dnd-discussion

[crimson gulch]

Owlbear rodeo, best VTT for sure

[limber trail]

100% I have no interest in switching from it

It does everything I need exactly as well as I ever want it to do it

[severe rampart]

Yes! it's so intuitive, I'm a beginner and I'm having a ton of fun with it

[novel bobcat]

just you wait, once owlbear devs figure out their VTT is most poular, their gonna montiize the crap out of it.

[hidden spindle]

How long was the campaign?

[limber trail]

everything else is trying too hard, too many features, get rid of them all and let me use what is effectively a shared whiteboard with 10% more features and community extensions

[candid cave]

It started at 2022

[crimson gulch]

you can allready pay for more storage if you want to support them

[limber trail]

Owlbear devs are great, I discovered they also make Kenku which I've recently added into my GMing

[crimson gulch]

but the elegance of it is its a simple VTT that at its core replaces just maps and dice, and everything else is on you, just like running in person

[limber trail]

I love how little it does. If I want it to do more, it has extensions so that I can do that, but there's absolutely no overhead from the start

[severe rampart]

Ooh I'm unfamiliar with that, what is it?

[keen valve]

Oh wait fr? That's awesome. Kenku FM has been my go-to for sound effect playing in all my current games.

[severe rampart]

The extensions, the initiative tracker, the easily importable DnD Beyond character sheets, oh yes please!

[crimson gulch]

if you want sure, but i keep that all on paper

[limber trail]

it's software that lets you share music & sfx to discord VCs. All the flexibility of a soundboard, that also lets you play & transition between playlists!!

[novel bobcat]

The issue is and something Sigil sought to fix was that many potential DMs are good writers but lack artistic skills and lets face it, if you want to be a good DM you need decent maps and half-decent artistic skills since most players are not a fan of "use your imagination" style DND myself included.

[severe rampart]

I keep mine on DnD beyond, if I ever don't have access to paid content I usually switch to Docs

[crimson gulch]

nah, theater of the mind works fine. the vast majority of my scenes are theater of the mind

[novel bobcat]

yes but visual aid DOES HOLY CRAP LEVELS OF WONDERS

[limber trail]

Maps to me are a matter of the classic trade-off of Time vs Quality vs Cost. You can make quality maps quickly, but it'll cost you. You can make quality maps for free, but it'll take time. You can make free maps quickly, but it'll take time. I don't think artistic talent has any bearing with how great map making tools are these days, but what does matter is the time & cost you're willing to put in.

[limber trail]

I think an occasional quick visual aid is fine, but I generally don't use any visuals outside of maps & tokens

A lot of visual aid is actually difficult to me because it's so hard to convey my mental image.

[minor cargo]

To add on, I think there's something about just starting a new skill (e.g. drawing a map) and slowly getting better at it. It's actually a joy, IMO, to just "pick up the pencil" and fail at something over and over again, making incremental progress.

And when you invite your group to join you on that journey? It's really something.

[novel bobcat]

for example: my Current DM uses owlbear and he draws lines to create basic shapes for the map, the very fact he gives us a way to see where were going is enough and he provides the remainder of the details, most potential DMs lack even those basic art skills.

[severe rampart]

This, could also be my Dragons of Stormwreck Isle campaign talking, but I'm okay with theatre of the mind

[limber trail]

I love making my own maps and it's been so much fun getting better at it.

[minor cargo]

You gotta start somewhere. ✌️

[limber trail]

It's also such a great way to invite players into the world and to help them get immersed in the fight

[sacred wigeon]

The MCU timeline was an elaborate D&D campaign and the Avengers were the player party, you cannot convince me otherwise.

[limber trail]

There's nothing like building up a specific environment or arena over the course of 5+ sessions and finally getting to drop the battlemap for what it looks like

[crimson gulch]

Forshadowing is amazing for sure

[limber trail]

it's a pretty bad campaign where the party is actually together for like 6 months and spends most of the campaign apart on their own adventures

[limber trail]

I've recently wrapped up the first overarching story arc and so I've been dropping a lot of battle maps of long-teased locales, it's been so much fun

When the party has known where everything is gonna end for the past like 10 sessions, it was so satisfying to throw down that final battle map

[novel bobcat]

I own most of the source books that provide character options on dnd beyond now, I prefer using beyond tbh because I DO NOT want to hit up 10 different books to fill out a character sheet when beyond does that for me

[severe rampart]

how many goblins would it take to take out a level 20 PC? 🤔

[crimson gulch]

i dont buy things on dnd beyond, just physical books, dnd beyond gets a bunch of things wrong and is not great at teaching folks the game

[novel bobcat]

Just one with a certain magical weapon, a surprise round, and nat 20s

[sacred wigeon]

side quest one shots and a bad one

[severe rampart]

I somewhat disagree, for your first oneshot you should definitely use it if you don't know how Ability Score Modifiers work, but you start to understand quickly once you actually read your feats

[misty vault]

maybe 2 archmage goblins.

[severe rampart]

Guys I'm talking run of the mill CR 1/4 goblins

[limber trail]

if we're talking cr 1/4 goblins.... kinda just an indeterminate amount, they aren't gonna win

[crimson gulch]

for my learn to play games foks got a pdf charicter sheet and we learned as we went

[limber trail]

any amount of AoE or durability at that level is just gonna bypass anything the goblins can do

[novel bobcat]

I swear by beyond, having easy to access digital books and easily creatable character sheets is irreplaceable for me

plus if i ever want to read them, i just hit up the site

[severe rampart]

I prefer the old book smell and reading in person

[novel bobcat]

and lets face it, iff beyond ever went down, it means Wizard's is either going bankrupt or dnd is so unpopular that it isn't worth playing anymore anyways

[limber trail]

I honestly do stand by pdfs being easier to learn. I use DDB because it makes it easier to access the complex stuff, not because it makes the easy stuff easy

[crimson gulch]

when amazon web services takes a dive, i can still run my games no problem, and no one can ever take them away from me, dnd beyond is temporary and will be gone someday

just like their old websites with all the 4e stuff that was online only

[misty vault]

I used to carry a bag full of 3e D&D books. So many splat books. Really heavy bag. I'm happy with the tablet and D&D Beyond.

[severe rampart]

I'm just throwing 12 goblins at my level 8 bard and seeing if they survive, and then throw more at them

[cerulean monolith]

When you buy something from DDB, you are renting it for an amount of time determined by WotC

[misty vault]

you're also renting food when you buy it and eat it.

[cerulean monolith]

No? You own the food.

[misty vault]

not when it comes out

[cerulean monolith]

That’s such a non sequitor

[novel bobcat]

your source books are your for as long as the site remains online, idk what your getting at but nothing lasts forever, hell even physical books degrade eventually and arguebly beyond would last longer than a phyisical book

[severe rampart]

The restaurant/staff isn't gonna throw your tray into the trash while you're still eating

[cerulean monolith]

That’s not true. The DDB terms of service explicitly reserve the rights to terminate your access to the product whenever they wish

[misty vault]

I'm not gonna eat the tray. Or am I...

[crimson gulch]

we have books that are 1000 years old, DND Beyond is way more fragile than their books

[cerulean monolith]

Which they have done, btw

[novel bobcat]

The ONLY REASON they'd they do is if you did something tro deserve your access to your stuff revoked

[misty vault]

it's a useful tool.

[uncut zenith]

Or if they went out of business, but doesn’t seem like a cause for concern atm

[cerulean monolith]

If you want to trust a corporation to act justly, that is your prerogative

Like, I use DDB, but don’t act like there aren’t real issues with it

[misty vault]

the note section should be bigger.

[novel bobcat]

dbza references aside, if we put beyond and your books side-by-side and fast-forwarded 60yrs, i gurentee you that without protection, your books would be falling apart and assuming dnd didn't lose popularity or wizard's go bankrupt, beyond would work just as well as it did 60yrs ago

[crimson gulch]

Online serverices of active companies get pulled all the time, the Nintendo e shop is gone for the 3ds

Steam games get yanked

[novel bobcat]

Your comparing console companies to website services, two different things.

[crimson gulch]

When you don't physically own it z you own nothing

[rugged hawk]

When they announced that, my response was to go buy an 18 TB HDD

[novel bobcat]

Your one of those people who always prefer to buy the phsyical game instead of digitally, aren't you?

[misty vault]

no, they're right. Online services don't last long.

in the mean time, enjoy what you have.

[novel bobcat]

i'm hungry, my breakfast is ready, and i'm not having a pointless debate this morning. Nothing lasts forever but the odds of beyond going offline in my lifetime are more or less nil so idc end of convo, talk later

[misty vault]

but with advanced age, carrying around a tablet compared to a bag full of books gives me more time to carry around a box full of minis and maps.

[crimson gulch]

I haul both to my games at the shop

[misty vault]

all the more power to ya.

[remote wadi]

I checked with DM and party

[crimson gulch]

I do need a new suitcase though, the past 3 years of hauling everything in and out to the shop 2 to 3 days a week has been hard on it

[remote wadi]

Plan is to move forward with the other side quest instead of the other werewolf hunt side quest

And the rule for Darkness is that it does not block vision if there is darkness between the 2, but light on each of the targets

In other words, as long as the target has light shone on them, I can fire from as far away as I can. Super useful with an Owlin, a Bullseye Lantern, and me having a 400 ft range

[misty vault]

what's the other side quest?

[remote wadi]

Wine supply never arrived

[misty vault]

ah, that's a fun one. Enjoy

[remote wadi]

I know it will be

Paladin messed up a wee bit and gave spoilers to what was in the fight

Fortunately, my memory stat takes a STEEP dive when relaxing, so I forgot most of it

[umbral girder]

Just like how D&D Insider is still around nearly 20 years later right?

[rugged hawk]

That's not how physics works. Without some sort of magical vision, the Darkness spell can't be seen through to target someone on the other side of it.

[umbral girder]

Or DungeonsandDragons.com is still around?

[misty vault]

physics? in my D&D?

[feral fulcrum]

fall 200ft instantly

[silk hare]

physics are not a thing in dnd anyways

[feral fulcrum]

Then pause for six seconds, mid-air, then fall 200 ft instantly again.

[silk hare]

and IF you brought physics into dnd, everything would break

[feral fulcrum]

Gravity has major lag. Servers are about several planes away, horrible ping.

[stoic haven]

Gooooood Morning y'all

[remote wadi]

Not the spell darkness. The dark darkness

[rugged hawk]

Oh, that's perfectly fine then.

[remote wadi]

There's apparently a niche RAW rule that any amount of darkness (and out of range of dark vision) between 2 people means that neither side can see each other

For our campaign, that won't be a thing

[spring glen]

Morning everyone hope you roll 20s today

[misty vault]

unless the darkness is a thing. A monster. That can be magic missiled.

[humble cairn]

It's absolutely RAW and absolutely silly.

[feral fulcrum]

I want it to be Saturday already, I want to see what my DM cooks up for the upcoming Vision Quest

[short glade]

Niche rule? You mean the RAW that nobody read or remembers?

[stoic obsidian]

Hi Vinnath

[spring glen]

I want it to be Sunday myself so I'm back on my PC working on my campaign

[misty vault]

A few more hours and then off to home I go.

[remote wadi]

But yeah. If the Owlin wants to use the lantern, both of our attack spells go crazy

[humble cairn]

Ok well then all you have to worry about is walls.

[stoic obsidian]

And ceilings

[humble cairn]

Pretty powerful for a Gloomstalker sniper.

[spring glen]

My warforged wizard needs dark vision

[remote wadi]

For inside combat, sure

[stoic obsidian]

Why?

[humble cairn]

There's a spell and a magic item for that.

[spring glen]

I'm probably just going to get the light cantrips next level I play close range with my high ac

I also use a hooded lanturn so it's no biggie

[stoic obsidian]

Tbh so many species have dark vision or at least feels like it

[spring glen]

Yeah there's a lot but I wanted to build my wizard around necromancy and being a robot is the same definition as a zombie

[stoic obsidian]

Warforged aren’t robots tho

[spring glen]

Close enough I was also thinking autognome

[humble cairn]

There's also the Reborn lineage, probably a bit closer to zombie.

[keen valve]

It's unnerving, tbh.

[spring glen]

That's why I only buy physical

[uncut zenith]

It’s the same as any sort of “digital purchase”. You’re really just buying a license to access something online up until the point it is no longer available to you.

[stoic obsidian]

The benefits is having less clutter in your house and being able to share books across distances, but that still cost money

I like digital for convenience, but I know the downsides

[umbral girder]

Also no. Food you keep and consume and won’t be taken away.

The books you get on digital can very much be taken away.

[spring glen]

Don't get me wrong digital is great for people who don't have the space but things need to change to own what you buy

I would love my physical books to be pdfs without the need to buy a scanner

I need to buy a bookcase for my DnD books they are currently in a box stacked in 2 piles 5 feet high

[stoic obsidian]

Tbh, if only physical content doesn’t use up resources to make them and scalpers

Yup, hoops and hurdles still on this 2d 3d 4d uni cycle of life

[keen valve]

Doesn't make it not disturbing. If I buy something, I would prefer to be assured I don't suffer or risk the chance of permanently losing it.

[humble cairn]

True, and there's value and utility in that.

[humble cairn]

So you prefer not to purchase digital services, then. That is completely fair.

[stoic obsidian]

So you expect them to keep the website up forever? Or give you physical books when it goes down?

[humble cairn]

If people would rather buy something they can keep forever in their hands they should buy physical?

[spring glen]

I expect to be able to back up my stuff to my own hard drives without a service that stops disabling Access to my goods

[crimson gulch]

then physical books are the way

[humble cairn]

And if people want to buy the convenience of digital services, they should buy those.

[humble cairn]

Ok, so don't purchase digital services, then.

[stoic obsidian]

Exactly, but here the thing, not everything is valuable physically

Like some games are exclusively digital

[crimson gulch]

and when they get pulled they are gone gone

[spring glen]

I have tons of physical media the only digital content I have is steam games

[reef tundra]

I buy physical books because im addicted to those beautiful, hard cover books to add to my collection

[crimson gulch]

there was a whole protest about that, Stop killing games

[reef tundra]

My collection grows

[humble cairn]

Correct, there is value in a service which is what Beyond provides.

[crimson gulch]

which is what it is, but not how its presented

[reef tundra]

Also because I strangely find it easier to find dnd information in books rather than online. It’s weird

[crimson gulch]

dnd beyond search is poor quality

[reef tundra]

I don’t know why, I just find it easier to find a rule in my PHB instead of searching it up online

[misty vault]

that's a useful skill.

[crimson gulch]

Ditto

[umbral girder]

Easier to remember the page number of a rule than a URL

[spring glen]

Flipping to a page is way simpler than typing out and clicking

[humble cairn]

I find using Beyond to search for a reference to be easier, but I don't really deal in physical books anymore. I moved to the other side of the globe and had to get rid of like 90% of my physical books.

[umbral girder]

Also you see more of the book all at once than on a web page too

[stoic obsidian]

Yeah, it just awful that physical content can become hard to get because limited production, …… yup it madness

[humble cairn]

I often have way too many tabs of Beyond open to the exact references I need.

[keen valve]

I would expect for access to the books to be available in the event of a closure, yes? That's not an unreasonable ask.

[crimson gulch]

thats unfortunate, im never moving personally

[keen valve]

I don't know why we're acting like it is? There's a whole legal suit about this in the EU in regards to games.

[stoic obsidian]

Books cost more to print, are you willing to pay more?

[spring glen]

Yes

[crimson gulch]

if its not worth printing its not worth paying for, personally

[humble cairn]

I have never regarded Beyond purchases to be the same thing as physical book purchases, or goods at all, for that matter.

[keen valve]

Good for you?

[humble cairn]

I think people should just know that going in.

[stoic obsidian]

In the eu, but not the entire world

[misty vault]

what's going on with the EU in regard to games?

[keen valve]

Stop Killing Games initiative hopes to stop gaming companies from releasing games then closing them off and leaving them in an unplayable state once support has ended. Not forcing them to keep up servers forever, just leaving it in a state to where it can still be played even when it can no longer be hosted.

[humble cairn]

Calling out specific people is against the rules, just fyi. So expect this post to be deleted by a mod.

[stoic obsidian]

And this sound like salt too

[static linden]

Hello everyone

[spring glen]

Howdy

[stoic obsidian]

Well I hope it turns out well

[crimson palm]

I am just trying to prevent toxic dms from getting more victims

[keen valve]

I think it's bad, and people should be made aware of it. So I agree.

[uncut zenith]

A callout is a callout, regardless of intent.

[humble cairn]

Well thank you, but also try to follow the rules of the server.

[short glade]

If you don’t like the table, go to a different table. You are only a victim if you stay in a toxic table.

[crimson palm]

Their group is nice, but the gm is toxic

[misty vault]

thank you for the notice. So, how does Stop Killing Games Initiative apply to the ttrpg space?

[short glade]

According to you. Perhaps not according to a different player. You are not judge jury and executioner.

[stoic obsidian]

You do realize you aren’t a Paladin? (Sorry for ping)

[crimson palm]

Did you realize I have NO PINGs written in my username?

[spring glen]

It should apply to all digital goods games are just the majority

[short glade]

Yeah I just don’t give a damn.

[loud tendon]

Please respect when people display no pings in their name and ask not to be pinged.

[short glade]

Aight

[loud tendon]

Rudeness does not excuse rudeness. Let's get back to d&d

[keen valve]

I think you're fine, I know a lot of people who never read the PHB directly and learned it by way of people teaching them.
Edit: Unless you mean as in they have no idea what they're doing. lolol.

[stoic obsidian]

Also Gator is correct, plus we can’t take you on your word when we haven’t been their ourselves and most people would just leave

[crimson palm]

Fair enough

[short glade]

Indeed indeed. I just get a little bit hot about this because DMing is very hard and huge time commit. D&D more than any other system creates entitled, ungrateful, and selfish toxic players. It’s a personal sticking point.

[misty burrow]

Yo I got a question about what level I should have my players at before fighting this monstrosity

[short glade]

Look at the CR

[stoic obsidian]

Anyway, what everyone think of rogues that mostly stick to the back

[stoic haven]

Hm? What is this about?

[crimson gulch]

Ranged rogues are fine, Steady aim and cunning action hide works well

[glad arch]

Honestly assumed ranged rogues were the rogue archetype

[spring glen]

I like playing changeling rogues and being a spy

[humble cairn]

Most newcomers to D&D I talk to assume rogues go in with daggers.

[short glade]

My personal take. If a player can’t be bothered to read the PHB, then I’m not going to carry them through a campaign wasting my time and the time of everybody else at the table that did take the time to read it.

[crimson gulch]

i dont need players to ever touch a phb, i teach the game to newcomers all the time

[short glade]

Yeah no.

[minor cargo]

I think, yeah, it just comes down to style. It's not a "bad" thing to require players read the PHB at your table. It's your table. Likewise, it's not a "bad" thing to not require it.

I know that's kind of a... nothing statement. But sometimes that's how it goes haha.

[stoic obsidian]

I know right, and frankly I started to realize that a rogue is more utility in that it can be pretty functional in melee and range by the way cunning action and sneak attack pricing by having an ally by an enemy, and sometimes front-lining is necessary

[crimson gulch]

i dont have that experience, folks learn really well as i run my games in a way that teaches the game.
i literaly do this as a full time job though so not everyone can do things the way i do

[knotty pasture]

Probably the better way to play Rogue tbh, your hp isn't enough to actively risk yourself at the front (but more power to anyone that does)

[spring glen]

I prefer my players to at least know how their character works I got a rules lawyer in my group that helps people if they don't know something

[knotty pasture]

Longbows and crossbows also have equal or bigger damage die than the rapier

[crimson gulch]

i had a rogue that was a priest as their profession and was basicly a nun with a gun

[spring glen]

Lets me focus more on DMing

[glad arch]

I love knowing the rules, i probably know them better then my dm

[stoic obsidian]

The power of guns, and also range is still prefer I think, but melee isn’t bad either

[crimson gulch]

oh yeah you are going to find unengaged players around like that

[glad arch]

Makes it annoying though to differenitate between stuff he does on purpose to run the game and stuff he just doesnt know/forgot

[short glade]

It comes down to respecting people’s time and money. I do paid sessions. People are not paying to sit at the table and have the DM explain to you how to run your character. It’s rude, it’s annoying, and it has no place at my table.

[stoic obsidian]

The rules are fun to read

[crimson gulch]

i run paid sessions and am allways happy to explain things as we go, and expect my players to all be welcoming to newcomers

[spring glen]

I don't run paid sessions myself I'm not confident enough for that

[glad arch]

Ive picked up so much randon edge case rules from #dnd-rules

[stoic obsidian]

Yeah some rules get funky

[crimson gulch]

running Paid learn to play games on SPG paid for my familys christmas this past year

[spring glen]

Wow

[short glade]

Read the PHB all the way through once.

Memorize the sections on the race and class you are playing.

If you are a caster, make or buy the spell cards.

That’s what I ask of my players.

[glad arch]

I always make sure i can quick reference my spells/class/species

[crimson gulch]

even the most experienced players get things wrong from time to time. the folks on critical role have been at it for over a decade on stream and still need the DM to run the game and correct things

[stoic obsidian]

Or have the book and write down the spells then flip to them

[short glade]

Critical Role is not the gold standard. It’s a heavily scripted and preplanned show.

[crimson palm]

Or just be a nice gm and teach the new player

[short glade]

I said make or buy homie.

[crimson gulch]

they dont have script writers, they do have an unnatanable production value for their setup though

if it was scripted they would remember their dang spells and attacks

[stoic obsidian]

Notebook of spells

[short glade]

I got some ocean front property in Nebraska for sale. Will you buy that as well?

[uncut zenith]

One of those guys

[spring glen]

Only if sharks come up to the porch and dance for me every month

[short glade]

Make is good if they don’t shorthand it.

If they actually write out the entirety of the spell then I think that’s even better than buying the cards.

[stoic obsidian]

Thus notebook of spells

[minor cargo]

I've been on streams that aren't scripted, but it's not uncommon to discuss a major event or story beat the GM/show runner is looking to hit to keep pace. For example, if we only have budget for 12 episodes (or whatever), hitting specific beats can be fairly important.

I can see laying out these events beforehand as a kind of scripting, but yeah, there's a spectrum to it.

[spring glen]

I've never watched a episode

[short glade]

But I’ve had em try to make the spell before and what players will do is omit or misinterpret the spell and its limitations.-lazy stuff.

[atomic kayak]

DMs talking with the players about what they want from a game isn't scripting lol

[uncut zenith]

I mean, the same can be said about running a timed one-shot. If I have 4 hours to run a session, I have very specific beats that need to be met.

That’s not scripting, that’s planning ahead.

[lavish flame]

are we talking "is Critical Role scripted" again?

[atomic kayak]

Of course

[stoic obsidian]

Like casting darkness on someone’s shirt without realize that the darkness doesn’t work on clothing being worn

[uncut zenith]

Yeah, Gator is convinced it is

[lavish flame]

One day we will learn about production timelines and this whole thing will be put to bed for forever

[atomic kayak]

Even without production timelines

[stoic obsidian]

I never watched critical roll

[minor cargo]

Sorry, just to make sure we're on the same page, maybe an example?

Before the game starts, the GM says to us: "Hey, so I'm planning for you to speak to this important NPC. And then there's probably going to be combat. I'm thinking it'll probably start before the break and end by the end of the episode. How's that sound?"

Again, that's not scripting in that we're not laying out a script, of course, but it's probably more "planning" or guidance etc. than most home games have.

[short glade]

What you see on critical role is professional actors, and professional production, and furthermore people who have played with each other to have a chemistry and mutual agreement about what to spend time on and what to argue or not argue.

You will not have this in a real game.

[atomic kayak]

The things that people say are scripted about it are things that categorically can (and should more often) happen in literally any dnd game

It just involves "the DM and players communicating out of game"

Them being professional actors has nothing to do with scripting lol

Saying "they have good chemistry and know how to improvise" is not the slam dunk argument for "the show is scripted" you seem to think it is

[uncut zenith]

Their campaigns are no less “real” just because they’re professional actors/storytellers with high production value

[atomic kayak]

Exactly. Its literally just good communication that can and should also happen in home games.

Whether or not it does is a different matter

[short glade]

It is at minimum lightly scripted.

They may not have literal lines to memorize but they have a light blueprint about what’s going to happen before it happens.

[atomic kayak]

No they don't

[stoic obsidian]

Tbh doing things that doesn’t progress the plot is what cause combat not happen often

[atomic kayak]

Its no more "scripting" than playing with a pre-written module lol

[short glade]

Point being what you see on CR is not likely to mimic what’s going to happen in your at home sessions. That’s why I’m saying.

[atomic kayak]

As said, the things people call "scripting" are literally always just things that result from having good communication.

Which admittedly, is more telling than most people realize. Since its people (often unknowingly) recognizing that their games don't have good communication.

[atomic kayak]

Again, that is an entirely different claim than "its scripted"

[crimson gulch]

You nailed it swamp

[atomic kayak]

(notably, it is something people already acknowledged was a thing)

[short glade]

People watch CR and then come to D&D expecting it to be just like that, and the chances of that happening are near zero. This creates a lot of problems for DMs, especially fledgling DMs-which you need to run games.

[atomic kayak]

Again, still a completely different thing than "its scripted"

[glad arch]

Watched one episide of the new CR season, thank god my own table isnt that

[blissful ibex]

do they also do heavy bias towards the social pillar?

cuz there's been a bunch of that also >.>

[silk hare]

thats called moving the goal post, fact is, its not "scripted" better communication, sure

people expecting it to be like CR is a whole different topic

[misty vault]

CR is entertaining, but I prefer Dimension20

[blissful ibex]

one of my silblings was big into Dimension 20

[crimson gulch]

i have never been able to sit through a whole season of D20 personaly, but i have watched all of crititcal role

[atomic kayak]

ironically (and as someone who also greatly enjoys D20), D20 is much closer to fitting a real definition of "scripted" than CR. Although its still less "scripted" and more "goalposts"

[keen kestrel]

I like the dungeon dudes personally

[short glade]

I believe that they probably go over a light briefing about what is going to happen in a given episode. I don’t think it’s pre-written, or rehearsed. I think it is preplanned considerably more heavily than is likely to happen at an average table.

[atomic kayak]

Nah

[north hawk]

That's true. It does create unrealistic expectations from new players. But hopefully those expectations get tempered quickly by just playing the actual game.

[short glade]

I don’t know what you mean. I don’t watch the show

[uncut zenith]

Nah, CR doesn’t sit down and “storyboard” their campaign. People tend to think the show is scripted because in reality they’re all professional storytellers who have been doing so across different mediums for decades, so it comes more naturally to them than people who play at home and haven’t been writing professionally for a long time.

[silk hare]

okay, so the campaign u see in the internet is preplanned?

wow, thats crazy how different that is in DND!, where your dm umm, wait hmm , plans a rough oultine that he expects his players to interact with?

[crimson gulch]

The Matt Mercer Effect is real, and it has resulted in me having a full time job running dnd.

[obsidian hazel]

I wish I could get into critical role but if it's not a game I'm in, my brain zones out as soon as the exposition is laid out

[blissful ibex]

more asking anyone who has watched the show
The three pillars of gameplay are Combat, Exploration, and Social; and there's been a trend lately of games leaning disproportionately on the social pillar >.>

[short glade]

Oh yeah that’s a thing and that’s even in the Phb or DMG maybe Both.

I don’t see why leaning into that would be bad though?

[silk hare]

tbh could just be a bit of a "demographic" shift also (at least partially)

especially with people being drawn in from e.g. media thats more narrative heavy (stranger things, etc etc)

[lavish flame]

Idk, I run a game in which before sessions we will block out what we want to do. When the party has decided "we're gonna go raid this ancestral tomb" then thats what I expect them to do in the next few sessions. When we have big Social Encounters (meeting with a local lord, speaking with a circle of mages, etc.) we often say our stances and arguments before the session to get an idea of what we're doing.

[atomic kayak]

Not being able to get into CR is very understandable, especially with the episode lengths.

Unlike a lot of actual plays, they don't really cut anything (D20 for example, cuts a decent amount of the "at the table behavior" stuff)

[iron herald]

Professional voice actors are quite a bit more capable than the average person at acting out a character, which goes for both DMs and players. But given that most of us aren't professionals, it's healthier for us to accept our limitations, even as we strive to improve.

[blissful ibex]

Because I prefer the exploration and combat pilars over the social pillar q_q
I'm happy there are social heavy games for those who enjoy that but I'm not a huge fan

[north hawk]

I really fell out of love with CR. I liked campaign one, but I think I got bored with it and I haven't enjoyed campaign 3 or 4 (outside of one episode of campaign three that I liked a lot).

[crimson gulch]

they have yet to Top campaign 2 thats for sure

[misty vault]

I agree, campaign 2 is probably their best season.

[short glade]

Oh I see what you’re saying now and yeah I agree.
If you want to fight and dungeon crawl find you a DCC game.

[stoic obsidian]

The Mighty Nien?

[misty vault]

NIEN! NIEN! yes

[blissful ibex]

I play plenty of AL to scratch that itch thankfully
The Adventurer's League modules are quite a bit more ballanced overall

[misty vault]

I recently retired from AL.

[stoic obsidian]

Both campaigns are a series on prime right now

[lavish flame]

I would not suggest they rely more on the social pillar than most. Going back and actually rewatching the first 3 campaigns led me to realize that there's a Combat Encounter or 2 in basically every session. Their Exploration Encounters are somewhat lacking, but they kinda take on a different shape due to their style of game. They do have a lot of Social Encounters, but a lot of their roleplaying just comes from the fact that there's 6-8 of them at the table, so they talk to one another.

[misty vault]

full on to LoG

[atomic kayak]

Yea as acknowledged already, people who are good at acting and improvising because they do it professionally are, unsurprisingly, going to be good at roleplaying and improvising. Which goes double for a group that enjoys playing with each other and has good communication skills both at and away from the table.

But those elements are, to any number of degrees, replicable at any table (roleplay, improvisation, and communication) and are not the result of scripting. As said before, for a lot of people seeing the things their own tables lack makes them think that there is something bigger behind it than "they talk to each other"

[short glade]

I like AL if you can get one around you. I had that in Detroit. Little tougher in the rural Florida.

[blissful ibex]

Thanks for answering my question

[misty vault]

I recommend the online AL scene.

[uncut zenith]

Yeah, C2 is still my favorite of the three, but I’m already enjoying C4 more than I did C3, even if it is a little early

[misty vault]

lots of games and lots of players

[stoic obsidian]

8 players sound like too much for me

[crimson gulch]

im still luke warm on C4, its taken way to long to get to the action

[blissful ibex]

I play in an active discord server, had like 13 games between 2025-12-20 and 2026-01-20

[atomic kayak]

yea CR is pretty equally heavy on both combat and social. Social definitely partially just comes from group size, but also just because most of them really enjoy roleplaying stuff out (they are Dramatic in the theater sense)

[short glade]

I prefer to play DCC/Uhmerican Survival, and VtM on the rare occasion I can get that going.

[misty vault]

I'm waiting for C4 to finish and then catch up on podcast format. Something to listen to while working

[atomic kayak]

Will probably be a few years lol

[lavish flame]

Yeah, C4 seems interesting but we're in it for a LONG haul. its been 12 episodes and 5/15 players are finally level 4

[misty vault]

I got way too many shows right now.

[short glade]

D&D is the training wheels I use when I have to get new people into TTRPG

[lavish flame]

on god we can find you a lighter system for onboarding

[north hawk]

BLM really isn't my cup of tea. I was intriguied by campaign 4 for the first few episodes, but I don't like his dming style. He's too heavy handed with making things go in the direction he wants by giving advantage and it's clear he has a general outline of where the story is going. Which isn't bad, but as a viewer the structure of the outline is apparent. People love him though, and I respect that.

[minor cargo]

I used to use D&D as the "starter" TTRPG, but these days, I use For the Queen lol.

[short glade]

It’s not the lighter system, it’s the namesake.

They only want to play D&D because it has the branding.

So I do the dance, then talk them into better systems.

[blissful ibex]

My primary character is geared for exploration but she does just fine in combat spamming EB and casting support spells >:3
not actually bad stats wise for social either but I don't have proficiency on her in anything other than intimidation and performance and personally prefer letting someone else take the lead for the Social pillar and only having her chip in if needed

[misty vault]

I enjoy the Social Pillar, but need some combat.

[blissful ibex]

I enjoy the exploration and combat pillars and don't mind mostly taking the backseat for social c:

[atomic kayak]

Pretty sure Gwyn wasn't saying DnD is a bad system, just that it is not inherently a good option for onboarding into ttrpgs in general

[misty vault]

a good adventure should have a mix of all three

[north hawk]

I feel like the social pillar will just naturally exist to glue together the combat, skill, and exploration encounters.

[lavish flame]

yeah nah I love D&D. its just a TTRPG with 1000 pages of core rules text when most games don't have that

[atomic kayak]

5e might be lighter than previous editions of dnd (which it 100% is), but its still far from a light system

[pure pumice]

Who here would watch a hill giant eating competition

[north hawk]

I'm pretty bored with combat lately tbh. Most of the games I play in have very easy combat, and it's just so slow.

I did play a very dangerous combat recently and that was way more interesting.

[blissful ibex]

Eating an entire hill giant in one sitting would break most species /j

[lavish flame]

are people eating hill giants or are hill giants eating things?

[crimson gulch]

dnd is still the best game for getting folks into TTRPGS, its way easier to get a table togeather for this than any other game

[pure pumice]

It is a eating competition for Hill Giants

[north hawk]

Character creation alone is very streamlined and easy.

[crimson gulch]

the choice for so many comes down to, DND or not playing. and its hard enough as is to get a dnd group going

[pure pumice]

Their eating hotdogs (like 20 a handful)

[misty vault]

actual dogs that are hot and fiery. Hell Hounds.

[blissful ibex]

ask your dm to up the danger in their encounters then maybe
like max hit dice if they arent already and maybe add additional enemies, weather, and other effects

[pure pumice]

...no just the food

[misty vault]

alchemy jug full of mustard and ketchup

[iron herald]

My group is starting our second campaign in a few months and I'm feeling impatient. I've had this character idea planned for over a year

[pure pumice]

Probably would need that honestly

[uncut zenith]

I really like Quest RPG for an onboarding TTRPG. It has the right vibe for high fantasy while being a much simpler system

[misty vault]

a magic greatsword made out of bread

[north hawk]

I'll consider it. That may also just translate to "target me with everything DM".

[novel bobcat]

Public Survey: As a player or DM, what's the most creative and/or hilarious insult you've heard a player say when they cast "Vicious mockery"?

[minor cargo]

The choice of "D&D or not playing" doesn't really reflect my personal experience.

For me, I can get a group of friends together to "play a game/TTRPG" so long as schedules line up. And it's even easier for a game like For the Queen that requires no GM and zero prep.

Like the barrier for entry is much lower if I say, "Yeah, we'll play a game. You don't need to read or do anything. Just show up on time and stay for about 3 hours!"

[static linden]

so hypothetically would i be wrong to create a monster with a 4 digit hp pool?

[misty vault]

schedule is the ultimate BBEG in all TTRPGs.

[north hawk]

True. But honestly as a DM, if you just pick a day and time before you find players it makes it much easier.

But it also may exclude people you want to play with.

[blissful ibex]

Terrasque had like ~1200 in 4e IIRC

[static linden]

Oo

[empty thicket]

not at all, if the DPR of the party is giga violent you can add a 4 digits monster without problem

[crimson gulch]

yeah, its way more common for TTRPG books to collect dust when they are indy games though. this community here is prove of it being so much larger than the pathfinder and Darrington press discords

[empty thicket]

or if you plan a long battle against it, either adding stuff in the scenario that let you lower it hp in a big number, call it canons or some special bombs

My dm put us against an owlbear with 800hp, in 6 rounds we lowered him to 200hp without problem until he started to flee

[static linden]

so a buddy of mine sent me a monster name
vampric half dragon tarrasque lich
and so im going to make a monster that monsters are scared of

[lavish flame]

i'd suggest so tbh. the heartiest of monsters cap out between 600-800hp. Past that and you're just adding length to a fight

[empty thicket]

what kind of chaotic salad fruit is this?

[misty vault]

the best kind of fruit

[short glade]

10minutes ban because auto-correct from the red guy down below.

Going hard in the social pillar in D&D is kind of a weird choice. It doesn’t do it well, you just send your highest CHR character to do the interacting.

This is because in D&D land A gang leader and a duke apprently find the same type of person equally charming

[minor cargo]

Yeah, for sure. D&D is a bigger brand than other games. That's very, very clear I think.

But what I'm saying is that just because the brand is bigger and more well known doesn't immediately mean it's the best way to introduce TTRPGs to someone.

[empty thicket]

oh and remember, it feel better to hit much times instead of hit few.
Sometimes lower 1 or 2 points the AC but adding more HP is nice.
So your players dont get the bad feeling of missing all the time and its a nicer fight

[north hawk]

Maybe. I think that's up to the DM to have the awareness to adjust the DC's accordingly based on the character involved. But I do see your point.

[atomic kayak]

Not really, categorically not. There's all sorts of roleplay factors that make that simply not true. And thats even before stuff like starting Attitude, which is a game element.

Not to mention that a lot of the time, the "highest Cha" character can't, shouldn't, or doesn't make sense to be the one interacting

[misty vault]

Munchkin is a good one to introduce folk.

[static linden]

yep, ill send it for review later on, but rn its got 4000 hp but a ac of 22 natural armor

[blissful ibex]

You can get a fairly similar effect by giving them like a 30 point per round regeneration or something

[static linden]

i have a feature made for that actually

[lavish flame]

yeah you should reduce this considerably

[blissful ibex]

welcome to my 16 hour combat

[short glade]

You play D&D because you have to. Then you figure out what your group actually wants from the experience and play a better system.

D&D is somehow shallow as the kiddie pool, and vast as the ocean at the same time.

I blame Skyrim.

[atomic kayak]

"Because you have to" is definitely not true

DnD is a good system. It doesn't do everything sure. But its not meant to. No system does.

[viral verge]

no system is perfect, people play what they want to play

[static linden]

they will be level 18, in a party of approx 7

[short glade]

There is no perfect system: DCC sitting right here

(This is in jest, but I think it does do high fantasy much better).

[uncut zenith]

Nobody has to play D&D. If I had someone come to me and say they wanted to play D&D, I’d advise them it’s a pretty rules heavy system and offer to run something more rules lite first so they can get the hang of TTRPGs.

[blissful ibex]

It does a decent enough ammout of a good number of things though to be fairly flexible, even if there would be bespoke systems more suited to whatever it is you're wanting to do
but sometimes you just want to do X thing, but in dnd, and that's fine

[iron herald]

D&D isn't the best system, but it's by far not the worst system. I like all the attempts at innovation, but as a game designer myself, I've found it difficult to design something that's as intuitive and fun to play.

For example, I really dislike the AC system, I prefer DR systems instead. But the design I've come up with for a good DR system feels weird to play.

[viral verge]

DCC has too many tables. Feels like I'm never NOT looking something up in that system

[short glade]

I friggin love tables lol

[viral verge]

I love tables that don't mess with my game flow (personal opinion)

[blissful ibex]

See, this is when you pop over to Sigil and see if you can somehow finagle a Marut to help fight the thing through some contract bs /j

[severe rampart]

Yes... I agree... tables are very useful for dining and other stuff

[wintry dirge]

Hey guys! I have some questions for a video! Will you guys help me?

[short glade]

Savage Worlds is pretty cool to because you do about anything g with it and it’s pretty light

[blissful ibex]

DR is nice, but AC is more an evasion system, it's good to have a little of both if anything

[empty thicket]

yeah, what kind of question do you have buddy?

[static linden]

they will have the kings army back them. . . . . which could possibly make it worse if the party doesnt catch on

[wintry dirge]

How stereotypical is for an elf to be a Druid?

[blissful ibex]

it's fine
also, it's more a wood elf stereotype, and even then, still fine

[viral verge]

SW isn't bad, but I've found it to be a lot of work on the GM side unless you're using one of the PEG-made settings

[naive cedar]

A bit, but don’t worry about it

[short glade]

Which elf we talking about?

[empty thicket]

A lot, its like making a Dwarf an artificer
Or the Human fighter classic.
Still, a classic is a classic, if it work why fix it?

[wintry dirge]

Your normal elf of the forest

[viral verge]

Wood Elf?

[naive cedar]

Also it depends on the elf: wood and wild elves are the most stereotypical

[wintry dirge]

Yes

[blissful ibex]

we've got wood elves, high elves, drow, eladrin, etc.

[wintry dirge]

No no, wood elves

[blissful ibex]

Yeah, it's fine

[naive cedar]

Arent eladrin just high elves who became fey

[short glade]

Very common for wood elf.

Though wood elf is hardly the pedigree for a proper elf. I mean as a high elf I could never…

[naive cedar]

There’s also sea elves

[viral verge]

and astral

[blissful ibex]

hence the etc XD

[uncut zenith]

All elves have some form of affinity to nature given their fey ancestry, so it definitely wouldn’t seem out of place to see a lot of Druids among them

[viral verge]

Oh, you like elves? name them all!

[iron herald]

Yeah, my main issue is that it's all AC, when proper armor should be softening blows. A bit of evasion and damage reduction together are ideal.

The main issue is that subtraction doesn't feel good to play in the moment, it's a bit slower mentally than addition.

[naive cedar]

I love all elves. High, wood, dark, sea, whatever

[wintry dirge]

Ok, thank you! What class is most common within Dwarves?

[static linden]

the feature i made is called vampiric shroud, any living creature within 5ft of the monsters flesh has its life force drained to revitalize the monster. each turn something is close enough it saps 3 hp

[naive cedar]

Moon Sun star wood wild dark (including drow) sea astral snow.

[worn lagoon]

i've seen a lot of dwarf fighters and barbarians, but you don't have to select your class based on common types

[empty thicket]

Artificer, another classic

[naive cedar]

And the werewolf elves

[blissful ibex]

punishes martials which are already punished by being martials
as a caster, have it drain casters instead >:3c

[uncut zenith]

There’s no snow elves

[naive cedar]

Oops

[uncut zenith]

At least not in D&D

[naive cedar]

mb

[empty thicket]

they hate cold places, they dont have commonly enough meat in their bodies to handle it well or hair

[uncut zenith]

And you missed the eladrin and shadar-kai

[empty thicket]

orcs and dwarf does

[naive cedar]

Not sure how I missed shadarkai mb

[short glade]

Are moon elves their own subspecies or are they just lunar high elves? I can’t remember.

[naive cedar]

Subspecies

[static linden]

have u ever seen solo leveling?

[crimson gulch]

Sure there are, just no recent printings

[uncut zenith]

They’re a culture of high elves specifically in the Forgotten Realms setting

[blissful ibex]

I've not read it, no

[naive cedar]

I thougt for sure snow elves were a thing in 2e or something idk

[short glade]

Sweet

[static linden]

oh nvm then

[uncut zenith]

Nope

[naive cedar]

Also werefoxes from 2e were usually elves

[naive cedar]

They’re a type of high elf so ig a sub sub species

[uncut zenith]

Again, it’s a culture of elves. Not subspecies.

[short glade]

High elf is best elf (best race even)

[uncut zenith]

That’s why there’s no mechanical distinction between sun and moon elves. They’re both high elves that often split into two separate communities

[static linden]

long story short they aren't supposed to kill it, i want them to start working better as a team. the more hp they take from the monster before they die (this will be what starts my new campaign) the more stuff they get as a reward when reincarnated

[crimson gulch]

theres also winter eladrin

[naive cedar]

They have slightly different appearances, although yeah there’s no mechanical difference

[wintry dirge]

Do you think elves are pretentious? Or is it just another stereotype?

[blissful ibex]

If they're not supposed to kill somethign then why did you give it a stat block XD

just literally have a conversation with them that they need to coordinate better rather than going through some convoluted gotcha fight

[short glade]

Dwarven propaganda.

High Elves are lovely.

[static linden]

ive always been told to never make it impossible as a dm, just make sure they have to work for it lol

[uncut zenith]

It’s largely like how dwarves never needed to be split between Hill and Mountain in 5E, so they just got made into a single species in 2024

[wintry dirge]

I don’t think I should take your word for it lmao

Youre biased

[marble lion]

I like elves

[blissful ibex]

lovely baked into a pie maybe

[naive cedar]

Elves are cool

[wintry dirge]

Do you think they are pretentious?

[worn lagoon]

some traits are more common among certain people, but there are outliers. gold dragons are lawful good, except Orchtrien exists.

[marble lion]

Some are

Elves often get portrayed as a bit haughty

Just like dwarves often are portrayed as unmannered

[iron herald]

I've always liked the various Elder Scrolls elves. They all developed in accordance to their different strategies at dealing with mortality.

[marble lion]

Dwemer stan over here

Reaction to mortality was to deny existence

[static linden]

the party consists of 2 supp, 2 supp/dmg 1 tank, and 2 dmg, of this the only martial class is the tank, which is why i added the shroud feature

[marble lion]

Death doesnt matter if youre not real

[blissful ibex]

Hard enough that existance denied them XD

[iron herald]

I'm quite partial to Falmer, with Dunmer a close second.

[wintry dirge]

Are tieflings (is that how you write it?) always sorcerers or is it more diverse in this race in particular?

[marble lion]

No they did

[undone rain]

They can be whatever you want lol

Paladins, clerics, barbarian

[knotty pasture]

But Tieflings do make better Paladins, Sorcs, Bards and Warlocks than other classes cuz their spells are based off cha modifiers

[worn lagoon]

There's no racial restriction on most classes or subclasses, it's just that tieflings as charisma casters being common was a racial stat leftover thing.

[blissful ibex]

1:6 front to mid+back liner ratio is rough

[worn lagoon]

Nowadays you can generally put your +2/+1 wherever you want

[knotty pasture]

But I think that should have been house rule'd, like the PC can pick whatever stat they want as a spellcasting modifier there

[short glade]

Nobody is always a sorcerer. Sorcerers are extremely rare

[static linden]

indeed

[undone rain]

Now thats smth ill keep in mind

[worn lagoon]

But it definitely contributed to 90% of dragonborn being paladins

[blissful ibex]

you'd want more like 3:4

[iron herald]

Tieflings can be and are frequently pretty much any class, and there's probably more fighters in the world than sorcerers. But as a player character, their charisma bonus makes them a good pick for sorcerer.

[lavish flame]

Tieflings can be whatever. I've got a Tiefling Wizard rn and beyond that, I've got various Tiefling NPCs that have various jobs.

[wintry dirge]

Ok thank you thank you

[worn lagoon]

They don't have to have their +2 be charisma anymore

[wintry dirge]

Is it common for humans to be mages or other races?

[short glade]

Teeth-lings. Hellborns!!

[iron herald]

That's true, but traditionally speaking.

[worn lagoon]

eah as i said, it's a leftover of racial stats.

[undone rain]

Alr Lae'zel

[worn lagoon]

Humans make up the majority of necromancers.

[iron herald]

Thematically they still fit the bill.

[short glade]

Have you ever read the PHB? Cause you asking a lot of questions that are answered pretty early in the PhB.

[blissful ibex]

don't even really like that they tied stats to backgrounds either, just let people pick whichever background is closest and just let them distributre their +2 +1 or +1 +1 +1 as they wish

[wintry dirge]

No no! Im making a video haha! I want your opinions as a community

[blissful ibex]

heck, give everyone the custom background option from the DMG unless they want one of the special ones that comes with features because those should remain as is, minus locking you to whichever 3 stats

[short glade]

But these are not opinion questions, these things are actually answered in the materials.

[static linden]

i believe that's how it works now, but don't quote me on that

[wintry dirge]

(?) really? I sincerely thought since you can be everything, there would be certain stereotypes

[short glade]

I’m taking noble background and I’m talking to whoever is in charge around here (until I’m in charge around here)

[burnt valley]

I guess?

[blissful ibex]

presently, RAW it's tied to your background in 5e 2024
but the custom background is an optional selection the DM can make available to players
distribute +2 +1 or +1 +1 +1 to whichever ability scores
pick 2 skill proficiencies
1 tool proficiency
1 origin feat
and 50gp worth of gear

[static linden]

gotcha

[empty thicket]

human can be every class, that is a beauty of them, their flexibility

[wintry dirge]

What do you think they are more often then not?

[dense tartan]

anyone know any good dnd campaigns I could watch and where u can find them

[short glade]

In the PHB it mentions what sort of classes the races tend toward, and it mentions how common the races and classes are.

Yes technically any single player character can be anything but if you’re asking about general perceptions that’s very much answered.

[undone rain]

So are Aasimar related to divine beings?

[short glade]

Waterdeep is solid.

[wintry dirge]

Okay, I just want to ask the discord. You don’t need to answer if you don’t want to

[knotty pasture]

Yeah they're related to celestials, or at least have celestial influence

[dense tartan]

?

[undone rain]

Great thanks

[uncut zenith]

Yep. In the same way that tieflings are related to fiends, aasimar are related to celestials

[short glade]

I misread I thought you were looking for a campaign book.

[undone rain]

Cool cool. Figured they would be

[uncut zenith]

They’re the “planar opposite” to tieflings

[umbral girder]

Rolling with Difficulty is a pretty good one! People also like Critical Role and Dimension 20

[blissful ibex]

Dragon Heist has been a pretty good sandbox campaign
Curse of Strahd was also fun, though it's been on a >1 year long hiatus q_q

[dense tartan]

No I can’t play dnd rn because I don’t have anyone to play it with I want to watch one

[undone rain]

Which sub race is known for being the most lawful good btw. Got a few plans

[umbral girder]

They are asking about stuff to Watch.

[worn lagoon]

everyone can be every class, that is a beauty of them, their flexibility

[blissful ibex]

yeah I don't really watch campaigns, too busy playing them

[umbral girder]

Yeah the question is not about games to play. It’s shows to watch.

[undone rain]

I watch legends of avantris their funny

[short glade]

Every Dwarf.

They are both generally good, and strongly value law and tradition.

[dense tartan]

I’m in Ireland finding dnd here is hard it’s not that I don’t want to play dnd I just don’t have access to those resources

[umbral girder]

Ehhh

[undone rain]

Oh i meant more as in aasimars sub race but that works too

[blissful ibex]

you can find online campaigns using Discord and a VTT very easily #find-a-game

[empty thicket]

true, but we cant deny some fit better for some classes.
Aka, orcs and goliath being better for martials for their upgrades in close combat or elfs being casters
Etc. etc.

[wintry dirge]

THEYRE SO FUNNY ONG!!!

[iron herald]

Even though most characters in the world would probably have an NPC class like "expert" or "commoner" (if that one still exists in this edition), most adventurers would probably fit under fighter. It doesn't take much talent to pick up a stick and whack something with it.

It depends on the setting you're playing in, of course, but in some settings wizards are rare, in others they're common. In most settings magic is difficult, and it's a rare few who are cut out for it.

[umbral girder]

As of 2024 Aasamir don’t have subraces. Instead they get all 3 transformations as an option

[short glade]

Orcs are good at everything and the most fun to RP.

[umbral girder]

But alignment isn’t really a locked down thing by their subrace or even by race either

[wintry dirge]

Wow thank you! Super informative

[empty thicket]

Yeah, you can go with any race in any class. But we can all agree some fit better for X classes.

[blissful ibex]

much harder finding specialized stuff like a gestalt class table

[empty thicket]

true, im using a Half orc fighter and i like it

[iron herald]

Zug zug

[wintry dirge]

What is a more common race for fighters?

[blissful ibex]

human /hj
to the point that human fighter is a meme

[undone rain]

Yeah ik it always depends on the character of course. Like how every elf isnt pretentious. I just like going off what is more common

[short glade]

I pretty much play Half Orcs or High elves.

[wintry dirge]

SORRY I MEANT BARBARIANS

[dense tartan]

Would I need to do face cam. I have a thing about sharing too much personal information over the internet

[short glade]

Half Orc Wild Magic Sorcerer is le funneh combo

[blissful ibex]

most tables don't require it
some make it optional, but most just do voice plus a VTT like https://roll20.net or https://dndbeyond.com

[undone rain]

Thats john dnd
Human fighter
Style: Defence
Armor: full plate
Weapon: Sword and shield

[wintry dirge]

Lmao would play this guy

[empty thicket]

i like to write for story of the character that the mother is the half orc and the father gain her love through strenght and charisma... and being bold

[blissful ibex]

literally whichever species you'd have the most fun playing as

[dense tartan]

What’s a vtt

[iron herald]

My fighter has advanced technology. Not only do I have a stick, it's a pointy stick!

[undone rain]

I made it as a joke and i just put all his stats and level into max. Never gonna use him

[blissful ibex]

Virtual Table Top, handles tracking inventory, maps, character sheets and the like

[short glade]

John Orc
Orc Barbarian
Style-Beserker
Armor-none
Weapon-Great Axe

Let’s go!

[dense tartan]

Any other tips?

[blissful ibex]

dndbeyond is technically the more official one but honnestly roll20 is the better option

[north hawk]

❤️ Roll20.

[dense tartan]

Are there dnd campaigns that would be better for a noob like myself

[blissful ibex]

basically any campaign should be fine so long as it's not like heavy homebrew
the closer to RAW (rules as written) it is, the better it will be for learning the game

[undone rain]

When i made my first paladin i wasnt aware that they used charisma for spells so i put em to intelligence and have a -2 on charisma😭

[severe rampart]

Just finished making my homebrew "Deck of Heroes" with Greek Gods and Heroes (15:7 good to bad ratio), never felt more relief

[short glade]

Just read the PHB and memorize the stuff relevant to your character and you will be ahead of 99% of newcomers

[blissful ibex]

Talk to your DM, they will very likely let you redo that
it is literally their job to make sure that you don't do stuff like that

[severe rampart]

Read? never heard of it

[dense tartan]

I only have the brand new book is that a problem

[short glade]

You have the book! You are a trailblazer my friend!

[blissful ibex]

it's fine, the VTTs come preloaded with the free basic rules and your DM will have resources as well
the free basic rules are technically all you need to play any official class currently in 5e that isn't artificer

[undone rain]

Oh dont worry he let me respec

So i put my highest stat into charisma and 2nd highest into strength

[blissful ibex]

here I'll post the recomended reading and links

Read the information in #learn-to-play and 'Playing the Game'; Then follow allong with 'Creating A Character' using either the dnd beyond character builder or roll20 to make a practice character before heading over to #character-discussion to have it looked over.

Feel free to ask any questions you still have in #dnd-newcomers; There's a short interactive module you can play to get a feel for the game, or you could seek out gameplay videos online. Once you're ready to play, head over to #find-a-game, one of the many LFG discord servers, r/lfg on reddit, or your friendly local game store. If you'd like a printable character sheet, those can be found here.

[dense tartan]

I have it I don’t know where it is right now but it’s somewhere. I was going to take a picture and show what edition it is but I still have the physical book somewhere

[short glade]

We were so close!

[undone rain]

I would like to see waterdeep in a dnd video game

[short glade]

I would like to see a VtM game that wasn’t a disappointment (hasn’t happened since 2004)

[dense tartan]

Vtm

[lavish flame]

cook

[blissful ibex]

Vampire the Masquerade

[short glade]

Vampire the Masquerade.
It’s like my favorite thing ever but about impossible to get a table that can handle it these days.

[lavish flame]

Give me a Paradox game with the various factions of Faerun and I'm sold

[short glade]

You don’t want paradox anywhere near anything that you love.

[undone rain]

The names waterdeep...gale of waterdeep

james bond music plays or smth

[short glade]

You want Larian or Owlbear

[lavish flame]

nah I want to run an empire in the Faerun map. I want to go to war with the Xanathar Guild and Lord's Alliance

[north hawk]

What's the biggest difference between Waterdeep and Baldurs Gate? I think of them both as just 'big cities on the Sword Coast'.

[ocean comet]

Thinking about playing a character who thinks they're a cleric but they're actually a warlock and don't realize it, with flavor to change all the warlocky things to appear more general magic or clericy to everyone else

The only problem with this is that I'd have to play a warlock

[lavish flame]

Baldur's Gate is closer to Gotham City, Waterdeep is closer to Metropolis

[wanton sorrel]

that would be a fun thing to play as

[undone rain]

What about a warlock thats actually a cleric

[short glade]

People try to do this all the time and it’s never fun.

[blissful ibex]

they want a DND 4x game

[ocean comet]

Cause they have to play a warlock 😭

[short glade]

Warlock is flavortown!

[wanton sorrel]

their intelegence would have to be super low though

[blissful ibex]

I play a druid lock which is decently capable at being both despite a 15/5 split :3

[ocean comet]

That would be way harder to play in roleplay but also actually sounds maybe more fun

Like make them super edgy and then their god up there is like "aww he thinks hes evil"

[undone rain]

Fiend warlocks: my patron is a dark evil devil
Archfey warlock: My patron is a magical talking tree

[ocean comet]

I love the idea of playing a warlock in everything except for gameplay lmao

[short glade]

Make High Elf Sorcerer with personality of Lucy from Fallout TV show.

Okey Dokey!

[blissful ibex]

Warlock is basically 'Build a Class' due to the Invocation system

[undone rain]

That would be hilarious

[naive cedar]

Goo warlocks: I don’t even know who my patron is

[short glade]

You’re taking agonizing blast and Eldritch spear

[blissful ibex]

Just agnonizing

[worn lagoon]

i hate pact magic more than anything else and spamming eb gets to a point

[blissful ibex]

besidess bladelock is technically a thing as well c:

[ocean comet]

Sorcerer who grew up in a cult and thinks they have the same patron as everyone else and everyone just assumes that the patron considers the sorc extra special which is why they're different but in reality the patron just hasn't realized what's going on

[short glade]

Old ones Warlock: I don’t know anything, or maybe I know everything, who knows?

[undone rain]

Tbh i like warlocks despite their limited spell slots

[blissful ibex]

Which is why it works much better in a full caster multiclass, you can use your normal slots for warlock spells and your pact slots for normal spells because mechanically it's all just spellslots

[ashen orchid]

The name

[dense tartan]

I don’t know where my player’s handbook is but it was this one https://amzn.eu/d/8wtpJW7

[ocean comet]

My mind is super on classes not knowing what they are rn because I'm planning on playing an agnostic cleric in my friend's next oneshot

He's gonna be like "Yes, I get stronger when I pray, but that could just be a coincidence. You see plenty of sorcerers get strong when they're being all soulful. It doesn't necessarily MEAN my magic comes from a god that may or may not exist but who can say for sure"

[lavish flame]

To try and rationalize it, Baldur's Gate has a bad enough crime problem, and the city is so stratified, that there are 2 different police bodies in the city. The Watch is almost exclusively for the Upper City (Patriar/Nobles) and the Flaming Fist is almost exclusively in the Lower City (Commoners). The city regularly sees cultist upstarts of a variety. Devil Cultists, Evil God Cultists, Aberrant Cultists, you name it, Baldur's Gate has it.

Waterdeep is a city so magical it literally has ~10 giant magical living statues. There are archmages who live within these statues. A Chosen of Mystra is the Open Lord of Waterdeep, she's currently the face of government in Waterdeep. Its also a very rich city, having prominent ports for the Sword Coast and The North.

[worn lagoon]

i don't like slowing down spell learning progression unless it's a lv20 oneshot, which i've never even found let alone played

[worn lagoon]

dragons cannot enter waterdeep without feeling this urge to immediately leave forever

[north hawk]

This is a great answer. Thank you.

[undone rain]

Imagine like a warlock who wants to be a wizard but cant read so they just decided "screw it ill just get my powers from a deal"

[naive cedar]

Hexblade warlock; I love my sword

[worn lagoon]

warlock stuff still implies a lot of occult studies tbf

[short glade]

That’s how I feel about California, all the way over here in Florida.

[blissful ibex]

Eldritch blast carries for damage until you hit at least level 5 on either side, it's not that bad of a DPR loss to just sit on a somewhat decent damaging concentration spell and spamming AB/EB

[dense tartan]

@blissful ibex @short glade please click the link

[worn lagoon]

which brings me to the earlier "spamming eb gets to a point" thing

[ocean comet]

The patron keeps trying to get them to learn so they can read their book of shadows from the Pact of the Tome

[short glade]

I don’t want to

[dense tartan]

Embed not working it’s showing what handbook I have

[stark ivy]

How do I send a message in looking for players? I'm looking to join again but it's just sending me through an infinite loop of going back and forth between help chamnels

[dense tartan]

I can’t find my one

[blissful ibex]

yeah, but it's only for tier 1 and early tier 2

[undone rain]

When in doubt, eldritch blast

[blissful ibex]

I'm playing a druid 1 / warlock 4 and druid 3 / warlock 2 in two different campaigns and generaly always have something to do

[ocean comet]

What about a barbarian who thinks he's a paladin because he doesn't know how paladins works and thinks his rage powers are a paladin thing

[blissful ibex]

also a Valor bard 5 / warlock 2

[undone rain]

They just keep the deal because the patron feels bad for em

[iron herald]

I'm so looking forward to playing my upcoming bladelock. Might not even use Eldritch Blast at all, because I'm multiclassing barbarian.

[undone rain]

Please i need this

[wintry dirge]

Since im new to this, (dont kill me, not for the video) how the hell are stats determined? By the die?

[full wadi]

Variable depending on what the DM decides

[blissful ibex]

and as was stated, bladelock gets 3 attacks and can make vicious weapons also function as +1 weapons, 1 level fighter into 12 of bladelock is very solid

[loud tendon]

No one can send messages there. You have to type the template command in one of our channels where you can type (like this one) and fill out the form

Instructions are in #find-a-game

[undone rain]

Yeah at times atleast. Can either be broken as hell or completley bad

[short glade]

You roll 3d6 for each stat in a row. Then you make 3 more characters the same way and whoever makes it out of the death funnel gets to be a level 1 character!

[ocean comet]

The patron used to teach a special needs class for demons in whatever hell they're from so they're very patient with people who are learning and really just want to see their warlock get educated more than defeat their enemies

[worn lagoon]

it feels more like a gish who can cast a little

[undone rain]

Peak

[short glade]

Actual answer you roll 4d6 drop lowest roll. Then assign em however you want

[severe rampart]

Realistically, why would a kingdom send 3 level 3 party members to go and save a noble who was kidnapped by traitors

[blissful ibex]

3 spells per combat is basically what a pure caster is going to be putting out anyway

[undone rain]

Money

[blissful ibex]

and you can be rocking a glaive or a longbow with 3 attacks and heavy armor on top of that

[severe rampart]

the best they can afford 😭

[worn lagoon]

not that many lv11+ campaigns, many are 1-10 or 1-12. even in the latter case that's just the final stretch where you have 3

[humble cairn]

Because they need plausible deniability and these people are expendable.

[blissful ibex]

well, same goes for fighter, they only get their third attack at level 11

[undone rain]

They got like 3 coins the party has to share

[worn lagoon]

they got action surge at least ig? idk i don't care for fighters

[short glade]

Wizard in D&D: I’ve read every book now I can throw a fireball twice a day.

Wizard in DCC: I can literally change the world, please don’t make me do it again.

[iron herald]

There's three ways to do it: Standard array, point-buy, or dice rolls.
Standard array gives you six pre-determined numbers to apply to whichever attributes you want.
Point buy lets you spend a number of points on the attributes you want.
Then with dice rolls, you roll 3d6 (or in some groups, 4d6 and drop the lowest) six times, and use those six resulting numbers for the attributes you want.

[severe rampart]

Good one, totally not stealing that (I say as I write it down)

[loud tendon]

Let's be very careful making light of mental illnesses.
Its not a bit for your character sheet

[naive cedar]

So what are the Gish classes/subclasses? Just asking so I don’t have any misconceptions

[ocean comet]

You're right, I don't think that could really be done tastefully. I don't think I'd really be comfortable playing that, but furthermore in retrospect it really doesn't even have to be connected to mental illnesses at all considering it's a fantasy world and the dude could just be really damn cursed

[blissful ibex]

That's what wish is for :3

[lavish flame]

Gishes are people that use weapons and spells. Common Gishes include the Bladesinger, Hexblade, Eldritch Knight, and Arcane Trickster

[short glade]

My old ones warlock had Eldritch induced schizophrenia. The old ones talked in his head all the time. Sometimes he could make out what they were saying, other times they sent him modern commercial jingles.

[naive cedar]

Make a character who is already cursed to have voices in their head and the warlock is like “ugh not another one”

[severe rampart]

could an Athiest Paladin exist?

[stark ivy]

What's a template command?

[iron herald]

My upcoming barblock is technically a gish, but it doesn't feel like one.

[short glade]

In DCC Wizard can attempt to do literally anything as often as they want… for a price.

[naive cedar]

Are rangers and paladins also considered Gish?

[lavish flame]

Yeah. Paladins don't need to be religious.

[ocean comet]

That's what I'm thinking, like he just has gotten multiple curses that each forced a demon into his head and they're all bored and fighting each other in there

[worn lagoon]

sure why not. very silly to be atheist in a setting like the forgotten realms though

[loud tendon]

Did you read through #find-a-game ? It explains.

[severe rampart]

I mean yeah, in DnD it's equivalent to being a flat earther

[naive cedar]

Yeah atheism doesnt really work in FR because the gods are just…there. They’re known to exist. It could work in other settings though

[short glade]

Paladins be like: the Cleric handles all the religious stuff. I just work here.

[lavish flame]

They fit the description, but traditionally Gishes lean into arcane magic.

[worn lagoon]

i have a plan to implement atheism as a mechanic in a final fantasy-themed setting

[severe rampart]

"are you just in this for Divine Smite? all you do is cast divine smite"

[naive cedar]

Thanks, and final question: could a war cleric count as a gish (excluding the divine bit)?

[undone rain]

Are feys a good patron for warlocks

[short glade]

Lmao

[worn lagoon]

i would insist they first have to be good at using a melee weapon

[lavish flame]

I think so

[blissful ibex]

Archfae is one of the nicer ones
being able to teleport around is very nice

[naive cedar]

For play style or vibes? Both are great

[iron herald]

I like the way Elder Scrolls handles atheism with the Dwemer. "Yes, the gods exist, but they're not all that special. Just another force that can be distilled, refined, and turned into a convenient tool. We'll even make our own!"

[ocean comet]

I don't know if anyone here has read Legion by I think someone named Sanderson but it's about a detective who has people in his head that he fully treats as real, but his hallucinations are actually knowledgeable, like there's one that can translate for him, there's one that's experienced in military tactics, etc.

I wonder what class would be best for something like that, I do think it'd be interesting to have a character who has greater access to information about the world but maybe with some heavy debuffs to insight and the such since they'd be not as able to tell what is and is not real.

[undone rain]

Well i like being more lawful so

[worn lagoon]

temu extra attack that uses a bonus action and a per lr resource is... eh... and they're still a lot better at cleric stuff than martial stuff by a long shot

[naive cedar]

That’s a fair take

[blissful ibex]

I'd say GOOlock and Archfae are both very good at both style and vibes, celestial is good if you need a healer, and the new vestige is dripping with flavor and story potential

[ocean comet]

I mean they're right to the extent that some individuals considered or treated as gods are not that special, though the first ever ones REALLY were

[undone rain]

Teleport hmmm

[worn lagoon]

Archfey have cernunnos as a patron. I love that thing.

[undone rain]

Well archfae may just be for me.

[halcyon bison]

I like the way that atheism is in Pathfinder, where it's not that they don't believe the gods exist but rather that they aren't worth worshipping

[worn lagoon]

isn't that more like nontheism

[iron herald]

It is difficult to argue with the most fundamental forces of stasis and change. Doesn't get much more transcendent than that.

[worn lagoon]

or whatever it was called, i don't remember.

[halcyon bison]

Also you should definitely take archfey patron. Archfey are good :>

[naive cedar]

Archfey can be pretty much any alignment from what I can tell

[undone rain]

Alr ill keep em in mind

[lavish flame]

I've sorta always imagined athiesm in D&D stems from the knowledge that basically any higher being can grant magical ability, and that gods are mostly indistinguishable from Archdevils and Archfey and Celestials and most Monsters for that reason

[blissful ibex]

they also get plant growth which is legitimately one of my top two favourite spells in the game

[halcyon bison]

Yeah, "atheism" probably isn't the right word for it but in a world where the gods are a nearly irrefutable fact it makes sense the word might have a different meaning

[undone rain]

Thats very useful

[naive cedar]

FR works well with dislike towards gods rather than not believing in them

[keen kestrel]

Sorcerer king from last UA goes pretty hard too

[wintry dirge]

Ok hate me for it but there are this dwarves that throw people in furnaces to keep it hot enough for some reason and they are mean what are their names I want to be one

[blissful ibex]

Warlock has been eating well

[worn lagoon]

plant growth + hadar = torture chamber

[keen kestrel]

Honestly, paladin kind of has too

[undone rain]

Yessssss

[naive cedar]

Like you know Tyr is a real guy but you dont really care about praying to him for protection or whatever because who knows if he’ll even grant it

[blissful ibex]

ranger, as usual, has been getting really iffy stuff other than Hollow Warden

[keen kestrel]

Between spell guard and genie paladin, it’s great

[naive cedar]

It’s ok Ranger. I love you

[keen kestrel]

Don’t forget the Banneret fighter that has like no good features

[worn lagoon]

there's a genie paladin now? insane

[naive cedar]

Banneret has always been hilariously bad

[blissful ibex]

It gets my favorite cantrip for free and has really good utility with their smites

[keen kestrel]

Technically you make an oath to the elemental plane, but yeh

[stark ivy]

I think I just made a post

[keen kestrel]

I’m playing one now, it’s very cool and lends itself well to playing a dexadin dual wielder

[serene jolt]

Is a shortsword that gives infinite advantage (it's a homebrew item) on every one of its attacks better than a standard longsword for average damage output?

[blissful ibex]

I'm most hype for Circle of Preservation druid though, it's very close to my ideal druid subclass in flavor, mechanics, and spell list

[naive cedar]

I hope psion gets added

[feral fulcrum]

That attitude definitely worked out for them in the end.

[keen kestrel]

I also hope for this, it looks incredibly fun

[naive cedar]

I wanna just mind crush people /j

[undone rain]

What about a forest gnome archfey warlock. How does that sound

[sleek cloud]

Shortswords already get the vex mastery so as long as you keep hitting past your first attack you keep chaining advantage anyways, not much need to homebrew that

[blissful ibex]

Likely to get released with the Dark Sun stuff going by how close the two playtests were to eachother

[keen kestrel]

Math wise, probably

[serene jolt]

2014

[sleek cloud]

Oh

[serene jolt]

Sorry I didn't specify that

[sleek cloud]

Then yeah, I’d say so

[plush gull]

Looking to get some bugs out of my second homebrew game but I can’t post in the homebrew area

[keen kestrel]

I just started playing a 2024 human, and my dm had to remind me I get heroic inspiration every day

[serene jolt]

Alright. I just got it on my character (thinking it was a longsword) and I was hoping I made a correct choice by buying it xD

[sleek cloud]

I have to remind our groups human too lol

[severe rampart]

do y'all think a party of level 3 players can defeat an Adult Oblex?

[blissful ibex]

that's when you learn level 10 champion fighter gets it at the beginning of every round of combat

[sleek cloud]

They’re a barbarian too so they need it often

[keen kestrel]

Humans in 2024 get it pretty good I’m ngl

[blissful ibex]

I like plasmoid too much though

[keen kestrel]

Champion in 2024 is mildly better thankfully

[wanton sorrel]

eeek... my pysical copy book is here Monster of the Multiverse

[blissful ibex]

Roll up a kobold to celebrate

[sleek cloud]

Starting my human swashbuckler rogue Saturday in our all rogue group since my last rogue died first session 💀

[feral fulcrum]

Probably not.

[keen kestrel]

Time to do a heist and completely avoid combat

[stark ivy]

I sent the post and it just made an empty dm, was there a bug?

[sleek cloud]

The second something requires magical means to bypass its joever

[spice stump]

Is it just me or is healing spirit just objectively better than aura of vitality

[wanton sorrel]

make sure it has more constitution 0_0

[sleek cloud]

It started with 18 con, but we’re all level 1 and the guy that picked a fight with me downed me in one swing

[wanton sorrel]

level 1 with a 18 con isn't bad... now you need is dex

[sleek cloud]

That was also 18

[blissful ibex]

no? it reasonably has like 3~6 max uses, heals half as much, and requires shuffling people around

[wanton sorrel]

i'm now question myself how the heck you died

[short glade]

Assemble new players.
Overly excited new guy has 6page backstory. It’s a 0 Con wizard.

[wanton sorrel]

0_0

Gator... do you have a backup character?

[proven mountain]

0 Con total or 0 Con modifier?

[short glade]

0mod

[wanton sorrel]

probably he has 0 con modifyer

[proven mountain]

Thank goodness

[worn lagoon]

lv1 is rough territory. PCs have such low hp that anything can down them.

[sleek cloud]

Well you see, that’s when it was revealed that power balance isn’t a thing in that world and that the guy was not only much stronger than anyone could handle but also had an actual legendary sword called blackrazor than siphoned my soul out upon me falling unconscious

[blissful ibex]

ask for a 2~3 paragraph summary if that's too long
but like, they better be good at tactical positioning and using cover

[short glade]

I ain’t playing that. I play half orc Barbarin with d12hit die and probably 3 or 4 con.

Backstory: This Rog. Rog like hit things. Rog hit things good.

[sleek cloud]

I wasn’t thrilled, but it was pointed out that the guy had an enchanted sword prior to the fight but other than that I didn’t know what I was in for

Live and learn though

[severe rampart]

which is mainly why I prefer starting at level 3

[wanton sorrel]

is it possible to give the characters an a tuturial adventure for 1-3?

[sleek cloud]

I refuse to make any character with less than 14 con

[severe rampart]

probably, yeah

I am making a oneshot right now

[wanton sorrel]

if i was manual roll and hopfully luck roll i think 15 con and lower means death.

come to think of it... was it milestone or xp?

[severe rampart]

was testing out my dice luck right now... I rolled 3 11s, 2 13s and a 10...

[sleek cloud]

Well 14 and 15 is still the same modifier but I get what you mean

[hidden spindle]

Not bad not bad

Throw your highest into CON & whatever you want (Spellcasting ability, main weapon attack modifier)

[spice stump]

Make all enemies incapable of seeing innocent level 1 wizards

[blissful ibex]

2~3 is infinitely better than level 1 to start

[wanton sorrel]

but that means the wizard must have a stealth check???

[severe rampart]

I rerolled, what the hell man, I got a 5

[blissful ibex]

level 1 wizard get's permanent Sanctuary buff

[hidden spindle]

Which stat is getting the 5?

[blissful ibex]

and this is why I prefer Standard Array / Point Buy c:

[severe rampart]

bold of you to assume I'm keeping the 5

[hidden spindle]

I wouldn't have it any other way.

[wanton sorrel]

if i had a five i would place it on my stat that i don't need.... which is CHA

[severe rampart]

I'm rolling for fun right now, because this character is not in any campaign, my child sorcerer will never die if I never play him

[severe rampart]

... so I'm playing a Sorcerer...

[blissful ibex]

My DruidLock needs CHA though q_q
it's going on strength

[wanton sorrel]

well don't place the 5 on CHA... place the 5 on wis

[severe rampart]

I'm not placing a 5 anywhere

[wanton sorrel]

x'D

[hidden spindle]

It was a theoretical

[blissful ibex]

Place it on CON

[wanton sorrel]

no don't place it on con... x'D

[blissful ibex]

live dangerously >:3c

[severe rampart]

there is actually no way, I got a 6

you know what... point buy doesn't sound so bad right now

[wanton sorrel]

yeah... point buy is better than standard array

[blissful ibex]

standard array makes for very nicely rounded characters while still letting you get a 17

[blissful ibex]

it is, ye; but less DM pushback on standard array generally and I basically always pointbuying a 8,10,12,13,14,15 anyway

[potent vector]

My DM lets us reroll if we don't get a sum total of at least 70

Point buy is def a nice alternative for it your rolls are rough

[severe rampart]

Evren had a similar system, I was rerolling for like half an hour because of my dice luck

[short glade]

Yall killing me. This system already rediculously player friendly. Ya want protections for low levels too?

[naive cedar]

tbffffff dnd at low levels is rough

once you get to level 5 though? it’s all over

[blissful ibex]

Had the Sorcerer in my CoS game immediately die to the first attack roll of the game, she had 7 max HP and got crit for 14

[naive cedar]

most people are idiots

[woven flint]

I don't think it depends on if people are idiots, lower levels can just be rough lol

[wanton sorrel]

well maybe they should of done a non combat quest.... pick apples

[blissful ibex]

you have far less in the way of kit and very low max HP

[lavish flame]

I do indeed have protections for low level play tbh. Until you hit 6th level in my games, you won't die via combat. Once you have the means to return to life, then I'll start butchering ppl.

[short glade]

Why are you close to something with 7hp!?

[blissful ibex]

In CoS? XD

[worn lagoon]

we were playing phandelver and below: very first encounter of the game, the first arrow to start the combat dealt 8 damage to the barbarian. The sorcerer had 7 hp, I had 8. If it hit either of us instead we'd die, and it'd have nothing to do with our stupidity.

[naive cedar]

The mistake most people make is doing a bunch of combat stuff when you’re not really supposed to do that

like level 1 quests is delivering letters and stuff like that

[potent vector]

Vro, getting insta killed no death saves by a random Crit Inflict Wounds is not player friendly vro

[blissful ibex]

said something was a ||ghost that was invisible and appeared next to her while we were exploring a room||

[crimson gulch]

nah its not instant death unless its double your HP, so a critical hit where they do 14 damage is instant death to a 7 hp charicter

[potent vector]

Sometimes people don't want to crawl through the trenches for some RP

[wanton sorrel]

well, i mean that's what G rank stands for.... find herbs... find flowers... (i watch too many guild adventure anime)

[woven flint]

Oh, Mèabhy, remember how I told you that my Bladesinger Wizard is a Dragon dad because of the Deck of many things?

[worn lagoon]

We'd die soon after.

[blissful ibex]

Deck of many dads

[crimson gulch]

perhapse, the dice decide if you live or die

[worn lagoon]

The goblins would just kill us.

[naive cedar]

it’s also up to the dm to know what’s appropriate for each level though

[short glade]

A good RP has a death funnel and I will not be changing my opinion. Earn that heroism my boy!

[crimson gulch]

if they wipe you all out, they sure could

[wanton sorrel]

if you roll a 1... then this means the dice is cursed. (is there a quest for that?)

[worn lagoon]

when 2/3 of the party can be one-shot, this isn't all that unlikely.

[crimson gulch]

this is the game allright, i have had 9 PC deaths this month in my games

[woven flint]

We're having a fight Two Young Dragons..
A black and white, which, isn't a problem because we're level 14, but my Wizard is a dragon papa, he can't bare to see the two being hurt 😭

[blissful ibex]

I don't remember that story, no

[undone rain]

Quick i need a good fem name for a gith

[crimson gulch]

Roberta

[blissful ibex]

Someone wants to run the gauntlet at the beginning of a Shadowdark campaign apparently

[potent vector]

And this opinion is why games are relative. People should play at the tables that suit their tastes, so asking DMs for small things that would make it feel better is not out of the question

[woven flint]

Luckily his turn is next, we had to cut mid combat because it's was late, my idea is to Steel Wind Strike to kill the things that absolutely NEED to die and to potentially knockout the two Young Dragons

[blissful ibex]

we were then nearly TPKd by a single cr 1/4 ||animated broom||

[short glade]

If he dies.
He dies.

[crimson gulch]

those brooms absolutly sweet players away somtimes

[potent vector]

Yeah, low level flying being busted goes both ways

[undone rain]

John gith

[blissful ibex]

less the flying and more the ||2 attacks per round with a +5 mod and really serious damage for a level 1 party||

[potent vector]

Wait, it's +5 mod? Lmfao forgor

[blissful ibex]

that thing is terrifying

[short glade]

I got this high elf, noble BG, storm sorceress in mind. I just haven’t landed on the perfect name yet.

Need something Royal, Elven, and Feminine.

[woven flint]

Guess you could say they almost got ||Swept||

[blissful ibex]

basically >.>

[woven flint]

Hell, Animated Armor is CR 1 and can absolutely kick ass because of the 18 AC lol

[blissful ibex]

we got down to 1 player with 1 hp left who finally downed the thing with their last attack q_q

[wanton sorrel]

yay!

[blissful ibex]

We literally had the stand in party name ||Broom Breakers|| for a while until someone thought of a better one

[woven flint]

The lowest point for any party is to be almost absolutely wiped by something stupid lol

[wanton sorrel]

x'D

[severe rampart]

TPK via broom is new

[blissful ibex]

it's really, really not; the CR on that stat block is set severly low for what it does XD

[woven flint]

Our dm almost killed our Shield Gaurdian, Billicus last night, the party was fuming at the enemy that hurt the poor lad so badly

We ended up kicking ass for him!

[severe rampart]

for a child pc, would you invest more in Dexterity (for mage armor) or Constitution?

[blissful ibex]

We had an easier time with the boss fight in that area than we had with a random trash mob

[woven flint]

I wouldn't recommend playing a child at any table because that could lead to uncomfortable situations

[severe rampart]

trust me they're gonna fineee (probably)

[woven flint]

If your dm is okay with it, go ahead..
But like... eh...

[severe rampart]

I need the pity points from the party (this is a joke)

[woven flint]

It's not that children are bad, I'm just sure most people don't like hearing about children being in danger or being in a situation that could kill them

I know it's a number one thing for me to bring up at session 0's
"No children in life threatening danger!"

[wanton sorrel]

not even a minotaur age 8?

[blissful ibex]

My basically 2 foot nothing character put the fear of god into two Goliaths with a 21 intimidation roll at level 5 on Sunday
She'd just cleaned a bit of the party's base and they were messing it up XD

[woven flint]

Minotaurs are like... bigger than most humanoids at the Age of 2 and can kill Orcs easily....
But it's still a child.

[wanton sorrel]

yeah that's true

but i'm reading the lore that 8 age minotaur becomes an acolytes at tha age of 8 or 9... and then adult hood at the age of 20 but they rarely live around 40.

[woven flint]

It gets weird when different species ages come up and when they actually reach adulthood, but I'd say the most reasonable Young characters is 18
Because as I said, it can bring up weird situations if they're younger.

[blissful ibex]

it's all reletive to the species, Kobolds for example reach young adulthood by around ~6 and most elves are closer to like 70~100

[wanton sorrel]

x'D yeah

[keen kestrel]

I’d say just try to keep the age relative to when the species reaches adulthood

That way everyone is at least young adults, if not older

[wanton sorrel]

so an 18 year elf is so young it's child x'D

[keen kestrel]

No, elves age like humans do until they reach adulthood, at which point they age very slowly if at all

[wanton sorrel]

true

[keen kestrel]

Tbh, I just like making characters around my age, it’s easier rp wise

[undone rain]

In one session we got chased down by a horde of like dwarf sized spiders and our bard used cloud of daggers and it was super cool

They couldnt get past it since we were in a pretty small cave

[blissful ibex]

it's more about mental maturity with elves IIRC

[naive cedar]

It’s a spiritual thing: 18 year old elves are “adults” in the human sense but elves prioritise experience and ability to connect with ancestors in the reverie

[woven flint]

Most of my characters are WAAAY older than I am lol

[naive cedar]

Personally though playing 1000000 year old elves is fun

[woven flint]

Some are even old men for their species

[naive cedar]

I find it weird to play child/adolescent characters now that I’m an adult tbh

[woven flint]

My youngest character is My Harengon, he's 24

My oldest is my Drow, but not counting elves its my tortle at 102 lol

[small heath]

Question: have any of you done very high level combat before? If you have, or if you have DM'd lvl 18+ combat, how does it go? Is it a lot of bs? Does it take 3 hours?

[wanton sorrel]

ah so the tortle lifespan is 50... i guess your tortle is homebrew

[crimson gulch]

yes, very frequently

[woven flint]

No,they fixed that in recent books

[wanton sorrel]

they did?

[woven flint]

Yeah, I don't know the exact lifespan, but they live longer now

[halcyon bison]

Good because that makes no sense at all
Turtles live for a very long time in real life

They're also very cool :>

[woven flint]

Because let's be honest

A Tortle should be outliving an Elf if age is relative
(That's just my opinion)

[small heath]

Elves are weird

[crimson gulch]

it goes great if you know what you are doing, if you havent practiced it before its going to go slow, and so many folks fall into the trap of trying to use a VTT for everything and the amount of clicking and clicking it takes to run high level DND combnat frequently is the real slow down, in person unplugged is the way

[small heath]

and overrated

[small heath]

I unfortunately do not know any in-person sessions (nor am I able to travel often because my car is essentially non-functional)

[woven flint]

Elves, Dwarves and Orcs are the only normal humanoid species I have a soft spot for lol

[small heath]

I know my university has a D&D club but I wasn't into this until after I graduated

[crimson gulch]

running online games without complicated VTTS is more than possible, its the best way. i use owlbear rodeo for maps and dice and run it all on paper just like an in person game

[halcyon bison]

I like all the lineage species from Van Richten's because I like spooky guys :3

[blissful ibex]

If players know what their kit does and actually pay attention, think about what they want to do on their turn. it's not all that slow at all

problems arise when people get decision paralysis

[fossil hollow]

gug

[small heath]

Meanwhile my other 2 campaigns, I will say that my main concerns is that both the DMs aren't as proficient, but that's ok. I want to get any experience I can so I'm planning to staying with them.

I personally struggle with ToM sessions as I am a visual/hands on person and I need to "see" what's happening.

[rough basalt]

Yeah that's why I don't do much totm.

[lavish flame]

I like having a VTT screen for everything. This usually means people sit on maps for a lil while, like while traveling across a continent or hanging out within a city.

I like giving my players a visual component to my descriptors, thats just a me thing tho

[small heath]

I'm a druid in one of my campaigns, and I want to use the VTT so I can be my animal self and just move around with the avatars.

[crimson gulch]

Visuals are fine, but trying to automate the game systems is where thing bog down

[small heath]

Like we had a sessions that was cancelled this weekend where we were meant to break out a prince from prison, and I was hoping to turn into a spider and just move this spider avatar around the compound to see what I see/hear.

[wanton sorrel]

totm is all about memory....

[small heath]

I struggle with that because I'm the dedicated note taker for the group, so I'm trying to do this TotM stuff while typing on a google document of what occurs and information that comes our way.

[crimson gulch]

yep, that that is a huge strenght of mine, i write session notes from memory the morning after a session and they are amazing

[small heath]

I can type fast so it isn't that much of an issue, but sometimes it can be too much xD

[crimson gulch]

i dont type or write notes during a game, expect for combat data tracking on paper

[rough basalt]

I was really looking forward to dming tonight

[small heath]

I'm debating if I want to join a 4th campaign or stick with the 3 I have.

[rough basalt]

But the cold did me in

[wanton sorrel]

I hope you feel better Sora not Ti

[rough basalt]

If I try to ran a session tonight it'd be like DnD but the DM is a walking corpse.

[still stump]

Yo

[fossil hollow]

Im Ti

[still stump]

Hi I how’s everyone

[wanton sorrel]

hello

[woven flint]

The Ti

[rough basalt]

Canceling most of January wasn't on my to do list but its always a rough time of year for me.

[short glade]

Alright fam. I’ve decided her name is gonna be

Daisy Magnolia (DaisyMae) Clementine

She’s from one of the Southern elven Kingdoms ya see.

[still stump]

I’m gonna be honest.. I watched stranger things and because they’re completely centered around dnd I wanted to see what dnd was all about.. anyone can explain or know where I can learn how to play or where to play?

[naive cedar]

this year hasnt been off to a great start tbh

[woven flint]

#learn-to-play good place to start :>

[rough basalt]

#learn-to-play and #dnd-newcomers are the best help

[halcyon bison]

The Yuan-ti?

[still stump]

Thank you Toki, I heard dnd is a game centered around friends and family but what if those friends think it’s a corny game or family doesn’t have time for it.. how can I play then?

[woven flint]

No, the Ti-Moth

[halcyon bison]

What is a Ti-Moth

[woven flint]

Playing online is my go-to atm

[fossil hollow]

Im Ti-Moth

[rough basalt]

You can play with strangers and become friends with them

[still stump]

Any online suggestions?

[short glade]

Go to bookstore
Purchase Players handbook.

Now this next step is important and where most folks go wrong…

Ya gotta now READ that Playerers Handbook.

[woven flint]

This guy, this creature, this fella
That's a Ti-Moth

[rough basalt]

And not all friends or family can be good DnD partners

[crimson gulch]

Running games for strangers and with strangers is more than fine as connecting with new folks over a game is how strangers become freinds

[fossil hollow]

Checking out local game stores, as well as checking out the #find-a-game channel, checking out StartPlaying, or R/LFG, and facebooks and such

[halcyon bison]

Hello Ti-Moth

[still stump]

Hmm