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My group needs a new GM, and being the only one without kids, I've agreed to give it a shot. My group doesn't really powergame, but I have noticed some patterns in their play. I thought I might add a few house rules to encourage more character variety and I was hoping to get some feedback by more experienced people:
I'm trying not to overdo it, but in practice I feel like these are pretty light. I'm not worried about overpowering the players, as much as I want to encourage more freedom in their characters. My group tends to zero in on Charisma and Dex classes, mostly ranged, so lots of elves at our table.
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Apr 3, 2019 18:42
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- Floating race attributes are fine. - The +1 attribute Feats don't need any changes; most aren't worthwhile even with the +1. - Don't. What you've suggested means they will have to go through the busywork to gain a small, shallow bonus because why wouldn't they? The annoyance and relevance of ration tracking stay the same like this. - Archers are martials, yes. What actually pushes your group away from being in melee, though? If survivability is the concern, giving them better damage isn't going to solve it.
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Apr 3, 2019 18:59
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Celebrity Ghost posted:[*] Feat + ASI. I was curious how this works in regard to Feats that reward an ASI; is the stat point removed from the Feat, or do you keep it? My goal is to get people picking fun perks they might otherwise never take, like Leadership, and keeping it seems to subtlely encourage those Feats over others to get a +3 on level up. 2) You can choose between an ASI and a non+1 feat or you can get two +1 feats. Alternative phrasing: if you choose a +1 feat you get two of them but don't get the +1s. e: heck, make it 3 Splicer fucked around with this message at 19:11 on Apr 3, 2019 |
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Apr 3, 2019 19:03
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Splicer posted:1) Don't allow a +3. You can't raise any one stat by more than 2 per level up, the leftover has to go elsewhere. That makes it more complicated and shakes the balance for no reason.
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Apr 3, 2019 19:05
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Conspiratiorist posted:the balance e: this is supposed to refer to the inconsistent nature of existing feat balance and express my disbelief that, compared to this, rolling your own by mooshing the non ASI halves of the +1 feats could have a meaningful impact on the existing balance. This was not well conveyed. Splicer fucked around with this message at 21:05 on Apr 3, 2019 |
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Apr 3, 2019 19:13
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Splicer posted:You know what thread we're in right? Yes, and there's an existing game balance: some picks are really good, some picks are okay, some picks are utter garbage. Anyone who's experienced with the game, or looking for advice from people who are, can get an idea of what that balance is. Your proposal adds complexity to the house rules, and arbitrarily alters this balance, for no reason. It accomplishes nothing, while potentially complicating matters for the players. The great thing about ASI + Feat is that some picks are good and fun and sometimes even interesting, but you rarely if ever see them because Attribute Increases or poo poo like GWM are so good that, if there's any room for anything else, it's at the tail end of the character progression. There's no need to gently caress with anything else. Actually, no - you know what's a better idea? Just let people get a free Feat - whatever they want - at levels 1/5/9/13/17. There, that doesn't gently caress with multiclassing, or extra ASI classes, or whether this half feat is now good or it's not, or what have you.
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Apr 3, 2019 19:34
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That does still let you get an 18 at level 1 fwiw - I don't think that's a huge problem but that's the thing his proposal tried to address.
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Apr 3, 2019 19:42
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Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:That does still let you get an 18 at level 1 fwiw - I don't think that's a huge problem but that's the thing his proposal tried to address. Splicer's proposal doesn't touch level 1 
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Apr 3, 2019 19:51
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Splicer posted:You know what thread we're in right? Yo, seriously, don't do this poo poo. If you have a particular thing you want help with, that's great, or a specific new gripe you need to share, I guess that's fine, but just blanket shitposting isn't appropriate.
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Apr 3, 2019 19:57
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Conspiratiorist posted:Splicer's proposal doesn't touch level 1 Oh I'm wrong - I had conflated "feat with ASI" with "feat at level 1" because I was considering the "+2 to anything at level 1 instead of racial stats" to be an ASI. Level 1 is really the only place where a +3 is concerning - I guess technically you could get a 20 at level 5 instead of level 8 with your change but that's not as big a deal since like, you also get fireball at level 5. So I revise my statement - Splicer's concern is only really an issue if you give a feat at level 1, and your fix doesn't address that.
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Apr 3, 2019 20:04
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Is that what he was going for? And actually, with my proposal you can get 20 at level 4: 17 start, level 1 half feat for 18, standard +2 ASI at 4. But it's like  If characters starting a with +4 mod instead of +3 at level 1 is a specific concern, for some reason, it's easier to do a catch all "You can't begin at level 1 with more than 17 on an attribute" than bend a bunch of other rules around making sure this doesn't happen.
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Apr 3, 2019 20:12
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Arthil posted:Hobs seem like the type of enemy that, regardless of level, can pose a danger simply due to them being an actual military force. And being an actual playable release in most editions means if you need to power them up just start giving them class levels. I've always been a fan of Hobgoblins
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Apr 3, 2019 20:26
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Toshimo posted:Yo, seriously, don't do this poo poo. If you have a particular thing you want help with, that's great, or a specific new gripe you need to share, I guess that's fine, but just blanket shitposting isn't appropriate. Splicer fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Apr 3, 2019 |
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Apr 3, 2019 20:45
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what’s wrong with 18 on lvl 1? I managed to get that on intelligence with a regular dice roll for stats + racial bonus. and that don’t stop me from getting poo poo luck in combat, or really, any situation where you have to roll
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Apr 3, 2019 21:12
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Splicer posted:Sorry, I was trying to make a specific point but went overly reductive. Firstly they're already messing with game balance by adding in the free feats, so saying something "shakes the balance" in isolation is meaningless. Secondly, their concern was someone jumping +3 in one level. So limiting the gain per level to +2/+1 is just maintaining the status quo. Finally, and here's the specific thing that I was snarkily referring to, feat balance is a garbage fire in every edition. Being able to roll your own feats by combining the non-asi halves of two or three +1 feats is not going to break anything compared to the existing discrepancy between e.g. GWM and dual weilder Well, my position is that while game balance in D&D is indeed a dumpster fire, rules really shouldn't be touched unless it is to meaningfully improve them. The rules in a game system exist as a framework to facilitate gameplay by standardizing player and GM expectations about how interacting with the game world works (building characters being a subset of this), and while you can rightfully argue that 5e does a poor job of this for various reasons, the system is already complex enough that I believe it's just bad manners to pressure players to learn or re-learn more rules on top. That is, if you're making a dozen, even just half-a-dozen changes to the rules here and there, you better have a good reason, you better be making changes that would actually make the game more fun rather than just fiddling with values here and there so it looks better. Similarly, I hold a dim view of homebrew in general: my first question is always "what does this add? Can't you pursue these mechanics or flavor by reskinning existing classes/archetypes?" ulvir posted:what’s wrong with 18 on lvl 1? I managed to get that on intelligence with a regular dice roll for stats + racial bonus. and that don’t stop me from getting poo poo luck in combat, or really, any situation where you have to roll Inherently? Nothing.
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Apr 3, 2019 21:12
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ulvir posted:what’s wrong with 18 on lvl 1? I managed to get that on intelligence with a regular dice roll for stats + racial bonus. and that don’t stop me from getting poo poo luck in combat, or really, any situation where you have to roll
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Apr 3, 2019 21:18
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Conspiratiorist posted:Well, my position is that while game balance in D&D is indeed a dumpster fire, rules really shouldn't be touched unless it is to meaningfully improve them. Splicer fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Apr 3, 2019 |
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Apr 3, 2019 21:19
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Celebrity Ghost posted:My group needs a new GM, and being the only one without kids, I've agreed to give it a shot. My group doesn't really powergame, but I have noticed some patterns in their play. I thought I might add a few house rules to encourage more character variety and I was hoping to get some feedback by more experienced people: I might suggest a parallel track, which would be to give players a free feat from an alternative list, like UA Racial Feats or UA Feats, or whatever else you please. That way they're engaging with new material, and you can set the power level by deciding which feats to include. Alternatively, do free quarter feats: Choose any half feat, strip off the +1 stat. That way you're largely avoiding involving yourself in rebalancing, while encouraging players to take feats that they otherwise might not be interested in. That would be quite similar to your idea to give a free non-attribute feat (which would also work), but at a lower power level. As for food, I'd suggest peppering in a session or two that focus those sort of logistical elements. Spending an afternoon or two navigating the rarely used weight, sustenance, and travel movement rules can be a fun change of pace - doing so every game gets to be a drag regardless of incentive. Similarly, I'd be hesitant about upending the martial balance too much by guaranteeing hits with "Uncanny Strike", especially because then you start having problems with the various traits that engage with missed hits. I generally help out the martials by being relatively free with items, which tend to help out the fighters more than the mages. Maybe try out your system in a one-off to see if you and your players like it. Do non-players have Uncanny Strike as well? Personally I'd vote against, but see what your party thinks by trying it out and listening to feedback. Kaal fucked around with this message at 21:51 on Apr 3, 2019 |
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Apr 3, 2019 21:21
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Kaal posted:Similarly, I'd be hesitant about upending the martial balance too much by guaranteeing hits with "Uncanny Strike", especially because then you start having problems with the various traits that engage with missed hits. I generally help out the martials by being relatively free with items, which tend to help out the fighters more than the mages. Maybe try out your system in a one-off to see if you and your players like it. Do non-players have Uncanny Strike as well? Personally I'd vote against, but see what your party thinks by trying it out and listening to feedback. What's "uncanny strike" and where did anyone talk about guaranteed hits?
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Apr 3, 2019 22:27
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Anything I should know before running Dragon Heist w/ a party of 3 medium-experienced PCs?
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Apr 3, 2019 22:51
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Skyl3lazer posted:Anything I should know before running Dragon Heist w/ a party of 3 medium-experienced PCs? EDIT Whoop misread this as Mad Mage >.> kingcom fucked around with this message at 00:22 on Apr 4, 2019 |
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Apr 3, 2019 23:47
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Thanks for the responses! Point taken about the rations and making it just as fiddly... that stemmed from us recently playing ToA. It followed the exact pattern other people in this thread mentioned: at first it was an anchor that forced us to move from town to town, then we got sick of it and abused conjure spells to avoid it entirely. Still, I kind of enjoyed that it was an extra vector of character ability. Like even though we used spells to avoid it... those were also spells we'd never even consider using. Also good point about finding out why they're so averse to melee classes; I should just ask. My assumption is they're afraid of getting hurt, or they just don't see the value of melee when you can do similar damage from afar. As for Feats, I wanted to clarify: I'm not so worried about the imbalance of someone capping their main stat quickly, so much as I think Feats are a fun way to establish little extra perks or customization on a character. But the importance of capping your main stat makes those +1 ASI feats more attractive. So much the same way I don't want people to feel like they HAVE to pick Elf to play a wizard for the INT bonus, I also don't want them to feel like they have to beeline for those Feats. I'm probably overthinking this and should just run with "Free Feat, go hog wild".
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Apr 3, 2019 23:54
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Elector_Nerdlingen posted:What's "uncanny strike" and where did anyone talk about guaranteed hits? "Uncanny Strike" as in the opposite of Uncanny Dodge, which allows you to use your reaction to halve attack damage. Ghost mentioned it in his third point, where melee attacks would do half damage on a miss, similar to an area of effect spell. Skyl3lazer posted:Anything I should know before running Dragon Heist w/ a party of 3 medium-experienced PCs? Check out the Reddit page dedicated to it, they've got a bunch of content ideas: https://www.reddit.com/r/WaterdeepDragonHeist/ Personally I haven't found it to be particularly dungeon crawly - it has got a lot of maps available but they're all pretty optional. The biggest recommendations I have are to give your players time to explore the material rather than gunning them through it, be flexible when playing out the hunt for the Stone rather than following it exactly like it's laid out, and make sure to plant at least one of the vault keys inside the lair of a big bad or else your party won't have a heist. Kaal fucked around with this message at 00:05 on Apr 4, 2019 |
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Apr 3, 2019 23:56
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Kaal posted:"Uncanny Strike" as in the opposite of Uncanny Dodge, which allows you to use your reaction to halve attack damage. Ghost mentioned it in his third point, where melee fighters would do half damage on a miss, similar to an area of effect spell. You've added a bunch of exrta poo poo to "Fighters get half damage on a miss", though.
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Apr 4, 2019 00:07
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Celebrity Ghost posted:As for Feats, I wanted to clarify: I'm not so worried about the imbalance of someone capping their main stat quickly, so much as I think Feats are a fun way to establish little extra perks or customization on a character. But the importance of capping your main stat makes those +1 ASI feats more attractive. So much the same way I don't want people to feel like they HAVE to pick Elf to play a wizard for the INT bonus, I also don't want them to feel like they have to beeline for those Feats. Well, yeah it makes them more attractive. Even with the attribute bonus, the only legitimately good +1 feats are Resilient and a couple of the Race feats, so... I stand by my suggestion of free feat at 1/5/9/13/17. If the players place that much importance into their main stat, then they're going to put a 17 in there assuming point buy, bring it to 18 with the level 1 feat, then take it to 20 at lvl 4 with an ASI or at lv 5 with two half feats; either way they're going to be getting a bunch of perks that they wouldn't have under standard rules, and their level 8 and 9 and so on picks are all going to be feats since they already capped their stat by level 5. It should accomplish what you want.
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Apr 4, 2019 00:10
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I agree, you've made a good argument. I'm going to run with that.
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Apr 4, 2019 00:18
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Skyl3lazer posted:Anything I should know before running Dragon Heist w/ a party of 3 medium-experienced PCs? It's lazily written, the 2nd chapter is mechanically unsound without buying the extra paid DLCs, a lot of people don't care about the "reward" from Ch1 which can mess up your pathing, it's a lot of Theater of the Mind city wandering, it expects a full spread party with several full casters full of utility spells as-written, and the ending falls to pieces. My suggested fixes are:
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Apr 4, 2019 00:21
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If you had to make a Strahd group of just 3 characters (assume things are scaled as needed), what would you pick? I'm imagining, for the sake of diverse roles and overlap of critical things: 1) Paladin 2) Cleric (Light or any of the heavy armor domains) 3) Wizard (Diviner? Enchanter? War if you want to be boring?)
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Apr 4, 2019 02:12
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1) Shield n Stick PAM Paladin or Hexadin to wield the pretty good spear you can find. 2) Bladesinger to take care of rituals, adds AoE and magic utility, reasonably tanky and solid direct damage with Shadow Blade or the pretty good magic sword you can find. 3) Tempest Cleric or Lore Bard.
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Apr 4, 2019 02:26
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Lots of neat options you could do there. 1) Moon druid for tankiness, spells/rituals, scouting and wisdom skills. 2) Paladin or Sorcadin. DPS and party face among other things. 3) Abjurer for buff/debuff/control magic, rituals, int skills. Or something like 1+2) Whatever DPS. Barbs, Pallies, etc. 3) Divine Sorcerer with twinned buffs for the other two, party face, healer, Inspiring Leader feat. ritorix fucked around with this message at 04:57 on Apr 4, 2019 |
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Apr 4, 2019 04:55
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1) Valor bard for the front line 2) Lore bard for heals and spells 3) Glamour bard because gently caress you I'm fabulous
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Apr 4, 2019 05:02
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A Grung Assassin, a Minotaur Berserker, and a Yuan-Ti Mystic walk right into Strahd's castle and dare him to terrify the villagers as much as they will ...
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Apr 4, 2019 05:37
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Kung Food posted:1) Valor bard for the front line Valor on the Streets, Lore in the Sheets.
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Apr 4, 2019 06:23
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Skyl3lazer posted:Anything I should know before running Dragon Heist w/ a party of 3 medium-experienced PCs? Read this blog: https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/41217/roleplaying-games/dragon-heist-remix-part-1-the-villains And marvel at the fact that this man rewrote the entire adventure book in a much better way. I'm running it right now and I'm using this as a baseline.
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Apr 4, 2019 08:23
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I'm confused on how larger creatures work. If you're on a large mount do you count as being the same size for being in contact with stuff? Also if you transform from a large creature to a medium one do you pick which square you appear in? If that takes you out of contact will it provoke opportunity attacks? I can't find a ruling anywhere.
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Apr 4, 2019 11:04
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NORTH-HALL posted:I'm confused on how larger creatures work. If you're on a large mount do you count as being the same size for being in contact with stuff? Those are all great questions, and there's no clarifications for any of them! Here's how they end up working RAW: If you're on a large mount do you count as being the same size for being in contact with stuff? Nope! You take up space over the creature somewhere, and are only in contact with what you're in contact with. You can also move around the mount. Also, there are no rules for rotation in the system! Also if you transform from a large creature to a medium one do you pick which square you appear in? Since the alternative is not appearing at all, yes! If that takes you out of contact will it provoke opportunity attacks? It's not movement, so nope!
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Apr 4, 2019 12:03
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ritorix posted:Lots of neat options you could do there. I haven't played Strahd, but Druid seems like it would be good just for Moonbeam.
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Apr 4, 2019 16:55
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Enola Gay-For-Pay posted:I haven't played Strahd, but Druid seems like it would be good just for Moonbeam. Can you share why moonbeam is good in general? As a nature paladin I have access to it, and generally feel it's worse than just smiting with the lvl 2 slot instead
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Apr 4, 2019 17:24
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Spikes32 posted:Can you share why moonbeam is good in general? As a nature paladin I have access to it, and generally feel it's worse than just smiting with the lvl 2 slot instead Curse of Strahd is full of Lycans so you get all the bonus stuff on Moonbeam. Also, DM variance, but some let you put the beam across multiple spaces making it AoE damage.
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Apr 4, 2019 17:48
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moonbeam also shares a distinction of pretty much being the only good attack spell on either list at that level, to memory
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Apr 4, 2019 18:06
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