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Infinite Karma posted:Trying to balance burst damage vs. average damage is dumb, because the burst damagers will just use all of their resources and then insist on resting, while the average damagers end up being worse, except for the few times that rests get interrupted and the resource-depleted characters get to groan through a meatgrinder encounter with no useful abilities. I mean, the bonus damage on Battlemaster is as much a concession for the many times Martial Statistics are the enemy strong point while casters run roughshod on bad Wisdom saves or the fact they get to ignore disadvantage. "Too bad you're fighting a bunch of stuff that can easily make Strength saves, huh?" Most maneuvers having bonus damage a lot of the time turns into "Well, gently caress. These enemies are bound to make their saves. May as well burn a maneuver so I hit slightly harder." Or simply helping your bad streak of a scrawny necromancer making three STR saves in a row not feel like a complete waste. Not like Battlemaster gets 'half damage on a miss' either they only get their "burst" if they HIT. Which reminds me, Precision Attack doesn't give you any bonus damage. Section Z fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Oct 21, 2018 |
# ? Oct 21, 2018 01:56 |
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# ? May 16, 2024 03:29 |
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AlphaDog posted:The very simplest example of an ability that switches you from consistent to bursty without using resources is one that trades +hit for +damage. Oh, I guess I had a different idea about burst, but this makes sense too. It's kind of a shame they haven't brought make anything that interacts with the Bloodied state, or even just the Bloodied state at all; it works on the same principle as Escalation Dice of backloading certain combat interactions, because without it, it makes too much sense to come out of the gate swinging big and then closing out on a whimper, which isn't nearly as narratively satisfying. For a really simple example, maybe something like this would give martials some tactical choices - either disengage and focus down one weakened enemy, or hold position and tie up a healthy one: Press the Attack: For the rest of your turn, all your attacks against bloodied enemies strike their weak points of Massive Bonus Damage. Recharges once per short rest.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 02:02 |
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MonsterEnvy posted:It's not super elegant but I could see that working, I was thinking of giving this a try in an upcoming game. I gave the barbarians the champion stuff, and then all the fighters got the battlemaster maneuvers kit. My games also play out that NPCs have classes/abilities as well, so barbarians of all types got the buff, and fighters of all humanoid types got maneuvers. My players are much more cautious and tactical when facing a pack of bandits because they can almost be sure that one or two are classed enemies who know a thing or two. Haven’t looked back since, and nothing but complements from the players, which includes several 5e veterans and a couple of 2e/3e devotees.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 02:08 |
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koreban posted:My games also play out that NPCs have classes/abilities as well, so barbarians of all types got the buff, and fighters of all humanoid types got maneuvers. Doing stuff like this can help make monsters more interesting. I remember early on there was some simple things like, "This Ogre is a Champion Fighter, so he has action surge and a higher crit range." which can make a few monsters tough without having do change them too much as there is not need to actually build them with the same system. Giving them one or two extra abilities from a class can be helpful. lightrook posted:Oh, I guess I had a different idea about burst, but this makes sense too.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 02:52 |
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MonsterEnvy posted:Doing stuff like this can help make monsters more interesting. I remember early on there was some simple things like, "This Ogre is a Champion Fighter, so he has action surge and a higher crit range." which can make a few monsters tough without having do change them too much as there is not need to actually build them with the same system. Giving them one or two extra abilities from a class can be helpful. The “early on” caveats still apply. Don’t do much of this before level 3 or so. Max your players HP per level and/or do hit die + con number for HP at level 1, etc. To put it in LMoP terms, the goblin ambush had no class goblins, the cave had 2, one in the wolf pens, one in the room where the captive was held. The bugbear was a fighter and did knockdowns, but then moved to other player characters because he was too dumb to realize knockdown wasn’t KO’d. It made the encounters slightly more dynamic, introduced abilities to players early so they knew to be cautious, and when they go the same options, they had already seen some of them in play already, so they were excited to be able to do the stuff that had been used on them. By the time they got to the black spider, his guards were fighters and were coordinating his defense tactically, including knocking down the ranger and rogue so the spider could attempt an escape when things got bad for him.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 03:03 |
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Okay, is a tiefling rouge easy to play? Asking for a friend.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 03:33 |
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Fruity20 posted:Okay, is a tiefling rouge easy to play? Asking for a friend. Should be fine, though they may want to look into one of the variants released in Mordekainen's Tome of Foes: The Glasya or Dispater options are a bit better geared towards Rogue-ing
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 03:36 |
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Fruity20 posted:Okay, is a tiefling rouge easy to play? Asking for a friend.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 03:45 |
Fruity20 posted:Okay, is a tiefling rouge easy to play? Asking for a friend. As long as you get someone to open the case for you. Can't just leave it open or you'll float away on the wind.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 04:04 |
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Fruity20 posted:Okay, is a tiefling rouge easy to play? Asking for a friend. You can pick your skin color at character creation so its super easy. Much more natural for a tiefling than other races.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 04:07 |
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Fruity20 posted:Okay, is a tiefling rouge easy to play? Asking for a friend. MY WIFE plays a tiefling rogue pretty successfully and she's got no idea what she's doing most of the time, so I'd say yeah it's easy enough
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 04:41 |
theironjef posted:Plus all that stuff you're saying here about 3.5 charop was never intended by the designers. I mean, 3.x is still an era where the designers thought strength was the most heavily weighted stat so the half-orc had to take two penalty stats to get it. Players learning to cobble together little jenga towers of magazine feats to stay competitive was just hobos figuring out how to make mulligan stew. This cannot be overstated. Go read the class advice in Complete Mage, a book released near the end of 3.5, and compare it to the actual characters of people who knew what they were doing. It's a common thing in D&D design for the designers to be far behind the internet in actually understanding the game. Look at the beginning/leadup to 4e, where Mearls and co were insisting that AoE damage was control and the entire internet community was rolling its eyes because the designers had no idea what they were talking about. This is why Mearls can write articles about how grease winning fights is some kind of big insight while the rest of us just kinda cringe and hope someone buys the IP.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 04:57 |
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MonsterEnvy posted:Well one reason it would not work is that you normally have to see your target. This is why Shadowrun has complex rules about what optical enhancements a mage can cast through. Buy a spyglass and snipe away.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 05:04 |
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Fresh Shesh Besh posted:Well then I won't feel bad when I clamp down on this for our next session. It really killed any tension or mystery I was trying to create. Both of them have been playing D&D a lot longer than I have so I just kinda took their word for it. I feel like they either are being buttheads and trying to confuse the new DM, or they could be getting it mixed up with the Level 7 Barbarian Ability, Feral Instinct. You don't get to walk around going "Do I sense danger?" But you can't be surprised if you aren't incapacitated and the first thing you do on your turn is Rage. It's something I've never gotten to use with my own Barbarian.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 05:19 |
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Giving all Fighters the Champion abilities could work. Or you could combine Champion and Brute, maybe double up on some of the stuff that both get. Hmm a hypothetical Champion Brute: pre:Brute Force Starting at 3rd level, you’re able to strike with your weapons with especially brutal force. Whenever you hit with a weapon that you’re proficient with and deal damage, the weapon’s damage increases by an amount based on your level in this class, as shown on the Brute Bonus Damage table. Brute Bonus Damage Fighter Level Damage Increase (or maybe even double the dice) 3rd 1d4 (2d4) 10th 1d6 (2d6) 16th 1d8 (2d8) 20th 1d10 (2d10) Improved Critical Beginning when you choose this archetype at 3rd level, your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20. Brutish Durability Beginning at 7th level, your toughness allows you to shrug off assaults that would devastate others. Whenever you make a saving throw, roll 1d6 and add the die to your saving throw total. If applying this bonus to a death saving throw increases the total to 20 or higher, you gain the benefits of rolling a 20 on the d20. Remarkable Athlete Starting at 7th level, you can add half your proficiency bonus (round up) to any Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution check you make
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 05:26 |
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Oh the Table of Contents for the Ravncia book was leaked.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 05:54 |
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I wish Ravnica was AL legal because it's the raddest setting and I would day1 buy Ravnica HCs.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 06:12 |
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It would be cool to run a ravnica game, IMO
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 06:13 |
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Toshimo posted:I wish Ravnica was AL legal because it's the raddest setting and I would day1 buy Ravnica HCs. Maybe they will do a season at some point when the book comes out.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 06:16 |
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On Amazon also leaked the first pages of character creation. Which has a really cool piece of art. Look at that Elephant Man.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 06:18 |
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Toshimo posted:I wish Ravnica was AL legal because it's the raddest setting and I would day1 buy Ravnica HCs. What happened to PHB plus 1? I guess it doesn't count because it isn't an FR setting book? That sucks.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 06:31 |
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DalaranJ posted:What happened to PHB plus 1? I guess it doesn't count because it isn't an FR setting book? That sucks. This makes me very leery about other future setting books. Including Eberron of all things.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 09:39 |
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DalaranJ posted:What happened to PHB plus 1? I guess it doesn't count because it isn't an FR setting book? That sucks. Dinictus posted:This makes me very leery about other future setting books. Including Eberron of all things. Eberron is getting a season.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 10:25 |
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My limited understanding of AL is that any given rulebook (or content?) is forbidden unless explicitly permitted - thus unless there's an AL rule that says "Sourcebook X is permitted", you can't use Sourcebook X even if its the only thing other than the phb that you use. Is that right?
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 10:51 |
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Why wouldn't WotC make DnD pay to win? All sourcebooks are fine so long as you own the hard copy $$$
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 11:06 |
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PHB +1 is the worst and dumbest rule
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 11:42 |
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Okay quick thing but why are Pact of the Chain warlocks considered so much better than the other 2? I can't seem to work out why, all the pet seems capable of doing is some light recon and getting itself merced. I mean if you want to grab something more suitable I'd always say that the Book option is better.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 11:57 |
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Josef bugman posted:Okay quick thing but why are Pact of the Chain warlocks considered so much better than the other 2?
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 12:24 |
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Splicer posted:All the benefits of a standard Familar, plus Imp or Qasit gives you owlvantage+, advantage on saving throws vs magic, 120 foot darkvision (including magical darkness for Imp), and see-through-walls invisible mage hand. No magic resistance for the warlock: https://twitter.com/jeremyecrawford/status/725190105451888640
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 13:13 |
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Splicer posted:All the benefits of a standard Familar, plus Imp or Qasit gives you owlvantage+, advantage on saving throws vs magic, 120 foot darkvision (including magical darkness for Imp), and see-through-walls invisible mage hand. What is owlvangtage? How do they give you advantage on magic saving throws?
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 13:34 |
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Kaysette posted:No magic resistance for the warlock:
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 14:10 |
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Josef bugman posted:What is owlvangtage? How do they give you advantage on magic saving throws? Owlvantage isn't actually relevant. It's the idea that an Owl can use the aid another action in combat to grant advantage to allies, while using flyby attack to keep itself mostly out of harms way (flyby attack means that owls don't trigger attacks when they move). Imps can still use aid another, but they don't have flyby attack. That means they can't dive in and out of combat zones nearly as easily. The Imp also has an actual attack, unlike an owl, so using it purely as an advantage generator feels kind of weak. Advantage on magic saving throws is referring to a sidebar in the Monster Manual entry for Imps, saying that Imp familiars can share their magic resistance trait with their master if they are within 10 feet. I'm shocked that this was apparently not meant to indicate that a player with an Imp familiar could share the magic resistance trait of the Imp.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 14:20 |
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Undead Hippo posted:Owlvantage isn't actually relevant. It's the idea that an Owl can use the aid another action in combat to grant advantage to allies, while using flyby attack to keep itself mostly out of harms way (flyby attack means that owls don't trigger attacks when they move). Imps can still use aid another, but they don't have flyby attack. That means they can't dive in and out of combat zones nearly as easily. The Imp also has an actual attack, unlike an owl, so using it purely as an advantage generator feels kind of weak. Pretty sure Quasits and Imps only break invisibility when attacking, so they can help action without breaking. This is arguably as good or better than owlvantage.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 14:39 |
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Undead Hippo posted:Owlvantage isn't actually relevant. It's the idea that an Owl can use the aid another action in combat to grant advantage to allies, while using flyby attack to keep itself mostly out of harms way (flyby attack means that owls don't trigger attacks when they move). Imps can still use aid another, but they don't have flyby attack. That means they can't dive in and out of combat zones nearly as easily. The Imp also has an actual attack, unlike an owl, so using it purely as an advantage generator feels kind of weak. Their base attack also being decent just means you get to pick and choose based on circumstances.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 14:45 |
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Josef bugman posted:Okay quick thing but why are Pact of the Chain warlocks considered so much better than the other 2? Invisible familiar. That's it. Imp shared Magic Resistance doesn't work, because it's not a real MM Imp you're making a contract with - much like standard familiars, it's a critter-shaped spirit that copies a creature's statblock, and sharing MR isn't part of the Imp's statblock. So it's all about the invisible familiar and no, it's not actually significantly better. You can just get Tome + Book of Ancient Secrets invocation for extra cantrips and all the rituals including standard Find Familiar for an owl. If you don't have anyone else in the party capable of getting Wizard Rituals, that's the vastly superior option.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 15:12 |
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I, personally, am playing a Hexlock. I was more asking for a friend who is going to be playing a Gra'azt worshipping Genasi and was wondering which of the options was best for them. I will tell them to stick with their current idea of having the Book as their additional. We do have a Wizard in the group but he is kind of playing a mad scientist rather than the more traditional mage. Josef bugman fucked around with this message at 16:01 on Oct 21, 2018 |
# ? Oct 21, 2018 15:56 |
Kaysette posted:No magic resistance for the warlock: I don't know why they keep doing the NPCs>you thing so drat much. Now, having a rule buried in the Monster Manual is stupid (but works for the 2e nostalgia they're desperately trying to capture) but "ha ha actually that rule applies to NPCs only" is just really infuriating.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 16:26 |
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I've tried to homebrew a fighter in the style of action heroes before and it's tricky as hell to make an interesting/good martial thing. Ideally he'd be moving through a fight disarming people, throwing their weapons, picking up other ones, improvising weapons from the area around him, etc. Somewhere between a John Woo hero throwing away his guns for more on the ground and Jackie Chan beating the gently caress out of everyone with whatever he can find. I think the concept is sort of core to a fighter power fantasy but God it doesn't mesh with existing mechanics great
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 16:40 |
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TheGreatEvilKing posted:I don't know why they keep doing the NPCs>you thing so drat much. Now, having a rule buried in the Monster Manual is stupid (but works for the 2e nostalgia they're desperately trying to capture) but "ha ha actually that rule applies to NPCs only" is just really infuriating. I tried to due diligance before posting but got caught by Roll20s Pact of the Chain hyperlinking to the full MM Quasit entry
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 16:44 |
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# ? May 16, 2024 03:29 |
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TheGreatEvilKing posted:I don't know why they keep doing the NPCs>you thing so drat much. I'm very, very strongly on the side that NPCs and PCs should be built in different ways. But normally I think in terms of PCs being able to do things that an NPC can't.
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# ? Oct 21, 2018 16:44 |