dnd-discussion

[woven flint]

Their meats were made of people!!!! /silly

[rough basalt]

Yeah a warforged fighter can only hit 20 at level 1 following the rules

[fossil hollow]

its run by gnolls in cowboys, what did you expect

[rough basalt]

A Barbarian with rolled stats having a 20 in con and 18 in Dex with a shield can hit 21 too

[empty thicket]

wait, +1 ac, a heavy armor, shield and what else?

or just that?

[rough basalt]

defense fighting style adds +1 AC

[empty thicket]

oh true, eugh....

[rough basalt]

Its strong but not ridiculous

[lethal bobcat]

Not sure how much difference that 1 AC would've made in the short campaign but I was more talking about one player carrying in a sense.

Or well, it is still a decent difference but, still would've carried

[rough basalt]

well an extra 1 from nowhere is cheating even if it may not matter

[empty thicket]

it would force me to either put grapplers or casters

[rough basalt]

Not really

[empty thicket]

and leave him all the time be a walking tank without risk?

[rough basalt]

I have a fighter who got plate at level 1 and hes been downed like twice

[woven flint]

Where's MY Plate armor, Sora? /silly

[rough basalt]

left it behind when you carried remir away

[lethal bobcat]

I don't even remember if we also allowed or needed to dice roll tbh, and rather than rule 0 we just had a short line to the dm via discord messages

It couldn't be more above water

[woven flint]

I should've left him dead. /joking

[rough basalt]

But yeah high AC is good but its not like breaking

if an intelligent enemy cant hurt someone theyre just gonna avoid and go after others to force him to go to their side.

[lethal bobcat]

That did happen, and the fights were also adjusted, but that still meant he was the spotlight of the show

[rough basalt]

Like if Im an archmage and a guys armor seems to just absorb my magic blasts, I'm just killing his friend instead

[lethal bobcat]

Or so it certainly felt thorough even tho the non-combat was more balanced

[rough basalt]

Sounds like an expectation issue mixed in then

Every PC is a main character and if played correctly has varying weight depending on the player skill and the combat.

[errant crag]

A 20 still hits

Crits don't care about your AC

[rough basalt]

A high AC guy isnt getting hit often, but if he doesn't do anything other than not get hit he's nothing

[empty thicket]

yeah but that is, Critc.

[rough basalt]

nah a unnatural 20 can hit

[empty thicket]

If i land a crit i obliterate too, its 1 in 20 in most scenarios

[errant crag]

Also their AC is not going to increase at a rate that keeps up with the rate that to-hit bonuses increase at

[empty thicket]

welp, in mine 2 in 20

[rough basalt]

yeah also that

if they get 20 AC at level 1 their AC is only going up with expensive armor, magic or magic items.

[errant crag]

It really stops being super strong once they start facing enemies with +5 or higher to hit

[empty thicket]

yeah, but still at lvl 1 with other members that dont have such high ac.
I just find it kinda annoying

[lethal bobcat]

My lawyer has told me to not comment on such questions until after the court rulings

[rough basalt]

thats intended

You're supposed to take damage in dnd

[errant crag]

In that situation I have them get swarmed by a bunch of enemies to lean into their fantasy of being a heavily armored dude

[rough basalt]

Its why better heavy armor is really expensive especially magic heavy armor

[errant crag]

Or depending on the enemies they may switch to prioritizing the lesser armored characters

[rough basalt]

Like Splint which would get it up to 21? 400gp

Plate for 22? 1500gp

[paper portal]

also that whole thing about how the more ac you have the more valuable higher ac is (to an extent)

[rough basalt]

High AC really stops mattering at a point

[errant crag]

My 10th level artificer I played recently had anywhere from 23-30 AC depending on the spells he had active

[lethal bobcat]

Don't Magic rarities add a set price? Rather than scale with the actual costs

[errant crag]

But I needed a whole feat and several magic items to make that happen

[rough basalt]

Magic armor is an exception

Magic armor is the cost of the armor on top of the cost of the rarity

[fossil hollow]

You add the price of the mundane item on top of the item rarity price

[rough basalt]

Like +1 Plate Armor is 4000gp

[lethal bobcat]

Tbh unless my experience is really slanted from normal DND, anything above 5 we had way too much gold so the price difference would feel neglicable

[empty thicket]

Ouch...

[rough basalt]

And thats for 1 extra AC

See my point?

[lethal bobcat]

Isn't Rare always +2500 tho?

[empty thicket]

yeah, an arti can upgrade your armor for that extra AC

[rough basalt]

High AC to start falls off and becomes very expensive to keep raising at very minimal amounts

[rough basalt]

As we said, Magic Armor adds the cost of the armor to the magic item cost

[empty thicket]

That is one of the many reasons why Arti is giga viable in most parties too

[rough basalt]

Plate is 1500gp so add 2500 and its 4,000

[empty thicket]

that little passive upgrades

[rough basalt]

Yep Arti is helpful

[lethal bobcat]

1500 to 10 feels like a slightly higher jump at level 1 than some 2510 to 4000 at 5

Wait magic prices were set right?

[rough basalt]

So Adamantine Armor for example is a magic armor set. Its uncommon so itd be 1900gp

[empty thicket]

kinda, some magic items are. Sometimes a DM can manipulate them for either give upgrades or just variety

[rough basalt]

a regular uncommon item is 400gp

[empty thicket]

I like more the concept of finding them through places and some being got through either puzzles, high risk // reward decisions and finally bosses

[rough basalt]

Tbh it's just not even worth bothering raising AC after a certain point

Unless you're getting Magic Plate and a Magic Shield

[empty thicket]

Na, at some point resistances are the best option

that and denying enemy actions

[rough basalt]

Saving Throws are what really hurt ya

AC becomes more of a chance to miss rather than chance to hit in Tier 2 (5-10) at the latest

[grim valve]

I may be late on this, but are there any features that allow a character to use Dex for grappling? Like some Monk ability?

[rough basalt]

2024 Monk

[fossil hollow]

just 5.5 monk

[empty thicket]

yep, another thing that arti can give you items for help in that or buffs
Warlock in the other side have invocations that help him with some saves

[grim valve]

Fair.

[rough basalt]

When monsters start doing 3 attacks with a +7 or 8 to hit on average, AC becomes a suggestion ime

Let alone when it's 4 or more attacks with +11 to +15

It's why Fighters are so insane at high level.
All those attacks that are almost guaranteed to hit most monsters and they hit for like 20 to 30 something damage on average so over 100 pretty reliably

[undone rain]

Finally done with our first sesh with our new player

[empty thicket]

Yeah, at some point when the monster even getting a 1 land in the tank of the team.
Make them be Dext saves.

[lethal bobcat]

So basically, go naked?

[tawdry sentinel]

Eh, you get low 20s you're still sitting pretty I feel.

Mostly just a way to give disadvantage somewhat reliably to avoid a crit taking half your hp.

[empty thicket]

Monk?

[empty thicket]

for martials yeah, now add any magic item//ally buff and many fighters are the kind of creature you dont want to get close

[rough basalt]

With a Vicious Greatsword alone fighter can output up to like 180 to 200 damage with advantage on the attacks to basically guarantee hits.

Just with Action Surge

[lethal bobcat]

Me when I get close to grapple and eat them as a giant toad:

[empty thicket]

A BBEG that push teh fighter, hold the barbarian, magic missile the wizard (for break conc) and finally silence the cleric.
Would be neat

[rough basalt]

But give him a vorpal sword and a Fire or storm giant belt

Which is expected

Mother of god

[empty thicket]

Toads dont have teeths.... so i wont recommend swallowing the guy with a sword capable to cut molecules

[lethal bobcat]

Also weren't spellcasters the higher level gods?

[empty thicket]

Yep

But that is a whole other line of work

[lethal bobcat]

What if the swallow makes them blinded and restrained though?

[empty thicket]

Martials are a line
Casters are anotehr
Hybrids are the middle point of them

[errant crag]

Giant toads swallow creatures that's part of their stat block

It's what they do

And they don't tend to understand what a sword is

[lethal bobcat]

I find them so cute tbh

[empty thicket]

i fear that if my party encounters one.
2 of them wont want to kill them.
2 will want to cut them in pieces and eat them (im in this one side)

[lethal bobcat]

Give them a poisonous venomous snake

2 will survive

[empty thicket]

im not the DM, im the player

And im the one that will try to kill them down, they holded me back last time for some kobolds.

[lethal bobcat]

Oh no... That reminds me... Does a Chest of Preserving keep alive animals like the PF2e Chest of Keeping? If not, are the corpses kept fresh?

[empty thicket]

corpses are kept fresh like you would keep a pig in the fridge, without decomposing.
Still UP tp Dm interpretation

[lethal bobcat]

What about live animals?

[fossil hollow]

This is a DND server

[lethal bobcat]

Chest of Preserving is a DND item

[empty thicket]

Nope, its for food. So think how would work with it

an animal meat would be preserved

[lethal bobcat]

The PF2e item is close but very specific is why I brought it up

[lethal bobcat]

That is REALLY a bummer

So... How many dead rats would fit inside the chest?

[fossil hollow]

Oh, its in Mad Mage, no wonder im not aware of it

[paper portal]

pf2e fixes this

[lethal bobcat]

Yes I know

That item is amazing

100 live bats works well in any setting

[empty thicket]

depend of how many you can fit in a chest that is 2½ feet long, 1½ feet wide and 1 foot tall with a half barrel lid.

[lethal bobcat]

Sadly monsters give no exact volume or dimensions per-creature

[empty thicket]

Something i would love to give to a party if they chose to travel through train or some carrion through the world, a chest like that so they dont bother about food rot

[empty thicket]

up to dm then

why you want rats?

[lethal bobcat]

Well sadly dead rats to be specific

And why? Distraction

Look the king directly in the eyes, shake the rats out, assert dominance

(It works best with live bats but I can adapt to D&D)

[empty thicket]

there was an item, a bag that could spit out that kind of animals if im not wrong

[lethal bobcat]

That is indeed slightly more effective

Bag of beans is always effective too

[icy crater]

So, is this the place where i can join a party?

[random silo]

Why is 100 live bats an item lol

[lethal bobcat]

It is the result of a few items

[paper portal]

#find-a-game

[lethal bobcat]

Because of some items being more effective for this purpose however, I now deem the chest capable primarily for holding bean curry and 4 spoons

[fast latch]

What’s the item called?

[fading kiln]

hii im new whats going on

[hollow estuary]

Would yall rule that reaching high enough rep with the red wizards would cause them to reward your efforts with a red wizards blade

[woven flint]

My friend made something hilarious for our BG:DIA campaign

its not really ART so-to-say, but is pretty cool

[limber trail]

I mean yeah sure

[feral fulcrum]

Is it a doodle of a Lemur?

[limber trail]

Not sure it’s a ruling thing but it sounds plausible

[hollow estuary]

Nice

[woven flint]

No, but imma share it in #dnd-arts-and-crafts for fun

[errant crag]

When you're running an official adventure and your players find a treasure item like gems or jewelry that are just worth gold, do you tell them how much they're worth?

[rough basalt]

Ye

I do at least.

[woven flint]

Typically to make calculations for determining worth of overall Treasure, yeah

[severe rampart]

Yeah

The only things I hide is if cursed(and not examined properly), or if it has special properties

[agile hemlock]

My party begins. I have a War Cleric

Now I must wait for the others to make their stuff

The War Cleric is basically a "The Quick and the Dead" kinda thing

Gunslinging priest

[empty thicket]

Each critic is a phrase of the bible

or a Power scream from Victor from Vermintide 2

[errant valley]

Hello 👋 I've been in an out of D&D for a while now and this is the first time I'm trying to get into it on here. I have my character sheet made up on d&d beyond and I'm ready to go! Now how do I find the peoples? 🤔

[dark basin]

#find-a-game

[glass granite]

you can check out #find-a-game for information on how to find a group online. To make a post, type the appropriate command in any chat channel. There’s also DnD beyond forums, reddit or roll 20.

[errant crag]

Save reddit as a last resort

[knotty vine]

dnd is very fun

[empty thicket]

Imagine point blanking a critic and screaming "The crime is your foul existence, the sentence is death!"

[errant crag]

For your own sake

[errant valley]

Thank you! And man there is so much more to learn trying to play online lol I feel old

[knotty vine]

I killed the strongest guy in my dms game

[severe fox]

What did you do this time?

[empty thicket]

how hard it was to take donw?

[knotty vine]

Not very cause Wall of force Arcane Abyeance sickening radiance

[severe fox]

Ah old faithful

[woven flint]

My Bugbear sent back some Gold to his Wood Elf wife after a job today 🧐
He's doing awesome

[knotty vine]

Arcane Abyeance is such a dumb ability

[errant crag]

It's so nice to have loved ones that your characters care about

[woven flint]

I fully expect him to die.

+1 Con and we'll be descending into Avernus eventually

[severe fox]

My character was once loved but she is thought to be dead by her friends and family

[woven flint]

He and his wife were in an arranged marriage, but they genuinely fell for eachother and she dotes over her big goblin man

[grim fjord]

Good ending?

[knotty vine]

Wheres the tragic part of it all?

[woven flint]

He's a Ranger and she's a Druid
So it's even more based

[woven flint]

He's going off to the hells eventually and will probably never return

[errant crag]

What's tragic is he's out adventuring and can't be back home with the Mrs.

[knotty vine]

Curse the hells

[woven flint]

He's also my first character in a Heterosexual relationship, but Gender isn't really a concept to the Elves so I consider his relationship queer 🔥

[timid pagoda]

Interesting

[errant crag]

My Bugbear Barbarian/Rogue had a Halfling girlfriend who resided on the airship the party's patron faction was operating out of

[glossy otter]

Never in my life did I think I would have a dnd brainstorm over a joke lol

[woven flint]

He's a Bugbear Gloomstalker Ranger (how original)
and If she had a subclass
She'd probably be a Dream or Shepherd Druid

[severe rampart]

wait there was a joke?

[limber trail]

I do not believe in jokes.

[knotty vine]

Im gonna turn you into a chicken

[severe rampart]

Neither do they, they never take themselves seriously

[knotty vine]

and tell you to cross a road

[glossy otter]

I was doing some stuff for mtg, where I remembered a gag from a youtuber where he's like "Dragons! I can make dragons, give me all your stuff!" and it gave me the thought of a bbeg who's whole schtick was they found a way to either create dragons or command them

[limber trail]

This is a serious threat. I am concerned for my safety now.

[errant crag]

What's wrong with being a chicken

[knotty vine]

Cross the road Gnome

[woven flint]

Indeed
And that he Works for the Zhentarim but she doesn't know
His wife is part of the Emerald Enclave

[errant crag]

You don't respect chickens

[grim fjord]

I eat chickens

[severe rampart]

Having to cross the road all the time

[glossy otter]

You become dinner not long after

[limber trail]

I respect chickens. It is the world who does not respect them, and therein lies the true threat

[knotty vine]

Echo gets me

[glossy otter]

Though this does make me think, what dnd race doesn't get the bbeg status often

[severe rampart]

Halfling

You never see a bad guy halfling

[knotty vine]

...

[severe rampart]

it's always Goblins, Dwarves, and Elves

[knotty vine]

Huh now that i think about it your right

[errant crag]

In Baldurs Gate 1 one of the first companions you got was an evil Halfling

Which was based on AD&D

[woven flint]

My Bugbear isn't good aligned smh

[limber trail]

All Gnomes are inherently evil.

[glossy otter]

A halfling that summons dragons to intimidate people

[severe fox]

I like gnomes

They are cute

[feral fulcrum]

Gollum wants to know your location.

[severe fox]

Golumn was a halfing?

[limber trail]

Gollum used to be a hobbit yeah

[errant crag]

I wish I could do more romance plots in D&D but people are justifiably against them

[severe fox]

Romance can be nice but it can get real cheesy if over done

[woven flint]

I'm indifferent about Halfling and Gnomes
I'm more fond of Bugbears, Minotaurs and Drow (Somewhat)

[limber trail]

I mean they can be fun when they happen organically

[errant crag]

It wouldn't get overdone if I'm doing it

It's really easy to not overdo it

[empty thicket]

btw, 500 baboons.

[severe fox]

400 kobolds

[empty thicket]

couldnt kill 11 kobolds in last session, i wanted so badly to test the new axe that the dm gave me

(i bought it to a halfling that was pretty cool)

[junior jasper]

My friend had a wild night (totally SFW, it was a pg13 mixer that got really rowdy) that included a bugbear, a shapeshifted dragon, a pixie, a kuatoa, and a telepathic donkey.

[worn crow]

Squints I'm just.. going to close out of this channel for a while

[empty thicket]

And got last session a SPlint armor

[junior jasper]

No don’t!

[feral fulcrum]

That's what happened at the (Rather rushed) End to my only other Campaign, My Fairy Rune Knight/Paladin completed her quest, and returned to the feywild with a Centaur Knight she started to court during the campaign.

[hollow estuary]

😂

[severe fox]

I have a few PCs with kids

[empty thicket]

im planning somehting like this for retire someday my character im playing right now and test another

[severe fox]

And one of them takes there kid into combat all the time

[severe rampart]

Idk Chat seemed to have revived from that

[severe fox]

Chat never dies!

[junior jasper]

…How old is the kid?

[severe fox]

like 30.. coming around to 40

I forgot how cambions age

[empty thicket]

Him making for himself a cute house close to the river, but not so close.
Space for him, weapons and some hobbies.
Maybe a couple and retire after he get the notice that he is going to be a father

[junior jasper]

Oh ok. Wait, is the kid an elf?

[severe fox]

Hes a cambion

Half well me half incubus

[feral fulcrum]

You know that's an actual thing in Ravenloft IIRC

[junior jasper]

Oh ok. Is the character perhaps a bard?
(Just joking.)

[severe rampart]

This is already a thing

When you witness death, roll a wisdom save, otherwise you gain madness

[severe fox]

In fact she was a warlock

So very close

[empty thicket]

And then i change him to another characters that i have in the list of "to do"
The Dragonborn of redemption (Paladin redemption)
The Miracle Boy (Warlock, celestial)
The silent (Rogue, assassin)

[junior jasper]

Oh, that doesn’t make much difference in relation to that situation.

[severe fox]

I pretty much made that one joke of "I traded my first born for power but dont have a first born"

Into a whole character

[empty thicket]

Oh and Dante, The freedom seeker (Wizard)

[junior jasper]

Oh ok.

[severe fox]

That was my best character ever

Through her husband became an archdevil after she helped and the party over threw lady Zarial

So he got real busy

[severe rampart]

-# it's been a month since I've played my favorite character

[junior jasper]

My first character became Archdevil of Stygia after killing Geryon and Levistus (at 17th level on his own.)

[junior jasper]

Oof, that sucks.

[severe fox]

Its been around 2ish months since i played Her

[severe rampart]

it's alright, I got other games, I am afraid I am turning more into the forever DM

[junior jasper]

Aww, shucks.

[severe fox]

Hex forever DM

[knotty vine]

I wanna be a forever DM for a while

[junior jasper]

I always play a charisma spellcaster.

[knotty vine]

Fun

I really like the new sorcerer

[empty thicket]

(know the feeling, i have session the next 18, its an eternity)

[severe rampart]

It's fun but I also got my characters that I love and I can't bear to have their character sheets rot

[empty thicket]

Bard, warlock, sorc and i think im missing one charisma caster, paladin(?)

[junior jasper]

Me?

[knotty vine]

Through im not sure how game breaking it would be but I would love if dnd had slight path finder amounts of customiztion

[junior jasper]

Yes, paladin, you got it right.

[severe rampart]

I got a session in 2 days, hoping that Campaign 1 doesn't cancel

[knotty vine]

I wanna be a Wizard who uses chrisma

Or a wizard who uses wisdom

Im so sorry

[junior jasper]

I mean, if you are an illusionist or divination wizard, that might be possible depending on your DM.

[knotty vine]

varient human duh

He took the meta magic adept feat

[empty thicket]

oh, you remind me, the next Tuesday i might have one

[knotty vine]

I think my descent into Averunus game died

[empty thicket]

yay!!
Now the intelligence casters are Wizard, Artificer and no one else.

[junior jasper]

I have a session tomorrow. I drew everyone’s characters. And an NPC we all like.

[junior jasper]

Yeah, I think.

[knotty vine]

Wizard does get the biggest spell list of them all through so its kinda worth

[hollow estuary]

Tasha, besides for yourself. Who is your favorite member of the company of seven

[empty thicket]

Yeah and most subclasses work around the spells in a different way than Sorc with the metamagic

Like evoker helping you with the collateral damage

[knotty vine]

Sylune Silverhand

[junior jasper]

That is one of the perks. My friend plays an evocation wizard.

[errant crag]

If a major D&D character's name isn't on the front of a D&D book I'm liable to not remember them

[knotty vine]

Vecna

[junior jasper]

I remember all of the ones I have seen.

[knotty vine]

The final boss of dnd

[hollow estuary]

I like Johnny silverhand too frfr 💯 ✨

[junior jasper]

I think he is talked about too much.

[errant crag]

He used to be the penultimate big bad in older editions

[knotty vine]

I dont think hes talked about enough

[junior jasper]

Who was the ultimate?

[junior jasper]

My friend says that.

[errant crag]

I must not know what penultimate means

[junior jasper]

Penultimate means second to last.

[empty thicket]

Tiamat, the Dragon goddess.
God i wish i could reach a campaign that fight her

[knotty vine]

I mean there is one

through its cheeks

ToD

[junior jasper]

I’ve played tyranny of dragons.

[knotty vine]

Theres also her Avatar?

[empty thicket]

how so?

[knotty vine]

No thats not it

What is her thing called?

In Fizban's book

[junior jasper]

Also, anyways, how is everyone doing?

[junior jasper]

I don’t know. I mean, I have the Practically Complete Guide to Dragons.

[knotty vine]

the aspect of tiamat

[empty thicket]

like an addict without playing DnD

Im playing mewgenics that is the closest i can get now in day

And will be honest, kinda hooked to it.
Understanding how each class work

[rough basalt]

Brains in "FR lore" mode and it always makes me laugh just how crazy it is.

[hot marlin]

OK so I would argue that a fetus is blinded in the womb, therefore I don't think they can target anything with firebolt

[rough basalt]

Like when people think the relationship between Gale and Mystra is like a relationship between a eons old being and a mid 20 something but in reality it's a mid 20 and a woman in her 60s that happens to be a deity

[hollow estuary]

Blinded just gives disadvantage to all attack rolls.

Imagine being surrounded by a wall. Your gonna know where the wall is

[empty thicket]

but not what is behind the wall unless you have a way to see through it

Aka, a Familiar.

[knotty vine]

Mark of healing and potent dragon mark is so good on a wizard

Just free healing spells

[empty thicket]

Had seen those videos of dog approaching kids and being all shy and soft, there is the familiar.

[hot marlin]

The wall in question being the uterus. That is the body of the mother

[hollow estuary]

Now if we are a abberant sorcerer. And we have a mind flayer tadpole. We can now possess the mother and have a new host

[hot marlin]

Oh yeah, fire bolt does not require seeing the target

So uh... Yeah. Technically, a hypothetical level 2 fetus with subtle spell could cast fire bolt targetting its mother

[errant crag]

Unrelated:
I'm all for players describing flavor of their spells and stuff in combat but a 30-60s description of a Cantrip is just too much and is slowing things down I feel.

[rough basalt]

Yeah I remember a dude who would have minutes long descriptions

I'd legit wanna scream at him

[zenith badger]

Hi. I am needing to make a character for 1 shot events and was wondering if you kind souls could offer some guidance on how to go about that. I am still a little new to dnd, only played 1 character and still have it (Barbarian) level 7, lol. But for this character I am told to make it between levels 15 and 20

[rough basalt]

Dude describes how he crucifies a bugbear with a cantrip and I'm just like "what th-"

[errant crag]

Did the DM tell you a specific level to make your character at?

[zenith badger]

yes he said 15-20 😄

[empty thicket]

Yeah, a fireball maybe, some "Brimstone and destruction, Flames take action under my comand, Fireball!!" its okey for the moment
Or some other spells for some neat moments (Only After the roll.)

[errant crag]

If you need help with the character creation rules, then #dnd-newcomers is a good channel to use. If you want advice on decisions to make for your character, then either #character-discussion or #optimization would be the channel for you depending on what you're trying for.

[zenith badger]

Initially just direction. Google reckons Moon Druid Level 20

[celest sail]

That’s so excessive it’s kind of impressive, how tf do you crucify someone with a cantrip?

[errant crag]

I wouldn't trust Google or their AI driven answers, I'd recommend #character-discussion.

[zenith badger]

yes, thus I came to people with knowledge 😄

[stray atlas]

hey bit of a random question, could a half dragon and dragonborn have a kid?

[woven flint]

My Bugbear Ranger Is missing his shots so bad this session 🥲

Playing a Martial without Extra Attack is painful.

[errant crag]

The books themselves are already uncertain where Dragonborn come from, something to ask your DM

[stray atlas]

gotcha

[woven flint]

But, every attack so far has missed him, so..

[stray atlas]

thanks

[errant crag]

I took Elven Accuracy because I was so tired of my Sea Elf Ranger missing

Now I never miss

[woven flint]

I'm okay with missing, but it sucks when you only have one Attack

Level 5 is coming up soon though :>

[rough basalt]

Missing is a mindset

I call it sparing the enemy so my dm can have fun

[errant crag]

-5.5e Greatsword Fighters

[celest sail]

what subclass are you playing? i have no mechanical input i just like rangers

[errant crag]

I oughtta make an Elven Champion Fighter who uses bows with Elven Accuracy

[knotty vine]

I have a question

[woven flint]

Gloomstalker
Its nothing mechanics wise. just bad luck

[errant crag]

You don't need to ask to ask

[knotty vine]

I forgot the question

OH if i throw out a spell and then meta magic it safe spell it do they still have to keep making the save or what

Trying to understand a rule p much

[errant crag]

Do you have an example of a spell where this would come up

[woven flint]

If its a lingering effect it only works on initial casting

[knotty vine]

Like sickening radiance 5e for example

[woven flint]

So, no, people can't be safe in a sickening radiance microwave

[knotty vine]

ah damn makes sense through

[woven flint]

Otherwise it'd be too broken

[knotty vine]

True

Its cause i picked up meta magic and im wondering what I should get

[celest sail]

hell yeah

[errant crag]

I should look at what gloomstalker does some time

[potent vector]

Basically turn 1 damage demon. Plus a lil bit of Darkvision countering as a very cool early bonus

It's technically less enforced in 5.5 into that playstyle, but still what people run it as usually anyway.

[errant crag]

I mean that would only be relevant in complete darkness wouldn't it

If you're in dim light any creature can see you unless you take the Hide action and pass the stealth check, and thus aren't relying on their Darkvision to see you and would not be affected by that.

[potent vector]

Yeah, there is Darkness spell though into Fiends

Which is such a funny niche

[errant crag]

But then you can't see in the darkness unless you have blindsight or the Eldritch invocation devil sight

[potent vector]

(Countering a feature for creature designed to counter a spell meant to counter normal Darkvision lmfao)

[woven flint]

However, if you're in normal darkness, things that DON'T have dark vision that are also in normal darkness would have disadvantage on attack rolls against you

So, either way, if you're in the dark, its still a win-win scenario

[potent vector]

What makes it funnier lol. They do get fightning styles tho, so I don't think that's THAT unreasonable

[knotty vine]

cast light

[woven flint]

Well Rangers in 2024 get Blindsight at level... 18
With a range of 30 feet, at least

[knotty vine]

Thats decent i guess

[errant crag]

The Darkness spell overpowers the Light Cantrip

[potent vector]

What Demon has Light spell prepared vro

[knotty vine]

FACE THE SUN daylight

[errant crag]

Light is very common in my experience

[knotty vine]

Any demon with spell casting?

[errant crag]

A lot of human players take it

[knotty vine]

ITs a cantrip

[woven flint]

No demon would CARE about any light spells

[errant crag]

Why are Demons relevant to this discussion where did they come from

[knotty vine]

i mean i think shadow demons would care

[woven flint]

They don't have any natural reasons to

[woven flint]

Specifically CASTING light spells themselves

[potent vector]

Who the Invis to Darkvision feature is relevant against especially because even if they have that and you're in Darkness spell, you're invis to them.

And are generally high in concentration when they appear (ie Decent into Avernus)

[errant crag]

There are way more enemies with Darkvision than just demons

[undone rain]

The gods in dnd cant travel to the mortal plane right? Like tyr cant just travel around the swordcoast im assuming

[potent vector]

Magic Darkvision*

[knotty vine]

Not since the second sundering

Unless they have an avatar

[undone rain]

Well that would explain the myrkul fight in bg3. But how come they cant be in the mortal plane anymore

[knotty vine]

Well in 4e Ao is it?

through them all out of the "god" plane and forced them to live amoung mortals

dnd lore is a mess

[umbral girder]

Demons usually don’t have magical darkvision but true sight at high levels right?

Like Magical Darkvision is Devil foolery right?

[knotty vine]

its called devils sight

[undone rain]

I agree on that, i mostly just ask as i find many of the gods story very interesting

[knotty vine]

what do you think

[fading kiln]

hiii

[undone rain]

Perhaps i should watch a video on the gods and find out more

[fading kiln]

im new

[knotty vine]

The gods are like very weird in dnd lore

[undone rain]

Oh yeah arent there like several mystras

[knotty vine]

Im still mad we cant cast 10+ level spells anymore

[knotty vine]

No theres one but she died twice

[undone rain]

She died twice what the hell

[knotty vine]

and shes the reason we cant cast 10th level spells cause of the spell pleague

[undone rain]

Boy is it gonna take a lot of time finding out

[knotty vine]

died in -399
DR by sacrificing herself to stop the chaotic magic unleashed by the wizard Karsus

[undone rain]

Oh damn

[knotty vine]

DR by sacrificing herself to stop the chaotic magic unleashed by the wizard Karsus. She was then reborn as the second incarnation, Mystra, who was later killed by the guardian deity Helm during the Time of Troubles

Karsus is the main reason we cant cast above 9th level spells anymore cause he killed the god of magic herself

[undone rain]

And shes still dead i assume

[knotty vine]

Nah shes alive again

For the 3rd time

[undone rain]

Another reincarnation. That womans a walking isekai

[knotty vine]

P much lmao

[junior jasper]

Hi everyone!

[knotty vine]

but a lot of gods did die in 1358 DR because they were forced to live amoung mortals

In lore clerics magic didnt work unless they were in 1 mile of there god

[junior jasper]

How is everyone doing?

[knotty vine]

Im good

[undone rain]

Doing well

[junior jasper]

That’s good!

[junior jasper]

Great!

[undone rain]

Man thats pretty interesting

[knotty vine]

Yeah its super cool lore

[undone rain]

I should read more of it

[knotty vine]

But in 5e 1490s DR setting of 2014’s 5th edition, continuing the "Era of Upheaval" following the Second Sundering.

[undone rain]

Like the holy triad between ilmater, tyr and another i kinda forgot the name of

[potent vector]

Yeah, I am an avid Mystra slanderer I should note lmao. The lore is still very interesting.

[knotty vine]

Same games take place further in DR but ya know

[knotty vine]

Dying twice as the god of magic is kinda wild through

[undone rain]

She sounds kind of like a bum

[junior jasper]

@knotty vine I friend requested you.

[fossil hollow]

she is a bum

[potent vector]

More like "How does every person who you become suck at their job" lmfao

[knotty vine]

Exactly

[undone rain]

Im starting to think even ilmater who can barely walk would beat her

[knotty vine]

shes also the reason why the biggest human citzition fell

I still think its very funny that for like 2 mins in the mutiverse magic just kinda stopped working

"dont worry guess ill teleport us out of here!"

Some poor party got TPK cause Mystra couldnt stay alive

[junior jasper]

Widespread panic, and there were probably anti magic people who were overjoyed.

[undone rain]

"I cast banish!" And your just pointing at someone and nothing happens

[knotty vine]

Most def

remember the second time this happen legit floating citites fell from the sky

And If i recall only like 4 of them remain

[potent vector]

"Kill me! I'll be back in just a few days!"
Some poor overconfidant Lich.

[undone rain]

I think kelemvor would be a better guy for the job

[knotty vine]

Any god would be a better god of magic in Mystra tbh

[undone rain]

Even shar

[potent vector]

Ehhh, any except her, she even started coping with the shadow weave

[knotty vine]

being 0-2 as for being one of the legit "god of magic" is wild

[undone rain]

Cant say im surprised. Shars a bum too

[knotty vine]

Not to mention Karsus you know the guy who killed her the first time was an archmage

A human

[undone rain]

Oh dear lord

[knotty vine]

through he does have some cool names through

one being
The Child-Who-Would-Be-a-God

[undone rain]

Remind me to never have mystra as a deity for my cleric or paladin

[knotty vine]

The All-High
The Highest of All High
The All Mighty
The glaze is unreal

[undone rain]

You think he just made em up for himself?

[knotty vine]

Maybe

This is what Gale had to say about him

Ah, yes. Karsus. Karsus was perhaps the most powerful wizard who ever lived. The child-who-would-become-a-god, the elves called him. And he tried. With a spell of his own devising, he endeavored to usurp in one fell swoop the power of the goddess of magic... Imagine what it must have felt like. To be a god. To know yourself to be untouchable. To be mistaken.

[undone rain]

Indeed

[knotty vine]

"The ape who would fly" 😭

[potent vector]

Double'y so if your character is attractive. Mystra isn't the most . . . "professional" on several fronts 😭

[knotty vine]

Gale can tell you that first hand as well

[errant crag]

I hate Gale

[undone rain]

Mystra we know its you

[undone rain]

Oh ik. She is not very proffesional at all

[woven flint]

I don't like playing conventionally attractive characters tbh

Most of my characters are beastfolk too lmao

(Tortle, Tabaxi, Minotaur, Harengon, etc)
So I try to avoid sexuality with them

[undone rain]

I just like making my characters look cool

[woven flint]

I just enjoy playing nice people, but I also enjoy playing menaces

[undone rain]

Playing heroes is my fav

[fierce scaffold]

The ultimate power fantasy. Helping people

[undone rain]

What is a paladin without their heroicness

[fierce scaffold]

An oath breaker

[knotty vine]

Oath breaker

[rough basalt]

a paladin

[undone rain]

Nuh uh

[knotty vine]

Even an oath breaker can serve a noble cause

[rough basalt]

ye such as the cause of indiscriminate murder for self pleasure

[undone rain]

Oath of the crown is an oath that can be broken for the greater good

[woven flint]

An Oathbreaker is a Paladin who throws aside oaths for power and selfishness.

A Paladin without an Oath isn't an Oathbreaker, they're still a Paladin.

[knotty vine]

The only "good" Oath breaker i can really think of is the one from BG3

[undone rain]

Perhaps you swore to serve a king and when the king died his heir took over. But the heir is corrupt and such you break your oath for the greater good

[errant whale]

Lvl 1-2 paladins have no oaths for some reason

[knotty vine]

Thats exactly what happened in bg3

[errant whale]

For 5.5e at least

[woven flint]

And not all Paladins who break Oaths instantly become Oathbreaker Paladins.

[undone rain]

Yeah its all i can come up with at the moment

[knotty vine]

No but again the oath breaker from BG3 had a good reason to do it

[woven flint]

There are specific conditions to becoming an Oathbreaker Paladin

[rough basalt]

bg3 hb oathbreaker to be potentially not evil

[woven flint]

This ^

Oathbreakers in D&D are defacto evil people.

And not all Paladins that break Oaths are Oathbreakers.

[undone rain]

Why must you all speak of cool shit as soon as im off to bed

[knotty vine]

I will send you back to the the first sundering

[thick void]

Someone pick my 1st 2 Metamagic spells. I can't decide.

[woven flint]

They should've called Oathbreakers something other than Oathbreakers to avoid the confusion

[knotty vine]

Subtke spell

[rough basalt]

anti-paladins is what they used to be called

[knotty vine]

I do want another type of oath breaker

[prime pewter]

Feeling the urge to make a fairy spore druid...

[knotty vine]

I forgot colloren made the elves in dnd

[rich frigate]

This concept is peak, pls do it lol

[knotty vine]

Btw do you think dnd was suppsoe to end in 2e?

[rough basalt]

Even if it wasnt TSR was gonna end it with all the mistakes they made

[knotty vine]

LOL i meant in lore

[prime pewter]

Okay funny idea: the fairy says "I worship the mushroom queen". People think they mean some whimsical Fey from local folklore, but they mean like. Zuggtmoy.

[glad ferry]

Question. If an enemy were to use something like tidal wave and then use a freezing spell would it give disadvantage against it since they'd be soaked

[rough basalt]

No

[knotty vine]

Unless the spells says so no

Ususally spells will tell you if they interact with other effect like If you use shocking graps with someone in metal armor you get advantage

[umbral girder]

Death Knight

[glad ferry]

I havnt done much spell users so im still learning them and how different elements effect different things and what not

[plush ermine]

Idk if this is a rule question because its more about what dm’s allow.
I could swear there was something in the dmg about whether or not u can alter the properties of a magic item, like what type of weapon/focus/armor.
my question is that im playing a beast master ranger and i want a moon club instead of a moon sickle, would you allow that?

[glass granite]

Spells only do what they say, if it doesn’t specify any interaction you can usually assume there is none

[umbral girder]

Yeah it’s 2014 DMG that had that

[knotty vine]

Bah

[rough basalt]

When they called Oathbreaker Oathbreaker they expected people to read the "not all paladins who break their oaths are oathbreakers" note

Little did the devs know that the average 5e player cant read the rules without subway surfers on

[umbral girder]

The example they gave was Flametongue doing Lightning damage instead of Fire in the 2014 DMG I know

[woven flint]

Real

[umbral girder]

Imagine if people read the adventuring equipment section in the PHB

Who knows what utility they could find.

[rough basalt]

It's still partially a meme tho

The reality is nobody can read

DnD just has the crown of illiteracy due to numbers

Pathfinders 800,000 illiterate players stand no chance against dnds 49,999,999 million illiterate players

[glad ferry]

I mean oaths change over time as the person changes

[prime pewter]

Love how I made my saytr like. So weird, even/especially by his species standards. In both appearance and personality

[vernal owl]

I dont think theres official mechanics of different elements interacting with each other

[rough basalt]

Doesnt make them an oathbreaker just changing oaths

[glad ferry]

Fae creatures are tricky in the fact you have to watch how you word things

[rough basalt]

An Oathbreaker in dnd 5e is someone who willingly breaks their oath in pursuit of dark power for selfish gain.

Now sure they can regret it later but the point is, they said yes to whatever power granted them it and committed heinous acts for themselves.

[glad ferry]

I love the dark powers of the oathbreaker

Especially when you pair a fallen aasmir with it

[prime pewter]

He has bright blue fur, and, get this, hates parties + has 6 charisma (took the optional rule to change starting prof.)

[glad ferry]

Thats awesome

[prime pewter]

Ty

[glad ferry]

I wonder what it would be like running a character who literally can't read

[thick void]

Is it wierd that I have an unexplained aversion to doing Poison or Necrotic damage? Like, if I see a spell that does either damage I just automatically skip over it without looking if the spell is any good. This isn't a character thing, it's a player thing

[worn crow]

I always love making my satyrs kinda weird. I've got one that's based on a unicorn, so has a single horn instead of the usual ram, and a long tail with a long furred tip

[prime pewter]

Oh cool!

Mine isa stars druid, so i gave him yellow star freckles

[rough basalt]

Kinda

[thick void]

Like, I want to play a Hand of Healing Monk but want to home brew the harm part out of it, just because of the damage type.

[glad ferry]

Never made a saytr. Ive made a fairy, dragonborn, halfling, yuan ti, and a dwarf. I have some elves made just havnt used them yet

[rough basalt]

yeah kinda weird

[glad ferry]

And have royalty types made or higher ups. Just havnt used em because personally I dont like politics though i giyta learn how to better

[thick void]

The hell is that about? Some mental emotional glitch I didn't know existed. If I had a therapist, this eould definitely be a topic to discusd.

[glad ferry]

Whatcha mean?

I havng looked into monks yet

The defense pose is crazy

[thick void]

Sorry, it's called Warrior of Mercy subclass

[glad ferry]

Whats the harn bit you want removed

[thick void]

Scroll up to the 1st thing I posted

[glad ferry]

Ah got it

Also a question. When creating npc to challenge players with high cr ratings. That aren't the bbeg. How's the best way? Im struggling with this bit. Because the arena is all to the death battles whether grouo, one on one, or versing creatures

[rough basalt]

The encounter calculator then finding a monster or collection of monsters to use

Tho it depends whether its 5e or 5.5e

[glad ferry]

Do you hacd a link for that? Im more looking at the npc side

[rough basalt]

if its 5e you're gonna wanna use Kobold Fight Club as its encounter calculator doesnt work

its in the dmg

[rough basalt]

All "monsters" are npcs

[jolly canyon]

Yea monsters be the catch all for npcs and enemies alike confused me when I first joined cause I couldn't find the "npc statblocks"

[umbral girder]

Generally you want to have more enemies than players but no more than double their count

Action economy really is king in DnD

[rough basalt]

Especially if you're in 5e

Monsters in 5e are glass cannons

They can't survive on their own

5.5e you can get away with solo bosses sometimes

[umbral girder]

AOEs are also huge too

If you can hit at least 3 players with an AOE you did a significant amount of damage in one go

Leaves them scrambling

[rough basalt]

Also one fact is encounter building in dnd is a learned art.

You will run bad encounters

And even knowing how to encounter build doesn't mean you won't run a bad encounter sometime.

Matt Mercer ran quite a few encounters you could qualify as bad ones in the final arc of Campaign 3 of CR.

[umbral girder]

Nearly murdered my level 16 party with three CR11 dudes (Death Knight aspirants)

[glad ferry]

And the dice also decide a lot about how an encounter happens. Thkugh ivr noticed bad ones can lead to interesting story arcs

[rough basalt]

Yeah I once had one zombie take at least 3 rounds to be defeated by a level 5 party

Cause his name was Senator Nomstrong and he was powered by Necromancy, son.

[glad ferry]

Let's just say the final boss for them is going to be a black pudding with magical items that won't exhibit magic until they di something worthy of them. Fhey will be inside the black pudding and be freed once its killed

[rough basalt]

(He kept rolling 20+ on his Undead Fortitude)

[lyric idol]

One of my favorite creatures to use is a Skulk. It's a low difficulty creature that because of it's unique invisibility ends up staying around longer then it should based on its difficulty.

[rough basalt]

My favorite low CR monsters are Shadows, Intellect Devourers

Rust Monsters

[lyric idol]

Shadows are also fun.

[glad ferry]

Another one I've looked into is ladybombs

[rough basalt]

Beholder Zombies are great to throw at low level PCs

Shambling Mounds too

[glad ferry]

A few creatures I've looked into are banshees, rhe ones that steal a players stennght and also some creatures that even rhough their high cd rating would be best for a early on bbeg. Also have considered the zombie beholder

[rough basalt]

I've ran one Beholder Zombie and it was hilarious

It had 5 rounds of Eye Rays

4 of those rounds it used the disintegrate eye

[glad ferry]

Disintegration ray is a crazy one. Phase spiders would be fun to

[rough basalt]

4 disintegrations on level 3 players. Was peak.

[lyric idol]

I've let my party capture one in a bottle before. They put it in a bag of holding so I had them making dex saving throws every time they dug into their bag during combat. Sure enough, they failed their save at a pretty hilarious time against a group of low level bandits.

[rough basalt]

My games since I've gotten more comfortable running them have led to a few things I realized.

It's a good session when a PC dies.
It means you'll have good health for a week.

[glad ferry]

To be honest I dm and run my pc as whatevef happens happens. And go on. I leave many solutions, possibilities and adjust if something unexpected happens

Magic users are just my difficult point

[rough basalt]

I don't have many full casters in my games usually

Only 1 or 2

[glad ferry]

Ive been studying the latter due to wording being very important

[rough basalt]

And usually they weren't helpful

Until my current games

[umbral girder]

Like your Wednesday game

[rough basalt]

Wednesday is everyone's got a little caster inem

[glad ferry]

Same things when it comes to paladin oaths because I know wording there counts to. The most challenging magic user for me is sorcerer because of the whole patron thing which usually ends up being tricking evil entity and how the magic works

[rough basalt]

But I've yet to have a game where the party was majority fullcasters particularly.

Was always half or less. Or none.

[glad ferry]

Full spell casters dont seem to happen often enough. Most are glass canons and also the fact that once out of spell slots what do they do

[umbral girder]

Fuse us all together you almost got 3 full casters.

[glass granite]

There’s Druids, sorcerers, wizards, bards and clerics. And warlock.

Also they have cantrips

[glass granite]

Sorcerers don’t have patrons, are you thinking of warlocks?

[glad ferry]

Warlocks yes

Bards I can do

[umbral girder]

I should do a Cleric

Decent armor and healing would be nice to have

[glass granite]

Second caster I’ve played was a cleric

[errant crag]

I have a lot of classes I've only played in one shots but would love to play in a campaign

My CoS dance bard is the only bard I've played in a campaign

I killed chat

[willow arch]

Hey everyone !

[final warren]

Y'all ever have your character be skeptical of another character for what seems like no reason? But then it turns out that your theory as to who the culprit is, is correct?

[tame kelp]

Does wuxia exist in DND?

[humble cairn]

It's one of the alternate genres mentioned in the DMG.

Well it was mentioned in the 2014 DMG, the 2024 DMG seems to have taken a slightly different take on classifying genres.

[atomic moat]

Not by name, but monks are clearly meant to reflect that genre and there's even an entire setting that was once build on Eastern Asian tropes and mythology.

[humble cairn]

They do specifically call out Wuxia by name in the 2014 DMG: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/dmg-2014/creating-a-campaign#Wuxia

Also, every class can be done with a wuxia style, monk really shouldn't be the one pigeonholed into that.

[tribal night]

I got a scary thought

[tame kelp]

People like to float and flying across the building.

[tribal night]

So... a human mid 20s, and an elf in their 50s. Would the human be the predator or the elf?

[round cape]

Hello

[humble cairn]

Not really appropriate conversation topic, I think.

[tribal night]

Fair lol

[humble cairn]

If you want to talk about a relationship between two people who have vastly different lifespans and the ramification of their respective ages on their relationship, that might be interesting, but framing it the way you did isn't great.

[tribal night]

Ah that wasn't my intention

I was just curious

[humble cairn]

I made a character who was a half elf and put in the backstory that his grandparents were once an adventuring party a hundred years ago. His grandfather passed away, but his grandmother was still young by elven standards and still ran the family.

[rough basalt]

Yeah calling it predatory is unfair and inappropriate

[humble cairn]

She loved her husband, but kind of transferred her love to their children and grandchildren, taking care of them like a gardener with a beloved garden. Because they were what she had left of him.

[worn crow]

Elves aren't considered "adults" until around 100 though, so, it is a bit problematic, technically

[fossil hollow]

in elven society and typically only in the realms

[rough basalt]

Like two of FRs heroes, Drizzt and Cattie-brie are married but by our worlds standards it'd be really bad.

But by FR standards it's pretty normal.

[tribal night]

Yeah that's what I was going for

[humble cairn]

It's only as problematic as you want to make it.

[fossil hollow]

when did they get married...

[rough basalt]

I might be wrong on that

Nah they're married.

[humble cairn]

Do we know everything about FR elven culture and what they view as part and parcel of adulthood?

[worn crow]

Though, why would you want to make something that could be problematic It really depends on how the DM has the elves look/act in their campaign. It could be very bad or it could mean literally nothing honestly

[fossil hollow]

the elven thing about 100 is simply when the elf stops getting memories of their old life

[humble cairn]

Do they think any elf under 100 cannot consent to romantic or amorous pursuits? Do we know that's part of their culture or are we just projecting our culture on them?

[rough basalt]

By our standards it'd be weird cause Drizzt was 50 when he met Catti Brie

And she was 11.

But there was no romantic connection until she was very much an adult and an adult human woman in her 20s is basically the same as a 70 year old Dark Elf.

Tho she's in her 100s now like him cause of WotC

[humble cairn]

That's what I'm saying. Let's not try and make problems where there don't have to be.

[rough basalt]

Drizzt going from 80 something to 180 something cause the guys in charge of Ao made an oopsie called the Spellplague and hit the time travel lever 100 years.

It's been nearly 20 years but thankfully the damage that setting guide (4e Forgotten Realms Guide) caused to dnd partners is starting to be repaired.

[hot marlin]

Honestly one of the most frustrating things about the timeskip was the refusal to kill off characters

Just kill her off

[rough basalt]

The damage that book did went far beyond just a bad book and it's crazy.

It made one of the FR novel series end unfinished cause the writer quit fantasy cause of it.

[errant crag]

Elves are adults before 100, its at 100 they lose their memories of Elven afterlife

[rough basalt]

"Hey Ed and Rob, what's going on?"
"Nothing, whats going on with the new FR book?"
"We're nuking the entire setting, removing decades of lore, removing 90% of the pantheon, forcing racial homogenialization of Tieflings into all being devil spawn only, no more good Drow only Lolth. Most of Faerun is destroyed, Netheril is back. No more high level NPCs, killem all off."
cue evil villain laughs

[errant crag]

What book was this?

[rough basalt]

4e Forgotten Realms Guide

Basically they wanted to kill and wipe the setting clean so new players could make their own world.

[errant crag]

That sounds like something they shouldn't do

[rough basalt]

And they told Ed Greenwood, RA Salvatore and other FR creators to "deal with it"

One writer quit fantasy altogether, others quit FR. Ed was devastated. R.A almost broke being nearly forced to destroy his work with it by contractual obligations.

[humble cairn]

Was this under TSR?

[rough basalt]

Nope

This was 4e

[humble cairn]

WOTC?

[rough basalt]

It was Bruce R. Cordell that spearheaded it and made the whole spellplague and everything.

Him and a couple others

[errant crag]

Oh the Spellplague was 4e lore?

[rough basalt]

Yep
Spellplague 100 year time skip

Then "there's like monsters, magic don't work. Wow. Mysterious!"

It was definitely a big part of 4es hate

Release a system that alienates a lot of your older fans due to being way too balanced and being "MMO" like.
Then you take the most beloved setting and just gun it down and execute it in the streets

[errant crag]

Yeah I'd probably have been irked by that

[rough basalt]

It's why I'll always tell people 4es failures were largely caused at the corporate level

[humble cairn]

It was balanced. Probably the most balanced edition of D&D.

[craggy summit]

I've heard the vets in our dnd group say that 4e felt like a build crafting game more than anything 🤔

[rough basalt]

It also had some of the best design ideas mechanically

[craggy summit]

It was the first time I heard something talk about a dnd edition that wasn't 1st, 3.5 or 5

[rough basalt]

Like there's a reason a lot of current popular tabletop games and products have bits of 4e in them at least and lots at most

5.5 took base level martial powers for masteries

The social contract chapter for the dmg was first appeared in the 4e DMG

Pf2e uses a lot of 4e inspiration.

Flee Mortals is just the 4e monster manual adapted to 5e

Lancer, the mech tabletop uses 4es base combat systems

Draw Steel is 4e 2 streamlined boogaloo

Daggerheart uses 4es range system.

[rough basalt]

Well here's the thing. DnD 3.x was also a build crafting game but it was unbalanced. People didn't like balance.

[humble cairn]

Still it's funny. People say they want a balanced D&D, but I kinda think they don't.

[rough basalt]

They don't they just want "balanced enough"

Which is where everything is overpowered

[humble cairn]

But will argue endlessly about the definition of "enough."

[rough basalt]

Yep. Like 5.5 I think is the most balanced it's been since 4e.

5e14 had a lot of balance issues not as a martial caster divide but a class/subclass divide

[humble cairn]

Even with it's flaws, nothing in 2014 was so bad that it was literally unplayable.

[rough basalt]

Yeah it was just some stuff was just too flawed to be fun for a lot of people.

Like Four Elements, Undying, Battlerager, Berserker, original Beastmaster.

[humble cairn]

Some things were just a bit meh.

[humble cairn]

Yeah, all of these were actually still playable.

[rough basalt]

Like original beastmaster has the funniest representation in current media.

They were just bad compared to other options.

I mean there's something to be said on how all the royally bad stuff was released in the first couple years

[humble cairn]

The internet complains like someone who never wants to run into a mechanic that is disappointing .. and will then proceed to multiclass themselves into oblivion.

[rough basalt]

It's why I always had issues with 5e14

I never liked the idea of being upset that I leveled up.

[humble cairn]

And you think there were instances of that? At the class level? Or at the subclass level?

[rough basalt]

"Ah man I'm level 3 now I can frenzy once per day if I don't wanna be permanently disadvantage on ability checks."

[humble cairn]

Ahh Berserker.

[jolly agate]

Sorcerers are so mid

[rough basalt]

Being only able to use your one active subclass feature and be punished for it is something I can never forgive

Especially cause '14 Exhaustion was like getting hit with a cast iron skillet in the face.

[jolly agate]

worse than a wizard and only slightly better than a warlock (sometimes)

[humble cairn]

That's uhh .. certainly a take.

[rough basalt]

The devs were like "what you wanna use your feature?" punch to the gut that oughta teach ya better stay in your lane with your 15 movement and disadvantage on all checks Zerkie"

Then they'd emote on them.

And the Zerker can't get payback cause he needs to dash to catch up to normal walking speed.

[errant crag]

This is what I was saying last night about Berserker

[rough basalt]

Thing is playable don't mean it didn't need changes

[errant crag]

If you could point me to where I said it didn't need changed that would be great

[humble cairn]

Agreed, but people do talk about it like it was simply never a viable option to play.

[errant crag]

I much prefer 5.5e Berserker

[rough basalt]

Which to a lot of people it wasn't.
Logically it was viable but for a lot of people it needs to be fun too.

[errant crag]

It's a really solid subclass for barbarian

[rough basalt]

A lot of people consider the fun aspect in viability even tho it's not a part of it

[errant crag]

That's extremely subjective I play a lot of characters that people would find boring mechanically

[rough basalt]

Like 2014 Beastmaster was viable but is it fun watching your animal get one shot in the first combat and now you have to wait for an LR to get a new one?

[humble cairn]

When it comes down to it, the fun part is the only part that truly matters. What I find annoying is that internet chatter and hype can make or break the fun for people.

I really wish people would either stop listening to the people online who tell them what classes to play without even having tried it, or that those people would stop telling people that certain classes/subs are the "best/worst" as if it wasn't subjective.

[rough basalt]

Like 2014 Berserker and Beastmaster I like to use C1 of CR as an example of what I find wrong with them.
Grog spent more of the campaign with at least 1 to 2 levels of exhaustion than not and Vex never used her bear for beastmaster cause they came to 5e at level 10 and he would've been one shotted in the first combat.

It was actually a bit of a meme cause the bear kept getting left behind in wherever they were based up

[humble cairn]

Aww, Trinket!

[rough basalt]

So it wouldn't get backhanded and one shotted then fortnite danced on by a dragon

[errant crag]

I listened to a D&D podcast before I started playing it and going back and listening to it again after, it really seems like a kinda bad table

[rough basalt]

I do think people need to form their own opinions, but the stuff was too punishing for the sake of flavor.

Especially since other classes could get the same amount of flavor and not be punished for it.

Like usual flavor of evoker is blowing stuff up with elements

you get 19 levels where you can just freely cast aoes on your allies with no repercussions other than spell slot usage so you're always blowing peopleup, burning them, freezing them, shocking them

Or Battlemaster Fighter, starting at level 3 you have a character that pretty much gets all resources back on a short rest and their powerful resources too that fit the flavor of someone whose meant to be a Battle Master

[humble cairn]

Yeah not everyone who puts out an actual play is the best, but honestly everyone is always learning.

[rough basalt]

Then you look at original purple dragon knight. Once per short rest you heal 3 people for 3 hit points (its fighter level so when you get it its 3)
Level 10 one ally can make one attack when you action surge.

then the capstone was "you can use indominitable on 1 person" which 2014 indom was Fighters only weak spot combat toolwise if we're being honest.

Oh and it was only for mental saves

Which wis saves are the most important of the common saves so theres a caveat

[rough basalt]

It's sometimes nice seeing people who are more "normal" id say

[humble cairn]

Unless they were bad because they were toxic in some way, of course.

[rough basalt]

Like I love big liveplays but they're always people with a lot of history together, and usually history in the entertainment industry which makes them often more active, and enthusiastic in RP due to having climbed over the cringe wall.

[rough basalt]

Oh yeah in this case for sure, not good

Reminds me of a clip from a liveplay where a player attacked the dm

And the DM was just like "leave"

[humble cairn]

Like .. physically!?

[rough basalt]

ill have to find it, he did hit him

I cant remember if it was just a shove or like a punch

[humble cairn]

OMG that's awful

[rough basalt]

Respect to the dm for keeping his cool and just telling him to get out

[severe rampart]

Reminds me of that one tumblr post, arguing that a human bite is a d8, so the player (with consent) bit the DM (The DM needed stitches after)

[humble cairn]

Didn't they end up married?

[severe rampart]

Did they?

oh my god "and we did get the barbarian bite attack to be d6+Strength Modifier. I'm also now engaged to this guy and this campaign I get to be the dm!"

[rough basalt]

found it, if you want i can dm it, its got kind of a OW meme edit on it tho

[humble cairn]

Engaged at least: https://www.reddit.com/r/dndmemes/comments/x98bi2/bites_do_1d6_str_mod/

[severe rampart]

It's funny as hell, a bite leading to an engagement

[rough basalt]

The player gets mad he died then went to get his stuff gathered then shoved the DM into the table

DM just turns around and says "get out" iirc, the edit audio drowned out the voices

[humble cairn]

-# mumble mumble omegaverse claiming bite nevermind

[rough basalt]

Like i said, respect to that dm

[severe rampart]

very

[rough basalt]

I wouldnt put it past someone to roll initiative in that situation

[humble cairn]

Agreed

[rough basalt]

Oh found the original clip

Lawful good paladin died, then failed his strength check on the dm

[severe rampart]

not very lawful good of him

[rough basalt]

DM had some more colorful language than I remembered but a lot more composed than I think a lot of people would be if some dude angrily shoved them over a tabletop game

[errant crag]

I'm glad that the LGS I play D&D at the owner would likely throw out one of my players if I said it needed to happen

None of my players have ever made me feel physically unsafe at the session

[rough basalt]

IRL play is something I wish i could do

[errant crag]

In my opinion one of the worst aspects of IRL play is that stuff that is considered cringe to do in the game online is 10x more cringe to do in the game in person

Assuming nothing dangerous happening at your table of course e

[rough basalt]

Yeah the cringe wall is very tough

I think the lack of tools I have online would be a bigger hurdle for me

[errant crag]

That being said

As someone who is very confident in my roleplay and the voices I do

It is super fun to watch a really timid player new to the table open up and start to do voices themselves as they play and are around other people at the table who are able to do wild voices confidently

I make myself sound like an absolute goofball and they usually find it hilarious and open up a lot easier after seeing where I take the voices

[rough basalt]

the lack of tools would lead to me being too overwhelmed to even try to break the cringe wall

Tho itd be nice to finally use one of my DM screens

There is a local printing place, if i got a game started up, i could support them by having them print my maps.

[errant crag]

Y'all shoulda seen the reactions of my Welcome to the Hellfire Club players, a bunch of new players both to D&D and to my group in general (only one experienced player from my regular group), when we started the game and one of the first things they hear is the voice of Flizzlebin the Vanishing Gnome magically taunting them to come look for him in the Dungeon of Shadows in exchange for magical treasure

And I hammed the heck out of Flizzlebin's voice

[rough basalt]

I think I might try and see if anyone nearby is interested in a game

[errant crag]

Being able to see and read body language can also really do a lot for you as the DM

Being able to see how into it they are and how much fun they're having without them actually saying it

[rough basalt]

Well im getting ahead of myself. I need a few things first

[errant crag]

Or see whos losing interest

[calm cobalt]

Yo so lowkey, we having a session in 2 days, and I got 0 clue what to prepare for them. Am i cooked?

I genuinely have no idea whats gonna happen and what they r gonna do

[glass granite]

You don’t have any ideas for the campaign?

I’d recommend enlisting the help of the #dm-discussion folks

[severe rampart]

Is it not a module?

[glass granite]

Yeah if you’ve got NOTHING do a module. Or ask for more time. Depends on what the expectations for the game are

[cobalt owl]

Some blocks sure do feel mighty unfair at times

Sometimes the unfairness is just being unlucky though

[severe rampart]

What do you mean by "some blocks"?

[cobalt owl]

I mean what I said

That being said, I didn't expect them to not roll above 13 the entire session on the dice

21 AC sure does go brrrr

[glad ferry]

Is it hard to make npc like earth breaker groom?

[glad ferry]

What happened last?

[cobalt owl]

NPCs are as hard or easy to make as you think

If you're the DM the NPC is just a block of wood

[glad ferry]

I just want some or a few rhat will challenge them before they reach the black pudding

[vast saddle]

Man, I still feel the pain after being open about my OCD and attention disorder to my DM

I have to admit that it hurts to have such disorders as my hindrance to join the future game according to the DM

[minor cargo]

It’s good that you brought it up.

In my opinion, we should talk about how we can make our tables more accessible. Not everyone can employee (or should employee) every accessibility option, but the more we as a community talk about it, the better.

[remote wadi]

Question about armor

Is there any medium armor that still applies the full dex modifer?

[jovial sleet]

dont believe so

the only thing is the one medium armor master feat that gives +1

[remote wadi]

That's a shame

Would love for there to be armor that does. But then again, people may whine about a good armor for Ranger

[jovial sleet]

medium armor isnt bad

and if you have like +5 dex studded leather aint bad either

[glad arch]

Half plate would give up to 20 AC, thats higher then full plate

Or breastplate giving 19AC without stealth disadvantage

[pliant sapphire]

Serpent scale armor. Is an uncommon magic item

and doesnt impose disadvantage on stealth

[silk hare]

serpent ccale

[calm cobalt]

I do i do, its just that so many options for them to go to, that i cannot comprehend and prepare

[calm cobalt]

Nope, homebrew

[calm cobalt]

They were exploring the tomb of the Old King, found a portal to a pocket dimension where a group of cultists reside, almost got caught and killed, ran out and sleep

But i do not know where they wanna go from there

[lapis acorn]

Im just curious and I just want to know too, how does danger sense actually work and be used in a campaign 🤔

[violet sparrow]

What were the cultists doing? Are your players getting chased by them since the cultists wanna tie up loose ends?

[rotund shell]

@wraith current Charisma in DnD is about force of personality: putting your personal self out into the world. This, in the case of Warlocks and Sorcerers, means forcing their own will to shape reality into what they desire: via spells. It's the stat for the natural shaping of magic imbued in you whether naturally or via a patron in order to utilize power on an instinctual level.

Compare that to Intelligence, which is using your own intellect to pluck at naturally existing phenomena (such as the Weave in Faerun) in order to manipulate reality into your desired shape, basically using "math" to create your effects.

The magic isn't innate to you, you manipulate it to exist via equations, potions, sigils, etc.

Wisdom is an in-between: the magic is still not innate to you, but through your quiet observation and perhaps a little help from natural spirits or the gods, you cast your spells through clarity and philosophical understanding.

(This is also why Paladins are Charisma based instead of Wis based despite being "divine casters"... they literally anime protagonist their powers into existance: "I hold myself to such a high standard that it gives me an innate connection to the divine power within myself!")

[wraith current]

ooo i see

[wraith current]

kinda weird they had to choose "charisma" as the word describing that definition tho

[rotund shell]

It's not that weird given that Charisma is more about force of personality even in the real world, but it is also a bit of a holdover from older editions as well.

shrug

[umbral girder]

Because that is what charisma is too

[rotund shell]

Charisma has a physical and mental component. I mean, there are some really handsome people out there who have the force of personality of a wet blanket.

this results in, at best, a CHA of 10

[wraith current]

are any of yall familiar with the MBTI or enneagram? was wondering which classes would fit best depending on your personality type and all

both in terms of the class itself and the mode of playing it

[sturdy niche]

anyone else suddenly getting error 403 when trying to view the article on the designer insights for the new UA?

[hardy quiver]

How terrifying can a lizardfolk rogue to will be to deal with and I’m pacifically talking about arcane trickster

[knotty vine]

I just nearly TPK'd my party with a pitfiend

[minor cargo]

I think the classes are all too generic to map to that kind of definition.

Like you could easily play a rogue that fits every MBTI type IMO.

[sturdy niche]

yeah the classes are not designed with any sort of personality in mind, so such a concept would be arbitrary and subjective at best

personality is more so a trait of a character as an individual, regardless of things like class

[glass granite]

Only personality would probably be a paladin’s steadfast desire to follow their oath

[loud tendon]

Rogues are fun to play.. most dangerous when they can get their sneak attack off, which means having an ally within 5ft of your enemy target or otherwise getting advantage. I wouldn't say they are terrifying to deal with, a DM can figure out ways to make challenging encounters.

[sturdy niche]

debatable, if you keep oath breakers in mind

[wraith current]

still, I'd debate there are classes that are innate to one personality, for example, bard being extroverted and social, and wizards being introverted and mentally challenging

[sturdy niche]

that is again subjective at best

as you can very much play either with a personality that is nothing like the ones you associated with them

[knotty vine]

Just saw that the solar has a +20 to ini

[silk hare]

but even then theres a lot of customizability as to what degree

[silk hare]

depends on your measure of "terrifying"

[hardy quiver]

Anything that can be really chaotic, but also hard to deal with if it gets out hand

[silk hare]

what do u mean with "hard to deal with" and what is getting out of hand?

[hardy quiver]

I haven’t played the game before that I want to, so I don’t know

[silk hare]

problem is its hard to put a label on an undefined metric

[minor cargo]

You could absolutely be an introverted bard or an extroverted wizard.

I think some people may have an idea of what a bard is “normally”, but that’s still subjective like Scartletstream said above. ✌️

[wraith current]

true i guess

[marble lion]

I love how 5e does charisma. I think it works perfectly

[knotty vine]

Its just your force of will or something like that

[marble lion]

It's a strong personality

[severe rampart]

Force of will is Wisdom no? Force of Personality is Charisma

[marble lion]

Thats how I view it, yes

Except that one time where a random enemy forces a charisma save instead of wisdom when scaring you

I am still unsure why they did that. My personal thoughts wander to it being an eldrich thing where it doesnt just scare you but twists your own being into being afraid

It doesnt try to make you get scared. It tries to turn you into the scared

[severe rampart]

Ah so it tries to turn you more into a coward?

What is that called? the thing that does that

[minor cargo]

Like the physical stats, the mental stats are pretty ambiguous so I try not to think TOO hard about them.

But yeah, the explanation I usually go with is that a Charisma save is against something warping your own perception of yourself and your own reality.

A wisdom save is your “will power”, which again, is ambiguous. Edit: it’s also your ability to “perceive reality correctly”. Which again, ambiguous haha

[sturdy niche]

it can depend based on the context, if a spell does that and requires a wisdom save, that is presumably do to it manipulating or effecting your perception of the world around you, which wisdom typically is associated with

personally i feel charisma as your force of will and sense of self, fits "will power" more so, at least in the sort of way will power is often thought of since the dc comic character green lantern became widespread knowledge, a character who literally is powered by their willpower

so in a generic sense i'd personally associate charisma with willpower more than any other stat, though as i said this can change depending on context

[jade spade]

maybe charisma should be renamed to Will maybe? that might be neat

could*

[lyric viper]

I do like how the shift in saving throws made Banishment into a 'You do not belong here' Success: 'I decide where I belong'.

[severe rampart]

Nahhh, I don't think that'd be a good idea

[jade spade]

probably not

[sturdy niche]

will is at most only one facet of what charisma embodies so charisma is fine, if anything people need to get over the misconception that it is tied to physical attractiveness and the like

[jade spade]

I have low rizz but my will is high

[toxic wigeon]

Gonna make a character with the unintentional, naive type of rizz

[severe rampart]

So pure, not a thought behind those eyes

[toxic wigeon]

Would he have high cha tho?

[fierce trellis]

.... Has anyone ever wondered why tokens are circles when every dnd board uses squares?

[toxic wigeon]

You don't need to wonder about it to know the answer

[severe rampart]

a lot of people use square tokens as well

[toxic wigeon]

We are humans, we love curves

[knotty vine]

Judgement

[fierce trellis]

God damn right we do

[toxic wigeon]

Also, what is a circle if not a square with its infinite copies superimposed over it with a very miniscule tilt each time

Hey wait a minute

We are using less space to fill more space

By using circle tokens

[severe rampart]

What?

[knotty vine]

I still think the time stop spell should be buffed

[still plover]

Use circles for the party and squares for the opposition. Handy visual reminder of how outnumbered you are.

[toxic wigeon]

We are using squares of side 5/√2 ft to fill squares of side 5 ft

[toxic wigeon]

What's wrong with it though

[knotty vine]

Its only good for using buff spells and what not when theres other ways to do that

[toxic wigeon]

Such as?

[knotty vine]

And there a lot cheaper then a 9th level spell slot

Rope trick being a main one

Need a higher level one wall of force

[viral kraken]

people think rope trick prevents you from getting hit, but you still have to emerge to interact with stuff outside of it, so the enemy just readies their action to attack them

[knotty vine]

Theres just a lot more that you can do besides time stop like ive heard that you can set up delayed blast fire balls but even that takes way too many resoruces

[toxic wigeon]

I think ability score improvements should be increased and feats should be decreased

Like, in amount

[knotty vine]

Only rouge and fighter get more then average

[toxic wigeon]

Why does nobody spell rogue with the u after the g

[knotty vine]

everyone else gets 4+1 epic boon

[toxic wigeon]

Okay

[glass granite]

It’s a common misspelling

[viral kraken]

why do you just assume they aren't talking about some makeup?

[knotty vine]

but still time stop compared to other 9th level spells is just bad

[toxic wigeon]

Rouge is makeup?

[toxic wigeon]

I can agree with you on that

[stiff rock]

maybe we're all just debating our favourite colours

[knotty vine]

Wish weird true polymoprh

Time Ravage

Invulnerability Fore sight

[toxic wigeon]

Wait, this reminds me, isn't spell points a bad system

For dnd

[knotty vine]

Its alright for those who can handle math

[toxic wigeon]

You mean can't?

[knotty vine]

Can

It just melts all of your spell slots into one big pool

[viral kraken]

gooey

[toxic wigeon]

Oh ok, but no, I mean, at high levels it allows for multiple high level spells, which I guess is the point, but like, 7x true polymorph doesn't seem like a great idea

[knotty vine]

take out a bit and throw a spell

If you wanna waste all your spell points on true polymorph go for it

[toxic wigeon]

I mean, if you are in a boss fight