dnd-discussion

[cobalt owl]

I do think -2 con is a sufficient penalty

[humble cairn]

Ohhhh, yeah I thought you were talking about something else entirely.

[cobalt owl]

I was gonna say -4 or -3 ngl

And then I remember how many con saves there are in 24

So if you wanna be punishing and thats the point, yeah I'd say -4

Anyone under 14 con is gonna have a rough time lmao

14 con is my minimum for characters so I have that mostly in mind

[river vector]

I'm using 2014 rules.... Now I feel tempted lol. But I think -2 is still fine.

[cobalt owl]

I have been permanently vindicated in getting resilient con

[lavish flame]

Resilient: Con is goated

[river vector]

Hello Cow Latrell (I am not insulting him)

[tranquil temple]

I want to give my lvl 7 players a magic item of their choice, but I'm not sure what level of magic item I should let them choose from. Any ideas?

[jolly agate]

Maybe rare

[mossy perch]

Is this like a reward for doing smth or are they starting at lvl 7 and ur giving them a free starting item?

[tranquil temple]

Reward for doing something

[jolly agate]

What kind of Magic items?

[tranquil temple]

Anything at a given level

[woven flint]

Common to Rare for certain,
That's what the level 7 party I'm in can even afford lol
Though, you could check out some Very Rares, just don't go into legendary territory if you want things to remain challenging

[jolly agate]

very rare is still very rare tho

almost legendary

[mossy perch]

I would say Uncommon tbh. Theres still a lot of good stuff there and I feel like it’s at the power level for lvl 7

[jolly agate]

I would say uncommon-rare

[mossy perch]

That’s just me tho

[woven flint]

Nope, it's Rare

[river vector]

I like flaming rapiers, I gave the party a discount flame tongue rapier at early levels that was actually a lich king in disguise.

[humble cairn]

Well the DMG does have some guidelines: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/dmg-2014/creating-a-campaign#StartingatHigherLevel

[jolly agate]

A what now?

[river vector]

Zanaris, my beloved Vecna ripoff

[woven flint]

Vecna is a FRAUD

[jolly agate]

ye

[river vector]

Yeah its the lich king of the undead kingdom trying to manipulate the party to kill the leader of the rebellion against him. He doesn't kill him himself because it would cause more rebellion and uprising.

[woven flint]

We all know Acererak is the cooler Lich because he denied the chance to become a God because he just wanted to continue to do whatever the hell he wanted

[river vector]

aka make torture dungeons (that is acererak, right?)

[uncut heath]

You could also give a more powerful item, but try to bring that into YOUR world fore that story then'

[woven flint]

Yup.
Acererak was a student of Vecnas too.
He stole the secret of becoming a Lich from him

I dunno what Vecna expected
Acererak is a Cambion.

[uncut heath]

Cant that change from DM to DM?

[woven flint]

That's just lore as is, really
It doesn't HAVE to be lore in your world, but that is the case
Acererak was Vecnas student

Vecna also once teamed up with Asmodeus to try and become a God in Sigil, but the Lady of Pain kicked their asses lol

[woven flint]

But, yes D&D DOES have "Official Lore" for their characters, but often it changes throughout the editions

[uncut heath]

Isn't this world/Universe and rules supposed to be a template and then able to be changed?

[tame bane]

whare cen i jojn D&D game fast?

[jolly agate]

Cool

[woven flint]

Yes, but lore still exists.
You don't have to follow it, but each character that's official does have "Canon" information about them.

[river vector]

Note that the leader of the rebellion isn't crazy strong or something. It's just the lick king can't do it without causing chaos.

"lick king"

[jolly agate]

Oh damn

I wonder, What's even Neverwinter?

[woven flint]

Tiamat is the queen of all Evil Dragons

Baphomet is the creator of Minotaurs

Helm Gaurded the Celestial Staircase

Kelemvor judges the Undead
Ect
These are just facts of characters that wouldn't make sense to change imo

[jolly agate]

Like, is it a city?

Or a region

Or smth, i have no idea where ma party gonna wake up in today's session

[river vector]

It's pretty close to phandelver, and it's in the recent DND movie. That's all I really know.

[tame bane]

whare cen i jojn D&D game

[jolly agate]

#looking-for-players

[mossy perch]

Pretty sure Neverwinter is a kingdom

[river vector]

you scroll and find the inevitable lfg

[woven flint]

Yes!
It is

[jolly agate]

Is it a cool kingdom?

[woven flint]

Absolutely not, it's corrupt as all hell

[river vector]

I love that its Canon that some random conman became "lord of Neverwinter"

[jolly agate]

What is their policy regarding magic bulls?

[woven flint]

King Neverember sucks.

[jolly agate]

Oh damn

[pallid pilot]

Good evening people, I hope everyone’s day’s been lovely, wanted to ask the question on what would be the perfect 5e module to run for a Birthday party?

[uncut heath]

No one Is responding to my question ?

[woven flint]

Logistically, most major cities wouldn't have rules regarding specifically magical bulls, but I'd assume they fall under rules and regulations that other magic users and magical creatures do

[river vector]

Note that he is an infernal demon bull

[woven flint]

What?

[keen valve]

Fay-run? Absolutely.

[woven flint]

I said "Yes" D&D lore IS a template, but it still exists to help with certain characters

[keen valve]

Character concepts provided your world has access to all the core concepts.

Gnome world is a perfectly valid way to run dnd.

[woven flint]

Then it'd probably be the same regulations for fiends, which most cities, especially Baldur's Gate, do not enjoy

[river vector]

If I was DM I would have NPCS distrust the evil looking Demon Bull

[woven flint]

There's actually a Fiend that lives among the people in Waterdeep disguised as a Human, but he's actually found himself pretty fond of the people that live there

[jolly agate]

Texted ma DM, he says we aint gonna wake up in Neverwinter, but in Helm's Hold

What the hell is Helm's Hold

[uncut heath]

I mean, that is something you put down in you OWN sessions

[woven flint]

He's a Minor character and you probably wouldn't find out that he's a fiend in a normal playthrough, but yeah, he's there lol

[keen valve]

Waterdeep is a literal economic nigthmare, of course a fiend would love it.

[jolly agate]

I can transform into a human, and into a cow, and into a giant demonic minotaur

Ig that will work

[woven flint]

He actually goes out of his way to protect the people of Waterdeep, surprisingly

I'll tell you what kind of fiend he is, but I won't tell you who...
He's a Rakshasa

[keen valve]

I still cannot be convinced that easily. It's like an archdevil loving the nyc financial district.

[woven flint]

Rakshasa, notably
Aren't Demons or Devils, they're their own branch of fiends

[keen valve]

They're cool tiger people, I love em lots.

[jolly agate]

Who the hell is Helm and why is he having a hold?

[trim stratus]

For the note takers what app/site do you use and what are its functions(ie does it have the web connecting points etc)

[keen valve]

I can't decide, are Rakshasas or Arcanaloths cooler though? I feel like the answer should be obvious, btu it is not.

[woven flint]

Fiends can grow bonds and attachments like normal people

Hell, Tasha and Graz'zt have an on again off again relationship and they ACTUALLY love eachother it seems

[keen valve]

Obsidian. It lets me make really confusing and puzzling and hard to keep track of notes, but in a way where I feel like I have control! In comparison to google docs where I do that and I feel like I do not have control.

[woven flint]

Mind you, Graz'zt is a Demon Lord and he LOVES someone

[trim stratus]

I’ve heard good things about that one

[woven flint]

Love, Kindness and compassion aren't limited to Good creatures

[jolly agate]

Can't find Helm's Hold in the wiki, weird

[keen valve]

Yeah, but you can see where the deepness kind of gets weird though, because they already have the pleasure aspect of him down, right? So how much of that is expanding beyond base capability and how much of that is the morphing of his preexisting condition?

I'm not saying I don't agree, but I can see where they have stuff included to maybe suggest that any perceived depth is not the case.

[woven flint]

It is Deep
Graz'zt has gone out of his way to save Tasha multiple times and Vice-Versa

And Demon Lord's don't do shit for nobody but themselves, he didn't HAVE to do that under any means

[keen valve]

I guess what I mean is that I don't have confidence in Wizards to have that much depth in their writing, because I feel like nine steps down the line they could just as easily up end the table and go "actually, it was all an illusion."

[woven flint]

He could find any other consort or lover he wants, but he goes out of his way for this specific woman

[harsh hinge]

This one? https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Helm's_Hold

[jolly agate]

Thxxx

[woven flint]

WOTC would surprise you sometimes with their writing, they sure have with me

[keen valve]

They're too corpo for me to really have that confidence, but I'm sure they have their moments still.

[woven flint]

I think your opinion on Evil creatures not being able to have love or compassion is strange tbh
No offense

[keen valve]

Well that's not true.

[keen valve]

Note this.

[jolly agate]

Oh god, ye im gonna die next session

[keen valve]

I'm not saying I disagree as in I do think that capability is real, but I do not trust WOTC to be that deep with it.

[rugged hawk]

If Evil beings were compassionate, they wouldn't be commiting Evil, now, would they?

[uncut heath]

I'm gonna be in the available vc.............. Lets talk

[woven flint]

Have a little faith

[hot marlin]

Granny Incubus used to say that Compassion was the greatest of all evils.

But Granny Incubus was weird.

[rugged hawk]

Don't worry, I have LOTS of faith. ALL the faith.... that things will only get worse before they get better, if they ever do.

[keen valve]

NEVER! I would sooner spit acid than have faith like any foolish cleric!

And then I start like exploding with poison or whatever and it's like really cool because I'm evil and demonic.

[hot marlin]

Jokes aside: Compassion for whom? Is that compassion an important enough trait to outweigh other possible motivations?

[woven flint]

That's also completely incorrect
Some villains do their evil for the love of their planet or people

Look at how Megatron became a Tyrant because he wanted to save his planet

[hot marlin]

I have compassion for the pigs, but I still eat bacon.

[rugged hawk]

Good intentions paving roads to bad places, etc etc etc

[hot marlin]

Good intentions are the worst evil. If you only have evil intentions, you'll be good.

But yeah. Essentially I'm seeing a confusion between psychology and morality, but those two things are very distant from one another.

[wispy vector]

"I have compassion for the plants, so I eat the vegans "

[humble cairn]

I think the idea of beings that are elementally evil based on planes defined by the Nine Alignments is kind of lazy and rigid and would prefer reality to be more mysterious anyway. Not just, oh you're X creature type therefore you must be Y Alignment, anyway.

[keen valve]

Maybe this counts?

My bbeg Gorezad the mad had his wife killed after an encounter with a fateful hero, he is now set with rage going to war with all of the south in order to find the hero who killed his wife. In that, though he is villanous and is extremely furious and war-hungry, he has strong sense of compassion for his family and others who have deep family connections.

In that, I mean that I think it's totally possible to be evil and compassionate.

[lusty walrus]

Hey! I wrote a pretty long D&D character backstory (about 12k words) and I’m wondering if anyone would be interested in reading it and giving some feedback on the writing itself. I’m mostly curious if the writing is good or not and what people think. If anyone’s up for it I can send a link, or if there’s a better place/channel here to post it, let me know!

[stoic haven]

What about devils and demons

[uncut heath]

I guess its waiting room, dont know if people can talk here?

[wispy vector]

It's not that they are automatically evil, they just tend to do things that are considered evil due to how these beings grew up and how the beings around them shaped them.

[harsh hinge]

#character-discussion would be the spot, but I don't expect anyone needs to read the full 12K to form an opinion on the writing!

[keen valve]

I don't think they can.

[humble cairn]

Of course it is. Because morality is more complex than the alignments.

[keen valve]

Yay! Alignment conversation part X.
(I don't actually remember how many times this has happened, it's too many to count.)

[woven flint]

Speaking from experience
It's better to make a backstory 3 paragraphs or less for sake of ease for dms reading
You can add things on later or bring up points you've had in your original backstory when it becomes important ^^;

[humble cairn]

And it will happen countless more times.

[keen valve]

Also, small mention slightly off topic bc I got you here, I watched the moonlight chicken, very good. That's all.

[uncut heath]

Why is there no VC in this server ?

[keen valve]

Wasn't there at one point a vc but it got taken down?

[remote wadi]

Well. Looks like Saturday afternoon DnD fell apart

[humble cairn]

Oh, did I recommend that to you? It's a wonderful show, but I don't remember talking to you?

[lusty walrus]

I know this and theres a summery but i had fun writing a detalied story for the character and just want to know if its any good

[humble cairn]

Would you like more recommendations in #non-dnd-topics ?

[remote wadi]

Another rodent, I see

Context: cat friend i have. Being around him seems to make rodent encounter chances skyrocket

[keen valve]

I kind of want to reflavour a kobold into a rat then play with someone who is a cat so we can have an enemies to lovers tom and jerry arc.

[humble cairn]

You seem to have given more context in a way that is even more mysterious than no context.

[humble cairn]

Amazing idea!

[keen valve]

That's actually the plot of the first Tom and Jerry movie, so I'm just ripping it off.

[remote wadi]

Friend with cat pfp. For sone reason, if i have talked to said friend recently, I find a lot of rat and mice centric people

[fickle heart]

Personally, I think the juxtaposition of the rigidity can cause really interesting story moments. Have a few similiar ones from games I'm in.

Nature vs nurture, and all that.

Game I'm in recently touched on the concept of free will as it relates to these extraplanar forces and even how said forces view sentient Material Plane species.

[woven flint]

Freewill-maxxing

[obtuse stratus]

Does anyone have any favorite moments of in party in game conflict?

[fickle heart]

This one gets a bit spicy, I know, but I think species alignment can actually be a good thing for stories if those engaging with it are equipped to handle it.

[craggy summit]

It's really silly and isn't conflict per say but it's still funny to think about 😅

We're in a dungeon, we see footprints that suddenly end Infront of a wall. We're all thinking it's an illusion. One of the players that I'm pretty close to outside the game (aasimar druid) decides to pick me up (kobold bard) and throw me like a football at the wall to illusion test it

He rolled a nat 20 on the athletics roll to throw me with all his might and I ended up with 1hp afterwards 🤣

Yes I consented to letting him do that and I think I was the one who suggested it lmao

[woven flint]

Damnit, for some reason I've got the Ghostface Knife wipe in my mind and if I play a Rogue again I think I'm gonna make it his signature because I think it's silly and intimidating

[jolly agate]

Beans

[proper forum]

I realized that when I play D&D I think about it like I'm playing a video game. Am I doing a healer build, a debuff build or a damage build? Does my team need a support? How do I make my character OP and broken? Woa I think I'm the one carrying my team. What is the current meta?

[obtuse stratus]

I believe that is intentional in design

[glossy zenith]

Haha, same. Basically, I just realized I play D&D like a video game, always thinking about builds, support, OP stuff, and meta. It’s fun, but kinda meta gaming

[dense nacelle]

I think I’ve done it, I think I’ve calculated the highest single target damage possible assuming all crits and all highest damage rolls

Assuming no magic or special items gifted to the character

[proper forum]

Rn I'm hexblade warlock damagemaxxing

[proper forum]

Gimme. I need it.

[obtuse stratus]

I think the meta and build optimization was the first thing that killed D&D for me. It was fun back in the day before reddit, then I found reddit and put down pf1e because the game became about builds and not roleplaying with my buddies anymore

[mossy perch]

I don’t think optimizing and rping have to be at odds

[obtuse stratus]

Yeah, they don't

But instead of having fun with friends, it became a bunch of people finding infinite damage combos and they all kind of drifted away from just sitting down having fun. They wouldn't build themed characters that may be better in X campaign they built the build of the week

and I stopped playing for like 4 years

[nova trellis]

I would say thats the fault of that friend group imo.

For any kind of player, a good mentally is "Do whatever you think is fun, but allow opportunity for others to have their fun."

[mossy perch]

Aw man that sucks. Last thing you want to happen is for dnd to become competitive fr

[obtuse stratus]

To be honest I've never seen the game we used to play come back. As far as I can tell outside of some niche groups staying off reddit that game is dead and burried, never coming back. But with 5e it kind of opened up a bit more to choice and isn't nearly as bad as pf1e became, although occasionally I need to vet players to see if they'll fit in a group

[solar crow]

The dude who plays the barbarian in my party decided to do 500d100 on D&D beyond just for fun- our game log all isn't loading on mobile and he did it on Thursday

[dense nacelle]

743 as an artificer fighter multi-class

[nova trellis]

Yeah, I actually hear thats a problem with pathfinder. Its a mechanically sound game but thats kind of the problem. Most of your actions and interactions can be boiled down to measurable numbers so the game is more prone to destructive optimization.

[hidden spindle]

That's certainly a way to go out.

[nova trellis]

5E, with all its faults, leaves a lot of it mechanics to interpretation

[proper forum]

What is a 473

[solar crow]

He did it before the session started

[serene jolt]

I'm the same way a lot of the time. I love optimizing parties by making sure our comp is good.

Which is both a good and bad thing. If a specific aspect of our party dies, leaves the table, or retires their character, I feel the need to fill the slot even at the detriment of replacing my character.

[solar crow]

It lagged D&D beyond so badly it crashed someone's laptop

[serene jolt]

Like a great example. We had a great party comp so I went with what I wanted to play: a moon druid. That was a lot of fun until a party member left. He was our only arcane caster. We were struggling without a blaster caster so I hesitantly put away my druid for now and brought out a sorcerer.

Granted, the DM is allowing me to back burner her until our caster player returns.

[dense nacelle]

5 attacks with a +2 anti-matter rifle, all with force renders to add 8d6 more force damage, and fire rune for 4d6 fire damage

[serene jolt]

Yes druid can be a blaster caster somewhat but a Moon Druid wouldn't be optimal for that purpose xD

[woven flint]

You know what creatures CR baffles me?

Rakshasa.
They're CR 13, but they can just be immune to 6th level and lower spells if they want to

[serene jolt]

What about ghosts and similar creatures as a CR 1/2-1? Every time they hit you, an ability score goes down by like 1d4. That's crazy scary.

[woven flint]

Given they don't have like huge damage and shit, but that's 6 entire spell levels they can just say
"Nah, doesn't work on me."

[serene jolt]

Half casters sobbing in the corner

[mossy perch]

Damn no save or anything?

[woven flint]

That also means that Rakshasa are fiends IMMUNE to divine smite now that it's a spell

[woven flint]

Nope.

[mossy perch]

That’s wild.

[obtuse stratus]

They made it a spell‽

[woven flint]

"Limited Magic Immunity. The rakshasa can't be affected or detected by spells of 6th level or lower unless it wishes to be. It has advantage on saving throws against all other spells and magical effects."

That's ludicrous

Though, they are said to have a strange sense of honor, if they were fighting a caster they'd PROBABLY allow lower level spells to effect them?

They never try to break obligations or contracts either, not even if they have the potential to betray someone

[woven flint]

Yup, in 2024 rules

[obtuse stratus]

But it's smiting? That's a smack not a zap!

[woven flint]

I mean, all the other smites are and have been spells

[uncut zenith]

And it functions identically iirc, it’s just a spell now instead of a class feature

Still consumes spell slots, which the class feature did too

[hidden spindle]

How?

[woven flint]

This

[hidden spindle]

Oh. I was reading the '24 Rakshasa

[woven flint]

Oh, they updated it?

I might be silly

[hidden spindle]

That or I might be blind.

Greater Magic Resistance. The rakshasa automatically succeeds on saving throws against spells and other magical effects, and the attack rolls of spells automatically miss it. Without the rakshasa’s permission, no spell can observe the rakshasa remotely or detect its thoughts, creature type, or alignment.

[mossy perch]

The Divine Smite change is a reasonable one I agree with making it a spell, but the thing that confuses me is if they changed that, when why is Eldritch Smite not a spell now too

[woven flint]

Still pretty damn crazy

[unkempt atlas]

Guys im in a super pickle, does anyone know how to cure a party member of the Hungering Curse? One of my party members got infected with it (although he doesn't know it yet) and I want to save him

[woven flint]

It already uses Warlocks limited spellslots and it's a Pact of the Blade specific thing

[pearl hedge]

@woven flint one of my party members is a reborn and he gained one level of exhaustion, so I said he was "dead tired"

[hidden spindle]

What's it do?

Typically downtime might do the trick

[unkempt atlas]

Hes slowly turning into a wendigo

[woven flint]

Why'd that warrent a ping?

[pearl hedge]

idk lol i thought it was kinda funny

[mossy perch]

That’s fair, but still. I think it means theoretically a barbarian multiclass could use it while raging which is fun

[unkempt atlas]

I just dont want my friend turning into a wendigo😭😭

[obtuse stratus]

Don't worry, your friend doesn't want to now either. Although in a bit they'll want to have bit you.

[proper forum]

Look for the nearest cleric

[unkempt atlas]

Clerics can heal that?

[proper forum]

If they have remove curse

[unkempt atlas]

Right now we are stuck in a cabin in the snowy mountains, so maybe we can find one before its too late

[proper forum]

How long does it take for the curse to take effect

[unkempt atlas]

Im not sure, the DM didn't tell me

[proper forum]

Just hope that there's a temple of whatever God closeby

[uncut zenith]

Sounds like homebrew you should discuss with your DM

[proper forum]

Normally remove curse ends ever curse

[uncut zenith]

Not necessarily

Especially if using the 2024 rules

2024 Remove Curse only removes curses of the same level it’s cast at or lower, but there are certain more powerful curses that are only temporarily bypassed with it

Like the Curses in VRGtR can’t be fully removed with Remove Curse. The spell can temporarily bypass the effects of the curse, but to completely remove them, there are narrative conditions that need to be met.

Like I believe the Curses of Lycanthropy in VRGtR can only be fully removed if you kill the Loup Garou that infected you.

[unkempt atlas]

I think it is homebrew, cause the wendigo we fought had 190 health and we brought it down to 0 hp multiple times, but it would only die when we ripped its head off

[uncut zenith]

Yeah, wendigos aren’t official monsters

[unkempt atlas]

I just asked how much time we got, and hopefully its a good time

[proper forum]

Idk how your dm made them but according to the irl mythology saying the wendigo's name out loud summons it. So keep that in mind in case it's also true in your campaign.

[jolly agate]

Beans

[proper forum]

...Oh my God I just realized what your campaign is based on. Yeah yall are cooked.

[unkempt atlas]

What

What is it

Tell me please

[proper forum]

Idk if I can say it out loud here because it's a copyrighted franchise and saying the name of copyrighted franchises other than D&D is not allowed here. But googling "horror game with wendigo" should give you the answer.

[unkempt atlas]

Was this copyright franchise recently turned into a movie?

[proper forum]

Yes

[unkempt atlas]

A terrible movie that had nothing to do with the game?

[proper forum]

Idk I haven't watched the movie or played the game

[unkempt atlas]

Oh god I think i know what you're talking about

[proper forum]

But my point still stands. I'd it's anything like the game, you'll be completely isolated

Alone in the middle of the mountains. No town in sight.

[unkempt atlas]

Thats exactly how he described it to look too

[proper forum]

So, you should probably expect your entire campaign to be one where deaths are inevitable and the goal is to survive as long as possible

Actually I think it's possible to have zero deaths on the game its based on but it's very hard

[unkempt atlas]

Or we put him down before it turns him, but that would be horrible cause he has so much set up for the future

[unkempt atlas]

You can, it is hard

But, this was just a random encounter we had, nothing substantial to the plot, but it is now

[proper forum]

You're not playing D&D anymore, your playing a survival horror game. There is only one objective: survive, no matter what.

[unkempt atlas]

Before we killed the original wendigo, it nearly scalped me, ripped most of my throat out and messed up my guts, I wad reduced to 6 hp im lucky to be alive

My partner who got cursed did get knocked out, but we used greater restoration to revive him to help us keep fighting. Our 3rd member didn't even get touched

[proper forum]

So the curse spreads if it touches you?

[unkempt atlas]

Not really, the DM explained to me that because our dragonborn (the one whos cursed) not only got canabalized by the wendigo, but he also got knocked out, is now cursed

Cause I got eaten, but not cursed, it was kinda confusing

[proper forum]

Remember this, as it is really important, and say it to the other players: This isn't normal D&D. This is a survival horror game. You're not brave heroes going on an adventure, you're victims. You are at the mercy of the Wendigo and your only goal is to survive. If you have big plans for your character's future, forget them; they won't come to fruition. I'm sorry, but your friend has to die.

[unkempt atlas]

Man 5 sessions in and this is what its turned into💔

[proper forum]

Did the DM not give you any warning that the campaign was going to be like this?

[unkempt atlas]

No he did not

First we fought a false hydra, a ghost woman, bandits, almost fought a green hag, a ghost pirate, some weird homebrew jailer ghost thing (our first boss), an assassin, and now a wendigo

[proper forum]

So we're doing every big horror franchise I see

[unkempt atlas]

Man this is so weird for the lore of the world hes built, the main kingdom is at war with an Orc legion, and this is what weve been fighting

I also forgot to mentioned we fought fairies

[proper forum]

This should be obvious but don't just take my word for it. Ask your dm if this campaign is really as I described. If it is, and it's not for you, leave. And they also should've disclosed that it would be a horror campaign before starting it.

[proper forum]

By the looks of it I may have been wrong

[unkempt atlas]

I mean, ive been having a blast (this is my first ever campaign), but some sessions have sucked, only two so far out of the five we had

[rough basalt]

Sometimes sessions suck

[uncut zenith]

Every campaign has its sessions that are “hit or miss”

[proper forum]

Just do the thing I said in the beginning: look for any nearby towns that have a temple and find a good cleric

[unkempt atlas]

We lost our wyrmling in the last session, which really upset our dragonborn

[uncut zenith]

That’s why the game encourages communication between everybody at the table. That way people can actively adapt to what they’re enjoying and disliking as the campaign moves along.

[unkempt atlas]

Ill have to talk to my other party member, there is only two of us in this campaign

[serene jolt]

2 player campaign? That's gotta be tough to balance.

[proper forum]

I may have been overreacting and thinking that the whole campaign was too scary based on just a short description alone. My bad. Sorry.

[unkempt atlas]

Oh my god it is, we've had 7 combat encounters and ive been knocked out in 4 of them

[proper forum]

I mean if it's an online campaign and you're looking for a third member I'm down

[serene jolt]

Well that's normal, even with 4-6 people in your party. 🤣

[unkempt atlas]

All good bro, from the way I described it, it definitely sounded like it

[serene jolt]

We had 6 combat encounters in a row and our warlock went down 4/6 of them.

[unkempt atlas]

In person unfortunately, but wish you could join

Im currently playing a monk orc, and my partner is playing a dragonborn rogue

[serene jolt]

Yeah, front-liners, especially lower level monks go down a lot. It's normal, it's not you.

[unkempt atlas]

Im currently level 7, we just leveled up before meeting the wendigo

[serene jolt]

You'll get more survivable after a while. Front-liners have it pretty tough.

And sometimes, positioning is your saving grace.

My Artificer was in a battle the other day, cast Levitate, went up like 20 feet. None of the monsters had ranged so they went for the other party members. At the end of the fight, he was the only one untouched.

It doesn't always work but when it does, it's hilarious.

[unkempt atlas]

The dmpc with us is a noble sorcerer, he's been a savior to us many many times

[proper forum]

Here's an easy way to find new players in your area: hang up a poster! Say that you're playing D&D and attach a phone number or any other means of contact. Any person interested can just call you and get in touch, and you can start meeting with them and planning when they're going to join the game!

[serene jolt]

Ahh yeah that helps to have dmpcs in such a low number party

[unkempt atlas]

I unfortunately have been playing my monk like a tank role, and I should be moving out of range after attacks, and I think thats why I keep getting downed so many times

[serene jolt]

Consider hit and runs if you are able to. Your rogue will sink or swim. XD

[unkempt atlas]

We had two for a while, but one got kidnapped so we are currently trying to rescue him

[proper forum]

That's how I found my first D&D group and now they're still my friends lol

[serene jolt]

This and local game stores. Advertise there. You wouldn't believe how many people are out there looking for a game to join

[unkempt atlas]

We'll have to try that, maybe we could finally get a healer in our group

[serene jolt]

Or if you don't have a local game store, libraries work great

[unkempt atlas]

Oh! We have this one guy that keeps trying to join, he will be an oath breaker paladin. What really sucks is he boosts undead enemies and it seems like that's all we ever fight

But unfortunately to scheduling conflicts he keeps missing out on our sessions

[proper forum]

...It doesn't have to be him you know. There's always other people.

[viscid helm]

Hey, gang. I'm wondering if I could get some expert advice on my current situation... It's a bit of a story though.

[rough basalt]

What is it?

[proper forum]

If your city has a college or a university or anything like that put the poster there. Works every time.

[unkempt atlas]

I think our dragonborn had mentioned one of his friends maybe joining in on us, she was going to make a character over spring break and join us when we got back

[proper forum]

We can hear it, go ahead

[unkempt atlas]

Yeah, we are a bunch of college kids lol

[viscid helm]

I'm a brand new player who's never actually touched the game before, but was given the opportunity to play at my first table at the end of April. I've been in the middle of developing a character and working with the DM to make sure it's lore-appropriate.

But I've been having issues with the person who invited me. He approached me to ask if I had any ideas for my backstory yet, and when I explained what my backstory was, he suggested we attempt to collaborate and link our backstories together. I thought it sounded fun and said yes, but pretty much the second I agreed to do so he took a very backseat approach to developing and I ended up doing the vast majority of the work. Basically a week straight, everyday for hours on end, generating one idea after another.

Every suggestion I would provide was met with immediate criticism and dismissal. He would basically respond by providing me with a bunch of problems and reasons why my suggestions wouldn't work, and every single time there were problems it was because of information that I was not privy to before working on the suggestions in the first place.

[viscid helm]

I recently found out why this was the case. The character idea was a healer class who had devoted himself to medicine. After a week's worth of failing to come up with suggestions that would work, I learned that this problem player has a real world background with medicine and was applying real world realism to all of my suggestions which is why he was dismissing and rejecting them all.

I had already told him that I've lost interest in linking our stories together and I'm going to have to start from scratch and come up with a new character idea. I don't want to risk sitting at a table playing a healer who's devoted to medicine only to have a guy with a medical degree breathing down my neck.

But today, I just stumbled onto a thread on Reddit specifically talking about this problem player and previous experiences that other players have had at his tables. People who have quit in the development process, people who quit after a single game, reports that he has been banned from certain gaming stores for pooping on people.

I'm wondering if I should run for the hills... Or if I should take all of this to the DM and explain that I've been having some issues with this player, and recently stumbled into an entire thread on Reddit discussing the problems other people have had with this specific person. To see if the DM is aware of all of this, if they're concerned about this, if they've got it under control.

[woven flint]

Monk is definetly built for the Skirmishing fighting style
Go up, punch someone, reposition

[rough basalt]

Take it to the dm.

[proper forum]

I say you tell everything to the DM. It is imperative that you show them the reddit thread. If they're not willing to remove the problem player then leave.

[unkempt atlas]

I'd just break your character off from his lore, so you can have more freedom and tell the dm

[rough basalt]

If the dm knows and isn't doing anything about it then leave.

Life's too short for bad dnd.

[light storm]

I'm sure this is a frequently asked question but what website is best to find out a could boss encounter based on party size/level? I'm using Kobold but I don't know what it really means when it says "high" vs "deadly". Does Deadly mean I'm pretty much giving a TPK? How do I know if it's too much?

[rough basalt]

That's encounter difficulty levels in the 2014 dmg

Deadly assumes likelihood a PC will be downed.

[woven flint]

Deadly means SOMEONE could die

[viscid helm]

The bigger problem for me right now... This is the only real life seat offer I've been given in a few months of looking. So for the moment this is literally my only option. And part of me is wondering if it's still worth going through with it If only for the sake of exposing myself to the community and potentially making contacts you might open doors for me down the road.

[rugged hawk]

If I accept this as truth, this calls into question WotC marketing strategy re-selling DMH and PHB over and over.

[rough basalt]

No dnd is better than bad dnd

[rugged hawk]

Surely a corpo wouldn't sell us bad D&D to re-sell us a slightly modified version later.... right? Right?

[rough basalt]

If other people are complaining about him and the dm isn't doing anything then you guys make your own table

[light storm]

So how do I know if an encounter is too difficult? Sorry... first time DM'ing. Sorry if these questions are basic.

[rough basalt]

You never really know for sure

You can only learn by doing.

[river vector]

Encounter calculator online can be helpful.

[rough basalt]

Cause an encounter can be an easy or medium encounter and players tpk to it because of bad decisions and bad luck.

[woven flint]

Well for starters, don't throw exorbent amounts of enemies at a low level party
Nothing like 50 Goblins against your level 1 fellas

[viscid helm]

Thanks for the advice! I'll take it to the DM and see what she says.

[rugged hawk]

I tried that. Being a solo player, all my encounters kept coming up as Deadly.

[proper forum]

Brother I told you. If the DM is still willing to keep the problem player leave. And don't feel too bad, the problem player isn't the only D&D player in your area and I'm sure there's other players out there other than him.

[light storm]

I'm trying to do that but I can't find a good one. I like in general Kobold but It won't let me put an enemy I want and help supplement the rest.

If someone wants, message me directly so I can get over this one shot project haha

[rough basalt]

I use the DMG and MM for my encounters.

[light storm]

Thanks 🙂

[rugged hawk]

I use the DNDB encounter calc '14 with the encounters shown in my books

[knotty vine]

why does Moderately Armored no longer give proficiency with shields?

[woven flint]

Because lightly armored does now

[knotty vine]

it does?

[woven flint]

Yes

[knotty vine]

not sure how i feel about that

[woven flint]

But honestly?
I find none of the armor feats even worth taking

Maybe like..
Heavy Armor Master, but even then it's kinda meh

[knotty vine]

i just wanted a shield with mage armor

[light storm]

Let me just ask my question straight... party size 5, level 12 party. Boss encounter is a Death Knight (Boss) plus something else. Thoughts? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[woven flint]

Cowardice, I never use Mage Armor ever lol

[knotty vine]

i mean its either that or i just play thri kreen

[rough basalt]

It'll need some mooks.
It'll get eradicated otherwise.

[light storm]

mooks?

[rough basalt]

Minions, Goons, Cannon Fodder, Underlings.

[woven flint]

Or a Lizardfolk, or a Loxodon.. or literally any other species with natural armor

[knotty vine]

yeah but thri kreen dont need to sleep and have telepathy

also dont count as humanoid

[light storm]

Got any suggestions? I know I want a death knight and something else but I don't know what that "something else" would be?

[rough basalt]

I have an idea. Give me a sec

[woven flint]

Telepathy is nice, but creatures must be WILLING to communicate for Thri-Kreen telepathy

[rugged hawk]

👀 Shadows and Wraiths, nothing says 'Time for fun' like Strength and Level Drain.

[woven flint]

"Thri-kreen Telepathy. Without the assistance of magic, you can’t speak the non-thri-kreen languages you know. Instead you use telepathy to convey your thoughts. You have the magical ability to transmit your thoughts mentally to willing creatures within 120 feet of yourself. "

[knotty vine]

i still wonder if theres a party out there that can kill a Marut

[woven flint]

And being a monstrosity could provide issues because well.. you're a monstrosity and people often are biased against Monster folks

[obtuse stratus]

If I cant have negative levels I can at least have TPK shadows with a level 2 party!

[woven flint]

So, Telepathy that one must be willing for and being a monstrosity that could potentially cause Fear amongst people

As long as you're not the Charisma person, it shouldn't be an issue though

[rough basalt]

Death Knight, Death Knight Aspirant as his squire in a sense and 8 Skeletons as their cannon fodder is what I came up with.

It's only a little over the regular Hard/Deadly encounter budget for a level 12 party of 5

[light storm]

Do you have the stats for Death Knight Aspirant

[woven flint]

If they can kill a Terrasque, they can probably kill a Marut

[rough basalt]

Oh right I'm working off the new MM

[knotty vine]

Idk 120 unavoidable damage around is pretty crazy

[pearl hedge]

WOOO!!! me and my group are finally exploring the high seas in our campaign

[rough basalt]

2014 MM is a different wheelhouse since monsters don't have the defenses they need for their cr levels

[obtuse stratus]

As Pirates or no?

[knotty vine]

unless you just got a bunch of rings of force resistance lying about

[woven flint]

Just get a ring of Force resistance

In general though, Maruts aren't necessarily meant to be fought, they're story devices

[pearl hedge]

we're not exactly pirates more adventurers but we just encountered a giant pirate ship

[knotty vine]

thats still 60 damage a roun

[obtuse stratus]

Welp, time to adventure into a free boat

[rough basalt]

Sorry I assumed you were using the new ruleset.
I can't help with 2014 balancing at that level cause the encounter balance math is much shakier in 2014

[remote wadi]

Isn't that basically the equivalent of the omniverse police?

[pearl hedge]

they have swords and guns.. i thought of trying to negotiate but the dm said no

[knotty vine]

only for the Hall of Concordance in Sigil

[woven flint]

A Marut is also a Melee enemy, given it can fly, but it only has a 30 foot fly speed.
Blazing Edict can only be recharged on a 5-6.

[rough basalt]

Speaking of that encounter tho.
I have a battlemaster fighter in my Monday game who'd love to fight a Death Knight, Death Knight Aspirant and 8 skeletons.

[woven flint]

You could probably kite the shit out of a Marut

[knotty vine]

up until you hear roll a chrisma save

[light storm]

I think it would still be fine but just need one created and found via Kobold

[obtuse stratus]

Do you not have fire? Do they not have an armory?

[woven flint]

Yes, but it targets creatures it can see. (With Justify)
It also DOESN'T have Truesight.

[knotty vine]

true

[rough basalt]

Speaking of encounter building.
I need to build some encounters

Give me something to do.

[pearl hedge]

we were hiding from them but they said they wouldn't harm us so i surrendered

[woven flint]

If you can become invisible or stay out of its LOS, you can probably fight and kill a Marut

[pearl hedge]

the thing is we only have a rowboat @obtuse stratus

[rough basalt]

I'm looking forward to my next week's sessions.
Foundry has a toggle for Bastions so won't need to do a lot of complicated stuff

[knotty vine]

so only way of fighting it is by staying out of melee

[inner silo]

Are star forms good?

[woven flint]

It also doesn't have legendary actions either

[knotty vine]

true

[woven flint]

Yes, that's the whole point of the Stars Druid subclass
They're all pretty nice

[obtuse stratus]

Not if you can get them all to evacuate :3

[knotty vine]

even evils may cry

[obtuse stratus]

Worst case scenario, you die. Best case scenario you have a ship, medium case scenario you end up as members of a pirate crew for having brass *****

[woven flint]

Staying at least more than 60 feet away from it by the time it reaches its turn, yeah

But also, a Marut probably won't fight you to the death and knock you out worst case scenario, they're sending you to be judged, not be the executioner

[jolly agate]

I hate searching for PBP sessions, it's so hard to find one. And when i find one, it's already full

[idle oar]

Tried #looking-for-community yet?

[pearl hedge]

we tried to convince them to stand down but they still want to kill us.. sigh

[jolly agate]

Ye, can't find one that's like. Alive, and doing pbp sesions

[obtuse stratus]

Sounds like they're hostile. Burn their sails, disable their rudder, amd ignite their armory

What was that 3e thing about pouring water on an ant hill, each at must be worth at least 1 xp

[pearl hedge]

no it's okay, I asked them if we could work on retainer for them

[obtuse stratus]

Shrug, up to you. I like to do crazy things sometimes for epic or fail stories

[pearl hedge]

i just wanted to solve things without violence since i'm a rogue

i like social encounters

[obtuse stratus]

That's fair. To be honest I already ruined my own pirate campaign by selling blueprints of our technologically advanced clipper ship style legendary dragon ship the DM gave the party. Everyone retired because the DM didn't know what to do when the party wasn't being guided by an NPC

[pearl hedge]

but i guess we're having to fight, and i'm already on 3hp lol

15 base for me

[exotic sinew]

What’s like a small “questionnaire” task i can do fir character backstory

[lavish flame]

1 questions: Why Are You Adventuring With This Group? Answer that and you'll be fine

[severe rampart]

What got you to this place?

What's keeping you in this place?

[rough basalt]

oh yeah i got some fun encounters in the works now

[obtuse stratus]

What is someone to do when they dedicated their life to following the Church of Myrkul but when push comes to shove they couldn't sit idly by and allow people to transition to the afterlife when they don't need to die and can just be healed with a single lay on hands. The teachings of helping people move on and accept death, the skull fees to take care of unfinished business, but does it really mean anything when you keep stealing deaths from your own god.

Yeah pretty good question

[rugged hawk]

Obviously "The Jedi Myrkul is evil!", kill off the younglings acolytes, lose some limbs, get magical prosthetics, and launch an empire against Myrkul.

[obtuse stratus]

Oh I was trying to call you out earlier as one of the people who I've grown to like on the server. Just forgot your name ~_~ Have a cookie

[lusty tendon]

alr does anyone have useless magical items that can be used in a goblins magic shop

so far i have my newest item the omni-scent orb

[obtuse stratus]

The all smelling orb...

[lusty tendon]

it has everysmell of everything it basically has a scent without it being toxic

[rugged hawk]

Berty Bott's Every Scent Incense. Smells different each time anyone sniffs.

[lusty tendon]

i even have a magic item called the deck of things, it basically does a harmless random visual or unique effect

or a dagger of cutting anything that touches the dagger gets cut

[lavish flame]

Regular ol' Common Magic Items can hit the mark

Most adventuring parties don't really care about an Orb of Time, cuz thats just a watch

[still plover]

I like to start with a trinket chart, myself.

[lusty tendon]

yeah i have a plethera of +1 items in the shop

[still plover]

This, though? This can kill a god.

[obtuse stratus]

I prefer the deck of decks where you draw from it and can get a lovely gazebo

[lusty tendon]

1d4 it often cuts open bags and other stuff it only cuts once while being held

[lusty tendon]

ok i like this one

[obtuse stratus]

It's on one of the Wizards With Guns videos (youtube).

[lusty tendon]

"oh whats this deck do" NOO-

[rugged hawk]

Cursed Needle of Deflating. Once poked into something or someone, cannot be pulled out without the target deflating.

[remote wadi]

Bad day to be named Mary Rose

[obtuse stratus]

Needle of balloon passthrough. Will never pop a balloon but now your needle is stuck inside it

[wanton raft]

holy shit, my cleric turned level 5 and actually became useful

Nobody told me this class could be so strong

[lusty tendon]

anyways i threw my playing into a dumgeon tomb and they rolled a consecutive 8 dex saving throws at the same time (they were a rogue and rolled higher than 20, 7 times)

[obtuse stratus]

At level 5 like everyone is strong except poorly thought out multiclasses

[lusty tendon]

i know this from experience 😢

[wanton raft]

true. it's just that i was frustrated cause it wasn't doing anything until now

[wanton raft]

oof...

[wanton raft]

pray tell?

[obtuse stratus]

Oh yeah, a lot of the casters feel like that. It is both a curse levied against 5e and a blessing.

[lusty tendon]

more like i was level 4 and multiclasses then realized oh i probably want my level 5 effects, then next level i did,

[wanton raft]

yup. with spell slots and all that

[lusty tendon]

not a big i messed up story as i have a ton of fail safes for my characters if i mess up multiclassing

[wanton raft]

multiclassing looks complicated for me but I'll def try it one day. I'm playing with people who have wild multiclasses

[lusty tendon]

like my rogue/wizard build it is level 4 rogue/ level 1 wizard rn, i like the extra spells but i need that level 2 spell slots now and that wizard subclass (we are playing a hybrid of 5e and 5.5e)

[obtuse stratus]

Kinda want to do puffin forest's multiclass

[lusty tendon]

do warlock paladin its a fun one that is easy to build and feels great at high, mid and low levels

(personally my favorite combo)

[lusty tendon]

abserd?

[obtuse stratus]

That's the one!

[obtuse stratus]

Bonus points if the oath and patron come into conflict

[lusty tendon]

normal human so you get +1 everything and, point by to make every stat 13+ and con at like 10-12

[wanton raft]

Can I do this if I start as paladin?

[lusty tendon]

yep i love making complex characters that have internal conflicts

[obtuse stratus]

Get some devil lady stomping her foot in frustration with you

[lusty tendon]

yeah its a very flexible multiclass and minmaxing it you actually need to start as a paladin with a str of 11 (or 13 i cant remember how heavy heavy armor is) to get max value

[wanton raft]

also I think you need specific stats to multiclass so I can't do cleric but I'm making Pladin-warlock my next

[wanton raft]

STR and CHA are my two lowest stats

[obtuse stratus]

Get to your oath ASAP then stipulate that the patron can't violate your oath and argue with them EVERY TIME

[jolly hound]

I’m trying to make a warlock where the patron is his parent

[lusty tendon]

nah cha is your highest now

[lusty tendon]

oh i went with my newest character as a wraith brought back from the dead trapped in armor to live life after death, and have amnesia to find themselves once more, they are their warlock patron they just have an oath of redemption and will break that after killing their necromancer who forced them into that position

[obtuse stratus]

I would LOVE oath of ancients and then like working for Mab as the winter knight

[inner silo]

What do you think of using druidic to cast spells?

[lusty tendon]

spiritual idk what you mean

[obtuse stratus]

Like speaking reconstructed druid in game? I think it would be cool as all hell

[inner silo]

Great!

Just need to come up with words for the spells

[glacial pulsar]

How many DND campaigns to play in is too much? 4-5 is too much?

[lusty tendon]

infinite (realistically only up to what you can prepare for as a player or dm)

[obtuse stratus]

The one guy runs 7

Urzit

[reef tundra]

Depends on the person

[minor cargo]

It's IMO a subjective question, yeah.

[lusty tendon]

like me personally im at 2 as a player in one and a dm for the other and i could add another into my schedual

[obtuse stratus]

I wish I could play that stupid paladin I came up with, lol

Gosh Darn Ed Greenwood being a Gosh Darn Legend

[inner silo]

I'm at 2 campaigns as a player and 1 as a dm atm and this is my limit fosho

[severe rampart]

I used to have 4 where I was a player, 1 where I was the DM

[lusty tendon]

make it, use it in a one shot, and if you like it use it next

[reef tundra]

I run three campaigns with occasional oneshots on the side while playing in two. I’ve definitely hit my limit

[obtuse stratus]

I'm actually using him in solo play but not doing hard RP with it

[reef tundra]

I once ran five, but I’ve grown weaker

[inner silo]

Running three campaigns sounds like a lot of prep

[lusty tendon]

fair fair, i mean one more for me as a player not as a dm, being a dm has a ton of prep lmao

[obtuse stratus]

But when I was building him I thought it'd be great to actually play

[reef tundra]

Oh it is. It definitely is

[lusty tendon]

sorry not one shot i meant as a solo, oops

[inner silo]

Fr

[severe rampart]

I don't know how Urizt does 7

Urizt is a Lich and he's siphoning our life essence

[reef tundra]

Probably because it’s his job. He can devote his full time to it

[obtuse stratus]

He already said he has all the rules memorized

Plus he's friggin brutal

[severe rampart]

His last encounter he was talking about was 4 flameskulls!!

[reef tundra]

If I didn’t have a job or college or moving house, I’d run that many

[inner silo]

Tbh having dming as a full time job does sound fun but also really potentially exhausting

[obtuse stratus]

There was a new one I think. The carpet was a mimic

[severe rampart]

... yoink stealing that one

[minor cargo]

Yeah, time is a big factor for many people. If you can make D&D your full time job, and the money it brings it meets (among other factors) what you need to cover costs of living, you can obviously tolerate more games. ✌️

[reef tundra]

Oh I agree, if I sometimes find five overwhelming, then 7 would be exhausting

[reef tundra]

Money is a great motivator

[severe rampart]

Yes but I'm more worried about the burnout, not to mention the sore throats

[reef tundra]

“Pay a man enough and he’d walk barefoot through hell” /ref

[inner silo]

Would be especially funny if you're like running CoS with all of them

[severe rampart]

My voice is wrecked after one sessions DMing

[obtuse stratus]

You... you go hard. Maybe pull back a lil, hun

[minor cargo]

Haha, yeah, the physical factor is definitely worth considering. But then there's also how much you push your voice (different people have different tolerances under different strain) and how much of a break you plan for.

[severe rampart]

Not that I talk loud, I talk a lot in my sessions, then while players are roleplaying I chug my water

[inner silo]

Btw studying wildshapes and printing all the stat blocks would be very timeconsuming and difficult right?

[severe rampart]

Probably yeah, best to just use DnD Beyond

[obtuse stratus]

Huh, never had that issue. Maybe hit up some tea with honey

[minor cargo]

Generally, yeah. But no more htan printing and memorizing other things, yeah?

I think it comes down to why you're doing it. I personally dont' think these actions are necessary as a GM/DM.

[severe rampart]

I might buy some honey, not sure if it'll work

[inner silo]

Alrighty. Then if i theoretically wouldn't want to do all that, but still would want to have some use for wildshape, would stars/sea druid be the best options in 2024?

[severe rampart]

Depends on what you want for your character

[reef tundra]

Sometimes I miss the UA Druid wildshape mechanics

[inner silo]

I want to play a natury guy who's a support/controller

[obtuse stratus]

I want you to play a natury guy who's a support/controller

[reef tundra]

In that case I think it might work without using wildshape often

I once played a Druid who nearly never wildshaped, my build worked better focusing on my spells and staying a good distance away

[severe rampart]

Cloak of Billowing worked like a charm for my party

[inner silo]

I just don't want to leave a resource unused

[reef tundra]

That’s valid

[reef tundra]

Best magic item no debate 👌

[severe rampart]

Aurafarm

[inner silo]

I might give one to mine for saving sildar in LMoP

[obtuse stratus]

Oh if it weren't so painful I'd LOVE to play 3.75's adventure paths solo.

[rugged hawk]

Cloak of Billow's nice, but it's got nothing on Weapons of Warning

[severe rampart]

The other person got a cursed ring that can cast shield once per day

[reef tundra]

What was the curse? Might be worth it

[inner silo]

Weapons of warning are great for combat, cape of billowing is great for social stuff

[exotic sinew]

You only ever need a maximum of 8 creatures.

Level 2|known 4|CR 1/4
level 4|known 6|CR1/2
Level 8|Known 8| CR 1

[inner silo]

8 is way too much

[severe rampart]

... I haven't thought of one yet

-# but they don't know that

[inner silo]

It's not like a crazy number but having to keep in mind 8 full more statblocks you could use at any point sounds like much

[severe rampart]

Wait till make a theory, then if it's good, use that

[reef tundra]

You don’t have to have the max. You could just pick like… a land creature and a water creature. Then later a flying creature

[inner silo]

Alrighty, ig that could be quite useful

[exotic sinew]

It’s just the maximum. You didn’t need to know the max

It’s like the CR is also the max depending on level but if you really wanted you be be a 1/4 cr wild shape the whole way through

[rugged hawk]

My ocean sorc has a Trident of Warning enchanted with Returning, because A) the seafloor is a long way to swim to reclaim it once it's thrown or been disarmed, and B) a fair majority of sea predators are ambush predators.

[reef tundra]

I have an idea for the curse. Would you like to hear?

[severe rampart]

Yes please

[rugged hawk]

Curse of Caltrops, every step feels like an angry lego

[inner silo]

Warning weapons are great, i agree, my rogue has one. And a returning trident is a fire classic ngl. Though i do question why your sorcerer uses a trident but that's nitpicking i agree

[inner silo]

Curse of binding where you're bound to the cursed object but it like sticks to you like glue

[rugged hawk]

Said sorc: https://i.imgur.com/XrZ1Taa.png

[reef tundra]

First, classic “Will not part with it”, but then the first day it’s used, it’s regular shield. But the next day, when used, it’s +6 AC instead of +5, but when it happens, the player takes 2 necrotic damage that cannot be reduced. With each passing day, the spell gets more powerful but the damage they take increases too. Then the spell starts casting itself automatically. The damage soon becomes absolutely crazy

[rugged hawk]

That's just murderous dolls.

[severe rampart]

Ooh, interesting... and how might they get rid of this?

[reef tundra]

Eventually it’s like a +10 AC but the player takes something like 30 necrotic damage. A true curse

[inner silo]

Grab necrotic immunity

[reef tundra]

Could be a good quest to find someone to dispel it, or find the person who created the curse and defeat them/convince them to remove it. Or just remove the finger entirely

[reef tundra]

“Cannot be reduced”

[inner silo]

Then cooked

[reef tundra]

I took a page out of Matt Mercer’s book

[inner silo]

Or just be a raging zealot barb

[severe rampart]

Make them make a wisdom save at a random time once a day, fail means the spell casts itself

[reef tundra]

Ooh yes, that’s better than it just happening with no save

I might take this curse for myself actually, my players would love it!

[inner silo]

Do any of their characters have high wis?

[severe rampart]

What's funny is this player is already cursed, so now they're double cursed

[severe rampart]

It's weird, nearly all my PCs are cursed

[reef tundra]

There’s a pally, they’d likely succeed the save, but other than that, not really

Not even the Druid in the party has high wis 😭

[inner silo]

What do they do?

[reef tundra]

Oh dear 😭

[rugged hawk]

It's a support for her magic, not her primary weapon. Also, she can't use a shield anyway due to A) swimming, B) her back's occupied by the enchanted sea turtle shell, C) no shield proficiency.

[severe rampart]

one got bit by a lycanthrope, failed the save, now next session there's a chance they might turn in the middle of the night-

[inner silo]

What's her strength?

[rugged hawk]

https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/150704246/6dIdPT

[inner silo]

They're asking me to try again after a short rest

[reef tundra]

They’re a melee Druid

They don’t even cast their spells often it’s killing me to watch 😢

[rugged hawk]

Woops, now it's the shareable link

[inner silo]

Tbh respect that. There is shillelaugh to let them be a melee wisdom druid but still

[inner silo]

They rolled a 1

[reef tundra]

It’s actually working quite well

[inner silo]

What's their strat?

Teach me the ways

[reef tundra]

It’s mostly their equipment. They’ve crafted elven chain, using a magic mace that does knockback and 1d6 extra force damage, and they wield a shield that gives them the resistances of a demon

[rugged hawk]

Well, I made sure Public was selected, so this should work? https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/150704246/VIVjDT

[inner silo]

Do they use spellcasting?

[reef tundra]

They’ve cast cure wounds like… twice?

[inner silo]

They rolled a 1

[reef tundra]

The campaign has been going on for 8 months btw

[inner silo]

I think spike growth would work wonders for them tbh

[rugged hawk]

I wonder if it's because I have it open, or because it's in a campaign?

[reef tundra]

I keep begging them to cast spells

[inner silo]

It doesn't require wisdom and works well with a knockback weapon

[inner silo]

What's the character concept?

[reef tundra]

Oooh now that’s a good idea

[inner silo]

Second likely

[rugged hawk]

Well, I made a copy of it, so this one's not in a campaign https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/162848798/bXAEby

[inner silo]

Healing word being a bonus action can also be useful if they don't have that armed

[severe rampart]

Well, can't make custom magic items in DnD beyond, looks like I gotta use the homebrew system... 😔

[reef tundra]

They’re a Bloodfang Lizardfolk (homebrew subspecies) who rejects the ways of his people and has been living the life of a peaceful farmer, but as he’s dragged into the events of the campaign his violent ways have been returning as he fights for a cause he doesn’t even know of

[inner silo]

They rolled a 1

[inner silo]

Sounds very interesting. How did he become a druid?

[rugged hawk]

Are you telling me WotC made a broken system? Because that seems.... super believable, actually

[inner silo]

Ik, very surprising fr

[reef tundra]

He swore to protect and nurture nature to make up for the damage his people have caused. Nature has blessed him back, trying to help him heal himself and others

[rugged hawk]

I closed DNDB, try it now?

[inner silo]

Tbh i think a ranger could also fit that concept and would work pretty well for them if they want to go melee and not cast spells

But yeah, nothing wrong with a melee strength druid that doesn't cast spells

[reef tundra]

Eh we already have two rangers in the party

Fey wanderer support and gloomstalker DPR/skills master

[inner silo]

I have a full charisma caster party except a fighter with two warlocks and two paladins. There's no such thing as too much of a class in this game

[inner silo]

Adding a melee hunter/beast master (if they can spare wisdom) would work well i think. But then again, nothing can replace a melee strength druid

[rugged hawk]

Okay, I have confirmation this does in fact work, so try now? https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/162848798/NGJgA3

[reef tundra]

I think once they reach level 7 to get primal strike will make him excellent

[rugged hawk]

If it doesn't work this time, I give up

[inner silo]

Same thing. I think it's me something

[inner silo]

So what's the strength stat?

[reef tundra]

It works for me

[rugged hawk]

Cracker skill issued

[reef tundra]

Wait, it worked once

When I tried to go back it ain’t working

[rugged hawk]

I deleted the Copy

[inner silo]

My phone not phoning

[reef tundra]

Ohhh Oki. So yeah it works

[inner silo]

Or wizards not wizarding

[rugged hawk]

L4 with 15 Str / 18 Dex / 17 Con / 10 Int / 12 Wis / 17 Cha

[inner silo]

Godly rolls

[rugged hawk]

Anyway, she's a divine soul sorceress who worships Trishina, the dolphin goddess. So she spends a great deal of time in / near the ocean. Currently engaged in dealing with the threat of Elemental Evil, primarily its Water aspect (Princes of the Apocalypse).

She;s only just reaching the actual campaign itself, though. Ran through some stuff in Ghosts of Saltmarsh and One Shot Adventures (Coastal), along with the prequest side material of Princes of the Apocalypse to get her up to level 4 so far.

[obtuse stratus]

Wait, did you roll for these?

[rugged hawk]

Yep.

[obtuse stratus]

Did you roll or just keep rolling until you got stats you wanted? Not trying to be offensive, I do that for solo play

[rugged hawk]

I rolled six dice sets, took the best set it dropped.

[fossil hollow]

i take it dm allowed

[rugged hawk]

Well of course I'd allow it

[fossil hollow]

ah, solo

[rugged hawk]

Words cannot begin to describe my hate for 27 point buy

[obtuse stratus]

Well dang Good on you Echo, that's a great roll

[rugged hawk]

Especially since I come from BG1/BG2/Pathfinder Kingmaker/WotR with up to rolls of 96 or 32-point buy

So yeah, being limited to 27 point buy feels like being completely crippled, so I chose to roll instead

[obtuse stratus]

Although recently I started forcing Avrae to give me a 80-90 sum on rolls

[rugged hawk]

I always rerolled in BG1/2 until I got a total of 80 or higher

So yeah, 27 point buy just does not cut it for me

So as a solo char, I just rolled for a party of six and took the best set

Honestly, I prefer higher Int and Wis, but being an ocean swimmer, gotta get that Athletics and Constitution up.

Also no skill points to worry about in 5e, so that was nice

[obtuse stratus]

Are you soloing with a DM or specific modules or what?

[fossil hollow]

at that point why not just do inscreased point buy

[obtuse stratus]

Because you end up point buying with like 108 points

[fossil hollow]

point of rolling is for both highs and lows

[rugged hawk]

Nah, just me. Currently using Coastal One Shot Adventures, Ghosts of Saltmarsh, and Princes of the Apocalypse.

[obtuse stratus]

Oh I take my lows. I just like some spicy highs. It's solo modules so it's whatever, and I also under optimize , shrug

[obtuse stratus]

Nice, I'm taking my little Paladin I fell for, a Death Cleric a Necromancer and an Assassin through Lost Mines

[rugged hawk]

Keeping things relatively thematic, so her adventures are mostly water-related. Coastal, Saltmarsh, Evil Water Temple, etc

[obtuse stratus]

Kind of miss older editions with like necromancers and golem crafters actually being able to solo the game on their own

[woven flint]

I'm in
Many campaigns

Tonight I'm playing my
Warforged Dog & Hound Pugilist
In a party with
A Hobgoblin Dirge Bard
Dwarf Battlesmith Artificer
Kalashtar Psi-Warrior Fighter
And
Human War Cleric

[rough basalt]

My weekends are so boring

[obtuse stratus]

Also I don't mind 4s and 5s in BECMI, but 5e is a different animal and I'm kinda just browsing the modules I never played

[rough basalt]

But ik the moment I get a game on a weekend my family is gonna start scheduling all day stuff on the time I'm playing

[obtuse stratus]

Yup

[rough basalt]

Having all 3 of my games in a row at the start of the week is taking its toll

[feral fulcrum]

John, the War Cleric

[inner silo]

Could someone please explain to me the concept behind circle of the stars? I can't understand it but the abilities sound sick

[reef tundra]

I’ve actually been very tempted to try pugilist one day

[river vector]

Bard souled Monk has set his sights on my possessor villain.

[feral fulcrum]

Powered by Constellations, gets neat effects. There's not much to explain that their subclass block doesn't already say.

[rough basalt]

I imagine it's a Druid sub cause stars are apart of nature.

[inner silo]

So they just study the stary sky essentially?

[rough basalt]

They realize constellations are pretty sick and they should be one too

[obtuse stratus]

Harry Potter Centuars

[inner silo]

Haven't read it sadly

[inner silo]

I see

[feral fulcrum]

Except the Centaurs in Harry Potter are more just Astronomers, not harnessing the power of the stars to assume star studded shapes to do magical nonsense. :V

[rugged hawk]

Funny you should mention that as I'm walking out of a Charms class en route to Hogsmeade.

[reef tundra]

What house? 🪓

[obtuse stratus]

Fine, "... but they're cool amd not just diviners"

[feral fulcrum]

There's a difference between merely studying a thing, and harnessing fabulous magical powers from it.

[rugged hawk]

Slytherin, duh. Who would wannna be anywhere else?

[reef tundra]

My slytherin sibling 🫂 💪

[obtuse stratus]

As a Slytherclaw, I approve this message

[fossil hollow]

too many snakes in here

[reef tundra]

Welcome, sibling

[inner silo]

So they study the night sky and get cool magical powers from the stars?

[obtuse stratus]

Yup

[reef tundra]

I ripped off Harry Potter and Stryxhaven mercilessly for my setting

I love magic schools too much

[obtuse stratus]

As a former snake owner and continuous snake lover I cannot approve of this comment

[fossil hollow]

Assuming we're talking Circle of the Stars, its literally in the subclass description

The Circle of the Stars has tracked heavenly patterns since time immemorial, discovering secrets hidden amid the constellations. By understanding these secrets, the Druids of this circle seek to harness the powers of the cosmos.

[fossil hollow]

birds better

[rugged hawk]

I was so unhappy when I was 'chosen' by a Dogwood wand. Eugh. I don't want a wand that refuses to silent cast.

[inner silo]

Silent casting is for cowards tbh

[obtuse stratus]

Agree to disagree. Birds cannot handle airborne chemicals and are very weak. They can be cool if you have the right ones, but all I ever get are mites when they move out of their nests

[reef tundra]

Actually I agree. I like birds

[fossil hollow]

why are you exposing your animals to harmful airborn chemicals in the first place
(Also, corvid supremacy)

[woven flint]

His name is Oscar, actually lol

[obtuse stratus]

I think I got pine XD. It's okay I made one myself with a walnut handle with a skull pommel

[reef tundra]

Corvids are the goat

[minor cargo]

corvid-19.

[woven flint]

No, they're Birds smh

[fossil hollow]

Steve

[obtuse stratus]

Sometimes I just want to use some perfume, brah

[reef tundra]

I’m going to put you down

[fossil hollow]

Steve.

No
🗞️

[woven flint]

You aren't carrying me, though

[fossil hollow]

what the hell is in your perfumes

[reef tundra]

I will be

[woven flint]

How romantic of you

[obtuse stratus]

Stuff that shouldn't be in a bird's bones like peppermint oil.

[rugged hawk]

Because the sooner the planet becomes unlivable, the sooner humans stop producing more lawyers and politicians, because they'll be extinct

[reef tundra]

How dare you turn my threatening into flirting >:(

[woven flint]

I'm a devilish fella, aren't I?

[fossil hollow]

... but my corvids

[obtuse stratus]

I will say, while I fall somewhere near hatred of birds... Corvids are cool

[fossil hollow]

Dangit Steve!

[rugged hawk]

...but my crushing existential depression over the nature of humanity

[woven flint]

Corvids are very cool to people if people are cool to them

[obtuse stratus]

Just don't let them get your juicy eye meat

[fossil hollow]

You go do that defiler, ill go have fun robbing politicians with my army of corvids

[rugged hawk]

Joke's on you, corvids are just Big Brother spybots /s

[obtuse stratus]

Is Athas the nature of humanity or the nature of Halflinganity

[woven flint]

There was the group of Crows that were fed often by a homeless guy, the homeless guy got jumped and the birds took action and started pecking and scratching his attackers

[fossil hollow]

yes

[woven flint]

Crows are man's true best friend if we just let them be

[obtuse stratus]

I used to have a group of crows near my highschool and redtails too. The redtails would drive other birds into the windows to eat, then the crows would also chase the red tails around

[woven flint]

We should work side-by-side with them, build a utopia

[rugged hawk]

Crows:
Ravens:

[fossil hollow]

im sending my spi- i mean, birds after you

[woven flint]

Crows and Ravens are both cool

[obtuse stratus]

How about them jumping spiders

[fossil hollow]

the only spider i like is lucas

[woven flint]

Yeah, duh, they're awesome

[inner silo]

Spiders are skary

[woven flint]

What do you folks think about Hermit Crabs? 🧐

[rugged hawk]

Nice thought, but humans can't build a utopia. Someone always screws it up by reinventing bureaucracy.

[obtuse stratus]

Oh and if you have birds, don't burn candles either

[fossil hollow]

love em to death

[inner silo]

Are those the hairy ones?

[fossil hollow]

im not a candle guy in the first place. I know about the birds and mine gas thing too

[woven flint]

No, they carry a shell because they don't have a naturally shelled body

[obtuse stratus]

Better than head crabs, inferior to hermit crabs riding other hermit crabs

[inner silo]

Okay that's actually pretty cool

[woven flint]

I have four pet Hermit Crabs
Michael, Owen, Harry and Sandy lmao

[fossil hollow]

Vine_Boom.sfx

[river vector]

My Monk player is making theories about the real body that the warlock villain I have who possesses people has. The real body is the one that he only showed up in when they were captured at the start of the campaign. But he thinks that my warlock is actually some kind of undead.

[rugged hawk]

The cool crabs don't just carry a shell, they put stinging anemones on their shell, too.

[woven flint]

Hermit Crabs aren't considered TRUE Crabs.
They're still crustaceans, though

[obtuse stratus]

did you know the crabs that have anemones on their claws actually starve, abuse and rip those same anemones apart? You think it's comensurate but it's parasitic symbiosis

[rugged hawk]

That's great and all, but I'm not here to judge crab lifestyle choices. Goblins, on the other hand, can go eat a Fireball for all I care.

[fossil hollow]

beware the one they call.. the Greaser

[woven flint]

I'm the Greaser.
That's my identity
I grease.

[obtuse stratus]

Lol, I still like the jokes about modern owo goblins vs evil old school goblins. Also lizard vs dog kobolds

[fossil hollow]

One of ur backups better be some goblin who has access to the Grease spell

[rugged hawk]

Goblins:
Kobolds:

[woven flint]

I had a Hobgoblin Alchemist Artificer named Vernon.
He wasn't a Hobgoblin originally, he was a Human
But he messed with ingredients from the Feywilds and was turned into one

[severe rampart]

Well

[rugged hawk]

I got turned into a FAT DWARF once

[severe rampart]

I think I've wanted to kill more kobolds than goblins

[fossil hollow]

you mean a well fed dwarf. AKA, a normal dwarf

[woven flint]

The only Goblinoids I really like are Bugbears

[rugged hawk]

No, it was the FAT phenotype Dwarf model

[severe rampart]

yes

[obtuse stratus]

"She turned me into a fat dwarf"
"A fat dwarf?"
"I got better"

[reef tundra]

I love hobgoblins too much, but that’s because I love masterminds

[severe rampart]

The funniest type of goblin is the Gwarf (Goblin Dwarf)

[fossil hollow]

a what

[woven flint]

I'm playing a Ranger Bugbear fellow, he's a Hitman for the Zhentarim

[severe rampart]

Oh I bet you love that surprise attack don't you

[woven flint]

He's also got a beautiful Wood Elf wife named Thalia at home

[fossil hollow]

its decimated so many poor Dead Three cultists

[inner silo]

Is he a gloomstalker?

[woven flint]

She makes him different shampoos
His favorite currently is Lavender

[rugged hawk]

Not important. The important thing is it was a really fat dorf. She'd wanted to become a cute Elf maiden, but the transformation was cursed and she got turned into a FAT FREAKIN DORF instead.

[woven flint]

Yes. :]

[inner silo]

2014 or 2024?

[woven flint]

He's also chronically depressed

[rough basalt]

I'm thinking I oughta dm seven games.

[severe rampart]

I got bugbear banned in my campaign just because of Surprise Attack

[obtuse stratus]

"how was your day hun!"
"Grr u no, tuff"
"Well don't worry, I made you some lembas bread"
"Awwr, hon"

[inner silo]

Very sad, He should visit a therapist

[woven flint]

Though, he's made friends with the Dwarf Sorcerer in the party

[severe rampart]

The only species I've banned, other species I'm willing to negotiate with if the player just wants it for the backstory/flavor

[rugged hawk]

Lembas bread

[woven flint]

He actually speaks common pretty fluently lol

He's got 9 Int though..
Which is just below average lol

[rugged hawk]

Isn't that the nasty bread that's basically a brick that never rots and tastes like sand?

[inner silo]

Above average for adventurers

[obtuse stratus]

No, that's ships biscuits. Sometimes they have extra protien, though.

[woven flint]

He's knowledgeable about politics and assassinations and stuff because he's in the Zhentarim and they dabble in both
He doesn't care as long as he's making money and going back home to his wife eventually

[rugged hawk]

One bite can fill a person and it sustains travelers, keeping fresh for months. Yep, it was indeed lembas.

[inner silo]

Does his wife know he works for the zents?

[obtuse stratus]

Probably also get random extra protien weevils too

[woven flint]

Probably not, but I doubt she'd care too much, she's a Druid, not a humanitarian lol

[inner silo]

Would be funny if she also secretly worked for the guild

[fossil hollow]

I think the Zhents got some beef with the Emerald Grove, but thats mostly because theyre the type to spread their conflicts to the wilds

[woven flint]

Yeah, Bogey makes sure to keep his buisness in cities because of that lol

[obtuse stratus]

Should probably get off here and go do girly things with the partner. 👋

[inner silo]

No-one wants to beef with halsin

[rugged hawk]

Or you could stay and do gamer things with us. Which is clearly the superior choice.

[fossil hollow]

Yeah, the FR book lists them as mutually Hostile lol

it does also list that individual relationships may differ, so theres that

[inner silo]

Are the guild guys from bg3 cannon?

[fossil hollow]

Which one

[woven flint]

I'm sure his wife probably knows he kills people
But not for what reason
She'd probably assume he's a Vigilante

[obtuse stratus]

I dunno, we got MLP and the subjugation of goblinoid races to do... plus a cat

[inner silo]

The ones that live in bg and beef with harpers and zents

[woven flint]

Slay, gurl

[fossil hollow]

which one

[inner silo]

Their boss is called 9 fingers kim

[mild niche]

me when i realize that the dnd beyond campaign link ivebeen apart of for like 5 years is dead

[fossil hollow]

Theyve been a thing before BG3

[rugged hawk]

I was tempted to get that MLP game on Switch the other day, then I realized it's got rhythm minigames which I hate so much .

[severe rampart]

The question is which generation, really

[obtuse stratus]

Friendship is Magic. Don't typically ask the goblins which generation they are

[severe rampart]

Yes. That is acceptable.

[forest agate]

chat how to start as a dm

[fossil hollow]

#dm-discussion

[inner silo]

First find people to play dnd with you

[obtuse stratus]

1. find players. 2. fall on your face a few timesz you'll be fine

[woven flint]

The only other faction associated character I really have is my Tortle Knowledge Cleric, he works for the Tigerclaw Detective in Waterdeep.. which is one other person, so it's not really a faction

[forest agate]

I have players but idk if they would like to test things out with me

[limber trail]

No silly, the fr setting was created specifically for BG3

[rugged hawk]

Well, first off, you prepare Tomb of Horrors but it's really a mega-Mimic. Then you lure some victims in with promises of a grand campaign of adventure and fun. Finally, you torment them with TPKs until they reach the end, think they've won, then get eaten by the Tomb Mimic.

[inner silo]

As one experienced dm once said "blackmailing, gaslighting and threats of wonders can often do the job"

[fossil hollow]

shhhhh

[obtuse stratus]

The trick to flying is throwing yourself at the ground and missing

[forest agate]

I plan to prep wild sheep chase as my first

[woven flint]

The detective that he found out is a ||Disguised Rakshasa|| with Truesight

[rugged hawk]

Okay, but hear me out: make them Sheeptar.

[woven flint]

I dunno why everyone makes their Clerics so Anti-Fiend
Not every Deity vehemently hates Fiends

[paper portal]

cus people associate clerics with like christianity

[forest agate]

Don't get it

[inner silo]

Usually heaven and hell are opposed in most irl settings so that mindset translates to tabletop

[rugged hawk]

SAO Abridged. Watch it!

[woven flint]

Which Is very incorrect to associate it with such

There are more Evil Gods than i can count

[hot reef]

Generally PCs aren't picking evil gods to worship

[obtuse stratus]

My whole party follows Myrkul

[woven flint]

And most of the Deities of the realms are self-serving or only care specifically about their followers

[inner silo]

Most people don't want to be clerics of evil gods

[fossil hollow]

keyword there, most

[severe rampart]

What are good ways to remove curses? (without the "remove curse, greater restoration" thing)

[woven flint]

You can worship an Evil God and still do good things

[fossil hollow]

doesnt mean people who do dont exist

[inner silo]

Make the curse annoying to the dm

[severe rampart]

... I'm the DM

[woven flint]

Most deities don't care what deeds their followers do unless it directly opposes them

[obtuse stratus]

Undertake a great quest. Find a super cool natural hotwater spring. Eat a unicorn horn

[inner silo]

Ah… then you could make up a specific ritual to remove it that has some sort of moral lesson in it and give the players hints on how to do it

[obtuse stratus]

Stand in a river from one dawn to the next so the water washes away the curse and the new dawn fully unbinds it

[hot reef]

local spiritual/religious place or person (can make this a quest if desired)

[woven flint]

I think the concept that followers of Evil deities should always be horrible, irrevocable people is a strange concept

I'd go deeper into it, but you can't talk about many real life things here so...

[obtuse stratus]

Although I feel like a doctor might blow smoke up your... to handle the curse

[river vector]

Revenant will soon appear to haunt the party, but they are too low level for it right now. How do I foreshadow a revenant approaching? The monk has killed an innocent as part of his backstory, so the revenant would only want the monk.

[inner silo]

Or genuinely talk with a trader and buy a substantial purchase from them without haggling, stealing or threats of violence

[rugged hawk]

Spoken as someone with a sus deity /s

[obtuse stratus]

No, no, lets stay in the realm of reason here

[obtuse stratus]

Read about the Church of Myrkul

[woven flint]

If I worshipped a Deity from the realms it'd be Oghma or Kelemvor
Both of them are relatively chill neutral deities lol

[rugged hawk]

Reason left the chat years ago, or did you already forget Drizzt the Mary Sue of them all?

[inner silo]

I mean…why would you follow someone that stands for mass murder unless you support mass murder yourself

[river vector]

Delusion

[woven flint]

Bhaal cultists are one thibg.

[inner silo]

Right right, that one would be too hard to do

[obtuse stratus]

Used to make drow swap alignment generationally like they absolutely were compelled to go about their parents. Only way to justify all the Drizzt clones

[rugged hawk]

Also deception. Baphoment, as a Lord of Lies, tells folks whatever they wanna hear if it'll make them worship him.

[true monolith]

Can you ready action movement? Not an attack after the movement, just movement?

[hot reef]

Eberron deities
The Dark Six represent human aspects that can be viewed as negative, but aren't always bad (indulgence, change, storms, etc)

[fossil hollow]

#dnd-rules , but yes

[woven flint]

Not every Evil Deity is like Bhaal or Lovander.
They don't all just want the spread pain and murder.

Umberlee just wants people to respect her power for example

[rough basalt]

For me it'd be Selune.
So that if my kid ever acts up I can throw them in the forest /j

[inner silo]

Ig cases like shart from bg3 do happen. But they are probably the exception rather then the rule

[severe rampart]

Iirc that would be ready action dash?

[fossil hollow]

nope. Redying Dash does nothing, effectively

[inner silo]

If that's all she wants why is she evil?

[fossil hollow]

shes called the Sea B[Redacted] for a reason

[rough basalt]

Cause she'll do anything to make you respect her power

[rugged hawk]

Umberlee doesn't want respect, she wants terror, and her actions to have it are extreme. Massive difference.

[river vector]

she kills people and floods shit

[fossil hollow]

Its also her favorite title, iirc

[woven flint]

Sekolah isn't even a threat to land-dwellers
He's just kinda doing his own thing with the Sahuagin and Sea Elves

[rough basalt]

You disrespect her on the seas? Kraken, Tidal Wave ect.

[obtuse stratus]

I dunno, Myrkul is evil, his clerics are evil, his church is CHILL AF

[inner silo]

Ah. Why do people worship her?

[river vector]

fear

[fossil hollow]

same reason why you send offerings to a pissed off Poseidon

[inner silo]

Makes sense

[rugged hawk]

Because she'll try to kill them with storms n stuff if they don't, of course.

[woven flint]

Fine fine, bleh..

[rough basalt]

Umberlesian devotees are usually wackos.

They think that drowning is the greatest gift to be given.

[obtuse stratus]

I love Ed Greenwood. He's a legend.

[hot reef]

The impression I get from FR deities is that a number of them are made to be always good or always bad, and they're pretty closely tied to alignment

[inner silo]

I thought they were a bit weird in bg3

[fossil hollow]

their alignment is a big part of their personality

[rugged hawk]

Umberlants tend to be as extreme as their goddess, yeah. Umberlee does want respect, aye.... but even more, she wants fear.

[fossil hollow]

safe to say they embody that alignment just as much as they embody their domains

[rough basalt]

For example, Selune believes in true free will which goes against laws sometimes and can be chaotic which makes her chaotic good.

[obtuse stratus]

Lets see the Church of Myrkul helps to make the dying comfortable, strives to reduce fear of death, and helps get post mortem affairs in order. They'll even res devotees of other religions

[rough basalt]

Meanwhile her Sister is Neutral Evil cause sometimes she's a big a hole methodically or chaotically

Using Cyric to kill Midnight so she could try and take over the weave? Methodical.
Teaming up with Lolth cause Eilastree teamed up with Selune? Chaotic.

[woven flint]

I do think there are Evil deities who want good things though the way they think about it might not be the most!

Vhaeraun, unlike his mother LOLTH... wants the Drow to be free and make connections with other peoples..
Yeah, so they can rule the world..
But he's diplomatic about it!
He even fights along side his followers sometimes when they need him the most!

Evil deities can want what's best for their people and have good qualities!
(Maybe Incubus is getting to me)

[rough basalt]

Bane wants true equality across the planes.
All are equal under his boot. /hj

[inner silo]

Relatively good for a drow deity ig

[rough basalt]

Well her daughter is the actual good one by alignment and practice.

[obtuse stratus]

Only negatives I could find about the Church of Myrkul was that they charge fees (those monsters) and are pronecromancy (absolute monsters, no one would EVER want to be a necromancer in D&D)

[rough basalt]

Since she tries to actively make sure her church doesn't turn into another matriarchy and tries to help drow women and drow men break out of their brainwashing.

[rugged hawk]

You know what? You right. Equality for all. Now cover your share of my DNDB subscription cost 👀 /s

[woven flint]

Eilistraee is a Good Drow Deity and she's the daughter of Lolth.
She wants true freedom for her people and was Willingly exiled with the Dark Seladrine even though she was given a pass because she wanted the drow to have a light in the darkness

[inner silo]

Managing a band of skeletons can be exhausting fr

[rough basalt]

Eilastree: "You know mother? Men are people too."
cue endless war

[fossil hollow]

better than being an enchanter spits

[obtuse stratus]

Can't a guy just raise a family in peace!

[inner silo]

Okay that's sick ngl

[rugged hawk]

Mmmm, a merry band of skeleton bards? Now there's some music to wake the dead.

[obtuse stratus]

I do REALLY like that as a culture we have come to this conclusion

[inner silo]

Imagine getting hit with vicious mockery from by a skeletal quartet

[woven flint]

Ghaunadaur is the Deity of Monsters, Abominations and Outcasts,he's not a good Deity, but he understands what it's like to be thrown aside and/or feared by your own people.. so he gives those who have nothing a cause.. even if that cause isn't great lol

[true monolith]

The spell "Blink" places you on the ethereal plane after your turn ends. On that plane you can walk through walls if i am correct, or maybe just through the spell eterealness? So would you be able to walk through walls off-turn with blink if you ready action a dash?

[fossil hollow]

might be a better question for #dnd-rules

[inner silo]

Controlling the body without the mind isn't as bad as controlling the mind with a body

[obtuse stratus]

Imagine getting hit with viscious mockery by 2 really old guys in a box seat

[rugged hawk]

Um, wut? He's the deity of oozes

[fossil hollow]

Wrong one

[feral fulcrum]

Think you can walk through walls in general in the Ethereal Plane. Provided they do not extend into it explicitly.

[fossil hollow]

Well, no, thats one of his things

[woven flint]

Yeah, but his portfolio is
Monsters, Abominations and Outcasts

[true monolith]

gotyaaaa, will do ^^

[fossil hollow]

Ghaunadaur (pronounced: /ˈgɒnɑːdaʊər/ GON-ah-dowr[3] or: /ˈgɒnɑːdʊər/ GON-ah-door[12]) was a greater god of abominations, oozes, and outcasts.

[inner silo]

Severest apologies but my midnight brain isn't capable of comprehending this, I'm assured, incredible joke

[fossil hollow]

Wait a second, why is Juiblex on his list of aliases

[obtuse stratus]

No *. Like when I was in college I straight up felt serious conflict at people using enchantment spells to ensorcel people while I got told I was evil for wanting a few undead to guard villagera at night

[woven flint]

I could genuinely see a church of Ghaunadaur just being a place that takes in those who are cast aside

[rugged hawk]

Oh, that's what you meant. Yeah, that tracks, given how many exiles, outcasts, and criminals we had doing the whole thing and sacrificing fools to Great Ooze.

[obtuse stratus]

The old guys from The Muppets

[inner silo]

I fr agree! Necromancy is bad if you steal someones corpse. If you take a corpse with consent and don't use it to commit crimes it's fine by me

[woven flint]

Maybe I'm an Evil Deity apologist lmao

[inner silo]

Ahh right

[rugged hawk]

Yeah, no. That's not how it works. Ghaunadaur takes in outcasts and exiles as part of him. Meaning you feed people to him until it's your turn.

[feral fulcrum]

Bhaal-Spawn confirmed?

[inner silo]

Embrace durge

[woven flint]

At least they serve a purpose /evil

[rugged hawk]

I still remember the time the head cultist of Ghaunadaur's cult in Mistlocke cut off his own hand to sacrifice to Ghaunadaur.

[elder tree]

bois roll20 is failing me

[obtuse stratus]

Look, Timmy, in this village the necromancer reanimates all of us to guard the town when we die. Your father will always be watching over you, like you will watch over your own children

[woven flint]

Ew, that's the only Evil Deity I'd never try to find a bright side to

[elder tree]

been trying to setup for a session all week and it just keeps saying no to working properly

[inner silo]

I think the biggest problem with trying to say that evil deities could be good is that there are already good deities which do what those could do

[rugged hawk]

If Bhaal's so obsessed with murder, he should go do a murder on himself

[obtuse stratus]

Myrkul does not care, he will collect the dead god as he does all

[woven flint]

Like I don't think Gruumsh is all that bad either...

You could argue that he's just delusional and genuinely thinks his people were betrayed, he loves the Orcs for they are his children

[inner silo]

Also if he likes murder so much, but wants to murder everyone it's a bit contradictory as id you murder everyone everyone there won't be anyone to murder ever again

[feral fulcrum]

Some people collect Pepper Shakers, Myrkul collects dead guys.

Weird hobby IMO

Where do you even put all those corpses?

[fossil hollow]

thats not his hobby, thats his job

[rugged hawk]

Living concepts always self-destruct in the end due to their own nature, yeah

[feral fulcrum]

I don't see anyone paying him for it. That makes it a hobby.

[rugged hawk]

Ao pays him with godhood

[fossil hollow]

If he didnt do it, Kelemvor would have his arse

[obtuse stratus]

Honestly I avoid having evil deities in my own worlds. Sure the humans may think the Orc deity Orcus is evil for creating this blight upon all of us, but the Orcs do their part by slaughtering those who break oaths

[inner silo]

Maybe it's forced labour?

[woven flint]

You see, I'm looking at evil deities who have possible good intentions, I'm not gonna argue that they're good people at all though lol

[rugged hawk]

And Kelemvor pays him with continued existence

[woven flint]

Murky works under Kelemvor? 🤔
Didn't know that

[fossil hollow]

all the dead three technically do

[rugged hawk]

Tokii over here tryna sell us on Dead Three as great guys to worship

[woven flint]

(Murky is my nickname for him lol)

[inner silo]

Only myrkul and bane

[woven flint]

Absolutely not.
Kelemvor is, though

What Alignment is Jergal
Does he even have one?

[obtuse stratus]

Yeah Myrkul is under Kelemvor now. Also I haven't read enough about the god, I just read a lot about the church and fell in ❤️❤️❤️

[inner silo]

Does withers also work for kelemvor?

[uncut zenith]

I think he’s true neutral

[keen kestrel]

Like true neutral

[woven flint]

Spoilers: ||Withers is an aspect of Jergal|| iirc