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Reik posted:Yeah, a lot of the old 3.5 prestige classes that are just "better version of the class you're currently taking" would be out of place. Loremaster and such. Most of the Prestige classes have been turned into Subclasses instead which I feel works.
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May 24, 2018 22:26
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Splicer posted:Search google for "blank poker chips inlay". This will get you blank chips with a circular recess. You can print and cut out a bunch of thin cardboard pogs with your riverboat design on them and stick them in, and if you use non-permanent glue you can pop them out and reuse them with a different design in another game. Perfect, thanks for this idea!
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May 24, 2018 23:06
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Yeah, honestly I prefer subclasses. The more similar-but-not-quite-the-same classes you introduce, the more oddly specific they become and the more multiclassing opens weird loopholes. I think we're at a pretty good as far as class number goes, tbh.
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May 24, 2018 23:15
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Ok, I got my wizarding dude mocke up on DDB. Can anyone take a look and tell me if I fell into any terrible newbie traps? I don't need him to be perfect, but I don't want to hold my group back by punting at character select. https://www.dropbox.com/s/ag4sbzy3gwspk02/Toshimo_AL.pdf?dl=0 Edit: I guess their export is a work-in-progress since it only exported my prepared spells and not the whole spellbook. v0v 
Toshimo fucked around with this message at 00:08 on May 25, 2018 |
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May 25, 2018 00:04
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Toshimo posted:Ok, I got my wizarding dude mocke up on DDB. Can anyone take a look and tell me if I fell into any terrible newbie traps? I don't need him to be perfect, but I don't want to hold my group back by punting at character select. Remember that Ritual tag spells can be cast without having them prepared. So if you feel like burning slots to be able to instant cast go ahead and prepare them, but otherwise you're probably better off preparing something else. I'd never take Find Familiar over Shield, for example. Detect Magic depends more on how your DM runs their campaign; ours was 100% newbies so I kind of had a built-in magic spidey sense for a while, we finally arranged for me to get that spell a few sessions ago but I haven't used it since. (Remember that once the familiar is summoned, it's just an action to dismiss/recall it)
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May 25, 2018 00:21
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Enourmo posted:Remember that Ritual tag spells can be cast without having them prepared. I did not know this was a thing. Thanks!
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May 25, 2018 00:26
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Note that Ritual Casting does add 10 minutes to the casting time. For something like Find Familiar, it doesn't really matter since you'll probably be casting that whenever you're not in a hurry or anything anyway. For Detect Magic it's very much Up To How The GM Does Things if that makes it worth using as a Ritual spell or not. I still wouldn't waste spell slots on it, personally, but it does make it riskier to use in a dungeon and the like.
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May 25, 2018 00:29
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Toshimo posted:Ok, I got my wizarding dude mocke up on DDB. Can anyone take a look and tell me if I fell into any terrible newbie traps? I don't need him to be perfect, but I don't want to hold my group back by punting at character select. You can free up a spell by not preparing find familiar. Casting it as a ritual is just as good. Also, shocking grasp is kinda in a bad spot. It's not as good for escape as simply disengaging, and it's not as good for melee damage as one of the sword coast cantrips. (I'm not sure if you can use SCAG cantrips with a subclass from Xanathar's in adventurer league). Having another utility cantrip is nice though - message, minor illusion, prestidigitation, dancing lights, etc. Oh and chromatic orb requires having a valuable diamond to cast it, which might be a problem? I dunno if a DM will care, but having a substitute in mind could help.
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May 25, 2018 00:31
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Baby T. Love posted:Does anyone have examples of what those toolsets look like for other systems? I've been looking into DMing for strangers but it seems like my friend-team experience is way different from the norm. Toolsets for social conflict or resolving social things in general? I mean here are a few: -Fantasy Flight's Star Wars/Genesys system, you spend points from the dice pool to trigger certain in a social check (and can make up more of your own obviously) -Burning Wheel has a pretty sophisticated Social Conflict system that really allows you to step through a debate or just a quick back and forth with only requiring the player to work out the basic premise of their argument. -Cortex+ (the drama style variant anyway) like the Smallville RPG does a fantastic social conflict resolution because it all focuses on your relationship with the cast to do things -FATE's Social Stress mechanics means you resolve social issues with the same way combat, so anyone can do it but the good social character can take more social 'hits' and hence do it more often -Monsterhearts is a game essentially all about social conflict where everything your character gets is about figuring out how to set people off or buddy up with someone EDIT: Dungeon World's parley is another good simple one. There are a tonne of others but you're preference is all depending on how complicated you want it to be, Burning Wheel is pretty in depth and detailed while FATE or Star Wars essentially just use the same resolution mechanic as any other part of their system. kingcom fucked around with this message at 02:03 on May 25, 2018 |
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May 25, 2018 00:34
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Shocking Grasp is demonstrably less useful than some other cantrips but its such a cool thing to do.
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May 25, 2018 00:36
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What are the "best" cantrips? I am still trying to stat out my High Elf Revenant Warlock and was thinking wether Tome or Blade is better?
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May 25, 2018 00:46
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Eldritch. Blast.
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May 25, 2018 00:53
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if you're a warlock Eldritch Blast is the first, best, and last answer that said the real best cantrip is Vicious Mockery
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May 25, 2018 00:59
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Josef bugman posted:What are the "best" cantrips? I think the right answer is: Eldritch Blast, Friends, and Minor Illusion. You get a lot of mileage out of these with just a little bit of creativity. Also Tome is probably the best warlock archetype when you take Improved Tome and can cast any ritual you find. e: not that Blade isn't super rad because the flavor of it all really is and all the new warlock invocations can help it along. Its just not as good imo even though I wish it were. Novum fucked around with this message at 01:06 on May 25, 2018 |
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May 25, 2018 01:03
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Tome is pretty much the best pact for a warlock period, because of the extra cantrips and Book of Ancient Secrets. Only Hexblade places more value on the Blade pact, and even then you can perform admirably as a Hexblade with the Tome using one of the SCAG cantrips.
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May 25, 2018 01:08
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Okay so current thinking is as follows (will be starting at 4th level in a game mainly focussed on fighting the undead.. Tomb of annihilation.) Patron- The Undying- The Nameless One. Cantrips (3 as standard +3 for Tome selection) 1) Eldritch Blast 2) Frostbite 3) Shocking grasp 4) 5) Spare the dying 6)Vicious Mockery Spells Known (spells I can use highlighted) 1) Blindness 2) Silence 3) Shatter 4) Ray of Sickness 5) Charm Person Invocations 1) Book of Ancient Secrets 2) Gaze of the Rune Keeper/Agonising blast Can anyone suggest any good cantrips to add/ whether I am choosing my spells right? Josef bugman fucked around with this message at 01:37 on May 25, 2018 |
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May 25, 2018 01:31
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Toshimo posted:Ok, I got my wizarding dude mocke up on DDB. Can anyone take a look and tell me if I fell into any terrible newbie traps? I don't need him to be perfect, but I don't want to hold my group back by punting at character select. Shocking grasps utility mostly comes best against armored enemies as you get advantage with it then. In other situations different cantrips are better. Other then that another utility cantrip would be good, and you have already been told about ritual spells you don't have much to worry about as you are not falling into any traps or anything here. Out of curiosity which spell school do you plan to go with. (There are no bad options there, as they are just additions on your already good base class.) MonsterEnvy fucked around with this message at 01:37 on May 25, 2018 |
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May 25, 2018 01:35
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I want to stress that I meant Vicious Mockery is the best in that it lets you insult people to death I'm not actually sure its worth taking
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May 25, 2018 01:35
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Blockhouse posted:I want to stress that I meant Vicious Mockery is the best in that it lets you insult people to death I'm not actually sure its worth taking It's actually fairly good anyway. Making something have disadvantage on its roll to attack is going to be good!
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May 25, 2018 01:36
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Ok, I think I got most of this.
Thanks for all the tips, though. Keep 'em coming.
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May 25, 2018 01:49
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Toshimo posted:Ok, I think I got most of this. 1. Not at all. But you don't even need to have it dismissed, when you ritually cast something it does not consume a spell slot. So you could just ask the DM if it's ok that you already did the 10 minute ritual cast sometime in the past to get your familiar. it does not cost any resources and does not need to be prepared. 2. That is fine. I don't think any DM will have issue with your starting with the Diamond for Chromatic Orb however, as the Diamond is not consumed. But feel free to check out other stuff. 3. Shocking Graps is fine with AC armored dudes. I can see where you are coming from in getting it. And using it through your familiar is a good idea. 4. That is true now that I think of it. Anyway you don't have to worry too much about this stuff right now. You are going to get more options as you level up. And level 1 tends to only last about a session.
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May 25, 2018 02:05
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Minor Illusion and Friends, warlock guy. I'm telling you it'll pay dividends.
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May 25, 2018 03:21
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What are the threads thoughts on Burning Wheel?
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May 25, 2018 03:53
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kidkissinger posted:What are the threads thoughts on Burning Wheel?
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May 25, 2018 04:07
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Novum posted:Minor Illusion and Friends, warlock guy. I'm telling you it'll pay dividends. I usually just take the at-will Silent Image, although the fact that one needs concentration and the other doesn't means you can basically put them together for at will bootleg Major Images.
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May 25, 2018 04:07
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kidkissinger posted:What are the threads thoughts on Burning Wheel? Massively over-complicated, poorly-explained, but still impressive in its relentless vision of a very specific style of play.
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May 25, 2018 04:14
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Friends is a terrible cantrip, unless you are trying to get into fights. Pretty much never take it. All it does is give you advantage on a Cha check, and then the target knows you mind whammied them and hates you for it. They will likely fight you, or make your life living hell. The only exceptions are if you are trying to get in a fight, or you are alter self'd to look like someone else so that when you run away and change your appearance they end up hating the person you were impersonating. Also Prestidigitation is a great flavor cantrip. Especially if you are playing a noble or anyone who is well "prissy" or a neat freak. Which fits most of my nobles who always want to look their best. You can use it to clean your clothes/self, to make yourself smell nice, to flavor your food and beverage. The other that is really nice for such things is Mending, allowing you to fix any tears in your clothes. Ryuujin fucked around with this message at 07:28 on May 25, 2018 |
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May 25, 2018 07:26
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Ryuujin posted:Friends is a terrible cantrip, unless you are trying to get into fights. Pretty much never take it. All it does is give you advantage on a Cha check, and then the target knows you mind whammied them and hates you for it. They will likely fight you, or make your life living hell. Or alternatively are never going to see that person again. Like say you wanted to go into a tavern for a meeting and the bouncer was keeping you out. A quick casting of friends to help convince you to let them in.
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May 25, 2018 07:30
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Hahahaha no. You get in, it wears off, the Bouncer comes in and bounces you. Maybe even kills you as you enrage them beyond all reason. Also the Bouncer might not even let you in with Friends, remember all it does is give you advantage, you still might fail the roll. And even if you pass the roll they may not let you in if it would cost them their job or something.
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May 25, 2018 07:33
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MonsterEnvy posted:Or alternatively are never going to see that person again. Like say you wanted to go into a tavern for a meeting and the bouncer was keeping you out. A quick casting of friends to help convince you to let them in. Thats why Charm Person is really good but for Friends having a restrictive 1 minute length its usually not enough to get far enough in. Useful in extremely limited circumstances really. If it worked for a bit longer or like they knew they got mind controlled but not that you mind controlled them specifically or if it gave advantage on any charisma check towards them but otherwise its kinda not useful.
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May 25, 2018 07:35
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kingcom posted:Thats why Charm Person is really good but for Friends having a restrictive 1 minute length its usually not enough to get far enough in. Useful in extremely limited circumstances really. Oh I remembered friends having an hour before it wore off. Yeah then there are only a few situations were it's useful. Maybe getting a discount at a store you don't plan to revisit.
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May 25, 2018 08:06
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MonsterEnvy posted:Oh I remembered friends having an hour before it wore off. Yeah then there are only a few situations were it's useful. Maybe getting a discount at a store you don't plan to revisit. Hope you plan on skipping town, too, because if this is a living world "that dude used magick to alter my mind to my financial loss" is probably not ingratiating you to the locals Basically Friends is super bad because they're afraid of it being too good
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May 25, 2018 08:46
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Darwinism posted:Basically Friends is super bad because they're afraid of it being too good If they didn't realise who had done it I would think it's really powerful, otherwise it is just an invite to get dunked on.
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May 25, 2018 08:59
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Friends still has uses. Use it for intimidation checks, use it with disguises or illusions to misdirect hostility. It's good when you need information like the secret passcode or "who do you work for?" and don't care about hostility. I would take it on all three charisma casters.
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May 25, 2018 12:48
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ritorix posted:Friends still has uses. Use it for intimidation checks, use it with disguises or illusions to misdirect hostility. It's good when you need information like the secret passcode or "who do you work for?" and don't care about hostility. I would take it on all three charisma casters.
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May 25, 2018 12:50
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Splicer posted:Doesn't work on hostile creatures. I was sad to learn this. You aren't usually having conversations with hostiles. When you want to use Friends, you are the one with hostile intent.
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May 25, 2018 12:51
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kidkissinger posted:What are the threads thoughts on Burning Wheel? BinaryDoubts posted:Massively over-complicated, poorly-explained, but still impressive in its relentless vision of a very specific style of play. At the very least, it's an excellent primer on mechanics driving both player and character behaviors, and why that can be good. The mechanics of the game and its rewards systems actively encourage you to do things that make the story interesting. But at the same time, they're front and center in the mindsets of the players. If you can somehow flag down forums user Kestral in the chat thread or something, they've always had interesting things to say about BW. And if you've got archives they posted a bunch of new BW GM advice here. Baby T. Love posted:Does anyone have examples of what those toolsets look like for other systems? I've been looking into DMing for strangers but it seems like my friend-team experience is way different from the norm. Take a look at Dungeon World's GM Section. It's basically a perfect how-to primer on how to run an improvisational adventure game, and you do that mostly by leveraging player input. Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:I think my players deeply value the part of the game where they try to figure out what the best decision is - I don't think they want to pretend their characters are less insightful than they are, it would break the interface between them as players and the world as they see it. I would go as far as to say that player and not character decision-making is a core part of any given session, at least in this game. I think games that are less focused on that would still be really fun and would potentially lead to more interesting narratives, but you *are* explicitly getting rid, or at least mitigating, something valued there. It's not the only way to play but making smart decisions and asking good questions as a player is at least as reasonable a thing to center a game around as tactical grid combat is. There are a lot of people who look down on "powergaming". But that's just doing what the system rewards you for doing. If you want characters to do dumb things or have interesting flaws, it's much better to reward the player for making a suboptimal choice than punish them. The classic case is alcoholism. In a game where you get character build points for flaws and otherwise just get penalties for interacting with it, a player often will do everything they can to steer their alcoholic character away from booze so they don't eat the massive penalties that come with it. In a game that rewards you for playing to your flaws, it'll do a much better job of emulating what that character would actually be like. They'll seek to put their character into situations where their flaw will get them into trouble to farm rewards.
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May 25, 2018 14:56
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My players are pretty happy to play to their flaws but they are like, emergent flaws that came from how they play their characters and not related to the ability score numbers at all. My ranger played up the hatred of her favored enemy, my druid is quick to anger with people, my cleric is a people-pleaser who likes to tell strangers who ask "yes by glory I will help you!" at inconvenient times. It'd be cool if the system rewarded things like that. Honestly I think my case for Int being "learned knowledge/wizard spells" is better than my Cha one. People have given some good advice here and I think there's a middle ground - I still want players to try and figure out what it is a given NPC wants and/or what would persuade them, but falling back to checks given a good faith attempt isn't the worst thing in the world, especially if they get part of the way there. My NPCs aren't exactly burning wheel characters, it's not that hard to suss out what might move them and my players have good information gathering tools if its really important. Another use for the Cha score would be nice too. (Hirelings was the classic one, not sure how I feel about that, probably doesn't work for 5e. Maybe I could give them a B team that doesn't come with them but can act on their behalf to address other things ongoing in the world.) For int though, fundamentally I don't like the "investigation" check. I want to hear what you're investigating/touching/etc. If the mounted giant elephant head(aka obvious thing to try and interact with) emits gas that makes you forget the last 24 hours when touched(elephants are immune) and has treasure inside, I want the player to say they touch it explicitly. It's unsatisfying if they trigger it because they vaguely investigated everything and had little say, but it's also unsatisfying if they find whatever is hidden without triggering the memory loss. However, if they explicitly look closely before touching, they might see vent holes or something indicating the trap. If they instead try to slide it around first or something. I don't think there needs to be a roll based on character stats for searching a room for exactly the reason you don't have to roll to figure out what the best combat tactics would be - I think d&d does best when it's focused around smart careful dungeon exploration from the players. (Frankly I'd rather roll once to resolve how a combat went than an investigation.) This kinda only goes for when the investigation is interesting though - investigation checks to me are for boring but narratively necessary investigations.
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May 25, 2018 16:14
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Chronica Feudalis, which I really need to give a serious try, is pretty neat with that. If you take a penalty from one of your flaws on a roll, it gives you an Ardor point you can use to help yourself in various ways later. The GM can also suggest that a flaw should apply ('This seems like a time when your alcoholic character would get in his cups, don't you think?') and if the player agrees, they get an Ardor point to use later, but if they really don't want it in that moment they can expend an Ardor to have it not happen. So you're incentivized to not only have some negative traits, but also to play them actively, because ultimately it helps you out later. I'm not sure how you could easily D&D-ize that, though.
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May 25, 2018 16:22
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ImpactVector posted:The classic case is alcoholism. In a game where you get character build points for flaws and otherwise just get penalties for interacting with it, a player often will do everything they can to steer their alcoholic character away from booze so they don't eat the massive penalties that come with it. I really like this example. The biggest difference I see between D&D (sorry Paizo, sorry majority of the retro community, you're lumped in here too) and what seems to be the new ideal of TTRPGs is the collaborative nature of games is being embraced much more. More designers are realizing that their games are best when it's people working together to make cool stories happen and they've also realized that rules can actively encourage these behaviors rather than just serving as disassociated conflict resolution math. Hopefully 6E pays attention to some of the developments in the industry since the 90s 
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May 25, 2018 16:30
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