dnd-discussion

[rocky oracle]

Im just been a bit annoying tbh

[rough basalt]

Like crutch characters?

[fickle heart]

Not super familiar with the term, but probably. Stuff that is the bane of beginners.

[rough basalt]

Nah a crutch character is someone that's so powerful and easy to play it let's someone low skilled succeed too well for their skill level

[fickle heart]

Yeah, that's what I mean.

[rough basalt]

So any time they're forced off they're basically like lost children

[fickle heart]

I don't think that type of thing is inherently bad, but where I think it's bad is when applied to a game where the social element is very much at play.

[river vector]

One hour remaining until I get to roleplay my BBEG in disguise again... Mwahahah

[rough basalt]

Yeah I agree.

Crutch stuff exists so low skilled people can compete with high skilled players but something will happen at some point that forces you to change and they're probably gonna throw a tantrum about it and it just turns into a ball of rage and anger.

[reef tundra]

Aww man it’s so fun to rp a BBEG, and it must be so cool to play them in disguise

[rough basalt]

Like people who complain about PvP in Fromsoft games when their PvE easy mode trump card weapon doesn't work against actual people.

[river vector]

I have him as a "holy cleric" (he's a vampire) travelling with the party.

[cobalt owl]

Real people require real strategies

[paper portal]

do fake people require fake strategies

[cobalt owl]

Yes

[rough basalt]

Like crutch stuff usually leads to bad results for the ones it's designed for in some way.

Like crutch characters in competitive games fall apart against actually high skilled players

[paper portal]

pvp in dnd just comes down to whoever casts magic missile first

[rough basalt]

Crutch stuff in PvE falls apart the moment the game throws a skill check at you

[hot reef]

Or they get buffed too much and everyone has to play the crutch character despite the low skill level

[rough basalt]

Talking to you Genichiro Ashina

[fickle heart]

In a game like D&D, the reason I dislike "crutch" stuff past a certain point is how it negatively affects the intra-party and player-DM relationships. It can simultaneously give the player zero real ability to modify their behavior to avoid those scenarios and breed resentment with a potentially low-skill DM, the two specific subsets of people that might not have the capability to resolve the issue on their own.

Twilight Cleric is another example of an option I would consider as a "crutch".

[rough basalt]

Oh yeah Mercy Meta in OW1 I remember.

[reef tundra]

My bae

[paper portal]

is it a crutch or is it just really good

[rough basalt]

Over a year of being forced to play the same hold click healer.

[fickle heart]

Both, really. Nothing prevents both lol

[rough basalt]

I guess when it comes to dnd I don't really see much stuff as a crutch. Other than 2014 Stunning Strike.

And I do think 2024 did the good thing by making the simple subclasses actually good for Barb and Fighter

[fickle heart]

My view is that a Twilight Cleric player can totally unwittingly stumble into annoying a DM that has no capability to deal with it without potentially accidentally overtuning their encounters and then having the players complain about how the DM is appearing to not play fair.

[rough basalt]

Ah I see.

A new DM won't know how to handle the free temp hp

[fickle heart]

All of that while just playing their class.
E.g. "Why is the DM mad at me for using Twilight Sanctuary if I'm just doing what my subclass allows me to do?"

[rough basalt]

Reality: the DM doesn't have the skill yet to deal with it, but you're gonna think he's targeting you.

Because in a game like dnd the last thing we do is talk to our players /hj

[obtuse stratus]

annoyed my Abjuration wizard in Foundry ~_~ couldn't have my shield and the temp hp at the same time

[fickle heart]

Part of the issue is that these things in a low-skill context often involve people who haven't cultivated attitudes that allow them to deal with things like this, thus they're truly in a bind.

[undone rain]

I cant wait to use the improved true strike

[rough basalt]

Yeah they're not aware yet that the dm is allowed to ask for certain player options to be not used till they're more experienced.

[undone rain]

My hexblade warlocks about to make paladins jealous

Got 3 weapon cantrips alone

[keen kestrel]

nah, we get aura of protection, I'll never be jealous

[rough basalt]

I feel like a lot of dms try dming from a place of a lot of misunderstandings

[undone rain]

...yeah

[rough basalt]

And its probably why we dont have more dms

[crimson gulch]

oh i love twilight sanctuary, i have two twilight clerics in my Strahd game and their HP max drain on all the vampires is making them sweat so hard

[rough basalt]

Cause they're told by the internet that a "good dm doesnt say no" then some end up not saying no and get overwhelmed

[sly crest]

IMO a good DM knows that there's a time and a place for no

As they say, no is a complete sentence.

[rough basalt]

Yeah part of the dm skill set is being able to just say flat out no, that doesn't happen, get out

[fickle heart]

Part of the eternal DM skillset, really.

[rough basalt]

yeah i corrected it cause its not like problem players are a 5e thing

they've existed since the first tabletop games

[undone rain]

Lmao i just realized our party has 3 charisma casters and only 1 wisdom

[fickle heart]

Well, I don't necessarily think it's a problem player thing. I think mistakes being villified is one reason 5e is so unfriendly to new DMs.

[rough basalt]

I can agree there. "a good dm never says no, a good dm never makes a bad encounter, a good dm doesn't make mistakes, a good dm always says yes and"

So new dm ends up with his first TPK trying to adjust to a party thats optimizing hard and thinks its solely his fault

[crimson gulch]

the first TPK is a learning experience for sure, but you need to takeaway the right lesson

[rough basalt]

My first tpk was learning that if players make stupid decisions they get the consequences

[fickle heart]

And if we allow villifying mistakes, then people aren't interested in engaging due to the potential for being villified.

[rough basalt]

Yep, and some of these people that vilify these mistakes will vilify famous dms cause they set the standard for a "dm never makes mistakes and always says yes"

[fickle heart]

I would say it's just an issue with villification itself.

[rough basalt]

Yeah, there's a lot of vilification in anything nowadays.

Loads of people desperate to feel like they're better and the greater internet community for dnd you can see alot as well

[crimson gulch]

Being able to learn from your mistakes is a crucial life skill

[burnt grove]

One would say the most important too bad many neglect it

[crimson gulch]

A grace we need to give ourselves, and others. My kid poured soup on the couch now he's learning how to clean a couch

[empty thicket]

Fortunately My dm when he do mistakes or make some... really big gaps in difficulty we talk it out with him and he is open to criticism, same us like players we do too

[fickle heart]

The reason I specifically say "low-skill" and "high-skill", as opposed to other terms, is to call out that skill in playing and running is something that exists, and it's not something that should be judged because it almost always comes with experience.

[rough basalt]

Ah cleaning a couch is rough

[obtuse stratus]

There is a level of people not even acknowledging their mistakes, differences in viewpoints, etc

[rough basalt]

True. Not every dm can be a great player and vice versa. And thats alright

[undone rain]

Take a shot everytime a warlock says eldritch blast

[river vector]

I would die

[undone rain]

Alcohol poisoning in the first 7 rounds

[candid mulch]

The real kicker is when the cleric starts slinging eldritch blast.

[undone rain]

Oh boy that will be smth cuz we got a cleric

And i am a warlock

[obtuse stratus]

Hey, someone give me an artifact to think about

[crimson gulch]

Hand of vecna

[obtuse stratus]

Thanks! Whoops, started thinking about the Head of Vecna

[severe fox]

sword of zerial

[limber trail]

The Demonomicon of Iggwilv

[past edge]

Hey yall I'm new to the server. Just saying hi, nice to meet yall

[woven flint]

Welcome to hell!!!!

[past edge]

Which layer is this?

[woven flint]

The Layer that I rule 🧐 /joking

It's a place for certain!!!

[past edge]

Not to get into heavy stuff right after joining but I'm going through some rough stuff and was hoping to feel better by finding a community with which I can share my interests

Hope I didn't kill the vibe

[trim swan]

Not at all, vibes don't tend to stick around long anyway since it's a fast-paced server. Welcome in!

[woven flint]

Vibes are Vibing

[past edge]

I'll try not to be a perpetual bummer lol

[obtuse stratus]

I am there with you, just not speaking of it.

[past edge]

I noticed there was a newcomers chat. Is there a protocol for that? Like introductions or something similar? Or is it more for people who are new to dnd in general?

[obtuse stratus]

The latter I believe

[trim swan]

Yeah, it's for those beginner questions like what the difference between a check and a save is.

[woven flint]

I have a declaration...
"Wonkus" shall be a new greeting among friends! /joking

[obtuse stratus]

Wonkus! Tokii

[woven flint]

I'm kinda irked that 2024 bard does add JOAT to initiate anymore 😔

But I understand it was a little busted, I suppose

I don't even like playing bards, frankly, but I'm playing one soon lol

[woven flint]

Wonkler, Oxy

[rustic kraken]

kind of off topic, but how do i change my roles? i tried looking for a channel but i cant find it ack

[severe rampart]

id:customize is the place

[rustic kraken]

ah tysm, it won’t let me change my roles weirdly enough

[trim swan]

Maybe restart Discord? It breaks sometimes.

[rustic kraken]

good idea!

there’s also a tornado watch near me, so maybe it’s messing with my internet

yay did it

[past edge]

Aye a fellow fighter

It's my favorite class, but in my opinion rogue is the best

[keen kestrel]

it's definitely paladin

[obtuse stratus]

Nuh uh, the best is the one that fills the party's missing role

[past edge]

That kinda depends on the dm, when I dm for people I try to allow them to be whatever they wanna be. No healers? Potions are cheap. No spellcasters? Scrolls are abundant. Etc etc

Composition is definitely important of course. Not denying that.

[paper portal]

from an optimization perspective wizard is the strongest class

[trim swan]

But you can't play all wizards

[keen kestrel]

Sure you can

[trim swan]

I mean, you can. But the DM must be on board.

[keen kestrel]

You can do anything in dnd

[obtuse stratus]

Ackshually! I used to solo with wizards and alchemists in PF1e. It was great

[past edge]

I guess my rogue take was a hot take lol

[keen kestrel]

I mean, it is, but paladin does have the best ability in the game

[trim swan]

PF1e wizards were so overpowered man.

[woven flint]

Cute pfp btw :]

[obtuse stratus]

I did golem mancers and necro mancers

So much fun. Then alch was like something where I kept making friends PLUS had a billion clones of myself or some nonsense

[trim swan]

You never know what conversation an innocent comment will start.

[severe rampart]

Oh my, the echoes are multiplying

[woven flint]

If I see ONE more Echo...
I'm gonna buy a lottery ticket

[severe rampart]

we need Echo of Vinnath in here

[trim swan]

Your name looks cooler than mine though.

[woven flint]

She doesn't count!
She was before both of you smh

[severe rampart]

you could say it's a... Fantastical Echo?

[past edge]

Isn't the thing about echoes that they repeat themselves?

[severe rampart]

you can say that again

[obtuse stratus]

She's been off the last couple days

[woven flint]

Isn't the thing about echoes that they repeat themselves?

[past edge]

It just writes itself

[severe rampart]

woah, there's an echo in here

[woven flint]

Nah, I'm a Doppelganger, there's a difference

I find it interesting that Doppelgangers in D&D (The monster) aren't inherently evil like they typically are in real life 🤔

[severe rampart]

That's just Changelings

[past edge]

I think their evil counterpart would be rakshasas in dnd

[woven flint]

Changlings and Doppelgangers are just.. Neutral shapechangers that wanna live life

[past edge]

Also not to nerd out but changelings are actually the offspring of doppelgangers with other races

[woven flint]

Changeling and Doppelgangers are two different species
Changeling are Fey
And
Doppelgangers are Monstrosities

[severe rampart]

Channeling hm?

[past edge]

I thought doppelgangers were fey too

[severe rampart]

but I see what you mean

I missed the chance to say I hear you loud and clear

[woven flint]

Nope!
They're Monstrosities... for some odd reason?

I'd think them Aberrations tbh

[past edge]

Like aliens?

[woven flint]

Aberrations aren't as much aliens as they are very strange and unnatural creatures

A good majority of Aberrations ARE aliens, but not all of them

[feral fulcrum]

Aberrations are typically things that just flatout don't belong in the Material Plane

Think less Aliens and more Cthulu Light

[woven flint]

Yeah^ this

[obtuse stratus]

What if I simulacra someone who has been replaced by a doppelganger

[severe rampart]

and then a changeling walks in

[woven flint]

It wouldn't work because you'd be targeting a Monstrosity instead of a Humanoid or Beast

[severe rampart]

a doppelganger, a changeling, and a simulacrum walk into a bar- 🍅

[obtuse stratus]

And then the papa tomato says ketchup?

[woven flint]

The Rakshasa bartender looking at them:
"Well, one of us is gonna have to change!"

[severe rampart]

Crap, Tokii's joke was funnier

He's the superior bard, truly

[obtuse stratus]

Must have chosen Perform (Oratory)

Whoops, this is 5e. I need to go back to my elderly friends

[woven flint]

I've only played two bards
About to play my third:

Owlin Glamor Bard (Caspian Goldengale)
Changeling Spirits Bard (Malochè the Fool)
And
Firbolg Moon Bard soon! (Unnamed rn)

[cerulean monolith]

I think you mean Charisma (Mouth)

[past edge]

Yeah I'm only 24 years old I don't get that joke

[cerulean monolith]

I really want to play a Bard/Cleric multiclass but it seems so hard to build out

[woven flint]

Malochè was in a campaign where Changelings were monstrosities instead of Fey and people typically killed them on sight.
His 'Mask' was a Drow named Eadric Scarborough.
Eadric was an individual he met in his dreams

[cerulean monolith]

Probably play something like Tortle so I can dump STR and DEX, and just pump WIS, CHA and CON

[rustic kraken]

ahh tysm!! i drew it! it was awhile ago haha, im drawing my DnD character i might use as a pfp :3

[severe rampart]

Oh hey Tokii, wanted to hear your opinion on this since I got the idea from you
I'm thinking of giving my battlemaster elf a rod that can transform into a list of +1 martial melee weapons

[woven flint]

Malochè was considered "The Fool" of the group
In the sense that he was dealing with things that he was incredibly unfamiliar with (not that he was stupid)

[severe rampart]

would've loved to play in that setting as a changeling, backstory and flavor, mmm

[woven flint]

I liked playing him
He was incredibly depressed but acted like a Diva anyway

[past edge]

I wish my coping mechanism was slaying

[severe rampart]

I think it's actually called "masking"? I'm not sure though

[woven flint]

He was murdered by an Evil "Clone" of one of his party members, but when his "Mask" broke (his true form being revealed) they took him back to the BBEG because he was "One of his children" the "Monsters of the fog" and was revived and offered a deal.

[past edge]

Well acting happy when you're really sad is one thing, but being a girlboss when you're really sad is another

[woven flint]

He spat in the BBEG'S face and Misty stepped away then ran for his life lol

[past edge]

"Thanks for reviving me loser"

[woven flint]

Malochè was probably one of my favorite bards to play ever lmao

[woven flint]

He wasn't happy to be alive again, but he'd rather go back to help his friend rsther than betray them

[primal wolf]

Twilight cleric 1 / any bard X

[woven flint]

Alas, I had to leave that campaign early because scheduling conflicts 😔

[past edge]

That's the way it goes

[rustic kraken]

i finished the sketch of my dnd oc !!

[woven flint]

Honestly? I'd personally just go all one or the other

[paper portal]

hi chat hi sil

[past edge]

Oh word can we see?

[rustic kraken]

ya! it’s in #dnd-arts-and-crafts

not finished yet, plus i wanna add more details possibly

[woven flint]

You know what's funny?
I had an Elvish Valor Bard Character concept

And his name was also Vermillion

He had red hair!
and a beard (which are uncommon for Elvish individuals lol)

[severe rampart]

mmm Yuan Ti

[past edge]

Super cool! Love the Naga look they have. Yuan Ti that are part snake are called abominations right?

[rustic kraken]

i was making my oc the other day with my friends and i didn’t know anything about what religion he should have, so i made him an atheist. which apparently is hilarious

[severe rampart]

I love Yuan Ti, I got a Warlock with a Primordial Snake patron who I'm reworking to be a Yuan Ti

[rustic kraken]

yeah!! something like that

tysm!! but what is Naga?

i kind took inspo from the movie Rango and added my own twist on it

[past edge]

Yeah the reason I made my username Vermillion is because i used to try to make my profile have a certain aesthetic and red was the last one I chose before stopping altogether. Never changed the name after that lol

[woven flint]

Snake people

[rustic kraken]

oh oops

[woven flint]

We should kiss /joking /silly

[past edge]

Nagas are snake people, specifically their lower half is that of a snake's body. I think they were popularized by World of Warcraft

[rustic kraken]

ohhh ill share what the dndbeyond thing says in #dnd-media

or i guess not.. i don’t have pic perms there

[past edge]

On a real note, I probably should change the name. I prefer to go by Robin, but I never actually change the name. I just tell people to call me that, like I'm doing right now lol

[woven flint]

Robin is a nice name :]

[rustic kraken]

:(

i can’t send a gif,

it was gonna be robin from teen titans

[severe rampart]

Themberchaud is getting way too fat from these GIFs 😔

[rustic kraken]

I DIDNT KNOW I COULDNT SEND ANY :((((

[severe rampart]

it's okay, common mistake

[rustic kraken]

Themberchud /jk

[past edge]

Themberchad

[rustic kraken]

what is the difference between Yuan-ti and Naga?

[past edge]

I don't think Naga are a real thing in dnd

Kinda like how Hobbits aren't a thing but Halflings are

I could be wrong about that, I haven't actually checked

[rustic kraken]

OH my bad

i know nothing about dnd, other than it’s a roleplay game and there’s mythical creatures and other things

idk the species, religions, etc

partly why i made my character just a fighter, simple enough

[woven flint]

They are, there's Naga statblocks

[past edge]

ACTUALLY it looks like nagas in dnd are giant snakes with people faces. Which isn't what they are in any other form of fiction. It's kinda like how the dnd version of a Basilisk is a six legged lizard dog creature but historically they're chicken snake creatures

[woven flint]

Spirit Naga and Gaurdian Naga are the only ones I can find right now, but yea

[rustic kraken]

kind of like that one episode of atla where aang had to see that creature with the different faces?

if you know what i’m talking about ofc lol

[past edge]

EXACTLY LIKE THAT GOATED REFERENCE

[rustic kraken]

OMG YAYAYAYA 🫶🫶

[past edge]

Did we just become best friends

[rustic kraken]

yes!!

[woven flint]

Geeks :p

[rustic kraken]

well depends how old are you

[past edge]

24

[rustic kraken]

isn’t everyone ? this IS a dnd server

[rustic kraken]

then yes!!

[woven flint]

Oh, don't share your ages in the server for safety reasons btw

[rustic kraken]

oh i’m so sorry

that’s my bad

[past edge]

I mean um I'm about that old but not EXACTLY that old

[woven flint]

Just looking out for you fellas :p

[rustic kraken]

just a rough estimate

[past edge]

Sorry, unprofessional of me

[trim swan]

Rakshasa are the one that bothers me the most that dnd completely changed and called a monster.

[past edge]

They're demons aren't they? It's like the coolest part of their lore

[woven flint]

Rakshasa aren't Demons, Devils or Yugoloths, just Fiendish creatures :3

Not all fiends fall under those three categories, surprisingly

[past edge]

When one dies they reappear in the hells and undergo a several month long regeneration process that is EXTREMELY painful, and when they return to the Material they seek vengeance on those who killed them

[rustic kraken]

fien

[past edge]

Or so I thought

[woven flint]

Succubi, Inccubi, Night Hags and Rakshasa are all fiends, but none of them are Devil or Demons, etc

There's more, but those are the popular ones I can think of

[past edge]

I wrote a short story one time about a rakshasa who was killed over and over by a paladin, and sought vengeance against him and always failed to kill the paladin until he got old and couldn't defend himself anymore

[rustic kraken]

that’s interesting!

[obtuse stratus]

Was the Paladin named Arthur Dent by any chance?

[past edge]

I don't know the reference I'm sorry :/

[woven flint]

There's a Rakshasa that lives among the people of Waterdeep
He works as a private detective and genuinely cares about the citizens of Waterdeep

He's pretty cool

[rustic kraken]

also i sent you a dm :P

[obtuse stratus]

The raksasha would be the bowl of petunias in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (in one iteration of the creature's life)

[prime basin]

Detective Damien

[woven flint]

Fiends CAN feel genuine compassion for others, believe it or not lol
Which, I genuinely like that it's not just always Black and White "Fiends are irrevocable Evil and emotionless"

[woven flint]

His name is Victor Tigerclaw, I believe 🤔

[prime basin]

Never played waterdeep

[past edge]

That's like me being named Robin Fingernail lol

[woven flint]

He's a minor character, which is why I felt okay talking about him so openly lol

If he was more intertwined with the story I'd probably not have talked about him

[woven flint]

That's not his REAL name, that's just his current human identities name

[prime basin]

Detective Damien is also a reference to something btw

[woven flint]

Invincible, I know

[prime basin]

"Your dad sent me to come find you"

Anyway, always interesting to see some non-humanoid characters that actually care about humanoids

[woven flint]

No, no, my mistake

It's Vincent Trench

His Rakshasa name is
"Valantajar"

Absolutely love that guy, genuinely a chill dude

[past edge]

I remember I homebrewed a feywild variant of vampires that absorb life force through needle-like fingers

[woven flint]

You know?
My favorite vampires in the realms are the ones that feed on psychic energy

[past edge]

They had a weakness to sunlight like regular vampires but the lore explanation was that the sun had inherently holy energy that eradicated the negative energy that held them together

[severe rampart]

never heard of that

[woven flint]

I dunno what they're called, but I think a Vampire that actively feeds on thoughts is 10x more terrifying

[past edge]

They faded in sunlight instead of burning

[woven flint]

Vampires in D&D aren't JUST Bloodsuckers, they can feed on different things! :0

It's just up to preference/how they became a vampire, I suppose

[umbral girder]

Crazy idea

Players end up in a giant chess board with both sides trying to kill them

But both sides can only do 1 unit a round

A knight is a knight, a bishop is a priest, etc.

The Queen is probably a Drow Matron mother for maximum fear

[past edge]

It'd be the easiest map prep ever lol

"I thought we were playing dnd, not chess"

[tidal halo]

I can’t wait to play test neon odyssey

[woven flint]

Reminds me when my Celestial Warlock just BARELY beat Strahd In a chess match before our final confrontation with him

My Warlock beat him in chess and was the one to finish him off in combat later
It was pretty poetic lol

Mind you.
Flat Intelligence rolls vs strahds like.. what.. +3 Int?

[elder swan]

Someone just did 882 million+ damage on a homebrew character ;-;

Do you want another crazy part?

It didn’t even kill

[night spindle]

what

[lavish flame]

this is a 5e game?

[elder swan]

5.5e

But there’s barely a difference

The funny thing is, we weren’t even supposed to be there yet

We basically speed ran the entire campaign just because the DM added 10th level spells and one of them was greater wish.

[severe rampart]

882 million damage and didn't even kill? sounds off

[cobalt owl]

Sounds about right

[elder swan]

And because of this, there was a character who is a descendent of a god, and technically is a god because one of the rules states that the wish cannot mess with God there could not be no drawback for using the wish

[cobalt owl]

OK you've lost me

[elder swan]

Because of that, they all knowing entity who created the universe of the campaign, decided to summon them and fight them

[turbid sand]

what?

[elder swan]

So on the second session, when we were level seven, we fought the very final boss of the campaign

[feral fulcrum]

I assume, extreme exaggeration on their part.

[elder swan]

I’m not even joking

We literally fought our DM’s interpretation of their main character

[cobalt owl]

This the type of crazy you read on RPG reddit stories

[severe rampart]

sounds like a bad game

[turbid sand]

sounds like dm vs player

[feral fulcrum]

This reeks of "Obviously bad Homebrew and Newbie DM that doesn't know what they're doing"

[elder swan]

The craziest part is the person who got teleported down there because they define the rules rage baited them so hard to the point that we got ourselves to level 20 for a temporary amount of time

[cobalt owl]

I wouldn't jump to conclusions but it does sound crazy

[turbid sand]

what the hell

[elder swan]

I’m not here to listen to opinions. I’m just giving what happened in the story.

[humble cairn]

If you want to tell the story about what happened at your table the correct channel is #tales-from-the-table

[feral fulcrum]

Then you'd want to to that in ^

[elder swan]

Ok

[feral fulcrum]

Because you'll get Opinions here

[turbid sand]

still crazy tho

[cobalt owl]

Very

[turbid sand]

no cuz whats the point of dnd if youre speed running the campaign

theres no fun to it.

[empty thicket]

depend, i was about to get into a campaign module of 3 sessions per week (Wednesday to Friday) and was a nice idea

got a job and couldnt anymore but was good idea

[turbid sand]

thats a good idea cuz you get 1 thing for 1 session

if the guy was rushing everything for 1 session?

[empty thicket]

no no, that its too much ngl
Unless you make a "oneshot" of like 16 hours straight without stopping

[turbid sand]

exactly, people be running nonsense nowadays

[empty thicket]

instead of doing an episode that would be a whole movie resuming a whole season of some show

[turbid sand]

see they completed a three month long of campaign in 3 days within 2 sessions, 2 SESSIONS

[empty thicket]

sound funny like challenge tho

"speedrunning nuke to strahd"

[turbid sand]

honestly its the dm fault ngl, adding a 10th level spell

[empty thicket]

that sound interesting for me, if lvl 9 spells are capable of flat a whole kingdom, what a lvl 10 would do

[turbid sand]

also bro 882 millions damage? dude thats not dnd

i bet the fighters only do like 50 damage

[empty thicket]

Yeah....one get used to it ngl

i stopped trying to see a way to make martials be in the total ground than casters so i now in day just compare martials between each other

[empty thicket]

.....why dont just say "its dead" and that it is?!

[elder swan]

By the way, we weren’t trying to speed run

We did this on accident

[empty thicket]

Not even doing a 99% reduced damage something kinda normal survive it

[turbid sand]

you should leave ngl, its a bad dm

[elder swan]

There’s only two and one of them is greater wish which is just a better version of wish where the downside is removed, but the drawback is greater and the DM didn’t want there to be a loophole so he challenged us to combat

[turbid sand]

i think its because the rule stated that wish cannot kill gods

[elder swan]

No, we already completed the campaign in two sessions

We weren’t supposed to beat them

[turbid sand]

exactly why would your dm gave level 10th

[elder swan]

Probably because it’s a one shot and in the very first 30 minutes of starting the first session I almost die

Considering the fact that we’re fighting blighted enemies

They’re basically undead but stronger and cannot be animated by a necromancer

[turbid sand]

u mean enemies that one shot or?

[elder swan]

A singular drop of poison did 22 damage to me

[turbid sand]

oh my god

[elder swan]

That’s why we’re OP

[turbid sand]

sounds like the dm couldnt calculate a balance encounter

[elder swan]

Keep in mind I didn’t 1 tap with 882 million damage

Oh no anytime he miscalculates a balance encounter. He just makes the universe “work in our favor.”

[elder swan]

It was from a evolved blight tho

[humble cairn]

Yeah: #dnd-discussion message

[turbid sand]

so the chosen one, i mean every dnd party is chosen one but this is widly interestingly different yet a stupidly move to make

[cobalt owl]

Balancing on the fly go brrrr

[elder swan]

I mean, we weren’t even supposed to know about cataclysm until we hit level 20

But one of our party members just had to try and find a loophole

And now the DM’s main character is dead

[umbral girder]

Sounds about right

[turbid sand]

get a better dm

seriously

[cobalt owl]

Anyhow

[elder swan]

The campaign is still going. I wanna see where this goes.

[turbid sand]

the hell

[cobalt owl]

Today I send an iron golem at my party

[elder swan]

Yeah, the campaign didn’t end after that

[cold scaffold]

Hi

[turbid sand]

no please immediately leave, cuz the dm prob goin to have like another 3 - 2 month building another lore

[elder swan]

There’s more lore after cataclysm

[limber trail]

Like a DMPC or another player’s character who is the main character?

[turbid sand]

send them stat blocks

[umbral girder]

I should send a few at my players

[cobalt owl]

Just search up iron golem

[elder swan]

It’s like the DMS character and they made them overpowered as hell

[cobalt owl]

It's an existing stat block

[umbral girder]

Level 20 party so I gotta send a few

Yep! They heal from fire

[limber trail]

Yeah good riddance

[turbid sand]

oh god

[cobalt owl]

I'm using the "fire elemental in an iron golem" trick

DM PC can go very brrr sometimes

[limber trail]

This does not sound like a very good DM (with respect to the DM if they’re a friend)

[cobalt owl]

NPCs use different rules anyway

[umbral girder]

I technically have one in my level 20 game. From my players’ request.

[cobalt owl]

If yourbplayers ask for it thats different imo

There's also different levels of dmpc

[umbral girder]

We did a one shot and they brought up making my Dragonborn Conquest paladin canon. So I did and he is gonna be a big problem for them very soon.

Turns out Conquest Paladins actually make great villains with their stats

[limber trail]

If it’s at player request then it’s not a DMPC, it’s a hireling/ally

[umbral girder]

Oh he is very much a villain they are fighting

[cobalt owl]

I have a modified genie paladin in mine

[limber trail]

Well even better then

[cobalt owl]

She's complicated, but she's also either an ally or enemy depending on how things go

[limber trail]

In my eyes one of the key characteristics of a DMPC is that they’re subject to the expectations that are also true of the other party members - that you don’t get to just kick them out / PvP with them. If that’s not applicable, it’s not a DMPC

[cobalt owl]

NPC go brrrr

[turbid sand]

i dont really get why people want to have a DMPC

[empty thicket]

some people want to experience the other seats of the car than just driving all the time

[turbid sand]

why would you want to drive then?

[empty thicket]

Because some make stories and instead of just telling them want to be part of it
That lead to a whole different problem, the DMPC must be giga nerfed

Or it will be "meta gaming" all the time

[turbid sand]

thats the thing

[empty thicket]

Can there be good DMPC's? yes, it would need to be well made to make it work
Most of time we heard bad stories from them? that too
A DMPC could be used to either help in some X moments the party and other stuff? yep, the story can even go around that DMPC and the party must protect him, but he have sooooo bad luck

[turbid sand]

why just dont make npcs

if youre want to be part of the stories

and act like you were that npc

[empty thicket]

that is the thing, one must separate what is a NPCs and what is a DMPC.
An NPCs is some random character taht you talk with 1 or 5 times max or doesnt matter in teh story in the end
A DMPC could be seen like one but have a lil bit more important role

[empty thicket]

yeah, that is a DMPC.

Like the players are npcs that are being used by them.

[turbid sand]

but making a DMPC relevant to the stories would not be fun, cuz the DM knows how the stories goes

i mean making a santa claus that gives player a ride doesnt seem a bad idea

[empty thicket]

The point is, there could be good DMPCs.
But would need to be made in many ways to "balance" it.
The wikipedia//guide character, it know everything but its a coward that hide himself in his pocket dimension when problems came and came back after everything happen
The healer non violent npc that will only follow the party and heal them//buff them
are examples i would like to remark

and the one i said before, the DMPC that is the objective to protect

[turbid sand]

i see

[empty thicket]

Like said before, it depends

[empty thicket]

the idea would be "i will be there to help you when you need it, but i wont change the tides too much"

[turbid sand]

so like shanks from one piece

iyk

[empty thicket]

yeah kinda, or just make a DMPC that is that, a healer so the party can go with a more offensive team and care a bit less about heals
Or the DM can implement some alternative ways to heal or give more Short rests, etc. etc. etc.

It all always depend of the approach and narrative for me

There is no perfect idea or narrative, but a simple story but well explained and narrated is peak
While a good story with a normal narrative and world its good too

[karmic heath]

How much does aura of vitality heal outside of combat?

[prime basin]

20d6 total

for a level 3 spell

[limber trail]

10 lots of 2d6

[prime basin]

UK way of saying 20d6

[solar crow]

My current campaign which has been my first ever campaign only has 4 sessions left, 3 of which will be our final boss fight😭

[karmic heath]

Lovely thank you both.
Makes sense.

[cobalt owl]

I'm gonna bet now 1 turn of initiative will take 2 hours

[crimson gulch]

Triple kill tonight

[rough basalt]

what level and classes were they?

[normal canyon]

i damn can't find a co-dm...

[crimson gulch]

Level 8 party. Rogue, smashed by stone golem. Wizard executed by shadows.

Then thr rogue again to the donjon card after he caught a revivify

[river vector]

My vampire BBEG got revealed

Party did an insight check, and the truth was out

[rough basalt]

That's hilarious

[river vector]

He offered them to join him and become vampires, a player accepted.

So now the party has to travel at night to accommodate

Vampire BBEG had a ring that allowed him to travel at day, he sort of showed it off before inviting the party to his manor.

So that's a hook - get some type of that ring from vampire. But what would it cost?

[rough basalt]

A daywalker ring? That'd be like a Legendary at least imo

I'd argue an artifact, a one of a kind.

Cause if any vamp could get one, why are they hiding in the shadows and not openly ruling the world or trying.

[fading portal]

I rolled 5 nat ones today
3 of em in a row 😍

[rough basalt]

You're charging up for next session

[limber trail]

I stole your luck when I rolled a crit at disadvantage last night

my bad boss

[fading portal]

King you lowkey have created a monster that my dm is gonna use against me now 😭. I rolled 3 nat ones on 3 separate survival checks in a row, and now my paladin has perma disadvantage on survival rolls 😍.
Dm also made an in world creature on the whim, that said that will hunt people if their luck is awful, and will play luck based games with them to make em die horribly, and steal their souls 🥹

[limber trail]

...my bad boss

if its any consolation

I used those crits to also horrify my players

[fading portal]

Honestly, periodt king 💖
What did ya do?

[limber trail]

I had my players genuinely, actually, unironically shaking from fear

Caught on video

[fading portal]

Damn 😭

[limber trail]

Some backstory villains showed up and killed their allies, probably causing a war

It was a bloodbath, a pair of CR 16 paladins were killed and disintegrated in two rounds flat

[lavish flame]

i dont know if ive ever crit my players

[plucky hinge]

HELLO HELLO

[round mountain]

Jello

[round mountain]

I have been crit and insta downed at least 4 timesin a year

[flint ledge]

Hallo!

[round mountain]

I am particularly unlucky

[rotund shell]

I've gone down in every fight with my current DM. Including 1 character death.

I find it hilarious

the character death was a martyrdom though.

so it was totally worth it

[rough basalt]

I always crit my players never as a player

[fading portal]

My luck fluctuates like that too 😭

I am on my 4th character, in a campaign I started playing in Feb 2025 😭

[true monolith]

What are everyone's thoughts on normalising a DMPC in a party

Pros above Cons or naaah?

[round mountain]

Sergal

[true monolith]

Might repeat the question at more active times cuz i actually want more feedback on that concept

[round mountain]

I actually like the idea

As a player, as long as it's clearly not an insert that's just clearly stronger than the party, a dmpc gives a clean opportunity to maybe push the party in the right direction

I hate the "D&D isn't a game" narrative. It definitely can feel like one and sometimes just having someone with the party to give hints doesn't hurt.

[flint ledge]

Personally I don't like DM PCs in general and don't like to have them in the party (I'm not even a fan of having NPCs as companions for longer periods of time)

[round mountain]

I just think at bare minimum, it takes a very mature and experienced DM to make it work

[true monolith]

if hes weaker, it might actually be a cool side-objective to protect him, aye?

and he wont steal any spotlight since hes weaker

additionally the DM can use him for lore drops and hints or just immersion

[round mountain]

Possibly. Yeah. I can see that. The way I imagine a DMPC is like the handler in Monster Hunter

[humble cairn]

If they're not stealing the spotlight, then they're just an NPC rather than a DMPC, aren't they?

[true monolith]

for spotlight reasons? Or bcs the people fighting the adventure are actually just the core party and having NPCs disturbes the "inner circle"?

[humble cairn]

I was pretty sure "DMPC" is always negative?

[round mountain]

Can see the argument. I think that's just an issue with assigning defintions

[humble cairn]

Because if they're not being treated special, like a PC should be, then they're just NPCs.

[true monolith]

Oh? I thought DMPC is just a NPC who follows the party as an established part of their group

might be me who got the wrong definition of the words, I mean that specific npc then who follows the party

[humble cairn]

You can have various NPCs follow the group: hirelings, advisors, patrons. But as long as they aren't being given special consideration in the story, like PCs are since they are supposed to be the main characters, then they're not a DMPC.

[true monolith]

See, thats why i casually wanted to talk about this stuff. I get new opinions on the matter and aparantly i might have been using the wrong terms xD

[paper portal]

generally DMPC means an actual player character played my the DM, at least from what i've seen

[humble cairn]

DMPC is an NPC that joins the group and takes up narrative focus because the DM really wants to actually have a Player Character rather than be the DM.

[round mountain]

I understand it as an NPC the players can't just shove off. It's meant to stick with the players and partake in their shenanigans

[paper portal]

nothing inherently wrong with having your own PC especially if youre a forever dm but obviously if youre a dm its very easy to give favouritism to yourself over other people and thats big no no

[humble cairn]

You can have these and not be DMPCs.

[round mountain]

Yeah but I'm saying the distinction is like very vague, at least to me

[true monolith]

Gotyaaaa, so DMPCs are viewed negatively because they steal spotlight, as they arent weaker than regular PCs and you now have a partymember which basically knows everything the DM does and could potentially metagame through every puzzle or mystery

[humble cairn]

Quest NPCs, like someone you have to escort or protect or advise etc.

[humble cairn]

Yeah because it's a subjective difference. "Is this NPC taking up narrative focus like a main character?" is a woobly question to answer sometimes.

[true monolith]

I'd join the anti-dmpc faction on the topic then. I feel like the downsides outweight the advantages

unless its maybe the healer noone wanted to play in the first place? but even then just drop a healing magic item and you're good

[round mountain]

Like, let's use the example of the party's pet kobold that always travels with them

[humble cairn]

If they are there as a service to the party and they don't have a main plot where they are The Protagonist, then they're not a DMPC.

[round mountain]

To me that just becomes a dmpc

[humble cairn]

Pets aren't DMPCs, imo.

Also calling a person a pet, is kinda iffy.

[round mountain]

What

[flint ledge]

I think there's a difference between pets and DMPCs

[humble cairn]

Kobolds are people, it's a bit weird to call them a pet.

[paper portal]

pretty much yeah, obviously a really good dm could avoid those problems but theres not really any way to gauge whether or not they can so its better to just say boo dmpcs bad

[round mountain]

Depends on the setting. I'm not implying anything like that though

[true monolith]

yea, then screw DMPCs actually xD Then the type of NPCs i support are actually just NPCs in general and not DMPCs

[round mountain]

It was an example lol

[flint ledge]

(pets as in characters the party decides to adopt not to call people pets)

[humble cairn]

Absolutely. Hirelings and friends and allies are all great types of NPCs.

[true monolith]

i thought so too previously

[humble cairn]

My party has pet oozes.

[round mountain]

I'm just saying the term NPC "non player character" and DMPC "DM player character" aren't very different out the gate

[true monolith]

I thought NPC traveling with party -> DMPC and those i support having since the DM can utilize them in many ways to add to the story or combat tension

[round mountain]

It's completely subjective

[true monolith]

yeeeh, but I think no matter the term we assign to them, we all believe that the weaker or unique NPCs have potential to add while having a DM-partymember on equal level and story-weight just substracts

[humble cairn]

I find it more useful to differentiate NPC vs DMPC the way I've laid it out. The DM is responsible for playing all NPCs whether or not they accompany the party. That's almost a non-difference. I think it's more useful to say that DMPC = NPC that hogs narrative focus in a negative way.

[round mountain]

Yeah but that's a subjective definition

[humble cairn]

As most things are, but it's more useful than the others I've heard and as such I would advocate using it, because the point of communicating using different terms in the first place is to have a useful difference for communication.

[round mountain]

Fair, I do personally disagree with assigning that term to always a negative. I don't think a DMPC is always negative

[true monolith]

interesting, you mean your definition from DMPCs or Ophindimancer's?

[humble cairn]

Well the very purpose of NPCs is to act as props and backdrop for PCs. All NPCs are there to make the PCs look cooler and have fun, whether by helping them or by opposing them and acting as obstacles.

[true monolith]

I feel like thats a high skill challenger for the DM tho

i couldnt pull that off if i am honest

having an DMPC as to hextra's definition

my NPCs are always weaker than the players or an envoy which adds to the difficulty by setting boundaries

[humble cairn]

NPCs can be very important to the narrative, but the PCs are the main characters. If any NPC starts to horn in on that "I'm a main character" energy, it's kind of going against the purpose of what an NPC is for.

If they're the villain, that's great! you want a big energy villain for the PCs to oppose.

[halcyon forum]

Exactly. There is no inherent difference between an NPC that travels with the party and a Patron or a recurring quest giver. There is an inherent differences though if the Character traveling with the party is taking away party agency, hogging the spotlight etc.

That second one deserves a different term, the first kind of NPC doesn’t

[round mountain]

I think it's a slippery slope personally

[humble cairn]

To what, exactly?

[round mountain]

Assigning a concrete term on a feeling

[humble cairn]

But .. this is precisely what we're doing when we use genre terms. "Fantasy" and "scifi" for example are basically just loose definitions of how a piece of media makes us feel.

[round mountain]

Yeah but fantasy has a concrete and clear meaning

[humble cairn]

Oh boy ... you picked a very bad genre as an example to say that about.

Suffice it to say, I disagree.

[round mountain]

Am I wrong? Websters literally defines it as unrealistic or improbable

[humble cairn]

So when does something stop being "Fiction" and start being "Fantasy?" and also how does definition not apply to "scifi?"

[round mountain]

Fiction and fantasy are synonymous

[past edge]

Hey yall what's going on

[humble cairn]

Then why are they different sections in the library?

[round mountain]

I don't think anyone would particularly pick at calling the hobbit a fiction novel

[humble cairn]

You have to realize that everything is already subjective and the only reason we use different terms for things to be helpful when communicating.

[halcyon forum]

All fantasy is fiction but not all fiction is fantasy

[past edge]

Yeah like all oaks are trees but not all trees are oaks

[round mountain]

I think my brain is just looking at this different than you

[plucky hinge]

Who speaks Giant?

[rotund shell]

Giants and their related kin such as goliaths.

[past edge]

I usually translate from Icelandic when making Giant speech lol

[turbid sand]

me

[plucky hinge]

I meant here 🫩🫩

[plucky hinge]

Yes yes ty

[humble cairn]

That's always going to be true for everybody. So yes.

[round mountain]

I feel I'm taking the words at face value literally

[paper portal]

hi chat

[hot reef]

The drow in Eberron iirc

[plucky hinge]

Ahem when you think of common like village names? What do you think of? In Giant tongue…. Kinda want to do a every species welcome village for backstory lore but like struggling

[past edge]

Hey wings

[paper portal]

generally not a good way to play dnd considering how the rules are written

[plucky hinge]

Wsg wings

[paper portal]

uhh nothing much :3

[humble cairn]

It's the role of a DM to play NPCs. It's the role of all the other players to play PCs. It isn't supposed to be the role of the DM to play a PC. Therefore DMPC is a DM not quite doing what they should.

[paper portal]

i should keep working on one of the numerous dnd builds i was making

[round mountain]

We can agree to disagree there

[turbid sand]

Steinvarðr seems dope

[plucky hinge]

I thought thay was a language for a second

[paper portal]

you dont think i should work on one of my builds? /silly

[turbid sand]

it is, i used this before in my campaign, its from icelandic

typa language

[past edge]

I know this isn't really my conversation but my pcs enjoy when there are dmpc's in my campaigns because of their plot relevance. They'll even try to petition some to journey with them when it wasn't my plan to include one. And if they're having fun, it can't be wrong

[humble cairn]

Yes, we can, but I just wonder if you think it's appropriate for a DM to be playing a PC.

[plucky hinge]

:0 holy davidsonthethird ty

[round mountain]

Yeah I stated my reasoning

[turbid sand]

np

[humble cairn]

We kinda went over this. Those aren't DMPCs, they're just NPCs that accompany the party: #dnd-discussion message

[round mountain]

But the issues is what we view constitutes a "player character"

[humble cairn]

What do you view as the difference between what I think of as a PC and what you think?

[halcyon forum]

Player characters make the decisions, drive the narrative etc. it THEIR story

[round mountain]

A player character is a character a player plays. Pretty simple.

But you're defining it as an idea

[humble cairn]

Are you including the DM as a player?

[round mountain]

They're a player in the larger picture but clearly they have their own role.

[past edge]

Respectfully, it's everyone's story, including the dm's is it not? The dm isn't just there as some servant, they take as much a part in the story as everyone else

[humble cairn]

So .. every NPC is also a player character?

[halcyon forum]

The “DM as servant” is a rather questionable framing of their role

[round mountain]

NPC means non "player" character

[past edge]

Yeah I was disagreeing with the idea

[round mountain]

But you need someone to operate it

[halcyon forum]

I never said that though

[humble cairn]

No one has said the DM is a servant.

[past edge]

If you presume that they have no role in the story being told, then they're effectively just there to entertain the players

[paper portal]

with dmpc its kinda in the name, it's a dm player character

[humble cairn]

"non player" is the idea there and taking away the "non" is disingenuous.

[paper portal]

normal characters the dm controls are characters, but not pcs

[humble cairn]

They have the role to make the story and play all the NPCs who are exist to act as props, backdrops, and obstacles in the PCs story.

[halcyon forum]

The DM plays literally everything except the PCs. How could they not have a big role.

[wet willow]

Morning

[round mountain]

I'm not trying to be disingenuous, I don't see how me moving the specific quotes changes the meaning like that

[flint ledge]

The DM writes the story and throws problems and different situations at the player, it's the DM's world. However the players shape the story with how they choose to deal with the problems the DM presented them

[past edge]

In response to this

[humble cairn]

Because it's specifically not a player character by definition.

[round mountain]

Ok let's be clear. If a DM is in charge of "NON PLAYER CHARACTERS" then logically they're not a player

Agree?

[halcyon forum]

The DM ultimately sets up the challenges a party faces, and the rewards they gain for overcoming them. You framed that as service rather that an equal back and forth

[past edge]

It's only a service when you see yourself as outside of the equation for your role in the story. That's why i think that claiming that "it's the players' story" feels like a noninclusive claim

[humble cairn]

I'm not sure I can agree with that. Ultimately I feel the DM is a player as well, but their role is to play the world, with characters as a subset of that.

[halcyon forum]

I was just trying to convey that a DMs role in the story is fundamentally different that that of the Other people at the table

[round mountain]

Ok and that's fine, but then the name NON PLAYER CHARACTER is a bit muddled if a player (the DM) manages it

[humble cairn]

We can run around all the semantics we wish, but again I feel like it is all inherently subjective. The only difference is how useful any particular definition is.

[past edge]

I suppose I don't disagree with that but I did kinda disagree with how you worded it (I got a little defensive as a dm)

[humble cairn]

Sure, but it's a useful term since they are part of the world rather than being a main character.

[round mountain]

Guh nevermind this is taking up too much of my time for a silly lexiconical debate xD

[halcyon forum]

Fair enough

[past edge]

I think a famous dm presented it best by describing it as "the illusion of choice". You can give your players genuine choices that have consequences on the story, but sometimes, as the dm you make the executive decision that something in particular happens. For example, the king's royal advisor betrays him and launches a coup. This has substantial relevance on the story, equally so to that of the party's contributions

If the party finds out about the adviser's plans and works to put a stop to them, that effort should not go unrewarded. If your campaign's plot line revolves around the queen turning evil and scheming with the advisor, then you'll more than likely just have to find a way to make that happen or you don't have a campaign anymore

[vague vessel]

campaign of retired evil dooers who are brought out of retirement due to the heros screwed up and got wiped and now they have to step in and stop the new evil dooers before they ruin what the retired evil dooers managed to gain and survive till retirement

[past edge]

I personally care most about if everyone's having fun. If it's more fun for the party to subvert the big plot before it starts, that's okay. It'll be a bit on the shorter side as far as campaigns go lol but that's okay

[paper portal]

i think im only playing dnd right if nobody except me is having fun /silly

[past edge]

Class checks out

[paper portal]

what do you have against warlocks lol

[past edge]

Joking lol

[paper portal]

so mean so mean :3

[round mountain]

D&D is very humbling sometimes

[plucky hinge]

Anyone know a good place to learn/read fantasy lore?

[rotund shell]

classics like Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Dragon Riders of Pern, any Discworld/Terry Prachet

More recent books like the Inheritance Cycle (Eragon, et al)

some more out there fantasy includes the Xanth novels by Piers Anthony. Actually just about anything by Piers Anthony.

[humble cairn]

Your local public library!

[hidden spindle]

I was going to say Library too~

[plucky hinge]

It for shut downnnnn

[hidden spindle]

Book stores

[plucky hinge]

And its um insanely small

[humble cairn]

Going back to read some of the Xanth stuff after I became an adult is kind of eye opening. It really doesn't age well.

[plucky hinge]

Omg smart

[plucky hinge]

🥹 ty ty

[rotund shell]

It doesn't, huh? I wouldn't know, I never actually got into Xanth. I preferred Incarnations of Immortality by a long shot.

[humble cairn]

That's a tragic shame. People need to support their local library.

[plucky hinge]

Yes yes sadly um our area rlly rundown
Anyway i meant dnd lore dor like stuff 😭 ty for advice but yes

[humble cairn]

Maybe it's just me, but the "hur hur hur let's say naughty stuff in a roundabout way" just doesn't hit the same for an adult.

[rotund shell]

That's valid.

[rotund shell]

oh you can easily adapt quite a few things from other fantasies into DnD, but if you want DnD lore specifically, then you can read many of the sourcebooks (whether 5e or otherwise)

[severe rampart]

Thinking about that one time my PC got very excited to get launched by a device known as "The Gnome Flinger"

[plucky hinge]

Lore of like species, dimensions, myths and morestuff like that

[rotund shell]

Just uh... keep in mind that some of the older stuff is really rough to modern sensibilities.

[humble cairn]

There's tons of D&D novels, maybe try ordering them online? you can probably get digital versions.

[hidden spindle]

In Xan, I like seeing how many siblings I have, or if the parents are still alive.

-# Most of the time, they aren't...

[humble cairn]

Uh .. wut?

[hidden spindle]

In XGE

[rotund shell]

oh, the backstory generator tables?

[hidden spindle]

yeah

[rotund shell]

I forget those exist a lot of the time. I should crack XGtE open again and check them out

[plucky hinge]

I’m someone who struggles to read books 😭
I’m good at like just things that explain in detail stuff like that but just alot of um amazing books i just cant read my brain just shuts off

[severe rampart]

Audiobooks?

[hidden spindle]

Elves & Dwarves don't have too many siblings. Not sure if its a lore thing.

[plucky hinge]

That works but its more like just story in general. It sounds crazy but just anything with like story or something compared to textbooks explaining like loads of stuff

[humble cairn]

I believe the Forgotten Realms Wiki is a source that, while not exactly sanctioned by WOTC, is at least not labeled piracy. If you just want an infodump, you can try there.

[rotund shell]

the only problem with the FR Wiki is that it treats all lore as canon even if it's been retconned by later books. Buuuuuut it's still a good place to start, if you prefer the infodump to the story

[humble cairn]

Wasn't the FR Wiki actually referenced in the latest FR supplement?

[round mountain]

I only really use the wiki for quick information on niche things

[rotund shell]

so do I, but it's fascinating to see some old lore still archived without having to dig through it myself

[round mountain]

Yis

[humble cairn]

Ah yep, I found it. Adventures in Faerun mentions the Forgotten Realms wiki directly: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/fraif/running-the-realms#RealmsResources

[night spindle]

Guys... im... so normal about ismark

[severe rampart]

oh god you sound like one of my players

He's called Ismark the Lesser for a reason

don't settle for less

[night spindle]

Hes not lesser to MEEEEEEE hes everything i got it SO BAD

[night spindle]

I will throw hands at any npc that tries to bully him is2g

[wanton raft]

so i was thinking of taking a level in wizard once I hit level 10 and get divine intervention because I have pretty high INT

so Cleric 10 Wizard 1

Is that dumb?

[idle oar]

Feel free to check with folks in #character-discussion or #optimization (depending on what you're focussing on with your character).
But I'm a big proponent of playing what's fun for you and fits at your table.

[wanton raft]

It fits with my character RP wise but I dont want a mechanical headache

[crystal latch]

Short answer is that it's good

Probably best taken well before level 10

[wanton raft]

I'll consider tbh

[hot gate]

It's definitely going to make it a bit more complicated
I'd review the multiclassing rules carefully, especially when it comes to spellcasting. But as Undying said, if you think its going to be fun and it fits for the story, go ahead.

[wanton raft]

Yeah. Clerics are prepared and wizards have to learn

[marble lion]

what is the reason you want the wizard level?

[hot gate]

Kind of? Wizard is also prepared, but from their spellbook.
But aside from that, it'll require you to keep track of two different classes which you prepare spells from. You share spell slots, but you do not share spell lists of the same level.

[marble lion]

if you are trying to level into wizard just because its called "wizard" but you dont have a specific feature in mind you want, i heavily recommend not doing that

[idle oar]

Again please use #character-discussion or #optimization (depending on purpose) to discuss character builds

[wanton raft]

tagged you in optimization

[buoyant oar]

The first time in 20 years the wiki has been officially acknowledged. The people over there do good work.

To the point that they once found straight copy pastes In Baldur's Gate 3's Early Access from item descriptions on the wiki.

[tame kelp]

I am thinking about an interesting one shot so that I can study DND 2024

[still plover]

Got any themes in mind?

[tame kelp]

Renaissance

[still plover]

Society and politics, art and culture, science and technology, something else?

[tame kelp]

Only Renaissance

I love jabot around my neck

I love dressing in fancy.

If you watch Fierien, you probably know a little bit.

[still plover]

Never seen it, but not to worry!

How about a situation in a location with active opposition and a complication?

[serene jolt]

5.5e moon druid: Polar Bear or Sabertooth?

I like the 2d6 damage with multi-attack attached to the sabertooth with a ba disengage/hide.

But I heard the polar bear is better and I'm not really sure how, looking at the stat blocks.

For context, we are in a desert so there isn't much water combat. But I have shapes for that. And I know Polar Bear has cold resis but that feels pretty niche to me. I rarely see cold damage used.

[glass granite]

I like sabre tooth

[pliant sapphire]

The polar bear in a desert remembers me the meme "What da hell is a polar bear doing in Arlington Texas"

[prime pewter]

My PC, a scholarly Orc Warlock: "My liege I have finally found you! What is the answer to the cypher of the onyx beast? I am in dire need of that information-"
My Pc's Patron, a very childish eldritch horror: "Bannana muffin :P"
My Pc: "... do you want me to die?"

[jolly hound]

2 days till the pirate campaign im in starts

[hoary totem]

I want more Wizard subclasses that feel like they're important to the character. Wizard subclasses in particular feel like tacking on some extra abilities to an existing character and less like part of the character itself

[serene jolt]

They're all Reflavored forms, dw 🤣 She's a "dragon druid".

[fast latch]

What would headphones for an Elf to wear look like?

[lyric viper]

Like normal?

[sleek cloud]

Wireless earbuds

[lyric viper]

Just rosebuds stuck in.

[fast latch]

No, I mean like headphones, not earbuds

I imagine it’d be a different shape because Elves have such large ears

[umbral girder]

Why would they?

Don’t see how they’d conflict.

[lyric viper]

Doesn't need to be- just needs to cover the... Bit of the ear that goes in.

I do not know ear anatomy, but you don't need to cover the entire ear.

[hollow stone]

i think the bigger question is: do elf ears get cold?

[umbral girder]

Don’t see why not

[lyric viper]

True they might need real big ear muffs.

[hollow stone]

they typically live in stable temperature environments where it doesn't get super cold, like the plains (high), forests (wood), and caves (drow), so i think that they would

i think migrating into colder climates made them evolve into humans

[lyric viper]

Little ear warmers to go on the tips.

Haut elf fashion

[umbral girder]

Well what about Sea Elves, Shadar-Kai, and Astral Elves? Would those be stable temperature locations?

[uncut zenith]

Species don’t evolve into other species in D&D. Elves typically adjust to other forms of elves based on where they’ve settled.

[hollow stone]

or maybe halflings??

[woven flint]

Are you assuming the underdark is JUST a cave? 🤔 /silly

[hollow stone]

big cave, but i don't think it snows there

[hollow stone]

yes sea, idk where the shadar-kai live, and... do astral elves live on the moon?

[uncut zenith]

Shadar-kai come from the Shadowfell, astral elves come from the Astral Plane (space)

[woven flint]

^ yea

[umbral girder]

Shadowfell. A world with no sun and in darkness and filled with undeath.

[lyric viper]

I did have one character who ended up making a 'tail sock' for his tiefling companion to keep it warm. We debated a lot on what it should be called.

[umbral girder]

Astral elves are way beyond the Moon.

[umbral girder]

A sleeve is my vote

[uncut zenith]

The Shadowfell does have a sun (technically multiple due to the nature of the Domains of Dread)

It’s just usually gloomy

It’s not nighttime 24/7 in the Shadowfell

That said, my personal headcanon is that nights tend to be longer in the Shadowfell spaces between the Domains of Dread

[steep atlas]

It makes sense

[marble lion]

Proper headphones, npt earbuds, need to go around the entire ear to avoid building up pressure on parts of it

Also to completely close off sound for clean sound

If the earpiece doesnt engulf the whole ear, sound will get through more

So yes elf earphones would be bigger

[merry pine]

I find it so obnoxious that so many guys my age that were into D&D in the 80s whine about it being woke all the time. Like they are bothered by trying to expand the demographic and bring in more people rather than just catering to them. My youtube feed gets polluted by that nonsense. I do enjoy alot of the older adventures though as well and OSR stuff.

[vague meadow]

When you love to play wizards but wizard is a class who’s minimum intelligence requirement (for multiclassing into) is higher than your irl intelligence 😭🤣

[sly crest]

Don’t stay stuff like that. My IRL Constitution is dog water and that wouldn’t keep me from playing a Paladin

[vague meadow]

Yeah but when you do dumb things as a wizard that has a 20 int score, it feels a little weird lol

[sly crest]

Fr though, the physical and mental stats are weird like that

[minor cargo]

Sometimes very, very "smart" people do very, very "dumb" things. 👀
That's sometimes just the funniness of being a person.

[vague meadow]

Luckily I find having low wisdom on a high int character can help balance them out to make more sense with them doing dumb things at times lol

[woven flint]

Intelligence does not often confer to Wisdom

[vague meadow]

I agree 🤣

[sly crest]

The way I put it is that intelligence is the science of something and wisdom is the art of it

[torn laurel]

Hi I need help with something

[woven flint]

Also, you don't have to roleplay your Stats perfectly.
A wizard could be purely intelligent when it comes to magical knowledge and not much else

[torn laurel]

I want to make a DnD character that’s a talking Spider monkey is their any thing I can do for that official or homebrewed I don’t care which

[sly crest]

Diagnosing an ear infection vs getting a baby to take the antibiotic

[woven flint]

"You can do magic, but you can't do math?"

"Yes, have you seen arithmetic?! Scandalous!"

[turbid sand]

guys i wanted to ask, i just joined a west march and it runned by 5 dms and 4 months of prepare for everything, but it doesnt have a downtime, its player picking for mission was bad, theyre prioritizing who they know the most and yeah it has no actual lore

is it still worth playing?

[minor cargo]

To maybe go even further, all ability scores are abstractions anyways. Like even things like strength and dexterity aren't very clearly defined things. Yes, strength will dictate how much you can pick up, but it doesn't (on its own) determine things like... can you toss a log end over end.

[buoyant oar]

West March runner here. No.

[minor cargo]

For homebrew, you'll have to do a bit of searching. But I imagine there are "monkey" type species out there!

If I wanted to do this as easily as possible as your DM, I might just use Harengon and go from there. Good luck!

[humble cairn]

Ability scores do not dictate personality.

[torn laurel]

Thank you

[buoyant oar]

Downtime is pretty important for a WM. Player picking for missions is a hard thing to manage. We personally use the RaidHelper Bot. Which is used by Gaming Guilds for Raid running in MMOs. It works well for our use.

[turbid sand]

but i also joined another west march with ONE solely dm, with more players but it actually optimized also has a downtime

[torn laurel]

I like the idea of playing as a talking animal little guy and monkeys are funny

[turbid sand]

they said they needed 1 month for downtime

like downtime is an under constriction feature

[buoyant oar]

How many players in that one?

[turbid sand]

12+ the 1 dm

and like 13 players on the 5 dms

idek how the single dm solely do that

[buoyant oar]

That's doable but very hard for one person to keep track of.

As for downtime I can understand it being hard to track. But realistically what we did was use Xanathar's Guide to Everything rules, and on Sundays everyone gets a week of downtime. Use it or lose it. And next Sunday a DM resolves it in a dedicated chat. Players are responsible for keeping track of their own stuff in terms of days needed after the initial count is given.

[turbid sand]

well the wm with 1 dm has a voice and also text while the 5 dm only do text

[atomic kayak]

Yea they don't, though you can let them help you figure out a personality.

Iirc the new books have a little table of a couple of personality types for highs/lows of each score

[buoyant oar]

WM get caught up trying to automate it.

[river vector]

My party decided to go full murderhobo and kill a shopkeeper and loot her shop. Now they will have a revenant and holy Paladin after them.

[atomic kayak]

Downtime is great

[undone rain]

Uh ohhhhhh

[river vector]

I'm also going to force alignment shifts, because wtf

[woven flint]

It's Justicing time.

[buoyant oar]

The way mine runs is.

Dedicated discord category for RP at the player's home base that moves in semi-realtime. From there they portal out to mission sites.

Downtime is tracked in its own chat and games are done in VC with a VTT. We have about 22 players active and 6 DMs.

[lavish flame]

There's a book that gave us the Hadozee, a kind of gliding ape person. That might be somewhere to start.

[woven flint]

Make sure that Paladin is STACKED

[undone rain]

10 spell slots for smites

[buoyant oar]

Games are announced for the week on Sunday at 8 AM CT and posted at Noon CT that day. Players can sign up with last calls available for those who have to drop. Been running smooth for 3 years. Players get a set amount of money and XP per session played. Based on group average level.

[woven flint]

NPC's don't use spellslots, they just have limited castings of spells

[undone rain]

Then let em have 10 smites

[river vector]

And the revenant 😆 They are third levels that got cocky

[crimson gulch]

Depends on how the dm builds em

[woven flint]

Ah, then the Paladin and revenant don't need to be stacked, they just need to find them at the same time 👁️

[buoyant oar]

As for shopping. We gave a blacksmith who can do all mundane items and a rotating magic item list from a curated selection of magic items. No legendaries for instance. They rotate on Sundays as well.

[atomic kayak]

Ah found it. In the creating a character section in the 2024 phb. Little d4 tables for appearance/personality.

Ex: Strength
High Strength: Muscular, Sinewy, Protective, Direct
Low Strength: Weak, Slight, Self-conscious, Indirect

Or Charisma (i really like these examples because none of then have anything to do with appearance)
High Charisma: Charming, Commanding, Hilarious, Inspiring
Low Charisma: Pedantic, Humorless, Reserved, Tactless

[buoyant oar]

My current WM has about 5-6 months left and I think when this one is wrapped I will be done running these kinds of games. I love them. But am getting too busy for the daily management it requires

[river vector]

Don't really want to massacre the party, but they made their bed

[undone rain]

Whats a WM

[river vector]

Murdering innocent people? SMH

[woven flint]

Make the Paladin give them a chance to surrender and repent/go to jail

[buoyant oar]

West Marches. Like Critical Role Campaign 4

[undone rain]

Paladin supremacy

[minor cargo]

It's one of my favourite additions to the book!

I also love that the example of "low" ability scores also sound like pretty savage insults.

"Look at this pedantic, humorless, tactless cleric."

[river vector]

And then the revenant busts in like a horror movie villain

[umbral girder]

Sounds like a cleric /jk

[woven flint]

Phases through the jail wall

[buoyant oar]

One of my long standing DMs has been primed to take over when this story is done. I am excited to see what he comes up with. Current plans are a West Marches centered around Dragonborn Culture and a retaking of Tymanther.

[river vector]

If only revenants could do that lol

[woven flint]

"You bastards KILLED ME? and Robbed my SHOP? who's gonna feed my DOG?!"

[river vector]

Going to grapple the killer and toss him off a cliff

[atomic kayak]

Yea its one of the better additions. Its a simple and straightforward, but highly effective manner of giving examples of how to RP as well, without the attitude of "you need to correlate your personality with ability scores"

[river vector]

Since revenants only care about the killer, correct?

[atomic kayak]

(That is a bad attitude for the game)

[woven flint]

Typically, yes, but if they're interfered with they might lash out

[river vector]

Or is the blame shared with the party for their plotting?

[woven flint]

Perhaps, maybe she'd blame them for not stopping them

[halcyon bison]

They focus on the one who dealt the killing blow, but also might declare vengance on those who helped commit the murder

[river vector]

I read something like revenants go after who killed them first in a scenario like that, then focus on the less guilty ones

[halcyon bison]

The 2014 version of the lore is more clear about how it works

[river vector]

I see, looks like I remember it right. To be fair, there were two people who decided to do this

[woven flint]

We met some Revenants recently in one of the games I'm in, they're chill people, they asked us for help avenging themselves after being slaughtered by a dragon
And we agreed

[river vector]

Warlock and Bard

[undone rain]

Paladins about to go this close to breaking their oath lol

[halcyon bison]

From the 2014 monster manual, "In cases where the revenant seeks revenge against more than one adversary, it pursues them one at a time, starting with the creature that dealt it the killing blow."

[river vector]

They are guilty in the eyes of the revenant, warlock and Bard

Bard will die first

[woven flint]

I'm fond of Sentient undead individuals, I always treat them with respect

[river vector]

I must teach a lesson

[halcyon bison]

me too undead are chill

[river vector]

No murderhobo

[undone rain]

Well this will be interesting since paladins and undead aint known for being buddies but perhaps said paladins cares more for justice?

[halcyon bison]

I'm currently prepping a session where the party is hired to deal with someone else's revenant

[river vector]

Enemy of my enemy

[woven flint]

The kind undead I've encountered include
Some Wraiths in a crashed airship, who we helped pass on by breaking their bond to that place.

A Skeleton Merchant who uses sign language (we met him on the road and he was thankful for us not attacking him right away)

And

The previously mentioned group of revenant adventurers

All very nice folks

[undone rain]

You got a point there

[halcyon bison]

I don't expect them to side with the noble who hires them after they find out he's a murderer

[undone rain]

In my 2nd group i will play a warlock. But the thing is i dont know who my patron is (yet)

[woven flint]

I like undead that keep their humanity, it's very sad and tragic, but also gives the party individuals to interact with that have been around for a long time (most likely)

[undone rain]

I was granted powers by a mysterious voice, in exchange i do tasks for them

Weekly tasks

Shouldnt reborn count as undead?

[river vector]

Just kill that bastard

[halcyon bison]

I wish they did but D&D doesn't like making non humanoid player characters
except fey, those are fine apparently

[lavish flame]

Reborn are being printed as Undead in 5.5

[uncut zenith]

When they were in UA, WOTC played with the idea of making the gothic lineages “dual types” and Reborn were half Humanoid, half Undead or Construct

[lavish flame]

Much like how Warforged are Constructs and Kalashtar are Aberrations. They're just fully open to doing non-Humanoid PC species

[halcyon bison]

Oh? In UA or is there a book coming out?

if so horray :D

[crimson gulch]

We have fey constructs aberration and ooze now, undead soon

[uncut zenith]

So the flavor is that they can be kinda undead or kinda construct, but mechanically they’re humanoid because of how a lot of the rules interact with undead and constructs. In recent years, WOTC decided not to shy away from making playable species of different non-Humanoid creature types.

[lavish flame]

Ravenloft: The Horrors Within is an upcoming book, its got all the Ravenloft species + a lycanthrope-flavored one (that isn't Shifter. its Lupin or something)

[undone rain]

I guess that makes some sense

[umbral girder]

Likely why they did some changes to spell creature types

[uncut zenith]

One example of those weird rules interaction was the fact that a lot of healing spells didn’t work on constructs. Without a species feature like Autognomes have that allows them to gain the benefit of certain healing spells, a playable construct wouldn’t be capable of healing from spells

[river vector]

The murderhobos will be punished

Kill shopkeeper? Loot shop? Not in my game.

[marble lion]

have you told them this

[river vector]

I asked them very carefully if that was what they wanted to do, implying there would be serious consequences.

[marble lion]

you seem to not like it

[river vector]

Oh it's fine. Just actions have subsequent consequences

[marble lion]

alright then

[uncut zenith]

Did you tell them at session 0 that you don’t like “murderhoboing” in your campaigns?

That’s the type of topic that I typically mention at session 0

[glossy narwhal]

Well this blows

[marble lion]

"oh its fine" as in murderhoboing is fine

though i must say your eagerness to punish and calling it punishment by itself do indicate a certain level of emotional bias

[river vector]

It is, but when you have a revenant scourge after you...

[atomic kayak]

Still hate the PC warforged being constructs

[still plover]

What's wrong, Penguin?

[uncut zenith]

Same

[halcyon bison]

How come? It seems like a good change to me

[river vector]

I don't really care about a random shopkeeper, I care about my players thinking they can do whatever with no consequences

[woven flint]

I hate when the construct is a construct? 🤔 /teasing

[atomic kayak]

Short version: Because its a worse fit for their lore

In the past they were a special category of thing called a Living Construct. Which is more like a humanoid in terms of 5e creature types

[river vector]

Also I called it punishment in part because that's how revenants see what they do lol

[halcyon bison]

Oh I don't really know their lore :/
That's interesting

[uncut zenith]

Yeah, in Eberron Warforged are categorically people. By making them Construct instead of Humanoid, it kinda gives people the illusion that they’re just robots.

[flint totem]

good afternoon chaps

[atomic kayak]

Part of their thing is that they are. Quite distinct from older forms of warforged (which are constructs), like the titan

[woven flint]

The monster statblocks for Warforged are Constructs too, though?

[halcyon bison]

Robots can be people too!

[atomic kayak]

That doesnt change the issue? Thats just the same issue but again

[woven flint]

I can kinda understand that, yeah, they're more than that, but they are constructed individuals

[true whale]

Chat

[river vector]

I don't know what to do. The party will have a revenant after them and they are level three.

[true whale]

How is one meant to respond to “roll for racism”

[woven flint]

"Uh, no?"

[flint ledge]

Sorry?

[atomic kayak]

Also notably, warforged are made in a pretty special manner.

They aren't generally just something anyone can make.

[uncut zenith]

A quick and easy “no”

[true whale]

Tbf it was a joke and he didn’t mean it legitimately

[marble lion]

tell the DM you dont find these jokes funny and decide if the two of you match as dnd group

plenty of people wouldnt have an issue with that joke, while plenty of others would
communicate

[true whale]

Nah is cool I was just like “huh”

[glossy narwhal]

Been trying to find different designs for shortsword flavorings. For the scimitar, I'm set:

• Falcata
• Kopis
• Makhaira
• Kukri
• Chukuri
• Kilij
• Shamshir
• Curved Saif
• Yatagan
• Sabre
• Cutlass
• Falchion
• Flyssa
• Nimcha

For shortsword, all i have are

• Xiphos
• Gladius
• Spatha
• Bastard Sword/Half sword
• Arming Sword
• Broadsword

[flint ledge]

Personally I think murder hoboing is basically never appropriate but I suppose some people would say otherwise

[woven flint]

Murder is the Fun
But
Not heroic option /silly

[true whale]

What you want to do is introduce like guards that are very experienced and are like 14 levels higher than the party

So the murder hobo shenanigans are behind closed doors

[marble lion]

add the chinese short sword maybe and the old old old pre-katana japanese sword like it

[true whale]

Falchion?

[uncut zenith]

It ultimately depends on the style of the campaign. It can be fun if that’s what everybody’s on board with.

[true whale]

It’s like a machete but old

[sly crest]

Machete? Kukri and Machetes are both tools and weapons (part of why I like them so much)

[glossy narwhal]

It's a European sword that widens towards the tip

[marble lion]

falchion is already in scimitar

[true whale]

No I know but like I wouldn’t have called it a scimitar it’s closer to a short sword

[glossy narwhal]

Because they're for slashing and chopping

[uncut zenith]

One could argue a falchion can just be a reskinned shortsword too

[river vector]

Need to have this revenant not completely destroy a party of level threes

[true whale]

Ohhh yeah slashing true

[marble lion]

yes i know im telling fancy that falchion wont be added to shortswords and is already listed in your list of scimitars

[true whale]

That was my thought

[sly crest]

check the Chinese dao or the Japanese tanto, which falls under the knife-so-big-it-might-as-well-be-a-sword category

[marble lion]

anyway look up chinese Jian for shortswords

[river vector]

Also the party REALLY doesn't want to go get the anti undead weapon (sun blade) that they've been quested to get.

[marble lion]

dao is another scimitar, not a shortsword

[sly crest]

whoops

[marble lion]

you mean the jian

[glossy narwhal]

That depends on the type of Falchion

[marble lion]

as for the tanto, that is a dagger for sure

[still plover]

Try Wikipedia. All a shortsword needs is to be a one-handed stabbing weapon larger than a dagger. There are a great many varieties of such across the history of the world.

[marble lion]

wakizashi are the ones that seem very long for a knife and short for a sword

[glossy narwhal]

Some Falchions are capable of thrusting and piercing, some aren't

[true whale]

You could add like a lantern shield as a very expensive option for a short sword

[marble lion]

and while they are slightly curved, they can absolutely stab

[sly crest]

I was going to bring those up next

[marble lion]

wakizashi and jian are my takes for short sword

[glossy narwhal]

The clip point ones can

[marble lion]

i meant wakizashi

[glossy narwhal]

Oh.

[true whale]

What’s the wiggly sword that doesn’t wiggle

[still plover]

(For what it's worth, a bastard sword would be considered a longsword in D&D terms)

[true whale]

That one

[glossy narwhal]

Flamberge

[sly crest]

ye

[glossy narwhal]

Or Kris

[marble lion]

hold on i thought we are on shortswords

[glossy narwhal]

We are

[sly crest]

this would be better for shortswords

[marble lion]

then it will be a kris yes

[true whale]

Flamberge ye

[still plover]

(#dnd-discussion message)

[marble lion]

flamberges are big

[woven flint]

Sword backwards is.. Drows.

Have you ever thought about that?
The Drow made swords!!!
They are the creators!!!! /joking

[marble lion]

but drow is elven for traitor, so the elves made swords

then named drow that because they use the sword from the back

[true whale]

Flamberges tend to be either claymores or thick rapiers

[marble lion]

backstab! that is why they use the word backwards

[true whale]

Thick rapier generally tends towards a short sword

They aren’t always big

[marble lion]

by big i meant not a shortsword

shortswords are almost like big knives
surely flamberges arent that small

[still plover]

There's always the option of simply drawing the blade shape you want and feeding it to Google Lens, see what matches.

[sly crest]

What if it gives you a banana in return?

[marble lion]

then you need to practice your penmanship

[still plover]

Then it's a bananablade.

[woven flint]

Draw better 🔥

[marble lion]

and maybe dont use yellow

[true whale]

Flamberge refers to like the wiggly part, it can mean any wiggly sword

Sword types don’t exactly have the most strict definitions

[glossy narwhal]

It refers to the blade style, really

[true whale]

Yhyh

Any blade that wiggles is a Flamberge

[glossy narwhal]

Even the Zweihander is a flamberge

[true whale]

Yup

[marble lion]

if it has the blade

[glossy narwhal]

Although that's a longsword

[marble lion]

but that is also one of the big examples of flamberges

[woven flint]

I'd make a joke...
But the mods will smite me 🧐

[marble lion]

i dont think the zweihänder is just a longsword

its tricky because in german it just means twohanded sword which includes common longswords

[glossy narwhal]

It is because it's in the name

[marble lion]

but the coined term for international debate

refers i think to the very massive german mercenary greatsword no?

[glossy narwhal]

Zwei is German for two. It literally translates to "two-hander"

[marble lion]

im german

[true whale]

Yeah that’s what I was gonna say