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bewilderment posted:Pact of the Blade lets you pick martial weapons too, so you might as well give it the stats of a rapier (so that you can use Dex with it) but still describe it as a flaming guitar if you feel like it. Ah hell. I was just looking there because the book is a drat pain. Even so, I had this nice idea for a warlock with a story and background and useful cantrips from the tome and such and now the prospect of smashing some idiot with a flaming hell-guitar sounds too sweet not to do.
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Jan 24, 2017 03:39
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His name better be Lemmy.
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Jan 24, 2017 03:54
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Nehru the Damaja posted:Even so, I had this nice idea for a warlock with a story and background and useful cantrips from the tome and such and now the prospect of smashing some idiot with a flaming hell-guitar sounds too sweet not to do. Pitch to your DM the idea of selling your soul to the Devil in exchange for musical prowess. Your pact ability lets you summon various instruments through which you can cast a single damaging cantrip from any spell list (with each cantrip tied to a specific weapon or weapons) as though it was a warlock spell. Try to get your CHA bonus added to the damage roll and have the cantrips only require somatic and focus (the instrument) components. If you run across large and/or magical instruments in your adventures, see what your DM will let you get away with: "Can I use the vampire's pipe organ, my pact ability, and a spell slot to cast Daylight?" "Can I channel my pact ability into this Horn of Blasting?" Hello Sailor fucked around with this message at 05:22 on Jan 24, 2017 |
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Jan 24, 2017 05:16
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Hello Sailor posted:Pitch to your DM the idea of selling your soul to the Devil in exchange for musical prowess. Your pact ability lets you summon various instruments through which you can cast a single damaging cantrip from any spell list (with each cantrip tied to a specific weapon or weapons) as though it was a warlock spell. Try to get your CHA bonus added to the damage roll and have the cantrips only require somatic and focus (the instrument) components. A nice invocation would be getting expertise in performance and one musical instrument, call it something like Sold My Soul For Rock n Roll.
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Jan 24, 2017 05:27
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Nehru the Damaja posted:Ah hell. I was just looking there because the book is a drat pain. You could use Pact of the Tome to pick up the Shillelagh cantrip and turn your instrument (or any large wooden object) into a magical weapon that even uses Charisma as the ability score.
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Jan 24, 2017 05:29
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Spiteski posted:I run a 4e and am starting a Call of Cthulhu game using Fantasy Grounds. I know that's not what you would be hoping to hear in the DnD5e thread, but my 5e game is at 6 players so short of someone dropping out I can't offer anything else. Is it an adaptation of the rules and classes? I'd be interested. I just wanna roll some more dice.
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Jan 24, 2017 05:55
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empathe posted:Is it an adaptation of the rules and classes? I'd be interested. I just wanna roll some more dice. Both of them are games within each system using a ruleset specific to those systems on Fantasy Grounds (Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition, and Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition). If you have PMs, hit me up with days/times your looking to play.
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Jan 24, 2017 06:02
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Hello Sailor posted:Pitch to your DM the idea of selling your soul to the Devil in exchange for musical prowess. Your pact ability lets you summon various instruments through which you can cast a single damaging cantrip from any spell list (with each cantrip tied to a specific weapon or weapons) as though it was a warlock spell. Try to get your CHA bonus added to the damage roll and have the cantrips only require somatic and focus (the instrument) components. Oh johnny Ooooh johnny whyd you think you could out fiddle the devil
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Jan 24, 2017 09:42
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Rigged Death Trap posted:Oh johnny A devil went down to faerun to find some souls to steal...
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Jan 24, 2017 13:03
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Skellybones posted:You could use Pact of the Tome to pick up the Shillelagh cantrip and turn your instrument (or any large wooden object) into a magical weapon that even uses Charisma as the ability score. "I can put you in touch with a man who can help. A man named El Kabong."
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Jan 24, 2017 15:34
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Nehru the Damaja posted:Ah hell. I was just looking there because the book is a drat pain.
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Jan 24, 2017 16:06
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Splicer posted:Just describe it as a masterwork guitar and if anyone ever questions your d12 damage say "'cos it's a great axe". A lot of DMs dislike fun. One of my best friends got into an argument with his gf because she chose a bladed fan (a la Kitana) as her chosen weapon at creation, which he said wasn't ok arbitrarily, despite being rules legal. When he described his dilemma to the rest of us we unilaterally agreed with his girlfriend though.
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Jan 24, 2017 16:25
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Skellybones posted:You could use Pact of the Tome to pick up the Shillelagh cantrip and turn your instrument (or any large wooden object) into a magical weapon that even uses Charisma as the ability score. Or you could take proficiency with an instrument as your background, carry around a guitar, and use eldritch blast to create your own laser light show/murder enemies with properly metal eye lasers  while you play face-melting guitar solos.
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Jan 24, 2017 17:18
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SettingSun posted:A lot of DMs dislike fun. One of my best friends got into an argument with his gf because she chose a bladed fan (a la Kitana) as her chosen weapon at creation, which he said wasn't ok arbitrarily, despite being rules legal. When he described his dilemma to the rest of us we unilaterally agreed with his girlfriend though. If I've learned only one thing in the 18 years I've played PnP RPGs (oh god) it's this: if something is cool to a player or the GM and isn't just a severe numbers buff for no reason, let it happen regardless of the rules.
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Jan 24, 2017 17:30
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Any ideas on juicing up the last encounter with the Green Hag in Tales Trees Tell? All the hype throughout the mission is how Jeny Greenteeth is this ancient, malicious, horrifying evil...but they actually expect you to negotiate with her. Even after she tries to feed you loving people! If you fight her, it's just a boring "she uses her claws on you until she gets low on HP, then runs away" battle. This after she's had 3 full days to scout you out and has possibly been listening to your conversations the whole time. And my party is stronk as gently caress, so I think they're going to ice her pretty quick. I see that Green Hags are amphibious, so maybe her house can be surrounded by swamp so she can do hit-and-run attacks from the water?
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Jan 24, 2017 17:31
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Is a hit-and-run fight going to actually be fun for your players to fight against? "She runs up, hits you, and runs off. Now it's your turn and she's out of range.  "
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Jan 24, 2017 17:35
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Well, it's such a boring fight by default. 1 vs 4, and she's just a big ball of HP that can only use Vicious Mockery or claws. I'd rather cut her HP in half and give her some interesting wrinkles, like using Illusory Appearance to imitate NPCs they've met, or even PCs, or Mimicry to throw them off. Make the fight more about hunting her down than just whacking the pinata. She's supposed to be this ancient and malicious intelligence after all.
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Jan 24, 2017 17:47
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My point was, make sure you make the fight interesting for your players, not just "interesting." If your remade version is unfun as gently caress, I'd rather just fight a sack of HP.
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Jan 24, 2017 17:52
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Perhaps this is why she is open to negotiation. You can irredeemably evil and still know you're gonna lose a 1v4 fight no matter how you prepare.
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Jan 24, 2017 17:54
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Halve her HP, put her in a swamp. When she hits half HP have her dive into the swamp and spawn a bunch of angry ambulatory Venus Flytraps. On her next initiative have her reappear just far enough away that not every player can reach her. Now they're attacking her while also fighting/having seeds shot at them by angry fallout 2 plants. e: no more vanishing acts though. Splicer fucked around with this message at 18:01 on Jan 24, 2017 |
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Jan 24, 2017 17:57
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Dick Burglar posted:My point was, make sure you make the fight interesting for your players, not just "interesting." If your remade version is unfun as gently caress, I'd rather just fight a sack of HP. Why do you think I'm asking? I think winkling out the ancient evil hiding on her home turf is more exciting/tense than a dice-rolling contest that is probably going to turn into a squash match, but I could use advice. SettingSun posted:Perhaps this is why she is open to negotiation. You can irredeemably evil and still know you're gonna lose a 1v4 fight no matter how you prepare. She has at-will invisibility that she only uses to run away while screaming "I'll get you next time, Gadget!" It's really not a well thought-out encounter.
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Jan 24, 2017 18:07
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I actually would like to see more WoW style dynamic boss fights in D&D where there is more to it than just attacking the boss directly.
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Jan 24, 2017 18:19
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1. Always give a boss as many standard actions as there are players 2. Give them a "raid boss gimmick". It doesn't have to be "the boss is unbeatable until you can figure it out", it just has to be really thematic.
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Jan 24, 2017 18:35
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Vengarr posted:Any ideas on juicing up the last encounter with the Green Hag in Tales Trees Tell? All the hype throughout the mission is how Jeny Greenteeth is this ancient, malicious, horrifying evil...but they actually expect you to negotiate with her. Even after she tries to feed you loving people! If you fight her, it's just a boring "she uses her claws on you until she gets low on HP, then runs away" battle. This after she's had 3 full days to scout you out and has possibly been listening to your conversations the whole time. And my party is stronk as gently caress, so I think they're going to ice her pretty quick. Don't have the MM in front of me, but the 5e wiki site I just pulled up said Green Hags can turn invisible or use illusion and mimicry to look and sound like other people. They're also on the strong side. Try to split the party and have her grapple the weaker members and drag them underwater. Up her action economy as others have suggested and now she's at least semi-dangerous.
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Jan 24, 2017 19:01
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nelson posted:I actually would like to see more WoW style dynamic boss fights in D&D where there is more to it than just attacking the boss directly. [ T R I G G E R E D ] I would, too.
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Jan 24, 2017 19:33
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The most boring thing in d&d is attacking a creature with a lot of health. After the second time I ran a boss battle like this... [*roll dice* *roll dice* *roll dice*] "ok, you strike him and he looks unfazed." [*roll dice* *roll dice* *roll dice*] "ok, you strike him and he still looks unfazed." [*roll dice* *roll dice* *roll dice*] "ok, you strike him and he's starting to look a little hurt." [repeat 30 times] ...I pledged to never make a boss battle where there's not SOME sort of gimmick that provides the player with multiple targets or allows them to beat the boss in some cool, creative way. And if the players are just steamrolling a boss and not taking enough damage to make the battle threatening, go dark souls on them — surprise, you have to actually fight TWO copies of this boss now. edit: whoops, I thought this was the GM advice thread, but this is still applicable here too I guess Polo-Rican fucked around with this message at 19:45 on Jan 24, 2017 |
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Jan 24, 2017 19:43
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Polo-Rican posted:the most boring thing in d&d is attacking a creature with a lot of health. After the second time I ran a boss battle like this... The easiest way to do this can be classic combat dialogue- come up with a few taunts, one-liners, whatever, as fits the tone of the campaign. Having more than hits traded back and forth can spice things up, and a few well-chosen words in reply could be used to manipulate the boss. If you want to be a little more dynamic with the ol' Big Huge Evil Creature type of battle, my philosophy is that climbing atop it should usually provide at least some sort of advantage (assuming it's not made of acid or something)- the Rogue can backstab the thing in its heel for normal damage, but getting in position to do it properly boosts the attack. If you want to make a multi-form boss, I recommend using the Paragon system- it's basically shoving multiple monsters into the same body, giving them multiple health and action pools that deplete separately, either in sequence or as some sort of locational damage. As health pools deplete, changes in behavior and appearance can spice up a longer fight. Since they are effectively a pack of independent monsters, you can give an ooze three health pools, where killing the first "monster" will split it into two smaller, more aggressive monsters. At the very least, it makes balancing a lot easier when you can split up the action economy and allow for easy attrition.
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Jan 24, 2017 20:11
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nelson posted:I actually would like to see more WoW style dynamic boss fights in D&D where there is more to it than just attacking the boss directly. Agreed. My favorite encounters as a player have had something going on other than just trying to kill some dudes before they kill us. Things like an NPC bleeding out or being targeted for a ritual sacrifice, but they're far enough away that we needed to really focus on saving them rather than killing the bad guys. One encounter had us escorting a living NPC through a huge battle in a castle's courtyard. Maybe Jenny has some magic plants (or buried body parts) all around her hut and if she plucks them and spends a turn using them bad poo poo happens. Let the players use reactions to interrupt her if they're within 5 feet, or something like that.
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Jan 24, 2017 21:43
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The three big fights I've had so far had good reviews. There was the traitor knight I posted earlier in the thread, with legendary actions (he held up okay until he got Thunder Wave'd off the top of the tower). There was a battle where they had to disrupt the evil ritual while fighting off undead, and there was a huge pile of dead bodies they had to navigate to reach the altar. And the very first level 1 encounter was a Rainbow Six-esque doorkicker special, where the party had to deal with a bunch of goblins who had taken hostages in a house. I like rolling dice, but for major encounters I always want something more. There's always got to be a complicating element.
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Jan 24, 2017 21:51
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I've been playing around with my "miniboss" type guys having smaller types of legendary actions that some of the big bosses get. Giving them a use of legendary resistance, a one-time AOE with knockdown/blind, blink/shadow step ability as a reaction to being hit the first time, hellish rebuke for a round, sacrificing an attack to get magic reflection that requires them to make an unmodified attack roll back at the attacker... Just a few of the ideas I have written down in my DM book so far. Generally I wouldn't give them more than 1-2 abilities, and no more than 1 use of each under level 10 or so. Upping the action economy, like having the ability to cast a spell and then attack can help increase the risk to the players. A page or two ago someone was asking how to introduce a high level badguy to low level adventurers who may be inclined to attempt to engage him way before they're ready: What I did for my guy was make a high level warlock, with a high level (but slightly lower level than the boss) cleric. I have two spell sheets for each of them. (I know how both classes' spell domains work). The first sheet has the highlight dots for prepared spells filled in with every control, mobility or charm type spell highlighted. I use that for casual/social/RP encounters where the party isn't meant to fight them. The second sheet highlights the spells I would expect them to use during a boss fight type encounter. This way I have a quick reference point with all of the janky "The sidekick cleric casts 6th level Hold Person" and locks down the entire party, long enough for a quick bit of monologing before the warlock casts dimension door and poofs out. Incidentally, I also have two copies of character sheets, one basic one in case one of the players ever comes up with some weird way of knowing any specific stats of the boss character (and to keep me honest while he's villaining around the party's adventure) and one for use if they ever confront him in his palace, prepared. The second one will come out at that point and he'll get a few legendary actions and a nice "this isn't even my ULTIMATE FORM!" morph action. It's 100% camp for the sake of being campy and fun.
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Jan 25, 2017 08:30
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Putting together the guitar-wielding blade pact Warlock. Is there a good source anywhere on what fiend or kind of fiend would be most likely to make such a pact? Looking at using Dragonborns' need for perfection and Entertainer's hook of having a hated rival to put the guy into a Crossroads type deal, entering a pact for music chops.
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Jan 25, 2017 09:41
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Nehru the Damaja posted:Putting together the guitar-wielding blade pact Warlock. Is there a good source anywhere on what fiend or kind of fiend would be most likely to make such a pact? Looking at using Dragonborns' need for perfection and Entertainer's hook of having a hated rival to put the guy into a Crossroads type deal, entering a pact for music chops. Devils are the infernal contract type in D&D, not demons.
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Jan 25, 2017 09:53
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PHB lists "arch-devils" as fiends capable of making a pact. But maybe it's not even the classic soul-for-talent type quid pro quo but an arrangement more like a Mafia favor. Less about an immortal soul and more about the value of having someone indebted to you. Point is I'm trying to find with a Fiend patron that might have a reason to give this guy his sweet powers and blade.
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Jan 25, 2017 10:04
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Make something up! e: Like a sleazy music industry type person, but actually a devil, and his deal, whatever it is, is not about your soul. (Or it's not about your soul.) Or it's some random devil that nobody's ever heard of who just provided you with the talent and you never even asked for it but you're constantly worried that there's some sort of obligation if you use it, and you've needed to use it quite a bit. Or it's not soul-for-talent, but rather talent provided on the condition that you put this or that weird arcane bit into every second song. You don't know what those bits do to listeners, but you're sure it's something. Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 10:32 on Jan 25, 2017 |
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Jan 25, 2017 10:25
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If I don't get to say "Rock me, Asmodeus" at some point, this was all a waste.
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Jan 25, 2017 10:43
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Nehru the Damaja posted:If I don't get to say "Rock me, Asmodeus" at some point, this was all a waste. Awww, man, now you've gone and reminded me of the cool Tiefling Bard character I had in mind back in the 4e days that I never got to play. The above was exactly what I had in mind for their catchphrase. 
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Jan 25, 2017 10:55
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No D&D at PAX East this year. Hasbro doesn't want to shell out the money for floor space anymore. I was really looking forward to DMing for lots of new players again
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Jan 25, 2017 19:46
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Kaysette posted:No D&D at PAX East this year. Hasbro doesn't want to shell out the money for floor space anymore. I was really looking forward to DMing for lots of new players again That's unfortunate Where did you see this at?
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Jan 25, 2017 20:52
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nelson posted:I actually would like to see more WoW style dynamic boss fights in D&D where there is more to it than just attacking the boss directly. I did this once. It was a giant multieyed beast, basically a gargantuan beholder, in a realm of dreams. The players were on a small island. He had 3 tentacles that would slam into the island after doing a three card monte type shuffle. One of the tentacles had a different color underneath, and if they struck the right one his tentacles would all go flying into the air and his eye would open. Hit the wrong one and the tentacle would attack you. After his eye was open they could plink him for damage, he would rotate in a pattern around the island and begin to shake. Then his eye beam would go off, doing massive damage to anyone in it's path and destroying that part of the island. The encounter was super fun and thematic to a player's backstory with the three tentacle monte bit. Everyone loving loved it, even the guy who hates a previous edition for being "too videogamey" which blew my mind.
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Jan 25, 2017 21:02
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Dr. Doji Suave posted:That's unfortunate The former regional coordinator who set up the DM schedule last year just emailed us to say we wouldn't be needed (and won't be getting PAX passes) this year.
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Jan 25, 2017 21:45
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