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That is really clever of you. As for me, I became a never DM for two reasons. Firstly, I had for years an incredible DM who liked to be a forever DM and we liked him in that role, and I never knew how good we had it. Secondly, I tried several times to DM for twats, and it soured me on the experience forever. I basically realised that it was never going to be that good again, and instead I'd rather just play single-player RPGs based on D&D instead. That may seem like a nostalgic old twit longing for the good old days, and that's because it absolutely is.
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Apr 12, 2019 23:34
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Verisimilidude posted:So, I decided to do the only other thing I could. The players woke up after some time in a weird forest, surrounded by dense fog and mysterious noises. Now they’re playing curse of strahd until they lift the curse, at which point they’ll return exactly where they were during SKT. Great save. Really thought you were heading towards "killed them all, what now?" but nope, you stuck the landing.
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Apr 13, 2019 00:00
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I want to play a kobold rogue but I know that they explicitly stated they put no effort into designing the Volo’s monster races. I can see that Pack Tactics is extremely good, and Grovel might also be good. Should I ask my DM to condone any changes to the race, either to make it better, less OP, more synergistic, etc? I was thinking either going Mastermind for the Master of Tactics, or Thief if that’s not good. Recommwndations? I’ve never rolled a rogue before. FWIW I’m going Charlatan so I can have a preposterous gnome disguise to fit into polite society, but that’s mostly RP so I don’t think I need to invest too much into deception or CHA.
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Apr 13, 2019 01:11
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Liquid Dinosaur posted:I want to play a kobold rogue but I know that they explicitly stated they put no effort into designing the Volo’s monster races. I can see that Pack Tactics is extremely good, and Grovel might also be good. Should I ask my DM to condone any changes to the race, either to make it better, less OP, more synergistic, etc? I've never heard anyone say they didn't put effort into the Volo's races. However, the only one of them that's a little too good is Yuan-ti, so don't worry about your kobold, he's fine as-is. And as far as rogues go: Toshimo posted:Overall, though, for Rogue subclasses:
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Apr 13, 2019 01:40
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Is there any way to make travel meaningful? I've been wracking my brain recently over how to make travel part of the adventure, rather than just something that you skip. IN THEORY I like the concept of supplies and navigation. However, tracking supplies is just busy work and if you're not tracking supplies then getting lost has no consequence other than wasting the player's time. Random combat encounters have no consequence unless the party is under threat of TPK every time and that doesn't seem very fun. Or maybe I'm just bad at creating meaningful encounters. It seems like the best way to do travel is to encourage side exploration and discovery.
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Apr 13, 2019 02:21
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Skip it. Fade to black, appear outside the dungeon. If travelling isn't the narrative point of a section of the campaign it should be launched into orbit IMO. That said, travelling CAN be the narrative point of a section of the campaign, but don't try to make filler interesting, just get rid of the filler. For a good example of good travelling, chapter 3 of SKT is all about wandering through the wilderness chasing leads as giants do bad things. There isn't an explicit goal to accomplish for the chapter, but you're meant to have the players just follow up on whatever quests you place in front of them until the chapter 4 hook shows up. In this time you're meant to sell the players on the idea that not only are giants a problem, they're running all over the place. You see them everywhere you go, random encounters with giants are opportunities to introduce players to yet another potential threat from the giants. Give the giants a story and a reason to be there and the players will learn that this giant problem seems pretty important. So the wandering/travelling/random encounters all serves this narrative goal. Without a purpose like that though I just completely gloss over any travel. Agent355 fucked around with this message at 02:25 on Apr 13, 2019 |
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Apr 13, 2019 02:22
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My group enjoys a good story, but they're very much find-y hoard-y types. For example they really enjoy finding ruins and stuff in Skyrim, and then scouring them for loot/enemies. Is there any feasible way to have them make location discoveries like that rather than be explicitly told or is it best to have them tied to a quest? I'd like to at least occasionally break away from "Town > Questgiver > Dungeon > Town > Questgiver > Dungeon" rotation. EDIT: I guess I should probably take this line of questions to the GM thread, but I'll leave this one here.
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Apr 13, 2019 02:44
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Fresh Shesh Besh posted:My group enjoys a good story, but they're very much find-y hoard-y types. For example they really enjoy finding ruins and stuff in Skyrim, and then scouring them for loot/enemies. Is there any feasible way to have them make location discoveries like that rather than be explicitly told or is it best to have them tied to a quest? Maybe have them find a map Fresh Shesh Besh posted:Is there any way to make travel meaningful? I've been wracking my brain recently over how to make travel part of the adventure, rather than just something that you skip. IN THEORY I like the concept of supplies and navigation. However, tracking supplies is just busy work and if you're not tracking supplies then getting lost has no consequence other than wasting the player's time. Long-distance travel is tricky to make compelling, since there isn't a whole lot to do other than random encounters or getting to know travel companions. You can introduce a timed element, making them choose whether to force march or risk obstacles, etc. Or you can wear the party down by making the whole area too dangerous for resting in unprotected locations. I'd suggest trying out that sort of stuff in small doses, as that kind of endurance logistics stuff can be fun but it does eventually get tiresome.
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Apr 13, 2019 03:16
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Fresh Shesh Besh posted:My group enjoys a good story, but they're very much find-y hoard-y types. For example they really enjoy finding ruins and stuff in Skyrim, and then scouring them for loot/enemies. Is there any feasible way to have them make location discoveries like that rather than be explicitly told or is it best to have them tied to a quest? Coming across a trail or something during travel might be effective; something like seeing a tower in the distance or passing a broken down wagon with no signs of life. I don't think there's any way to have your players just purely stumble onto something because exploration isn't really a thing in a game where you always have a firm main plot to be working on/following. A neat way to do it that fits the Skyrim-style "see the direction of the main quest and run the opposite way" would be to change that Town > Questgiver > Dungeon chain to Town > Questgiver > Dun-hey, what's that? Make it clear to your players that yes, the thing you're seeing is, in fact, a thing, and if you want to blow off your main objective to check it out, go for it!
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Apr 13, 2019 03:42
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Fresh Shesh Besh posted:My group enjoys a good story, but they're very much find-y hoard-y types. For example they really enjoy finding ruins and stuff in Skyrim, and then scouring them for loot/enemies. Is there any feasible way to have them make location discoveries like that rather than be explicitly told or is it best to have them tied to a quest? It sounds like what you want to run is a hexcrawl. 5e uses one in Tomb of Annihilation, I believe.
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Apr 13, 2019 04:53
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Toshimo posted:I've never heard anyone say they didn't put effort into the Volo's races. However, the only one of them that's a little too good is Yuan-ti, so don't worry about your kobold, he's fine as-is. There's a specific caveat in the book saying the monster PC rules are not play tested or balanced. If anything Kobolds are on the weak side. Get rid of the -2 str and sunlight sensitivity.
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Apr 13, 2019 06:05
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mango sentinel posted:There's a specific caveat in the book saying the monster PC rules are not play tested or balanced. If anything Kobolds are on the weak side. Get rid of the -2 str and sunlight sensitivity. You guys are using the absolute loosest possible interpretation of this statement, and I feel it's a bit disingenuous, especially since the only race that's even noticeably out of the curve is Yuan-Ti. 
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Apr 13, 2019 07:00
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Kobold advantage is very strong. Just keep out of the sun by going into, dunno, dungeons and dragon lairs.
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Apr 13, 2019 07:12
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Fresh Shesh Besh posted:Is there any way to make travel meaningful? I've been wracking my brain recently over how to make travel part of the adventure, rather than just something that you skip. IN THEORY I like the concept of supplies and navigation. However, tracking supplies is just busy work and if you're not tracking supplies then getting lost has no consequence other than wasting the player's time. The best use of travel isn't in checking off rations. It's good for gatekeeping larger quests behind smaller ones while the party is coming together as a group. You can't afford enough supplies to make it to the next town without taking a job, etc. You can also say that after a point they need to buy a cart or wagon, it's a gold sink. You can also force stops by having monsters go for the supply wagon. But that one's kind of a dick move so.dont overuse it.
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Apr 13, 2019 07:41
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I'm in a group where a player immediately bought a cart to carry all his poo poo, and it's the most annoying thing since it really limits our mobility given it forces us to use roads, and magic is ubiquitous enough we could teleport around if we didn't need to deal with abandoning a cart full of poo poo. The rest of the party finds it convenient to just sit on it, too. I ride around in my own horse, and have a few times ended up splitting from the group because there was something that was worth checking out that Mr. "it's my cart and I'm not going" didn't care for.
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Apr 13, 2019 08:45
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If anyone has a late 2018 (or later) hard copy version of the PHB and can post a picture of the Lucky Feat, it would be greatly appreciated.
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Apr 13, 2019 09:24
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I don't have a lot of experience with 5E due to moving around too much to get a stable group. I finally found a group, and am trying to decide what to play. Unfortunately, I'm chronically indecisive and too many options paralyzes me. I know the prime answer is "Play what you want!", and I am...I just need build advice on how to do that. The party consists of: A Dwarf Fighter (BM), a Human Monk (DM), A Half-elf Bard (Glamour, built as a healer), and a Wood Elf Rogue (I think Assassin?). Party is level 7, and I will be as well. I'd like to be an arcane caster, but with a spy/agent flair. Right now I'm building a Gnome Wizard, but am waffling between Abjuration, Divination, and Illusion. I'm also torn on multiclassing to get proficiencies. I'd like to be able to fulfill both utility and damage roles, with a focus on being a force multiplier. I know Abjuration has great defensive abilities, and the bonus to counterspell is wonderful. Divination fits the "spy" aesthetic in addition to having great abilities, and Illusion also fits a Spy type very, very well...but illusions are so DM dependent that I'm hesitant to take it. At least they were in older editions. So what's a good way to build an arcane caster that is also a spy? My fallback is a Forge Domain Cleric because I've been wanting to play one for a while, but I don't want to bite off the Bard's chosen role. Adventure is a conversion of the Pathfinder AP "Curse of the Crimson Throne", if it matters.
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Apr 13, 2019 13:22
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Conspiratiorist posted:I'm in a group where a player immediately bought a cart to carry all his poo poo, and it's the most annoying thing since it really limits our mobility given it forces us to use roads, and magic is ubiquitous enough we could teleport around if we didn't need to deal with abandoning a cart full of poo poo. The rest of the party finds it convenient to just sit on it, too. Buy a fancy wagon and give everyone equal shares in it. Nobody will want to be on that guy's boring cart when they could be on the party wagon.
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Apr 13, 2019 13:23
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Next time they leave the cart for any reason, or everyone is asleep, have some ruffians steal the wheels and put it up on cinderblocks. Unfortunately this would only vindicate the cart owner, and he’d complain how he was right all along, but it would also get rid of the cart.
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Apr 13, 2019 14:49
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Conspiratiorist posted:Kobold advantage is very strong. Just keep out of the sun by going into, dunno, dungeons and dragon lairs. Hireling with a parasol
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Apr 13, 2019 16:45
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Liquid Dinosaur posted:Next time they leave the cart for any reason, or everyone is asleep, have some ruffians steal the wheels and put it up on cinderblocks.
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Apr 13, 2019 17:46
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Payndz posted:Flaming arrows. For some reason, everyone who attacks the cart does so with flaming arrows. Weird how that keeps happening... Who is the party's enemy that keeps targeting them with these flaming arrows?!!!
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Apr 13, 2019 17:52
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Conspiratiorist posted:I'm in a group where a player immediately bought a cart to carry all his poo poo, and it's the most annoying thing since it really limits our mobility given it forces us to use roads, and magic is ubiquitous enough we could teleport around if we didn't need to deal with abandoning a cart full of poo poo. The rest of the party finds it convenient to just sit on it, too. Install a teleporter on it. And after that just keep installing more and more stuff on it until it's a Spelljammer.
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Apr 13, 2019 18:11
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At a certain point every sane person bumps up against the practical reality of their setting, and has to ask themselves "Why the hell isn't this place Eberron?". Like Tenser's Floating Disk is a 1st level spell, and a ritual at that. That means if you are slightly above average intelligence you have the ability to cast it, even if you aren't in a casting class. And do you know what rating 1st level spell magic items get? Common. Insomuch as anything magic in setting should be easy and widespread, your cart should be flying. And, you know, possibly just cutting the bullshit and being a flying carriage. Which we would probably have to bump up to uncommon, but oh well. That's fiddly balance issues. There's literally nothing that should keep that flying cart from being an easy get. Never fear the player that says "I cast Time Stop", fear the player who says "I construct a rudimentary lathe".
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Apr 13, 2019 21:18
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Players can select what feats their characters gain at certain level ups, but characters in general have no control over this and likely don't get class levels or feats or anything else at all. Some random peasant farmer may dream and dream of learning magic, and may even be extremely smart and completely literate, but he might just not have the spark/knack/talent/edge/whatever and study every spellbook you put in front of them in vain. So, it doesn't follow that nothing but administrative will stands between, I don't know, Greyhawk and a magitech utopia.
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Apr 13, 2019 21:34
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If every peasant farmer could do it we aren't describing a magitech utopia, we are describing the magical singularity. It's not even a question of adding anything. This is a question of those acolytes and other NPCs that already exist and have their stated capabilities doing everything they could, but don't. Dragonmarks aside that's really all the conceit of Eberron is, technologically speaking. It's not that everyone is an actual character class magic user. Almost nobody is in fact. It's that all those people that have lesser powers, the smallest spark of ability, exploit it in a systemic way. Do all settings have to be that? Of course not. You do have to wonder why the absolute simplest things that would radically boost quality of life just...don't get made. And it's certainly no excuse for your group not to make them. And so. Flying cart.
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Apr 13, 2019 21:51
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They don’t get made because almost no one can make them and for the most part even the people who can make them can only sustain one at a time. So, lots of adventuring parties have floating discs, but random hamlets do not.
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Apr 13, 2019 21:53
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Settle a debate for me. Can you use Eldritch Blast to rocket jump? It is force damage.
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Apr 13, 2019 23:27
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In Eberron there are tons of specialists who have a resource to easily cast most low level spells. Actual Wizards and the like are still pretty rare, and high level magic stuff is really rare. But some places still can't afford the costs to pay said specialists and still use more mundane stuff. MonsterEnvy fucked around with this message at 23:32 on Apr 13, 2019 |
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Apr 13, 2019 23:30
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Azhais posted:Hireling with a parasol Oh I'm stealing this idea for my Kobold 
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Apr 13, 2019 23:31
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Conspiratiorist posted:I'm in a group where a player immediately bought a cart to carry all his poo poo, and it's the most annoying thing since it really limits our mobility given it forces us to use roads, and magic is ubiquitous enough we could teleport around if we didn't need to deal with abandoning a cart full of poo poo. The rest of the party finds it convenient to just sit on it, too. Do you have a portable hole or bag of holding. Stuff the cart in one of those. (Or go on a quest to find one so you can get rid of the annoying cart. )
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Apr 13, 2019 23:34
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Pirate Jet posted:Settle a debate for me. Nope. The blast might dig into the ground a bit but it's not typically going to rebound and affect the caster. If for some reason it did (I.e. if you took the push invocations and fired it at the ground in a moment of narrative extremis) I'd say it would inflict normal damage and push you the normal distance. I've given players rocket jump abilities before by letting them reframe or stretch their existing levitation/leap abilities. For example there was a monk who would point his Decanter of Endless Water at the ground in order to propel himself up - but mechanically it was nothing he couldn't already do with existing monk abilities and an acrobatics check, and a Decanter of Endless Water is basically an uninteresting ribbon item otherwise. I'd keep that sort of thinking in mind, particularly before extending the power of an already extremely potent cantrip. Kaal fucked around with this message at 00:56 on Apr 14, 2019 |
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Apr 14, 2019 00:42
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Kaal posted:Nope. The blast might dig into the ground but it's not typically going to rebound and affect the caster. If for some reason it did (I.e. if you took the push invocations and fired it at the ground in a moment of narrative extremis) I'd say it would inflict normal damage and push you the normal distance. I mean yeah, not sure if it's gonna be better than Dashing but if you've got the push upgrade and it's that important that you're using your Action for it and taking damage then sure why not.
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Apr 14, 2019 00:56
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RAW you can only target a creature with EB so any cool or creative physics-y uses of it are gonna need you to come up with new interactions and risk/reward.
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Apr 14, 2019 01:08
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We just killed 2 semi important enemies with a combination of a nat 1 on the paladin's save against drow poison that put her to sleep, and the cleric failed her saves against monk stun. We vicously murdered the cleric, and then the paladin without them taking a turn. We then hunted down the flying warlock with locate person and a feather token of the Roc. The warlock eventually fled to the ethereal plane. Very upsetting because now he can report our tactics and be ready for us next time. And there are 11 of these mid level PC classes enemies left...
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Apr 14, 2019 01:17
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Pirate Jet posted:Settle a debate for me. If you could then it would mean your arms (or whatever you use to point the blast) suffer really awful recoil every time you cast it.
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Apr 14, 2019 01:21
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bewilderment posted:If you could then it would mean your arms (or whatever you use to point the blast) suffer really awful recoil every time you cast it. Noisy Cricket?
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Apr 14, 2019 01:27
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Well, I know my next character:   
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Apr 14, 2019 02:28
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So there we were, playing Curse of Strahd in a homebrew campaign. DM: You hit a milestone! US: Great, from level 5 to level 6 woot! DM: You're now level 10. US: Uhhhh DM Characters: SO LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THIS AMBER TEMPLE, LOLTH AND FRIENDLY LICHES... FML
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Apr 14, 2019 05:19
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Ceros_X posted:So there we were, playing Curse of Strahd in a homebrew campaign. The Amber Temple is some poo poo for sure
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Apr 14, 2019 05:36
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