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I don't know if this is the best thread for this per se, but I've started to get really frustrated with the one 5e game I've been playing in once a month. So, for some background, my DM is a friend of mine who I think has done a pretty good job in a lot of aspects: He is usually not stingy with giving out magic items, he has created a lot of homebrew stuff that have made martials and other traditionally low-powered classes fun to play and he has generally run a good game. That said there are a few things he is really stingy about giving out, specifically inspiration and heavy armor: We just reached level 10 and have not once encountered a single suit of plate armor, every time we find armor it is always at best medium armor that requires a decent dex bonus to be effective but our two frontline combatants (Myself included) completely dumped dex and can't make use of the armor. I have brought this up to him multiple times and it is always mentioned when we find armor but he just refuses to give us heavy armor. It is to the level that, when we were around level 4-5 I specifically went to the store to get a suit of plate armor in a major city and was unable to do so since it would take a week to make. On the topic of inspiration, it was only recently that he started giving it out at all and even now I don't feel like he's really giving it out in the recommended way: He gives out points for people having good ideas or pulling off cool maneuvers rather than good roleplay or playing to a character's faults which, the way he's been doing things, I feel is just sort of giving people further rewards for being effective at the game rather than as a way to even the playing field. All of this, however, is a fairly minor point on its own but over the past 6 sessions or so (Roughly six months real time) I have felt have been completely compounding on me specifically. So, several months ago I had a bunch of awesome equipment that basically made me party MVP for a little while: I have a belt of fire giant strength and a cool suit of special armor that lets me fly. Then, due to a botched roll by another player and some failed saving throws on my part, I was knocked unconscious by an explosion and captured by the bad guys who took all of my gear. The only thing I was able to retain was a (admittedly very powerful) magic sword because I have a weapon bond with it as a part of my Eldritch Knight class features and a suit of chainmail that I didn't have on me at the time. So that sucks but bad poo poo sometimes happens. Since then, I have gotten absolutely dick all in the way of magic items or cool gear. This is not a case of the DM being stingy with magic items: Everyone in the party has gotten a ton of cool poo poo since then but I am still running around in chain mail and relying entirely on my class features to be half as effective in combat. There was a single piece of cool poo poo that we came across at one point that I had the opportunity to try for but it required a series of constitution saving throws (This is another problem: The DM often makes us roll multiple times for things which just gives further chances for gently caress ups) and I rolled a natural 1 on one of them. Not only did I not get the cool magic armor I needed, but it completely messed up my stats: My dumps stats of Cha and Dex were raised by 1, my Wisdom was reduced by 2 and my Str was reduced by 1. The strength, despite being the lower reduction, was the one that hurt the most since it is not only my character's prime requisite but I have thematically designed my character to be really strong, that's her thing. But I rolled with it since my DM told me I would have a chance to try for the armor later and get my stats fixed. So that brings us to today's session, which frustrated me to no end because literally every member of the party got a cool and very powerful magic item over the course of the session except mine. The one that was the most frustrating was a Titan's gauntlet that required high strength to wield and would further boost your strength and constitution. It was even sealed behind a super heavy door that my character rolled a natural 20 to open. However the gauntlet required a natural strength (not boosted by magic items) of at least 18 to wield. My character had a natural strength or 18...Until my attempt to use the magic armor completely hosed my stats over, now I have a 17 so I completely missed out on an item that seemed tailor made to my character. The other fighter in our party was at least able to wield it but I couldn't help but feel immensely frustrated because I had been the character whose whole thing was immense strength up until then. So we end up going into the big epic boss fight that we've been leading up to for over a year and I have a 16 AC. The only reason I didn't die three times over in that fight was because our Druid helpfully cast Polymorph on me when I was almost dead and turned me into an awesome super bear. I, thankfully, survived the fight. So, finally, we've completed the chapter of our campaign, it's late and we're going to work on the between dungeons stuff at a later date. I bring up that I would like to try the stupid armor that hosed over my stats again and hopefully correct the damage that was done to me like the GM said I could. He told me I shouldn't be concerned about the armor because there were bigger things in store. I brought up that my stats were still hosed up and he dismissed my concerns because a 17 strength is still "Pretty high". The other Fighter in our party now has a 26 strength, I don't care if it's only 1 point, I would like an opportunity to get that point back. The DM has alluded to the fact that I'll be getting something important in the future but I know what he's thinking of: It's another suit of special paladin armor that matches the ones some of the other members of our party have that have been played up as super powerful but are frankly underwhelming: They provide a limited use, per day transformation that, while pretty awesome is not useful in most combats because it is limited use and takes multiple days to regain charges of. It is frankly nowhere near as useful as the stuff I used to have or as some of the stuff that other people have found since then. I basically just feel like every other member of our party has been getting cool poo poo thrown at them for months and my character has been repeatedly poo poo on for no reason. I'm thinking about giving myself a few days to cool down and then talking to the GM about how I feel because this is getting really frustrating and I feel is making me ineffective as a character.
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Nov 19, 2017 07:40
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AlphaDog posted:You always have the option to safely disengage and then move away. It costs your action.
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Nov 19, 2017 07:47
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FRINGE posted:Theres probably no good reason to not change this to "costs a single attack" for leveled fighters? Consistency of rules would be about the only reason. At second level rogues get an ability that changes dash, hide, or disengage from a normal action to a bonus action. That essentially does what your saying. In all honesty it doesn't seem to come up much. Disengage and attacks of opportunity definitely have a feel of breaking off combat entirely. It's not like your fighting somebody and decide to wander off, usually it's that your fighting somebody and you have to choose between withdrawing carefully or bolting.
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Nov 19, 2017 09:22
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FRINGE posted:Theres probably no good reason to not change this to "costs a single attack" for leveled fighters? You're probably right. Fighter base ability: Combat Versatility: Whenever you take the Attack action on your turn and are able to attack more than once, you may <list of stuff> instead of taking one of your attacks.
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Nov 19, 2017 10:22
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So have the second printings actually hit the shelf?
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Nov 19, 2017 10:37
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Angrymog posted:So have the second printings actually hit the shelf? They rolled under the shelf's AC and ended their turn.
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Nov 19, 2017 11:06
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Angrymog posted:So have the second printings actually hit the shelf? The second print has hit the tower!
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Nov 19, 2017 11:57
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KingKalamari posted:I don't know if this is the best thread for this per se, but I've started to get really frustrated with the one 5e game I've been playing in once a month. loving a player over like that and then ignoring it when they're obviously unhappy is really bad DM form. Have you had a proper out of game chat with them about why they're being such an absolute dick?
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Nov 19, 2017 12:44
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AlphaDog posted:You're probably right.
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Nov 19, 2017 12:44
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MonsterEnvy posted:Though like other ranged attacks using a ranged spell attack in melee gives disadvantage. I was going to mention this too, if only for the hilarity of the fact that spells which impose saving throws or that don't call for a roll are not attacks and thus do not trigger opportunity attacks.
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Nov 19, 2017 12:55
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KingKalamari posted:I don't know if this is the best thread for this per se, but I've started to get really frustrated with the one 5e game I've been playing in once a month. Your DM seems to not be very good. If he thinks a 17 Strength is good enough after giving you a magic item that requires a base of 18, then there’s a good chance that he might not even be putting the two things together, especially if there’s a month-long gap between sessions. Keeping track of individual players’ stuff to make them happy is hard enough to do in a weekly game, let alone monthly, so I wouldn’t take it personally. Bring these complaints up directly with him, if you haven’t already.
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Nov 19, 2017 14:18
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Nickoten posted:I was going to mention this too, if only for the hilarity of the fact that spells which impose saving throws or that don't call for a roll are not attacks and thus do not trigger opportunity attacks. I was about to ask about spells with saving throws. I know I should assume that, since MonsterEnvy didn't immediately bring it up to defend 5e, it's not the case, but to allow for the benefit of the doubt: if spell attacks have disadvantage in melee, surely something is done to spells which require saving throws instead of attack rolls, because otherwise that's a limitation that's completely avoidable. I mean, obviously spells with neither saving throws nor attack rolls are free to use ("He's in melee? Ok, I turn into a bear"), but surely something is done with spells that have the ability to incapacitate on a failed saving throw.
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Nov 19, 2017 14:37
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KingKalamari posted:I don't know if this is the best thread for this per se, but I've started to get really frustrated with the one 5e game I've been playing in once a month. (snip) Allegedly getting cool stuff in the future in no way justifies having no fun right now. The DM might not realize this because he's already giddy with anticipation of this thing that's supposed to come your way, but that's not how entertainment really works. You show up to the game, you deserve an equal opportunity to enjoy yourself. Showering others with gifts and reducing your main stat are very much the opposite of that.
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Nov 19, 2017 15:50
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Gharbad the Weak posted:I was about to ask about spells with saving throws. I know I should assume that, since MonsterEnvy didn't immediately bring it up to defend 5e, it's not the case, but to allow for the benefit of the doubt: if spell attacks have disadvantage in melee, surely something is done to spells which require saving throws instead of attack rolls, because otherwise that's a limitation that's completely avoidable. Giving advantage to the saving throw is mechanically identical to disadvantage on an attack, isn't it?
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Nov 19, 2017 16:09
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Gharbad the Weak posted:I was about to ask about spells with saving throws. I know I should assume that, since MonsterEnvy didn't immediately bring it up to defend 5e, it's not the case, but to allow for the benefit of the doubt: if spell attacks have disadvantage in melee, surely something is done to spells which require saving throws instead of attack rolls, because otherwise that's a limitation that's completely avoidable. Oh not really. Being in melee with an attack-roll-spell means you have disadvantage on your attack, but being in melee with a force-a-save-spell means absolutely nothing at all. On the other hand... magic resistance means you have advantage on saving throws and yet it does nothing against spell attack rolls. So I guess over time it averages out? Maybe? Both methods being broken means they're actually balanced, right? Guys?
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Nov 19, 2017 17:18
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CJ posted:Giving advantage to the saving throw is mechanically identical to disadvantage on an attack, isn't it? It would be mechanically similar, but not identical. The defender would only sometimes add proficiency to defense, while the attacker would always add proficiency to offence. Mathematically speaking I don't know which is better to have. Sage Genesis posted:Oh not really. Absence of evidence is evidence of absence.
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Nov 19, 2017 17:23
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Sage Genesis posted:Oh not really. Being in melee with an attack-roll-spell means you have disadvantage on your attack, but being in melee with a force-a-save-spell means absolutely nothing at all. It's a lot like playing MtG. My enemy's immune to damage? Fine, I'll just "destroy" them without reference to their toughness at all. They can't be targeted? That's fine, I have a spell here that unilaterally affects all creatures regardless of my ability to single any of them out. They're indestructible? No problem, this Removes Them From The Game instead-
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Nov 19, 2017 18:26
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Nickoten posted:I was going to mention this too, if only for the hilarity of the fact that spells which impose saving throws or that don't call for a roll are not attacks and thus do not trigger opportunity attacks. Ranged attacks for spells almost always means cantrips, and the way they are set up almost implies that they expected them to be used that way. Cantrips requiring a save are all or nothing instead of all or half and the dice are lower, a d6 or a d8 instead of firebolt and eldritch blast d10. Also it's usually a bit easier by a point or two for a monster to make it's save then it is a player to hit once you start including things like bless and other effects. Also if your used to 3.5 casters can feel very nerfed. A lot of the old stand by save or suck spells like hold person allow a save at the end of every turn the target takes, so those are much less reliable. The other big limiting factor is concentration. You can only have one concentration spell running at a time, and while there are exceptions, that is most of the spells you want to use in combat. If you want to keep bless up, you can't cast hold person, and choosing between bless and hold person can actually be a tough call, adding a d4 to 3 peoples attack roll vs paralyzing one monster for 1+ rounds is actually a pretty solid choice to have to make most of the time. Well no, bless is insanely powerful under the bounded accuracy thing they have going, but a lot of players don't want to be a buff bot so the choice is still there. If you ever see something that lets casters ignore concentration limits that means that the game is done and you should go play rifts or something.
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Nov 19, 2017 20:42
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It's called Simulacrum
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Nov 19, 2017 21:07
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mango sentinel posted:It's called Simulacrum Yeah I suppose that would qualify. That slipped past me because I usually consider anything 15+ as material for the theory crafting nerds to play around with and not stuff that sees use in a game. I don't have any attachment to level limits or anything, I've just never seen a game go that high that wasn't a one shot with characters made for it or a group leveled up for an epic epilogue or something. I was thinking more along the lines of a feat or class ability that allowed for it at a lower level.
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Nov 19, 2017 21:38
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mango sentinel posted:It's called Simulacrum Big boss fight coming up? On the day before, wish -> simulacrum on yourself. One action, no material cost, you're now two wizards, gg. Bonus food for thought: Have your simulacrum do the same thing... new ones don't have much HP? They can just shapechange into ancient dragons.
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Nov 19, 2017 21:46
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Kaysette posted:Bonus food for thought: Have your simulacrum do the same thing... new ones don't have much HP? They can just shapechange into ancient dragons. I was just about to ask if simulacrums can cast the spell themselves ad nauseum. But if you burn a 7th level spell slot to cast it, then does your duplicate spawn in without that spell slot or do they start from full?
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Nov 19, 2017 21:47
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Throwing Turtles posted:Yeah I suppose that would qualify. That slipped past me because I usually consider anything 15+ as material for the theory crafting nerds to play around with and not stuff that sees use in a game. I don't have any attachment to level limits or anything, I've just never seen a game go that high that wasn't a one shot with characters made for it or a group leveled up for an epic epilogue or something. It's weird that you discount the last quarter of the game. I mean, if you never ever see games played in that range, I guess I understand it, but does nobody you know start games at mid levels that run to late levels? Or run those 1 adventure at levels 3, 7, 11, 15, 20 (or whatever) miniseries type games? I mean, I'm sure it's possible, it just seems weird that this is outside your experience.
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Nov 19, 2017 21:49
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AlphaDog posted:It's weird that you discount the last quarter of the game. I mean, if you never ever see games played in that range, I guess I understand it, but does nobody you know start games at mid levels that run to late levels? Or run those 1 adventure at levels 3, 7, 11, 15, 20 (or whatever) miniseries type games? I mean, I'm sure it's possible, it just seems weird that this is outside your experience. In 5th edition every game I've played in has been one of the published adventures, and they have all kind of wrapped up or petered out around 12-14. Tome of Annihilation, the Tome of Horrors prequel or whatever goes up to 11. The Tiamat books go up to 15, as does the Princes of the apocalypse adventure. So when it comes to published work, Wizards doesn't pay to much attention to those levels. I'm running group through the Yawning portal stuff to take a break from my campaign world and to give all the new players a taste of 1st edition bullshit. That goes up to 20. Also since 3.5 anything level 15+ has kind of felt like bumper bowling while really drunk. It's chaotic and goofy and as long as everybody stays in their lane it's probably going to be ok. Balance at those levels has always been shaky so I usually aim for feels wild and crazy rather then actually dangerous. If it's done right the players can't tell the difference, but it does mean changing a bit from a tactical game to a narrative game. And yeah, since I noticed this I actually made a conscious decision to avoid it. Don't roll new characters for the new game, just switch over and that sort of thing. Players voted for level 1 so that's on them. And this does tend to be my biggest pet peeve about the game at the moment. For a lot of reasons. Wizards is doing their best to drag everybody into playing their one game world, which means that most in store players are going to be playing that material. Since that material tapers off at 15 Wizards doesn't have a lot of incentive to pay attention to 16+ which means those levels will drift further out of balance making them even less relevant. It also screws up theory crafting a lot. Things that suck for a level 20 build can be really great if your only going to level 10. For example, the forge domain power of enchanting a weapon or armor to +1 is really powerful to start, but by level 20 it's a rounding error. But if you are only going to level 10 it's likely to be relevant for the majority of the characters existence. It's also infinitely more useful then a capstone you will never see. Normally this is something for nerds to debate on forums and I wouldn't care. But with 5th edition I've started playing in a stores non adventure league games. We see a lot of people who have never played the game before. Since I've been doing this forever and I've got a knack for bringing people who have never looked at a fantasy book beyond Harry Potter and Twilight up to speed without making them feel dumb, I am usually the guy who does that. When I explain to them why I plan to reach a certain level and set it up that way, they do that. Then they sit down at a table with somebody who wants to know why they have a character that will be absolutely lovely at level 20.
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Nov 19, 2017 22:31
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Staring Curse of Strahd tonight, need a band name for my bard's black metal band (aka the party)
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Nov 19, 2017 22:42
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Call the Band "The Curse of Strahd', you're going to kill him so he can't sue you for trademark infringement.
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Nov 19, 2017 22:45
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Kaysette posted:Big boss fight coming up? On the day before, wish -> simulacrum on yourself. One action, no material cost, you're now two wizards, gg. This is errata'ed. No more then one Simulacrum of a single person can exist.
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Nov 19, 2017 22:56
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MonsterEnvy posted:This is errata'ed. No more then one Simulacrum of a single person can exist. Since when?
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Nov 19, 2017 22:58
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Cunning Action was a really good idea for a core class feature and it would probably make a lot of sense to give every non-caster a similar ability that lets you burn your bonus action to do useful stuff casters can't do with it. Low-level Rogues are fun and good as hell in 5E (they just start to lag once mid and high level spells kick in, just like... everyone who isn't a Wizard/Druid/Cleric). Like give Fighters the option to Charge, Disengage, and... hell, just let them always have the option of using their bonus action to make a single attack even if they aren't dual-wielding, or something. Dual-wielding in 5E needs to go back to the drawing board anyway.
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Nov 19, 2017 23:05
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Elendil004 posted:Staring Curse of Strahd tonight, need a band name for my bard's black metal band (aka the party) Hit up the Monster Manual. Stirge Otyugh Demogorgon (that one might be tempting fate) Umber Hulk
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Nov 19, 2017 23:13
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MonsterEnvy posted:This is errata'ed. No more then one Simulacrum of a single person can exist. I'm looking at the errata document right now. I don't see it mentioned there. http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/PH-Errata.pdf Don't think it's in the Sage Advice Compendium either. http://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/SA-Compendium.pdf
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Nov 19, 2017 23:25
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MonsterEnvy posted:This is errata'ed. No more then one Simulacrum of a single person can exist. Do you have a source on this? I don’t have an official ruling the other way but there’s this: https://twitter.com/ChrisPerkinsDnD/status/765562828036026371?s=17
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Nov 19, 2017 23:28
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Throwing Turtles posted:Yeah I suppose that would qualify. That slipped past me because I usually consider anything 15+ as material for the theory crafting nerds to play around with and not stuff that sees use in a game. Simulacrum is 13th level  MonsterEnvy posted:This is errata'ed. No more then one Simulacrum of a single person can exist. Bullshit, Simulacrums can create their own Simulacrums, and it can be of the original caster rather of the Simulacrum itself (so they're not quarter-hp). The only limiting factors are being at least 15th level to create the first Simulacrum able to cast Simulacrum through upcasting, time, and money.
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Nov 19, 2017 23:43
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mango sentinel posted:Since when? Ahh I found it I misremembered It's not errata for the book. It's an adventure league ruling. Under the Simulacrum and Wish sections on certain spells in the FAQ. quote:No Copies of a Copy. Simulacrums can’t cast quote:You Are You; and So Is He. If a simulacrum you MonsterEnvy fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Nov 19, 2017 |
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Nov 19, 2017 23:45
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MonsterEnvy posted:Ahh I found it I misremembered Cool, thanks for looking that up! That should probably be an official errata because otherwise things can get crazy stupid. Not that I’d ever do that to a DM in an actual game.
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Nov 19, 2017 23:47
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KingKalamari posted:RPG Story To be honest I can't really say one way or another whats going on or what the GM is doing but if you're walking away from a gameplay session feeling frustrated and shafted thats the real heart of the issue. Obviously the answer is talk to the GM about it, you were shafted and want to get back into the game cause you're not having fun. Thats a legit import and valid concern regardless of your GM's intentions. Talking to your GM is absolutely a good idea as they may not notice that you've been shafted/are feeling shafted.
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Nov 20, 2017 00:45
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Gharbad the Weak posted:I was about to ask about spells with saving throws. I know I should assume that, since MonsterEnvy didn't immediately bring it up to defend 5e, it's not the case, but to allow for the benefit of the doubt: if spell attacks have disadvantage in melee, surely something is done to spells which require saving throws instead of attack rolls, because otherwise that's a limitation that's completely avoidable. By default, casting spells does not trigger an OA, but spells that use ranged attack rolls are rolled with Disadvantage if you're within 5 feet of a hostile. Spells that use saving throws, or otherwise don't use an attack roll, are completely unaffected. With the Mage Slayer feat: * casting a spell (any kind of spell) within 5 feet of the Mage Slayer triggers an OA from the Mage Slayer * if a spellcaster has to make a saving throw to maintain Concentration from damage taken from the Mage Slayer, the save is rolled with Disadvantage * the Mage Slayer has Advantage on saves made against spells cast within 5 feet of them
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Nov 20, 2017 01:29
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AlphaDog posted:It's weird that you discount the last quarter of the game. It could be an interesting poll to see what percentage of time people spent playing D&D at 15+ level. Or maybe more to the point, "You just sat down to make a D&D character in a new campaign. What are the odds your character will ever be level 15+?" For me in my 3E experience it's at or near 0%. (I can't remember if that one campaign that started at 13th level lasted long enough for me to get two levels.) quote:By default, casting spells does not trigger an OA, but spells that use ranged attack rolls are rolled with Disadvantage if you're within 5 feet of a hostile. Spells that use saving throws, or otherwise don't use an attack roll, are completely unaffected. I guess this makes sense? Dodging around in melee avoids an OA, but it fucks up your aim, but only some spells require aim.
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Nov 20, 2017 02:23
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getting magic items that don't fit your character concept totally sucks and I feel for you. just have to chat with the dm or even with other players and tell them how frustrated you are
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Nov 20, 2017 02:25
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I mean it seems pretty obvious the gm felt that you were overpowered and took your poo poo away to punish you
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Nov 20, 2017 02:27
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