D&D NEXT: Infinite Posts of the Abyss

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treeboy: Nov 13, 2004; James T. Kirk was a great man, but that was another life.

Thinking about how to control wizard scope and ability. I've long thought that Wizards should be forced to choose a specific school of study which would limit the overall availability of other schools (or in certain situations outright deny them)

I keep having thoughts like this and should start actually making a ttrpg

# ? Jul 5, 2014 05:44

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# ? May 14, 2024 00:51

LFK: Jan 5, 2013

Fuschia tude posted:

An adventuring party was basically an army in miniature

A lot of people are shocked when old modules are like "this is an adventure for 7-12 adventurers level 5-9."

# ? Jul 5, 2014 06:08

PeterWeller: Apr 21, 2003; I told you that story so I could tell you this one.

I've thought that if I ran 2E again, I would require wizards to roll as specialists. I think it would add flavor and level out their power a bit by giving them more spells to cast at low levels and limiting their access to the full gamut of high level crazy.

In regards to wandering monsters, they can have a place in modern D&D. Random frequency doesn't really work, but random encounter composition can be cool. For examples: If I don't want the PCs to take long rests in a dungeon, I will make a table of random fairly weak encounters to discourage them. Or if the players are doing a lot of traveling around one dangerous area, I will make a random table of the things they face with a set frequency like every day or whenever they move from one location or "checkpoint" to another.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 06:09

Ferrinus: Jun 19, 2003; i'm finding this quite easy, i guess in part because i'm a fast type but also because i have a coherent mental model of the world

treeboy posted:

Thinking about how to control wizard scope and ability. I've long thought that Wizards should be forced to choose a specific school of study which would limit the overall availability of other schools (or in certain situations outright deny them)

I keep having thoughts like this and should start actually making a ttrpg

Okay, what if they pick conjuration? Oops, problem remains.

The problem isn't that a wizard with three spell slots can fill them with firebolt, charm, and blink as opposed to firebolt, fireshield, firewall. The problem is that a wizard has three spell slots and a fighter has the attack button.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 06:17

Amethyst: Mar 28, 2004; I CANNOT HELP BUT MAKE THE DCSS THREAD A FETID SWAMP OF UNFUN POSTING
plz notice me trunk-senpai

Ferrinus posted:

Fighter maneuvers are cool, just like a wizard that got advanced spell slots but could only ever prepare level one spells such that all they ever got was the ability to fling more magic missiles at once would be cool.

A wizard with a smaller spell list where spells scale might actually be cool

# ? Jul 5, 2014 06:24

Ferrinus: Jun 19, 2003; i'm finding this quite easy, i guess in part because i'm a fast type but also because i have a coherent mental model of the world

Amethyst posted:

A wizard with a smaller spell list where spells scale might actually be cool

Have you read the .pdf? That's how it works. Magic missile is a 1st level spell that shoots three forcebolts. If you spend a 2nd level slot to cast it, it shoots four forcebolts instead. Cast it with a 9th level spell and it shoots ten bolts.

At the same time, though, there are actually spells so powerful or dramatic in effect that they need a minimum level spell slot to work at all. There's no 1st level fireball or 8th level time stop, for instance. So, not only can the wizard fire off numerically enhanced versions of his old tricks, but he steadily learns new tricks.

Meanwhile, there are no high level maneuvers. The only difference between a level 20 fighter's capabilities and a level 3 fighter's capabilities are the frequency and intensity of the manuevers - there's no qualitative scaling of any kind. So, it's like a wizard who got higher-level spell slots, but never learned higher level spells to cast with them.

It's really easy to imagine ways to fix this, even ways that would be consistent with the existing language/power schemes - like, maybe if you spend two dice on a maneuver, or spend dice of a certain size on that maneuver, the maneuver sprouts some new property - but, welllll.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 06:30

Amethyst: Mar 28, 2004; I CANNOT HELP BUT MAKE THE DCSS THREAD A FETID SWAMP OF UNFUN POSTING
plz notice me trunk-senpai

Ferrinus posted:

Have you read the .pdf? That's how it works. Magic missile is a 1st level spell that shoots three forcebolts. If you spend a 2nd level slot to cast it, it shoots four forcebolts instead. Cast it with a 9th level spell and it shoots ten bolts.

At the same time, though, there are actually spells so powerful or dramatic in effect that they need a minimum level spell slot to work at all. There's no 1st level fireball or 8th level time stop, for instance. So, not only can the wizard fire off numerically enhanced versions of his old tricks, but he steadily learns new tricks.

Meanwhile, there are no high level maneuvers. The only difference between a level 20 fighter's capabilities and a level 3 fighter's capabilities are the frequency and intensity of the manuevers - there's no qualitative scaling of any kind. So, it's like a wizard who got higher-level spell slots, but never learned higher level spells to cast with them.

It's really easy to imagine ways to fix this, even ways that would be consistent with the existing language/power schemes - like, maybe if you spend two dice on a maneuver, or spend dice of a certain size on that maneuver, the maneuver sprouts some new property - but, welllll.

Yeah, i meant if you removed the high level spells and make it more like the maneuver list as it stands.

I mean, is the small maneuver list boring in a vacuum, or is it only boring next to the never ending smorgasbord of poo poo in the spell list?

And yeah what you describe also sounds like a reasonable solution

# ? Jul 5, 2014 06:33

Ferrinus: Jun 19, 2003; i'm finding this quite easy, i guess in part because i'm a fast type but also because i have a coherent mental model of the world

The funny thing is that even if you removed the high level spells the wizard's "scales with spell slot" system would still beat the maneuver system the fighter got. Here's how fighters improve:

* learn more maneuvers
* superiority dice go from d8, to d10, to d12
* can store more dice at once (maybe not? I forget, it could be that they just always have a max of five)
* at level 15, regenerate 2 dice at the end of any turn that they began with zero dice

Buuut you only ever spend one die on one maneuver. So you go from a feint that adds d8 damage to a feint that adds d12 damage. Unlike the wizard, the fighter can't choose whether to use his biggest, strongest dice or mid-level dice or whatever, it's an all or nothing proposition where the difference between "all" and "nothing" is actually pretty minor.

Now, since maneuvers trigger on attacks, and fighters get to make multiple attacks, a high level fighter can effectively spend multiple dice in a turn if each attack connects and each enemy saving throw fails, etc, but fundamentally they are still missing the implicit drama in "This foe will require all of my power! Magic missile... nine!" You just... attack, and spend your dice whenever the game decides to let you, until you run out.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 06:40

LFK: Jan 5, 2013

Amethyst posted:

I mean, is the small maneuver list boring in a vacuum, or is it only boring next to the never ending smorgasbord of poo poo in the spell list?

Half way between A and B.

It's not boring, and you do get new additions, but your 15th level Maneuvers are, by definition and all practicality, the ones you wanted least. You had the entire pool in front of you, so of course you grabbed the best/coolest/most "you" maneuvers at level 3, then your runners-up at level 7, then the "yeah, I could use that" at 10, and by level 15 you're down to "sure, why not." There's never anything that you're thirsty for. There's no "oh, sweet loving Jesus, at level 15 I can get Own the Battlefield, 4 dice, all my allies get to make an attack as a reaction and add 4d10 damage! :fap:

# ? Jul 5, 2014 06:50

Crain: Jun 27, 2007; I had a beer once with Stephen Miller and now I like him.

I also tried to ban someone from a Discord for pointing out what an unrelenting shithead I am! I'm even dumb enough to think it worked!

So currently are there any good sources for monster stats? Other than :files: or that Frog God adventure path? My friends and I wanted to try and do a game over the weekend if possible, maybe not a full adventure but just some random encounters and dungeon crawling. But if it's better to just wait till the 15th we'll probably do that.

Also LFK: Are there any dungeon or area maps for the starter kit adventure? I have a bunch of terrain stuff I'd like to use for it.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 07:12

Ferrinus: Jun 19, 2003; i'm finding this quite easy, i guess in part because i'm a fast type but also because i have a coherent mental model of the world

LFK posted:

your 15th level Maneuvers are, by definition and all practicality, the ones you wanted least.

This is a great way to put it.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 07:26

LFK: Jan 5, 2013

Crain posted:

So currently are there any good sources for monster stats? Other than :files: or that Frog God adventure path? My friends and I wanted to try and do a game over the weekend if possible, maybe not a full adventure but just some random encounters and dungeon crawling. But if it's better to just wait till the 15th we'll probably do that.

Also LFK: Are there any dungeon or area maps for the starter kit adventure? I have a bunch of terrain stuff I'd like to use for it.

Maps for the region and all key combat-possible locations, except two. One is literally a big hill in the middle of nowhere, the other is basically just a courtyard and the fight is easily avoidable by parley. It's basically what you got running an adventure out of Dungeon, and they're all Mike Schley maps, so it's some nice poo poo.

No foldout battlemaps, though, so you'll have to copy things onto your own battlemat, no big deal.

Edit: Monsters out of the playtest, which I guess is technically :files: at this point(?), are serviceable. HP was the biggest thing that changed, though some creatures got a solid boost to their to-hit.

The only things that really seem to have a pattern based on CR are HP and damage on a successful hit. I dunno, I'll plug it all into a spreadsheet tomorrow, but here's a rough guide to making stuff.

CR 0 - 4 HP, 2 damage
CR 1/8 - 5 HP, 4 damage
CR 1/4 - 7 HP, 5 damage
CR 1/2 - 11 HP, 5 damage
CR 1 - 25 HP, 10 damage
CR 2 - 45 HP, 13 damage
CR 3 - 55 HP, 16 damage

Saving throw advantage seems to be really uncommon, so most monsters have -1 to +3 on their saves, and AC is haphazard at best, ranging from 8 to 18. 13 seems to be the average. The saving throw DCs are pretty tightly in the 10-13 range. To hit is usually +3-5.

LFK fucked around with this message at 08:22 on Jul 5, 2014

# ? Jul 5, 2014 08:02

Jack the Lad: Jan 20, 2009; Feed the Pubs

LFK posted:

your 15th level Maneuvers are, by definition and all practicality, the ones you wanted least. You had the entire pool in front of you, so of course you grabbed the best/coolest/most "you" maneuvers at level 3, then your runners-up at level 7, then the "yeah, I could use that" at 10, and by level 15 you're down to "sure, why not." There's never anything that you're thirsty for. There's no "oh, sweet loving Jesus, at level 15 I can get Own the Battlefield, 4 dice, all my allies get to make an attack as a reaction and add 4d10 damage! "

Ferrinus posted:

This is a great way to put it.

It really is a great way to put it, and it's going to continue to be the case until they release stronger maneuvers and gate them by level.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 09:19

Amethyst: Mar 28, 2004; I CANNOT HELP BUT MAKE THE DCSS THREAD A FETID SWAMP OF UNFUN POSTING
plz notice me trunk-senpai

LFK posted:

Half way between A and B.

It's not boring, and you do get new additions, but your 15th level Maneuvers are, by definition and all practicality, the ones you wanted least. You had the entire pool in front of you, so of course you grabbed the best/coolest/most "you" maneuvers at level 3, then your runners-up at level 7, then the "yeah, I could use that" at 10, and by level 15 you're down to "sure, why not." There's never anything that you're thirsty for. There's no "oh, sweet loving Jesus, at level 15 I can get Own the Battlefield, 4 dice, all my allies get to make an attack as a reaction and add 4d10 damage! "

Yeah, great point, I didn't think of this.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 10:33

Pimpmust: Oct 1, 2008

One approach I've been thinking of for balancing casters and martial classes, reading the stuff around NEXT (and 4e for that matter).
1) Martial classes (Fighters, Rogues, Rangers, Monks etc) get access to their own maneuver-lists. Perhaps "general" one that all can pick from and some more specialized ones for the various classes.
2) Higher level/higher powered spells couldn't be cast on turn 1, tied into escalation dice for levels of spells available, so your 7th level big boom spell may only be available at turn 4-8, depending on some modifiers.
3) Meanwhile Fighters, rogues, rangers monks etc get a bunch of "quick" maneuvers (basically their level 1-3 maneuvers), with the bigger and trickier stuff (gained at higher levels) unlock the further up in escalation you go (stuff like reshuffling the entire battlefield).
4) The spellcasters can use those special feats to cast prepared, or half-baked, spells earlier, at a cost of either power or risk of failure (basically already in, sorta).
5) Have the status of the combat (ambush, prepared, taken-by-surprise, flanked etc) also affect these spell/maneuver lists, that way you could really have that Conan like "I grab the wizard by the balls and feed 'em to him before he can blast me" effect. Of course, if you screw up / the spellcasters can trade for time the table might be turned.

Maybe this already cropped up in the playtest? Haven't done much real DnD gaming, but the above approach appear more sensible than merely making the casters squishier (even if they aren't really, with all those protective spells) and gives all the martial classes a real edge and their players something to do / plan for.

The tricky balancing part is
A) Not give either side (too much) of an advantage, you don't want it to be too easy (i.e one method that always works) to shank the spellcasters before they can really get going
B) not have maneuvers merely be Spells for Non-Spellcasters, which I have herd 4e somewhat "suffered" from

# ? Jul 5, 2014 11:05

Rosalind: Apr 30, 2013; When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change.

Pimpmust posted:

B) not have maneuvers merely be Spells for Non-Spellcasters, which I have herd 4e somewhat "suffered" from

This is a common complaint leveled by people who never actually played 4E. If you play a fighter then play a wizard in 4E, you'll see that they play completely differently. The issue (or non-issue) was that every class's abilities were presented in the same style (power cards). People who never actually played 4E, but skimmed the PHB constantly equate the powers looking the same to them being the same.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 13:47

Piell: Sep 3, 2006; Grey Worm's Ken doll-like groin throbbed with the anticipatory pleasure that only a slightly warm and moist piece of lemoncake could offer; Young Orc

So the other thread discovered this:

LongDarkNight posted:

Here's the full list [of rituals ]from secret PHB:

Alarm, Animal Messenger, Augury, Beast Sense, Chariot of Sustarre, Commune, Commune with Nature, Comprehend Languages, Contact Other Plane, Detect Good and Evil, Detect Magic, Detect Poison and Disease, Divination, Drawmiji's Instant Summons, Feign Death, Find Familiar, Find Steed, Forbiddance, Gentle Repose, Identify, Illusory Script, Knock, Leomund's Secret Chest, Leomund's Tiny Hut, Locate Animals or Plants, Locate Creature, Locat Object, Magic Mouth, Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound, Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion, Phantom Steed, Plant Growth, Purify Food and Drink, Rary's Telepathic Bond, Sending, Silence, Speak with Animals, Speak with Plants, Spiritual Weapon, Tenser's Floating Disk, Unseen Servant

So wizards can use any of these spells at any time without spending a spell slot or even memorizing them.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 13:51

Amethyst: Mar 28, 2004; I CANNOT HELP BUT MAKE THE DCSS THREAD A FETID SWAMP OF UNFUN POSTING
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Ahahahahahha, What's the point of even having non-combat skills if the wizard is guaranteed to be the best at all of them?

# ? Jul 5, 2014 13:54

Comstar: Apr 20, 2007; Are you happy now?

Piell posted:

So the other thread discovered this:

So wizards can use any of these spells at any time without spending a spell slot or even memorizing them.

I was feeling good about the game...but then I read this and go back to the other thread and now I don't know what to think.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 14:09

treeboy: Nov 13, 2004; James T. Kirk was a great man, but that was another life.

Well at least it limits it to spells in your spell book. Someone mentioned limits to the number of spells a book can carry, was that just a 2e thing or could it also affect 5e?

# ? Jul 5, 2014 14:15

Nihilarian: Oct 2, 2013

treeboy posted:

Thinking about how to control wizard scope and ability. I've long thought that Wizards should be forced to choose a specific school of study which would limit the overall availability of other schools (or in certain situations outright deny them)

I keep having thoughts like this and should start actually making a ttrpg

This is why the Beguiler and Dread Necromancer from 3.5 are great. I wish every school had it's own class.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 14:16

Pimpmust: Oct 1, 2008

Rosalind posted:

This is a common complaint leveled by people who never actually played 4E. If you play a fighter then play a wizard in 4E, you'll see that they play completely differently. The issue (or non-issue) was that every class's abilities were presented in the same style (power cards). People who never actually played 4E, but skimmed the PHB constantly equate the powers looking the same to them being the same.

Yeah figured that, and it's not like people complain about Cleric/Druid magic being mechanically similar to the other magic in previous editions, it's jus the source of that power that differs (and really, the same for some super Hercules martial arts/weapon master hero).

Muscle Magic School.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 14:18

Littlefinger: Oct 13, 2012

quote:

Divine Intervention
Beginning at 10th level, you can call on your deity to intervene on your behalf when your need is great.
Imploring your deity�s aid requires you to use your action. Describe the assistance you seek, and roll percentile dice. If you roll a number equal to or lower than your cleric level, your deity intervenes. The DM chooses the nature of the intervention; the effect of any cleric spell or cleric domain spell would be appropriate.

Yes, you can roll to ask the DM to do what he is otherwise free to do at any time (i.e. introduce something new to the narrative), but this one time he has to check and conform to the descriptions of a hundred cleric spells. :suicide:

Meanwhile,

quote:

The DM can impose more realism. For example, a suit of plate armor made for one human might not fit another one without significant alterations, and a guard�s uniform might be visibly ill-fitting when an adventurer tries to wear it as a disguise.
Using this variant, when adventurers find armor, clothing, and similar items that are made to be worn, they might need to visit an armorsmith, tailor, leatherworker, or similar expert to make the item wearable. The cost for such work varies from 10 to 40 percent of the market price of the item. The DM can either roll 1d4 x 10 or determine the increase in cost based on the extent of the alterations required.

This edition is going to be just magical. :allears:

Littlefinger fucked around with this message at 14:48 on Jul 5, 2014

# ? Jul 5, 2014 14:27

Littlefinger: Oct 13, 2012

treeboy posted:

Well at least it limits it to spells in your spell book. Someone mentioned limits to the number of spells a book can carry, was that just a 2e thing or could it also affect 5e?

Of course there is no such limit for wizards, maybe wait for the ~modules~.
Also note that clerics can only cast spells as rituals if they have them prepared. Wizards? Anything in their spellbooks.
Wizards are just flat out better than you, period.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 14:39

crime fighting hog: Jun 29, 2006; I only pray, Heaven knows when to lift you out

treeboy posted:

Well at least it limits it to spells in your spell book. Someone mentioned limits to the number of spells a book can carry, was that just a 2e thing or could it also affect 5e?

But there's no limit to how many spellbooks you can carry, right? And what DM would take away spellbooks in a "you catch on fire" or "get pickpocketed of your components"?

E: what Littlefinger said. Seriously.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 14:41

Elector_Nerdlingen: Sep 27, 2004

Maybe I'm just missing it, but Knock isn't marked as a Ritual in the Basic rules.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 14:46

Littlefinger: Oct 13, 2012

Those were from the secret PHB playtest.

Maybe it's just an editing error, maybe they realised their folly.
Except for Comprehend Languages and Silence, the rituals in Basic are kinda OK, things like Detect Magic or Identify. No one should have to memorize those two, heck, they shouldn't even be in the game, but WotC is clearly trying to appeal to the MMO-Diablo2 video game crowd. :v:

Littlefinger fucked around with this message at 15:36 on Jul 5, 2014

# ? Jul 5, 2014 15:19

slydingdoor: Oct 26, 2010; Are you in or are you out?

Speaking of limiting wizard spell selection by schools, Eldritch Knights can only pick evocations and abjurations.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 16:05

Crain: Jun 27, 2007; I had a beer once with Stephen Miller and now I like him.

I also tried to ban someone from a Discord for pointing out what an unrelenting shithead I am! I'm even dumb enough to think it worked!

Decided to just pick up the starter set anyway. My local place actually had it in stock. It looks pretty good. Just kinda wish the pregen sheets were thicker paper. I'll probable just get those laminated anyway. I really like the maps in the adventure guide. So far the story is nice and tight with pleanty of stuff to do if you don't want to just run the story missions. Pretty good quality for $20.

# ? Jul 5, 2014 22:20

MonsterEnvy: Feb 4, 2012; Shocked I tell you

On the Ritual thing they still need the spell in their book and they need it takes 10 mintues to cast. Also stuff like Knock is not as good as having a rogue.

# ? Jul 6, 2014 00:31

Piell: Sep 3, 2006; Grey Worm's Ken doll-like groin throbbed with the anticipatory pleasure that only a slightly warm and moist piece of lemoncake could offer; Young Orc

Yeah, I mean it's not like rogues can fail or that Knock works 100% of the time, that would be crazy!

# ? Jul 6, 2014 00:34

MonsterEnvy: Feb 4, 2012; Shocked I tell you

Piell posted:

Yeah, I mean it's not like rogues can fail or that Knock works 100% of the time, that would be crazy!

It's not like the Rogue can try again and the fact that Knock alerts everyone within 300 ft when cast and the fact that it's not a ritual anymore meaning using it costs one of your valuable level 2 slots.

# ? Jul 6, 2014 00:37

Ferrinus: Jun 19, 2003; i'm finding this quite easy, i guess in part because i'm a fast type but also because i have a coherent mental model of the world

Who cares about Knock? Knock should be a ritual - it's exactly the kind of spell the ritual rules were made for. You might as well charge a fighter hit dice each time they kick a door down.

# ? Jul 6, 2014 00:39

Gort: Aug 18, 2003; Good day what ho cup of tea

Ferrinus posted:

Who cares about Knock? Knock should be a ritual - it's exactly the kind of spell the ritual rules were made for. You might as well charge a fighter hit dice each time they kick a door down.

And somewhere a 5e designer slaps his forehead and thinks, "Why didn't I think of that?!"

# ? Jul 6, 2014 00:42

LongDarkNight: Oct 25, 2010; It's like watching the collapse of Western civilization in fast forward.; Oven Wrangler

Even Paizo managed to fix Knock. Ritual or not it sucks.

# ? Jul 6, 2014 00:53

treeboy: Nov 13, 2004; James T. Kirk was a great man, but that was another life.

LongDarkNight posted:

Even Paizo managed to fix Knock. Ritual or not it sucks.

How did pathfinder do it differently?

# ? Jul 6, 2014 00:56

moths: Aug 25, 2004; I would also still appreciate some danger.

MonsterEnvy posted:

It's not like the Rogue can try again

Can he? Because there are no rules in this finally crafted manual describing what happens when you fail a skill check.

# ? Jul 6, 2014 01:01

A Catastrophe: Jun 26, 2014

AlphaDog posted:

Maybe I'm just missing it, but Knock isn't marked as a Ritual in the Basic rules.

Knock isn't a ritual, but Silence is. The main drawback of knock, the thing that supposedly allows rogues to not be worthless, is that it's really loud.

Silence also allows you to move silently or indeed, smash stuff to bits silently. Like say, kicking down a door. So much for stealthy rogues.

Get ready for a decade of arguments over who hears what, and when.

A Catastrophe fucked around with this message at 01:19 on Jul 6, 2014

# ? Jul 6, 2014 01:15

Ferrinus: Jun 19, 2003; i'm finding this quite easy, i guess in part because i'm a fast type but also because i have a coherent mental model of the world

I'm still waiting for some feat or class feature or whatever that gives you a bonus bonus action.

# ? Jul 6, 2014 01:20

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# ? May 14, 2024 00:51

Ryuujin: Sep 26, 2007; Dragon God

In case you didn't want to bother with the other thread here are some quotes from Mearls.

quote:

@rjfTrebor : can cantrips with attack rolls be used with the extra attack mechanic?
@mikemearls : no, the benefit from extra attack applies when you use the attack action

quote:

@bodieh : are there any options for an equivalent of using acrobatics to move through an opponent?
@mikemearls : it's up to the DM and how the player uses the environment

‏@Strange_Bundle : Unclear on investigation vs. perception, and a few other things. Otherwise one of my new favorite DnD editions. Good work all!
@mikemearls : investigation = do you see something. investigation = can you interpret a clue to deduce its meaning
@Strange_Bundle : First one is perception, I assume. Go ahead and delete/resend if you wanna. It's the spot/search dichotomy, I gather.
@mikemearls : illusions are a good example. wisdom (perception) let's you spot it. Int lets you deduce that it's an illusion.

@intensewiz : So will the feats option be legal for organized play or will it be mandatory to use the ability score increase? Thanks!
@mikemearls : OP will allow feats

quote:

@wax_eagle : Question about Divine Intervention, is it *supposed* to say percentile? Or d20? Going from 10% up to 19% to auto success is odd?
@mikemearls : when you hit level 20, you get a direct line to the gods.

@T_Strube : who wrote the lost mine of phandelver and who did the maps?
@mikemearls : rich baker wrote the adventure, Chris Perkins polished it, @schley did the cartography

@JonathanBolding : make Crawford get a twitter.
@mikemearls : oh man, don't think that would go well
@JonathanBolding : What, he shouldn't be harassed and bothered 24/7 about dnd too?
@mikemearls : Jeremy would go all gandalf vs. wormtongue on like the second dude to say something stupid to him

quote:

@zamubafoo : So what happened to martial dice anyways? I truly hope they at least make it into the DMG as an optional rule
@mikemearls : PHB

@Danny2Chins : Hey Mike but are spellcasters ever able to swap out or add cantrips to their spellbooks if they didnt start out with them?
@mikemearls : most casters gain more cantrips - DM can let you make swaps

@Ettin64 : Was damage on a miss replaced with rerolling damage dice, or has it just been moved out of Basic?
@mikemearls : replaced - caused too much confusion (poisoned weapon is a good example)

quote:

@TheOzymandiasII : Love the Warlock. Usually stuck as healer. Any way to get best of both worlds? Or not in their purview? #warlockobsessed
@mikemearls : not in core, sorry, though I think high level warlocks can pick spells from other classes
‏@TheOzymandiasII : no worries. They will find a new one. I will have my Pact.
@TheOzymandiasII : and if you're up to being even awesomer and answering 2: Blade Pact need an arcane focus like Hexblade? Or call it whenever?
@mikemearls : can't recall off top of my head

@mikemearls : True stories of fifth edition - the overall project, the game, the playtest, etc was codenamed Anduril. obvious ref for Tolkien geeks.
@phildack : says something about in-house view of 4E too? The blade that was broken & reforged.
@mikemearls : nope - stuff like PDFs getting pulled, magazines going all digital, pr plan, etc. I think 4e was hurt by all the stuff around it

@mikemearls : Game was code named Iowa by Rich Baker, drawing from the (modified) quote from Field of Dreams - if you build it, they will come.

quote:

@SamSykesSwears : They discontinued tapatillo doritos?! What the **** is even the point of living now
@mikemearls : only the hope that they will return can sustain us

@nerdvana : Congrats on #DnDBasic launch today. Really feels polished. More backgrounds in PHb?
@mikemearls : yes - glad you liked it

@CarlTorvik : Noticed Basic Rules mention multiclassing, but requires access to the PHB use it. Seems oddly incomplete/ flawed. L&L article?
@mikemearls : reference is there so if you use basic and friend uses PHB, you know what key options refer to

quote:

@Danny2Chins : G8t job on .pdf, sorry for bothering you again. Is it true stats including racial bonuses cannot be above 18 at lvl1?
@mikemearls : max is 20

@wotc_rodney : No, we really did go to White Castle. And it was worth it.
@mikemearls : I liked White Castle! Especially the people watching. Steak n' Shake and my GI tract had serious issues..

@Bulletpointe : Is Fighter the only class that gets Extra Attacks or do Paladins, Rangers, and Barbarians get that distinction too?
@mikemearls : they get it, too

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@seanbonney : Can a wizard Burning Hands himself? His hands clearly aren't affected, but what about his feet? #dnd
@mikemearls : nope - point of origin isn't in area. Wiz would have to want to immolate self

@Bulletpointe : Action Surge + Extra Attack means double attacks, IE 3 normal attacks + AS equals six attacks, yes?
@mikemearls : yes

@Celestian_GC : Is the text in the Basic DND PDF supposed to be mangled? I am trying to pass it through a audio reader but the OCR is corrupted.
@mikemearls : weird - I'll check on that Monday. I know there are also copy/paste issues. Might be how PDF was built

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@mikemearls : This beer is afraid of fireworks. Better keep it safe in my tummy. #Happy4thofJuly

@mikemearls : The folks at the Tome Show were kind enough to invite me on their show - http://www.thetomeshow.com/e/mike-mearls-on-5e-dd-tome-239/ �

@mikemearls : Every once in a while, I have to remember to thank @DelveRPG for dragging me out to see Ronnie James Dio live in concert.

@mikemearls : As a fan of Fabian Barthez, I mourn the fall of Les Bleus. They looked so dominant in the group stage. C'est la guerre.

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@dd_stevenson : Sorry, I've got to ask: why isn't monte cook in basic's credits?
@mikemearls : sorry, confused - he's there
@dd_stevenson : Sorry. I meant: as a 5E guy. Further dev section refers only to past editions. Right?
@mikemearls : it's not that cut and dried. We made best fit based on contributions people made. It was a long process with a lot of people.
@mikemearls : I haven't had anyone listed in the credits drop me a line about it
@mikemearls : he is listed - I just double checked
@mikemearls : if monte has any issues with the credits, he should drop me an email

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@pukunui81 : You don't proficiency to use thieves' tools in general, but you do need it to pick locks? #dnd #amiright
@mikemearls : DM's call, depends on lock and other factors

@Abstruse : With Meteor Swarm...how close do the four meteors have to be to one another? Anywhere in the spell's range?
@mikemearls : anywhere in range
@Abstruse : Related, can all four meteors strike the same spot for 160d6 damage in a 20ft radius?
@mikemearls : don't believe they stack - but that's not an official answer. Can't remember design intent
@Abstruse : They don't stack. Says so clearly in the spell description and I was drunk when I read it ^_^;;
@mikemearls : best way to read rules, if you're a DM

@Abstruse : Speaking of...do you know if there are rules about podcasts and D&D material?
@Abstruse : Like say if a podcast *cough* http://gamerstavern.org *cough* wanted to record a playthru of the Starter Set using Basic D&D?
@mikemearls : that should be cool
@Abstruse : Who can make that "should be" become a "is definitely"? Please don't say Hasbro PR...they're the reason we haven't talked.
@Abstruse : The hurdles to interview you for AICN were more than my colleagues there go through for Spielberg, Del Toro, Tarantino, etc.
@mikemearls : I'll check on Monday, but I'm nearly 100% certain we're cool with streaming game sessions

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@Danny2Chins : Especially with the Realms, it seems like only a few cities get alot of coverage. Maybe they could be digital resources 4 sale?
@mikemearls : sorry, can't comment on future stuff. There are a lot of FR books on http://dndclassics.com that have details on cities
@mikemearls : that said, I love city books!

@A_real_geek : What about Read Magic. Seems it�s missing from Basic. Is it not needed to read scrolls?
@mikemearls : not needed - it was a spell wizards had to take, so we moved away from it
@A_real_geek : So any character can �read� which spell is on a scroll? Or any character which can cast that type of spell?
@mikemearls : I think you need to have the spell on your class list to know what it is

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@MWDuo : Question for you @mikemearls. Is choosing a subrace required or optional?. Not 100% clear
@mikemearls : it's required - you're a step behind without one

@nperkins : Do 1st level characters get their Hit Die back after a long rest or do they have to rest two days in a row?
@mikemearls : they get it back - believe it should be minimum 1 with long rest
@nperkins : thanks for the answer. Running Phandelver in a few hours ... I am incredibly impressed with the adventure.
@mikemearls : thanks! Rich Baker and Chris Perkins did a great job with

@JonathanBolding : We'll be livestreaming @TheEscapistMag's playthrough of the D&D Starter Set this coming week.

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Mike Mearls: Regarding Potent Cantrip - we'll add cantrips that can benefit from it to Basic D&D.

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@mikemearls Q: What happens if a creature is invisible but not hidden?
@mikemearls Sorry, to clarify, do you have to guess which square the invisible creature is in, or do you just attack with disadvantage?
@CyberDaveMil attack with disadvantage, unless target is hiding. Then you need to guess.

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@mikemearls Q: What happens if a creature is invisible but not hidden?
@mikemearls Sorry, to clarify, do you have to guess which square the invisible creature is in, or do you just attack with disadvantage?
@CyberDaveMil attack with disadvantage, unless target is hiding. Then you need to guess.
@CyberDaveMil you know it's space but can't see it. If using minis, mark its pos on the map.
@mikemearls Thanks! One more very quick question if you do not mind: in that case, what is the benefit of the rogue's blindsense?
@mikemearls To clarify, I am assuming "blindsense" lets you "see" invisible creatures within 10 feet, right?
@CyberDaveMil main benefit is revealing hidden creatures. Invisibility detection is small benefit if creature isn't trying to hide
@CyberDaveMil nope, just detect

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@mattstaggs : Feats. Can just one player in a group use them and others not w/out it becoming a balance issue or does everyone have to?
@mikemearls : it's designed to work that way - some with feats, so e without

@mikemearls : Regarding Potent Cantrip - we'll add cantrips that can benefit from it to Basic D&D

@newbiedm : mikemearls I'm also surprised at no mention of optional tactical maps at all, and the idea of tokens coins or minis to represent characters
@mikemearls : really wanted to focus on imagination and roleplay - it's what makes the rpg distinct

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@Danubus43 : Can we get a few monsters added to basic set? No gaming store near here carrying Starter set and friend gets his on 22nd.
@mikemearls : sorry, but we're doing all that work right now. They'll be there soon!

@newbiedm : if looking at it from prism of someone really new, no prior experience playing dnd, i found the lack of session example weird.
@mikemearls : we felt it would best to tackle that through a how to play video
@TorgHacker : Yeah, if they're not mentioned in the Starter Set, I think that's a bit of a oversight.
@mikemearls : trick is - do people see set first, or see video first? We get a lot of views on the PAX vids, for instance

@JXPrime : I only ever read the 4e books, but it seems like maps/squares are ideal for D&D, why the shift to and then shift away?
@mikemearls : we had feedback that people felt they had to spend $$$ on tiles or minis before they could play, turned newbies away

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@SymphFan : For 2weapon fighting, do you get at most 1 bonus hit a turn even if you have Extra Attacks from the fighter? (Uses Bonus action)
@mikemearls : that's correct. Since it uses your onus action, you can only use it once

@mikemearls : Regarding Potent Cantrip - we'll add cantrips that can benefit from it to Basic D&D
@redcometcasval : it seems like it should do half damage on a missed attack as well.
@mikemearls : yeah, that's what it was, but that would limit abilities that modded cantrips
@mikemearls : damage on a miss tripped lots of groups. For instance, if my Cantrip also pushes does that apply with dmg on miss?
@redcometcasval : how is that any different than the current way with saves? It would just do damage, no additional effect.
@mikemearls : saves consistently work that way - pattern is throughout the game

@ham2anv : What about rituals?
@mikemearls : there's a few in there - tried to keep them slim for complexity reasons
@ham2anv : I did a search for "ritual" and the only spell I found was spi"ritual" weapon.
@mikemearls : try the printer friendly version - standard version has some formatting issues. Take a peek at identify, for instance

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@mikemearls : Really nice breakdown of Basic D&D compared to playtest - http://harbinger-of-doom.blogspot.com/2014/07/d-basic-races-and-classes.html �
@Grand_DM : Nice. I noticed Ray of enfeeblement did not make the cut. PHB?
@mikemearls : yup!

@newbiedm : think we'll see some of the stuff tossed aside in the playtest make an appearance as options, or unearthed arcana somewhere?
@mikemearls : potentially, at least in spirit

@blackwarder : if a stonskined wizard is taking damage should he make a concentration check?
@mikemearls : yes, unless spell says otherwise
@blackwarder : so is it intended to be cast on the fighter and not on the wizard?
@mikemearls : that's probably your best use for it

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@Robotdjuret : Curious about the dwarves, armor and magic bit. How did that balance in playtest? Sounds pretty munchkinable.
@mikemearls : it actually doesn't play as strong as you think - eases reliance on buffs for AC, but bonus hp is probably better long term
@mikemearls : d6 HD is still a big weakness.
@Robotdjuret Cool! I always play by the book �til something proves broken. Just curious. Will there be a DMG discussion abt low magic games?
@mikemearls : yes - just finished it up this week

@Abstruse : New complaint. "The new edition is extra-boring because they only included the iconic classes/races." So githyanki should've been core?
@mikemearls : dammit I knew we should've put the giff in basic

@jasonpesch : So why the switch of Mtn and Hill Dwarf stats?
@mikemearls : driven by story

@pokereleran : seems like a lot of people are upset that there are now 6 saves but really only 3 are used. Plans to address this in the PHB?
@mikemearls : the saves are a DM tool as much as anything. That said, we handed out skill proficiencies knowing there is a disparity.

# ? Jul 6, 2014 04:44

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