dnd-discussion

[empty thicket]

while we ran away he got the 6 and we couldnt save him, died at my arms.
The hippo humanoid tried to loot him after finding out he was dead, after we ran away from the cultist camp trying to came back to a safe spot.
I said no and the hippo attacked me out of nowhere, he was pretty radical sometimes so i defended myself and took him down easily.

The artificer blame me of leaving him there dead and dont even hiding the body.

1. All happened in the underdark so one can expect lots of dangers
2. I didnt knew if the cultist were behind us
3. He attacked me when i was in shock for finding out an ally got slay in my hands and our paladin got captured hostage by the cultist

[severe rampart]

above table was everyone okay?

[empty thicket]

oh yeah

[indigo wing]

I hate it when party members attack other teammates. Like attacking a character simply because they said no to looting!? Wtf!?

[empty thicket]

They loved it my roleplay a lot, how i acted all the breakdown and more stuff.
The artificer was expecting this a long time ago, like 2 weeks waiting for this and next up to the talk is the paladin

[empty thicket]

He already had give some "chaotic" behavior in... lot of ways, he attacking me for saying no to loot a dead friend body was his sentence. More knowing i hit harder than he would had hit me

But it work for him to make a new character and the lycan wanted to try something different, a full supportish character

because damn, i saw some people with bad luck but him is a whole case. When he roll for attacks and stuff like that he have the WORST luck possible

But when is a DM or is forced to attack his allies. Instant critics and stuff, bro is cursed

[indigo wing]

Ouch

[woven flint]

That sounds very problematic to me

[empty thicket]

Yeah, evil characters are... a pain for everybody

[indigo wing]

Yeah

[empty thicket]

Had one that went in a path with the bad guys and the DM got so burned out that ended up shutting all down

[woven flint]

I've played Evil characters, but none of them ever threatened their party or did things that could cause their parties trouble

[sleek cloud]

Evil divination wizard to use portent to make allies fail their rolls

[twilit sail]

Chaotic stupid vs normal evil

[woven flint]

That's a definite red flag and something that should never be done

Evil characters shouldn't sabotage their parties.

You don't have to sabotage your party or cause them trouble to play an evil person.

Because that's not really what being evil is about

You should have greater ambitions than screwing people you travel with over

[neon burrow]

Good evening Everyone! My Name is Alador Draconious and I do hope all is well in your lives. I shall be retiring into the embrace of sleep soon and wanted to wish everyone a good evening and hope to see you all out there!
Hopefully I can be on to learn more as both a returning player and a budding DM. Until we all meet once more upon the rift!

[empty thicket]

Like, there is many kinds of "evils"
I would go for the innocent evil, someone that born without rules and think he can do ANYTHING for the mission or purpose.

[woven flint]

Howdy

[empty thicket]

Mean if you want, arrogant too, but in the end is in the same ship than the party

[indigo wing]

Nah the dm shld throw that character out

[empty thicket]

or just someone who like to do lots of pranks to the party

[woven flint]

I find that playing an intelligent evil character is better.

Giving them reasons not to mess with their own party, gaining their party members trust or affection so that they'd be more willing to defend you in certain situations

Sounds like a bad table

[indigo wing]

Smtyms yeah

[empty thicket]

Yep, if one way think of them like "assets" and if not, really be his friends but wont deny his dark objectives

or just selfish objectives

[knotty vine]

ccording to legend, Asmodeus attributed his wicked deeds to necessity and the mandates of law, alluding to the rules of Hell in his defense and arguing that his contracts were never broken. He made the case that the souls he harvested served the ultimately noble end of protecting the cosmos, and noted the sanctity of law as what separated him from the demons of the Abyss. Without him and his devils to defend it, he argued, the cosmos would be overrun by demonkind and ultimately destroyed, and in this, Asmodeus might technically be correct.

Asmodues lore is so hecking interesting

[junior jasper]

Isn’t this mentioned in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes?

[knotty vine]

Ding Ding DIng

[junior jasper]

I have it.

[knotty vine]

Same Im just Resersching devils since Im gonna run chains soon

But its with a twist

[junior jasper]

Oooh, sounds cool. I don’t know what Chains is, but I hope it goes well.

[knotty vine]

like tale tale sized twist if that text is true

[humble cairn]

They say the Devil is in the details, after all.

[knotty vine]

I changed the plot pretty much to where the players meet Asmod but hes asking for there help as one of the Demon lords stole his staff

[humble cairn]

"Technically" correct is Asmodeus' wheelhouse.

[rough basalt]

Chains of Asmodeus. It's a 10-20 module that's "extra life"

Basically unofficial wotc stuff

[knotty vine]

Yeah

[junior jasper]

Ophidimancer? Meaning Snake controller/manipulator.

[junior jasper]

Ah ok.

[humble cairn]

To get technical it means Serpent "Diviner" but yes.

[knotty vine]

But the players can choose to help the demons and pretty much end the mutiverse

[rough basalt]

I'm starting to wonder if I'll still be playing dnd by the end of the year.

[knotty vine]

Maybe

Let me check my orb

[empty thicket]

i hope i do

[rough basalt]

Does your orb say I'm gonna burn myself out of a hobby I spent life altering money on.

[knotty vine]

Its says only time will tell

[empty thicket]

Guy named Time: "Maybe"

[little stream]

What if time was an introvert?

[torn harness]

Finally got my service turned on so I could verify my phone

I'm excited to work on my homebrew campaign again

[humble cairn]

Huh ... Time probably is an introvert. Unobtrusive and quietly performing essential duties, will remind you politely about things, but won't yell at you and when the bill comes due just quietly comes to collect.

[rapid sun]

Folks, ya'll know an active server specifically for D&D homebrew and the like?

[fossil hollow]

discord of many things

[rapid sun]

Mmmm, thank you

I appreciate it

[rough basalt]

Wish it were more accurate.

I keep failing my wisdom saves regarding my current tabletop workload I've thrusted on myself.

[knotty vine]

Discord of many things sounds cool

[buoyant hull]

hi I’m new

lowkey all I know about d&D is the mighty nein 😭😭😭😭

[humble cairn]

Not a bad place to start! Welcome, adventurer!

[buoyant hull]

Yeah it’s a tv show set in the D&D universe

[rough basalt]

Multiverse.

[buoyant hull]

oh! And I also know about the secret level episode for D&D

and the two movies

[humble cairn]

Based on an actual play live show.

[buoyant hull]

And that one crossover they had with Transformers

and uhhhh, oh yeah that one D&D killer in dead by daylight

[humble cairn]

Sora makes a good point, there's more than one D&D universe.

[rough basalt]

Mighty Nein is its own world made by long time dnd fans.

[buoyant hull]

I wasn’t aware I see.

[buoyant hull]

I didn’t know my bad gang.

[sturdy niche]

just know that and vox machina both take place in critical role's setting, which far as i know uses a self contained cosmology, so while it does use some names form the lore it seems to be their own versions of those figures, like vecna, who trying to consolidate with the rest of the multiverse is just gunna make your head hurt if you are anything like me since to my knowledge they never clarify how such a thing impacts any of it

[rough basalt]

It's only in the multiverse due to the setting guide for the continent Mighty Nein is on was made by WotC themselves with Matt Mercers input rather than by Matt's own company.

As well as an adventure they made for the same area.

[buoyant hull]

bro I’m new I got into D&D like this year 😭😭😭

cut me some slack.

[humble cairn]

Which has a setting book published officially by Wizards and that has been retroactively classified Third Party? I think?

[sturdy niche]

no, it is because they worked with wizards of the coast and started putting out books for their setting, ever since it has basically been accepted as an established part of the dnd multiverse

[rough basalt]

It's in a weird spot.

[twilit shell]

All the critical role content by defacto has been 3pp I believe, even if WoTC published it

[buoyant hull]

It’s a book?!

[sturdy niche]

not really, at least not compared to the mtg cross over books

[humble cairn]

No one's correcting you, we're all just nerds and info dumping on you.

[rough basalt]

It was only officially recognized in the multiverse in the new DMG but yeah probably.

[buoyant hull]

ah, I missunderstood.

[rough basalt]

Exandria is still very much its own world compared to other settings.

[balmy ice]

I will say. You need to roll medicine for the re attach

[buoyant hull]

so then does this mean that Dead By Daylight is part of the d&d universe? Er multiverse I mean.

[sturdy niche]

technically from what i hear they originally were a pathfinder campaign and thus were more tied to that universe but later changed and adapted to dnd

[sturdy niche]

no

[balmy ice]

Also I live

[rough basalt]

Moreso the Entity reached into the dnd multiverse to take a version of Vecna.

[sturdy niche]

or at least if it is, is definitely a seperate continuity

[buoyant hull]

path what?

[paper portal]

I serve?

[twilit shell]

Yeah campaign 1 with the racist dragonborn guy is when they switched from pf to dnd

[rough basalt]

Pathfinder is another tabletop system that was born from an earlier edition of dnd

[twilit shell]

orion? I think

[balmy ice]

Ill take 2 teas

[buoyant hull]

Vecna? Isn’t that a stranger things character?

[rough basalt]

Not at all.

[sturdy niche]

pathfinder, basically dnd's cousin that broke away and developed over time into it's own system and universe during 3.5e

[buoyant hull]

Bro I’m so confused. 😭😭😭😭

[balmy ice]

Bbeg of stranger

[sturdy niche]

nope, vecna was and always will be originating from dnd

[paper portal]

Where do you think they got him from

[twilit shell]

Yeah vecna from the hit show stranger things

[buoyant hull]

3.5e ?

[rough basalt]

Vecna is a villain from DnD ever since the 70s.

[twilit shell]

Like my favorite character vi and jinx from the hit show Arcane

[humble cairn]

There's 50 years of history, it's ok that you don't know it all.

[balmy ice]

I forgot that

[buoyant hull]

ah I see

[sturdy niche]

the vecna in stranger things is pathetic compared to real god of evil secrets from dnd if you ask me

[paper portal]

3.5 edition, we're currently in 5.5e

[buoyant hull]

oh!

so where does the Rick and Morty crossover fall into play?

[lavish flame]

Well yes, but Vecna from Stranger Things was named after Vecna from Dungeons and Dragons. Vecna in D&D is a very powerful Lich, a kind of Undead Mage.

[rough basalt]

The names for enemies in Stranger Things are just based off of whatever monster the kids were fighting in their dnd campaign at the time they encountered said monster

[balmy ice]

I will say. 1 of my undead minion now have a royalty complex and addiction to pop

[rough basalt]

Not actually what they are in dnd.

[buoyant hull]

I knew that from Magic the gathering.

[balmy ice]

Oh. The kids made em real.

[sturdy niche]

the creatures and entities in stranger things only have dnd names of characters and monsters, because the human characters in the show are huge nerds/fans of dungeons and dragons, and thus compared them to a being from dnd they find similar, them basically being in the era of 1e or 2e dnd do to the setting

[buoyant hull]

I love his va. He has a hot voice.

[rough basalt]

Like Demogorgon in DnD is a demon lord that's ginormous and has two heads with two different personalities

[sturdy niche]

they basically give them something to call other than "Thing" or having to describe it every time

[buoyant hull]

I’m making a story based on dnd so I’m prob gonna be back here to ask questions.

[rough basalt]

Mind Flayers in dnd being human sized squid men who eat brains is another one.

[paper portal]

Both vecna and demogorgon are kinda bums in their most recent form ngl they got did dirty

[rough basalt]

Keep in mind the legality of that.

[buoyant hull]

certain aspects I mean.

like just the fantasy part.

[sturdy niche]

yeah the names are the only real similarities they have to their dnd counter parts, they are far more different than they are to their name sakes when you stop and analyze them, like demogorgon would never willingly serve vecna or a mindflayer, to even suggest such a thing would be a surefire way to meat a horrific end at the tendrils of the prince of demons

[buoyant hull]

It has a similar vibe like orcs and goblins and stuff

[rough basalt]

Ah so normal eurofantasy.

[buoyant hull]

hm? Wdym? Willingly? Aren’t they forced?

[balmy ice]

Odd but honest question

How do you stop a teathing golem?

[sturdy niche]

demogorgon most of all i'd argue is done duty the most by the popularity of their stranger things counterpart, dude is a mere minion creature

[humble cairn]

There is a very dense wiki page dedicated to The Forgotten Realms, which is only one of the universes of D&D but it will get you basically all of the standard tropes and ideas: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page

[rough basalt]

There's a lot of dnd universes.

[paper portal]

demogorgon serving some random mindflayer is such a funny concept lmao

[severe rampart]

teething?

[balmy ice]

Yee. My b

[severe rampart]

Get them a teething toy? with crystals or something idk

[rough basalt]

Eberron, Dark Sun, Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Planescape, Spelljammer, and several settings they abandoned over time or MTG settings.

[buoyant hull]

forgotten realms?

[humble cairn]

Do you mean another method besides destruction?

[sturdy niche]

not to my knowledge and even if they did, vecna would not be foolish enough to leave demogorgon alive to risk being betrayed, like i said, stranger things vecna does not live up to his name, if anything it is insulting if you ask me, he'd be lucky to stack up to your average lich of any kind

[balmy ice]

Yee. My forge has teeth marks i have buff out.

He's not dangerous anymore.

[humble cairn]

The Forgotten Realms, one of the main setting universes of D&D, with many games and novels set in that universe.

[rough basalt]

One of the original settings used for dnd and the most popular and used one in history.

Tho it was made before dnd was

[sturdy niche]

they did not abandon them, all of those very much still exists at present, even dark sun, we just know next to nothing about it in the current continuity at the moment

[rough basalt]

The creator originally made it for fantasy short stories.

[balmy ice]

Thousand orks, lone drow trilogy

To name a few

[humble cairn]

Alter their construction so they no longer have a mouth.

[balmy ice]

Thanks.

[rough basalt]

I never said dark sun was abandoned.

[humble cairn]

I believe "ork" is the Warhammer spelling, isn't it?

[sturdy niche]

yet you listed it among several others in list of settings that you seemingly were calling abandoned, at least that was the implication i got from your wording

[balmy ice]

Ork is for all ork

[rough basalt]

I wasn't calling them abandoned.

[sturdy niche]

yep, specifically the 40k version

[rough basalt]

For abandoned I meant stuff like Nentir Vale which was a failure of a setting cause it almost wasn't even a setting at all.

[balmy ice]

No. In fantasy settings ork is common to see.

Orcs arnt smart

[sturdy niche]

ok, well as i said, the wording made me thing you were, i was mistaken

[sturdy niche]

nope

[rough basalt]

Nah Dark Sun is getting a book this year pretty sure.

Everything points to it

[balmy ice]

Ah. Your right. Im just dyslexic

[sturdy niche]

in fantasy they were spelled the same as in myth and dnd, and in AoS they have an entirely different name

[rough basalt]

And Orcs in dnd aren't dumb by default.

[sturdy niche]

yeah that is honestly more a sterotype than anything born of the original myth and potentially the warhammer fantasy depiction and many other depictions

[balmy ice]

Played with a guy that rolled a 1 for orc intelligence

That was fun

[rough basalt]

Least not anymore since Mike "Orcs are inherently dumb" Mearls is long gone.

[little stream]

Orcs are quite great but most medium show as that...

[rough basalt]

Idc what most medium shows.

[little stream]

Fair

[rough basalt]

Most medium is regurgitated tropes churned out in just a good enough way to sell.

[sturdy niche]

thus stereotypes, likely rooted in the original inspiration of tolken fame or warhammer fantasy, world of warcraft, and other popular media depcitions before dnd became as mainstream as it is today, and some people are too lazy to read the lore so they will just see the word "orc" see the artwork and assume they are the same as the typical depcition in other IPs, which is a bit sad in my opinion

[balmy ice]

Oh. Before I go. I own a d 30. Any ideas what to use for?

[humble cairn]

Any species can have any personality.

[humble cairn]

Loot tables, I guess.

[rough basalt]

Yeah casual dnd players will basically treat a lot of non-human species like monsters or animals and do the most absolute screwed stuff imagineable.

[balmy ice]

Except hive minds i feel

[humble cairn]

sigh .. rephrase, "Any playable species can have any personality."

[sturdy niche]

tables for encounters, loot, determining where teleportation spells lead in massive dungeons that have be effected by magical cataclysms, like undermountain's dungeon of the mad mage from the forgotten realms setting has

[sturdy niche]

any intelligent being with free will in dnd's case, some creatures known for hive minds like the illithid aka mindflayers they are part of a hive mind by choice

[humble cairn]

Wizards of the coast themselves made a statement in 2018 that the portrayal of people as inherently all of a particular personality was problematic and that going forward they were going to write all people as people, fully self willed and able to be of any personality and morality as any other people.

[rough basalt]

Ye after Mikey Mearls was gone

But his stuff got pinned on Volo being racist.

[humble cairn]

So like, as a matter of principle and writing direction, any playable species are people and can be of any personality or intelligence level.

[sturdy niche]

yeah at least with settings like the realms, you can see why they would be bias against some races because of the gods being real, having massive impacts on their species, assumtions, misinformation, ect... and lots of history of bad blood

[rough basalt]

I think Frieren is the best modern example of how to do an inherently evil "people" rigjt

[sturdy niche]

eh, more so he is an idiot compared to other wizards, his purpose is an unreliable narrator, like he is the kind of guy to care about drama and a making an interesting story people will like to read, rather than the facts, you see this very clearly in his bg3 incarnation

[rough basalt]

Cause Demons in Frieren aren't people. They're mimics that learned to mimic human nature in order to hunt humans effectively.

Rather than "oh they're a people but uh. God made them evil so they're inherently evil."

[sturdy niche]

like Volo is the kind of guy who would write what ever you tell him to if you convinced him it would lead to him having fame, fortune, and renown

[rough basalt]

If Faerun had Twitter, Volo would be canceled daily, for good reason.

[sturdy niche]

eh, a god, and more so like with the elves and orcs, their gods are rivals and gruumsh hates corellon, thus in the realms their followers naturally have a bias against one another, you basically ain't gunna see an elf and an orc get along unless it is reluctantly at best or more likely if they have 0 knowledge of their people's religion, history, and culture, both of which pit the two gods as rivals or even enemies all though the details and perspectives differ

[buoyant hull]

like video games?

[rough basalt]

Yep.
Baldurs Gate notably.

[knotty vine]

First and foremost, Asmodeus sought to preserve the status quo of Baator, that being his station as supreme ruler of Hell. Beyond this he sought to expand the power of lawful evil in the multiverse, tipping the cosmic scales in its favor. All this went towards Asmodeus's ultimate goal, to heal the wounds he suffered from his ancient fall from grace (from whatever position he held), regain his full power, and instigate Armageddon. This apocalpytic conflict would, at the very least, be the end of the Great Wheel cosmology, and he could very well be ahead of his ancient schedule.
Aw come on Asmodeus I was ruting for you..

[rough basalt]

Tho there's been a crapload of FR games over the years

[sturdy niche]

in dnd each gaming table, novel, video game, tv show, movie, ect.., every form of media is like each edition of the game considered a separate continuity

[rough basalt]

DnD games have a pretty filled history

[fickle heart]

I'm of multiple minds on the idea of species having particular things ascribed to them by default, with my basic thoughts being that it's much better for telling a story where the actual concept of species having differences isn't minimized to the point of them being conceptually "whitewashed".

[rough basalt]

A lot of games, a lot of crappers. And a handful of industry defining bangers and industry defining crappers.

[sturdy niche]

from my understanding had Asmodeus wanted to he could have won the blood war long ago, but he benefits greatly from ensuring it never ends, he is one of the most clever and strategic beings in the multiverse to where nobody but himself and maybe one other being knows for a fact his true origins, not even the gods

[knotty vine]

Thats what I said

Heres another tid bit
Asmodeus came to the conclusion long ago that the Blood War was, from a military standpoint, an utterly senseless and wasteful enterprise that consumed a huge amount of resources and killed millions of fiends, sometimes daily.

[rough basalt]

Like we had BG3 which was industry defining.
But then back in '21 we had Dark Alliance reboot which was a generationally crap game.

So bad the studio behind it had to get rid of a lot of the team behind it and rebrand

[knotty vine]

One thing I find scary about demons is that even if they killed everything in the mutiverse they wouldnt be done as they would even kill themselves until nothing was left

[buoyant hull]

that’s a D&D game? Didn’t know.

[sturdy niche]

bg3 is not even part of the same continuity as the other entries in the series, thus it's refferences to those games are vauge and generic, not a bad thing, bg3 is honestly if you ask me the best video game adaptation of dnd's latest edition to date

[knotty vine]

True

Through BG3 is its own continuity

[sturdy niche]

it is literally named after one of the most iconic series in the lore of the forgotten realms setting, though if you are new to dnd and have not looked into much lore, especialyl regarding the forgotten realms setting, the planet of toril, and the sword coast, you likely would have no way of knowing that unless someone told you

[buoyant oar]

Continuity as in it's not part of the same story of BG 1 BG SoD and BG 2 SoA

Which is one continuous story

[sturdy niche]

yup as it has deviations from published lore, it sticks close to the established lore, but has some "house rules" basically it is how the team at larian would run the forgotten realms if you sat down at the table and did a campaign in the forgotten realms with them

[knotty vine]

It does loosely kindaish kick off where DiA happened which is kinda cool

[rough basalt]

Like Oathbreaker being a "potentially good guy" subclass is a BG3ism

[sturdy niche]

it's like how that one season of the mandalorian changed focus from the main characters people have gotten use to

[knotty vine]

As in DiA takes place only one year before the event of BG3

[sturdy niche]

yeah the events of the two narratives were designed as connected, so if you played one you will recognize some names when playing the other

[knotty vine]

Yeah I thought that was really cool

[sturdy niche]

same

[knotty vine]

Since I played through Bg3 and then DiA and I was like "wait I know that guy"

[rough basalt]

I wish I was running a module for my 2nd campaign

[knotty vine]

Another thing is that your past character could have technically met your future character if they said with the flaming fist

[rough basalt]

Doing two full homebrew campaigns in homebrew settings with homebrew I'm making on the table is getting exhausting and I haven't even started the 2nd one yet.

[sturdy niche]

i sadly never got a chance to play DiA, the one time i got into a campaign i was kicked from it without warning after not even a full session when all i was doing was playing my character like role playing and not simply doing something for sake of mechanics or meta and trying to treat my character like how they would act in the given situation 😞

[rough basalt]

Should've just ran Strahd rather than my own horror campaign.

[rough basalt]

Same.

Back when I started dnd. I got into a DiA game and was talking up the group all week excited then day of the session the DM banned me from the server

And I saw her make a new post on r/lfg that day

[knotty vine]

I think we were in the same server...

[sturdy niche]

honestly never gotten to complete a published campaign, closest i got through was tomb of annihilation, where i played Scar a lizardfolk moon druid who was a native of chult and lived in the wilderness with dinosaurs, that time the campaign simply fell threw and the dm simply could no longer continue holding sessions

[rough basalt]

I did make sure to comment on it saying that they banned me for no reason so I hope that did some damage.

[balmy ice]

Saved thx

[knotty vine]

I also appiled for a DiA game and next thing I knew I wasnt in the server anymore

[rough basalt]

I'm the closest I've ever been to completing a published campaign with my Tuesday Vecna group.

[rough basalt]

Was the DM a woman and her husband was one of the players?

[sturdy niche]

"don't say", "eve of ruin", or "eye of"? or perhaps one of the older adventures?

[rough basalt]

My vecna game is almost done compared to my usual module antics.

[knotty vine]

Thats the one

[rough basalt]

Damn that's crazy lol

[knotty vine]

Sometimes you read an encounter and your just like "are you sure this is mad for that level WoTC..?"

[rough basalt]

My theory was that she didn't like how me and her husband were talking about childhood favorite games for awhile.

[knotty vine]

Wonder why I got banned/kicked

[sturdy niche]

if curious, the character i was playing was an oath of the watcher paladin female tiefling who was a member of the flaming fist at the time, named Immortal

[rough basalt]

Maybe she didn't realize you're a woman until after she let you in the game and didn't want another woman near her husband.

If my theories right anyway

[knotty vine]

I make it kinda obvious no?

Tasha/witch pronouns are She/Her

[rough basalt]

Who knows lol

[knotty vine]

No point on pondering the past

Sadly my orb doesnt do that

[sturdy niche]

to be fair, not everyone online if familar with every refference, or tells the truth online

[knotty vine]

Anyway for my next trick I will make a dnd character I will never get to use

[glass granite]

Yo I’ve mastered that trick!

[rough basalt]

For my next trick, I'm gonna put a pizza in the oven then watch a feel good movie.

[knotty vine]

Its pretty much a Dullahan if you know what that is

[rough basalt]

Cause being crushed under the weight of my tabletop workload isn't getting any prep done.

[sturdy niche]

i just picture a clip from the "daffy the wizard" skit thing form the looney tunes show, where in reality he was microwaving some food but imagining some wizard stuff

[knotty vine]

Theres no mechanical benefit to it I just want a detachable head

[glass granite]

Improvised weapon! /jk

[knotty vine]

Very funny

[sturdy niche]

ranged headbutt/unarmed strike if you got a good athletics check?

[buoyant oar]

The forgotten realms have some things that just make you scratch your head. Doing research on the sea of fallen stars where I come across the Whamite Isles. Which was the setting of a very terrible card game in the 90s. The card game and it's characters include a smiling dragon. A king named Ralph and his son Ralph and the USS Maine Battleship.

[glass granite]

Or would that be an unarmed strike?

[knotty vine]

It would be an unarmed strike lmao

Ranged headbutt pretty much

[rough basalt]

So what I got on my current load is
Continue one long term homebrew campaign in my homebrew setting. Start a 2nd long term homebrew campaign in another homebrew setting of mine. Create a short adventure while also learning a new system doing so. Run a one shot for a system Im unfamiliar with and make a Megadungeon or an Island hexcrawl for another system I'm novice in.

[buoyant oar]

I wanted to know what happened to these people. And nobody at TSR liked this game at all. So when they updated the Sea of Fallen stars they had a plague hit the islands and 95% of the population drowned themselves

[sturdy niche]

eh, no stranger than the time polka musicians and their van, came to waterdeep from our earth XD

[knotty vine]

If anything Id prob give it a detriment to be like... if I get hit with a crit my head gets knocked off my body and I have disadvantage dex d20 test until I get it back

[rough basalt]

I wonder if I should cancel my horror game and just write off all the work I've done so far

[buoyant oar]

Not like they died of the plague. They were so hated. The writers made them drown themselves XD

[rough basalt]

I hate not being able to just fixate my way through everything.

[knotty vine]

Ive seen stranger things

[sturdy niche]

also i kid you not, that happened in the realms, so sayith ed greenwood himself https://youtu.be/QTFgWClkWzc?si=xhjS-J1fredHq8DR
one of my favorite bits of realms lore connecting to earth

[rough basalt]

Like I got at least several more hours worth of prep to have my horror game ready. Then at least a days worth of prep for the short adventure.

[knotty vine]

I hate when I look up an NPC for an adventuer online and they have like two paragrahs with of text

[rough basalt]

Then half a days worth for the one shot. And at least a few days for the megadungeon or hexcrawl.

[buoyant oar]

Elminster addicted to Dr. pepper

[rough basalt]

I wish I didn't work so hard for my games.

[knotty vine]

I wonder what good ol Elminster is up too

[buoyant oar]

Or the new Lore that Ed put out on his patreon of a woman who had a permanent gate spell strapped to her torso. She would give you a hug say a command word. And voip you are transported to the middle of the Purple Desert with your life force sucked out of you and given to the woman.

[sturdy niche]

like how often do you get to see a group of adventurers go all gta? and accidently kidnap some polka musicians?

also if you dislike polka music and play a character from waterdeep, you can blame larloch for that XD

cuz he is the one that shoved the adventurers into another world instead of dealing with them while working on some experiments

[sturdy niche]

also, apparently the adventures ran over, but didn't kill, a zentarum wizard, was by accident, but still, they just ran the guy over with a stolen mini bus, trying to hurry back through the gate the guy opened before it closed

[sturdy niche]

note to self, stay away from random women with glowing torsos

XD

[quiet lichen]

I got kicked from my group for having items from a previous campaign even though they gave the all clear to using a character from a previous campaign

[sturdy niche]

also, apparently that guy that those adventures ran over, he got send on a 1 way trip to a layer of the abyss by laeral silverhand when she was going to visit Ed and bumped into the guy, so rip that guy

i guess don't bump into laeral silverhand, least i'd try to avoid to just to be on the safe side ^^;

[empty thicket]

a character yes, his whole items might clash with the campaign setting, i dont have fullcontext

[quiet lichen]

It was a lion's claw I scavenged and a dagger+1

I also promptly deleted the items

Regrettably

[empty thicket]

then it wasnt too much, that it is

[quiet lichen]

When asked to do so I deleted them not to try and hide them

[sturdy niche]

my guess is anything between enjoying a nice snack, visiting ed and probably raiding his fridge, to doing something for mystra to keep magic as we know it safe in the realms, would not surprise me if he some was doing some combination of those things

[quiet lichen]

I got punished for having veteran play time.

[sturdy niche]

sounds like you got punished because your dm made a mistake and took the lazy way of trying to correct it, i'd personally say based on that info, the only one who did anything wrong was the dm

they already approve it, then realized something they had plenty of time to consider before approving it, and then just rather than admit the mistake or work things out he just booted you, not a good move for any decent dm in my book

[quiet lichen]

I really want to continue the adventures of my murder monk Darby Zed who has a fight religion

[balmy ice]

Welp my night rolled a 1. Fml

[quiet lichen]

Same

[balmy ice]

Aunt being a c too?

[sturdy niche]

could always hit up #looking-for-players and see if anyone is in need of players and willing to allow such a character

[quiet lichen]

Nah read upwards

[balmy ice]

Oof. Lazy dm

Mine more of being called lazy when I do almost everything in this apt

[quiet lichen]

Damn I know bro it's never enough for some people

[humble cairn]

Hmm, so D&D!

[quiet lichen]

@humble cairn you offering?

[jolly canyon]

Session 0 went well. Everyone was accommodating and was cool with it all. Excited to run Oracle of War.

[balmy ice]

Aye

[humble cairn]

Mainly just changing it back to being on topic. I wrote the outline of a D&D inspired short story, wondering if I have the energy to flesh it out to a full story.

[quiet lichen]

Sounds cool I can't write so I play in the sandbox of other people's worlds

Hopefully I can find a dm who uses dnd beyond and not discord white board

[spice knoll]

I use beyond

it’s the only thing I’ve ever used tbh

[quiet lichen]

Sick you got a slot

[spice knoll]

I’d need to make a party

[cerulean monolith]

dont solicit games outside of the lfg channels it’s tacky and makes discussion harder

[quiet lichen]

I got a friend interested aswell

[indigo wing]

I might be interested for whatever is being discussed

[humble cairn]

I like Beyond, it's a decent tool. Not perfect and certainly not a teaching tool, but it's a good assistant for people who already know the rules.

[quiet lichen]

Sorry

[cerulean monolith]

Also, if you don’t know how to play the game without D&DBeyond, you don’t know how to play D&D. Read the PHB or player-facing portions of the Basic Rules cover-to-cover. If you haven’t done that, you shouldn’t be playing D&D (unless specifically in a teaching environment, such as games marketed as beginner-friendly)

[indigo wing]

Making random characters in dndbeyond is how I learned to play dnd

That and oneshots and boss fights

[spice knoll]

I learned on roll20 with my brother when I was like 9

[cerulean monolith]

That doesn’t teach you the rules. It teaches you how to press the buttons on a website so it does one aspect of the game for you

[quiet lichen]

I like dnd beyond vtts much better for long distance games

[cerulean monolith]

It’s much akin to trying to learn how to read by listening to audiobooks. It could be a helpful tool if used properly, but on its own you won’t gain much

[spice knoll]

the people I met paired with the app made it easy enough to learn

[indigo wing]

Im not really sure how to explain how it helped me

[spice knoll]

but I think no matter how you learned or how much you learned makes a difference, to me D&D has always been a way to express yourself and do so with friends

[quiet lichen]

I'm not a beginner my first game was paper but it sucked over discord due to constant"Nat 20"

[spice knoll]

paper over screens never works

[cerulean monolith]

I think expressive roleplay is a healthy and great way for people to develop friendships and have fun, but there’s a difference between that and D&D. If you have not read the PHB or equivalents cover-to-cover, you do not know how to play D&D.

[indigo wing]

Uhhhh... u can also learn as u play. Ive tried to read phb on multiple occasions, I got bored after 5 secondw

[spice knoll]

I’d disagree? I know people who know every rule who learned them just playing with people more experienced than them and have never touched a book about D&D

there’s tons of ways to learn that aren’t all narrowed to “read a book”

[cerulean monolith]

Me saying this isn’t to gatekeep, by the way, it’s borne out of frustration with the surprisingly large group of people who learned D&D by consuming D&D media, or by relying on other players to know things for them.

[peak pecan]

Then they don’t actually know every rule; more likely they’ve memorized a bunch of house rules in addition to the actual rules

[cerulean monolith]

You cannot engage with a system of rules at a fully competent level unless you have consumed the system.

[odd valley]

i’ve read the 2014 phb and not the 2024 one

[sleek cloud]

What if I’m not hungry

[odd valley]

so i’d say i’m familiar with 2014 5e and know it well

[cerulean monolith]

Playing D&D is a skill that can be developed through practicing the skill or watching other people practice the skill, but you cannot gain a competent understanding of a set of rules if you haven’t read them.

[quiet lichen]

I never read the yugioh hand book but I'm a competent duelist

[humble cairn]

While I agree with this, I also think that plenty of games run fine and fun with most of the table at less than full competency.

[spice knoll]

I’ve read the rules here and there but never cover to cover and I’ve never had someone correct me on rules in my time playing

[humble cairn]

The point is to have fun and if everyone is tolerant of not having the rules correct, then .. that's okay.

But that's a Session 0 discussion.

[odd valley]

i’ve read them cover to cover, and i don’t play much 5e anymore

[quiet lichen]

There is always the option to refer to the rules in time of need because perhaps certain wordings contradict

[jolly canyon]

ive been playing for 3 months total and have read a large majority of both the DMG24 and PHB24. MM24 ive merely skimmed through. In addition ive read many parts of TCoE and XGtE as they are fantastic supplements. I refuse to be a burden. I also am willing to teach new players at my table but that's a personal decision not one i view as a good thing.

[spice knoll]

I’ve had that happen a few times

[cerulean monolith]

Yes, it’s entirely possible to have D&D games run without everybody knowing the system. I run for children who don’t know many rules, which is okay because I know the rules for them. But I wouldn’t say that they know the system of D&D.

[glass granite]

IMO, reading the rules (meaning at least the first two chapters of the Free Basic Rules) is not a requirement, but it is very important if you want to understand the game deeply and quickly.
For example, I’ve never actually read the rules in full (just search up stuff if idk) and have been DM’ing for two years.

[spice knoll]

real

[glass granite]

It’s an extremely valuable resource

[humble cairn]

I read the rules for fun.

[jolly canyon]

ye same i like knowing stuff

[spice knoll]

I just look something up if I don’t know it, it’s the beauty of the internet

[glass granite]

Only rules I’ve fully read are the monk class features :D

[spice knoll]

real?

but not really real

[glass granite]

I love monks what can I say

[quiet lichen]

@glass granite hell yeah brother

[spice knoll]

I’ve been trying out the pugilist lately and they seem cool

I’m excited to see their subclasses

[humble cairn]

Looking at the PHB I think I've read everything except parts of the Appendices.

[quiet lichen]

I'm not even reading those because I want to get excited as I unlock features
It's my first monk

[glass granite]

As for if I “know” the system…yeah I think I do. But if you don’t read the rules at ALL, then you don’t understand dnd. You know it, but only from experience and not on the fundamental basis.

[quiet lichen]

Though I played a sorlock before

[spice knoll]

reasonable take

[glass granite]

Ummm maybe read the level 1 features lol

[cerulean monolith]

A surprising amount of people (including one of you in this chat earlier) tell me that they are incapable of reading the rules because it’s “too boring” or “too long”, which raises a lot of concerns that I don’t think are entirely D&D-related. The 2024 PHB is 384 pages, and a good portion of that is stuff that could be skipped.

[jolly canyon]

ive read most of the PHB too. how much ive memorized is likely a very small % so i keep the PHB open and am good enough at looking up what I need to. And any rules that continue to confuse me then i hit up #dnd-rules

[empty thicket]

maybe... read 1 or 2 levels ahead

[quiet lichen]

I did xD

You sure?

[spice knoll]

too boring or too long is kinda crazy😭 no matter what you need to read at least a little bit to know what’s going on

[quiet lichen]

I'm a monk fighter I know fighter gets action surge 2nd level so I'm there

[glass granite]

IMO, I fully understand those people. Many people don’t like reading, and others (like me) don’t like reading a rules manual for hundreds of pages. I’ve played with many players who don’t have that reading stamina, don’t have the experience or skill to absorb that information effectively and differentiate the important from the obscure.

[humble cairn]

I do wish more veterans would go back and pay attention to some of the more basic stuff they put in the PHB like: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/phb-2024/playing-the-game#RhythmofPlay

[spice knoll]

are you like super new or sm?

[glass granite]

Oh I wouldn’t recommend multiclassing if you’re new, especially if you don’t know the features

[spice knoll]

more power to you if you can but it’s way more complicated

[quiet lichen]

3rd campaign booted me first dissolved second wanted me to start paying

[spice knoll]

insane

[glass granite]

As much as I love monks I don’t think they’re great multiclassers

[quiet lichen]

Not super new

[spice knoll]

I’d agree, you kinda need most everything from monk to be a good monk

[humble cairn]

I feel like the internet makes it seem like the default is multiclassing, but it really isn't.

[glass granite]

Well I say that and my favourite build is monk with a ranger level…

[indigo wing]

Is it weird i haven't ever mutliclassed?

[glass granite]

Yesn’t

[spice knoll]

I don’t multi class much but when I do I enjoy the basic fighter barb combo

[quiet lichen]

I want that free action x act

[spice knoll]

not really

[glass granite]

Depends how long you’ve been playing

[cerulean monolith]

Hence why I mentioned that I’m not sure it’s D&D-related. Reading is a skill that everybody who lives in a society with access to it should develop. If you don’t have it and you’re, like, 25 or younger, I don’t blame you. But at a certain point, a person can make the choice to develop a necessary skill. In much the same way one should learn how to cook so they can sustain themselves for cheaper and make themselves happier in the process, one should learn how to read because it’s a skill that gets engaged countless times every day.

[jolly canyon]

neither have i but i havent made it past lvl 6 😅

[quiet lichen]

Really?

That's worrying

[jolly canyon]

im new. my current pc, who is my first pc, is lvl 6

[quiet lichen]

This is my second lvl 6

[glass granite]

Oh that’s what you mean, then in that case I agree.
Though the entire PHB is a bit much imo, I’d do everything in the free basic rules, then maybe the extra subclasses.

[spice knoll]

I read stuff when I run into something I don’t know, past that I know enough to both host campaigns and play in them so I’m doing dandy

[glass granite]

Ooo what class

[jolly canyon]

War Cleric. quite fun

[glass granite]

Noice

[indigo wing]

Oooo my first pc was a cleric

[cinder timber]

Wassup yall

[glass granite]

Then; reads the rest when it shows up

[indigo wing]

Sup

[glass granite]

Zenith! Long time no see

[jolly canyon]

although not sure ill get him much higher. im slowly getting jaded with the WM.

[cinder timber]

How are yall doing?

[spice knoll]

hello

[glass granite]

I live

[cinder timber]

NUGGET! What's new?

[glass granite]

For now

[quiet lichen]

Sup zenith

[glass granite]

I nearly killed two players!

[indigo wing]

'Allo!

[cinder timber]

Hello blackout. How is Megatron doing? 😂

[indigo wing]

Fun

[spice knoll]

pardon?

[cinder timber]

Hi Jin

[cinder timber]

U seen transformers?

[spice knoll]

not much of it

[cinder timber]

What happened?

[cerulean monolith]

I generally think people can reasonably skip the features, not names, of Backgrounds, Species, Classes, Subclasses, Spells, and Adventuring Gear and still have proficiency. But I would recommend people to read it anyways just so they can make educated decisions.

[empty thicket]

While some nearly some do it...i killed 2 companions

[glass granite]

A powerful mage trapped them in a domain, in the form of a bloody eldritch cathedral that shot spikes of blood from every square inch of the place.
The warlock barely broke their concentration (and killed them) one turn before they would’ve unleashed a fireball.

[fickle heart]

I do think there's a point to be made about engaging in a rules-heavy system like D&D without wanting to engage with the rules that comprise that system, and how people may not necessarily enjoy D&D for it being D&D but because it's the dominant system that gives the vibes they want.

[cinder timber]

Oh that's exciting!

[twilit shell]

Just feels very unbalanced for players to not put in the effort to read and understand content when the DM has to be on top of just about everything else. At least read your spell descriptions 💀

[cinder timber]

I may try to DMing again

[woven flint]

Imagine ACTUALLY playing Dungeon and Dragons

[twilit shell]

Any effort the player doesn't exert is slack the DM has to pick up

[glass granite]

Oh that’s great news!

[humble cairn]

And there's only so much a DM can do, there's kind of a minimum level of participation a player can give before they're not really playing anymore.

[cinder timber]

Yeah, im gonna be busy so I will forced to do meaningful low prep

[cinder timber]

Hello Ophid. How do you do?

[cerulean monolith]

My point is basically that reading the rules gives you a foundation that practicing the skill of playing D&D builds upon. I’m personally able to recognize probably any spell, and could tell you what most of them do, and I didn’t get that skill by reading the rules. But I also probably wouldn’t have that skill as developed if I hadn’t read the rules, and it wouldn’t be nearly as useful.

[glass granite]

Oh yeah I tell my players to know what they can do. If they consistently can’t, I tell them they either choose a simpler option (generally a simpler spell) or be kicked.
I have 8 players, so time is precious.

[glass granite]

Could run a module

[humble cairn]

I'm decent! I'm going to go see a tv actor at a live event today, fun!

[cinder timber]

That is true. Perhaps I should do it for practice.

[cinder timber]

Very exciting! How is the dnd going?

[twilit shell]

Yeah when dealing with people that play casters but dont do their own homework, if you can't figure out your turn in a minute (barring actual active discussion and planning), congrats you are casting a cantrip at the nearest target and we are moving on

[woven flint]

I can't wait to launch myself like a ballistic missile at a storm tomorrow 😎

[fickle heart]

Putting my thoughts succinctly: I think there's a difference between D&D the game and D&D the experience.

[humble cairn]

Then who will captain the ship?

[woven flint]

The ship, of course!

[humble cairn]

The shield guardian?

[cerulean monolith]

I’d suggest running Heroes of the Borderlands and then expanding into a more homebrew adventure after

[humble cairn]

Is your ship autonomous!?

[woven flint]

Maybe

[cerulean monolith]

Only Tokii can, actually. Need a special mark

[woven flint]

Laughs in Mark of Storm haver

[jolly canyon]

Exactly why I said "I refuse to be a burden" for my explanation on why I've read 2 core books in the span of 3 months + supplement books lol

[twilit shell]

I have read every core book up until witchlight front to back, I don't really run much content newer than fizbans these days

[cinder timber]

Okay, thanks for the suggestion.

[jolly canyon]

On top of reading setting books for what I need to DM eberron.

I've read so much 😭

[fickle heart]

As an addendum: D&D the experience can be enjoyable without D&D the game, but D&D the game often aims for a deeper appreciation that adds to D&D the experience. I think the idea of D&D the game holds true even with homebrewing, arguably more so than the baseline expectations. In the grand scheme, good homebrew modifies D&D the game such that you improve D&D the experience.

[rough basalt]

I wish I enjoyed dnd more.

[cinder timber]

I struggle to enjoy it as a player, I find

[rough basalt]

Same.

[odd valley]

my solution to the issue at hand: no more dnd

[cinder timber]

Why do you not enjoy as much?

[rough basalt]

I had one session as a player in my first game that was so good nothings measured up since. And had years of bad dnd

[humble cairn]

A weird corollary: D&D the game without D&D the experience is what happens when people want to use the system to play a vastly different game, like something set in Jujutsu Kaizen or something. It always puzzles me a bit as to why people do this.

[cinder timber]

I had a DM that made it so immersive and I was engaged with the story. Then he vanished :(

[frosty canopy]

I just prefer other things nowadays but I attribute me playing it as the start of a lot of good in my life

[odd valley]

eh, i’d say the best campaign i ever had was one that (although currently on hiatus) happened in exandria, we ended up changing to pathfinder like halfway through though

[woven flint]

"With this treasure I summon...!"

Pulls out a Scroll of Titan Summoning

[rough basalt]

I'm just afraid I'm on the verge of a total burnout for 5e.

[humble cairn]

It's okay to take a break.

[frosty canopy]

take a break or try another game.

[fickle heart]

Personally, actually I think a lot of this comes from people wanting D&D the experience to apply to a totally different context without D&D the game, as opposed to the opposite.

[odd valley]

yeah. it’s why i tend to push people who try doing naruto characters in 5e into a system made specifically for that

[rough basalt]

I'm just so tired of scrapping games I spend money on and get people excited for.

[woven flint]

I just realized that my Air Genasi Artificer is probably going to have to.. eugh.. ack.. use a different element against the Storm Titan!!!

[rough basalt]

Cause once it comes to making the actual game I just completely blow up.

[humble cairn]

Which is odd, right? Like why wouldn't you want the experience of that setting/story?

[cinder timber]

Life happens which cancels my campaigns. Then, when im a player, I just can't get immersed. No one has that art of creating a mental picture.

[rough basalt]

My Tuesday game is the most consistent fun I've had as a player since my first game.

[fickle heart]

Oh, it's definitely odd. Even from the perspective of me doing a pretty comprehensive overhaul of 5e stuff, it's from the perspective of me wanting more of that fantasy twist than I feel D&D offers.

Speaking for myself, my enjoyment of slow pacing in D&D the experience is related to me enjoying getting familiar with and using the bits and bobs of D&D the game every level. If one is constantly looking forwards to the next set of features, I think it's easy to lose perspective on the features you just gained.

[rough basalt]

Like I have money, people, time, and peoples time and work sunk into all the games I currently have on my workload which is why I'm just gonna have to power through it.

[humble cairn]

There's probably a lot to unpack here about how and why this blowing up is happening.

[fickle heart]

Of course, slow pacing has that eternal hurdle of requiring extreme consistency, though, as otherwise you can't really get the follow through and satisfaction from things evolving.

[rough basalt]

ADHD, unfortunately.

Unless I'm fixated, I can't get anywhere even if I want to.

[humble cairn]

How are you with one-shots?

[rough basalt]

Idea paralysis or whatever

[rough basalt]

Most of my one shots have been nightmares

[humble cairn]

In what way?

[knotty vine]

"Asmodeus allowed Zariel to recover in Nessus from the wounds sustained by her fall before assigning her as Duchess of Avernus"
I have a feeling saying "Did it hurt when you fell from heaven to Zariel would open some unwanted wounds

[rough basalt]

Either I mess up, some player ruins it, some player attacks me after for it not being good, or someone disrespects me during it.

Given I've only run like 7 one shots. Two of them were good that I can remember.

[humble cairn]

Wait you didn't run a oneshot for me playing a very flamboyant Lore Bard did you?

[rough basalt]

I don't think so.

[odd valley]

so about a majority of that isn’t your fault isn’t it

[humble cairn]

No I think that was Sam.

[rough basalt]

Well I wouldn't have been attacked for the bad one shot Friday before last if I ran it better. Maybe anyway.

[humble cairn]

How would you feel about getting together a dedicated group that you vet to do a series of oneshots?

[balmy sluice]

#looking-for-players Hey, my uncle and I are looking for a party to play with. I have 0 exp in d&d. Please let me know if we can join anyone n.n

[fast otter]

Where can I find the part of the 2024 handbook that explains what certain amount of damage equates to? Such as 12d10 being equal to an attack from a moon sized monster.

[rough basalt]

Sounds fun, but I already have so much on my plate.

[humble cairn]

You could make sure the group is good and respectful and then you could do prep for one-three shots at a time rather than huge campaigns, which I know can be an issue for executive dysfunction.

[lavish flame]

Its in the Dungeon Master's Guide, in th3 section on Improvising Damage

[fast otter]

thank you

[odd valley]

look in either the channel you linked or #looking-for-players

[humble cairn]

I mean, once the plate is more clear, something you would have to make an effort to do.

[fickle heart]

IME, one-shots are much more reliant on PCs/players than most campaigns are.

[rough basalt]

I can't come up with ideas that rapid fire. Unless I'm fresh off a breakdown and in super fixaiyan mode.

[humble cairn]

Round Robin DMing, to take the pressure off.

[rough basalt]

That'd be the dream

[humble cairn]

So long term goal, put together such a group.

[rough basalt]

Sounds unrealistic tbh

Tho ig the advertisement would be "round robin group dms only"

[humble cairn]

I mean, hang around here, form opinions about people, then reach out and broach the idea. I got into my current group after hanging around here for two years.

More like hanging around in #character-discussion

[rough basalt]

I don't think I have two more years left in me.

[humble cairn]

Please prioritize your own mental health.

[odd valley]

mental health over everything

[humble cairn]

Even if it means dropping this hobby. I mean I do hope you keep the hobby, but the priority is your mental health.

[knotty vine]

More lore about Hell
Originally, the layer of Avernus was a beautiful domain, a bustling paradise filled with lush gardens, rural countryside, trade outposts, cities, and other grand locales. It had been so crafted by Asmodeus with the goal of tempting mortals.

[rough basalt]

It'd only get worse if I did. But as it stands, what I want out of ttrpgs and the reality of it are clashing really hard.

[humble cairn]

And being healthy does mean you can better enjoy D&D.

[knotty vine]

Kinda weird imaging going to the first layer of hell and its.. a lush paradise

[humble cairn]

Do you have a clear idea of what it is you want from TTRPGS?

[odd valley]

twas the point

[rough basalt]

Fun, social interaction.

[knotty vine]

I know but like Im so evil! ive done so bad I cant wait to go to hell!

like before hell was hell it sounded like heaven

"motion-tracking fireballs that rained from the sky and left smoking craters in their wake" alright bruh

[empty thicket]

someday buddy, someday

when i train myself in Dming i will make one for you and relax

[rough basalt]

Like sessions are fun but trying to prep and get stuff done forcefully is painful

[empty thicket]

can get help from other people to prep such things?

[rough basalt]

Help?

[twilit shell]

I have almost never prepped in my years of DMing and it works out just fine. Gotta lower that self-imposed pressure ong

[humble cairn]

Have you tried running modules?

[rough basalt]

yeah they always fall apart

[fossil hollow]

i would not be able to run as many games as i do if half of them werent modules

[rough basalt]

I cant even remember how many times ive ran phandelver

[humble cairn]

But they still take a lot of prep off your shoulders, right?

[rough basalt]

specifically chapter 1 and 2

[rough basalt]

Kinda?

Last time I tried to run a module, the map was too small cause i didnt know how to adjust grid size

[empty thicket]

yeah such like, you leave to someone else some part of the work, the prep and you do what you can//want

a companion DM or smt like that

[rough basalt]

Nah, dms stand alone

[humble cairn]

Have you read The Lazy Dungeon Master?

[rough basalt]

Nope

[humble cairn]

They don't have to?

[rough basalt]

ig you can get help from outside the table

[humble cairn]

You can read it for free!

[empty thicket]

they dont buddy, mine dont do it and get help writing the plot from another dm.
And i offered him more than one time help in making the maps so its okey to get kelp

[odd valley]

yeah i order kelp at the chum bucket all the time

[rough basalt]

But then i'd have to pay

Its better to just handle everything yourself

[rough basalt]

Ill take a look sometime

Modules are just weird

[fossil hollow]

its. not.

[humble cairn]

Have you considered that this attitude is maybe part of the problem?

[empty thicket]

not at all, you can get some help from some dm that just want to help.
or people who want to learn Dming and you let them those lil tasks for start learning

[rough basalt]

It's crossed my mind, but whats the alternative?

I know yall are saying them but doesn't mean thats always an option

[odd valley]

asking for help, specifically here

[fossil hollow]

... realizing its good to have help

[humble cairn]

Releasing that attitude and acknowledging that help is valuable and available and accessible?

[odd valley]

there are numerous channels dedicated to getting external help, especially for dms here

[fossil hollow]

but for when its an option, why not just use it?

like, why not use it because theres a chance its not available? why just not take the opportunity

[rough basalt]

Ig I'm afraid.

[jolly canyon]

What type of help are we talking about here. Asking questions/advice in #dm-discussion type help or Co-DM. Or both?

[humble cairn]

It's ok to be afraid, but if you realize that you're having a problem and you're not willing to try solutions to that problem because of fear then either the fear needs to go, or your hopes for what you want to do will. Edit: Sorry, saying "the fear needs to go" makes it sound like I mean it should go away, which is not entirely accurate.

[rough basalt]

I just think all itll take is one "hey your crap sucks lol" and im probably done.

[humble cairn]

Ahh rejection sensitivity.

Hard to deal with, and I'm in no way a therapist, but I have found that having intense but respectful debates with people has made me a lot more tolerant of criticism.

[plush timber]

Could I tell y’all a quest I need feedback so I can make it better for my players

[rough basalt]

It's more just bullying in the form of criticism I'm afraid of

[humble cairn]

You 100% can, but maybe the #dm-discussion channel is a bit better place for it.

[plush timber]

K thx

[jolly canyon]

As someone who's read a decent portion of your Alexandria setting(ima read more soon). I can say it absolutely does NOT suck as it quite good. A setting I'd gladly play in myself(this is not a game recruiting comment don't smite me mods).

[humble cairn]

Once you start recognizing bullying for what it is, it's easier to dismiss it as not about you at all.

Which is what a good bs filter does.

[rough basalt]

Ye it should be but i still find myself wanting to throw the entire Finder of Paths out cause of their bad actors.

I just don't think I'm in a position where someone could help me with my games. At least at the current moment.

as the 2nd long term campaign, most of its just mapmaking and encounter building.

[empty thicket]

If one dont say yes to the question, the answer will be always no so....
Try it, give it some time and if you realize it doesnt help, welp

Tried at least.

[rough basalt]

Well its just kind of a hole i dug myself

[empty thicket]

If it work, welp, learned you can rely a bit and relax too. So win too

[rough basalt]

I use foundry and dungeon alchemist primarily for maps atm, both are expensive programs.

And if i were to suddenly switch from dungeon alchemists crpg looks to a dungeondraft map mid-dungeon, there'd probably be whiplash and some unfair criticism directed at whoever helped there.

[twilit shell]

You might be overestimating how much people are gonna mind the small stuff

[rough basalt]

Its cause any time I don't, it seems like they always do.

[humble cairn]

All you are responsible for is actively being mindful and considerate of others, you are not actually responsible for their reactions.

[rough basalt]

Hell i almost burnt my mind out not too long back trying to make maps of my magic uni in my setting that were accurate to the inkarnate city map drawing of it in dungeondraft

Got a lot of it done pretty nicely tho i think

[rough basalt]

True, idk what to do

[empty thicket]

Sit, breath, relax and revisit your options

Drink some orange juice help too

[rough basalt]

I'd roll initiative for some orange juice rn

[humble cairn]

Realize first that you think you're heading for burnout and also that burning out and imploding all your games at once would probably be not great for your players. Then find out what's causing the stress and start paring back and changing things so you're not so stressed out. Maybe you don't need maps of everything, as an example.

[rough basalt]

I make maps for anything that might have a combat encounter. Which speaking of, I need some for monday.

[empty thicket]

Grapple the oranges, squish the juice out of them.

[rough basalt]

Simple ones wont take too long

[empty thicket]

In the most violent way you know.

[humble cairn]

There's tons of free maps for the taking as well.

[humble cairn]

Find less stressful ways to do things.

[rough basalt]

I dont know if ive ever used free maps other than a phandelver and below map remake collection the creators made free all done up in foundry

[humble cairn]

Well it's definitely an option.

[empty thicket]

Nothing to lose, all to win

[rough basalt]

ill consider it but ill probably just end up making mine anyways.

I get an idea in my head and the time itd take trying to find it could be used making it

[empty thicket]

maybe can grab some map options for some burn out moments or just want to take less weight in your shoulders

[rough basalt]

I do have czepeku maps, so I use them whenever theyre usable but theyre kinda hyperniche sometimes

[humble cairn]

So it sounds like what you're doing is stressing you out, but you can't get yourself to do things in a different way. Executive dysfunction is a pain.

[rough basalt]

Yep, cause I've tried other ways and it just led me back here.

[indigo wing]

How do yall role play?

[rough basalt]

Tho ig some good news is im starting to properly interview people against my will.

[humble cairn]

I was just watching a video about how the ADHD brain uses the procrastinate-panic cycle to supply the brain chemicals needed to function.

[stoic haven]

I can tell you all about that

[humble cairn]

Definitely something you need to do.

[fossil hollow]

i think about what the character wants to do

[rough basalt]

I have a stutter which is why I havent done it beforehand

[humble cairn]

You don't need to do voice interviews, though?

[rough basalt]

You don't?

[humble cairn]

We're .. talking right now, aren't we?

[indigo wing]

Voice interviews suck!!!! My (self diagnosed) anxiety cant bear it

[rough basalt]

Well yeah but anyone can easily lie over text. At least with voice, there's some studying to be had based on their words and reactions to stuff

[humble cairn]

Uhh ... what? Why are we assuming people are lying?

[rough basalt]

Cause they wanna be in games, and gotta compete with others to

[fossil hollow]

you do voice interviews??

[rough basalt]

only just started

[indigo wing]

I think they mean that people have time to send texts but must think and answer during voice/in person interviews

[humble cairn]

Voice interviews are not necessary, interviews are.

Even questionairres are interviews.

[humble cairn]

Ok but I think you have to stop second guessing people, that's not healthy.

[rough basalt]

But when you stop is when things go bad

[indigo wing]

True, ppl suck

[rough basalt]

Seen that too many times

[humble cairn]

Uhh noooo ... assuming people are all secretly bad actors is how you prime yourself for making a situation bad.

[fossil hollow]

you keep second guessing people, you miss everyone entirely

[humble cairn]

You have to extend trust to people in order to form a group that you trust.

It's been shown in many studies, when you go into a situation assuming people are bad actors you are more likely to worsen the situation.

[odd valley]

i have a question to posit then: how are you supposed to go about that when you’ve been wronged by people you’ve trusted numerous times

[rough basalt]

I've just been burnt too many times trying to trust people, the people in Tis server are pretty much the only group of people who haven't burned me in some way in this hobby.

[indigo wing]

Whats tis server?

[humble cairn]

Maybe stop trusting those specific people and extend your trust to someone else.

[fossil hollow]

my server

[rough basalt]

Which someone else joins them a lot of the time

[indigo wing]

Yeah but how do u know who is trust worthy

[woven flint]

S-Ti-nky

[odd valley]

whats to say that it won’t happen again then?

[fossil hollow]

same way you learn how anyone is trustworthy or not?

you just keep trying?

[humble cairn]

You don't, you have to try anyway, unless you just want to swear off people and people related activities.

[rough basalt]

whats the saying
"Not all players looking for games are bad actors but all bad actors are looking for games"

[indigo wing]

Wait u play hsr!?

[fossil hollow]

not sure why we're advocating for misanthropy(?)

[fossil hollow]

retired

[indigo wing]

Trying is exhausting!

[indigo wing]

Sed

[humble cairn]

Take a rest, then try again.

[fossil hollow]

thats part of the human socializing experience

[twilit shell]

Gotta evaluate those core beliefs and determine what fundamental patterns of thoughts your behaviors are reinforcing frfr

[humble cairn]

Nothing, but try anyway.

[indigo wing]

Yeah but not everyone has the energy to keep trying over and over again getting hurt and losing energy. Sora ti isnt in the wrong for being tired

[rough basalt]

Well, what behavior am i reinforcing when the dude who was nice in an interview bullies me in the form of "criticism" after a one shot where they blitzed through the entire thing without giving me any real breathing room.

[fossil hollow]

never said you have to do the complete extreme opposite

[indigo wing]

What u mean is its exhausting to keep trying. Especially when u cant see an end

[fossil hollow]

i myself am an introvert. dnd is when i socialize the most

i KNOW DEARLY how exhausting socializing can be

[rough basalt]

Like I get actual fear before running one shots, or sessions where pcs might die cause I'm afraid of the behavior of the people at the table

[humble cairn]

Do you discuss how everyone feels about character death in Session 0?

[rough basalt]

Yep

[fossil hollow]

tpks are part of the game, i have to say as well

[humble cairn]

Ok so you have something of a contract to point to.

[indigo wing]

U r the dm, kick them out

[rough basalt]

Had a guy who was in my group for a year and he instantly quit my campaign/group after his pc died which I think is part of my issues

[indigo wing]

That sux. Not everyone is like that

[humble cairn]

"Hey I can see you're having strong feelings about this, but remember we discussed this and everyone said they would be comfortable if it happened. Now is there somethign different about what actually happened? Let me know how this made you feel and let's discuss what we can do about it."

[rough basalt]

I tried that, they blocked me.

[fossil hollow]

welp, back to a losey goosey amnesia oneshot i go

[humble cairn]

Unfortunate, but that's not going to be everyone.

[indigo wing]

U tried! Thats important!

[rough basalt]

Yeah im legit surprised two of the three pcs players that died to mind flayers last monday session i ran didnt leave

[fossil hollow]

it takes more than that to have horizon and tokii leave lmao

[rough basalt]

Oh i meant the other two

Horizon was quite open about "if i die i die" lol

[woven flint]

I'm built different

Also I didn't die anyway lol

[rough basalt]

They're great players, and decent people, I'm just so damn paranoid of people in this hobby unless they got the moth tag /hj

[woven flint]

I don't mind my characters dying though

I'd be pretty sad, admittedly 😔
But that means playing more things!!!

[odd valley]

i need to have a character die

like desperately

i need to have a pitiful character death and a grand send off character death

[fickle heart]

Speaking from honesty, I have a rather low social battery outside of my nerdy job and I seek out enough D&D games to make me feel satisfied but not enough to make me feel stressed. The type of group dynamics I find myself interested in the most at this point involve pretty strict and obvious boundaries and expectations, to the point that a story like someone leaving after their PC died is met with "well, that's unfortunate, but everyone agreed to this occurring so they were the ones who broke the expectations."

[humble cairn]

Admittedly I am averse to my characters dying, but am okay with it if I get to have a moment where the story acknowledges they were important to it before they go.

[indigo wing]

Mood

[rough basalt]

I wish i was a bit less apprehensive about character death as a player

[fossil hollow]

i revel in killing players

[rough basalt]

I get touchy when it feels "unfair" or I misunderstand it to be "unfair"

[fossil hollow]

ripping apart tamms was fun

[steady palm]

Have any of you experienced being killed by your party on purpose?

Basically betrayal for some good treasure

[indigo wing]

U monster /j

[rough basalt]

Both my character deaths so far were due to bad houserules, and adverserial dming so I haven't had a "honest" pc death

[woven flint]

No. Because most parties don't do that

[indigo wing]

Yes a party members sacrificed to me a powerful creature in exchange for the other party's survival (honestly it was a gamble, excluding their character)

[steady palm]

That's why it was so unexpected for me lol

[odd valley]

tamms on a completely irrelevant and quite frankly inappropriate topic for this channel, is that your cat in your profile picture?

[woven flint]

Also, just because you've got the treasure doesn't mean you're safe..
Keep those meat shields around

[fickle heart]

IMHO, I think everyone should be averse to character death, but also accepting of it. You shouldn't want your character to die or not care at all, because at that point you don't really value the character themselves. At the same time, you should recognize that when they die it's something that had a real possibility of happening. You can and should have the very valid response of disappointment to not being able to play them anymore, but trying to avoid that disappointment is exactly what assigns a character value in my eyes.

[rough basalt]

I'm thinking I should probably cancel my other planned games, just rip the bandaid off and cut my losses

[odd valley]

yeah i’m definitely averse to it, but that won’t stop me from picking up a new character

[rough basalt]

Doesn't mean I can't use the ideas and work so far later down the road when I have hyperfixation powers back.

[indigo wing]

No!

[rough basalt]

If I don't its gonna kill me

[indigo wing]

Then yes

[rough basalt]

i can't run 4 homebrew games at the same time

[indigo wing]

4!? Just reduce it to one

[odd valley]

oh yeah no you should probably do that

[humble cairn]

It's good to know your resources.

[odd valley]

4 homebrew games at the same time sounds difficult, i struggle with writing 1 homebrew campaign

(still gonna do it cuz it sounds fun but that’s also not gonna stop me from struggling my way through it)

[indigo wing]

Prioritize urself!

[fickle heart]

For example, when Ti killed my character (temporarily; Tokii revived him but needed to use a relatively impactful ability) I was ambivalent because it's really fun to play the character and I was gonna miss doing so, but I also recognized that it was going to have aftershocks in the group's approach to the dungeon and that PC death like that actually enhances the experience as opposed to diminishing it.

[indigo wing]

Whats Ti!?!?!?!

[odd valley]

AH PISS I NEED TO MAKE THE ACTUAL PLOT OF THE WORLD MOVE

[fickle heart]

This situation.

[rough basalt]

Yep, two 5e campaigns in two homebrew settings with homebrew character options i make, homebrew monsters, then a homemade adventure learning a new tabletop system, then a homemade megadungeon or island hexcrawl in another separate system im learning

[fossil hollow]

me, i am ti

[rough basalt]

Albeit that separate system is very easy to run if you can run 5e

[odd valley]

LORD

yeah i run 2 systems but one of them is a module

well both currently are actually

[rough basalt]

I just didnt wanna spend 60 on a PF module

[fickle heart]

Essentially, I was reveling in the death of my own character because him dying wasn't his problem anymore, but was definitely everyone else's problem, considering how impactful he is to the act of dungeoncrawling, being a Rogue.

[rough basalt]

In hindsight, probably shouldve

[odd valley]

and i need to write more for the homebrew campaign im writing

[twilit shell]

The more you right the less they will read ;P

[rough basalt]

in hindsight, shouldve just ran strahd instead of my own homebrew domain of dread with some homebrew mechanics.

[odd valley]

oh no, i have to write more lmao

that’s one thing i’ve learned

[rough basalt]

In hindsight, shouldnt have promised those Shadowdark players another adventure

[odd valley]

the players i have do stuff i dont exactly anticipate so ive done stuff on the fly before

[fickle heart]

Though that does kinda make me realize that character death slots really well into my value system in RPGs where every character should have a defined role in the game, especially if there are far more roles than the basic 3, because every combination of roles should make you feel the lack of other roles.

[rough basalt]

I think Ill try to sleep on it and see if i can rip the bandaid off tomorrow

cause unless I get my hyperfixation energy back, there's no way I'm starting to running 4 games and a one shot in the span of a month

[fickle heart]

Comedically, my other PC in a game of Ti's is even more valuable to the group as the only real frontliner and the group has two PCs that semi-frequently heal him because stuff goes terribly wrong if he drops.

[fossil hollow]

garth is really the tank of dragonlance

[rough basalt]

I dont want my rogue in Nealens game to die but at this point she'd rather she die instead of tokiis warlock

[fickle heart]

Anime protagonist energy except he's extremely awkward.

[rough basalt]

So anime protagonist

[fossil hollow]

what

[odd valley]

you all play in each others games?

[fossil hollow]

i abduct a few people from time to time

[odd valley]

(i’ve known this for a hot minute it’s a rhetorical)

[odd valley]

can i be next?

[fossil hollow]

added to list

[rough basalt]

Could be im just dehydrated.

[odd valley]

gulp

[fickle heart]

Not awkward in the sense that everyone loves him, but awkward in the sense that he's terrible at dealing with people, though everyone realizes he's the sponge and knows the sponge can't break apart.

[rough basalt]

i notice my hyperfixations really disappear when i manage to have soda in the house again

[rough basalt]

ah i see

[odd valley]

man istg water revitalizes me too

[fickle heart]

He's the only "primary" frontliner and he's a Monk

[rough basalt]

Rowan is a Scion Rogue, she's pretty hefty hp wise

good ole 155hp

[fossil hollow]

deflect attacks is a hell of a drug

[rough basalt]

Ya know maybe I should focus on what ive gotten done this week

I got most of my monday prep done

I got half my starting dungeon of the horror campaign done, also created an antagonist that'll be semi present from the get

[fickle heart]

I've also only had to use Uncanny Metabolism once the entire campaign

Temperant Cadence will just get better and better, and if I eventually take Grappler (which I may), I'm gonna be a nightmare against non-dragons (they too big, alas)

[rough basalt]

A blonde woman in a plague doctor mask named Dr. Monika Von Braun. So i can test the integrity of my players morals.

inb4 "my morals leaving my body when the villian is hot"

[fickle heart]

I have also learned one very strong lesson from Dragonlance: Don't take Dragonlance feats on a Monk. You will get lost in your own character sheet.

[rough basalt]

I wanna play in Dragonlance at some point

In general, a few of the established settings

Eberron, Dragonlance and Dark Sun notably

Greyhawk being a suitable replacement if im wrong about Champions book being Dark Sun, I just drank half a gallon of water, I feel the power to make 20 more statblocks

[fossil hollow]

gug

i hope its the apocalypse ua for champions

[rough basalt]

Personally I don't think it can be anything except it.

Since "Villainous UA" doesn't really fit the Champions theme imo

[fossil hollow]

i can see it being dragonlance, since soths face is on it

[remote wadi]

Small question

Is it a bad thing to want to make closer connections through DnD? (Closer connections meaning beyond an acquaintance, possible temporary

[fossil hollow]

temporary what

[rough basalt]

But you know what does? The apocalypse UA. And you know where those subs are from? Dark Sun. You know where the Psion class belongs? Dark Sun. What new class got a second round of UA after its signature setting got a UA drop? Psion. You know what setting had its IP abandoned by old WotC? Dark Sun. You know what IP new WotC renewed after the Psion and Apocalypse UAs were well received? Dark Sun. You know what the other name for Sorcerer-Kings of Athas is? Champions of Rajaat. What is the Season called? Champions.
Dark Sun 12/26 confirmed.

It'd also be a good thematic choice for after a Season of High Magic where everything's magic to make a Season about a setting where magic absolutely destroyed the place.

[knotty vine]

ok so I looked up a Dullahan in the dnd books why does this monster just have a vorpal battle axe as its weapon and its only cr 10

[rough basalt]

Cause it's based

[knotty vine]

Dc 15 con save or just die

[rough basalt]

Better roll good

[fossil hollow]

decapitation doesn't factor into cr same way the solar's slaying longbow or a lich's pwk does

or a shadow's strength drain

[knotty vine]

you know thats fair

[fossil hollow]

also, countered by adamantine armor

[knotty vine]

True

[rough basalt]

Hehe yeah

[fossil hollow]

were you there for my dullahan oneshot sora lol?

[rough basalt]

Yeah I was the PDK lol

[knotty vine]

But it also has mythic actions as well

Since its a mythic creature

[fossil hollow]

mythic monsters count as two seperate monsters back to back

[knotty vine]

Yeah its cool af

Pretty much a two stage boss fight

[fossil hollow]

thats. thats what mythic monstrs are yeah

[knotty vine]

Weird thing about it is that its only resist to posion

but immune to the condtion

funny that the dulla is the smallest and lowest mythic creture through

[fossil hollow]

shame its no longer mythic or legendary in 2024

[remote wadi]

Like, just lasting for the campaign temporary

[severe rampart]

I mean, I'm friends with all my players in my CoS game, we met through the campaign

You can certainly use D&D as a bridge for friendship

and the game is more fun if you have a deeper connection with your fellow players

[dim flicker]

yeah the game matters more when you're actually invested in the people you play with

[hallow maple]

You know what would be cool a marvel inspired dnd adventure

[vivid vessel]

Does anyone know how I can add the Fey Spirit to the extras tab?

[fossil hollow]

there isnt a way

[fathom mango]

uhhhh hi-

[molten glade]

Are there any spells and/or items that have an object become sentient permanently, like awaken

[edgy storm]

session today!!!!

[edgy storm]

True polymorph

[crystal star]

thats like one of the best things about DND. I'd go as far as to say it'd be weird if you made it to the end of a campaign and werent friends with your party members

[indigo wing]

Good luck!

[pure nova]

How’s everyone

[hot gate]

Good! Finished one of my CoS games, so I'm now in that wonderful stage of planning my next game
How about you?

[pure nova]

I just completed my second ever session, and finished my backstory on my character

Think I put too much effort into it

[hot gate]

In my experience it's very easy to overdo it on character backstory. But if you had fun writing alls good!

[indigo wing]

U can never put too much effort into a backstory

[pure nova]

I took the characters out of the book I’ve been writing since I was in HS. My Bestfriend and I play A Jester(Bard home brew)/Ranger(me) and a Orc Paladin/Wizard. I’ve wrote our backstory’s many times just had to reincorporate them to my normal story

[pure nova]

Idk they’re pretty long😭😂

[indigo wing]

Eh long just means more information

[hot gate]

Ohh, that's dangerous! Working on something for so long tends to really get its grips on you

One thing to remember about backstories is: nobody else on the table is going to be as knowledgeable about it than you, so it can only do so much. If it helps you roleplay though, I think it's cool.

[pure nova]

I don’t think any of my friends would ever put nearly as much work into a backstory. I just like to write though tbf

I can send our character sheets if you wanna check them out?

[hot gate]

I'm not a big backstory reader tbh, I like them very concise. But if you want your sheets checked generally, you can use #character-discussion to post a link directly to DDBeyond (if you made it there) or upload the sheet to something like google drive and then post a link to that.

[remote wadi]

If only my campaigns were like that. But then again, online with strangers is... yeah >_>

[nocturne turret]

hello everuone

[glass granite]

I mean, all friends start out as strangers, why not start somewhere

[vast saddle]

It initially didn't end well for me

No more frontliner me starting from tomorrow

Sorry, guys. I'm still grieving somehow

[dim flicker]

what happened?

[buoyant frost]

I have decided to make a blade singer wizard but I am feeling a lack of true burst damage. I mean I sure as heck will be inconvient in a fight but not like "Oh my gods he tore through half of us with a single fire ball" then again the campaign I am making him for is starting at level three

[vast saddle]

I and the head DM of the server where I was labelled as moron....we made an agreement. I'll have to leave his server by tomorrow

Since that....I promise to myself that I'll only be the frontliner for my close friends only

Fighter me is no more

[hollow lance]

is there a way to add extra bludgeoning damage to an unarmed strike? it has to be specifically written as bludgeoning damage for build reasons

[twilit sail]

Fighter man
Fighter man
Does whatever a fighter can
Hit some stuff
Hit some more

Outside combat hes quite the bore
Look out

Heeees the fiiiighter maaaaaan

[hollow lance]

make your fighter a commander/general and they've got sick flavour for out of combat

[twilit sail]

I gave mine a sick ass backstory

And then the dm kicked me out so her friend could play

[hollow lance]

thats just a bad dm

[cobalt owl]

CR has always been weird

[twilit sail]

Angsty and queer creature

[twilit sail]

Yes maam

[hollow lance]

you know they fix this in pathfinder

[cobalt owl]

Im sure they do

[twilit sail]

Perish

[cobalt owl]

The pathfinder memes exist for a reason ig

[vast saddle]

Is this Spider-Man 2 reference?

Let me play "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head" when I become a cleric with glasses

[twilit sail]

Its from crap guide to dnd

Which itself made a spiderman reference

[vast saddle]

Aaahh...I see. Tbh, yeah, Fighter is a boredom in roleplaying

[still plover]

Character is what you make it. Features are a crutch.

[errant crag]

I've never had issues roleplaying a fighter in a way that the rest of the party found entertaining. Your class affects your roleplay very little

[vast saddle]

Maybe....I'm indeed a moron who deserves to be curb stomped by the DM I mentioned

[still plover]

None of that defeatist talk here! You've got ideas, you can make a character, you've just got to be alert for the opportunities to express them.

[vast saddle]

I'm already defeated, tho. I just hope I learn my lessons for any new table

[tame estuary]

the dnd classes focuses a lot on the stuff you do relating to gameplay

hence why you pick 2 other things when you start

[vast saddle]

What are they?

[tame estuary]

background and race

[tame estuary]

I need more context to this

I've read more context to this

[twilit sail]

your fighter is only as boring as your writing

[reef tundra]

A bad sculptor blames their tools

I firmly believe that almost any character can be interesting in dnd, but it’s all about the person behind it

[vast saddle]

A DM in a D&D server I joined called me a moron in front of many online members because I tried to open roleplay in...in the wrong thread

[vast saddle]

My character didn't fit the setting in the first place

[reef tundra]

“Evil characters don’t fit in good parties”
Except for the lawful evil paladin of Asmodeus in my latest campaign who so far has gotten along great with the rest of the party while having inner conflict about their faith and their home. And the other dozen evil characters I’ve played and seen played

“Fighters are boring”
Except for how incredibly popular the knight fantasy is in medieval fantasy and how some of the most beloved characters in fiction would be fighters

[twilit sail]

my character in my session today is a grifter

[reef tundra]

Any character, class, race, background, anything, can be interesting and work well in dnd, it’s all about how you go about it

[rain swan]

Yoooooooooooo

[still plover]

See, that's less about you and more about them having poor manners. Plenty of ways to issue a gentle correction and they chose the way intended to do harm. In bird culture, that would be considered a jerk move.

[errant sonnet]

Man, I really want to run Pathfinder

[twilit sail]

GET EM

[errant sonnet]

I love my current group and met them because I'm running DND, but I really miss the mechanics of Pathfinder and also think it's a lot funner as a system both for players and GMs

I'm pretty experienced as a GM, so I don't mind running a campaign like this, but I do hate that it's harder to be creative with 5E as a system because the system is so uncooperative; making monsters is a pain in the ass, and spells and CR are both a joke

Wonder if it's a bad idea to talk about trouble I'm having with 5E here, most experienced GMs are fine hearing criticism about 5E, but IDK if this sever is mature enough for that

[reef tundra]

Hey there. Me again.
Your opinions are valid, but there’s really no point in coming to a dnd server to complain about dnd and talk about how much you wanna play another game

[reef tundra]

It’s not really criticism it’s just “man I wanna play a different game”

[errant sonnet]

It's ultimately a conversation about DND, but if this server can't have it then that's fine

I'll go to the server for the 5E campaign I'm running and discuss it there, thanks

[reef tundra]

While yes it is about dnd there’s just no point in it. It’s not really opening up conversation it’s just complaining

[stiff rock]

there are plenty of people here who prefer the older editions, but if you're coming just to say 'man, dnd sucks compared to other ttrpgs' you might not find much support in the dnd-exclusive server

[errant sonnet]

It's discussion about the game. If you don't like hearing criticism about it, then that's your perogative

[reef tundra]

And while again, it is valid to not like it and prefer something else, there is just no point in doing it on a dnd server

[errant sonnet]

I'm not here to argue with your defensiveness. I have already said I'm taking it elsewhere, leave it at that

[reef tundra]

It’s like entering a vegan cafe and talking about how much you want them to sell meat and how much you like meat

[errant sonnet]

Thank you for informing me that this sever isn't the place for it

[reef tundra]

Okay. Apologies for my temper, I’m just sick of pathfinder players coming here like they’re superior and we’re idiots for liking something

[errant sonnet]

It was intended as an honest feedback on the system. CR and spellcasting are mechanics that are not balanced well, and hard on GMs who want to use them for homebrew

[still plover]

Pathfinder is D&D for nerds. Real roleplayers play Fate! /hj

[reef tundra]

Subjective

[hot gate]

Feedback on the system itself is something the designers would surely appreciate. Alas, we aren't.

[reef tundra]

Anyway, yes, we should end this conversation

[errant sonnet]

Please stop pinging me for a conversation none of you want to have

[reef tundra]

Apologies again, I’m just very willing to fight back against negativity

Because it’s suffocating sometimes

[errant sonnet]

I am going to go elsewhere. Carry on without me

[cosmic roost]

https://media-waterdeep.cursecdn.com/attachments/0/828/c2-16.png

[paper portal]

Hi chat

[reef tundra]

So, everyone, what is a recent favourite moment you have had in dnd?

[reef tundra]

Yesterday I had one of the greatest sessions I have had in a hot minute.

A huge plot twist, questions finally being answered, and now the players are finally gonna battle the villain they’ve been building up to for 9 months

[reef tundra]

Hiii!

[stiff rock]

our group killed the bbeg of the next 4-5 sessions on session 1 because our DM wasn't expecting us to sprint straight into the cave and get incredibly lucky

[reef tundra]

Oh dayum. Hell yeah!

[timber cove]

an orc chieftain one shot the dragon wyrmling helping the party fight

[paper portal]

Haven't seen you in like two whole days

[reef tundra]

NOOO 😭

[reef tundra]

Too long :(

[paper portal]

Im chronically online you can message me whenever lol :3

[reef tundra]

Wow, I haven’t had a boss fight as a player in ages!

[reef tundra]

Awww Oki

[blazing lark]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonconvex_great_rhombicosidodecahedron dnd dice final boss

i love the nonconvex great rhombicosidodecahedron

[paper portal]

Yeah last week my party were fighting moongrave and i got really unlucky with the saves 😭 needless to say they are much more scared of my character now and this is perfect timing cus I'm just about to start my Violence arc lol

[reef tundra]

Oooh what’s a moon grave?

[timber cove]

i'm excited for the next session I'm running. I'm finally going to be able to turn up the horror a bit in my campaign as they try and jail break some villager and it turns out they've been sacrificing villagers to summon demons

[paper portal]

One of the bosses in the wild beyond the witchlight

[reef tundra]

Ahh

[paper portal]

she can control your character if you save badly enough against her lol

[last flume]

We ran combat 😭 .
My last Dungeon Master removed all the random encounters of a Module (CoS) and we essentially only fought against big shot bosses every 5+ sessions apart.

I am playing a historical revisiting of the War of Cormanthor against the Army of Darkness (Year is ~712 DR) and we got to have 1,5 session long combat encounters in the forest against Drow.

[reef tundra]

Oh dear 😅

[reef tundra]

Hell yeah, I love big battles

[paper portal]

Yeah I'm playing one of my favourite builds rn :3 da awesome super tank

[last flume]

We got saved big time because it was daytime and every Drow had disadvantage, Drow Poison Blades are nasty.

[reef tundra]

Hell yeah which class

[paper portal]

cleric/wizard multi

[reef tundra]

Noice

[paper portal]

Yeah it's quite something lol

With how that fight went I ended up getting hit with a 4th level lightning bolt 😭

[near adder]

Is it a good or a bad thing that I have never multiclassed in a D&D campaign?

[idle oar]

Neither

It's just a thing that one could use or not use with their character

[near adder]

I just realized I used the wrong channel.

[idle oar]

I mean the rules for it are right here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/br-2024/creating-a-character#Multiclassing

[near adder]

Gotcha.

[idle oar]

Generally it's not recommended for new players - they're already trying to learn D&D and how their character works - adding another class on top of that adds more complexity they have to manage.

[sour cave]

Multiclassing is for nerds. Sole class gang

(Brought to you by a hexadin player)

[stiff rock]

a lot of class features also scale on your level for that class and not your overall level, so you miss out on a lot of stuff

generally i wouldn't unless i'm following a build/class guide (which i don't because i don't treat d&d as a videogame)

[lilac plover]

Multiclass is fun but kinda complicated

Well it at least seems like fun

[sour cave]

Always seemed very gamey to me honestly

[stiff rock]

agreed

[lilac plover]

Wdym