dnd-discussion

[full wadi]

Yeah they get like, an option of d6/d8 natural weapons right

[hot gate]

I'm not surprised that certain communities adopt the term, and especially don't find it surprising that this is happening in forums, where more experienced people often are.

Still, this is a particular bubble

It's unhelpful if you're new to the game.

[full wadi]

All communities are bubbles, some are more insular than others is all

Eh I know better than to beat a conversation horse to death, let's agree to disagree

[obtuse depot]

Guys I need someone free
I have some questions.

[humble cairn]

For example, calling Beast Barb "Legacy" might make a new player not choose it if their campaign doesn't allow actual Legacy content, which Beast Barb is not.

[full wadi]

you're asking to ask questions here, but let's see the question

[undone tendon]

Yeah, you can share with me.

[obtuse depot]

First thing
How do you play online, like not on a table.

[full wadi]

As a DM or player

[obtuse depot]

Both

[worn lagoon]

you usually use a vtt website but its not necessary

[humble cairn]

Generally people use a Virtual Tabletop (VTT), search that term online and you'll find a few.

[full wadi]

Virtual tabletops (VTT). Owlbear Rodeo is a free one, as is Roll20, but I personally pay for and prefer Foundry on account of this being my kinda-job

[hot gate]

DDBeyond also has a fairly good integrated vtt

[humble cairn]

I've been playing on Beyond's Maps for over a year now and I like it. Simple, easy to use.

[full wadi]

Foundry supports dnd5e out the box (among other game systems, but that's not relevant here)

[hot gate]

Same goes for most VTTs except for dedicated ones like DDBeyond maps

[full wadi]

I've had numerous issues with Beyond unfortunately, and I dropped them when I realized those issues were neither unique nor resolved

[obtuse depot]

How long does the campaign usually last.
And do you play it on sessions or what?

[undone tendon]

Do you play DND beyond games?

[full wadi]

Completely variable depending on DM. Unless you're asking about my games specifically?

[obtuse depot]

Like can a campaign be finished in 2 hours?

[full wadi]

A game session lasts 2-5 hours. A mini-campaign that lasts one game session is usually called a "oneshot".

The traditional concept of a campaign is several sessions chained together, each a continuity of the previous - like an episodic show, for simple comparison's sake

[obtuse depot]

Also is there any boundaries for the characters, like do I have to stick to the species or can I make one up.

[full wadi]

Ask your DM, always. It's fun to make up character concepts with exotic (and even homebrew!) races and other player options, but every DM has different allowances

These allowances may even change between different campaigns, even if the DM is the same

[obtuse depot]

What about the dice, what is the difference between all these?

[full wadi]

Each dice is referred to in a "d#" format, where the number (#) is the number of faces on a dice. A d20 is the main one you'll be using for attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks. The other ones (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12) are mostly used for damage rolls and other abilities

[rough basalt]

A d100 is used on occasion

[obtuse depot]

How long does it take to start really know how to play.

[rough basalt]

Some take to it more than others

A lot never really know how to play, but it's usually due to not caring to.

[full wadi]

I have found some students prefer to jump in to a (patient) game table for learning through direct play. Others listen to podcasts where others play the game, or more often, watch gameplay from other people's sessions via YouTube.

Although to make sure expectations are set appropriately, I don't reccomended high production quality stuff like Critical Role for learning how to play, that is entertainment. I also don't reccomend watching Law and Order to learn how to be a detective or lawyer.

[obtuse depot]

Do you consider this game complicated?

[full wadi]

It's popular because it's not complicated

[rough basalt]

It's middle of the road for tabletop games

[full wadi]

... Depending on who you ask, and their definition of complicated lol

[rough basalt]

It's not something you can just pick up in 5 minutes usually, but it doesn't take long to be good to start.

[full wadi]

A lot of people pick up and learn on the job (the first category I described earlier)

[obtuse depot]

Yeah I prefer to start actually playing than learn the rules while playing

[rough basalt]

There's a not small number of DnD 5e players that solely rely on others do most if not everything because they don't wanna read or put in effort, they just want funny dice number go clack clack so they think the baseline rules are complicated.

[real epoch]

which game are uh talking about

[rough basalt]

So if you actually read the rules you're already at a good start.

[full wadi]

May I DM you an interactive tutorial, so that you can get a feel for it before play?

[obtuse depot]

I read some of them, but there are a lot.

[rough basalt]

What I recommend is sticking to the class you wanna play first and what rules will involve that.

[obtuse depot]

Sure, no problem.

[tidal bough]

Just read the ones that apply to your character as they're the main ones that you'll be using, other rules can be learnt after

[oak grotto]

There's already a link to one of those on #dnd-newcomers. It's pinned and everything.

[obtuse depot]

What about the spells and abilities, like who makes them and can make one ?

[rough basalt]

Players can't make spells or abilities to use themselves

[full wadi]

I'm aware. But the newcomer in question is here in this channel at the moment.

[rough basalt]

Least not within the game itself, usually

Stuff added to the game that isn't officially printed is based on DMs discretion.

[oak grotto]

DMs decide whether custom made content is allowed or not. It is usually not recommended that newbies resort to that as it's a very slippery slope.

[full wadi]

Always start with the basics, yeah. Although, many want to start with spellcasting (re: classes specifically)

[rough basalt]

Custom made content can end up being really broken in many ways that just aren't healthy for a game.

[oak grotto]

Especially if you don't know what you're doing.

[obtuse depot]

So where does the actual content come from, is there a book that everyone memories.

[rough basalt]

There's many books, the corebook for Players is the Players Handbook

[oak grotto]

Official books. And no, we don't all memorize it. Even seasoned players need to check the books for the rules every now and then.

[full wadi]

Tasha's Cauldron counts as "bonus content a DM has to opt-in on", but is the most widely accepted one that many tables adopt.

[rough basalt]

Yeah but it's official content, not custom.

[full wadi]

There's still a lot of optional official content, but point taken

[oak grotto]

I think it's more accurate to say that there are multiple books with official content. Tasha's is only one of these books.

[tawdry sentinel]

You have a character sheet, you fill it in using whatever books you are using which will probably be set by the person running the game.

And it'll be like as a level 1 wizard you get 6 spells.

So you go pick 6 spells from the book(s) and write down what they do on the sheet as a reference.

[obtuse depot]

And if we play online, do I have to talk and describe my movements?

[reef tundra]

I suggest going to #dnd-newcomers as they are more willing to explain everything

[rough basalt]

Depends on the game

[real epoch]

I recommend sticking with the class you want to play first and figuring out which rules apply to that.

[rough basalt]

That's what I said

[tawdry sentinel]

Probably, although you can do play by post games where you type it out.

Some games are more narrative. Some are more like playing a board game where you just do the mechanics.

[oak grotto]

You can be as descriptive or as vague as you want. Some groups might prefer vague descriptions and others might prefer the opposite.

[rough basalt]

Like me personally, I prefer vaguer

Or minimalistic is maybe the right word

[oak grotto]

And I am the opposite.

[rough basalt]

I don't need to hear that your characters heart is beating slightly faster this time.

[oak grotto]

Meanwhile I actually put a lot of thought into my characters' actions. A bit too much in fact. 😅

[rough basalt]

I deafen if someone goes on a 10 minute essay of how they attack

[granite ferry]

Hey im literlly brand new to d&d and ive always wanted to try it out can anyone show me where to go to find maybe a beginner frerindly game my knowledge is basiclly 0lol

[full wadi]

Listen, give the martials a break and let em have fun. They don't do a ton of damage

[rough basalt]

Usually descriptions are described as flavor when in the players hands, and like food, you can end up having too much flavor.

[full wadi]

#dnd-newcomers is the official spot to get support as a newbie

[rough basalt]

Idk what martials you're playing with.
But nah I'm not listening to a poem every round.

[oak grotto]

Go to #dnd-newcomers and then once you're comfortable move to #find-a-game.

[granite ferry]

thank you

[obtuse depot]

Me too, I want to find a game to start actually learning.

[oak grotto]

My main point was that there are diff types of players.

[rough basalt]

Yep.

[tidal bough]

I had one person do this but for vicious mockery.

Every turn (and I mean every, even if it was the same target) they would get the dm to describe in detail everything about the target, only to then take 10-30 seconds to think of an insult and then spend another 30 seconds saying a long line of words that wasn't worth the time.

It was painful

Slowed combat immensely

[rough basalt]

Some people who don't use salt and pepper.
Some people who throw the whole spice cabinet in, and everything in between

[full wadi]

This is the same Ranger I mentioned crying in the corner earlier, mostly

[reef tundra]

I like descriptions, but I always keep it to a minute max and for more important ones, 2 minutes max

[obtuse depot]

Check DMS

[tidal bough]

A minute is too long imo but that is purely my opinion and not taking away from your opinion, its different if its a big boss or something tho

[rough basalt]

Yeah, I had a DM take an hour describing a bridge scene with a map so I've seen what happens when you don't take the spice cabinet key away

[tawdry sentinel]

I'd like a little bit of fluff about the attacks to be fair. It's better than listening to the casters spend 3 minutes talking about all the spells they could cast.

[reef tundra]

It’s always an average of about 10-30 seconds, I’ve never seen anyone reach the maximum

[obtuse depot]

Thank you guys for answering my questions.
Appreciate it.

[tidal bough]

Kill descriptions should be like 20 secs maximum and even then thats pushing it (imo)

[charred panther]

As players, how do you feel when another player makes new character the same class as yours and/or filling the same role in the party as yours?

I'm not talking about "oh no, we both wizards, even tho we have totally different skills, spells, schools and subclasses"!!1!, I mean when they are creating, for example, good natured focused on healing and buffing cleric with focus on nature and animal handling, just as yours, but with different race/god

Is it common/normal?

[reef tundra]

No problem, have fun

[oak grotto]

I play pbp games mostly. When I play with my voice I don't try to talk for too long as I don't even have the eloquence for it.

[rough basalt]

I don't like it if I'm not unique in the party imo

[reef tundra]

Same

[tidal bough]

It can be awkward if your characters are similar, especially if one is just a better version and the other is the Walmart version

[rough basalt]

It often leads to my feet being trampled on cause I don't wanna be an ass and fight for spotlight.

[tidal bough]

No one likes being the 2nd best permanently especially in a campaign thats going to last months

[full wadi]

This is what session 0 exists for, to avoid these situations. I use it to dodge this bullet liberally. Some players can roll with the punches and twin it out, but they are in the minority.

[reef tundra]

Similarities between characters can be interesting and fun, but mechanically serving the same purpose can lead to you competing

[tidal bough]

I tend to avoid it but if you have different multiclasses it can be alright

[rough basalt]

For example, if your party has a Bard, and another Charisma caster.
That 2nd caster isn't being allowed to do Charisma things a lot of the time

[oak grotto]

I refuse to let myself be the same class as someone else.

[rough basalt]

Unless it's a Paladin

[full wadi]

Or any martial

[tidal bough]

Pali's are always nice

[rough basalt]

People seem to let Paladins be the one Charisma dude if there's a bard around

[tidal bough]

Especially auras

[oak grotto]

In fact if I have chosen my class first I try to politely ask the player if he/she minds choosing something else.

[rough basalt]

I assume it's cause Paladins are typically the "leader"

[tidal bough]

Just have a 4 man pali group of just aurafarmers

[rough basalt]

Charisma is where a lot of feet get trampled I feel

Cause there's 3 cha casters and 1 half cha caster.
And Charisma is often a one man affair.

[tidal bough]

If im playing a high charisma character I tend to try and push others into the spotlight so they can make some rp moments etc.

[oak grotto]

Idc if someone else is a Charisma caster. I kinda appreciate some randomness.

[rough basalt]

So it boils down to how much of a spotlight hogger you can be if there's multiple.

Unless the chasters are mature enough to take a backseat sometimes

[tidal bough]

Its rough when theres just one maxed out charisma character and everyone shoves them into every social situation, limits the experience for others

[charred panther]

Yeah, agreed. But I'm asking specifically if they creating a new character, for example if the first one died - so it's not an accident, they are familiar with your character, it's deliberate.

Or when someone creates a second character who is made to counteract your character specifically, while they knew about it before introducing them. For example, if you have a character with specific trauma about loud noises, which is really established, and the new character focused specifically making noises as loud as possible

Should DM say smth in situation like that? Or how players should handle it?

[full wadi]

The similar-class player and the DM should hold council.

[tidal bough]

Communicate with eachother

Just see what everyone is okay with

[oak grotto]

Some talking should be done and the DM needs to be involved.

[rough basalt]

Like last PC I made was a Wizard with a wizard in the party so I asked the other wizard if they were fine with it.

And they were cause they were an Abjurer iirc, and I was a Bladesinger so pretty stark difference.

[tawdry sentinel]

The concept of a face is weird to me.

Sure if you have to talk past guards to get into wherever and it's basically just lockpicking with flavour.

But in an actual social situation, if the wizard wants to talk to the other wizard, they're the one doing the roll surely.

[tidal bough]

Some of the subclasses are different enough to work together

[full wadi]

Yeah, the more you surprise a table (or let PCs surprise PCs), the more you open yourself up to getting an unstable and frustrated table from... unpleasant surprises they weren't consulted on

[tidal bough]

Yup, I always go with a rule of "whoever asks first is doing the roll"

[charred panther]

Usually it helps before this thing happens... after it would help too, but it would be more difficult to achieve

Asking the other player in my opinion is basic requirment, but when it already happened without anyone here, and character is already here and introduced to the party...

[rough basalt]

Faces are more important in other systems than dnd I'd argue

[unborn lotus]

Xanathars is much more significant than Tasha's?

[full wadi]

Tasha is cuter

[tidal bough]

Its still a strange concept tho, it should be a group effort rather than the group spectating one person

[reef tundra]

Agreed

[tidal bough]

Xanathar seems like the type to not be loyal, they'd always be looking at other people smh

[rough basalt]

Well Faces ime rise from the fact that a lot of dnd players don't have social abilities

[oak grotto]

You raise a good point but you can't go back in time so all you can do is talk. Just make sure to involve your DM.

[full wadi]

Of course YOU would agree give your username

[reef tundra]

:D

[rough basalt]

So someone who can be an extrovert at the table can often become the face just by nature.

[full wadi]

Now is Tasha treating you right is the real question : P

[rough basalt]

Speaking of Tasha, my Rogue doesn't trust her in my Tuesday game cause she's hotter than her.

[reef tundra]

Other than having me test potions, it’s great <3

[charred panther]

Yeap, faces is more about the ability to play social/leading character, not about stats

At my current table we had like... 4 charisma-based characters, and my +0 charisma one did the most talking

[reef tundra]

Despite being the most extroverted in all of my groups, I never actually end up as the face

[full wadi]

Of course she is, she's Tasha! The rogue is failing the test of "can you cooperate with Business Stuff without jealousy taking over"

[tawdry sentinel]

Sometimes also it's own problem. There's only so many buttons to press and it can be very easy for the most outgoing person to press 50% of them while the rest sit there potentially stewing about not getting to do the things.

[rough basalt]

And there's another thing

[charred panther]

My question is specifically how others dealt with situations like that.

I was in a "loud noises" example, trying to talk about it didn't go well

My friend in a cleric example at the moment at a different table

[rough basalt]

A not 0 amount of DnD players don't have the agency to push a story along like someone who typically ends up a face.

[oak grotto]

That's a specific situation. I can't answer that. I can only give you advice.

[full wadi]

This can almost always be traced back to a history of them getting talked over anyways, so they shrink into the background

[rough basalt]

I think that too

[full wadi]

Like we're outcast nerds here. This is the next step on the bus after being a theater kid. What do y'all expect

[rough basalt]

I spent a campaign constantly being put on the backburner as a Bard by a -2 cha goblin in social situations which were the only thing I could do due to the DM homebrewing the three Wizards to godhood so at some point I lost the ability to be proactive.

[iron kindle]

Hello

[full wadi]

Attention should be round-robin passed around to begin with, being out of the spotlight for a brief moment shouldn't nuke your morale from orbit. When it happens at length is the problem.

[charred panther]

Thats why I like the "delegation" feature, when the leader often askes/commands/suggest (based on a character) to do specific thing to the "most suited" for that in the party, like asks bard to lead a bargaining deal, when the bard player themselves usually can't come up with the idea what to do on the spot.

Still not a 100% of time and not a perfect solution for everyone, but it helps with certain types of players

[full wadi]

I use social "initiative" for a reason, it's supremely helpful

A more complex "pass the talking stick" situation, basically

[rough basalt]

A player who can and will delegate imo is often a great player to have at the table.

[lucid flax]

Need help in #ddb-support

[rough basalt]

Keeps the immersion up while not feeling like the DM is forcing anything

[charred panther]

Advice would be good, I'll forward it to her
She really at a loss how to approach it

[rough basalt]

Like "ah. Crap. I don't understand this. Hey pc name you're good at this right? Mind taking a swing?"

[full wadi]

That player should be the DM, specifically when it comes to delegating when it's time to let others talk. A PC is inherently baised at a game table even if they try not to be - we call that subconscious bias.

[rough basalt]

Like Campaign 1 of CR infamously had several door scenes where one guy couldn't just open it due to bad rolls and not being insane to the gills on the mod and often led to several failures from others too.

[oak grotto]

As I have said my advice is to just talk. You need to understand why this player is doing this and whether it is being done out of malice.

[full wadi]

Entertaining to watch, and probably play for those Critical Role professionals! But not every table is built like them.

They're professionals, laypeople would probably get frustrated in the moment vs roll with the punches like trained improvisors.

[worn lagoon]

everyone and their mom uses charisma it feels like

while int is the wizardry stat

[reef tundra]

I have had experience with players who will consistently not talk or be active in sessions, I end up spending many of the first sessions prompting them and encouraging them, but if they just keep not doing anything, I cannot keep putting time and energy into essentially playing for them, as a DM I have so many other things to focus on, and as a player, I’d rather roleplay with the other characters that have a presence and react to me

[rough basalt]

Well that's the thing, if there's one thing you can learn from CR it's how to lean into situations that you'd usually just go on your phone and wait till it's resolved.

[full wadi]

Correct, which is why professional improv equips you with those tools

Or even basic improv skills, no need to be a pro per se

[rough basalt]

Yeah basic improv is perfect

[full wadi]

Learning secondhand from simply watching CR has mixed results, usually I just see parotting

[rough basalt]

You don't need all the flair just
"Hey, can I just start kicking the door with them?"

[charred panther]

I remember last time our 3 charisma-based characters together without others went to discuss a deal. They needed to extract information and persuade to share some secrets with them

It was a painful experience for everyone involved, cause they didn't know what to ask to get the answers, couldn't formulate any questions, asked a lot of times "why we here" and "what we a trying to achieve" even tho they were the ones to suggest it, and quickly became frustrated when this whole sequence ruined the fantasy of "very eloquent character who a versed in persuasion"

Situation was saved by just the rolls without actual RP, when they were asked to roll and based on a result their characters were successful or not

But yeah, not everyone can do it, sadly

[reef tundra]

This is why I feel dnd is perfect for me, as I was a theatre kid, and am currently a writer and VA, dnd was just perfectly suited for me

[rough basalt]

It's definitely hard tho

[full wadi]

Heavy is the crown of the DM. At some point it makes sense to prune people who don't stick to the promises made session 1 (or 0)

[rough basalt]

Cause you can easily feel like you're butting in or stealing spotlight

[reef tundra]

You’re right. It’s heartbreaking but for the good of the group, I gotta prune

[rough basalt]

I was someone who wanted to be a theater kid but was too scared of it, so getting into DnD was like a "I finally get to use all these things I like doing!" Moment lol

[full wadi]

Once I had to give a student talking WAY too much during the session the blank stare "are you done yet" silent treatment.

[rough basalt]

I think my main issue rn is that my room has poor soundproofing

[full wadi]

It never is fun to wear the meanie hat as the DM, but it's extremely nessecary. Glad I had old camp counselor playbooks to consult lol

[rough basalt]

And my games are weekday nights.

[full wadi]

Ah that sucks yeah

Loud outside from cars and all that?

[rough basalt]

Nah I live on a mountain. I just live with other people so don't wanna be too loud.

[full wadi]

Cheapass protip: carpets on the walls

[reef tundra]

My family always get a good chuckle when I play dnd, they can hear my louder dialogues through the walls

[rough basalt]

Especially cause it's an old house without a modern heating system so I have to keep my door open for heat.

[reef tundra]

Shout out to the time I played a barbarian and they heard my battle cry

[rough basalt]

Ye same lol

[worn lagoon]

i remember my first time dming and my mom barging into the room to give me a death stare because i was doing something besides studying

[reef tundra]

Gave my brother a heart attack once when I screamed “damn you and every accursed creature to come after you”

[rough basalt]

I have some voices I'm glad they haven't heard tho

[full wadi]

Truly the most fun part of any tabletop game

[rough basalt]

Hard to explain having a convincing fem voice.

[full wadi]

No, DnD is a good explanation. They'll understand.

[rough basalt]

Maybe you right.

[full wadi]

Worked for me at least lol

What got me kicked outta the house was the outfits tho

[reef tundra]

As a trans girl, the range my voice can do is very fun for me

[rough basalt]

Well how I got mine I kinda feel bad about.

[reef tundra]

Absolutely terrified my players the first time I played an ancient dragon, they had never heard my voice go so deep

[full wadi]

Hello fellow queer person, genderfluid oldhead here 👋

[reef tundra]

A kinward soul, I see!

[full wadi]

Yup! Someone's gotta survive to pass a trick down here and there

[rough basalt]

For me, it was out of boredom, ashamed to admit.

[full wadi]

This is how it starts

[reef tundra]

Ah dw everyone does strange things when they’re bored

[full wadi]

Like estrogen!

[reef tundra]

Yup

[full wadi]

But don't be ashamed of boredom, it's how we find the fun aspects of ourselves

As long as you're not like. Hurting other real people about it.

This is what violent video games are for - god I miss DOOM

[rough basalt]

Yeah, I just like doing voices and admittedly I've had plenty of time to learn how.

[full wadi]

Did you pick up the skill over pandemic lockdowns? You wouldn't be the only one

[rough basalt]

Nah, I've been singing/doing voices since I was a kid.
Mimicking VA work in games

[full wadi]

Hell yeah, which characters if I may ask?

[rough basalt]

A lot of Halo when I was younger.

Keith David has one of those voices that's just something else.

[full wadi]

Was that the Master Chief VA himself or someone else

[rough basalt]

The Arbiter, or rather the one from 2, 3 and 5

[full wadi]

Aaaaaah I remember the shifting of that role yeah

I've long been a PC gamer so I'm less familiar with Xbox stuff

Playstation was the console I dabbled with more

[rough basalt]

Kinda made sense since the other appearances were different ones since Arbiter was a title rather than one individual.

[full wadi]

You'd know better than me, fair enough yeah

What other VA roles?

The ones you mimicked that is

[rough basalt]

Gears of War was another game I often found myself mimicking for fun.

But we'd long been off-topic so probably should shift back to dnd.

[full wadi]

Fair lol

Any DnD or fantasy VAs then?

[rough basalt]

Astarions voice is my go to inspiration for sassyness lol

[full wadi]

You got some Halloween vampire teeth in your drawer to get into the groove?

[rough basalt]

Nah that'd be funny tho

If I ever had an irl game I could see myself putting on a cheap spirit store vampire outfit for Strahd

[full wadi]

It'd be an inexpensive joke, those things should still be cheap

[rough basalt]

Castle Ravenloft was left unattended for 5 minutes and a Spirit Store was put in

[remote wadi]

A shame going prone doesn't have offensive perks. You would think that not moving at all would let you get better accuracy on Ranged attacks

[rough basalt]

Well, it'd only benefit guns really which is probably why

[full wadi]

A game I ran that used firearms homebrewed a rule for it, funnily enough. I kept it going forward and applied it to crossbows too (not bows of course)

[glass granite]

I imagine throwing darts from prone would be harder

[rough basalt]

I really wanna run strahd sometime

[reef tundra]

Speak of the devil, I was just reading his stat block!

[rough basalt]

But I kinda feel anxious about it

[remote wadi]

Okay, I guess I should specify ranged weapons, not thrown weapons

[rough basalt]

Cause of the Real Curse of Strahd

[glass granite]

Darts are a thrown ranged weapon iirc

[remote wadi]

. . .

[glass granite]

They’re not listed under melee

[reef tundra]

”We may grant you the privilege of being a ranged attack roll, but we do not grant you the title of Ranger weapon”
-# Not talking about the dart

[remote wadi]

Don't nitpick the details. You know which weapons I mean

[glass granite]

They’re considered a simple ranged weapon with the thrown property

[full wadi]

This old creature has to go to sleep, you kids have fun now - it's a weekday and you probably got school

[glass granite]

Good night!

[full wadi]

I know I got work, if nothing else. Same difference

Night!

[rough basalt]

Also the voice I was thinking for Strahd kinda got me in trouble once.

[tawdry sentinel]

Sesame street count?

[rough basalt]

Nah, uh. Don't know how to describe it.
Had one player get creepy with me after I used it for another vampire way back near when I started playing.

[glossy otter]

What kinda situation did I just walk into lol

[glad arch]

Curious, what all same class party would be the most fun to play you think. I dont care about viable or optimised just the most fun

[glass granite]

I imagine 5 monks would be kinda funny

Maybe 5 Druids, a lil team of wild shapers

Or…
5 bards. Imagine the shenanigans.

Travelling band go brrr

[tawdry sentinel]

We played all multi classes monks to do a teenage mutant ninja turtles one shot and that was a good laugh

[glad arch]

Monsters are scared of them, bar owners are terrified

[glass granite]

Dragons are mortified

[glad arch]

I roll to seduce the dragon they all yell in unison

[wanton sorrel]

that reminds me of the episode from rick and morty

[eager marsh]

"Sorry, I'm more into barbarians" they say

[remote wadi]

One electrum bearing Strahd's visage! Ah ah ah!
Two electrum bearing Strahd's visage! Ah ah ah!

[remote wadi]

I almost forgot about that one, and now it's back thanks to you...

[tawdry sentinel]

I have done that for a vampire.

One doomed adventure ah ah ah

I vont to drain your blood
Or your coin purse
To pass through my domain will cost you 5 gold pieces. Ah ah ah.

[lucid grail]

What's everyone's opinion on Hexblade Warlocks? I'm thinking of playing one at some point but I heard that they're pretty bad in the 2024 ruleset

[worn lagoon]

Do they even exist in 2024?

[hollow stone]

yea idk if they were updated for 2024

[lucid grail]

They're in Xanathar's Guide to Everything

I'm still debating whether to buy the book or not or get something else like the monster manual or Tasha's guide

[pliant sapphire]

In 2014 Hexblade was mostly a lvl 1 warlock dip. Now in 2024 you cant get the warlock subclass until lvl 3. So its more painful to multiclass. And pact of the blade at lvl 1 now do most of the hexblade lvl 3 weapon feature

[tall forge]

I feel not super happy about that personally

[hollow stone]

oh i see yea that is crippling

[worn lagoon]

just checked it out, it looks pretty cool

[hollow stone]

Pact Of The Blade is crazy in 24 but i didn't know they just stole Hexblade abilities

[tall forge]

Making it more painful to multiclass always makes me sad

[lucid grail]

Yeah, that's what I've heard. I've had a look at pact of the blade warlocks and I love them. I was hoping hexblade would be an improved version but from what I'm seeing it isn't. It's hard to see exactly what they can do without spending $30 though

[worn lagoon]

bg3 multiclassing already built me up for total disappointment in actual tabletop

god i love multiclassing in that game

[wanton sorrel]

shrugs

[pliant sapphire]

WotC doesnt know how to rework the subclass. It appears in 3 UA releases

And It's totally different in the 3 documents 😂

[lucid grail]

Right, I see. What subclass would you advise for a good pact of the blade build?

[hollow stone]

tbf have you seen modern Ranger? like half their spells are Concentration and they're overincentivized to use Hunter's Mark when they already buffed Warlock in the same way Ranger needed

[eager marsh]

in what way? getting back an extra slot per day? more invocations? nothing warlock got is like what ranger got and they are not 'over incentivized'

[hollow stone]

Warlock's Eldritch Blast invocations were all updated to An attack roll cantrip that does damage and Ranger is still in Hunter's Mark meta hell

[eager marsh]

Warlock's invocations are still most effective on Eldritch Blast and the hex interaction is unchanged

[hollow stone]

yea but Ranger's Hunters Mark upgrades could also be "A Concentration Spell that does damage"

[pliant sapphire]

Undead, GOO, Fiend are good options. If you go melee i recommend to take a dip in a class that has armor proeficiency to wear medium/heavy armor

[worn lagoon]

i like genielocks in general

[lucid grail]

Alright, I'll make sure to check them out. Thanks heaps!

[eager marsh]

That would be insane for starters

[pliant sapphire]

Ranger has improved from 2014's version. Personally I would change all the hunter mark-locked features to something more interesting (or a concentration-less hunters mark on high levels) but the class is pretty good rn

[hollow stone]

tbh i was thinking that Ranger would have more of its own identity if their higher level end was having the ability to hold concentration on multiple spells at once, so long as they were from the Ranger list

[halcyon forum]

just removing conc from hunters mark at any point past level 5 would honestly fix most of my issues with the class

[hollow stone]

this is also true

[tall forge]

Ranger got buffef (not as much. As other classes) at least

It never really had an identity though, other than “the bow class”

[halcyon forum]

I think ranger is mostly a sidgrade rather than a buff compared to tashas

[tawdry sentinel]

Could put it back on a favoured foe type thing

[tawdry sentinel]

It's worse at that than fighter is, is one of the problems.

[halcyon forum]

like, you gain a few things but you also lose old sharpshooter and a bunch of other smaller things

[eager marsh]

Rangers narrative fantasy is just a touch weird. Arguably the intended sample is Aragorn (book version) since he had minor magic there bit that was mostly because of his heritage iirc

[halcyon forum]

and subclasses were mostly nerfed

[tall forge]

Personally, i think they should go all in on the beast companions for ranger

Instead of a worse hex spell

[halcyon forum]

Gloomstalker obviously needed a nerf, but they might have overdone it. Hunter is worse too and Fey wanderer/beastmaster are about the same

[river fulcrum]

Is 3-10$ good for someone who wants to just draw art for fun but he a bit of money from making DND stuff like people and swords?

I like making art cheap cause some people can't buy 40-120$

[eager marsh]

Keep in mind the beast damage is higher than Hex per trigger and it’s a whole additional body on the battlefield. But 5e’s bounded accuracy and action economy problems means the game has to keep pet mechanics on a proper leash to avoid breaking the system

[tawdry sentinel]

A very real risk of sucking the fun out of it when you do something you enjoy but for money.

[river fulcrum]

So just make it free

Okay!

[karmic pendant]

That's up to you

[river fulcrum]

Making it free now

[loud tendon]

People have extremely varying budgets, but $3-$10 seems very reasonable depending on the quality.
I feel artists should be paid for their time and efforts but they get the choose their payscale so if yoy are comfortable at that price point, good on ya

[river fulcrum]

It's free now

[loud tendon]

Thats kind of you. I see you already have a post in #dnd-advertisements and that is the place to let folks know about your availability for work. 🙂

[river fulcrum]

After 2

[glad arch]

After reading #tales-from-the-table i went back to check shadow statblock and idk why but i could have sworn that thing had a save for the str reduction

But nah you get hit you lose strength 💀

[river fulcrum]

Lol

[hot gate]

Shadows have earned their reputation

[pliant sapphire]

I have nightmares with the shadows and my 8 STR monk

[river fulcrum]

8!

[pliant sapphire]

2 4 in the d4 and dead 😂

[worn lagoon]

i've yet to have a character with str above 8

[river fulcrum]

Mike usually have 11

[worn lagoon]

i also have never failed a strength check

[hot gate]

Does your group not use encumbrance?

[sweet dock]

Why cant i find anyone to play this game or even talk about this game man :( like i know people who used to play but no one is into it enough to discuss it man

[pliant sapphire]

Not wearing armor helps 😂

[worn lagoon]

what are barbarians for if not for pack mule usage

[hot gate]

You seem to have stumbled upon the dnd general chat, where we do discuss.

[glad arch]

That seems like such a hassle to keep track of the weight of everything

[hot gate]

DDBeyond helps a lot in that respect.

[worn lagoon]

i also just don't wear armor

[glad arch]

Aah my group plays physically, topic never even came up

[humble cairn]

If you want someone to discuss D&D, you're in the right place. I am finding I have to restrict my Discord usage because I was spending too much time here discussing D&D.

[glad arch]

I imagine if i try to take 20 sets of armor with me dm might start mentioning something but thats besides tje point

[sweet dock]

Lol

[hot gate]

It does make a lot of difference to how strength is perceived imo

[marble lion]

I prefer improv encumbrance

[unborn lotus]

I use the Zee Bashew inventory puzzles it's so fun, leads to more item use, and let's players actually interact with weight
https://youtu.be/koKL1wSRLpk?si=DH_S7aSsAb-jdFyh

[marble lion]

But takes a toll on the dm

[unborn lotus]

But you gotta spend a lot of time cutting stuff out of paper lol

[knotty pasture]

Huh, just realized something

Since Starry Form counts as being Wild Shaped, you can't use Absorb Elements while under Starry Form right?

[wheat condor]

Helloo everyone I am breif mo and I am looking for a party Idk how to play but I am a quick a learner I have 2 friends with me and I wish to learn and have fun with all of you hehehehehhe interact if you can! I need a dm and preferably 3 or 4 people for our party, more and one person who wanna try their hands at being a dungeon master. Our timezome is (GMT+8), we're in the philippines so we don't know if we can often (sorry!) But still wants to try. DM me if interested, thank you!

[halcyon bison]

No, alternative things that consume your wildshape charges don’t count as being wildshaped

[stuck shuttle]

Welcome! If you’d like to learn the rules of the game theres #learn-to-play . #dnd-newcomers is the place to ask newbie questions and #find-a-game has the instructions on how to use this server to find a game

[wheat condor]

Okey thank you

[halcyon bison]

Also good morning people

[stuck shuttle]

Also you’ll probably want to edit your post. Both soliciting games outside of the lfg channels and sharing your real age is against server rules. Just want to make sure it doesn’t get pinged by the mods

[knotty pasture]

Hmm right, noted (referring to the Absorb Elements interaction)

[wheat condor]

Okie thank you noted

[meager fractal]

That seems a lot of fun. How to implement it for online games tho

[valid geyser]

hopefully now were getting harder combats in my weekly game and we're at level 6 (what he himself described as the point where power scales faster) my DM is gonna realize rogues arent that scary
I only did like, 44 damage with a crit to a creature with 190ish HP

[woven flint]

No? Lol
It's only when you're turned into an Animal

[halcyon bison]

44 damage at level 6 is not bad at all
You don't need to one shot everything to be powerful

I guess it was a crit

[valid geyser]

yeah, and i wouldve died in the fight anyway if the DM/bard remembered to re-apply the saving throw to a slow spell, also I got caught in two spell AoEs, one being a fireball the creature was immune to

DM's fault btw, that was an NPC they decided to throw into initiative (not meant to be mean btw, just slipped their mind that the fiend was immune to fire)

[halcyon bison]

Rogues indeed are squishy
I like playing tanks

[valid geyser]

the rogue I got is on the tankier side due to incredible HP rolling luck and the tough feat. He had like, 54 hit points at that fight (still level 5), which is around average barbarian level

[woven flint]

I like playing Tanks,
But I also like the in-between
Not too tanky and not too Squishy

[vale sage]

now that we have a pretty good idea that Dark Sun is coming to 5e (given the unearthed arcana), I wanted to ask yall here. What do yall hope to see changed in the setting given they'll probably be doing some rewrites?

[reef copper]

Evening*

[halcyon bison]

I've played lots of casters recently, and I'm good at just avoiding damage through positioning but I just don't think its very interesting to avoid all the damage

[woven flint]

I'm playing a Barbarian in a oneshot with the Pariahs Shield (A Magic item that allows you, as a reaction, to take damage for a creature within 5 feet of you from any source)

[valid geyser]

also at this session during level up the druid realized he just forgot to give himself a subclass. I didn't even notice since he was still being pretty useful

[halcyon bison]

Is morning where I am, but good evening to you as well

[woven flint]

It's a level 20 oneshot and he's a Dwarf Barbarian with over 300 hp lmao

[vale sage]

i know dark sun has had its fair share of criticism so if this isn't the right place lmk, i dont mean to stir anything up, but since reading some of the old 2e books a few months ago i kind of fell in love with the setting and how political it ended up being

[reef copper]

Yeah i know, i just did the same joie back :3

[worn lagoon]

nothing wrong with enjoying dark sun

[woven flint]

He also has a Ring of Amity and is bonded with the Paladin, so anytime he's healed, the Paladin gains the same amount of Healing 😎

It's glorious 🧐

[halcyon bison]

My best tank was a dhampir built around maximizing the benefit of bites

[woven flint]

My best Tank was my War Cleric with 7 damage resistances lmao

[halcyon bison]

How'd you get so many?

[woven flint]

He had resistance to most of the damage done by tge creatures except for force

[woven flint]

High level War Cleric: Bludgeoning, Slashing, Piercing
Tiefling, Infernal Heritage: Fire
Infernal Constitution Feat: Cold and Poison
And a Ring of Necrotic resistance

He was the only Frontline Fighter in that party as well lol

We had a Sorcerer, Wizard and a Ranged Fighter

[worn lagoon]

this is a steel type

[woven flint]

His AC wasn't super high, so he was always taking hits, but it just didn't even matter lol

[vale sage]

eh, seems like the sentiment online or in most spaces is that because the setting depicts political and challenging subjects it's uh, bad?

i read it out of curiosity going into it thinking it was gonna be a racist, conservative mess or something given how people talked about it but got the opposite despite one or two poorly aged things that are easy to change imo lmao

[woven flint]

They were up against the wall..
And HE was the wall.

[vale sage]

this is a hilarious build

[worn lagoon]

nothing wrong with consuming media with darker themes, it's just not for everyone and you have to be mature about the themes involved

[vale sage]

of course! idk art is inherently political imo and it feels odd for there to be such a stigma over depicting such subjects in media, especially when portrayed as being inherently evil

[woven flint]

He crushed a lot of combats
Barely anyone else in the group took damage because most of the enemies were afraid of this Cleric that was seemingly unphased by their attacks

[halcyon bison]

Do you typically play D&D at higher levels?

[vale sage]

that is hilarious

[woven flint]

The other three did a lot of lifting, but we were all always afraid that if Karkas went down the rest would follow soon

[woven flint]

I'm in a few lower level games
And a few high level games

Karkas is my pride and joy of a 15th to 20th level character lol

[vale sage]

ive yet to play a tanky character i dont think? i usually am the DM/GM, but the few times ive played i end up playing either a girlfail mage or like, the living embodiment of the "the worst guy you know just made a great point" meme 😭

[worn lagoon]

i stick to casters

[woven flint]

My Harengon Bladesinger once Negated a whole crits damage on himself

[worn lagoon]

which admittedly barely leaves any classes when i put it like that

[halcyon bison]

I've tried to go around and play every class, but I've never properly played a druid or ranger cuz I tried to make a ranger 3/druid 2 multiclass and it sucked to play so I stopped

[woven flint]

Over 70 something damage just not happening lol

[vale sage]

in a star wars dnd game i am a player in, im playing a codru-ji lady who is a little stupid but i love her

[halcyon bison]

I'm playing a druid it my upcoming campaign though :)
Tommorow

[vale sage]

shes a barbarian (or berserker ig) so i guess thats tank-ish?

[crimson gulch]

I love high level dnd. My current campaings are at levels 18, 16, 10, 5, 5 4, 3, 3, and 10

[halcyon bison]

That's a lot of campaigns o.o

[worn lagoon]

NINE CAMPAIGNS AT ONCE???

[woven flint]

I'm gonna be playing a Bugbear Gloomstalker Ranger soon

I've taken to calling him Bogeyman for the time being... since that's kinda what bugbears are in real life mythology lol

[crimson gulch]

Yes

[north hawk]

Are your high level campaigns all on VTT's? I heard high level campaigns are easier to run on VTT's with all the dice rolling.

[crimson gulch]

no, VTTS are an obstical, i run my online games with just owlbear rodeio, we roll dice and do the math our selvs

and my higest level games are currently all in person unplugged

[halcyon bison]

The only online d&d i've played was with people I know IRL, though I've joined a warhammer campaign with only two people I've ever met irl

[crimson gulch]

i cant stand foundry or roll 20 or any overtly complicated VTT, because in my experince the game becaomes about the vtt and not about the game

[north hawk]

I've played a lot of online d&d (mostly west marches style games). Honestly I prefer it, but I have a few IRL groups I've played with that were fun.

[crimson gulch]

i run all my games on paper like im sitting at the table with everyone, owlbear is just for maps and tokens, much like i would have minis and terrain on the table

[marble lion]

Yup best way to play for me

[woven flint]

Never played a game IRL, always online lmao
Always games with voice because I love Voice acting

[north hawk]

Same. I love voice acting my characters. It's fun.

[crimson gulch]

i do so much voice work

i just upgraded my audio equipment and hung some sound dampening curtians to decrease the echo when i broadcast for my online games

[halcyon bison]

I wish I could do voice acting :(
I've recently come to realize that since most of the D&D I've played is one off, typically combat oriented adventures I'm not actually very good at roleplay despite playing for a few years now
I'm trying to get better at it

Well more so improv

[crimson gulch]

it can take a while, ihave had players that take a year or more to really open up

[halcyon bison]

I might do voice training, and that would probably help

With voice acting anyways

[north hawk]

I run into this a lot. I crave rp but most groups I play with are combat oriented. I find if I just rp anyways, during combat and out of combat, I can carve out a little bit of rp time and encourage other players to try to rp.

[spring light]

i consider myself pretty strong in RP and I only have like 3 or 4 voices.
My voice
kind of feminine
old person
and goblin

kind of feminine is just me talking more softly

[halcyon bison]

I mean those are the only ones you really need, right?

[long swift]

my dnd group is a full time employee

[spring light]

oh, and haughty noble.

[long swift]

it went from 9 people to 4/5

[marble lion]

No scottish dwarf?

[north hawk]

Gandalf (from the movies) is a pretty easy voice to emulate and useful.

[marble lion]

The scottish dwarf is inspiring

He holds so many jobs
Blacksmith
Innkeeper
Mercenary
Miner
Mason
Sailor

[woven flint]

Yuh

[woven flint]

For me?
Elegant Fellow
Questing Knight
Depressed Frog
Khajiit
And a few others lmao

[scarlet marsh]

I often surprise a lot of people with how my voice sounds in comparison to my pfp

[halcyon bison]

Thoseare very specific

[woven flint]

Depressed Frog is gonna be the voices I use for my Bugbear
Just a deep depressing sounding rumble of a voice lol

[crimson gulch]

i have a huge range of voices because from age 10 to 16 i had a dental applaince in my mouth that took up all the space in the roof of my mouth, so my speech was very impeaded for 6 years, but i learned how to talk around it so very well that when it came out it was like taking off the training weights.

i do not reccomend this method

[halcyon bison]

I have a pretty wide range of voices I can do, I'm just not consistent or confident

[woven flint]

I can so many voices
But some are just impressions

I can a pretty good Peter Griffin, actually lmao

[halcyon bison]

Impressions are funny

The players meet the king, he sounds like squidward

[crimson gulch]

my villan coded voice is Mayor humdinger from paw patrol

[woven flint]

That's Hilarious

[cobalt owl]

Voices are pretty exhausting

I also am not someone who has a big range but I do my best

[valid geyser]

I pretty much only care to do voices in person

[rough basalt]

Voice training is pretty fun

[valid geyser]

Last time I did that I tried a wolverine voice which killed my throat. Now, thankfully I just have to do a French accent

[rough basalt]

Since you can just do it, for the most part

I was doing Lich voice rehearsing while I was doing dishes a bit ago

Just make sure you got water

[serene jolt]

My voices range from 'bad British accent', 'bad ?? accent that switches every time I talk', 'higher pitched voice', 'lower pitched voice', and finally my voice.

🤣 I don't have much going on here but I'm working on it.

[crimson gulch]

my liches sound elegant

[valid geyser]

Also I think DMing hurt my throat anyway since I usually had to speak up and I was talking a lot. As a player, less so

[rough basalt]

The one i was doing was an archmage of bladesinging so was acting out a scenario, was fun and inspired me to statblock all the lich's in my world since they are all named npcs

Now for actually doing it, which is the hard part

[marble lion]

Thats the essentials toolbox tbh

I assume the ??? Is like a cross between arabic, spanish and russian

[tawdry sentinel]

Foghorn Leghorn

[marble lion]

Rolled Rs, spicy Ss

Its the fantasy accent lmao

[serene jolt]

First it's British, then it's Scottish, then it's american-kinda, then it kind of turns a little German. It depends on the day. XD

[marble lion]

Oh i see a nordic variant

[serene jolt]

Most of the time, it leans a little Scottish

I'm doing my best but my best isn't great yet. The more I practice, the better I'll become.

[coarse ravine]

My Jamaican accent sometimes slips into a Scottish accent

[severe rampart]

Akin to the lich from Adventure Time?

[serene jolt]

Lol. Sometimes I'll be speaking in an accent and I'll suddenly lose it and say "Woah where'd my accent go?" And start grabbing at the air frantically. I'm a weird person. 🤣

[crimson gulch]

100%

[severe rampart]

That sounds awesome as hell, I've always loved harbingers of death in media

[crimson gulch]

adventure time is just a DND campaign

taken to the extreme

[lean lark]

Is the 2024 poltergeist overpowered for its CR, or am I misreading something with its rules?

[crimson gulch]

Nope, they are great

[lean lark]

I ran an encounter against 3 5th level players last weekend and they had to run away from just the poltergeist, I wondered if I was misusing its features

[tawdry sentinel]

Invisible isn't untargetable is the thing to remember, and it has low ac.

[crimson gulch]

if the party did not have radiant damage then ghosts like creatures are gonna be Tough

[lean lark]

Yeah, though since it's a bonus action to turn invisible and it can still move, the players have no idea where it is to target it

[crimson gulch]

the last time i ran one the Paladin got a Nat 40 (two nat 20's on a disadvantage attack) and the smite did it

[halcyon forum]

yeah invisible doesnt mean hidden

[lean lark]

It was a druid, an artificer, and a barbarian

[tawdry sentinel]

If it isn't taking an action to hide they do.

[crimson gulch]

if its attacking you they can hear where it is

[lean lark]

It can go into another room though

[crimson gulch]

they just cant see it, so they can shoot at it and swing weapons, they just have disadvantage on the attack

[lean lark]

Which is what it was doing the entire fight. Vanish, attack, phase through the wall

[crimson gulch]

awesome, you were doing it right then

party needs to learn about the ready action then

[tawdry sentinel]

They can ready an action as it becomes visible when it attacks.

But yeah, absolutely have your ghosts using the Spectral bit of their kit.

[crimson gulch]

it dose not become visable when it attacks

its not the spell, it just can be invisable at will

[tawdry sentinel]

Fair enough

[lean lark]

Spectral enemies seem pretty powerful unless the party has a cleric

Like banshees too are pretty scary for their cr

[crimson gulch]

monsters should be scary, they want to kill players

and they can, the dice decide who lives and dies

[halcyon forum]

the poltergeist has AC12 and 44 effective HP at best. its shouldnt be much of a challenge to a level 5 party normally.

[crimson gulch]

the first battle i ran with a level 1 party in a campaign was 2 of them, they were sailing on a boat to their destination and them there waters were HAUNTED

[humble cairn]

How much clues do you give your players about whether or not they hurt something when they hit it?

[crimson gulch]

4\6 players went down and it was a near TPK

[humble cairn]

Like, whether it had resistance or immunity from the damage, etc.

[halcyon bison]

I feel like it would usually be pretty obvious, especially for immunity

[crimson gulch]

i am 100% obviose.

"your fireball impacts the dragon head on and it washes overhim like warm bath water, you realise now the red dragon is immune to fire, it takes a deep breath and says "my turn""

[humble cairn]

So how much of a clue do you give them?

[humble cairn]

That's once they actually try something, right?

[halcyon forum]

zephyr was the one who had trouble with the Poltergeist

[north hawk]

I use very clear language to avoid confusion.

"It wasn't as effective as you'd expect."
"It had no effect at all."
"It was very effective."

[crimson gulch]

yes, the effects of their abilities is clear. same for resistances and vulnrebelities and such, if they want to study the creature as they see it they are free to take the study action

[humble cairn]

Is this followed up with the actual game terms?

[halcyon bison]

Yeah, don't tell them the creature's resistances/immunities before they use that type of damage, unless they make a check to study it or something

Or an NPC directly tells them

[north hawk]

"You notice the firebolt wasn't as effective as you'd expect." Personally I avoid saying it's resistant to fire damage or game terms, but I don't see any harm in someone using game terms. I just have a personal preference.

[marble lion]

I like hiding the word resistant too

But honestly if you just replace it with "not as effective as you think" thats just a lengthier and desperate attempt at hiding it

Instead say something like "the fire dies out almost immediately"

Or if its lightning "you see barely a muscle twitch" to show theyre not impacted much

Otherwise you might as well just say resistant no?

[crimson gulch]

these things need to be followed by the clear explination of the mechanical effect

[marble lion]

No

[crimson gulch]

for clarity sake imo

[marble lion]

Its definitely something you can do though

[halcyon bison]

Be careful to not make them misinterpret it as immunity

[marble lion]

Depends on the players

[steel moth]

yeah I do that too

[halcyon bison]

Maybe with newer players, but not in general I think

[marble lion]

Absolutely

[north hawk]

Functionally it's the same. It's just my preference to not use game terms because I think it's more immersive which is a style I enjoy.

[crimson gulch]

nah in general too, clarity is important. vague ambiguity just means your gonn have to double back when they try it again and are like WHAT you dident say it was immune?

[north hawk]

Which just slows combat down more.

[crimson gulch]

be clear with folks, it avoids issues

[marble lion]

Eh

Id rather run a game without that game terminology risking a possible hey

But thats just preference

[crimson gulch]

im running 9 campaigns from levels 3 to 18 currently and things like this are how i keep my combats running smoothly

[lean lark]

I generally let my players know if a creature is immune to damage from a hit

[marble lion]

Im running 1 game from time to time so i can afford things not running smooth

[north hawk]

I think that's fair. Whatever is working for you and you enjoy doing.

[humble cairn]

I feel like using mechanical terms for clarity is worthwhile, even if you're doubling back to speak in meta terms after giving your IC description.

[north hawk]

Man Invisibility and Hiding is so obtuse. Especially for new players. I feel like becoming invisible should by default give you like a DC 15 Hide.

[lean lark]

Yeah, you can give an OC description and then just above table tell the players "it's immune to X damage"

[humble cairn]

That's an example of good metagaming.

[lean lark]

The issue is it would make certain enemies also incredibly powerful

[halcyon forum]

they really managed to make the terrible 2014 hiding rules worse in 2024 yeah

[halcyon bison]

Invisibility is still pretty strong, but yeah the whole hiding system could definetly be improved

[crimson gulch]

describing thigns as they happen with exact game terms is not metagaming, thats just gaming

[halcyon forum]

but also I disagree that invisibility should be auto hide

hiding should not be invisibility in the first place

[north hawk]

So for example the Poltergeist. Uses a bonus action to become invisible. Player has to use an action to make a perception check to see the creature. I see that. If the perception check wasn't an action for the player and a free action at the top of their turn maybe it'd be better.

[humble cairn]

HP and initiative and other things are not IC and are thus metagame, which is not a bad thing.

[marble lion]

As a DM you have the role of judging when its even required to contest a perception

[north hawk]

You're right.

[marble lion]

For example if youre not moving, invisible and standing in the corner, i just wont let anyone notice you unless theyre somehow special

[halcyon bison]

Remember: people don't make perception checks unless they're looking for something

[lean lark]

Also, I do like using the terms wounded and bloodied for players to gauge how weak a monster is, and if I refer to a monster as "on its last legs" it means that a single average hit can finish it off

[halcyon forum]

except, the player still would know the space the poltergeist is in, since it didnt hide.

[crimson gulch]

you dont get to see it if you make a perception check, its invisable to its impossible to see

[marble lion]

But going across townsquare? Ok roll stealth to see how well you make it through
That said, being noticed wouldnt immediately be the same as if you were visible

[crimson gulch]

the 2024 rules for the hide action are a mess allright

[marble lion]

It would just lead to confusion or suspicion at first, unless people are already suspicious

[halcyon forum]

someone invisible but rolling badly at stealth? they make very obvious sounds

[marble lion]

No

Thats just not always reasonable

[empty thicket]

Welp, you can see something in the corner of your eye and catch your attention, doing a perception check would make you see it or not

[marble lion]

Imagine being invisible and walking in 200ft distance, youd have to start shouting to be noticed

[halcyon bison]

That's what passive perception is for

[halcyon forum]

i mean you can rule it differently as DM, but I think invisible is powerful enough without giving free hiding

[marble lion]

As a dm you need to know when to even care what stealth rolled for

In many scenarios, invisibility should literally just lead to not being detected
In many others, it wouldnt and rolls are required

[empty thicket]

yep, but sometimes "you saw a statue behind you, would you like to do a perception check?" is something that might help the players

[halcyon forum]

sure but if you get closer, you would notice the footstep sounds unless the invisible creature also hides

[marble lion]

Absolutely

[empty thicket]

"Okey, you made it, the statue was in the enter of the garden"

[marble lion]

Thats all im saying

[halcyon forum]

invisible should only mean auto hidden if there is absolutely no other way to detect a creature

[marble lion]

Air displacement, footsteps, cold breath, sand/grass shifting under their feet

[halcyon bison]

Yeah, sometimes that's good
I was moreso talking about from DM-side

[marble lion]

Yup

[humble cairn]

Deciding to roll a skill is not up to the player, it's up to the DM. But deciding to take the Search Action, that is something the player can decide for their character.

[empty thicket]

some take time and give clues, others just straight tell you to do the check and then tell you something

but sometimes the players dont catch any signal and then is better be straight with it

[humble cairn]

I'm a big advocate of using Passive Skills.

[halcyon bison]

I am aware
I'm just saying I prefer the former (edit, misspoke)

[buoyant oar]

Passive Perception exists and is called out for a reason.

[halcyon forum]

yeah its bummer they kinda shafted passive skills in 2024

[humble cairn]

Did they?

[crimson gulch]

huh?

[halcyon forum]

well at least I didnt see any new uses added

[reef tundra]

I am just as confused as the other two

[crimson gulch]

they still work exactly the same, they are good

[halcyon forum]

and perception got its role as hide DC taken away

[crimson gulch]

also no

[halcyon forum]

hiding is DC 15 now

[crimson gulch]

yes, and the DC to find them is their stealth roll

[halcyon forum]

it used to be PP

[reef tundra]

Not only do you need to beat the 15, but the perception also

[halcyon bison]

The DC to find someone who's already hidden is what they roll for stealth

[halcyon forum]

so less uses of passive perception

[reef tundra]

(I may be wrong about this part)

[buoyant oar]

Imo Bastion Turns were a good decision but not enough to completely supplement downtime activities.

[halcyon forum]

no, just the 15

[halcyon forum]

thats not a passive skill though

[tawdry sentinel]

That's in combat for the 15 is it not

[reef tundra]

Oh, whoops, I may have still been using passive perception on top of the 15

[crimson gulch]

no but if your passive perception is higher than their stealth, you have found them

[halcyon forum]

that is certainly one interpretation of the rules

[buoyant oar]

With the Hide action, you try to conceal yourself. To do so, you must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity (Stealth) check while you’re Heavily Obscured or behind Three-Quarters Cover or Total Cover, and you must be out of any enemy’s line of sight; if you can see a creature, you can discern whether it can see you.

[lavish flame]

I agree. I think itd be much better if they were both present. Bastion Turns work, but Downtime worked everywhere. Bastion Turns sorta feel like you need to be in or near your Bastion to care about them.

[halcyon bison]

More importantly, "Make note of your check’s total, which is the DC for a creature to find you with a Wisdom (Perception) check."

[halcyon forum]

which is an active check

[buoyant oar]

You stop being hidden immediately after any of the following occurs: you make a sound louder than a whisper, an enemy finds you, you make an attack roll, or you cast a spell with a Verbal component.

[crimson gulch]

On a successful check, you have the Invisible condition while hidden. Make note of your check’s total, which is the DC for a creature to find you with a Wisdom (Perception) check.

You stop being hidden immediately after any of the following occurs: you make a sound louder than a whisper, an enemy finds you, you make an attack roll, or you cast a spell with a Verbal component.

Passive Perception is a score that reflects a creature’s general awareness of its surroundings. The DM uses this score when determining whether a creature notices something without consciously making a Wisdom (Perception) check.

[south jay]

@willow fossil what makes you believe that PHB-24 is more reverse-compatible than its Playtest UA?

[halcyon bison]

Oh I see your point now
I would let passive perception work there though

[hollow stone]

the way passive insight works is weird, why is active WIS based but passive is CHA based?

[humble cairn]

It is?

[woven flint]

What?

[crimson gulch]

the stealth check sets the DC, and the passive percetion can find things without rolling

[halcyon bison]

Passive insight just seems to barely appear anywhere in the rules, I don't know what's going on there
It's not even in the rules glossary

[halcyon forum]

hmm, I see where you are coming from. never heard anyone connecting these two before.

[hollow stone]

yea, passive insight is 10+CHA mod from what i can figure out

[reef tundra]

I’ve only ever seen passive insight on dnd beyond, nowhere else

[humble cairn]

Love my Ranger's passive perception of 27.

[crimson gulch]

the more specific rule on passive perception, beats the general rule for hiding

[willow fossil]

I guess we first need to define what we mean by "reverse compatible." The 2024 PHB is a 5e rulebook, so all other 5e rulebooks are still legal to use for play with it. So for example, you can still use subclasses from Tasha's Cauldron, spells from Xanathar's Guide, etc. Is there something in particular you feel is missing or doesn't work with the new ruleset?

[woven flint]

Surely that's not right lol

[hollow stone]

i mean i assume it's your regular state of capacity to discern if someone is lying

[humble cairn]

Are you saying this is the rule, or are you reverse engineering from the Beyond sheet?

[halcyon bison]

yeah but it's severely underutilized in D&D

[buoyant oar]

Downtime is such a great tool. Pair it with paying PCs in silver instead of gold and you have yourself a much more believable world

[hollow stone]

i reverse engineered from Beyond, i did not find that in the rules

[pliant sapphire]

https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/123781826 My PC Passive insight scales with WIS clearly

[humble cairn]

This sounds like Beyond being wrong.

[halcyon forum]

Its funny, Ive seen dozens of discussions on stealth rules in 2024 before and never seen anyone make this argument

[steel moth]

I always thought passive insight is a dndbeyond thing

[crimson gulch]

yeah, because the folks that argue about the rules the most play the least in my experience

[south jay]

My key assumption about gameplay with any 5e source, is that it is automatically compatible with others, unless something states otherwise. As such the playtest material is fully compatible with everything in 5th edition as well. My problem with PHB-24 is that it replaces races, feats, class features, general rules, backgrounds, etc.

[humble cairn]

Mine, too: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1GmKnCFBKm/

[lavish flame]

realllll. my party is running through Dragon of Icespire Peak. paying them in 250 Silver Pieces makes the world feel a little realer

[woven flint]

Passive skills typically use the ability score they're associated with

[crimson gulch]

every skill can be used passivly if the DM calls for it

[south jay]

The playtest for PHB-24 only replaces its own glossary definitions, which just define actions, conditions, and things like Heroic Inspiration and Armor Training.

General gameplay mechanics. Furthermore, they only replace UA versions. A player can flex between UA and PHB-14 definitions for many of these things.

[hollow stone]

wait what? see i found it was CHA because i had rolled a 15 for INT and WIS but had 18 CHA, and my Passive Perception and Inv were both 12 while Insight was 14

[buoyant oar]

Common argument: "Players have all of this money and nothing to spend it on!!"

Fix: Pay them less.

[blissful ibex]

Insight is a wisdom skill
passive insight uses your mod for insight + 10
if you have +5 insight you have 15 passive insight
insight does not use charisma in any way shape or form unless you have a feature that says it does

[humble cairn]

Can you show me the character sheet?

[woven flint]

Do you... have expertise in Insight?

[south jay]

PHB-24 forces me to use the new Lucky feat and Paladin class, which I would never do, but with the playtest, I can mix [UA_0629-23] aka PHB Playtest 6 Rogue with PHB-14 Paladin, and that's legal.

[hollow stone]

i can't it's on my computer

[hollow stone]

i had Proficiency... oh i'm dumb

[crimson gulch]

Dnd beyond is bad at explaining the rules of dnd

[humble cairn]

If you're on your phone you can still access your Beyond account using a browser.

[south jay]

The UA allows access to many versions of things that are featured in PHB-24, without actually being required to use PHB-24 or be subjected to its reverse-compat rules.

[woven flint]

There ye go

They had Proficiency and forgot lol

[lavish flame]

real but also I struggle to not include a dragon and a hoard in my games

[humble cairn]

Problem solved.

[woven flint]

It happens

[hollow stone]

it adds your Proficiency Bonus to Passive skills if you have Proficiency in the Active?

[humble cairn]

For most basic stuff, Beyond is usually right, but yes, bad at explaining anything. Never try and reverse engineer rules from it.

[woven flint]

Yup

[steel moth]

having too much money has never happened to me

[blissful ibex]

Yes, Passive sensory skills are calculated as 10 + your modifier in the active version of that sensory skill

[woven flint]

Having Proficiency in a skill is all around, even for passive checks

[lavish flame]

fr??

I feel like its common for players to be sitting on 15K gold each with nothing to do with it

[hollow stone]

that's so weird, okay i guess lol

[buoyant oar]

Dragons hoard things not just money. (And most of that money would be copper and silver.)

[lavish flame]

honestly I like making the majority of money found in art objects and gems

the idea of my party hauling around portraits and sculpted busts like they just robbed the louvre is very funny to me

[severe rampart]

my party is almost always on the verge of bankruptcy

[buoyant oar]

Player: "I want to buy a revivify diamond."

Shop: "That will be 400 GP."

Player: "But but it says 300 GP."

Shop: "Yea that is what it is worth. That is what I paid for it."

[blissful ibex]

PSA, give your players downtime for crafting or training or reasons to burn the gold they make adventuring

[steel moth]

literally never happened to me

as a player my dms are super stingy ig

as a dm my players immediately spends it all either on magic items or try to gamble

[crimson gulch]

players get to rich? war economy pricing on healing potions

[reef tundra]

I honestly forget to give my players money sometimes

[severe rampart]

I have never been in a party with at least one member having 3 digit gold pieces

[crimson gulch]

at the end of my eve of ruin game they boght a 6 pack of Suprime healing potions for 40k gold

[woven flint]

One of the very rare times I say robbing a shop is justified /joking

[buoyant oar]

Literally changing standard Gold rewards to Silver fixed the adventure economy for me. Module says pay 2000 GP, pay 2000 SP

[reef tundra]

I should try fix that.

[severe rampart]

I mean... it's technically healthcare... so they're denying you healthcare by not giving you the revivify diamond

[reef tundra]

That sounds like a good bit of advice. I’ll use that when I next run a module

[steel moth]

big pharma strikes again

[woven flint]

Can't have health! I'm dead!!!

[crimson gulch]

i often dont sell diamonds in my games, they find a few in the course of the adventure though

[blissful ibex]

and if it's still not enough, change exchange rates so that it's 20 silver per gold, and keep gold costs the same as listed c:

[buoyant oar]

It also fixes the weird vibes of adventurers tipping a month's wages at the tavern lmao

[severe rampart]

My party is completely unoptimized and the DM is having to pay for it

[lavish flame]

oh yo changing exchange rates between coinage might be cooool. I'm running a game set during a war, I should do that

[blissful ibex]

there 10,000% is such a thing as not optimized enough, just as there is being too optomized

[woven flint]

Our War Cleric had to crush up a Diamond he was saving for revivify so I, the Celestial Warlock could cast Greater Restoration on myself and the Rogue to get rid of our Exhaustion after a fight...
We currently in Barovia in EOR lmao

[hollow stone]

it's equally funny to make dragons hoard objects that they figure are valuable, but dragons that don't live near cities don't have a basis for value, so instead they hoard objects like relatively small animals (which, to a dragon, is most of them)

[willow fossil]

You seem to be under a misunderstanding, because that is not correct. Quote:

The material here uses the rules in the 2014 Player’s Handbook, except where noted.

Anything that is written in the Playtests means it is "noted" as being different from the 2014 Players Handbook, which means you cannot use the old version of that content within that rules system. If Playtest 6 has a version of the Paladin class, that means the 2014 PHB Paladin is not legal for use in a game that uses the playtest ruleset. By contrast, if you're playing in a "normal" game, the DM gets to choose what 5e books are legal for use in play. Nothing in the 2024 PHB says you cannot use the 2014 PHB, so if your DM permits the use of that book, then you can still play as the 2014 version of the Paladin class, so long as you abide by the 2024 version of "Chapter 1: Playing the Game" as well as the new Rules Glossary

[severe rampart]

We aren't optimized, we're here for fun and flavor, but yeah we're a party of 6 people with less firepower than a team of 3 Warlocks of the same level

also we are a 100% draconic party (technically)

[lavish flame]

oh I do love putting animals into hoards. I often put cows and horses in hoards, cuz thats what I Imagine Dragons usually eat.

[knotty pasture]

Warlock firepower is pretty good though

[woven flint]

OH DAMN!
Waterdeep Tonight
I get to play my Old Tortle fella again 🧐

[knotty pasture]

Is it like a team of 6 Rogues or something

[severe rampart]

Exactly why I said warlock, friend

[woven flint]

A team of 6 Rogues would absolutely be outdamaging 3 Warlocks lol

[severe rampart]

At the start we had 3 bards, a fighter, and a light cleric, and a berserker barbarian

[blissful ibex]

you can do fun and flavor without being ineffective at the three pillars of gameplay

[knotty pasture]

... 6 Clerics? Actually now I'm curious, what could 3 Warlocks out-DPS

[severe rampart]

in canon, the glamour bard died of alcohol poisoning, so we got a paladin in exchange

[woven flint]

Where'd you get 6 Clerics from?

[lavish flame]

3 Bards + others sounds like a band and some groupies

[severe rampart]

Yeah we jokingly called ourselves the band

[hollow stone]

i also imagine them keeping the animals alive as pets, like a dragon hoarding a small colony of cats when the party first hears about it, and if they don't manage that in like a month it becomes a large colony of cats that begin tampering with the local ecosystem

[knotty pasture]

I was basing it off the assumption that SGs between Clerics don't stack so you can't just have 6 Clerics ramming into someone

[severe rampart]

I'm pretty sure the Valor/Swords Bard also multiclassed into some levels of rogue or wizard? I don't remember

[woven flint]

A Barbarian, Fighter and Light Cleric should be a decent amount if firepower, what the heck is your party doing? 😭

[severe rampart]

and I'm a lore bard with an insane support spell list

[severe rampart]

The fighter is good, the barbarian is also good, they make up for the party.. uh.. the rest of us are insane supports

[halcyon bison]

Chaotic insane

[woven flint]

Maybe instead of just supporting...
You should attack 🧐

[blissful ibex]

My druid/lock does this
especially after I rebuilt her for the nth time

tbf my bard/lock does too O_o

[severe rampart]

Just me alone... Guidance, Minor Illusion, Protection from Evil and Good, Invisibility, Blindness/Deafness, Mirror Image, Silence, Counterspell, Dispel Magic, Mass Healing Word, Hypnotic Pattern, Spirit Guardians, and Polymorph

[knotty pasture]

Get your Spirit Guardians up and ram into someone

[blissful ibex]

ooo what level

[severe rampart]

Level 8 Lore Bard

[woven flint]

At minimum 8th

Oop, I was about to say lol

[severe rampart]

the rest of my spells are used for charming...

[halcyon bison]

Polymorph has to be one of my favorite spells
Insanely broken, but very fun

[woven flint]

Charm and Fear honestly stink, I wish they were better

[severe rampart]

here's my only offensive spells... Vicious Mockery, Sacred Flame, Thunderwave, Spirit Guardians

I thought I had more I'm not gonna lie

[buoyant oar]

Bard is not designed to be hyper offensive

[severe rampart]

at level 10 I'm also planning to get Banishment and Scrying... for my character's backstory lore

[woven flint]

WOTC when they make Status effects but majority of monsters are just straight up immune making them useless for players:
/half-joke

[near karma]

what about hypnotic pattern and plant growth?

[severe rampart]

I do not have plant growth, Hypnotic pattern is more of a control, imo

[halcyon bison]

I think I would have fun playing a glamor bard
I like the theming on it

[woven flint]

They're not offensive, they're defensive because they prevent and hinder

[near karma]

oh I thought you just meant effective combat spells when you said "offensive"

[near karma]

isn't it both?

[severe rampart]

last combat encounter I turned our human fighter into a giant ape like goku, and he had fun destroying a giant bat

[hollow stone]

i got what i call a Warlock, i'm trying to get as many unique resource meters as possible, i'm doing BM Fighter + Warlock to have Second Winds, Action Surges, Manuevers, Spell Slots, and because i have Acolyte + Tiefling some Free Expenditures

[near karma]

you could look at it either way
it's offensive because it takes away enemy turns
it's defensive because it takes away enemy turns

[woven flint]

Ehhhh

I view hindering others as more of a defensive tactic, personally

[thin harness]

Hey whatsup im new to dnd im having my first campaign this sunday as a dm of course i also have 3 interesting characters but what i mean to ask is is it okay if i ask some questions here

[hollow stone]

i play videogames and they call this CC and call that offensive because it stops the enemy from playing the game

for example, casting Hold Person prevents someone from playing the game and therefore is an offensive capacity, even if it isn't an attack roll

[south jay]

My interpretation of the quoted rule is more akin to "the material is based on PHB-14, except where we do something different." I don't see it as an abslolute replacement statement, but I can see the argument for that interpretation. I just don't believe it's the only valid interpretation.

[thin harness]

League of Legends reference

[hollow stone]

no it's overwatch >~<

[thin harness]

Aw man

[halcyon forum]

Crowd control is not unique or was invented by either game

[willow fossil]

The point being, it’s still possible to use legacy character creation options if your DM permits them

[halcyon bison]

Bards know how to do crowd control both in the sense that they can cast spells and also that they are performers :)

[hollow stone]

this is correct, but what is also correct is that i learned the term from overwatch

[blissful ibex]

at level 8, the less optimized, more fun version of my primary character is a Preservation Druid (UA) 3 / GOOlock 5 with something like:
Cantrips: Dancing Lights, Druidcraft, Eldritch Blast, Elementalism, Guidance, Mending, Minor Illusion, Prestidigitation, Thaumaturgy
1st: Dissonant Whispers, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Detect Magic, Tenser's Floating Disk, Hex, Unseen Servant, Bless, Sanctuary, Find Familiar*, Speak with Animals, Absorb Elements, Fog Cloud, Healing Word,
2nd: Lesser Restoration, Protection from Poison, Enlarge/Reduce, Moonbeam, Pass Without Trace, Adapt Self, Detect Thoughts, Phantasmal Force, Suggestion, Misty Step
3rd: Clairvoyance, Hunger of Hadar, Water Breathing, Counterspell, Remove Curse

Skilled origin feat, Warcaster
EIs are: Pact of the Tome, Aspect of the Moon, Agonizing Blast, Master of Myriad Forms, Gift of the Depths
Though myriad forms could easily be Devil's Sight or One with Shadows
and is 1 level off of control flames for her 10th cantrip

[south jay]

Which rule in Chapter 1 of PHB-24 are you referencing?

[worn lagoon]

i have no idea why he decided on 5 hexblade 3 lore bard would be his split

[woven flint]

The most horrendous game ever

That I also occasionally play

[worn lagoon]

it's just... so random

[hollow stone]

there are worse games tbh

[woven flint]

Oh, I'm mostly referring to the amount of bad players

[halcyon bison]

I don't actually know much about overwatch or league of legends so I don't know why people dislike them so much
I do know that they're both a style of game I don't like though

[blissful ibex]

mostly for the fan/player base being rather toxic IIRC

[woven flint]

Poor Balancing, Toxic Player Bases

Blizzard Entertainment.

[hollow stone]

oh, yea, like 95% of people who play the game are at least 80% of the way to being 125% illiterate

[halcyon bison]

Toxic players are bad :(

grrr why are there so many good 2nd level spells to choose from

[hollow stone]

anyhow, dnd, where can i get more resource meters?

[humble cairn]

Resource meters?

[blissful ibex]

warding wind is also lovely

[halcyon bison]

Sorcerer, get metamagic points and sorcereus power or whatever it's called

[blissful ibex]

multiclass?
grab two levels of warlock and 5 of bard and you too can have 7 bardic inspirations per short rest

If you run College of the moon they're basically the fancy invisibility misty step that Archfey Warlock gets ontop of being a normal bardic, + you get druidic, a druid cantrip, and an extra proficiency

[hollow stone]

i have BM Fighter, which gives me Manuevers, Action Surges, and Second Winds for 3 resource meters, Tiefling and Acolyte for Free Expenditures which is another resource meter, and Warlock for Spell Slots and Esoteric Rites which is 2 resource meters

[hollow stone]

this is a great idea, yes

[humble cairn]

I'm slightly confused about the use of "meter" but okay you want limited resources. Magic items with charges are a limited resource.

An Enspelled Item with the Shield spell, for example.

[hollow stone]

ooo yes

get a shield enspelled with Shield

[blissful ibex]

or absorb elements

[halcyon bison]

Also the chef feat!

[blissful ibex]

absorb elements is really dang good for being a 1st level spell

or the lucky feat

[halcyon bison]

Or healer, if you count healer's kit as a resource bar

[hollow stone]

i might just make it Blitz from Rainbow Six: Siege by enspelling it with Color Spray

[halcyon bison]

And Lucky
I was thinking to myself "hmm what feats have resource bars? Not very many I think" but now I've found three

[blissful ibex]

ye, a lot of origin feats have them

I'm too partial to skilled though

[hollow stone]

oh and as a Warlock i can gain additional origin feats with Lessons of The First Ones

[blissful ibex]

having proficiencies just feels really nice and impacts all three pillars of play

[cosmic marsh]

Hi friends

[hollow stone]

since it's repeatable i could take 2 levels and get 3 origin feats (healer, chef, and lucky) for 3 additional resource meters

[humble cairn]

I don't think Chef is an Origin Feat?

[hollow stone]

oh it isn't? nvm then

[halcyon bison]

Healer and lucky are pretty good feats too

[sour cave]

Hey with describing barbarians unarmored defense. Since its constitution is it like you are hit but you are so tough you shrug it off or is it more you avoid and dodge just enough to only graze you where it doesn’t do actual damage

How do y’all describe it

[turbid vessel]

Kinda depends on what kind of barbarian I'm playing and what sort of narrative I wanna tell

Both are great explanations if either one works for your character

[halcyon bison]

In my interpretation HP isn't just how much you can get directly physically damaged
It's armor durability, stamina, generic magical wards, willpower, etc.

[reef tundra]

Once a friend reflavoured attacks missing him as his barbarian flexing at the right time and deflecting the attacks. It was peak

[severe rampart]

Showing off his muscles mid combat

[reef tundra]

Yup

There’s a reason barbs can roll intimidation using strength 😎

[sour cave]

But I gotta use a whole Rage to do that

I could be using that to just punch his head off instead

[hollow stone]

STR Stealth is genuinely so funny, bro flexes in such a way that the light reflects off his sweat in the same way as light is reflecting from the environment, rendering him invisible

[severe rampart]

Like a bald person?

[hollow stone]

i guess, sure

[humble cairn]

Alternately, you tap into primal power and begin to move with the grace and stealth of a panther.

[severe rampart]

I wonder how weak you can make a level 20 character be

[lavish flame]

1-2 levels in every class should get you pretty weak

[small heath]

Ok so I have a plan in mind for this situation I am in, for this campaign, and I need some advice:

There is this powerful entity that's trying to achieve godhood by believing a large population that they are their savior to a situation that threatens their survival (which this entity created).

My brain, with being a sorcerer, is thinking about using Disguise Self to fabricate a series of events to taint this entity's image to the population.

Is this a good idea or is there another way I can sway over the people's opinions. Note: this entity is our BBEG.

[shell crown]

Anyone know why dnd beyond isn't letting me make my wizard's origin feat tough?

[tawdry sentinel]

One of

You don't own the PHB, you're choosing the wrong origin.

[valid geyser]

i mean it hinges off a lot of unknown variables

[worn lagoon]

that can still probably upcast an ok spell to a reasonable level, how about lv3 in multiple martials then the rest?

[shell crown]

Hmm okay

[small heath]

Our party knows what he looks like, his voice, his personality, his goals, most of the powers he is capable of, and his next steps.

We figured this much out.

[shell crown]

I did think human gave me all the origin feats but does your background affect it too?

[small heath]

So my thought process was to use my speaking skills as a sorcerer through deception and persuasion to play a game of politics and run a smear campaign to discredit their image.

[tawdry sentinel]

If you don't own the PHB on beyond, there's only a handful of origin feats available to you.

You might also have chosen 2014 human.

[small heath]

In turn, fewer followers and believers.

[shell crown]

Okay then
Thx

[jovial shadow]

This probably the best place to get assistance. https://discord.com/channels/516367331358801950/520322372327440405

[blissful ibex]

what's with all the social pillar primary games that either skip over or relegate to narrative the entirety of the exploration pillar lately

everything advertsied is 'RP heavy character driven narritives with maybe some combat' and no mention of the third pillar at all, or mention that travel will basically be skipped over and handled naritively

[hushed mason]

I have no idea how to shift my game to be more "roleplay heavy". I'm running a series of published adventures, and they're very combat heavy.

[hot gate]

I've found that this largely depends on player engagement. I've ran the same adventure twice for two very different groups and there was like 400% more roleplay in the first group.

The second one treated the adventure like a series of encounters.

Both are fine, if you're into that sort of playstyle.

[blissful ibex]

like, the social pillar is fine but I'd prefer it not swallow the entirety of the exploration pillar and half of the combat pillar

[raw peak]

what is your ideas on a dragonwolf beastmaster companion?

[compact basalt]

I am kinda new to dnd but not new to roleplay and found that it really depends on the people. Some engage more, some need a push and some prefer to stay quiet. I think it is best to just give them the opportunity and see how it plays out

[hot gate]

I hear you on that, but the best advice I can give is to try and suss out the degrees of particular pillars in a session 0.

[blissful ibex]

true

It 100% is a qustion on my session 0 list

just disheartening to see so many social pillar heavy games lately both here, on r/lfg, and on another discord that I'm on that advertises games

[rough basalt]

Neutral or combat heavy games are the minority I think.

[blissful ibex]

like 50 games are adversised and 48 say 'RP'/Social heavy

[hushed mason]

I'd like to sit in on some games considered to be RP heavy.

[hot gate]

Might be a local phenomenon.
Sometimes something happens in a larger cultural context that causes people to try and want to run games a certain way.

[blissful ibex]

or are on some weird homebrew that is basically not 5e seeing as they replace every class and species
or run at like midnight, etc.

[rough basalt]

There's a lot of aspects to exploration that a lot of people just don't wanna engage in and a lot of people just treat combat like it's a plague.

[heady perch]

Ello

[hushed mason]

It's even harder trying to find a 3.5e game that hasn't been homebrewed into some twisted mutation.

[blissful ibex]

everyone always complains that ranger is basicly useless because none of them are actually running the exploration pillar at all

[blissful ibex]

it's even harder too because of the few games that aren't 70~80% social pillar, a good chunk of them wont allow plasmoid q_q

[severe rampart]

it's hard to separate from the group, and I'm too shy to do it because they might think I want a solo game

I've rarely ever split from the party, besides Descent to Avernus

[blissful ibex]

Like I have other characters but I don't have anywhere near as much fun on them as I do with my primary >.>

[rough basalt]

The unfortunate reality is if you want specific playstyles as a player, you have to dm and build a group that likes what you're running, and wish for the miracle that one other player will DM and runs a non-social game.
Or spend the same amount of time waiting till you can find one.

[severe rampart]

Yeah, still, exploration pillar for ranger is rarely ever explored because of that

[verbal marten]

hi

[severe rampart]

Hello

[rough basalt]

Ye a dm that doesn't ignore the exploration pillar is a unicorn

[verbal marten]

i never played dnd

[severe rampart]

interesting, so you'd like how to learn to play? #learn-to-play

[blissful ibex]

just gonna take druidcraft and cast it each morning

[verbal marten]

yeah

[severe rampart]

head on over to #learn-to-play , if you have questions you can ask here or #dnd-newcomers

[rough basalt]

And if they don't ignore the exploration pillar, players just can with goodberry yeah

[verbal marten]

ok ty

[heady perch]

Hru guys?

[blissful ibex]

like, that part of it is fine; thet're at least eating the opportunity cost of a prepared spell and spell slots

[severe rampart]

Doing well, final exams part 2 in 7 hours, and after that I might be able to finaly play DnD again

[rough basalt]

Yep that's what makes it fine

[blissful ibex]

because that way you at least feel like you're doing something

[rough basalt]

However, there's definitely ways to use the exploration pillar still

[compact basalt]

Exams coming, trying not to lose my shit while I take part in a social study experiment

[blissful ibex]

ye, I have a whole list of suggestions

[rough basalt]

Weather, Phenomena, Hostile Environment to traverse.

[severe rampart]

Funnily enough when we did explore a place we got separated quickly, when the human fighter and I tried to regroup with the others we accidentally ran into the big bad of the session

[blissful ibex]

encounter tables, not just dropping the party into the next encounter and making them look for it a bit,

[rough basalt]

Splitting the party is good actually

[blissful ibex]

scouts are necessary

[compact basalt]

Sending that message to my dm rn

[severe rampart]

Makes for a LOT of funny moments

[rough basalt]

Hit players with an Alien Vs Predator dungeon where the layout changes and can lock people off.

[compact basalt]

Although she really tries to do that

[spice stump]

How do DMs even make this stuff

[rough basalt]

Depends on how you run

[severe rampart]

the party split into two, the draconics, and then me with the human fighter

[rough basalt]

It's pretty easy if you can handle it Theatre of the Mind wise.

[spice stump]

I run off hopes and dreams and tears

[rough basalt]

As a VTT user, it's a lot of management

[spice stump]

Whut are you playing?

[rough basalt]

As a VTT user, my creativity can be a bit halted by technology on occasion

[spice stump]

Stop using technology and gaslight your players into thinking they're in dnd and everything you say is reality

[rough basalt]

Tho, if a Boss has a phase 2, I can easily make it so the room gets dark and the flames lighting the place snuff themselves out. Then drop the phase 2 lighting and music.

[spark sonnet]

Hey hello guys so there is a guy he wants to join the server but he is having some verification problem where can I talk to moderator about this ?

[spice stump]

I'm not sure but i think #moderator-support

[rough basalt]

Reminds me.
It's been so long since I got to design a boss fight.

[spark sonnet]

Ok I’ll try there thanks

[spice stump]

Why are you up bro

[modest cairn]

Unsure.

[spice stump]

Go sleep we want you healthy

[modest cairn]

That’s that and this is this.

[spice stump]

Fair

[olive scroll]

I want to multiclass warlock into blood hunter how many levels do you recommend putting in blood hunter?

[lavish flame]

0 levels tbh

[scenic zinc]

Is the purpose of this mechanics or narrative?

Because honestly... that's going to make things difficult mechanically.

[tall forge]

I mean, my RECCOMENDATION is -1 levels into bloodhunter

[uncut zenith]

BH is kind of a bogus class in general imo, but on top of that iirc from a mechanical POV that would be a MAD combo

[tall forge]

But if youre dead set on it, it depends on what you want out of it

Or just respec into the blood hunter warlock subclass

[scenic zinc]

People... this is just bean soup theory at practice. The person is saying they want to do the thing. There's no need to go "ewwwwww bh!"

[valid geyser]

I’m assuming profane soul. How would that work? Since both have pact magic

[tall forge]

Oh i just mean fully giving up warlock and fully going into profane soul

Neither warlock nor blood hunter are that great at multiclassing

At least not as the main class for warlock

[hollow stone]

i mean you can argue how to multiclass warlock, but i've never even played with a blood hunter

[uncut zenith]

Warlock is a decent MC with other CHA classes, but mix it with BH and it’s just gonna be MAD

[tall forge]

Real MAD, youll have to gish it

[hollow stone]

MAD is Mutually Assured Destruction in this context, right?

[tall forge]

Plus itll be a little bonus action heavy most likely

[halcyon bison]

I'm MAD >:(

[scenic zinc]

Multiple Ability Dependent, in case you're not joking.

[halcyon bison]

Having lots of bonus actions is a good problem to have

[hollow stone]

i wasn't, thank you

[tall forge]

Not if all of your good features are stacked mostly on a bonus action

[vagrant quartz]

question, why whould i even continue spirits bard after lvl 6?

[tall forge]

Bc bards just a good spellcadter

[scenic zinc]

To get more out of the base class?

[lean lark]

Bards are just cool

[valid geyser]

Because magical secrets is quite fun

[hollow stone]

actually, in a really weird way i've found that with Pact of The Blade making your attack mod CHA based, i've found you can semi coherently multiclass Warlock and a martial like Fighter or Rogue

[tall forge]

Its a 9th level caster, thats already the main reason

[vagrant quartz]

i guess but its really underwhelimg compared to the other bards :C

[scenic zinc]

I mean... that's kinda your opinion. Which you're certainly entitled to, but it's still an opinion.

[worn lagoon]

i mean, what else are you gonna grab?

[molten pumice]

I just built a significantly beefy light cleric celestial warlock who has 18s in both cha and wis. I think people tend to treat needing multiple abilities as a worse thing than it is. Has folks missing out on neat combinations imo.

[tall forge]

Your options are lower the highest spell level you can cast by multiclassing

Or just casting up to 9th level spells

[vagrant quartz]

dont get me wrong, i ADORE the subclass its so cool but jeez i dont get anything that cool past lvl 6

[worn lagoon]

and what's your dex/con like

[hollow stone]

meta would probably be Warlock + Paladin, since Paladins also get some mileage from CHA which would bring less focus on having good STR to hit your attacks

[valid geyser]

I mean all bard subclasses only get one feature after level 6

[scenic zinc]

The secret is to play the character. Stop looking at characters as though they're just their sheets.

[worn lagoon]

multiclassing overall feels really bad to even consider for full casters unless you remove spells above lv5 from the equation

[tall forge]

Also like…. Bards are one of the better base classes in the game

You grt plenty to do

[valid geyser]

That’s kind of an every bard issue that their level 14 isn’t a gigantic feature

[modest cairn]

Cleric is amazing too due to the versatility.

[vagrant quartz]

i guess ill try to get the bardic dice up

[uncut zenith]

imo the issue isn’t that Spirits bars doesn’t get anything cool after level 6, it’s just that it doesn’t get anything brand new. Iirc Spirit bard’s capstone feature is mostly just making the subclass’s base feature better/giving it more options. That’s cool to me, even if it isn’t something completely different.

[molten pumice]

14 dex, still easily got an 18-20 ac, and 12 con but still easily dealing with over 100hp, which kinda goes to my point. You can work around most things. Even if I wanted higher str instead of using a pact weapon, I could get the gauntlets of ogre power for any physical attacks or str stuff I needed

But if the goal is to be someone with two high casting stats there are ways to do it

[vagrant quartz]

i like the randomness of the roll, i dont even want to roll twice actually XD

[worn lagoon]

if you had prior knowledge of being able to get a stat-setting item like that then needing multiple mental stats seem a lot less awful

[tall forge]

Most full spell casters dont get particularly amazing capstones or subclass final features

[blissful ibex]

headband of intelect is generally not too hard to get a hold of at least being an uncommon

[severe rampart]

opinions on having a traitor in the party? like a double agent working for the BBEG behind the scene

[worn lagoon]

if it didnt practically shoot you in the foot in regards to spell progression i'd never play anything but sorcerer 3/rest in wiz

[pearl idol]

Heya all

[tall forge]

If its an npc, awesome if done well

A player, never