|
SettingSun posted:I agree it is in fact quite practical, especially for a rogue, but it's lost a lot of flash which I feel is key to the style. No I meant in terms of flash. Putting yourself in a worse position to go all-out in attacking is thematic and cool. Also I don't see anything in the rules that prevents this from still being the case in 5e: quote:any class can hold two weapons in combat (as long as one has the offhand property), but can only swing one at once. They must decide before attacking which weapon the strike will come from, at otherwise no penalty.
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 17:54
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 16:04 |
|
|
Two weapons is cool 
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 18:57
|
|
|
gradenko_2000 posted:Except the original idea makes no sense because in AD&D's minute-long combat rounds, a single attack roll doesn't represent a single swing of your weapon, but rather an entire fight sequence worth of traded blows, with the attack roll representing whether or not the blows made an appreciable difference in the enemy's capability to fight. Which is why I like the semi-retroclone Mazes & Minotaurs. Dual-wielding just gives you a flat bonus to your attack roll.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 19:50
|
|
|
Doresh posted:Which is why I like the semi-retroclone Mazes & Minotaurs. Dual-wielding just gives you a flat bonus to your attack roll. So holding a rusty knife in your offhand gives the same mechanical bonuses as if it was a sweet flaming dagger? Doesn't sound as cool
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 19:57
|
|
|
esquilax posted:So holding a rusty knife in your offhand gives the same mechanical bonuses as if it was a sweet flaming dagger? Doesn't sound as cool It's like it's only meant to agument your mainhand.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 20:25
|
|
|
Hello all, So I'm a fairly new GM and I've been guiding a bunch of first timers through DnD. I've given them a decent grasp of the rules via handouts and through gameplay. We've run two big sessions with a fairly heavy combat focus. I'm happy to say the players have been RPing without much encouragement from me. The last session ended with your stereotypical collapse of some ancient ruins after fighting the final boss. I think it'd be nice to introduce them to things like lifestyle expenses, do some light RPing since they all just hit 3rd level (I might throw in some plot hooks when the warlock gets his book of shadows) but I'm not sure what else to plan for the next session. What ideas do you think might be fun for some DnD newbies that aren't super combat orientated? Thanks in advance for any advice.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 20:26
|
|
|
The Sisko posted:Hello all, What have the players talked about in their sessions? It is usually a great idea to use their own ideas with your own twist to create situations that are enjoyable for everyone.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 20:32
|
|
|
The Sisko posted:Hello all, Unless you're deliberately trying to keep it a surprise from your players, it doesn't hurt to ask them what they're in the mood to do. A fun combat-light adventure for me is usually political in nature. Something like being tasked to go parley with the mountain giants who happen to live on a really tough but interesting to climb mountain. Or (especially if someone is a rogue) they have to find and coordinate with the local rogue's guild to perform a daring heist of a corrupt noble's mansion.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 20:37
|
|
|
Thanks for the quick responses. Kibner posted:What have the players talked about in their sessions? It is usually a great idea to use their own ideas with your own twist to create situations that are enjoyable for everyone. Off the top of my head we have: - an ex mercenary Goliath who got betrayed by the group he founded and lead. - an Aaismar Sorcerer who's getting crazy prophetic visions of a war to come. - an Archfey Warlock who the player hashed out to be part of cult/religion that worships the Archfey (in this instance Oberon) - a Stout halfing who's back story is essentially The Revanant set in fantasy. SettingSun posted:Unless you're deliberately trying to keep it a surprise from your players, it doesn't hurt to ask them what they're in the mood to do. A fun combat-light adventure for me is usually political in nature. Something like being tasked to go parley with the mountain giants who happen to live on a really tough but interesting to climb mountain. Or (especially if someone is a rogue) they have to find and coordinate with the local rogue's guild to perform a daring heist of a corrupt noble's mansion. Before the first session I talked to the players about what kind of adventures and tone they wanted , and they unanimously agreed to something akin to Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 21:04
|
|
|
The Sisko posted:Before the first session I talked to the players about what kind of adventures and tone they wanted , and they unanimously agreed to something akin to Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit. Those are great stories to crib from so don't be afraid to grab whole bits you like and make adventures out of them. I recently borrowed the section from Return of the King for an adventure where Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas descend into the Paths of the Dead to press gang the Oathbreakers. Mine was basically the same plot with the names and locations shuffled around.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 21:40
|
|
|
The Sisko posted:Thanks for the quick responses. Sorcerer gets a prophetic vision that uses symbols from the warlock's cult that somehow involves the Goliath's former gang (perhaps initially as bad guys but then needed to begrudgingly work together against a greater evil). I'm not familiar with The Revanant but I'm sure you can work something in.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 21:55
|
|
|
SettingSun posted:Those are great stories to crib from so don't be afraid to grab whole bits you like and make adventures out of them. I recently borrowed the section from Return of the King for an adventure where Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas descend into the Paths of the Dead to press gang the Oathbreakers. Mine was basically the same plot with the names and locations shuffled around. What? No they're not, for D&D at least. D&D is horrible for genre emulation; it is a thing unto itself. Don't take plotlines or scenes from epic fantasy, because that's not what D&D is about. If you want to play the Lord of the Rings, that's fine - the One Ring is great, from what I've heard. Or if you want to do something alike, Fellowship is a great game and goon-designed to boot. But D&D itself rifled through LotR's pockets long ago and left the parts that don't work for it behind. Stick to D&D itself - a motley band of wanderers looking for gold and glory - and you'll be much happier, and do much better.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 22:08
|
|
|
All I'm trying to say is if you like the plot of some thing or some part of a thing, steal it for your own adventures. I'm not saying to run through LotR wholesale because that is in fact a terrible idea, but just take individual parts you find interesting and adapt them for yourself.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 22:13
|
|
|
Vengarr posted:http://www.bookoffiverings.com/ man I can't believe I forgot about him. I was just looking for the chain+sickle vs his two swords fight (mifune samurai Ii movie) on YouTube a few days ago
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 22:25
|
|
|
My 2 cents on two weapon fighting coolness that nobody cares about: A character who uses a dagger or short sword or something as an offhand as an augment to their main hand is cool. Rogues or duelists or w/e that primarily fight one handed but keep a dagger at the ready if they see an opening is a cool mental image. Drizz't with two full size scimitars doing sick flips and crazy moves is not cool. It's too unrealistic to my delicate goon sensibilities. What I'm saying is daggers are cool and people should use them more.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 22:34
|
|
|
Agent355 posted:My 2 cents on two weapon fighting coolness that nobody cares about : I've always thought that using a dagger offhand should add +1 to AC if for no other reason than they are criminally underused on account of doing practically zero damage.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 22:37
|
|
|
As a player, after a huge climatic battle I really enjoy a session that doesn't have combat and is basically about what the party members do with their newfound treasure and gold. Often if you give them things to buy they will blow it all, thereby leading them to need to adventure again for gold. Edit: I promise I was thinking of my campaign when I wrote this but reading it back it totally sounds like The Adventure Zone. If anything caught their attention during the quest that they put aside, now would be a good time to bring it up. Maybe someone tries to steal one of the pieces of loot they grabbed at some point, like what appears to them to be one of their random lovely rusty old daggers they got off a random monster, but oh poo poo it's actually special!
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 22:37
|
|
|
What does the goon hivemind think of the adventure zone anyway? I find it funny as all get out but I really wouldn't want to play the actual campaign they're doing. It's very gamey and full of silly gimmicky poo poo from the DM. There's lots of very good things to say about their ability to improv and roleplay but I wouldn't actually want to be sitting at the table and playing at all. Still watch it though, it's definitely my favorite DnD podcast. I want to like some others like Critical Role but man is it hard to get into a game that has 10 players. It's so dense.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 22:48
|
|
|
The group I GM, also mostly new/first time RPG players, really liked the mini whodunit that I put them through at 3rd level and it definitely got them more involved in the RP element. In their case, they were trying to recover a past-due item for the magic item repo organization they were all hired by. They get to the village and it turns out the guy who was leasing it disappeared a couple weeks back. I made a small cast of village NPCs with different connections/motivations (about 8 total), put a red herring swamp sorcerer in there- suspicious because swamp sorcerer but he was actually a chill dude, had a LOT of redundant clues and evidence for the party to find and let them have at it. I was not particularly subtle with the clues, but it seems like that was actually the right level for the characters to grab onto the hooks. There was a small combat in the middle where they helped the swamp sorcerer kill some zombies in the cursed swamp (one of which was the dude they were looking for, in case they were starting to buy the 'he travels a lot' line from the bad guy) but was otherwise a pretty peaceful session until they riled up the townsfolk against their corrupt, greedy reeve who did it on behalf of the local lord- backed up with evidence! They briefly thought about taking the fight to the lord himself, but wisely remembered they were all level 3 and wanted to get $$paid$$ so they pointed the townsfolk in the lord's direction with inspirational encouragement for truth and justice and promptly walked the opposite way with the magic item. This incited rebellion will come back to bite them in the future when they later need the lord's aid, so it totally worked out well for me. I handwrote the smoking gun letter from the lord to the reeve, but none of the players could read my fancy-pants cursive 
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 22:54
|
|
|
The Sisko posted:...clip... I've had good luck with simple prison break scenarios. Put the cells on the second story. Have three scary guards with problems in their personal lives. (And according to a book I read on cold reading, all personal problems come down to wealth, health, and love.) Then have a dramatic, vision-obscuring rainstorm.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 22:58
|
|
|
FAT BATMAN posted:As a player, after a huge climatic battle I really enjoy a session that doesn't have combat and is basically about what the party members do with their newfound treasure and gold. Often if you give them things to buy they will blow it all, thereby leading them to need to adventure again for gold. I like this idea a lot. I keep coming back to the Warlock and his Pact of the Tome. I feel like it would make for some interesting RP ,especially in seeing how he reacts to being in the presence of his Patron. It would also be great way to introduce a story or quest hook. Perhaps we have a little scene of what each character does in their downtime, sprinkled with hooks, and see which direction the party goes? BadSamaritan posted:Whodunnit quest This is also a great idea. I'll definitely put it in my pocket in case the party doesn't bite on any other hooks. The Sisko fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Jan 31, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2017 23:04
|
|
|
esquilax posted:No I meant in terms of flash. Putting yourself in a worse position to go all-out in attacking is thematic and cool. I sort of wish they just let you make attacks with Light weapons as a Bonus Action, full stop. Make a quick jab with a dagger, then use your Action to Dodge, etc. On a similar note, it seems like if you're two-handing a 2d6 weapon, you should have advantage on the attack (since dual-wielding 2#1d6 weapons lets you similarly make two attack rolls) but polearms are oversupported anyway, so gently caress it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 00:15
|
|
|
I have an idea for session that necessitates me generate a bunch of leveled NPCs of various races or beast races with levels or w/e. The idea is, depending on what the PCs do, there is a good chance they'll end up fighting other adventurers or other non-chump NPCs. Whats a good way to do this quickly and organize it into a nice easy reference able list? I normally just throw monsters at them and keep the MM handy, I have a stack of note cards I could turn into a stack of templates for fighters, rogues, clerics, etc but how to generate level 2-4 stat cards without having it take hours? I googled for generators but even with a tool like the ones I found it's going to take a good long while to do, anybody have experience doing something similar?
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 00:36
|
|
|
P.d0t posted:I sort of wish they just let you make attacks with Light weapons as a Bonus Action, full stop. In a way it seems like you can right? Off hand weapon is a bonus action with no damage bonus. If you're already dual wielding it seems semantic to say you can't just swing the off hand weapon.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 00:43
|
|
|
Agent355 posted:I have an idea for session that necessitates me generate a bunch of leveled NPCs of various races or beast races with levels or w/e. The idea is, depending on what the PCs do, there is a good chance they'll end up fighting other adventurers or other non-chump NPCs. Whats a good way to do this quickly and organize it into a nice easy reference able list? I normally just throw monsters at them and keep the MM handy, I have a stack of note cards I could turn into a stack of templates for fighters, rogues, clerics, etc but how to generate level 2-4 stat cards without having it take hours? Do you need full stat block, or just names? I made this a while back, it just gives a race-appropriate name along with a random class and background. You can apply simple class stats from MM them. http://random-5e-npc.herokuapp.com/
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 00:44
|
|
|
The situation is the party has impromptu become pirates because a wizard did it and are tasked with getting a pile of gold and a magical pirate mcguffin so they can continue on in their goal. This session coming on the back of some no-RP dungeon crawl sort of level, so it's a nice departure. I've filled this corner of the world with a few towns, pirate towns, hidden treasure, temples to rob, other pirates to attack, a large imposing royal galleon, etc etc etc. There is multiple ways to obtain the mcguffin and of course plenty of treasure to rob/find/liberate as the party sees fit. Yet most of the enemies in this sort of scenario are going to be humanoids w/ levels, enemy pirates namely. The party probably isn't going to turn to actual piracy of innocents as much as anti-pirates but it's the same thing either way. Unless they exclusively decide they want to go hunting for buried treasure I'm going to need some humanoid monsters that don't fit into the MM/SRDs definition because thematic reasons or appropriate CR rating. I need more than just 1 or 2 cards for the pirates because plot reasons, some of the pirates are wizards, or paladins, or w/e because a wizard did it so I can't just apply 'bandit' to all of them. I can absolutely just generate some stats, gear, skills, etc for a bunch of NPCs with class levels but it just seems there has to be an easier way, maybe somebody who already did something similar.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 00:53
|
|
|
Agent355 posted:I have an idea for session that necessitates me generate a bunch of leveled NPCs of various races or beast races with levels or w/e. The idea is, depending on what the PCs do, there is a good chance they'll end up fighting other adventurers or other non-chump NPCs. Whats a good way to do this quickly and organize it into a nice easy reference able list? I normally just throw monsters at them and keep the MM handy, I have a stack of note cards I could turn into a stack of templates for fighters, rogues, clerics, etc but how to generate level 2-4 stat cards without having it take hours? Do you use a computer at the table? If so, it's not very hard. Get Microsoft OneNote (or whatever other program you want? But OneNote has been great for me). Make a new notebook (call it My Adventure or whatever). Make a tab called "Characters". Make a new entry for each character. Now go to http://rpgtinker.com/ and gen up an NPC (use the hit die to determine the NPC's level--2 hit dice = level 2. This will determine abilities and spell lists and poo poo). Paste the giant fuckoff stat block it gives you into the characters' entry in OneNote, add whatever interesting wrinkles or items you want, and you're done.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 01:01
|
|
|
Vengarr posted:Do you use a computer at the table? If so, it's not very hard. Perfect, thats just the sort of tool I was looking for. It's a roll20 game so it's no issue just keeping it all on my computer though I might transcribe at least a handful to note cards to make it easier to reference since I only have the one monitor for now.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 01:03
|
|
|
Here is the ages' old DM secret to your problem. You're gonna make one dungeon or whatever. It's gonna have one set of enemies in it. When the PCs hit the table SURE THESE GUYS ARE THE PALADINS or instead it can be YES THESE ARE THE BLACK SEAS RAIDERS. This approach doesn't work all the time but if you have a bunch of options for a mushy plotline straight game like 5e, it'll be fine. One set of stats. One set of sites. Rearrange and reskin on the fly to taste. It's 5e. No one's even gonna notice if that paladin is actually a fighter.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 01:04
|
|
|
Agent355 posted:Perfect, thats just the sort of tool I was looking for. It's a roll20 game so it's no issue just keeping it all on my computer though I might transcribe at least a handful to note cards to make it easier to reference since I only have the one monitor for now. That site is using MM statblocks as a base, mind you. So if you want these guys to feel more like adventurers, give the Berserker one use of Rage or the Acolyte a use of Channel Divinity or whatever. The latter I did for my first boss. Since he was a prophet of the God of Time, his Channel Divinity let him cast Time Stop 
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 01:12
|
|
|
I got roped into Dming 5e for my GF's sister's birthday, she wants me to run a level 14 campaign, which I'm cool with, anything I need to know? Also, she wants me to make her a PC, she wants a level 14 Gunslinger / Artificier multiclass character. Do we still have a character building thread? I want to make it as strong as possible.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 01:27
|
|
|
Novum posted:In a way it seems like you can right? Off hand weapon is a bonus action with no damage bonus. If you're already dual wielding it seems semantic to say you can't just swing the off hand weapon. Rules-as-written you need to take the Attack action in order to use a bonus action for an attack. There's technically no main hand or off hand, just "one hand" and "the other hand".
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 01:30
|
|
|
SettingSun posted:Unless you're deliberately trying to keep it a surprise from your players, it doesn't hurt to ask them what they're in the mood to do. A fun combat-light adventure for me is usually political in nature. Something like being tasked to go parley with the mountain giants who happen to live on a really tough but interesting to climb mountain. Or (especially if someone is a rogue) they have to find and coordinate with the local rogue's guild to perform a daring heist of a corrupt noble's mansion. Yeah, definately seconding the advice to ask your players what they've want and what they enjoyed. I just had one of my players (who I just recently started gaming with after a 15 year break oh god I am old) tell me that our last session was the best session of D&D he'd ever played because A) It was a diplomatic thing with where non talking skills had an effect B) He busted a dude out of jail by himself. I didn't really thing these were strong elements and was surprised by the feedback, but now can incorporate this into the future. Once you find out what people like, you can easily work that stuff in.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 01:33
|
|
|
Turtlicious posted:I got roped into Dming 5e for my GF's sister's birthday, she wants me to run a level 14 campaign, which I'm cool with, anything I need to know? I don't think you'll have to try very hard to make a Gunslinger/Artificer powerful.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 01:34
|
|
|
Agent355 posted:What does the goon hivemind think of the adventure zone anyway? I find it funny as all get out but I really wouldn't want to play the actual campaign they're doing. It's very gamey and full of silly gimmicky poo poo from the DM. There's lots of very good things to say about their ability to improv and roleplay but I wouldn't actually want to be sitting at the table and playing at all. I enjoy listening to it, but also probably wouldn't enjoy playing it. I don't mind the gamey gimmicks but there is a lot of railroading and GM fiat (and long cut scenes) that are perfect for an entertainment product but not as good for actual gameplay. I think they know that they are making what is essentially a radio play, rather than just recording a game, though and they lean into it. Critical Role is way too earnest for me. Like, they're role-playing too hard.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 03:49
|
|
|
I actively cringe everytime they roll dice and actually clap over the result. If it's not fake then they're all crazy but it's probably just played up for some reason.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 04:08
|
|
|
Our group plays in a nerdy café and once during a long fight our fighter kept missing every single attack during their turn for several turns. It was ridiculous, we kept having them switch d20s cause their poo poo was obviously cursed. When they finally did land a hit, it was on a critical hit, and we burst into cheers and applause just caught up in the moment, and to my embarrassment everyone at all the gaming tables around us also started applauding and cheering us. We try not to get that wild over nat 20s anymore.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 04:15
|
|
|
FAT BATMAN posted:As a player, after a huge climatic battle I really enjoy a session that doesn't have combat and is basically about what the party members do with their newfound treasure and gold. Often if you give them things to buy they will blow it all, thereby leading them to need to adventure again for gold. I try to keep my game solidly in the 30:70 to 40:60 RP:Combat ratio. Our last session was a post-meeting the big-bad villain type, who was actually the teacher of one of the players. I arranged for there to be one decently difficult combat mid-trek while the party was travelling back to their boat while they contemplated what to do next. I had been alluding to this particular area having issues with trolls and ogres coming down from the mountains lately, so they were on alert for the possibility. They actually chose to do all the right things in terms of keeping watch, having the druid use animal friends to scout for them and use a ranger to lead them off-path back to their boat to avoid the confrontation. The rest of the session was the party navigating a river, travelling in a trireme along the coast, surviving a storm and a whirlpool, successfully hiding along a shoreline from pirates, making a dangerous deep-water crossing in the narrow part of an inland sea, and then making it to the safety of the city they set out to get to. They performed a divination ritual that included a whole improvised input from several characters involved in trying to divine what to do next (and whether a key person in the story arc was alive) and then trying to figure out the answer: ..basically they has a branch from a tree from the faeplane. They needed to know whether the queen of the summer court was still alive, or whether she had been murdered when she was deposed. They created the ritual circle with all of the necessary candles and incense and then prayed to Titania to determine if the queen was alive. (she was, but subjected to the Banishment spell, and currently in a little pocket dimension limbo). The gnome in the party had attached to the branch a little tinkered series of bells that made little chiming noises like the noises a faerie or sprite makes when it's flying. The ritual caused the smoke from the incense and candles to swirl around the branch (an obvious influence of otherworldly powers), but the little bells and chimes made no noise. After 2 minutes the incense and candles were expended and ran out, the swirling smoke slowed until it was picked up and dissipated by the breeze, after which time the bells started making noise because of the influence of the breeze. The branch wasn't consumed by the spell, but when the players tried to lift it to examine it, it had sprouted roots and is now for all intents and purposes a fully-realized tree. The clue was the branch not being destroyed, and it sprouting roots, showing life, but with the smoke and haze obscuring it and bells not making the sounds, she was banished and unable to escape or communicate. I never explicitly told the players what any of that meant. They've basically figured it out and are reasonably certain that they're right, but there's that 5% chance that they misread it and they're hooked. My players spent a good 40 minutes on that ritual and we ended as they packed up to leave the grove they had performed the ritual in. They spent the next hour while we cleaned up our host's house and kitchen before going home just going over everything and how much fun the ritual scene was. The entire night probably had them rolling dice less than 15 times. They did some group rolling for actions they were taking to navigate the boat in a storm and against the whirlpool (helmsman made navigation, rowers did str checks, druid did concentration for creating a wind), obscuring the boat while the pirates looked for them (improvised investigation for finding branches and things to hide the boat) and then the ritual (arcana, nature and religion checks for the people involved). They told me after that they enjoyed that session more than the one where the snuck through a city to a desecrated temple to break up a cult of Yuan-ti that had infiltrated it and were turning city folk to their cult which ended in a big John Wu fight scene in a burning church ending in the smashing of the giant stained glass window so the sunlight could help finish off the high priest before his sacrifice of the old priest was complete. That session was about 5 or 6 consecutive combat encounters and they basically had to use a divine intervention to confer the effects of a long rest before starting the final encounter push. That night had them rolling something every 2-3 minutes.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 08:49
|
|
|
Agent355 posted:I actively cringe everytime they roll dice and actually clap over the result. If it's not fake then they're all crazy but it's probably just played up for some reason. My 7 year old really enjoys Critical Role and when I take him to Adventurer League games and he does something cool like a high damage paladin critical smite or, in his case, successfully throwing a beehive at a monster for damage and to confer disadvantage (because bees), the table breaks out and claps/cheers like that. Because he's 7 and he's really into it and having fun. It's cool when you're doing it for a 7 year old.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 08:51
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 16:04 |
|
|
I mean, they're literally actors doing a show for entertainment
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2017 09:08
|
|
