eager marsh]

#find-a-game

[reef tundra]

Level 3 subclass really foiled a lot of dip builds eh?

[eager marsh]

Deserved tbh

[reef tundra]

Yeah

[woven depot]

How to do i send one of those things in Looking for players

[reef tundra]

The channel gives you instructions on how to

[woven depot]

Mb I’m not the brightest

[reef tundra]

No problem

I’ve seen other newcomers do worse

[still plover]

Type

/looking

Use the autocomplete for players, hit send, fill in the form.

[hot marlin]

It has been a while since last I walked those hallowed grounds. Tremble in fear mortals for I am returned

And I am also not a fiend

[eager marsh]

sounds like something a fiend would say

[hot marlin]

Also something a non-fiend would say.

Anyways how is it hanging in there? How many alignment, species and ranger discussions did I miss?

[humble cairn]

HA!

[still plover]

Welcome back! Did you enjoy your break?

[humble cairn]

-# sob

[hot marlin]

Quite.

[hot marlin]

Quite a lot then?

[humble cairn]

They are evergreen as the spring and regular as the tides.

[hot marlin]

It is good. We all need some consistency.

Anyways been thinking: If you learn that the BBEG has a ten step plan, we all agree you ignore them and go do something else until it reaches step 9, right?

It's just futile to stop the plan earlier

[atomic kayak]

Step 9? Thats what too early

[glad barn]

Or make Step 9 the Step 1 of YOUR plan.

[atomic kayak]

Have to stop em during step 10 obviously

[hollow stone]

depends on how many steps are the 10

like if every stage of the plan is shaped like a lesser villain's 10 (i.e. assassinating the lead 10 generals and the king to destabilize the militant authority structure) then you should probably do something in the way of anything that isn't taking too long

i know that with any real measure of foresight of a DM is that by the time you've found the plan they're at step 3 or 4 and/or it's already the plan that you try to do something about it prior to the pieces being in play

[glad barn]

Meanwhile my foresight as a DM "They cant figure out my plan if I dont know what it is either"

[hollow stone]

tho i spose planning to take too long is also dependent on the scale of the plan, like actually seizing control of the populace and government is the end goal or if the end goal is establishing a blockade to prevent news from entering and leaving the country

[crimson gulch]

Their suspicion becoming reality is valid

[glad barn]

"Oh my god you planned this!" They said, accusatorily. I look up from my sip of coffee "...yeah, totally"

What theyre worried it might be 6 times out of 10 is way more dangerous than what it was before they started guessing out loud, lol

[tawdry sentinel]

Anytime I mention a smell and they assume it's gas that'll blow up if they use fire.

Yeah sure totally, not just flavour

[glad barn]

"There are cracks along the walls" is a good way to get them to spend 45 minutes looking for secret doors in a... cave.

[hollow stone]

"it smells like gas"
"There's a gas leak!!"
me, who fabricated a substance that smells like gas that does something completely different

[hot marlin]

Jokes aside I think that might be why CoS works so well. It's hard to derail the plot when the villain has no plan. It's the PCs who have to make the plot, you know?

[glad barn]

Yeah, so long as you do eventually grab the reigns, the tension is built in.

Most of it is just an exercise in getting in their way lol

[spring glen]

I got a random question about spells. How do monsters carry components to cast them?

[glad barn]

Depends on the monster. Some of them might be using spell-like abilities, not necessarily traditional spell casting. Alternatively, their spells might work differently.

Mechanically, monsters and PCs are built with separate if related systems. Narratively, different creatures interact with magic in different ways

[raw ocean]

The even smarter orc who doesn’t need to fabricate a smell, he just genuinely smells like BO:

[hollow stone]

if your sweat smells like gas you have a severe problem.

contact a physician immediately

[raw ocean]

It’s common with how trigger happy spell casters are now a days

You give them a bad deal and they hit you with a fireball

[spring glen]

welll Im wairing fireball repelant

[vale sage]

Guys how do clerics and holy related stuff in dnd work?

I haven't played before but I hope to play in future

[raw ocean]

You can either base your powers off of a god or just straight up do cleric stuff

[vale sage]

Like do I get a selection of gods?

[raw ocean]

Depends on the person and campaign

[spring glen]

you pray to your god every day before you go to sleep

thats what I do

[hollow stone]

no that's paladins

[cobalt owl]

I have had inspiration for a new character strike me at the absolute worst moment 💀

I have an exam in 7 hours 💀 💀 💀

[torpid ocean]

why is ravenloft literally just dead by daylight lmao

[hollow stone]

or warlocks but warlocks typically worship a kind of patron different from a god

[glad barn]

Yeah. Things like Law, Chaos, War, Justice, Light, Shadow, etc are "Domains", or things that manifest in the real world. The weave, or the magic that exists in the universe, is something you can learn to manipulate. A Cleric connects to a Domain, either through a deity or sheer dedication, and becomes able to cast spells from that Domain

[spring glen]

you mean why is dead by daylight ravenloft

[torpid ocean]

I think patrons can be gods but mostly they aren't

[torpid ocean]

depends, which one was made first

[spring glen]

ravenloft has been around since adnd

[glad barn]

As opposed to a Paladin, that manifests magical powers through a contract or "Oath" with the weave itself, or a Warlock that makes a deal with a powerful entity in exchange for eldritch powers.

[hollow stone]

yea, it's typical that it's something else like a Devil or Archfey

[torpid ocean]

oh ok

[ember garnet]

Hai hai

[torpid ocean]

yeah not even that, it can be ancient deities, the undead, the dead three ect

[glad barn]

Warlock Patrons tend to not be in traditional pantheons, but they are still often gods in a power-level sense

[vale sage]

For some reason when you said raven loft I instantly thought of Bloodborne

[torpid ocean]

I really do want them to make a subclass letting you be a warlock serving one of the dead three

[torpid ocean]

barovia does give me hardcore bloodborne vibes

[glad barn]

From Baba Yaga to Leviathan, The Great Old One to Cthulhu or Asmodeus, there's a lot of patrons.

[spring glen]

just have your warlock partron be a ex girlfriend with abandonment issues

[glad barn]

But none would really have a 'religion' built around them.

[torpid ocean]

chat would it be a good idea to make my character a bhaalspawn

[glad barn]

More cults.

[knotty pasture]

You can make a Dark Urge copy from bg3 yea

[glad barn]

Dyno got that magic missile from the hip.

[torpid ocean]

do you guys think I should clarify that with a DM

[glad barn]

The DM is the best way to make anything you want to happen in the game happen.

So yeah, always.

[humble cairn]

Undead Warlock could very much be Myrkul.

[torpid ocean]

seriously though wizards please make a book covering evil gods you can be under

[hollow stone]

i know i invented a god for my warlock to worship, who wasn't in any regular pantheon because they were imprisoned in a place beyond time but not space, and their entire ball was trying to return to the core planes to take revenge upon the heavens

[knotty pasture]

Just look up dnd deities and pick an evil god it'll work out

[humble cairn]

Seems like a very specific book.

[glad barn]

For sure. Making Patrons is a fun time.

[spring glen]

my current warforged death clarics god is myrkul

[knotty pasture]

One of my Cleric characters worships Asmodeus

[glad barn]

We used to have a book like that called The Book of Vile Darkness. Opposite The Book of Exalted Deeds.

[torpid ocean]

eh not exactly, I don't think it's clarified what an undead warlock serves in VRGTR

[glad barn]

Nothing like that in 5e though.

[torpid ocean]

actually not just a book about evil gods how about a book of gods in general

[humble cairn]

I mean, exactly. Which means it can be any being of undeath, which Myrkul definitely is.

[glad barn]

Or Death itself, or any of the death gods like Hades or Anubis.

[torpid ocean]

isn't myrkul just necromancy?

[glad barn]

Or gods of Murder or Blood

[torpid ocean]

or is he god of the undead in general

[humble cairn]

Which ... is about undeath.

[glad barn]

Domains overlap each other a lot.

[torpid ocean]

yeah but I'm asking if he's specifically the god of necromancy or is he the god of undeath in general

[humble cairn]

I don't see the problem here?

[glad barn]

Most domains have multiple deities vying for power.

Including necromancy and undeath.

[knotty pasture]

"Beings of this type include the demilich Acererak, the vampire tyrant Kas the Bloody-Handed, the githyanki lich-queen Vlaakith, the dracolich Dragotha, the undead pharaoh Ankhtepot, and the elusive Darklord, Azalin Rex."

[glad barn]

From deep dragonliches to wraiths to valkyries to the spirit legion, death is a wide chaotic space

[torpid ocean]

would it be stupid to have a warlock make a deal with the dark powers

[knotty pasture]

If Vlaakith is there I don't see why Myrkul can't be

[humble cairn]

You're splitting some weird hairs there.

[glad barn]

And there's not a lot of Valkyries bending knee to Myrkul >_>

Domains are bigger than Deities.

[torpid ocean]

sigh

is he the god of necromancy or god of the undead

[knotty pasture]

God of the dead officially

[torpid ocean]

yeah that's what I was asking ty

[glad barn]

Myrkul lost his domains lol

[torpid ocean]

if he's the god of the dead then yeah an undead warlock would probably serve him

[knotty pasture]

Warlocks don't have to serve gods

[torpid ocean]

would it be stupid to have a warlock make a deal with the dark powers

[humble cairn]

Wiki says his portfolio is death, decay, dusk, old age, exhaustion, and autumn.

[glad barn]

Kelemvor is the Lord of the Dead

[knotty pasture]

It only has to be a godlike being or god if you wish

[glad barn]

Kelemvor who received the domain from Cyric who took it from Myrkul

[humble cairn]

Either way, he could make an Undead Patron.

[knotty pasture]

See Vlaakith again, which is awfully far away from what counts as a "god of undead"

[hollow stone]

isn't the flat of undeath just necromancy?

[torpid ocean]

wait a minute how powerful ARE the dark powers

[glad barn]

Myrkul was a Quasi-Deity.

[hollow stone]

like isn't all undeath necromancy in some form?

[glad barn]

Or 4 steps below Greater Deity.

[knotty pasture]

Define dark powers, are we talking nine hells stuff or great old one stuff

[humble cairn]

As powerful as the story requires them to be, they're deliberately a mystery.

[torpid ocean]

the dark powers as in the things that made ravenloft

[glad barn]

Necromancy is the name for a magic school that interacts with death and shadow.

It is not itself a domain.

[humble cairn]

I think we're talking about The Dark Powers that run the Domains of Dread.

[torpid ocean]

yeah that's what I'm talking about

so they're as powerful as the DM needs them to be

[knotty pasture]

As long as its below the power of actual gods yea

[glad barn]

Yeah, it's all down to how much the pantheon wars matter and how much the players see that stuff

[knotty pasture]

Cuz they are definitely below Shar, a proper god

[glad barn]

Gods also rise and fall, fight each other, die, etc.

The god of magic has been killed three times.

Oh I see why Myrkul came up, I guess he was in the video game lol.

[atomic kayak]

ostensibly the dark powers are "more" powerful than gods in some ways, considering their abilities to control their realm and prevent intrusions

[glad barn]

Cat God from Chult comes to mind lol. Controls every domain to some extent, but only on his island

[torpid ocean]

yeah how can something below a god form an entire realm and have complete control of it

[atomic kayak]

what the dark powers are is intentionally not very well defined though

[torpid ocean]

I think the dark powers are all powerful within ravenloft but are very limited outside of it

[glad barn]

Yeah, that's the idea is a kind of setpiece setting.

[torpid ocean]

so basically it's dead by daylight

[hollow stone]

it might be that their realms aren't nearly as vast as the core realms, and aren't nearly as complex as they belong to but one god

[glad barn]

Its the same way you would run other planes of existence.

There's slightly different rules, not just moral or legal, but like, physics and magic.

[harsh hollow]

Oh hey, First Light is out. :O

[torpid ocean]

so why do the dark powers get villains again?

isn't it to consume them or something

[knotty pasture]

For the record it was the ||apostle of myrkul|| you fight not myrkul himself

Those are completely different things

[glad barn]

And Myrkul is a chump.

This message paid for by the church of Kelemvor

[knotty pasture]

The scale of bg3 still meant that you stand no chance against the likes of Vlaakith even at the end of the game so

Let alone Myrkul

[torpid ocean]

it's the closest thing to fighting myrkul himself considering the physical form of a god is a projection of their will and whatnot

[knotty pasture]

It is a portion of his power but not him literally which is presumably way stronger

[torpid ocean]

yeah that's what I'm getting at

[knotty pasture]

Myrkul himself being trashed by a group of level 9 adventurers would be embarrassing

[torpid ocean]

I have a question

so y'know acererak right?

[glad barn]

Sure.

[torpid ocean]

he's the main villain of tomb of anihalation

[glad barn]

Among other things yeah.

[torpid ocean]

so if he fought vlakkith who wins?

[glad barn]

Depends who got the first hit in and who set up the contingencies better.

[torpid ocean]

initially I though that vlakkith would probably win until I remembered that acererak CAN ascend to godhood but chooses not to

[glad barn]

God fights tend to be won or lost before the fight starts.

[torpid ocean]

basically he said something along the lines of 'why be a god when I can be a creator of gods'

[glad barn]

He didnt want to be a god because he didnt want to be worshipped.

[torpid ocean]

oh ok

[glad barn]

Or rather, had no interest in it, in a sense.

[torpid ocean]

kind of like how the dark powers keep themselves hidden because they don't want to be worshipped

[knotty pasture]

Probably Myrkul

[glad barn]

Or because being in the shadows is their nature, yeah

[knotty pasture]

You can probably down Vlaakith if your party is level 16-18+?

[glad barn]

You could go up to level 30 in 4e where Acererak first appears lol

[torpid ocean]

my only question is what the hell ARE the dark powers then? because gods gain power from the worshippers they have iirc

[glad barn]

Its kind of like dark matter, right?

[torpid ocean]

but what the hell is able to create an entire realm them

[torpid ocean]

kind of

[glad barn]

If the weave exist, what is its shadow. In other words, what is the magic that cant be seen.

[knotty pasture]

Presumably a powerful group of people in the Shadowfell with their own autonomy despite a god being able to take over

[glad barn]

What gives gods nightmares.

What was before the weave. Echoes of the past, primal shivers of creation type of thing.

Entropy, Stasis. Things older than Law and Chaos. That's the Dark Powers, in my head canon anyway

[torpid ocean]

I'd say when I DM ravenloft I'd imagine the dark powers as primordial gods who were cast down or something to that effect

[calm meadow]

i wanna make a town of about 500 npcs all with a little bit of a background and notes how they all relate to each-other/ their relationships and mannerisms. What app would be the best for that?

[torpid ocean]

uhhhhh

[glad barn]

Probably spreadsheets.

[umbral girder]

Notably the Dark Powers didn't make their worlds. They took the worlds and put them in Demiplanes

[torpid ocean]

oh so they don't make the domains of dread?

[knotty pasture]

There's that one worldbuilding app that allows you to design towns

[calm meadow]

yes something like that would be awesome

[torpid ocean]

yeah worldanvil is it's name

[umbral girder]

Yeah the Domains are just demiplanes of places that were taken.

[glad barn]

Its like a museum of sorts

[torpid ocean]

I think the ravenloft book explains that some domains are taken from the other planes and some are made completely seperate

[calm meadow]

omfg tyty i'm planning on running a mystery/ detective super long oneshot for my birthday and wanted to do like a groundhogs day kinda town

[torpid ocean]

I'll go get the book gimmie 10 secs

[umbral girder]

Like Barovia was because of a deal it's Count made.

[torpid ocean]

the count being strahd right?

[umbral girder]

Yep

I know another fun one is a train the Dark Powers stole from Eberron

[torpid ocean]

I think as well when I DM ravenloft I'll have it so the dark powers are trying to restore enough strength to extend their reach to more realms

[harsh hollow]

Interesting, it looks like instead of faries the second species in Lorwyn is essentially Beast Boy Changelings. ™

(They're still green and have the same eyes no matter what they turn into.)

[dapper steeple]

beast boy changelings? that sounds strange out of context

oh alright, right as i said it you provided context. i see

[marble lion]

beast boy is a comic character who can shapeshift also

[harsh hollow]

And at least in the show from what I remember he's green and what he turns into is always green too.

[knotty pasture]

Beast Boy is definitely a Druid

[torpid ocean]

mayhaps at the end of the campaign I'll have there be some kind of doomsday event where the dark powers restore enough power and steal the entire material plane or something to that effect

[dapper steeple]

yeah thats what i remember too. only that hes green and can go full animorph. hes part of the, what is it? teen titans?

[torpid ocean]

yeah he's part of the teen titans

[dapper steeple]

oh, i got it right. thats cool

[harsh hollow]

The other species are "cold fire elementals", and can cast a couple ice spells and a version of Flame Blade that does cold damage.

I remember Flame Blade being considered not that great in 2014, I hadn't checked if it's improved in 2024 or not.

[dapper steeple]

i just know you could (at one point) bug permanent flame blades in baldur's gate 3

[glad barn]

Cold Fire Elemental certainly sounds more threatening than Hot Water Elementals, which just sound like they work in a spa.

[harsh hollow]

Beware the Spa Elemental, they can prune your skin.

[umbral girder]

2024 got a very minor damage buff

[glad barn]

"You take 1d6 damage but your hair is stunning"

[dapper steeple]

yeah it went up by 1d6, base damage that is

[umbral girder]

Basically you can add your Spellcasting modifier to the damage

[dapper steeple]

wait. did it go up to 3d6 or am i hallucinating

[umbral girder]

Always has been 3d6

[harsh hollow]

Time for the Rimekin Winter Walker Rangers.

[umbral girder]

Still an Action to do and does not work with Extra attack

[dapper steeple]

i am cry

[harsh hollow]

So still not very good then.

[umbral girder]

Magic action too

[dapper steeple]

oh well. it was formatted differently and i hastily glanced over it. i did not take the second to read it properly

[umbral girder]

So Action surge doesn’t work with it now

[glad barn]

Mighty Winter Walker Rangers?

[dapper steeple]

well thats a pain. action surge was nerfed in and of itself, now restricting to attack actions?

[crimson gulch]

no, just any non magic action

[umbral girder]

Well the only Nerf to action surge was “can’t use Magic Action”

[dapper steeple]

oh. alright. i got that wrong too 😭

[umbral girder]

So spellcasters don’t benefit from Action surge anymore

[dapper steeple]

i guess i can try to memorize these mishaps in future, trying to learn

[umbral girder]

Or at least as much

[harsh hollow]

I get why it was done but I did enjoy Action Surge magic actions. The Nuclear Option.

[umbral girder]

I never did

[dapper steeple]

the saucy bladesinger (cries in booming blade)

[harsh hollow]

Or the "I missed but maybe I'll hit you this time" option.

[umbral girder]

Oh yeah Bladesinger can’t benefit from Defensive fighting style anymore

Since they can now no longer where any armor to get their features

[torpid ocean]

why are all the wizard subclasses so boring

[dapper steeple]

oh come on. everything broken i see. how come, if i may ask? im not at all familiar with the rulings yet

[harsh hollow]

I think Bladesinging doesn't allow armor anymore?

[umbral girder]

Yep

[dapper steeple]

i need to type gott smacked faster than light if i want to keep up

[umbral girder]

Sounds like a you issue

[harsh hollow]

I understand to a point we haven't gotten any really wacky wizards in the new edition yet.

But honestly Chronurgy and Graviturgy are wacky enough and unlikely to be reprinted so you can use those in the new edition I think.

[dapper steeple]

the new edition is quite young as well. artificer came late to the 5e scene, so i wonder what other classes we could get moving forward

[umbral girder]

Ngl I’m on the opposite end of the spectrum as those are probably the ones I have least interest in.

[raw ocean]

Alchemist class hopefully

[dapper steeple]

if i may, what does the graviturgy do? i wanted to make something with gravity, but im afraid im too late

[umbral girder]

That’s what Artificer is for

[dapper steeple]

all the brews!

[harsh hollow]

It's an interesting case where the spells added for it in the book do more than the subclass itself, but those spells are really fun.

[raw ocean]

More potions and poisons would be nice

And a class that’s actually specified for making healing potions

[torpid ocean]

artificer

[umbral girder]

So artificer

[harsh hollow]

Funnily enough they're trying to turn Drunken Master Monk into a subclass that basically makes potions.

[dapper steeple]

id love to see some duality in that. get the buff from turbo brew, but suffer some consequences for it being extra turbo

i explained that so poorly. i apologise for you having to read that. this is not reflective of my character(s)

[spring light]

In totally normal things that happen:
My player just drove his car from supernatural off the end of snake way to land on a hell-planet.

[raw ocean]

2 hours for a healing potion seems kind of lack luster

[dapper steeple]

you got the snake way there?

[harsh hollow]

That sounds awesome.

[spring light]

yuh. we're doing a revival quest for a character who died recently.

[umbral girder]

Healing elixir gives about the same healing as a healing potion

[spring light]

He just spent what felt like the namek saga traveling to the end of not snake way.

[dapper steeple]

a fun minigame tied to revivify? sounds fun

[harsh hollow]

Closest I've ever done to that is that is there's a spell in Obojima that lets you summon a little vehicle mount so my character jousted on a motor scooter.

[spring light]

no body, no soul available.

[umbral girder]

Should also note you can just turn your spell slot into a healing potion with an action with the Alchemist artificer

[spring light]

i wasn't not inspired by obojima

[raw ocean]

Well in my personal opinion I would like a class or at least a buff to potion and poisons content withnew effects and features

[umbral girder]

I do wonder if the 2024 version of Alchemist will have “can use the elixirs as a bonus action”

[harsh hollow]

Nice! I love Obojima, still waiting on them to add the 2024 update to Beyond.

[spring light]

yeah, i'm probably gonna pony up and buy the actual book when the 2024 material is printed

[raw ocean]

New, idk why I spelled my

[harsh hollow]

The sorcerer subclass from Obojima works in a way I'm very surprised an offical sorcerer subclass hasn't done yet.

[dapper steeple]

i would absolutely buy the physical books if i had the funds for it. currently im managing with the digital end. bought the new monster manual only recently

[spring light]

the lgs "pays" me in store credit for running games.
so I've got hundreds of dollars just sitting there.

[harsh hollow]

As you use up sorcery points you're rewarded by small stacking effects that go away once you replenish them. It encourages you to use your class feature instead of waffling about it forever.

[torpid ocean]

man I hate being a DM sometimes

[spring light]

why?

[torpid ocean]

just because it can be really tedious to actually do stuff sometimes

[spring light]

what, you don't like herding cats?

[dapper steeple]

lgs is a term foreign to me. the concept of becoming a regular at a game store like that sounds quite interesting, assuming it is a game store

[spring light]

LGS = local game store.
Technically this is a FLGS
Friendly local game store.

[dapper steeple]

i have literally not heard of this combination of words since that one Myth Busters episode in like 2014. a major blast from the past

[umbral girder]

It actually means Local Gargantuan Shrimp /jk

[spring light]

_> wow i use the term herding cats at least once a week when referring to getting players to do anything

[dapper steeple]

oh i see. i should have expected that, if i had above 8 intelligence

[torpid ocean]

yeah that's why I don't like being a DM too

[spring light]

at the start of the year they "hired" me to be an in store dm for sunday games.

[torpid ocean]

I get a very specific idea about how something will go and then it just gets flipped on it's head

[spring light]

have you talked with your players about how it would help you run better games and get more enjoyment if they were more willing to pursue quest hooks?

[torpid ocean]

eh, I'm afraid about them thinking I'm trying to railroad them

[dapper steeple]

ah, the fear. one i struggle with as well. its not i dont enjoy world building or stories, but the issue is anticipation for me

[torpid ocean]

by the way that just brought back the most absolutely infuriating memory for me

[spring light]

Buddy. Your players won't know you're struggling if you don't speak wit hthem.

[torpid ocean]

so I was in this game at my LGS

[dark pewter]

Railroading is only a bad thing if everyone isn't onboard. There's nothing wrong with a campaign on rails if that's something everyone is cool with

[torpid ocean]

and we were doing curse of strahd but halfway through half the PCs dropped the quest entirely and opened a godsdamn food place in barovia

[spring light]

And just because there are guiderails doesn't mean it's a railroad, it just means "I prepared a goblin encounter today because you guys said you're going to goblin woods, so we're doing goblins."

[torpid ocean]

and when I brought this up to the DM all I got was basically 'well I can't tell them what to do'

[umbral girder]

So you have Strahd destroy it

[torpid ocean]

it got so bad that we didn't even get to castle ravenloft

so in the last session strahd just kind of came to us without any rhyme or reason

[spring light]

sounds like a difference in player goals for the campaign.

[torpid ocean]

especially because one of the kids was genuinly so annoying

[dapper steeple]

strahd sends his very favorite tax collector coming to get blood money (what does blood money even mean?)

[torpid ocean]

like the amount of times he referenced something he was interested in was infuriating

god I hate it when people don't play dnd like a normal person

[spring light]

however someone plays dnd is the right way. it just might not be the right table for you.

[hot reef]

There are definitely wrong ways to play D&D

[spring light]

keep it pg.

[dapper steeple]

dnd is so highly individualized and unique from table to table there really is no right or wrong way to play.

(unless you eat the other players' dice /j

[solar crow]

Oh boy little bit scared. So I'm playing D&D in the D&D club at the college I go to, and the other 2 dms for the club have killed someone in their campaigns. No one in my campaign has died yet. The other 2 dms told my dm to go 3 for 3😅 😂 🤣 😭

[torpid ocean]

one person was a complete rules lawyer too and essentially two-shotted strahd so I didn't even have fun fighting him

[solar crow]

We have 6 people in our campaign rn

[torpid ocean]

also there is a wrong way to play DND, it's called backseat DMing

[spring light]

some tables want that, and some dm want someone to help them in that way.

[cerulean monolith]

There are definitely wrong ways to play D&D. Not wrong in the sense of universally bad, but wrong as in the sense you cease to be playing D&D if you do those things, because they’re not D&D

[solar crow]

I'm the paladin in our campaign lol

[spring light]

not my tables. but you know. there's a table for everyone, somewhere.

[dapper steeple]

sounds like youre just venting your frustrations. im not one for that, and thusly i cant exactly help beside listen.

[hot reef]

If there’s a player that’s playing completely different relative to a table, then that’s not going to work well

[torpid ocean]

yeah, the annoying part is the fact that that's the only dnd place I can realistically go to

[spring light]

Instead of rolling dice, we bowl. However many pins you knock down is what you rolled, so we play on a d10 instead of a d20.

[torpid ocean]

it's the only one near me that isn't more than 10 miles away

[spring light]

Are you looking for advice on talking to your dm about this situation?

[solar crow]

No I'm just kinda venting and like oh gosh😅 🤣

[dapper steeple]

hmm. that is fair. i suppose the issue is not right or wrong, but rather relativity. call it the special theory of relativity.

[spring light]

OH guys. I'm not in DM chat >_>

[solar crow]

I've known her for 3 years

[dapper steeple]

oh no. not the wild magic sorcerer bowling the 100 pin on wii sports resort :agony:

[torpid ocean]

I think the most annoying part of that whole shuffle was the fact that I was treated like the unreasonable one for wanting to actually play curse of strahd

[solar crow]

My dm did find a really crazy 3rd party source spell that our druid can learn but we haven't been able to use yet and it's gonna be fun

[spring light]

sounds like it was a table that was goofier than serious.

and sounds like you're interested in a serious game.

[torpid ocean]

it's honestly not even that either I just have a problem with people not bloody playing the game and instead pissing about in some random town opening a damn food place

[dapper steeple]

that, GM, but also i suspect some of the other players were not necessarily there for DnD solely, but also in the intention of making new acquaintances or hanging out with friends. ive heard thats also a motivator for playing locally

[spring light]

idk, opening a food place sounds fun. . .

[torpid ocean]

it DOES sound fun and I think it can be but not in curse of strahd for god's sake

[spring light]

yeah, the social aspect is huge.

[torpid ocean]

like I joined the campaign to PLAY curse of strahd not get dragged into some sidequest

[spring light]

idk barovia has a captive audience. . .

[torpid ocean]

also most of the party's PCs were evil and that just annoys me

[dapper steeple]

of course, im only grasping at straws. in truth, i have no way to tell what kind of people they were, or their relation to one another

[torpid ocean]

evil PCs can work but most people that play evil PCs are just annoying

[spring light]

They say no dnd is better than bad dnd.
If you're in a situation like that again, and talking with the dm and table doesn't go anywhere, you don't have to keep playing.

[hot reef]

^ sounds like not a great table

[hot marlin]

There are plenty of ways to play an evil character well. But it requires skill and understanding of the narrative and character relationships.

[torpid ocean]

problem is too I actually really liked the GM and how they did everything

[torpid ocean]

yeah and my table didn't understand those things at all

[spring light]

"Hey dm i love your style, but i can't keep playing with the party as it is. for me the style is too disruptive, and i'd rather focus on the campaign itself"

[hot marlin]

So what kind of evil PCs are we talking about?

[dapper steeple]

i have actually been plotting something with this. its less about bad or evil, but a twisted sense of right. the character would obviously go through some character growth, as thats the purpose ofi t

[torpid ocean]

that's what I said to the GM and he basically just said 'well I can't just tell them what to do'

[spring light]

Then you didn't have to keep playing.

[torpid ocean]

the kind that murder a raven for no reason and step on it's corpse [I was playing a chaotic good druid btw]

[dapper steeple]

are you asking random cat or generally? ive got one in the works, if you are asking generally

[vapid berry]

No I get you i just left a 2 year game myself and love the dm but I still left

[spring light]

if the vibes ain't right, just bail.

[hot marlin]

Random cat lover

[dapper steeple]

ah, i see

[torpid ocean]

yeah the sad part is I'm not gonna see that GM anymore because of his work or something like that

[hot marlin]

... A raven?... Just... Why?

[vapid berry]

That really sucks

[dapper steeple]

ravens are so cool. all corvids are. i dont take this violation lightly. i now share some of your frustration, ca

[torpid ocean]

I have no idea either it made me upset because like, why just a random raven?

[spring light]

...idk... i see characters kill and step on lots of things.

Unless there was a specific emotional bond you had with that animal?

[torpid ocean]

the problem is just how willing they were to do it

like they randomly said ' I shoot the raven out of the sky' for no reason

[spring light]

Well, I hope in the future, you're able to excuse yourself from tables that you aren't having fun at.

[torpid ocean]

and again, my character is a druid AND I love animals, especially birds

[torpid ocean]

hopefully yeah. I just need to find a good group

[spring light]

if you like the dm, could ask if they have other games.

[torpid ocean]

problem is I can't, the DM had to quit because of work

[spring light]

such is the way of things.

[hot marlin]

Target practice maybe? I once played an archer who often trained in just about every way he could find

[torpid ocean]

and also I can't really find a game at all because the people who work at that game store think that I'm not suited for the other ones

[hot marlin]

Though I don't think that character would have just shot a raven. A pigeon maybe. And then serve it for dinner

[torpid ocean]

not really, they did literally describe stepping on the raven which made me incredibly uncomfortable

[spring light]

i have a character who would shoot, and then immediately eat, an animal like that.

[spring light]

did you express this to your dm or the table?

[torpid ocean]

I expressed it to the DM but not the table because I knew they wouldn't listen

[spring light]

"Hey guys, I know we're here to have fun, but when there's careless violence against helpless creatures it makes things less fun for me."

[torpid ocean]

I wanted to say that but I knew all I would get was just 'stop ruining the fun for us'

like how am I treated as the bad guy for not wanting my table to crush a damn raven for no reason

[spring light]

if you don't speak up, then no one knows what's in your mind.

if you remain at a table you're not having fun with, that becomes less of a "them" problem. . .

[torpid ocean]

but what's the point in speaking up if you've tried speaking up before and it's just gone over their head

[spring light]

what's the point of staying at a table that isn't fun, and only brings frustation?

[torpid ocean]

that's why I left you absolute dolt

[spring light]

a) chill, no need to call names.
b) you didn't say this at all during our conversation.
c) good! I'm glad you're able to put it behind you!

[torpid ocean]

alright yeah sorry it just annoys me to remember all this

[spring light]

we all get heated sometimes

[torpid ocean]

thing is it was just a really frustrating situation because of how little of an effect I had on anyone

like I think you can get how frustrating it would be to ask your table to actually focus on a story instead of doing side quests, get laughed at for it, and when you bring it up to the GM he acts like I'm being unreasonable for wanting to play dnd in dnd

[spring light]

players don't have the same goals for the game, which is fine, just means probably not the right table for you.

[torpid ocean]

that much is true yeah, I'm just venting honestly

especially because I thought I was the unreasonable one before realising how stupid the whole situation was

[tropic plank]

If you feel the table is absolutely ruined for you, there’s no shame in leaving
A good DM should accommodate all of the players as best they can

[limber trail]

hey, leaving a group you're not having fun at isn't unreasonable

[torpid ocean]

I didn't really leave because I did feel like I was in the wrong, the campaign's ended now

[tropic plank]

Hopefully if you find another campaign they’re more interested in the same type of game you are

[spring light]

it's not about "wrong" or "right"

it's about "fun" and "peace"

[limber trail]

oh well doubly valid, if a campaign ends and you just choose not to keep going

[slow bison]

Hello all, I have a question 4 y'all. I am making a DND 5e game on foundry and wanted 2 know what kind of modules I could add?

[burnt valley]

lmaoo

that's so funny

[tidal bloom]

What CR rating do monsters have that you use against lvl 6 players?

[umbral girder]

Two Cr6 Monsters.

Tbh it varies on a lot of factors.

The DMG/Free rules has the calculation on making an encounter

[tidal bloom]

How about just a single creature?

[umbral girder]

Oh then none at all

Those type encounters don't mix well in 5e

The more you try it makes the fights way too swingy.

[tidal bloom]

Am making a homebrew monster that I'd like to use as singualar boss enemy in the first encounter and later on when the players upscale be used as minibosses

[crimson gulch]

Challeng rateing is one step for encounter building, the exp budget is the full process

[umbral girder]

Yikes. Good luck!

[glad barn]

Lv 6 players Ill usually make a pool from CR 2 to CR 6.

And kind of pick things from there until I have between as many things as the players to up to twice the party size, depending on the encounter. Then check the math and adjust.

Once you know how many creatures youre making, you can also reduce the number of creatures to give another creature a bit more HP and a legendary action, if you want to customize it a bit.

A bit more advanced, but it gives you some flexibiltiy in making 'boss' monsters.

Or you can just chain encounters together and have them happen in 'phases'

Alternatively, if you have, say, 2 encounters with a CR 6, that can be one encounter with a CR 6 taht rises against after it falls and heals to full, etc

[umbral girder]

Maaaybe the MCDM way might help. How many players in the party?

[crimson gulch]

4 level 6 player charcicters a hard enconter is 1400 exp per player so 5600 exp for a hard encounter is a cr 9 or 10 creature, and a double hard encounter would be 11200 exp so a single cr 14 creature give or take for a Truely hard encounter

[glad barn]

Though you can usually go Lv + 4 CR, or CR 8 in this case, but you have to be reeeally careful how you run things that high above tier

[hollow stone]

hey, so the game is designed for PVE, and not PVP, but what about EVE?

[glad barn]

The game is designed to be a war game lol

[hollow stone]

i wanna make the hostiles fight each other

[glad barn]

Anyone can use a monster block against anyone with a monster block.

[crimson gulch]

if something happens that dosent involve the players, then that happens off screen and you just declair how it goes

[tidal bloom]

Yea I'm giving the monster a weakness to a magic type that isn't too uncommon in my setting and is on the nose while I also want it be tougher against a few other damaging types. I also want to make it a two phase monster. The main idea is kinda hoing for the Darknuts theme and movement from the Zelda series where first they are slow and hit hard but after half hp they become more agile and faster.

[glad barn]

Anyone can use a player block against a monster block, too. And player blocks can fight each other just fine, some are just better at killing humanoids than others.

It's all down to what you want to do with the book at the table.

[umbral girder]

The MCDM method is "Add the party levels together then divide in half"

Although it also reccomends multiple monsters and not 1 big monster

[crimson gulch]

the Natural 40 way of balancing encounter is to double the hard Exp budget

[hollow stone]

nah i'm gonna make them watch

[umbral girder]

As their Flee, Mortals book also has a cap on it.

[glad barn]

And just be ready to improv a monster or two sometimes, imo

[crimson gulch]

run a game, not a movie

[glad barn]

Sometimes you just need a thing in a place. And thats fine.

[hollow stone]

i'm gonna make a dragon try to eat its own kin while the party watches

[uncut zenith]

I think that’s the Lazy DM method too, but they use different calculations for T1 characters

[hot marlin]

Why would the party watch?

If that does not concern me, I either walk away or get involved.

[hollow stone]

in case they wanna pick a side

[glad barn]

Yeah, the nature of the party, how many encounters youre doing per day, how many magic items they, what consumables they have access to, the plane and the player experience all play into how many creatures they can handle.

[limber trail]

EvE can be boring to roll. It's fun to quickly narrate. Not to roll combat for. Just describe it in 5 mins and then move on

[tidal bloom]

Well I don't have it for a campaign yet. This is a monster I made for the future and I have made it so it can be a bit upscaled or downscaled depending on party. For now I want to make the average version of this monster.

[glad barn]

And cutscenes are fine lol >_>

[hot marlin]

Then you're not making the party watch. You're giving the party a choice between getting involved and walking away. They will not "watch"

[glad barn]

If the players want to ignore the purple worm destroying the palace to go brood in an alley and soliloquy thats also fine

Worse to allow rolling in something you cant affect.

[hollow stone]

either way nothing explodes if i make the monsters attack each other, right?

[crimson gulch]

i mean, explosions are fun

[glad barn]

Not at all. When its NPC v NPC its all narrative.

You dont need dice or mechanis or sequencing or action economies. You just describe whats happening.

[hollow stone]

no i mean bad explosion like "this is not how the game is supposed to work and the result is impossible"

[crimson gulch]

if all you do is make your players watch while you sit and roll dice and resove everything without them actually playing, your game blows up when everyone leaves because they cant play

[vale sage]

Hey guys I am completely new to D&D and my friends are up to do a campain. I would be DM and have all the story wrote down, like really really long thing but I have a problem: my friends would be a necromancer, a paldin and a cleric but the necromancer would be a skeleton that doesn't hide his face in public. So do I just let it slide and let them figure out by themselves when they are in towns/cities?

[vapid berry]

So I have a question i have 4 players but I wanna have a mini boss battle what sould i use? It's taking place in a mushroom forest

[raw ocean]

What’s their level?

[hollow stone]

mechanically, does something explode?

[vapid berry]

5

[sleek cloud]

Homebrew off the bat eh

[narrow moss]

so no giant mushroom boys doing one punch moves

[raven kernel]

Little question…

Isn’t the spell summon dragon basically an automatic advantage to all persuasion and intimidation roles for a weak looking wizard?

Like:
Here’s my pet red dragon Venator

[crimson gulch]

yes, because you are not providicing a game play experience for your players, you are just playing alone, and the mechanics of the game are there for everyone to play

[narrow moss]

a la dark souls.

[vale sage]

Wdym

[hollow stone]

they will have a hand in the combat, please just answer the question at hand

[crimson gulch]

you said you were just making them watch, so thats no longer the case?

[vapid berry]

So what should I use?

[glad barn]

I mean, are y'all really not ever describing a battle or event that is outside of the player's control? Are the player's always literally the most powerful beings in any set piece?

[hollow stone]

they'll watch for a small amount of time until they decide to intervene or to stop just watching them (i.e. every 6 seconds i roll damage dice against either side and run mechanics like they're attacking each other)

[glad barn]

Not that it's wrong, just kind of a wild thing to think about ig

[sleek cloud]

Playing a Skeleton isn’t any official race, don’t know of any third party ones off the top of my head either

[narrow moss]

i dunno i think people wouls freak out about a walking skeleton in town. at best it might affect diplomacy and the town's attitude toward the party.

[sleek cloud]

If you’re planning on dming it would be best to have a pretty solid grasp on rules and such as well as your story

[vapid berry]

That is true!

[raven kernel]

Human Reborn lineage

Im one, why can’t be a skeleton when you can be a ghoul.

[sleek cloud]

Grimm is that art your new satyr?

[crimson gulch]

ok so its a normal encounter and the players are in initative too? thats fine

[narrow moss]

not my art but reallly fit the vibe i want for him

[sullen hedge]

well one of my friends is playing a flaming skeleton rn

[sleek cloud]

It’s pretty cool

[vale sage]

Well my story is done and I wanna keep it but there are three moments where they go threw public spaces and the worst thing is that its a necromancer in the party of a cleric and paladin, so idk what to do rlly

[narrow moss]

mmhmm i think the artist is in the corner

[raven kernel]

Reborn lineage

[narrow moss]

but let's keep that in dm or char discussion. thanks tho

[sleek cloud]

Reborn is pretty much the closest one I could think of yeah

[vale sage]

All that fancy language is beyond my understanding