dnd-discussion

[errant sonnet]

I told my players upfront that Strahd was off limits for backstory purposes

[reef tundra]

It was my DM that surprised me with the lore drop

It’s not even a Strahd campaign

I’m just a dhampir barbarian in a campaign with a vampire father and then the DM drops the bombshell that my character’s father is the son of Strahd

[crimson gulch]

Strahd Is so fun, I'm doing my 4th run of it

[still plover]

A Ferengi paladin? It'll never catch on.

[viral kraken]

idk old school "lawful stupid" pallies are classic orange and blue morality examples right up there with ferengi, could work

[still plover]

"So, how many tenets in this Oath?"
A thump as the Rules of Acquisition hits the table.

[viral kraken]

pally saved you, but the invoice will make you wish they hadn't bothered

oh and good luck getting out of debt, even dying won't help since they can res you

[limber trail]

Truly a heartbreaking realization when you think about an idea you've been excited about and realize exactly what piece of media it's ripped from.

[still plover]

What's up?

[viral kraken]

why's that heartbreaking?

[limber trail]

I loved my disparate lone bastion on the edge of the world, in a land where the dead walk still, the rain is endless, and everything rusts

It's just death stranding 😔

[still plover]

I love it too.

[limber trail]

Gotta cook at it some more. It's an idea for a future campaign anyhow, just sharing a funny moment in it's development

[still plover]

Nah, Death Stranding is a bizarre walking and balancing sim with a baby in a jar and a Monster promotion. Forget about that. Do your idea, it sounds like it has legs.

[viral kraken]

i mean folks say there is no original though or whatever, but i prefer "simpsons did it". i don't think you should have to feel bad because an idea is not original

[limber trail]

oh it definitely has legs, I do really wanna run it.

now, to be clear, a lot of my ideas for this setting do involve intense drawn out and draining/horrifying travel sequences

Definitely would wanna step closer towards horror for this one

[still plover]

Right, but with a focus on resource management, exploration and pathfinding, environmental awareness and the ever present threats of the dead who walk and... other things. Right?

[limber trail]

100%.

All of those things are critical components in death stranding.

I'm not actually that set back by it, it's just funny.

[still plover]

Ah, fair enough.

[reef tundra]

Cryptomnesia

[still plover]

This is a new word for me. What's it mean?

[limber trail]

But yeah that's 100% the fun of the idea is the isolation of it all, feeling like you need to rely on the people around you and nobody else to try and salvage the world

[reef tundra]

It’s a phenomenon when someone recalls a memory or idea, but doesn’t remember that it’s a memory, and so the brain thinks it’s a new idea

Happens to me tons

[limber trail]

Oh so that's what it's called lmao

[still plover]

Standing on a hilltop while your gear quietly drips from the constant drizzle, looking down at the shuffling shapes in the mist in the valley below, tired, hungry, but knowing that there's no time to rest and your objective can't wait...

[dim schooner]

is origin feats only on dnd 2024

[still plover]

And the faces of your companions as you turn around, reflecting what you feel, but knowing that you've got to rally them so you left your sword and force a grin.

[limber trail]

I've really liked the idea that it's centred around a big keep on the border of this place (The Blightlands), and that each time they set out into the Blightlands, they walk past rows and rows of shields planted in the dirt, with names scratched into them as rudimentary gravestones from soldiers who's bodies could never be buried because then they'd just rise again.

[still plover]

Like it.

[limber trail]

And each time they go, there's more and more shields

That's a super potent visual to me

Which funnily enough is the only part of the idea that's consciously inspired by death stranding - I was wandering around that game and randomly saw a shield planted in the ground in the middle of nowhere. I remember wondering if it was left there as some kind of a grave or tribute, it looked a little like one.

[still plover]

I love imagining the histories of unmarked locations in video games.

[limber trail]

100%

[undone rain]

I have a funny satire character in mind, bhaalist that really wants to kill but their a warlock whos patron is a celestial so whenever they try to kill someone their celestial like gives a smack on the wrist and is just like "no bad bhaalist"

[limber trail]

Especially stuff like this which was left by another player, and not just placed in the world

[still plover]

Heh. One of my bases in Fallout 76 is a warehouse I've tried to make look like just another part of the world from outside.

[limber trail]

that's sick

[still plover]

How does that come about? Seems like it needs a bit of explaining.

[limber trail]

But yeah I haven't run something super dystopian/bleak yet (despite my players insisting my current campaign is bleak [it is]) so it's an idea I'm toying with

[woven flint]

Yeah, why would a Bhaalist make a deal with a celestial when they could just be a Cleric of Bhaal?

Or... literally anything else under Bhaal

[undone rain]

Idk lol

[still plover]

And why would a celestial make a deal with a murder cultist?

[limber trail]

Maybe they were a warlock who later converted to Bhaal, much to the celestial's frustration

[woven flint]

Well, to be fair, not all Celestials are good aligned

[still plover]

Which is fine, but this one objects to the murdering.

[narrow moss]

how smart is the Bhaalist

how tricky is the celestial

[woven flint]

The Bhaalist is smart enough not to worship Cyric instead

That's about it lol

[narrow moss]

i can see it happening then, if the celestial decided to keep them on a leash because the bhaalist actually has potential

idk how fun they'd be to play tho

[woven flint]

It seems very convoluted imo

[narrow moss]

satire sometimes is

[woven flint]

Atp, just ask Bhaal to be your celestial patron 🤔

[narrow moss]

maybe he thought they were Bhaal and the celestial did nothing to dissuade them

again he not smrt

[woven flint]

Thats sounds very convoluted to how Celestials typically are.

[narrow moss]

i wouldn't know

[woven flint]

They're not usually tricksters like fey

[narrow moss]

maybe the ultimate goal is redemption idk lol

[halcyon bison]

could be a pacifist celestial
it wants to keep the murder cultist from killing people but can't just smite them

[woven flint]

Bhaal is an Unholy deity as well, if they were looking to make a pact with him, they'd probably be doing lower planes buisness over talking to Celestials

[halcyon bison]

so it takes it upon itself to put them on a leash

[narrow moss]

maybe

also maybe they were just like, reallly drunk that night

[woven flint]

Imma be real

Evil Warlock has good patron is often too convoluted imo

[narrow moss]

it is

[woven flint]

Good Warlocks having an Evil patron is honestly much easier to write

[narrow moss]

just a silly but creative writing exercise

it could be as simple as they were severely injured and the celestial offered healing as a mercy but also a way to, y'know, try and coax them to not be so murdery

good men make worse deals with evil patrons all the time.

[halcyon bison]

celestial saw the muderhobo and thought "i can fix them"

[narrow moss]

yep

not my char to play but that is probs the easiest way to justify it all

you only really need charisma to get a patron, not int or wis

[reef tundra]

Out of the dead three I think I’d make a character connected to Bane

I like the other two don’t get me wrong, but I like a good tyrant

Or… an evil tyrant

[pliant sapphire]

Good tyrants exist?

[reef tundra]

I think if I were to make a Banite character it would be either conquest paladin (duh), battle master fighter, or hexblade warlock

[still plover]

The Patrician of Anhk-Morpork?

[icy bone]

If one were to put a wizard iniate on a battle master what would the spells be (thinking emoji)

[reef tundra]

I’d do shield

[icy bone]

Interesting

[sleek cloud]

Find familiar is nice too

[shut lance]

find familiar, use an owl. let owl do flyby and grant you advantage

if thinking just for combat

[still plover]

Prestidigitation. So useful.

[severe rampart]

Themauturgy is good too

[sleek cloud]

Absorb elements perhaps

[limber trail]

Is it crazy to say maybe jump? It’s a bonus action to get an extra 20ft a round for 1 minute, no concentration, and gives you a ton of vertical mobility

It’s probably crazy but it’s a fun nicher spell

If you wanted to break out of the stereotypes

[empty thicket]

False life help with some extra sustain.
Fog cloud work with blindsight fighting style
Unseen servant is like a mage hand with extra steps

[empty thicket]

any mobility upgrade is peak with martials so... yeah why not

[sleek cloud]

Crazy that it plays a Van Halen tune every time it’s cast

[minor cargo]

You know, in the past I thought about writing up a 2-3 pager just on prestidigitation or what I lovingly call it "Level 0 Wish".

Basically a bunch of ideas of how prestidigtation could work that only pushes the description slightly in one direction or another.

For example, I think it should allow you to speak slowly and softly while drinking water. I think it should be able to increase or decrease the spiciness of a dish slightly. I think it should be able to puppeteer a sock puppet (but not a marionette or other muppet).

[still plover]

It's a very flexible spell.

[severe rampart]

It is very lovely.

[undone rain]

So how is spore druid, do they do well in fights

They sure sound fun

[valid geyser]

mostly theyre good for the good spells. since it takes an action to set up its feature its hard to really get going in fights and you gotta be right there to get the reaction ability

but its fine

[undone rain]

Gotcha

Not the best but not awful

[fossil hollow]

their melee schtick is a bit dissapointing

[valid geyser]

i played one up to level 10 years ago, i dont remember really many class abilities
But again, it's a druid, you're already very strong since druids have good spells, and you get animate dead which is really good at those levels

[woven flint]

Can't wait for another person to get mad about 2024 Divine Smite then I point out all the buffs to paladin and then go:
"Oh no! My steak is too crispy and my lobster is too buttered!"

[severe rampart]

Honestly, playing Paladins more, they're up there with other charisma casters

[empty thicket]

i would like to see a paladin who use his fists like weapons mostly

Smitting with them

Making this priest fighter into a DnD character who do a grapple attack and slam you in the ground with Divine smite too

[limber stump]

Who here likes Naruto

[empty thicket]

"I fight to feed the orphans"

[empty thicket]

what about it?

[wintry spindle]

Borutos dad?

[severe rampart]

okay, so party is fighting ||Druids|| next session, I've asked this before I'll ask it again, fun spells to throw at them? (they are now level 5)

[empty thicket]

polymorph

[limber stump]

Im about to post a Naruto 5e campaign so fun stuff

[empty thicket]

Turn them into mouses and make the druid turn into cats and chase them

[wintry spindle]

sleet storm

[empty thicket]

if they survive 1 round they get back into their normal shape

[severe rampart]

Would feel a little bad using it...

[empty thicket]

just some cat and mouse chase buddy, nothing serious

[severe rampart]

mhm.. ✍️ anything else?

[wintry spindle]

make them fight at tree

[empty thicket]

tangle with some spell some of them and then leave the choice to the players
Help their allies to get rid of the tangle or chase the druids

[severe rampart]

You mean Entangle?

[empty thicket]

Chasing would short 1 more encounter, risky but effective
Helping the allies would give them 1 more encounter

[amber smelt]

I once Animal Shapes a party into beavers and made them build a dam for some druids, after they knocked the last dam down getting a magic weapon out of it.

[empty thicket]

yeah that

[severe rampart]

already wrote it down

[wintry spindle]

make poisoned clouds

[severe rampart]

Cloudkill

[amber smelt]

I brought in sticks and rocks and sand, they had to make a workable dam in a plastic tray

[vernal owl]

Isnt that the guy from fortnite

[empty thicket]

can make the arena have those cloudkill or entangle plants, so they must chose

[empty thicket]

okey, for this one im not using the 400 baboons
50 gorillas.

[severe rampart]

Spirit Guardians upcasted to 9th level>

[wintry spindle]

1 billion lions

[empty thicket]

Vs the sun?

[wintry spindle]

vs a tarrasque

[empty thicket]

they can attack at night so they sneak up to the sun

[wintry spindle]

lions would not do that

they want a fair fight

[empty thicket]

In any way, can do that options with the druids

[delicate owl]

Theyd lose unfortunately unless they abused some weird grappling chaining

Even then theyd probably still lose 🙁

[empty thicket]

Area controls, fun shapeshift, decision time

[valid geyser]

the lions can summon dendar

[wintry spindle]

the lions could cast hava

[amber smelt]

Could use Hallucinatory Terrain

[vernal owl]

All the druids surround the party and each one of them casts sunbeam

[wintry spindle]

or moon beam

fun fact per raw a moonbeam turns a werewolf into a guy

you would think it would do the opposite

[empty thicket]

or the druids get close to the Players and suicide bomb themselves

[wintry spindle]

Do you ever think dragons steal from other dragons?

I know different dragons collect different things

[toxic wigeon]

Would it not be disrespectful to not steal from another dragon?

[wintry spindle]

I mean i assume a chromatic wouldnt mind stealing from a metalic

[toxic wigeon]

Chromatic on chromatic also seems fine to me

[fossil hollow]

yeap. chromatics are still prone to infighting.

metallics would need a real good reason to resort to thievery

and gems... i dont think they really try to steal

[wintry spindle]

copper dragons probably would do it as a prank

[fossil hollow]

.... no yeah, copper does it "for the gag"

[wintry spindle]

imagine a copper dragon with dark humor

[empty thicket]

"I told you i could have more gold pieces than you bro, i have 100 and you ONLY ONE JAJAJAJAJ"
(He melted all his gold pieces into one big chunk of gold)

[wintry spindle]

sounds like copper dragon energy

"Adventures let me enchant your weapon"

Makes the sword do bludgeoning damage

"Haha pranked"

[empty thicket]

Hammer do piercing, piercing do slashing now

[wintry spindle]

copper dragons are fun

right now im running a dragon wyrmling who loves books

[dim schooner]

does a party need to be balanced with people that can tank/be in the front lines like fighters and paladins, and people that stay in the back like wizards or rogues

or can a party just be whatever the players want

[cobalt escarp]

depends on how hard the campaign is gonna be

[fossil hollow]

thats something dependant on the game the dm wants to run, and what the players want to play

[wintry spindle]

some modules are more balanced toward a "better" party composition but you can tweak it however you want as a dm

[dim schooner]

ok

[minor cargo]

Having a lot of different roles can be helpful and definitely provides some flexibility, but no, you don't need to necessarily balance something out.

You could for sure have 4 wizards, all who avoid melee combat. You'll just have less general flexibility compared to a party with a fighter, cleric, rogue, and wizard.

[wintry spindle]

you could also be 4 bards in a band

[empty thicket]

Yes and no
Depend, any party can work but some parties can have weakness

my past party had a range weakness mostly

[turbid vessel]

A moderately skilled DM would be able to adjust encounters based on party comp. That said, it's not unreasonable for a DM to suggest diversity in a party so that the encounters can be just as diverse

[empty thicket]

We didnt had any real AOE and range stuff but we had a giga solid close range setup

Its recommended have a healer? Yes
Its totally needed? Not at all

[wintry spindle]

only the last hp counts

[cobalt escarp]

i’ve considered running a very short campaign where the party is all one class with different subclasses

[turbid vessel]

If I run a party without any healers I just make sure healing potions and short rests are accessible

[wintry spindle]

it's fun

Can easily be dun with Cleric, Druids and Paladins

[turbid vessel]

Bard too

[wintry spindle]

Yeah bard now moon bard is a ok healer

[empty thicket]

Its recommended have at least 1 caster in the team? Yep.
Same with some martial? yep

[wintry spindle]

but its more fun doing something more niche like all rogue party

[empty thicket]

A party can work without any caster? Totally

Same with none martial but some hybrid

[empty thicket]

Welp, Los 3 mosqueteros party i guess

[turbid vessel]

This is when you whip out the thief rogue healer build

[empty thicket]

A Swash, a mastermind and an arcane and a fourth but never said mosquetero, an assassin

[wintry spindle]

Three scion rogue ofc

[severe rampart]

Fast Hands baby

[wintry spindle]

kill steal from the other rogues

But probably i would do Soulknife, 3 scion, swashbuckler and arcane tricster

[fossil hollow]

kill steal? nah, thats called an alleyoop

scion is on clean up crew

reminds me of that yokai legend about sickle weasels

[empty thicket]

But in general, it depend of the number of players in the party and how they would make it work

[wintry spindle]

One of my players has a three scion knife that allows him as an reaction to throw his knife when an enemy is bloodied

[empty thicket]

Wizard and fighter are giga versatile and always work in a party
Cleric, paladin and arti are good to have
Warlock, druid, barbarian and monk are something

[fossil hollow]

yeah, Bloodthirst is awesome. helps proc more sneak attacks too

[wintry spindle]

also its cursed

He hasn't realized yet

[severe rampart]

Legendary Action at home

[wintry spindle]

tbf it helps him out a lot

and he can only really use it once per combat

and sometimes he miss lol

[paper portal]

lowkey necroreplying but this is what i saw when i opened the server yeah party composition really isn't a big thing

the individual strength of the characters is gonna affect the party overall much more than what areas they cover

[fossil hollow]

its only 20 mins

[cursive fjord]

I cant remember does DDB let you rename Class Features and stuff if you wanted too?

[fossil hollow]

if theyre an action/bonus action/reaction

[abstract forge]

In the past year or so ive heard that they have added new classes and sub classes. Has anyone built a character using it. If so please tell me how good it is.

[eternal path]

If you're talking about the pugilist, I'm pretty sure that's not core content.

[still plover]

You'll have to be a bit more specific.

[fossil hollow]

ive played with the forgotten realms stuff quite a bit

[crimson gulch]

many new subclasses yes, many have been used

[dim schooner]

Whats necro replying

[slim garden]

I'm really liking the UA warrior of venom

[paper portal]

like replying to random old messages

[azure pond]

There should be a spell for cutting fresh chilis for a dish and immediately touching your nose with your fingers covered in capsaicin

[wintry spindle]

Jim's prestidgination

[umbral girder]

Man I’m now stuck thinking about the idea from last week of “FNAF as a Domain of Dread”

[normal junco]

William Afton does fit the description of someone the dark powers would imprison in a domain.

[umbral girder]

The fun part is using the FNAF lore Afton wouldn’t even be the Darklord which can make a fun campaign twist

[normal junco]

Matthew Lillard would approve, i'm sure.

[umbral girder]

Since the one keeping things running is whoever that Golden Freddy soul is

[woven flint]

Cassidy, methinks?

[umbral girder]

Won’t even let Afton go to hell

The spookier Darklord

[umbral girder]

That is a name being thrown around yeah.

It would be a short campaign

Not unless you’d include every different version of Freddy and friends

[wintry spindle]

William afton from Five pizzas at freddys?

[umbral girder]

Yeah I brought up “what if FNAF was a Domain of Dread?”

[wintry spindle]

I gain a dread against the DM

[umbral girder]

It would also be funny mainly because that means Fazbear is a neighbor to Strahd

[twilit ibex]

My upcoming party is OP. Peace Domain Cleric and Circle of Wicker Druid are a nasty support combo.

I love these nerds I'm playing with

[umbral girder]

Then again you could do something like “in 5 days the souls will get more violent” as a timer. And have the adventures somehow only workable at night.

Whenever I run a campaign I always think “how do I add a dragon to it”

[empty thicket]

Add a town named "Dragons end"
Dragon came angry towards the name to destroy it.

[wintry spindle]

lol

[umbral girder]

Clearly the FNAF method is using the Giant Music man from Security breach and give it a dragon stat block with thunder damage

[wintry spindle]

Self fulfilling prophecy town

[cedar bane]

im pretty sure thats what dead by daylight is

[feral fulcrum]

That's a very poor reason for a dragon to come to destroy something. Even the most cantankerous have better things to do with their time then go smite a random village with a barely offensive name

[empty thicket]

They are calling for it, so yeah

[cedar bane]

have we considered the dragon has nothing better to do

[umbral girder]

Yeah Ravenloft shares a lot of DNA with Dead by Daylight

[empty thicket]

Tried to ragebait the dragons thinking that none would see the small sign

[wintry spindle]

"Why is this town called Floodbark?" Well cause it was flooded "Was it named before the flood?" "Of course it was made next to an old damn"

[umbral girder]

That’s why when Vecna got added to DbD I said “Vecna got his two nickels”

[feral fulcrum]

A dragon always has better things to do.

[cedar bane]

idk most dragons ive met are unemployed

they just do whatever

[umbral girder]

Better things to do like planning the name of the next town after it burns that town down

[flint vortex]

im curious is it possible to solo tiamat?

[feral fulcrum]

Probably not

Encounters are designed for, you know, multiple people.

[wintry spindle]

I mean even if you defeat tiamat it will come back later

[cedar bane]

theres probably a item/class interaction that would let you

[empty thicket]

in theory, yes, anything is possible
Like multiclass to 3 classes being lvl 60 (20 in each) and maybe having a chance

[umbral girder]

Max level is 20.

[flint vortex]

isnt max level 20?

[empty thicket]

Yes.

[feral fulcrum]

And even your most Hyper Min-maxed Turbo ultra build isn't going to get you over the complete lack of four other guys adding their own DPS.

[cedar bane]

thats not how multiclass works but i like where your heads at

[empty thicket]

i like it... its that a tre...

[cedar bane]

youd need something far greater than min-maxing. youd need gimmicks

[flint vortex]

what if you got like all the best items, obviously no homebrew op busted stuff

how about 2 people, can 2 people beat tiamat?

[empty thicket]

but in practice, no, you would need a party yes or yes

Its teh kind of final battle enemy

[feral fulcrum]

You'd have to do all the math yourself to figure out the minimum amount of people you'd need

ANd you'd still be at the mercy of Tiamat uh...just not deleting you in two turns with breath weapons

[flint vortex]

with the power of randomness anything is possible, theoretically tiamat could just miss all her attacks, but thats probably never gonna happen

[feral fulcrum]

The problem with that is, again, Breath weapons, which don't roll to hit :V

[umbral girder]

Also magic items

[lethal shale]

Hello, i'm kinda new to DnD and as a fighter i have the ability to have a weapon mastery. How do i know if a weapon has a mastery? For example I couldn't find anything about the morningstar mastery

[umbral girder]

Like the rings of resistance no longer needing attunement. Or just potions.

[cedar bane]

theoretical and plausible are different things sadly

[cedar bane]

a morningstar doesnt exist in dnd, closet thing would be a flail (i think)

[fossil hollow]

All weapons have a Weapon Mastery. The morningstar's mastery property is Sap

[cedar bane]

ok apparently im wrong

[uncut zenith]

Morningstars exist in 5E, there just aren’t a lot of magical ones

[feral fulcrum]

DND just isn't a game where one random idiot, regardless of how stacked his gear and stats and min-maxed build...just isn't going to tango with an aspect of a god and live.

[lethal shale]

what do you mean? I'm pretty sure it exist

[normal junco]

considering a group of kids were thrown against Tiamat as their first ever encounter at like, level 1? 3? and they came away intact, anything is possible.

[lethal shale]

oh thanks

[cedar bane]

i have genuinely never seen it in any game ever

crazy

[green shadow]

Hi

[fossil hollow]

All weapons have alisted property, this is the list of weapon masteries
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/br-2024/equipment#MasteryProperties

[empty thicket]

morningstar is... a weird kind of weapon

[feral fulcrum]

That's because DND has a Sword-Itus disease

[umbral girder]

It uses Sap! The equipment page of a weapon has it. If using DnD Beyond then the description of the item has the mastery too!

[cedar bane]

not really

[uncut zenith]

That’s because most people use weapons that have magical options other than a standard +1/+2/+3. it’s the same reason not a lot of people use weapons like glaives, which also exist but don’t have a lot of magical variations.

[feral fulcrum]

90% of ALL magical weapons in 5e where HARD LOCKED to swords

[cedar bane]

fair

[umbral girder]

Thankfully 5.5e opened up the options to not be sword locked

[cedar bane]

oh magical weapons? yeah

[feral fulcrum]

Yes, it does have a sword-itus disease

[umbral girder]

Like Holy Avengers, Frostbrands, and Flametongues

[empty thicket]

you can always apply the same effect of some magic weapons in others, is something some dm do

[cedar bane]

anyway me when i spread misinformation i guess

morningstars do exist

[feral fulcrum]

You can do whatever you want in Homebrew, doesn't change the fact that RAW 90% of magical weapons were Swords, and only swords.

[flint vortex]

what would you say is the highest dpr class in dnd, no multiclass, no aoe

[fossil hollow]

#optimization

[feral fulcrum]

Fighters

[umbral girder]

I’m gonna check that actually because I’m curious

[craggy summit]

Tough to say, it's a tight race between fighter, barb, and rogue. You could also throw in wizard if we're talking high levels

[normal canyon]

Do people even use Circle Magic?

[flint vortex]

lets say like level 16, i feel like thats a fair endagme, most people probably wont do 20

[fossil hollow]

I used Circle magic once last sunday

[crimson gulch]

Fighter

[craggy summit]

Infact it probably is wizard if we're talking level 20 without super niche scenarios. Just meteor swarm

If we're talking niche then a level 20 fighter that somehow lands 8 crits in a row

[feral fulcrum]

Fighterman, fighterman, does whatever a figher can.

[cedar bane]

ive considered using it but its never really had a chance to come up, though i love it as a mechanic

[lethal otter]

good eavening yall, been a while ive been here. How are yall

[lethal shale]

ok thank you so much

[feral fulcrum]

Hit some stuff, hit some more, look oooout, here comes the fighter man.

[empty thicket]

Figters without any other chance
Give them the best equipment you can and around 10 attacks in one round is... rarely something would survive

10 or 12 or 14

[umbral girder]

Weapons of sharpness isn’t even locked to swords. Neat.

[cloud prism]

Hello chat

[cedar bane]

sorry for lying btw good luck with your totally real weapon

[lethal otter]

?

[cedar bane]

hi

[cedar bane]

also hi

[cloud prism]

Wsp

[empty thicket]

Me with my sharp greathammer

[lethal otter]

whats new?

[cedar bane]

discussing dnd

[flint vortex]

peak refferance

[cedar bane]

anythings sharp if you swing it fast enough

[uncut zenith]

It’s a relatively new magic subsystem, and kinda technically FR exclusive, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it hasn’t been very popular

[lethal otter]

Ah yes, the great wigler

[umbral girder]

Wow Luck Blades aren’t sword exclusive either

[cedar bane]

damn glad to see theyve expanded a lot of them then

[empty thicket]

400 baboons or 50 gorilas.

[cedar bane]

the baboons easy

[flint vortex]

baboons i would say

[normal junco]

the eberron comic from IDW during their infestation arc had circle magic, though that predates the mechanic by quite some time.

[flint vortex]

50 lions vs 1 t rex?

[umbral girder]

Vorpal Sword amusingly is not Sword Exclusive either

[cedar bane]

50 lions

[flint vortex]

maybe

[umbral girder]

I only found like 6 sword only magic weapons in the DMG 5.5e

[cedar bane]

its just a vorpal sword attached to your weapon of choice

[lethal otter]

50.000 lions vs 1 tarasque

[umbral girder]

Including Artifacts

[empty thicket]

okey, im rolling each one attack and initiative individually

[cedar bane]

thats a lot of lions

[empty thicket]

They can stack on each ohter until 3 per square and will attack you at the same time

[umbral girder]

Ok so 90% of Magic Weapons in the 5.5e DMG are in fact not swords.

[flint vortex]

welp, dnd gigantic creatures have really bad lifting strength for some reason

[umbral girder]

Now I want to check the expanded content

[lethal otter]

Action economy sais the lions win

[uncut zenith]

Yeah the 5.5 DMG really opened up the possibility regarding what weapon types apply to what magic items

[lethal otter]

I mean, it is the tarasque

[cedar bane]

lion ladder

[uncut zenith]

A lot of them aren’t exclusively one base weapon type anymore

[cedar bane]

it did a lot for flexibility in most aspects of the game

[umbral girder]

Tarrasque ez

[lethal otter]

Don't think they have the intiligence to make a leader

[cedar bane]

but thats a lot of lions

[umbral girder]

Legendary action movement + Burrow speed + AOE

[lethal otter]

Action economy.

[cedar bane]

think about it

[flint vortex]

how muc can a gargantuan creature with 30 strength lift?

[umbral girder]

the lions get to take no actions against the Tarrasque

[lethal otter]

i mean, don't want to do math at 23.00 in the eavening

[uncut zenith]

The new tarrasque also has an AOE effect that could easily take out all those lions in a heartbeat

[fossil hollow]

30 * 15 * 2 * 2 * 2

[cedar bane]

but its a lot of lions, i mean 50k?

[umbral girder]

Plus even if 1 lion got a turn the Tarrasque can just use a Legendary action to get out of range again so the 49,999 lions can’t do anything

[craggy summit]

3600? If I did the math correctly

[umbral girder]

Simply put the Lions lose because there are too many of them

[lethal otter]

is that a lot?

[flint vortex]

according to chat gpt it only can lift like 3.2 tonnes. dnd makes no sense

so the lions could maybe just like pin it?

[umbral girder]

Yikes

[cedar bane]

ok so ai is usually wrong

[lethal otter]

lions aren't that smart

[craggy summit]

I'd suppose it's up to your own personal opinion if it's alot 😅 it's alot if you wanna carry only swords, not alot of you wanna carry solid statues made of gold

[lethal otter]

Never use ai for dnd
Half /j

[umbral girder]

Also it can still use its burrow speed

[tidal skiff]

Will they or did they already remade Hexbloods in to 5.5e ? I don't have all content for 5.5.

[uncut zenith]

ChatGPT doesn’t “know” as much about D&D as it pretends it does

[flint vortex]

pinning prey is in their natural insticts

[lethal otter]

i don't know the lb. system of weigh

[fossil hollow]

... why use chatgpt

[flint vortex]

can you calc the lifting strength for the tarrasque

[cedar bane]

they remade dhampir recently so they might do the other lineages sometime soon

[uncut zenith]

Hexbloods will be in the new Ravenloft book. Alongside Dhampir, Reborn, and the brand new Lupine.

[lethal otter]

ah yes, lets pin a creature thats is bacicly godzilla

[flint vortex]

tell me the lifting strength of the tarrasque

[cedar bane]

ti just did

[fossil hollow]

thats the equation

[craggy summit]

Ah, 1636 kilos

[lethal otter]

i could. I don't want to

[lethal otter]

thanks a lot.

[flint vortex]

are we going of dnd rules or realistically?

[tidal skiff]

Nice, appreciate the info

[feral fulcrum]

Do not rely on AI anything for any actual information. At the best of times, they accidentally quote the right thing, at the worst of times they're outright lying.

[cedar bane]

oh really? hell yeah

[woven flint]

I also lie :3

[lethal otter]

dnd rules OR role acurate taraque

[cedar bane]

i didnt realise they were doing all the lineages

[woven flint]

I love spreading misinformation /joking

[cedar bane]

i havent looked at the book in any way yet

[uncut zenith]

Yep. All three of the pre-existing ones and a brand new one

[flint vortex]

realistically the tarrasque would not be able to survive being that big, and dnd rules, there are just sooooooo many lions

[cedar bane]

lineages are so cool, im glad to see them get some adaptation

[fossil hollow]

realistically =/= lore accurate

[cedar bane]

it is a lot of lions...

[empty thicket]

yeah, i like when i can use push in a 3x3 enemy, always work

[lethal otter]

yes, but lions only have 5ft atack range, so thay can't atack all at the same time

[cedar bane]

i tend to do that for fun

[woven flint]

Realistically...
In a fantasy game? 🤔

[fossil hollow]

Tarrasque also has:

• AoEs
• Burrowing Speed

[lethal otter]

Hey Tokii, been a while

[flint vortex]

wait isnt the tarrasque imune to physical attacks, or am i mixing it up?

[woven flint]

Resistant

[cedar bane]

if we realistically consider godzilla, because hes real, how would this work

[fossil hollow]

in 2014, theyre immune to nonmagical BPS.
in 2024, theyre resistant to all BPS

[feral fulcrum]

Realistically? In a fantasy system where you fall instantly, and the atmosphere and gravity just vanish at a certain altitude?

[fossil hollow]

where dragons can fly?

[flint vortex]

can the lions even get through the ac?

[woven flint]

Also consider the lions have to roll nat 20's all the time to even hit the Tarrasque.

[normal junco]

i get the falling "instantly" thing, the amount of distance you travel in a 6 second time period when you fall in real life is quite a bit.

[fossil hollow]

they have to roll nat 20s to even hit

[woven flint]

Because they only have a +5 to hit and it has 25 AC

[flint vortex]

there are 50 000 lions tho

[uncut zenith]

Dhampir has already been published for 5.5 in the Astarion vampire book, but I think that was only a preorder bonus so it’s gonna be reprinted in a book that’s more accessible to the general fanbase

[woven flint]

Boy.
Explodes you with mind

[fossil hollow]

not all lions will be able to attack the tarrasque

[cedar bane]

maybe, but the lions could form a lion battering ram to lower its ac

[flint vortex]

does the tarrasque have big aoe?

[cedar bane]

yeah i saw the book of astarion one

[fossil hollow]

in 2024 yes

[cedar bane]

oh yeah thats like its main thing

[severe rampart]

oh god... it's the pokemon vs a billion lions again...

[lethal otter]

What?

[severe rampart]

It's a meme

"How can lions beat flying pokemon" "Lion ladder."

[lethal otter]

What have i done?

[cedar bane]

hey im just saying thats a lot of lions

[lethal otter]

Lions aren't intiligent enough to do that

[severe rampart]

but it's a lot of lions /j

[fossil hollow]

thats part of the joke

[flint vortex]

🤯

[cedar bane]

theres bound to be one awakened lion in there

[empty thicket]

yep, lots of them

[uncut zenith]

Y’all are just memeing at this point

[empty thicket]

and being so big and having only 1 space attack... would be sad

[flint vortex]

like how big? how many lions could it wipe out in 1 attack?

[lethal otter]

re we?

[woven flint]

Vecna vs 1 billion lions

[thorn wedge]

How many tarrasques could you fight with your bare hands

[severe rampart]

if all 10,000 lions did roll, 5% of them would hit, so that's 500 lions critically attacking the tarrasque, that's assuming the tarrasque doesn't go first.

[woven flint]

None.

[flint vortex]

how many lions to beat tiamat, assuming the lions have magical claws and teeth

[fossil hollow]

they cant

[thorn wedge]

I could beat at least 3

[flint vortex]

like 4 i would say

[fossil hollow]

fly speed and AoEs

[thorn wedge]

4 is pretty respectable

[cedar bane]

lion plane

[severe rampart]

the lions might be able to fly if they make a lion helicopter

[lethal otter]

I mean, Lions aren't intelligent enough to find Vecna's soul jar. So Vecna wins bi default

[cedar bane]

you get it

[normal canyon]

10+

[severe rampart]

the only argument is "it's a lot of lions"

[lethal otter]

Are we just refering to villigar news now?

[cedar bane]

cats are notoriously good at destroying jars

[flint vortex]

i dont think even a human would think of that if they didnt know about it

[lethal otter]

indeed

[flint vortex]

what a if the lions had a big boss unit calles a noil?

[cedar bane]

so youre saying we make a lion mech

[flint vortex]

indeed

[lethal otter]

?

[normal junco]

well, if you get five paladins, and each have a colour coded lion, and something to do with keys... bam, lion mech

[flint vortex]

what would win in a fight between a gorilla and a lion?

[woven flint]

Lion.

[flint vortex]

agree

[lethal otter]

depends, dnd or irl

[woven flint]

Also, the Lions bit is getting old 😭

[normal junco]

i liked when they called in the daladadas.

[flint vortex]

irl, and lets see dnd too for gun

[lethal otter]

Man yeah, love those

[peak pecan]

Gorilla; lions aren’t big climbers and get lethargic easily

[fossil hollow]

anyway, back to DND

[flint vortex]

irl or dnd?

[flint vortex]

you dont understand

[lethal otter]

1 Tarasque sized chicken, or 10 chicken sized taraques

[loud tendon]

Let's keep things to d&d in this space. Hypotheticals about real life encounters belong elsewhere. Ty

[flint vortex]

this is extreamly relevant

[fossil hollow]

you can do this somewhere else

[peak pecan]

IRL; but let’s get on topic

[flint vortex]

you dont know what kind of encounters people be designing

[slate delta]

I just finished running my first campaign as a DM. I'm looking for something new to run around 10ish or less sessions long. Anyone got any recommendations? I just ran the heroes of the borderlands starter set

[fossil hollow]

Ok? I dont really care for it

[lethal otter]

i advice again'st arguing to mods

[minor cargo]

Just use the D&D encounter builder to see the outcome.

Here's 100 level 1s v 1 gorilla. lol.

[normal junco]

based on action economy in the magical world that obeys the rules of the D&D books, eventually you get to a point where the side with more members always wins.

[fossil hollow]

and yeah, Jayn already said it

[lethal otter]

back to dnd, i have no group anymore. And its kinda painfull

[normal junco]

also, there's a point in running combat where a certain number of opponents just are not fun to fight against or to run at all.

[slate delta]

So true

As a DM and a player I love small encounters usually just the players vs 1 enemy

[lethal otter]

i mean. There is one awnser for a large group of smaller enemies. It has a range of 150 feet and a radius of 20 feet and is does a base damage of 8d6 fire damage.

[normal junco]

upcast it to max, the only way to be sure.

[peak pecan]

I suggest an anthology book like Quests from the Infinite Staircase or Dragon Delves

[lethal otter]

So, kinda just like started a new group with people i do not know. Stopped dming online and its all just extremely painfull

[normal junco]

same characters or completely new characters?

[slate delta]

New plus new players

[normal junco]

so you can really pick anything. you're not restricted by the level characters were at the end of the last campaign

[minor cargo]

Ah, yeah. It can be tough when you start a group with people you don't know.

I know me and others have talked about like... one degree of separation for groups. i.e. You either know the players directly or a player knows another player directly. Doesn't always work out that way of course, but I've had success with that.

[normal junco]

are you looking for any particular theme or environment?

[lethal otter]

Any advice?

[minor cargo]

Can you say more? I don't think I fully understand your question/scenario?

[normal junco]

run The Joys of Extradimensional Space as a one-shot?

[normal junco]

you could try running the Wyddcallum Curse. that goes up to level 5 i think.

[slate delta]

I like lighthearted classic fantasy stuff.

With epic moments or easily home-brewable stuff

Like the heroes on the borderlands I was able to homebrew in a bunch of my own story easily

[slate delta]

I'll look into that

[normal junco]

i fixed the spelling

[sleek cloud]

I cast counterspelling.

[still plover]

-# The forbidden magic!

[knotty vine]

I have a question about Traxigor

How does he use a dagger

[viral kraken]

he's just an archmage who is reskinned right? so same way an archmage does i guess

[fossil hollow]

same way otter uses stones to crack open shells

[viral kraken]

i love otters almost as much as otters love their favorite rock

[craggy summit]

I love otters so much omg 😭 an adventure book I was running had a otter NPC and I freaked out when I seen it

[craggy summit]

With his tiny lil otter hands

[viral kraken]

just gonna toss this out there, check out Kotsumet on youtube, it's a channel for a pair of otters and they are so cute

[craggy summit]

This is very valuable information, thank you very much my good person 🙏

[thin igloo]

does anyone want to be a dm for a campaign? all settings and stuf we can discuss 🙂

[viral kraken]

i would check out the instructions in #find-a-game

[junior kettle]

Hello hello

[stoic haven]

How is everyone today

[reef tundra]

Injured myself playing dance dance revolution :(

[junior kettle]

It’s going good, just finished my second semester

[stoic haven]

Oof, did you have fun though?

[reef tundra]

Lots of fun

Must've rolled a nat 1 on performance and took 1d4 damage :(

[stoic haven]

Oof

[junior kettle]

Damn

[stoic haven]

That stinks

[tidal skiff]

I wonder. Why aren't Half-Elves a thing?

[timid elm]

arent there half elves?

[fossil hollow]

there are

[blissful dragon]

it not they dont exist it that in 2024 they didnt want to make it a mechanicly thing in the phb

[tidal skiff]

That's what I meant.
But like why.

[severe rampart]

It shouldn't be treated as "different"

[blissful dragon]

the artficer book made a species that is a renamed half elf cause half elfs where a major part of the world as two of the major dragon mark houses

[reef tundra]

If it helps, they kinda brought them back in the form of the Khorovar

[severe rampart]

It's good that it's not a thing any more

[blissful dragon]

if its important for your setting and such their is nothing stopping using the old half elf or the forge book one

[reef tundra]

Is this about that drawing irl parallels thing again?

[severe rampart]

Yup

[blissful dragon]

yeah

[tidal skiff]

Dunno elves live like thousand years and Half-Elves lived like what 160 ? That's quite the difference

[fossil hollow]

lifespan alone does not make them unique enough for seperate mechanics

[flint ledge]

Elves live about 750 years on average in dnd actually

[fossil hollow]

im seeing 180 years

[tidal skiff]

I guess so. So what now when you want them, variant human ?

[reef tundra]

I do not speak for everyone, but I am half asian myself. I quite like half elves, and I don't find it offensive or smth. However, if it affects other people like me, then I can accept that they are gone and now exist only through Khorovar, who have their own identity separate from their heritage

[fossil hollow]

Human or Elf

[reef tundra]

And if a player ever wants to play a half elf I can just hand them Khorovar

[still plover]

I'd like more cultures among the species rather than them being blocs.

[tidal skiff]

So my guess was fitting since I'm making family to the character and there were like Half-Elves all, but I was like...technically 5.5e could make them human or elf. So nice.

[reef tundra]

In fact I'm trying to make some lore for my setting that gives them a new name like Khorovar

[fossil hollow]

yeap. ALso, v human is technically not a thing anymore

[still plover]

More like vhuman is the default, old regular human is defunct, right?

[tidal skiff]

Pein if I could, I would just cook up something custom since they are basically "half Hexbloods" but then I thought... Hexbloods are Fae so elves are close with fae ancestry, but they are also part humans so I was brainstorming and burned out

[fossil hollow]

yes and no

[fossil hollow]

As a lineage, hexblood just exists on top of your actual "species"

I made a dhamphir who used to be a hadozee
and a hexblood who used to be a goliath

[hot reef]

They got rid of the Ghost's Horrifying Visage aging feature in 2024 too, not sure if there's any mechanical bearing for age in 2024

[tidal skiff]

Yeah, I recall that. I was more of working with diluting bloodline where nobody looks exactly like Hexbloods, but they all share same visual traits gained from them in family.

[jolly canyon]

Had to tell a handful of players they gotta swap of V Human in the WM I'm in since it's reprint rules feels bad saying no at times but thems the rules of that WM

[fossil hollow]

well, even if you allow Vhuman, they cant take General feats

since General feats require level 4+.

and when you start at higher levels, you build them up from level 1 to the level youre playing them at

[jolly canyon]

Is gen feat a 2014 thing or? I don't think I've eheard that term yet. Just Feats and Origin feats

[fossil hollow]

2024

[jolly canyon]

Oh

[glad arch]

Dont forget epic boons

[fossil hollow]

General Feat is everything that isnt an Origin feat or a Dragonmark or a Epic Boon feat

[jolly canyon]

Ahh ok

[jolly canyon]

Haven't gotten there yet. I did read that part of the PHB though. Or the dmg I forget which has Boon description but I read it!!!

[glad arch]

Level 19+ 90% of players wont get there anyways

[jolly canyon]

My players are lvl 5. The power jump is pretty wicked

[onyx sluice]

Once you get yo double digits it gets crazy

[glad arch]

Level 5 is when things start getting fun

[jolly canyon]

Yea the MM really opened up to me now they hit that level

So many options

[severe rampart]

Tier 2 baby

[reef tundra]

I am so glad 5.5e gave every single monster a huge power boost. The 2014 MM enemies were so underwhelming, in my opinion, 5.5e stat blocks have been much better at posing a challenge to higher level players in my games since I got the MM

[severe rampart]

Yup, but at times I like adding in my own little spice

Such as giving cultists Eldritch Invocations (Devil's Sight so I can do darkness against my players)

[junior kettle]

I miss my level 15 paladin

[reef tundra]

Oooh yeah, it's always fun to add your own spice

[severe rampart]

It's fun, on a critical hit the monster is gonna beeline to my player and is going to slam 2d4 times

[errant crag]

I thought I was the only one who does this

[fossil hollow]

its the actual ruling, so thats what i always do

[errant crag]

I do it for Wizards I'm starting at a higher level because their known spell progression literally requires it to make sense

[fossil hollow]

oh yeah, its a nessecary thing for me when im making a high level wiz

[errant crag]

I can't start at level 10 and have mostly 3rd level spells because I wouldn't have been able to learn those spells in my spell book until level 5

My barbarian multiclass challenge/experiment continues

Finished classes:
Barbarian Rogue, Barbarian Wizard, Barbarian Cleric, Barbarian Paladin, Barbarian Monk

Which class is next on the chopping block for today

[reef tundra]

Barb bard

A friend of mine once played a druibardarian

[errant crag]

The humble Bardbarian

[rough basalt]

Man I'm not getting a single thing done today tabletop wise

[long thicket]

Damn, I really want to play Barbarian Monk. Especially high lvl barb/monk

[fossil hollow]

the Bonk

[errant crag]

It's one of the trickier ones

[long thicket]

The Triple Bonk

[errant crag]

I went with Giant Barbarian/Kensei Monk with Light Hammers as my Kensei weapons so I can throw three hammers on my turn and apply Elemental Cleaver to 2 of them and get Kensei Shot on all of my thrown attacks since they are ranged attacks with Kensei weapons and thus apply

So I have 2d6+1d4+7 (assuming 16 strength) on two of my attacks on my turn

And as a Frost Goliath I can apply an extra 1d6 to the Nick attack which doesn't get the elemental cleaver d6

[umbral girder]

Write down an encounter with loot perhaps?

[rough basalt]

Could make the first boss fight of my upcoming horror campaign

I haven't drawn up his statblock yet.

[errant crag]

Considering the rules of the challenge and the inherent anti synergy between Barbarian and Monk, I feel like this is pretty good all things considered for Barbarian Monk multiclass.

[umbral girder]

A good 10 minute exercise ya know?

[rough basalt]

When my level 2 party gets hit with "tonight gehrman joins the hunt"

[stray atlas]

so a dumb question I have, what's the fastest thing in official dnd 5e content?

[errant crag]

I'm sure there is something faster but 5.5e Solars have 150ft of fly speed

[stray atlas]

that's what I was thinking but a friend is claiming there's something with 170ft of fly speed

called a wind drakeling

but I do not remember anything like that

[fossil hollow]

most likely third party

[errant crag]

I cast Haste on the Solar

[umbral girder]

You missed the Solar

[fossil hollow]

huh. Why is a solar faster than Tiamat

[errant crag]

Because they have aura

[umbral girder]

She too busy killing and breathing

[errant crag]

They have style and ease

[long thicket]

When I get a chance I'll go with Hilltop Goliath and the monk of the elements. And maybe there is a fanatic path for the Barbarian, but for my idea the Barbarian is needed mainly only for rage. Lvl 3 elements monk let me strike with thunder at a distance of 10 feet. And lvl 11 let me FLY. So just imagine a scene:
2.5 meters rock
in rage
Could clap his hand and put you down remotely
Jumps like Hulk
And could just fly. Just fly without any wings
It would be so Superman/Homelander/Viltrumite

[uncut zenith]

More agile, less bulky. Tiamat also has 5 different personalities arguing with each other all the time. I imagine that would slow you down a bit.

[fossil hollow]

greatywrms are still also also slower...

[uncut zenith]

Demogorgon can barely handle coming to an agreement with two heads/personalities, imagine 5.

[fossil hollow]

... Zariel doesnt count

[errant crag]

My friend played in an one shot as a Long Death Monk with one level in barbarian solely for damage resistance and he was super tanky and hard to kill with all his THP

[errant crag]

Ettins too set the precedent of multiple heads arguing

[crimson gulch]

My kit for hauling to games is getting too big I need a new bag that can hold dnd books easier

[fossil hollow]

you need a bag of holding

[severe rampart]

aren't all bags technically for holding?

[fossil hollow]

no, theyre for carrying

[uncut zenith]

Some bags are for showing off

[severe rampart]

oh designer bags

[long thicket]

"I wish I had a bag of holding"

[flint ledge]

I swear Echo your jokes are impossible...

[severe rampart]

... rolls

You can never cast Wish ever again.

[fossil hollow]

bag of holding bananas

[severe rampart]

in addition, you had a bag of holding, you don't have one now.

[wintry spindle]

Do you peops think is common knowledge to not put a bag of holding in a bag of holding

[fossil hollow]

yuh

[wintry spindle]

Would a typical adventurer know that?

[long thicket]

I think so

[fossil hollow]

yuh

its an uncommon item

[long thicket]

I think every Bag of Holding should come with instructions on what not to do with it

[fossil hollow]

taking a short rest also reveals what it does

[wintry spindle]

It should be able to talk

It has a triendly face

[hot marlin]

Remembering the simple rule that you don't put an extradimensional space inside another, or a portal through another portal, is not hard

[normal junco]

Makes for a really dramatic assassination attempt. Plant a portable hole on the noble about to travel through a portal.

[hot marlin]

That, I'm not sure it works.

[fossil hollow]

is it really an assassination if theyre still alive?

[hot marlin]

And even if it did, it's not an assassination.

Damn, too slow

[sleek cloud]

Banishment with extra steps

[normal junco]

True.

[hot marlin]

Not only will Ti kill my character tonight, now he's adding insult to injury

[fossil hollow]

surrounded by books

unable to read a single letter

[hot marlin]

Heart attack guaranteed.

Will it be the first D&D character to die of a normal heart attack? Probably

[fossil hollow]

you want a CON save lmao?

[hot marlin]

That's just cruel

[fossil hollow]

only DC 18

[sleek cloud]

Do it

[hot marlin]

Anyways, if you want to assassinate someone, midnight tears are right there.

Assassinations are not that difficult.

[fading wolf]

hello hello

is there a channel for games to join

[fossil hollow]

#find-a-game

[fading wolf]

cheers

[empty thicket]

can do the always "so, which head is the leader of all of them? i guess is the fire one" and they start to argue with each other

[empty thicket]

so putting 2 bags of holding mouths against each other is a bad idea?

[hot marlin]

What

[empty thicket]

Bag of holding 🫸 🫷 Another bag of holding
🙏 2 bags of holding

[hot marlin]

I have no idea how to answer that

[raw crypt]

I’d assume that putting them adjacent to each other is fine, as long as two extradimensional portals don’t go inside each other

[empty thicket]

that is the thing, i would like to test what will happen if i put both entries of the bags against each other

[viral kraken]

ya but putting your "bag of holding" up against their "bag of holding" will lead to one party or the other "accidentally" slipping their bag into the other, that's how it always goes

[raw crypt]

I don’t think anything generally exits a bag of its own will typically so iunno if much will happen

[errant crag]

There's one thing that does

[empty thicket]

Oh, i was expecting to everything explode... like the cat + Toast with jam

Had... a hard time with that one

[raw crypt]

Oh the buttered toast cat

Infinite power!

[empty thicket]

Yeah... but infinite energy mean infinite mass too so... we have a possible black hole building up

[muted crag]

Only one black whole is a win honestly

[raw crypt]

Depends if your universe adheres to all aspects of classical physics :D

[muted crag]

What if it adheres to the aspects of contemporary physics?

[empty thicket]

so i put 2 black holes to fight against each other?

[muted crag]

See thats a lose for everyone

[halcyon bison]

infinite energy is incredibly easy to do in dnd
because magic

[muted crag]

I mean gods, the endless power of the arcane realm, soul juice, the options are endless

[halcyon bison]

firebolt to heat water which boils into steam to spin a turbine

[muted crag]

Or smth boring like that 😔

[empty thicket]

Its always boiling water.

[crimson gulch]

Thats just turning a crank with extra steps

[empty thicket]

We are going to take the sun, just for boil water

[halcyon bison]

sure
but you can also get a golem or a zombie to spin the turbine too
they dont need to eat or sleep

no energy is going in, but energy is coming out

[muted crag]

See this is why they should legalise necromancy, but no people don’t want their grandma grinding for the people

[errant crag]

Something something Amonkhet something something

[halcyon bison]

exactlyyyyyyy this is what i've been saying!!!!!!!!!!

[errant crag]

"people don't want their grandma grinding for the people" - General Seagull 2026

[muted crag]

Honestly gimme like 3 zombies max I can make a flintstones car easy

[empty thicket]

na, zombies would get tired

Golems not so much, but cant be stone golem

[muted crag]

Then get more zombies

You see how many crypts we got here?

[empty thicket]

A meat golem would end up the same

[muted crag]

And better plan

[empty thicket]

and a metal golem is toooooo expensive

[halcyon bison]

they are immune to exhaustion
they literally cannot get tired

[muted crag]

If the zombies wear out; what do they have? Skeletons!

[hot marlin]

And how exactly do you control this many zombies?

[halcyon bison]

skeletons are superior to zombies in 9/10 scenarios

[muted crag]

A lot of soul juice

[halcyon bison]

spell slots

[errant crag]

Skeletons have no muscles

[muted crag]

And those

[muted crag]

And yet they can shoot you with a bow

[errant crag]

Shooting a bow isn't turning a crank

[muted crag]

Biomechanics isnt really a concern here

[errant crag]

Skeleton has 10 strength, Zombie has 13
Zombie is the superior crank turner

[empty thicket]

damn, thought their dead muscles would fell off after too much time

[halcyon bison]

i mean a DM might rule they rot away slowly

[empty thicket]

We cant get fire elementals into a tube and boil water?

[muted crag]

We haven’t tested it yet, it’s why we need science funding

[hot marlin]

This requires casting the spell every 24 hours. What happens if you miss the deadline? The zombies seek living things to dismember

[errant crag]

Skill issue

[empty thicket]

2 to 3 wizards

[errant crag]

Don't miss the deadline

[muted crag]

Dw we lock them in a very secure shed

[empty thicket]

if not we teach people and they get hte work, wizard is that, someone who get smart enough to cast magic

[hot marlin]

Can't use animate dead to take control of zombies animated by someone else.

[halcyon bison]

skeletons are also impersonal, so it's less emotionally traumatizing to have your grandma working beyond death

[empty thicket]

and when the spell turn off, it could?

[halcyon bison]

dont miss the deadline

[muted crag]

Finally, people will stop yelling about their grandma grinding for the people

[hot marlin]

Nope, once the deadline is missed, the zombies are free forever

[muted crag]

I mean nuclear power plants do real bad things if we miss certain steps, and we get by just fine on those

[empty thicket]

If not the security (paladins and clerics) take care of them

[hot marlin]

So basically it's like a nuclear power plant. Except it requires more maintenance, and that maintenance must absolutely be done by one specific person. If that person is sick, late or dead, the plant is absolutely guaranteed to have a meltdown.

[halcyon bison]

Fortunately they're in a city with a whole bunch of other zombies that can be commanded to protect the living

[muted crag]

Well that’s what the paladins and or sturdy shed is for

Or you could just kill the wizard as a fail safe

I think

[hot marlin]

Why kill the wizard?

[halcyon bison]

give all the zombies a standing order of "if you see any other undead attacking living people, destroy those undead."

[muted crag]

… he ate my sandwich

[empty thicket]

yeah, its why i say we use fire elementals for boil water

or just fire casters and that it is

[hot marlin]

Same problem. The zombies need to have the spell recast on them before twenty four hours by the person who first animated them.

[halcyon bison]

but maintenance is incredibly easy, it takes 10 minutes to an hour or two

[halcyon bison]

It's unlikely that every necromancer in the city fails to reassert control on the same day

[glass granite]

The bigger issue is that it relies on one person

[muted crag]

Hmm we could cut of their murder bits perhaps? No teeth arms just a harness?

[halcyon bison]

Then have lots of necromancers!!!!!!!!

[hot marlin]

A better idea, but now we have an ethical concern rather than a logistic concern. This time, we're grappling with the ethics of enslaving elementals

[glass granite]

Which is generally rare

[halcyon bison]

Less so when the culture is accepting of them and values their talents greatly

[muted crag]

Tbf, I don’t think anyone has an elemental for a grandma

[hot marlin]

I don't think you understand. Only the person who animated a given zombie can reassert control over the zombie and it must be done at least every twenty four hours. You cannot reassert control over a zombie animated by someone else.

[empty thicket]

We put in the sign
"We need a fire spell user for boiling water, 2 to 4 fire spells required.
We accept sorcerers who use metamagic on some spells for apply fire element"
And that it is

[glass granite]

An entire group of trained necromancers is gonna be relatively hard to obtain and very expensive to pay

[viral kraken]

genasi

[halcyon bison]

I understand that. Just have multiple necromancers who can help deal with any rogue undead using their own zombies to destroy them

[hot marlin]

I suppose that works. But that also means that your team of necromancers is a prime target for anyone seeking to harm your infrastructure.

[errant crag]

Having two wizards do it will make it more likely that the deadline is missed as they may forget whose shift it is

[hot marlin]

There are no shifts. All wizards need to do it every day.

[viral kraken]

there are still shifts for safety, that way not all the undead come off the spell at the same time

[hot marlin]

That means none can ever take a vacation. None can ever visit a family member abroad. None can stay in bed all day if sick.

[empty thicket]

Rogue would be special security
fighters and paladins normal guards

Druid is the cleaner

[hot marlin]

Any security analyst would say that it's simply too dangerous.

[empty thicket]

Its this or enslave elementals

Chose your poison.

If not like i said, fire spell casters

[hot marlin]

That is simply not true. There are plenty of other ways.

Like... You know. Burning stuff.

[empty thicket]

Walls of fire, fireballs, firebolts, fire lash

Tsunami and metamagic to fire damage

[viral kraken]

i mean by that logic any power plant is too big a risk, since if a shift doesn't have coverage it burns down or explodes

[halcyon bison]

so is any power plant

[crimson gulch]

Yes! Horror games booked for the launch of the new ravenloft book

[hot marlin]

The difference is that a power plant is a lot more secure.

[glass granite]

Maybe get 50 quintillion (exaggerated) candles of the deep and use that to boil water?

[halcyon bison]

each of these necromancers also has a small personal army at their disposal

[glass granite]

Actually idk if that can even get it hot enough

[empty thicket]

Warm stones exist but they dont heat enough

[glass granite]

My main question for the necromancers is…
What if they go on strike

[hot marlin]

The difference is that you don't need one specific person. You can get workers replaced. You can fire them. They can take a vacation. They are replaceable and it won't explode because people are replaced. The zombies will rampage if you don't get a specific person.

[viral kraken]

the zombies can be turned off by any coverage you have with some cantrip damage, and then reanimated by the coverage. wizards can just use sending and a "phone tree" to ensure coverage

[empty thicket]

Do a deal with a Dragon and ask for their fire and we give them giga juicy stuff or what they need?

Na, they are rascals to negotiate

[muted crag]

I’m still suggesting we pivot to purely magical energy systems like using a god as a battery or like whenever someone nearly is dead their soul is taken to power the city where they lived

[hot marlin]

Of course there are ways. But you can see how this idea is still much more likely to fail and much less secure than actual power plants, yes?

[empty thicket]

Okey, so Heat metal is a spell that exist, so...we hire casters to use fire spells and that it is?

[glass granite]

I wonder if we can just use a few decanters of endless water and just go full hydropower

[hot marlin]

Why not just heat the water by just burning stuff?

Like a normal person?

[empty thicket]

Oooookeeeeeyyyy

Guys, we need to steal the sun

[glass granite]

Tbf create bonfire is right there

[halcyon bison]

less fun. Also, requires fuel

[hot marlin]

Fuel which is far more abundant and easier to get and less likely to fail than using spellcasters

[empty thicket]

Incubus dont want to give works to people, he is a bad person and hate cats

[viral kraken]

i don't think people come to dnd to live out a normal life as a normal person in a normal world

[keen hornet]

My dnd group considered detonating a cache of 100 nuclear warheads to destroy them. I said that would destroy a massive area of the world. They said "so?" And i was like "arent you trying to SAVE the world?"

[halcyon bison]

but you have spellcasters, you might as well use them

[glass granite]

I don’t think most people play dnd to make infinite energy either

[empty thicket]

if not, we can use alchemy jugs to burn their oil.. but isnt enviroment friendly too

[halcyon bison]

This is true! It's just a fun thought experiment

[muted crag]

I mean how many ppl have the wish spell in this super magical city or smth?

[glass granite]

Mhm

[viral kraken]

then why would those people make energy by boiling water "like a normal person"?

[glass granite]

Cuz this is just a thought experiment that generally wouldn’t be replicated in a real game

Also I assumed this at best were for NPC’s

[hot marlin]

There are other ways to use them. Set up hospitals where spellcasters can be called upon to cast their spells on the patients, in addition to having medical practicioners with mundane skills. Use wizards in the army. Use divination spells to spy and establish a police state.

[glass granite]

Heck, use them to feed people

[halcyon bison]

But you can do all those things and also have an undead labor force

[hot marlin]

All in all, spellcasting is power. Restrict access to it, make sure spellcasters are allies of the state, and welcome to your totalitarian dream

[glass granite]

Increases the chance of overwork though, the necromancers are gonna get tired

[halcyon bison]

until the player characters arrive to overthrow the tyrant yeah you can do that\

[halcyon bison]

they have to work for like 3 hours max a day (and only if they're high level!!)

[hot marlin]

That is just too many points of potential failure. Simply not worth it. And why have an undead labor force? Use magic to make the infrastructure totalitarian and you'll have a living labor force

[viral kraken]

ya even if this is for the npcs of the world (my assumption too) this would add flavor to the world that just putting a coal burning plant in the world doesn't

[empty thicket]

i mean, necros can be building employers too.
Zombies workers can risk without problem

[halcyon bison]

maybe I care about ethics? Or at least the populace not rising against me becuase I'm sending them all to do dangerous work that could easily be done by undead?

[empty thicket]

"Oh no, an accident happened" wont exist with that necro company

[halcyon bison]

undead minions are perfect for work that is dangerous for normal people

[viral kraken]

ever think about how in a world with necromancy how there would be reverse mortgages on your body?

[halcyon bison]

And if I don't care about ethics undead just became even more effective! It's recycling!!

[empty thicket]

Yes.

Already had some sort of idea for a campaign i want
He will pay the party X money if they kill them in X ways.
So more bodies = more money
But not always is needed the fighting

And killing everything that moves is not always a good idea

[halcyon bison]

I just had an idea of how to make undead safer. Have them work separately from the living areas (in mines, quarries, ect) then cast hallow(s) around the perimeter of anywhere people live

[atomic kayak]

Karrnath says hello

[halcyon bison]

Or cast those hallows around the working area so they can't leave

[atomic kayak]

You don't even need to do all that

[halcyon bison]

Hello Karrnath!!

[halcyon bison]

whats your plan then

[atomic kayak]

Karrnath is a nation that has a lot going on with undead

[halcyon bison]

oh cool :3

[twilit sail]

have you considered giving them fair and equitable wages huh?

[atomic kayak]

there are also the Deathless and the Undying Court of Aerenal

[jolly canyon]

Woo! Eberron mentioned

[halcyon bison]

I haven't, because I doubt it would make a difference as towards how released undead behave, at least with zombies

[twilit sail]

typical stingy employer smh

[halcyon bison]

they have 3 intelligence

[atomic kayak]

Best setting

[halcyon bison]

meanwhile skeletons have 6, which is comparable to an ape
I suppose there might be an argument there

[blissful dragon]

to be honest i have had the idea of a city that has a sort of donate you body to science type deal for necromancy use in dangerous but not complex work

[halcyon bison]

the perfect use of undead!

[blissful dragon]

like you can donate your body when you die and the city pays your family a large sum

[jolly canyon]

Only setting I know so far but I love it anyway!

[haughty zinc]

How did I get a spam warning for saying meow

[hot marlin]

Dangerous work? Tending fields and feeding a fire?

[haughty zinc]

I only said it once 😭

[blissful dragon]

i like forsworn from that mini monster pack for dragon lance undead that choose to guard a place out of duty till their purpose is done

[halcyon bison]

i dont understand your meaning

[jolly canyon]

Very strict server. You can't even single emoji. It be like that

[haughty zinc]

Crazy work

[halcyon bison]

tending fields isn't particularly dangerous

[hot marlin]

What kind of dangerous work are we even talking about? Any work that seems very dangerous would need cognitive abilities that the undead don't have. Any work a zombie is capable of doing is something people can do without much danger

[twilit sail]

discriminating against the disabled

[halcyon bison]

Not really? Mining is incredibly dangerous, even if rocks don't fall on you
That's the first thing that comes to mind anyways

[twilit sail]

double cancelled

[severe rampart]

Woah. Crazy place to go.

[hot marlin]

Mining also requires training. It requires the miner to know their rocks and be aware of structural integrity. Zombies can't do that

Miners are not idiots.

[blissful dragon]

im guessing stuff like guard area of general hazardness or clear such areas

[halcyon bison]

And if a zombie workforce makes a mistake, the only thing lost is undead.
If a human workforce makes a mistake, many could die

Sure, they're more likely to make that mistake, but the mistake is much worse when a human makes it

[severe rampart]

You can train humans, I don't think you can train zombies

[blissful dragon]

like if a tunnel has filled with toxic mushroom they can clear that mushroom with no risk to a living life

[jolly canyon]

I know this is specific but Karrnathi Undead Soldiers have an Int of 12. Could go of them if you want more intelligent undead

[halcyon bison]

You can give them specific commands
Learn what makes them do what you want them to, then standardize it

[hot marlin]

Not quite. When the zombie workforce makes a mistake mining, which it absolutely will, not only are the undead lost, whatever they were supposed to mine is also buried too. They are incredibly inefficient.
Miners on the other hand, are much, much less likely to make a mistake and can actually do the work with some efficiency

If you're going to use magic to mine, summoning earth elementals is a better idea

[halcyon bison]

But mines are often also filled with harmful fumes as well, which humans cant avoid

[raw crypt]

What’s the minimum int required for an undead to work an office job

[jolly canyon]

Whatever my score is since that's me frfr 😎

[severe rampart]

I'd argue 8-10 int at the very least

[halcyon bison]

you can summon far, far fewer, and they're less intelligent than skeletons

[primal estuary]

how can i make an evil character that isn’t insufferable to the other players at my table? (lawful evil is the plan regardless, but even so)

[severe rampart]

Don't be evil towards the party

[hot marlin]

Actually humans can avoid them. In the long history of mining, plenty of strategies have been invented to deal with the fumes. Not all of them successful. If you're going to use magic, use it to cure the ones exposed to the fumes if and when it happens

[minor cargo]

Share a goal with them, and be a team player. ✌️

[primal estuary]

oh so i pretty much already had it then

[blissful dragon]

a mage thats crime is just tax evasion and they help them avoid taxes

[severe rampart]

Paladin Miner using lay on hands to cure other miners

[hot marlin]

Why is the character evil? What do they do that is evil?

[hot marlin]

Yes. That paladin would probably need to think carefully about their oath, but it's possible.

[empty thicket]

The kind of pranker but dont know when he cross a limit would work

[blissful dragon]

i like to paraphrase that dan vs meme " i dont care who the flaming fist sends im not paying taxes"

[severe rampart]

Oath of Glory Dwarf

[empty thicket]

or someone that is just arrogant//dont like to share his stuff

You are making something evil but not so evil that the party will decide to take you out

[halcyon bison]

But you could avoid that problem altogether!
When it comes to necromancy, you have access to a huge untapped resource that would allow one person to contribute the labor of 100 people working 24/7 without the need for sleep or food in exchange for only a few hours of fairly easy work on their part

Now, if you dont care about ethics, conduct executions using finger of death and create zombies that won't ever rebel!!

[empty thicket]

A spell scroll of Power Word kill used like some sort of lethal injection

[hot marlin]

The problem is that your miner skeletons will simply not be able to mine. They won't be able to consider structural integrity, they won't be able to smell dangerous stuff, they won't be able to distinguish precious metals from trash. They are utterly worthless as miners

[thick rose]

Hey im sorry if this is a dumb question but how do I make a looking for players post, I’ve been trying to dm and dont have enough people I know of and wanted to make a post and was wondering how to.

[primal estuary]

a lot of his character is character is actually a message on the cycle of abuse. He had a terribly abusive father and an absent mother, so with no other real understanding of how to behave or act, he hurts others to instill fear because it makes him feel powerful. He sees any form of insubordination or questioning of his authority as disrespect, which gets him angry. As for what he does that’s evil, it’s mostly just general criminal behavior. Blackmail, intimidation, murder, etc. He does share a common goal with the party, though, so he tries to behave himself around them, though occasionally slipping up. one of his biggest hangups is he has no problem with murder

[primal estuary]

#looking-for-players

[halcyon bison]

You can tell them how do all of those things! just give very specific instructions
And besides mining, they'res also quarrying

[hot marlin]

To be honest, my normal policy would be to play the character straightforwardly, and if the party decides to kick him out, play another one, no big deal

[hot marlin]

Actually you can't. At least not when using Animate Dead. Here: "If you issue no commands, the creature only defends itself against hostile creatures. Once given an order, the creature continues to follow it until its task is complete"

You have to give them an order every turn

Which means they also need constant supervision and have no autonomy, no initiative, no ability to make a decision. They're even more useless than an LLM

[halcyon bison]

No you dont? it specifically says they follow it until it is finished
Just add "repeat forever" at the end of the commands.

[hot marlin]

And what is the general command you'd be giving exactly?

You can't anticipate everything. Workers, especially in mining, need to make decisions on the fly. Which the undead cannot do.

They have no judgment, no ability to make a call.

[halcyon bison]

But you have hundreds of them
even if they lose some efficiency over humans, they can be made far more plentiful
And besides, this is still using a resource that is not being used in anything else

[rough basalt]

Finally have a moment to breathe

[halcyon bison]

Nothing is really lost by using undead, only gained

besides spell slots

[hot marlin]

But they won't. Because they will immediately make a mistake and bury themselves. No precious ore will be extracted. Nothing is lost, maybe. But nothing is gained either

In an open quarry, maybe?

[onyx sluice]

The equipment they need to mine will be lost

[hot marlin]

Oh yeah the equipment, good point

[rough basalt]

For use of undead as workers in my world, its used for jobs that don't require quick thinking

[halcyon bison]

Perhaps mining isn't the best use for them, I can see that
But in other scenarios, learn what went wrong and improve the commands

[hot marlin]

So once again, only use them for jobs that don't require quick thinking. But what kind of job is both too dangerous and doesn't require quick thinking?

[halcyon bison]

Keep improving them until they work at a satasfactory level

[hot marlin]

Honestly right now I can't think of anything

[rough basalt]

I havent read the whole convo so idk

[strong gazelle]

Guard at a gate?

[halcyon bison]

Dangerous jobs are just the optimal ones because people don't want to do them
they can be put to other uses as well, like mundane or repetitive tasks

[strong gazelle]

They just need 1 humanoid to tell what to do

[hot marlin]

Basically twodozenrats was making the point that undead workers would be disposable therefore you can use them in risky jobs. What I'm arguing is that actual dangerous jobs require cognitive abilities that no zombie or skeleton can have

[halcyon bison]

Undead laborers would be incredible in factories where all you have to do is the same thing over and over, (though this is also a fantasy setting and those probably dont exist. If they did though!!)

[rough basalt]

Ah

[onyx sluice]

Industrial revolution spured by undead laborers in the factories.

[hot marlin]

Alright. Ford-style labor on a production chain. Yes, you could give every undead one specific general command, of one repetitive movement. That could work.

Though that doesn't benefit anyone but the owner of the factory.

[onyx sluice]

Isn't that the point

[hot marlin]

I joked earlier that through restricting magic usage, you can create a totalitarian state. This idea results in even worse. It creates a situation where the rich get a lot richer, the poors get a lot poorer, and before long you have a luddite revolution except against zombies rather than machines.

Wait, that's awesome. Undead hunter paladin revolutionary who hunts the undead because of class consciousness and to defend the proletariat?

[halcyon bison]

It benefits the populace who can enjoy a cheap product
And also to be fair, those factories operated on an even less ethical exploitation of labor

[cerulean monolith]

It is impossible to replace a large labor force without quickly being killed by said labor force.

[onyx sluice]

Unless you kill and raise said labor force

[hot marlin]

Please, the owner won't sell the product cheap.

[severe rampart]

where would you get that many undead?

[halcyon bison]

they will if they have competitors :>

[hot marlin]

We know how this works. Cheaper production does not result in cheaper product, it results in the product being pumped in larger amounts for the same price.

[cerulean monolith]

And this is a very impotent argument. It’s one thing to say that it’s feasible to create an automated undead workforce. It’s another thing entirely to say it would be positive

[halcyon bison]

Body donations is probably the best way to do it ethically
or you could just take the corpse of everyone who dies

[hot marlin]

Not to mention the smell of those decomposing zombies

Rotting corpses smell horrible.