dnd-discussion

[woven flint]

Not saying dms that don't make the game a slog aren't competent

[lean wigeon]

about what

[paper portal]

theres a lot of tables that dont deal with attrition and resources and are worse off for it

[minor cargo]

For me, I think the question is backwards. Like D&D is so BIG that of course those things are part of it. I don’t think it’s the focus, but because it’s so big, the focus is very, very vague.

[woven flint]

But dms that complain about their players always bowling over things don't really seem to put their parties through more than two encounters a day

[blissful ibex]

yep c:

[rough basalt]

Yeah like a lot of casual "dnd" players don't even use rules I'd argue

[lean wigeon]

do you think D&D should narrow its focus then

[rough basalt]

They just roll a d20 and say something happens

[lean wigeon]

Cypher/Questworlds fixes this

[woven flint]

Explodes you with mind

[blissful dragon]

it depend on the groups some dnd groups like to craft that stuff cause it make the game feel more immersive and some dont cause it feel a bit of slog to them or are simple people that struggle with the management stuff

[rough basalt]

They usually don't know other games exist ime

[blissful ibex]

They're literally core parts of the game
Those are examples of the Exploration Pillar; the game breaks down if you ignore any one pillar in favor of the others

[rough basalt]

To them "dnd" is the only tabletop game and it's about rolling a d20 and hoping you get a 20 cause that means whatever you say will happen happens

[blissful dragon]

was in a toa game we evental stop resouse track for rations and bug spray cause several people struggle with remember if they mark a use each day

eventual the dm was like everyone mark of x gold and say that cover this runs in the jungle

[rough basalt]

I unfortunately do it for them in my games

[lavish flame]

could be slaughtered, I pray it isnt

[strong wave]

What do we think about bard-barians

[woven flint]

Imho..
Just play a Valor Bard

[twilit sail]

favorite non dnd systems

[rough basalt]

If 6e were to move towards a GURPs style model where you can just remove everything you dont want without issues id probably become one of those "I only play this edition types"

[woven flint]

Starfinder 2e

[lean wigeon]

Fate

[woven flint]

Get out. /silly

[loud tendon]

Reminder this is the d&d channel, so other system talk should really live in #non-dnd-topics

[shy glade]

Hello

[paper portal]

dnd with homebrew /silly

[woven flint]

Is that a person?

[twilit sail]

oop i forgot that existed mb

[shy glade]

My name is colorful, nice

Yes indeed I am a person

[odd valley]

ok wdym by non dnd systems

[woven flint]

My name is green because if I were blue

I'd be chronically depressed

[twilit sail]

not for long

[odd valley]

and also answer me in #non-dnd-topics

[paper portal]

well thats not very nice dont do that

[shy glade]

Ah I see, why is my name blue (not that I am complaining)

[woven flint]

Don't speak to me, mortal /joking

[shy glade]

I do agree, don’t do that I have heard it isn’t good for you

[strong wave]

Me too /not joking

[woven flint]

Because you choose Jack-Of-All-Trades

[shy glade]

Can someone explain the name of color

please

[minor cargo]

It could - but there’s value (business value) of having a wide audience!

[blissful ibex]

Username colors are tied to roles; you are blue because you have the Jack of all Trades role

[shy glade]

Ahh

[lean wigeon]

that is fair

D&D doesn't really have any competitors lol

so it could get away with being diluted

[blissful ibex]

there's loads of other TTRPGs >.>

[severe rampart]

The names of colors evolved over a millennia, from proto-indo-european roots

[lean wigeon]

none of them can really compete with 5e's market share

[blissful ibex]

dnd is just currently part of the cultural zeitgeist more broadly than fans of the hobby is all

[shy glade]

That is not what I meant

[severe rampart]

except for Orange

[shy glade]

Fair answer though

[severe rampart]

Orange came from The Fruit of the Orange Tree

[lean wigeon]

TTRPGs are synonymous with D&D atp
that's kind of how bad of a pseudo-monopoly D&D has

[blissful ibex]

between Stranger Things and BG3, it attracted a lot of attention from people who wouldn;t normally engage with TTRPGs

[dapper oracle]

oranges are so good

[severe rampart]

Monopoly, also a TTG

[dapper oracle]

love oranges

[paper portal]

for better or for worse

[blissful ibex]

yep,

[jolly canyon]

I'm one of them

[blissful ibex]

they'll either stick around or move onto the next thing eventually

[lean wigeon]

so called D&D-killers when they're only relevant for 3 months before fizzling out

i haven't heard a single thing about DC20

[shy glade]

|| I just realized I can do this 30 minutes ago, who knew ||

[paper portal]

im a newgen tbh i havent even been playing for two years 💔 feels like longer ngl

[blissful ibex]

I hear plenty about Pathfinder, Shadowdark, Draw Steel, Mörk Borg, VTM, BRP systems, various PBtA systems, etc.

[shy glade]

I need a good last name for a aasimar monk

Don’t wait

[dapper oracle]

Jackson

[lean wigeon]

those aren't D&D killers i would say, they fulfill very specific niches

and Pathfinder is kind of its own thing atp

[shy glade]

nvm

I decided against my thought

[blissful dragon]

i heard akeria was to thank for several colour types being invented

[blissful ibex]

they're all TTRPGs other than DND at least ; and a lot of the people joining up here looking for like 80% social pillar games would be better suited by like half of those

[lean wigeon]

they'd be better suited, that's true
but they have little incentive to switch

[blissful ibex]

The incentive they have is actually getting their needs met

[lean wigeon]

most people here don't know most of those names save for maybe Pathfinder or VTM

[lean wigeon]

if that were true 5e would be dead

[strong wave]

Cyan

[shy glade]

Omg

[minor cargo]

It’s actually interesting to me. Because D&D is so broad that “killing it” doesn’t make sense. It’s like calling a type of food the “burger killer”. People are always gonna want burgers. Not all people but a TON.

But what you can do is get dishes out there that get VERY popular. Like Boba Tea or something. Does it kill burgers? Nah. But it carves out a niche.

[sleek cloud]

I want a burger 🙁

[shy glade]

Same

[lean wigeon]

5e would be so much smaller than it is today if it were that easy for people to just switch to a system that better fits their needs

[strong wave]

I want a yellow name

[shy glade]

Okay

[strong wave]

Dark yellow like a taxi cab

[lean wigeon]

hasbro/wotc would have to be buried 6 feet under shit before people would maybe start to consider playing something else considering how 5e is somehow still so popular after that whole OGL debacle

[errant crag]

Hasbro and WotC could stop existing right this very second and people would still be able to play D&D

[lean wigeon]

literally too big to fail

[errant crag]

That's the nature of a TTRPG, people literally don't need to pay you anything to play it once it's online

Or once they own the books

WotC getting evaporated into thin air doesn't get rid of the books I own

[lean wigeon]

pink makes another good point too

[south prawn]

I’d bet a large number of players know little about what the OGL is or even who WoTC are. D&D is held up by it’s name alone

[lean wigeon]

D&D is so ingrained into the mainstream atp
they're so far ahead of their competitors by several miles

[severe rampart]

I gotta get a new weapon I swear, I keep on missing 😭

I'm doing an average of 6 damage a turn at tier 2 play come on

[proven mountain]

That sucks 🙁 Is it at least a +1?

[twilit shell]

are you using your high jump to land and deal falling damage?

[severe rampart]

the one hitting is a +1

[severe rampart]

Lmao I'm not doing that

Vicious Shortsword has rolled 3, 4, and 2 on the latest 3 rolls

[twilit shell]

Damn. Try turning it off and on again. Maybe attack with the blade part instead of the handle. Not sure what else to try ;P

[errant crag]

Viscous Shortsword

[empty thicket]

being a fighter?

[severe rampart]

Yes

[empty thicket]

sometimes isnt your day buddy, dont be harsh with your luck

[severe rampart]

... I've missed like 14 rolls in a row man

[proven mountain]

Ugh, that is the worst

[severe rampart]

2, 5, 5, 2, 7, 9, 5, 6, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3

[proven mountain]

Sending you postive vibes!

[severe rampart]

Positive vibes isn't going to give me more damage, I need more action surges!

but thank you

[empty thicket]

Yikes....

[empty thicket]

same, in the campaign im in i can recharge them in battle but i need to do a glory kill for it

and the weapon i have dont let me too much do that

(leave the enemies at 1 hp, paralyzed and each turn they take 1 ext until dying)

[severe rampart]

Artificer tried to fix my weapon mid combat, he rolled a 2 on his d20, I think this weapon is cursed

[empty thicket]

yeah, get rid of it or bath it in salt and lemon

salt for demons and lemon for parasites

[severe rampart]

I have 17 copper pieces to my name man, I spent all my gold on this weapon

[twilit shell]

I would suggest trying to rob merchants to pay for a new weapon but I am not sure you would be able to

[sleek cloud]

What weapon

[lean wigeon]

that's mean

[empty thicket]

trade it

that or try to change it asap with some enemy weapon

[severe rampart]

Vicious Shortsword

[sleek cloud]

2014 or 24

[severe rampart]

2014, gotta enchant it for it to be up to 24

[velvet mirage]

I propose that we're allowed to make binding vows now

Thats all chat byeee

[umbral girder]

Having a Rogue with a Vorpal sword and a Ring of Invisibility sounds like it should be scary but oddly sounds funny to me.

[bronze wave]

eh if your atp of having vorpal weapons i have bigger fears

like a spellcaster casting a 7th lvl god knows what

[umbral girder]

Yeah like the Thief rogue in my other game with a Sphere of Annihilation and a Talisman of the Sphere

[errant crag]

Where do you keep the sphere

[umbral girder]

The “delete creature in a turn” build

It kinda follows him around the Material plane.

Thief Rogue with arcana expertise so reliable talent makes it a guarantee control

[errant crag]

I wanna put a sphere of Annihilation in a dungeon in an airtight room so that the sphere slowly destroys all the air in the room and when the players open the door the difference in pressure causes them to get forced into the room and towards the sphere

[umbral girder]

I gotta roll up more legendaries for my Tuesday game

Tier 4 so that’s their new gear

[karmic heath]

Jiraiya….fighter or monk?

[umbral girder]

Wizard

Helps get all his abilities

[karmic heath]

Oh truuuuuuu

This ain’t Rock Lee

[umbral girder]

Or warlock

[karmic heath]

I’m making the toad sage

[umbral girder]

With a frog patron

[blissful ibex]

Bladelock with the UA Vestige Patron flavored to be a giant toad c:

[odd valley]

well

i’ve got the solution for you

[karmic heath]

Shoot

I was way off with the fighter monk I think

Perhaps multiclass

[odd valley]

the solution does involve a system for naruto and is also inspired by 5e

[karmic heath]

Sweet

[grand peak]

Why no more second runs on UA subclasses?

[karmic heath]

Huh?

[empty thicket]

isnt that vorpal sword only instant kill at 20?

[odd valley]

ah, do you want an invite to it?

[twilit sail]

me only taking damaging spells that do fire damage against a red dragon boss

wallahi im finished

[scenic zinc]

Funny enough, the way the item is worded it doesn't say instantly killed. It says "if it can't survive without the lost head" lol

[atomic kayak]

They have been doing that though?

[empty thicket]

ye....yeah...i would recommend having options or at least elemental adept if you are going for a whole elemental thematic

[empty thicket]

Potato potatoe
In general it will instant kill
In some ocassions it wont but it will deal big damage

If immune to slashing damage it will deal some damage too

[scenic zinc]

I'm willing to bet money there's at least one person who'd use the argument that there's no defined rule stating a creature needs a head in order to be alive, in this unfortunate age of deification of RAW

[cold jay]

Got a question, can you cast wish to eliminate the stress of casting wish to do somthing other than replicating a spell? (ofc, assuming a DM lets you)

[empty thicket]

oh no i totally take it, i know there will be more than one creature that dont need their head to be alive
But at least will be some damage
AND still a nat20 is a nat20, a critic with such weapon

[scenic zinc]

Sure.

That wish will then incur wish stress

[cold jay]

unless you word that it applies to that wish as well

[empty thicket]

na, DM wont let it or is you using a second wish in the same day for get rid of 2 wishes stress

[scenic zinc]

You can wish for whatever you want. The mechanics of the spell still function the same.

[empty thicket]

maybe the dm make you do a roll, maybe the dm just call a coin toss or just say "No."

[cold jay]

not what I meant. What I meant is can you use a wish so that you can cast wish without ever suffering that stress ever?

like I said, ofc DM's permission, which in that case may never be granted, but if somehow he does...

[empty thicket]

forever? nope

[cold jay]

why is that?

[empty thicket]

Maybe you can do an exchange, instead of the Wish stress get another debuff

[errant crag]

You could just not wish for that and not take the chance of ruining your ability to cast the spell ever again

[empty thicket]

it would let you open a spell that can change REALITY itself.
Why you think it have such big debuff after using it?¿

[sleek cloud]

Doesn’t seem like the juice is worth the squeeze on that one chief

[twilit sail]

next time i take ray of frost

[empty thicket]

Wish is a risk at teh end of the day, considerate that.
Yeah, you can literally change reality but pray that change of reality work.

[viral kraken]

i mean if a player asked me to never suffer the stress of using wish for off-label uses, i would say granted: you can no longer cast wish, and so can't ever suffer wish stress again.

[empty thicket]

Because after that, you get really bad.
Its a rifle with a knife on the stock, shoot it and pray to dont miss because the recoil will stab you deep and bloody

[twilit sail]

or lightning bolt

[empty thicket]

less enemies are resisted to electricity damage so, this one

such nice spell lighting bolt but not so much people talk about it

[scenic zinc]

Mechanically no.

If you want to homebrew it? Sure.

[empty thicket]

instead of the AOE of fireball, its a 100ft long line of damage, saldy is dext save so...

[cold jay]

and if they think of that case when they word the wish?

[viral kraken]

if they make it so there is no downside, then it just fails

[cold jay]

why is that?

[scenic zinc]

"What if I cheat at the game really well?" is what you're asking.

[empty thicket]

Wait, using a wish ring get you the stress too?

[scenic zinc]

Yes

It doesn't say you don't, so you do

[empty thicket]

welp, now i know

[sleek cloud]

The group im in said that in the campaign before I joined them they had someone cast wish to cause everyone in the worlds souls to swap around randomly and that’s how their campaign ended

[scenic zinc]

Now that's funny

[viral kraken]

gotta have a trade off for off label wishes to make their use exciting. my players accidentally kind of made a god, and they wished "to make the god into their friend" verbatim, so i made it into a being capable of being their friend, a mortal with fairly normal power.

[scenic zinc]

You're the best

I truly admire that

[cold jay]

ok fair how about this: maybe not remove the stress from casting wish, but at least be able to not lose the ability to cast wish of you suffer that stress

[empty thicket]

oh yeah, i would like to see more trade off wishes.
The player wish for something powerful but give something in exchange

[scenic zinc]

You know how you do this? The way the spell says. By using wish to cast an 8th level or lower spell

[cold jay]

or even at least make wish being temporarily unavailible (maybe a week) insteead of permanently

[cold jay]

you know I meant when you usee it to do other effects

[scenic zinc]

I'm aware of what you are trying to do. Mechanically the answer is "no, that's not how that works"

[viral kraken]

i mean i would take this wish in my campaign personally, but don't assume anyone else would. my players are just out here being op kicking butt normally.

[cold jay]

well, I am just spitballing, I honestly do not get many chances to even cast wish, let alone try to do the shenanigans I descrbed

[viral kraken]

but also wish kicks butt without going off-label

[scenic zinc]

And I don't think I know of any dm that would say yes

[sleek cloud]

Wish but every special casting you roll a d6 and on a 1 you just die

[empty thicket]

just die isnt a risk in that point where you have wish

[scenic zinc]

Wish, but every time you cast it you need to roll a d100 and do that many real life pushups without taking any breaks. If you can't, you lose wish forever.

[jolly canyon]

I'd take that

[empty thicket]

Cleric druid can true resurrect you at that point
Bard and cleric can resurrect you
A druid can reincarnate you
Any class that can use revivify

[scenic zinc]

You're assuming a lot in terms of spell components

[empty thicket]

such as?

[scenic zinc]

True Resurrection alone is 25k of diamonds

[empty thicket]

Its a party who is using wishes and other many stuff, lvl 17 itself

[scenic zinc]

That doesn't mean anything

[empty thicket]

And i heard more than one that say money isnt a problem at some points

[scenic zinc]

The dm would need to make that many diamonds even available. It's not about the money.

[empty thicket]

Yep, but still, they are in a really high point of the game

[scenic zinc]

That means nothing.

[jolly canyon]

Would probably be wise not to offer out so many diamonds if you don't want revives to be easy I assume 🤔

[empty thicket]

Damn there is no metamagic that make you dont use components, sadge

[scenic zinc]

You can have all the money in the world. If the diamonds don't exist, they're not there to buy.

[empty thicket]

then they wont gamble with such thing

[scenic zinc]

Wonderful

[scenic zinc]

Exactly

And it's like that with any spell component or item.

[empty thicket]

1d6 chances of death, 11.5% chances of dying instantly with need of true resurrection
Still i said the other options because it wasnt specified completely if it was that deep death or not

[scenic zinc]

Don't make it available if you don't want them to maybe have it

[viral kraken]

couldn't college of creation bards make diamonds for people to use for rez?

at high level when it loses the gp cap?

[jolly canyon]

I've never been in high lvl dnd so I have no clue how easy it is to come across certain spell components or which class can generate it ect

[empty thicket]

i was thinking, hear me out.
The component pouch have different levels
Like this component pouch be for spells from lvl 1 to 3
Then next "Advanced" component pouch be for 4 to 5 or higher
etc. etc. yara yara yara

[errant crag]

Spell components are a great tool for the DM to limit the accessibility of certain spells within their games

But a lot of people will just ignore them and then call spellcasters OP, so

[empty thicket]

Yep, a part of me want them to have that "upgrade" process too.
Martials need money or "luck" to find good weapons or armors.
I would like to do something like that for casters

[humble cairn]

Like the very very specific items they need to be able to cast spells? Like you can't cast Summon Beast without a gilded acorn woth at least 200gp.

[empty thicket]

And in some moment i would give them the chance of getting a bag of holding of components, ALL the components that arent money related there.
For all teh classes and times

[errant crag]

I could have sworn there was a magic item that was consumable and could take the place of any material component for one casting of the spell

[errant crag]

That's a component pouch

The component pouch is already that

[humble cairn]

There is something like that from a Bastion Facility.

[empty thicket]

yeah but read what i wrote above your message please.

[empty thicket]

There.

[errant crag]

That system you're proposing doesn't really do anything but make it so they just use foci instead

Component Pouch is already only worth using if you're multiclassing and need multiple different foci

Which is the main purpose of the component pouch

[empty thicket]

why in bahamut garden a lvl 2 spell need +200gp component 😭 !?

[errant crag]

It's a really good spell

[humble cairn]

The level 3 summons spells need one that costs 300gp.

And so on.

[feral fulcrum]

Because summon spells are potent.

[errant crag]

I should start hiring commoners with clubs and slings

[feral fulcrum]

They learned (A little late) that Action Economy goes BRRRRRR if it's easy to spam summons en masse

[humble cairn]

I like how they're very specific, it adds flavor and a hurdle for casters to overcome in order to access their spells.

[errant crag]

Hiring commoners is pretty cheap RAW iirc, and the action economy would help a lot.

[feral fulcrum]

Which is why they're now all single, leveled statblocks (Except for animate objects, but that's not really a summon spell.)

[errant crag]

Of course they're not willing to die for me though

[humble cairn]

On my Ranger I used Summon Beast a bunch until I graduated to Summon Fey.

I love my Blink Puppy.

[empty thicket]

yeah, was about to mention that.
Commoners will see you and heard you fought against something really ugly and dangerous and will say "no thanks"

or just more danger than they ever experienced in their lifes and will dip out.

unless you offer life changing ammounts of money

[errant crag]

An offer of three times their yearly salary for a few days of work might change their tune

[feral fulcrum]

Wow 3 GP. :V

[errant crag]

10 gold is a life changing amount of money for a commoner

It's at least them being set in their current lifestyle for a few years

[empty thicket]

Yeah and having their body rip in half by some ogre is life changing too, welp ending but you get the point

[errant crag]

I'm not gonna take advantage of my commoners so gruesomely

They can stay back and use their slings

[empty thicket]

"Hey you, want to get 50gp? i need some assistance in a mission"

[errant crag]

I don't wanna put them in danger then it's a waste of my money

[empty thicket]

"Oh, assistence on what?"
Kill God.

Kill the Sun.

[peak pecan]

Pull out the platinum piece and watch a whole village get in single file to enter Azok Kruul “The Soul Devourer’s” Tomb of Terrifying Agony

[empty thicket]

Build a bridge and castle.

Kill The Death.

[errant crag]

I could give them a magic item to use when I demand and accomplish what a familiar can for a fraction of the price

[empty thicket]

i should save some money to build me a cabin or some house

[errant crag]

"Bobert, use the wand of magic missiles NOW!!!"
Bobert who has been holding his action to use the wand at my command every round

[empty thicket]

yeah, that is an idea

having some "army" behind can help most of the time

and the castle will need guards and people working on it too

[errant crag]

I saw a YouTube video of how high up the CR ladder a group of 100 commoners with slings and clubs can get

And it really goes to show how strong action economy is

[empty thicket]

but lets say that if they see 2 or 3 persons die in a really gruesome way

[errant crag]

I think it wasn't until the Flame Skull that commoners started dying

[empty thicket]

or worse, they get used against you in some ways

mind control, die and resurrected like undeads, etc. etc. etc

or they ran away with the magic items you gave them because they know that selling it will give them a enough money to live calmly

and they think you will die against some gruesome monster

[errant crag]

They'll get far more money than that if we survive the dungeon

They'll get a cut

[empty thicket]

yeah but that is expecting none will betray you or smt like that

[humble cairn]

Getting 100 commoners to do anything seems like a whole big task in itself.

[errant crag]

So true

[empty thicket]

or a group of them wont try to betray you after X moment

[errant crag]

I only need like 2 or 3

[humble cairn]

D&D doesn't seem to be an army simulator game.

[errant crag]

I wanna have my players come across a dungeon with a group of like 10 commoners outside of it ready to go in and they'll accompany the party into the dungeon because they're just so curious and wanna be adventurers

[empty thicket]

Still a party that is X level can easily defeat armies

[errant crag]

And then they just go in with the party

[empty thicket]

just 2 casters well protected can flat battlefields

[severe rampart]

Oh god it feels good to get new weapons, I hate my vicious shortsword 😭

[humble cairn]

This would be a ripe opportunity to showcase how different people have different agendas.

[bitter minnow]

juwst got done with my first oneshot it was hella fun

[shrewd swallow]

Hello everyone

[errant crag]

I just wanna see what the players do as this group of commoners explore the dungeon alongside them

[shrewd swallow]

How's it going

[empty thicket]

i like the idea, make them get a group of explorers or medics or people that is whiling to get into one of those dangerous dungeons for a good amount of money

[errant crag]

Taking different paths from them, maybe finding things before them

[severe rampart]

I got enspelled weapon (shortsword) so I can cast Hunter's mark for bonus damage, and then I changed my Scimitar from Scimitar +1 to Fate Cutter Shears (Scimitar)

[empty thicket]

I had to protect a group of like 20 in the last mission, fortunately we avoided all combat so we got good and none died

[humble cairn]

At least one will loot the first treausure they find and run.

[twilit sail]

Force the players to track multiple things for once

Let them taste how it feels

[errant crag]

Probably

[humble cairn]

Meh, not really on my agenda as a DM.

[sterile wren]

I just became a DM a few days ago yey.

[severe rampart]

I now deal... 5d6+8 damage assuming I hit all my attacks

[twilit sail]

Nuh uh as a dm its your purpose, your prerogative to shoot lightning out of your fingertips at the first available opportunity

Vaporize the pcs

[errant crag]

I think it would be very interesting. The group of commoners go in with the party and immediately fan out into different directions

Maybe some activate traps or find treasure before the players do

[twilit sail]

So you do 13 damage per turn

[empty thicket]

Or a group of commoners contract you for protection and help to get into missions, that can happen too

[errant crag]

I think there's something funnier about them being there when the party show up and are all like "We're gonna check out this dungeon we wanna know what's inside"

[empty thicket]

Yep, that too
fortunately there is many ways to approach such thing

[errant crag]

I'm gonna have to name all of these commoners

[empty thicket]

Yep.

[errant crag]

My players are gonna ask

[empty thicket]

make them easy to get who is who, aka. Give them easy identities

[errant crag]

"Timbershireson, I can't wait to watch you step into a trap!"
"No way Cramly, I'm gonna find all the treasure!"
"Oh yeah well I'm gonna slay a horrible monster, I can feel it."
"Yeah right Philliam, you're gonna turn tail and run as soon as you see an ooze!"

[sterile wren]

So no one is at #dm-discussion so I may as well...
I just became a DM a few days ago as I just said, and I don't really know what I'm doing lol. I specifically struggle with prep. Like listen man, I myself don't know where the adventure is going when I'm running the game. I have to make up EVERYTHING on the spot... uhhh... yeah DMing is hard, and there are way more experienced DMs here probably, who actually know what they're doing!
(Even with this so, me and the player (one on one) is having fun, so yey)

[empty thicket]

6 humans, each one with their own profession.
2 other races and 1 elf.
Humans: 2 guards (one with sword and one with bow), 1 medic, 1 explorers and someone who carry the things, be free to chose the left humans professions
1 ork who is with the guards
1 tiefling who translate stuff
The elf is the in charge of the exploration.

So even if they forget the names, they can just know which is which with the professions

[errant crag]

At that point it's just a party

[empty thicket]

Kinda, not good enough like one

[errant crag]

I want a big group of completely unorganized commoners with little regard for the danger of a dungeon who are just going in to goof around and check it out

Some will probably die, some will probably run away

Some might make it to the end

[bitter minnow]

That sounds fun actually

[empty thicket]

Yep, first horrible death and i bet half of them will ran away

[errant crag]

"By Ilmater, Johnbert is dead!"
"I told him to be mindful of pressure plates."
"Oi've got rocks in me boots..."
"Keep it together lads, we know what we're up against now."

[sterile wren]

somehow my player's character (one on one again) got stuck on a mountain island because it flooded and then met a random ahh frog who noclipped through the floor and ceiling asking for tuna... LISTEN, IT WAS FUN
BUT IT WAS A MESS.
AN ABSOLUTE MESS.
AND THE PC IS A CAPTAIN OF A MILITIA, SO HE CAN'T ACTUALLY BE THREATENED BY ANYTHING.
BRUH.
too much caps sorry.

[errant crag]

No armor, just clubs, slings, and ambition

[empty thicket]

one will have a longsword and be reckless

Another will have a crossbow and think he will hit easily, the first miss make him hit an ally

[sterile wren]

I mean it's sort of like if you make your character a literal king. WHY WOULD A KING GO ON AN ADVENTURE? AND IF HE FOR SOME REASON DOES... HE WOULD ALSO BRING LIKE 50 PERSONAL GAURDS WITH HIM.

[errant crag]

Stop with the caps

It genuinely screws over people who rely on text to speech

[sterile wren]

sorry, i'll stop.

[sterile wren]

._.
sorry

[bitter minnow]

How?

[errant crag]

Because text to speech will read every single letter

It won't read them as words

[bitter minnow]

Lmao cool

[sterile wren]

oh god...
well then you should blame the people who developed the text-to-speech. It sounds awful anyways by default.

[errant crag]

No I'll blame the person insisting on using full caps in an effort to be funny

[sterile wren]

(ahhh yes I was totally absolutely trying to be funny, that was my intention using caps, yes yes.)

okay fr who is silas and why does he speak in reactions.
*or whatever other pronouns, srry

cereal an dwater
(there are no typos, I intentionally spelled cereal an d water)

[mellow cobalt]

the man from the reactions 👀

[errant crag]

The reactor

[sterile wren]

silas our beloved

[mellow cobalt]

i have no mouth and must react

[errant crag]

I do think the commoner dungeon would be funny as hell but would be a nightmare to actually run

Tracking like 10+ commoners in addition to just running the dungeon

[sterile wren]

best class = fisher

[mellow cobalt]

nat 20 gives op loot

okay calm down fish boy silas

[sleek cloud]

Oh Silas is back?

[sterile wren]

nat 20 means leviathan boss

@sila- Oh wait... there's like ten people with the name silas.

[mellow cobalt]

fear

[sterile wren]

and hunger
(okay fr did no one get the joke?) Silas might have got it? idk.
(Okay, wait no like actually, did no one get it????)
(does anyone know what I'm referring to????)

[sleek cloud]

This is Silent Silas though

[empty thicket]

yeah it seems so, in any way

[delicate owl]

No silas for me

[sterile wren]

🐟 = life

[fiery acorn]

Question: When facing a Green Dragon at Level 6, would Aura of Vitality or Spirit Guardians be the better pick?

[empty thicket]

but if the person wont write, welp, lets just wait until it get bored and decide to interact

[sterile wren]

this is driving me insane.

[sterile wren]

use fish

[empty thicket]

Depend, the team have enough dps?

[sterile wren]

silas can you like... speak?

[fiery acorn]

probably, we have a Paladin, Fighter (npc), Bard, Ranger, Druid, & Cleric (me)

[errant crag]

What is aura of vitality again

Is that where it heals them within your emanation

[sterile wren]

it when fish

[fiery acorn]

yes

[errant crag]

That could be good to pick up multiple people if they get downed by the dragon breath

[vernal owl]

Its just 2d6 on a single creature tho id say spirit guardians is the undisputed king

Of dee pee es

[sterile wren]

thou art fish.

[fiery acorn]

i'll just rely on my domain for healing for now

[errant crag]

2d6 is enough to pick up from the dying state

Is it an adult green dragon

[normal canyon]

Hello

[broken imp]

yea, it's a nice healing spell for combat

[errant crag]

There's also the fact that a dragon can easily get out of spirit guardians range with almost no effort

[broken imp]

lol well dragons are scary and annoying

[sterile wren]

I eaten thy fish.

[broken imp]

just avoid dragons until ur ready is what i'd say

[sterile wren]

just catch fish.

[vernal owl]

Dragons are cute not scary 🥺

[woven flint]

I've killed too many dragons in my career to fear them 😎

[sterile wren]

this is probably the same guy who rolled to "seduce the dragon"

[broken imp]

this somehow reminds me how my friend's players, a group like 6 ppl of lv2 characters, died to like 3 swarms of flies somehow (they're new but...)

[broken imp]

oh so like one my of player

[fiery acorn]

too little too late we're already in combat 💀

[woven flint]

The monday game I'm in was level 6 and we managed to kill an Adult White Dragon with no casualties, though it was CLOSE

[fiery acorn]

tbf we've killed a weird pseudo-dragon & a young blue

This is our first adult encounter however

[woven flint]

The rest of my party died to mindflayers next session but I wasn't there 😭

[errant crag]

My vote is aura of vitality unless the DM is playing the dragons as being fairly grounded

[fiery acorn]

we're in a cave

[broken imp]

oh i dunno if i can d lv6, maybe if im lucky witha good party, lv8 for sure tho (assuming party of 4)

[empty thicket]

aura of vitality yeah

[woven flint]

@shrewd swallow
If you're calling cap, I could ping the dm to tell you himself lol

[empty thicket]

better keep them alive than giving a plus damage

[fiery acorn]

Shite I already casted guardians, guess I'll swap on my next turn

[errant crag]

My level 6 players killed an Adult Green Dragon

But they had considerable magic items and good stats

[broken imp]

party of ...?

[errant crag]

6

[woven flint]

We were a party pf 4 that killed an adult white with almost no real good magic items agaibst it lol

[errant crag]

I advise against getting active help from people on discord while you're in the session

[empty thicket]

My party didnt enocuntered any dragon yet and i doubt we will do

[woven flint]

Best we had was a staff of swarming insects

Our Wizard had a Staff of Frost, but its immune to cold, so..

[fiery acorn]

probably wise lol

[empty thicket]

DM words, our campaign is more around demons and stuff like that
The other campaign he is running is around undeads mostly

[woven flint]

@rough basalt
You're the dm, put that Naysayer to rest, didn't we kill that adult white with 0 casualties and barely any magic items?

[delicate owl]

I sure did, I suuurreee did

[woven flint]

Its a shame you all died to mindflayers literally the next session 😭

[delicate owl]

That's okay, now I get to be a nerdy sorc

[rough basalt]

Well you had magic items, you just didnt use them, and in Horizons case it was nulled by it being a White

So functionally yeah with barely any

[woven flint]

We were chads!!!!

[oak grotto]

Did you end the game even though your character didn't die?

[sterile wren]

I summon Silas.

ABRACADABRAALAKAZAM

[severe rampart]

||Oh nice, my party is going up against an adult white next session||

[woven flint]

Nope, my character met the new party last session

[sterile wren]

he's gone ):

[odd valley]

roll for summoning

[sterile wren]

i rolled a 67 on my 69 sided dice

[woven flint]

To be fair, spamming emojis does that here.

[odd valley]

higuruma gif

[oak grotto]

Eesh, that's definitely one way to get traumatized.

[severe rampart]

Funnily enough I'm currently in a game using my character (Silas)

[woven flint]

He's definetly changed a lot
After stumbling across his deceased party

[sterile wren]

d1: a mobius strip
d2: A heads-or-tails coin
d0: a sphere
dinf: a sphere

[oak grotto]

What is he?

[woven flint]

Bronze Dragonborn Battlemaster Fighter

[severe rampart]

Well no, a sphere will stop spinning eventually, or rolling, take your pick

[errant crag]

You guys are making too many jokes and having too much fun in here

[rough basalt]

True

[severe rampart]

Who plays a game to have fun? smh. /j

[errant crag]

Nobody

I'm here to win D&D

[oak grotto]

He must have the soldier background because that is prime PTSD material.

[woven flint]

Nope, he was a farmer growing up

He had aspirations to be a knight like his great grandfather

[errant crag]

I wonder how much an anvil costs in D&D

I suppose that depends on if smithing tools comes with one

[woven flint]

Travel anvil

[hot marlin]

100 gp in second edition's *Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue. *

[errant crag]

100 gold??? How am I supposed to afford that on a commoners salary

That would take me 50 years of work to afford

[hot marlin]

You are not.

[oak grotto]

Homeboy needs to get proper PTSD like his great-peepaw.

[woven flint]

Get your money up, not your funny up

[oak grotto]

Tranvil?

[odd valley]

gets passed down or make it yourself or steal it or buy it on loan

many ways, pink, many ways

[errant crag]

How much does it weigh

[woven flint]

Well...
His grandfather became a Death Knight.
Neither him nor his family knows about that, but its to Give the dm ammunition.

They thought he just perished in combat because that's what they were told.

[hot marlin]

Depends on the material and the size, so anywhere from 70 to 800 lb

[errant crag]

I'm not a fire giant

I'll need a standard humanoid anvil

[oak grotto]

I imagine most folks who need an anvil are smiths that have their own business.

[hot marlin]

Although an anvil for jewelry would be only 50 lb.

[errant crag]

That might suffice

[oak grotto]

He ain't catching a break, huh?

[errant crag]

I wonder what the smallest heaviest item I can get in D&D 5e is

[hot marlin]

The standard size general purpose anvil is listed as 100 to 200 lb.

[hot marlin]

A grain of sand.

Fine sand.

[errant crag]

That's not very heavy

[hot marlin]

I missed the word "heaviest"

[errant crag]

Ah I see

[hot marlin]

Let's see... Omitting magic items, platinum is a lot heavier than even gold?

[humble cairn]

D&D not being an economy simulator, it doesn't really actually care to extrapolate how the costs of things play out in the life of commoners since the game isn't about playing a commoner.

[errant crag]

So true Ophid

[jolly canyon]

Be the change you wanna see

[errant crag]

So true

[jolly canyon]

commoner lives sim

[errant crag]

I should make that dungeon with all the commoners

I should take that concept seriously

I'm just so curious what the players will do and how they'll interact with the commoners

[lavish flame]

at what point does it just become a town

or a hamlet or whatever

[errant crag]

Well it's not a town because it's a dungeon and the 10-20 commoners are all outside of it ready to delve in when the players show up

They're very curious about what's inside and want to find out for themselves

[lavish flame]

oh i missed context, i thought this was a dungeon exclusively populated by commoners

[errant crag]

Nah the whole point of the dungeon is that there's a big group of commoners who wanna go inside and explore as the players show up to the dungeon

[empty thicket]

think that in those times an anvil is in part a relic from generations

[lavish flame]

how big is big? 10? 20? 50+?

[errant crag]

Im thinking around 20 give or take a few

It's gonna be a nightmare to track them all for sure

[hot marlin]

An anvil made of wrought iron with a plate of high carboon steel is indeed expected to last about a century

[errant crag]

But having them be swarms and such would kind of eliminate the point I feel

The commoners have differing motives and feelings about things and will probably fan out once they all get inside

[empty thicket]

and if we considerate that before reaching the 40 was a lot.
yeah, an anvil could last for like 3 generations or more

[errant crag]

Some may flee at the first sign of danger, some may try to take treasure for themselves, etc

[hot marlin]

Actually that is a myth. Infant mortality is what leads to the numbers on life expectancy. If you survived childhood, making it to sixty was not hard. 25% to 30% of children die before their first birthday, 15% to 20% die before reaching ten. But from that point onward, unless we're talking black plague periods, the chances of reaching old age were good

[empty thicket]

oh, something new learn

But there, an anvil would last for a lot of time. Its a hard material and most importantly, a tool

[humble cairn]

So is it like a source of some resource? Maybe it's an old mine that's been infested with monsters, but if it were reopened it would really help the local town.

[hot marlin]

But what if the miners dug too deeply?...

What if the monsters did not come from elsewhere, were just woken up?

So the PCs go down the depths, find the source, seal it or purge it. The mine is ready to open again but, surprise, the mine ran dry at the same time.

So it was all for nothing

Therefore teaching your players the futility of their ambitions and feeding on their despair

[errant crag]

I don't know which idea I should do first

This dungeon, or Tyrannical Whale

[odd valley]

both

[hot marlin]

I still do not know the logistics of how a whale becomes a tyrant

[odd valley]

the monsters the tyrannical whale

[empty thicket]

Dungeon so the party get equipment and then the whale

[errant crag]

Psionics

[odd valley]

make it both, and put the cave near the sea or ocean

[empty thicket]

the mine ran dry such like some monsters ate the minerals or what?

[hot marlin]

No, they just got all the silver they could get from the area through normal exploitation

[severe rampart]

Damn changing weapons really worked, I dealt 31 damage in one turn from one action (as a martial)

[empty thicket]

It was fr cursed damn

[empty thicket]

oh, expected them finding one of this creatures that eat minerals

[errant crag]

These are great serious suggestions that make too much sense, I think it's way funnier if the commoners just want to explore a dungeon because they've heard that they can get riches and glory doing so

Not a very serious concept for a game/dungeon crawl

[errant crag]

It's the Tyrant Whale

[twilit sail]

Damn

[twilit shell]

Canary Mining Co, for when there’s a coal mine you need explored

[errant crag]

Whale Wasters for when there's a villainous whale that needs slain

[crimson lotus]

I'm bored anyone know any good DnD or general TTRPG real play live streams or podcasts?
Bonus if it involved a lot of Rogues, Rangers, Spying, Thievery, Assassins, Secrecy, Crime, Detectives, Mystery, etc.

[eager marsh]

critical role is popular

not a clue about content tho

[severe rampart]

My rolls are so much better now, just crit against a skeleton minotaur

[peak pecan]

They are wrapping up a more mystery focused arc of episodes

[errant crag]

Imagine if you got that crit with your vicious Shortsword though

[severe rampart]

oh wow, an extra 7 damage

not even a 2d6 😭

[eager marsh]

2024 it's dice rather than flat damage (which doesnt get multiplied on crit)

also 7 damage is the average result of 2d6

[vernal owl]

Thats only 2 damage tho 💔💔💔

[severe rampart]

It's the 2014 ver, I have to enchant it first

Heliana's

which means I have to get a potent essence, and a bag of teeth all over again

2014 it's just a flat 7

[eager marsh]

that....sounds sloppy and annoying

[severe rampart]

I don't want no 7 damage, I want my hunters mark crit

[peak pecan]

If you’re not watching Critical Role, you might want to check them out; they’re currently doing an overarching conspiracy plot with political unrest and crime aplenty.

[severe rampart]

2024 on a nat 20 the damage turns to 2d6, which because of the crit then becomes 4d6

Hunter's Mark is more reliable and consistent.

[vernal owl]

I dont understand the format tbh, they say any player can drop in and play but what if they belong to different factions, wont that create complications?

[eager marsh]

Hunter's mark is worse than the flat 7 the vast majority of the time actually.

[vernal owl]

I havent gotten around watching the season yet so i might be getting some stuff wrong

[severe rampart]

I disagree, see, I use TWF, so on every hit, hunter's mark gets triggered

Scimitar -> 2d6+4 + 1d6 force, Shortsword is the same, so that's 2d6 + 8 + 3d6 force,

[eager marsh]

even with Extra Attack, Nick, and Dual Wielder for 4 attacks, you can use the same weapon for 3 of the 4 attacks. flat 7 for 3 hits mathematically is literally better/more reliable than +1d6 for all 4

[severe rampart]

You have to crit for vicious weapon to do anything

You don't get the flat 7

[eager marsh]

only the 2014 version. which i forgot. they're just free damage dice in 2024

[severe rampart]

Yeah??? And I said I'm using the 2014.

to get the 2024 I have to get a potent essence and a bag of teeth

[eager marsh]

Yes I am aware. You mentioned that you can upgrade it. But it read like you were saying you'd rather have Hex than the upgrade

hunter's mark*

[peak pecan]

It helps that all the player characters are connected by the inciting incident, and have little reason to work against one another. Also, they all belong to factions that, while not aligned, certainly have more in common than they do differentiating them. But I don’t want to spoil anything, so if you want to see more, watch episode one of the current campaign if you have the time

[severe rampart]

yeah yeah. it's fine, it's a simple misunderstanding

I'm not exactly gunning to fight a potent essence having creature

that's like Adult Gem Dragon territory

[vernal owl]

Ooo sounds interesting.. I'll definitely give it a watch this weekend, thank you!

[eager marsh]

arent viscious only rare not very rare?

that sounds more difficult than it should be

[severe rampart]

Eh, if I need to I'll just use Fate Cutter Shears, that's what I have for my Scimitar

but right now, hunter's mark is better

[crimson lotus]

Thats why I'm asking I'm caught up and want something similar lol

[errant crag]

I swear Vicious Weapons used to do something different

[turbid vessel]

Indeed they did, they added extra damage on a crit

[jovial swallow]

I have a character idea we are trying to run. We are running a lvl 12 one shot with each of us choosing 2 rare magic items.

Idea is to have a pc centaur pulling the flying chariot full with other small and tiny pcs

What are the mechanics of the pc who would pull the chariot? Would they be able to attack and act freely besides pulling the whole group around?

[twilit sail]

that seems kind of dehumanizing

[turbid vessel]

There isn't really any established mechanics for a PC being a mount, so like many things, this is something your table and DM will have to houserule

[sinful crater]

Which one

[supple gust]

Does anyone here have experience with the archdevil mephistopheles? My player is running a fiend warlock with him as the patron and I may need a little help with the deets of the pact (please tell me if this is the wrong channel for it and where I should go if it is)

[twilit sail]

he's my dad
i could help get you a recommendation they're doing promotions next week

[supple gust]

I'm not sure I understand-

[knotty vine]

well thats 50 dollars and two weeks down the drain

[paper portal]

rip what happened

[severe rampart]

Foundry?

[severe rampart]

I think it's foundry issues

[knotty vine]

Yup...

[severe rampart]

Dang, I was thinking of getting it for my birthday, is there anything particularly wrong with it or just frustration?

[knotty vine]

Getting people into the game is the main issue

aka self hosting VS cloud hosting my own issue is that I made absoutely everything via foundry app and cloud hosting is usually its own mini pc with no ties to dnd beyond

Just a big feels bad man moment

[severe rampart]

Sorry to hear that

[jolly canyon]

shame. i usually hear good things about it. outside of it being not so beginner friendly of course

[fierce thorn]

Question. What do y'all think of this idea?

I create an area where magic is weird. Non ritual spells do weird things.

So bassically, Cantrips cost a bonus action while in this area. And Level 1 spells are normal. However, level 2 and beyond is where things get fun.

Starting at second level, the casting time for spells is the amount of round equal to the spell level. They can't do anything. Now I'll supplement this at the end of their turn stating something like, "Something's not quite right. Your spell, it doesn't feel ready yet. You feel like in order to cast it, you need more energy. But also the result is going to be different than you expected"

If they continue to hold the spell for the number of rounds, then they'll notice that each spell is boosted. So you'd you'd roll the damage of the spell multiplied by X number of rounds. Buffing the spell tremendously. This means fireball's 8d6 becomes a whopping, 24d6.

Heres the kicker. There is an enemy trying to cast a spell to level the entire city to dirt. So the encounter is ensuring the enemy doesn't get his spell off, who is also under the same casting constraint.

[severe rampart]

Hm. Could be

Imagine that with Meteor Swarm

[errant crag]

If I was a caster player I feel like I'd hate this

[severe rampart]

Yeah^

[fierce thorn]

That was the idea.

[severe rampart]

Also, what if there's a sorcerer with quicken spell?

[jolly canyon]

not being able to cast spells and only cantrips for several rounds is gonna be rather obtuse for your casters.

[severe rampart]

And what about Twinned Spell?

and the spells that don't do damage

I cast haste on myself ... why?

[jolly canyon]

i like the premise but the execution will need to be flawless if casters cant cast higher level spells on the turns they want to

[errant crag]

Your players are gonna mainly be casting Cantrips and first level spells

[severe rampart]

Also what about counterspell?

Can you just not take a reaction to cast counterspell? it's a third level spell

[fast valley]

what happens to paladins when they break their oath in 2024 rules? I cant find oath breaker anywhere

[severe rampart]

Just because you broke your oath doesn't mean you're an oath breaker

[errant crag]

Wouldn't surprise me if they did away with that in 2024 rules, may be worth asking in #dnd-rules

Yeah oath breaker is a specific circumstance

[twilit shell]

Oathbreaker is specifically breaking your oath to commit evil yeah

[fierce thorn]

Quicken Spell would reduce the effect to normal casting speeds, twinned Spell would act like normally, but would just nuke anyone they're trying to twin. Obviously, havn't worked out all the kinks. I heard someone use the absolute shit rule of hey, spells take as long as their Spell level to cast, and thought. While that is indeed a.shit rule, whatbif there was an encounter like that where the magic is lanky, but as a result, the spells themselves are empowered.

The idea is once the players realize what's going on, it becomes a game of, which one nukes the other side first, as martials are able to interrupt concentration.

[empty thicket]

The closest that i can expect some dm do for consequence of breaking the oath or not following is debuff some features
Divine smite or lay on hands

[errant crag]

So twinned spell just screws them over

[fierce thorn]

Screws over who your casting it at yes.

[empty thicket]

i dont get the "spells take as long as their spell level to cast", like a lvl 3 spell take 3 rounds for being casted?

[errant crag]

So if I twin Longstrider onto both myself and the Barbarian we get nuked

[errant crag]

They're just never gonna cast spells above 2nd level

[severe rampart]

It feels underbaked.

No offense

Why would twin casting just nuke someone?

[empty thicket]

yeah, a lvl 9 spell taking 9 rounds and with the chance of they breaking your conc of casting it

[fierce thorn]

Well, no. That would actually like normal. But like, twin castingna damaging third level spell.

[empty thicket]

i try to sometimes see ways to balance stuff but that is just unbearable

[fierce thorn]

Yes, in this encounter, fire ball would take 3 rounds to cast. But also, instead of 8d6, would be 24d6.

[errant crag]

Is this 2014 or 2024 rules

[fierce thorn]

2024

[errant crag]

There are fairly few hostile spells you can twin in 5.5e

[empty thicket]

Okey, what if instead of that make it a feature//metamagic that let you charge spells for a higher damage?

[errant crag]

It's the gimmick of the encounter

[empty thicket]

oh, it was an encounter, okey

[errant crag]

It's specific to this environment/Situation

[empty thicket]

Yeah yeah, welp. Its okey then

3 rounds for breaking someone conc is easy

more if you have any magic missile, bows, etc. etc.

Hell even pick a rock and throw it for a sad 1d4 damage

[severe rampart]

Me when I've been holding in Power Word Kill for 8 rounds but then a level 1 wizard magic missiles me

[errant crag]

I mean I don't think this is egregious or anything if it's for a specific encounter , but I don't think your players are gonna engage with this mechanic in the way that you're hoping

Making it take 3+ rounds to cast a spell is just gonna discourage them from casting it, even if the damage dice are doubled

[fierce thorn]

I want to make an encounter where spells take time because as they do, they get stronger, and the idea is to stop the other side and get your spells off first.

[severe rampart]

You can multiply fireball's damage by 3, I'm not doing nothing for 3 rounds

[errant crag]

Sounds like they don't have the time to commit to casting a spell for 3 rounds

[empty thicket]

okey, you want to give them the chance of charging their spells for higher damage?

[severe rampart]

You're basically sitting still while enemies can shiv ya

[errant crag]

This also makes all spells concentration functionally

If I have Shield of Faith up it ends when I try to cast any spell of 2nd level or higher

Because I need to concentrate on the second level spell for 2 rounds to cast it

[fierce thorn]

I'm thinking about allowing them to move half speed and use cantrips on top of everything.

[hardy solstice]

Im gonna hang out here Instead of sleeping

[severe rampart]

would they be concentrating on the spell while holding it?

[errant crag]

That's how casting spells with a casting time longer than 1 action in combat works

[viral kraken]

wait why can't they move full speed during a long cast? (wow super misreplied)

[fierce thorn]

Since idea of cantrips is they take absolutely nothing to cast.

[errant crag]

If you cast a 10 minute cast time spell during combat you have to concentrate for that 10 minutes

[severe rampart]

would they be concentrating on the spell they're casting while holding it

what's stopping enemies from just hitting them while they're concentrating

[errant crag]

Wait I may be confusing this with ritual casting rules

[fierce thorn]

Yes, but if I recall.cprrevtly, you can cast non concentration spells without breaking the ones you're concentrating on.

[severe rampart]

Lmao, so magic missile, boom, over

Three con saves

[errant crag]

But with your rules here any spell of 2nd level or higher becomes concentration because their cast time becomes more than an action

[empty thicket]

mmmmmm...... make it a homebrew metamagic i would say.
Can charge up a spell for //half of the spell lvl in rounds// and duplicate their damage equal the level of the spell.
Example, a fireball that is a lvl 3 (X3) spell (1.5, round it down always. 1 Turn) would be able to do 24d6 in total.

[viral kraken]

no i think you are right, that's how long casts work "you must maintain Concentration while you do so"

[errant crag]

Also how does upcasting treat this? If I cast Magic Missile at second level does it take an additional round to cast the same and second level spell?

[hardy solstice]

Do you breathe in microplastics?

[errant crag]

No I breathe them out like a pink dragon

[hardy solstice]

Oh how does that work?

[errant crag]

Dex save or psychic damage

[hardy solstice]

I love bottled water. Microplastics taste so good.

Wait hold up I'm gonna read more

I'll be right here

[fierce thorn]

And this is why I asked here. I wanted to to see feedback, obviously, there's a lot I need to think about still to make this a fun encounter if I choose to do this. But as I had no plan do use this anytime soon, I clothes plenty of time to see if I can work out the kinks.

[empty thicket]

wait, its an encounter or is a feature you want for your players?

im confuse

[errant crag]

Again, it's an encounter

[fierce thorn]

Encounter. A one time encounter

[errant crag]

Zelia has said that and I've told you that

[empty thicket]

damn, power workd all of them instantly

[fierce thorn]

I may be sadistic and evil, but I ain't no devil.

The idea is to stop Meteor Swarm from destroying the city, due to the amount of damage it.gain from being buffed.

[hot reef]

D&D just isn’t built around doing nothing for a round (or even doing less for a round). The game works best when the PCs have a chance to do something cool on each of their turns. Although there are setups that some builds may use, these are generally something the player decides on, so having this as a powerful feature that any caster has access to forces this playstyle onto the player.

For monsters, however, charging up powerful spells can add to the combat.

[empty thicket]

that is no evil, that is merciful. A death without fight, without chance of winning instead of the slow destruction of their hopes and the grow of the desperation until they finally understand, they would never won that fight.

[empty thicket]

If there was other casters in the casting of the spell would speed up the process?

[errant crag]

What's gonna stop your martial players from bullying this enemy caster and preventing their cast with their extra attacks

[empty thicket]

Minions i guess

[severe rampart]

The spellcasters when they realize they can just magic missile and disrupt their casting time

[fierce thorn]

Nothing. And yea, minions I guess

[severe rampart]

also there are features that aren't considered spells

[fierce thorn]

That, is kinda the point.

[severe rampart]

Yeah. So how would the encounter be difficult?

[empty thicket]

Me with 4 Napalm molotovs that stay in the spot for 5 rounds and do 2d8 fire damage per round to enemies into the 5ft square

OH oh, i just thought about an encounter with a boss from another game, mewgenics.
There is a boss that its in a ritual, each candle have HP and give a power to the boss

[fierce thorn]

Ok. Here's a question. I didn't want to do this cause then, enemy can do it as well. What if I allow them to.launce the spell earlier, dealing only the normal.spell, or "half-baked" spell damage. Like a two round fire ball doing 16d6. They can choose when to stop charging the spell.

Reason I don't want to do this, cause then it allows the enemy do do the same thing. Which I don't know if players will be able to handle at the level I plan on doing this.

[empty thicket]

What if you make it be a ritual and each person inside of it would make the spell stronger and after idk, 6 rounds if there is one alive or the principal alive they cast it out.
I mean something like there is 6 more casters with the principal
Each one add 1 more dice but each time the party kill one of them the cast get faster. Once Per round.
So if they kill 2 in one round it only reduce 1 (5 rounds left for the meteor swarm to get off)

If they manage to kill the principal win and the other casters will join to the fight.
If they kill the casters the principal cast it faster but giga weaker reducing the consequences

In one they save the town but risk a harder fight
In another they go for the safe option but risk the town

[fierce thorn]

Yes, but if they leave the main castor alive and they launch a weaker Metper swarm, they're dead. Like, meteor swarm kills all of them. Even on half damage from saving on the throws. It normally does 40d6 20 of that fire, 20 being buldgeoning. Now if that gets buffed in any way, they dead. Else, they pretty much dead.

[severe rampart]

what's stopping the caster from running or hiding someplace to cast the spell

[fierce thorn]

Don't know

[small sand]

If I cast commune in Eberron is it just like a random spirit answering

[dim flicker]

idk enough abt eberron but that's a funny mental img

[reef tundra]

Anybody know if there are any big plant bosses in dnd?
Only one I can think of is Gulthias Blight at CR 12 and Violet Necrohulk, but being CR 7 it’s low tier boss or mini boss

-# My only definition for “boss” is the feel and vibe it gives

[severe rampart]

Enemy just healed themself...

[wild idol]

Another day of no one to dnd with....

[wild idol]

3rd boss phase: hi

[still plover]

Casting a wide net?

[wild idol]

Well... Scheduling issues always collide even with timezones matching a bit

[hot gate]

I guess Lichen Lich is the one that comes to mind, but it's not technically a plant

[wild idol]

Why is it so hard to make friends 😢

[reef tundra]

Darn :( so close

[hot gate]

Otherwise yeah, the gulthias blight is the highest CR one I know

[still plover]

Scheduling is always a bother. You're checking for the actual times, right? It doesn't matter if it's a morning game for you and an evening game for them, long as you're all together.

[reef tundra]

Gulthias blight the goat

[wild idol]

Mostly I'm free on Fridays and Sundays, but scheduling conflicts always the buzz kill

[reef tundra]

-# Also that looks like an invitation for me to make some more

[hot gate]

We need a Blob of Annihiliation for plants

Angry World Tree

[fierce thorn]

Whata about a plan that ook over the corpse of a dragon? Just adjust the dragon statblock. Or do thios with any variety of creatures. Lowewr the AC a little, adjust the HP, give it some plant based speles like Third Whips, and boom, plant bloss

[reef tundra]

I would be terrified to fight smth like Yggdrasil

As soon as I see it begin to move, I am running

[little stream]

Been trying to since new years too but alas, I'll see someone else have fun

[hardy solstice]

Do yall think druids should be able to use metal?

[hot gate]

Spelljammer had the Yggdrasti, imagine that but scaled up

It can fly

[wild idol]

How bout a gun 😎 (crossbow I mean but buffed)

[hardy solstice]

Cuz I think so

[wild idol]

Can we 👀

[severe rampart]

I feel so powerful with hunter's mark

[reef tundra]

The gun would be more for personal comfort, because I don’t think it’s gonna do much against a tree that spans across dimensions

[little stream]

I dont think I'm the right person to ask, I'm blind blind. Like whats the rules? lol

[wild idol]

No like, your receiving the the bullet, not the tree I mean

[reef tundra]

I can see the argument for some, fortunately 5.5e did away with Druids being unable to wear metal armour. But at the same time, iron is known to be the weakness for fey, which often Druids can be tied to

[wild idol]

I'm slow blind due to me not even having any experience yet, I can't find anyone

[reef tundra]

Oh in that case I’ll take it. Better than being beaten to death by a giant tree

[little stream]

This was my other attempt
https://i.imgur.com/HsFx2Z2.png

[reef tundra]

Ah don’t worry, finding the right group takes time. I’ve been playing for over 5 years and I’m still taking a while to find a group to play in

[hardy solstice]

Steel and bronze

And also, sometimes you just have to draw away the potential danger

Also, druids need tools which require metal

It works like that irl too

[hot gate]

they were always able to, but the rules tried to impose a sort of cultural taboo via the rules and it just ended up confusing people

[hardy solstice]

I'm talking about the druids using metal

[hardy solstice]

When did it start?

[reef tundra]

Druids exist irl?!

[hardy solstice]

Yes?

Pagan druids

[hot gate]

the taboo? harkens back to the earliest days of dnd I think

[hardy solstice]

And other spiritual paths similar to that

[reef tundra]

Oh wait I was thinking of magic dnd Druids existing irl 😭
I completely forgot

[hardy solstice]

Ohhh

[reef tundra]

Apologies

[hardy solstice]

It's alr

[reef tundra]

But also what do you mean “use metal”, like metal tools? Because Druids can

[hardy solstice]

Okay, I mean like metal shields

[reef tundra]

Shields can be metal too, as in they can use it

[hardy solstice]

But I understand from a balance perspective

[reef tundra]

What? There’s no power difference between metal and non-metal shields

[hardy solstice]

No not really

[hardy solstice]

Wooden shield gets +1 AC

[reef tundra]

are we talking about dnd 5e?

[hardy solstice]

2014 that's the only one I play

[hot gate]

There is no +1 bonus unless the shield is magical

[pliant sapphire]

There is only one type of mundane shield in 2014

[hot gate]

and that has nothing to do with its materials

[reef tundra]

I don’t recall that 😭

[hardy solstice]

...It was in the 2014 PHB

[hot gate]

I assure you it isn't

[hardy solstice]

Literally was reading it like just now

[hardy solstice]

You can check the druid class in dnd beyond

[reef tundra]

I’m gonna promote myself to observer as the 2014 PHB is the one I don’t own

[hardy solstice]

^

[hot gate]

Where should I look in the druid class?

[hardy solstice]

Just scroll down to I think it's around equipment...

[hot gate]

I know an "+1 wooden shield" isn't there, so that's why I'm asking where you think it is.

[glass granite]

There is a wooden shield, idk where it says +1

[hardy solstice]

The +1 wooden shield is just have the amount of a regular shield

[glass granite]

Shields are +2

[reef tundra]

I will consult the folk in #dnd-rules

[hardy solstice]

That is what I mean by +1

[hot gate]

A wooden shield is just like a normal shield, like Nuggets said

[pliant sapphire]

There is a wooden shield in the equipment of the druid, yes

But is only flavour text. It's the mundane shield

[hot gate]

When you check on DDBeyond, it also links you to the standard shield entry

[hardy solstice]

Oh I looked it up

I am dumb 🫠

[glass granite]

No, merely misinformed

[hardy solstice]

Mandela effect

[glass granite]

Mandela effects are widespread, so a lil inaccurate

[hardy solstice]

Speaking of shields

I know how to use one

[reef tundra]

Irl? That’s cool!

[hardy solstice]

I used it before

[glass granite]

Sick

[reef tundra]

I’ve always wanted to do weapons training irl

[hardy solstice]

Yeah I do fencing with a messer + buckler

[reef tundra]

I’m thinking of trying dagger and a polearm of some sort

[reef tundra]

Badass

[hardy solstice]

That's my dnd character's loadout btw

[hardy solstice]

I haven't done polearm

[reef tundra]

I once challenged my friend who does fencing to a duel with toy swords… we never found a winner because I fell on her hamster cage and we called it a draw

[gusty charm]

Were the hamsters okay?

[reef tundra]

They were okay. I made sure to fall off the cage before it flattened any further

[hardy solstice]

Ohh I actually never used a toy sword... 🙃

Like that before

[still plover]

HEMA, I think it's called? Historical European Martial Arts. There's a list of clubs available.

[hardy solstice]

Ikr

[reef tundra]

TYY

[hardy solstice]

Yes I do that, I wanted to simplify it

[undone rain]

Hema aye.

[hardy solstice]

I'm basically on stress leave with alot of HEMA tho

[hardy solstice]

YWW

[gusty charm]

They actually do fencing at the tea house near me haha

[reef tundra]

Swords and tea, sounds heavenly

[still plover]

Turns out there's one not a million miles from me too.

[gusty charm]

Presumably they don’t use the porcelain teacups while sword fighting

[hardy solstice]

As someone who does that...

It is NOT

But that's just me

[still plover]

Sure they do, it's part of the training. You have to hold the cup level in one hand while fencing with the other. Improves balance and awareness.

That's why they always have one hand behind their back, see?

[reef tundra]

Now I gotta make that in my dnd setting, a sword school where they fight with a cup of tea in their other hand

Holy hell that would be an amazing fighter subclass

Or monk subclass

[hardy solstice]

Witchcraft + fencing

That's another thing I did

Not both at once tho

[still plover]

Coward. /j

[hardy solstice]

Busy

And I lacked the gear

[still plover]

Fair enough.

[hardy solstice]

And for what purpose? I do the witchcraft solo alone. I'm not hexing all those I know

[reef tundra]

Man I’d love to get into witchcraft during uni. I’m already considering a goth girl aesthetic, and I’ve recently taken up faith in spirits, so it would fit well

[hardy solstice]

Goth is like, so great

[hardy solstice]

Also as someone who has done it, the spirits part is EXTREMELY dangerous

It's like messing around with chemical biohazards

[reef tundra]

Ah Dw I haven’t done anything regarding them I’ve just recently began faith in their existence

[hardy solstice]

Oh

[reef tundra]

I’ll be careful

[hardy solstice]

Yeah that's a lil better

[hardy solstice]

That's what I said before I have paranoia about being cursed.

And I have damning evidence

I even think I'm becoming a werewolf

[reef tundra]

Ooh dayum

[reef tundra]

I’d prefer to be a werewyvern but that still is pretty metal

Well, unless the curse of lycanthropy doesn’t sound pleasant to you, which is fair

[hardy solstice]

Nah the curse I actually called for

[hardy solstice]

You like metal? : D

[reef tundra]

Hell yeah

[reef tundra]

And hell yeah I do

[hardy solstice]

My fav is black metal

I havent found ppl that had that as their main tho 🥀

What's yours?

[reef tundra]

Idk about the specific kinds of metal but I like most of them

[hardy solstice]

Ohh

[reef tundra]

I’m just a casual metal enjoyer

[hardy solstice]

Metallica, black sabbath?

[reef tundra]

Ooh yes I like them both

[hardy solstice]

I've heard alot of Metallica

I really like the songs "battery" and "one" currently

[sinful crater]

What are you guys talking about?

[reef tundra]

A strange variety of stuff but currently metal

[hardy solstice]

: O
stuff

[sinful crater]

Oh alright which stuff

[still plover]

This is getting out of hand. Now there are three of them!

[reef tundra]

Well now I really wanna make a metal music themed bard subclass

[hardy solstice]

Three of what?

[reef tundra]

Flee, mortal /j

[hardy solstice]

Yeaah

[hardy solstice]

Startup helvete?

[reef tundra]

I once made a concept for a bard subclass called “college dropout” but I didn’t know what else to make for it other than the name

Actually now I should make some lore for my setting about the bard colleges

[still plover]

My fathomless, De Vor, she was a witch 100%. Also had a "witch" in the Grim Fels, believed to have betrayed her unit during the war and forced into exile there. Now she lives in the one bright spot in that godsbegotten place with a fox spirit.

[limber trail]

Bonuses for random skills maybe? It’d be fun if they randomly gain proficiency in some amount of randomly chosen skills per day. Really emphasise the idea that they’re just kinda drifting and figuring things out

[reef tundra]

Genius /gen

[still plover]

These kids with their hyperfixations. In my day we called them hobbies.

[reef tundra]

Both, Both is good

[still plover]

I must watch that film one day. Still got the Atlantis one on my to-do, though.

[reef tundra]

Both are peak

[hardy solstice]

I put some parts of this into my black metal writing :/

[reef tundra]

Oki, I unfortunately gotta go. It’s showtime

Lovely talking to y’all!

[sinful crater]

did you all see dnd new seasonal system after the Ravenloft horror season now season of magic is coming

[hardy solstice]

What?

No I havent that sounds interesting

[sinful crater]

Yeah apparently D&D is doing seasons now instead of random book drops like first there is season of horror with ravenloft stuff then season of magic with wizard wars new magic systems and all that kinda feels like a live service game now lol wdyt

[hardy solstice]

I miss the book drops now

But I'm a 2014 player

[lethal otter]

whatsup everyone, how ye all doing

[hardy solstice]

Might actually try to sleep now, only less than 4 hours before I gotta wake up for school

[gusty charm]

Have good dreams💕

[lethal otter]

Ah yeah, then you really should sleep. Especially cuz exam season is comming

Anyway, whats todays topic

oh hey Mr. Smith. Been a while

[sinful crater]

Oh great so what's your favorite character?

[still plover]

Maps and prep. Maps can be a big thing but getting the right ones can be a pain. I propose a compromise.

Make the map plain. Display walls, elevation, access points, but a real basic sketch.

Then put evocative pictures down one side. The bustling marketplace? A wide shot, some close-ups of stalls and folk. Use the map for reference, let the images help with the mood.

[still plover]

Howdy. Been up to much?

[lethal otter]

school mostly

tho i have been recomended to becoume a writer for local dnd organization

so thats some good news

[still plover]

Neat! Triple check your output before sharing it with more folk that would fit in your lounge.

[lethal otter]

ill also have to watch out for typo's. I can check a message 3 times and find a typo the moment i send it.

[still plover]

Got a trick for that, one sec.

Do your draft, read it over. Leave it alone for ten minutes. Look at clouds or something. Come back and copy-paste the text somewhere else - if you were writing in Word, dump it in Notepad. Use a different font. Then read it over again.

[still plover]

So what kind of things will you be writing about?

[lethal otter]

The way it works is that there is a montly session people can freely show up to. Its a long term campaign and we write session a session. Its a team of multiple writers and the campaign is completely homebrew

we write about the storry, magic items; monster stats, world building etc.

thats how our system works

[still plover]

Interesting notion.

[lethal otter]

Still

going from dm'ing conventions, to dming for the organization itself, to writing for it in less then a year is super cool

[lethal otter]

Anyway, have you been up to mush

[still plover]

Finished Fallout NV, giving Skyrim an earnest go. Made a mock-up of my character for fun: https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/165580005

I should get a screenshot to replace the art there.

Actually, the Elder Scrolls were a big inspiration for my Grim Fels game. The dwarves vanishing, that stuck with me.

[lethal otter]

looks like a fun charachter

[swift copper]

I weird question but is there the age spectrum when dragon concidered be young old and aincient?

[lethal otter]

Huh, for the Dnd dragon nerd i am i do not know.

but i think there is

[still plover]

"5e '14 MM p. 86 says this;

• Wyrmling (5 years or less)
• Young (6-100 years)
• Adult (101-800 years)
• Ancient (801 years or more)"

#dm-discussion message

[swift copper]

Thank youuuu

Hear me out. Just like in the avatar the last airbender.
The biggest lightning in the history
That will buff young blue dragon up to adult dragon in strenght level

[still plover]

Alright. What's the adventure?

[uncut bison]

Lowk

[swift copper]

Oh it my own campaign,no adventures

[dense apex]

how great is dnd actually? I know the irony asking in a discord of dnd, but ive only ever played shooter games, and was barely intro'd into it via crit role on yt shorts but it seems interesting

the only two rpg games ive played are skyrim and mm6

[still plover]

It's like Skyrim, except with other players and a living referee that can dynamically react to the choices you make.

[dense apex]

might and magic 6 more specifially

idk just figured id like to know what the actual game is about since Ive seen enough of crit roll show up and thought it'd be interesting to know the game behind the random stories i see on my shorts

[swift copper]

All play dnd for diferent reason and all dm have diferent styles.
I'm more of spectacle and big stakes kind of dm.. for example i made a fight inside a museum.
When necromancer animated dinosaur skeleton and villian was riding it. While taunting the party

[dense apex]

I've looked into this server

and the problem is, I only know combat, and specifically ranged combat, be it bows or guns, so it'd be hard for me to do the roleplaying side of dnd

[swift copper]

They got 3 nat 20 in one fight and obliterated the boss though

[prime basin]

its good, but it depends what your into. I would say dnd is great because its a ttrpg, but good is really up to the player. Sometimes I feel like dnd isn’t enough and look into other games like VTM for other roleplaying instances

[dense apex]

VTM?

[prime basin]

vampire the masquerade

[dense apex]

ooooh

I mean the only role playing game I really have played is might and magic 6/7/8 and they almost always end up in me killing everyone

[prime basin]

basically imagine goth vampires in modern day cities trying to survive and cling onto humanity (or not)

[dense apex]

which from what ive seen from dnd is the opposite of what you should be doing

[prime basin]

sounds very murder hoboey

[dense apex]

since its semi-aware npcs

[prime basin]

Not necessarily. DND can be a murder hoboey game not only if your dm makes it that way on purpose but also by basic principle because a dm might not choose creatures that use actual logic and can be reasoned with. Also players might not try to outrun or escape a fight and instead attempt a fight to the death

[sturdy niche]

from what i recall this often gets more likely when using exp leveling

like some players will just kill as many things as possible to get that level up, regardless of what said things are, all that matters to those kind of players is they give exp

[little stream]

Can we level up aside from killing?

[sturdy niche]

yes

[dense apex]

The other thing, which in some circumstances benefits me, is depending on the shooter i have to depend sometimes on the guy running in and flagging the enemies, giving me targets to shoot at, since I almost always play snipers no matter the game I play. which from the 20 mins ive spent looking into dnd seems to be compatible

[sturdy niche]

narrative exp is a thing and milestone leveling is also a thing

[dense apex]

since I can play a sniper/bow guy and wait for tanks to take attacks

[little stream]

Oh lit, not that I want to go pacifist anytime soon but mindless killing is certainly not me lol

[olive storm]

I love in Sweeney Todd when the MC beats a man to death with a tea kettle. A woman comes in and is like "bloody hell! What happened?!?!"

To which the protagonist says "He tried to blackmail me. Half me earnings."

And she just says "Oh... Couldn't be helped then." and goes on her merry way like bruh.

I love that rolling with chaos vibes for characters but I've never been good at doing it in a D&D game. Like Jester in Critical Role is amazing at just being a little ball of mayhem. Does anybody else struggle with this?

[sturdy niche]

fun fact, some worlds, the iconic forgotten realms included, have firearms

[olive storm]

FR is weird because the island with the guns got destroyed.

[dense apex]

I thought dnd was just mid medieval fantasy, not high medieval

[glass granite]

Ehh, there’s the problem of there not being any “hard” taunts in dnd, so it’s often that enemies can ignore the chunky boi out front and attack you

[feral fulcrum]

It varies from setting to setting.

[dense apex]

or late

[sturdy niche]

nope, you likely misread, and is not like they were the only ones making guns

[glass granite]

DnD can be damn near any historical era

[sturdy niche]

medieval nothing

[olive storm]

Eberron is described by its creator as "wide magic" where low level magic is extremely common. Like magic seasoning, illusory glowing signs on buildings, etc.

[feral fulcrum]

But frankly, the majority of settings are technologically schizophrenic

[sturdy niche]

dnd is objectively science fantasy, it being medival fantasy or anything medieval is a misconception, one that is all too common saddly

[dense apex]

well the most I got out of dnd outside of this, is that its knights and healers with random magic users

[undone rain]

Vampires are undead correct?

[dense apex]

so average middle ages with magic

[olive storm]

That is a... Very aggressive way of saying inconsistent.

[sturdy niche]

on firearms, ironically, worlds like eberron have yet to even invent the concept of the firearm, which i find funny

[sturdy niche]

nope