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Additionally, feel free to rule any UA classes however you want since they are poorly written and haven't seen an editor, so you're pretty much making up most of it anyway.
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Mar 25, 2019 23:55
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P.d0t posted:So a player in one of the games I'm in is looking to start running his own campaign, but sort of has it in his head that 3 players is the ideal number (and yes I've talked to him about that; he might be consider allowing 4.) Coming back around to this, apparently the other 2/3rds of the party looks like this: Wood Elf, Rogue (archery focus) skill profs: acrobatics, persuasion, stealth, sleight of hand, deception, perception Dragonborn, Cleric (life domain, with 14s in STR and CHA) skill profs: insight, perception, medicine, religion So I feel like I should make something tanky, but I don't want to be anything bland, or just really bad at non-combat. I'm partial to Eldritch Knight, but Bladesinger would make it easier to get the INT skills covered (which the party is sorely lacking.) Should I be looking at Moon Druid? Or just say "gently caress it" and be a Bard? Would it be at all fun or effective to press a Ranger or Monk into the role? I'm pretty ok with playing just about anything, I'm just having analysis paralysis at this point.
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Mar 26, 2019 04:56
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Go Bladesinger or Paladin. Also, that Dragonborn should really have 15 Strength so they can wear Heavy Armor.
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Mar 26, 2019 05:07
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P.d0t posted:sort of has it in his head that 3 players is the ideal number Good God, why?
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Mar 26, 2019 05:13
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I dunno if its IDEAL but it's the low limit of what I think is good. I'd say 3-6 players is the 'good' range, with 4-5 being ideal imho.
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Mar 26, 2019 09:34
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e: nm
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Mar 26, 2019 10:21
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Games are better for 2 people then more than 4, 3 is the sweet spot.
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Mar 26, 2019 10:28
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Elector_Nerdlingen posted:In the 90s, before his first ever game, one of my friends wrote "Conan Rambo" in the name box, asked what alignment meant, listened as far as "like personality and political..." then went "ok cool" and wrote Conan/Rambo there too, getting it on a level I've only ever seen a handful of times. Not much silly names in my group, but in one game I named all the major elf NPCs after kitchen things. Tanduril, Samdovar and Suvid. If anyone got it, they tactfully refrained from encouraging me by acknowledging it.
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Mar 26, 2019 13:12
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My Lovely Horse posted:Late, but I love this. Whenever I explain alignment to people I say as far as I'm concerned you can write anything in there from "Lawful Good" to "The Terminator". I’m an idiot because I still don’t get those.
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Mar 26, 2019 13:36
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I got "sous vide" but not the other 2.
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Mar 26, 2019 14:14
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Tandoori? Those are a stretch.
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Mar 26, 2019 14:16
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A samovar is a container for heating and dispensing liquids, basically a Ye Olde Coffee Machine
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Mar 26, 2019 14:27
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For contrast I had a character in a non-DnD named Pan Fry who was a chinese food cooking ninja-type guy. This is actually a totally legit name with historical context and I plotte. out a whole thing explaining the top secret food assassin school.
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Mar 26, 2019 15:15
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Malpais Legate posted:A samovar is a container for heating and dispensing liquids, basically a Ye Olde Coffee Machine Going to name my next Gnome character Cappo Cheenomaecher.
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Mar 26, 2019 15:28
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Go all in with “Matcha Missile”, “Nappucino” instead of sleep, etc.
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Mar 26, 2019 19:30
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How broken would it be to give a shadow monk an ability similar to duplicity from a cleric. The thing having 1 HP, and when you teleport you can leave a clone behind(number of uses a day scaling like channel divinity). Clone shares your action economy. You can spend a bonus action + 1 ki point to swap locations with your clone. I'm thinking of running this by my DM as a use for downtime he gives out to learn. Any thoughts/ better ways to balance?
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Mar 26, 2019 21:59
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My Lovely Horse posted:Late, but I love this. Whenever I explain alignment to people I say as far as I'm concerned you can write anything in there from "Lawful Good" to "The Terminator". One of the best ones I've seen was "...of the Royal Navy". Also "Get money smoke trees", but not in the same game.
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Mar 26, 2019 22:32
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What's some wizard spells up through level 5 that don't show up in every wizard's list but are still fun or good? (fwiw, I don't think DM would be down with Magic Mouth programming)
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Mar 27, 2019 03:02
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tfw you say 6d6 damage and they think you said 66 damage
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Mar 27, 2019 03:12
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Nehru the Damaja posted:What's some wizard spells up through level 5 that don't show up in every wizard's list but are still fun or good? (fwiw, I don't think DM would be down with Magic Mouth programming) I hardly ever see anyone with Otiluke's Resilient Sphere, but I feel like it's one of those "there's almost certainly a better option" type spells that's probably more fun/versatile than it looks at a glance. Someone who was about to start fighting you and now they're trapped in a hamster ball while you go "look, just calm down, I bet we can compromise..." is a pretty great visual, anyway.
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Mar 27, 2019 03:29
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Elector_Nerdlingen posted:I hardly ever see anyone with Otiluke's Resilient Sphere, but I feel like it's one of those "there's almost certainly a better option" type spells that's probably more fun/versatile than it looks at a glance. My wizard, while fighting a Yeti on a hazardous mountain path, put him in a sphere and drop kicked it off the side of the mountain.
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Mar 27, 2019 03:40
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Conspiratiorist posted:Go Bladesinger or Paladin. I mean, I'd go so far as to say "that Dragonborn shouldn't be a cleric," but I apparently am a filthy power-gamer.
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Mar 27, 2019 04:14
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Remora posted:Good God, why? yeah I don't know why 3 players, other than "new DM, already feeling overwhelmed enough." He did ask me my thoughts on the ideal number (5, and promptly ignored it) but my basic thought is mostly in-line with what people said earlier in the thread. Specifically:
...and probably one or more of those should also double as a "skill monkey" (i.e. probably a Bard, but maybe a Rogue-dip character) But yeah, with 5 people, you also have a better chance of covering off all the skills, since there are 5 ability scores with skills tied to them.
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Mar 27, 2019 04:25
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Strom Cuzewon posted:What's the joke with Tiffany? I see you're smelting just as fast as you can Making swords and gauntlets for my hands Trying to forge a shield into the night And also something something something and we tumble to the ground and why haven't you interrupted me yet goddamn.
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Mar 27, 2019 05:59
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P.d0t posted:I mean, I'd go so far as to say "that Dragonborn shouldn't be a cleric," but I apparently am a filthy power-gamer. Yeah, I'd suggest using Lizardfolk stats unless they really, really want that breath weapon for some reason.
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Mar 27, 2019 09:20
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CaPensiPraxis posted:For contrast I had a character in a non-DnD named Pan Fry who was a chinese food cooking ninja-type guy. This is actually a totally legit name with historical context and I plotte. out a whole thing explaining the top secret food assassin school.
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Mar 27, 2019 10:20
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P.d0t posted:yeah I don't know why 3 players, other than "new DM, already feeling overwhelmed enough." Toplowtech fucked around with this message at 10:39 on Mar 27, 2019 |
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Mar 27, 2019 10:35
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P.d0t posted:yeah I don't know why 3 players, other than "new DM, already feeling overwhelmed enough." Beyond trying to cover roles (arguably unnecessary in 5e, and an entirely separate discussion), 4-5 players means you can still run a good session if 1-2 are missing.
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Mar 27, 2019 10:53
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So, uh... L1 characters are kinda fragile, huh? I finally decided to make a proper character in the hope of getting to play a game sometime soon (a Paladin), then tried to get a handle on the combat system by having her fight two trash monsters (kobolds). She died in three rounds after scoring a single hit. Okaaaay... I don't remember even BX being that lethal at L1 (except for wizards in melee). Kobolds - and pretty much every other enemy in the MM - getting at least +2 to damage was the killer; what the hell was the reasoning behind that decision? (I know that in a real game there would have been other PCs in the fight, but still it was a bit  to see a character with high AC and HP still get ganked so quickly. Is this the 5e experience in a nutshell?)Edit: jeez, and I just realised I was working out her damage bonus wrong - I thought you added the proficiency bonus as well as the ability modifier (which would have given her +5), but nope. So she wouldn't even have scored her single kill! Why do kobolds get that +2 when they shouldn't get an STR bonus? Small Strange Bird fucked around with this message at 11:46 on Mar 27, 2019 |
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Mar 27, 2019 11:40
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while it's true that level 1 characters are fragile, that test of a single character versus two monsters is also not very representative of what happens at a table, either, since those kobolds could just as well go down without a fight if initiative goes your way and everyone gets in their licks before the monsters do, or if the monsters don't attack the same target, and so on
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Mar 27, 2019 11:49
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Payndz posted:Why do kobolds get that +2 when they shouldn't get an STR bonus?
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Mar 27, 2019 11:50
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Payndz posted:So, uh... L1 characters are kinda fragile, huh? I finally decided to make a proper character in the hope of getting to play a game sometime soon (a Paladin), then tried to get a handle on the combat system by having her fight two trash monsters (kobolds). Its the dumbass advantage system loving you over with kobolds. goblins aswell can gently caress over level 1s with being able to disengage and hide each turn.
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Mar 27, 2019 11:52
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Yeah if you want a more honest 'test', make a couple more characters and throw them at a few kobolds. Pack Tactics is kicking your rear end, as Rat Mom said. Level 1 is stupidly fragile. I'm going to be running Rappan Athuk, a very old-school sort of module which rewards being careful and knowing when to flee. So what that means is there's probably gonna be a LOT of very dead Level 1 characters in my local adventure league-styled community thing. I kind of think it needs a slightly more deadly game though, honestly. We're getting to a point where players hop into one particular game to get some really stupid items/boons at low levels and most DMs just don't seem to have the nerve to tell people they can't use the stuff. RA has some strong items, -later on-, but they kind of balance out by the place trying to kill you.
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Mar 27, 2019 11:53
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gradenko_2000 posted:while it's true that level 1 characters are fragile, that test of a single character versus two monsters is also not very representative of what happens at a table, either, since those kobolds could just as well go down without a fight if initiative goes your way and everyone gets in their licks before the monsters do, or if the monsters don't attack the same target, and so on they are cr 1/8 so in a average fight they would be 2 per party member, and usually more. they could have all focused down the paladin on their initiative, which usually happens when a kobold dashes up and the rest take out their slings Edit: I say average fight, but adjusted xp would make it harder. What I mean is this is the usual fight they expect level 1's to do multiple times in the modules Proud Rat Mom fucked around with this message at 12:02 on Mar 27, 2019 |
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Mar 27, 2019 11:56
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Also, I do want to point out that while getting knocked unconscious can happen easily, actually, literally dying is a bit harder, per the death save rules As long as one person survives, everyone is more likely to stabilize than not, especially if you have some kind of means of direct healing available to you The tricky part is that if everyone gets knocked out, that can sort of lead to the conclusion that everyone gets coup de grace'd or whatever and that's all she wrote Of course, as the DM, you wouldn't necessarily have to make things turn out like that, but broader point is that this outcome is even more likely to happen with a single PC versus 2 monsters Having said all this, I would still absolutely give everyone +10 max HP, or their base Con score in additional max HP, but I'd like to get it right.
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Mar 27, 2019 12:07
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Elector_Nerdlingen posted:Nothing specific, but when your name/description and the job mismatch with expectations, customers tend to tell the same lovely jokes. Oh thank god. Took me ages to get to sleep last night cos i was trying (and failing) to think of Tiffany puns.
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Mar 27, 2019 13:05
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Thanks, y'all. I'm seeing now why a lot of people think you should start at L3; enough HP to survive more than two modest hits, plus my pally would have got her Smite, spells, Oath stuff, a big enough healing pool to make Lay on Hands worth a drat, etc.
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Mar 27, 2019 13:40
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Proud Rat Mom posted:they are cr 1/8 so in a average fight they would be 2 per party member, and usually more. they could have all focused down the paladin on their initiative, which usually happens when a kobold dashes up and the rest take out their slings CR is garbage that does not take into account abilities like Pack Tactics. Seriously, special abilities are not factored into CR. It's bad, don't use it. Also, action economy and focus fire are things. Run it again with four paladins and eight kobolds. Edit: thought you were the original questioner, my bad. Phoneposting is a plague. Remora fucked around with this message at 13:48 on Mar 27, 2019 |
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Mar 27, 2019 13:45
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Even per the wonky DMG exp rules, 2 kobolds vs one lvl 1 character is a deadly encounter. Not sure why you’d expect something else. That’s just a bad test for a lot of reasons.
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Mar 27, 2019 13:46
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Payndz posted:Thanks, y'all. I'm seeing now why a lot of people think you should start at L3; enough HP to survive more than two modest hits, plus my pally would have got her Smite, spells, Oath stuff, a big enough healing pool to make Lay on Hands worth a drat, etc. For what it's worth, I almost always try to knock a player down in one of the first sessions, just to remind everyone that while the game can be dangerous, being unconscious is not dead. A little bit of healing goes a long way, since it'll wake up a downed player to get their retaliatory strike in. By the mid levels the party is typically very resilient and rarely sees deaths.
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Mar 27, 2019 13:50
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