dnd-discussion

[snow agate]

It tells you wdym

[hot marlin]

Now back to the character: a druid eco-terrorist can work great with a lot of worldbuilding around the environment in the setting. What are the structures and institutions that exploit it and how? Why are they resistant to reform? What are the politics of the nation?

[crimson gulch]

the first campaign i ever ran was eco terrorist firbolgs protecting their grove, party was artificer, Barbarian Druid and Rogue

[hot marlin]

It works best if you're in-depth. Who does your character want to assassinate? Is there, like, a prince who is married to the daughter of the head of the miner's guild that makes a lot of profit from releasing their toxins in the waters?

[deft pine]

Its a Dwarven empire bought behind scenes from trade Goliath families descendant of partly devine heroes

[snow agate]

I like having wood elves and Druids be a combination of hippies, rednecks, and Vietnam

[hot marlin]

Is there a noble sensing profit and deciding to encourage the pollution of the water in order to sell clean water?

If water becomes a business, people have an incentive to pollute natural water.

[uncut zenith]

Yeah, a lot of times power struggles aren’t just about taking what you want, it’s about destabilizing the competitor

[hot marlin]

It's a lot of complexity even before you take magic into account.

[crimson gulch]

i had a lamia disguised as a lord of a city trying to amass wealth by displacing farmers, deforestation to fuel industrialization in the service of Grazzit

[snow agate]

True, I might screw up my neighboring countries water supply just because im their opp

[hot marlin]

And you have to take magic into account at one point.

[uncut zenith]

If I have clean water and you have clean water, I can either takes yours by force and look like a villain, or discreetly ruin yours and act like I wasn’t involved.

[hot marlin]

And then I can sell you my water at outrageous prices. What are you going to do, die of dehydration?

[deft pine]

The main goal is to simple reduce profit until the operating costs collapse under its own weight. Be that from... removing labor or anything on the evil side of the spectrum

[keen valve]

I prefer claiming that your water was mine but you stole it from me.

[snow agate]

I like having worlds where even the monsters and bad guys treat their citizens and minions well to stay competitive and encourage loyalty and have friends >_> i truly do love my fantasy settings where people are good to eachother because it’s logical, if only real world was similar

[hot marlin]

Not gonna lie, I think the guilds would just raise the prices to make the same amount of profits, if not more.

[uncut zenith]

“You don’t really have any other options, so it’s mine or nothing.” (Looking at you, Poland Springs)

[hot marlin]

Go bigger. Assassinate the heads. Destroy the machines. Sell your soul to a devil for an army to lay waste to the capital

Make a deal with a necromancer for hordes of undead. Burn the fields.

[deft pine]

I have a few strategies written down
-poisoning a large group of laborers, thus less labor obviously
-cause damages, thus repair costs
-attack investors for no personal benefit, thus making people hesitant to make investments in particular business as investors seem to die at a 800% rate

[deft pine]

Naivete and a lack of business knowledge is a character flaw

[hot marlin]

Oh yeah, fine then

[woven flint]

"That's business, babeh!"

[deft pine]

Leading to frustration and mistakes which I think would be interestint

[snow agate]

What if I make them do it to themselves via manipulation

That way I am utterly blameless

[spring light]

this is a lot of talk.
There's a simpler solution.

Fireball

[hot marlin]

Oh, oh! Release a deadly disease in a population center!

[snow agate]

I will do far far worse…

[deft pine]

On that dragons breath from spider man ps4

[hot marlin]

Something that kills slowly, keeps the victims abed for weeks.

[narrow moss]

burning fields isn't enough. You also have to salt them.

[spring light]

Another fireball

[hot marlin]

Locust swarms to devour the food!

[snow agate]

I will make my kingdom look good and prosperous while turning their kingdom against eachother by inflaming ancient conflicts

[deft pine]

Blow up a bridge. Causing both repair costs AND trade delay

[snow agate]

This will turn their people against their rulers

And they will flock to my banner

[hot marlin]

Eh. In a world with mending, that might not be a lot of costs or a delay of more than a few hours

[marble lion]

me, just looking for a basement of rats to clear out for the poor individual

[deft pine]

Darn.

[spring light]

fireball the bridge, fireball the rulers, heck fireball the citizens.

[hot marlin]

It's a cantrip. You don't need to go too far to find someone capable of casting it

[deft pine]

Yeah magic is gonna be an issue as i havent put much thought into that

[spring light]

low magic setting

[snow agate]

Succubus who uses enchantment magic to cause a false flag operation/betrayal to destabilize an entire country to spread chaos and war

[hot marlin]

There's even a good chance the village priest can do it. Or the kid who was taught one basic spell by a passing wizard

[deft pine]

Its a VERY high magic setting unfortunately

[snow agate]

Would demons do this? Yes absolutely

[spring light]

oh, then anti-magic whatever object/area/thing you need to not be effected by magic.

[hot marlin]

cough Nashandra cough

[deft pine]

Blow up the bridge
Booby trap the bridge
Would be magician blows up too

Im a genius

[spring light]

fireball the mage

[hot marlin]

I still think a good epidemic is better

[snow agate]

“Oh nooooo, how terrible, im so sorry your nobles murdered eachother and now there’s a civil war, if only there was a peaceful powerful mage sitting around to help the problem” 💰

[spring light]

i don't know what's actually happening, or the plot, or anything... I just know fireball.

[hot marlin]

Remember: if you just kill people, there's the cost of funerals and the cost of replacing them. If you make them sick, there's the healthcare cost in addition

[deft pine]

How is a level 5 druid gonna just make a plague?

[hot marlin]

Not with spells. But with knowledge. Druids should know the land and its history, yes? Somewhere there must be a way

[snow agate]

Like I know succubi get pigeonholed as the sex demons but there’s actually so much destruction and plot chicanery that can be caused by a powerful enchanter that can go invisible, shapechange at will, teleport, give people dreams they’ll take as divine omens

[deft pine]

If gengis knew launching bodies over a wall drew plague so would a druid

[clear lark]

Pretty sure there was no true healthcare back then, besides leeches. Funerals are hit and miss depending on where someone is on the hierachy. Could be as simple as digging a hole and putting them in.

[hot marlin]

Actually there was! Better than you would expect too. And in that world, there's magic.

[deft pine]

Cure poison level 3:

[spring light]

back when. . . ?

[hot marlin]

Thing is: Healing magic may cure the patient, but it cures one person at a time. And it does not prevent that person from immediately getting sick again

[snow agate]

Yeah the churches ran a lot of hospitals because it turns out having the Black Death creates a need , and leprosy didn’t get deleted from the world by coincidence

[deft pine]

And not everyone has the resources to cast a level 3 spell all day

[hot marlin]

Leprosy still exists. Very rare though

[snow agate]

Far rarer than it was

[deft pine]

So. Poison food and water supply with dead things.

[hot marlin]

Make a deal with a hag for some sort of super plague

[snow agate]

Yeah, though mind you’ll want to kill or destroy the churches, since purify food and water is a first level cleric ritual spell

[hot marlin]

That is why you keep the clerics busy.

[humble cairn]

Raise a colony of enhanced rust monsters to destroy industrial equipment?

[deft pine]

So
Burn down churches
Poison food and water supply with bodies
Burn crop

[humble cairn]

Rust monsters and Auromvoraxes.

[snow agate]

Yeah basically just be as evil as possible so that an adventuring party gets called on you

[narrow moss]

Bards get that spell too

[snow agate]

It is a widely available spell

[narrow moss]

it sure is

[spring light]

i still have no idea what is actually being discussed right now

[snow agate]

Terrorism

[spring light]

there's only 1 solution to my confusion, obviously.

fireball!

[narrow moss]

dw just cast fireball

[hot marlin]

I still think nothing destroys a society better and faster than a plague

[deft pine]

Possible methods of an eco terrorist in a Dwarven capitalist empire dystopia

[spring light]

Silas gets it.

[deft pine]

Is there a plague spell? Im at work and dont have my books

Also never played druid

[hot marlin]

No there isn't. You'll have to be old-fashioned

[limber trail]

You mentioned you were level 5? Realistically the problems a level 5 adventurer can cause, are the problems a level 5 adventurer can solve

[snow agate]

At the end of the day if you’re burning crops, poisoning water supplies, and destroying temples and killing healers, you’re gonna be a chaotic evil bad guy that demons love and everyone in the city will hate

[hot marlin]

Well.. There is but it's not what you need

Yeah get a demon's phone number. Might be useful

[deft pine]

Well it'll be a decent backstory for the prison beginning

[snow agate]

XD

[deft pine]

Well yeah. Considering the story starts with jail I wouldnt say I had to be a GOOD terrorist

[limber trail]

These all don’t really strike me as eco-terrorist morally grey things. These just feel evil.

[snow agate]

Yeah that’s why I said that : p

[limber trail]

Which is probably the point you’re also making yeah lol

[narrow moss]

evil people rarely think they are doing the wrong thing. or that the ends justify the means.

[snow agate]

Trueing

[limber trail]

That’s true but there’s also a limit to the suspension of disbelief

[hollow stone]

yea eco terrorism is already dark-grey IRL but in a timeline where petroleum engines aren't real that's basically just nihilistic terrorism

[snow agate]

Treerazer type activity

[deft pine]

A big character flaw IS that my character is young, naive, and filled with so much hate and rage he doesnt see the casualties and suffering as a cost too great for what is happening

[snow agate]

Just make sure your party’s ok with it is all

[deft pine]

Are there magic based pollutants?

[haughty sinew]

Hey friends, new to DnD and the server. Any advice for finding ppl to play with?

[snow agate]

#looking-for-players

[limber trail]

I mean there could be but generally no, magic actually tends to be quite natural

[deft pine]

Yes ofc. Just trying to make it interesting now 🙂

[haughty sinew]

Ahhha very apt place to look. lol thanks

[limber trail]

Is this planned to be a villain campaign?

[umbral girder]

#find-a-game helps with organizing it! If you want a consistent long time group I recommend running a lot of one shots to see who you vibe well with

[haughty sinew]

Awesome, thanks! I’ll look!

[deft pine]

Yeah. It starts in prison with me(poison ivy wannabe), a literal serial killer cultist, a wizard with loose morals, and a political enemy of the empire

[limber trail]

That’s fair then. I would just focus on making that terrorism feel as justified as possible personally.

[snow agate]

yeah

also i will note, just as there is good vs evil, there is also good vs good and evil vs evil, so you can use those conflict points

[deft pine]

I would definitely say eco terrorist vs these corporations are evil vs evil

[limber trail]

I would really say, be careful when you’re deciding how far you’ve gone because it can quickly turn into caricature to make these characters comically evil.

[snow agate]

yeah it certainly can be, i remember a story where basically demons invaded earth to secure their existence from an abyss that was falling apart, but when they invaded the holy kingdoms of old were gone, and what was left in its place was crappy oppressive regimes, so the people actually liked the demons cuz they were liberators and allied with the common folk to boost their numbers xD

[deft pine]

Its hard cause ive never made a villain before. Much less a "you caj see where theyre coming from" one

[snow agate]

usually some form of hatred or resentment works

they say the cure to evil is forgiveness :p

[limber trail]

If a character is willing to kill random innocents it usually tends to completely invalidate their beliefs.

[deft pine]

I WAS thinking some 3 way mix of Jason Todd, Johnny silverhand, and poison ivy

[hollow stone]

i know i have one character who's a Warforged (technically a meat robot) and their entire ball is that they have a pump inside them that denies their body the resources it needs to truly think beyond mere comprehension of orders and uses steam to sear the internals and cause a pain that makes it follow said orders and they're only really awake when they're raging (barbarian) as the pump is giving them the resources necessary for full mental operation, and this screws with them because every moment where they aren't half asleep is a blind, survivalist terror. that's a fun way to make a not-really-evil person do evil things

[snow agate]

to well adjusted regular people >_>

[deft pine]

What if in their eyes nobody in the system is innocent?

[snow agate]

then that would make a narratively consistent terrorist

[deft pine]

Huh

[hollow stone]

still insane and evil

[woven flint]

D&D Players?
Adjusted People?

Ha... PAHAHAHA!

[snow agate]

"what do you mean scamming this guy out of 1000 gold is evil? its not like he needed it"

[limber trail]

So, I’ll go with Johnny Silverhand. Great example. The people he killed were definitely not good, they were corporate workers who killed hundreds. When he did what he did to arasaka tower, he sent a call ahead to have it evacuated. He has a clear moral code, he has things he thinks need to be done for the cause, and he has hard lines he doesn’t cross.

[buoyant oar]

So I am reading the Lorwyn supplement. Am I missing where it connects to the realms or was that only in a blog post?

I know it's a domain of delight connected to Moonshae but the supplement itself makes no mention of it....

[snow agate]

yeah johnny cares enough about collateral that id give him the benefit of the doubt and put him in CN instead of CE

[deft pine]

Feel like i need a degree in philosophy for this dumb ahh character😭

[crimson gulch]

theres no connection in it its stuff from lorwyn that you can use if you want

[deft pine]

You know what maybe ill just make a lunatic and call it a day

[umbral girder]

Tokii got to experience the Buzz Saw room yesterday so that was fun

[snow agate]

if your character is stupid you can have more stupid motives :p

[hollow stone]

i mean i know for a fact that Jason Todd was actually insane and actually evil and actually recovering from a very severe trauma inflicted upon him, Joker literally broke that kid

[deft pine]

I rolled a 7 int

[snow agate]

problem solved

[buoyant oar]

That seems... Poor for a Forgotten Realms supplement. Thing reads like the old plane shift articles James Wyatt would make

[crimson gulch]

its not a forgotten realms suppliment

[glad barn]

Why is Wyatt taking strays, lol

[violet basin]

i hate lorwyn

[glad barn]

But yeah, this is definitely closer to Plane Shift. Maybe even modelled on those

[violet basin]

introduced planeswalkers and mtg died

also, boggles

friggin boggles man

[buoyant oar]

It's not a forgotten realms supplement that is included in the forgotten realms digital bundle

[crimson gulch]

yes

[deft pine]

Well I dont wanna lean into the tortured part, but I want to lean into the "seeing the very rocks, green, and water youre obsessed with be poisoned grey" part of trauma

[buoyant oar]

That was advertised as a domain of delight in the forgotten realms

[glad barn]

It's just getting a little tiring that the campaign setting has more adventures than setting, the adventure module is more setting than adventure, and this expanded region for D&D has no implication on how its added to D&D >_>

[crimson gulch]

kinda weird that they did that, but it was allways clear to me that it was a MTG suppliment thats coming out with this

[woven flint]

Rock eaters unite!

[deft pine]

Rock and stone

[glad barn]

It just stinks of a marketing team going "WE MUST CROSS POLLINATE ALL THINGS" but the messaging around what the product is... just feels phoned in.

It's not a lack of quality, but weirdly not meeting expectations -they set-.

[woven flint]

I was looking at third party stuff my dm allowed for this campaign
And I was looking at Pugilist
And there's this subclass called Dog & Hound and it gives you a dog companion
And I suddenly have the Urge to play a Man and his Dog against the Multiverse (as this is Eve of Ruin lol)

[glad barn]

Its a fun trope.

Usually leans dystopia too.

[woven flint]

The overwhelming urge is persistent.

[raw ocean]

The urge to play rare races and classes is very big

[umbral girder]

Me when I delete the Dog with a Power Word Kill

[woven flint]

The only things standing between Vecna and destroying the Universe is one pissed off man and his dog

[umbral girder]

That’s party pet number 2 I can farm kills on

[raw ocean]

What if the dog becomes a wizard

[woven flint]

Well, jokes on you, I can still revive it 😎

[raw ocean]

I love the trope where abused familiars run away and come back as bosses

[umbral girder]

Goes the way of Lucy and start of every fight gets deleted /jk

[woven flint]

Well, it's a pet subclass, so at least it's not THAT weak lol

[umbral girder]

True. Lucy is weak sauce

[grand ridge]

Question about lizardfolk: I assume they do have some form of mammalian emotions right?

[glad barn]

They are humanoid forms of reptiles, really. Not hominin hybrids, imo.

[woven flint]

I'd assume any sentient species can feel emotion
Lizardfolk just typically seem really repressed with theirs

[glad barn]

Meaning its not really a humanized lizard, but what would a lizard with a human-level of intelligence be like, ina sense

Though because we can only think as humans, that gets wonky.

[raw ocean]

“Mmmmm bugs”

[umbral girder]

Lizardfolk are people after all

[hollow stone]

in a scientific sense probably not but for narrative reasons they definitely do because lizard people aren't a thing we could accurately represent or understand, thus the easiest way to achieve the goal is to just implement our mammalian emotions into their theoretically reptilian minds

[glad barn]

All humanoids are people. But only one subset in D&D is human.

[lavish flame]

Their information usually has their emotions be "weird" but they still have emotions. Emotions aren't tied to being a mammal, either. Lizardfolk might laugh during a great tragedy or cry when something good happens to them.

[glad barn]

However this comes down to how much you lean into the nature of fantasy races for the narrative.

For example, playing elves and dwarves is actually pretty intense if you're trying to really portray them accurate to their nature.

Because this would be a Methuselah level of "I really have seen empires rise and fall"

[woven flint]

Fun Fact:
Most animals besides humans can indeed feel emotion anyways

[glad barn]

Imagine being a child until your 40s culturally speaking.

[woven flint]

Emotion isn't just a human or mammal thing

[hollow stone]

yea! there's this belief i hold, where all humans are people but that doesn't exclude non-humans from being people, so long as they meet a specific criteria pertinent to their ability to comprehend some concepts that don't appear in most animals

[grand ridge]

In one of my friend's campaign im playing a druid lizardfolk and his main reason for sticking with the party is mostly because he feels a bit of pity.

[glad barn]

Yeah, but how you portray that emotion as a DM or player is still filtered through human

[grand ridge]

I know lizardfolk are pragmatic in nature and he is as well

[burnt valley]

CR 25 John Wick

[glad barn]

So I think the best practice is to try to elevate the intelligence of existing behavior, rather than try to apply our way of looking at the world and adding 'but with leaves' or whatever

[snow agate]

i like the larian approach where animals are actually smart but its all disguised by not speaking animal

[fresh bloom]

What animals would be considered sacred in D&D?
In a matter of lore

[glad barn]

Most of em.

[grand ridge]

The campaign im in is a quite evil esque one considering the party is mostly some form of evil or chaotic neutral

[hollow stone]

that depends 130% on what the culture of the people at hand choose to believe and which animals they choose to call sacred, and how they are sacred

[haughty sinew]

What is play by post? Is that like not playing with voice or something?

[glad barn]

From Ratatoskr for Squirrels to Dragon Turtles and Phoenixes and Krakens and all that, most animals have been D&D-fied.

[grand ridge]

My character is essentially lawful evil if you could put it in a way. That or lawful neutral.

[glad barn]

And by extension in some way worshipped or feared or hunted or allied.

[lavish flame]

In the Forgotten Realms, Malar (god of Beasts) can make animals more powerful. Those are usually sacred animals, though they are usually something you need to kill. Malar isn't a kind god.

[grand ridge]

His main sense of moral compass is that he is a protector of jungles and forests and will propagate them wherever he goes.

[hollow stone]

like it isn't impossible to believe a culture to decide an animal like a crocodile is sacred in such a way that they have a ritual/holiday feast where they kill and eat one

[glad barn]

Animism tends to tie the useful and vital with sanctity, yeah

[fresh bloom]

It's the lore of a character from a game that I want to adapt for D&D.

It was about a boy who, after hunting a bird considered sacred, begins to transform into the bird.

So I'm going to use the druid of the circle of the moon to create this character.

[glad barn]

Thats a common Greek myth trope too.

[grand ridge]

But he will also kill for the forest. Basically think poison ivy's reasoning.

Im thinking of making him a circle of spores druid once I level up enough to choose subclass

[stark arch]

wat happens if i skip long rest for 1 day ? or 2 days like being 53hr awake straight

[snow agate]

the dark urge to play a simple trope as straightforward as possible

[snow agate]

you stack exhaustion penalties and eventually die after like 4 days

[grand ridge]

Mostly out of a pragmatic "if my food spoils it would be best if they didnt go to waste"

[stark arch]

doex exhaustion have effect on learning new spells durning the 53hr period ?

[lavish flame]

Usually you start developing the Exhaustion Condition, which overall makes your adventuring life worse. This progressively gets worse until you get 6 Exhaustion, at which point you keel over dead.

[craggy summit]

Correct, it's playing by text instead of voice chat

[lavish flame]

Nah, you can learn spells just fine. Look at the Exhaustion Condition for more information on how it works.

In 2014: There was a table of unique effects depending on what level of Exhaustion you were at.

In 2024: You have a -2 to all d20 rolls and -5 Speed depending on ur levels of Exhaustion

Im both, having 6 levels of Exhaustion just kills you

[hollow stone]

i thought it was 8 in 24?

[lavish flame]

no its 6

[umbral girder]

It’s 6 last I checked

[hollow stone]

huh, weird

[umbral girder]

The UA had 10 which is fun

[lavish flame]

Was the UA also a -2? were you able to end up with a -18 to rolls?

[umbral girder]

Yes

[stark arch]

cool. i be getting a week down time just hit lvl 5. can spend my 3000 gp gold. 53hr of learning spells and buying bulk adventuring gear, staying the raiming time at the cemetery casting animate dead and creating spell scrolls and long resting in tiny hut bubble

[storm magnet]

Have you guys ever imagined a character a certain way, but ended up playing them completely different?

[umbral girder]

Also it lowered your spell save dc too in the UA

[umbral girder]

I haven’t

Mainly because I don’t have much expectations going in with my characters

I wait and see before making expectations

[snow agate]

yeah though it usually happens due to adjusting for tone or party behavior

like sometimes you have a chaotic jump the gun party, sometimes they need someone who actually gets the ball rolling, sometimes the game is sillier than expected, etc

[clear lark]

Sounds logical, but I can't find anything about skipping long rests or sleep deprivation causing any level of Exhaustion

[hollow stone]

yea, like i had planned to make my rogue quiet and a little scared in one group, but that group chose lethargy so i've kinda taken a leading role for them

nobody votes against what i wanna do so i have, incidentally, become a weird sort of monarch to them

[torpid ocean]

depends who you are. Druids praise all of nature I think

which leads me to ask, what creatures are natural and which ones are unnatural?

like are beholders natural?

I would imagine they aren't because beholders are made through the dreams of other beholders

[limber trail]

Beasts are explicitly described as natural beings, whereas Monstrosities have unnatural origins.

[torpid ocean]

yeah beasts are essentially just animals

what kind of creature are dragons? are they also beasts?

[limber trail]

dragons are their own creature type

[glad barn]

Yeah, Dragons are Dragons.

[torpid ocean]

ah okay

[limber trail]

if you have the monster manual is breaks down the different creature types

[torpid ocean]

yeah I have the monster manual I just don't have it next to me

[limber trail]

most of them are kinda up to DM interpretation how natural they are.

[glad barn]

In older editions one of the defining characteristics of dragon was a monster that grew more magical and stronger the older it got.

[torpid ocean]

also are undead creatures natural or are they not?

[glad barn]

I don't remember how deep they get into it in Fizban's.

Undead is more of a state for anything that was once living to take.

[umbral girder]

You should read the monster Manual

[glad barn]

It is a kind of transitional point but theres no set 'physiology'. From vampires to wraiths to zombies. They're all undead.

[umbral girder]

Or the Free basic rules that explains this

[torpid ocean]

I have, it's moreso just me making conversation

[glad barn]

Sidebar, I'm trying to decide if there are 8 editions of D&D, 11 or 13.

[torpid ocean]

what's the relationship between elves and hags?

[glad barn]

The faewild.

[torpid ocean]

it's feywild I think

[glad barn]

That too.

[limber trail]

both from the Faewild but that's about it for super significant relationships iirc

[torpid ocean]

I really need a big DnD book about lore dynamics and whatever

[glad barn]

Yeah, probably some cross over between like, Titania or the fey courts and Baba Yaga and the hags.

[torpid ocean]

like what would a beholder think of a dragon y'know

[glad barn]

The FR wiki does a good job at that as a starting point

[limber trail]

there are setting guides which can help with this

[torpid ocean]

I need names agent

[glad barn]

Though I agree more of that would be good.

In World of Darkness, every faction has a description of how they feel about every other faction

[torpid ocean]

I really need a book of gods which has the different pantheons

[glad barn]

Which does a lot of heavy lifting when youre world building and making campaigns

[torpid ocean]

by the way are gods aware of other pantheons?

like would vecna know the faerunian pantheon?

[glad barn]

Depends on the edition and the setting, but there are gods that are multiversal and gods that arent

[still plover]

This will get you started: https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/basic-rules/appendix-b-gods-of-the-multiverse

[torpid ocean]

OH I DIDN'T KNOW THAT WAS IN THE RULES

thank you twin 🙏

[torpid ocean]

do the dark powers know about gods

hell what ARE the dark powers I hate how it's unspecified

[glad barn]

Thats the point, kind of.

Theyre kind of just this vague sense of wrong and negative and antagonist.

Its the thing evil thinks is evil.

Like a supervillain vs a black hole.

[limber trail]

Most recently the book Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerun book is a big compendium of a lot of the forgotten realms as a setting.

Forgotten Realms is a little weird because a lot of the worldbuilding is split across a lot of modules, editions & sources.

[humble cairn]

They're supposed to be a mystery.

They might not even be beings as we know it. They are simple That Which Creates Domains of Dread

[torpid ocean]

I know, I just like my answers

[torpid ocean]

they also manipulate the domains of dread

[humble cairn]

Then make up your own.

[hot marlin]

Honestly the setting works fine if you remove them.

[humble cairn]

That, too.

[torpid ocean]

then what make the domains of dread if you remove them

[hot marlin]

Better I would argue. They are little more than an unecessary complication that distracts from the main story

[torpid ocean]

also why is ravenloft just dead by daylight

[humble cairn]

The Domains of Dread exist ... people desperately wanted to have at least a name to call the forces which create and maintain them so they came up with "The Dark Powers."

[hot marlin]

Evil. A specific kind of evil concentrated in a specific region throws it into the shadowfell. It has no will and no intelligence, it is little more than a chemical reaction.

[humble cairn]

Ravenloft was around for a long time before Dead By Daylight. Perhaps since before video games were a thing at all, but I'm not 100% on that one.

[limber trail]

For stuff like this, the monster manual does describe some of a monster's behaviour & goals. From there, it needs some creativity but think about how those might interact. Red Dragons often are tyranical rulers, holding dominion over vast swaths of land. Beholders often hold their intellectual superiority in a high regard, considering themselves more capable than the other, inferior creatures. It's hard to imagine a clash of ego like this going well.

[torpid ocean]

nah, ravenloft was made in 84 I think

[humble cairn]

That's still a long time before DbD.

[torpid ocean]

I know

also why is strahd not a killer in dbd it's the easiest thing ever

instead they make the dnd crossover vecna

[humble cairn]

I don't know but that really isn't super on topic?

[torpid ocean]

which is weird because strahd is arguably the most famous dnd villain

[limber trail]

I would argue Vecna is massively more popular from stranger things.

[hot marlin]

Strahd is just a vampire. My guess is they already have a lot of those

[torpid ocean]

isn't he the first vampire?

[hot marlin]

No, of course not.

[limber trail]

Nah he’s just a vampire

[torpid ocean]

oh ok, I thought he was

[limber trail]

And certainly not the first vampire in fiction

[torpid ocean]

wait hold on let me check richten's guide to ravenloft

[torpid ocean]

I know, dracula's been a thing since like the 1400s because of vlad the impaler

[hot marlin]

It doesn't matter. Strahd is 300 years old. Plenty of adventures have vampires older than him. Sometimes by degrees of magnitude

[limber trail]

Ultimately, dead by daylight is looking for the most publicly recognisable villain. I don’t have stats on me, but I’m guessing if I ask my friends and family who Vecna is and who Strahd is, Vecna would be at least more recognisable by name.

[hot marlin]

Vecna is also more visually distinct. Strahd is little more than a Bela Lugosi cosplayer

Visually I mean.

[torpid ocean]

wait what species is strahd

[hot marlin]

Human vampire

[torpid ocean]

right

[hot marlin]

May or may not have been breastfed by a hag, so that might have an effect. Maybe

[torpid ocean]

man I just want a ravenloft game

curse of strahd game with the same system as baldur's gate 3 would go indefinetely crazy

[hot marlin]

Whether his wet nurse is a hag, in the fey sense or a hag in the old woman sense is a matter of debate

[torpid ocean]

are hags always evil?

[glad barn]

From the perspective of a lot of creatures, sure

[hot marlin]

Normally, exceptions may apply.

[torpid ocean]

are hags like beholders where they hate other hags

[glad barn]

Naw, there's covens of em

[hot marlin]

But exceptions apply to everything.

[limber trail]

Hags frequently work together in groups of three or more

[glad barn]

Beholders sometimes work together right up to the point where one of them blows the other one up too

[hot marlin]

Actually they always seek to be in groups of multiples of three.

[torpid ocean]

yeah for some reason barovia in van richten's guide to ravenloft is described as 'domain of the first vampire'

[glad barn]

Like 90s R&B groups.

[hot marlin]

If it's not a multiple of three, they generally kick someone out or get new members.

[torpid ocean]

yeah

[hot marlin]

Some writers like the idea of Strahd as the first vampire, due to his popularity and how significant Ravenloft has been in TTRPGs in general. Those writers I think have missed the point of Strahd

[torpid ocean]

this is literally the official guide to ravenloft man I don't make the rules

[glad barn]

You can though. It's D&D (tm)

[hot marlin]

It doesn't matter. The official guide is wrong because other D&D materials include vampires older than Strahd

[glad barn]

My brain keeps arguing with itself. How many editions of D&D are there here according to y'all?

[Basic ‘77, B/X ‘81, BECMI ‘83 (+Rules Cyclopedia ‘91)]

TSR AD&D (1977-1999) [22 Years]
[1st Edition ‘77, 2nd Edition ‘89 (+Revised ‘95)]

WOTC AD&D / D&D (2000-2025) [25 Years]
[3rd Edition ‘00 (+3.5 ‘03), 4th Edition ‘08 (+Essentials ‘10), 5th Edition ‘14 (+5th Edition ‘24)]

[torpid ocean]

how is the official guide wrong

[glossy otter]

the guides retcon things all the time

[torpid ocean]

exactly and shouldn't the most recent guide have the canon because it's the most up to date

[hot marlin]

Because other D&D materials have vampires older than Strahd. If other people were vampires before Strahd was born, he can't be the first vampire. Barring time travel shenanigans

[torpid ocean]

what 'other DnD' materials are you talking about

[glad barn]

Setting guides and monster manuals and novels and articles and adventure modules and video games from the last however long its been since Ravenloft launched in 78

[torpid ocean]

I need specific materials not just 'well over the years'

[glad barn]

Err, 83.

[glossy otter]

though it shoud be the DM's verdict as to what books are deemed canon and not

[torpid ocean]

it is the DM's decision yeah

[glad barn]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravenloft#Publication_history Heres a list

[torpid ocean]

basically I consider van richten's guide to ravenloft to be the most relavent source of info for ravenloft and it takes precisent over the other ravenloft books

if only because it's the most recent one

[glad barn]

Well, and Curse of Strahd. Which was revamped too. They also put out a comic in the 5e era.

[torpid ocean]

yeah that too but CoS is less ravenloft as a whole and more so barovia

[glad barn]

And a novel ig this year

[hot marlin]

For example: Jander Sunstar, introduced first in a novel, older than Strahd.
Kannoth, introduced in Manual of the Planes, as old as the fall of the drows.

Strahd is consistently described as three centuries old. That is nothing in D&D terms.

[torpid ocean]

but is this going by canon age or is it going by book age?

[hot marlin]

Explain the difference please

[torpid ocean]

going by book age means you say this character is as old as the book they appear in

canon age is their age in the story, say if a character is from a 20 year old book but their age is 40

if you went by book age it's 20, by canon age it's 40

[hot marlin]

I mean the age in story.

[torpid ocean]

right then

[hot marlin]

And if it's about book age, pretty sure a few other adventures published before Ravenloft had vampires appear

[torpid ocean]

do you think that strahd's called the first vampire possibly because he's the first infamous vampire?

after all he was a ruler so mayhaps he's called the first vampire for being the first infamous one

[glad barn]

I think he's called the first vampire because WOTC wanted to reboot it and that's easier than trying to align with old lore

So they got 3 interns to just Twilight the shit out of it.

[torpid ocean]

perhaps

also I do have a question,

when were the dead three introduced?

[hot marlin]

Before they were called the dead three.

[karmic mason]

Good news for people here yesterday and this morning

[hot marlin]

In the first original publications, they weren't dead. They were just three evil gods with a neat backstory

[torpid ocean]

so was them making a deal with jergal made canon a few years after they were introduced

[karmic mason]

Told the club sponsor and that problem player won't be using that character.

Meaning hopefully she'll stop.

[glad barn]

There isn't really a 'D&D canon'

[torpid ocean]

there is

[glad barn]

These are all blurry sometimes contradicting pieces of paracosm you add to your own paracosm to run games with.

[hot marlin]

Iirc they were mentioned as evil deities first, and as the setting was fleshed out, the backstory with Jergal was introduced. Then much later they were killed off in the time of troubles storyline

[torpid ocean]

there are events that happened in D&D history

[glad barn]

This game has had thousands of authors, most of which never spoke to each other, adapting over like 4 different types of media.

[torpid ocean]

yeah I was wondering because bhaal was in the first baldur's gate which was made in the AD&D era right

[glad barn]

There is no 'D&D setting'. FR or Ravenloft lore doesnt affect Greyhawk or Dark Sun or Eberron.

[hot marlin]

Baldur's Gate came out after the time of troubles storyline.

[torpid ocean]

the dark powers do affect the other realms actually

[glad barn]

Or Spelljammer or Planescape.

Only according to the FR lore lol.

Someone running Greyhawk can know 0% about dark powers and its fine.

This isnt the MCU 🤷

[hot marlin]

It was a ridiculous, mishandled stupid storyline and the only thing people could imagine writing after that is "Maybe the inciting accident of the story is Bhaal, Bane or Myrkul having a contingency in order to resurrect?"

[torpid ocean]

no-one knows anything about the dark powers, what I'm saying is that the mists kidnap people, places and things from other realms

[glad barn]

Yes, until it turns out its a bridge to Fortnite because Epic offered Hasbro a decent franchising deal.

[torpid ocean]

what

[karmic mason]

@narrow moss and @gaunt roost Went nuclear. Told the club sponsor, and she's setting up rules.

[glad barn]

There is no canon. Nothing is sacred. These are just LEGO pieces to build pretend out with. If anything, 2024 went to great lengths to divorce any kind of 'base lore' from the mechanics

[hot marlin]

Canon also requires a centralised authority to decide what constitutes it. In the absence of such an authority, the concept can only remain nebulous

[glad barn]

Mystra could die tomorrow. Again. For the 4th time. Purely for reasons that have to do with corporations and not narrative.

[torpid ocean]

D&D does have a canon what on earth are you guys on about

[glad barn]

Okay, where do all dragons come from?

[torpid ocean]

io the god of dragonkind

[glad barn]

And what is the definition of a Dungeon.

[hollow stone]

i mean there's Forgotten Realms but there's other settings like Ebberon

[hot marlin]

The term comes from theology. The canon is the material the church deems right and divinely inspired, to the exclusion of the other things. You can't have a canon if you don't have an equivalent of the church listing what constitutes canon

[gaunt roost]

nuclear in what way?

[torpid ocean]

yeah D&D has a canon because if it didn't then nothing would actually happen

[glad barn]

Canon you make up, on the spot, for the table.

[karmic mason]

Since the DM did nothing, I went for the one who WILL do something.

[glad barn]

There is no canon that every table here is playing with that is consistent throughout

[karmic mason]

The teacher in charge of the club, of course:)

[torpid ocean]

but that's called making your own lore

[glad barn]

Because there isn't a set lore >_>

[clear lark]

That would counter to prominent thinking that they hate each other more than other beings.

[torpid ocean]

yeah obviously but there's still a set lore to the series it's just your choice to use the lore or not

[hollow stone]

there are some things that are canon to some games but there's no impactful concensus

[hot marlin]

Depending on the book:
Tiamat, Bahamut and the third one whose name eludes me created the universe so dragons predate the universe
Dragons fell into the world in a meteor shower, those meteors were actually dragon eggs
Dragons evolved from proto-dragons who were still wingless

[glad barn]

D&D is a tabletop roleplaying system. It is a bunch of gears and parts. Forgotten Realms has lore. Eberron has lore. It's also blurry lore, because its meant for gameplay.

[torpid ocean]

io is the third one iirc

[glad barn]

Sardior.

[hot marlin]

No, not Io.

[torpid ocean]

oh ok

[hot marlin]

Sardior, thank you.

[glad barn]

It is 100% by design that D&D doesn't have a set hard canon

And it is the better for it, trust. That would be an insanely bad move (tm)

[torpid ocean]

yeah it's the same thing as a game

[hot marlin]

Oh and one book where dragons are actually a "branch" born from the shattering of the world-serpent into multiple deities

[torpid ocean]

a game has set lore and a story but the actions of the character are completely subjective

[glad barn]

I think in I want to say Spelljammer or Planescape some were just manifestations of the weave

[gaunt roost]

ah, very good

[hot marlin]

Probably wouldn't use the word "weave", it's pretty much a forgotten realms thing

[glad barn]

Yeah, just the 'magic that suffuses all things but we dont call the force because lucas"

[torpid ocean]

I think the weave isn't just a forgotten realms thing, rather it's what people in the forgotten realms think magic is if that makes sense

[glad barn]

There was a shadow-weave in the novels too iirc

[torpid ocean]

in baldur's gate 3 as well iirc

[glad barn]

Along with the concept of weave>spellfire shadow-weave>hellfire

[hot marlin]

Nope. The Weave as a concept was invented for the Forgotten Realms and is how magic works in that universe. It is explicitly said that the Weave only extends in the realms

[torpid ocean]

oh I see

[glad barn]

As long as the weaver doesn't kick the bucket for PR reasons

[hot marlin]

Also the shadow weave is not hellfire. Hellfire is another thing

[glad barn]

Oh, I might be conflating concepts then.

[hot marlin]

Spellfire is technically an ability connected to the Weave, in the sense that it's a specific magic power that only chosen of Mystra, and Mystra herself, can use.

[hollow stone]

i will say that not having a canonized source of magic is somewhat a problem but i absolutely understand that doing a Weave for everything was a bit much and we're not doing that and that's cooler than doing it

[hot marlin]

It's made to cleanse. Burns away spells, unknots the Weave, cleans up stains, burns people...

[gaunt roost]

Isnt the shadowweave quite literally just Shar trying to get around Mystras rules by making her own web of magic that is similiar but can hide more easily and also a bit more volatile? Or wasnt that shar...

[hot marlin]

It is basically that, yes

[torpid ocean]

who's more evil out of vlakkith or shar

[hot marlin]

Though it's... Well the shadow-weave is a pattern that's part of the Weave. If you imagine a tapestry, the shadow-weave is the pattern of the holes.

[glad barn]

Oh I guess Mephisto just kind of invented hellfire.

[hot marlin]

I do not know how to measure evil.

[torpid ocean]

based on a character's actions

[glad barn]

That's neat. Just archdevil things.

[hot marlin]

I still would not be able to measure. The primordial goddess of darkness, firstborn of the gods, and the lich queen cannot be measured by the same standards

[hollow stone]

i mean i base evil off of a measure of "how thoroughly do their goals conflict with what is necessary for mankind (as in like, all people at all, not just humans)?" and judge accordingly

[torpid ocean]

my gods is it that hard to decide a character's evil actuons

[glad barn]

On a cosmic scale? Kinda

We're talking about a scale of good and evil accounting for several dozen thousand years of history.

[hollow stone]

do either of those gods want to completely destroy civilization as a concept?

[torpid ocean]

honestly I might think vlakkith is more evil

[hollow stone]

whichever one does is the more evil one

[torpid ocean]

ehhh kinda, shar wants to cover everything in darkness and vlakkith wants the githyanki to enslave the other planes

[glad barn]

Im pretty sure most gods want to reshape civilization in their vision

[torpid ocean]

most do, some don't

[glad barn]

Very few dont.

[gaunt roost]

depends on your priorities. Vlaakith is more honest, and started out as freeing the gith, but her methods leave no doubt that she will go over any barrier that she needs to without empathy. Shar will lull you in with promises and fulfilled wishes, though most of the time she is just taking from you, be it memories, your life or your dreams. She will not lie, but trick you into accepting "bad" deals by making them sound great "I will heal your PTSD" ->take all your memories except of your feeling of gratitude and the deal itself.

[hollow stone]

what does covering the world in darkness imply?

[hot marlin]

Eh, Malar just wants to have fun killing stuff

[glad barn]

Lathander just wants to be an influencer lol.

[torpid ocean]

does bane want to reshape civilisation?

[glad barn]

The wrestler?

Probably.

[torpid ocean]

the god of tyranny you mephit

[hot marlin]

I suppose one could say that Vlaakith is worse on a personal level, while Shar is worse in the big picture?

[glad barn]

I dunno, define tyranny ;) /jk

[humble cairn]

The publishers of D&D specifically made a statement about what is considered "canon" and they basically said that each table has their own canon.

[gaunt roost]

I mean Garl Glittergold is mostly in favor of having more jokes and pranks in society more than reshaping society around circus culture, though I could be wrong

[glad barn]

Reshaping society doesnt need to be for the worse. Change is inevitable. Who directs the boat though

[hot marlin]

Shar kind of has that whole... Grieving mother thing. Her children died one after the other and it's stated in some material that it's the source of her anger

[humble cairn]

Umberlee probably doesn't really give a damn about what civilization does.

[torpid ocean]

what's bhaal's ultimate goal?

[glad barn]

I guess my point is more that I have to think harder about gods that dont, as the default seems that they do

[torpid ocean]

does he just wanna kill everything?

[gaunt roost]

meanwhile umberlee: "GET THE F OFF MY OCEAN, WTF I HAVE ONE RULE AND ITS ALL THESE STUPID BOATS"

[glad barn]

Auril like "Its not my fault you die in the cold. Youre all idiots"

[hollow stone]

yea society needs fundamental changes in order to progress, but also, with the wrong changes, we can go completely backwards

[glad barn]

For sure. Thats why theres even a goddess of change.

[torpid ocean]

wait what goddess is tiamat again

[glad barn]

"It takes the work of the faithful to ensure that change is for the better"

[hollow stone]

dragons (good ones i think?)

[glad barn]

She's the mother of dragons. Chromatic 5 headed deity-level grand dragon

[hollow stone]

or is that one the evil one?

[torpid ocean]

nah tiamat is the evil dragon god and bahamut is the good one

[glad barn]

As opposed to Bahamut, the Platinum God, got all As in school and did community service in his free time

[torpid ocean]

oh wait she's the goddess of greed right

[gaunt roost]

uh, tiamat is the mother of chromatic (evil) dragons. Though they dont technically need to be evil anymore, they mostly are in lore

[hollow stone]

oh lmao i was about to call Bahamut by the name of a completely different deity, i almost called bro Baphomet

[gaunt roost]

Bahamut is there for the metallic (good) dragons

[glad barn]

Tiamat and Bahamut are siblings, and they fight each other.

[torpid ocean]

so is tiamat a hydra or are they a different thing

[glad barn]

Sardior, the Ruby Dragon, is the kind of equivalent for Gemstone dragons

A hydra is a different thing. Its more of a big ass snake.

[gaunt roost]

There is also the third, forgotten middle child of the two, Null, the dragon god of death. He doesnt really care for their squabbles and noone really messes with him as hes the one that protects dragon souls on their way to the afterlife (And occasionally raises armies of dracoliches to destroy countries but lets not talk about that)

[humble cairn]

Tiamat is unique. There is only one Tiamat and She is not like anything else.

[glad barn]

There's also more dragons than Chromatics, Metallics and Gemstones. Like Lung and Deep and Astral and Fairy and Song and...

[gaunt roost]

Null is funny in the way that he is the highest greater deity that you never heard of

[hollow stone]

hydras have 7 heads and gain 2 more when decapitated, tiamat has 5 heads and doesn't regenerate them afaik, and a false hydra has... how many heads do they have again? what is a false hydra? what was i talking about?

[torpid ocean]

does that mean there's only one bahamut?

[humble cairn]

Yes

[torpid ocean]

a false hydra isn't even an official monster

[glad barn]

Unless your players really tick you off. Then you can add 11 more.

"Alright gang, youre fighting a dozen Bahamuts"

[gaunt roost]

You seem to have forgotten to write anything in your post, how did you write an empty post?

[torpid ocean]

'a swarm of ancient red dragons descend on you'

[glad barn]

"You notice a few archdevils riding tarrasques headed your way"

"They appear to have purple-worm-shooting-shoulder-cannons"

[hollow stone]

i thought it was wyrm?

[glad barn]

Dont call a worm a wyrm or vice versa, they get testy

[hot marlin]

No. Hydras are the product of another dragon deity Tiamat killed. Her blood became the hydras

[gaunt roost]

Listen, you dont need a dozen bahamuts, usually its enough to say "There is an old man. Hes wearing a lot of copper, brass, silver and gold jewlery, as well as a weird birdcage backpack with 7 canaries in there." and then your players try to rob him before realizing that those arent canaries

[glad barn]

"You see a tiger man, with backwards hands"

[torpid ocean]

you see a thin looking man with a golden hand

[gaunt roost]

"Upcast to 7th level."

[glad barn]

You see a one eyed man holding an old spear, a skinny horse behind him, an old crow on his shoulder.

[gaunt roost]

wait rakshasa arent limited to 6th level and lower any longer, they just ignore magic now >_>

[glad barn]

Rakshasa write the rules they follow. Rakshasa find being trusted to be the highest offense.

[gaunt roost]

always remember what people that offend a rakshasa tend to say

its "Help im being mauled by a magic tiger". It also happens to be their last words

[torpid ocean]

you see a thin purple creature with four tentacles for a mouth

[hollow stone]

see i am a very trusting person, i fear i would be ragebaiting them >.<

[gaunt roost]

you see an upside down dinner plate with spaghetti hanging off the sides of it slowly floating towards you while making humming sounds

[glad barn]

Its pretty hard to trigger a devil.

You might say DC 30 hard.

Same with a solar really.

It'd be like a fish trying to make mean faces at you until you were angry to them

[gaunt roost]

tbf rakshasa tend to get ragebaited by being not taken seriously. They have a bad tendency to prove that you should, in fact, take them seriously

not necessarily blind red rage, but they have class

[glad barn]

Yeah, but generally they're just looking for an excuse to murder you, tear out your soul and sell it like popcorn at the faire.

It's just annoying when adventurers are under the impression they can't easily do so.

I do enjoy a Rakshasa vendor in Menzo.

[soft ice]

Hi

Umm im new to this

[spring light]

welcome to the hobby? and or... existience? and or... the discord?

[hot marlin]

Fun fact: I once had a game where a rakshasa infiltrated a noble's palace during a ball. DM forgot I had truesight.

[soft ice]

Thank you

[hot marlin]

The funny thing is, the other PCs did not tell my character they were looking for a rakshasa.

So I just... Enjoyed the wine and had my character, a bit drunk by the end say "Oh yeah, that very polite tiger-fiend over there wanted to have a drinking contest with me"

Which led to "You didn't tell us a fiend was here?"
"I'm not a bigot! I don't judge people by the direction their fingers bend towards or whether or not they were born in hell"

[humble cairn]

My DM threw a Rakshasa at us once, this was pre-2024, and my CG Swordbuckler surprised him, and myself, with a lot of damage since they were vulnerable to Good aligned characters using piercing damage.

That was a weird but kind of flavorful mechanic.

[uncut zenith]

Yeah, it was always odd to me that rakshasa were resistant to good aligned creatures when no other fiends were

I’m glad they did away with mechanics like that tbh

[humble cairn]

Wait resistant? I thought it was vulnerable.

[uncut zenith]

sorry, vulnerable

[spring adder]

So in the dnd world im playing in crossbows are nearly non existent everyone has some type of gun. Our monk tried using deflect missile to catch a bullet being shot at him but the dm said no cause its not realistic. When we brought up the fact he cant catch arrows if the enemies dont use bows.

Does anyone have alternative for this class feature?

[humble cairn]

... none of D&D is realistic. Realism shouldn't be a goal.

[hollow stone]

unless realism allows for more positive interactions (as opposed to less) (i.e. making bows finesse)

[humble cairn]

Nah

[atomic kayak]

But also just. Game mechanics wise monks can most certainly catch bullets

[hot marlin]

A bit weird when you think about it. Shouldn't creatures be resistant to their enemies? I would think evil creatures should be resistant to good creatures and vulnerable to evil or neutral things

[uncut zenith]

Yeah, even if it was a crossbow bolt or an arrow instead of a bullet, in what world is using deflect missiles on one of those any more realistic?

[hot marlin]

Catching arrows and bolts is just as unrealistic as catching bullets.

[hollow stone]

using the rawest definition of missile it is deflecting missiles to do both of those, and deflecting bullets

[uncut zenith]

That’s what I’m saying

[hot marlin]

Moreover, monks can indeed, RAW and RAI catch any missile.

[spring adder]

O i know but he is insisting he cant catch bullets and won't give an alternative so its just sitting as a useless class feature right now

[craggy summit]

Now i wanna see them catch a missle from a fighter jet 🤔

[humble cairn]

So in other words, the alternative for that feature would be a new DM.

[hot marlin]

Well, RAI...

[atomic kayak]

unfortunately we can't help you with a DM who is homebrewing to make your class features nonfunctional

[hot marlin]

Is it a weapon attack? Then they can. And yes they can copy kung fu panda and catch and throw back a canon ball

[uncut zenith]

Realism would be making bows use the STR stat instead of DEX. What D&D aims for is verisimilitude, not realism.

[hot marlin]

Or a ballista bolt.

[glad barn]

Or adding STR and DEX and averaging them out for swinging a sword

[hot marlin]

Realism would be requiring a strength score to use the bow in the first place, and your dex to see if you hit your target

[craggy summit]

I need to play a monk in a pirate ship fight ASAP 😭

[glad barn]

And WIS for spotting >_>

[hot marlin]

Intelligence to take wind direction into account in your aim!

[humble cairn]

Int for calculating wind speed and the effect on a long range shot.

[hot marlin]

Jinx

[humble cairn]

Argh

[glad barn]

The people yearn for Chainmail

[crimson gulch]

monks can catch any attack roll now a days

[hot marlin]

At a certain level, they can even throw the scorching ray back to the wizard's face

[glad barn]

Or even consider tiny creatures who charge as you as 'projectiles'

Thatd be a weird deliberation to rule over lol

[hollow stone]

yea, thus Finesse, so if you prefer STR you can use it or if you prefer DEX you can use it

[crimson gulch]

yeah the new deflect attacks could deflect a meely attack from a tiny creature

dosent even have to be a ranged attack anymore

[hot marlin]

Actually the finesse property isn't what you want. You would need specific rules

[hollow stone]

you don't do more or equal to the number of options previously provided, you do more than the previous measure of available options

[hot marlin]

Just giving them finesse is nonsense due to the wording of finesse

[hollow stone]

the wording of Finesse is choosing DEX or STR to attack with a weapon

either of which you can argue for, DEX to acquire a target or STR to hurt it really badly

you could do STR for Damage and DEX to hit, but also, Finesse is right there and is no third mechanic

[soft ice]

Confusion

[uncut zenith]

Anyways, like I said. Verisimilitude over realism.

[hot marlin]

Oh my bad, got confused. Thought finesse only applied to melee weapons

[uncut zenith]

If we were gonna look for realism in D&D, the rules would get immensely granular, and while it’s not all that simple, D&D aims for simplicity over granular, like others systems such as WH40K

I always refer to it in D&D as “movie logic”. It doesn’t have to be realistic, it just needs to look/feel cool.

[hollow stone]

i had to google that word and we're talking about the same thing

[crimson gulch]

i dont like verisimilitude or realism, i go for suspension of disbelief

[hollow stone]

i don't want hyperrealistic gameplay, but if realism gives people more options then i want realism

realism in the instances that makes more fun

[short fulcrum]

Hey, i have some questions about the new starter sets, so, ive never played dnd physically, and i have a lot of friends that havent even played it online, and i wanna know if you would recommend myself dm'ing for them using them, and which would you recommend?? I dont know what to get, because one of them doesnt have designed adventures you can follow, and the other has less content. I would really appreciate if you can give me your opinion so i get a better idea on which of them i should buy. thxx

[uncut zenith]

The issue with realism in the case of the person talking about their DM saying their monk can’t deflect bullets though is that they’re just being selective about what they think does and doesn’t make sense.

Like we mentioned earlier, a monk deflecting a bullet is no less realistic than them deflecting an arrow or a bolt.

[hollow stone]

yea, that's less options and less fun and is bad

[eager marsh]

their argument is likely how arrow catching has been performed irl as a stunt and can be physically done. However Monk upgrades to deflect elemental damage later anyways. Realism only hurts martials and buffs casters who abuse physics

[crimson gulch]

and thats when i would get up and leave the table, were here to play a game

[uncut zenith]

Same. Reminds me of one time when I joined a one-shot in a West Marches campaign and the DM said my Open Hand monk couldn’t use DEX on my spear because in the real world, spears are actually too heavy to be use with finesse.

[stiff rock]

my dnd drought is over, i have 3 games a week 🥹

[uncut zenith]

Like… okay. There goes the character I built for this one-shot.

[eager marsh]

'sir the rules explicitly say otherwise'

Westmarches (well run ones) kinda have to adhere to RAW and disalow rule of cool homebrew alterationns to work

[stiff rock]

your dm has definitely never seen anyone use a spear lol

[uncut zenith]

That’s what I told him. His response? “Well, I’m the DM so I’m making the call.”

[uncut zenith]

Agreed. Otherwise they need a list of agreed-upon house rules that are used all across the board.

[stiff rock]

as much as i dislike when players argue with my ruling, if everyone thinks i made a dumb rule like that i would probably go back on it

[tawdry sentinel]

I feel like I want to track ammo, food, and weight for DOTMM, because dungeon, but I also feel that's a level of granularity the party wouldn't appreciate so eh.

[eager marsh]

"You don't get to make a call that ignores how equipment and classes work per the book. I'm out, have fun"

[eager marsh]

Tracking food should happen. That's not hard to do. Ammo is usually never worth the trouble. Weight i think should matter because races and classes effect that

[stiff rock]

food is the only thing my tables can ever be bothered to track

[uncut zenith]

Campaigns like DOTMM, ROTFM, and TOA are honestly the only ones I’d track ammo, food, and weight in tbh. Those things are major factors in a campaign that emphasizes survival.

[frigid plover]

Hypothetically could i put a party member into the bag of holding

[eager marsh]

They'll start to suffocate but yes

[stiff rock]

they have no air inside but yes

[uncut zenith]

As long as they can fit through the opening, sure. And as long as they can hold their breath.

[frigid plover]

What if i give them an oxygen tank

[tawdry sentinel]

This pleases the Bag Man

[eager marsh]

well those dont exist normally

[stiff rock]

my party did that exact thing with one of their friends that got knocked unconscious by the deck of many things, as it mentions they don't need to breathe or eat

[frigid plover]

Ive never had a campaign where someone has got the deck of many things unfortunately

[uncut zenith]

You could come up with 50000 different “what ifs” to try and support what you want to do, but we can only speak for what you can do RAW.

[stiff rock]

i gave one out by accident

[frigid plover]

HOW

[stiff rock]

group killed a really powerful mage, i mentioned he had a domt before actually understanding how insane it can be, and i just decided not to take it back

[crimson gulch]

i put it in every game

[uncut zenith]

I like introducing the Deck early on in a campaign

[crimson gulch]

i have had so many players killed by it i ran a one shot where they went into the house of cards to rescue the souls, TPK

[stiff rock]

it's absolutely a campaign ender and i recommend not having it in any game with a plot, but if you're playing a sandbox or love the chaos then it's a really fun thing to have

[crimson gulch]

it has never ends one of my campaigns, its a perilous thing, it kills people

[eager marsh]

its almost always a derail button

[stiff rock]

it can tear one apart pretty quickly if you get unlucky, since two of the cards can almost outright kill a PC

[crimson gulch]

i dont have rails

[eager marsh]

decomissioning you for being unsafe

[stiff rock]

this is closer to what i was trying to say

[crimson gulch]

player charicter death dosent stop a campaign

[uncut zenith]

It only is capable of ending a campaign if you want it to be. The Book of Many Things even includes guidance on amending the Deck if you want it to be less disruptive.

[crimson gulch]

every monster can kill a PC too, and we all use those

[uncut zenith]

But at the end of the day, if you’re scared of giving out the Deck of Many Things because of things like the Void card, you can just… not include it in the deck

[tough cedar]

Yeah why couldn't the deck be... missing a few things?

[uncut zenith]

Even in-game, if the party comes across the Deck of Many Things, it doesn’t have to be a complete Deck of Many Things.

[stiff rock]

3 out of my 4 players managed to void themselves in the span of like 20 minutes, it didn't end the campaign but we all agreed whe nwe were finished that it definitely derailed things a bit, as the point of the story we were in meant that new characters were quite difficult to shoehorn into the very party-personal plot

[uncut zenith]

That’s kind of the cost of the DoMT

[crimson gulch]

the void card dissapears after one PC draws it....... you know that right?

[stiff rock]

i was not aware of that at the time of running it lol

[crimson gulch]

theres your problem

[uncut zenith]

It’s a “high risk, high reward” item. It’s capable of either giving you great things, or great danger.

[stiff rock]

i assumed cards immediately went back into the deck

probably my bad in the end, but i would still advise against having it especially in plot heavy games

[crimson gulch]

making it an INFINTIE DEATH DECK, yeah thats going to ruin a campaign

[stiff rock]

probably lol. i was pretty new to DMing at the time

[uncut zenith]

Yeah, all due respect, that’s on you. The magic item itself says that when a card is pulled, it fades from existence.

And you know what they say about the word “assume”.

[stiff rock]

fair enough

[tough sandal]

Can't believe y'all brought Ming into this. :(
(iykyk)

[uncut zenith]

But again, that’s part of the risk of having access to the deck. It’s capable of great gifts, but it’s also capable of great peril.

[minor lake]

My favorite DND show is doing a strahd run lfg

Joyous day

[tawdry sentinel]

I'll probably float it to the tables I'm running it for. Or at least make a point of it being a thing they should think about even if it's not actually tracked. You find a source of fresh water, or a magically refilling banquet table, this is a big deal in your characters situation, put your RP hats on and act excited!

[umbral girder]

Probably, just remember it is a 4ft cube

[inner silo]

Is telekinetic a good feat?

I feel like it can be used to make your enemies go insane while you're hiding

[clear lark]

Depends on how often it will come up in your adventures

[inner silo]

I'm planning to be a controller sorcerer so push can be neat. Also with only 1 melee enemies can often get through to our casters so being able to push my allies away from them so they can't provoke opportunity attacks can be useful

These are the combat uses at least

[minor lake]

I feel like you could use it in really creative ways

Could be useful even on objects

[inner silo]

Yeah like with mage hand being stronger you could probably do more difficult stuff

[minor lake]

Yeah it's basically a ranged push or lift which could be great

[inner silo]

It'll be very great, especially whenever our fighter is away so we can do some stealth shenanigans

[crimson mesa]

Ok I'm brainstorming a magic item, probably an arrow maybe a dagger, something that magically anchors the target from any form of teleportation, but not normal movement 🤔

[woven flint]

That'd be powerful against a Lich 👀

[crimson mesa]

Against a Fey patron warlock too.

[dawn haven]

:3

Greetings

[tough sandal]

Greg

[pearl hedge]

i feel like my rogue is getting a little too edgy.. should i play her a little lighter now? i'm in an argument with my paladin

[tough sandal]

As long as you two are in-character, and are having fun with roleplay getting as serious as having in-world arguments, you should be fine.
Always check with your group though.

[pearl hedge]

yeah we're both having fun, just worried about character bleed-- i feel the emotions my character feels and i think it's impacting my roleplay style

i'm not sure

[tough sandal]

That sounds like empathy.

[marble lion]

or you are bleeding into your character

[pearl hedge]

no no it feels like uh like i'm getting MCS

i'm insterting myself into scenes where i probably shouldn't be

i'm just conflicted if my roleplay is what i want for my character

[remote wadi]

Luck is really not on my side for stat rolling

Long story short, everyone would have a minimum of 75 points guaranteed and one stat above 15

My other teammates (or just people in the server) got 1 80, 2 82s, an 85, 2 88s, and a 90

I couldn't even get past 78, even with multiple rerolls

[marble lion]

16 12 12 12 12 11

[tough sandal]

Maybe instead of acting out in a character's words, try being descriptive instead if you need a break.
As in, describe a character's actions or the main idea of their talking points.

[timid current]

Rolling when you have a minimum kinda makes me wonder why you don't just have point buy withextra points

[tough sandal]

Act in a logical way:

Character does this.
Character feels that.
Character says (topic).

[timid current]

Especially with multiple rolls

[marble lion]

because rolling is still fun to people

[pearl hedge]

thanks for the pointers. was also about to use charm person in rp against the paladin to make her forget the interaction

[tough sandal]

TL;DR: Third-person POV.

[pearl hedge]

does anyone else use spells in roleplay outside of PBPs?

like out of combat, i mean

[crimson mesa]

Sometimes

[pearl hedge]

@tough sandal btw did you see the mighty nein on amazon prime? it was freaking awesome. 3 whole episodes to start the season off

[tough sandal]

One word about that:

AJDJDJEJDNJEJD!! 😭
That is all.

[pearl hedge]

marion's song was so good

[dusky vapor]

[remote wadi]

So it will be guaranteed to be better than Standard Array. For why they didn't just do point buy, idk

Oops... sorry about the ping, didn't see that bit-

[timid current]

It's fine. I just wonder why not just use a bigger point buy... if you are just rerolling over and over again

[pearl hedge]

honestly point buy is my go to

i don't understand why anyone would choose to do XP over milestone

but i wouldn't hold it against anyone if they did

[delicate roost]

Im in a group that alternates between two sessions every week. one is xp and one is milestone. the xp one, the dm gives the players a little pool of xp we can award to the other players how we want which is fun

[remote wadi]

Because the first one was a little bit of sympathy and the other ones were seeing how deep the rabbit hole goes

[glad barn]

I only let them roll if they agree to hardcore rules lol

3d6, down the line. Let's play random. Otherwise, 72 1-to-1 point buy +3 from origin/species

[remote wadi]

They wanted to see how long it took until I actually got something above 80, then quit when it wasn't anytime soon

[glad barn]

I do hybrid milestone/xp and its been a nice goldilocks point.

[lean wigeon]

down the line feels awful if you have 6 attributes to roll for ngl

[glad barn]

Yeah it should feel awful. That's why i do it that way.

[modest venture]

can you go over 20 in a campain?

[storm magnet]

Do your guy’s characters do dramatic monologues?

[glad barn]

The idea of rolling for stats to 'check' if you get better than standard annoys me lol

In 5e, generally at level 20 you instead use your XP to buy Epic Boons

Your level stays at 20, but your power goes up bit by bit

[modest venture]

but can a dm choose to go over

[glad barn]

Your table can do whatever you want, yeah. It involves a ton of mechanical work

[valid geyser]

there are no rules for levels above 20 if thats what youre asking

[pliant matrix]

Helllloooooo, I’m new to dnd ik somethings but basically almost nothing, I just eanted to ask what are the subclasses to wizards

[glad barn]

And unless theyre really good at extrapolating rules and want to write out a whole new subsection of monsters, spells, effects and conditions, its probably best to just expand the power within each level.

[valid geyser]

and theres not much of a point,by level 20 the games math is already collapsing in on itself

[glad barn]

Even in 4e, that went to lv 30, lv 31 just became dumb math

Or 2e once you get to like 25+

[limpid plaza]

DID SOMEONE SAY WIZARD?

[pliant matrix]

YEEESSS

[modest venture]

Bladesinging.
Chronurgy Magic.
Order of Scribes.
School of Abjuration.
School of Conjuration.
School of Divination.
School of Enchantment
Graviturgy Magic

[limpid plaza]

Divination.

[valid geyser]

i mean isnt relatively the power level the same between a 4th edition level 40 and a fifth edition level 20?

[torpid ocean]

I hate how boring most of the wizard subclasses are

[glass granite]

War mage too

[glad barn]

In theory, maybe. In the numbers and the scaling, not at all.

[limpid plaza]

Get divination if u wanna say “Nuh uh” to the DM’s rolls

[modest venture]

The School of War Magic

[glad barn]

5e Tarrasques are like 4e Tarrasques in middle school

[torpid ocean]

which book is war mage in?

[limpid plaza]

XGtE

[delicate roost]

Im...working on a wand lore wizard (from the griffons handbag book) !

[torpid ocean]

thank you man you a real one 🙏

[pliant matrix]

Thanks but can you say it in a way someone new to dnd can understand

[modest venture]

if you get halfling you say no to nat 1

[limpid plaza]

No problem

[torpid ocean]

I'm working on an orc wizard rn, any ideas?

[glad barn]

He should have a buddy called Guldan whos a warlock and is totally not a villain

[delicate roost]

Im the wrong person to ask lol this is the first wizard ive ever made since ever lol

[storm magnet]

Is it possible for a character to be a sorcerer but think they need a wand to cast, and that mental block makes them actually require a wand?

[torpid ocean]

said orc wizard despises most warlocks 💔

[modest venture]

i am new aswell but they are each diferent schools that grand magic and abilitys you can google them to get more

[glass granite]

Those are the specific “schools” of magic. Chronurgy being time, evoker being blasting stuff, etc.
War magic focuses on resilient combat blasting, while bladesinging is an elven practice revolving around swords and spells.

[snow agate]

thats ok most people do

[glass granite]

If it’s just flavour, sure

[torpid ocean]

it's something something lore reason I'm sure you don't wanna hear it

[pliant matrix]

Ok but do you know if there’s like a n illusionist or something like a seer

[glass granite]

Illusioner and Diviner respectively

[limpid plaza]

Do you wanna be

Wizard with a weapon
Spell scrolls galore
Fireball artillery
Tank mage
Undead general
Say “Nuh uh” to the dm’s rolls
Master of illusion

[snow agate]

its because warlocks are basically federal agents

[karmic pendant]

wait what?

[pliant matrix]

Can I be a mix of the last 2

[torpid ocean]

I think the flaw I have written for him is 'I despise warlocks more than anything in this world, to a degree where I will not work with them'

[limpid plaza]

I agree with this statement 100%

[limpid plaza]

Uhhhh
Do u want divination or illusion then

[glass granite]

Yes, all wizards get a bunch of spells, so you can. Just choose one to specialise in.

[pliant matrix]

Also what’s a galore

[limpid plaza]

all the spell scrolls

[glass granite]

An abundance of smt

[pliant matrix]

Both if possible but mainly divination

[glass granite]

Then play a diviner wizard with some illusion spells

[limpid plaza]

You get the School of Divination Subclass then.

[torpid ocean]

right chat so tell me

I'm making an orc wizard do y'all have any ideas

[pliant matrix]

Yeeeee

[snow agate]

yeah the idea is orc wizard, can you be more specific

[limpid plaza]

Use your Portent wisely

[pliant matrix]

Also how do I join a campaign?

[glass granite]

Like online or irl

[limpid plaza]

Send the link, fellas

[torpid ocean]

orc wizard who loves books and is very reclusive, also hates warlocks and is jealous of sorcerers

[karmic pendant]

if online go to #find-a-game

[pliant matrix]

Online, nobody wants to play dnd where I live except for my bestie

[glass granite]

Then what Monster said

[snow agate]

i mean what are you requesting

[pliant matrix]

THAAAAAANNNKKKSSSSS

[torpid ocean]

just some ideas for his character, any backstory maybe, some cool ideas that I could use

[glass granite]

Bone staff

[modest venture]

yes

[normal junco]

i've found the most difficult barrier to making an in person game is not scheduling or interest, it is finding a free venue that's viable.

[snow agate]

he's kind of short and has an annoying verbal tic and an inferiority complex which fuels his resentment towards others since they find him funny

[torpid ocean]

ehhh

[snow agate]

im not writing your characters backstory for you i have no context this is what you get

[torpid ocean]

I can work with that yea, it's just kind of a more aggressive depiction of him that I hoped for

[torpid ocean]

no offense but why are you getting so annoyed by this? I'm only asking if anyone has any fun ideas it's not like I'm asking people to make me a character post haste

[glad barn]

Before we had our own place to play at, me and my table would usually either sit on the back of my friends truck, go to Denny's at night, or find a picnic table at the park lol

[snow agate]

sure i have a fun idea, a druid who throws car batteries in the ocean to energize the eels

[glass granite]

I think they’re just mildly annoyed cuz you gave a really vague prompt

[torpid ocean]

well then maybe instead of whining about it they could actually tell me I'm still not specific enough idk

[snow agate]

yeah its like showing up to a restaurant and saying "cook me something"

[glass granite]

Like, orc wizard. There’s not much to work off from there.
Then they dislike warlocks for a reason that’s not explicitly clear, and a shallow theme of being jealous of sorcerers.

[torpid ocean]

that's only because I've got a basic concept going

[normal junco]

that's pretty difficult with wind and snow and rain and unfortunately around here the number of crazy homeless people roaming around or camping in parks. outdoor's a no-go. lucky it worked out for you, though.

[glass granite]

To be fair, they did say “I have no context this is what you get”

[glass granite]

At the basic stages, it’s better to tie into trope you enjoy to create a more in depth concept.
Also btw can we move to #character-discussion ? I’ve got some ideas.

[torpid ocean]

alright then

[glad barn]

Well, it was also the 90s/00s in Texas I suppose lol

These days Id probably find an LGS that has a table space maybe

[normal junco]

the two in town closed down. next closest is like a 2 hour drive by highway.

[glad barn]

Occassionally we'd bribe on of my player's parents to let us use their living room by mowing the front and back lawn.

[sleek cloud]

A worthy sacrifice

I’d accept that bribe every time

[glad barn]

Yeah, we were like 15 lol

[normal junco]

that works great for some people. i'd rather not let random strangers into my home, nor would i run a game in some random stranger's place. i've heard enough CritCrab to really avoid that

[glad barn]

I dont know that Id want a table long term that I couldnt just hang out with in my house.

I dont know what CritCrab is though.

[snow agate]

sounds like a crab that crits

[glad barn]

Or a crab that, when consumed, enhanced one's ability to crit.

Alternative, it is a crab that reviews restaurants.

[thick rapids]

Hi

[torpid ocean]

he's a youtuber that reads dnd reddit stories

[lofty thunder]

Does anyone have a one shot that i could join for today!?

[idle oar]

Check #looking-for-players but likely it's going to take more time than "game today".

[glad barn]

Oh, D&D reddit stories are basically fanfiction.

[torpid ocean]

nothing wrong with some fictional stories

[glad barn]

That's true. It's kind of what we do here.

[lofty thunder]

Yeah ik! Just my dm postponed game today but i still wanna play a game so thats why i asked😭

[idle oar]

You could see if some of the community servers have games today: #looking-for-community

[muted gulch]

Struggling with commands

[glass granite]

Which knes

[muted gulch]

Looking players. I think I used the command wrong and it appeared in the find a game channel

[sleek cloud]

I wonder if the mods ever secretly run one shots together as a coworker bonding exercise

[vivid rain]

hiii!!!

[idle oar]

who's peeking behind our curtain?

[glass granite]

Hiiiiii

[vivid rain]

I was sorta recommended that this server is the best place for dnd or finding games- can anyone help direct me to the correct channel to find some games or such? c:

[idle oar]

#find-a-game

[glass granite]

#find-a-game

[vivid rain]

thanks and sorry for any trouble caused

[idle oar]

Oh no trouble at all!

[vivid rain]

ALSO, I have heard that dnd at times has...trouble nightmare players

[glass granite]

A lot of those are made up
Not all, but a significant portion

[vivid rain]

which worries me on the possiblity of getting into a toxic game group

[thick rapids]

Os there a good game for dnd

[vivid rain]

is there a proper place to introduce myself anywhere here orr

[idle oar]

That's why you interview folks and discuss expectations and boundaries.
Most problems among people at the tables revolves around:

• Communication
• Breaking expectations without consent/buy-in
• Breaking boundaries without consent/buy-in

No introductions neccessary here

We assume you're here to chat D&D

[glass granite]

You already have

[glad barn]

The percentage of toxic people to normal people to friends is about the same here as anywhere else, really.

Find a group of people who like D&D that you enjoy hanging around with. From that group, find one that you vibe with on a gameplay and friend level, make tables with those peeps.

[sleek cloud]

I failed the stealth check 💀

[vivid rain]

chat and play dnd, sorry for not explaining that at first

[thick rapids]

Is there a good game for dnd

[vivid rain]

I am flexible and chill and respectful

[vivid rain]

wdym?

[idle oar]

No worries! We actually don't host games on our server but folks can read #find-a-game to see how to use our Looking for Game channels to find a group/game to join.

[vivid rain]

I checked confusing at first but it comes off very uh

overwhelming? scary sorta

[twin aspen]

How scary would a Lizardfolk Path of the Totem Warrior Barbarian be scary? Wrong answers only

[idle oar]

We have #looking-for-dm for folks who want so post that they are looking for a Dungeon Master/group.
We have #looking-for-players for groups looking for players
We have #looking-for-community for other D&D servers that host games
We have #paid-looking-for-game if you're willing to pay to have a spot at a D&D game/campaign

[vivid rain]

I only done lost mines of phandelver and I personally did 1 dm one shot, not much experience besides that still got lots to learn!

but I am excited and a developing dnd addict <333

[glass granite]

And to make a post, you do /looking-for
and select whichever is fitting

[thick rapids]

We can chat

[vivid rain]

im confused chat about what?

[glass granite]

DnD

[idle oar]

What do you like about D&D?

[vivid rain]

ooh okay mb
and uh, everything

[glass granite]

You like scheduling?

[vivid rain]

I only experience what is likely a SMALL amount of dnd so far but I have heard and do like the sound of all the other stuff

[vivid rain]

no sob
you got me there

[glass granite]

What’s your fav class? And why?

[vivid rain]

So far I only experienced 2 CLASSES, Wizard and as of the moment, bard

I love bard with how they are pretty good with most skill checks [5e I believe???]

[thick rapids]

What u want

[idle oar]

It does need to be on-topic (which is anything D&D that doesn't fit in a more appropriate channel - see #channel-guide)

[vivid rain]

I am game to chat about whatever though some of the topics may be lost on me

[glass granite]

What’s your fav bard subclass?

Bards my second fav class, after monk

[vivid rain]

my point proven SUBCLASSES??

[glass granite]

Ah

[vivid rain]

theres SUBCLASSES???? WHA

[glass granite]

Maybe read #learn-to-play …

[vivid rain]

sorry-

did I say something wrong-

[glass granite]

Anyway, subclasses are specialisations of a class

[glass granite]

Nah

[thick rapids]

I like dnd but i never get to play

[glass granite]

For example, for paladins it’s their oath, for clerics it’s their faith domain, for wizards it’s their specialised schools

[vivid rain]

I cant recall what my bard was but I think it was one of the basic colleges/subclass??

[glass granite]

Eloquence?

[vivid rain]

hold on lemme check and see if I can recall rq

The College of Lore

[glass granite]

Oh! That’s a great choice

Lore is prolly my third fav one, after Eloquence and Glamour

[vivid rain]

My silly bard guy idea was just high elf stationed in some fancy capital kingdom managing a sorta royal knowledge bank storage like place [aka where they write down details from local food collected taxes, and galore] and he was sorta always dreaming of being in one of these adventurer groups...till he suddenly was

[thick rapids]

I realy wana play tho

[vivid rain]

he is such a silly anxious bard trying his best to help the group but I MAKE so many bad ideas at times less we not forget the time I told a grandma kobolds were maybe gonna attack a village and she told all the villagers and sent them into a mass panic SOB

[glass granite]

Oh wowzers

[vivid rain]

They told me ya can find it in Find a Game

[glass granite]

#find-a-game yeah. That’s should give you the info you need.

[thick rapids]

Yea but how dos it work on discord tho

[brazen crown]

Yo guys, kinda new here, i just did my first fighter (level 8th) and i wanna ask if one tactic is fine, my old character died and i had to make a new one and our party has a problem with the damage... Can i send what build i did for a turn

[vivid rain]

slight funny side topic was my character in battle fighting said kobolds in a ambush and a kobold captain? was escaping through a river so my character tried to use his rapier like a javelin and- well throw it which resulted in greatly in my characters horror to see it MISS and float downstream gone, PURE horror on my characters face SOB

[vivid rain]

Idk, im neww-

[idle oar]

Look through the game posts in #looking-for-players - if it looks good, direct message the game poster or use the thread attached to the post to communicate you're interested.

Or the same for #looking-for-community or #paid-looking-for-game

If you want to make your own "looking For Game" post in #looking-for-dm , type /looking-for right here in this channel and select the dm option.

The bot will give you a form to fill out.

Once you submit the form, the bot creates the post in #looking-for-dm and attaches a thread to it

Use the thread to communicate with folks or provide updates/clarifications/corrections.

You can post once every 7 days. The bot will remove old posts once the time is up and then you can repost.

#find-a-game also has other useful tips for finding a D&D game

[brazen crown]

When the conversation is done i will send it

[thick rapids]

I mean like how wuld it work bc its on discord

[idle oar]

?tag new online

[cosmic roost]

https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/750-new-players-guide-how-to-play-d-d-online

[glass granite]

^

[idle oar]

D&D just needs players, DM, an adventure, a way to track characters (character sheet), dice and a way to communicate

People have played D&D over old-school postal mail.

Discord is just a way to communicate

[brazen crown]

Damn that's crazy

So can i send the turn i was doing kinda 2 weeks😭

[glass granite]

HOLY that’s long

[brazen crown]

If i have any mistakes please tell me,

[idle oar]

This sounds like an #optimization discussion

Or #character-discussion at least

[brazen crown]

Damn there is #optimization

Didn't know that sorry, first time here

[idle oar]

Check #channel-guide to see our many channels for specific topics

No worries!

[brazen crown]

Good idea, thanks

Should i delete it from here?

[idle oar]

Nah you're good

[glass granite]

Wait do you have crossbow expert

[brazen crown]

Yep i have it

[glass granite]

Can I ask why you use the whip

[brazen crown]

And i forgot to say, my character is thri-kreen ao i have 2 pairs of hands

[brazen crown]

Because the maneuver trip needs close range weapon, and i chose the whip just because of the 10 feet opportunity attacks (other hand has a shield for ac)

[glass granite]

But why do you wanna trip them

[brazen crown]

To have advantage on rolls against them, because i use sharpshooter that takes +5 to hit in exchange of 10 damage more, and the trip is to have bigger chance to hit

[glass granite]

You’d have disadvantage
You’re shooting a prone enemy with a ranged weapon

[brazen crown]

I think i wrote it, but my dm allows me to have advantage on it, i talked it with him, he's just a chill guy

[glass granite]

Ah, I assumed you meant ar all times and not prone
Anyway go to #optimization

[brazen crown]

Yeah i will, tnx

[tidal bloom]

Hey is someone here familiar with Owlbeqr Rodeo and its Djinni extension?

[idle oar]

Nope but maybe someone in #third-party might?

(I am familiar with Owlbear.rodeo, just not the extension you mention).

[tidal bloom]

Do you perhaps know though if there is a way to play music in Owlbeqr?

[thick rapids]

I have qestion what is the Best free Apps to play onlyne d&d on

[idle oar]

The same developers have a tool called Kenku.fm that does streamed audio through Discord I believe

[idle oar]

Discord, Avrae bot, and the DnDBeyond app (in my opinion)

[thick rapids]

Dnd Bbeyond has to many free thing idk wich is the best

[marble lion]

Discord vc combined with Owlbear Rodeo

[tidal bloom]

Ok thanks I'll look into that one later too

[thick rapids]

@idle oar

[fading marsh]

Anyone know what happened to the Dicer app and why it doesn't work anymore

[narrow moss]

today's the first i'm even learning of it so no, sorry.

[marble lion]

Dndbeyond has a lot of content behind paywalls as it is the official DnD virtual tool as I understand

[vivid rain]

how do I post my own looking for dm with the pre set text thing?

[idle oar]

Anything not in the free rules/SRD is paid content

[karmic mason]

ello silas

[glossy otter]

#find-a-game

[karmic mason]

how ya doin

[jovial badger]

good