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I finally caved and bought the Warlord and, as someone who hasn't played 4E, I am totally seeing why people here leaned more toward Valor Bard as the Warlord approximation. One thing I find particularly neat are all the different uses for the command dice. Depending on the stratagem, they can be used as damage on a miss, disadvantage on attackers, a (usually) lower power Shield that goes on top of your attack, etc. I think right now the ones I have eyes on most of all are the Daring Gambler and Supreme Tactician. I have a player who is running a Barbarian who was considering multiclassing into which I don't think synergizes particularly well, outside of the themes of the character, but that Gambler would probably be best for them.
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Feb 25, 2019 23:09
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Am I right in reading that bladelocks can Eldritch Smite with a gun?
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Feb 26, 2019 02:34
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Kaysette posted:Can’t wait to buy the next book that is a rehash of old greyhawk modules and updates to their pathetic UA ship combat rules: The crazy thing about this one is that they decided to do Saltmarsh + 3 random Dungeon magazine adventures that happen to be on islands, and didn't include the Isle of Dread. i realise you've been waiting 27 years for this extremely compelling encounter with 300+ skeletons to come back 
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Feb 26, 2019 02:55
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Danger Diabolik posted:Am I right in reading that bladelocks can Eldritch Smite with a gun? I lost the conversation, so I have no idea what you're talking about or looking at, but the answer is hell yes.
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Feb 26, 2019 03:04
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Danger Diabolik posted:Am I right in reading that bladelocks can Eldritch Smite with a gun? You can only Eldritch Smite with your Pact Weapon and mundane guns cannot be Pact Weapons RAW. Magic guns are fine, though.
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Feb 26, 2019 03:23
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Toshimo posted:You can only Eldritch Smite with your Pact Weapon and mundane guns cannot be Pact Weapons RAW. Magic guns are fine, though. Oh yeah, I forgot that the ranged weapon needed to be magic to be a pact weapon (I don't have the books with me). Theoretically couldn't a forge cleric use Blessing of the Forge to arm an army of Bladelock archers one at a time then?
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Feb 26, 2019 03:52
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Trying to understand logical mechanical reasons people find the warlord overpowered is an excuse in futility. "It's overpowered" is simply the easiest and laziest way to dismiss something you dislike.
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Feb 26, 2019 04:09
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The Saltmash details have been posted on the site. http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/ghosts-saltmarsh
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Feb 26, 2019 05:48
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I will never understand why they don't line up their 1st party adventure books with their existing tiers of play.
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Feb 26, 2019 05:59
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Probably cause 1 to 11 does not sound as good as 1 to 12.
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Feb 26, 2019 06:09
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It'd be super cool if they released an adventure book from like 5-16 instead of 1-12. The low levels are a grind when every campaign starts at level 1, and there are already plenty of adventures that cover starting characters to bridge into a bigger campaign.
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Feb 26, 2019 06:15
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Infinite Karma posted:It'd be super cool if they released an adventure book from like 5-16 instead of 1-12. The low levels are a grind when every campaign starts at level 1, and there are already plenty of adventures that cover starting characters to bridge into a bigger campaign. This times a thousand. I’d really like to cast an 8th level spell someday
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Feb 26, 2019 06:23
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Dungeon of the Mad Mage is for levels 5 to 20. Speaking of which my party just went through their first session of it today. They picked a fight with too many goblins and bugbears resulting in one of the parties death, and the rest retreating back to the Yawning Portal. This is the first time the group had tasted bitter defeat in a long time. But I can see how it happened. Party is not super balanced and has no AoE which would have been amazing against the goblins.
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Feb 26, 2019 06:35
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DMM is crap and 1-11 is still wrong.
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Feb 26, 2019 06:41
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Toshimo posted:DMM is crap and 1-11 is still wrong. Whats wrong with DMM in your opinion?
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Feb 26, 2019 06:49
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Anyone have an opinion on any of the Adventurers League modules? the DDAL ones, preferably any from Season 7 (Tomb of Annihilation). My group is starting a Ravnica campaign but the DM is in the middle of a move that's taking longer than she expected so she's not quite ready and I've been tasked with preparing a one shot of some kind. I thought it would be cool to let most of them keep playing their characters from the Tomb campaign we just finished, but there's like 7 of these modules for levels 11-16 (I told them they could level up to 12). e: I'll probably make edits to the encounters and stuff anyway, just asking if there are any that have really stuck out in anyone's mind.
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Feb 26, 2019 08:21
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xiw posted:The crazy thing about this one is that they decided to do Saltmarsh + 3 random Dungeon magazine adventures that happen to be on islands, and didn't include the Isle of Dread. Presumably that is because they licenced Isle of Dread to Goodman Games. That might have been a weird decision, given how long this book has been in the works, but 5E's whole philosophy is basically weird decisions.
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Feb 26, 2019 10:43
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Mr. Humalong posted:Anyone have an opinion on any of the Adventurers League modules? the DDAL ones, preferably any from Season 7 (Tomb of Annihilation). My group is starting a Ravnica campaign but the DM is in the middle of a move that's taking longer than she expected so she's not quite ready and I've been tasked with preparing a one shot of some kind. I thought it would be cool to let most of them keep playing their characters from the Tomb campaign we just finished, but there's like 7 of these modules for levels 11-16 (I told them they could level up to 12). Look at Lich-Queen's Begotten by M.T Black, should be everything you are looking for.
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Feb 26, 2019 11:03
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MonsterEnvy posted:Dungeon of the Mad Mage is for levels 5 to 20. Oh man, please keep posting about your experiences. I'm also in a DMM campaign, recently started, just a bit ahead of you (we explored half (?) of floor 1 before getting a compelling reason to go to floor 2 early) so I'm interested in hearing how other parties deal with stuff. My party has me as a goblin cleric so most encounters with goblins tend to devolve into killing whoever is their boss for the moment and me convincing the enemy goblins to stop fighting.
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Feb 26, 2019 14:49
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So, I just got roped into the whole 5e thing because the GM wanted to take a break and another decided to run it. Playing a Monk right now, but the rest of the party are all magic users from wizard, sorcerer, and warlock. So, I take it since once they start casting fireballs I'll be regulated to party mule? Aside from Elemental Path any interesting Monk subclasses I should consider?
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Feb 26, 2019 15:47
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Ramba Ral posted:So, I just got roped into the whole 5e thing because the GM wanted to take a break and another decided to run it. Playing a Monk right now, but the rest of the party are all magic users from wizard, sorcerer, and warlock. Monks own and are the stun lockdown masters.
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Feb 26, 2019 15:56
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Ramba Ral posted:So, I just got roped into the whole 5e thing because the GM wanted to take a break and another decided to run it. Playing a Monk right now, but the rest of the party are all magic users from wizard, sorcerer, and warlock. Elemental Path is specifically the one you should be avoiding. Pretty much all the other subclasses have something neat about them. Shadow lets you play as a ninja, Open Palm and Long Death get some neat abilities, Sun Soul lets you be the closest approximation to Goku.
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Feb 26, 2019 16:08
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Ramba Ral posted:So, I just got roped into the whole 5e thing because the GM wanted to take a break and another decided to run it. Playing a Monk right now, but the rest of the party are all magic users from wizard, sorcerer, and warlock. Monks don't get as many tricks as a spellcaster but the tricks they get are pretty drat good tricks (except for Four Elements, which is insanely bad). Rather than expect to become the party mule, you're going to end up becoming a Stunning Strike bot though. Because Stunning Strike is absolutely insane. Shadow is if you want to be a Ninja Monk, Long Death if you want to basically literally never die so long as you have Ki left, Open Hand for the vanilla yet probably most powerful option and Sun Soul if you wanna become Goku. Kensei is another path that has some issues, especially at low levels, and it weirdly loses flavor as it levels up. Don't recommend it much. Drunken Master is... Odd. It can be good sometimes but it requires some rather specific situations. I'd say for a first timer stick to Open Hand, Sun Soul or Long Death, personally.
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Feb 26, 2019 16:44
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I saw a level 9 monk survive 10 fireballs to the face last week without a scratch because of dodge, evasion, and lucky. That was pretty dope.
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Feb 26, 2019 17:21
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I remember reading or hearing from some interview about Tales from the Yawning portal is that they know most campaigns never continue past level 10 and they want to make sure there’s content for all levels (up to a point) so your dm can work in any official module into his campaign at any point.Ramba Ral posted:So, I take it since once they start casting fireballs I'll be regulated to party mule? Aside from Elemental Path any interesting Monk subclasses I should consider? Tell them to carry their own poo poo.
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Feb 26, 2019 17:54
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Numlock posted:they know most campaigns never continue past level 10 This feels like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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Feb 26, 2019 18:06
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Infinity Gaia posted:Oh man, please keep posting about your experiences. I'm also in a DMM campaign, recently started, just a bit ahead of you (we explored half (?) of floor 1 before getting a compelling reason to go to floor 2 early) so I'm interested in hearing how other parties deal with stuff. My party has me as a goblin cleric so most encounters with goblins tend to devolve into killing whoever is their boss for the moment and me convincing the enemy goblins to stop fighting. Sure thing.
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Feb 26, 2019 18:16
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Probably, though I get it it. I’ve been DMing a AiME game for almost a year (with some breaks) now and I’m ready to wrap it up and do something else. My players are at Level 6, will probably hit 7 before the final fight with the “Not a ring wraith but similar” big bad of the game.
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Feb 26, 2019 18:19
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Realistically, a 12-20 campaign book doesn't have to be harder or more complicated to make than something that goes 3-11. Level 20 doesn't have to be "Help us or the world as we know it is destroyed" because those are still just mechanical numbers. You can make any narrative a threat by adjusting numbers in the background. I would say that the anemic release schedule precludes higher level content but I don't think previous editions had much in that way either.
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Feb 26, 2019 18:24
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Toshimo posted:This feels like a self-fulfilling prophecy. I think the deeper cultural explanation is that most groups expect games to start at level 1, and the average campaign only lasts three or four sessions anyways before real life gets in the way and everything goes tumbling down, so campaigns that start at 1 rarely make it past level 5. The biggest demand for high level content probably comes from people who are tired of rehashing the same early levels over and over, so by definition we're a minority of players and therefore a minority of sales. For the casual players that make up the majority of the playerbase, the main interest comes from campaigns that start from the bottom and work their way up, so that's where the content is.
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Feb 26, 2019 19:37
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lightrook posted:I think the deeper cultural explanation is that most groups expect games to start at level 1, and the average campaign only lasts three or four sessions anyways before real life gets in the way and everything goes tumbling down, so campaigns that start at 1 rarely make it past level 5. The biggest demand for high level content probably comes from people who are tired of rehashing the same early levels over and over, so by definition we're a minority of players and therefore a minority of sales. For the casual players that make up the majority of the playerbase, the main interest comes from campaigns that start from the bottom and work their way up, so that's where the content is.
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Feb 26, 2019 20:05
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Kaysette posted:I saw a level 9 monk survive 10 fireballs to the face last week without a scratch because of dodge, evasion, and lucky. That was pretty dope. Monks are extremely good at dealing with enemy spellcasters, especially if they are running a concentration spell: evade the damage, move really fast to get up to them, and deliver a bunch of attacks coupled with Stunning Fist when you hit. And you're tough enough that if that doesn't work, you can stand there and give the rogue a sneak attack on the caster instead of darting back out again.
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Feb 26, 2019 20:08
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Toshimo posted:This feels like a self-fulfilling prophecy. The biggest problem with level 10+ is scheduling.
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Feb 26, 2019 20:36
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lightrook posted:I think the deeper cultural explanation is that most groups expect games to start at level 1, and the average campaign only lasts three or four sessions anyways before real life gets in the way and everything goes tumbling down, so campaigns that start at 1 rarely make it past level 5. The biggest demand for high level content probably comes from people who are tired of rehashing the same early levels over and over, so by definition we're a minority of players and therefore a minority of sales. For the casual players that make up the majority of the playerbase, the main interest comes from campaigns that start from the bottom and work their way up, so that's where the content is. How about they just issue a 10 or so page free supplement on creating start-of-tier characters for T2/T3? Then, people can just consult that and roll up characters in the "fun level range" and also they can make products for higher tier play.
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Feb 26, 2019 20:40
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lightrook posted:I think the deeper cultural explanation is that most groups expect games to start at level 1, and the average campaign only lasts three or four sessions anyways before real life gets in the way and everything goes tumbling down, so campaigns that start at 1 rarely make it past level 5. The biggest demand for high level content probably comes from people who are tired of rehashing the same early levels over and over, so by definition we're a minority of players and therefore a minority of sales. For the casual players that make up the majority of the playerbase, the main interest comes from campaigns that start from the bottom and work their way up, so that's where the content is. It's absolutely this. It's expected both that you'll start the game "from the beginning," and that leveling is supposed to not be very fast, and so you end up with the perception that every game is supposed to be this long drawn out epic, and that's...just not really doable in the modern hellworld we're all stuck in. And even if it WERE doable to maneuver the vanishingly few non-work hours you have left to coincide with that of your group, expecting the same game to just continue to be the same enjoyment, for years plural, every single time, is likewise a little silly.
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Feb 26, 2019 20:49
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I feel like high level modules is kind of a waste of effort? Like, after a certain point, the players have such strong abilities and spells that you can't have much structure.
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Feb 26, 2019 21:11
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Higher levels are poorly balanced, because of less focus by developers, because there are fewer games played in those levels, because there's a lack of interest in those levels, because higher levels are poorly balanced.
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Feb 26, 2019 21:21
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Having just finished running a game for level 16 characters, I can say that all of my planning devolved quickly into calvinball even without 9th level magic. I would have appreciated high level modules to crib from, though.
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Feb 26, 2019 21:32
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Gharbad the Weak posted:Higher levels are poorly balanced, because of less focus by developers, because there are fewer games played in those levels, because there's a lack of interest in those levels, because higher levels are poorly balanced. All it would take is putting "tier-defining" exploration/social abilities in enough classes that normal groups will always have some of them. Divination abilities that pick up investigation dead ends, long-distance travel abilities to get into impossible strongholds, mind control/disguise abilities to infiltrate hellworlds, defensive tricks to bypass unstoppable deathtraps... and giving them to non-wizards, ideally giving them to non-spellcasters. Rangers and druids can teleport via leylines. Paladins and Clerics and Bards and Rogues can get guidance to Legend Lore the macguffin/villain. Warlocks and Barbarians have get-out-of-death-free cards because their patrons/totems/ancestors won't release them from their pacts.
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Feb 26, 2019 21:49
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Also, to be honest, I suspect there just isn't even close to there being as much interest in the higher levels as there is for the lower levels. I would wager the vast majority of players overall really don't want to play the Weird Wizard Show that D&D always turns into, despite what some really loud nerds like to proclaim a lot on the internet. But then, if we follow that path, we arrive at "most players don't actually want the dungeon crawling highly mechanical combat focused game that D&D is, they just end up there and modify the game until it's no longer the same game at all, but still just call it D&D."
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Feb 26, 2019 21:54
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