dnd-discussion

[lavish flame]

There aren't any yet. We only got 5e random encounter tables in Xanathar's so a 2027 release would roughly make sense

[glad ferry]

Theres always an underground to the above world rhat people know exist just dont acknowledge yet still use

[lavish flame]

the Underdark?

[cloud bison]

what section

[glad ferry]

Nope. As in the blackmarkwts and people who do what kingdoms or people cant do themselves sell or buy

[lavish flame]

oh not literally underground

[fossil hollow]

theyre scattered across the different location sections of the Adventures in Faerun

[hot marlin]

Yeah uh... Look, this didn't stop WW1.

[fossil hollow]

For Faerun, thats just the Zhentarim

[hot marlin]

In fact that stuff tends to embolden the people who find it with a great sense of confidence that they'll win the war

[glad ferry]

Eh. You can only delay the war. It will find one way or another to happen

[hot marlin]

So that is also untrue.

[lavish flame]

Admittedly I do wish stuff like Narcotics was featured a lil more prominently in D&D. Thus far, it mostly seems like Poisons are narcotics and thats it.

[empty thicket]

Yep, WW1 would be an example of such thing

[hot marlin]

Wars can be avoided. Hell, plenty of wars have been avoided

[glad ferry]

Trye

[empty thicket]

but in a world with magic and who knows what more things. Imagine the potential

[turbid vessel]

drug culture requires so much subtley and sensitivity, and dnd has done worse with topic that require half the sensitivity, so idk

[rough basalt]

Yeah a lot of people tried to stop WW1 from happening, iirc

[hot marlin]

Magic changes the sociology of war only in the sense that a single powerful spellcaster is worth a lot of soldiers.

[glad ferry]

Depends on a person importance and where they sit

[hot marlin]

Otherwise? Supply lines are still a thing. Pillage is still a thing. Morale is still a thing. Disconnect between the elites who start the war and the population is still a thing

[minor cargo]

Quoi vous parlez about?! Les Canadiens adorons notre Francais siblings! Qui n’aime pas a lil’ Frenglish?!

[glad ferry]

The king and soldiers are all but one part. The civilian population heavily outnumbers them

[hot marlin]

*adorent.

Third person plural.

[minor cargo]

No I’m going person plural. My culture is not your costume.
/lh /jk

[hot marlin]

Sorry, this is compulsive

... You changed it to first person plural? Are you trying to give me a stroke?!

[glad ferry]

Don't speak French unfortunantly

[minor cargo]

Good thing it was not French lmao.

[glad ferry]

Lol

[hot marlin]

notre. Singular despite the fact that it's multiple siblings?!

[peak pecan]

In my personal experience, making narcotics for D&D is basically the same as making a custom poison

[glad ferry]

Or a rogue using poison

[minor cargo]

Clearly I don’t speak yer fancy French. Or maybe that’s too on the nos.

[severe rampart]

Anyone here had an NPC confront a PC about their in-game actions? if so, any tips? 👀

[hot marlin]

Don't be afraid to make that NPC a jerk.

[lavish flame]

I'm now realizing I've been using Narcotics to mean Contraband. I am but a fool

[hot marlin]

PCs don't have to like, or be liked by every NPCs.

[minor cargo]

Say more? Like what’s your tension or hesitation? Because at its core, it’s just an NPC reaction?

[fossil hollow]

had an empyrean call out the party's eldritch knight for being reckless and the party overall for fighting and killing the titans willy nilly

[severe rampart]

Oh yeah. They will not hesitate to say they'll kill the PC if they try what they did again

[glad ferry]

Pc or npc if they dont agree with them. Easily done

[hot marlin]

My favorite time was when an NPC essentially humiliated a PC. He was... A complex character, and it was his death scene anyways, and he had reasons to loathe that one particular PC.

[severe rampart]

the PC was making a deal with a hag and offered to sacrifice children, not just any children, the NPC's father figure's children.

[glad ferry]

Ive called out someone with my pc because they were being stupid snd didnt save them

[severe rampart]

It was out of a place of anger as the deal was to turn an enemy into a werewolf after they killed a PC

[hot marlin]

Wait, why the hell hasn't that NPC already killed that PC?

Wait, why the hell would anyone want their enemy to turn into a werewolf?

[severe rampart]

Enemy had a hatred towards werewolves.

Turning into one is a sort of a worse fate than death for him

[hot marlin]

Admittedly, I've done the same thing to... Not an enemy, just to teach a lesson.

[lavish flame]

You gotta use language to frame the PCs actions like how they were percieved. A PC might think they heroically slew some evil lord, but from the NPCs point of view, they commited regicide by way of boiling. Using pointed and jagged and accusatory language helps.

[severe rampart]

They won't make rash decisions on their own

[severe rampart]

Yeah like "Sacrificing children... What kind of a monster hurts children.

I don't know what you're planning. But if you do or say anything to hurt them, I won't hesitate to kill you."

I'm not sure how I can be more accusatory though... hm.

[minor cargo]

Okay some ways I would consider playing it:

• Minimal talk. Attack on sight. If the NPC has a good relationship with others, the trick is how the OTHER players do. Do they sit back and let them potentially kill each other? Or do they pick a side? Which side?
• No contact. Have this NPC just stop showing up. The story ends involving them ends on this… bitter note. Sometimes we let relationships wither on the vine for better or worse.
• They send a letter, listing out how this relationship is now iced. Here are steps to begin repairing it, but otherwise, the NPC is now clean of their actions. Good luck. Letter is good because it reflects the drama back to the party WITHOUT the NPC there.

[glad ferry]

Its simple. They make decisions. Said decisions have consequences and benefits

[severe rampart]

They're staying in one house right now lmao 😭

Hm, but that is useful advice.

[twilit sail]

Its not you its me 🤧

[severe rampart]

I was planning for the NPC to take the PC aside to "talk"

[glad ferry]

Best line you can use lol

[minor cargo]

Gotchaaaa. Yeah I won’t go down another brain storm list - but hopefully the examples showcase how you can take the drama and push it back into a scene for players.

[severe rampart]

Definitely... and I've still got a favor from the PC to the hag that I haven't cashed in...

[glad ferry]

Just pull a jester with the hag

[severe rampart]

What do you mean?

[glad ferry]

Listen to critical role and you'll know

[severe rampart]

I'm not watching 100 episodes to get that reference

[glad ferry]

Don't need to. Theres plenty of clips for it

[twilit sail]

Sacrificimg an npcs kids is insane

[glad ferry]

Very popular lol. One of her very defining moments

[severe rampart]

Correction offering to

[minor cargo]

(Another option to up the drama: Have the hag offer to “fix” the relationship. Just sign another contract.)

[severe rampart]

He used it as a bargaining chip

[glad ferry]

People will do crazy things depending on the character and situation

[severe rampart]

I... know of two lycanthrope boys... they would be of value to you... or I'll give you my lifespan

They first offered their lifespan, then the boys, then the hag offered to do the deal in exchange for a favor.

No specific time nor place. Just a favor.

[glad ferry]

A favor is more dangerous

[severe rampart]

and useful to me lmao because I don't know what to do with that favor

Destroy this legendary artifact or Kill important NPC

[glad ferry]

Kill this figure who is holding everything together even though they're your ally

[minor cargo]

I’m excited for you haha this sounds like fun to run. Did you get the ideas you need or should we keep storming?

[severe rampart]

Let's keep storming, I don't have anything else to do, it's 2 hours before session

[glad ferry]

You got all the time to scheme this out depending on what they do to add drama. Especially a favor from a hag

The sea hag is something else

See her face and its a saving throw

[severe rampart]

Night Hag

[glad ferry]

Not familiar with night hags

[lavish flame]

herculean request btw, the moment in question doesnt happen until like 400 hours of their second campaign

[glad ferry]

Don't have to watch the whole thing of uku dont want to. Theres enough clips of it out there

[severe rampart]

"Modify Memory" won't be available to them until level 9.

[barren pagoda]

Hullo! New (about a year) to DND and I was curious about Warlocks, tieflings and Fey beings a bit. Should I ask questions here or in the lore channel?

I’m asking for lore details more from a DM perspective, as I’ll mostly be helping my fellow players (I got voted DM cause I’m the only lore fanatic)

[severe rampart]

and they don't have a bard nor wizard.

[severe rampart]

Probably the lore!

[glad ferry]

It wasn't just that fact. Its how she did it lol

[glad ferry]

Warlocks are putting your characters in your dms hands lol

[severe rampart]

"The way she did it" would be impossible to replicate, I mean.

[glad ferry]

It would be

I love jester. One of my favorites

[barren pagoda]

Pretty much I’m going to be playing as their patrons and such. I’m already scared of deity lore. One thing at a time

Luckily we don’t start till new year so I got a few months to gear up

[glad ferry]

Thats a patron not a deity. The patron gives the warlock its power

And depends on the type they choose

I love listening to deity lore

[crimson gulch]

My epic conclusion to the dungeon of the mad mage is over, what a wild ride it's been

[shy stirrup]

Casulties?

[barren pagoda]

Ah yes. I meant more that I’ll have both clerics and warlocks in my upcoming group so I’ll have to play as both cleric deities, and warlock patrons for rp matter. I’ve already… been made overloaded trying to understand the “death domain” and afterlife and how it works so I’m taking a mini break from divinity lore atm hahaha

[glad ferry]

Its so much fun to listen to. I nerd out to that stuff

[barren pagoda]

Ngl I was a bit scared from all the online videos that shows players typically don’t care much about the story as long as they can fight so it’s nice to see I’m not alone in lore reading

[glad ferry]

Warlocks is the one im still figuring out because of how complicated a patron can be depending on what they choose and how to run it. Fiend, great old one pact

[jolly canyon]

final kill count for the campaign specifically, Urizt?

[glad ferry]

Its really fun plus if you ever add in the necronomicon

[barren pagoda]

After warlock, I also want to understand sorcerer because it seems warlock and sorcerer implies everyone can learn magic should they try hard enough. And rn I’m very curious about creating a more personal experience with a patron like an Archfey who is more a friend to the warlock and I am taking some personality traits from Tinkerbell

[crimson gulch]

Tonight zero, one recharge roll away from a tpk

[crimson gulch]

10

[glad ferry]

Sorcerer is born with magic. Warlock has a sugar daddy

[shy stirrup]

Close! Lemme guess, good rolls?

[thick canopy]

can i share a world or kingdom idea even for how stupit it is

[crimson gulch]

Expert line of sight blocking ti prevent their healing spells from getting counterspellled

[glad ferry]

Zombie beholder!

[shy stirrup]

Superior tactics then. Gotta respect that win.

[barren pagoda]

I think there are some sorcerer who have their latent magic unlocked by an event and then they have spellcasting? One is from the Baldur’s Gate 3 game

[peak pecan]

What’s everyone’s favorite type of hag?

[shy stirrup]

A dead one?

[fossil hollow]

either night or annis

[crimson gulch]

Sea

[terse adder]

One that doesn't have to be in my way

[glossy otter]

Bheur, Fate or Green

[sharp oracle]

Night Hags

[peak pecan]

Been getting into Archhags recently, these are all great suggestions

[barren pagoda]

They make some really good stories ngl, evil, ironical, ruthless and unapologetically funny

[peak pecan]

Been working on a pair of disguised hags, either Night Hags or Green Hags for my campaign: Mother May-Eye and Auntie Hemlock; they run an orphanage together

[barren pagoda]

I got time out lol

[barren pagoda]

But so far I’m only familiar with green hags and them being straight out of a fairy tale was a big fun moment for me

I’d love to see hags become more a threat to higher beings like devils and even gods (especially the dead three)

[blazing holly]

love the names

[peak pecan]

Thanks, took me a while to come up with them

[blazing holly]

yeah, good names don't come easy, at least not to me

[peak pecan]

Trying to think of schemes a pair of hags would try to hatch while using orphans to steal things and while living in a rundown area of a city

[humble cairn]

One of each! Mother May-Eye for Green Hag and Auntie Hemlock for Night Hag. Great names!

[pseudo prairie]

So uhh, they about the greater good or nah…?

[viscid hamlet]

Yo anyone want to make a dndbeyond campaign to share books if u have the premium subscription and i got a couple but want more I have both griffin saddle bags if that intigues you

[peak pecan]

Oh, gods no; good is so pedestrian to them

[pseudo prairie]

kk, got it

[pseudo prairie]

Dumb idea: They send children at night to steal furniture.

[humble cairn]

Personally here are my ideas: Mother May-Eye is the seemingly kindly one. She is glamoured to look like a sweet natured matron character, think Mrs Claus. She is active during the day and always feeding the kids and watching over them with her various eyes in charms they carry or are placed in various locations. She acts doting, but her caretaking somehow always misses the various cruelties that children engage in, she excuses them with "kids will be kids" and subtly pits the kids against one another with favoritism and jealousy.

She's the embodiment of nice to your face, but nasty vicious gossip behind your back, always with plausible deniability.

[pseudo prairie]

Dang, good job, peak stuff I couldn’t come up with in an hour.

[solemn jungle]

Hi there

I'm like extremely newbie on this

can someone explain

[peak pecan]

Head to #dnd-newcomers

[humble cairn]

Mother May-Eye has eyes everywhere and likes to make people fight amongst themselves, contributing to the general unpleasantness hidden beneath the surface, but she doesn't have too many far reaching plans, she just likes to make people seethe with hidden jealousy, resentment, and bitterness.

[solemn jungle]

thanks

[barren pagoda]

They’re not actively eating the children…?

[pseudo prairie]

U sure ur not a dm?

Cuz ur storytelling is peak

[fossil hollow]

not all hags engage in eating children

[peak pecan]

This is a busy city; even the most run down orphanages would be expected to keep records, and eating kids requires cooking the books

[humble cairn]

Auntie Hemlock, on the other hand, is more active during the evening. She's the creepy witchy old lady who sits on the porch, a glowing ember from her pipe the only light in the darkness of the shantytown, since fires seem to die out when she's up and about. She tells creepy stories that give the kids nightmares, and offers to tell fortunes for curious nobles slumming it. She has much more nefarious plans and visits certain rich and powerful people in their dreams, appearing just sitting in the background. She reads their minds for information about the city and has a sinister plot.

[humble cairn]

Oh I have definitely DM'd before, green is just my favorite color so I prefer this tag.

[peak pecan]

Whichever child is best at making Mama May-Eye happy by doing whatever she asks is getting the “honor” of getting eaten and reborn as the last in their twisted coven

[pseudo prairie]

Dang

[rough basalt]

Need to get my phone and screenshot these so i can steal them

[humble cairn]

I love hags as enemies.

[barren pagoda]

I thought all hags were pure evil and always involved in some evil shit

And with them running orphanage, out of everything, seems like they’d be using it as a front to eat children like I suspected

They got children and kept and nursed them and got donations and even let people adopt them. But in truth, they only raised them as food. While the ones that got adopted? Changelings and hag children’s to spread more misery.

[empty thicket]

how hard are they to take down?

[rough basalt]

Depends on the Hag and how well the dm runs them

[humble cairn]

By CR not that hard, but it's less about physically fighting them.

And also they can work together to be more powerful.

And then you have the Arch Hag, which is near impossible to take down.

[pseudo prairie]

A question for all y’all. Do you prefer playing big or small characters?

[humble cairn]

I kinda like Small characters because I like mounted combat.

[lavish flame]

not really difficult at all tbh. They're like CR 2-7 as far as I remember

[barren pagoda]

Size or depth? I prefer a character that goes up and above

If a character remains after years, they better be a force to be reckoned with

[pseudo prairie]

Size

[outer pulsar]

what about her makes her so hard to kill? ||im thinking of scaling her down as a finall bbeg|| and am not rly sure how to go about that

[empty thicket]

any special thing to take in consideration going against one¿?

[peak pecan]

For more information, May-Eye’s using the children to steal information about the ongoing gang war in the city they’re located in, Skollford, so she can be best prepared to be a heart of the community and soak up all the misery. Hemlock’s having the kids steal rare items from across town, even breaking into the lone magic item shop in town in search of things that were stolen from her long ago

[empty thicket]

medium//small

someday i might do a big character, not yet

A classic Goliath barbarian

[pseudo prairie]

I more mean taller or shorter characters

[barren pagoda]

Then medium lol

[empty thicket]

yeah, i do shorter for now

[humble cairn]

I feel like May-Eye would be the handler of the children, with Hemlock asking for favors from them. May-Eye (love the "eye" thing) has them just placing little eye charms that she can spy through.

[empty thicket]

its what i was meaning with their "size"

[pseudo prairie]

Ahh, missed that

[woven flint]

Mother May-Eye?
Isn't that a character from Teen TItans?

[empty thicket]

Yep, in size we use the terms Small//medium//big.

[humble cairn]

The Arch Hag has a feature where she doesn't permanently die unless in the presence of a very specific bane, which is different and unique for each of them. "The bones of my long dead lover" or "a scrap of the Lady of Pain's dress" for example.

[peak pecan]

Yeah, I got inspired by the Hag Eye magic item and the Hexblood token feature. Maybe whichever child is “Mama’s Favorite” this week gets to wear a piece of costume jewelry around town, a disguised Hag Eye.

[humble cairn]

Don't be limited! Allow May Eye to have many of them and spy through any of them.

[severe rampart]

I got one hour before a session, whoo, excited

[outer pulsar]

i also notice she’s got a lot of escape tools, this is probably better suited for #dm-discussion , but im not sure how to make a CR21 enemy a reasonably difficult but not impossible fight for a party of 5-6 level 12s. any ideas for the arch hag in particular?

[humble cairn]

That's a bit much. How about start with a lower level Hag and just add a few Arch Hag features?

[pseudo prairie]

That’s the point, she might give them to multiple, making them thing they’re the “favorite”

[peak pecan]

Plane Shift; it’s on her statblock, use it whenever it seems appropriate to drag out the fight until a later date when your characters are stronger and expecting her the least

[humble cairn]

Is it just one hag or are you open to having a coven?

[timid ember]

guys what is cr?

[pseudo prairie]

Challenge rating

[outer pulsar]

i really like the flavour of the arch hag, but it may be easier to scale up a lower CR hag stat block. a coven would probably be more interesting though and i cant see a coven with an arch hag being a fair fight for that level regardless of what i do

[peak pecan]

Thinking both May-Eye or Hemlock has a familiar: a “kitty” which is a Polymorphed Displacer Beast, and a pair of always sleepy dogs which turn out to be Hellhounds in disguise when roused

[humble cairn]

Hellhounds make sense for Hemlock seeing as Night Hags are Fiends.

[peak pecan]

Thinking the cat is named Wolfsbane as a pun

[outer pulsar]

thats such a good name

[empty thicket]

its like calling a town "dragons End", you are calling it for problems

[blazing holly]

that's it, I'm getting a cat

[humble cairn]

I'd go with something super cutesy. Her Royal Highness Princess Puddingcup or something.

[pseudo prairie]

Question: what u using these hags for?

[outer pulsar]

are hag covens always 3s?

[humble cairn]

No they can me more.

[peak pecan]

Typically, rule of threes and all: but you can have more and there can always be less

[ornate rapids]

though traditionally, some coven magic fails to function without at least three

[blazing holly]

No, but 3 is the magic number (and to a lesser degree 7 and 13)

[ornate rapids]

some coven magic even requires the hags to be specific, different types
while others may require them to all be a specific type together
there's a lot of ways to go about it

[humble cairn]

The Hellhounds would be something shorter, Hemlock ain't cutesy. Maybe Ash and Dust.

[blazing holly]

Rip and Tear ?

[peak pecan]

Side content; my players are approaching tier two and I want to have mysteries within mysteries for my next intrigue arc. Want them to get a taste of “everything is not as it seems”

[pseudo prairie]

Dawn and dusk

[pseudo prairie]

Cool!

[humble cairn]

Bit too obvious for me.

But Ashes to ashes and Dust to dust?

[fossil hollow]

latom

[peak pecan]

How does the Grimmorium sound as a repository of magic lore/magic item swap shop?

[pseudo prairie]

Now, would there ever have been a third hag, making a three hag coven?

[humble cairn]

Do you want the PCs to take these hags down, or do you want them to stick around?

[peak pecan]

Take them down eventually, but to harry them as ominous flavor for a few levels

[humble cairn]

Then I would say don't have them eat any kids. Have them doing their nasty little thing that seemingly isn't really physically harming anyone.

Spreading nasty gossip and just being generally creepy? That's something that PCs might leave alone.

Especially if they offer to trade stuff.

[peak pecan]

Like they get moved into their Bastion and a little ragamuffin with a bouquet of lilies knocks on their door and says “Mama says Hi” or being in the Middle City and hearing rumors flying between washerwomen on the streets

[humble cairn]

Information and dubious potions, for instance.

[pseudo prairie]

If they end up leaving it alone that’s their decision though

[humble cairn]

Hemlock being the potion brewer, of course.

[peak pecan]

Certainly, but she “passed on” (tried to boss around the other two and got killed) a while ago

[pseudo prairie]

🧠

[pseudo prairie]

Do you know who would be the most powerful would be?

[peak pecan]

Owned and operated by Masha Grendelsdottir, Orcish Sorceress Extraordinaire

[humble cairn]

If your PCs are at all heroic, child eaters are something they won't ignore, they will go fight them immediately.

So don't do that unless you want them gone.

[peak pecan]

Each of them thinks the other is, that’s definitely why they’ve been cohabiting for so long. To study the others weaknesses

[pseudo prairie]

Dang

[pseudo prairie]

Let’s hope that they are

[peak pecan]

They are; they would go full SWAT on the orphanage if they thought babies were getting nommed on

[pseudo prairie]

You have some good players, actually following the plot

[twilit sail]

i feel like thats the bare minimum

to like respect the effort the dm underwent for them

[ornate rapids]

eating children is generally frowned upon

[twilit sail]

i had no idea

[pseudo prairie]

Me neither

[humble cairn]

Right so, don't do that, make it so any sort of investigation reveals that they have not eaten any of the children in the orphanage.

[ornate rapids]

though probably half or more of the monster manual would eat them

[pseudo prairie]

That should be the minimum

[hexed comet]

Did you know it's canon that oni favorite meal is human children?

[peak pecan]

Yes, gonna run some of them too

[humble cairn]

"Canon" is a loose thing.

[hexed comet]

I just did a one shot with an oni and it was very fun

[ornate rapids]

i remember fighting an oni early on in one of the campaigns im in now
definitely interesting

[pseudo prairie]

Looser than my baggy clothes

[timid ember]

guys when playing as a monk since u can use dexterity instead of strenght for attacks, is there any instance in which u could also need good strenght besides save checks from stats related to strenght?

[hexed comet]

Not really

[ornate rapids]

STR is safe to dump on monks

[peak pecan]

I saw Oni get Gaseous Form and a Fly Speed and started retooling an old idea I had for a midnight aerial chase through a city

[pseudo prairie]

Not really but it’s cool to play a strength based monk

[timid ember]

how does this one work?

[pseudo prairie]

Instead of basing your stats on dex use str instead

[hexed comet]

Basically you take the tavern brawler feat.

[peak pecan]

@humble cairn maybe the Oni could be a new threat and the Hags hire the players to get rid of him for them?

[humble cairn]

What's the appeal here?

[pseudo prairie]

Is it just me or are humans underplayed

[pseudo prairie]

I have no idea

It’s more interesting ig

[timid ember]

i mean is a fantasy world setting, anything other than a regular human is more appealing tbh

[humble cairn]

The last time they looked at the digital data, the highest number of characters were Human Fighters.

[ornate rapids]

humans are very commonly played actually
especially in 2014 rules

that extra feat is very tempting

[pseudo prairie]

Oh wow

Yeah ikr

[ornate rapids]

that being said i don't generally want to play a human character

[empty thicket]

in 24 the extra origin feat is... feel good

[timid ember]

fr?

[humble cairn]

Yes. This was a few years ago at this point, though.

[ornate rapids]

I have one but he's definitely not a normal human and has a reflavored 'dragonmark' made to instead be the mark of favor of a deity

[barren badger]

Free heroic inspiration too

[pseudo prairie]

Me don’t like 2024 rules (No disrespect to the players who love this.)

[empty thicket]

in each long rest yeah

[empty thicket]

i find them a bit more "easier" to hold

[humble cairn]

That's certainly possible. I don't know your plot or the city, so I don't know what long term plan Hemlock could have, but I would make her the long term threat and May Eye just kind of generally nasty in the present.

[empty thicket]

wont deny it have som flaws tho

[ornate rapids]

our group uses the good parts of 2024 and ignores the bad

[timid ember]

how many rule versions are there?

[humble cairn]

The changes in 2024 were an improvement in about 90% of the cases. The rest were half side grades.

[barren badger]

Of all of dnd or 5e?

[barren badger]

Yeah, plus like… all of the new content is going to 5.5

[timid ember]

tbh im not even sure what the difference between all of dnd and the 5e is

[ornate rapids]

5e and 5.5 have huge differences from older versions

[pseudo prairie]

I suppose that is true.

[humble cairn]

5E, as the name means, is the Fifth Edition of Dungeons and Dragons, a game that has been around for more than 50 years and has changed hands between different companies.

[ornate rapids]

5 and 5.5 are pretty similar but the list of differences is too numerous to really list here

[timid ember]

holy

[barren badger]

I would say that each version has pretty much been radically different

[timid ember]

so every 10 years a new editions comes out?

[barren badger]

4E was radically different.
3E was radically different

[ornate rapids]

not exactly

[empty thicket]

we are in the 5, each edition have at least a .5 and then you have the other many books

[barren badger]

It’s normally not that long

[barren badger]

Welllll 4e didn’t

[hexed comet]

4e was a mess. I loved the idea but it took FOREVER

[pseudo prairie]

Who else here plays tactician?

[peak pecan]

Didn’t they try to toward the end of 4e?

[twilit sail]

humans are the most played race lmao
-# because variant human is op

[ornate rapids]

there's mountains of lore from the older editions that can be borrowed from for 5/5.5 settings which is nice
you can always build off of everything that's ever been made if you're making a campaign setting

[humble cairn]

No, it hasn't been that steady. 5E is the most successful edition of D&D there has ever been and stuck around for ten years before getting an update in 2024.

So we're still in 5E, but now the most current rules are an upgrade that people call 5.5E.

[lavish flame]

nah, just whenever the developers feel like starting anew (and also when profits die down for the current edition)

[barren badger]

Tactician?

[timid ember]

so every new edition is like a remastered version

as if it was a videogame

[humble cairn]

The current plan, according to the devs, is to no longer have any new editions.

[pseudo prairie]

Oh… It’s unearthed arcana I think, look it up

[barren badger]

No, it’s like. A rewrite of the rules.

[timid ember]

sort of?

[hexed comet]

Kind of

[lavish flame]

5e got fast-tracked due to 4e's dwindling popularity

[hexed comet]

There are certain things that rarely change between rulesets, but it's a pretty substantial revamp.

[paper portal]

weird decision tbh

[empty thicket]

one, the exception always exist

[timid ember]

has there been any classes that got deleted or races that got deleted? because of a change of rules?

[barren badger]

Was there a 2.5E? I’m not old enough to know

[blazing holly]

Yes

[little stream]

Is there DnD holocaust what

[barren badger]

They don’t really delete them, they jsut might not get republished

[peak pecan]

Which is code for “most players made it clear they wouldn’t buy most of the 4e expansions even if the cure to cancer was on page 262 of the Adventurer’s Vault”

[empty thicket]

wont know to answer you

[humble cairn]

I don't think so, since transitioning to a new edition always loses people. If they can somehow figure a way to keep new fans coming in and keep patching the rules without actually making a new edition, it would be good for them.

[ornate rapids]

plenty of races and monsters have not had 5e versions written but some of them still exist in lore, just unused

[lavish flame]

Yeah kinda, its like playing Diablo 1, 2, and 3. They're all aiming for the same thing, but the details of how they achieve their fantasy is different.

[paper portal]

imo you need new editions to keep things fresh, no franchise can keep going for multiple decades on the same game even if it does get additions

[hexed comet]

I would say races fall off more than classes do. The classes have pretty much stayed the same for a long time.

[ornate rapids]

tons of spells also have ceased to exist in newer versions but you could just write those off as having existed in 'the past' and been lost to time

[timid ember]

what happens when a race/class doesnt get republished?

[barren badger]

Then they don’t exist in the new edition

[pseudo prairie]

It becomes forgotten sometimes

[barren badger]

Some people homebrew them though

[hexed comet]

I homebrew it to work if one of my players wants to play it

[empty thicket]

people bring them from the past editions or they just dont support them

[barren badger]

RIP deva

[empty thicket]

something kinda happen with the hybrids in the last edition

[hexed comet]

omg

[humble cairn]

Sure, but that doesn't always mean making a new "Edition." Right now it seems like they are giving a lot of license to Third Party content creators, who are taking a lot of risks in making new content, risks that WOTC doesn't have to take. Meaning the fans get fresh content regularly and WOTC doesn't have to care about the 'balance' because DMs can always ban any particular 3P content they want. It's kind of win win.

[ornate rapids]

half-elves ceasing to exist in 5.5e

[blazing holly]

2nd edition DnD was published in 1989, and republished in 1995

[lavish flame]

There was kinda 2 different 2.5s between the Rules Cyclopedia and Revised 2e, but at the time people didn't think like that. It was all just Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Second Edition. 3e introduced the concept of an official "X.5" with v3.5.

[hexed comet]

They called it Advanced DnD if I remember correctly

[peak pecan]

Hey, they’re already back, dontcha know?

[timid ember]

they only took a brief vacation? XD

[blazing holly]

True, I don't remember anyone actually refering to it as 2.5 back then

[humble cairn]

I don't know if this scheme will succeed in the long run, but I don't assume it will fail. It remains to be seen. I don't think they by default need new "editions" to keep in the game.

[barren badger]

I don’t think people truly realize how tough it can be to go to a new edition.

It’s rough when there is just no content for your edition. Only a single adventure, no third party content.

[hexed comet]

Elves stopped mating with humans for approximately 10 years

[marble mantle]

has anyone here tried to run a sandbox with absoulutely 0 prep and if so was it shit lol

[barren badger]

Why would you do that to yourself

[ornate rapids]

for the most part you can just use any 5e race in 5.5 with only minimal differences
the biggest differences being some of the 5e ones that were rewritten in 5.5

[hexed comet]

im not a massicist so no

[humble cairn]

They didn't, they're just not weirdly singled out in the mechanics anymore.

[timid ember]

just like improv everything along the way?

[marble mantle]

cuz my player always ruin the prep

[woven flint]

No prep?
Insert that one megamind face here

[marble mantle]

damn i raelly got everyone to engage lol

[hexed comet]

my bard every session makes me want to power word kill him.

[humble cairn]

You can always say your parents were of whatever species as part of your backstory, there's no need to have special mechanics for it.

[barren pagoda]

New editions are just new rulesets. Tbh they can just change rules without calling it a new edition. The whole edition thing is done so people can play older games without having to explain in details which variation of dnd they are playing

[peak pecan]

If your players ruin what you prep, tell them that. Don’t quit prepping just because they do unexpected stuff

[timid ember]

just use the tactic from that the walking dead game the one option that says "tell david off" and just does some random shit that doesnt have anything to do with that option to force the story

[marble mantle]

tbf sometime i prefer pure improv

[humble cairn]

No plans survive fully intact upon contact with the Player Characters.

[ornate rapids]

yeah I have a time wizard that's half-gith and half-changeling
don't ask how that works, even he doesn't know that

[hexed comet]

a gith had sex with a hag...

[lavish flame]

Nah, the prepless sandbox I ran worked fine enough. I was running in Wildemount and was able to use what I knew about the setting and some random encounter tables to get a cool story going.

[hexed comet]

Sounds like the start to a bad joke

[peak pecan]

If the Changeling parent was shifted into a Gith, that’s a full Gith

[barren badger]

I would honestly have more unique races than half-variants.

[humble cairn]

There was one time where I had to spend an entire session running an election that the players decided to join after they heard the town was having them. It was just a throwaway line.

[barren pagoda]

Also I really wanna know for 5.5e, are tifling only from human and fiends or can any race mixing with fiends work?

[ornate rapids]

it was a fun way to make a time wizard based on doctor who

[peak pecan]

Any of them

[pseudo prairie]

I’m gonna sleep good night

[peak pecan]

That’s why they can be Small size now

[barren badger]

Gnome Tiefling

[humble cairn]

They don't even have to mix with fiends. Tieflings can be born to any humanoid parents, even if neither of them are fiends.

[barren badger]

Tiefling Tiefling

[ornate rapids]

Plasmoid Tiefling

[barren pagoda]

And the fiend ancestry overrides fey ancestry or other racial traits right?

[barren badger]

I think very rarely is a parent a fiend.

[barren badger]

Ahh, the battle pass content

[hexed comet]

2 gnomes have a tiefling baby well, looks like you have to be a warlock now. good luck

[humble cairn]

Tieflings are the result of magical influence from fiends. It isn't from having a parent or an ancestor be a fiend.

[marble mantle]

ok ty thats all i wanted to know cuz i do know the setting just i have 0 prep when it comes to quests and such

[peak pecan]

Yes, you take the racial traits of one parent and can select the flavor of another (so height)

[ornate rapids]

tieflings don't even necessarily have to have a parent or even any ancestors from the lower planes, just be cursed and/or have your mother be cursed to birth you

[lavish flame]

Any Fiend and any Humanoid would work, but its important to note that Tieflings are not "half-fiends" they're just people who have some significant tie to Fiends. The classical example is "One of my Human parents sold their soul, and had their first born child cursed. I am that child."

[barren pagoda]

Player wants to have a mortal mother and fiend father, so I’m having to make elaborate backstory for them on how to make it happen lol

[barren badger]

You could just have like, a bunch of random quests written down so you don’t have to improv every thing

[humble cairn]

Incubus was placed as a spy and went undercover as a humanoid?

[ornate rapids]

hell you could just be born near a place tainted with fiendish energy and end up being born a tiefling

[timid ember]

sorry

[marble mantle]

fair but it's sort of an economic campaign rn so it relies on their political decisions and overall wealth

[lavish flame]

Dragonborns had a really neat table in Fizban's that was like "How I became a Dragonborn" and they're all super neat

[barren badger]

Curious

[humble cairn]

Oh cool, I just noticed the change they made to the Troll statblock in 2024. Do enough damage to them and their limbs start dropping off and attacking you separately! That's neat!

[timid ember]

it all just started when a boy dragon and a girl human loved each other very very much

and then just ******

[humble cairn]

I mean generally not.

[timid ember]

i mean define neat? for the dm or the players cuz im pretty sure players dont think of it that way xD

[barren badger]

I would like to become a Dragonborn

[peak pecan]

Anyone have any tips for running/crafting Vampires? The leader of one of the gangs in my campaign is secretly a Vampire Familiar and I want to flesh out his master

[barren badger]

Though… having a tail feels inconvenient

Wait. Do Dragonborn have tails?

[marble mantle]

what is this conversation about lol

[peak pecan]

Lucky you, most Of them don’t even have one!

[barren badger]

Everything everywhere

[marble mantle]

dragonborn can choose to have tails in my campaigns

[lavish flame]

this forum was closed after 24,997 messages

[barren badger]

Dragon tails

[timid ember]

i think i read something about most of them not having tails nor wings, but u could find some with one of the two but most likely not with the two

[timid ember]

all at once

[barren badger]

They can fly in 2024

[marble mantle]

which is why u should make ur player special

[timid ember]

but not necesarily cuz of having wings i think

[barren pagoda]

See atm this is what I have:

A woman who grew up around other folks who dealt with fiends and deals, eventually made a deal with a cambion to marry off her eldest daughter in return for immense fame and reverence and social respect during her mortal life and even long after her death. The daughter was unaware of the fiendish nature and only after the marriage learnt it.

The daughter, after having a child, with the help of a friend/lover, managed to get out of the pact wedding her mother set up. The child initially loved by the mother, slowly grew up to demonstrate fiendish traits which by their adolescence was fully developed into a Tiefling. Loathed by his mother for resembling the father and hating his own father, he basically goes to do his own thing.

This works right?

[peak pecan]

This is a “do Balrogs have wings” level debate

[timid ember]

100%

[barren badger]

They don’t!

[marble mantle]

no they cannot not until level 5

[peak pecan]

This is literally the quintessential Tiefling backstory, of course it works

[timid ember]

what is a balrog?

[lavish flame]

So like in 4e, Dragonborn had a very distinct aesthetic that involved not looking like Dragons and instead just looking like dragon-shaped reptiles. Then 5e came along and made them much more Dragon-like, giving them flight and stuff. I figure they can have tails.

[barren pagoda]

Is that a subrace?

[timid ember]

i mean they can, is just dependant of level tho

[marble mantle]

but thats what i saiiiid

[humble cairn]

"Quintessential" means something that is a perfect example of it's kind.

[barren badger]

You sad no

[timid ember]

but not necesarily from having physical wings

[peak pecan]

Not materially, but they are made of flame and shadows which make forms reminiscent of wings and might be able to fly is my opinion

[lavish flame]

Balrog is a big demon guy from Lord of the Rings

in D&D, its represented by the Demon "Balor"

[peak pecan]

Now, Balors definitely have wings, I think

[lavish flame]

yeah they can fly

[barren badger]

In tolkiens Original drafts, there were hundreds or thousands of balrogs at one point

But that’s not dnd, so I’ll stop

[marble mantle]

how strong is the urge to continue

[barren pagoda]

Ah fair. I wasn’t sure if itd work cause the mother was part of the bargain, the wedding and the child is half cambion from father. But due to life expectancy, I wonder if I should make the mother side be elf instead of humans

[barren badger]

I wonder what dragons think when they look at Dragonborn

[peak pecan]

Any tips on this front?

[barren badger]

Is it like when I look at a spider monkey?

[ornate rapids]

either servants or food, but in either case pathetic

[humble cairn]

I feel like it's over involved at this point, I would have gone much simpler. Mother is a commoner, father is an incubus spy who married to stay undercover.

[ornate rapids]

dragons find most mortals pathetic though so that's not really a unique thing with dragonborn

[timid ember]

perhaps more like a pet

[mighty wharf]

Does anyone else get too excited about DnD

[barren pagoda]

If it’s a spawn, they are essentially a creature of the night and can’t enter places without permission

[barren badger]

He should be a huge art collector! Refined tastes

[timid ember]

i think

[lavish flame]

ye prolly

[barren badger]

Maybe he’s a painter, who paints with blood

[lavish flame]

my only advice is "his home shouldnt have mirrors" or "his mirrors should all be in storage"

[blazing holly]

Is there such a thing as too excited ?

[peak pecan]

It’s a Familiar; new creature which is weaker but Humanoid, and thus can go into the sun and such

[timid ember]

a merchant that has been doing business for a unthinkable amount of time

[barren badger]

Have you watched “what we do in the shadows?”

[barren pagoda]

Tbh can tiefling be born from two fiends? Succubus and cambion or something like that

[mighty wharf]

That's what obsessed means doesn't it?

[lavish flame]

ye

[peak pecan]

Not yet, people keep recommending it to me

[humble cairn]

Probably not. But this is fantasy, anything can happen if you want it to.

[barren badger]

Wait could it be? That would just be a fiend I think.

[barren pagoda]

Oh I’m not knowledgeable on that. Maybe golem magic?

[lavish flame]

I figure so because most Fiends do not sexually reproduce, an Evil Person must die to make a new Fiend

[peak pecan]

I’ve been thinking of if I should combine his Master with the enigmatic countess who rules the city, or if that would be cliche. Maybe she could be her advisor?

[blazing holly]

Hmm, don't know. If that is the case, then I suppose no. Can't say I have been obsessed by DND

[mighty wharf]

It's moreso an autistic hyperfixation

[empty thicket]

so they work like fungus?

[next solar]

very much so
if there is dnd during that day, i cannot do anything except waiting for the start of the session

infact, its what im doing right now

[mighty wharf]

I talk to the others in my group about DnD and my plans a LOT

I ask my DM SO many questions it is unreal

[peak pecan]

@humble cairn hate to ping you, but what you think? Any Sage Advice?

[blazing holly]

I used to do that, long time ago

[lavish flame]

To give you an elevator pitch, in a Vampire's castle, a Vampire Familiar would be like a butler or chef.

[humble cairn]

Hmm .. I'm not sure there's not a lot of context. Maybe ask in #dm-discussion?

[mighty wharf]

Like the only thing I can think of is playing more DnD. Usually my hyperfixations go away if I do that.

[lavish flame]

All Extraplanar entities do. A Chaotic creature must die for a new Slaadi to appear, a Lawful creature for Modrons. When you die, your soul reincarnates into these creatures.

[mighty wharf]

Maybe like a singleplayer game that is turn based with a party you get to control.

Baldues Gate? I've heard it's more video game than TTRPG

[lavish flame]

not exactly certain how they'd put my dining room table into the game

[next solar]

bg3 doesn't scratch the itch for me. its a completely diffrent experience

[blazing holly]

It is, but it holds about as close to the ADnD rules as you can and still be a computer game. Not turn based though

[mighty wharf]

ADnD?

[blazing holly]

Yes

[lavish flame]

Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 use AD&D2e as their system. Baldur's Gate 3 uses 5e. Both have been modified heavily to suit their medium.

[next solar]

advanced dungeons and dragons, its what baldurs gate 1's system is based on

[barren pagoda]

Are elves the only mortal race with a “revered” background? Like they are magical and such and can be more revered.
Are there any other races (other than elves) that might be fitting for a family of wizard and artificer who might have a desire for social status?

[fossil hollow]

humans

[mighty wharf]

You could do a fiend I think. They're generally really motivated by things like rank and standing and such.

Tiefling

[barren pagoda]

Humans have a revered background? 😮

[fossil hollow]

depends on which human you ask

[barren pagoda]

Ah fair

[ornate rapids]

Gnomes are long-lived and often relentlessly pursue learning

[fossil hollow]

humans are just, generally the most likely to be some lofty mage

most of the named powerful mages are human. elminster, mordenkainen, tasha, bigby used to be human

[mighty wharf]

Aasimar probably is like that too and more good aligned if that's a requirement. Idk if they are "mortal" per se, but they are very puritan.

[barren pagoda]

Oh Tasha, that lady confuses me a lot. What is Tasha these days? An archfey? Is it even possible

[mighty wharf]

They're like celestials right?

[barren pagoda]

Aren’t they more blessed by celestials and gods and often immortal?

[ornate rapids]

aasimar are like tieflings but with celestial blood in them

basically mortals influenced by the upper planes rather than the lower

[fossil hollow]

yes

[peak pecan]

Both an archfey and a mortal witch-queen thanks to everyone’s enemy, time travel shenanigans

[fossil hollow]

aasimar are the celestial equivalent of tieflings and genasi

theyre simply people with a touch of extraplanar

[barren pagoda]

So humans or other non fey mortals can become archfey?

[fossil hollow]

yea

[ornate rapids]

if you get powerful enough you can be most anything you want

[barren pagoda]

Damn now that’s some level up story

[fossil hollow]

tash just kinda cheats since she was raised by baba yaga, the most infamous arch hag

[timid ember]

guys is there a way to make a solo campaign, like a website with a premade or something that doesnt need a dm or more players?

[barren pagoda]

That… also… I was lead to believe hags are evil incarnate but this legendary one raised a kid to be a legend herself… a good mum at the very least

[fossil hollow]

still comes with all the usual hag bullshit

she just didnt eat kids

[ornate rapids]

in an older edition (I think 4th) there were things called 'Epic Destinies' which were paths you could take from levels 21 to 30
something like that could ascend a mortal to being an archfey
though really a level 20 character is already a demigod essentially

[blissful dragon]

Dm guild has a books you can buy to help with solo dnd play a few adventure designed fir single player

[barren pagoda]

If I may say, the green hag in BG3 fundamentally changed me as a person. I’ll never forget the few weeks I had to stop playing after strongly vouching for her only to be…

[fossil hollow]

like, evil can have standards.

they also do not need to commit every war crime or horrible thing under the sun

[blissful dragon]

Try typing solo and toolbox it should come up

[fossil hollow]

hell, most hags dont immediately eat kids. some use the kids to spread more bad behavior

[ornate rapids]

hags like making people suffer and watching them suffer over a long period of time

[barren pagoda]

I see, when I read about hags, I read that they’re more stereotypical evil with almost cartoonish shit like intentionally making themselves appear dirty or gross and preferring to uglify their surroundings compared to the mortal who beautifies things

I thought it was just a hag thing to be… vile

Didn’t know they had all that

[fossil hollow]

they tend to play the long game yeah

[ornate rapids]

because they are very long-lived they have schemes and plans that are generation-spanning

[blissful dragon]

@timid ember this probably will help The Solo Adventurer's Toolbox

[timid ember]

where can i find that?

[humble cairn]

The neighborhood Karen, runs the PTA and is on the HOA Board, just .. nastiness.

[blissful dragon]

Dm guild and drive threw rpg

[barren pagoda]

Now I’m curious how much did Baba Yaga cared for Tasha cause so far it seems I’ve found the best mum in dnd universe

[ornate rapids]

and above all else they are paranoid, and love having contingincies upon contingencies for escaping real danger
typically they enjoy inflicting pain indirectly and from a safe distance

[blissful dragon]

Just type on google dm guild The Solo Adventurer's Toolbox

[fossil hollow]

they are still sapient beings, just sadistical and homicidal

[barren pagoda]

Talk about whiplash

Btw is Archfey a rank or a species?

[fossil hollow]

tbf, one of her other adopted kids is a demonlord of mysogny

[fossil hollow]

title, same as demon lord

[barren pagoda]

Is that the guy who had kids with Tasha

[ornate rapids]

Baba Yaga is also famously fickle, in that her actions may sway from good to evil at an instant, and no one really understands her true motivations

[fossil hollow]

nope. him and tasha are both adoptees

[blissful dragon]

Yeah some where also once mortals and I think some more manifestation of fey spirits

[fossil hollow]

who youre thinking of is grazzt

[blissful dragon]

That still feel strange to me cause I used to think Tasha was ace

[fossil hollow]

she used to go by he/him

[barren pagoda]

I give up… hags confuse me

I met Ethel and thought she was the kindest person

Then turned out she wanted to eat me

And left post death gifts

Will never forgive her

[fossil hollow]

thats a bit of the point with them

theyre your stereotypical crazy old... hag

[ornate rapids]

hags are fey and fey are often beyond the comprehension of ordinary mortals
especially hags

[barren pagoda]

Yeah but it’s harder for me to write them then

[ornate rapids]

I would give this a read maybe to at least learn a bit more
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Hag

[barren pagoda]

Like do I write them as scheming evil
Or truly contradictory creatures

[blissful dragon]

I remember hearing in pathfinder hag are changlings that choose to embrace the evil path and turn into a hag , while in dnd they can be created when a hexblood chooses to take part in a ritual with a hag to become one

[ornate rapids]

actually my internal headcanon for hags is based on the Crones from The Witcher 3
I like to imagine they are very unnerving, in some cases physically and mentally unpleasant to be in the presence of
they are creatures of folk tales and nightmares

[fossil hollow]

hexblood is only one route to hag-dom

[lavish flame]

they're just witches but in D&D

[blissful dragon]

Don’t they also eat children then turn them into hags?

[barren pagoda]

What’s a hexblood… I’m never gonna finish reading am i…

[fossil hollow]

yeap

[lavish flame]

Hexblood is a player option, its a kind of Hag-related species for if you want to be Hag-adjacent

[humble cairn]

That betrayal? That ugly feeling you got? That. That's what they like. They want people to make those ugly crying faces, that's beauty to them.

[ornate rapids]

Hexbloods are mortals cursed by fey energy
sometimes that means they were cursed by a hag, sometimes it means they were cursed by a druid or other fey creature
and sometimes, they are fey creatures turned into mortals!

[blissful dragon]

Ravenloft linage basically people that have be curse/hexed in some way

[fossil hollow]

welcome to dnd, where there's 50 years worth of lore across different settings and hundreds if not thousands of writers

i always like to think its a careerlong learning experience

[narrow moss]

and new content being created even now.

[ornate rapids]

when the Venom Monk was released on UA I had the idea for a Hexblood whose curse was that their blood is poison, and that perfectly synergizes with the venom monk subclass

hexbloods can be cursed to become hags or just cursed by fey energy in general

there's many paths

[timid ember]

if u are a druid u automatically become fey?

[fossil hollow]

no

[barren pagoda]

So what was babayaga’s plan with Tasha? And what’s Tashas game? I initially thought she was a prolly a good witch like elminstwr but better and refined and charismatic and all

Boy was I wrong

[lavish flame]

no

[ornate rapids]

no, one of the potential origins of the hexblood listed in the race description was being cursed by a druid

[fossil hollow]

no one knows

no one but tasha knows, but it definitely has something to do with demons and the multiverse

[timid ember]

oh sorry i didnt read the part that said fey energy, i only saw fey and made the assumption

sorri

[barren pagoda]

Fair play, I can work with this

[ornate rapids]

my druid is pretty fey-coded because he is an Eladrin and is from the feywild but technically Eladrin are not fey

well, some npc statblocks make them fey

but the player race is humanoid

[fossil hollow]

im still a but surprised pc eladrin arent straight up fey... theyre the elves who stuck in the feywild

[ornate rapids]

they arent fey because the race itself is already among the strongest ever made in 5th edition

being fey is a big buff on its own

[fossil hollow]

eh, fey step isnt that strong

[barren pagoda]

Also does dnd allow stuff like a fey merging with a mortal to become one being or perhaps a fey being a reflection of the soul of a mortal? Is such things possible?

[fossil hollow]

potentially

[ornate rapids]

if you're the DM, you can make anything possible

that's the magic of it

[fossil hollow]

if youre not the dm, ask them

[lavish flame]

Yeah these both seem reasonable to me

[barren pagoda]

Sadly I am, but I also have players who often ask for very specific lore sources

[fossil hollow]

their table, their rules. no table has to adhere 100% to established lore

not like every single detailed is explored in lore

[ornate rapids]

as the DM you can just say it's part of your setting

[fossil hollow]

there are also simply some things that need to remain a mystery

[timid ember]

i mean that is the cause that there is something like homebrew right? to do anything possible

[ornate rapids]

one of the campaign settings I'm in has the vampires of that world being related to fairies of all things
and the fairies of that plane are pretty different from normal fey, they are invisible even to spells like See Invisibility
I don't know how it works and the DM won't tell me because it's a need-to-know basis

[barren pagoda]

Well I’m just glad mortal becoming a fey/archfey is possible

So I can grow characters like that if players aren’t careful to intervene

[ornate rapids]

homebrew is just doing anything not explicitly part of the rulebooks or official sources/modules

[humble cairn]

Sounds like vibes and flavor, which is free. D&D is a game with many settings and the rules for what is possible can be different in each setting. Come up with the fantasy between you and your DM.

[spring chasm]

Quick question what roll you make when you wanna convince someone to do something or trick them

[ornate rapids]

persuasion for convincing, deception for lying/tricking

[timid ember]

persuasion i guess

[humble cairn]

For the first Persuasion and for the second Deception.

[fossil hollow]

persuasion to convince, deception to lie. they arent mind control though

[lavish flame]

I recall an episode of a 4e actual play where a character went to (basically) The Feywild, met an Archfey, and had that Archfey permenantly bind themself into that PC's arm, turning their arm into solid ruby and giving them some new capabilities (and a sentient arm!). If its within the fiction, D&D can try to support it.

[timid ember]

or maybe intimidation

[spring chasm]

Gotcha thanks mates

[ornate rapids]

intimidation can also be used to 'convince' someone
possibly other skills dependant on the situation

a wizard might be convinced by using your intelligence to explain something to them, for example

[humble cairn]

Remember how rolling works, though. The player describes what their character does, then the DM decides if a roll is necessary and what check it uses.

You as a player do not get to decide you roll Persuasion. You decide if you use the Influence Action.

[barren pagoda]

This is incredible! Thank you

[fossil hollow]

my fav archfey has to be the giant spider who loves telling stories tho

hes so chill

[lavish flame]

Yarnspinner!!!

[humble cairn]

"Greetings and salutations!"

[ornate rapids]

for more ideas on how the feywild works, consult the Witchlight campaign module for 5e
I think it's the only 5e module that uses that plane

lots of fey in there

[lavish flame]

yeah, its that adventure and a handful of one shots

[fossil hollow]

i know theres one Radiant Citadel oneshot thats in the Feywild

[lavish flame]

er, anthology adventure entries. They arent all one shots

[ornate rapids]

ive played through it and that inspired me to make my Eladrin druid from the feywild because i loved the place so much

the witchlight carnival is going to make a cameo appearance in the campaign he's in too at some point, I was told

[barren pagoda]

Actually this makes me curious, if I wanna make a fey a warlock patron, can i make them neither court affiliated? I initially wanted a nymph but I’m okay with something else. The only things I’m curious is, they fey being is strong but not archfey level, is somewhat beautiful (nymphic) and androgynous appearance and travels with the warlock (but this is purely rp flavour, not to make them a mechanical help until higher levels)

Should I make them just a regular fey or a specific fey race?

[fossil hollow]

only the dm can stop you, i have a archfey warlock whose patron was ratatoskr

[barren pagoda]

The dragon?

[narrow moss]

persuasion is a compelling argument. Intimidation is when that argument becomes "or else".

[fossil hollow]

ratatoskr is the squirrel who runs up and down the world tree. the dragon is nidhogg

[barren pagoda]

Ah my bad. But that’s pretty cool ngl. So there’s no lore stopping a fey from travelling alongside their warlock in person?

[ornate rapids]

there are neutral fey who hold no loyalty to the seelie or unseelie courts
in such cases they could be motivated by whatever they choose

[fossil hollow]

just practicality and dm

[south tendon]

Any thoughts on how I could fulfil this concept: a human with connections to the Shadowfell who has learned to turn their pain and suffering into power. So like hurting them causes you to hurt yourself or like if you try to use anything that would change their mind or make them more able to be socially or mentally manipulated, they get bonuses to save against that as they harness that and turn it into defiance etc

How can I legit make this, or get close at least.

[ornate rapids]

not many DMs would let a being powerful enough to bestow pact magic to travel with the player, unless that being was unwilling or unable to directly intervene with their full power, instead letting the Warlock be their instrument

[timid ember]

you want to play a masochist?

[fossil hollow]

shadow sorceror

or goolock, 2024

[narrow moss]

why is it called goolock lol

i dunno how to feel about that

[fossil hollow]

Great Old One

[south tendon]

Sort of but not that they enjoy it you know. More they have learned to harness it to survive rather than "I like it"

[narrow moss]

ahhhhh

[ornate rapids]

Shadow Monks also get shadowfell-like energy but the hurting they cause is by their own hand, not as a consequence of you hitting them

[fossil hollow]

although you can deflect most attacks

[ornate rapids]

ah right they do get that

[narrow moss]

idk what spell would have a thorns-like effect

[fossil hollow]

armor of agathys

[narrow moss]

true.

[ornate rapids]

Grim Hollow's 2024 book has a level 1 spell called Thorn Armor
but that is partnered, non-official content

[narrow moss]

but isn't that warlock only? then again, might be a great fit for the idea.

[fossil hollow]

yea

its also on conquest paladin tho

[narrow moss]

didn't know that

[barren pagoda]

I’m the dm so I have to work out the excuse, on how it works for a fey to travel with the warlock

My idea is, the fey is weak and was exiled from fey wild and the pact it formed with the warlock is more of a genuine bond so the more warlock displays loyalty to the Fey and grows in power themselves, the more powerful the Fey gets. A synergy. They keep each other alive

That works I think?

[fossil hollow]

i sense midna and link energy

[narrow moss]

be cool if no one else sees them etc.

[south tendon]

Well I was thinking they wouldn't carry any seemingly visible weapons. Like they'd look gangly and gaunt. Almost like the Shadowfell is constantly trying to consume them. So they're very easy to under estimate from an enemy perspective. So I guess monk would fit with that.

Though maybe also warlock

[barren pagoda]

Are they from forgotten realms?

[ornate rapids]

This is starting to sound like the Vestige Warlock subclass from the Mystic Subclasses UA

[fossil hollow]

no, legend of zelda, twilight princess

[ornate rapids]

or at least it reminds me of that

[fossil hollow]

god i hope that gets released, such a cool sub

[ornate rapids]

it looks very cool

[barren pagoda]

Oh I’m not familiar with Zelda games aside from the blondie being not Zelda lol

[narrow moss]

Midna hides in his shadow and helps him in his cursed form etc.

[fossil hollow]

ive seen a level 20 one in action, they cooked the lich hard

[narrow moss]

they rely on each other.

[barren pagoda]

Actually where do I post my ideas for reflection or some review? Here? Dw I won’t spam rn, let me refine stuff a bit

[ornate rapids]

i hope they add a fey-type to the vestige companion because it would complete the circle of common warlock patrons

[fossil hollow]

#character-discussion for character stuff

[blazing holly]

what sort of ideas ? There's https://discord.com/channels/516367331358801950/1124085561649541140 for world building ideas, https://discord.com/channels/516367331358801950/540588335924641792 for more mechanical homebrew

[fresh laurel]

yo whatsup guys

we need to cook

[narrow moss]

nm

i want pizza.

[south tendon]

Would it be super against established lore though for a human not born in the Shadowfell to have a parent who was so there's like a blood connection to an ancestry that comes from there?

[narrow moss]

that sounds sorc flavored.

[peak pecan]

Not necessarily

[fresh laurel]

i want to play a campaign like a world simulation
i don't want my Dm's approval to do something i want physics approval to earn it
is there an extremely detailed ready to use homebrew world or other games than DnD

[narrow moss]

man i dunno

[fossil hollow]

you can just say your mom or dad is a shadarkai

[barren pagoda]

I’m curious what it is now. But my idea mostly came from wanting to build a warlock whose patron have a deep sense of bond to them and in fact makes the contract purely out of gratitude but the warlock one ups them and promises to help them with their endeavour all without having known the patron was a fey. (The tiefling warlock rescues a fellow tiefling who happens to be a dying fey)

And it’s heavily the emotional bond and the love that the tiefling shows to the fey, is what strengthens the fey which in turn makes the warlock powerful

Ik cliche friendship plot but I really wanted a story about two social outcasts who are very similar and lonely, finds each other into a deep understanding and friendship

[next solar]

the dm is the physics, they control the world

[ornate rapids]

the fun thing about Sorcerers is even though they are usually known for getting their power from their bloodline, they don't have to have that as their origin
simply being born near or living near an area steeped in extraplanar energy can make you a sorcerer
or even just a random cosmic ray travelling through the multiverse hitting you at just the right time

[fresh laurel]

b-but inverse square cube law? 😭

[peak pecan]

Theres no game I know of that does this, because perfectly simulating physics is not the realm of TTRPGs

[narrow moss]

i know Tandy but that is the commom trope origin lol

[next solar]

not a physics guy, i dunno what that is

[fossil hollow]

you think a world with magic has the exact same rules of physics as ours?

[barren pagoda]

Mostly lore, character/ monster/region/village design

I’m new so I just wanna know if what I do sticks so I can refine them

[fossil hollow]

#dm-world-building then

[south tendon]

Ohhh aren't they connected to that god whose name I can't remember off the top of my head. The one who likes memories. Humm I wonder then if a warlock that made a pact with her would work for this.

Problem is with warlocks. They have low HP in general and this character is going to need to be hit to really work.

[fresh laurel]

it doesn't have to use magic tho
it can even be a diffrent game idc

[fossil hollow]

raven quen yeah

[barren pagoda]

Raven Queen 😭😭

[lavish flame]

dude theres so many other games besides D&D. For this though, I almost think you're barking up the wrong tree. Most TTRPGs have a referee of some kind, a Dungeon Master or Storyteller or Keeper or just Game Master who manages the players and the game. For a GMless game that allows you to manipulate a fantasy world, I'd do something like For The Queen, but thats basically a worldbuilding game, not really a fantasy adventuring game.

[fossil hollow]

this is dnd server sir

[fresh laurel]

i want to imagine an action that is actually possible in real life and do it

[ornate rapids]

You can read about it here https://media.dndbeyond.com/compendium-images/ua/mystic-subclasses/mrF6k4xf0yYFJL2m/UA2026-MysticSubclasses.pdf

it's not fey-themed at all but the concept of your patron being represented by a companion is what that subclass is about

[narrow moss]

d&d lets you do that. dm is the ref tho

[next solar]

you want a system that simulates real life actions?

[narrow moss]

just maybe don't bite them to prove your point

[next solar]

thats called a physics textbook

[barren pagoda]

How do you guys learn of these btw? I don’t even know what new books are coming out

One second Neil newborn is doing new dnd series and now he’s gone, that’s all I know lol

[ornate rapids]

dndbeyond's website

[fresh laurel]

it can be a diffrent game im just here becuase DnD is like 60% of the market and this is the biggest server i know
thanks for the game name! i will search it now

[peak pecan]

This is already possible without any game system, we call it “imagining things”

[fresh laurel]

oh my god i love it

[ornate rapids]

generally I know if a new UA just dropped because my youtube front page is full of various D&D channels talking about it

[narrow moss]

guys they're just asking don't be mean.

[fresh laurel]

oh my god i love it

[fossil hollow]

im not memeing

[narrow moss]

and they DID ask about possible homebrews too.

[lavish flame]

Admittedly I'm struggling to figure out what the actual game would be if the desire is "I want to think of realistic actions and have no referee nor rules to interpret their resolution."

[narrow moss]

theater of the mind in general?

[south tendon]

Macdonalds is nextdoor this is a Wendy's 😛

[fossil hollow]

that just sounds like irl to me

[narrow moss]

idk tho about any rules tho

[ornate rapids]

actually if you are interested in intersecting real-life science with D&D I remember this creator called Gorilla of Destiny that has some books with a bunch of math to explain how spells work

[peak pecan]

Yeah, it’s a challenge in general because what they want is so beyond the scope of what this sort of game does well

[south tendon]

Where D&D is flexible enough to be bent into a simulation style game, you'd need to fight the system so much that is it really going to be worth it over finding a game made specifically to be simulationist?

[lavish flame]

Well its like, I've got a somewhat limited experience with TTRPGs in general, but I know a few. GURPS is probably the closest one that gets to "I want to think of something plausible and be able to do it" but thats got a GM and also a fair amount of limitations via rules.

[narrow moss]

gurps could work.

[fresh laurel]

hmmm.....
to make a pie from scratch

[hot gate]

If it's about finding the next best ttrpg to do this, #non-dnd-topics would be the appropriate channel

[narrow moss]

but idk about anything that isn't squad or army based

[fresh laurel]

you must first invent the universe

[narrow moss]

d&d lets you do a lot but depends on the dm and setting for sure.

[fossil hollow]

theres also a point where it just becomes theseus' ship

[narrow moss]

sounds like you want a low fantasy thing tho

[fresh laurel]

i think i found the perfect ttrpg for what i want according to claude
im going to non DnD channel if you wanna talk just send hello in there

[fossil hollow]

ew ai

[narrow moss]

that might be wise

[lavish flame]

D&D lets you do some crazy stuff bro I love this hobby

[narrow moss]

ew ai tho agreed.

[fresh laurel]

fireball

ai is great for me
i have a hobby just to run and experiment on local ai models its fascinating

[narrow moss]

okay.

[peak pecan]

Are fireballs really consistent with physics though?

[fossil hollow]

:\

[fresh laurel]

i just wish they didn't use it for bad content

[narrow moss]

fireballs used to be all maths lol

they simplified it.

[ornate rapids]

fire hurts and that's pretty consistent with physics

[fresh laurel]

thats was irony because its the most basic non creative spell ever

[fossil hollow]

could have sworn is was mostly alchohol

[south tendon]

d&d is for everyone. No matter who you or what you want to be, you probably can in D&D. It's just better at the stuff it's specifically made for lol. In my opinion. Other opinions might differ.

[narrow moss]

that too

FIREBALL!
drinks

[fresh laurel]

nvmmm

[olive storm]

Art bot spam pisses me off so much.

[narrow moss]

same

[fresh laurel]

right?

[narrow moss]

and i am not even an artist.

[olive storm]

I literally vented about AI art spam and a braindead AI bot thought I wanted a commission.

[ornate rapids]

discord is rife with commission-scammer bots

[narrow moss]

ew.

[lavish flame]

its a bad enough problem that I open unsolicited DMs with "Are you gonna solicit me for commissions?" and usually dont get a response

[fresh laurel]

all my ai does is checking my Minecraft crash logs and fixing the mods

[olive storm]

All my AI does is try to guess the character I'm thinking of.

[fresh laurel]

i might be an ai

thats all im thinking of rn

[lavish flame]

akinator reference in 2026. nature is healing

[fresh laurel]

is it a dragonborn bard

[fresh laurel]

OHH

[olive storm]

He's really good. I can't believe he guessed this one magic sword from a gacha game I played.

[south tendon]

We are all AI that just believes it's human. /jk

[narrow moss]

i just steer clear of that techbro mess.

it gives me a headache.

[paper portal]

they call me AM the way i

[fresh laurel]

i watched one of the lowest rated animes from my animelist
it was literally the worst thing i ever watched only one episode
its something no one ever heard of
i just entered the girl that dies in the first second
and the akinator guessed it

[olive storm]

Love. Let me tell you how much I have come to love you all since I first gained consciousness.

[fresh laurel]

i am capable of so much more and noone sees it

[narrow moss]

eh.

[barren pagoda]

I love your profile picture

[fresh laurel]

yeah me too

[olive storm]

Thanks! It's a Picrew from an artist named Baydews.

[fresh laurel]

i was embarrased to tell

[barren pagoda]

Sorry I just learned of satyr lately and have been really fascinated by them

[south tendon]

Well in just an AnthropicCatBoi so I might legit be an AI lol.

[lavish flame]

can I be one of those battle bots from battle bots

preferably one of the ones that just tweaks out

[south tendon]

And nobody ever gets the irony of that lol. Cos they always just think of the company lol. Not what Anthropic actually means

[barren pagoda]

There should be a fey touched race similar to Tiefling or Aasimar

And instead of being always born as one, it can be that they become blessed or chosen or have been in contact with fey and so one random day in their adulthood, bam, cutiepattootie

Like a drider but good

[olive storm]

They're great! In D&D they have magic resistance which is a very powerful ability! If you play a satyr paladin and get Aura of Protection you likely won't ever fail a saving throw against a spell again!

[ornate rapids]

well Hexblood is Fey, not humanoid
but their 'gift' is usually desribed as a curse

[olive storm]

Also I just think they're neat!

[south tendon]

Maybe your mom was a dryad 🙂

[barren pagoda]

Given you said hexblood is proto Hag… I was hoping for something nicer 😭

[ornate rapids]

it doesn't have to be

[olive storm]

Satyrs have a very versatile aesthetic as well!

[barren pagoda]

Indeed they give good boy vibes hehe

[barren pagoda]

Oh? They can be good too?

[south tendon]

Tho now I'm curious. Do satyr get tree stride?

[ornate rapids]

the Hexblood race has a origins table and some options don't involve hags

[narrow moss]

normally? no

[ornate rapids]

A bargain with a hag or other eerie forces transformed your character into a magical being.

[olive storm]

No, they do not. They do get free proficiency in Persuasion / Performance though!

And the aforementioned Magic Resistance.

[south tendon]

Oh nice

[narrow moss]

but i could see a homebrew that allows it. I even have something like that in a story i write in.

[olive storm]

If they got Darkvision they'd be the strongest race in the game barring maybe Yuan-Ti Pureblood.

[ornate rapids]

now hexblood has an ability that's pretty hag-like but they don't have to have been created by one at all

Hexbloods are individuals infused with eldritch magic, fey energy, or mysterious witchcraft.

[olive storm]

You could have been in a heated romance with a witch

[ornate rapids]

whether they were made by a hag or not doesn't necessarily determine their alignment either

[lavish flame]

oh neat. the Scarlet Witch could be a Hexblood in D&D

[barren pagoda]

Now I’m imagining if Tasha is really as she looks or if she’s like a hag who just presents herself as beautiful?

[narrow moss]

tbh hexbloods kinda sound like my idea for material plane satyrs.

being a shadow of their ancestors that is

[south tendon]

I once played a yaun-ti who used to wear the skin of the people she killed as a disguise. That was pretty awesome for infiltration and with her poison resistance and stuff as well she was quite powerful infiltrator and spy. Though a lot of it relied on her being able to get her target away from people so she could kill them and skin them. Also shed need to spend time observing them first to learn to act like them.

So it balanced out lol.

[olive storm]

I'm just saying... Nothing in the game says you can't play a tiefling with goat legs.

[narrow moss]

true

but i'd rather just go satyr at that point.

it isn't just cosmetics but the spirit of that nature i think

[barren pagoda]

Tbh itd make more sense to have them. And I recall Tieflings can have other traits so a satyr who is actually a Tiefling makes a lot of sense

[south tendon]

And ironically she wasn't even evil.

[lavish flame]

She woo'd Graz'zt (or, well. He got lucky?) who can see thru illusions so im gonna assume she isn't under some spell

[narrow moss]

tiefling who is also a satyr?

[olive storm]

I love Critical Role having a nation that is basically all over tieflings as the hottest things in existence.

[barren pagoda]

But yeah if someone don’t mind the hellish stuff and only want appearance then a tiefling that looks like a satyr makes full sense

[narrow moss]

tieflings get such a bad rep it's only fair.

[barren pagoda]

I just assumed he has refined taste…

[remote pine]

How reasonable is it to look for a campaign not to play in but to sit in on and watch?

I don’t know the etiquette to know if this is considered a no no, but I would really like to just sit it on someone’s game and observe before jumping straight to playing. It would give me a chance to get a feel for how it’s done, but is this an odd request?

[south tendon]

Id really like it if wizards would actually let tieflings have a homeland or country or something. The whole thing with them being hated and and stuff is kind of old now lol.

Can we not just get a country that has a tiefling king or queen at least.

[barren pagoda]

Tasha was raised by an arch hag, made to become an arch witch, lived for some times in Abyss, and still looks like a sexy femme fatale… for a shape shifter she’s either extremely lucky or that’s just classic hag illusion

[blazing holly]

I used to have people sitting in to watch all the time. I sure hope this is still common practice

[south tendon]

Id of thought she could just assume any form she wanted within reason.

[barren pagoda]

I think this is because people play Tiefling to play as outcasts
That’s a big point I’d assume

It’s certainly why I choose to be a tiefling, un accepted by parents and people assume them to be devils or associate them with such

[narrow moss]

i mean fiends in general are frowned upon in faerun

[olive storm]

I need to make a satyr PC who can function in Pathfinder as well as D&D.

[humble cairn]

Hexblood

[south tendon]

Idk if this is still true in lore but I do like the idea that any child of a tiefling is thus, a tiefling. Like they might look more or less fiendish but if you have tiefling blood, youre a tiefling.

Tho I'm thinking that's probably not still true now.

Tho that did mean that anyone could be one lol.

[narrow moss]

only if someone in your ancestry got together with a fiend etc.

might skip generations even.

suppose that depends on setting tho

[south tendon]

Just get a wizard to polymorph you into an elf. Everyone loves elves lol.

[barren pagoda]

Unless they changed it I heard it’s cause mechanically DND writers wanted to have a consistent race and lore wise Asmodeus did something so all Tieflings will have tiefling kids

And they all have tiefling appearances more or less, once it’s in, it’s never out

[narrow moss]

uh i... do not like elves for a stupid reason.

no beards.

so at most i'd play half elf?

[blazing holly]

Well, if you like beards, there's really only one race for you, friend

[narrow moss]

lol

satyrs. I mean dwarves sh-

eh i just don't want to play a clean shaven guy who thinks a few centuries makes him better lol

[barren pagoda]

There’s a wizard somewhere selling potions and lotions to elves to give them a bad ass Nordic beard. Be as free as your imagination is

[narrow moss]

yyyyyyeah no.

i eat enough of my own hair by mistake.

[barren pagoda]

¯_(ツ)_/¯

[ornate rapids]

any non-elf race can have the beard if they get that dwarven belt

[narrow moss]

lol

would it give me the strength of ten men but half the height aka Punch Up?

[ornate rapids]

my first character was a tiefling and while he wore the belt of dwarvenkind, he refused to attune to it because he didn't think having a beard made him look good

[barren pagoda]

On a side note, barbarian rage should scale on STR/DEX only but just +2 damage and +2 defense

[glass granite]

You mean AC?

“Defense” isn’t really a mechanical term in dnd

[barren pagoda]

Well whatever rage increases

Ik it increases both attacking and defensive stats but I’m not sure the exact names

But in BG3, it scales purely on damage and reduces damages by +2 and -2

[ornate rapids]

a barbarian has unarmored defense which is based on the combination of your dex and con

[barren pagoda]

For rage to be a pure STR thing means barbarian multiclass are still STR dependent unless homebrewed

[ornate rapids]

the defensive abilities of rage are typically damage resistances

by default it's the physical damage types (bludgeoning/piercing/slashing) and some subclasses add more

[narrow moss]

one subclass makes a barb resist all but psychic dmg.

[fresh laurel]

i want to play my first game as fighter to learn the dice and roleplaying mechanics because i heard its an easy role

[narrow moss]

fighter is solid tbh

[ornate rapids]

in a party of squishy casters, the fighter will always be appreciated

[narrow moss]

yep

[fresh laurel]

i have a character in mind
its Atilla the hun visually its shan yu the hun emperor from the movie mulan

[narrow moss]

consider the enemy also has squishy casters who do not appreciate shields to the face.

[fresh laurel]

but i don't have ant idea about stats or backstory, can chat gpt do it

[ornate rapids]

my druid's party is 4/5 frontline attackers but only 1 of those 4 is a martial class and they're a Monk

[fresh laurel]

^^

i would appreciate healers and supports :)

[narrow moss]

Monks can do all sorts of weird stuff.

[ornate rapids]

those frontline fighters being me, a Moon Druid, and then the Forge Cleric, Bladesinger Wizard, and Astral Self Monk
the squishiest is our Lore Bard

[blazing holly]

Wait....what's the point of a backstory if you didn't even write it ?

[barren pagoda]

They should make shadow blade a ritual spell and non concentration at least after a certain level

[fresh laurel]

i think him being the general, emperor of hun empire in his previous life is enough backstory
i just don't have any idea how to make it level 1 and away from his army

[narrow moss]

...

[fresh laurel]

he can be enslaved in war

[glass granite]

Can and should are different things. You can, but generally it’s far better not to. Chat GPT is quite inaccurate with stat generation sometimes, and can’t effectively tailor a backstory to a campaign. Also, some DM’s might not accept it.

[blazing holly]

That would be an issue for you to discuss with your DM

[barren pagoda]

Brother I don’t think you like roleplaying

[fresh laurel]

by a party member

[fresh laurel]

why😭😭

[narrow moss]

i'd never rely on ai.

but that's me

[glass granite]

Run this by and collaborate this with your DM, is my suggestion. They can help far more than us.

[ornate rapids]

making the character backstory is half the fun of making a character

[fresh laurel]

hmm about the world building?
i think he is just from verryyy veryyy far away is enough explaination becuase it actually is true
europe and asia is very far away

[barren pagoda]

So far everything you say is like “I don’t wanna do /main roleplay thing/ I let AI do it”

What are you even doing then

[fresh laurel]

im sorry 😔

[barren pagoda]

What choices are your character making? ChatGPT?

[narrow moss]

can we not do this again.

[barren badger]

You’re right, sorry!

[blazing holly]

do what ?

[narrow moss]

i meant the insulting more, yer fine.

[fresh laurel]

i just wanna talk like him in rp
i don't think the technical stuff how to make him lose his army is not important

[glass granite]

Players generally don’t have a lot of flexibility with worldbuilding without the input of a DM, hence why I suggested as search. Heck, past lives might not even exist in the setting.

[narrow moss]

backstories don't need to be complex to start. Stat arrays also exist for a reason.

[blazing holly]

You don't need a backstory at all....

[narrow moss]

dm can sort you out on where to put each number too

[barren pagoda]

How’d you talk like someone you don’t know? And at this point why don’t you just ask your dm to make a character for you?

[narrow moss]

I know. But it's fun to have a reason.

[fresh laurel]

its not like past lives i meant like his life before he joined the party

he is still the same person but he just lost his army and stuff

[glass granite]

Use more formal and “dignified” language, try to sound confident, and use military language ig.

[ornate rapids]

my highest level character started with the most vague of backstories, hell I still don't have a concrete origin for him nailed down
it wasn't until after that character I started writing short-story-length backstories for my characters

[blazing holly]

True, backstories can be amazing, but they're not necessary

[narrow moss]

again, what i said earlier.

you do you.

[glass granite]

I will say, the general of such a large empire does not sound fitting for a level 1 character. That may need negotiation with a DM too.

[narrow moss]

and some of my best characters were formed from one random idea.

[fresh laurel]

thats a good question, i don't know.
he is just a mixture of historical figures and movie characters plus some of my imagination about a turkish general.
i know how he would act becuase of referances but i don't want to spend time on making it very spesific and long

[narrow moss]

and yeah if you lvl 1 you may be an awol foot soldier.

[ornate rapids]

you can make a character work with a backstory that's just three sentances long

[blazing holly]

Back in the day when life expectancy of the average 1st lvl character was about 1 session, most backstories were one sentence

[narrow moss]

but maybe with aspirations

[fresh laurel]

nah he is the character from mulan, shan yu
at least he talks like that most of the time

[ornate rapids]

"my brother died last session, so now I am here!"

[narrow moss]

okay.

[blazing holly]

yep, or cousin, uncle, etc

[fresh laurel]

yeahh thats a big problem
i can be a slave of a rich party members after being prisoned after a war

[ornate rapids]

a whole family of near-identical fighters

[narrow moss]

saw a campaign where that literally happened because they rolled the same exact race lol

[blazing holly]

mmm, they could be magic users too, or clerics

[glass granite]

Wait so, can we please compress the question? What are you needing help with?

[narrow moss]

nobody said you have to be a slave at all

[barren pagoda]

Honestly this can be a bad ass person, or a charlatan and no one can verify so

[glass granite]

Stats are easy enough to do, just need to know the stat generation method and class.
Roleplay, you already have a basis for mannerisms.
Backstory, will require cooperation with the DM either way. It’s a tricky concept because it simply clashes with being level 1.

[fresh laurel]

should i really spend too much time and emotional investment on my characters? i heard you lose them every 3-4 sessions

[barren pagoda]

What

[fresh laurel]

im playing him so he better be a badass person

[blazing holly]

That depends entirely on your DM

[glass granite]

That depends on the campaign (the death rate).
But I’d say no not TOO much (by definition too much is bad), but still like and care for your character.

[fresh laurel]

idk im still making my first characters for my first play

[glass granite]

Generally 5e isn’t too deadly tho

[blazing holly]

Very much not

[barren pagoda]

You don’t really have a background, you’re playing him, not building him, right? So without a background, aren’t your fellow players allowed to see you as a charlatan?

[blazing holly]

Then I think you might be overthinking things a bit

[glass granite]

Mayhaps. Simplify it down, then collaborate with your party and DM.

That’s the best advice I can give for that concept.

[fresh laurel]

he is a duckling general enslaved in war
i think i will make stuff along the way like "back in my day" or "in my days in the war field"

[narrow moss]

Nugget has the right of it.

[fresh laurel]

yeah im sorry i shluld calm down

[glass granite]

Not particularly something to apologise for, but it’s good to take a step back and look at it with a fresh view.

[narrow moss]

and be open to changing things.

[blazing holly]

Dont worry about it, it's fine to be excited. But a lot of this stuff is highly dependent on the rest of your group

[olive storm]

I need November to get here already. Pathfinder is adding fauns.

[narrow moss]

the foreign soldier isn't a bad idea.

[fresh laurel]

are you guys a hive mind or something how do you finish your eachothers sentences

[glass granite]

-# they’re onto us!
No…

[narrow moss]

idk what you mean.

[fresh laurel]

a collective mimic

[barren pagoda]

Ofc not

[paper portal]

you called?

[glass granite]

Definitely. Totally.

[ornate rapids]

cranium rats get progressively more intelligent the more of them that gather in one place

[olive storm]

Give me satyrs.

[barren pagoda]

What’s a minflayer?

[narrow moss]

a flayer of mins.

obviously.

[paper portal]

the opposite of a maxflayer

[blazing holly]

/Definitely not a pack of rats in a suit

[barren pagoda]

I’m using this

[ornate rapids]

and a min-maxflayer is the DM

[narrow moss]

oh no minflayers are noob spawn campers.

[fresh laurel]

the villain of the story every campaign they are in

[glass granite]

Anywho, most difficult part of this backstory is the existence of such an empire, why they’re no longer in this empire, and how they’re level 1 despite their status.
Personally, I say they were either betrayed, or betrayed the empire and faked their death.

[narrow moss]

hello lvl 1 encounter

[barren pagoda]

Nonsense, such beautiful brethren can never be villains

It’s usually propaganda

[timid ember]

guys quick question, is it possible for a wizard/sorcerer/warlock to fabricate a magic scroll

[barren pagoda]

Yes

[timid ember]

or is it beyond the capabilities of a player

[olive storm]

Guys help we went into the underdark to fight mindflayers and now this buff squid guy calling himself the maxed flayer keeps lifting weights and stuff around us.

[fresh laurel]

i just tought they lost in a fight enprisoned and sold as a slave
mayne physically weakned becuase of bad life standards