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Does anyone actually run D&D games that haven't been written down in a book like a script to follow?
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Sep 7, 2014 01:09
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Boing posted:Does anyone actually run D&D games that haven't been written down in a book like a script to follow? Well me and my friends usually run stuff we come up with on our own. With pathfinder anyway, close enough!
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Sep 7, 2014 01:14
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Boing posted:Does anyone actually run D&D games that haven't been written down in a book like a script to follow?
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Sep 7, 2014 01:34
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SmellOfPetroleum posted:I'd like to revisit two pages back and ask about Hoard of the Dragon Queen. Anyone have actual play experiences? Skimming it, there seems to be some good writing. I like the caravan chapter. Yes, I know they split monsters between the supplement and the book. I'm more interested in the actual adventure. Chameleon posted about "attrition," and I didn't really follow what that meant, so now I'm worried. We are running it here too if you want to see how its going. They've finished up the first episode and are doing some story-related stuff that isn't in the module right now. It leaves a lot of blanks and areas for the DM to fill in. Most of the NPCs and fights are generic or '3 kobolds and 2 cultists' and up to the DM to spice up. For me that's working out well, but I could see it being a problem for new DMs. They might just literally run 3 generic kobold fights in a row, or whatever, without making the adventure their own or knowing how to move things around and ad-lib. Since it's the first real module for 5e, they should have had a section on 'how to run a published adventure' or something like that.
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Sep 7, 2014 01:56
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Boing posted:Does anyone actually run D&D games that haven't been written down in a book like a script to follow? Half a page of talk about the published adventures and suddenly the world is ending. dwarf74 posted:Trigger warning: I'm going to say "MMO." Phandalin felt very MMO-like. You could see all the exclamation points floating over NPCs' heads. That used to be a trigger for me in 4th Ed because people would say it, and I couldn't understand the mentality so much that I couldn't argue against it, which frustrated me. Here, it's true that the town has a lot of quest npcs, and each wants you to join their faction. I'll attribute the recruitment thing to Wizards trying to get players' interest early, but it did feel awkward when I ran it. As for the quests, none of them are easily completed locally. They have a good range of completion requirements that basically take up the rest of the book and locations. I like the attempt in the beginner's set and HotDQ to present locations and npcs in an easy to understand way. There's probably a better way to do it, but it's not bad here. I think it's as MMO-like as the DM makes it. Sure they can present all the npcs with exclamation marks over their heads, just listing them as they see them in the book. Or the DM can introduce the npcs and their goals when it actually makes sense to. Maybe the fact that this is a problem is due to bad writing structure or unclear DM advice, but I still value the non-linearity the hubtowns provide. SmellOfPetroleum fucked around with this message at 02:11 on Sep 7, 2014 |
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Sep 7, 2014 02:09
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For being a pre-written module, is being MMO-like actually a detriment? Would that be more of a problem for an experienced DM to deal with than someone who might be DMing for the first time?
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Sep 7, 2014 02:19
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Grimpond posted:For being a pre-written module, is being MMO-like actually a detriment? Would that be more of a problem for an experienced DM to deal with than someone who might be DMing for the first time? 
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Sep 7, 2014 02:43
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Mmmk. I was only able to play one session, and we managed to finish the caves, fail to save the NPC, and then return to town to begin following up on plot hooks, which involved my cleric bringing the poor guys corpse to the local wise woman to be buried
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Sep 7, 2014 02:51
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Could you guys elaborate on how a module might be too MMO-like? I'm having difficulties picturing how that'd play out in a session.
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Sep 7, 2014 02:52
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Radio Talmudist posted:Could you guys elaborate on how a module might be too MMO-like? I'm having difficulties picturing how that'd play out in a session. The little bit of the town I saw, I was able to talk to an NPC who offered a reward of healing potions in exchange for...doing something that I forget. I assume it's more of that, where specific NPCs in the module offer the party "quests" to do, ala an MMO town acting as a quest hub
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Sep 7, 2014 02:55
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To be fair, from what I can remember quite a few of the really old D&D modules that were based in a town actually were like that as well, it just so happens that MMOs kind of copied that, and now we've gone full circle, or something.
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Sep 7, 2014 03:35
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goldjas posted:To be fair, from what I can remember quite a few of the really old D&D modules that were based in a town actually were like that as well, it just so happens that MMOs kind of copied that, and now we've gone full circle, or something. What was the quote, art imitates life or some poo poo like that??
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Sep 7, 2014 03:41
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Radio Talmudist posted:Could you guys elaborate on how a module might be too MMO-like? I'm having difficulties picturing how that'd play out in a session.
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Sep 7, 2014 04:19
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dwarf74 posted:Again, I don't think it's a bad thing. The adventure is great. And there's nothing obnoxious like "get me 10 bear pelts." It's just funny how every NPC just happens to need help from adventurers and offer them jobs. It's just super obvious shilling/on-ramp for D&D Encounters. So, of course, it's MMOlike because it's for organized play, the closest thing tabletop has to MMOs.
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Sep 7, 2014 04:38
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As someone who learned to DM on Keep on the Shadowfell, some nonlinearity and NPCs with any importance at all to the players would've been a really great example to set. That adventure really was "go in this hole in the ground and fight guys."
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Sep 7, 2014 05:39
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  HEY NEXT THREAD So I don't know if you noticed, but this thread has gotten pretty lovely sometimes! I'm going to see if we can do something about that. Specifically, I am going to start checking on this thread more often and cracking down on excessive shitposting. You should be able to work out when your posts stop being cool/useful on your own, but here are some hints: Posting about posting, telling people they are big dumb idiot fuckers without explaining why they are big dumb idiot fuckers, explaining why people are big dumb idiot fuckers for multiple pages instead of using the report button, and being seebs are all potentially bad ideas!
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Sep 7, 2014 10:52
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Strength of Many posted:I'm of the opinion that, at least in a game like 5e, enemies should not double down on damage when they crit. RNG is already enough of factor. Enemy crits could do other things, like knocking the target prone/knockback/negative modifier on the players next turn or some other thing that allows a "come-back" the next turn (if not from the dude hit, them from his party-members) while maintaining that it was a, well, "critical" hit. That goes for other normal high-damage hits too, especially at lower levels (Which most editions of DnD suffer from). Multiple options for the players to get the snot beaten out of them over a couple of turns instead of "The Bug-Bear walks up and cuts your head off with one swing of that great axe". Hmm, maybe some sort of special damage effect table to roll on for when you (would) hit 0 hit points...
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Sep 7, 2014 12:25
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thefakenews posted:Trickster cleric seems pretty lacklustre in combat (out of combat I've got some mileage from having charm person and mage hand - hah, Wizard spells) and I feel like I'm gonna have to waste a lot of spell slots on healing. What I do have is a pretty cool shadow clone that I can use to get melee advantage, and also cast spells through. I would still appreciate anyone's thoughts on this.
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Sep 7, 2014 13:32
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thefakenews posted:I would still appreciate anyone's thoughts on this. It's a copy of yourself that takes no damage, so that could be useful to draw and soak attacks. The silent image spell mentions that attacks pass right through it and it can be disbelieved, but no such rules for this illusion. Casting spells through it is useful too. Sometimes you can't safely get to an ally to touch-heal them (you might be prone/draw OAs/etc), but this could be moved instead. A rogue 3 dip for cunning action and arcane trickster isn't a bad idea. Once you get AT, 1/3 of rogue levels will add to your cleric levels for total caster levels, so at level 3 rogue you get +1 caster level. A cleric2/rogue3 will have spell slots of a level 3. And you get the mage hand shenanigans of the AT, wizard spells and 2d6 sneak attack.
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Sep 7, 2014 15:16
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Pimpmust posted:Enemy crits could do other things, like knocking the target prone/knockback/negative modifier on the players next turn or some other thing that allows a "come-back" the next turn (if not from the dude hit, them from his party-members) while maintaining that it was a, well, "critical" hit. At that point, why even allow monsters to have critical hits at all?
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Sep 7, 2014 15:36
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mastershakeman posted:At that point, why even allow monsters to have critical hits at all? "Why should the Laws of Physics work differently for monsters? You just ruined my immersion."
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Sep 7, 2014 15:39
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Rule question : Can a monk use their unarmed bonus action on a second monster? Kinda like, move 5 feet, attack first monster, move 10 feet and bonus action another monster?
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Sep 7, 2014 16:20
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Imazul posted:Rule question : Can a monk use their unarmed bonus action on a second monster? Kinda like, move 5 feet, attack first monster, move 10 feet and bonus action another monster? It's stated in the book that you can use your move between attacks, even attacks from the same action. So I would say yes.
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Sep 7, 2014 17:01
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mastershakeman posted:At that point, why even allow monsters to have critical hits at all?
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Sep 7, 2014 17:09
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Pimpmust posted:Enemy crits could do other things, like knocking the target prone/knockback/negative modifier on the players next turn or some other thing that allows a "come-back" the next turn (if not from the dude hit, them from his party-members) while maintaining that it was a, well, "critical" hit. I really like that idea, gonna have to steal that. Edit:vvvv Something like that, was just going to make it different depending on the monster. Sneak or fast attack types crit akin to dirty fighting so you have to make a reflex save or be blinded by "flung dirt" or big strong monsters just shaking the poo poo out of you with a strong hit so you have to make a con save or get knocked down. Just something to make the monsters more flavoured, so it all depends on the situation. Cainer fucked around with this message at 18:16 on Sep 7, 2014 |
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Sep 7, 2014 17:40
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Cainer posted:I really like that idea, gonna have to steal that. Something like "crits cause the "staggered" status, causing disadvantage for all (or maybe just attack/defense) rolls until the end of their next turn?"
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Sep 7, 2014 18:04
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ritorix posted:It's a copy of yourself that takes no damage, so that could be useful to draw and soak attacks. The silent image spell mentions that attacks pass right through it and it can be disbelieved, but no such rules for this illusion. There's a very very good reason that hybrid builds in 3.5 weren't very good, and that reason still holds true in Next: Spells levels >>>> everything else. Being 3 levels behind the real casters means that you're one or two full spell levels behind them, have fewer slots, and for what, a couple of cantrips and some sneak attack dice? The best spells don't do damage anyway, so it's really not the best tradeoff. If you want to roll up a hybrid character, it's probably best to wait for some early entry shenanigans to start popping up first (or an actually useful archetype for AT to pop up).
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Sep 7, 2014 18:23
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Since all spells you cast have the same save DC and that DC is based on your ability score and proficiency bonus, I wouldn't say spell levels are as important (though they're definitely important). If you can dig up some overpowered low-level spell, you can cast it with the same DC that your full-wizard buddy is casting Finger of Death.
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Sep 7, 2014 18:44
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Ferrinus posted:Since all spells you cast have the same save DC and that DC is based on your ability score and proficiency bonus, I wouldn't say spell levels are as important (though they're definitely important). If you can dig up some overpowered low-level spell, you can cast it with the same DC that your full-wizard buddy is casting Finger of Death. And you get a single set of spell slots based on the total of your caster and partial caster levels. 5E really does fix a lot of 3E's issues. 
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Sep 7, 2014 19:49
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Also most of the spells scale fairly well. Blowing your 7th level spell slot to power up a 4th level Sorcerer spell because that's the highest your Sorcerer/Paladin can go isn't going to be the end of the world.
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Sep 7, 2014 20:07
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From Previews: DUNGEONS & DRAGONS DICE MASTERS STK655790 Image Publisher: WIZKIDS/NECA Dungeons & Dragons Dice Masters brings collectible dice building to the tabletop with this all-new head-to-head competitive game set in the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe! The Starter Set is the premiere release of the all-new game; this innovative collectible release comes with 44 custome dice, 38 cards, two dice bags, and the complete core rulebook, everything two players need to play Dungeons & Dragons Dice Masters! Each Foil Pack contains two dice and their corresponding cards that players can add to their existing Dungeons & Dragons Dice Masters collections! As with prior Dice Masters releases, Dungeons & Dragons Dice Masters foil packs are a great purchase for new and established Dice Masters players alike! Item Code: SEP142615In Shops: 11/19/2014SRP: $89.10 D&D DICE MASTERS STARTER SET STK655793 Image Publisher: WIZKIDS/NECA Dungeons & Dragons Dice Masters brings collectible dice building to the tabletop with this all-new head-to-head competitive game set in the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe! The Starter Set is the premiere release of the all-new game; this innovative collectible release comes with 44 custome dice, 38 cards, two dice bags, and the complete core rulebook, everything two players need to play Dungeons & Dragons Dice Masters! Each Foil Pack contains two dice and their corresponding cards that players can add to their existing Dungeons & Dragons Dice Masters collections! As with prior Dice Masters releases, Dungeons & Dragons Dice Masters foil packs are a great purchase for new and established Dice Masters players alike! Item Code: SEP142616In Shops: 11/19/2014SRP: $19.99 Not sure what the difference between the $20 and $90 boxes are. (I think the $90 box might be one of those Wizkids gravity-feed display boxes.) And compatibility means now Drizzt can join the Avengers. Apparently there's also an X-Wing knockoff with dragons, based on their Star Trek game.
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Sep 7, 2014 21:02
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Now we will know who can win in a fight: a gold dragon, or a TIE fighter.
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Sep 7, 2014 21:12
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Cainer posted:I really like that idea, gonna have to steal that. Good idea, could have say 3 different severities for each "type" (sneaky, big/strong, swarm/group or what have you) which is either randomly picked for variety or goes up by "rank" scale (mook, lieutenant/veteran, boss/elite) so it's a little bit more bite to it. Or a damage table for the players could have it all just mixed up for maximum variety (say 10 different effects) with weighting by enemy type, say a sneaky dude hits your guy and rolls a 6, all the "sneaky" critical effects are high in the list (8, 9, 10) so you add 1 or 2 or 3 depending on enemy "rank" (with the list ordered so more severe effects are the furthest away), if it's a big guy you subtract likewise down to 1, 2 3. The middle ground is for whatever type you want, which either adds or subtracts to get close. Too complex? The effects wouldn't have to be restricted to the target of the critical hit either, say the enemy might get to shift closer to a target of their choice (squishy spellcaster for example) or pull out and toss a dagger as a free action. e: Or thinking even more outside the box you could go even more abstract with it and have enemy criticals as "battlefield triggers" that gives the enemy side some sort of advantage, shifts the battlefield around or introduces some new threat. Pimpmust fucked around with this message at 21:41 on Sep 7, 2014 |
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Sep 7, 2014 21:29
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Pimpmust posted:Too complex? Little bit, but I like it.
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Sep 7, 2014 21:52
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I have a legitimate question (concern) for anyone in this thread who is running and/or is playing in a 5E game right now: How "House Rulesy" are your games currently or expected to be in the future? I had a rather distressing thought the other day that, considering how the core 3 haven't all even been released yet, there are already TONS of "How can we house rule this game to make it work better/fine tune it?" posts, and that entire mentality is what made me quit the 3E/3.5/PF scene in the first place. I really don't want a repeat of 3E/PF where not a single table I sit down at is actually playing by the same rules, or even by the rules at all. Over my fourteen year tenure at playing 3E/PF I can maybe count on one hand, out of the hundreds of games I played in with different GMs, the number that played RAW without some inane homebrew rules. From what I've seen I could likely, in good conscience, run 5E RAW and expect everyone at the table to actually have fun as well as enjoy running it myself, but I absolutely do not want to have to deal with having to work so hard for so little payoff to fix problems in the system that should have been addressed long before its launch. Do you think it'll become as bad as what happened with 3E? Please say no.
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Sep 7, 2014 21:57
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Agent Boogeyman posted:I have a legitimate question (concern) for anyone in this thread who is running and/or is playing in a 5E game right now: How "House Rulesy" are your games currently or expected to be in the future? I had a rather distressing thought the other day that, considering how the core 3 haven't all even been released yet, there are already TONS of "How can we house rule this game to make it work better/fine tune it?" posts, and that entire mentality is what made me quit the 3E/3.5/PF scene in the first place. I really don't want a repeat of 3E/PF where not a single table I sit down at is actually playing by the same rules, or even by the rules at all. Over my fourteen year tenure at playing 3E/PF I can maybe count on one hand, out of the hundreds of games I played in with different GMs, the number that played RAW without some inane homebrew rules. From what I've seen I could likely, in good conscience, run 5E RAW and expect everyone at the table to actually have fun as well as enjoy running it myself, but I absolutely do not want to have to deal with having to work so hard for so little payoff to fix problems in the system that should have been addressed long before its launch. Do you think it'll become as bad as what happened with 3E? Please say no. Maybe.
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Sep 7, 2014 22:02
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MonsieurChoc posted:It's stated in the book that you can use your move between attacks, even attacks from the same action. So I would say yes. Yeah I haven't found anything in the rules that contradict this which makes my Monk player pretty happy since the opportunity attack rules are also much more relaxed then they were in 4e.
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Sep 7, 2014 22:05
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Lots of house rules are essentially recorded precedents of DM's calls. We've also seen a ton of home-brew ideas for better martial characters right in this thread, so uh... If you do an all-caster 2-drink minimum game, you probably won't run into many areas where house rules are required.
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Sep 7, 2014 22:08
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Pimpmust posted:Good idea, could have say 3 different severities for each "type" (sneaky, big/strong, swarm/group or what have you) which is either randomly picked for variety or goes up by "rank" scale (mook, lieutenant/veteran, boss/elite) so it's a little bit more bite to it. The reason I suggested a single status that used disadvantage is mostly due to simplicity to match with the better parts of 5E. If I were to add any complexity I'd split it into maybe offense/defense/movement impairing bits.
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Sep 7, 2014 22:22
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Quick question; have there been any psionic powers or monsters listed so far? I'm trying to get a feel for how they're handling psionics in 5e.
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Sep 7, 2014 22:40
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