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The thing is, unless the monster is a spellcaster or has spell-like abilities they don't get anything but attacking to do, just like your party non-casters. If you want other things for them to do, put in environment stuff for them to do, like working a trap system that hit a random square within a 3x3 grid around their target, ignoring each missed square once they've missed it before (so if they've missed to the left once, and you roll it again, reroll). I'm sure other people can come up with better poo poo than me, but the same idea for things that you'd put in to make stuff more interesting for the party you can do for the monsters. Also be prepared for them to take over whatever and use it themselves, which is fine too!
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Sep 9, 2015 07:33
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I just wound up designing consumable throwing items like alchemist's fire and acid, except less terrible. I don't know why the designers thought that an action and 50 gp spent to throw acid or fire at someone within 20 feet of you would still only let you make an attack roll against a single target.
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Sep 9, 2015 07:41
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What I did for a "boss" fight with a boss that was supposed to be a caster was to have him take an action after every player's turn, and then just alternate between DEX/CON/CHA/INT saves and either deal the rated DPR for him, or inflict some sort of status effect like knocked prone or Disadvantage on next attack roll and so on. It was rabbits out of a hat all the way down so I wasn't just attacking vs AC the whole time.
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Sep 9, 2015 09:15
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30.5 Days posted:1-3 minutes was my experience as well but it requires a lot of agreements by the table such as always rolling attack and damage together, bonuses if you are/shame if you aren't ready by the time the table comes around to you, etc. It didn't really improve the enjoyment of play AT ALL because the amount of pressure to rush through this tactical combat game that's supposed to be the fun part of D&D really sapped the enjoyment out of it.
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Sep 9, 2015 10:15
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Is Out of the Abyss released already? Ritorix started a PbP of it but AFAIK its supposed to be out Sep 15
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Sep 9, 2015 10:33
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gradenko_2000 posted:Thanks! I'm glad that worked out for you. I think you could probably just drop monster HP flat-out without any compensation in damage because damage still a bit on the high side thanks to a combination of me basing the damage numbers against a d10 hit dice class and the whole Hit Dice Healing mechanic not actually being all that great for enforcing any kind of longevity across an adventuring day. gradenko_2000 posted:Is Out of the Abyss released already? Ritorix started a PbP of it but AFAIK its supposed to be out Sep 15
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Sep 9, 2015 14:50
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Power Player posted:Could you link to the post with your monster math? I'd really appreciate it, I couldn't find it. About high time I moved it elsewhere. Try this
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Sep 9, 2015 15:51
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I'm going to get a bunch of backgammon doubling dice and let players roll those instead of normal damage dice for crits in non-boss encounters. Great DMing or Greatest DMing?
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Sep 9, 2015 16:39
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That's goddamned brilliant is what that is.
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Sep 9, 2015 16:54
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The Unearthed Arcana article is finally out, featuring a rebuilt Ranger because the original one suuuuuucks http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/ranger
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Sep 9, 2015 18:02
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that hit "die" makes no goddamn sense in relation to the class role
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Sep 9, 2015 18:13
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What is this "class role" you speak of. It's role-playing not... wait.
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Sep 9, 2015 18:20
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gradenko_2000 posted:The Unearthed Arcana article is finally out, featuring a rebuilt Ranger because the original one suuuuuucks So they took away spells and gave it a surprise round and choice of THP, party-wide advantage for a turn, or bonus damage on one attack...all of which are 1/rest? Sounds lame. They gave it Primeval Awareness but no spell slots to use with it. rip Edit: "D&D 5e: These game mechanics...are highly volatile and might be unstable; if you use them, be ready to rule on any issues that come up." Generic Octopus fucked around with this message at 18:29 on Sep 9, 2015 |
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Sep 9, 2015 18:23
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One to three levels of ranger on a rogue might not be terrible if you want to build a sniper.
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Sep 9, 2015 18:26
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Yeah Ambuscade would seem to mesh well with Assassin Rogue
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Sep 9, 2015 18:27
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gradenko_2000 posted:The Unearthed Arcana article is finally out, featuring a rebuilt Ranger because the original one suuuuuucks
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Sep 9, 2015 18:29
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Generic Octopus posted:So they took away spells and gave it a surprise round and choice of THP, party-wide advantage for a turn, or bonus damage on one attack...all of which are 1/rest? Sounds lame.
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Sep 9, 2015 18:33
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gradenko_2000 posted:Yeah Ambuscade would seem to mesh well with Assassin Rogue Maybe. Ambuscade/Assassinate gives you advantage for that pseudo-turn, but without actual Surprise you won't crit.
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Sep 9, 2015 18:37
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So Ambuscade is pretty much straight up better than Action Surge, right? You get to use it before anyone else can do anything, and you can use it every combat. The animal companions seem really weak. Summon a Brown Bear for one minute but you've got to concentrate, and you can only do it once a day. Brown Bears are CR 1. Conjure Animals, a third level spell, summons up a CR 2 beastie or two CR 1s. Sure, you get to toss out 2d6+X temp hp when you do it, but that's not much in way of compensation. The Stealth mechanic is weird in the whole "well orcs B and D can see you plain as day, but orc C is clueless" way. Nice job with Primeval Awareness still costing a spell slot when this new ranger doesn't get spells. Real slick move there.
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Sep 9, 2015 18:39
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Let's look at the real losers, here. If rangers don't have spells, bards can't poach them ten levels early. For real though, Primeval Awareness is trash and it not functioning will matter to exactly nobody because Primeval Awareness is traaaaash.
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Sep 9, 2015 18:42
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Hmm. Animal companions are difficult to balance, can be awkward to handle (e.g. can you take your wolf into town with you?) and often fall behind in power and survivability as the character levels up. Solution: Make them magic! Oh, and even though you have to concentrate to keep your animal companion around, you can apparently continue controlling it even while you're unconscious. Because rangers are JUST THAT STRONG-WILLED. This article follows in the proud Unearthed Arcana tradition of having apparently been tossed off during someone's lunch break. dwarf74 posted:2d6 hit die size, eh? Back in 1E, rangers got two dice for HP at first level when everyone else got one. I think that's pretty much the only reason they did this instead of just giving them a d12. 
Selachian fucked around with this message at 18:53 on Sep 9, 2015 |
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Sep 9, 2015 18:45
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How is Ambuscade not the greatest one level dip ever?
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Sep 9, 2015 18:52
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Quadratic_Wizard posted:So Ambuscade is pretty much straight up better than Action Surge, right? You get to use it before anyone else can do anything, and you can use it every combat. But with Action Surge, you can take any Action! Ambuscade limits you to just Attack and Hide! (yes it's dumb but w/e, Fighters are the forsaken class) Also slow down with all that power-gaming; Invoking the spirit is different from Materializing the spirit, and both are bonus actions, so it's one or the other. You want that sweet 2d6+Wis thp and a bear buddy on the same turn!? Pff, entitled player. Power Player posted:How is Ambuscade not the greatest one level dip ever? If you're a caster you might not care about Attack or Hide, which is what you're limited to.
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Sep 9, 2015 18:56
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Dex and Wisdom are both "good" saves. Every other class is supposed to have one of the good saves and one of the uncommon ones. This isn't how it's supposed to work. Hit dice are a goddamn mystery now. Do they have a hit "die" that is 2d6 in size? Or do they have hit dice equal to 1d6, except more of them? The reason this matters is because of things like the Durable feat, which states that the minimum amount of healing from a hit die is [con mod * 2]. So if I have a con mod of +2, does that mean that spending one hit die is 2d6 with the minimum of 4? Or do I have a huge amount of d6's that each of have a minimum of 4? That's kind of important for a resource management dungeon crawl game. Speaking of hit dice, why do Rangers now have hit points equal to a Barbarian? Ambuscade is a free bonus action every single combat and immunity to surprise. For real? Skirmisher's Stealth has a lot of slapstick comedy potential. Walk up from behind a wall to someone in broad daylight while yodeling, kick him in the balls, and then walk off again behind the wall... and your target has no idea what just happened. Even though his friends saw everything and they can just tell him. But no, he just cannot see through the trick. That's even better than the Rogue's cunning action. Not to mention really silly. Spirit Companion is once per day but it also recharges after a rest. That's not how 5e's mechanics are supposed to be worded. It should say that you can just summon it as a bonus action, but when you've done so you cannot do so again until after you finish a short or long rest. Sloppy writing, unnecessarily inconsistent. (Edit: Wait, no, I see what they mean now. That makes the wording all the poorer though.) Primevil Awareness does literally nothing for these Rangers. Good God seriously? Sage Genesis fucked around with this message at 19:05 on Sep 9, 2015 |
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Sep 9, 2015 19:00
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Selachian posted:Oh, and even though you have to concentrate to keep your animal companion around, you can apparently continue controlling it even while you're unconscious. Because rangers are JUST THAT STRONG-WILLED. Note that falling unconscious breaks concentration. So yeah... these Rangers have a special ability that lets them control something while unconscious, but that thing does cease to exist when they are unconscious. You just can't make this poo poo up.
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Sep 9, 2015 19:03
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Generic Octopus posted:But with Action Surge, you can take any Action! Ambuscade limits you to just Attack and Hide! (yes it's dumb but w/e, Fighters are the forsaken class)
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Sep 9, 2015 19:07
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Sage Genesis posted:Hit dice are a goddamn mystery now. Do they have a hit "die" that is 2d6 in size? Or do they have hit dice equal to 1d6, except more of them? The reason this matters is because of things like the Durable feat, which states that the minimum amount of healing from a hit die is [con mod * 2]. So if I have a con mod of +2, does that mean that spending one hit die is 2d6 with the minimum of 4? Or do I have a huge amount of d6's that each of have a minimum of 4? That's kind of important for a resource management dungeon crawl game. Mearls sez the ranger gets to add his/her Con mod to each hit die separately. All hail the rangertank.
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Sep 9, 2015 19:14
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Selachian posted:Mearls sez the ranger gets to add his/her Con mod to each hit die separately. Haha oh wow! That's huge compared to Fighters and Barbarians. Why is the lightly armored skirmisher suddenly so durable?
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Sep 9, 2015 19:18
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Because these articles are written on the bus on the way to work.
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Sep 9, 2015 19:20
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quote:Each time you gain a level, you gain 1 additional Hit Die. Roll that Hit Die, add your Constitution modifier to the roll, and add the total to your hit point maximum. That's from the basic rules. Not sure if that means that you gain 2x constitution on a level-up as well, or if it's just when spending it to regain hit points.
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Sep 9, 2015 19:21
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Selachian posted:Mearls sez the ranger gets to add his/her Con mod to each hit die separately. This makes no sense given the PHB text on hit dice but what do I know. Sage Genesis posted:Note that falling unconscious breaks concentration. Amazing. Didn't even think about that. Generic Octopus fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Sep 9, 2015 |
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Sep 9, 2015 19:23
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Sage Genesis posted:Skirmisher's Stealth has a lot of slapstick comedy potential. Walk up from behind a wall to someone in broad daylight while yodeling, kick him in the balls, and then walk off again behind the wall... and your target has no idea what just happened. Even though his friends saw everything and they can just tell him. But no, he just cannot see through the trick. That's even better than the Rogue's cunning action. Not to mention really silly.
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Sep 9, 2015 19:32
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Sage Genesis posted:Haha oh wow! That's huge compared to Fighters and Barbarians. Why is the lightly armored skirmisher suddenly so durable? Because hp is abstract and in not a direct measure of phydical endurance 
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Sep 9, 2015 19:53
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Partywide gimmick: everyone starts as level 1 Ranger and then progresses in their "normal" class.
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Sep 9, 2015 20:05
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Generic Octopus posted:Maybe. Ambuscade/Assassinate gives you advantage for that pseudo-turn, but without actual Surprise you won't crit. Yeah, but you can get surprise as an assassin just by hiding before the fight starts and then taking the first shot. Since surprise doesn't end until after your first turn in combat and the ranger feature gives you an extra turn (including bonus action and move) you can get up to two turns of surprise bow strikes and the ensuing critical hits, using your bonus actions to either hide or stay hidden.
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Sep 9, 2015 20:26
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LightWarden posted:Yeah, but you can get surprise as an assassin just by hiding before the fight starts This is pretty table/DM dependent though, at least in my experience.
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Sep 9, 2015 20:39
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Generic Octopus posted:This makes no sense given the PHB text New thread title! Generic Octopus posted:This is pretty table/DM dependent though, at least in my experience. Or this. Either way it's not particularly surprising that they're going to need to twist themselves into knots again to "clarify" their own rules.
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Sep 9, 2015 20:46
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Generic Octopus posted:This is pretty table/DM dependent though, at least in my experience. Well, you could scout 30 to 50 feet ahead of the party since you can put your starting Expertise into Stealth and Perception, and if you've got a longbow you don't actually need to get all that close. If you run into trouble you can use your bonus action to dash/hide and bug back to the rest of the party after taking a shot. Ranger bonus means you have an extra turn buffer to figure out if you screwed up or not.
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Sep 9, 2015 20:53
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Mearls has been clarifying a few things on twitter... Rangers having best hit dice is very much intentional, citing survivability of Aragorn (from movies, not books even  )Spell-less ranger archetype he feels is better rolled into a fighter build Rogues who take the dip can sneak attack twice. (I think that means once in the bonus round and once on the first round?) Bonus action attack / action surge can be used in the Ambuscade round 6 attacks before round 1 at level 7: "Rngr5/Ftr2:Ambuscade atk, 2 normal atks, bonus action atk via TWF or Polearm Master, then Action Surge for 2 more atks" Oh yeah, and you can spend your movement during Abuscade in addition to attack/hide I guess this is their idea of an answer to complaints of caster supremacy: Be a ranger!
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Sep 9, 2015 21:04
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Needs to require minimum rolled stats for proper verisimilitude
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Sep 9, 2015 21:11
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