dnd-discussion

[knotty vine]

Only thing I don’t like about the new wild shape is you and your wild shape share hp

[woven flint]

Cope

[spice spear]

In 2014 if you wanna talk in wild shape take the telepathic feat so you can get whats it called

[woven flint]

I like it because it means you're no longer functionally unkillable.

[delicate owl]

Oh no! Druid cant abuse a new hit point pool 🙁

[spice spear]

Share hp? Thats crazy

[knotty vine]

I mean in 2024 you can effectively do the same thing

At least with moon Druid

Inf temp hp

[woven flint]

Not really?

Wildshape still has limited uses until you can spend spell slots to get it back
And Also, Temp HP doesn't stack and you know this

[knotty vine]

looks at Druids capstone

[woven flint]

But, also, there's effects like HP drain that bypass Temp Hp.

[knotty vine]

Nothing bypasses temp hp

[woven flint]

Yeah?

it does.

[knotty vine]

Only thing that can are effect that reduce your max hp

[woven flint]

When you're hit with a max hp draining move, it still damages your normal hp.

[woven flint]

which is literally what I said, I get D&D players can't read but c'mon.

[knotty vine]

Not many creatures just have that on hand?

[woven flint]

Plenty of undead do

[knotty vine]

Not all of them through

[woven flint]

and whats the most swollen monster type?

[knotty vine]

Majority over minority

[spice spear]

Anyone played the pugilist yet?

[woven flint]

I have

its a third party class keep in mind, but my dms allowing me to play one in his eberron campaign

[knotty vine]

How was it

[woven flint]

Its pretty fun
I'm playing Dog & Hound Pugilist

[spice spear]

Oh ok and ice always wanted to try an ebberon campaign and do u kike the pugilist

[woven flint]

Its not as broken as some people say
And its not as weak as some people say
Its a pretty good class
But I'm not gonna say its insanely busted

[knotty vine]

Pugilist imo just has too much to remember

[woven flint]

I've enjoyed it because I love hitting things

[spice spear]

Well when gets haymaker its good too

[knotty vine]

That’s why I don’t think I can play it

[woven flint]

Haymaker is something you call before you roll a hit, you can't just spam it all the time

[knotty vine]

Haymaker is something

[thorn wedge]

Wild shape is usually treated as a new pool of hp, not temp hp

[knotty vine]

It’s temp hp

[spice spear]

Ya ik but it is still good to have when its needed

[knotty vine]

It literally says temp hp

[woven flint]

But also if you miss it causes you to lose a moxie point

[tacit halo]

Who want sme to see the Homebrew my DM has

[woven flint]

In 2014 its a different HP pool.
In 2024 its temp hp on top of your normal hp but not an insane amount.

[knotty vine]

Moon Druid gets 3x level

[thorn wedge]

Not in 2014 rules anyway.

When you transform, you assume the beast's hit points and Hit Dice. When you revert to your normal form, you return to the number of hit points you had before you transformed. However, if you revert as a result of dropping to 0 hit points, any excess damage carries over to your normal form. For example, if you take 10 damage in animal form and have only 1 hit point left, you revert and take 9 damage. As long as the excess damage doesn't reduce your normal form to 0 hit points, you aren't knocked unconscious.

[knotty vine]

I was talking about 2024

[thorn wedge]

Seems like in 2014 there’s a fair argument for it not affecting the druids hp. If it says temp hp in 2024 then I guess you’re just screwed.

[woven flint]

I roll my eyes heavily at this statement

When you wildshape, you're still YOU

[knotty vine]

Again at level 20 you get infinite wild shapes

[woven flint]

It doesn't make sense why you'd have a completely different health pool if you're still the same individual.

[knotty vine]

It ink at level 7 you can turn spell slots into wildshapes as many times as you want

Never that’s level life

You can use that as many times as you want with wild resurgence

Only trade off is you get your wildshapes back on a long rest rather then a short rest

[thorn wedge]

Maybe, but the rule does seem to imply that’s the case. You assume the beasts hp and hit dice. Only excess damage affects you when you return to your normal form.

[woven flint]

What?

[thorn wedge]

There’s nothing on sac about it. Jeremy Crawford says that it doesn’t carry over as well, for whatever that is worth.

[knotty vine]

2014 you got your wildshapes back on short rest

2024 you get them back on long rest

But again at level 5 you can use wild resurge to turn any spell slot into a wildshape charge

[woven flint]

You still get one use each back short rest in 2024.

when you long rest you get ALL uses back.

[knotty vine]

Oh still

You get more temp hp over all especially when you each those higher levels

Through for moon Druid only downside was a lot of the beast stat blocks were nerfed/buffed

[woven flint]

I think Moon Druid was overall buffed because it has MORE mechanical uses than the old one did \

[knotty vine]

Over all yeah

Through I am gonna miss bear doing claw doing 2d6+3

As much as a great sword for no reason

[woven flint]

I mean, to be fair...
A bear could absolutely disembowel someone with a singular slash

[knotty vine]

True

[flint ledge]

A Greatsword definitely can too

[knotty vine]

The cave bear was a bit strange in a way as it only got slightly more hp ac and 2d6+4

[woven flint]

Thats the point of why it was as strong as using a sword

I do think its sad that D&D doesn't use greatswords like they were actually used in real life
(Which was for crowd control)

[valid geyser]

There are certain intangible morale benefits to making bears be weaker than swords

[flint ledge]

I mean a knife can also disembowel someone so I don't think that's the best scale

[knotty vine]

When thing that’s really funny is that potent spell casting

Your spell range is now 300 feet

Cantrip only through with a range of 10ft

[woven flint]

Alas, Druids don't get that treatment
Its the clerics that do 😔😔

[valid geyser]

Also moon Druids can cast starry wisp while shaped. Might not be optimal but you can just be a bear and cantrip spam

[knotty vine]

Druid do get potent spell casting

[woven flint]

Oh I'm incorrect

[knotty vine]

It’s just different

[woven flint]

I reread it

[flint ledge]

You know cantrips must be horrifying for a commoner

[valid geyser]

Yeah Druid and cleric have nearly identical class chassis

[knotty vine]

Then there’s beast spells

I do wish muticlassing was a bit better in 2024

[woven flint]

this is clerics:
"Potent Spellcasting. When you cast a Cleric cantrip and deal damage to a creature with it, you can give vitality to yourself or another creature within 60 feet of yourself, granting a number of Temporary Hit Points equal to twice your Wisdom modifier."

[knotty vine]

But other then that I’m quite happy with most of the changes

Interesting

[woven flint]

thats their 15th level one

[knotty vine]

The new hexblade did piss me off

[rough basalt]

Clerics and Druids being a lot of the same I think is because of their origins.

[woven flint]

Its because Clerics and Druids are both MEGA based classes

[valid geyser]

It is and I’m not doubting that. It’s just interesting 2024 made them more similar

[rough basalt]

Since druid was a subclass of cleric.

[knotty vine]

I really like the new monk

[woven flint]

Clerics and Druids Mogging on Bards

[undone rain]

Did several classes just start out as subclasses?

[knotty vine]

I feel so bad for bard..

[woven flint]

Yes

[knotty vine]

Its better yeah but also kinda worse as in it can’t really do damage without valor or MS

[umbral girder]

Most

[undone rain]

Paladins started as a subclass for fighter, sorry fighterman, and druid started as one for cleric

[valid geyser]

Not in the same way as 5e, but yeah many did function as a class but with extra benefits and restrictions

[umbral girder]

The original being Priest, Fighterman, Magic user

[knotty vine]

Anybody else remember when elf was a class

Or I’m I old

[woven flint]

Fighterman and Magic User are funny

[undone rain]

Ah my fav class, elf

[knotty vine]

Fighter man

[knotty vine]

Yeah elf was a class back then

[valid geyser]

Rangers had the fighter features, but got some spells at later levels and wilderness features with the restriction that they can only have whatever items they could carry on their person

[undone rain]

Peak names

[undone rain]

Were they a magic user or what

[woven flint]

Priest is the only one that feels like a class name

[knotty vine]

Pretty much

[rough basalt]

Yep

[valid geyser]

It was cleric at the start

[umbral girder]

Fun fact illusionist was a Magic user subclass

[rough basalt]

Ranger and Paladin were subclasses of Fighting Man.

[undone rain]

What were the starting races then

[woven flint]

Me when I'm a man that fights

[umbral girder]

That one I’m unsure on

[rough basalt]

Human, elf, halfling and dwarf.

[undone rain]

Humans, elf and dwarf i suppose

[valid geyser]

I shouldn’t get too um actually here but elf was also only a class in basic d&d, the extinct Neanderthal relative of d&d

[rough basalt]

Tho Elf was originally a class

[undone rain]

Wow i almost hit the bullseye

[umbral girder]

It’s the lord of the rings hero races

[undone rain]

I figured

[knotty vine]

Elf being a class was still very funny

[woven flint]

As D&D was heavily inspired by LOTR

[rough basalt]

Me marrying an elf so my child can multiclass into the elf class.

[knotty vine]

Real!

[exotic tangle]

in the beginning? Dwarf, hobbit (yes it was called that), and elf were classes. If you were one of the other classes then you were human

[undone rain]

I love playing oath man

[umbral girder]

When you learn Half Elf didn’t count for it

[knotty vine]

Dang

[rough basalt]

Oh right all the non-human races were Classes

[woven flint]

Oh, Nealen, you remember my Dragonborn Fighter Orizontas I talk about, right?

[valid geyser]

Not exactly. In the first d&d book the races were not specific classes, but they were locked to classes, or could be thieves

[undone rain]

Let me guess, the dwarfs were like barbarians

[valid geyser]

Basic d&d and its offshoots had races as classes

[rough basalt]

Elves I think were Mages

[umbral girder]

Don’t forget there were rules for “How to play a Woman in D&D”

[valid geyser]

No they were just fighters with some extra features

[knotty vine]

Yikes let’s not bring up that lmao

[rough basalt]

Hobbits were Thieves I think

[woven flint]

His whole party died.
Orizontas is the only person from the original very beginning whose still alive

[valid geyser]

Elves in od&d could switch between leveling as a fighter or MU per adventure

[knotty vine]

Old dnd was ahem ahem

[valid geyser]

Halflings were fighters with some hiding skills and bonuses to archery

[undone rain]

So glad dnd changed for the better

[rough basalt]

Iirc the "woman pc" rules were from a Dragon mag rather than actual book.

[woven flint]

Sora, you killed Orizontas' friends!

[umbral girder]

Which was most of old DnD

[woven flint]

He's got nothing now!
Damn you! /joking

[rough basalt]

Which Dragon Mags I believe were just random people send garbage in and it gets printed

[rough basalt]

True

[umbral girder]

Old DnD didn’t really have core books like we do now

[knotty vine]

I do wish dnd gave us half dragons in 5e

[umbral girder]

That’s what AD&D was for

[undone rain]

Well how was paladin as a subclass anyway. Just basic paladin features

[knotty vine]

As a player race I mean

[crimson gulch]

they are there in the monster manual

[umbral girder]

To make a “complete DnD” without needing third party according to Gary Gygax

[rough basalt]

We needed how to play male pc rules.
And how to play non-defined pc rules too.

[valid geyser]

The awful woman dragon mag was not made by a rando. It was made by Len lakofka. He wrote some important adventures for ad&d like bone hill

[knotty vine]

Ok

[woven flint]

I don't see how it'd be anything different from Dragonborn mechanically as a player species.
Its fine

[valid geyser]

Also weirdly it was the only way to play a thief with the original wargame combat rules. Thieves were only made for the d20 combat

[crimson gulch]

oh as player races, well yeah thats not in there

[rough basalt]

Where's my attractiveness score for my male pcs.

[undone rain]

Didnt dnd start of as a bunch of homebrew for another ttrpg

[crimson gulch]

Dragonborn are like, a different bag than half dragons

[umbral girder]

Getting captured by a monster with a successful attractive ness check

[uncut zenith]

Yeah, it’s easy enough to just reflavor Dragonborn as half-dragons imo. Thematically they’re not the same thing, but mechanically, what else would a half-dragon get that a Dragonborn doesn’t offer?

[valid geyser]

No. It was the first ttrpg
It started as a retool of a wargame that Gary made

[rough basalt]

DnD was a bunch of wargames thrown together into an amalgamation

[undone rain]

Close enough

[umbral girder]

Yes it was a homebrew for the game Chainmail

[crimson gulch]

they were playing a wargame and said, what if we were just ONE of these little soldiers or wizards

[umbral girder]

Chainmail being the TTRPG before DnD

[woven flint]

We should get playable Umber Hulks /silly

[crimson gulch]

vast over simplification

[valid geyser]

I wouldn’t say homebrew since chainmail and d&d were made by the same guy

[crimson gulch]

but thats the core of it

[rough basalt]

Chainmail had some cool mounted combat rules I remember someone sending me.

[valid geyser]

The jousting minigame is neat.

It is also a mathematically solved game

Also a good way to show that gygax just loved using dumb obscure words for no reason

[knotty vine]

Screw you giant Tiger

[valid geyser]

Left and right? Nah. It’s dexter and sinister

[rough basalt]

I think rules that add attractiveness scores to PCs in dnd should never be unironic

[knotty vine]

I need to make more war forged

Huh I didn’t know that

Leo you must wait

[rough basalt]

But yeah DnD in the past had a lot of good stuff to it.
And quite a bit of bad.

[umbral girder]

A lot

[knotty vine]

A lot a lot

[umbral girder]

Like the AD&D mentioning a certain someone in examples of how to be Charismatic

“Look at real life figures as….”

[woven flint]

A certain... mustached individual?

[undone rain]

I would like to try out the first version of dnd but i would probably die inside

[knotty vine]

Such as

[umbral girder]

Yep

[woven flint]

Oh boy

[valid geyser]

It’s so hilarious. I get what he meant, yeah a dictator would have high charisma if he could rally people to a cause. But Gary, Gary. You did not have to say that

[crimson gulch]

yeah thats a bit cringe, lumping him in with Ceaser

[knotty vine]

No way old dnd said that 😭

[umbral girder]

Was very interesting to see that when I opened it two pages into the book

[knotty vine]

I’m cryin

[severe rampart]

No shot, that's real?

[undone rain]

Gary what the hell

[woven flint]

Its horrible, but its also... absolutely hilarious

[rough basalt]

Never heard of that. Ngl kinda chuckled.

That's horribly hilarious

[severe rampart]

I just sat down who starts a conversation like that

[valid geyser]

There’s a zee bashew video where he reads the passage

[woven flint]

Peter ...

[umbral girder]

It started with “Charisma isn’t just being attractive. You can be charismatic without being attractive. For example look at…..”

[rough basalt]

I just don't think everything in old dnd was bad.

[knotty vine]

Not everyone

[valid geyser]

The ad&d dmg is so interesting
It is like the closest you can get into the mind of some crazy guy

[knotty vine]

Just most things

[woven flint]

D&D as a property has come very far to improve certain... aspects. for certain

[severe rampart]

I'm dying

[umbral girder]

Like not naming certain real life people 2 pages into its DMG

[rough basalt]

Like I think Dark Sun's awesome.
But for sure I never liked 2es approach of "Slavery isn't bad in this world and you wouldn't think it is."

I much prefer the 4e approach of "Kill slavers. Burn slavers. Stomp slavers into the dirt. Blow up slavers."

[woven flint]

Yeah, you can have pretty dark messed up settings without slavery

[woven flint]

But also this:

[rough basalt]

I think its fine to have as part of a setting as long as you're not trying to say it's alright.

[umbral girder]

Bad guys doing bad things

[knotty vine]

Good guys doing good things

[glad arch]

Basically what our party did last session

[rough basalt]

Like GW never claims the Imperium are the good guys

[warm tusk]

[umbral girder]

I read GW as “Garden Warfare”

[rough basalt]

They flatout say they're absolutely horrific people that just happen to be the one of the least evil factions in 40k

[woven flint]

Hello and welcome to the server, glibglorpus

[exotic sinew]

If I have a herbalism kit what do I need to craft a potion of healing

[rough basalt]

Cause everyone else is much worse.

[knotty vine]

Herbs and spices

[warm tusk]

Thank you kindly lol.

[woven flint]

I know they aren't in 40k
but the Skaven did nothing wrong

[warm tusk]

Skaven are goobers, love them.

[woven flint]

The RAT-GAT

[warm tusk]

Kinda sad they didn't get carried over to 40K, but it does make sense why they didn't.

[minor cargo]

Here's the passage from 2024 PHB. https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/phb-2024/equipment#BrewingPotionsofHealing

A character who has proficiency with the Herbalism Kit can create a Potion of Healing. Doing so requires using that kit and 25 GP of raw material over the course of 1 day (8 hours of work).

[woven flint]

YOU.
You are loved.

[rough basalt]

I just think there's some stuff from old dnd that aren't bad.

[warm tusk]

[woven flint]

Fellow rat enthusiast

[glad arch]

11 to be exact

[valid geyser]

Considering the OSR community is one of the most innovative and cool communities I think it’s already proven that you can take the good from old editions and make something new from it

[rough basalt]

I mean the last good book old wotc released was just a collection of 5e imports of 70s era adventures.

[woven flint]

My Bugbear Ranger has a pet rat.. The rats name Is Slank :>

[exotic sinew]

So pretty much if I go to a vender with 25gp and ask for the ingredients to make a healing potion I will be good to go?

[warm tusk]

I've got a Skaven-inspired character in the back pocket. Kinda a wonky build honestly, it being an Artificer/Sorcerer build, but I think she'd be fun to play around with.

[exotic sinew]

Is there any level requirement

[umbral girder]

Proficiency and 8 hours of work mainly

[rough basalt]

Tho OSR does get painted in a bad light online sometimes unfortunately.

[minor cargo]

So that's the rules as written (RAW). So yeah, I think that's a fair way to think about it. But of course, your group might do it differently - so I'd double check with your DM. ✌️

[rough basalt]

Tho from my understanding OSR is mostly just about trying to capture the old style feeling of fantasy and gameplay.

[flint ledge]

Yes yes I love me some war criminals

[rough basalt]

Without the racism, sexism, and influence of hard drug use in the writing.

[valid geyser]

Pretty much. I think people like the old school stuff because it’s a different kind of game with a different kind of fun

[rough basalt]

Like I love old fantasy art cause it feels weird

[flint ledge]

I know all the chaos stuff is pretty much like heavy metal vibe

[valid geyser]

I think just since it’s inspired by old pulp stuff means you’re gonna have to tight rope around that
And this isn’t an OSR issue too. I remember thinking forge of the artificer, based on pulp fiction, basically only had white characters in the art except for the shifter which seemed a bit strange, albeit unintentional

[exotic sinew]

I play adventures league so it is umm RAW ahaha 🤣

[rough basalt]

I'm surprised I never heard anything about that.

[valid geyser]

It was basically just something I noticed, and I also don’t think it’s super scandal worthy. It’s also the fault of there being only like 5 characters in the entire artwork of the book

[rough basalt]

Yeah I just think one dndtuber probably would've made something like "WotC hates POC? New Book only has white people?!" And arrows pointing to the Forge book thumbnail with their mouth wide open

[split dagger]

Is disintegrate basically just a high risk high reward spell?
Because if the target saves it basically does nothing

[rough basalt]

Yep

[knotty vine]

Your profile just over stimulated me

[split dagger]

Today i tried using it against a dragon
The dragon saves and my character looks like an idiot pointing at the dragon

[rough basalt]

My defenses worked.

[split dagger]

Totally didnt waste my first turn doing that (im last on the initiative)

[knotty vine]

I’m dead

[crimson gulch]

yep, and ho boy the way folks hold their breath when those rolls happen

[severe rampart]

Silvery Barbs, Magic Resistance and Cutting Words all duking it out

[split dagger]

Real
The amount of breath i released when the dragon got the save by 1 from my dc is loud and insane lol

[exotic sinew]

Actually this is an interesting question. If you took the gold option from the character creation class and background and had 50gp spare could you use that to “make” 2 potions of healing with the kit prior to the game starting rather than only being able to buy 1 for 50gp ??

[severe rampart]

Consult your DM

[crimson gulch]

you could ask your dm

[severe rampart]

Hey, there's an Echo in here

[crimson gulch]

the rules for crafting items say "the dm determines if the right materials are avalable"

[flint ledge]

Hey Echo!

[severe rampart]

Somebody call?

ba dum tiss

[flint ledge]

500 silly puns

[exotic sinew]

Ahh okay never mind then

[oak grotto]

People don't often make monk or druid enemies, do they?

[severe rampart]

Guess I'm not people

[oak grotto]

It's not something I hear about often. Same for NPCs.

[valid geyser]

My guess is that druid and monk npcs are often but not always more isolated

[severe rampart]

looks at my planned encounters having druids and monks

[valid geyser]

Like, evil clerics would have cults and churches, fighters could be mercenaries or have followers. I think typical Druids and monks might be more isolated

[severe rampart]

Druids with blights, Monks with their... well fair point

[oak grotto]

Unless you have a monk or a druid in the party you never hear about people interacting with other druids or entering monasteries.

[valid geyser]

Like Druids are a class that are technically supposed to be connected. They got a shared language and they form circles. But it’s in a weird spot because it’s outside of regular society so they’re just very insular and secret

[knotty vine]

I messed up my pancakes

[viral kraken]

that is unfortunate, sorry to hear that

[reef tundra]

Meeee, I do

I had a Monk Lich villain in my Shadowfell campaign, and she was awesome

I also had a Druid villain in an earlier campaign, but he wasn’t as cool

[reef tundra]

He tried to summon an elemental cataclysm but ended up being kicked through the portal to the elemental chaos he opened

[feral fulcrum]

The BBEG of an arc in my saturday campaign was a Vampire Monk.

He'd have folded a Knight in half instantly, if it wasn't for the guy having a sturdy magic shield. Still obliterated the guys arm.

[reef tundra]

Oooh a vampire Monk? Cool!

[reef tundra]

Oh dayum

[valid geyser]

Weirdly I do think the most common ways to make enemy monk npcs is to make them undead

I’ve definitely fought an undead monk before

[severe rampart]

Ooo tell me about 'em

[feral fulcrum]

Sir Richart had great courage, and brittle bones, and not nearly enough CR to tango with an ancient Vampire that knew magic kung-fu

[severe rampart]

I need a monk mini boss so my monk player can learn something from them

[severe rampart]

Magic Kung Fu lmao

[reef tundra]

Other than my Lich Monk and elemental Druid, I had an archdruid antagonist, not a villain, but definitely an antagonist

[feral fulcrum]

Yeah, my DM likes to borrow from Exalted to give little special effects to Martial Arts, by having styles with cool names and little effects.

[valid geyser]

A very memorable pathfinder enemy I fought were kurobozu. They were monks that died after shedding some vows. They’re some weird gross contortion-y things and they’re a pain to fight

[feral fulcrum]

Like Searing Nightmare Stampede, which Emulated the speed and flaming fury of Nightmares, by giving fire damage bonuses to attacks based on how much movement you've spent. Among other things.

[woven flint]

A Lich monk concealed in a golden statue
That'd be pretty cool
There was a practice in Buddhism where a Monk would be encased in something and become a living statue

[severe rampart]

oh yeah, didn't they find like... thousand year old mummies inside of those?

[reef tundra]

Oh and I have a lizardfolk Monk villain in my latest campaign

[severe rampart]

How do your monks fight?

because my monk is a wereraven and I'm thinking of cool combos...

[woven flint]

Most of my Monks exclusively kick lol

[reef tundra]

My Lich Monk just used punches with iron gauntlets because she was a war commander, but for the Lizardfolk Monk, every inch of his body was honed to be a weapon

Tail, teeth, head, legs, arms, etc

[severe rampart]

what was the damage die?

[reef tundra]

And he was an astral self Monk so he could do crazy astral abilities, like breath astral fire

[reef tundra]

Lich villain did 3d12 + 6 per punch, Lizardfolk villain does 1d10 + 5 per unarmed strike and 1d12 + 5 per bite

[severe rampart]

mhm... ✍️

[reef tundra]

The CR difference between them is nuts

[severe rampart]

maybe the monk is a way of the shadow monk and my monk player can learn the "blindfighting" fighting style from them...

[reef tundra]

Ah I just remembered my scrapped Dragonborn shadow Monk

I miss him :(
I can’t believe I had to scrap him

[reef tundra]

Yeah! That sounds cool!

[limber trail]

Monks are so based, maybe I should add a monk villain…..

No, I’ve got more than enough as is

[reef tundra]

Make sure to let this shadow Monk teleport infinitely, give it the NPC treatment

[reef tundra]

No, do it…

[limber trail]

My campaign currently has

[severe rampart]

Definitely

[limber trail]

8+ major villains

[reef tundra]

Weak, I had 12 in one campaign /lhj

[limber trail]

Oh those are the current villains

Not the full lineup

[reef tundra]

I have underestimated your power

[limber trail]

Those are the characters actively antagonistic to the party now

That does include lesser villains of course

And I’m sort of cheating because four of them form one group which collectively are villains

[severe rampart]

... Team Rocket

[halcyon narwhal]

How many people here would watch a no limits dnd game behind a paywall where anything could litterally happen and its decently highly produced and fully visualized with unreal 5?

[flint ledge]

Team rocket blasting off!

[feral fulcrum]

My Campaign's had about...4-ish major villians? A wretched abusive Wizard with a thing for tormenting his young aprentices (Now Thoroughly, Super Duper, Permanently Dead. Soul got obliterated), Evil Vampire Vizier (Who was also a Monk, using stolen KI to empower himself and walk unbothered in daylight), A very old White Greatwyrm and their handy dandy Draconic Sorceror Princesss (Daughter?), and Zariel. Who is a bit busy frothing in eternal rage and figuring out how best to breach the dimensions and strangle a fairy.

[limber trail]

Nope just re-counted its way more than that

[feral fulcrum]

Man you go through villians like copy paper.

[limber trail]

I’m counting my arc villains, who aren’t necessarily villains for more than a smaller section of the campaign

But they still get a fair bit of screen time

[reef tundra]

A lot of them died but then one got all the others to team up… then most of them died all in one

[limber trail]

We’ve got:

• the champion
• thelvor
• general Kane alcathy
• morthos casselante
• breach
• scorch
• skewer
• mend
• The Lost Son I
• Melody Maolcatha
• Talia De’Lor (kind of it’s complicated)
• Viktor

So however many that is

I need to kill off some villains…

[feral fulcrum]

Melody Malcatha sounds like one of those fish people that are like Ork from 40k.

The ones that twist things into reality through shared mass psychosis

Kuo-Toa, those weirdos

[limber trail]

She’s a Satyr Paladin of the order of conquest

And the mother of one of the PCs

[woven flint]

KNEMESIS.
Hello :>

[limber trail]

Hi Tokii

:>

[woven flint]

I love yah, homie 😎

[limber trail]

<3

[primal estuary]

April’s Fool

[reef tundra]

They all sound badass

[severe rampart]

The Lost Son The First is an amazing title

[limber trail]

There was an entire campaign arc devoted solely to somehow desperately finding a way to weaken his subordinate enough to kill him and it was barely enough. I figure the big boss will be even more fun

[severe rampart]

Lmao, next boss "The Father of The Lost Son"

[limber trail]

Writing that down…

[halcyon bison]

helloooooo peopels

[sharp geyser]

Hey, I wanna ask if there’s like a DnD oceanic/Asia server, it’s hard to find ppl online to play with a similar timezone

[severe rampart]

unfortunately no official servers like that, us asians gotta play midnight or really early 😔

You can however try to find one in #looking-for-community

[sharp geyser]

That’s toughhhh… I just wanna play at a healthy hour 😭

[severe rampart]

you definitely can

you just... have to be the DM

[sharp geyser]

Damn… taking initiative

I’ve done a few one shots and sessions, but I still feel inexperienced DMing

[stable hazel]

It's the most fun role at the table! You get to play a million NPCs, make worlds, and traumatize your players.

[severe rampart]

DM of just a few months here, yeah it's been great, just started a second campaign, hopefully it'll accelerate my learning time

[sharp geyser]

I would probably stick with a module but I wouldn’t want to do the ones everyone recommends for new DMs

[severe rampart]

I'm the opposite, the ones I'm running are Curse of Strahd and Phandelver and Below

[stable hazel]

You could always find something third party, lots of folks making cool stuff on the internet! 👋 Hello, I'm one of those people.

[severe rampart]

in the background while running these two campaigns I should write my own homebrew world...

[warm shore]

We lowkey lost to the bbeg

We might be frauds 😭

[severe rampart]

Total Party Kill?

[sharp geyser]

I’d love to run that but I heard it’s rly overwhelming for new DMs

[severe rampart]

It's really not, actually

[sharp geyser]

That’s neat!

[severe rampart]

at first it can feel a bit overwhelming

but taking things one chapter at a time really helps

just familiarize yourself with preparing for a session and you'll be all good

[warm shore]

Nah, it was just deadass unbeatable

It was some gimmick where we just had to keep it at bay lost enough till it got bored and left

Which I guess we technically did but it whooped our ass and it’s hard to feel satisfied bout it

[severe rampart]

talk to your DM about it

"hey, this fight felt unsatisfying because there wasn't much we can do to fight back", etc

Who knows, he might bring it back and then you would be able to destroy the thing

if you're not having fun, talk to your DM

[devout bramble]

Would a battle smith be able to mount their companion?

[cerulean monolith]

You can mount any willing creature that is at least 1 size larger

[oak grotto]

You can mount giants?

[devout bramble]

Technically

[oak grotto]

Scandalous.

[humble fog]

Tpks are just a great opportunity for a standard dnd mission "jail break" but this time from hell.

[sharp geyser]

Hot damn ok ok

[cerulean monolith]

If you can convince it to let you

[severe rampart]

Back to your shame ham corner

[humble fog]

My suggestion for prep is have three reasonable reactions to your plot. Even if they don't do exactly that, easier to improvise and adapt the closest one

[severe rampart]

Don't railroad though, never railroad

[cerulean monolith]

Eh, that advice can often do more harm than good

[stone halo]

Is a Swashbuckler Rogue 3/Hexblade Warlock 1 a good start for a Lightfoot Halfling?

[humble fog]

For sure, choices matter. Having different anticipated choices prepped helps avoid railroading as you don't see just one solution.

[oak grotto]

All you need is a particularly charismatic bard or sorcerer.

[cerulean monolith]

Too often are new DMs made to fear “railroading” as this everpresent danger that will make their players hate them forever. The reality is that railroading is not a natural instinct for most people. Railroading requires the hook, outcome, and path to the outcome to be predetermined. I don’t think most DMs do that instinctively

[stone halo]

May seem like a noob with this question but what is railroading?

[cerulean monolith]

And a fear of railroading can often force DMs into allowing players to force a sandbox game when that isn’t the premise.

[severe rampart]

Basically when player choices don't matter and anything results in only one outcome

[humble fog]

Plot happens the same no matter player input, the story is on rails and won't go off the planned track.

[cerulean monolith]

It’s when the DM doesn’t allow the players to have any agency in the game. The problem, how the party solves the problem, and the outcome is all determined and can’t be changed by player choices

[humble fog]

I've definitely seen sandbox games flounder as people can't find direction

[stone halo]

My fear of that as well as other things is why I don't dm. And I'd much rather have a dm that doesn't railroad.

[cerulean monolith]

The other definitions people have given are too broad

It is perfectly reasonable to have a predestined outcome to a story beat. It is also perfectly normal to have a story where the plot follows the same narrative despite player choices

What matters is that the party has choice in how they approach problems and the solutions they come up with. Everything else can be secondary

[humble fog]

At the end of the day players are participants not observers in the story is my simple way to sum it up why you don't want to "truly" railroad

[stone halo]

I like when my character is able to bring influence into the campaign story

[stone halo]

My autism didn't know what to put there...

[severe rampart]

I think one of the best examples of railroading I've seen on this server is a member who said "Had a DM where he sad the building was enchanted and was well can i look through the keyhole? he went sure ok i want to misty step through it, and he went "uh no it's enchanted and stops you"", because they had to have to use the DM's solution of bringing in an NPC

[cerulean monolith]

That’s fair, but to what extent? That’s a conversation to have in a Session 0, or for the DM to include in ads.

For example, in my Red Wizard game, the party always has agency in how they tackle problems. They could’ve refused to work with the Harpers when offered, but they would’ve had to travel north to hunt the bad guys no matter what. Some players may have preferred more agency; I could’ve given several locations of Red Wizards, or given the party the choice to look wherever they want. But I chose to make the story more linear, and that was okay for that group.

[humble fog]

I could see some spells that block teleportation bring able to work thematically here but as an ass pull because you didn't consider this possibility it can leave a sour taste in the players mouth. Making it a puzzle can work but be open to multiple solutions or admit when your plan had a gap and allow it.

[severe rampart]

honestly, could've allowed that and said "well... how is the rest of the party getting in?"

[stone halo]

I see, is linear sometimes simpler?

I once had a dm who didn't incorporate anything or any characters from my characters backstory at all even after telling them numerous times about it, like not even including my characters boyfriend into the story.

[humble fog]

Thinking you could unlock it from the other side only to learn you can't would raise the tension

[cerulean monolith]

It’s easier for a DM to prep a linear campaign, and it’s easier for less experienced players to engage with a linear story.

Not involving character backstories also isn’t a part of linear games. A linear story is simply that there are set plot points that will occur in a specific order. All the DM has to do is incorporate a backstory into one of those points

[stone halo]

I see

[crimson gulch]

you dont even have to fold in player backstory if you dont want too, i rarely doo

[humble fog]

Character backstories are mostly for the character motivation after all. Pulling on a thread from their backstory can be fun if done in moderation but you'll need a reason for other players to also care.

[dense nacelle]

Okay so question, is it ethical to kill your simulacrum?

Do simulacrums have souls

[tough sandal]

RAW, no.

Narratively, depends on the direction of the world and story.

[prisma prairie]

Backstories are good to have just not all dms will Include stuff. Specially if ya backstory leans more "im the main character" route

[tough sandal]

RN one of my players is a simulacrum, barely making that discovery a few sessions ago. (ouo )

[dense nacelle]

So they can’t long or short rest?

That sucks

Can’t level up can’t rest that player is dead

[onyx haven]

That's gotta be frustrating when you can't heal quickly.

[dense nacelle]

Yeah

Can’t heal at all

100 gp per hp

[tough sandal]

Okay, I'm not sadistic.

[dense nacelle]

Those are literally the stats of a simulacrum

[minor cargo]

"Does X have a soul?" is a question that I think is best answered through play. 👀

[dense nacelle]

I just wanna know if an idea I have is ethical or not

[minor cargo]

Not to be contrarian or anything, but I also think that's a question best answered in game haha.

[humble fog]

100gp for a HP? Even healing potions aren't that expensive at a minimum of 4 HP for 50gp

Oh simulacrum

[dense nacelle]

The idea is having my simulacrum cast contingency fireball and creating a life being friends with someone, I provide it with GP and whatnot so it can give the guise of having money and a life, and I disguise it to look like a commoner. It becomes friends with a random commoner and spends a few years hanging out with them, until one day while doing nothing special in particular just hanging out it says it’s trigger word and explodes and becomes a puddle of water.

And because there is absolutely no paper trail the commoner would have no idea what happened

And would have no way of finding out

[cedar bane]

i dont think it needs a soul for that to be unethical chief

[tough sandal]

Yeah that do be quite unethical.

[dense nacelle]

Because no one is dying

I think it’s fine

[cedar bane]

well yeah but youre traumatising a poor random commoner

also a simulacram not having a soul per say doesnt really matter if at that point youve given it a life

[dense nacelle]

And then we can continue doing it I guess, I send another simulacrum to hang out with the dude, help get them out of the depression that would come from whatever that was, and after a few years “BANG”

I’m fine with losing 1500 GP for this plan

[cedar bane]

ok so why are we doing this?

[dense nacelle]

Idk

[cedar bane]

fair

[dense nacelle]

It’s dnd, do I need to have a reason

[cedar bane]

yeah usually but i wont stop free will

[dense nacelle]

I just need to know if it’s ethical and against the law in general

Like are there laws against doing this

[humble fog]

For laws it depends on the DM but the water deep code legal is a good reference point

[cedar bane]

ethical? depends to what code. If we're talking psychology ethical then no not in the slightest. kinda just isnt in any way because youre causing direct and purposeful harm to a participant

illegal? depends on the world and country, feels like some kind of indentity fraud

[dense nacelle]

Where can I read this

[humble fog]

There was a free pdf of it at some point I'll get a link

https://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/dragon/21/DRA21_WDH_Preview_cl.pdf

[dense nacelle]

Using magic to mess up a civilian

[humble fog]

I could see the attack magic on contingency maybe violating the laws but as it doesn't hurt a person probably more like brandishing a weapon rather than assault/murder. (Most of the direct magic laws are about enchament magic)

[lavish flame]

The Code Legal of Waterdeep is basically just "Fantasy code of laws" in my mind. I use it as a baseline for anywhere

[halcyon bison]

I always got the impression that most of the kinds of things dnd parties do is highly illegal and unethical

Especially the casters….

[dense nacelle]

I mean considering the commoner I’m doing it to would be the only witness, and no one could track it to me, how against the law would it be?

[lavish flame]

yeah. Killing and Stealing is like 80% of what adventurers do, so ethics have to get skewed to permit that

[halcyon bison]

Illegal things are still illegal even if no one witnesses them
You’re just less likely to be charged
But also in a world with zone of truth…..

[glad arch]

Contingency only lasts 10 days

[dense nacelle]

Yeah, my simulacrum would come back to me every night

Have it come back to me and cast it when the chosen moment is within the next 10 days

[cedar bane]

Being caught for breaking the law and breaking the law aren't the same thing

Also isn't your simulacrum like. You

[dense nacelle]

That way I can touch up on the disguise

It’s disguised

[cedar bane]

Ah got it

[humble fog]

Ya, it's why I suggested it as a referance as outside of DM setting specific stuff hard to lean on anything but it for dnd laws.

[glad arch]

Why does it need to return, a simulacrum can just cast it itself can it not

[dense nacelle]

Fair

[cedar bane]

Limited spell slots, but yeah up to a point they could

[dense nacelle]

Just have it go to a safe place and cast it for 10 minutes

[severe rampart]

Is Sorlock in 2024 not as good as it used to be in 2014?

[glad arch]

Only need to cast 2 spells (contingency/fireball)

[cedar bane]

Oh that part

[glad arch]

Only risk is it dying before thay

[lavish flame]

To some extent, a Simulacrum has its own sense of autonomy so it would probably be charged with that crime, but you'd probably be charged with some other crime like "Magical Endangerment" for having made the Simulacrum.

[cedar bane]

On the basis of both of their subclasses moving up two levels, yeah

[wintry spindle]

depends on lvl tbh since you dont get that many subclass features at lvl 1 anymore

[dense nacelle]

How can it be charged with a crime if it no longer exists

Can’t charge a puddle of water

[glad arch]

Are you endangering anyone though? Contingency quite clearly states the spell doesnt affect anyone else

[dense nacelle]

No one is endangered

[glad arch]

It could live tbf

[cedar bane]

No but you can charge the person who drowned someone in it

[cedar bane]

Wouldn't be too hard either, seeing as its only a commoner that needs to go

[dense nacelle]

Upcast fireball to 5th level, make sure it’s decently low HP

I mean I don’t think a simulacrum looks like it’s damaged, especially if it’s disguised

[cedar bane]

I'd assume it does

Disguise would help though

[humble fog]

That's one reason I was saying you'd probably have it fall under brandishing a weapon rather than assault/murder. You still displayed a weapon in a way that threatened or caused fear in a citizen.

[dense nacelle]

Just hurt it down to like 10 hp and tell it to force itself to fail the dex save so it can take a minimum of 10 hp

[cedar bane]

You basically made a sentient bomb and used it to kill someone

[dense nacelle]

It’s not being used to kill anyone

[glad arch]

Simulacrum is a 7th level spell so you get it at level 13, level 13 +3 con wizard has 93hp. Simulacrum would have 46hp. Level 5 fireball does 10d6 aka 35 damage on average

[dense nacelle]

The fireball ONLY effects it

[glad arch]

Actually it probably lives

[dense nacelle]

Not if I damage it first

[cedar bane]

Oh got it. In that case it'd just be the psychological damage to the participant and would be aggression and perceived threats

[feral fulcrum]

"What is my purpose?" "You blow up."

[cedar bane]

You'd be charged with something

[glad arch]

That is if it doesnt save in which case it literally cant kill

[cedar bane]

Ao knows what

[glad arch]

Paper trail

[dense nacelle]

It’s made of snow, I doubt stabbing a simulacrum and getting snow on a knife would make it traceable to me at all

[humble fog]

If the blast radius doesn't affect another character or destroy any other property and only kills the simulacrum the crime no doubt would get lowered from throwing it in a crowded street but it is without a doubt a crime that most civilized settlements wouldn't appreciate

[dense nacelle]

If I exploded it in a crowded street that would be really bad and super illegal, but doing this in a small enclosed area with only one person around I think would be fine

[primal estuary]

do you remember the bandit you killed in session 1? and were you there when his family received the news about their son? these people clock in from 9-5 to provide for their wives, not knowing it’d be the last day of their liiiiives. so light a candle
for the goblins that were crushed beneath your feet, give salutes to all the owlbears that were sliced into mincemeat. GIVE A SHOUTOUT TO THE GUARDS YOU KILLED JUST TO OPEN THAT LOCKED DOOOOR
cause no-one thinks about the minions anymore :(

[primal estuary]

this took me much longer than i wish to admit. commitment to the bit, ig

[cedar bane]

Oh my god is that the keeper from hit game the binding of Isaac known for his triple shot and coin health

[timid crystal]

Anyone think Strahd could get a slight rework to keep up with today's power creep? Lol

[glad arch]

I mean either way noone gets harmed

[primal estuary]

dead child noises

[feral fulcrum]

Another reason to start at level 3, it's a bit silly for a Sorceror to be all "I'll find out what magical thing I am just as soon as I grow scales, fart lightning, or turn into a potted plant."

[dense nacelle]

Yeah, no one takes any damage, no one gets hurt

[cedar bane]

Yeah he's laughably weak compared to his aura

[timid crystal]

True...he's the best villain to Aura farm though

[primal estuary]

GENOCIDE IS TYPICALLY FROWNED UPON, YET YOUR PARTY DISAGREES!! DONT FORGET THE BOSS YOU KILLED FOR EXP

[glad arch]

At most you got a slightly disturbing firework show

[cedar bane]

It's a mechanical design choice which doesn't mesh too well with thematic design

[humble fog]

That's why I'm saying that this isn't the same as using it on a crowded street 😉 but even with no (real) fatalities, brandishing magic is still not a freebie

[cedar bane]

If its with intent? Still doing harm, though you'd likely be able to argue your case

[dense nacelle]

If they can even get me

Like I said, there is absolutely nothing tying this simulacrum to me

[cedar bane]

Yeah just because I didn't hurt anyone by throwing a grenade into the street doesn't mean it wasn't a crime

[feral fulcrum]

"It's not a crime if it's Just one little murder!" Oh the Magister's are gonna love that argument.

[dense nacelle]

It’s not murder, no one dies

A simulacrum isn’t a person

[cedar bane]

They're real to me OK. Me and my 72 mes

[feral fulcrum]

This is how you get murdered by your clones.

[humble fog]

Brandishing a weapon, disturbing the peace and probably other such charges may still apply even if no murder charges are present

[dense nacelle]

If there wasn’t the rule that your simulacrum is always friendly to you and your allies

[cedar bane]

Reckless display of magic, disturbing the peace, perceived threat of violence, brandishing weapons, targeted psychological trauma, etc.

[glad arch]

Yeh sure and every ai robot movie ever the robots are coded not to harm people and we see how that ends

[severe rampart]

the urge to play a caster who conjures a "gun" and shoots spells out of it (like a firebolt coming out of a pistol or a revolver shooting magic missiles)

[feral fulcrum]

Where there's a Wizard, there's a way.

[cedar bane]

A wand

[feral fulcrum]

Looks at Artificer

[severe rampart]

Artificers are okay

[feral fulcrum]

One of them has that baked into it's design

[severe rampart]

I don't want to be a half caster

[feral fulcrum]

Arcane Firearm, I beleive the Feature's called

[dense nacelle]

This is like saying that you could possibly cast a spell to conjure a summon and send it to kill something and instead it kills you because another conjuration spell you cast got caught in a fireball or something

[severe rampart]

Yeah but flavor is free

[lavish flame]

oh then you're definitely getting that charge. you can't just make a suicide-bomber and avoid a charge because you didn't do the bombing.

[humble fog]

Special curved handle wand rather than a straight wand lol

[feral fulcrum]

Curved Swords- I mean Wands you say?

[glad arch]

I know by the rules this couldnt happen because this is a game. However i feel like if a player really neglects there simulacrum and activly acts evil towards it the dm should be allowed to start the simulacrum uprising

[feral fulcrum]

I'd much prefer an uprising of awakened shrubberies

[dense nacelle]

If a single one of my simulacra tries to attack me I am summoning them nonstop and locking them in cages, forced to watch me cast the spell again and its life fades from its eyes.

[feral fulcrum]

I think I've found the next Local Evil Insane Wizard to populate a dungeon with.

[dense nacelle]

Force it to cast the wish spell to make the components to cast simulacrum specifically

[glad arch]

Yeh that is indeed some evil wizard in a tower stuff

[viral kraken]

This is the weirdest thing I've ever heard someone threaten themselves with

[dense nacelle]

Put it in a magic proof cage so it can’t cast spells out of it.

And I’m doing this for a week straight

[severe rampart]

gotta muzzle the wizard and tie their hands

[dense nacelle]

Forcing the simulacra to watch me sleep without the ability to do anything

[glad arch]

As you enter the wizards dungeon you feel a sense of cold coming over you. Everywhere around you you see small puddles of water and little piles of snow

[dense nacelle]

They can’t sleep, so they just watch on as I can.

[thorn wedge]

“From up the stairs, you hear the angry voice of a wizard muttering a string of threats and curses. Your skin begins to crawl as you hear the same voice answer itself, this time pleading for mercy. Something is terribly wrong in this tower.”

[dense nacelle]

That would be messed up

[humble fog]

In older editions there was a poison called mage bane which cut their access to magic temporarily while the poison was in their system. I have been tempted to bring that forward in a game but I know it'd be a bit much

[spice spear]

Whats up

[dense nacelle]

I just think simulacra are beneath me

[viral kraken]

I think in 5e the hot tech for stopping spellcasting is compelling the caster to don armor they are not proficient in. That'll stop even subtle spell.

[humble fog]

That's why dwarf mountain wizards are the best. Just take a feat for heavy armour proficiency

[dense nacelle]

Abjuration wizards are good tanks

[humble fog]

Definitely agreed there, I prefer them over blade singer for melee wizards. Don't know if githyanki lost it in monsters of the multiverse but wizard with a great sword and booming blade was fun.

[lost root]

Never thought I'd be citing the DMG and PHB in an academic thesis, but here we are lmao

[glad arch]

Oowh?

[dense nacelle]

Hitting a dm with a “no a 24 doesn’t hit me” as a wizard is so satisfying

And then oh you crit? My ward takes all the damage

[lost root]

Yeah, my master's thesis: Celestial, Fiends, and Undead: Revisiting Dungeons and Dragons as Youth and Young Adult Ministry

[feral fulcrum]

Papa Pelor better get a mention.

[glad arch]

Didnt get hit as a paladin in the whole encounter, finally asks does a 24 hit (20 AC) so i was like yeh. Then i remembered i have the shield spell and decided actually you know what, nah it doesnt

[lost root]

(I'm graduating from seminary in a month to be a pastor)

[humble fog]

Once pissed my DM off when they finally hit me after like 5 sessions and finally forced me to use shield.

[lost root]

will do 🫡

[glad arch]

Oowh thats cool

Im sure you love the satanic panic from old dnd

[lost root]

I have a 4.5 page opener about how stupid it was

[glad arch]

Then they hit your pre level 6 paladin with a saving throw and you just sit there and take it

[glad arch]

Makes for a good chapter in the thesis

[dense nacelle]

Honestly if my build was more melee focused instead of healing focused I’d probably just have haste up at all times for 27 ac with all that I’ve got

[humble fog]

Oh no, that was my wizard build. I was a melee wizards because it was funny

[glad arch]

Im guessing this is a bladesinger

[dense nacelle]

No it’s an abjuration wizard

With the mark of healing

[glad arch]

20 ac abjuration wizard?

[dense nacelle]

And multi-classed into cleric for med armor prof

[humble fog]

Ya, abjuration helps with the glass cannon issues when you finally get hit.

[dense nacelle]

And shield prof

[glad arch]

Ah there we go

[dense nacelle]

And so I can add and additional +4 to religion and arcana checks

[glad arch]

Was wondering how you got 20 AC with just wizard stuff

[humble fog]

My build got armour proficiencies from racial sources to dodge needing to multi class.

[dense nacelle]

Half plate + medium armor master

[humble fog]

Don't think I was at AC 20 in mine but it was early levels.

[limpid gyro]

AVRAE DOWN 😭

[dense nacelle]

16 dex for 18, shield for 20, shield for 25

[limpid gyro]

MY TOWER OF GOD HOMEBREW!!!

AVRAE WAKE UP AVRAEE!!!

[dense nacelle]

Oh I guess also cloak of protection for 26

Basically: a ton of AC on a wizard

Who is realistically “healing” himself at any given moment when casting abjuration spells

Which, are all healing spells

[humble fog]

Especially when rituals out of combat (like alarm) can count for replenishing the ward.

[dense nacelle]

Also planning on using contingency for a free cast of 5th level cure wounds on myself when I really need it

Trigger is saying a word which is a free action, then I can action use my free cast of cure wounds from mark of healing, and then bonus action healing word

[normal junco]

effectively, how many turns in combat could you effectively do this for?

[dense nacelle]

One, however this is only for emergencies.

Everyone needs healing, multiple people downed, and I’m really low

I get 10d8+5 hp, one teammate gains 2d8+5 (which can be from range because of familiar) and another teammate gains healing word HP, can be upcast

And my ward heals a ton

And if my concentration is on aura of vitality then another teammate gains 2d6 hp

That is the “get out of jail free card”

[glad ferry]

I kinda wanna make a necromancer now or a grave cleric

[severe rampart]

Is it just me or is the server bugging out a little?

[rose wedge]

Discord outages.

[severe rampart]

Ah, got it

[wicked crest]

Welcome back

[empty thicket]

Oh, okey okey, thought something worse happened

[uneven harness]

hello

I think the discord is down...

[minor cargo]

Discord is powered by The Weave. It happens every so often. Best to avoid casting high level spells during these things.

[woven flint]

Sorry everyone, my fault, I was waging war with Cyric.

glad to see you folks didn't meet your untimely destruction, though!

[errant crag]

I wish it would just pick a few servers and let them be out

[reef tundra]

Oh I thought it was just me

Someone must've killed Mystra again

-# Good

[jade spade]

what happened

[reef tundra]

Discord outage

[rough basalt]

Usual occasional discord crash

[reef tundra]

Also hiii

[frail leaf]

God it's hard to find any campaign/game here. And hey everyone

[reef tundra]

I know the pain

[severe rampart]

My 7th level fireball just spurted out sparks!

[reef tundra]

I pray for your success, good luck

[severe rampart]

This is a scam, I'm putting in my yelp review

[reef tundra]

You had one job - don't cast high level spells >:(

[severe rampart]

The Weave advertises this! Why shan't I?

[livid brook]

Does Paladin 5 fighter 15 give 5 attacks per action

[severe rampart]

Extra Attack doesn't stack

[reef tundra]

Because clickbait

[frail leaf]

The curse of eternal DM is terrible

[severe rampart]

I feel the curse overtaking me

[hot reef]

Sorry, I needed a few third levels to take down the new Cthulhu

[severe rampart]

Cthulu is a vital part of the ecosystem!

and a protected species

[reef tundra]

Understandable

[reef tundra]

Heavy is the crown

[empty thicket]

ermmm....

[reef tundra]

I don't mind it though, as long as I get a few chances to play every now and then

It's burnout that is the curse

[frail leaf]

I haven't played as a player for about 2 years now.

[severe rampart]

but I have sooo many characters I want to play 😔

[minor cargo]

Oh, if you subscribe to Mystra's top tier Patron level, you get advanced warning about this. That's something that's not in the handbook, sorry.

[reef tundra]

Oh dayum. I applaud your strength

[empty thicket]

X2
I have already like 5 options of characters, each one worked out and all that. Fitting in almost all settings

[spice monolith]

Are you able to play npcs? Or do you have to turn the npc into a character

[severe rampart]

How do you mean?

NPCs and PCs are built differently

[empty thicket]

Direct answer, No.
Explaining, NPCS are tools that the DM use for the story//plot, etc. etc.

[spice monolith]

Like I made a npc for my campaign and I also want to play him like in other campaigns

[spice monolith]

Ahh ok

[severe rampart]

Right, you can make a new character sheet for them then

[empty thicket]

okey, there is a misunderstanding. There is PC's (playable characters)

[severe rampart]

using that new character sheet you pick options that you think they'd have and voila

[empty thicket]

and NPC's, Non playable characters

[spice monolith]

Ok so I can?

Or?

[empty thicket]

Yes, you can use your past PC for any future campaign, considerate that might need to be adapted and would be different ins ome way

[spice monolith]

It's the same character

[severe rampart]

??? When you made the NPC, did you use a Character Sheet?

[umbral girder]

As a DM not really, as a player then sure just work with your DM

[spice monolith]

No

[severe rampart]

then make one

[spice monolith]

Ok

[reef tundra]

I once played as Windfall from Vecna - Eve of Ruin, that was fun

[severe rampart]

there you go then

[spice monolith]

Thx

[reef tundra]

Although when I played her she wasn't the champion of Tiamat. I'm not that kinda player

[severe rampart]

I feel like I got spoiled but at the same time I don't care much about the lore of D&D

[reef tundra]

Ah dw she isn't a major NPC

[turbid vessel]

reoccuring faces can be a funny bit in groups that have multiple campaigns

even funnier if the faces transcend setting or even system

[tough sandal]

I love getting in my players' heads.

[tough sandal]

Newest session summary is a bunch of "logbook entries" from a third party NPC.
I only teased this third party a couple of sessions ago in a combat summary, but only the Sorcerer caught on to my game. <3

Everyone else forgor. Now I'm being up front. :3c

[fast latch]

I hate when my players forget

It feels like they didn’t pay attention

[agile hemlock]

I wonder what a high Insight looks like character-wise

[tough sandal]

Oh, my players have been paying attention.
They just keep getting details wrong. They cast Tasha's Hideous Laughter on me yesterday because they came to the wrong conclusions.
Now they gave me ideas to work with over the next week.

[silk hare]

yeah Im setting up a trickster god rn that disguises himself as all sorts of annoying creatures

plan is to make him a recurring character

[tough sandal]

I laughed for a good 10 minutes on call post-session.
Never give your DM ideas to further develop the campaign. 🤣

[severe rampart]

I wonder, what's better, a logbook or recaps...

[tough sandal]

This is the improv online tutorials talk about.

[fast latch]

You can tell emotions really well

Like if someone is lying, you can tell by the way their breathing quickens and their eyes shift that they’re lying

[reef tundra]

I played a therapist once with high insight

It was kinda fun

She died :(

[severe rampart]

fails insight check ... rolls deception

[tough sandal]

I've actually made recaps microfictions for my players since session 55.
Combat sessions are written in the perspective of NPCs, retold legends long after the campaign, or in the case I'm describing, logbook entries.
This is the first time I did a session recap in a roleplay session like this. This is because my players came to the wrong conclusions, and I'm playing into it.

[severe rampart]

Since session 55?

[tough sandal]

We are now in session 68.

[severe rampart]

wow, multi year campaign

[reef tundra]

One more hehe

[errant crag]

Is there anything I can do to make an enemy less likely to pass my spells' saving throws? Aside from Increase the ability score?

[severe rampart]

Heh, nice.

[tough sandal]

Yes, next session is session 69.

[errant crag]

All I can think of is Heightened Spell metamagic

[reef tundra]

Become sorcerer, heightened-

[reef tundra]

Yeah, thatll do it :(

[hot reef]

magic items can also increase DC

[reef tundra]

Wait, also sorcerer innate magic, increases DC by 1

[severe rampart]

what you planning for it?

[errant crag]

For reference I'm an Artificer

[glass granite]

Have a lore bard in the party, bane, silvery barbs

[reef tundra]

Aha, can you make items that increase DC?

[hot reef]

Or having ways to give them nerfs to their saves

[severe rampart]

also that's impressive, 69 sessions, that's a multi year campaign

[hollow lynx]

Hi

[tough sandal]

Players are in Mornbryn's Shield. They are highly suspicious of Xenk Yendar for being an awkward speaker.
Next session is an investigation to a nearby abandoned grove. The fighter's unknown family of Blood Hunters will be present alongside mind flayers.

[fast latch]

Craft one of the items that makes your DC higher

[severe rampart]

Fun, your own homebrew world correct?

[tough sandal]

I'm playing into their suspicions of Xenk Yendar. I'm going to prove them right. ;)

[errant crag]

Like what

[fast latch]

Nice

[tough sandal]

It's in Faerûn. Phandelver campaign that veered FAR OFF THE BOOK.

[fast latch]

All-Purpose Tool

[tough sandal]

How far off? They're level 14.

[fast latch]

Bloodwell Vial

[errant crag]

I'm not a sorcerer

All purpose tool could work

[severe rampart]

Phandelver and Above

[fast latch]

Rhythm-Maker’s Drum

[tough sandal]

Yeah, basically. They've explored so much more that's outside the scope of Phandelver and Below.
They were off the book since Level 6, Session 18.

[errant crag]

I can't replicate an all purpose tool until level 10

[reef tundra]

How about wand of the war mage?

Or am I forgetting what the wand does

[errant crag]

Wand is only spell attack rolls

[south prawn]

My group is slow lol.... Session 36 and still wrapping up loose ends in Chapter 4. We've had several off book sessions also though, so I guess it's really not possible to directly compare

[tough sandal]

Every group is different. I won't divulge on the book's contents in this chatroom though.

[cloud bison]

is there a bundle with the online ravenloft book + the cards?

[shut lance]

Those are great. Both of ours have been 2 years or so

[tough sandal]

I can't wait to get into my campaign's third anniversary.

[south prawn]

We had an unfortunate year long hiatus in my first group. I'm actually surprised it picked back up last year, but so glad it did

[rough basalt]

I should run a one shot on the Monday I've canceled cause I need the time to work on the game due to the pseudo tpk

That way I don't go too long without the digital dice roll

[hollow lynx]

Time to download Baldurs gate 3

[empty thicket]

i had one too... the dm got his dm power drained and didnt wanted to do it anymore

[plush ermine]

I wish there was better rep for elemental spells and cantrips for druid. Like i wish there was an air based dmg cantrip, or a better earth cantrip that isnt magic stones (cus its kept at a low dmg with no scaling for the 1 in a million chance that ur party has no ranged options at all.)

[errant crag]

So true. When I made my Earth/Mountain themed Druid I still ended up having to use Produce Flame as my ranged option

[plush ermine]

ice knife and thunderwave are basically ice and air types, but tbh to me it feels incomplete wo a fire and earth type. (and thats ignoring that technicality of in dnd theres really 5 "elemental" types with cold, fire, lightning, acid and thunder, so we are short by a lot.) and ice and water basically share the "cold" slot 😭

earth tremor is ok, lightning lure is meh, ofc i do like to see stuff get that 24 polish so hopefully they get remade

[halcyon narwhal]

Hey everyone! I made a campaign opening song! https://youtu.be/D2BiyGs_0jU What do people think about stuff like this?

[idle oar]

No AI involved right? Cause if AI was used, then it's not allowed to be shared here on our server.

[halcyon narwhal]

Its really me singing ect. The visualizer is not ai.

[idle oar]

also more of a #dnd-arts-and-crafts topic

[empty thicket]

Earthquake exist too, tsunami but i get what you all mean for more "elemental" attacks

[halcyon narwhal]

Its via videobolt.

[empty thicket]

i would like to see a spell that is a stone cage or smt like that with a STR save

i guess someone already made it or is in a book, just need to search it

[reef tundra]

Just took a listen to the first minute or so, that's pretty cool! I like the guitar and the Grazz't theme

[plush ermine]

i want to say that i pray that when elemental warlock comes out they would drop more spells like that, but expanding the elemental catalogue doesnt feel like it would be in a villian book? hopefully im wrong so i can get my wishes.

[halcyon narwhal]

Thanks!

[plush ermine]

unless they REALLY wanna bring bakc elemental evil

[knotty vine]

My used to be consort Grazz't

[reef tundra]

Praying for the return of Genie Warlock and changing it a little to make it a dark parallel to the new Oath of the Noble Genies paladin subclass

[reef tundra]

Now only I remain as your consort

[paper portal]

I love genie warlocks yippee

[halcyon narwhal]

Yeah the campaign is about what would happen if Grazzt took over the Abyss then the mult-verse. Iggwilv, Tash and Zyblina is a big part of it as well.

the song is the opening to that essentially.

[errant crag]

Whyyyy

[reef tundra]

Because >:(

[errant crag]

I need to stop reading people's suggestions in this server it makes me MAD

[paper portal]

I think it's a good idea

[reef tundra]

Why does mine make you mad 😭

I just think it would be cool to have two subclasses be parallels to each other

[reef tundra]

Thank you

[paper portal]

Nope you will be boiled sorry

[hot reef]

MAD stands for multi-ability dependent. Hope this helps and this is definitely what they meant.

[knotty vine]

I am MAD sometimes

Also nice to see you Amity

I hope you are well

[errant crag]

The problem is you want them to change another subclass to do this

The last thing this system needs is subclasses being made MORE SIMILAR to one another

[reef tundra]

It's already genie themed, they might as well

[errant crag]

It's genie themed but mechanically unique

[reef tundra]

And I meant literally just change the name slightly

[errant crag]

Removing that mechanical uniqueness is completely unnecessary

[reef tundra]

Literally something like "Pact of the Diabolic genie" or smth to make it a parallel

How in the heck would they change a warlock subclass to be like a paladin subclass

[plush ermine]

tbh i dont even know how they can change noble genie warlock to be more similiar to oath of noble genies,the play styles are completely different but they both hit the marks in the ways that matter.

[errant crag]

Yes exactly they're fine

[empty thicket]

same

[reef tundra]

I should have clarified I was not talking about mechanically changing

[empty thicket]

eldritch knigth and bladesinger are an example

[reef tundra]

I have played genie warlock before

[reef tundra]

I just said that

[plush ermine]

literally the most they can do for oath of noble genies is give them expanded lists that match the genie types rather then one that kinda hits all the marks.

but thats under the assumption u follow one genie rather then all? and technically would match good to genie warlock as they also follow one specific genie

[half igloo]

How much damage does favored enemy do 2014 specific enemy for ranger? And yes I know Ranger 2024 is way better but I love the thematics of this ranger for my character currently

[errant crag]

Favored Foe is 1d4

Favored Enemy doesn't get any extra damage until much later

[empty thicket]

yeah.....could be higher

considerating is a whole feature....

[plush ermine]

I wish beastmaster rangers could pick traits that match beasts to add to uniqueness to them. in 24 i mean

[reef tundra]

I respect someone who picks an ability for theming

Stay strong, soldier

[plush ermine]

like my chatacabra primal companion, i wish it had the giant frogs jump and swallow abilities. or ig more accurately leap since chatacabra is kind of a merge of a frog and a gorilla. and thats referencing straight from beast statblocks. ik it would be a fight to allow even more crazy effects like how chatacabras lick their arms to allow stuff in the environment to stick to amp their punching power

[empty thicket]

for what?

[reef tundra]

Just for the theming of it, ah la the person above

[reef tundra]

This person

Life is too short to optimise all the time. Pick the cool stuff

[half igloo]

Someone who appreciates my sacrifice 🥀

[reef tundra]

Specifically stuff that looks and sounds cool, even if it may not do that much damage at all

[half igloo]

My current character is being hunted lore wise by a great beast which gives him tasks to hunt down stronger and stronger creature until he eventually dies and the great beast can absorb his negative energy(crooked moon). So I wanted to do Ranger 2014 for the favored enemy aberration

[reef tundra]

Metal af

Hey wait a minute... is that Bloodborne?

[humble fog]

A hunter must hunt

[half igloo]

Yeah lol. I didn’t realize it until I made it and it was too late

[reef tundra]

It's up to the hunter to clean up these sorts of messes

[half igloo]

Yeah and lore wise if I didn’t hunt and settled down the great beast would wipe out my whole city and everyone I loved to get me back to playing it’s game

[plush ermine]

im not sure if im assuming that paladin is a combination of fighter and cleric, and ranger is a combo of figher and druid, but i wish eldritch knight was a intelligence based half caster. To me it feels like it gets the short end of the stick, War Bond is cool but u still have to swap out to arcane focuses unless u wanna use MATERIAL COMPONENTS 🤮. It says u "study magic" and yes ik im assuming this is supposed to be fighter x wizard but why cant u also "learn" spells like wizards do?

[half igloo]

I had a small aneurism reading that

[humble fog]

Did they change EK to no longer be an int caster with the 24 update?

[reef tundra]

EK is still an int caster

[plush ermine]

still int

[reef tundra]

Do you mean you wished it was a full class?

[humble fog]

Oh half caster not 3rd as it currently stands gotcha

[reef tundra]

I am very confused

[plush ermine]

yea, shifted to match the half caster progression like paladins and rangers

[reef tundra]

I am no longer confused. I fw that opinion

More half casters the better

[empty thicket]

still int, i guess the idea is "you learned spells" like wizard does

[reef tundra]

-# Laughs in homebrewed half caster class

[empty thicket]

and ngl, is the only way i could kinda justify the source of that "magic"

[humble fog]

I was just confused for a moment on what part they were complaining about, I misread as I skimmed

[plush ermine]

unfortunately, artificer ate up the space for a int half caster 😭

[reef tundra]

-# Named the Battleblood, made my be, Amity Rose <3 why am I pretending to be a car salesperson

[plush ermine]

so EK is banished to the realm of homebrew

[errant crag]

Having an official Spellsword half caster class would be nifty

[reef tundra]

Life is too short to care whether or not your homebrew is too similar to something, make a spellsword class
-# Good idea, Amity, go make it, Amity

[humble fog]

Monk + wizard half caster would slap but I know not to expect it (functioning way of the 4E)

[plush ermine]

monk x sorceror 3rd caster is coming soon

[errant crag]

They tried something like that in the UA and It was terribad

[plush ermine]

way of the tattoo or something

[humble fog]

Oh? I did miss that new UA

[errant crag]

Mystic Arts Monk

[plush ermine]

it had potential but it was a lil botched

[errant crag]

Its really bad

Their penultimate subclass feature is just "You cast a levelled spell but it still counts as the attack action instead of the magic action"

[reef tundra]

I am normally feel very positively about most subclasses in the game, and UA most often... but I agree

[empty thicket]

in which way?

[reef tundra]

I hope the next version is better, more interesting

[plush ermine]

homebrew rule changes to make it better

[empty thicket]

for not being so good?

[empty thicket]

oh that, meh, fighter is already good and having spells help a lot

[reef tundra]

Isn't EK one of the "best" fighter subclasses?

[plush ermine]

I wish gestalt was more explored cus im having a tough time balancing it to allow ppl to play non optimal things, i want barbarian druids and artificier sorcerors, not sorlocks, lockadins and barbarian fighters for the millionth time

[empty thicket]

the "you can cast a cantrip//spell and attack in the same turn" is okey for me

more if we considerate some cantrips being an upgraded attack

or some spells help to close the gap betwen the enemy and you

[plush ermine]

its so crazy to me that war bond doesnt make ur weapon a spellcasting focus?

[reef tundra]

I just don't have optimisers at my game

[prime pewter]

Its such a shame that hex costs concentration. I'm building a Hexblood illusionist wizard and I can't cast both major image, and hex to give them disadvantage on their roll to see through it. But on the bright side, Minor Illusion still works with it!

[reef tundra]

Now that is one point I agree with, I found it strange

[errant crag]

It's important to be critical of the UA

It's play test material they want us to be brutally honest

[trim island]

interesting

[reef tundra]

Oh I don’t do white lies I just genuinely like some of the crazy stuff they make for UA

But I believe I shall indeed give my feedback for the mystic arts Monk

[trim island]

hmmmmmm

[reef tundra]

It’ll be my first time complaining about UA, fun!

[plush ermine]

i feel like it goes both ways, where players can play their fun nonoptimal ideas but even normal gestalt rules still has awkward scaling for these unoptimal builds. like it takes alot to keep ur scaling going correctly across ur 4-6 asis, and having a decent start under point buy.

[trim island]

opinions on destroying entire capital cities with a spell book filled to the brim with glyphs of explosion

[reef tundra]

I do not know what Gestalt is

[hot reef]

Spellcasting as a subclass can’t work for a core damage feature very well, since it’ll always be weaker than a caster’s spells
It becomes a weird blend of attacks+spells

[reef tundra]

Seen it. Meh

[hot reef]

What’s its explosion radius? 10-20ft?

[plush ermine]

gestalt is where u level in 2 classes at the same time, but keep ur normal progression. like a level 4 character could be a 4 fighter and 4 barbarian, but still have the normal pb of a level 4 char. same w spell slots etc.

[plush ermine]

i love the idea of it, especially if its tweaked to allow for these weird combos

[prime pewter]

Also gimmie fun ideas on what to illusion!

[reef tundra]

Broke my brain

[reef tundra]

Hmmm Oki Oki uhhhh… a cool set of armour

I have no idea

[empty thicket]

true, but the idea for me of EK is using spells to solve some of the problems of the class

[turbid vessel]

there's a gestalt-lite version where instead of 2 classes, it's 2 subclasses

[empty thicket]

closing gaps and defenses against casters

[reef tundra]

I sense where this is heading

[hot reef]

Indeed, pretty cool subclass

[plush ermine]

havent considered that

[hot reef]

But they’re never going to be relying on spells as the majority of their damage, mainly to supplement it (with blade cantrips and the like)

[empty thicket]

Yep, fighter already have a good dps, spells only help him in general and ngl, warcaster on him and use some cantrip do al ot

[reef tundra]

Also shield on a fighter goes hard

[empty thicket]

some spells that protect you from effects too

[reef tundra]

That too

[turbid vessel]

it's definetly less balance-breaking for the most part than standard gestalt

i'd make a battlmaster eldritch knight

[empty thicket]

if not just mix some both good thing from both worlds

im more simple, i like champion because at max lvl you get some sort of regeneration

[errant crag]

Love 2024 Champion

[reef tundra]

Same here

[empty thicket]

same, the atheltic feature at first help a lot and get some other funny things

[reef tundra]

Also I keep 2014 grappling in my games so champion fighters are grappling machines at my table

[empty thicket]

any upgrade to martials is welcome for me

[frosty garnet]

what is YOUR favourite dungeon and dragon, respectively?

[plush ermine]

a garguantuan slime that basically acts like a mini realm/dungeon that shifts to match whatever elemental surge was occuring. I made it up and didnt have a good name for it, but i kinda themed it on regigagas and the dot designs on regis. Favorite dragon is Alatreon.

[frosty garnet]

thats an awesome answer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i really like that!

[turbid vessel]

favorite dragon? puff the magic

[lavish flame]

My favorite dungeon is easily the dungeon from Expedition to Barrier Peaks. Thats just straight up a UFO, like its a massive disc with androids and robots on board.

My favorite dragon is probably the new Gold Dragon. From the ground view, when they're flying overhead they appear to be sword-shaped tapestries in the sky.

[frosty garnet]

if we are touching into non-dnd territory, my favourite dungeon is probably the one in dunmeshi

[glossy otter]

Dungeon would have to be Wave Echo Cave in Phandelver. I can't explain too much to avoid spoilers but it was a lot of fun to see how characters navigated it. As for dragon, def the 5.5e Green Dragon. love how it's hood is meshed into the build

[paper portal]

I may be killed for this but I think my favourite dungeon is the temple of the elder elemental eye

[glossy otter]

No, that'd be the rick and morty dungeon jkjk

[plush ermine]

i cant wait for a gem dragon redesign, the new 24 dragons look great. Gem dragons look a lil too bland imo. Like sapphire dragon looks like a plastic toy in alot of art.

[glossy otter]

The gem dragon redesigns already exist, but it's in a non sourcebook

I think it was the guide to dragons

[lavish flame]

I think they mean a visual redesign, like how the 5.5 Monster Manual gave a new visual identity to each Dragon

[knotty vine]

Yeah

I like how each and every new monster in the manual tells a story

[lavish flame]

they want the Gem family to get that same luxury

[knotty vine]

Example being a beholder zapping a bunch of adventurers

[errant crag]

I don't like the new Sea Hag art, doesn't give me Hag vibes.

They just look like sea monsters

[knotty vine]

Well they are sea hags

[glossy otter]

Thats what I mean. I think they got new art. Unless they mean statblockwise

[knotty vine]

I want a new vecna stat block ngl

[plush ermine]

technically both, but i prefered art

[knotty vine]

The vecna we have now just isn’t doing it for me

[errant crag]

Wish they'd just let big scary boss enemies be big scary boss enemies

Let Vecna be a final boss

[knotty vine]

Make Vecna CR 30

[idle oar]

You might like Monsters of Drakkenheim...

[errant crag]

He should have been tbh

[lean wigeon]

i can solo vecna

[errant crag]

I don't like to use third party stuff if I can help it

[knotty vine]

I use a few of the monsters of Drakkenheim

[turbid vessel]

always wanted a better strahd statblock after running CoS

[errant crag]

I've heard others say the same

[crimson gulch]

Dungeon of the mad mage has been perfect

[errant crag]

I wanna run DotMM but I don't think my group would like it

[knotty vine]

Usually very nerfed

[errant crag]

I'm the only person in my group who likes big scary threatening dungeon crawls

[knotty vine]

I mean Strahd isn’t really anything special tbh especially with daylight now counting as sunlight

[crimson gulch]

It's been My first 1 to 20 professional game

[knotty vine]

Or that one feat that can make your light cantrip count as sunlight