dnd-discussion

[fossil hollow]

"How do you wanna do it" when a monster dies adds some hype as well

[livid slate]

This is def something I adore doing when I'm player! Noted

[dark pewter]

Honestly, that's maybe the best general advice: Run a combat for your players that you'd have fun being a player in. And keep taking feedback, obviously. Don't forget that the DM is playing the game, too.

[livid slate]

Any ideas on this?

My first version was just one type of enemy that was weak, then I added more variation and pact tactics (to try to encourage them to kill the enemies before the main one to not make them get stronger), and that still slowed down the game

[fallow blade]

This snow storm is gonna kill me chat if the roads are too icy my party’s wont be able to do our session 2

[livid slate]

That's unlucky

[empty thicket]

Forced, mb
Spells that give them debuffs and make them do rolls for save

[livid slate]

Ooooh

So instead of attacking to damage use attacks for alternate reasons that still involve the player?

[empty thicket]

yep, call it make them float and them slam on the ground, call it polymorph, even blind//deaf can work
Make a character be deaf and ask him to deaf himself in the call if you all are using Discord or ask him to mute his allies until he break the deafness

or make X kind of enemy attack X player forcing them to either the other allies to protect him or others stuff

Even can use Assassins hidden in the scenario

[livid slate]

Oh! I think I'm getting something else your implying. I force team synergy?

As in I force them to coordinate and defend each other so it doesnt feel like. I'm having a a1 on 1 with everyone?

[empty thicket]

yep, this and other many stuff.
Make them to understand that every encounter must be taken in some way.
The martials go forward, then they get attacked and focused by everyone because they isolated themselves
The team stay too close with each other and there is a caster, make it have some AOE spell and force them to scatter, etc. etc.

[bronze marlin]

Guys I am new to the game and I don't know how to join a campaign I have learned about it a lot though can anyone invite me to a campaign i am a sorcerer

[livid slate]

So I reward smart behavior punish bad decisions/boring ones?

[livid slate]

This server has a join campaign thing

[livid slate]

https://discord.com/channels/516367331358801950/1070720656917938227

Here bud, youll have the info needed right here

[bronze marlin]

oh thank you

[fallow blade]

Very

[livid slate]

Did you reach it in time?

[fallow blade]

Cause me specifically I can’t see alot of my friends that go to other school besides these session😭

[empty thicket]

Yep, if they go full monkey do bonk they get punished, but not always.
With certain enemies//levels

[livid slate]

Oh?

[empty thicket]

Yeah, with animals you can expect them to go wild and savage
With some tribal group kinda
But with some professional bandits you expect some strategy

[livid slate]

One last thing I believe!
How do you deal with multiple attacks from minions

[empty thicket]

being a player or a Dm?

[livid slate]

It seems to me when i have so many minions I try to be smart and seperate my attacks but it takes a billion years

[livid slate]

DM. Like with necromancers or just a bunch go enemies

[errant vapor]

im tempted to run a bunch of Easy Campaigns for new players. like Phandelver , Icespire Peak, Storm Lords....I miss the Easy ones... ahh the memories

[empty thicket]

welp, make them basic attacks easy to track or a special condition attack, if 3 to 5 enemies are around a player they do a group attack and do lots of damage to that player.
My dm normally do that if its too much enemies of one kind, he do a group initiative of them and move them 1 time and do 1 attack or action with them in that turn, not everyone of them but with some
+4 skeletons, roll their initiative and when its their turn he move some or all of them.

now if its less enemies or some special enemy give them their own initiative.
Call it a heavy skeleton or a ghoul

[livid slate]

Interesting.

Got it thanks!

[empty thicket]

at the end try things out and finally see which your players and you enjoy and understand more

go slowly adding the difficulty, not instantly because will be a train crash on them

[tepid basalt]

can i make dndbeyond dark theme?

[fossil hollow]

on your character sheet yeah

[pallid oracle]

Necromancers are super cool, I just wished instead of having lots of undead that you just got a couple of really strong undead instead that level with you. Having an army of skeletons is cool and all but not for the rest of the party

[empty thicket]

teh economy action is obliterated

[cobalt owl]

Cannon fodder vs Solo Necromancy type generals

[pallid oracle]

I forgot the exact name of the channel but its something Pointy Hat (I think) that did a really good video on changing Necromancers.

[empty thicket]

The idea isnt bad, the thing is that most of time the undeads ate your bonus actions or actions.

[pallid oracle]

Dont they have their own turn orders?

[empty thicket]

and lets be honest, most setting dont like seeing undead people walking in the place

[woven flint]

So, In the oneshot I'm currently in we're testing out the UA's for
New Storm Herlad Barbarian
Vestige Warlock
Mystic Monk
And
Spellguard Paladin....
And we are royally MURDERING everything lmao

[pallid oracle]

"I dress them up with my disguise kit! "

[empty thicket]

oh wait, might be mistaking it with summons or other stuff

[pallid oracle]

Yeah as far as I understand, animate undead spell has your undead have their own action economy. Thats what really bogs down the game, because you go through each skeletons attack.

It doesn't really scale well either. A skeleton at the end of the day is still just a skeleton.

[empty thicket]

make them a group and attack with all of them at the same time, less hassle but more risky//reward becuase if they miss all miss but if one land all land

[empty thicket]

add them magic items or strats, strap magic bombs on them or smt like the breachers from clash royale or smt

[pallid oracle]

Yeah thats how I'd do it too, lots of DMs do it this way. Makes it so much simpler. Id also dangle the carrot of instead of "quantity" of undead, Id ask them if they would rather have a couple "quality" undead. That way it at least scales to something potentially scary for enemies.

dang twenty +2 to hit Skeleton missing everything

[empty thicket]

4 normal skeletons = 2 upgraded skeletons
Unless you want to do like an ant swarm and suffocate the enemies

and then harvest their skeletons from their dead bodies for frighten them.
Lets hope your party get used to it.

[vale sage]

What's better with the spell, summon shadow spawn, fury or despair?

[coral lake]

How to optimize an ancients paladin to be the tank of the party? (24 rules)

[harsh hinge]

You'll wanna head to #optimization!

[woven flint]

Probably Fury

If you can use the scream thing to frighten something, then it has advantage on attack rolls against the creature

[celest sail]

What’s the consensus on UA Hexblade currently? I’m really into the idea of a melee character dishing out curses so I’m really excited for its (probably) eventual release but seems like they really don’t want you to have medium armor >.>

[spring glen]

I never group my enemies up

[mellow ether]

Anyone ever play a swarm keeper?

[blissful ibex]

I played a 2014 Circle of Spores Druid / Swarmkeeper Ranger in CoS

[halcyon bison]

Going home from D&D session :)

I had fun but I am sleepy now

[fair summit]

Played a [Swarmkeeper](#dnd-arts-and-crafts message) once in Curse of Strahd, one of my favourite characters I've played 😎
Sadly left the game for various DM related reasons, but really wanna use him again at some point 😭

[blissful ibex]

Swarmkeeper is just such a nice vibe for a CoS campaign

[fair summit]

So many fun flavor options for so many different situations and settings~

[celest sail]

I’m probably going to play a gloomstalker for my DnD club group and the ranger sux jokes were already flying in the meeting 😭 I don’t feel discouraged though idk why but gloomstalker in particular just seems so cool

[glass granite]

It’s a meme, and an overused one

[crimson gulch]

and the death toll for this months games goes up to 9, Prismatic Spray violet rays go brrrrrrrr

[chrome rune]

sup

[glass granite]

The sky!

[chrome rune]

lolll

[celest sail]

i’m pretty excited because i’ve always loved the idea of being a tracker/scout and it’s probably good to play something other than warlock once in a while

[blissful ibex]

see, I play a Druid/Warlock who is basically a tracker/scout with healing and utility spells XD

[fair summit]

Ranger sucking tends to be about the original one in the PHB, which got a lot of features most DMs tended to not use, like being good at traveling in specific terrains. Since Tasha's they are actually a great and fun class 😎

[blissful ibex]

and the 2024 ruleset was very kind to base ranger (except for all the stuff surrounding hunter's mark )

[cobalt owl]

Something something "the major problem with ranger is most people opted to not deal with one of the 3 pillars of the game"

[woven flint]

Holy Crap, Folks

Used my Ring of Amity to make my Paladin friends attack a Crit
Holy Avenger +5th level divine smite + The passive smite damage and Holy weapon...
And we did over 140 damage to a Lich >:p

It was peak

[whole vapor]

Any utc+12 friendly games ?

[karmic pendant]

I recommend looking in #looking-for-players and just wait until you find one

[whole vapor]

Thanks appreciate that

[burnt valley]

And people kept choosing Hunter's Mark

[formal tulip]

hunters mark is pretty good as ranger....what was their subclass usually?

my first time i chose beastmaster

[empty thicket]

im using hunter for the damage upgrades mostly.
The idea in my character is hit harder and the most further away from the enemies and mostly using long range weapons
I will put hunters mark or any other offensive spell in mine

is 2014 so i have those explorer and foe thingy, sadly

[formal tulip]

right makes sense then i expiriment alot with different classes still gettin the groove on what i like... its been awhile since i last played dnd

[empty thicket]

i will kinda do the same, for now i will see how it goes and how the campaign go.
The chances that i will have to kill a betrayer in the team arent low so... will see

[formal tulip]

ah a duel to the best man winn i say

[empty thicket]

Its a sorcerer, he betrayed me in a point and i wont let it slide, its even siding with the giga bad guys.
He will only last 2 shoots.

[formal tulip]

seems legit hehe

[humble cairn]

Beast Master is really really fun! I'm currently playing one.

[humble cairn]

Hunter's Mark gets outcompeted by other things pretty fast, but it's good at lower levels.

[formal tulip]

i think it was ranger that had this but i tryed gloomwalker at one point and i thought it was pretty cool

let me double check

gloom stalker thats the one

[humble cairn]

Gloomstalker is popular.

[zenith pivot]

Gloomstalker ranges from 'solid pick' to 'campaign breaking' depending on what campaign / module it's picked for

[formal tulip]

i think what i was going for was a corrupted deal where as time went on my ranger got more and more corrupted as time went on

[zenith pivot]

back in 5e14 days I played one in dungoen of the mad mage... being effectively insivble permanently against 80% of enemies is an interesting game mechanic...

[lavish flame]

Part of me wishes there were higher and higher level "Mark" spells like how there's many different Smites

[zenith pivot]

1st - 1d6, 3rd - 2d6, 5th - 3d6 would have been nice scaling for ranger

but ranger always got the shot end of the stick in dnd

[formal tulip]

that also bein said im also kinda a cliche when playin ranger and go some form of elf...but usually im either wood elf or half elf

[lavish flame]

I'd also want range increases and greater benefits to tracking a creature with a higher Mark on them

[formal tulip]

i tried to recreate a character my first dm made to honor it but i made him a bit different than he did

[humble cairn]

I mean .. I feel like my Ranger is pretty good.

[formal tulip]

he was an orc but rather than being totally brutish and melee based i kinda made him delve a slight bit into necromancy

[humble cairn]

Granted I mostly ignore Hunters Mark and get by fine.

[zenith pivot]

you playing 5e24? i have no idea how they play in that... base phb 2014 ranger was pretty dog (but had a few good niche builds). Later they buffed the heck out of it and it ended up being a weird class that had a lot of useless features, combined with extremely overtuned features

[lavish flame]

yeah idk. in 2024 the Ranger consistently did... everything the best

they were the most skilled/expertised PC, they output the most damage, they excelled in adventuring in a variety of environments

[formal tulip]

i loved the fact i made my ranger skiled in forests...and never ever was put in a forest XD

[zenith pivot]

this was one of the core issues with 2014 ranger

you picked certain senarios and if you were in them, the benefits were so great that you deleted an entire pillar of play (such as having to find food, water, and avoid random encounters) and if you weren't in that scenario, the class feature didn't exist

[formal tulip]

then as a secondary later down the line i found i was always in the plains so i made him skilled in plans...then never was in plains XD

[zenith pivot]

yeah seems about right lmao

[tight linden]

Hey Chat

[lavish flame]

yeah. the new Exploration stuff involves Skill Checks, and Ranger now gets Expertise (commonly in Survival) and they are just the best explorers for that reason

[formal tulip]

i have made some pretty over powered characters just based on luck without even needing the extra buffs

[tight linden]

I'm looking to do some experimentation with using Google's Notebook LM to act as a DM/GM for some upcoming test runs. Has anyone here had any experience in that?

[spring glen]

Ranger really shines with travel mechanics to bad it's overlooked

[zenith pivot]

it needs long and complex prompts to function at all, and the context window is small which essentially means the game's rules / continuity will break down within about 10 - 20 responses... I have run lots of local LLMs and none of them are good unless you want to run very short scnearios in vacuum

[tight linden]

That's actually incorrect - the context window for chatgpt was indeed small small but when it comes to googles Notebook LM you're able to upload around 50 source documents, with each having a 500,000 word capacity.

[zenith pivot]

yes but it cannot load all of these into memory... when you request information from these documents the LLM does an API call to an interpreter and key-word searches for information related to your query. This is then added to the model's context window, bloating the chat even further and degrading further responses

Trust me LLMs do not make good DMs, even flagship cloud models like GPT 5.2 will slowly degrade, no matter how many reference documents you provide them with

TLDR you still need friends to have a good experience playing D&D

[spring glen]

But people are scarry 🤣

[formal tulip]

hehe yeah but its rewarding

[humble cairn]

Ranger is still good even without that emphasis.

[tight linden]

Chatgpt is no longer the leader in LLMs it's Google. Have you tried Google llm specifically?

[spring glen]

That's why I got into DMing, I am socially awkward and am shy around people and have no self confidence and because I got into DMing I'm improving

[zenith pivot]

I've followed Gemini closely and found it to consistently disappoint. It's worth noting that even though these models boast 500k, 1m, 2m token context windows, their responses will break down much before they get anywhere near their 'limit'.

But honestly this isn't D&D talk. Feel free to do what you want but from my experience there is simply no LLM, local or commercial, which can effectively DM any D&D campaign for longer than a one-shot's worth of content.

[lavish flame]

I freakin' love travel. I use an 8 mile hexgrid and have a big table for how far you can travel in given times based on ur Speed

[silver field]

Better overall class Wizard or Sorcerer? (in both 2014 and 2024 rules)

[lavish flame]

I love it. It makes time pass in the game, people feel like they've been adventuring for a while because the distances add up

[zenith pivot]

in 2014 Wizard was a clear winner, Sorcerer simply gets too few spells

They feel like a wizard but missing most of the versatility that makes wizard great

[lavish flame]

for 2024 i'm gonna have to say Wizard cuz swiss army caster

[spring glen]

My wizard is a spell gremlin I collect spell scrolls like Pokemon

[lavish flame]

I just recently pilfered a necromancer's spellbook!!! I'm an Evoker so I got a ton of new spells to toy with

[zenith pivot]

hope you have the money to scribe all those spells 👀

[spring glen]

My wizard has a spell book they are studying with arcana checks for RP

[lavish flame]

The party does! I just gotta convince them to let me break the bank

[tight linden]

Respectfully, I disagree, you seem very "traditional" in your mindset on this, and while there are many people that don't want the game to change from its traditional form, there are many people experimenting with this concept to great success.

https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/s/LFR2WeT0yG

As I said this is an experiment and im looking for other players that are interested in that experiment

[zenith pivot]

bro if you're "experimenting" and not playing "traditional" D&D, that's not D&D, that's fantasy calvinball in which case it definitely does not belong in this chat 🤣

[spring glen]

My party is terrified of my necromancer I kinda just yoink spell scrolls 🤣 I'm only level 3 with like 30 spells rn

[tight linden]

So you speak for the entirety of this discord then?

[zenith pivot]

I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that this particular discord server would probably be biased against AI in general, given it's destroying the livelyhoods of artists and writers

[tight linden]

Technology has changed all arts over the years, and the ones that thrived were those that adapted to that change... Your statement is as old as time "tv killed the radio star"

[zenith pivot]

OK now this chat definitely doesn't belong in the D&D general discussion

[spring glen]

Ai just praises you like your some kind of god with no bad ideas

It's not that great for DMing it doesn't and will never be a good representation for peoples reactions in a real world sinario

[tight linden]

Ok, it was ok before when you wanted to discuss your opinion but when I make a point you don't like you insist on moderation. Got it.

[zenith pivot]

I was happy to engage when it was on topic, and I shared my thoughts (that it's a feeble imitation of an actual D&D game and no technology exists currently to improve on that). You can't just say "i disagree" 🤣 that's a total non-sequitur.

Surely you can find discord servers dedicated to solo play RPGs using LLMs?

There are communities for everything, but text-based roleplay with an LLM is not D&D, never will be, and honestly doesn't really make much sense to talk about in a D&D server

[glass granite]

LLM?

[zenith pivot]

ai like chatgpt and google gemini

[glass granite]

I see

[craggy summit]

Using AI to play d&d isn't the same as actually playing d&d. I'm lucky enough to have an irl group to play with at our LGS and honestly 80% of the fun is from the social aspect of it. Infact I even met my girlfriend there lol

Now im not gonna lie, I did use AI to play a lil bit of d&d (everweave app) but that's because I got ads for it and was curious to try it. And yeah it's fun but it's by no means a replacement. Just a filler

[glass granite]

Hi not gonna lie, I’m Nugget

[craggy summit]

I set myself up for that one 😭

[knotty pasture]

Ah so this server is anti AI so at best you probably won't get the discourse you're looking for, at worst mods will come in and put a stop to it

[near karma]

as it should be
AI is cringe

[humble cairn]

Just to clarify what Sublime is saying, there is an explicit rule in this server not to post AI generated material.

That rule: #1133105533553999995 message

[tall forge]

I just dont know why youd want a computer to dm for you

[glass granite]

Convenience, as most things AI

[tall forge]

Yeah but even ignoring the whole “doorman problem”

Its a social game

Removing social aspects seems weird

[hot reef]

It’s completely fine to discuss (within the bounds of the other rules)

[humble cairn]

I mean there's BG3 for a D&D video game.

Among other great video games.

[zenith pivot]

Noone would call it "D&D" though (as in refer to it as if it were equivelant to the TTRPG), even though it's an absolutely brilliant game

[hot reef]

$60, platform limitations, and limited replayability
Great game ofc

[tall forge]

“Limited replay-ability” is something i disagree with, unless youre saying there IS a limit

[humble cairn]

Plenty of people call it D&D. I call it D&D. It's not the D&D tabletop RPG but it's still absolutely D&D.

[hot reef]

It only has one main story (with quite a bit of variation in dialogue and in game options)

[humble cairn]

D&D is more than the TTRPG and has been for decades.

[tall forge]

I find something new about it every single time

[cobalt owl]

BG3 is similar to DND

Its more accurate to say its based on DND

[humble cairn]

D&D novels, video games, tv shows, movies, etc ... all of them D&D without necessarily being the TTRPG.

[zenith pivot]

I should clarify sorry, it's definitely D&D as in part of the same intellectual property / franchise, but noone would ever talk about BG3 interchangeably with the TTRPG becuase one can't ever reasonably replace the other

[cobalt owl]

Still a great game, and imo a great intro to anyone looking to learn tabletop

[tall forge]

Id argue that replay ability doesnt mean the story has multiple main stories

[bronze wave]

Eh it’s basically the same thing lol. That’s such a semantical thing. It’s dnd adjacent which is clearly the point all the same

[cobalt owl]

These days I use it more to make characters

Mainly cuz I like the character creator

[tall forge]

Otherwise roguelikes wouldnt have such high replay ability

[humble cairn]

I don't find that any more accurate, in fact I find it confusingly less accurate.

[cobalt owl]

Well its built off the 5E ruleset

[hot reef]

It’s definitely possible to enjoy multiple playthroughs. I don’t believe it’ll be nearly as enjoyable for many on the tenth playthrough (or even the third or fourth)

[tall forge]

But anyways

BG3 is an RPG, in the costume of DND5e

[cobalt owl]

idk its more accurate in my head, probably not but it makes sense to me

[humble cairn]

Sure, but in the context of people who want to do D&D without playing with actual other people I'm saying the video games are right there.

[zenith pivot]

BG3 is shockingly replayable, I will agree with that. I'm on a 3rd playthough and I keep finding massive areas or encounters I never experienced before

[tall forge]

Im on my 5th and i still keep finding new stuff

I didnt know there was a second djinn in this game

[humble cairn]

And I think the video games are much more ethical than trying to use AI.

[zenith pivot]

Yeah look I'm getting into semantics at this point. But to me when someone goes "do you want to play D&D with me / join my D&D campaign" I ain't thinking of BG3 ahah

[bronze wave]

I think I found mostly everything within 3 playthroughs

[tall forge]

But anyways, BG3 isnt a TTRPG, but it is DND as a system

[cobalt owl]

Once I realized I had the BG3 character creator I was set. No need to use AI ever. Although sometimes I still comm artists

[bronze wave]

Why? Do you think videogame companies are bastions of good lol? You think they also don’t use ai or ai adjacent things

That’s a crazy line to say and someone to heart. A lot of video game if not all do a lot of bad stuff

[zenith pivot]

I think in this case, of Larion studios? yeah. actually... they are well regarded as 'good guys' and have a very anti-AI stance

[cobalt owl]

Larian does use it but not in the generative aspect from what I read. They're probably specifically talking about genAI and stuff

[hot reef]

A number of them avoid AI, and popular ones which do use AI still don’t use it in any key way

[zenith pivot]

Larion recently delcared that they had expunged AI in its entirety from any stage of development. They had previously been using it for concept-arting

[bronze wave]

Sure they don’t use ai I bet they do a lot of other stuff it’s a corporation they want money lol. Saying anything like tha has some weird moral high ground is dumb

And I think larian has used ai before

I think they used it for baldurs gate art? Still a great game lol

[cobalt owl]

They have, but not in the normal way that everyone hates

[humble cairn]

And to be very honest I don't think AI is inherently unethical, either. AI is being developed and used to do stuff like detect cancer and sequence genes. But that's not the use of AI that's being pumped out and causing harm to both the artists community and the environment.

[zenith pivot]

Larion aren't publically traded which means thankfully they can prioritise morals over quarterly profits- no shareholders to please. And honestly they made a MOTZA with BG3 so they're set and under no financial pressure

[cobalt owl]

The tech isn't inherently bad, its the people using it

[zenith pivot]

I'm sure they're not squeaky clean but lets be honest the competition is .... EA? Ubisoft? ugh.

[tall forge]

They used it for placeholder assets, not for any of the final products

[bronze wave]

Sure they maybe aren’t as bad I promise you no company is thinking ya let me not make money that’s still the big thing not saying they are devils or anything but I’m not gonna ever say a company if all tbings has morality on it

[bronze wave]

So they use ai?

[humble cairn]

And people just using ChatGPT to try and DM D&D for them are kind of just contributing to the problem of scummy AI.

[hot reef]

Non-generative AI isn’t really relevant to the discussion

[humble cairn]

Hence my "that's not the kind of AI that's causing the problem."

[tall forge]

If you think using placeholder assets made by ai in development is morally corrupt, i fundamentally cannot agree with your disdain for AI

[cobalt owl]

tbh as long as Larian doesn't use gen AI to do an aActivision idrc if they use it. The greasebags putting it in are the bad part not the inherent tech

[zenith pivot]

They did cancel their planned BG3 expansion becuase their employees "hearts just weren't in it" (despite it being guranteed to be a massive financial success)

So clearly management at least somewhat cares about the wellbeing of their staff and honestly I respect that moral integrity

[bronze wave]

I bet you the rich company using it is doing WAYYY more for ai lol then some random discord user. Idk if I agree with their system but eh

[cobalt owl]

Anyway

BG3 good game. Finished Durge lol

[tall forge]

I plan on doing a durge evil route next

Im not excited tbh, but i do want to experience it

[humble cairn]

Yes, probably, but we should also not contribute to the demand while also feeding all our ideas to the scummy AI.

[bronze wave]

I don’t disagree it’s corrupt idc for ai use at all. My point was to in reference to someone claiming a videogame has a moral hogh ground to ai use

[cobalt owl]

Kind of crazy to me that durge was supposed to be paladin, but I can see it

[bronze wave]

There’s a lot of scummy things ppl use. Do you use Amazon? Or anything super big corporate? I’m not a big ai guy I don’t rlly care way for it

[humble cairn]

Pretty sure playing BG3 is not contributing to the use of scummy AI, but if I'm proven wrong I can change my opinion.

[tall forge]

It does, yes. Morally speaking, using AI in its production as a placeholder asset is a lot more moral in my eyes than using it in a final product to be sold to people

[bronze wave]

It was used for some stuff I’m not saying it’s a crazy or even substance amount I’m saying even that is more then some random dude on discord lol

[humble cairn]

Trying to do even a little better is not and should not be denigrated for being high horsey.

[tall forge]

Its weird but also fits, i think the sorcerer angle is better tho for mass appeal

Especially since youre forced to kill

[bronze wave]

It is high horsey ppl don’t do it for other things of equal or even worse value. It’s just ai. If you have hate for one horrible thing and then are actively using others well ya your being a hypocrite

[cobalt owl]

I'm pretty sure way more people would be questioning why paladin if they stuck with that lol

[bronze wave]

Then it’s a battle of hey my bad thing is less bad then your bad thing

[tall forge]

Thats… not what hypocrisy means

[bronze wave]

Made the most sense to me ngl

[humble cairn]

You're making perfect the enemy of good. One cannot know everything, but one can try to be better with what they do know.

[cobalt owl]

Name checks out

[bronze wave]

Feel free to correct me on the stance instead of saying just I’m wrong lol. Saying I’m wrong and then not expanding moves nothing forward

[humble cairn]

It's not about judging who is doing better, it's about just trying to do better yourself.

[zenith pivot]

so to me video games are more moral than AI because

video games create jobs - AI destroys them

AI datacenters are polluting and consuming huge amounts of drinking water, driving people's water prices up, contaminating it, and driving electricity costs up (video games do none of this?)
And AI companies are singlehandedly responsible for the entire current consumer hardware price gauging crisis - for GPUs, RAM, and solid state storage... they are taking collossal amounts of resources and screwing over the little guy

so they can... what? generate endless slop in youtube shorts? 🤣 yeah idk not sure I like it

[tall forge]

Hypocrisy is saying and condemning someone for doing an action then doing that action yourself

You just described someone condemning someone for doing a specific action, then doing something “just as bad”

[bronze wave]

Which ppl don’t do as was my point. If they did they wouldn’t use half of those other bad things also it’s easy.

You think most ppl here who prob use Amazon NEED to use it? Or is it just easy to do so

[tall forge]

Thats not hypocrisy thats a difference in moral judgments

[bronze wave]

Yes the hypocrisy being in doing a same lvl of bad action. Someone is condemning for doing bad while they are als doing bad stuff

“Bad” I’m not demonizing any random person for contributing to that the affect the have is minisual

[humble cairn]

Probably a mix of both. There's only so much energy a person can devote to doing the right thing, at a certain point you run out of mental energy to even make decisions and just end up doing the convenient thing. This does not make you a hypocrite, it makes you human.

[tall forge]

Again, youre the one deciding its the same level when its completely different topics

That isn’t hypocrisy

[bronze wave]

Do you think all those companies are wonderful bastions of good?

[humble cairn]

But we can try again when we have more energy.

[tall forge]

I can claim murder is bad, then steal something from a poor begger. Both are morally bad, but im not a hypocrite

[bronze wave]

They are probably worse lol. Amazon is on a TEAR

[humble cairn]

It doesn't have to be black and white like that. You sometimes have to settle for what you can get and try and do a little bit better later.

[bronze wave]

Sure don’t use hypocrite then I don’t think my point at all changes

[humble cairn]

We're all just trying here.

[tall forge]

It does, actually

[knotty pasture]

I mean there's questionably "evil" (Larian) and there's straight up evil (gen AI)

Just because gen AI is bad doesn't make Larian the second coming of Ao

[bronze wave]

A lot of ppl view ai as black and white. That’s my reference

[tall forge]

Because the difference lies in accessibility

[humble cairn]

I don't think I am one of those.

[tall forge]

I think capitalism is bad. But i still participate because realistically, i have no choice

[bronze wave]

Then my argument wouldn’t apply to you

[humble cairn]

And yet you keep directing it to me.

[bronze wave]

You have no choice but to use Amazon? lol

[zenith pivot]

I don't even understand what "evil" Larion has done though? They treat their employees well, create great games and charge reasonable prices for them... paying for an excellent product isn't even "greedy" or anything... They even publish their games on GOG.com so you can "own" it (download a DRM-free copy...)

[tall forge]

Again youre ignoring my point and focusing on amazon

[bronze wave]

You’re respond I’m not going to keep fully track of who’s saying what. I’m now alerting you then my argument wouldn’t apply. Like that is the new information

[tall forge]

But on that point…. I have no choice but to shop at walmart. Its the cheapest store in the area and i dont make enough money to support local grocery stores

[bronze wave]

As you are focusing on ai yes I’m giving an example. I think ppl reach hard to make other things besides ai seem less bad then they are

[tall forge]

But walmart is def evil to me

[humble cairn]

I don't think it's unreasonable in the same conversation to ask that of you, it's not like this has carried on over days or something, but okay.

[tall forge]

AI on the other hand has absolutely no excuse besides convenience

[bronze wave]

If a guy wants to use ai for his dnd game I think there’s way bigger stuff then 10 ppl in a row telling him ai sucks

[humble cairn]

Accusing people of trying to do better with what knowledge they have as being on a high horse seems unproductive, to me.

[bronze wave]

Sorry lost mr here ask me what?

[tall forge]

There isnt a large premade system they were born in to use something that has notable detrimental effects to cognitive ability and the environment

[humble cairn]

Ahh but see this is like the "shopping cart test." If it's a rather easy task and no one is currently looking at you, do you do the more ethical thing or not?

[tall forge]

^

[timid anvil]

Let's have a pallet cleanser and move on yeah? This discussion is a little bit to heated if you ask me. So... What are your D&D Plans for this weekend?

[humble cairn]

To keep track of whether or not your point applies specifically to me when you're replying specifically to me.

[timid current]

going to use my brain and creativity to write stuff for my new character!

[bronze wave]

Well nvm then lol

My case in point ^

[timid current]

but also paint some minis

[tall forge]

i just finished a session as a dm where i made my players steal stories from the fae wild to get abilities

[glass granite]

Unfortunately, none this weekend 😥 . Planning a very cinematic next session though!

[humble cairn]

Picking up on our campaign from before the holidays! Which is great.

[spring glen]

Hoping to play my wizard to get him to level 4 so I can pick up warcaster

[tall forge]

They had some absolutely awesome ways of dealing with fae trickery

[bronze wave]

I have 2 dnd campaigns I am dming for. Finished making maps for it

One is leaving a sewers system of a bombed castle the other is entering a Druidic bank

[timid anvil]

I was looking forward to playing tomorrow but my body today says "Hold your horses there buddy" So my attendance is hanging in the balance

[zenith pivot]

You can't weak-out! The party needs their.. uh... (what are you playing)

[glass granite]

Health comes first

[tall forge]

Now, my players must fight one of the vampire head of bloodlines (basically liches but instead of phylacteries they can place their hearts into concepts/objects/people)

[thick lagoon]

I feel so bad for what happened today in my dnd grouo

[glass granite]

Oh?

[thick lagoon]

Where for once im not dming

Basically, we sailing on a boat, im a human paladin

Wizard innate n allat

[timid anvil]

Either I am playing my Celestial Warlock, Thief Rogue Dragonborn or I am playing the UA Oathbreaker Paladin Celestial Warlock Kobold. Unsure What it is going to be yet

[zenith pivot]

oho, session 1?

[timid anvil]

No but we have 2 Sessions running in my friend group xD

[spring glen]

That's a mouthful

[timid anvil]

What can I say? I love Multiclassing!

[zenith pivot]

Me when I play a ranger 5 / monk 3 / rogue 12 👀

[thick lagoon]

The dm tells us the boat catches fire during a thunderstorm.. we put out the fire but it turned out I made my poor fish friend (custom like sea serpent dnd race stuff) did all the work when I had shape water and couldve helped

[knotty pasture]

Oh no the M word is spoken

[thick lagoon]

I feel so bad ;-;

[spring glen]

I'm playing a necromancer wizard death claric warforged so I guess I also play a mouthful

[glass granite]

Well, that is something that can happen of all time

[knotty pasture]

(The joke is that for a time, there was anti multiclass sentiments in general)

[thick lagoon]

Ik, it happened in our last campaign but I didn’t think I’d ever made the mistake 😭

[zenith pivot]

wait, when ?? where ??

[glass granite]

Only issue I have with multiclassing is that newbies immediately turn to it without knowing it weakens them without knowing their alternatives

And that there ain’t enough decent monk multiclass options (I main monk)

[vale sage]

How does multiclassing even work? I've only seen subclasses

[spring glen]

I wanted to multi class for spooky themed character

[timid anvil]

I've been Multiclassing since I started playing Fifth Edition First character was a GoO Lock Ancients Paladin XD

[glass granite]

When you level up, instead of taking another level in your class, you take a level in another class

[zenith pivot]

Yeah I think I've alway just flat-out said "no, just trust me on this one bro" whenever ive DM'd for newbs. never had a problem and it stops them from hamgstringing themselves

[vale sage]

Oh, thx for the explanation

[glass granite]

I say “run the multiclass by me first, and have a good reason for it”

[bronze wave]

I love multiclassiny

[glass granite]

I like doing it too, sometimes. As mentioned I main monk, who sadly don’t multiclass the best.

[knotty pasture]

Oh no that was a while ago, you'd ask on #character-discussion about multiclassing and get grilled over the morality of multiclassing in general so the best place to ask for multiclassing advice ended up being #optimization (which would not go in tangents about why multiclassing is bad)

[bronze wave]

Maybe that’s why I love Paladin so much…. My hexblade OfV with sorc…

[zenith pivot]

yeah fair enough, its mostly a non-issue for me as a few years back i settled into a group of vets but also haven't even played that much since

[glass granite]

Just don’t do, like, paladin monks please if you’re new

[zenith pivot]

but but, hexablade one-dip - for story reasons, of course

[spring glen]

What level do you pick up multi at usually @timid anvil

[glass granite]

Even if you’re not new, just…don’t. Unless it’s for a one shot or smt

[timid current]

*unless you want to

[glass granite]

Or that

Well, unless you want to and know all your options

[zenith pivot]

*unless you want to ... hamstring yourself 🤣 (there finished it)

[hidden spindle]

You're right. Paladin-Ranger

[spring glen]

I picked up my claric multi at 2nd it's been going well

[glass granite]

SLIGHTLY better. Not by much

[vale sage]

From what I'm reading it's better to get multiclass after your main class hits level 5 in guessing, and you need good synergy with the class you want to multiclass

[timid anvil]

Depends on the Character Concept I want to play. I am someone who doesn't play a class fantasy but a character fantasy so I try and pick my multiclasses in a way that fits the character concept I have and then try to make them somewhat synergistic. I have an Armorer Artificer with Swarmkeeper Ranger Multiclass that weirdly works for example or my Faerunian Superhero Multiclass that is Sun Soul Monk, Star Druid and Soul Knife Rogue that also works very weirdly

[glass granite]

Personally as a rule of thumb, if you need a lot in more than three classes, you need a damn good reason to multiclass

[bronze wave]

Shameful

[zenith pivot]

not level 5 so much as you get all the class features you specifically want. level 5 just happens to be 3rd level spells / multiattack, making it a good rule of thumb

[glass granite]

Depends on the class, but 5 is when most get their power spike

[bronze wave]

Have you seen my BM fighter gloomranger assassin with war cleric mutliclass

[glass granite]

That needs 3

[bronze wave]

I said 4

[hardy scarab]

good morning, I'm like very very new to d&d and I wanted to learn how to play

[zenith pivot]

wait whats the newbie command, someone send it

[hardy scarab]

or how to even be a proper dungeon master

[cosmic roost]

Welcome to Adventure!

Visit #learn-to-play for everything you need to get started!

• [What is D&D?](#learn-to-play message)
• [How does it work?](#learn-to-play message)
• [Where do I join?](#learn-to-play message)
• [Frequently Asked Questions](#learn-to-play message)

Quick Links

Basic Rules | Introductory videos | Create a character

[hardy scarab]

alright..

[timid anvil]

#learn-to-play is a good place to start and we also have #dnd-newcomers where you can ask questions about the game :)

[serene fossil]

tpm ❤️

[zenith pivot]

ping me in #dnd-newcomers , I'd be happy to help with questions

[spring glen]

I saw some dice I wanted that are made from real T-Rex bones that I want but I'm not rich so maybe in another life

[serene fossil]

yeah we kinda new so, we appreciate it :]

[hidden spindle]

Maybe they got'm in Chicken Bones

[timid anvil]

The only Mono Class character I ever ade I think was my Armorer Artificer Kessan which I have played ever since the Armorer had its first UA. Played him till lvl 17 too

[spring glen]

Nah I want un-evolved dice

I think the paladin I'm going to run won't be multi, She's all about protecting her king but she doesn't know who her king is so anyone with a crown becomes her king

[timid anvil]

I hope nobody casts crown of madness in her vicinity XD

[spring glen]

She will be definitely running forward into doors yelling for the king at every opportunity

She will be like 😮 crown and bow to them

Mayors are just kings in training to her

[remote wadi]

What if the crown is in the forbidden Shell City?

[vale sage]

Would it be better to buy IRL dice before joining a DND campaign online?

[lyric viper]

Most online games will use the dice apps of whatever platform they're on.

[normal canyon]

irl dice have a slightly biased rolling thingy

[lyric viper]

So you can buy prety dice for yourself, but you might not be allowed to use them for an online game.

[vale sage]

Alr

[cobalt owl]

Some tables may allow you if you use a dice cam

[lethal otter]

How would I go about playing a skeleton in dnd

[knotty pasture]

Reborn as a race, go ham really after, skeletons could be any class

[feral fulcrum]

Or finding homebrew that your DM would accept.

Since there is no official skeleton race.

[halcyon forum]

def talk with your DM. being a skeleton would probably draw a lot of attention in most settings, and not every game can accomodate that kind of attention on one character

[dense gulch]

Am I the only one here that will just make a character on the spot if they have an idea pop in their head with no planned game coming up

[glass granite]

Nope

[knotty pasture]

I have like 6 characters that were born that way lol

Two I refined the best I could, rest are either stuck in rewrite hell or WIP hell

The Tiefling Warlock went through at least 4 rewrites

[severe rampart]

Yes.

Oh my poor poor Drow Paladin, you shall never find a campaign to smite in.

[queen nacelle]

absolutely
i made a character based off a biblically accurate angel whos completely hooked up on red bull

(its an aasimar cleric who drinks an elixir called crimson ox to keep herself awake in most cases) for some reason in that moment i made extensive lore for em

i am debating on changing th race tho

[knotty pasture]

Make it a minotaur

Have it be red too for whatever reason, now your whole character is basically a walking red bull ad

[severe rampart]

a literal Red Bull

[vale sage]

Give it strong knockback because red bull gives you wings

[random idol]

oo ask the DM so you make a snow board with a peice of bark and start shredding going down a mountain

or keep it an angel so that it can fly up and sky dive

make an Aasimar Minotaur

[wet trail]

my name is dragon, this is my dungeon

oh em gee big bossu

[random idol]

You can take the stats of a Minotaur a large, hulking bull-headed humanoid with white feathers, glowing eyes, or small celestial wings

[random idol]

yesu i amu heido kojima creationu

[random idol]

(shits on the floor becuase that was epic)

[wet trail]

woah dude relax

i dont wanna have to turn u into a punished snake

[random idol]

i took laxatives it wont stop comming out

[wet trail]

c what i did there

[random idol]

no then ill loose a limb and get phantom pain

[random idol]

see what I did there

[wet trail]

i see

ur joke is getting old, snake

[wet trail]

c what i did there

[random idol]

i see

i just wanna raiden a plane with my boyfriend

SEE what I did there

[wet trail]

i see

[cunning meteor]

Level 3 Warlock or Fighter for horror one shot?

[wet trail]

we can REVOLVER around this ocelloting cycle all day

[wet trail]

c what i did there

[severe rampart]

Cowardly Warlock that prays everytime a slight inconvenience happens

[cunning meteor]

Hahaha. Tbf, her backstory is that she's been called to the woods by the Fiend. Not sure if it makes more sense for her to already be a warlock or still a fighter

[severe rampart]

maybe their patron god wants them to do something 👀

[cunning meteor]

That's the plan lol. But does it make sense to be a full Warlock or a fighter...for now?

[severe rampart]

Depends on what you want to do with your character mate, personally I'd go full warlock

[burnt valley]

Imagine said Warlock keeps summoning his Patron at every minor inconvenience

[cunning meteor]

That's what I was thinking too. Any build ideas? Like fully PoTB? Orrrr

Session is in an hour lmao

[severe rampart]

I just usually theme my warlock with their patron god

[feral fulcrum]

Charecters should really be solidified well before sessions even get close to beginning, yikes.

[severe rampart]

My 2014 Warlock's patron god is a primordial snake so they have spells like Poison Spray, Hex, etc.

[coral bay]

hihi wassup guys

[severe rampart]

Nothing much ,just waiting

[coral bay]

for?

[severe rampart]

Campaign in 3 hours, but it looks like 2/5 people won't be making it

[vale sage]

What rules do you guys prefer to play in? 2014 or 2024?

[severe rampart]

Personally I prefer 2024

[humble cairn]

2024

[vale sage]

Reasonable but what's it like with 2024 rules?

I haven't tried, Ive only played 2014

[hidden spindle]

2024. I can play either, I just hope the table knows the rules

[humble cairn]

A lot of quality of life changes that make it run more smoothly. A lot of the more broken bits got fixed and maybe one or two annoying things got introduced, but overall it's way better.

[glass granite]

I play 2024

[cunning meteor]

Yeah, I know. Usually I'm better lol. Just go so busy the last couple of weeks

[humble cairn]

I can only think of one thing that annoys me.

[vale sage]

Huh, I should try it then

[burnt valley]

Nystul's got upgraded from DM fiat to RAI

[hidden spindle]

I could think of several but the QoL changes outweigh it...

[humble cairn]

After a minute I thought of a second thing.

[hidden spindle]

Oh?

[humble cairn]

First was Backgrounds locking you into only three Ability Scores, easily fixed if you use Custom Backgrounds from the Free Rules as default, and the second was Hiding and Invisibility, which I think seriously needs clarification.

[hidden spindle]

Yup. The 'Invisibility' tag to Hiding felt like an odd way to make it work.

One thing I didn't like the nerf to: Medium Armor Master.

[humble cairn]

Feels like a side grade, to me. Lost the Stealth, but gained a half ASI.

[hidden spindle]

I'd take the Stealth because it was at least made some medium armors function differently.

[timber turtle]

Can there be animal sorcerer's? Like pigs that can cast lightning if they think about it?

[cursive fjord]

I'm not gonna lie, I still think 2014 Sharpshooter is better than 2024 version.

[humble cairn]

What an odd question. I suppose a DM could just make these up, they'd be magical creatures rather than "sorcerers."

[humble cairn]

It skewed what was considered powerful or not in martial builds and I'm glad it got changed.

[cursive fjord]

I understand why it got changed, I just like the 2014 version because for example that extra 3 damage at level 4 for a feat to me just dont seem worth it

Hey have you taken a look at the actual Gunslinger class from Valda Spire of Secrets?

[humble cairn]

I have not.

[honest steeple]

Hi

[lyric viper]

I feel like awakened animals should have as much chance of becoming an adventurer as humans. Although never quite explained what their lifespan is like. And having opposable thumbs does help a lot.

[cursive fjord]

Dang, im working on a character and trying to plan some things out for them, i already got 3d6 at level 3 per attack (concentrating on hex)

[remote wadi]

So, playing my next session in a few hours

Anything I should take note of aside from traveling at night?

[hidden spindle]

You got a Bullseye Lantern?

[glass granite]

Generally avoid priests/clerics

I sense some pretty bad conflict

Umm, and don’t die again. And kill stuff until they die.

And be nice

Both in and out of character.

[humble cairn]

As a Gloomstalker vampire not just traveling, but fighting from the shadows, putting out torches and any other light source as a preliminary thing just wherever you go.

Darkness is your friend, your shield, your weapon.

[remote wadi]

No. Probably best we don't

[humble cairn]

Familiarize yourself with the rules about light: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/basic-rules-2014/adventuring#VisionandLight

[remote wadi]

I'm getting the basics down

Also, I'm starting to come around on heavy crossbows. Did not know they were like that tbh

[humble cairn]

A Torch for example sheds a 20ft radius Bright Light and a further 20ft of Dim Light, you want to stay out of both.

[humble cairn]

Until you get CBE it will reduce your three attacks in the first round to one, though.

[glass granite]

Loading is annoying like that
Pretty sure Gunner also works

[humble cairn]

So you have to be over 40ft away from a regular torch to benefit from your Gloomstalker ability.

[remote wadi]

Next level up. And technically, I can reload as a bonus action

[humble cairn]

I don't remember that being a rule.

[glass granite]

I believe the Loading property states
“Because of the time required to load this weapon, you can fire only one piece of ammunition from it when you use an action, bonus action, or reaction to fire it, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make.”

[humble cairn]

There isn't such a rule as loading with a bonus action, unless that's homebrew. What would that even let you do?

[remote wadi]

Was trying to come back to say that

[rough basalt]

Reloading being it's own action would be a pathfinder or homebrew thing.

[limber trail]

yeah you can't reload as a BA.

[cloud peak]

Does anyone know why I can’t add my monk homebrew subclass

[remote wadi]

I forgot that you probably can't go attack > BA > attack

[glass granite]

On dnd beyond?

[limber trail]

2024's modern firearms are reloaded as an action / bonus action

[cloud peak]

Yea

[glass granite]

Idk, try #ddb-support if you haven’t already

[humble cairn]

No, you can't. The Loading tag just means that you can make one attack with your Action, no matter hwo many attacks you get.

[remote wadi]

So, what action would it be to reload?

[rough basalt]

Huh. I personally ignore those so didn't realize.

[limber trail]

none. You just make one attack per action.

[glass granite]

There usually is none

[rough basalt]

You just attack again next round

[remote wadi]

Ah

[rough basalt]

If you want to benefit from extra attack you'll need something that bypasses the loading property

[limber trail]

or CBE, as has been previously mentioned

[cloud peak]

Maybe a bonus action

[glass granite]

Such as CBE or gunner

[remote wadi]

Well, I still have some ways to work well in spite of this for level 5

[limber trail]

As mentioned earlier, it's not a bonus action to reload

[rough basalt]

Does CBE work with firearms? I thought Gunner was made partially cause it doesn't

[humble cairn]

No action economy, it's just assumed to happen and you're ready to fire again the next turn.

Note: Bloodline is playing in the 2014 rule set.

[glass granite]

Lemme double check

[remote wadi]

CBE is Crossbows only

[limber trail]

nah it specifically mentions it ignores the loading properties of crosssbows only

[rough basalt]

Yeah so no you need Gunner, oh wait

[limber trail]

for firearms yeah

[rough basalt]

I was speaking purely firearms I didn't realize you meant in general

[remote wadi]

Which I'm mostly giving up on Gunner unless taking it becomes unbelievably necessary

[glass granite]

I don’t imagine the cost is gonna do you any favours

[remote wadi]

CBE and Sharpshooter with Heavy Crossbow is plenty

[limber trail]

I might be confused, why are you taking gunner? aren't you using a crossbow?

[remote wadi]

Apparently, firearms do exist, but few know any larger details

[glass granite]

Iirc he was planning to transitioning to guns later

[limber trail]

I wouldn't take crossbow expert if you plan on using firearms later

[remote wadi]

No, I'm saying I'm taking CBE and would only take/swap to Gunner unless there is an extremely powerful firearm thrown into the mix. Odds are low, probably not zero

[glass granite]

Ooo, gun

[lean lark]

I'm adding guns to my next campaign.

It'll be the first one I've ran with firearms in the world

[remote wadi]

Besides, firearms will be considerably weaker due to both their terrible range and the fact that a 40/120 is a joke when you only get a 1 point average increase

[glass granite]

I run my games with firearms

[lean lark]

I adjust depending on settings

[limber trail]

||I'm gonna introduce firearms partway through my campaign||

[rough basalt]

I've always allowed them.

[glass granite]

Eh. You have sharpshooter. Most of the time it won’t matter too much: I’m just more concerned about their price and availability

[lean lark]

Some settings i lean more pre-firearm weapons, but this one I'm going a little more in depth, with submachine guns and shotguns as well

[glass granite]

Oh, closer to 20th century?

[rough basalt]

In mine it's just the usual pistol and musket

[remote wadi]

Availability is slim. Like I said, only a few Vishtani know about it, as they actually come into and out of Barovia

[limber trail]

damage dice on weapons really don't matter as much as I think people put emphasis on.

[lean lark]

The setting is based around 1920s Chicago, so yeah, 20th century, post WW1 technology

[rough basalt]

But there's people who are making more "modern" things that are completely crude, and fall apart after little use.

[remote wadi]

Which is why I gave up on muskets. Most of my damage will come from Sharpshooter and eventually sneak attacks anyways

[limber trail]

I plan on following the modern firearm rules honestly. They're noticably stronger, but they're not mundane adventuring equipment, they're equal to rare+ magic items. I think it makes them more distinct in the world. More fun than their main DnD implementation where they're basically the same as the other ranged weapons, with some slight property switches.

[cursive fjord]

Idk depends on the weapon, I use to use a whip on a fighter... got much better once I switched to a greatsword.

[glass granite]

I have most of my world on muskets, but a few areas have been advanced to much more modern, either by mixing tech and magic or through centuries of cultivation

[remote wadi]

Wait, why am I being advised to avoid clerics again?

[rough basalt]

My more "modern" things are a subclass of the Gunslinger I made for my world.
Basically gets an underbarrel shotgun, grenade launcher that fall apart after a few uses, then at higher levels they get a gatling and a shoulder mounted launcher, but those are once per LR and you have to choose one or the other after an LR and I designed them around the kind of fantasy of the place the subclass originates from.

[remote wadi]

Aside from the obvious of radiant damage

[cursive fjord]

See I let my players go up to revolver and lever actions for my campaign if you want more than that, you better be an Artificer

[limber trail]

Going from the absolute lowest damage weapon to the absolute highest damage weapon will do that, but that's a rather extreme case - a lot of the time people agonize over 1d8 vs 1d10, or 1d10 vs 2d6, where really your average damage is increasing by maybe two points

[lean lark]

I will say, my campaign has a possible storyline the players could go down which would involve them having to fight a prototype tank

[limber trail]

especially because bloodline is a ranger, a class which typically has at least a few spells that increase that damage, which makes the base weapon damage a little less important

[cursive fjord]

Yeah the difference is minium between each stage, I do wish more things did 1d12 of damage just because I like the feeling of the d12 in my hand.

[rough basalt]

A less extreme case would be a Cleric going from a Mace to a Warhammer.

[limber trail]

exactly

or in this case, a ranger going from a heavy crossbow to a longbow

[knotty pasture]

Warhammer Clerics go hard

[rough basalt]

Crossbows are kinda weird imo

[cursive fjord]

I played a lvl 20 Artificer Battlesmith where my defender was a tortiuse and my dnd let me get inside of them and basically use it as a tank

[limber trail]

I don't fully understand the appeal of a proper, actual crossbow outside of a few specific situations, such as for a rogue

[rough basalt]

They're a dex weapon, but they require pretty significant strength investment which can make anyone who uses one become MAD or MADder

[limber trail]

also yeah all of that too

[rough basalt]

Crossbow cool

[glass granite]

I like crossbows. They cool

[limber trail]

the council has spoken

[glass granite]

Impeccable reasoning!

[rough basalt]

Sometimes you need to take on Vecna while being definitely not the fantasy rip off of Daryl Dixon /j

But yeah crossbows are just cool

Which is why their MADness sucks imo

[glass granite]

Do all crossbows have that MAD weakness?

[rough basalt]

Nah just heavy I was misremembering and thinking light did too

But I'm gladly wrong.
Seems that Heavy Crossbows heavy trait is offset by Dex

Specifically "Heavy Ranged are fine with 13 or higher dex"

[limber trail]

yeah I was just checking that lol

[rough basalt]

I was remembering it being strength only and 15

[glass granite]

I was thinking, I don’t remember crossbows being MAD

[limber trail]

it surprised me for sure

[glass granite]

I just remembered them being annoying cuz Loading

Cuz it kinda forces your first feat to be CBE

(For most classes)
But nothing about being MAD

[limber trail]

it's where they're just a weapon that's rarely that worth using imo

[glass granite]

I’ve seen many a rogue grab them

[limber trail]

that feat to gain competency could be a different feat to gain a power buff

[limber trail]

that's the case where it is worth it

[rough basalt]

Yeah it's just better to take a Longbow

[glass granite]

Also seen very few martial Druids get them, aka ONE, but yeah they’re not too common

Well I’ve seen a fighter grab a hand crossbow too

But they replaced that with a longbow cuz it was a +1

[rough basalt]

It's really only worth it to not use a Bow if your DM allows guns and you can get a Musket down the line

[glass granite]

Even then, muskets are loud

[remote wadi]

MAD?

[glass granite]

A rogue of mine purposely didn’t take them cuz I said firing one shot would reveal their location to a lot of people

[limber trail]

I use a pistol as a Kensei monk, and don't plan on the gunner feat, but that's because in the long run I don't need more than one gun attack in a turn.

[glass granite]

Multiple ability score dependent

[rough basalt]

It's funny.
My Tuesday dm gave us a shotgun but no one can use it I think

[remote wadi]

...huh?

[red finch]

boomstick

[limber trail]

guns are surprisingly unusable in DnD

[glass granite]

When you need a lot of stats in different places to make work

Like, a paladin monk for example

[remote wadi]

Oh. It needs things like feats to really use it ti the best potential

Gotcha

[humble cairn]

You're level 5? So you don't get another Feat for 3 levels, also consider you're taking a whole Feat to change from a d8 to a d10, which is an avg change of 1 point of damage, when you could stick with the longbow and take Poisoner instead, which potentially adds 2d8 damage to each hit, which is an avg increase of 9 points of damage.

[glass granite]

Well, crossbows aren’t MAD, but yes they’re do

[rough basalt]

It's just not worth it for most of us lol

[glass granite]

They have homebrew rules. Next feats at level 6.

My Ranger PC I dm’ed for used a rifle and pistol before he burned to death

[limber trail]

It has been a significant mechanical expenditure on my part to make a gun even remotely viable let alone beneficial as a monk, including a subclass, a feat, and likely a multiclass down the track

[remote wadi]

1 level

And I already have Poisoner

[rough basalt]

Ultimately martial weapons often boil down to whatever you wanna use the most

[humble cairn]

Shaprshooter, Piercer, and Poisoner?

[rough basalt]

Masteries helped in this regard a bit.

[remote wadi]

Yes

[humble cairn]

That's a heck of a lot of Feats for level 5.

[glass granite]

Next level id grab either an ASI or a quality of life feat

Lucky, observant, skulker.
Skulker could be nice

[limber trail]

I think their DM gives them feats at level 1 & 3 on top of their level 4 feat

[remote wadi]

2 were from a homebrew rule

It would have been 4, but I made the terrible decision in hindsight to use Human in 2014 instead of Variant Human

[limber trail]

Pistol's Vex mastery is most of my justification for even remotely trying to make gun monk work

[remote wadi]

I don't even think I need anything for ASIs

[rough basalt]

Ye I ran a Rogue that used a Pistol and scimitar and it was fun.

[limber trail]

it's fun to play a lot of battlefield control

It's a much more ranged PC than I'd usually play for a monk

[rough basalt]

I wanna play a controller sometime.

But I'm too passive to stake my claim on the Wizard class which is the kind I wanna play whenever I do play

[limber trail]

My old Paladin PC had a ton of great stuff in that regard. Spells like compel duel, push weapon mastery, and a great AC & HP pool

[glass granite]

Most ranged I’d ever monk is throwing as many weapons as I can then running in and beating people up.
Or running away while going random bs go

Or using a build with hella long punch range

[remote wadi]

Lowkey, a class i want to play eventually is Bard

[glass granite]

Bards are great

[remote wadi]

Once I get more comfortable talking in DnD, could be great for roleplay

[humble cairn]

I'm basically a Bard main.

[rough basalt]

My current PC ideas are
Diviner/Illusionist Wizard or complete blood hungry vengeance paladin

[glass granite]

Hi basically a Bard main, I’m Nugget
Sorry had to-
Wanted to do it

[remote wadi]

Anyways, so to summarize before I sleep for a bit

[limber trail]

I wanna properly play a wizard one day. I've still not fully delved into the realm of full spellcasters

[lean lark]

Divination wizards are insane

[glass granite]

Portent does go hard

[rough basalt]

My first PC was an Evocation Wizard and that was a lot of fun

[wanton wind]

Hwllow every one

[queen nacelle]

greetings of peace

[glass granite]

Gasp, individuals! Plural!

[lean lark]

My most recent character was a divination wizard with the lucky feat.

It was... quite a bizarre situation

[limber trail]

I firmly sit in the martial space of things. They're my wheelhouse through and through

[remote wadi]

Avoid Clerics, put out light sources as i go, invest in CBE next level, stay invisible in combat

[queen nacelle]

hihi

[remote wadi]

Anything I'm missing?

[limber trail]

I did play a very very strong druid in a recent runthrough of Stormwreck Island and had a ton of fun with it as a utility caster

[glass granite]

You forgot about not dying, and killing stuff until they die

[remote wadi]

Morning

[limber trail]

all sounds like good advice (I have no idea what's with the anti cleric advice but I trust that someone had a good context for it)

[wanton wind]

How is everything going with the app?

[glass granite]

Should be alive

Anyway gn people

[limber trail]

gn nugget

[queen nacelle]

aww goodnight

[remote wadi]

It fortunately is easier to avoid that first part thanks to the light health regen

[wanton wind]

Glad to hear it’s still alive!

[remote wadi]

I'm probably coming back as some form of undead

[wanton wind]

Goodnight

[remote wadi]

...which my paladin was talking my ear off OOC about it >_>

[humble cairn]

My emphasis was more stay in the dark rather than putting out torches, but doing so creates more darkness for you to stay in.

[queen nacelle]

i kinda only joined the server because i deeply miss playing dnd and i hope to find a party to play with ,,, the players in my school are not that- friendly

also i made a terrible mistake of making my final capstone project dnd based so i kind of resented playing for a while 😭

[wanton wind]

Feeling really happy today, guys Everything’s just awesome 💖

[queen nacelle]

hell yeah twin

[remote wadi]

That is the general plan. I'm just a little worried about how the DM handles this. Or how the Paladin will handle this because seems like she will not happy in character

[remote wadi]

Part of me wants to ask what specifically. Dms open?

[humble cairn]

Why for both of those?

[remote wadi]

The former because it could just be a change of plan or an unknown monkey paw

Latter because Paladin keeps insisting that my Ranger would not want to be an undead

[knotty pasture]

I mean the Paladin can complain all they want but its not like they are gonna Divine Smite you behind your back

[coral lake]

Arcane trickster Rogue- Can i use booming blade to make the first attack, and then use nick for offhand weapon?

[humble cairn]

So when you said "this" you mean the vampirism, not the Gloomstalker invisibility.

[remote wadi]

Yeah, more or less

[humble cairn]

Also .. maybe Paladin player should stay in their lane? This is your character, after all.

[remote wadi]

As for the Paladin, I'll just copy paste 2 messages. It's cool

[wanton wind]

Yes my DMs are open .

[remote wadi]

"Sorry for acting so aggressive towards your resurrected character, but I'm compelled to by my Oath of Devotion to protect the living from the predations of the undead."

[knotty pasture]

No they aren't

[remote wadi]

"Plus I honestly think that living Gideon wouldn't want to be doomed for eternity. He'd want someone to put him out of his misery."

[knotty pasture]

That's not how undead works otherwise they'll start having beef with all Spore Druids

Necromancy is just a means to an end

[humble cairn]

Do you all have a Session 0 agreement for No PVP?

Because not being a jerk and ruining the game for other people takes priority over "what my character would do" Oath or no Oath.

[remote wadi]

Session 0 was basically agreeing on a campaign to do and making characters

I presume PvP is not allowed, but even if it is, everyone is good willed enough to not be at each other's throats

[knotty pasture]

I'm 90% certain your Devotion Paladin is confusing their oaths for Ancient Paladins

[humble cairn]

Presumption is not great policy. And this Paladin thing sounds potentially PVP and at your throat.

[knotty pasture]

Honesty. Don't lie or cheat. Let your word be your promise.

Courage. Never fear to act, though caution is wise.

Compassion. Aid others, protect the weak, and punish those who threaten them. Show mercy to your foes, but temper it with wisdom.

Honor. Treat others with fairness, and let your honorable deeds be an example to them. Do as much good as possible while causing the least amount of harm.

Duty. Be responsible for your actions and their consequences, protect those entrusted to your care, and obey those who have just authority over you.

Nowhere does it mention "treat undead as an enemy"

[wanton wind]

Nice, glad to hear PvP drama isn’t gonna be a thing Loving the good vibes for the campaign

[knotty pasture]

Ancients however does have this line:

Shelter the Light. Where there is good, beauty, love, and laughter in the world, stand against the wickedness that would swallow it. Where life flourishes, stand against the forces that would render it barren.

[remote wadi]

Either way, I can just talk to them before, during, or after the session

[remote wadi]

By the way, message in dms couldn't be delivered

[knotty pasture]

And that's a stretch because, just bc you're revived as a vampire, it doesn't mean that you're now shooting to extinguish life

[humble cairn]

I vote "before."

I vote "respond to that message and say that philosophical disagreement is fine, but do not attack my character, that would ruin my fun."

[tight sluice]

Ey Quick question whats a False Hydra?

[remote wadi]

For now, she seems a little adamant that letting me live would risk her becoming an Oathbreaker

[idle oar]

Currently an overused meme monster that steals creatures memories and requires a lot of player buy-in and metagaming to actually make it work "well"

[humble cairn]

So she thinks she needs to kill your character, this is PVP and a red flag.

[humble cairn]

This is not all cool.

[remote wadi]

Or probably misguided. She is prone to making assumptions often

[humble cairn]

This is still a big red flag and something you should put a stop to OOC.

[remote wadi]

With all due respect, what do you think I'm doing right now?

[full wadi]

Seeking advice on how exactly to do what you already planned on doing, which is a good thing

[remote wadi]

I'm saying that I'm talking to her as we speak

[full wadi]

Nice! I hope it goes well, and that your table can reach a mutual understanding before returning to play

[remote wadi]

This is mostly between Paladin and I

Druid is largely not invested, Wizard is invested only in the sense of indirectly killing off my character and sincerely apologized for it already

[full wadi]

So this chat is the last stop on the train, basically

[humble cairn]

I was worried that your comment [HERE](#dnd-discussion message) meant that you were just going to assume that everything was going to be okay without doing anything about it.

[remote wadi]

I can see how you came to that conclusion

My general stance is "I presume everyone at the table is smart and lawful enough to not try to kill each other. But I will still talk it out to Paladin"

[keen hemlock]

my friends wanted me to so now im a dm lol

i need to figure out what to do

[remote wadi]

My concern about her assumptions are becoming more true, it seems. Safe to say she thinks that "dealing with certain enemies easier = obligations to eliminate said certain enemies at all costs"

[marble lion]

Youre a player, just controlling a lot of characters
You also get to decide how difficult or doable a skill check is and pick stats of them unless you use official statblocks

[remote wadi]

Which i explained to her that it just means you have tools to protect you and the party against certain dangers and little more

[keen hemlock]

yea its a bit intimdating but i think i got it

[marble lion]

Dming is mostly just normal dnd, but youre involved in everything and are king

[fiery nimbus]

Where did the talk begin, I want to know the context

[keen hemlock]

right now im making offical flags for the continets and kingdoms of this world im doing

[knotty pasture]

Here

Basically the Devotion Paladin in his table is getting trigger happy about assassinating Bloodline's Vampire Ranger

Because the Paladin doesn't want to risk an oath break

[fiery nimbus]

Ah classic good old lawful stupid paladin, man it's refreshing

[knotty pasture]

The best part is that the Paladin's quoting the wrong oaths

Being anti undead is an Ancients Paladin thing not Devotion

[full wadi]

You are always allowed to make it easier on yourself and use a pre-published setting tbh. Worldbuilding off the cuff is v e r y hard, and has led to burnout for me before.

I settle for a midpoint of taking a chunk of an existing setting that doesn't have much canon detail, and filling in the gaps myself.

[keen hemlock]

hm... fair, ill take ur advice

[full wadi]

Worldbuilding is fun! But it's a lot, and for a first time DM, usually secondary to Running the Game.

[fiery nimbus]

Isn't devotion the most likely one to actually ignore the undead party member if it aligns with their interests?

[eager marsh]

not necessarily. depends on the paladin since their oaths arent mandating it

[remote wadi]

Okay, I'm back from the DMs

[fiery nimbus]

Welp, DM has to explain to paladin the bees and the birds and where the paladin oaths come from

[remote wadi]

From how she is talking to me, it's safe to say it went pretty well

It seems like she will not PvP at all, but all things considered, a figurative slam to the wall and explanation demand is understandable

[remote wadi]

I would make the joke about when a character and a deity really love each other

But that's Warlock's thing tbh

[fiery nimbus]

Warlock is purely business, Paladins say oaths, Warlocks pay

[knotty pasture]

Its not even that its like, nowhere does a Devotion Paladin's oath explicitly say that they're anti undead

[eager marsh]

Nah Warlock patrons arent deities

[marble lion]

Why is someone becoming a vampire in a game with a character who cant work with vampires?

That sounds like the actual mistake here

[fiery nimbus]

We are DND players, we love drama

And that one is juicy

[marble lion]

Ppl seem to think the paladin has to back down

But isnt it kinda rude to let a vampire happen when the paladin was there first

Is this setting different?

[fiery nimbus]

Both can exist in one party, consensual drama is the best part of dnd

[marble lion]

Im not too wellversed in vamp lore but arent they evil

[fiery nimbus]

Statblocks are evil

[humble cairn]

Vampirism was the DM's idea to bring back a character that was killed by friendly fire.

[marble lion]

I meant lorewise too

[fiery nimbus]

Irrelevant for the player character

[marble lion]

Is it?

[fiery nimbus]

Not really

[marble lion]

I thought becoming a vampire makes you evil

Like a curse, a new you

[humble cairn]

This DM was playing with so many houserules anyway, what's one more?

[marble lion]

True but then that needs to be shared with the paladin

[fiery nimbus]

Oh you mean that thing, well if you go by that rules, player would lose control over their character the moment they became a vampire and DM would take over their character

[marble lion]

Right?

[fiery nimbus]

Yea ergo we ignore that rule because it's not a very good rule

[marble lion]

Anyway i feel like this mess is on the dm and maybe the revived player if they egged the idea on

They can fix it in multiple ways

[eager marsh]

The rule is there to block players from wanting to intentionally become lycanthropes and vampires

[marble lion]

Like telling the paladin "vamps arent evil in this world"

[eager marsh]

The rule is good as is.

[remote wadi]

Okay, we don't actually know how the DM will bring me back. This is just me trying to come to the best conclusion with what little I am given

[knotty pasture]

Tbh I'd rather it be Dhampir instead of Vampire but hey if someone's constantly rolling d2s and complaining about it they may as well get a boss class monster as a PC

[fiery nimbus]

@remote wadi is your character stoked for that vampire fate or do they want to find a cure

[humble cairn]

The player had no clue this was going to happen, in fact they were making a different character.

[eager marsh]

Why is bringing your body to a temple for revival not an option?

[marble lion]

But you already quoted the paladin. This already happened right?

[knotty pasture]

Wait hold up couldn't vampires create vampire spawn?

[red finch]

any 5e source material on Innistrad? going to make an Eldrazi my bbeg

[marble lion]

Then just the dm

[knotty pasture]

Go Bloodline, bite your whole team and infect them, make them into your spawn

[marble lion]

You quoted 2 responses by the paladin that seem to be after your char came back

[remote wadi]

From what would happen if i am to be brought back

From both Paladin and my PoV, we know I will be brought back, idk what form it will be

But from what the DM tells me I will gain, I'm making the presumption it will be vampire spawn

[fiery nimbus]

Foul play, we were cheated, we were betrayed

[marble lion]

So none of this has happened yet?

[eager marsh]

I reiterate. Why is it not an option to bring you back to a temple and pay a hefty fee for raise dead?

[remote wadi]

It would be funnier to find a way to steal Strahd's powers

[marble lion]

Well hoorah you can prevent any trouble by talking

[fiery nimbus]

Boooooring

[marble lion]

What was the point of the paladin quotes?

[knotty pasture]

I don't think you can steal another vampire's powers, you can however do the Rite of Profane Ascension

[eager marsh]

Dracula stole powers. But he's built different

[olive flume]

I have a quick question
As a land druid if I am always carrying a flower/plant with myself can I cast Plant Growth in ares without any plants? Like a stone dungeon with no flora etc.

[knotty pasture]

Dunno if that's actually a canon thing, but I don't think CoS has the resources for you to pull it off

[remote wadi]

DM offered me a way to be resurrected. I took this offer, DM gave me cague details

[olive flume]

Like drop the flower in the ground and cast plant growth on it, surrounding the entire area with plant growth

[eager marsh]

If this is in Curse of Strahd then the module already should have a method to revive a character without vampurism. There's the Dark Powers/Boons with their own powerups+flaws for that.

[marble lion]

Where is the source for the paladin quotes?

[remote wadi]

Because the player knows I will be resurrected, likely as some form of undead

From what it sounded like ATM, she was under the assumption that she would have to kill me again or risk being an Oathbreaker. Talked it through with her it isn't how that works

[knotty pasture]

Leave the table on the spot if she divine smite sneak attacks you

[marble lion]

Nah thats a keeper

[remote wadi]

I trust her enough not to do that

[marble lion]

The only weird thing will be turn unholy from devotion oath specifically targetting all undead

But yeah the oath only speaks of protecting the weak

Which isnt true until youre evil

[severe rampart]

session in 20 minutes and some members can't make it, hopefully it still turns out good

[remote wadi]

Either way, she definitely might treat me to a wall slam or 2 while demanding an explanation

And honestly, is far more preferred than genuine PvP

[knotty pasture]

Yeah that's basically the non lethal version of a divine smite

[empty thicket]

im in session now

[marble lion]

Just to make it clear, resurrection is fine in dnd and nothing against devotion

[knotty pasture]

Are you sure you absolutely cannot just convert this Paladin into a vampire spawn

[severe rampart]

Pay attention, mind flayer spawn!

[empty thicket]

its being a chaos now, we were sneaking around and now we are running away trying to save one of the allies that helped us to escape at first

[marble lion]

A devo paladin slamming you into a wall for being alive again is more an oathbreaker than one travelling with a vampire

They are kind, merciful and wise
Not bad cop routine with unwarranted brutality

Unless you look like a lich or zombie

[remote wadi]

Trying to would be... Definitely not a good idea

And idek if that's possible

[knotty pasture]

Or if this Paladin just wants to roleplay as a cop that worships Bane or something

[marble lion]

Devotion

[knotty pasture]

Its probably possible if you're a vampire

[marble lion]

It just doesnt work since they seem to care about the oath

Devotion is literally boyscout pally

[remote wadi]

Not a good idea, though. Why would I want to do that?

[knotty pasture]

True, well, up until we found out the Paladin is actually illiterate and is playing a Devotion Paladin like an Ancients Paladin

Turning someone into a vampire spawn stops them from being able to meaningfully contest you, and now they get to suffer with you too

[remote wadi]

Not illiterate

[eager marsh]

D&D players can't read after all

[remote wadi]

Just very VERY quick to assume

[knotty pasture]

Yeah that sounds like illiteracy to me

[eager marsh]

you know what they say about assuming

[marble lion]

Maybe devote some time to reading the rules

[knotty pasture]

That's a good one

[severe rampart]

Oh my god, a random person joined our DnD discord channel a week ago and we thought someone invited them, turns out none of us knew them and we have just now kicked them out

[remote wadi]

Ouch. Dial it back on the d6 psychic damage, will ya?

[marble lion]

How did they join then

[severe rampart]

We don't know, we're so confused

[marble lion]

Maybe it was a discord spy bot

[severe rampart]

a spy... for DnD?

[knotty pasture]

See its funny cuz on the one hand we have people here who hate optimizers, but on the other hand we have people like Bloodline's table which sounds more insufferable than even the worst optimizers that boss around people

[marble lion]

No for discord. Stealing art, checking tos breaks etc

Its a mix of account banning and ai training

[eager marsh]

optimization in 5e isn't even that bad. The scale ofnumbers and effects are very small. Optimizing is usually just +1 or +2 more over not being that

[marble lion]

But those are usually invisible and dont talk

[lean lark]

I think people tend to confuse optimizers with power gamers.

The kind of people who brag about making their DM break the table rule of not killing PCs because they broke the game, who take pleasure and joy from being so powerful that it annoys and irritates everyone else

[eager marsh]

It's a nearly circular venn diagram is why

[knotty pasture]

I thought the kind of optimizers people hate here are the ones that tell others what to do in a smug way

[marble lion]

I mind prio of power over flavour

[eager marsh]

Some of us just have ocd and hate uselessly uneven numbers and wasted effects. Standard Array my beloathed

[lean lark]

There's a lot of overlap between them and the kind of player I mentioned

[knotty pasture]

But I'd rather someone be smug than someone who is really into the idea of body slamming my PC into a wall, fantasizes about divine smiting me in their sleep and generally talking about having the easy way out of just downing themselves without needing to force them to waste a spell slot divine smiting them

[marble lion]

What are you on about

[knotty pasture]

Referring to Bloodline's Paladin

[marble lion]

But they didnt say any of that

[eager marsh]

none of what you described isnt a power gamer/optimizer specific trait. That's just being problematic

[lean lark]

The one powergamer I met tried DMing and couldnt get a group together because he kept trying to control how the players made their characters and it just annoyed them until they found it no longer fun

[marble lion]

Thats all bloodline inventing stuff from what we know so far

No quotes indicate the pally fantasises about smiting a teammate

[remote wadi]

They're not going to legitimately do that word for word. It was mostly an expression that she will be confused, suspicious, and a little angry

Even if it does happen, it stays in character and controlled. I made sure of it

[knotty pasture]

I swear they did:

#dnd-discussion message
#dnd-discussion message
#dnd-discussion message

[marble lion]

Bloodline is the one who brought wallslam into this

[eager marsh]

no swearing this server is pg-13

[severe rampart]

session is in 5 minutes and a party member's electricity went out...

[marble lion]

Thats very different from what you said

This paladin is getting way too much heat

If i was told a vampire is joining my party as i pick a classic paladin fantasy, id be taken aback too

You then talk it out and find its all good

[remote wadi]

Agreed. They're not a terrible person or player by any means. They're just misguided and enthusiastic, albeit a bit inexperienced in some areas

[marble lion]

But dont slam this pally so hard. They misinterpreted their oath and were there first

Vampire is joining after the party was established

Honestly even without the oath, anyone should have the right to just nay that

[eager marsh]

vampire is also a former party member already iirc

[marble lion]

I know yeah

The vampire part is new though and a shocking development if you dont expect it

[short tartan]

Wondering why people are lawyering a person's play in such a public forum without knowing the person, the circumstances, the table, etc. Seems... insensitive at best. Like why are you dragging this person through the town square, so to speak? Is it helpful in any way?

[marble lion]

Exactly

[empty thicket]

i was told that in my party we are getting a bloodhunter lycan, so my party is
A dhampir (Temu vampire), a werewolf, a humanoid hipo, a goblin and finally me, a half orc Walk into a bar, how is called the show?

[marble lion]

A few jabs at them not reading their oath is fine and funny but dont slam them

[eager marsh]

They brought the situation here to the public forum by their choice first and even asked for input and opionios yesterday

[marble lion]

No no bloodline did

Right? Or did the paladin come here?

[short tartan]

Regardless, this seems like an inappropriate venue for it, no?

[marble lion]

Not regardless, no

If a dnd player discusses a dnd situation, thats fine

[short tartan]

It reads more like an interpersonal dispute rather than a matter of rules/gameplay, ymmv

[remote wadi]

Correct

[proper forum]

I constantly make new characters, now I got like 20 and I only ever got to use 4. I call it suffering from success.

[marble lion]

So the paladin was in here?

[humble cairn]

Saying that threatening PVP is a red flag isn't dragging someone, it's just generally a red flag unless that is specifically consented to in Session 0.

[halcyon forum]

the wall slam things sounds like good RP. Idk why people have a problem. Even non-Ancients good aligned paladins might not be happy to hear their party member is now undead

[humble cairn]

Before "wall slam" was brought up as the concession, "I don't think I can let your character live or I risk breaking my Oath" was the only impression we had.

[halcyon forum]

yes that was too far

[marble lion]

Wall slam was not said by the paladin

[halcyon forum]

but I think a rather tense conversation is a good compromise

[marble lion]

Bloodline is hypothesizing with that one is what i read

[humble cairn]

But "I can't your character live" was a direct quote of the Paladin player.

[marble lion]

True

[halcyon forum]

but we moved past that already

[humble cairn]

"Wall slam" is basically a non-PVP argument.

[empty thicket]

I ended up my session, we managed the arti and me (ranger) to save an ally but it seems that one of the players got caught and idk what happened, we took the opportunity and run.

[marble lion]

I feel like pointing that out before the fact is different from threatening it though

If i say "hey ill play a torturing murderer when i join you" and i told them id have to kill them, thats not me threatening pvp
Thats me telling them about a problem with our party matching

[humble cairn]

In a threatening way? There are ways you can say that without it being threatening.

[knotty pasture]

Don't forget the part where the Paladin was basically coercing Bloodline to end himself again

"Do you really think your PC would have wanted to be revived, huh?! Just let him rest in peace, as a Paladin I won't tolerate the undead!"

[marble lion]

Thats not threatening. Thats a simple statement

[knotty pasture]

That really sounds like the Paladin doesn't want to get their hands dirty

[remote wadi]

In the server, not in the conversations

[tight sluice]

(can i maybe...)

[humble cairn]

"I don't think my character would be comfortable with a vampire party member" is very different from "I would attack your character."

[proper forum]

Now I wanna make a new character... a tall high elf or a tall drow. Or wait maybe Shadar Kai but aren't all Shadar Kai short?

[marble lion]

Both are fine

[severe rampart]

I mean it's gonna start like RIGHT now

[tight sluice]

can i join tho? :3

[marble lion]

It communicates just how much of an issue this would be

[severe rampart]

I'll have to check with the DM

[idle oar]

Please keep game organizing to private message or the LFG channels - it's off-topic outside the LFG channels

[humble cairn]

Attacking one another is generally breaking that social contract, one should actively be trying to find different justifications and also actively altering their "this is what my character would do" to avoid breaking the social contract of the game.

[halcyon forum]

I think canonically all Forgottem realms elves are shorter than humans? but regardless, no one will be mad at you for playing a tall elf

[marble lion]

It communicates why to a point as well

[humble cairn]

Disagreed

[severe rampart]

Anyway we're starting with two people and one DM... yay

[humble cairn]

But my feeling about it are why I called it a red flag and urged Bloodline to talk to the ohter player OOC posthaste.

[marble lion]

Attacking is different from pointing out that you feel like yourcharacter would have to be hostile to a new member

[humble cairn]

You may think it's fine, but I do not. We may have to disagree about this because I can't be bothered to try and convince you.

[marble lion]

I did the same. Bringing up the worry of pvp is ooc talk too

[halcyon forum]

I think its fair to say that some characters dont work with every party, and pointing out that PvP is the only solution that would preserve any sense of immersion is not wrong. in that case the offending character(s) have to change

[marble lion]

Exactly

You can phrase it differently though

I just find it overly sensitive to say you must

Its not like you want to ruin the game. Thats why youre alerting people to it by "threatening" pvp

[hidden spindle]

Was it clear it was the player characters and not players?

[marble lion]

It definitely needs ooc talk but thats literally what that is. The talk already began

[marble lion]

Are you asking if a player threatened murder?

[halcyon forum]

yeah basically, saying "My goody good guy would kill John Murderman rather than to travel with him" is not bad behaviour imo

[hidden spindle]

No. I'm saying if it is, in anyway, the feelings of a player vs a the feelings of a player character

[trim cradle]

dnd party got distracted by a dc to open 30 door for half an hour during VERY important lore events

[marble lion]

Typical

[trim cradle]

there was nothing behind the door except another door

the 8 str sorcerer opened it

[hidden spindle]

My god, Thaumaturgy that door

[lean lark]

Russian Nesting Doors?

[marble lion]

Why did you put a dc30 door with nothing behind it in an important lore event

[trim cradle]

i didnt my dm did

[limber trail]

Thaumaturgy cant open locked doors, I'm assuming these are locked

[trim cradle]

we use minecraft with mods as battlefield etc and there was door we tried opening, dm didnt intend us to make a dc30 str check

[proper forum]

Guys, are all Shadar Kai short?

[hidden spindle]

My god, Firebolt that door

[limber trail]

no, Shadar Kai are elf-adjecent from memory, which are typically average height iirc

Medium sized creatures and everything

[knotty pasture]

Fire bolt is too kind for it, I'd Disintegrate that door

[proper forum]

In promotional art they look short to me for some reason. Idk maybe I am delulu.

[trim cradle]

i would storm of vengeance but we are only level 5 so far

[lean lark]

Could just be the angle of the "camera" they're drawn in front of

[limber trail]

Interesting, a lot of the art I see is relatively humanoid sized

[raven lily]

When depicting Shadar-Kai I have seen the art having them slouching or crouching/sneaking I suspect that’s why sometimes it may seem they are on the shorter side

[hoary totem]

anyone plays a hexblade warlock that isn't just a minmax dip?

[humble cairn]

Elves in Faerun tend toward shorter than humans.

[limber trail]

they do?

interesting, I did not know that

[eager marsh]

no because the lv 6 feature is weird and off theme because Shadow Sorcerer stole the hound of ill omen for some reason

[hoary totem]

I have just discovered the Mother of Sorrows warlock and I'm internally screaming about a completely fleshed out undead warlock I was about to properly make a sheet for... what do you mean there was a patron specifically for this kind of stuff?

[eager marsh]

There wasn't. That's 3rd party

[proper forum]

So do shadar Kai have gray skin or white skin? White as in the actual color not as in white person. And do they have entirely black eyes or not? I've looked at images and they're not consistent at all.

[limber trail]

Usually best to refer to the official art. MotM portrays playable shadar-kai as having pretty white skin, and normal eyes

Bear in mind, a lot of art of these species that exists out there is art of people's PCs that they've comissioned, and so is subject to headcanons

[proper forum]

Okay one more question: would a drow or a shadar Kai better for a character that is blatantly based on Gambit from Marvel?

[limber trail]

neither would be more or less fitting really

What are you curious about, generally? Emulating them on a mechanics perspective, or more on a vibes perspective, or with regards to lore, or anything else?

[proper forum]

More like vibes

Which one would be more likely to be addicted to gambling

[limber trail]

With how they typically appear, neither would be especially gambit-y in terms of vibes

[proper forum]

Okay all things considered what are you thinking?

[limber trail]

I honestly think something more like a tiefling would be the closest to gambit as far as vibes

In the 2024 PHB, tieflings are actually depicted gambling & drinking in the species art

[humble cairn]

Gambit is a thief from Louisiana, so we're looking for someone from a port town who likes to hang out with the underbelly, I'm thinking maybe Skullport?

[humble cairn]

To be honest, the closest I can think of to Gambit in Faerun is Jarlaxle Baenre, so go with Drow.

[humble cairn]

Species doesn't dictate personality.

[unborn lotus]

Why is poison 100gp when it does 1d4 poison damage?
At best it does this 3 times if you apply it to ammunition... But if you apply it to a weapon it does it once!!

Acid is 25gp and does 2d6.
Or Alchemist fire for 50gp and gives the burning condition + 1d4

Poison doesn't even play the poisoned condition... Really feels like a mistake

[rough basalt]

WotC doesnt like poison

[unborn lotus]

A frikin level 1 spell scroll is only 50gp

[remote wadi]

Poisoner feat is probably the one solid chunk for poison

1 hour and 50gp for 1 batch of potent poisons. Batch size is proficiency bonus

DC 14 Con save for 2d8 poison damage and Poisoned condition

[unborn lotus]

Basic poison should be the same poison from the feat.
Only applies to the arrow or weapon once. But does damage worth 100gp and gives the condition

[marble lion]

Without necessarily saying 100 is good, poison is way more useful for the disadvantage than d4 poison

[minor wedge]

Hello, I was just wondering if there is anywhere to advertise art commissions here or not?

[marble lion]

Wait it doesnt give the condition?

[unborn lotus]

It doesn't apply the condition. No disadvantage whatsoever

[humble cairn]

Usual reminder that D&D is not a reality simulator, that includes pricing and economy.