dnd-discussion

[woven flint]

It doesn't have to be a spirit, it can be your bones or an undead copy of yourself :p

[umbral girder]

The lack of literacy is amusing to see.

[rugged hawk]

I'm not illiterate, just lazy

[severe rampart]

Don't worry, being illiterate isn't bad, DnD players don't read anyway

[hot marlin]

Mummy lord succeeds, mummy lord immediately gets killed by a time dragon, inevitable or some other guardian of the space time continuum that then turns towards the PCs and says "You should have called us as soon as you learned he was trying to do time magic, there was really no need for you to get involved"

[woven flint]

Me!
I'm the D&D player that reads!
Always.

[umbral girder]

And the Mummy Lord respawns

Oh yeah an Ancient dragons collapsing planes in the DMG

[fiery nimbus]

I... really don't see anything about that on the statblock itself, i guess must be some side book

[woven flint]

I'm the D&D player that reads so my dms don't have to explain every 4 seconds what something does for me

Praise me! For I have basic sense and consideration!!!!

[umbral girder]

Then in 2014 we got Sphinxes who can also manipulate time as well

Usually by chucking other people through time when they are annoyed

[woven flint]

Lmao

"You're going to time Brazil!"

[crimson gulch]

So.many players read things and get them wrong too, I much prefer when players ask me something at the table rather than try to look it up

[hot marlin]

Nealen is not referring to abilities on the statblock. Nealen is referring to suggested plans for those monsters. Things that are not on the statblock because the monster can't do it on their own.

They require a ritual, or magic items... Plot magic, you get the idea

[severe rampart]

I think it should be, read first, ask later when you're gonna use it

[hot marlin]

Though by this standard, any character who learns how to do this plot magic is a danger to the world regardless of what their actual statblock can do. Even a PC can, after all, try to do plot magic

[rugged hawk]

Like for instance, if I could, I'd mix the mechanics of Undead and Undying.

Form of Dread from Undead instead of Among The Dead from Undying.
Grave Touched from Undead instead of Defy Death from Undying.
Instead of Necrotic Husk from Undead, I'd want Undying Nature from Undying.
And instead of Spirit Projection from Undead, I'd want Indestructible Life from Undying.

As is, I'm split between which to go with

[woven flint]

Just homebrew it :3

Homebrew your own Undeadlock

[marble lion]

The Undeadening homebrew

[fiery nimbus]

can i get a link to the statblock?

[woven flint]

The Eternal Undead Warlock 😎

[idle oar]

Why am I being summoned here again? /jk

[cursive fjord]

Would anyone be willing to help me out?

My and my DM are trying to come up with a compromise:
I play a character that is a prepared caster, so I unlock all my spells at once.
He wants the spells I find to be found in the world itself before hand, like a wizard.
Im trying to find a middle ground.

[rugged hawk]

Target practice. Roll initiative. ||/s||

[vale sage]

I heard someone was dissing bards. I hope those people realise that diss tracks are a thing. You've been warned.

[mellow grove]

as a player who hasn't played before but really wants to (played a lot of bg3) where should I go to find a newbie game?

[fiery nimbus]

In this case this discussion would be pointless because any monster can be involved in a plot with time travel
Elder Brain Dragon is a force to be recon with because of its stat block, not because there once was a story about them attempting to do something

now whats up with there being more tarrasques after it dies because i can't find that one

[remote wadi]

Hmmm...

[woven flint]

Bards stink, I hate them :3

[fiery nimbus]

ok i found it
"Whenever the tarrasque is defeated, another tarrasque awakes somewhere else on the Material Plane." Fair enough

its honestly surprise Material Plane is still standing, though i guess there is only so much destruction a single easly manipulated unit can do

[marble lion]

Some lore is creature specific and consistent

[rugged hawk]

...... I Wish Tarrasques are extinct?

[marble lion]

But yes one being involved in one plot that did something is not grounds for saying its what they do

[severe rampart]

What would happen if you did wish that?

[fiery nimbus]

its outside the scope of a spell, roll 1d6, get 5 tiers of exhaustion and you can never cast wish again

[marble lion]

Theyd disappear

[rugged hawk]

Probably nothing good.

[marble lion]

No it works i think

The thing is someone will eventually revert that wish and get them back

[rugged hawk]

No no, it's only outside the scope of known spells

[surreal notch]

hallooo, this probably should in #dnd-newcomers , but whats a good mobile app to play dnd? either with a group or just random online multiplayer? i could also go on desktop but that wouldnt allow me to play most of the time

[coarse quarry]

"I wish all currently held knowledge of goblins didn't exist."

[fiery nimbus]

existing goblins forget everything about goblins

[severe rampart]

I wish goblins didn't exist

[rugged hawk]

Let's wish away Ao

[coarse quarry]

This guy, he gets wished out of existance for this crime. Gobbo life. I wish Echo was True Polymorphed into a goblin.

[fiery nimbus]

well yea but "oh one Mummy Lord we have no statblock for is the strongest monster in monster manual because there is some plot specific thing somewhere in module" is a little much

[severe rampart]

Well I mean, I can actually turn into a goblin

[marble lion]

I said pretty much that in the next sentence

[woven flint]

You ARE a goblin.

[severe rampart]

I'm a changeling

[woven flint]

No, you're a Goblin

[severe rampart]

yeah, I'm a mind goblin

[fiery nimbus]

But yea i still believe Elder Brain Dragon is much bigger problem than Tarrasque will ever be

[woven flint]

(Don't let people know you're a Changeling! That's Changling 101!)

[glass granite]

Hi a changeling, I’m Nugget

[severe rampart]

I THOUGHT YOU WEREN'T HERE

[severe rampart]

No wait, you're nugget, who's you weren't here?

[woven flint]

If I was playing a Changeling I wouldn't even let my party know I was one until it became relevant lol

[coarse quarry]

You mind gobblin'? Ahue hue hue hue hue.

[fiery nimbus]

every enemy that can technically summon endless hoard of enemies is a threat
it just so happens Elder Brain Dragon is both fast, and doesn't consume resources while doing so

[glass granite]

You did that wrong. “Weren’t” is were not.
So, it would be “No wait, you’re Nugget, who’s Not Here?”

[fiery nimbus]

honestly a single unit would ovethrow a pretty big kingdom in like a week

[severe rampart]

I failed you once more, master.

[fiery nimbus]

you called? whats up?

[severe rampart]

Oh my god there's two of them

[fiery nimbus]

I will keep singing praises of Elder Brain Dragon because it's the most terrifying of dragons... if you exclude the powerful dragons from the lore

[terse falcon]

Saw this show called chaotic good barbarian and just look at this guys bingo sheet

Oh wait u can’t send pictures

[fiery nimbus]

don't be surprised

[severe rampart]

The dude that ghosted me for my DnD commision replied saying "wait, here's a sneak peek" And then disappeared again, he didn't even send a picture 😭

[fiery nimbus]

did you pay them?

[severe rampart]

Not yet at least, thankfully

[fiery nimbus]

did you sign a contract?

[severe rampart]

No, I'm pretty sure they're fairly new to commisioning

[fiery nimbus]

than are you even sure he is working on your commision if no transaction and no agreement was reached?

[severe rampart]

Honestly no, that's why I commissioned three artists

Oh man I'm going broke lol

[fiery nimbus]

...
honestly that one is self-inflicted

[severe rampart]

Yeah, but I'm too deep into loving my character

[hidden spindle]

Sometimes.

-# Not really, but its worth shot

[severe rampart]

What spells should I get so I have a fighting chance against Devils and other monsters in the Underdark?

[hot marlin]

That's not really more tarrasques. There's really only one.

And "somewhere on the material plane"... The material plane is huge.

[rugged hawk]

Tarrasque SCP confirmed

[hot marlin]

And tarrasques can't fly.

[fiery nimbus]

well yes, there is very limited amount of damage a single unit, no matter how powerful can do

[hot marlin]

Yeah. And, you know, if it can happen anywhere on the material plane randomly, it's actually not that good for the tarrasque

[fiery nimbus]

sure he can stomp out a city, but its also bloody stupid and can be lead away if threatening

[hot marlin]

Most of the material plane is just empty void.

[rugged hawk]

Dendar the Night Serpent would like to introduce herself and her ability to consume planets, stars, and gods.

[fiery nimbus]

unfamiliar with it

[hot marlin]

Dendar, the thing that has been imprisoned for half a million years and, on records, has only ever eaten one star?

And never actually ate any planet?

[rugged hawk]

She's sealed under that one dino land in the south

[fiery nimbus]

Dandar the Bum more like it

[rugged hawk]

She's the whole reason that dino god is manifest in the Realm, to keep her prison sealed.

[fiery nimbus]

Dandar the Bum

[rugged hawk]

Otherwise she'd go eat the sun again and then have some deities for the main course

[marble lion]

I miss playing dnd

Ive been sick for so long now im not feeling up for DMing

And noone i know DMs

[glass granite]

You could try and teach them

[rugged hawk]

I mean, you say that, but the only reason we beat her is because she didn't read the Evil Overlord List. When we managed to (unknowingly) create a new sun after she ate the previous one (and almost all the gods), she made the critical mistake of trying to swallow an expanding energy field of stellar matter bigger than her own head and got her head incinerated.

We lost the pantheons, the world, and our sun.... but at least we took her down and made a new star

[marble lion]

Its not a lack of knowledge tbh, except one person

Hmmm maybe....

[coarse ravine]

Protection from evil and good. Maybe anti-life shell at higher level

[marble lion]

Some light spell to get out of darkness cheese

[rugged hawk]

Well, not that any of us knew what the Machine would do, but we had literally nothing else to try at the end. It was either 'Push the button' or 'Game Over Forever For Everything'

[marble lion]

Devils can just kill you in the dark without a fight

[severe rampart]

Guys I haven't played DnD in a year and my first drop of it is me at level 7,in the Underdark on a quest to kill a demon lord

[coarse ravine]

Why Driftglobe is always useful

[rugged hawk]

Rest in cosmic horror

[severe rampart]

My character is a con artist and now I'm in hell

[rugged hawk]

Welcome home, you're here forever.

[marble lion]

Alone?

[coarse ravine]

Play paladin youll be fine and your party will love you

Whatcha playin?

[keen kestrel]

For real, just pick like any paladin

[severe rampart]

... Bard

[severe rampart]

Half of our party are bards

[coarse ravine]

Level 7 getting access to both auras. Yeah level 7 starting level is a great paladin pick. Especially against devils

[keen kestrel]

Time to change professions

[marble lion]

Sounds fun

[coarse ravine]

Heavy metal rockers going to get devils to write their lyrics

[keen kestrel]

Or you can start a band, call it AC/DC

[marble lion]

Is it a coop dm or a dragyouthroughhell dm?

[severe rampart]

No we're there to kill the Minotaur Lord

[marble lion]

If its a coop dm, dont worry about optimal setup

[rugged hawk]

Bardadin, Oath of Holy Hands and Holy Hips

[severe rampart]

The madman is actively showing us the map telling us how we're gonna suffer

[marble lion]

Try to make the right calls and it works out

[marble lion]

Ah well its that kind of dm

[severe rampart]

The plan is to end the campaign at level 20

[hot marlin]

People always say "the plan is to end the campaign at level 20", nobody ever says "the plan is to keep going once we reach level 20"

[severe rampart]

100% a player character is going to die

Also after a long rest you can change your prepared spells right?

[hot marlin]

Depends on the class

[severe rampart]

Lore Bard

[rugged hawk]

Time to leave the railroad behind and head a direction he hasn't mapped

[marble lion]

I think thats always the case

[severe rampart]

He has an endless maze.

[marble lion]

Spells are prepared daily

[severe rampart]

He planned every thing.

[glass granite]

You can’t plan everything

[severe rampart]

Im gonna try to romance the shadows

[hot marlin]

Nope. Only when you level up

[severe rampart]

Guys what's a hellknight, he just said there will be a ton of them

[glass granite]

Hi gonna try to romance the shadows, I’m Nugget

[keen kestrel]

Bards are like sorcerers, you only learn spells or swap spells on level up

[hot marlin]

That's stupid, don't do that.

[keen kestrel]

So plan out what spells you’ll want with your party members

[hot marlin]

Could be referring to devils. Or could be referring to the pathfinder concept. In the Golarion setting hellknights are a group of fanatic all about law and order. Think Judge Dread but even more authoritarian and brutal

[severe rampart]

I think he's referring to actual hell knights

[hot marlin]

Both things could be "actual hell knights"

[severe rampart]

Really? Could I just change spells before the campaign first starts 🤔

[hot marlin]

A devil can have knighthood. There are probably a lot of knightly orders in the nine hells

[keen kestrel]

Sure, it’s not set in stone yet so your dm should be fine if you plan out your spells and swap them before the campaign starts

[severe rampart]

Okay he confirmed, actual hellknights and not devils that are knights

[old dragon]

is it possible to play as someone with only 1 arm or something similar?

[severe rampart]

Quote "Conquest paladins serving archdevils"

[severe rampart]

Yeah, I mean you'll probably be at a disadvantage but sure

[glass granite]

It’s possible, but I don’t recommend.
You can try to have it reflavoured tho

[severe rampart]

Metal arm, Finn style

[glass granite]

Or, prosthetic

[severe rampart]

Go all in, no limb challenge

[keen kestrel]

Prosthetics exist and are fairly cheap

[coarse ravine]

As a bard im assuming you dumped strength. Go romancing a shadow and that'll be your quickest death

[severe rampart]

You predicted it

[hot marlin]

Okay so he's using the pathfinder concept.

[severe rampart]

I have 10 strength but 20 charisma

[coarse ravine]

You'll prolly run into hellhounds as well

[severe rampart]

So, that's a yes on Protection against good and evil?

[coarse ravine]

But if shadows are being thrown at you.... definitely retreat and take them out immediately

[coarse ravine]

Yes definitely

[hollow stone]

are shadows smart enough to be Persuasion or are they Animal Handling?

[severe rampart]

They cannot be charmed, or so I've been told

[coarse ravine]

Prolly a religion lol idk

[severe rampart]

Unfortunately I had wanted to charm one but hey, what can you do

[hot marlin]

They are not immune to the charmed condition.

[hot marlin]

Neither. They are not animals and they have no language. Neither persuasion nor animal handling can do anything

[hollow stone]

i mean you don't need to inflict Charmed you just gotta "no kil meeee 👉🥺👈"

[coarse ravine]

They have lots and lots of immunities.. but charmed is not one of them

[marble lion]

I think narratively a dm probably wouldnt let you persuade shadows

[hot marlin]

They have no language. Talking to them is useless

[marble lion]

They dont seem very approachable

Id shut it down for sure

After all, skill checks always depend on the DMs gaging of DC

[severe rampart]

Oh well in that case

[coarse ravine]

Yeah even a eloquence bard needs something that knows a language right?

[marble lion]

Charm as in under spell effect though yeah that works

[coarse ravine]

Yes^

[severe rampart]

Can I charm person a shadow?

[coarse quarry]

Is it a humanoid?

[severe rampart]

Nope

[coarse ravine]

Undead

[severe rampart]

right, well I'm outta spells

Time to vicious mockery this pack of shadows

[coarse quarry]

You attempt to charm a humanoid you can see within range.

Think you answered yourself : P

[edgy falcon]

Cool ideas for aquatic species?

[marble lion]

Squid dolphin

[severe rampart]

At the very least I have mirror image so if they try to get me I have a chance of not getting got

[trim cradle]

Dm told me i have disadvantage. Guess my rolls

[severe rampart]

Two nat 1's

[marble lion]

Do your mirror images have shadows?

[hot marlin]

No. That spell targets only humanoids. Find something that works on undead

[coarse ravine]

Tasha's hideous laughter for the knights. I dont think shadows can go prone

[severe rampart]

Probably yeah?

[trim cradle]

A nat 20 and a nat 1😭

Nat 20 first and then nat 1

[severe rampart]

Well no

They're an illusion, they don't have mass or anything to block light in order to create a shadow

[severe rampart]

That was my second guess

I hope shadows don't have truesight or blindsight

[fiery nimbus]

they are weave constructs...

[marble lion]

They have shadows

That means there are now 4x the shadows of you

Enjoy

[severe rampart]

Man oh come on, at least we have a light cleric

[trim cradle]

Lets just say my ranger was not happy about being spotted

[marble lion]

You mean this cleric?
has cleric in jar

[severe rampart]

CLERIC NO

[marble lion]

Anyway next campaign will go better maybe

[severe rampart]

Can you use torches against shadows

Oh my god that's such a stupid question

[coarse ravine]

Honestly what a great use of iron flask or whatever that item is.

[oblique trail]

hey question I’m making my first character, I picked monk and under core char traits i see hit point die = d8 per monk level what does that mean?

[marble lion]

You start with 8 hp

Plus constitution modifier

Every level after 1st, you add 1d8+con modifier

[oblique trail]

bet thanks

[marble lion]

1d8, not 8
Thats only on 1st level

[oblique trail]

thanks etc

w jeff

[fiery nimbus]

im questioning why are you still so hung up on shadows

[dense gulch]

Wait, I was reading High jump and I am confused, so

High jump by rules = 3 + Strength Mod minimum of 0 Feet

A Cat has -4
An elephant has +6

So a Cat can jump 0 feet but an elephant can jump 9 feet?
A ELEPHANT CAN JUMP HIGHER THEN A CAT?!?!?!?!

[fiery nimbus]

its like old cat not having darkvision

[dense gulch]

Hold on yea tf

[severe rampart]

The DM sent a picture of a long hallway, dark, with skulls littering the floor and blood coagulated on the floor

[fiery nimbus]

I know, and i said shadows, not your DM

[severe rampart]

It's in case

[dense gulch]

if only they made it 3+dex mod =
Cat +2 = 5ft
Elephant -1 = 2ft

[hot marlin]

They're resistant to fire and the damage of torches is pathetic, so I would not recommend it

[fiery nimbus]

it does prevent them from hiding

[severe rampart]

I mostly meant the light

[timid current]

sunlight is a defined thing in D&D

actually, hold up. it was in 2014, I'm not sure for 2024

[severe rampart]

I think the best bet is to have our light cleric do the job, and then just help him with bardic inspirations

[fiery nimbus]

Asterion book from 2024 does have a feat that changes all light into daylight so it definitely still have day light

[severe rampart]

Why am I focusing on Shadows, we're starting in a town of drows

I'm just gonna try my best not to die session 1,but thanks for the advice

[fiery nimbus]

you are level 7

[severe rampart]

And haven't played DnD in a year

[jolly hound]

What’s everyone’s least favorite class to play

[fiery nimbus]

wizard

[serene jolt]

Wizard

[jolly hound]

Dang why not. I was thinking about building a wizard

[scenic zinc]

It depends on the tone of the campaign, in my opinion. Mind giving a few options?

[stoic obsidian]

My least favorite class is Druid maybe

[serene jolt]

I don't like how weak wizard feels in low levels and it has an insane amount of support spells vs big boom cool spells.

If I ever want to play a wizard, I just make another kind of spellcaster.

But that's just me. I never got along with wizard.

[stoic obsidian]

Tbh hard to say

[serene jolt]

That being said, I have nothing against wizards. I've seen others play wizard and look really frickin cool but I'm not one of those people.

[stoic obsidian]

Skill issue/hj

[scenic zinc]

The wizard is the least interesting mechanically, to me. Narratively, they can be fun, and they're certainly powerful. They just aren't interesting to me on a mechanics level.

[serene jolt]

You aren't wrong tbh

[severe rampart]

Ranger

[stoic obsidian]

I find the mix of spells tbh fun

[jolly hound]

Honestly I’m stuck playing sorcerers clerics and warlocks they’re just so much fun I wanna branch out but I just keep building them

[burnt valley]

Pathfinder fixes this

[stoic obsidian]

Tho the rituals don’t come up in some cases, if you have speed runner party

And I mean ritual casting the spell, not using the spell normally

[worldly rain]

Do you think the D&D magic item cards would be a good idea to trade around like the greedy merchants we are.

Periapt of wound closure remarkable recovery.

[stoic obsidian]

Deck of many things merchant put the cards into every child’s room

[scenic zinc]

Yes... plenty of other systems do things better than d&d. Not entirely sure the point you're making.

[worldly rain]

Doublet of dramatic demise.

[stoic obsidian]

Wait this sound like a fun one shot

[chrome edge]

hi guys im new to dnd and it sounds fun can anyone give me advice on how to start

[glass granite]

Read up on the first few chapters of the free basic rules on #learn-to-play , and feel free to ask any questions you might have. Then, make a practice character and get it reviewed in #character-discussion .
Once you’re ready and got the fundamentals down, you can check out #find-a-game for information on how to find a group online. To make a post, type the appropriate command in any chat channel.

[sullen kite]

hi everyone i thought of some cool campaign ideas based on existing media that i think i wanted to share with some of you so

• a space marine/warhammer themed campaign set in the far future.
• a legend of zelda themed campaign (my cousin is actually doing this right now with a partner! not sure where though)
• a binding of isaac themed campaign set in a much more open world version of the titular basement.
• a detroit become human campaign set in the near future.
• a resident evil campaign set in the near future or up to 30 years ago.
• a dst themed campaign that focuses on survival
• a darkwood themed campaign focusing on survival and horror instead of a pre-set goal

those are my ideas!!! hope i can help someone out with these

[hot marlin]

In order

• Don't use D&D for that, use Wrath & Glory or Deathwatch
• That's actually a cool idea, yeah.
• There's probably an indie TTRPG that can do this better
• Use Cyberpunk, not D&D
• Again, D&D is unsuited for resident evil. Try using the storyteller system or the fate system

[oblique trail]

hey not trying to spam with questions but i’m making my first character and have a few question if anyone is willing to help

[hot marlin]

I would say: D&D is good at being D&D. To do stuff other than D&D, use other games

[scenic zinc]

I suggest either #dnd-newcomers or #character-discussion

[sullen kite]

oh alright, thanks for the feedback

[scenic zinc]

people keep trying to make 5e a one size fits all system, and it simply isn't.

[lean wigeon]

for most people, dnd is synonymous with tabletop roleplaying

[jolly hound]

Just read the stat block for the marut that things MEAN

[scenic zinc]

well, it isn't ¯_(ツ)_/¯

there's plenty of other things that exist

and do what they are made for better than 5e does

[lean wigeon]

so it's less them trying to make 5e a one size fits all system and more so that they don't even know about other TTRPGs and assume it's all just dnd

[snow zephyr]

For all the people who say they wouldn't want to live in 40k, I wouldn't want to live in the forgotten realms

[scenic zinc]

I wouldn't want to live in either.

[snow zephyr]

There's a 15 year gap between apocalyptic events

[scenic zinc]

instead of just... always being apocalyptic like 40k?

[snow zephyr]

40k is a meme, but you can live on a vacation world there

The forgotten realms can see you get randomly teleported into literal hell while you're buying milk

[lean wigeon]

it's kinda like how everyone calls all robot vacuum cleaners roombas

[snow zephyr]

Getting banished to hell for living in fantasy Chicago

[sullen kite]

"jeez, 7 gold for milk? these prices a-"
imp grabs my leg and pulls me into a recently opened portal to gehenna

i plead and scream and beg for mercy but nothing matters

[snow zephyr]

Or a red wizard decides you'd make a lovely jester since you can't cast spells

[sullen kite]

or you have a normal discussion with who you THINK is your best friend except they're actually a bloodthirsty doppelganger at level 20

actually that would more accurately be a doppelganger

[snow zephyr]

You get into a bar fight with some guy who collects birds and now you're cursed by the patriarch of the draconic pantheon

[hushed mason]

Papageno!

[sullen kite]

you walk into the wrong side of town and get your internal organs stolen by thieves

[snow zephyr]

Or your thieves die to internal organs

[tall urchin]

yo me and my friend are looking to have somebody play with us and be dm or anything u want we're new playing so dm me or @micahsobased if u wanna join

[snow zephyr]

You work sewer maintenance and suddenly you're having to flee from zombies because a necromancer likes to dig through trash

[sullen kite]

i am that necromancer by the way 👀

[snow zephyr]

Are they infectious? Depends on the necromancer

[lean wigeon]

i've been reading adnd and the new OSRIC book. i never really understood why strongholds were a fighter feature as if anyone who has a shitton of gold couldn't also buy land and property and attract followers regardless of class

[sullen kite]

well here's the thing about my necromancer

[misty jay]

help would be much appreciated!

[hushed mason]

Try #looking-for-players

[sullen kite]

they're homebrewed and stuff

[snow zephyr]

#looking-for-dm

[tall urchin]

ohh thank you i didnt see that

[misty jay]

thank you so much

[sullen kite]

i would say probably not? but i'm not sure

[snow zephyr]

You just gotta put needles and tubes leading from poison vials to the jaws

[lean wigeon]

like, being able to buy land and attract followers is something innate to the Fighter and not a result of having, you know, a higher social standing?

[tall urchin]

we cant speak in that channel tho

[sullen kite]

because they're a morally ambiguous lich

[severe rampart]

Go to #find-a-game

That's where you'll type the command

[marble lion]

40k warpstorm can happen pretty much anywhere at any time i think, so can daemons. Youre not safer from that on vacation planets than while buying milk in dnd

[snow zephyr]

Fighters have higher social standing because nobility

[tall urchin]

ohh

[severe rampart]

Or if you want an alternative, go to #looking-for-players

[snow zephyr]

I disagree, because you're protected by the inquisition 🤣

[stoic obsidian]

Yeah, and if you have to make whole new mechanics for dnd then it not dnd

[sullen kite]

occultism is a natural part of being a fighter /j

[stoic obsidian]

Or atleast light in homebrew

[lean wigeon]

so all Fighters are essentially nobility or the like?

in adnd

[snow zephyr]

What's that meme? "I hate to break it to you kid, but we're all well versed in esoteric lore"

[stoic obsidian]

Yeah that doesn’t add up

[snow zephyr]

Square/rectangle

[lean wigeon]

i see

[stoic obsidian]

Tbh being a noble is boring

[snow zephyr]

A fair amount of nobility is fighters but not all fighters are nobles

[snow zephyr]

Firmly disagree, it just depends on the campaign

[severe rampart]

All of my characters have always been Modest

[snow zephyr]

One of my favorite nobleman moves is the debt spiral

[stoic obsidian]

Mostly the upbringing and how some act awful in media, kinda made my perception of it not favorable

[worthy rampart]

where do i find games in need of players?

[severe rampart]

Agreed, like for example, One Piece's Celestial Dragons

[livid owl]

I beg to differ, a friend of mine plays a noble character VERY well
Constantly flashing his degree of pedigree, constantly mentioning he's a noble and his noble heritage, frivolously spending money on baths. Genuinely one of my favorite characters I've played with

[severe rampart]

#looking-for-players

[snow zephyr]

"forward this to my treasurer"
"But sir, you don't have any money"
"He doesn't need to know that"

[stoic obsidian]

Or they stop playing outside, get back to your studies

[stoic obsidian]

Meh

[snow zephyr]

It's all in how you use it. I've read a few treatises on European nobility and they're really funny

[stoic obsidian]

Maybe it more so the arrogant and dull studies type of noble I find boring

[livid owl]

Your eyes are Clouded.... You lack The Vision.....
I think it's fun when the rest of the party are commoners and find this noble lifestyle completely alien and vice versa

Like the character isn't even a jerk he's just out of touch

[marble lion]

I enjoy my noble character

[snow zephyr]

Though the best ones are the nobles who ask questions, so many questions. I've never seen a harbor from a commoner's eyes and I need to find out what they know

[stoic obsidian]

And not a brat

[snow zephyr]

You become a stranger in your native lands

[livid owl]

Yes exactly that

[stoic obsidian]

Ok

[snow zephyr]

Bratty nobles are a caustic trope

[stoic obsidian]

Caustic?

You mean sarcastic

[livid owl]

Kinda like negatively sarcastic/kinda toxic I think

[snow zephyr]

A caustic trope is one that erodes the quality of the story by the inclusion of the trope

[stoic obsidian]

Ah

[livid owl]

Nevermind they have the Truest Definition...

[snow zephyr]

Narrative acid

It destroys story opportunities in favor of lazy writing

[stoic obsidian]

Mostly the ones that go “you should kiss my foot and bark like a dog for I am royalty”

[livid owl]

I definitely prefer the homeschooler type nobles that just don't know how the world works than Oh Kill The Peasant they Sneezed Near Me!!! Nobles

[stoic obsidian]

As an example

[snow zephyr]

Like the hurr durr barbarian or the weepy orphan rogue

I like tagging bodyguards to noble PCs

[livid owl]

I played a noble rogue once
Very 'living out my batman fantasy' and doing it poorly type character

[snow zephyr]

"this guy's been with you your whole life because you're kind of an idiot and someone needs to watch your pockets on crowded streets"

[stoic obsidian]

I don’t think I met the weepy orphan rogue

[livid owl]

I've seen this only once and the player controlled both their character and the bodyguard

Really fun dynamic between the two

[snow zephyr]

Nope, full dmpc and it's usually a soft rp and survival aid

DMPCs must never be used without the players calling for the help directly

[livid owl]

Yeah that's what I'd expect from most games
This one was a weird fringe case
Same game as one guy who refused to play the game at all

Like he was there , he did . Nothing. He had a character, and the DM was pulling teeth trying to get him to use it

[snow zephyr]

Clerics or bards, things that empower the players work best usually. Whichever there's not

[stoic obsidian]

Acidic Characters Tropes truly the bane of story telling

[snow zephyr]

I'll just empty the seat

[wary meadow]

im trying to be a dm and how do dms make all their sheets and stuff?

[snow zephyr]

Here's the neat part: you don't

[livid owl]

What confuses me is why??? Play the game at all?? Like from the player's side 😭

[snow zephyr]

Acidic tropes exist everywhere, not just with characters

[stoic obsidian]

You use the stat block from the book

[crimson gulch]

The tracking sheets from the new dmg are really good to use, but most of what I write is just in a notebook

[stoic obsidian]

Like every villain should be sympathetic

[wary meadow]

i tried that and my campaign was dogshit

[crimson gulch]

Nah, some of them are just evil

[snow zephyr]

Sometimes a guy who wants to stomp on puppies is just actually evil

[stoic obsidian]

I agree

[glass granite]

You don’t

[hot marlin]

Not mutually exclusive

[stoic obsidian]

Actually what if it a puppy that steps on people?/hj

[glass granite]

Making a sheet is the player’s agency and responsibility

[wary meadow]

i made my villian condesending 😄

[snow zephyr]

Then it is a good dog

[crimson gulch]

I absolutely help players prepare their charicter sheets

[hot marlin]

Whether or not someone sympathizes with the villain depends almost entirely on the person. You can make it easier or harder but they'll decide for themselves

[snow zephyr]

By the transitive property of being a dog, it is an excellent creature

[stoic obsidian]

Suddenly it speaks: “good human, you will not be step on, well except your bard friend”

[snow zephyr]

Yeah, but the problem comes in when the writer decides that the villain deserves sympathy and pity

[stoic obsidian]

More like forcing it

[snow zephyr]

The arm waving "hey, maybe you're the bad guy for hurting them" trope is cancer

[crimson gulch]

I had a dm try to make the villan all sympathetic, the final challenge was ment to be solved with a friendly duel, and I tried to disintegrate him instead

[livid owl]

I feel like this isn't explored enough when you're making your first evil PC. Don't be afraid to make them a VILE person. Vile people can work in a group, they just push the boundaries just below the breaking point

[hot marlin]

I have not seen such a thing I admit.

[snow zephyr]

I will not tolerate the forces of evil

[modest bear]

Blahhh I have an idea I’d love to run by a DM but I have no DM and I got wicked presentation anxiety coz what if my ideas are stupid and I’m stupid actually

[livid owl]

I like profoundly pathetic villains that continue to be evil even when shown pity

[stoic obsidian]

Tbh if I were the character in that story I be saying “tough luck buddy, but you do realize you could have not hurt people, be a better person, and not sacrifice random civilians to make your better world right? Oh wait my sword is draw and already at your throat”

[snow zephyr]

It's why I call the "tragic villain" trope caustic

[hot marlin]

You call it caustic because I haven't seen it?

[snow zephyr]

Or things like cruella where they turn a dog killing psycho into a likeable character

[modest bear]

Don’t forget because Dalmatians killed her grandmom

[livid owl]

DND is built on communication: even if you feel like your presentation isn't appealing, a (good) DM will appreciate your communication rather than not acting on the ideas you have. If you have a specific idea you want for a campaign I say don't be afraid to run it by SEVERAL DMs and wait til you find one that's ok with it

You can always run it by us for some advice- but ultimately each DM is different and allows stuff a lot of the more vocal people in this server usually don't lmao

[snow zephyr]

I typed out a different message and forgot to remove the reply

[snow zephyr]

Social skills are skills, and we don't tolerate people shirking development. Git gud, make friends, grow your community, and be a positive force in the world

Make some societal gainz

[stoic obsidian]

That makes no sense, Disney is truly grasping at straws now

[glass granite]

Hi stupid actually, I’m Nugget! Happy to have ya here

[marble lion]

Hurt people hurt people

[modest bear]

Yeah, I definitely am aware of this! And I’m always open to discussion, it’s just I find myself getting excited and all these big ideas and I have to temper my expectations before I actually talk to someone who knows a little more lore. there’s also the issue of finding DMs, like it’s almost like hunting unicorns LOL.

I would love to run some ideas by, I have one that’s inspired by a couple different stories I’ve enjoyed and think it would make for a really interesting driving force for a game

[snow zephyr]

No, no they don't. That's an excuse that was originally created by abusers to excuse their behavior

[modest bear]

I’ll give it my all!

[stoic obsidian]

By hugging them to death so they can never escape, and become fleshy plushies

[marble lion]

Who said anything about it being an excuse?

[glass granite]

Well there are a fair few DM’s in #dm-discussion , soooo.
If you wanna run it by them try there!

[modest bear]

Bruh I am so sorry this server is a maze to me 😅

[snow zephyr]

It's a tacit excuse for hurting others on the basis of trauma

[livid owl]

YOU'RE FINE there's a lot of hidden channels if you don't select literally all categories in the channel manager

[marble lion]

Not really

Though if handled as an absolute, it falsely claims all victims turn perp

[modest bear]

They do, though! I don’t think there’s anything wrong with acknowledging that, an exploring it narratively, some of my favorite villains are ones that have acted out of grief-madness or a desire for vengeance

[snow zephyr]

Yes, and if applied thoroughly it posits that the fault is on the victims

[stoic obsidian]

Oh yeah here another thing, redemption for villains is earned not given

[modest bear]

There also is an event horizon to consider, where certain actions put you in a place where you cannot go back or earn redemption, IMO

[snow zephyr]

There are things for which the only redemption lies in death

[stoic obsidian]

Like stealing someone’s identity

Can’t go back pal

[livid owl]

I'm curious how you apply this to evil PCs in a campaign

I haven't actually played an evil PC yet and I kinda want some opinions on how far you really GO with it

[modest bear]

Pff

[marble lion]

No

[hot marlin]

As I often say: Redemption is a religious concept. Take it out of its original context and it loses meaning

[livid owl]

^ saying this as someone that wants a truly vile character but has trouble allowing myself to do that with people who don't know me too well yet LOL

[modest bear]

That’s fair, after all the notion of karma in any iteration is linked to cosmology that cares about the world

When in reality, the universe is a vast, empty void

[stoic obsidian]

I haven’t either, if I did one it be a morally ambiguous campaign, or make them at least functional as a party member, like “I am just using these people to disguise my true identity”

[mortal citrus]

Sorry to interrupt the current conversation, but I have a question.,.,,,.

I just got to level 9 with my phantom rogue, so I get Soul Trinkets
But I was wondering if there was a limit on how many I can make, and if I'm able to give the trinkets to others for them to use
Anyone know ??

[livid owl]

I like how My name is Earl handles karma

... Goofily

[snow zephyr]

It boils down to whether you can shed your ignominy

[lyric idol]

Its genuinely really hard to put an evil character in a normal good aligned campaign. Not impossible, I just tend to find that it causes group contention.

[delicate owl]

Something something about redeeming yourself in the eyes of those you care about after doing wrong to them is also a thing. Redemption can be more than just caring about others opinions as well, could redeem yourself in your own eyes too.

[livid owl]

Yeah I'm kinda there with my character, he's Lawful Evil so he's not blatantly nasty to people he meets at first unless he knows he has power over them, and even then he burns bridges carefully

[hot marlin]

"You can have a maximum number of soul trinkets equal to your proficiency bonus, and you can't create one while at your maximum."
And only you can use them

[mortal citrus]

Awh shucks, okay
Thank you !!

[delicate owl]

Just use the UA version so you can carry infinite amounts mwahaha

[mortal citrus]

Exactlyyy lmao

[modest bear]

I got put in jail for bad words gang I forgot 😔

[livid owl]

Truueee yeah
Something about the challenge kind of appeals to me though.... I like the idea of a group of do-gooders thinking their friend is -ok- until he does something truly vile

[livid owl]

Naughty naughty

[snow zephyr]

Forgiveness is not. And whether you call it forgiveness or redemption, there are lines you cannot hope to come back from once they've been crossed

[shut lagoon]

Yo what's up people

[livid owl]

We're talking about Evil Characters!!

[modest bear]

Personally, I’m soft testing a “villainous” PC with the idea I’m playing with? I’m not going so far as making him vile or reprehensible, just selfish, deceptive and cold, even though he was the opposite before the inciting incident

[hot marlin]

Depends. Whose forgiveness?

[snow zephyr]

Evil is better when you don't try to claim moral grey

[modest bear]

I love to swear what can I say

[lyric idol]

Naruto would beg to differ.

[snow zephyr]

The society to which you belong to start

[glass granite]

Tsk tsk

[snow zephyr]

That's a Steven Universe take right there

"he said he's sorry"

[modest bear]

Is it really?? I love exploring moral grays in fiction, I love figuring out what makes an antagonist tick.
Don’t get me wrong, I also love an unabashed do-badder, and they exist a-plenty irl, but variety is the spice of life as they say

[livid owl]

Ooooh I like that
Yeah kinda the way I wanna go with my guy, though he's always been a bit of a selfish jerk it's just gotten worse and worse over the years

He feels he's Owed by everyone else and Deserves their subservience.

Idk why the jerma quote "Leonardo davinci, Picasso they're all DEAD! I REMAIN!!" Came to me here

[snow zephyr]

I detest moral grey as justification

[lyric idol]

Ofc you must forgive them. Don't ya know, villains never lie?

[marble lion]

Clearly

[modest bear]

What do you count as justification?

[livid owl]

THIS!!
Exactly what I want from my evil PC. Lying little shite

[marble lion]

Get out the pitchforks

[lyric idol]

Sounds chaotic neutral to me

[snow zephyr]

Any attempt to mitigate or excuse something when talking about evil. At least in this specific context

"They cut off the hands of everyone in the village"
"But they were bullied by the villagers as a child" type beat

[livid owl]

Howso.... Keep the above in mind about basically wanting to rule a small cult

[tame locust]

Hii guys!!!

[delicate owl]

Thats still evil, morally grey would be like.. sacrificing people to save others or something.

[snow zephyr]

Blue eye samurai does this fairly well.

[modest bear]

Sure, but I don think acknowledging why someone is the way they are is justifying anything. If you said “oh, they were bullied so it’s okay”, yeah, but “it makes sense that someone would turn to villainy as a result of mistreatment, but we can’t let it stand” is not

And of course acknowledge that there is always a choice to be better and not worse

[snow zephyr]

There's also a difference between acknowledging factors and justification

[lyric idol]

Chaotic neutral. Lying, ruling a cult, it all can fall under chaotic neutral. Chaotic neutral is basically "what I want, consequences or rewards be danged."

Evil is, you see a puppy on a street, you kick it. Chaotic neutral is, you kick or step over it, depending on what gets you to your destination quicker.

[woven flint]

Cut off their hands?
Nah, murder their parents and bully them for not having parents afterwards /joking

[snow zephyr]

Good lord, that must be where all the rogues came from /j

[hot marlin]

What about... Trick them into eating their own parents?

[tame locust]

Guys what are yalls thoughts on a tabaxi oc?

[woven flint]

Do I look like Eric Cartman to you?!

[snow zephyr]

Is Cartman evil? Or is he just a tragic villain?

[woven flint]

Eric Is evil.
100%.

[hot marlin]

This is a false dichotomy. Tragic villains can be evil.

[woven flint]

He's done things I can't even mention here lmao

[lyric idol]

The Chili

[delicate owl]

Eric Cartman is unabashadly evil.

[naive cedar]

this is an interesting discourse tonight

[empty thicket]

what it was a tabaxi?

[reef copper]

Have you seen the skyrim bit?

[woven flint]

Eric takes pride in being a shitty person

[delicate owl]

Chaotic Evil specifically

[snow zephyr]

That's the point, they're still evil. There's nothing that could excuse their evil

[lyric idol]

And thats why we love him.

[naive cedar]

eric is what people who make alignment meme charts think chaotic evil is

[tame locust]

Their cat people pretty much lol

[snow zephyr]

Eric Cartman is part and parcel of the Sweeney Todd discussion

[uncut zenith]

Yep. They may have a tragic backstory, but that doesn’t excuse the consciously evil decisions they’ve made since then.

[empty thicket]

na, i hate him completely.
If i could put him in any campaign to just kick him in the nuts every time i would

[livid owl]

I'd argue this is where Lawful Evil comes into play, as Lawful Evil views playing the system to get what they want- lying and cheating to get to the top

For example my guy DOES in fact fear consequences terribly. I could definitely see someone that approaches it recklessly would fall under chaotic.

I can kind of see your argument for neutral BUT I counterargue again with the 'Lawful' side dictating they don't kick that puppy in the middle of a busy street because people are watching, but if no one was around? Absolutely kick that damn dog

[empty thicket]

ooooohhh, okey okey. Welp, i guess they are okey

[hot marlin]

What?

[uncut zenith]

You can sympathize with their backstory, but they still had the decision to not do bad things.

[snow zephyr]

Are the people who ate the pies in the wrong for cannibalism?

[lyric idol]

Tragic villains if you think about it lean towards neutral. True evil villains like Jack from The Last Wish or Aku from Samurai Jack show what evil is on the spectrum.

[hot marlin]

Of course not. They bought pies, and ate them.

[marble lion]

That was exactly my point

[delicate owl]

Of course not. Unknowingly eating something that happened to be people is not their fault.

[reef copper]

So children without parents are able to become orphans.
And you can be the cause of the death of the parents.
And… you can kill them by turning them into a item such as a sweet-roll

[snow zephyr]

Yeah, the trope I take umbrage with is when the story tries to use the moral grey card by showing a tragic backstory for the villain

[lyric idol]

Lawful Evil is just as evil as every other type of evil. The difference is your evil hides under the excuse of the law. You will instead of kicking the puppy, make a law where every citizen must kick the puppy once a day.

[woven flint]

I had a Chaotic Evil Moon Druid

He didn't just randomly kill people or do bad things for the sake of bad things.
His goal just didn't benefit anyone except for his own need for revenge.. the reason he was "Chaotic" is because he didn't fare about socialtle structure and wanted to disassemble it

[coarse ravine]

Lawful evil = Baron Zemo
Nuetral evil = taskmaster
Chaotic evil = Carnage

[hot marlin]

That's not true. Think about one of the great tragic villains from classic literature: Count Dracula. When they put a stake through his heart, there's a look of relief on his face

[livid owl]

... interesting interpretation 😂

[woven flint]

Again, Chaotic Evil isn't always murder for the sake of murder

[coarse ravine]

Carnage would 100% be considered chaotic evil tho

[hot marlin]

Alright this has now degenerated into an alignment discussion. Take a shot.

[woven flint]

Chaotic Evil is doing bad things and just not caring who it affects because it brings you some sort of pleasure or whatever of the sort.
Violence for the sake of Violence is just an example and still shouldn't be the root of Chaotic Evil

[snow zephyr]

Take Frankenstein, he's a wiltering man-child who gets bested by his own creation

[coarse ravine]

The joker? Chaotic evil but I do feel like the joker has a code

[lyric idol]

Dracula is the purest form of neutral. He doesn't even kill out of pure enjoyment. Its for survival, depending on what type of literature we're talking about.

[livid owl]

NO!!!! Damn it!!! It always happens!!!

[hot marlin]

I'm talking about the novel. You know, the one where he is sadistic, kills babies, and is a thinly veiled allegory for sexual violence.

[woven flint]

Also, Bhaal is the Deity of MURDER and he's Neutral Evil.
Not all murderers are Chaotic Evil.

[lyric idol]

Yeah its been a while since I've reading the classic.

[coarse ravine]

Vlad the Impaler?

[reef copper]

I cant believe that 2/3 times i have been here it has turned into a alignment discussion

[delicate owl]

Chaotic Evil is just being violent because of their own whims. Uncaring about laws or others at all.

[naive cedar]

this still confuses me ngl

[delicate owl]

Its doing evil acts just because they feel like they wanna do things on a whim

[woven flint]

Because, while murder is considered an Evil action by most, some people don't want to kill when they do so, such as in self-defense or fear.

[delicate owl]

But it does mention hatred and bloodlust being what spurs said whims so

[snow zephyr]

Take a shot anytime the following appear

1. Alignment
2. Rangers
3. AI
4. 2024 subclass oddities
5. Any mention of how religion in D&D works.
   If you follow these simple steps, you'll have cirrhosis of the liver by Tuesday

[coarse ravine]

I feel like lawful evil there is reasoning behind it. There is a agenda and a line they won't cross. Nuetral can be swayed to both side but I still fill like theres a line they won't cross. Chaotic just feels like evil without purpose.

[hot marlin]

OK so let's go with the usual Incubus definition.
A character is lawful if that character is likely to compromise their principles, do things they do not want to do, for the sake of social order, codes and tradition.
A character is chaotic if that character is likely to go against social order, codes and tradition for the sake of their own principles or wants.
A character is good if that character is likely to sacrifice their comfort and health in order to prevent the suffering of others and defend their dignity.
A character is evil if that character is likely to cause the suffering of others and attack their dignity.

[naive cedar]

dont forget multiclassing

[woven flint]

THIS ^^

[hot marlin]

Notice what those definitions do not say? Whether or not a character is a serial killer or not

[delicate owl]

Im just going off of the book definition

Chaotic Evil (CE). Chaotic Evil creatures act with arbitrary violence, spurred by their hatred or bloodlust. A villain pursuing schemes of vengeance and havoc is probably Chaotic Evil

[woven flint]

Which is a poor example of it imho.

[snow zephyr]

Multi classing and the obligatory "looking for DM/Players" post in the wrong channel

[livid owl]

Really good summary honestly

[naive cedar]

or "i havent played in 1000000 years what should i do first?"

[tame locust]

Guys im watching this to learn more about dnd & to help w my game play cs my first campaign i think i did pretty bad, had anyone else seen this? thoughts?

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeImKFecYFCzND2l_ZhAwI9WGNIzELt5g&si=Zze21c7pYDXqdk1o

[delicate owl]

It cant be a poor example if that is the definition of it in the rules lol.

You just dont agree with it at all.

[kind garnet]

So I’m playing a chaotic neutral 2024 ranger (who I’ve generated an image for) who multi classes into cleric so I’m wondering about what gods would do well for their like following and I’m curious about some finicky stuff with their alignment and subclass exactly

[snow zephyr]

Siri, what is the definition of irony

[woven flint]

My Chaotic Evil Moon Druid didn't seek to just kill people, but he wanted people to live and suffer just as the beast "beneath them" have, so he wanted to destroy the foundations of society and didn't CARE if his actions killed anyone even if it wasn't his goal to do so.

[hot marlin]

For example: If a character is the executioner, and knows the person about to be executed is innocent, but that person was declared guilty and therefore kills them anyways despite the fact that they don't want to kill that person, that executioner is lawful. Whether or not they're good or evil is a bit irrelevant.

[snow zephyr]

And we can take the rest of the week off after someone gets struck by a mod

[reef copper]

Different groups play different ways. So just make shure the game fits the players and the dm simultaneously

[woven flint]

It's stinky, bad and makes people think it's all Chaotic Evil is about

[tame locust]

Okok thank uu, i’ll keep that in mind! Im working on what kinda oc imma create rn😭

[kind garnet]

Alignment is a mess which should be taken out back and hit with a hammer

[delicate owl]

That is violence, because violence isnt just killing, and is spurred on by the hatred of people who treated beasts badly and how society has essentially enslaved said beasts.

[naive cedar]

ngl "what alignment is this character" discourse is one of the most annoying things in fandoms

[hot marlin]

Notice: The way I define chaotic and evil is as negative alignments, in the sense that they are defined by their opposite. Lawful and good are easy to define, but chaotic and evil can only be defined in contrast. A character who is chaotic is a character who is very "not-lawful". A character who is evil is very "not-good".

[delicate owl]

You basically exactly went with the guidelines of chaotic evil haha

[livid owl]

Ultimately, and I always say this about alignment: Alignment is a very shallow very shorthand way of describing your character's personality in an extremely simplified way

And should not reflect the character's personality throughout the whole campaign

[viral kraken]

i think as long as the planes that are tied to alignment exist it's going to stick around in some form, but 5e's traits bonds ideals flaws are so nice by comparison to just using alignment for characterization

[hot marlin]

Better yet: Don't even think about alignment until the moment you come across a magical effect that requires defining your character's alignment.

[reef copper]

Shush with the alignment talk, chat needs to not loose its mind again

[lyric idol]

For me a lawful evil doesnt sacrifice for social queues. Instead, they use the law as it is to constrict and hinder their enemies, while they slip through every loophole. A politician is a lawful evil.

A chaotic evil leans more impusively. They can have plans, but winging it in a disorderly and unorthodox method is how they do it best.

A neutral evil mixes in between the 2. Someone like Aku, from Samurai Jack, is my idea of a neutral evil.

[woven flint]

Better yet, Align yourself with Whimsy.

[snow zephyr]

I hope you're ready to learn about zoning laws

[kind garnet]

Was just gonna say this
Frfr

[lyric idol]

Too late...

[woven flint]

I'm gonna give a take here.

Player characters shouldn't stick to an alignment because ideals should be ever shifting and evolving tge further they progress into a campaign.
An Evil character who's evil just for Evil can still possibly learn and change
Maybe the Lawful Good guy sees that sometimes laws must be broken to do some good

Alignments can't stay static because even as people our beliefs aren't always a static thing.

[snow zephyr]

The issue lies in the fact that one can grow and change without changing alignments

There's also the issue that if you're facing Baby Eater No#26 you're probably not gonna have a change of heart and start eating babies

[woven flint]

I mean, yeah, but Alignment is stupid and should be left to the Extraplanar creatures that truly care about it.

[snow zephyr]

Alignment is important when used correctly

[naive cedar]

hey im sure someone has given up baby eating at some point in time

[delicate owl]

Lawful good doesnt mean following every law, it means doing the right thing as best you can according to societal standards.

[delicate locust]

i think alignment is just a baseline, if a character deviates from their alignment for proper reason i dont think that is a flaw, it makes for good story telling. either way, i do think alignement is outdated for complicated characters but it acts as a useful framework to think of characters

[delicate owl]

I think the new alignment descriptions in 2024 are vague enough to be followed as a guideline for sure. None of them are so specific and restricting.

[delicate locust]

i love this so much

[snow zephyr]

This take assumes the (Insert alignment) Stupid approach

[woven flint]

No Alignment is stupid!
Just the people who take Alignment at surface value.

[naive cedar]

i mean lbr alignment is a relic of the 1960s sword and sorcery genre where everything was defined based on (the author's definition of) good and evil. not saying we should eldritch blast it out of existance but its not like alignment is a scientific or real-world thing

[snow zephyr]

As in Lawful Stupid, the guy who turns in the rogue for doing something dubious

[delicate locust]

alignment should have stayed in planescape with tieflings

[woven flint]

^^^

[delicate locust]

as much as i love tieflings, i can appreciate that there is a time and a place and most settings are not suitable for them

same as alignment, most games people run can be a lot more complicated than the boxes alignment pushes you into

[snow zephyr]

Alignment is there to provide a guidelines for how one can expect a character to act. The DM knows generally that someone who puts "LG" on their alignment section is gonna mesh better in an environment where there's strict codes of law and can reasonably expect that player to try to stop the victimization of others

Some people like to paint alignment as a box or a fetter, but it's a tool of communication

It hasn't been a fetter or box for at least two editions

[delicate locust]

i think alignment is useful, but just as a shorthand for the personality traits or backstory, if your dm relies on just your alignment to determine what kind of character you are, or worse, the player does that, thats the whole alignment stupid thing i feel

[snow zephyr]

Though I'd count 2014 as a quarter or half edition

[delicate locust]

its a useful shorthand to know at a glance, but thats about all it is to me

[woven flint]

My Tortle Knowledge Cleric
Follows laws as best as he can but doesn't agree with every law.
When his companions break the laws, he doesn't report them, but he does try to give them good advice, he's willing and capable to break a few laws himself so long as his companions make it to the end of the day.

He's the most GOOD person in the party, but he's definitely not really trying to force his party to do any better

[naive cedar]

what settings are tieflings not suitable in? jw

[woven flint]

One could say Neutral Good

I just call him a person living every day in waterdeep.

[snow zephyr]

Lawful/neutral good. Breaking one or two laws doesn't instantly make you chaotic

[woven flint]

I didn't say he was Chaotic lol

[snow zephyr]

Especially if you're in an area with draconian laws that punish the dumbest of things

[delicate locust]

i think theyre fine in most, but a lot of dms dont make worlds with tieflings in mind so when a player is a tiefling theyre often the only one which can be weird, but i think its definitely possible to include them in most settings, just a thing where the dm and players should talk about what setting they have imo

[woven flint]

He thinks Waterdeep is flawed in law, but he knows that he's really just too old to truly care or do anything about it himself lol

[snow zephyr]

I'm inclined to say lawful since the character does their best to abide by the societal norms

[naive cedar]

lawful neutral

[delicate locust]

lawful neutral

but i think alignment isnt the kind of thing to apply to real life

[snow zephyr]

Paladins used to get penalties for doing evil or chaotic things

[hot marlin]

I think the average person is neutral.

[snow zephyr]

Because you're supposed to be a force of good in the world and you can't be doing unspeakable stuff to others

[delicate locust]

oh sure yeah, idk though, i dont think ive known enough people on the level to know if i would cool them good or evil, when i see all the people around me in a city i dont implicity think of them as good or bad people, just neutral on average, but is following laws just because you will be punished the cornerstone of a lawfu person or is it the choice to?

that is a very biblical question i think lol, free will and stuff

btw is dex paladin viable?

[woven flint]

Yes.

[snow zephyr]

Almost all paladin builds are viable if you can use a smite

[worn lagoon]

yeah why wouldn't it be

[delicate locust]

thanks, is it more or less viable than just the other kinds or is it just the same

[snow zephyr]

Aura of absolutely mogging the forces of evil

[wooden orbit]

So, my players are about to board a train and I wanted to introduce a couple npcs to them. I was thinking of a couple "wtf didnt expect that" npcs. I got a Yuan-ti painter but I wanna add a camping enthusiast. Any race suggestions?

[delicate locust]

idk, never thought about it until recently, all paladins ive made were strength so i just never considered it until last night

[worn lagoon]

hexadin might be better idr

[snow zephyr]

Thri-Kreen

[delicate locust]

gnome!!!

[woven flint]

Thri-kreen are underrated

[delicate locust]

wood elf maybee

[snow zephyr]

Uses a magic mirror to record product reviews for broadcast to scrying mirrors

[worn lagoon]

i don't remember how well 1 hexblade/x paladin translates to the tabletop dnd

[woven flint]

Also, Giff, old posh British Hippo man who loves the outdoors

[delicate locust]

what was the alternative, is that like a baldurs gate build?

[snow zephyr]

And now you have a Thri-Kreen survival influencer

[wooden orbit]

I love the ideas

[delicate locust]

if it is viable it would be so perfect for the character im making rn

[worn lagoon]

i have a lot more experience building stuff in bg3 than in actual tabletop dnd, yeah

i have heard tabletop players scream their lungs out about 1 level hexblade dips though, so i'm assuming it's still good here

[woven flint]

I have a Giff Pugilist just waiting to be played

His name?
Reginald Archibald Montigue Esquire 🧐

[wooden orbit]

Might use the thri kreen. Feels goofy

[woven flint]

He has a Headband of intellect flavored as a Monocle

[worn lagoon]

i think multiclassing rules prevent you from running a 8/16/14/8/10/20 paladin but that's about it

[snow zephyr]

Bad news

[delicate locust]

okay thanks, maybe ill check it out, i think i heard someone yesterday saying multiclassing in 2024 wasnt that useful as it was before but who knows

[snow zephyr]

You gotta get to lvl 3 for your pact

[worn lagoon]

hexblade outright doesn't exist in 2024 yet, no?

[kind garnet]

Characters with either Incredibly Long or one word names are the greatest icl

[delicate locust]

i have no idea

[worn lagoon]

and even if it did, subclasses are all lv3 now which i think is silly

[snow zephyr]

Welcome to the club

You're in the minority on that opinion

[worn lagoon]

I really don't care

[woven flint]

Reginald is a Gunslinger and Brawler with gentlemanly charm, he owned a small spelljammer had a crew and had an Adopted Plasmoid son named Santiago

[woven flint]

He went by Cap'n Reggie lmao

[snow zephyr]

I feel like there's a reference in here somewhere

[kind garnet]

Sounds like quite the fellow
My long name char is Ramone Van Jenkins Fernandez De Calderon (the 7th)

[woven flint]

Nealens been dying for me to play him in Eve of Ruin, he's gonna need to kill my Warlock eventually lmao

[delicate locust]

Warlock: Pact Magic and Pact of the Blade are tempting, but there’s some nuance to consider. Pact Magic spell slots can be used for Divine Smite, and since they recharge on a Short Rest, they provide a more steady supply for Divine Smite than your normal spellcasting progression. But at the same time, putting those levels into Paladin or Sorcerer will get you more and higher-level spell slots, which is more impactful unless you’re also benefiting from other Warlock features.
Pact of the Blade lets you use Charisma for attack and damage with your pact weapon, but feats which make you better with weapons grant increases to Strength or Dexterity. Focusing on Charisma reduces the Paladin’s MAD issues, but at the cost of making your best feat options unappealing.

https://rpgbot.net/2024-dnd/classes/paladin/#multiclassing

[snow zephyr]

Circle casting smite

[kind garnet]

He managed to scandal his way into bureaucracy one session with the assistance of the party (two monks who like to drink)

[woven flint]

We keep joking like:
"If Reginald was here, he wouldn't have let this happened"
Or
"If Reginald was here he would've taken out all of these bad guys"

[delicate locust]

my character is just called Korgoth

[snow zephyr]

Had a dwarf named Chiggis Khan, shockingly devastating in a fight. Don't underestimate throwing mundane items

[woven flint]

I had an Idea with Reginald that when he introduced himself to NPCs his name would get just a bit longer, but I haven't played him to try it out yet lol

[snow zephyr]

DoT will kill a shockingly large amount of very otherwise tough foes

[kind garnet]

I had a bit with Ramone where whenever he introduced himself, he would say “Son of”and repeat his family line until he was stopped

[livid owl]

My first dnd character was named by the party lmao

[kind garnet]

I nearly got to the third Ramone once

[woven flint]

"My name is Reginald Archibald Montigue Esquire Bartholomew Jenkins The Third of the Fifith generation of The Fourth Grandfather of my family!"

[kind garnet]

The greatest game of how long can you talk until your dm throws something at you

[woven flint]

Then it keeps getting more ridiculous

[snow zephyr]

I can't tell you how much fun it is to play a dwarf artificer with a jillion illegitimate children

[livid owl]

Unironically have a character with a stupidly long name that I genuinely misspell every time I spell it because it's that dumb

it's purposeful alphabet vomit

[woven flint]

Reginald actually would've been a pretty serious fellow because at this point, the party understands the Multiverse is endangered by Vecna

[severe rampart]

My DM is frothing at the mouth for session 6 (session 1 hasn't started)

[snow zephyr]

"I'm an outcast"
"Why?"
"Because I was a wild youth and left many here with youths of their own"

[scenic zinc]

I was expecting "you killed my father, prepare to die" somewhere in this line.

[severe rampart]

Sounds like you weren't much of an outcast in the beginning

[woven flint]

It would've come up as part of the name

[snow zephyr]

Child support starts to get expensive around the 60th child

[severe rampart]

That's why I'm a changeling, personally

[woven flint]

Only two of my characters have children, but said children are of different species and adopted lmao

[snow zephyr]

I spent from 50 to 70 in a lot of different forges, if you catch my meaning

[woven flint]

I had a Kenku Warlock who had a budding relationship with a Drow lady and adopted her son after she died

And Reginald the Giff with his adopted Plasmoid son Santiago

[snow zephyr]

"anyway, that's why I'm here killing dragons. Court has a diviner watching me until I pay all the back child support"

[kind garnet]

One of my characters HAD a child but he lowkey blew up

[severe rampart]

"Ah not again! That's the fifth child this week!"

[snow zephyr]

It's so much fun getting to roleplay the return to the dwarven settlement you're not supposed to be in

[kind garnet]

Worse part was he got his soul stolen so he couldn’t be brought back

[shut lagoon]

Rest in many pieces

[kind garnet]

Hate when that happens

[woven flint]

OH
My Drow Druid and his Owlin husband have a "Child"
My Druid slain a Roc that was killing travelers and found out that it was a mother and hauled the egg all the way back to his husband lmao

[snow zephyr]

"I'm devastated. But I'll make another one"

[severe rampart]

I'm sorry what

Stolen? You could've sold it!

[livid owl]

No characters with children yet, not dnd characters anyways. Actually the only characters I have with children ended up having 8 in one go.

[kind garnet]

And the wife too
Shame that one

[snow zephyr]

To shreds you say

[woven flint]

Not because his Husband is a bird person, but truly because his husband was a great individual and was the only person willing to deal with it

[kind garnet]

To shreds.

[severe rampart]

eight?

[livid owl]

I've yet to name 7 of them .
His wife is a dragon and he himself is a bug mutant so it kind of makes sense. But they were also both human originally so their children are human also .

Magic yippee !!!

[woven flint]

Oh!
My Dwarf Wizard had an adopted Goliath son as well lmao

[livid owl]

Tokii's characters pulling forgotten kids out of their sleeves left and right

[woven flint]

Well "adopted" he helped raise the boy when his father passed and the Goliath viewed him as a Father

[shrewd grotto]

guys i forgot the exotic languages, can someone gimme a hand

[livid owl]

dnd beyond presents exotic languages in the character creator iirc

[woven flint]

My characters that are Dads are good dads because I never git to meet my dad but I was told he was a good person that genuinely loved me, so-

[blissful ibex]

https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/br-2024/creating-a-character#RareLanguages

[shrewd grotto]

i can't open browser rn, unfortunately

[livid owl]

there is an official dndbeyond app

[shrewd grotto]

how can i dowload an app if i can't even open google '-'

uuuh draconic, sylvan, demonic, infernal, uuuuh

[livid owl]

I dont know your situation man!! Anyways
Abyssal
Celestial
Deep Speech
Druidic
Infernal
Primordial
Sylvan
Thieves’ Cant
Undercommon

ngl did not know druidic was a language

[shrewd grotto]

thanks
can a player choose a specific primordial dialect? IE fire elemental shenanigans

[hot marlin]

All of them are extremely situational but undercommon, sylvan and thieves' cant might be the most likely to come up depending on the campaign

[empty thicket]

"why you know how to talk celestial?"
"i thought that the god i talked while playing was my imaginary friend, so he showed me his language while we played"

[woven flint]

My only character who was going to be an actual biological father was a Goolock.
A human, believe it or not
The idea was he made a pact with an Otherworldly being, the cost.. his child whenever he had one.
He didn't know he'd ever become a dad so he made the deal.
Few years later, he has a son and after a week..
The child was whisked away by Eldritch forces..
He had everything he wanted but lost what was most important
Cliche, but fun

[livid owl]

Celestial is insanely relevant to a campagin im playing rn and nobody in my party knows it 😩

[hot marlin]

If you know primordial, you can communicate with every elemental that speaks any dialect of it. However you may flavour that your character is better adept at Ignan and has an Ignan accent

[livid owl]

oh I LOVE that

[shrewd grotto]

is it too mean to require a player to know how to read a specific primordial dialect? i want them to remember they can ask help to their dao friendo

or the wizzard can just comprehend languages

[hot marlin]

Fun fact: My first 5e character had a similar backstory except for the fact that his warlock pact of the archfey happened when he went to get his son back from the fey. Then some Rip Van Winkle shenanigans ensued

[woven flint]

The worst part is that his wife didn't believe him and left him due to thinking he was ill and a danger to her.

[hot marlin]

I'm not sure I understand the question

[woven flint]

He wants to find his son, but the whole point of his story is that he never would.
He's just alone forever now.

[raw ocean]

why not just adopt

or get a dog 🤔

[woven flint]

Because, he had a son.
He wanted HIS son

He wanted HIS wife.
He would've searched the Multiverse (Eve of Ruin) and realized that no matter how indomitable human will is, inevitability is stronger.

[hot marlin]

I may be a mean DM but I would make the son reappear as some sort of star spawn, warped by the Great Old One. And only after the death of that emissary would your character notice that the emissary carried the same necklace his son had

[shrewd grotto]

we have an aarakokra native to the air plane who knows primordial
they are trying to read dao literature, aka earth dialect for primordial
they know a dao NPC they can ask to do that, and the wizard can Comprehend Languages

is it mean to say the aarakokra cannot read that cuz he never even met the specific dialect form the earth plane?

[woven flint]

I think it's more cruel giving the character hope then the slow realization that it wouldn't have happened any way ever.

[hot marlin]

I'd say yes. Let the Aarakokra read it, with difficulties

[worn lagoon]

give the aarakocra the text with a bunch of incomprehensible words

[woven flint]

He's forced to live with not knowing and the consequences of his past really did catch up with him

[worn lagoon]

if they can figure out the blanks on their own, sure

[shrewd grotto]

oh wait that's actually not a bad idea

[worn lagoon]

something like

"I am eating a bswfw right frunc"

[marble lion]

Its a dialect. Its like reading portuguese as spanish person

[worn lagoon]

if example sentence is i am eating an apple right now

[marble lion]

Its just gonna be tricky and slow

[woven flint]

Primordial is the base language of all elementals.
Make some words clear, but Earth elemental specific words don't make sense.

Just because they understand the base doesn't mean they'll understand the dialecs.
It's like The Chinese language in a way, there are multiple versions (from my understanding, don't quote me here)

[shrewd grotto]

we speak portuguese in this campaign (mainly, we chose french to elvish and german to dwarvish cuz the dwarv player and i speak german, same thing for me and the half elv player)
i can give him a text in plain old latin. Practically portuguese, you can understand most of the thing, but some niche words are messed up

[marble lion]

If i can read half of norwegian, swedish, danish, old english and old germanic, and my french lets me read spanish and italian to get an inkling
I assume the 4 elemental dialects are semidecipherable

Make an int check and give info on how well they rolled

[worn lagoon]

I can understand 90% of azerbaijani but some words baffle me

high mutual intelligibility is like that, you get most of it and the gist of it overall but then a word happens and suddenly you have no idea what this sentence is about

[shrewd grotto]

this is hilarious btw, i highly reccomend yall to try this someday

[woven flint]

If only I spoke any of those languages 🔥

[worn lagoon]

French elvish reminds me of FFXIV where the elves are french for some reason

[shrewd grotto]

the half elf family talk to him only in elvish, so he literally have to translate stuff from french to portuguese

[livid owl]

I took latin in my last 2 years of highschool and I remember nothing of it 🥲

[woven flint]

Lmao

[keen kestrel]

I'm so sad I can't speak more than one language, this sounds so cool to do

[marble lion]

Latin is probably the hardest to keep

[shrewd grotto]

i despise english

[glossy otter]

ngl I took french for two and I've already forgot

[keen kestrel]

I do too, and it's the only language I know lol

[marble lion]

Because its not spoken ofc
So unless you actively pursue it, youll lose a lot unless talented or really into it back then

I like english, why despise it

[keen kestrel]

English has a lot of silly rules, that it barely follows

[marble lion]

Its letting us all talk right now and is great for casual talk

[shrewd grotto]

yes

[woven flint]

^^

[keen kestrel]

I can still use the language I know how to communicate with, while critiquing it and not necessarily enjoying aspects of it

[shrewd grotto]

it's kinda boring to speak, and it is so random sometimes

[woven flint]

If none of us knew English, it'd be harder for us to talk to eachother without translating the page constantly lmao.

It's definitely a flawed language though

[glossy otter]

I like it because it's my primary, but ngl it would be interesting to learn stuff like Japanese and Spanish

[marble lion]

I love english

[keen kestrel]

For writing though, I do like english

[hot marlin]

Funny, my usual thing is to use Tolkien languages, with a bit of greek for elvish, and a bit of arabic for dwarves. For infernal, I go with latin. For celestial, I use Tagalog. For abyssal, I use Nahuatl.

[empty thicket]

yeah, lets not build another tower to the heavens, we dont want another "incident" again

[marble lion]

I think it mastered a nonchalant elegance that lets you express anything without ever seeming out of place

[woven flint]

Hey, Incubus!
We're gonna play in a campaign together soon 👀

[marble lion]

French is good at that too though

[worn lagoon]

I actually sort of dislike european languages in general because Oh God Why Does Everything Have Gender that needs to be Memorized

[keen kestrel]

that sounds fun

[woven flint]

Baulders Gate with Ti :0

[empty thicket]

french is weird for me, i commonly speak spanish and god... french is painful

[glossy otter]

ngl it would be a cool idea to have a campaign with the regulars here

[worn lagoon]

The key is male. My language doesn't even have gendered pronouns and you're asking me to remember the gender of every object ever.

Except most of the time there's no rule, it's just... memorization.

[empty thicket]

Your name is Evil dm, im scared of getting of you in a campaing just for that, still give you the chance

[marble lion]

Its actually not that hard or arbitrary
It has to do with the sound of words

[near brook]

I used to be proficient in it, but that was a long time ago. I never needed to use it and I thus forgot everything about it

[worn lagoon]

(and then there's a million exceptions)

[marble lion]

You just need to observe and will usually be correct when applying what you observe

[glossy otter]

don't worry, it's usually the wholesome bards who get traumatized first

[keen kestrel]

so what you're saying is we need to be devious and traumatize you

[severe rampart]

So there's three bards in my party... and I'm one of them

[glossy otter]

my party already does that

[worn lagoon]

this applies a lot more often for italian than say, for like german

[woven flint]

I'm waiting for a day when I can finally play with you 🧐

[marble lion]

Not really
Its not many, and most exceptions then have a direct relation with actual irl gender so they change the linguistic gender to match it

[empty thicket]

french or spanish? i can talk some french but my lack of practice make me be more rusty than a monk with 0 feet of movement

[keen kestrel]

I'd join a campaign if you ran one for us Mr Alaster

[marble lion]

German is very consistent

[glossy otter]

i've got my hands full already with 4

[marble lion]

Its just not as easy as a vs o at the end

[keen kestrel]

4?!

[woven flint]

I'm in 7 campaigns :3

[hot marlin]

Indeed. I still have not decided which of the three character concepts I have been thinking about I will choose

[empty thicket]

i will be in theory, in 4 too, almost 5

[keen kestrel]

playing in 7 is far different than dm'ing 4

[woven flint]

I just make it work, I'm built differently

[severe rampart]

The scheduling must be a nightmare

[woven flint]

I know lol

[near brook]

The server says my Fiancé‘s name violates the guidelines. Her name is "Amaya"

[marble lion]

But again its fair to question yet another rule to learn!
Im just saying its not random and follows rules you can learn

[glossy otter]

a lot of them I do are bi-weekly

[worn lagoon]

I don't think we refer to the same thing when we use the word "consistent"

[woven flint]

Actually, a good majority of those games are with one dm lol

[empty thicket]

no wait,
Harood, fighter
Verso, ranger
Dante, wizard
Harood, fighter (ancestor)
New campaign
yeah, 5

[severe rampart]

Twice a week for all of them? Wow!

[keen kestrel]

that's wild actually

[glossy otter]

My monday and thursday ones are, my friday is every week

[keen kestrel]

Your dm must love back breaking work lmao

[woven flint]

My characters have weird names
Jiddurn
Artanza
Sovis
Hilsuthiti..

[severe rampart]

Dude I was just poking fun at the English language what the hell

[marble lion]

Where does it say amaya violates guidelines?

[severe rampart]

What do you mean you manage to do that

[ember oasis]

Thats what Im saying 💀

[near brook]

The server tells her that upon the login process

[empty thicket]

mines have names that you can get easily, i made harood mixing Hard Wood and liked it a lot, verso in reference to Expedition 33 and dante is common name

[glossy otter]

That'd be for #moderator-support

[marble lion]

What login?

[near brook]

Must have been the font you were using

[severe rampart]

Hello Kinger

[marble lion]

You dont log in
Yes it must be font

[worn lagoon]

Hello Sonar

[severe rampart]

Hey DM... I'm scared of what you've been boiling for us...

[ember oasis]

I had moons in my user. Like, dang a girl can't even have moons and a cool font

[woven flint]

Jiddurn is a Centaur fellow
Artanza is a tortle
Sovis is a Drow
And
Hilsuthiti is a Yuan-Ti

[marble lion]

No

[worn lagoon]

You. I'm boiling you.

[glossy otter]

though with this being a new year, I'll need new ways to traumatize PC's

[woven flint]

Oh my god that emote 😭

[boreal field]

Hi, I’m new. I want to get some. Can anyone help me find a way to get into a campaign? I just need a character I don’t know what to do next.

[empty thicket]

Harood is a half orc, ancestor of him is a human
Dante is a human
Verso is a half elf

[severe rampart]

I cast... damn I don't have any good defensive spells

[worn lagoon]

if your players can say those names then i'll get mad

[woven flint]

Oh!
Bucket
And
Lockpick
are names for two of my characters as well

[worn lagoon]

nobody in my party could attempt to say kyzaghan, so my wizard was quickly nicknamed kazoo

[marble lion]

Id quit i guess

[woven flint]

Bucket is a Ysoki (Ratfolk) in a Starfinder campaign

Lockpick is a Tabaxi thief Rogue

[severe rampart]

Evren, I technically can turn into a kobold, yes? their tails and snouts don't count as extra limbs, and they're humanoid

[worn lagoon]

yeah sure you can

[severe rampart]

Yeah so I'm joining the Kobold in the bucket of water.

[empty thicket]

hi there, in #dnd-newcomers you will get lots more of help than here, when you find a group in #find-a-game , you can use the character you make or make one for that campaign. For being new i would recommend doing oneshots (one session stories) so you get used to the stuff

[worn lagoon]

oh great now we have eldritch blast in a bucket and insults in a bucket

[severe rampart]

Yep

Well, the bucket might actually make it easier to boil us

[worn lagoon]

No, it runs on nether water cauldron logic so you're safe

[empty thicket]

After seeing the idea of making a Cowboy warlock with pact of the blade flavored into a cursed//pact revolver that you can use for cast eldritch blast, i cant get it out of my head

[woven flint]

Stop saying Bucket

You Guys'll summon him 😔/j

[worn lagoon]

w-who

[woven flint]

My Ratfolk, Bucket lmao

[worn lagoon]

he could join the kobolds in their buckets

[glossy otter]

now you have me imagining a cowboy fiendlock with flames around their coat and hat

[severe rampart]

Kobold Stew

[woven flint]

Hes got a Robot named S.A.K.R (Super Ass-Kicking Robot)
It would've been S.K.A.R (Super Kick-Ass Robot) but I thought Skar sounded too edgy for a genuinely chill Robot

[worn lagoon]

i have like 4 more magic items to think up for the first session damn

[empty thicket]

Yep, flavoring this armor that only throw fumes or smoke out of it, pure decoration. Into a cool jacket that have like embers and the symbol of the entity who he made the pact is in the shoulder

[empty thicket]

for the party or for you like a player?

[woven flint]

S.A.K.R's profile picture art is of that one Robot that goes
"Congratulations, You're being saved! Do not resist."

[glossy otter]

The cowboys in Thunder Junction would be good inspo for it

[near brook]

are there DMs in here that would be willing to teach newcomers?

[severe rampart]

Will we absolutely need it...

[worn lagoon]

i'm the dm, these guys are all supposed to get an infernal weapon from the guy that's about to hire them

[woven flint]

Solution, kill the party

[narrow quiver]

Boomerang that is a razor, Dex check to avoid losing fingers on return 😎

[glossy otter]

that does make me think, it'd be hilarious if we got a Thunder Junction book

[worn lagoon]

something thematic, cool and class-specific

BUT WE HAVE THREE BARDS

[severe rampart]

Our quest is to kill a demon Lord.

[glossy otter]

....Any wholesome?....

[severe rampart]

Hey now! we have a warlock swords bard, a glamour Bard, and ME a lore bard

[woven flint]

should've told them to not be three bards /half-joking

[worn lagoon]

the three of you don't have 25 intelligence when summed together

[severe rampart]

But we do have SIXTY CHARISMA

[worn lagoon]

y-yeah...

[woven flint]

Solution: Kill the Bards.

I'll even join as a once around villain to kill them myself!

[worn lagoon]

first response to this message is how i kill one of the bards next session (it's ok they will get an easy res for the first time)

[glossy otter]

Don't kill em yet, that spoils the fun

[severe rampart]

Wait a minute I have 12 Intelligence, THE OTHER TWO DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TO MAKE 13?

[woven flint]

Decapitation.
Put their heads on a stake.

[quiet mist]

Why such a easy death?

[worn lagoon]

one of them's starting the campaign digging in a blood-soaked pit of bones, and there's a massive hungry giant approaching

[severe rampart]

Old age.

[woven flint]

It's not about the challenge, it's about sending a message.

[empty thicket]

Oh...welp, if you need ideas there some
A demonic bow that make fire arrows//force arrows
An axe that can cut through materials easily heating up like heat metal and make the user immune to fire
A sword that lower enemy resistances in general and give it disadvantage, lower their fts 5 and can be applied many times
A maul that lower enemy AC by 2 and can be applied for a max of 3 times, last for 5 rounds

[severe rampart]

Watch him add a chronomancer that amplifies the speed in which things deteriorate.

[quiet mist]

Should thow not suffer pain worst then death in order beg for it. Then and only then shall they be granted death.

[worn lagoon]

I cast time ravage with the twinned spell metamagic

[worn lagoon]

not the same braincell moment...

[severe rampart]

Counterspell

[quiet mist]

Oh trust theres better ways to send a message

[woven flint]

Kill the Bards and make instruments out of their body parts.

[empty thicket]

i like void ravage spell, sound so violent and epic for me

[woven flint]

There's easier ways to send a threatening message.

[empty thicket]

or dark star too, many wizard spells are dope for me

[glossy otter]

when did this escalate to the server planning to kill the bards lol

[worn lagoon]

i think it's quite based

[severe rampart]

Tokii discriminates against bards

[woven flint]

Why waste power on a lowly bard when you can just beat them to death with your bare hands?

[severe rampart]

Imagine needing to get up close and personal in order to deal damage

[glossy otter]

I mean I do too but that's because I have a legacy around bard trauma. I didn't think we'd escalate to bard murder

[worn lagoon]

I sort of wanted to give the swords bard a cool bow to use with the flourishes but they get their extra attack from thirsting blade so that idea flopped

[woven flint]

I've only had two bard characters
They were fun to play as characters but I hated them mechanically

[worn lagoon]

the bardlock has a giant approaching his location at very high speed (Tarrasque-level threat confined to a very narrow corpse pit)

[severe rampart]

I might prepare an extra character sheet just in case

[glossy otter]

Just make the bard commit genocide, then let them do the rest for you

[woven flint]

Yes.
Kill them.

[worn lagoon]

if you played funger i'm literally ripping off nash'rah's giant

[severe rampart]

Evren, will permanent character death be plausible during session 1? 😨

[unkempt roost]

Mountain Giant?

[hushed mason]

Mountain lion!

[woven flint]

My Genies Paladin died in the second session of his campaign, but him dying helped the party escape a lich and the shadowfell

[glass granite]

Mountain tiger

[worn lagoon]

i don't want to be that PC murder-y, so there's a safety net npc who can cast true resurrection as easy as breathing. but i don't think you guys will need him?

i'm reserving him to avoid a tpk

[hushed mason]

Tiger Mountain.

[severe rampart]

Okay, phew

[sharp tinsel]

hello all!

[woven flint]

A mountain made of tigers

[worn lagoon]

i have a lot of plans and work put into it so if you fail you will fail at the final stretch after enjoying everything i made for it

[glossy otter]

ngl I read that as a mountain made of fingers at first

[hushed mason]

A tiger made of mountain.

[woven flint]

I'd definitely be super PC murder-y as a dm, that's why I don't dm lmao

[glossy otter]

Imagine a grave revenant that was just the size of a mountain

[worn lagoon]

i will let them die, but they will be able to reasonably resurrect people on their own

[woven flint]

I'm much nicer as a player, especially because I don't mind being the person saddled with healing others lmak

[severe rampart]

You should also know that Tokii is a big fan of the demon Lord that the quest wants us to kill

[worn lagoon]

what in the Baphomet

[woven flint]

I love Baphomet

I have a Minotaur Death Cleric of Baphomet I haven't played yet lol

[worn lagoon]

So Echo's party is to be employed by a minotaur fiendlock, actually

[woven flint]

To kill lord Baphomet?!

[glossy otter]

damn, one hell of a twist

[woven flint]

If your party kills Baphomet, I'm the next boss fight >->

[worn lagoon]

that minotaur's patron basically removed all of baphomet's influence from that guy's head and said "if you want to keep your sentience go free your entire race and kill my rival"

[severe rampart]

I love how my character was just a con artist and now they're on a quest in hell to kill a demon lord

[woven flint]

BLASPHEMY

[worn lagoon]

the best sort of warlock is a serial blasphemer, anyway

[woven flint]

I will have that man EXECUTED

[unkempt roost]

Kill kill for Mogis

[woven flint]

Mogis and Baphomet are the two I love most! And to see them fight?!
Makes my heart weep! /satire

[worn lagoon]

What's Mogis

[unkempt roost]

The god of slaughter

[woven flint]

Mogis is a Theros God

[worn lagoon]

ah ok

[woven flint]

He's literally Baphomet but if he was a God instead of a Demon

[worn lagoon]

well, i have some faith in the bards' ability to kill a demon lord

that's triple the countercharm to be never used

[severe rampart]

Hey so, in the description here it says

“Minotaurs are barrel-chested humanoids with heads resembling those of bulls”

Could I turn into a minotaur

[unkempt roost]

Eh

[worn lagoon]

yes but it won't improve your sense of direction

[severe rampart]

Interesting... very interesting

[woven flint]

I hope you all get lost in Baphomets Maze and starve :3

[unkempt roost]

Mogis is just sort of a crackhead

[severe rampart]

Wait is that what the endless maze of suffering for

[worn lagoon]

if they're any smart they'll use a spell to drop right on top of his lyktion

[vale sage]

Who said bards suck? I just one shot the BG3 ||Farslayer|| as a College of Swords Bard using Mobile Flourish 😄

[woven flint]

Isn't the whole point that you can't just use magic to get directly to Baphomet?

[worn lagoon]

swords bard archer is one of the more broken builds

[vale sage]

Archer? Meh. I like SWAWRDS!

[hot marlin]

I admit I have always preferred Pathfinder's take on Baphomet. In it, the backstory is that he once tried to steal Asmodeus' ruby rod, but got locked up in the maze where Asmodeus usually imprisons his foes. He did not escape the maze, he stole it. In the sense that he took it from the nine hells to the abyss and made it the seat of his power