dnd-discussion

[rough basalt]

Yep except you can see through magical darkness too

As for worth it? Can be.

[scenic zinc]

-# dnd should get rid of all forms of darkvision /end_of_hot_take

[errant crag]

Anyways

[empty thicket]

in my campaign we kinda did it

i have to carry a lantern all the tiem

that is in my equipment and the dm let me use for free

but using it would alert enemies and finally is limited in sight

[scenic zinc]

Love to hear it

[rough basalt]

It's kinda why I like Shadowdark

You need light or you gonna die

[quiet flare]

Making a FNaF based campaign looking for tips on how I should put it together

[errant crag]

I think that's my queue to leave I'll see y'all later

[scenic zinc]

Do you want it to feel like fnaf or is it just set in that universe?

If the former, I'd honestly suggest a different system entirely.

Like Call of Cthulu

[rough basalt]

Yeah the horror of FNaF falls apart really fast when you can just Heat Metal Freddy and scorch him to a pile of molten slop

[mint oyster]

Hello

[tacit jackal]

Hey, I got a player who wants to do colony building? are there any good books for dnd 5e for that sort of thing?

[peak pecan]

Not from 5e; that’s not really been a key part of D&D since maybe 2nd edition

[tacit jackal]

damn. any suggestions?

[candid solar]

Colony in what sense? Is it a colony for the party or an actual settlement?

[idle oar]

I mean there's the bastions rules but yeah, nothing official beyond that for 5e

Bastion rules can be found here in the D&D 5.5 DMG: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/dmg-2024/bastions#Chapter8Bastions

[peak pecan]

You can look at how domain play worked in 2e and check out third party updates of that material, or you can use the Bastion rules

[scenic zinc]

You might be able to cobble together something using the settlements section from the '14 dmg, but that's more of a dm world building resource than a player facing mechanical thing.

[visual hawk]

MCDM's third-party books, Strongholds and Followers and Kingdoms and Warfare

[tacit jackal]

thanks I'll look into these

[feral fulcrum]

I entierly forgot that was a thing.

[feral fulcrum]

Also if it's just a single player's desire, make sure the rest of the group doesn't mind if it gets a fair amount of focus, as such things generally require.

[umbral girder]

Except he can still get you like that

Good old FNAF Security Breach showing that

[rough basalt]

Me when I planeshift him to Barovia.

Let Strahd deal with it.

[umbral girder]

Find out Plane shift fails

Turns out the Pizzeria is a Dread Domain. /jk

[rough basalt]

Would be pretty funny

[umbral girder]

Also I think Plane shift can't work on unwilling targets anymore in 5.5e

[woven flint]

William Afton is the Dread Lord

[umbral girder]

Nah

The "Vengeful Spirit" probably is

Refusing to let him go to hell, making the other souls stick around to torture him

aka Golden Freddy I should note

[peak pecan]

The Mists rise around the Pizzeria every day at dusk, you have to find a way to survive for 5 nights

[umbral girder]

A big thing with FNAF is Afton is the cause, but hasn't been the continuing force of suffering for a while.

[primal estuary]

to the basement!

[scenic zinc]

Yeah that entire paragraph is gone in the '24 version

[feral fulcrum]

BOO

using plane shift offensively was fun

[scenic zinc]

just use the old version then ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[fossil hollow]

I use 2014 CS for my games

[rich peak]

I just got my first set of dice!!

Surprised it took this long I’ve been playing for a few months now

But still!

[jolly canyon]

Yea even I who has never played 5e use some 5e stuff cause I like it more than 5.5e version

[errant crag]

I don't need to be holding a component pouch to cast with it do I? I just need a hand free right? But I don't need to be holding it?

[crimson gulch]

drawing the component from the pouch with the free hand is part of the spellcasting somatic component

[pearl fog]

Hello

[errant crag]

But I don't need to be holding it in my hand right?

Like if I'm a caster holding a Greatsword I can just take my hand off the Greatsword to cast with the somatic and material component using the pouch right

Since you only need to be holding the Greatsword with both hands when you attack with it

[crimson gulch]

correct, you wear it

[errant crag]

Maybe my Greatsword Artificer should use a component pouch instead of artisans tools then

[crimson gulch]

i thought artificers had to use tools rather than the normal components

[errant crag]

I think it's that they can, not that they need to

Nevermind I guess they do

[feral fulcrum]

Artificer's Require tools, yes, instead of more flexible focuses.

[errant crag]

What an arbitrary limitation

[feral fulcrum]

I mean, they are trying to keep the flavor to...well, artificing.

[errant crag]

The wording of this suggests to me that any artificer spell requires them even if the spell normally doesn't have Material components

[feral fulcrum]

And that means needing your tools to be highlited somehow

since otherwise they were...basically useless for the most part in 2014?

Because crafting rules sucked big time

[errant crag]

So every other class can go without mechanically enforced flavor but artificer is where they draw the line

You don't need to have a deity for cleric but you're required to hold tools for artificer

You don't need to be religious to be a paladin but you need to have tools in hand for artificer

[atomic kayak]

Component pouch isnt just flavor fwiw

Also artificers don't just use tools

[feral fulcrum]

Because Paladins are not inherently religious yes, why do people keep forgetting this...

[errant crag]

Brother I quite literally just said they don't

Are you telling me I'm forgetting something I explicitly just said

Literal seconds ago are you kidding me

[feral fulcrum]

What rustles your jimmies brother.

[errant crag]

You acting like I'm forgetting something that I literally just said

Are you kidding me?

Me: "Paladins aren't required to be religious"
You; "Paladins are not inherently religious why do people keep forgetting this"

Am I forgetting the thing that I literally JUST said?

Anyways

This wording implies to me that artificers need their tools to cast any artificer spells, whether they require material components or not

Tools Required. You produce your Artificer spells through tools. You can use Thieves' Tools, Tinker's Tools, or another kind of Artisan's Tools with which you have proficiency as a Spellcasting Focus, and you must have one of those focuses in hand when you cast an Artificer spell (meaning the spell has an M component when you cast it).

I really hate this

This seems completely unnecessary from a mechanics and balance standpoint

[fickle heart]

It's meant to be thematic, aye.

[humble cairn]

I like it, it emphasizes the Artificer theme and actually gets around some component difficulty with Somatic stuff, so now you always just need a tool on hand and can use that hand for casting.

[atomic kayak]

And it can be replaced by a bunch of different stuff anyways

[errant crag]

And why is Artificer the only class that needs to have mechanical enforcement to its flavor?

[atomic kayak]

Via infusions/rmi

[atomic kayak]

Because its not

[errant crag]

Warlock doesn't specify that you are required to have a specific being/creature stat block that serves as your patron

Cleric doesn't require you list a god as the deity of the domain your cleric worships

[atomic kayak]

Those are false equivalents to artificer tool/magic item focus usage

[errant crag]

What is something that's equivalent then

[peak pecan]

Clerics needing a holy symbol or amulet to cast spells

[errant crag]

Clerics can use a component pouch

[atomic kayak]

Wildshapes entire existence for one. Among other things

The thing about the tools is you can just. Flavor them as literally anything else anyways.

Or just use a magic item as your focus

[errant crag]

I don't give a shit about the flavor I give a shit about of the mechanics of always being required to hold something to cast Artificer spells and forcing every spell my artificer casts to have M components

[fickle heart]

Honestly, that's when you homebrew a change. The design was made that way intentionally for the flavor.

[errant crag]

Book mandated flavor

[fickle heart]

That's not to say you can't dislike it, mind you.

[errant crag]

Flavor is free my foot

[atomic kayak]

Yes just like wildshape

[errant crag]

I don't think wildshape is equivalent that's a defining class feature not an arbitrary restriction on the spellcasting of druid

[atomic kayak]

Flavor is free. You are just conflating flavor and mechanics

You have a complaint about the mechanics

[errant crag]

Well I can't really flavor my Artificer as casting without tools if I'm required to hold tools can I?

[half igloo]

do we think 2024 rogue is better or worse than 2014?

just need some opinions

[fossil hollow]

24 rogue by a long shot

[cobalt owl]

24 rogue gets more

[atomic kayak]

You can. Because they (as already mentioned twice) mechanically don't need to use tools

[cobalt owl]

14 rogue only gets one thing better by technicality but it's not worth it much because you have to do specific things to take advantage of it

[umbral girder]

2024 by a lot

[errant crag]

Oh my god they literally are this text literally makes it so all Artificer spells have Material components and require tools to be used to cast with them

[atomic kayak]

Another equivalent would be complaining about the wizard spellbook mechanic

[atomic kayak]

Read infusions/RMI, as mentioned

You can just. Ignore tools. And use one of those for casting

[half igloo]

very unanimous

[cobalt owl]

Unsurprising

[errant crag]

I don't think Rogue even loses anything from 2014 to 2024 that could make 2014 rogue better

[gusty charm]

What kind of improvements have been made?

[peak pecan]

The new quasi-maneuvers using Sneak Attack die

[umbral girder]

Weapon Masteries, Reliable Talent is much easier, Cunning strikes, the improved Cunning strikes as well

[gusty charm]

Okay cool

Thanks :)

[errant crag]

Well that would be fine and dandy if I was using one of those weapons

[umbral girder]

A very big buff to the assassin, arcane trickster, and Thief subclasses

[errant crag]

But I started with a magic item weapon that I want for my setup

[umbral girder]

Epic boons actually being a thing for them too

[atomic kayak]

Doesn't need to be a weapon...

[errant crag]

Do you not understand a wand that I need to hold and an artificer tool that I need to hold are functionally no different for my purposes

[fossil hollow]

armor

[errant crag]

The issue is needing to have a hand committed to holding the focus

[fossil hollow]

other wondrous items

[errant crag]

Spellcasting Focus. You can use any Wand or Weapon created by this feature as a Spellcasting Focus in lieu of using a set of Artisan's Tools.

Wands or weapons

[atomic kayak]

You don't need to hold it. You can have it on your person with a free hand the same way you can have a spellcasting focus on your person with a free hand as literally any other caster

Artificer is not unique with this tiny bit of mechanically enforced flavor

[paper portal]

Hi chat what are we arguing over now

[errant crag]

So you're saying I don't need to be holding a wand to cast with it

[fickle heart]

I see why you'd dislike it if you view it as arbitrary, but it's not actually intended to be arbitrary from a design perspective.

[atomic kayak]

A wand is just a spellcasting focus

[errant crag]

Do I need to be holding a wand to cast with it yes or no

[atomic kayak]

Its just a spellcasting focus, so it follows all those rules.

So if you aren't aware, no

I just assumed that you were since you have been referencing them

[gusty charm]

First of all, I’m pretty sure we aren’t supposed to have AI stuff going on in this server. Secondly, would I as a player enjoy sitting through a mandatory song every single session? No, absolutely not

[red zephyr]

Ok yeah so love for musicals reaching too far, gotcha

[peak pecan]

You’d have to talk to your players about if they were interested, not us. Also, I think listening to a mandatory, AI-generated song once per session would be the easiest way to get people to stop coming to sessions if they aren’t as interested as you are

[rough basalt]

Me personally I'd leave on the spot

[red zephyr]

Oh this is just one of those creative whims

[idle oar]

Yeah no AI generated work on our server - it’s in the rules you agreed to to participate here.

[red zephyr]

I was just kicking an idea about the musical aspect I wasn’t gonna push it and it was just from the songs I was listening to, wasnt promoting

[rough basalt]

Got started on my upcoming games setting guide.

[red zephyr]

Like I’ll have ideas for campaigns pop in my head from time to time and I just wasnt sure if anyone ever tried a Musical campaign outside of atmospheric music.

But D&D players in my area few and far between and I mainly do one shots but I want to do a long campaign to really use my Dragonborn character that is a monk but is scared to use his fists again after accidentally crippling his friend while sparring. So he took up a sword and shield to prevent hurting anyone by accident again

[storm magnet]

Why are AARAKOCRA so weak

[errant crag]

Are they?

They get fly speed equal to their walk speed

Just innately and non magically

[vast saddle]

I think I turned my Cleric, a priest, into Carrie White yesterday. I literally shoved my opponents to the cliff

[storm magnet]

They're only 1/4 CR

[errant crag]

Oh you mean the stat block

[paper portal]

Could be worse they could have 50 fly speed

[fossil hollow]

and?

You can give a 50 foot fly speed to any humanoid statblock

call it an Aaracokra

[umbral girder]

Why not?

It’s stronger than a commoner

Even stronger than a bandit

[woeful stump]

I feel like lightly armored is a disproportionately powerful feat

[limber trail]

A CR 12 Archmage could get a fly speed and be an aaracokra. Swap out some spells and make them more elemental if you want to

[woeful stump]

4-6 potential AC AND a half asi?

That's nuts right?

[limber trail]

Not really when you think about it

It’s only light armour. Most classes in the game already have that proficiency

Iirc it’s only sorcerers, wizards, and monks who don’t get it

[woeful stump]

What else even approaches it

[limber trail]

All three of those have better sources of AC

[woeful stump]

Warlocks don't get it do they?

[limber trail]

Warlocks get light armour proficiency

[woeful stump]

Ah

Even still it's really good for a sorcerer right?

[limber trail]

I mean

Not that good, it’s a whole feat and you already have things like shield and mage armour

It’s useful yeah but hardly the most important feat for a sorcerer

[woven flint]

I'm gonna

gonkle

[woeful stump]

Damn I thought I was cooking

[limber trail]

It’s a good feat on paper but yeah every class gets the main benefit, or doesn’t need it

Now shield training is nice 100% but that’s the main benefit

[woeful stump]

It's also the only way to get a shield proficiency outside of already having it

[limber trail]

There’s more consistent ways to get value out of a feat

[woeful stump]

But it feels really bad to take if you already have light armor

[woven flint]

I was about to say some very horrible things about the Illithid empire this session, Knome, I was gonna start an interplanetary war ong

[limber trail]

No Tokii remember what the menaces stand for

[woven flint]

We fought Ettin Ceremorphs.
Their attacks normally have Int saves
Ti decided to make them auto stuns >_>

Guess who has proficency in int saves

Points at Artanza

[limber trail]

I picked the wrong campaign to play a character with a flat int why are there so many mind flayers

[woven flint]

I only got stunned once
But I was seething because I knew my ass was about to be stunlocked, luckily, it was killed before it could keep me grappled in the stunlock

The melee grapple stun thing is chill with me, thats my fault
But the ranged option should've been kept an INT save, I don't care how many it gets per day
Ranged stuns should always be saves imho.

[limber trail]

Every day I feel good about the fact that my combat strategy is to go to a different postcode at the end of my turn

[woven flint]

And I'mma shove that opinion down ti's throat

[woeful stump]

Wait let's just consider the shield then. That's 2 to 3 AC and a half ASI. Does anything else give as much?

It's still kind of good

[woven flint]

I honestly haven't seethed this much at D&D in a while, but I don't hate Ti for it lol

[errant crag]

"Tools Required. You produce your Artificer spells through tools. You can use Thieves' Tools, Tinker's Tools, or another kind of Artisan's Tools with which you have proficiency as a Spellcasting Focus, and you must have one of those focuses in hand when you cast an Artificer spell (meaning the spell has an M component when you cast it)."

I was right you do need to be holding the artificer tool when casting artificer spells

I do need to be holding it in my hand

[woeful stump]

Even niche feats that give AC when conditions are met are limited to like one

And then that opens you up for warcaster if you really want that advantage

[limber trail]

I mean not really. Most of the classes which get enough value out of AC to consider a feat, already have light armour and shields (and better). For the classes who don’t have it, yes it’s useful but usually an ASI or another feat is better. AC isn’t really that good in the long run.

[woven flint]

I know why Autostun effects exist, but that doesn't exlude it from being a shitty thing!!!

[woeful stump]

I like to feel safe 😂

[limber trail]

Sure but it’s coming at an opportunity cost which is generally that you can do less things

By not taking it, you can take feats like warcaster, the toucheds, speedy, durable, and so many others

[woven flint]

AC isn't important for Sorcerers and Wizards imho.
Just take spells that make attacking you a bit more of a task
Mirror Image and Blink for some examples

thats kinda why those spells exist

[limber trail]

There’s value in it but imo it’s not enough value to justify a feat

[woeful stump]

A Warlock doesn't have a lot of spell slots...

They need to remake hex blade already

They probably won't release it with the armor proficiencies though

But I feel like it would be okay to make those features available through evocations

[covert root]

June.

[woeful stump]

Evocations kind of function like half feats anyway

[covert root]

Or at the latest September with Arcana Unleashed.

[woven flint]

AC stops mattering at some point anyway

[covert root]

Invocations.

[woven flint]

It's in Arcana Unleashed, yeah

[woeful stump]

I'm using voice to chat because I'm a terrible speller

And if they made it available through invocations you wouldn't HAVE to play a hex blade to be a melee spells user

All right I'm done yapping about it. Sorry about busting in on your conversation like the Kool-Aid Man lmao

[covert root]

Pact of the Blade exists. You can melee without Hexblade.

[slim pasture]

Is this a good channel to ask a quesiton im making a homebrew spell :(

sorry if not the right place

[rough basalt]

#homebrew

[gusty raft]

hey why the hell is only ONE subclass free for wizards and soccerers?

[glass granite]

It’s the same for all classes

They’re part of the free basic rules, but most subclasses need to be purchased

[gusty raft]

oh okay ig i cant do anything then 😭

[glass granite]

You could use the one subclass, or buy the books

[spare robin]

Hey guys is anyone a fan of legends of avartis?

[glass granite]

Or find a friend who has the books and borrow

[gusty raft]

damm

[glass granite]

If you’re in a group that has someone with the books they can share it too

[jolly canyon]

Most DMs offer content sharing so you can make a character once you join their campaign links

Some communities have content sharing campaign links strictly for that

[gusty raft]

ohh where can i find that

[dense nacelle]

Just had the most stressful fight in dnd I think I’ve ever had

[glass granite]

Did ya live?

[dense nacelle]

My character had his face chopped off.

The fight isn’t over, I’ve got almost no HP left

[jolly canyon]

Need a DM first who's offering otherwise maybe a Google search?? I honestly wouldn't know specific locations other than my groups westmarch

[dense nacelle]

Probably the scariest words I’ve ever heard in response to attacking a dude

“He chops your face off, your brain is exposed and your body is falling apart, you’re still alive but if it’s not treated you won’t be for long”

[gusty raft]

nono i mean the sharing comunities

[jolly canyon]

Google search would be your best bet. I don't know any specific ones myself

[gusty raft]

okay thanks

[jolly canyon]

FYI it's not a permanent solution. If the campaign link owner deltes the link you lose access. I recommend trying to join an actual community if possible. DMs like myself always willing to share with their community members. #looking-for-community could be a start

[cobalt owl]

First time?

[twilit ibex]

That's gonna' affect your Charisma-based rolls, possibly

I think you lose the right to be party face when you don't have your face on anymore

[dense nacelle]

-5 to all social checks and a -2 to all intelligence checks

However I can heal my face back with a potion, but it’ll take time

[twilit ibex]

Wow. Tough cookie

[dense nacelle]

‘Tis but a flesh wound

[twilit ibex]

I've never played a game that made use of injury and wound mechanics, oddly enough

Just "HP go down. Unga bunga."

[dense nacelle]

This ttrpg system my friend has been making has been has been really fun

I just happened to receive one of the worst critical wounds

[twilit ibex]

Sounds like it.

I don't imagine it gets much worse than "Your brain is at risk of falling out and people can see your vascular system."

[dense nacelle]

Though my dm has a rule that any physically altering effect on our characters is always temporary unless we say we’re fine with it

So my character had been critically wounded at the end of a long grueling duel that meant a lot to my character, so I said that he got a scar on his eye to represent what he lost in that duel, even if he had been victorious

[twilit ibex]

That's actually really good. I found out recently that some people actually have very real issues with things like injuries and such

A friend of mine lost her eye, and ever since, she just cannot stand anything involving eye injuries in our games.

[dense nacelle]

I like to be able to control how my characters look I guess

[graceful thunder]

Hey y'all
Just started a campaign with friends and am trying to organize how I want my Warlock to progress, but I'm soooo not use to this class

[dense nacelle]

Warlocks are cool

[graceful thunder]

Yea, chose it cuz I'm making her based around a game character, but some of the things are hard to decide on

[twilit ibex]

I'm going to tell you something important, friend: Charisma isn't just how good looking a character is. It's their independence and willingness to lead versus follow. It's their "presence" when they enter a room. It's the sheer force of will they assert.

Charisma casting is asserting dominance over reality.

Also: Warlocks are cool

[graceful thunder]

Well that's good. Figured Wisdom was more along the lines of willpower

[woeful stump]

What's the power fantasy you're chasing?

For me that's usually a good place to start when it comes to having to make decisions

[dense nacelle]

?

[humble cairn]

You're the magical equivalent of a martial class. You have your cantrips which are like your weapons, and then you have your spell slots which are limited and powerful and recover more quickly. You're more of a magical sprinter than a marathoner.

[graceful thunder]

Oh, basically Galbrina from Wuthering Waves

[humble cairn]

I know neither of those things, could you describe them in terms of abilities and powers?

[graceful thunder]

Funny cuz I literally took mobile feat from variant human

[humble cairn]

Ah so it seems like you're using the 2014 rule set.

[twilit ibex]

Wisdom is experience, common sense, intuition, etc. Someone with a lot of Wisdom could be described as having a "sixth sense." It could be said that Wisdom ties into Willpower, but Charisma fits a little more closely.

[errant crag]

This spell Dirge from Heroes of Faerun is so genuinely weird to me

[humble cairn]

Ehh ... the ability scores aren't very realistic. They're used for certain Skills, but outside of that they don't really map to the capabilities of real people.

The closest thing to "common sense" in 5E is your passive Investigation score, which would make it Intelligence based.

[graceful thunder]

Alot to get into, basically she's Dante from DMC but she has a demon attached to her soul (kinda) instead of being one

[humble cairn]

You described one character by using another character. Is there a short description you could give me without using a reference? Or at least try?

Wisdom does cover Insight, though, so reading the room would be Wisdom.

[twilit ibex]

I disagree very much. Wisdom is street smarts, common sense, intuition, etc. Intelligence is education, IQ, knowledge studied, etc.

[humble cairn]

Yeah you're adding stuff that isn't in the mechanics.

[graceful thunder]

True, fast, stylish, gun user that incorporates a lot of dodging and melee kicks into shooting

[humble cairn]

And you want to use guns?

[twilit ibex]

Nevermind, I see where this is going

[humble cairn]

It's easier to use guns in the 2024 rule set than the 2014 rule set.

Do you know which rules your DM and group are using?

[graceful thunder]

The DM and I talked, less actually guns and more a pistol shaped arcane focus from my patron

[humble cairn]

Do you also want to use unarmed strikes?

[humble cairn]

I love wands with pistol grips and being a wandslinger, by the way.

[errant crag]

Can somebody help me understand this Heroes of Faerun spell because it's breaking my brain

[graceful thunder]

That's part of where my issue comes in
I was gonna add a few levels of monk eventually but idk cuz I'd have to keep dropping or putting away my guns
Unless they would let me flavor monk combat as kicks

[errant crag]

Like this spell is genuinely better if they pass the first save against it

[paper portal]

Monk attacks are unarmed strikes which include kicks

[humble cairn]

Why?

[paper portal]

But I don't really see a monk/warlock having any sort of cohesion as a build ngl

[humble cairn]

Unarmed strikes can be with any part of your body, they do not have to be punches.

[humble cairn]

If you want someone who goes seamlessly between using ranged weapons and unarmed strikes you'll want Kensei Monk, no need to multiclass.

[errant crag]

The spell Dirge from Heroes of Faerun, it's a 60ft emanation and when they fail a save they fall prone but on a pass their speed is halved, and the spell description doesn't specify how long this halved speed lasts for, so it's presumably until either the end of the duration or when they exit the emanation.

But if either of those are the case, then you want them to pass the first save so that their speed is halved; and then fail on subsequent saves so that they fall prone and need to get up with their already halved speed.

It just seems so odd to me.

Maybe the wording is just weird

[humble cairn]

Ugh .. the lack of the duration on the speed halving is terrible design writing.

Unless it's in the book and the compendium version is just not displaying it?

[errant crag]

When you cast this spell, you can designate creatures to be unaffected by it. Any other creature can't regain Hit Points while in the Emanation. Whenever the Emanation enters a creature's space and whenever a creature enters the Emanation or ends its turn there, the creature makes a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 3d10 Necrotic damage and has the Prone condition. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and its Speed is halved. A creature makes this save only once per turn.```

[humble cairn]

Nope, just went to the book and it's not in there either.

That's annoying.

[twilit ibex]

I would assume the halved speed is only within the Emanation's AOE

[errant crag]

But I feel like it would say that

Or it would say that the area is difficult terrain

[humble cairn]

So if they move out of it they just get all their Speed back immediately, making that portion useless?

Difficult terrain would have made so much more sense.

[errant crag]

Also a 60ft emanation with this effect as a lawnmower is wild

[twilit ibex]

I didn't make it, just interpreting based on design cues.

[humble cairn]

It is a 6th level spell.

[errant crag]

Also it specifies that the halved speed is on a successful save

[humble cairn]

The fact that the question isn't answered and requires guessing is bad design writing.

[errant crag]

That's just so odd to me

You want them to pass the first save and fail subsequent ones

So they're prone with halved speed

[humble cairn]

I mean I love stuff that still has effects on a successful save.

[twilit ibex]

Agreed, but going off what I can see I really have to assume that exiting the Emanation would save you from the spell's ongoing effects.

[errant crag]

It saves you from repeating the save

[graceful thunder]

I couldn't decide on which martial class
Galbrina is a fast attacker, I figured fighter might be good, but the multi class isn't for power basically, more for character authenticity

[errant crag]

Like I don't even care about the damage at this point

This spell is valuable if they fail or not

[humble cairn]

Ahh, failing also gets you Exhaustion, which is much much more punishing.

[errant crag]

That's if circle cast though

But honestly may as well

Getting this spell off is likely worth it either way since it's valuable whether they pass or not

[twilit ibex]

It can be quite hard to create a DnD character that has equal capabilities to a character in other media. Sometimes you have to sacrifice one or two things.

[errant crag]

But either way the spell being better if they pass the first save is just such a strange design to me

[humble cairn]

Don't mutliclass for flavor or authenticity, multiclass only for mechanics, give flavor and authenticity by reflavoring.

[errant crag]

Exhibit free will and multiclass for whatever reasons you want to

[prisma prairie]

Mhm, you can achieve alot with just flavouring

[errant crag]

As long as you know what you're doing

[humble cairn]

Right, I mean you can do whatever you want, but my suggestion is not to multiclass for flavor because in my experiencei t works better if you only mc for mechanics and use reflavoring for lore, narrative, and authenticity.

[errant crag]

Speaking of multiclassing for bad reasons

I gotta get started on my Cleric Barbarian

I think Cleric Barbarian has some potential

[humble cairn]

Multiclassing for flavor is more often than not a trap, you end up with a character that just doesn't work how you want them to work based on your story.

[errant crag]

I multiclass for the thought experiment/challenge of making two conflicting classes work as well as I can

[humble cairn]

So I'm not sure if I missed it, but is your group using 2014 rules?

[final warren]

Y'all ever absolutely bully a group of enemies so badly that they actually lay down their weapons and surrender?

[twilit ibex]

Always be flavoring! The Fireball spell says you blast a streaking light that becomes a fiery explosion. It does not mention whether the streaking light is red, green, pink, or blue. It also fails to mention whether the cloud of smoke created by the blast is shaped like a skull, a heart, or fist raising a middle finger.

[final warren]

We ambushed this group of humans inside a dark hallway and had them boxed in. They didn't even know who it was that was killing them.

[prisma prairie]

Flavouring is just a very neat way to customise without editing mechanics uwu

[graceful thunder]

Yes

[twilit ibex]

A group of "guards" that were actually a gang of bandits extorting the town started trouble with our party. After my character downed their leader during my first turn, which was the first turn (thank you, Action Surge), they surrendered pretty quickly.

[humble cairn]

Not quite, but one time we were hired to protect a treasure chest from thieves. We did a double blind Minor Illusion where we put the illusion of a plain barrel on top of the chest and put an illusion of the real chest on top of a plain barrel across the room. The thieves fought our whole party just to get to .. a fake chest. And then we finished them off.

[hot gate]

I often have enemies surrender or flee when the heroes are clearly winning, makes for quicker combats and interesting narratives.

[graceful thunder]

Yea
Mostly I figured I can flavor most her melee by using pact of chain and having her fiend do them, like she mostly does
I mostly was doing a martial multi class cuz of extra attack

[twilit ibex]

It just makes sense. A sentient, mortal enemy isn't going to look at their ally's scattered bodies and think "Yeah, I can take these adventurers. I bet they're really worn down, now!"

[humble cairn]

Why not make a Kensei Monk with a Patron?

[final warren]

Lol, ours was on the opposite end of the spectrum, we were trying to steal their gold and drive them out (colonizers that they were) from the kobolds home that they stole. (One of our party members also murdered an innocent kobold at the start of the dungeon with Eldridge blast but that's besides the point)

[twilit ibex]

After the bandits surrendered, one of them actually turned his life around and became a regular NPC we'd see working in the town Inn.

[errant crag]

I wonder if Circle Casting would be able to allow my Barbarian Cleric to hand his concentration off onto someone else who helps me circle cast the spell.

We circle cast, split the concentration of Bless or something like that, then I rage and lose concentration but the spell stays active because someone else is still concentrating on it

[hot gate]

very few things are worth fighting to the death for

The important thing I'd say about it is that you should agree in a session 0 that there should be no pc-introduced torture for any subsequent interrogations that are sure to follow.

[graceful thunder]

Didn't think about it tbh
We already had a couple sessions

[final warren]

I should probably post the full version of what happened in tales from the table, because it was hilarious

Although I probably can't, because it contains a lot of swearing

[twilit ibex]

Back in 3.5 I was playing a Chaotic Good Bard, and the rest of the party chose Chaotic Good too. They then proceeded to torture a Drow for info while I refused to participate. They just couldn't believe torture wasn't in the Chaotic Good wheelhouse. Then I showed them the bit where the handbook stated Chaotic Good characters despise torture.

[final warren]

My favorite thing to do is write down things that happen to our party while they are still unfolding

[hot gate]

That's horrible, I'm sorry that this happened at your table

[narrow moss]

good characters hate evil actions? news to me

[twilit ibex]

Too many people think "Chaotic Good" means "I can do anything and then say I'm good after"

[final warren]

I guess I'm one of the record keepers of my party

[narrow moss]

not even CN means that

[graceful thunder]

They associate Deadpool and punisher as chaotic good types, and that's the issue

[narrow moss]

haha no

[hot gate]

You can even leave alignment aside completely and agree not to introduce content (i.e. torture) into your game.

[narrow moss]

gods no they are NOT good

[twilit ibex]

EXACTLY THIS

[graceful thunder]

most dont understand the nuance between lawful and good

[twilit ibex]

People don't recognize that those characters are Chaotic Neutral at best. Punisher has an obsession that just happens to target villains, but his alignment is not based in higher morality.

[narrow moss]

nope

and deadpool is a merc

a crazy merc btw.

[oak grotto]

I do think it is wrong to assume all Chaotic Good characters despise torture. Not all alignments behave the same yaddah yaddah yaddah...

[vast saddle]

Man, looking for an art tutorial is painful

You either have to pay or well-connected

[narrow moss]

i think if they are good they despise torture.

[final warren]

Not to mention both characters originally were villains themselves

[twilit ibex]

Torture is an evil action. Plain and simple.

[narrow moss]

they can still DO it but...

it takes its toll

[oak grotto]

Not sure if I agree. But there's no point in arguing it.

[fickle field]

Aye, what's good everyone?

[narrow moss]

poisoning is evil too right?

or am i mixing up games

[twilit ibex]

Well now I'm not sure

[vast saddle]

I see....

[oak grotto]

Why would using poison be innately evil? Unless you're poisoning an innocent single mother or an orphan child I don't see how that would be evil.

[vast saddle]

Characterization matters more than whatever you use for your avatar

[narrow moss]

i forget the exact reason

[twilit ibex]

Ah, we mean simply using poison as a tool. Gotcha

[narrow moss]

yes, poisoning.

[twilit ibex]

It depends, I would think

[vast saddle]

I mean....I've been using AI avatars, but they feel really dead no matter how good my characterizations are

[narrow moss]

i mean like as a tool not a creature who uses it

[prisma prairie]

stinky ai mentioned

[narrow moss]

wild subject change

[fickle field]

On a side note, I'm glad I remastered (remaee) my old edge lord character into a character that's actually hopeful and NOT an edgelord. He actually acts like Matthew Murdock now. Which is awesome! Oh, and he has a split personality with someone who acts like a Disney Princess.

[twilit ibex]

If your character is poisoning their weapons to deal with monsters, that's sensible. If they're poisoning their arrows to hunt regular animals, that's more evil.

[narrow moss]

random.

please tell me he can speak to animals as the Princess half.

[vast saddle]

All of you imply that characterization matters more since you talk about how your character should act instead of how it should looks

[fickle field]

HE CAN! 🤣

[oak grotto]

Poison is as evil as a sword. Unless you're using it to harm innocent people I don't see how that is evil.

[narrow moss]

offers high five

[fickle field]

Accepts high five from giga-chad person.

[narrow moss]

i think the difference may be poison is always bad and maybe dishonorable

[prisma prairie]

Surpise you dont need an image of ya character to play dnd, and using ai to get an image of ya character is stinky cause dnd is inherently a creative game. And ai isnt ( ´∀`)

[narrow moss]

again i'd have to see their reasons for it.

[twilit ibex]

It's considered unsporting to use it when hunting, but that's hunting knowledge. Can't expect everyone to know that

[vast saddle]

Wait, do you play with a blank avatar on Owlbear and West Marches?

[narrow moss]

i still dunno why we even talked about pfp tho

really random

[prisma prairie]

No, I actually draw my characters

[narrow moss]

noice

[fickle field]

And the funny thing now that I've realized I'm genderfluid, I'm gonna have him be a Prince and a Princess depending on how he's feeling.

[vast saddle]

Man, looking for references are hard

[prisma prairie]

It really isn't

[narrow moss]

slay

[twilit ibex]

I just use Heroforge and kitbash my way to victory

[vast saddle]

I'm not very fond of Western Arts and prefer to use anime arts more. Should I 100% rely on my instinct to find it?

[fickle field]

Yes sir! I'm gonna have him be the best Disney Prince/Princess ever to exist!

I even found a way to make it work!

[narrow moss]

yey

[twilit ibex]

There's also Picrew, home of a bazillion character creators

[vast saddle]

Idk how to grow instinct to draw my own charas

[fickle field]

Same here.

[prisma prairie]

Legit, theres picrews online and hero forge

[oak grotto]

I find it strange that you guys see the usage of poison as dishonorable and therefore evil. Pretty sure that is a very unpopular opinion.

[twilit ibex]

My final resource is the super talented artist I keep in my back pocket

[prisma prairie]

Using ai is stinky and always will be and is heavily negativity veiwed in creativity

[narrow moss]

i kinda want a sharply dressed lawyer lol

idk what caster he'd be tho a few would work

[oak grotto]

Using poison to hunt animals is only an issue because you would be ruining the meat.

[vast saddle]

So, should I start with a raw copy without any sketches no matter how bad it is?

[prisma prairie]

I can see our point isn't going through.

[fickle field]

That's a brilliant idea. Wait- weren't we just talking about Matthew Murdock? LMFAO! 🤣

[prisma prairie]

Id rather you legit have a stick figure drawing as ya design than an ai image

[fickle field]

This person is speaking facts.

[vast saddle]

I'm confused about what to follow. I wanna talk about how to start learning to draw, but...all I see here are....characterizations

[abstract ocean]

True

[twilit ibex]

Using poison to harm a monster? Not evil. Firing a poison arrow into a bear and following it as it suffers a slow death? An argument could be made that the individual did not make a very moral choice

[prisma prairie]

You dont need art for dnd but people love to create their character and not use a promt for ai to "maybe make it right"

[narrow moss]

i don't think ai should exist tbh

[vast saddle]

I'll need it one day, man. AI...kinda sucks my soul

[oak grotto]

That's a very specific way to kill a random bear.

[prisma prairie]

Learning to draw can start any time, you just have to put in the effort to learn and adapt it

[abstract ocean]

^

[narrow moss]

ai steals from real people so

[twilit ibex]

I'm literally referencing something people in the real world do

[prisma prairie]

Im a concept and comic art graduate, using ai is legit an insult to artists like myself

[fickle field]

Here's a question of morality: My guy is a dark elf. He's very heroic in his actions, but he fell in love with someone evil. However, he made him somewhat good in the end. If he looses one more member in the party, he becomes like his old lover, but in a way where he does heroic things. Just in a more evil way. What does that make him?

[vast saddle]

What kind of imitation should I start with?

[narrow moss]

man i dunno

[abstract ocean]

Honestly, whenever you have idle hands. Just doodle and it’s one of those things that you just passively get better at that

[twilit ibex]

An awesome villain. The best villains are so close to being heroes. So close.

[narrow moss]

alignment isn't one act and that is you. It's a thousand tiny cuts

[fickle field]

Oh, and where are my manners? Nice to meet ya Silas. I'm Aidan.😎 🤝

[narrow moss]

intent matters too

[prisma prairie]

Careful withl the emote spam, you can get warned by the discord bot

[narrow moss]

lol what is funny is Aidan is the name of a flame spirit in a story i write.

[fickle field]

So, if he were to loose someone in the party and go violent with his heroics... he would be technically a villain. Right?

[fickle field]

Oh, and sorry.

[vast saddle]

Idk, man....my past interviewer kinda detested how I drew. So many bold lines, so many sharp lines, so many bold colors

It was disaster

[prisma prairie]

Ish kk just wanted to warn ya so you dont get smited

[fickle field]

Gucci lit.

[oak grotto]

I guess if you're hunting and you don't want to risk having the bear turn on you...

[abstract ocean]

ANYTHING is better then AI

Try tracing

[twilit ibex]

Depends. Is he having moments where he's convincing himself he's still a hero? That's usually a pretty good sign.

[narrow moss]

eh i said a word and got smote.

[abstract ocean]

Also what’s with the Dino reactions 🙏

[prisma prairie]

You learn to make art by making mistakes and experimenting in what you like

[narrow moss]

Language!

[oak grotto]

I still feel like a single action shouldn't brand someone as evil.

[twilit ibex]

It's A: Illegal, and B: Immoral.

[prisma prairie]

I have folders filled with art thats terrible, but I tried and learnt from it

[narrow moss]

it would have to be a very big choice with a huge impact to hurt your own alignment

[abstract ocean]

Then your on the right track

[narrow moss]

nothing you'd do in a normal situation

[abstract ocean]

And 99 percent of artists say their stuff is bad no matter how good it is

[twilit ibex]

My art is trash. I love it

[abstract ocean]

Did you draw that pfp?

[twilit ibex]

Noooononono

[fickle field]

Well.... that's and intersting perspective because GOD FORBID he looses another member in the party, he will pick up his old lovers watch and be as evil as he was. Just in a heroic way where he is helping people. But through more violent needs than it needs to be. He would be like from Nightwing/Daredevil to more like Punisher/Red Hood/Even evil Matthew Murdock from the Spider-Gwen comics.

[twilit ibex]

That's my back pocket artist

[abstract ocean]

I was about to say it’s freaking AMAZING

[narrow moss]

alignment is also how OTHERS see you

[oak grotto]

Personally I feel like something being illegal should not have any weight in morality. Plenty of laws can be immoral.

[fickle field]

Ah, good point.

[abstract ocean]

What is with these Dino reactions

[narrow moss]

and that is why Chaotic exists Alley

[fickle field]

Sorry, it's a bad habit and means I agree.

[abstract ocean]

Gotcha

[narrow moss]

idk i'm not the one using dinos

[glacial pulsar]

If your on a VTT, is it preferable to get token art of someone bust up or portrait/headshot or half body or fullbody? I'm trying to decide what I should get when im commissioning art

[twilit ibex]

Okay, different example. Cecil the Lion

[vast saddle]

Will tracing the AI arts I have will do the work?

[narrow moss]

been watching a dnd campaign on yt and they just use busts

[oak grotto]

I'd also argue that someone who is Lawful would not automatically agree with all laws. But I don't feel like opening that can of worms.

[abstract ocean]

I’ve- never heard of that before

[narrow moss]

lawful would follow

[abstract ocean]

At that point just use real art

[oak grotto]

Idk who that is.

[narrow moss]

agreeing would be secondary

[fickle field]

So, with that being said: If he goes down a more corrupt path... would that make him evil or neutral?

[narrow moss]

chaotics can agree with and obey laws

[prisma prairie]

Heck no, also the reason why some ppl recommended tracing is to learn forms. You trace over stuff to break it down in to forms to learn from.
Tracing ai filled with mistakes will only fuel more mistakes

[narrow moss]

it is more the attitude around them

[twilit ibex]

A lion that was doped up and released into an area it couldn't escape, so a man who paid money could "hunt" it "successfully"

[narrow moss]

don't use ai

ai bad.

[abstract ocean]

This person has 20 wisdom

[vast saddle]

How tracing works, btw?

[twilit ibex]

Anyway, returning to the alignment chart part

[prisma prairie]

im a concept artist so id hope so 💀

[oak grotto]

You think a Lawful Good character would obey a tyrant's laws?

[narrow moss]

it depends

[abstract ocean]

can I peep the art rq

[narrow moss]

i think they would overthrow a tyrant tho

[twilit ibex]

There is a significant argument that poison is often a tool used by villainous types. Is it automatic? No. It is very dependent on the target being poisoned, though.

[prisma prairie]

I post very poorly online vut theres probs like a piece in the art chat here

[twilit ibex]

Monster? Villain? BBEG? Sure. Poison away

[vast saddle]

I guess I should look for it myself

[narrow moss]

tyrants are bad and abuse the law

[prisma prairie]

You break down the form Into basic shapes, anatomy is basically made of shapes cobbled together

[abstract ocean]

Just saw it, I ADORE your style

[narrow moss]

but they would use lawful means to depose him

[twilit ibex]

Lawful Good is that person in the movie who says "We have to work within the system!"

[oak grotto]

Let's say you make a habit of using poison and patient waiting to hunt animals yet also donate a healthy portion of your money to the local orphanage. Would you say you're still evil?

[narrow moss]

more like trying not to collapse the gov overnigjt

chaotic good migbt be all "assassination go brrr"

[vast saddle]

Idk, man...looking for YouTube tutorials is seriously a bad idea....I got flooded with shorts

[abstract ocean]

That’s where I started and it helped aLOT

[prisma prairie]

and I learnt by watching cartoons and comics ppl start different ways

[vast saddle]

Sacrificing my attention spans by learning from shorts?

[abstract ocean]

Full length videos, goober

[vast saddle]

I got full length video only after 4-6 shorts recommendations

Screw you, Shorts

[twilit ibex]

I think I'm done arguing the morality of poisoning woodland creatures.

[abstract ocean]

Just look it up

“Anatomy practice”

[vast saddle]

Should I pray for less shorts?

[abstract ocean]

Just don’t use shorts

[twilit ibex]

I didn't think I'd ever have to argue that poisoning Bambi's mom isn't "moral," but hey! Something new every day.

[vast saddle]

Wish me luck

[prisma prairie]

I learnt much from life drawing classes and my art is heavily stylized, but stuff I learnt there drawing realistically can apply

[oak grotto]

You're missing my point but very well, we can stop this discussion.

[twilit ibex]

They often tell you that you should master anatomy and realism, and that doing so makes it easier to have a unique style.

I kinda' agree.

[errant crag]

Pour poison in the water

It's what plants crave

[prisma prairie]

Its easier to play with proportions and silhouettes. If you know the frame underneath

[twilit ibex]

Electrolytes?

[abstract ocean]

Lead

[prisma prairie]

Im trash at realsim, but I still learnt alot from life drawing classes

[vast saddle]

Idk how odd it's to start learning from....theories

[errant crag]

People who disagree with me about things are evil

[errant crag]

They're what plants crave!

[abstract ocean]

Lead

[oak grotto]

Pour poison in water, kill all the plants, use terrain to build a big general goods store (supermarket).

[twilit ibex]

Well that's just true.

[oak grotto]

I don't agree with you.

[errant crag]

You're both evil

[twilit ibex]

Mind you, I'm secretly the main character of Earth

[narrow moss]

convinces them he can talk to plants so they use water

as for being evil due to disagreement hm

[olive storm]

Feebleminded indeed.

[narrow moss]

what was that line again from that song?

[twilit ibex]

When the aliens show up looking for a champion: I'm on vacation

[olive storm]

Do you guys think they'll put Vecna in Fortnite?

[narrow moss]

at this point yes

they keep putting every other random thing in there

[oak grotto]

I goddamn hope not.

[narrow moss]

part of why i hate that game tbh

dbd has the same issue

[errant crag]

DbD is genuinely so bad nowadays

[olive storm]

What you mean to tell me that putting Kaneki Ken in was a little weird?

[narrow moss]

I think D&D is fine

it's the players and dm's who make it good or bad tho

[errant crag]

Anime isn't even real

[narrow moss]

okay Steve.

[olive storm]

Nothing is real. Didn't you hear? This is all just a simulation.

[narrow moss]

words aren't real bruh

[errant crag]

I said DbD not D&D

[twilit ibex]

My wife plays Fork-Knife. Never tried Forklift myself, but many people have told me to give Flapjacks a go

[narrow moss]

yeah fair you did say DbD

[olive storm]

V, it's pronounced Flakelife.

[narrow moss]

i'd like it but players are more toxic than a LoL ranked match

[olive storm]

I hate how unbalanced it is.

[narrow moss]

and the licensed killers are a buzzkill

[twilit ibex]

Right, right
FartBlight

[narrow moss]

i wanted original killers

[twilit ibex]

I'll get it eventually

[olive storm]

It is this weird thing where it's both too competitive and too unbalanced.

[errant crag]

We're going far off topic though

[olive storm]

Dungeons & Dragons!

[narrow moss]

ye

i want to play a satyr bard eventually

[olive storm]

Did you guys know satyr paladins ae OP?

[narrow moss]

probably lol

[prisma prairie]

Gonna be playing a unicorn satyr soon uwu

[narrow moss]

owo

[twilit ibex]

You'd think they'd be really good Monks and Pugilists. Solid kicks.

[narrow moss]

probably get a few points of extra damage at least

[olive storm]

Magic Resistance + Aura of Protection + Ancients Paladin Magic Resistance.

Literally never fail a saving throw against a spell again.

[narrow moss]

natural weapons baby

[twilit ibex]

Good headbutts, too

[narrow moss]

yep

[olive storm]

In Pathfinder...

[errant crag]

It you go Gnome Paladin in 2024 you get advantage on all mental saves spell or otherwise

[narrow moss]

i'm scared of halfling wizards with crossbows now tho

[olive storm]

That's how it works in 2014.

[narrow moss]

int dump wiz is the meta

[twilit ibex]

See, I'm about to start up a game wherein the party contains a Kobold Druid (circle of wicker), a Lizardman Barbarian (path of the belly brewer), a Risen (Orc/Elf) Monster Hunter (homebrew subclass), a Chthonic Tiefling Warlock (undead patron), and two humans. One is a Peace Cleric of Lathander, the other is my Hero Fighter hedge knight.

[olive storm]

Is there a channel where I can show a homebrew I had commissioned?

Well... Not commissioned exactly...

[narrow moss]

donno

[olive storm]

More like I made a homebrew so I could get one made for me.

[twilit ibex]

This party literally contains a large lizard and a small lizard

[narrow moss]

lizard powers activate

[twilit ibex]

I plan to ask the big lizard to throw the small lizard at something

[narrow moss]

by our powers combined

[twilit ibex]

Then the small lizard can transform into a bear mid-flight

[narrow moss]

reminds me of that post with the 'don't feed kobolds' sign

[oak grotto]

Same for one of my games, dragonborn and kobold.

[twilit ibex]

I think the Kobold player is making their Kobold look like a little Axalotl person

Lore accurate? No. Cute as all heck? His name is Dave

[narrow moss]

lol

[twilit ibex]

My character is "Sir Daveth the Kind, Hero of Oakcrest." I'm sure him and Dave the Kobold will get along swimmingly.

[oak grotto]

The dragonborn that I mentioned could probably throw the kobold easily. Unfortunately for them I am the DM and I can't really see the whole throwing tactic working. In most scenarios at least.

[narrow moss]

eh a boost up a wall maybe

crawl through a window to unlock a door etc

throwing them straight at a wall, though? depends on the save for damage i guess lol

[oak grotto]

That could def work. The kobold is a rogue too so...

[narrow moss]

situational as all things imho

i can just think of a few creative uses of it

be careful not to MISS tho

[oak grotto]

And the dragonborn is a beefy fighter.

[narrow moss]

i feel like they watched that short lol

probably a coincidence tho

[oak grotto]

It was.

[narrow moss]

i still do like that dynamic though. I thought it was cool

[oak grotto]

This game almost had three high elves funnily enough. By sheer coincidence.

[narrow moss]

lol

[oak grotto]

I think I have been in a game where the party had three humans before.

[narrow moss]

that's less uncommon tbh

[oak grotto]

Yeah...

[narrow moss]

though now i want a full party of all humans in a diverse setting somehow being really unbelievable for an adventuring party

because those are usually full of random races and backgrounds

that might be funny

[errant crag]

I oughtta play a kobold again some time

[novel ridge]

Can’t believe it’s May now

It’s gonna be May!

[narrow moss]

yeah it's may here already now lol

you know what i'm not gonna ask.

[timid anvil]

It is an opportunity to make devils cry

[narrow moss]

...

i hate that i get that.

[timid anvil]

Reminds me of that time a Devil tried to posses my lucid dreaming Kobold Artificer who thwarted their attempts by just teaching them about rocks and geology

[narrow moss]

infodumping, the real mental save

[timid anvil]

He went full private tutor on them and even have them write tests and essays

[narrow moss]

lol

hey who says the devil isn't interested though. That's just enrichment

might be able to make a deal with a geologist later, too

[timid anvil]

They were very frustrated about the whole dear and did not score well XD To bad the game died out after a while^^'

[brittle ginkgo]

Y'all I got a question

What would you make a character roll for those gut instincts (ie you feel like your being watched or that somethings off) I go to wisdom or perception,but I want second opinion

[narrow moss]

no you're right, sounds like those two things

anything else i imagine would be niche/situational so i couldn't tell you otherwise.

[brittle ginkgo]

Fair,was just double guessing myself as I'm writing smthing up lol

[timid anvil]

You could also use their passive score!

[narrow moss]

yeah passive perception

you can use other stuff but i think that's the usual checks

[flint ledge]

Well are you asking for if someone would have that gut feeling?

[timid anvil]

Having a chart with passive perception scores of your players ready is a nice trick to have for situations like that

[brittle ginkgo]

Characters getting stalked by scope,off feeling would have them notice a glint in the distance due to being on alert from gut feeling

[narrow moss]

i'd roll perception yeah

maybe passive for the gut and active perception check to see if they notice the glint

that's just my gut feeling lol

[brittle ginkgo]

[flint ledge]

If a player themselves has a gut feeling then yeah ask for perception otherwise just take passive perception

[narrow moss]

:3

[glass granite]

I’d use their passive score, if someone has the Alert feature I might have them roll cuz it’s fitting, but at the end of the day if they’re not proactively choosing to do so I’d not call for a roll

[narrow moss]

it depends on how important it would be for them to notice, i suppose

but yeah players can just choose to ask if they notice anything anyway lol

[limber trail]

Perfect situation for passive perception

[narrow moss]

yeah that's why i said passive first, active if they choose to look for the reason

other than that i couldn't say anything else. there's lots of good suggestions here

[keen valve]

Slightly related note. I've heard sometimes it's acceptable to allow a player to play off a failed perception as a gut feeling of something off. How do we feel about that?

(Not discussing the nature of a player sometimes describing their own failure.)

[hot gate]

I often do "degrees of failure", where rolling slightly under the DC still gives the pc some information, just less than they would normally have.

[stray sage]

Is it possible to have a holy symbol that’s also a staff?

[hot gate]

Not in a mechanical sense no, it seems staves aren't qualified enough 😔

[humble cairn]

RAW no, why? What are you trying to do?

[keen valve]

I would say if your dm allows it then yes, go for it. If you're the dm, what exactly does it harm by allowing it?

Raw only has as much sanctity as we as individuals give it, and even then it's only words stuck together to provide some meaning to something that we can choose to perceive in another way.

In other words: get mad.

[stray sage]

I just want a staff for my cleric

[humble cairn]

By chance will you also want to wield a shield?

[humble cairn]

Actually do you want the staff to work like a quarterstaff in combat? Like are you intending to hit enemies with it?

Because if you're not intending on using it like a weapon I see no problem why your holy symbol couldn't be staff shaped.

Just say it's a holy symbol, not intended to be a weapon. It's unwieldy or fragile or something. Then you have your staff holy symbol.

[stray sage]

I mean that would be cool but I don’t NEED to use it in melee since this is a spellcasting focused cleric and not a martial one

[humble cairn]

Right, so yeah go ahead. Just say you have a staff shaped holy symbol.

[candid solar]

If its just a cosmetic change yeah go for it

[keen valve]

I would still say you could easily solve your question by just asking your dm.

As is, just do it.

[inner silo]

I think it's quite funny that the arcane/druidic focuses have a weapon option as a focus in the staff and the holy focus has a holy symbol on a shield as a focus

So it's kind of like most focuses are just flavour but then there's one option in eich of them that's kinda mechanically superior

There is also the concealability factor that hinders these ig but still

[calm escarp]

How does tremorsense work? For example, when you touch a building made of stone which is 60 ft tall and 30 ft wide. Can you sense a creature in 60 ft up inside the building?

[humble cairn]

Rules for Tremorsense in 2024

[calm escarp]

I get it now thanks

[dusky vessel]

I've been running the tomb of annihilation for a while now. I don't think my players like it. Is there a way to "kick them out" of the dungeon that makes sense and doesn't seem like a copout?

[severe rampart]

Talk to them out of campaign and say "Hey, if you guys don't like TOA maybe I can run something else?" Or something along those lines

[dusky vessel]

Well it's part of a bigger campaign, but I don't want it to be like "you are teleported to the exit" or "the exit magically opens". I want to have some kind of way to make sense. For reference, the main villain is an illithilich and I use a lot of lovecraftian elements in my games.

[timber turtle]

How grim does a DnD setting need to be so I can play as a maggot that crawls inside dead bodies to control them

[humble cairn]

First thing to do is find out if it's actually a problem.

Ask

[dusky vessel]

Feel like that's some book of vile darkness stuff right there. Also probably some Shadowfell type area

[dusky vessel]

I have discussed it with them, I'm just trying to figure it out

[glass granite]

Could be an interesting reborn

[humble cairn]

Ahh so you know they don't like it, ok.

What about it do they not like?

Also, if you're going to be talking about stuff in the module please keep it in #1029833015423143957

[dusky vessel]

They don't really like dungeons. Just having to explore room by room, they prefer open world stuff

[humble cairn]

Ok cool, so how about you make the room-by-room stuff into a Skill roll and then montage it so it goes by quicker?

Just describe it ambiance and vibes, then give them the loot or clues or whatever and skip past the tedious pixel hunting?

[dusky vessel]

Tomb of annihilation is more puzzly than normal, should I ignore that too?

[humble cairn]

Make it a montage of Skill rolls where you describe how cleverly/stupidly they passed the puzzles.

Just assume they passed everything, but make the Skill roll determine how good/bad they looked doing it.

If they looked bad, take a resource tax. Dock their HP, their spell slots, their gear, etc.

[dusky vessel]

Ahh good idea.

[humble cairn]

This will keep it flowing and not stalling them in what is probably a boring and frustrating pixel hunt for them.

[idle oar]

And yeah for more detailed discussion of an official adventure, use #1029833015423143957

I think we're okay for now here as it's high-level discussion

[humble cairn]

The important part, in my opinion, is to not make the players solve the puzzles. Make their characters do it.

[dusky vessel]

I have a lot of questions just because I've only recently started getting into the actual DND community

[errant crag]

I really oughtta get some art commissioned of my favorite characters

[dusky vessel]

I've only ever played with close family or friends

[errant crag]

All i have is an image of my enchantment Wizard levitating a piece of pizza like that meme image

[humble cairn]

Well #dm-discussion is a great channel for more in depth advice about DMing.

[errant crag]

Wondering what would be a good weapon of choice for a barbarian who is resistance to almost all damage types

[umbral girder]

Greataxe

[dusky vessel]

I like great swords because they have a higher damage average

[glass granite]

I like Mauls cuz bonk, but here I like leaning into tanky and grabbing a shield and a, say, Morning Star

[humble cairn]

Unarmed! Rage hugs!

[errant crag]

1d4 Wild Heart Barbarian from Tavern Brawler

[errant crag]

I don't use the morning star or flail enough

I always go Longsword when I do shield and one handed weapon

But I suppose Flail has sap too

[glass granite]

Oh flail is peak too

Good’ol crusher

[errant crag]

I was torn between Aasimar Wild Heart Barbarian for resistance to all damage types except for Psychic and Force

And Gnome Wild Heart Barbarian for advantage on all saves but Constitution and damage resistance to most damage types

[glass granite]

I vote for this! Partially also for the temporary flight

[humble cairn]

More seriously I had a great time with a Nick Barbarian using Light Hammers. Still 1d4 but you don't need the Feat. And you get a bonus attack which you can add Rage damage to.

[errant crag]

Oh I did that recently for a Zealot Barbarian in a 2014 game!

[humble cairn]

Works less well in 2014 without Nick Mastery.

[errant crag]

Bjarrig Boulderbasher the Mountain Dwarf Zealot Barbarian, member of the Masons and Stonecutters guild and follower of Moradin

He was a real powerhouse for the low levels of Storm Kings Thunder before I had to leave due to scheduling things

But from what I hear they continued the game and did him justice with his send off

[boreal prism]

Morning

[errant crag]

He had 20 Strength at level 1 thanks to the DM's custom array which had a 17, the feat we got to choose at level 1 (ASI included, I took Crusher) and the +2 from being a 2014 Mountain Dwarf

[calm escarp]

How does firearms works like automatic rifle especially with burst fire? How many bullets per reload?

[errant crag]

According to the 2024 DMG, an Automatic Rifle can hold 30 shots before reloading, and sprays 10 pieces of ammunition per burst fire

[calm escarp]

What about the dmg? Does it do per bullet or whole 30 shots for dmg?

[errant crag]

You spend 10 ammunition to burst fire which makes enemies in a 10ft cube make a dex save or take 2d8 + Dex mod damage

The DC being 15 for the dex save

Also you should ask your DM if you can have an automatic rifle before giving yourself one

[calm escarp]

That's nice to know.

I will do it. It just the DM is not available rn

[severe rampart]

Yeah most settings don't really have that advanced technology

[calm escarp]

What about the normal hit? Does it do dmg per bullet?

[hot gate]

On a normal hit it's also 2d8 + Dex mod

[errant crag]

I've never actually looked at the modern firarms and seen how they worked until now

[calm escarp]

You're right about that but we're playing in modern world mixed with dnd world. Ah I remember guns is allowed. Idk much about cost of guns tbh

[calm escarp]

Per bullet? That's nice. This is op

[olive storm]

DNDBeyond is a freaking mess ngl. I can't fully turn off 5.5 despite wanting to play 5E.

[severe rampart]

That's why it's not in most settings.

[hot gate]

Might also be that you don't add your dex mod to the burst fire, since it only mentions the weapons damage (which is 2d8) and the "add dex mod" is explicitely an attack roll thing.

[hot gate]

That's why those weapons are in the DMG and not recommended as normal weapons

[errant crag]

That's true

[olive storm]

And I can't find a regular spear in the starting equipment. I also can't turn off the 5.5 keyword system.

[severe rampart]

also 2d8+Dex isn't an insane damage output

[paper portal]

Yeah I'm also very much not a fan of beyond lol partially for the same reason

[olive storm]

Why even have the option to turn it off if it doesn't work.

[severe rampart]

you can get the same average damage by using a Maul with GWF but with strength instead of Dex

[olive storm]

Spent all this money on books the website won't let me use.

[errant crag]

For a ranged weapon with a range of 100/300 yeah its pretty good

A Rogue with an Automatic Rifle is eating well

[severe rampart]

Lmao well yeah it's a Rogue

[errant crag]

Hell a Ranger with an Automatic Rifle too

Or a ranged Fighter

[severe rampart]

takes out bingo card

Go on...

[still plover]

Manage Inventory, Weapon, scroll down, there's the spear.

[errant crag]

Mentioning Ranger isn't a bingo saying they're bad is a bingo

And I like Ranger

[calm escarp]

Bugbear Rogue with Automatic Rifle is a hell yeah

[severe rampart]

No... but Ranger as a topic could go on to become "ranger bad"

[errant crag]

I've played as a Bugbear Barbarian Rogue with an automatic rifle he never used

Because he already had a Cyberpunk Preorder Katana and a Banhammer

[paper portal]

Rangers SUCK /silly

[calm escarp]

Why? That's a waste

[severe rampart]

Sorry wings, can't bait the bingo

[errant crag]

He had too many magic items

[olive storm]

I literally search for spear and nothing shows up.

[errant crag]

That DM dumped like well over a dozen magic items on me

[severe rampart]

are you in the character sheet or the character builder?

[calm escarp]

DM favored you llike a favorite child of the fam

[errant crag]

Yeah it was a bad habit of his I had to talk him out of

[severe rampart]

Inventory tab (next to the spell/action tab), then scroll down

[errant crag]

Now I'm the DM

[severe rampart]

My players have to earn their magic items

[errant crag]

I took over the throne and became myself The Dungeon Master

[severe rampart]

every encounter I go "Do you want to make this encounter harder... for a magic item?"

[errant crag]

He was banished from the land for his crimes

[still plover]

I've done the same going through Manage Inventory and it shows up.

Spear
Spear +1
Flame Tongue Spear
Etc

[calm escarp]

It seems your DM was grooming you to be his replacement but instead you stage a coup lol

I pity those players working to earn your magic items

[severe rampart]

that's... a weird way to word things.

[calm escarp]

It's become weird when you make it weird

[olive storm]

I was using the character builder but I found it.

[errant crag]

I definitely based a lot of my DMing around not doing certain things that he did

[olive storm]

I still can't get all these stupid keywords to turn off.

[severe rampart]

Good to hear

[severe rampart]

"Keywords"?

[errant crag]

But he's improved a lot and is a player in my friday games still

[olive storm]

Like "Sap" and instead of "Reach" it's called "Range."

[severe rampart]

Ah, Masteries and technical terms

[olive storm]

I want the keywords I grew up with dagnabbit!

Give me 2014 or give me Pathfinder!

[ashen orchid]

is it allowed to have a selfaware character

[severe rampart]

Talk to your DM

[molten glade]

Which god(s) might employ both druids and paladins, and also send a group of the latter to free a bunch of locked up warforged slaves from their creator

[hot marlin]

Define self aware.

[severe rampart]

Chauntea?

[oak grotto]

Practically all gods can have paladins.

I can't see many druids going out of their way to free warforged slaves however.

[hot marlin]

So, a few things: Gods are not employers. Paladins are fueled by oath. A paladin may be an atheist or indeed be part of an order affiliated with a given cult. Druids are also not fueled by gods.
All that said, check any of the nature gods. They can all fit your need

[molten glade]

Hm, I probably should've asked this in character discussion, it involves an idea I had

[oak grotto]

Off the top of my head the only deities that make any sense are Chauntea and Mielikki. However I have a feeling that followers of those goddesses would be much more concerned with other things.

[severe rampart]

I admit it, after last session I think Paladins have gone up to A tier for me

honestly all Charisma casters are amazing

[molten glade]

I'll have to do more research later, it's quite late for me

[oak grotto]

I can see them freeing a bunch of warforged slaves if they happened to come upon them. Going out of their way to free some constructs however? I don't think so.

At least not your average druid.

[severe rampart]

If the blessed earthmother ordered to do it then probably, but I don't think Chauntea would go out of their way to do that

[oak grotto]

Yeah, that's my point.

[severe rampart]

yup

[oak grotto]

This feels like something Tyr or Ilmater would bother with.

[severe rampart]

Adding that to my deity journal, I only know the deities if someone mentions them to me

I have Kelemvor, Chauntea, Tyr, Ilmater, Bahamut, and Tiamat

[oak grotto]

I have memorized a lot of them.

[wicked mulch]

D&D Question of the Day (D&D Beyond: Playing the Game):

A Critical Hit on a weapon attack means you roll [ ] for the attack’s damage dice.

[severe rampart]

I have not

[oak grotto]

Hey, I also said Mielikki!

[severe rampart]

twice the damage die, but you only add the modifier once?

[severe rampart]

Yeah but that one's harder to spell

[oak grotto]

I want to play as a silly plasmoid cleric of Mielikki one day.

[severe rampart]

additionally, things like CME, Sneak Attack, and Smite all get twice their damage die also.

[wicked mulch]

Correct on twice. Unsure about the mods. Anybody?

[severe rampart]

By modifier I mean the ability mod for that weapon

[oak grotto]

Myrkul has gained a place in my heart. I want to play a cleric of Myrkul too.

[severe rampart]

not the outside things like Sneak Attack

[severe rampart]

the person that looks like a triangle?

[oak grotto]

More a triangle faced skeleton. But yeah.

I have also played a cleric of Tymora DMPC once and I liked him so much that I elevated him to PC status.

[primal estuary]

i’m going to crash out

[oak grotto]

Don't drink and drive.

[primal estuary]

one of my players is trying to incorporate his own homebrew. it’s forgivable cause this his first campaign but yeeeeesh.
“i’m not sure how i’d be able to incorporate those things. it would be a bit of a plot hole.”
“no, like, he has them”
give me a break, here, man

[severe rampart]

put your foot down

You're the DM

[oak grotto]

One of my backup characters is an ancient air genasi cleric of Akadi.

Niche gods interest me.

[primal estuary]

i am currently footing down as we speak

[severe rampart]

Yes I'm writing this down...

it is niche, there's only one art of Akadi

[primal estuary]

ok i don’t think this is gonna turn into a big ish

“so that’s called a homebrewed item, which is used in some campaigns, but typically the DM is the one that makes them. for simplicity’s sake, try to stick with what’s already in the game, ok?”

and he was like “ohhhh ok yeah got it”

[severe rampart]

what? but he has it /j

[oak grotto]

Tharmekhûl is also a super niche god but he's one of the few gods that has the Forge Domain and since I want to try out all subclasses I want to give him some love.

Also there's one semi official subclass called Community Domain and since I wanted to play as a lovable rascal halfling cleric I've decided to add a halfling cleric of Cyrrollalee to my list of backup PCs. Seemed a more fitting subclass for this wholesome goddess.

And those are all my cleric PCs.

My first cleric character concept was a cleric of Chauntea. But you already had her on your list so...

[severe rampart]

based Chauntea is awesome

my guidance always give maximum rolls

[oak grotto]

Yeah. She's my fave.

[severe rampart]

had fun roleplaying my paladin last session

Paladin of Chauntea

[twilit ibex]

My current hedge knight is a Dawnbringer, but my go-to is good ol' RQ

[oak grotto]

Certain deities are amusing gods to serve. Enemies will likely look down upon clerics of Chauntea or Cyrrollalee which makes their demise all the more amusing.

[twilit ibex]

Made a Tiefling Hexblade who had a pact with the RQ and had a blast with that.

[oak grotto]

Will have to play as one of these guys one day. Clerics seem very fun but I never found myself ever playing as a player.

Not counting that very very brief time that I played as a shirtless lizardfolk cleric of Eldath. Didn't even get to battle.

[severe rampart]

why specifically shirtless

[twilit ibex]

Probably because the scales along a Lizardfolk spine do terrible damage to linen and wool shirts

[oak grotto]

He was a lizardfolk. He doesn't even need clothes in order to have a decent AC.

[twilit ibex]

Just one good flex and BOOM no more shirt

Just an apron that used to be a shirt

Maybe "smock" is more accurate

[oak grotto]

Same reason why my thri-kreen rogue doesn't need armor. He can just wear a fancy purple suit instead.

[twilit ibex]

The Lizardman in my upcoming party is a Path of the Belly Brewer Barbarian. I'm excited to see a Lizardman with the powers of a specific anime pirate

Rubber body, stretchy arms, eating ridiculous things

[oak grotto]

That subclass really does that?

[twilit ibex]

Yep

[oak grotto]

Huh. Really laying it heavy on the references.

Would have rather see it act like an unpredictable barbarian. Like Drunken Master.

[twilit ibex]

When the PoTBB Barb activates Rage, they choose one of three abilities gained by their consistent consumption of alchemy ingredients. Their body can become rubber, decreasing damage done to them and giving them reach on all attacks, they can chew and swallow anything they can fit in their mouth in order to regain HP, and one more I forget.

Oh, Belly Brewer refers to the fact they supposedly have a hunger that can only be satiated by eating alchemy ingredients, which mutate their body over time

Though that can be reflavored, of course.

It's a fun Barb subclass though. They can use both Prestidigitation and Thaumaturgy, and cartoon powers are hilarious

[oak grotto]

I would probably only play that subclass if there was some serious reflavoring.

[twilit ibex]

I do believe the Lizardman will also have a Mawling Maul, basically a chained mimic on a stick.

[oak grotto]

Personally I have never been too fond of comedic DnD. Would rather see some comedic moments during appropriate times instead.

[twilit ibex]

Really going in on the "hangry" theme

[twilit ibex]

Eh, players get silly sometimes. I just try to find appropriate outlets.

[oak grotto]

I'm fine with silly. Nonstop/nonsensical silly is where you lose me.

[velvet marten]

Players are very silly billies

[oak grotto]

So I have heard.

[twilit ibex]

I wouldn't say a specific subclass is itself "silly." While I described the PotBB Barb from a silly angle, it really is up to the player

Though there are some silly subclasses

And spells

[oak grotto]

I get it. But it's unashamedly referencing to One Piece which makes it lose a lot of its appeal to me.

[twilit ibex]

I don't really think that was the goal behind the subclass

That's just a line I drew

[oak grotto]

We can only guess. All I can say is that I would rather choose a different subclass.

[twilit ibex]

I would think a Monk subclass with rubber powers would be a more sensible Monkey D. Luffy.

[still plover]

Like a chomp chain? Vicious. One question would be how is it stowed for carrying.

[twilit ibex]

The Mawling Maul is a Mimic on a pole, and a heavy iron chain keeps it sealed shut. The wielder can use a Bonus Action to loosen the chain, allowing the Mimic to do 1d4(Uncommon)/1d6(Rare) piercing damage with a bite each time you attack.

Failing to hit is risky however, as the Mimic will drool from its open maw onto you, dealing 1d4/1d6 Acid damage.

Genuinely only useful to a Barbarian, in my opinion.

Taking damage from your weapon continues your rage, etc.

[oak grotto]

That's... something.

[twilit ibex]

Indeed it is. A ridiculous weapon for a ridiculous Lizardman

[tidal skiff]

How do you interpret the 5.5e Fiendish Vigor? Since it was changed and doesn't specify to be at level 1 anymore.

[humble cairn]

The rule for casting things without a spell slot are that they default to the lowest level they can.

[atomic kayak]

At will spells are always cast at the lowest level unless they say otherwise

[twilit ibex]

As I recall you get the maximum value of the base version of the spell.

[tidal skiff]

So it's still not really useful.

[twilit ibex]

Early on it can be very useful

Later it can be replaced

[humble cairn]

I'd say it is useful.

[atomic kayak]

Its solid, nothing wild

[tidal skiff]

Dunno I can see better invocations

[hot gate]

Effectively, you can start every fight and confrontation with some extra health buffer, that's pretty good.

[atomic kayak]

It being at will is what makes it useful

[twilit ibex]

I remembered getting 14 Temp HP using Fiendish Vigor. Not a lot, but early on that's a whole hit

[humble cairn]

Doesn't mean it's not useful.

[atomic kayak]

Early on thats basically 2 hits

From a lot of things

Doubling (or nearly tripling, depending on your Con mod) your HP pool every fight is very nice

[twilit ibex]

Which is why Tough is a hard Origin feat to quit

[tidal skiff]

Tough is just ♥️

[twilit ibex]

Stop making eyes at me, Tough feat! I told you, we need to see other people!

[tidal skiff]

Lessons of the First Ones makes life better

[twilit ibex]

Sure, maybe as a Human I could have picked you, but I was in a unique position to get both Zhentarim Ruffian and Purple Knight Rook

Forgive me, Tough!

[twilit ibex]

I think my favorite invocation, flavor-wise, will always be Mask of Many Faces

[severe rampart]

Good one

[tidal skiff]

Yeah, I can see why that would be. It's great

[twilit ibex]

I played a Tiefling Hexblade in a world where Tieflings were KOS. He had to use Disguise Self 24/7

[severe rampart]

gives me the feeling of being a changeling without the cool perks 😔

[twilit ibex]

He wrapped his tail around him like a belt and made sure no one invaded his personal space and felt his horns by accident.

[tidal skiff]

Scooby-Doo unmasking scene each session

The chance to play Hellboy and grind horns.

[twilit ibex]

The actual party didn't know he was a Tiefling until the first time he was knocked unconscious and his illusion faded

I felt so warm and fuzzy when they jumped to hide my character when they realized. He made friends. ❤️