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Dameius posted:Regardless, have that system all tie into your, "Justice will be swift, harsh, and arbitrary," system A core conceit of the setting is that while there's a lot of punishment, there's little to no justice. It took us a while to stop using the words interchangeably, which says some uncomfortable things about the way justice is perceived in the real world. Again, I'm not DMing this one. But it's the kind of group where players are encouraged to bring up ideas for fleshing out the setting, so I'll mention the stuff you talked about for sure. evenworse username posted:I understand you're looking for RPG experiences here but this is almost exactly what my PhD was about so if you're interested I can write some words. gently caress yes. e: Did there used to be a thread for home-made settings and discussions/advice about them? If there was one, I can't find it. Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 00:37 on Jan 12, 2018 |
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Jan 12, 2018 00:34
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evenworse username posted:I understand you're looking for RPG experiences here but this is almost exactly what my PhD was about so if you're interested I can write some words. Thirding that, it seems like a great read.
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Jan 12, 2018 00:36
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D&D settings run on bounties. Small infractions like stealing milk or jaywalking incur bounties of like 5 copper, basically put a penny in the box/pay for the goods or be refused service/additional bounties in late fees. Grand theft and assault are several gold on top of Cleric services for injured parties and value of stolen goods, etc. Serious crimes like murder will get you bounties of 1000 gold pieces or more. For most a bounty of this magnitude incurs exile, where most people starve or die of a simple illness or infection. Some make it to a land where they don't have a massive bounty. 1% of people with exile-level bounties manage to fall down a hole onto some treasure and become adventurers. Give your players a list of infractions like "Illegal magic ritual - 250 gp" and "Murdering a commoner - 5 gp" next to "Murdering someone important - 500 gp". Then give them a total and put them outside a dungeon. Ask them what they did to rack up such a high bounty. Then give them the total amount + x as the first dungeons treasure haul.
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Jan 12, 2018 04:04
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Razorwired posted:D&D settings run on bounties. Small infractions like stealing milk or jaywalking incur bounties of like 5 copper, basically put a penny in the box/pay for the goods or be refused service/additional bounties in late fees. But who's enforcing those? Just like fiat-strong random character-class guys?
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Jan 12, 2018 04:14
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theironjef posted:But who's enforcing those? Just like fiat-strong random character-class guys? Make it a social contract among a self-governing agricultural community spanning the width and breadth of the land. There's a large (and lucrative) bureaucracy involved in tracking and publicizing existing bounties, which people keep themselves up to date on. No self-respecting "X"ian would do business with someone with a significant or overdue bounty. The bounties go into a social fund which is used to maintain roads, provide education, train a self-defence volunteer militia, and maintain the red tape involved in maintaining the bounty system. e: If your PCs don't tear down the bureaucracy and send the country spiraling into an anarchist war by the third session I'd be shocked.
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Jan 12, 2018 04:19
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Pleads posted:Make it a social contract among a self-governing agricultural community spanning the width and breadth of the land. There's a large (and lucrative) bureaucracy involved in tracking and publicizing existing bounties, which people keep themselves up to date on. No self-respecting "X"ian would do business with someone with a significant or overdue bounty. Wait, the bounties aren't bounties if they're being paid into a tax system. They're fines. That just makes it more confusing who'd be willing to collect them. Besides military dudes being paid by the system. Who hang around town watching for crimes to be committed. Wait, that's just guards again.
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Jan 12, 2018 04:28
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theironjef posted:Wait, the bounties aren't bounties if they're being paid into a tax system. They're fines. That just makes it more confusing who'd be willing to collect them. Besides military dudes being paid by the system. Who hang around town watching for crimes to be committed. Wait, that's just guards again. Magic. Every day/month/whatever the enchantment that all members of this society work to maintain updates and autoregulates itself based on reported crime and magical audits. Nothing is enforced but it is meticulously recorded and then Pleads posted:No self-respecting "X"ian would do business with someone with a significant or overdue bounty.
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Jan 12, 2018 04:35
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I feel like the original question was probably looking for more than "Magic" as the answer though. Like why bother with any of this then? What's a system besides town guards? "Magic punishes crime automatically." Oh, okay.
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Jan 12, 2018 04:40
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No. Magic doesn't enforce or punish, merely makes people aware of outstanding fines. Was just suggesting a way the bureaucracy can function without resorting to "guards" posted on every corner which was the complaint in the post I was replying to
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Jan 12, 2018 05:38
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Alright, I've just done my very first DnD dungeon mastering job today; overseeing four experienced players go through a story I had cooked up...and I felt a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing. I was supposed to be co-DMing along with the experienced DM of the group; but there ended up being a lot more players than he thought there'd be. So, he took aside about half of the group, while I had to try and DM for the other half of the group. I had to make all the encounters myself, handle the rolls myself, tell the story myself...and etc. I narrowly eked it out, and got my players to where I wanted them to be in my campaign. Plus, I managed to get them through everything without anyone complaining about whether or not I was being fair, or following the rules, or anything like that... But, I'm not sure I can keep that up for long. I'd like some help, from anyone who's done a bit more DMing themselves. So, here's my situation... 1) I haven't actually played DnD since Baldur's Gate; which used the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons system. The campaign I'm running is Edition 5; so I'm not entirely familiar with everything yet. 2) Related to that, there's an unexpectedly OP bard character in the group I had. Even at LVL 1, he seems to have the ability to brainwash anything with a brain to do anything he wants them to. I'm not sure how that all works, but it means I may have a lot of trouble providing actually challenging (yet fair) encounters in any believable setting. 3) I introduced an NPC into the campaign that's kinda meant to be this sort of boogeyman to the group; the guy that they need to run from at all costs. He's covered in big armor, wields a sword, and all of that stereotypical stuff. In addition, we're using a Homebrew Pathfinder module with custom rules; so people can cast magic even with armor on. He has paralysis spells, he was able to resist the bard's mind control powers, he can teleport, he can throw waves of energy that can demolish 12 normal people at once just by swinging his sword in the air, people's swords split in half when they try to hit him...he's basically the most OP character ever... ... And I have no idea what his stats are. Again, I'm really not familiar with all this stuff; and I didn't get the help or guidance I was expecting from the guy who USUALLY DMs the campaigns we have. I was left mostly to my own devices, with him just pointing me to a site where I could automatically generate random encounters. I had nothing in terms of how to actually make my own unique NPC; which meant I had to be as vague as possible whenever the players asked about what he was. So basically, a lot of the conversations with the players went like this... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Players: "What is this guy's race?" Me: "He's covered from head to toe in armor; all you can see are his eyes." Players: "I'm going to use X ability to read his stats!" Me: "Your character succeeds on his roll...and then gets an aneurysm from attempting to try. You feel waves upon waves of power coming from this guy, and you feel like your head is about to burst. A trickle of blood trails down your nose...[players eyes widen in fear, as they realize just how OP this guy probably is]" Players: "I use my bardic (something, something, something) to brainwash him into joining our side! *rolls an 18, with a crazy high Charisma score*" Me: "The OP Warrior guy briefly clutches his head, convulsing a bit...but then closes his eyes, clutches his fists, brings his hands together in what seems like a meditative stance, straightens out, then returns to how he was before. He seems completely unaffected [player seems to accept that, fortunately]" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Long story short, I ended up getting the players to where I wanted them to be; paralyzed or unconscious on the ground after a disastrous military expedition (they were conscripted into an army in the universe I set up). However, while I was able to handle throwing them trash mobs easily enough (zombies, ogres, and etc.), I was completely winging it when it came to the OP General guy (and how strong he actually was). I picture him as an incredibly powerful mortal; a Fighter/Mage who's collected enough high-end gear and learned enough magic to do all the stuff I described above...but I don't know what stats, equipment, buffs, and/or godly blessings would've allowed for all that. So, I guess I have two questions... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) How do I design challenging, yet fair, encounters for a group with such an OP bard character? OP General guy was able to handle him easily enough, of course; but obviously, not every enemy I make is gonna be that way. 2) What the heck kinda stats would my OP General guy have needed to pull off all the stuff he did? Teleportation, paralysis spells, having four attacks in a round (with just his fists), resisting bardic brainwashing, causing an aneurysm to the guy who tried to read his stats...and etc. What stats would you suggest for making sure he isn't too easily chumped by the group when they're, say, LVL 12 or so? What sort of team members should he have, if the players get too strong for him to possibly take on alone? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for your time, and God bless you all! Fionordequester fucked around with this message at 05:55 on Jan 12, 2018 |
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Jan 12, 2018 05:39
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1. The bard is really not going to be a big deal, I'm assuming he can cast Charmquote:1st-level enchantment which is a spell that could really do with being removed in some senses, but shouldn't be a big deal. Most of the time things are going to either have advantage on the save, not be humanoid or already be friendly enough. Basically it just means it won't attack the caster for a bit, until it gets hurt. It doesn't even stop the target from attacking your allies, the spell specifies 'you' 2. Drop a meteor on this guy and erase him from the game, this guy is a terrible loving idea on so many levels Wrestlepig fucked around with this message at 06:24 on Jan 12, 2018 |
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Jan 12, 2018 06:14
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Reroll everyone, do a one shot.
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Jan 12, 2018 06:23
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I am going to go out on a limb here and say ... Don't. Simply do not run this game. 1) You have no experience with the edition, and haven't played since 2e, a video game of 2e at that. It is a bad idea to try and run a system you have no understanding of at all. One doesn't have to be a master of the game to run a game, but you should at least be familiar with the rules. Read through the rules. Make sample characters. Play the game. Not DM just straight up play the game. The more experience you have playing the system the better. Try to talk to other DMs of the game, get their suggestions. When you play the game itself stay afterwards and ask your DM questions on how they run the game. Again the more information and the more experience you get the better. 2) This sounds suspicious as hell. If you are going to ignore my advice in the previous part you at least need to read your player's character sheets. Anything you don't understand you need to look into. I have no idea what this person is doing. Because Bards cannot Brainwash anyone. At least not at level 1. And even if they could, at later levels, there would be Saves. So not simply something they do that you have no control over. If necessary get a copy of the character's sheet and ask some DMs or long time 5e players, or people on here, about anything you are unclear on so that they/we could let you know if something is not being used correctly. 3) ... ... ... What. Just what. I feel like this NPC is a terrible idea. Period. Also you are running a game you are unfamiliar with using a Homebrew Pathfinder module with custom rules, which you also aren't familiar with if your only experience with D&D is Baldur's Gate. Neither is a good idea, combining both just makes things even worse. This isn't 3.x or Pathfinder, or 2e, characters can already cast in armor. There are penalties if they aren't proficient in armor, but it just takes some multiclassing or some feats, or being a Dwarf, to have proficiency in various types of armor if the class isn't normally. Again this NPC is a terrible idea. And really you shouldn't be creating super important world ending NPCs, without stats. This isn't the kind of game for that. Your PCs probably shouldn't be able to tell his race, or possibly gender, with all that armor. Fine. But where are they getting some kind of scouting device that tells them his stats? Also if a PC did have an ability that should work on the NPC, it is kind of a dick move to just NOPE HE IS OH SO COOL AND YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING TO HIM, HE IS JUST PERFECT. Wait ... WHAT LEVEL IS YOUR GAME? At first I thought it was 1st level because of your earlier comment about your brainwashing level 1 Bard. But then you are talking about Ogres as being trash mobs. ___________________________ 1) There are rules in the DMG about designing encounters. The rules are terrible because they rely on CR, which is just as terrible as it was in 3.x. Gradenko might have some good suggestions. But really this is not something you should be doing until you have experience with the system. You should probably run a few premade adventures, for 5e not converted from some other system, before you really try and build your own encounters. And again I am calling Bullshit on your OP Bard. 2) None. Because your bullshit NPC is not remotely possible. At least not using classes. But then again NPCs aren't supposed to be built as PCs. But assuming you are still going with this terrible idea. Don't build it like a PC. Just give the NPC high stats, probably nothing above a 20. Give it Multiattack with a list of up to 4 attacks. Make it a Legendary creature. So you want to look up those rules. This gives it the ability to auto pass a few saves. No idea what the Bard used to read stats. Still calling Bullshit on that too. But without knowing how the Bard did that I have no idea how to "block" it. If the NPC needs spells, just give him spells. You could simply take a high level NPC from the Monster Manual and simply reflavor it as a General. Of course all of this is assuming this was a serious post and not an elaborate troll. Because there is so much wrong with this.
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Jan 12, 2018 06:42
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Yeah...that's what I was afraid of. Sounds like the best thing for me to do is to just be a player. I don't know what happened, but, it doesn't sound like the group's DM adequately prepared me for handling everything. Thanks guys. Also, just because one guy was curious...Ryuujin posted:Wait ... WHAT LEVEL IS YOUR GAME? At first I thought it was 1st level because of your earlier comment about your brainwashing level 1 Bard. But then you are talking about Ogres as being trash mobs. Well, what happened was, the first mob was so easily dispatched, that it looked like the players were stronger than expected. I had a similarly OP General guy on THEIR side, also, so I figured I could bail them out even if I accidentally made the mob too strong. As it turns out, that wasn't needed. The OP General guy on THEIR side did kill two of the Ogres in two rounds...but the Bard handled the other two by tricking one of the Ogres into attacking the other one. Those two, then, went on to take care of themselves. And from what I gathered, this bard player thought he could do that over and over again. I have a feeling this guy may've been pulling shenanigans on me; but I didn't know enough to tell whether or not he was in the right about how OP his bard was. For that matter, I don't know whether or not it's possible for a player to play as a 11-foot tall beast guy who weighed 2500 pounds. That sounded more than a bit broken to me, but...I just figured that things might've really changed since Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.
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Jan 12, 2018 07:07
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Fionordequester posted:whether or not it's possible for a player to play as a 11-foot tall beast guy who weighed 2500 pounds. Wait what? That is not possible in 5e, there are rules in 3.5 for playing as Monsters but no official rules for such in 5e.
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Jan 12, 2018 07:20
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Ryuujin posted:Wait what? That is not possible in 5e, there are rules in 3.5 for playing as Monsters but no official rules for such in 5e. Yeah, I dunno man...but I think I'm gonna just quit tomorrow. I don't know what the heck's going on, here  .
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Jan 12, 2018 07:22
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How did you even get into this ridiculous situation? Nothing about it makes any kind of sense.
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Jan 12, 2018 07:30
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This sounds like a bunch of ten year olds tbh.
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Jan 12, 2018 07:39
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You can totally GM without knowing the rules all that well. That's how most people learn! It's very difficult to GM a system you're totally unfamiliar with if the players aren't cooperative and supportive. Maybe with many years experience GMing you'd be able to fake your way through it, but I doubt that anyone could successfully do it if one or more players were actively loving with them. If you've got that guy, and it sounds like you do, you're hosed unless you can find a way to deal with them. e: Missed the part about an 11 foot tall guy that weighs 2500lbs thinking they're going to roll every encounter by getting the bad guys to fight each other. Either that player is actively loving with you or they're playing a heavily houseruled/modified game without mentioning it to you, the DM. That's some weird, weird bullshit. Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 08:05 on Jan 12, 2018 |
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Jan 12, 2018 07:56
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I don't think you need to quit, trial by fire ain't so bad. Hopefully your players understand. Definitely read over rules and catch up ASAP but I don't know. I think the actual screwup was regarding that npc, and it's part of DMing that no rule knowledge will help with. First off, don't think of yourself as trying to challenge the players. Your goal is to tell a story together. That story is centered around them. In general, find a way to say yes to things. They will find clever ways to work around your poo poo - you don't need to prevent this, and shouldn't, just let them do the cool thing and win. You gotta be prepared to make up stuff on the spot. Even if you had no stats for the guy, make them up upon being asked. It's fine for someone to be strong, it's bad if you're thinking up new ways go say no instead of saying yes. DMing requires improvising. Some DMs do it more or less but they all do it some. Super powerful general guy shouldn't be a major part unless it's adversarial at best. The story is about your characters, he's gonna overshadow them. Get solid on combat rules, including rules for casting. Do you know what spell the bard used? It should require a check at the very least. This is what I'd make sure you do if you continue. You should quit if your players are malevolently trying to fool you on how the rules work though, that's bullshit and ruins things for everyone.
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Jan 12, 2018 07:57
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I want a recording of that game
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Jan 12, 2018 08:08
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I mean it's not that difficult to imagine what a world looks like where there are laws, but not professional police force. Here are just some of the ways that laws get enforced: *) A noble is the most obvious (and probably most prevalent in smaller locations) source of justice, along with his personal knights and staff. So once you've been hauled before a noble, expect justice to be swift. Monetary damages are probably nonexistent and a bribe is basically the same thing as a fine in these scenarios. *) The military can be dispatched to bring in a particularly notorious criminal, but people are also willing to tip the noble or even haul the offender in themselves if they think they can get paid or knighted. Smaller military-like organizations can get in on the action too. *) Maybe your source of justice comes from elsewhere. I mean, D&D has literal gods of justice; it stands to reason that priestly orders with both actual clerics and paladins, and also just devout faith-militant, might be willing to enforce laws on behalf of divine law or even the state. They also may have supernatural means to enforce the law. What I'm saying is that a state doesn't really need cops and the belief that it does is a pretty modern assumption.
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Jan 12, 2018 08:24
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Raar_Im_A_Dinosaur posted:I want a recording of that game i need the bard's character sheet
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Jan 12, 2018 08:46
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Yeah I don't think you should quit. The best thing is to get a grasp of the rules and what they are casting. (Also cause I really want to know whats happening. Also the Bard Character Sheet this does not make sense.
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Jan 12, 2018 08:52
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I managed to DM a game "cold turkey", as in a week before I'd never even really been familiar with the concept of a role-playing game at all and all the players were complete newbies, but I read and re-read the rules beforehand (it was Microlite20, so it wasn't very long) and I had a general plan for what the adventure was going to be about. You don't have to "quit" DMing, but you may need to familiarize yourself more with the game, and I think it wouldn't be too much to ask for a "reset" or a oneshot to get your bearings.
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Jan 12, 2018 09:05
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Fionordequester posted:I don't know whether or not it's possible for a player to play as a 11-foot tall beast guy who weighed 2500 pounds. Also, post the whole session here everything you've posted sounds like weapons grade cocaine for that thread.
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Jan 12, 2018 09:13
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Read the original basic d&d red box from drivethru rpg, read the beginner 5e rules on the wotc website, then just bullshit a oneshot with new characters. Think about a cool adventure, and go wild. You can do it, it just sounds like you're off to a poo poo start. You'll have a decent foundation if you just read those two things. Baldur's Gate makes the worst DMs on the planet.
Babylon Astronaut fucked around with this message at 09:18 on Jan 12, 2018 |
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Jan 12, 2018 09:14
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Babylon Astronaut posted:Read the original red box from drivethru rpg, read the beginner 5e rules on the wotc website, then just bullshit a oneshot with new characters. Think about a cool adventure, and go wild. You can do it, it just sounds like you're off to a poo poo start. You'll have a decent foundation if you just read those two things. I assume he has the rules. So he might not need it, but here to avoid having to search the whole site as it's fairly well hidden here is a direct link to the basic rules. I don't think he needs the Red Box however. http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules
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Jan 12, 2018 09:20
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Mendrian posted:*) Maybe your source of justice comes from elsewhere. I mean, D&D has literal gods of justice; it stands to reason that priestly orders with both actual clerics and paladins, and also just devout faith-militant, might be willing to enforce laws on behalf of divine law or even the state. They also may have supernatural means to enforce the law. The Celestial Bureaucracy will eventually catch up with you, and you will be punished according to the rules. It can be very slow, and there are ways to temporarily evade it, or confuse it, or deflect it elsewhere. It will catch up with you for doing those, too. Its ways are often incomprehensible, but its "justice" is as inevitable and final as the heat death of the universe. Of course, if you fill the right forms out in exactly the right way and then lodge them properly... MonsterEnvy posted:I don't think he needs the Red Box however. Have you read and understood the thing you're telling someone not to read?
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Jan 12, 2018 09:21
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It has nothing to do with rules, and everything to do with procedure and the expectations of the game.
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Jan 12, 2018 09:30
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Oh yeah hopping aboard the 'don't quit DMing' train: People use the DM/Player relationship to be an rear end in a top hat because there are lots of ways to be an rear end in a top hat implicit in that relationship. Sometimes they are an rear end in a top hat by accident - these are players who cheat without realizing. There are players who are assholes on purpose - these are people who lie to you about what their character can do, abuse your trust just so they can feel good in their imaginary elfgame. The latter group should be spoken to and addressed OOC and that's an unfortunate reality of DMing any game. It doesn't make you a bad DM when players sneak stuff past you. This is an important lesson for any DM. Some DMs double down on their authority and try weaponize a combination of superior rules knowledge and in-game consequences for shenanigans to curtail abusive players, but don't do this. A person with basically no knowledge of the rules should be able to shamble through a prefab adventure with nothing worse than a few minutes flipping through books and a spilled beer to taint the evening. If your game goes significantly off the rails it means somebody is working with a flawed assumption somewhere - whether it be the players' assumptions about their relationship with you, with the game, or your assumptions about your relationship with them - that's the root cause. "Stop, that doesn't seem right" is a perfectly valid thing to say. Keep it cool, keep it casual, but it's an important part of the game.
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Jan 12, 2018 09:57
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Some players are just irredeemable dickheads though. For real. The only solution is not to play with them. e: You can spot them easily though. They're the ones who, after you talk to them about not loving everyone else's fun up like they did this session, gently caress everyone else's fun up in a slightly different way instead. Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 10:56 on Jan 12, 2018 |
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Jan 12, 2018 10:51
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Some of you guys really have no concept of responding to someone's post without sounding obnoxious. As some others who are more level-headed have said, don't quit. And also ask yourself a very important thing. Did you, and your players have fun? People can spew as much bullshit as they want about a really powerful BBEG but judging by your post, your players had some of the perfect pants-making GBS threads reactions you want for a bad guy. Especially if they're low level, treat this as the situation where they're thought to be defeated and left for dead. It'll give your players a Bad Guy to want to defeat, and give you time to actually work the Bad Guy out to where he fits within 5th Edition rules. Reading many of the things he could do, I actually think you could accomplish much of it with a high level Eldritch Knight with maybe some dipping into another class. However one thing you shouldn't be afraid to do is give your Big Baddie's abilities the players just don't get, or to make existing abilities more powerful/different for that BBEG. But yes you do have the problem of needing to take the other dude DMing aside and go "I don't actually know this system much or at all, you need to help fill me in before I continue."
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Jan 12, 2018 12:21
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I like systems with bennies because it makes it easier to deal with corner cases you don't know the rules for. My go to example is I was running eote and one of the players was seriously screwing with an NPC's head during a gunfight. One of the other NPCs was taking a potshot at the PC and they asked if there was a chance they'd miss and hit the flim-flammed NPC instead. I had no idea if this was a thing, but said hey, spend a force die to escalate the difficulty, if it goes super badly then sure. It was super handy because a) it kept the fight going b) I didn't set an overly repeatable precedent with an off the cuff decision c) the NPC rolled a despair on the escalated die and accidentally winged his already off-kilter boss, which was perfect, and d) it turned out that's one of the standard despair options when shooting into melee anyway! Splicer fucked around with this message at 12:31 on Jan 12, 2018 |
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Jan 12, 2018 12:28
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Arthil posted:Some of you guys really have no concept of responding to someone's post without sounding obnoxious. Im going to recommend not trying to even stat him up, apart from damage, until the players know what the boogeyman is/what drives them/what makes them that strong. and when they do have a way to stop them just reskin an appropriate monster, or use Gradenko's monster maths and Boss design notes It's ok to have an unstoppable terminator boogeyman, and your job is easier now that the players reacted accordingly (instead of throwing a poo poo fit when they arent the ultimate arbiters of the universe). Concentrate now on a good and impressive reason for the terminator-ness.
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Jan 12, 2018 13:47
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Arthil posted:Did you, and your players have fun? I don't think I'd ever discourage anyone from GMing generally. It's a unique activity and can be very fun and rewarding. But this does not sound like a healthy environment to learn. When you're the least experienced player at the table, it doesn't take much to get railroaded over by players unless they're all on board with helping you learn. Especially in a somewhat competitive/antagonistic game like D&D. Nth-ing that I'd loooove to see the sheets of all the players though. The session described sounds like either some grade A bullshit or the other DM was running things fast and loose and/or didn't know what he's doing either. Bottom line though is Fionordequester will need to decide if this is something they want to pursue. And if it is, whether or not they want to pursue it a) with this group, b) with this game, or c) with this campaign and these characters. Saying "no" to any of the above is perfectly fine.
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Jan 12, 2018 15:46
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Before doing anything rash (like quitting DMing. Don't by the way. Learn by doing.), I personally think you should read the 3 core rulebooks pretty closely so you gain a greater understanding of the game and how it works. That way you can arm yourself against the feeling of 'well that doesn't sound right but I don't know the rules that well'. Don't let players push you around either. It's supposed to be cooperative between everyone, even the DM. I also think your co-DM threw you under the bus. It sounds like you wanted them to show you the ropes and they instead forced you into the deep end woefully under prepared. So to your points: 1) Do the above and inform yourself about what a bard is capable of and then compare it to your player's. Something's up, based on your description. Then talk to the player. 2) This was a divisive topic a few pages ago but I feel that if something needs stats and isn't controlled by a player, it should be built like a monster from the Monster Manual. If you don't know how to build a good one just steal the stats of something close to what you envision out of the MM. Though unless you annoy your players and make it literally invincible, be prepared for your players to kill it, with a high chance of success.
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Jan 12, 2018 16:19
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Anyone here run the Death House portion of Curse of Strahd? How rough is that shambling mound fight for a level 2 party?
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Jan 12, 2018 16:37
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I played in it and the Shambling Mound was fine but the escape with the blade doors and smoke was a complete murder party.
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Jan 12, 2018 16:39
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| # ? May 14, 2024 21:22 |
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SettingSun posted:2) This was a divisive topic a few pages ago but I feel that if something needs stats and isn't controlled by a player, it should be built like a monster from the Monster Manual. If you don't know how to build a good one just steal the stats of something close to what you envision out of the MM. Though unless you annoy your players and make it literally invincible, be prepared for your players to kill it, with a high chance of success. Having a monster that is "unbeatable" also presents problems. Encounters you are fixed to lose are one of those great/weird RPG tropes that just doesn't translate too well to DND. Personally when I'm doing something along those lines, I make a challenging encounter with perfectly normal "rules" and then just have an event at the end where instead of dying the enemy escapes/gets bored with the party/etc. Not something you can do often either. If you really want to play up the party nemesis, he can send lieutenants after them instead of doing it himself.
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Jan 12, 2018 16:50
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